I feel like I spent half of my week on a train.... We went to Győr and Pest this week, so we spent a lot of time and money on getting around. Tuesday was our p-day last week because of Pentecost and on Wednesday, we had a zone day/interviews in Pest. It was so fun to go back to my birth-city! It's been almost a year since I've been there and it's the same, good ol' Pest I know and love! It was fun to be there with Elder Harris, who was my companion this time last year in Pest. So many memories and laughs!

For our zone day, we played games and watched "One Good Man" and had our final interviews with President Szabadkai. At the end, we had a testimony meeting that was very powerful. It's always a lot of fun to get with the other missionaries and to hear their experiences and testimonies.

Here's an LDS chapel in Hungary:

While we were on splits, I set a goal to pray more sincerely for my investigators, and more specifically for their needs. I prayed for the Hajnál family and asked God to help them have a desire to make it to church on Sunday. Guess who walked in right as we finished singing the opening hymn! If you guessed the Hajnál family, you guessed correct! It was super good to have them at church. I know that God hears and answers our prayers and that He wants to help us to achieve our righteous desires!

One other fun thing we did this week was go on a kirándulás (excursion, but we don't really use that word very often in English...) with the Szombathely branch. We went out to this little village near the Austrian border and played soccer, basketball, pingpong, and other games together and then went on a beautiful hike. At the top, there is a giant lookout tower thing that's made of wood. I'm kind of scared of heights (it's my 3rd biggest fear), and while we were standing at the top, one of the members started to rock back and forth and the whole structure started to wobble! I said, "Stop that, or we're going to die!" and he replied, with a smile, "Well if we die, we will be resurrected, so it's not a problem!"

Eh, he's not wrong, but I still have a few things to live for, personally!

Anyways, the whole thing was a ton of fun and it was really cool to see that part of the country. You could even see Austria and some Austrian villages from the lookout!

Did you know that the Church has been in Hungary for almost exactly 1 year longer than McDonald's has? The Church celebrated its 30th anniversary last April, and Mackies, as some Hungarians call it, is celebrating its 30th anniversary now.

Now you know!

You know I know? I know that God lives, and that He loves me. He loves each and every one of us! He loves us so much, that He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to earth to save us from sin and death. Lots of people don't know that.... I can't imagine getting through this life without that knowledge and without the purpose and meaning that it brings into my life. Because God loves me, I have a place on this earth, I have a path to follow, I have a direction to go, and I have peace and joy in this life that can't come from any other source. I'm so grateful to be here and to share this wonderful news with everyone!

Sok szeretettel,

Burnett Elder

Word of the week is "szivacs" (see-vach), which means "sponge". I thought it meant "eraser" because they use sponges as erasers in the Branch House and that's what they were calling them, but it turns out, it means "sponge". Who knew?

p.s. My release date is now August 8th, just in case you were wondering!