People say that the Disney theme parks are the happiest places on earth, but I beg to differ. I can say, from experience, that the happiest place on earth is in fact the Hungarian immigration office.
On Monday, we had to go back to the Hivatal (immigration office), but they turned us away because we aren't members of the EU and they only serve members of the EU after 12 on Mondays (on Wednesdays, they serve members outside of the EU after 12, which is why we went at that time. Who knew that the times were flipped on those days? Not me!). Anyways, we spent our p-day in Győr playing soccer with the other elders and some random kids we met at the soccer field. It was a ton of fun! We didn't bring athletic clothes, so we borrowed some from the other elders. I ended up playing in some nice sandals hahaha.
We went back to the Hivatal on Wednesday and got everything squared away, finally. Had some good conversations with some people in the waiting room, so that was cool.
We were originally supposed to have zone conference on Wednesday, but we had to go back to the Hivatal (it's only open on Mondays and Wednesdays, and Wednesday was the last possible day for us to go before there would be potential legal consequences), so we ended up going to zone conference on Friday with a different zone.
To get to zone conference, we had to wake up at 4 in the morning, bike down to the train station and get on a train at 4:40. We got into Budapest around 9, had zone conference from 10 to 3, then it was back on a train from 3:50 to 8.
The zone training was so good that it was worth it. We received training from President and Sister Hettinger, the Assistants, the Zone Leaders, and the Sister Training Leaders (including Sister Smith, one of my friends from high school!).
We had another awesome lesson with Robi! Taught him about the word of wisdom and the law of chastity, two of the bigger obstacles for people wanting to get baptized, and he had zero problems with either. He's just incredible!
Things are going super well. I'm happy and we're working hard. It's getting super hot, which is basically the worst, but that doesn't stop us from feeling the Spirit and getting out! I feel like every week of my mission has had its own unique theme. This weeks theme was love. I was thinking about John 14:15 earlier in the week, which says, "If ye love me, keep my commandments." Everything that we do, we do because we love God and we love Jesus Christ and we love Their teachings and we love the life that They have given us. Everything hangs on the great commandment to love thy God with all thy heart, might, mind, and strength. Everything we do is about love!
What's really awesome is that Sister Hettinger's training was about that exact same thing. Everything we do is about love. She taught us to stop and ask, "what does this have to do with love?" She called the white handbook "The Book of Love". When we love the Lord with all our heart, might, might, and strength, we will keep His commandments, we will be obedient, and we will be blessed for it. I know that this is true because I've felt it in my life. Guess what! You can feel it too! Think about what you're doing and how it has to do with love. Are you at work because you need money, or are you at work because you love your family and want to provide for them? Are you holding family home evening so that you can check it off of a list, or are you doing it because you love your family and want to raise them to be spiritually strong? Are you ministering because you were asked to, or are you doing it because you love those to whom you minister?
If you're not doing it for the right reason, I encourage you to do it because of love. If anything, do it because you love the Savior and you want to show Him that you love Him. You'll be happier if you do!
Szeretettel,
Burnett Elder
Hungarian of the week is just something I love about the Hungarian culture. The Hungarian equivalent of Wal-Mart is a place called Tesco. This week, as we were out tracting, we found a Tesco sprinter van, which is a free shuttle service that will take you to and from Tesco. Imagine having Wal-Mart buses that had the singular purpose of taking people to and from Wal-Mart. That's what Tesco does! I think it's a hilarious concept.
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