Life is just full of surprises.

This week, we were able to meet with Robi, Elza, Krisztina, and Robi. I got to go on splits with Elder Millett and we had a lot of fun together. On Tuesday, we were supposed to have a music night with the Ommens and some of their friends, but it got cancelled. Because it was cancelled, we decided to go and visit Krisztina and invite her to dinner. We were able to meet with her in her home, with the Ommens and extend the invitation in person and she was so happy and excited to come! 

At dinner, Krisztina really opened up about a ton of stuff. She's going through a lot of really tough trials right now, and as she was talking, my heart just broke for her. She feels very lonely, and is grateful for our friendship, but she is worried that after we leave, she will be alone again. We talked about how while we will eventually leave, the Savior will always be there for her. We're trying to help her to see that as she turns to Christ, He will reach out and help her to feel peace, comfort, and happiness, no matter what trials we may be going through. She asked for a priesthood blessing, and I was privileged to be the one who offered that blessing. As we laid our hands on her head, there was a power present that I know could only come from God. His words; His message, came through my mouth, through my Hungarian, and pierced each one of our hearts. I'll be honest, I was expecting to just start speaking and have all of the Hungarian I would ever need just given to me, but it didn't work like that at all. Thoughts came to my head, and the Lord left it up to me to communicate those thoughts and messages that the Lord wanted Krisztina to hear. It was incredible. Afterward, Krisztina just said, "I can just feel it in my heart. I feel it right here!"

When we got home, I sent President Hettinger a text about our experience. His response was interesting. He said, "Very cool!" and then about a minute later, he said, "Elder Burnett, would you give me a call?"

I thought, "Uh-oh, I'm in trouble for something!"

I called President and he gave me some very interesting news. I was to pack my bags that night, and move to Budapest the next morning after District Meeting to start my training as an office secretary! What the.... That was some of the most unexpected news I've ever gotten, but I was incredibly excited. Elder Hudson will be in a trio with the other two Sopron elders until he gets assigned a new companion. 

After District Meeting, I went all by myself to Budapest with all of my bags. Luckily, I made friends with the kid that was on the train with me, and he helped me get all of my stuff off of the train on time. I'll be on the Buda side of the river this time, which is pretty exciting! Apparently, Buda is the older side (I always thought it was the newer side). After I arrived, the office elders met me at the train station and we got to work!

Training has been great! It kind of feels like everything is on fire and it's my job to put those fires out. As soon as we get one fire extinguished, there are 3 more and an explosion somewhere else that we need to figure out. It's fast paced, which is great, and we're incredibly busy. I get to deal with fun things like:

-Talking with Landlords, finding and closing apartments, rental agreements, and pretty much anything to do with housing

-Making sure that referrals are assigned and contacted

-Booking all trains and flights for every Romanian missionary (they have to do all of their booking online, and a lot of it falls onto my plate)

-Creating different mission documents

-Keeping  a history of the mission

-Anything President asks me to do

-Preaching the gospel!

And the list just goes on and on (those are just some of the main ones).

I'm very sad to be leaving Sopron, especially when the work was going so well, but I can't wait to serve in this new position. I learned so much in the 4 weeks that I was in Sopron. I think most importantly, I learned how to be humble and really work hard because I wanted to consecrate my time to the Lord, not just because it was my duty. I learned how to love the people and my companions so much more, and I learned that as I humbly tried my best, I was capable of doing some things that I didn't think I could do.

This is going to be crazy, but I'm looking forward to a great experience in the office.

Sok szeretettel,

Burnett Elder

Hungarian word of the week: kabala, which means "superstitious." Just a good word to know!