Monday, November 21, 2011

BIG EMAIL - Monday, November 21, 2011

Hello family and friends!!!

How are you?  How was your day?  I hope all is well with you :)

I want you to know that all is well with me too :)  Just so you all know, neither De Leon Nővér or I are leaving this transfer!  We got a phone call about 8 AM this morning telling us that we are both staying in Kispest!!!  In fact, our entire district is staying!!  Yay!!!!  We were so happy when we heard this that we literally jumped and danced around our apartment haha.  I feel very lucky to stay with De Leon Nővér for another transfer.  She is a great missionary and a great friend!

Now, what did I do this past week?  Hmmm... good question!

Last Monday, De Leon Nővér and I "played" with some of the elders in our district.  Together, we went to the Kinai Piac (the Chinese market).  It is similar to the shopping part of China Town in New York City, but instead of being housed in little stores along the street, it was held in a sort of shanty town.  The little shops were all held in little storage units.  We went and bought district scarves haha (see pictures of us dorkily matching each other).  I have been very lucky to be working with the group of missionaries (my district) that I have been.  We are all hard workers who also like to have fun :)
 

After that, we went to Orsi's house for family home evening.  We read this book called "You are Special" by Max Lucado.  Through a cute story, it teaches how special we are to our Creator and how really, His opinion is the one that counts!  It was great!

We had an interesting program this week... in English!!!  We taught an Australian who has been living in Hungary for the last 15 years.  That was a fun experience for De Leon and I both because we could explain ourselves just like we wanted to :)  Although, it was interesting, that even though we had the ability to say whatever we wanted, most of it was just as simple as we would say it in Hungarian.

Fun story: Some of you know that, around the time of my mission call, two Hungarian girls friended me on Facebook.  One of them was a member, the other her best friend, and they found me through a mutual friend.  We sent a few messages to each other (they were very sweet; one of them informed me that I would be entering the MTC on her birthday and she thought that was a great birthday present!)  Anyways, I didn't really hear anything else from them... until last week!!!  We were talking to a less-active girl on the phone and De Leon Nővér asked about some penpal she had had that was supposed to come to Hungary.  THAT caught my attention and I asked to talk to the girl.  Turns out she was one of the girls I had become friends with on Facebook MONTHS ago!  I had never met her, though, since she hasn't been coming to church or meeting with us!  However, we were finally able to set up an appointment with her for this past week during that phone call.  When we met, we were both excited.  She gave me a hug and puszi right when she met me :)  Our program with her was great!  She told us that she has been feeling like something has been missing in her life and wants to bring the church back into her life.  Yay!!!  She told me she thought it was so strange that out of all the cities and areas in Hungary, I had been assigned to HER area for my greenie area.  I really believe that I was supposed to come to Kispest.  I know that De Leon Nővér and I both have experiences and personalities that are really helping our investigators come unto Christ.  I am so grateful for the Lord's love for us personally.  I know if we will let Him into our lives, He will bless and help us :)

We also had stake conference this past weekend.  That was SO NEAT!!!  I couldn't believe how many members were there!  We filled the stake house :)  I know it was an amazing experience to see the hundreds of members, especially when a lot of branches here in Hungary are very small.

We had amazing speakers at the conference, including an area authority from Portugal.  He told a great story: When he was little, bikes were a rarity in his neighborhood.  In fact, there was only ONE bike in the entire neighborhood and it was from a junkyard.  But, the boy who owned it ran a successful business renting it out for candy and toys.  The speaker rode the bike as often as he could and begged his parents for a bike.  After three years of asking and disappointments, he received a bike for Christmas!  The speaker told us that he had no idea what his parents did to afford that bike, but that he loved his bike.  He thought it was so great and brought it everywhere (he ate with it, slept with it, etc. haha).  However, the other boy in the neighborhood who owned a bike had a birthday in January.  What do you think he received? A NEW BIKE!  And it was a racing bicycle!  All of a sudden, the speaker's bike didn't seem special anymore and he resented that his parents couldn't buy him a better bike.  He told us that we need to be careful about comparing our lives to others.  We should be thankful for what we do have.  Do we appreciate the beautiful things in our lives?  Do we appreciate our own families and those we love?

Anyways, I am out of time for this week :)  I hope you all have a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving!!!!!  I will not have a normal Thanksgiving this week; next Monday, however, we will have a Super P-Day, with Thanksgiving dinner at the Baughman's.  So, remember the story, and be thankful for the gifts you have-- your family, your home, your health, etc.  Take the time to tell those you love thank you!

I love you all!

McKenna aka Kramer Nővér

No comments:

Post a Comment