Missionary Training Center - Week 1

     Wow, I don't even know how to put into words everything that has happened in the past week. First off, I love hearing from you! It is really easy (and free) to send me a letter on the service called DearElder. I think the website is something like dearelder.com but if you just google it you should be able to find it. You can type a letter on there and I will get it the same day! I am in the Provo MTC and my unit # is 108 and departure date is DEC 8 with the mission code, HUN-BUD. Or if you feel like sending anything handwritten (which I also love!) my address is:

Sister Hannah Elizabeth Schoendorfer

DEC 08 HUN-BUD

2005 N 900 E Unit 108

Provo, UT 84602

     You can always email and I get time to read them but it is sometimes hard to email back right away, so if you don't get a personal email from me it's not that I don't love you, it's just because my time is so limited! I will write you a letter back though if I have your address! Anyway, my companion's name is Vashica 

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Nővér and she is from Serbia. It has been fun to get to know her and I am trying to see her as the Lord sees her and love her because I know that is that way we will have success in learning and teaching together and be happy. Something that stuck with me this week about working with companions  was said by one of the leaders here, he said, "You don't have to think alike, you just have to think together." That is so so true because we are so very different from one another but I know we are companions for a reason and we really have gotten better at teaching together already just by "thinking together." The Hungarian language is challenging but I have already seen the gift of tongues working in my life. It is so important to always have the spirit with you so that God can get us the help that he so wants us to receive! 

     I will get into some of the actual important things of this week but here are some funny moments that we had, because let's be real, I love to laugh! One of the sisters in my group told us one day that she had the "winkies." Okay, is it just me or is that a completely made up word! We all laughed so much when she said it and she explained that it's when you're so tired after a long day (like all of our days here) and everything seems funny. Needless to say, we now all use the term "winkies" regularly hahah. Also, since my companion is European, some of the things that come out of her mouth are super funny in the sense that we just wouldn't think to say things like that! I got a letter from a friend and she said "Oh is that a hot dude friend of yours?" I started laughing along with all the other sisters in the room before I could even answer. That term is also used almost daily because of her innocent comment haha and no, Vashica 

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Nővér, that's just a friend. Also I love when she forgets to pronouce the "th" sound in words like "thinking?" Sometimes when she asks me what I think about something she said in a pretty low and stoic voice, "what are you tinking?" It makes my day. 

     Our daily schedule pretty much consists of being taught SO MUCH HUNGARIAN, having meals, exercising, listening to talks, teaching "investigators" (who are really just members who act as an investigator to help us learn Hungarian). Our first lesson was pretty rough because we went in, on our THIRD day and were not allowed to speak a word of English and had to teach a 15 minutes lesson with no notes. It went okay but I can definitely see a difference in how much better the lessons have gotten in just a week of being here. In our last lesson, I felt so much more comfortable talking and was actually able to understand what she was saying to us. I love learning this language and even if it's one of the hardest languages, I am so grateful to be one of the lucky ones serving in Hungary. This morning we had the opportunity to go to the temple where I had a really special experience. One of the temple worker's told me to go to one spot but then right after that, another sister told me to go down a little further. Then, after waiting a few seconds, the temple worker who was there to help me was Nikki Infanzon! Those of you from home know that she is one of the sweetest girls and I actually was roommates with her at BYU for a semester. It was such a relief to see and and I felt an overwhelming amount of love. Heavenly Father does little things for us sometimes, especially when he knows we may be a little more stressed out than usual and sends us little reminders that He knows what we are going through.  One of the biggest things I have learned this week is the importance of shifting my focus completely onto others, and especially on those we teach. One of Christ's most important attributes was his selflessness and willingness to serve everyone not because He was suppose to but because He wanted to! The mission is not about me, but about helping others. It is so important to turn out in compassionate and loving service when the natural man would turn inwards. I also think it is important to always have a deepening, continuing conversion with Christ, and not just rely on our testimonies alone. We should be constantly praying to understand what we should be doing to benefit those around us. Our devotional speakers this past Tuesday were L. Whitney Clayton (presidency of the seventy) and his wife. I really enjoyed his wife's comments. She told a story about a time when they were traveling in Africa and she met a woman who said something along the lines of, "I heard that in America you have a phrase 'are you looking at your glass half full or half empty?' Here, we are grateful when we have a glass, and doubly grateful if it has anything in it." This story really impacted the way I have been thinking, because I feel so amazingly blessed and wish I could just give so much to people that do not have the same blessings as I do. Sister Clayton went on though, to say that the gospel is what people need to fill up their glass. Everyone needs this incredible gospel! It brings blessings that we cannot even imagine and the best ones are not the worldly, temporal ones. No matter what a person's living conditions are, the thing they would most benefit from and be the happiest with is the gospel. I also really enjoyed President Clayton's comments. He talked about the view from above and the future of the church. We know that we are in the last days and because of that the Lord's work is in full swing. I am so grateful to be a part of that work and share the message of the gospel with the Hungarians. He talked about how in 1820, Joseph Smith was the only person on earth at that time to know the truth of the gospel - he was one person against the whole world. Today, in 2015, there are 15 million members of the church, General Conference is translated in 93 different languages, and people all over the world are able to share the same beliefs! That being said, there are still so very many people who need to hear this message. There are so many who are prepared to hear what we, as missionaries, have to say. Going along with that, our teacher this week told us that Heavenly Father wants for us to learn Hungarian even more than we, ourselves, want to learn it. He wants for us to be able to successfully teach when we arrive in December and He will help us learn it if we are diligent and willing. The spirit may come and go, but God is always there for us and wants the best for us!

Sok szeretettel, Schoendorfer 

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Nővér