Splits in Budapest!

     Okay, I know I said last week went by fast but this week went by even faster! It was strange to not have Murdock Elder around this week but last Monday we were able to have one last cereal dinner because that was his favorite haha. We even surprised him with his favorite cereal that you can only get from a store that's about a 15 minutes walk, so he was super excited about that.

   First a funny story that happened tracting this week was with a super nice guy but unfortunately his cats were more interested in our message than he was. He had four cats that came out into the hallway and would not go back into his apartment hahah. I helped him pick up his cats and take them back into his apartment and I just thought it was hilarious! The strangest things can happen when we're tracting. 

      This week we went through some of the numbers on our phone and we actually got invited over to two places and they both happened to be people named Erzsébet! The first Erzsébet was a little unusual, but the second one was so sweet. We spent the first half hour with the unusual one trying to tell her why the elders couldn't come because they were busy and she kept saying "okay I'm going to stop talking now and go get you girls some herbal tea" but then she would sit down again and it would be another 10 minutes of her going on about who knows what. By the time she finally got us the herbal tea we had probably been there for 45 minutes already! After we taught her about the restoration she started to go off about how she thinks everyone in the world is evil. We were finally able to get going and she sent us on our way with the funniest little bag full of random candies, apples, and clementines. I'm not sure if we will be going back there anytime soon haha. 

      We went to visit the other Erzsébet the next day though and it was amazing. She had met with the missionaries last summer but stopped for some reason, I think it was because of some hard things going on in her family. She told us that her mom had recently passed away which was really sad. She told us how she had read almost the whole Book of Mormon and she believed it was true! We ended up giving her another Book of Mormon though because she had given her copy to a friend to borrow because she loved it so much and she hadn't gotten it back yet. I was able to teach her the restoration and we encouraged her to start reading the Book of Mormon. I am excited to go back again this week and see how she is doing.    

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      One morning this week we went to the Hivatal, which is where we needed to go to take care of my residency papers. It took forever and then afterwards we still needed to run around and get a few more papers from our landlord, but that is finally sent in and hopefully I will get the card at some point. 

     Izabella was actually in Ukraine for most of this past week visiting with her son but it gave us a chance to really get to know Iza (her granddaughter) and Viktor (Iza's boyfriend). We taught them about the word of wisdom and at first they talked about how hard it would be to live withoout coffee. We were able to talk about the blessings of the word of wisdom with them and afterwards Viktor (who is usually pretty quiet) said something like "well, it should be easy then!" It was so neat to see them both so excited and motivated. I am excited to see how they are doing and I hope they will really see how the gospel has the power to bless every aspect of our lives. 

     On Thursday and Friday we went to Budapest for splits with the sister training leaders. It was so so fun! On Thursday I actually got to go out to lunch with Vasica (my MTC companion) and Adams Nővér, who is her companion now. They had come to Budapest to do paperwork for Vasica's residency papers. It was so so fun to see her again. For splits, I went out with Levanen Nővér who is one of the wisest people I have ever met! It was so great to get to know her and I am so grateful for the time I was able to spend with her because I learned so much from just being with her for one day. 

     We went tracting in the most run down building I have ever seen. It was being help up with pieces of wood and there was mold everywhere, it was sad to see the living conditions. We were actually let in (from the intercom outside) but we couldn't even find the apartment we were looking for because all of the numbers were wrong or out of order. There was even a radioactive sign on one of the doors and we still aren't sure if that was a joke or not hahah, so we just moved on to the next apartment building. 

     I taught an English class later that night with Levanen Nővér and afterwards we went to dinner with one of the members there. It was actually a really neat experience because at dinner we found out that this member was actually having a really rough time. Levanen Nővér and I were able to share a scripture with him and we bore our personal testimonies about the beauty of repentance. The scripture we shared was Ether 12:37 which says, "And because thou hast seen thy weakness thou shalt be made strong, even unto the sitting down in the place which I have prepared in the mansions of my Father." I know that everyone has their own weaknesses in life but that if we work through these, we will be blessed and they will become strong through faith in Jesus Christ. We were able to give him some ideas and by the end of dinner he told us how much he appreciated us talking to him. 

     When we were finished with dinner and walking back, we ran into our mission president and his wife on the street! They were so cute and President was joking around with me and said "transfers are coming soon but I want you to know that it won't be easy, I am going to have you train." And then he just smiled really big and I said I think I'm the one who still needs to be trained. His sweet wife made lunch the next day for the sister training leaders and my companion and I which was really nice. I am so grateful to have such a sweet mission president and wife, I know they really care about all of us! 

     On Saturday morning we went over to Erika's, who hasn't been progressing really all that much, but we wanted to go over one more time before Wilson Nővér goes home. When we got there, she had actually forgot we were coming but gladly had us go inside. Before we even started teaching, the doorbell rang and her friend came in who was there visiting from Ukraine. Her friend came and sat down with us and we were able to introduce her to the Book of Mormon and teach her a little. She was so so happy and kept saying how glad she was that she met us. Unfortunately for us she lives in Ukraine but hopefully she will get in contact with the missionaries there. We gave her a Book of Mormon and the experience really strengthened my testimony about how our Heavenly Father really has a hand in our lives, even down to the timing of situations. 

     Afterwards we had sport nap and then cleaned the branch house which was really way more fun than it sounds like, haha. The Elders figured out that if you take your shoes and socks off while mopping and get the floor wet, you can slide from one side of the room to the other. Leave it up to the Elders! Haha it was too funny. When we finished cleaning we went over to Valika's. She is the R.S. President and we teach her granddaughter Néomi. Valika is probably the funniest néni, she is always joking around with us and is so sarcastic. We were able to teach the plan of salvation to Néomi which went really well. Néomi has been keeping track of when she reads her scriptures and prays and she has been doing great. She gets so excited talking to us about what she's read, and it has been fun to see her get more involved. 

     Yesterday in church I gave a talk! I wrote it last week and I was so nervous to give it but it went really well and people told me afterwards that they enjoyed it; I'm just glad they were able to understand it! 

     I think that is about it for the week. This is my last week with Wilson Nővér because she is going home on the 10th and we get transfer calls a week from tomorrow. I think I will stay here in Nyíregyháza and  get someone new, but we will see what happens. 

I hope you all have a great week. Happy Groundhog's Day tomorrow!

Sok​

 szeretettel, Schoendorfer Nővér

Me and Szabakai Nover!

We took Dora (a YSA in our branch who is working on her mission papers) out with us and she thought my coat hood would be a good spot to keep her water bottle

Dora is tired after tracting with us

Pictures from splits. Sister Lavanen (brown hair) and Sister Hafen (red hair) They are both great!

And a selfie with Szabadkai Nover!

This is my talk that I gave in church last Sunday

It snowed a little bit this week and it was really pretty. 

This is Ica, one fo the sweetest members of our branch!

This is where we went tracting in Budapest

Our crazy Elders ran home to their apartment with bare feet after cleaning the branch house. They said they got so many crazy looks and also some bascis asking them if they were cold