Monday, December 5, 2016

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas......

Hello!

This week has flown by so fast! It has started to get colder and more and more lights are going up. Budapest looks magical at Christmas time. We went to the Christmas Market here in Budapest as well as in Pécs and they were both so wonderful. 

We went to Pécs for splits this week and it was a miracle that we even got there on time. All the ticket machines were broken and the line was so so long. Finally we saw one single machine that didn't say it was out of order and went over to it with about 5 minutes until the train left. There was a couple in front of us, also going to Pécs, so I quickly asked if we could just give them the money and they could increase the quantity of tickets on the machine. We cut it really close but the tickets came out and we gave them the money and all ran to the train. Also, the machine probably should have said it was out of order because it only printed half of all our tickets, it was pretty crazy. The ticket checker was really confused but luckily they were aware of the problems and let us go. 

In Pécs I went on splits with Benson nővér. She is such a delightful girl and I always love to have splits with her. We didn't have too much success tracting or really talking to people on the street and so we had an idea to buy some flowers and go "flower finding." There is a funny guy who sells flowers on the street fairly cheap, so we purchased some flowers and we would approach people and give them a flower and talk about Christmas with them. People were happily surprised and it worked out really well. Benson nővér is such a joy to be around and in the evening back her apartment I even learned some guitar from her. 

The following day, back in Budapest we went to a member's house for lunch, the Remeséks. We had a nice lunch with them and a little bit later, the wife, Mária, came with us to visit Piroska and her daughter Hanna. We were able to watch the Christmas video both times, separately at the Remesék's house and with Piroska. The Christmas video this year is really special, it is so touching and it is really true how we can truly follow the Savior's example of loving service. Even Hanna was so so well behaved. She is such a cute little girl and for the first time, she prayed! It was adorable. She kept praying for myself and McGregor nővér. 

Another morning we had language study with Gizi and it was great. Gizi is so sweet and wants to learn English so what we did to help each other was to read the Book of Mormon out loud, verse by verse, in Hungarian and English. Gizi is so amazing and I am really grateful for her. I was talking to her about how I want to learn how to play every instrument one day and so she brought me a doromb (jaw harp) to try out, hahah it was hilarious. 

We met with the coolest new guy this week, his name is Ábrahám. We got his information in a media referral from mormon.org. When he met with us he told us that a little more than a week ago he had seen us talking to someone in the metro station, and that we looked really happy and were laughing. He is very interested in religion and he wanted to come talk to us but instead he decided to just look up our church on the internet and so he did. He then put in his information and requested a Book of Mormon. He is a really humble guy and goes to a university close by and has studied religion. He was one of the most accepting people I have ever met, he is genuinely interested and excited to learn more and loves God. 

Some other good news from the week is that our washing machine got fixed! I'm still not sure what was wrong with it but we are so glad it is fixed again. We also were able to watch the Meet the Mormons movie with József this week. He loved it so very much. We also were able to visit Anna, his daughter, at the bakery she works at and she was so happy to see us. Also, Anna had to go to another city for a day and left her dog in Budapest and her dog is just too strong for József and she asked us if we would walk him in the morning and evening. It was so fun! I'm sure that the dog is made of pure muscle but it was so enjoyable walking the dog and József was so appreciative that we were able to help out.

Church yesterday was also great. We arrived at church early for some meeting before the three hour block started, and after our meetings were over, I was able to play with some of the children. I absolutely love the kids here, they are such sweethearts. During Sacrament meeting, one of the little girls, Dalma, sat with me. Dalma is one of my favorite little girls here because she looks and acts just like one my nieces. 

Also during Sacrament meeting, a guy named David walked in and sat in the row behind us. I heard him ask someone "Can I sit here?" and they couldn't understand him because he only spoke English. I was able to then tell him he could move up and sit with us and that I would translate the meeting for him. I thought that he was maybe a member just visiting but as I was translating he was making comments about how special it was and he was a little confused about some things. It was a testimony meeting and he thought it was so neat that people were sharing experiences from their life and how they are able to feel God's love in their lives. I found out that David has been living here for 2 months for work and that right before he moved here he ran into two missionaries who told him about the church. He also had a work partner in the past who had given him a Book of Mormon. He said he felt like he should come check out the church here and is excited to meet with us soon to learn more. We also got to go over the sweet Kriszti's. She is one of my best friends here and I learn so much from her. I am so grateful for the people here. It has been another great week and I love it here!!! 

This is such a special time of year and I feel so incredibly blessed to have a knowledge of our Savior Jesus Christ and for the opportunity to share that with others. 


Sok szeretettel, Schoendorfer Nővér

Christmas Market in Pecs --- it's beautiful!


Splits in Pecs with Benson nover --- flower finding.


Christmas in so beautiful in Hungary!



The outdoor Christmas Markets.

I love Hungary and I love this time of the year!


The girl on the floor is Dalma, she is darling.

Jozsef looks so handsome in the shirt we bought for him.


This is Adri, one of our good friends in the ward.

Walking the dog (made of solid muscle) with Jozsef.



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