Brrrr

Hello! This week was really so cold! Most of our investigators weren't able to meet with us this week but hopefully next week we will be able to meet up with them. We spent a ton of time outside trying to find new people. The fog gets so cold here that is freezes and then falls and is almost like snow. I have never really been this cold in my life and our toes always feel like they are kind of falling off but it is an adventure. 

We traveled to Békéscsaba for splits and they went really well. I had fun being with Sister Peterson, even though it was freezing. I got to visit with Rózsa who is a member there and I really love her. I have gotten to see her a few times when I've gone to Békéscsaba. 

We had a missionary broadcast this week and received a new schedule. We also visited Erzsi néni this week. It was really fun to be with her. She taught us how to make gulyás leves (goulash soup) and told us stories from her childhood. She is the cutest! It was actually hilarious because Gordon nővér and I were acting clueless and she thought we had no idea how to cook and she got so sassy. It was so enjoyable, I love learning how to make Hungarian dishes. 

On Saturday, Adri, from kispest came to visit! It was so so great to see her! We had lunch and she went with us to the special needs home which was great as always. I love to be with them. 

This past week I was thinking about enduring to the end and what that really means. In Hungarian it is mindvegig kitartás and literally means to hold out until the end. I think it is really more than enduring. When I think of that phrase I think about how important it is to have faith and trust in our loving Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. As we live our lives always looking for the positive and as we follow the guidance we receive from the Lord, we come closer to Him and our relationship with Him increases. The Atonement can always be applied in our lives and there is always joy to be found and love to be felt.    In 2 Nephi 31, it says:

 20 Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.
 21 And now, behold, my beloved brethren, this is the way; and there is none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God. And now, behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and the only and true doctrine of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, which is one God, without end. Amen.

​I think it is so important to always have that perfect brightness of hope, love of God, and of all men.

 I love you and hope you have a happy week!

​

Sok szeretettel, Schoendorfer Nővér

Everything is pretty frozen, but beautiful.

The rivers are also frozen. Brrrr

We didn't learn from 'The Christmas Story'

Having a little statue fun.

Train station.

Frozen Fog.

Beautiful Szolnok.

Splits with Sister Peterson.

Adri, a member from Kispest came to visit. We took her with us to the special needs home. It was so great to see her again.

Meeting with Erzsi neni, she was relaxing with her legs up.

Train Rides and Trainings

We had two train rides this week; we traveled to Budapest for Zone Training where Gordon nover and I conducted two separate training sessions. Later in the week we went to beautiful Szeged for splits with Dyson and Beck noverek.

I am really glad that Gordon and I were able to conduct a few training sessions because during the preparation, I was able to learn so much. We mostly talked about our individual conversion and what it means to each of us. Conversion, I believe, is a continual process that draws us closer to our Savior and includes our accepting of God's will for us. We talked about Alma the younger and his conversion. Mosiah 27 is a great chapter that brings his conversion story full circle. I am grateful that conversion is continuous and that through it we can always change to become more of the person God would have us become. He sees our full, limitless potential and wants the best for each of us.

We had splits in Szeged later in the week and they were productive. It is really fun for me to see how much Sister Beck has progressed in the language. I've been going on splits with her periodically since her second week in the country, about 4 or 5 months ago.

We taught a really cool guy named Tamas and it went really well. It was also so great to be with Dyson nover, I adore her, she is just incredible. Back in Szolnok we had a lesson with a guy named Janos who we met with while tracting a few weeks ago. I've never met someone with as many questions as he has, haha. He is truly searching for the truth and it is an adventure teaching him.

We were also able to go to the Special Needs Home again this week. I loved going there the very first time we went, but each time we go I love it even more. The people there are always so excited to see us and will ask us when we are going to come back. Timea gave me two drawings that she had made me and it was so cute. I love talking and being with the residents there.

Besides that, Gordon nover was sick this week so we spent a little more time inside than usual, but thankfully she is feeling better now. I took advantage of the time and painted which I haven't really done much of in a few transfers. I also read and listened to a few talks and came across a gem in the scriptures ----- Romans 8:35-39  

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril or sword?  As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come. Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I think those verses are absolutely beautiful! I have felt God's love and I know that His love for us is more than we can even comprehend and that nothing can separate us from that love.

Have a great week!

Sok Szeretettel,
Schoendorfer nover

Train Rides...

Cute stray kitten we found.

Really beautiful church in Szeged.

Special Needs Home - I love going there.

With Gordon being sick, I had time to paint a little picture.

My wall in our apartment.

Slipping Our Way to Church

The weather wasn't quite as charming this week as it was the week before. We love when it snows, but this week it snowed, rained and hailed one right after another, which made the walkways like an ice skating rink! They don't really shovel the walkways very often, so it has been pretty slippery for the past many days.

We walked to church with 14 year old Klaudia and her little brother, Martin, who was throwing snowballs everywhere the entire way. Sadly, their mom couldn't come because she has slipped and fallen the day before and was in a lot of pain. They are such a cute family though and Klaudia and Martin are so sweet to each other and appear to be best friends.

We had the Bekescsaba sisters here on splits and I was with Wester nover. We tracted and were let in by a kind of peculiar woman who I wasn't sure was even going to let us leave. It was a rather interesting and slightly scary experience, I don't really even know how to describe it.

We served at the special needs home twice this week and I just love going there. It is one of my favorite parts of the week. The more we serve there and get to know the individuals, the more excited they get when we show up.

We were in Budapest at the Mission Home for a Leadership Council this past week which was inspirational and so enjoyable. Everyone except for three people from my MTC group were there, so it was a great little reunion.

I have been pondering recently about the simple things in life and how some of the most amazing things  to occur in our lives start out so small and simple. Willets nover shared a few scriptures from the D & C. The first one was:

D & C 64:33 -- Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great. And the other scripture was D & C 123:16-17 -- You know, brethren, that a very large ship is benefited very much by a very small helm in the time of a storm, by being kept workways with the wind and the waves. 17: Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed. 

I especially love verse 16, sometimes it may feel like our efforts aren't making a big difference, but we can be that rather small helm that saves the ship in a storm.

Angelora was really fun this week, we chatted with a sweet bacsi who only started learning English at the age of 60 and is just about fluent. We also met a new gentleman named Janos. He is great. We met him while tracting and we have already been back to teach him. He said that he has been searching for the truth for many years and loves learning.

I hope you are all staying warm and doing well!

Sok Szeretettel,

Schoendorfer nover

Walking to church with a member that I was trying to keep dry. It was really cold and the sidewalks were icy and so slippery!

Having a little fun out in the snow.

Great to have a little reunion with friends from the MTC.

The Duna River looks so beautiful with all the ice chunks. I really miss Budapest.

This is a member that was in the Liahona!

This is Zoli and Tibor from the special needs home, they are the cutest!

 

Winter Wonderland

HELLO! I don't know if I have ever been colder than I have been this past week, but the cold can't stop us. It has been snowing quite a bit and I feel like I'm living in a little snow globe or something, it's kind of magical. 

We had a much better week this week! Yesterday we had three people we are teaching come to church! We haven't had anyone come up until yesterday. Gyöngyi, Éva, and Klaudia all came. Klaudia is a darling 14 year old girl and we just started teaching her, her brother Martin, and her mom, Anikó. They are such a cute family! The elders actually helped them move apartments a couple weeks ago and then we were able to meet with them! Klaudia's mom and brother were sick, but we met up with Klaudia and walked to church with her. Yesterday was a testimony meeting and she even went up, she was the last one, and talked about how grateful she is for Christ and how prayer has made a difference in her life. She also talked about how she had shared the Book of Mormon with a friend a few days after we had met with them! So awesome. I have a lot of hope and faith for their family. 

We have been able to meet with Gyöngyi more often again. I'm not sure what has changed, but she seems to have more time and she is reading from the Book of Mormon. She also shared her testimony during the meeting and it was just so uplifting to listen to how much the gospel really means to her. We are going to ask her to be baptized soon. Éva also came to church, she is a sweet quiet lady we have been meeting with. 

Also, we met with Rózsa again, which was nice because we haven't seen her in a few weeks, but she is so great! She was found while tracting a month or so ago and she is so golden! It takes her a bit to understand and figure things out but she is always so willing to listen and act. She told us this week about how she really wants to find out through prayer for herself about the things we have been teaching her. We are hoping to escort her to church soon so that she can meet the members and feel more comfortable with someone coming over to her home. 

We had splits with the sisters from Szeged. They came here and it was so so fun to be with them! We went to a fogyatékos otthona which is a special needs home and it was so so incredible! I loved being there and their faces lite up with joy when we walked it and one of the workers told them we were there to chat with them and play some games. We played several games and got to know them and read a few stories and poems to them. They sang to us and didn't want us to leave, but we will be back soon. It was my favorite day of the week! They have such sweet spirits and are so Christlike. 

I hope you have a great week. I know that God lives and that He loves us and is so aware of us.                                    Mosiah 16:9  "He is the light and the life of the world; yea, a light that is endless, that can never be darkened; yea, and also a life which is endless, that there can be no more death."

I love being a missionary here and love learning about Christ. I also love proclaiming His truths. I couldn't be happier to be here sharing this even if it's freezing cold.

Sok szeretettel, Schoendorfer Nővér

It's been snowing a lot, but were making the most of it!

It's so pretty here in the winter.

Feeding the birds,ducks and swans.

A pretty view from some of the buildings we were tracting.

Really love serving with Gordon nover!