Sister Hannah Schoendorfer in Hungary: Fields of Yellow

I can't even describe how much I love this place!!! I just adore it!!! I love the busy atmosphere of Budapest but also the quietness that we have at home and as we meet with people to help others to find happiness in this gospel.

One of the funniest lessons we had this week was with a guy named Misi. He comes to English class each week and asked to meet with us. Misi believes in Misi-ism, which was his way of telling us that he only believes in himself. He has some of the best thoughts though, and he is really smart. We told him that he had amazing thoughts and he responded, "Sometimes I think I have too many thoughts, life would be easier as a plant..." We loved teaching him! We talked about the Plan of Salvation with him and he really loved it.

Besides Misi though, we also met with Krisztián who is getting baptized on July 30th and he is SO excited!! He is so smart and I feel like I learn from him when we meet; I feel like that with a handful of the people we meet with right now actually, it's kind of funny. I feel like I have really gotten a new and clearer perspective of the gospel in meeting with people here that haven't been baptized or even taught for very long. It is a really fascinating experience. We also met with Józsi again and he is still just as much as a free thinker as he was before, but more and more, his thoughts truly line up with the things we teach. He uses different words to describe things but the feelings and thoughts are really similar! We talked about how sometimes we have thoughts and feelings that we aren't able to put into words. I think this is true for all of us. But, as we pray to Heavenly Father and focus on developing a personal relationship with him, and as we express our thoughts and feelings to Him as well as turn those into actions that show our faith, we will ultimately be happier and the blessings and impressions we receive will become stronger and more abundant.

We also met with Csilla this week which was really great. She is also so smart and in tune with the spirit! The first thing she brought up was that this past week she had found an answer to her question in the scriptures. Her question was "why do bad things happen to good people?" This is a question that is often pondered by people but her find was really great. In Alma chapter 14 it talks about Alma and Amulet and how they were imprisoned and how righteous people were dying. But, in verse 11, its says, "But Alma said unto him: The Spirit constraineth me that I must not stretch forth mine hand; for behold the Lord receiveth them up unto himself, in glory; and he doth suffer that they may do this thing, or that the people may do this thing unto them, accorrding to the hardness of their hearts, that the judgments which he shall exercise upon them in his wrath may be just; and the blood of the innocent shall stand as a witness against them, yea, and cry mightily against them at the last day." This is kind of a complicated thing to think about but it does have a lot to do with the precious gift of free agency we all have. It was also a great reminder to me about keeping an eternal perspective in all things, and that Heavenly Father truly has a plan for us.

Another really great insight from this week came from when we met with one of the members, Panni. She is just adorable and we talked about overcoming hard things in this life. I loved two scriptures about how God will not give us trials or temptations that we cannot overcome. In 1 Cor.10:13, it says " There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." And in Alma 13:28-29, it says, " But that ye would humble yourselves before the Lord, and call on his holy name, and watch and pray continually, that ye may not be tempted above that which ye can bear, and thus be led by the Holy Spirit, becoming humble, meek, submissive, patient, full of love and all long-suffering; Having faith on the Lord; having a hope that ye shall receive eternal life; having the love of God always in your hearts, that ye may be lifted up at the last day and enter into his rest.
"

I don't mean to overwhelm you with scriptures this week but I just loved these. I know that God truly won't give us experiences we can't handle and also that He will always be there by our side. There is always something to learn from the scriptures that we are able to apply into our lives in order to live happier lives.

In other news, we got to see the most beautiful sunflower field this week on our way back from Szeged. As you can see from the pictures, I love sunflowers!!!! I could have looked out at the sunshine field all day long.

We also moved apartments this past week and now live a lot closer to the belváros and to where we meet with people. It is a nice new place and we are happy to use less of our time traveling to our area each day. Also, yesterday at church we had the nicest surprise!!!! We have been meeting with a woman named Melinda every Sunday afternoon at her workplace because in the past many years she hasn't been able to get Sunday off and she hasn't been to church in quite a long time. I have loved visiting with her, she is a sweetheart!! Yesterday at church though, I was playing the piano at the last minute because the pianist wasn't feeling well and I didn't have time to play the organ because it was really only a few minutes before the meeting started that I found out they needed me to play. As I was playing prelude, Melinda came up and said hi!!! I can't even tell you how excited I was to see her there. I guess something happened at her work and she has the weekends off now! She was overjoyed to be there and just gleaming!

Have a great week!

Sok szeretettel, Schoendorfer Nővér