Monday, February 27, 2017

Back with Vielstich nővér!

Hello! It has been a crazy week. Transfers always make for an unusual week because you spend half of the week with one person and then half way through the week it changes. But, this time it was especially weird because Gordon nővér went home! I also got to see Willets nővér at transfers right before she went home as well. I will miss both of them! It was so sad to say goodbye and watch them go but I am lucky to be able to see them again at home. I am loving being with Vielstich nővér! We were in the same MTC group and so it's great to be together again! 

The weather is starting to get really nice and I am so happy about it! It was so cold for the longest time and now it's finally warming up again. We taught a really fun Angolóra (English class) and we had everyone contribute to drawing a picture together on a board while we taught a grammar principle. It was really fun and they loved it! 

On Friday, Vielstich nővér and I went to MLC. We are the Sister Training Leaders in the southeast part of the country so we will be going to Szeged, Békéscsaba and also Kecskemé,t which they just barely opened up for sisters. I am excited! The MLC was really great and we talked a lot about accountability and our personal accountability with Heavenly Father. We talked about how important prayer is and how we don't choose to be accountable, but that agency means we have a choice as to what we do that will affect when we are held accountable. Recently in my personal prayers, at the end of each day I have been asking "what can I do more?" and it has been really inspirational. There is always something more we can be doing or a different way to be doing something and I know that as we show our willingness to Heavenly Father, He will guide inspire us. 

On Saturday we went to the special needs home and it was great as always. There were fewer people there this time but there was also a lady there that I had never met before. She was older and didn't talk much at all, but she was so sweet and I got her laughing at one point and she couldn't stop for several minutes, it was so cute. I really love the scriptures about charity in 1 Corinthians:

 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;

 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;

 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

 Charity never faileth

Charity is the pure love of Christ, He who was full of the most purest love for all. 
I hope you have a great week. I love you!

Sok szeretettel, Schoendorfer Nővér

Statues in Szolnok.

Gordon nover and I had fun with some glow sticks before she left. 


Transfers with Vasica and Grogan.

Our new (and tired) Elders.

My wonderful new companion, Vielstich nover. 

Great to see old friends as well.

Szolnok has some real charm.




Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Last Transfer Call!

Hello! This morning I got my last transfer call of my mission. For the next six weeks I will be staying here in Szolnok as an Sister Training Leader and I will be serving with Vielstich nővér from my original MTC group! She is so great and I already know that it will be an amazing last transfer with her. I also turned 21 years old last week which is crazy! I have officially had two birthdays in Hungary! It was a fun day and I woke up to a decorated apartment thanks to cute Gordon nővér. It felt like the part in the movie 'Elf' where Buddy stays up all night and decorates the store and the next day everyone is so surprised! She made cake and I got to open a few presents from home in the morning. 

This past week we had a lesson with a new woman who is so great! She wants some time to read from the Book of Mormon and hopefully we will be able to go back soon. We also met with Gyöngyi who is really searching for the truth and we talked with her about real intent and how answers to prayers come and how it is different for everyone. She is really sweet and I hope we can really continue working with her. We went to Szeged for splits on Valentines day, it is such a treat to go on splits with the other sisters. 
 
Tomorrow my companion, Gordon nővér goes home and it will be so very sad to say goodbye. I am so grateful that I was able to serve and become friends with her! 

Here is a great scripture that I came across yesterday in Mosiah Chapter 2: 20-22

 20   I say unto you, my brethren, that if you should render all the thanks and praise which your whole soul has power to possess, to that God who has created you, and has kept and preserved you, and has caused that ye should rejoice, and has granted that ye should live in peace one with another—

 21   I say unto you that if ye should serve him who has created you from the beginning, and is preserving you from day to day, by lending you breath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own will, and even supporting you from one moment to another—I say, if ye should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants.

 22   And behold, all that he requires of you is to keep his commandments; and he has promised you that if ye would keep his commandments ye should prosper in the land; and he never doth vary from that which he hath said; therefore, if ye do keep his commandments he doth bless you and prosper you.

​Have a great week! Until next week,

Sok szeretettel, Schoendorfer 
Nővér

Had a wonderful 21st birthday!
I'm sure going to miss Gordon nover!


Blowing birthday horns with Erzsi.


Our apartment all decorated as a fun birthday surprise. 
We got plants on Valentine's Day on our way home from splits in Szeged.


This is Gyongyi, she has been meeting with us.

We did a little painting with Erzsi and she really enjoyed it. 

She painted pictures of the three of us, myself, Erzsi in the middle and Gordon nover. 

I have loved serving with Gordon nover!

This is Erika, she is an amazing member here and her husband, Laci.

This is the view from a bridge that we walk over on a daily basis.



Monday, February 13, 2017

kis és egyszerű dolgok visznek véghez nagyszerű dolgokat

      kis és egyszerű dolgok visznek véghez nagyszerű dolgokat


This week wasn't full of anything too crazy, but even with slower weeks I can see the Lord's hand in my life. One of my favorite scriptures, especially at times like these, is   Alma 37:6-7 - kis és egyszerű dolgok visznek véghez nagyszerű dolgokat, by small and simple things are great things brought to pass.   I know there are many times where we, as people, don't or aren't able to see or know the good we are doing. In fact, in this life we may never know. It is amazing to me when I think about how when a person makes a choice it usually effects someone else whether it be good or bad - hopefully it is more often for the good. And, when I think about choices, it leads me to think about small and simple things that we can do each and every day, that we may not think make a huge difference but in reality could change someone's life or brighten another's day. 

David A. Bednar once said "ordinary people who consistently do small and simple things that are right before God will bring forth extraordinary results." This is so true. Another one of my favorite quotes along the same lines is "don't you know that since the beginning of time our Heavenly Father has reached out to those who were average and used them for His purposes?" We read about this concept in the scriptures and also know that Joseph Smith, a humble farm boy was clearly an example of this. I definitely feel this as a missionary. Heavenly Father trusts young adults like us to go around the world inviting others to come unto Christ and to help them feel of His love. It is by small and simple ways this is done and it is such a blessings to me to be able to look back and see how something small has become extraordinary. As we rely on the Lord in all things, He will guide us through small simplicities. 

This past week we met with Gyöngyi again and it went very well. We talked about the gospel of Jesus Christ and enduring to the end, she is really sweet. We also met with Zoltán, who we tracted into last week. He is so so cool! He believes in a lot of things and at the same time he tells us he's not quite sure exactly what he believes in. It was good to get to know him a little better and we talked a lot about faith with him. Yesterday we had a Farsang bulr, which is a holiday here to celebrate the ending of winter. It was fun and we made little dolls out of corn stalk, haha is was kind of hilarious. Next week is Gordon nővér's last week in Hungary. It is so sad, I will really miss her so much. It will be a good week though! Next week is my last transfer call and it is honestly hard to believe that in just 6 weeks after that I will be meeting my parents here in Hungary. I don't know where the time has gone. This mission has been such a blessing in my life. 

Love you. Have a happy week!

Sok szeretettel, Schoendorfer Nővér

Still having snow showers :)

Vegetable market.


We went to Kecskemet for interviews. It is a charming city. 

Not sure why, but there were lots of shoes in this tree.

Love all the beautiful churches.


Gorgeous full moon behind the clouds. 

Monday, February 6, 2017

Sikeres (Successful)

This week was great and sikeres (successful).

It is getting a tiny bit warmer and two people invited us into their homes while we were tracting! In the beginning of the week, the Szeged sisters came to Szolnok for splits. I was able to be with Sister Dyson, which was so enjoyable, she is so much fun to be around. We went to the special needs home and they were so happy we came. There were some people I hadn't met before, and it was so fun to get to know them. They love when we come and have started giving us little gifts, one gave me a bracelet he made and Timea loves to give me pictures she's drawn.

We also traveled to Cegled to try and find a family that are members. Cegled is about a 10 minute train ride away. Sadly, we weren't even able to find the street because it was rather far out and it had started to get dark and it was pouring rain. We saw a few beautiful churches though and got hot chocolate from a vending machine that tasted like brown water while we waited for the train.

The following day we met with Gyongyi. We have met with her a few times and the missionaries used to teach her. She has started reading and praying regularly and we taught her about how we can return to live with our Heavenly Father - this was the question she had asked us about. We taught her the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the steps we can take to come closer to Him and through which we can return to live with Him --  faith, repentance, baptism, gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end. I love this lesson because it really is a continuation and we strengthen our relationship with God as we continue doing these things. We of course aren't baptized again but the sacrament falls in place of that and we can be cleansed through it and the power of Christ's atonement.

The past few weeks have been a little challenging. It has been so very cold and Gordon nover and I went out everyday trying to share a message about Jesus Christ and hope with anyone who would listen to us and we got rejection after rejection. More recently, I have been praying a lot for just one person to let us in and that we could know where to go to find someone who needs to hear our message. On Friday, it had not only gotten a little warmer, but two people let us in! The first was a really sweet mom and her little son who only had a few minutes. We were able to share a scripture with them -- Helaman 5:12, and it seemed to touch their hearts; we are going back this week. The second one happened just five or so minutes after that. It was a guy named Zoltah and he is a photographer and has a studio in his apartment. We taught him about the restoration and got to know him a little better. He is very open and wants to read the whole Book of Mormon before I go home! We are also going back to teach him this week!

I am so grateful for prayer. I know Heavenly Father is there, that He listens, cares and guides us. Gordon nover and I felt like we needed to go to the area that we did and we were able to find two people! Maybe the past few weeks were a little test of our faith, to see if we would continue to go out each day despite the weather and constant rejection. I am so very grateful for the gospel, to me it is the most important message and it has changed my life for the better.

We also went out to a more rural part of Szolnok and did some finding there. We saw some of the cutest houses and there were also a lot of houses that were just a triangle (A-frame) they were so cute. I love going csaladi (house tracting) because they are always all so different and unique. We even saw a cute river that was still frozen and got a little muddy taking some pictures.

I hope you have a great week!

Sok Szeretettel -- Schoendorfer nover

Even though the river is still frozen, I'm loving that it has warmed up a tiny bit.


We see signs to beware of dogs everywhere we go, and this one says that they bite.

Often we see the signs and there aren't even any dog around.

Check out this "scary" dog :-)

Our small Branch.

Cegled...



Cegled with Sister Dyson on splits.

Really cute triangle (A-frame) houses we found while tracting.


Things are starting to melt a little bit.


Yes, this horn is actually someone's csengo (doorbell).



Our shoes got a little muddy, taking some pictures or the melting ice areas.