Dear all,
All the good things:
1.) We went to a lesson at an investigator's apartment, he's this really awesome, really eccentric older guy Moffatt Nővér and I found last transfer through tracting. It was really nice, we'd only met with him a couple times and were teaching him the Gospel of Jesus Christ--specifically baptism. One of my companions challenged him to think about baptism throughout the week: what it means to him, Jesus Christ's example through being baptized, and why it's important to him. Later on she asked him, "So what's your assignment this week?" And he responded with: "To be baptized!" And we were like...WHAT. And he then proceeded to tell us that "well, I can't today or tomorrow because I'm really busy, but later." I KNOW, RIGHT? Missionary's dream! It's like we're not even in Hungary.
2.) You know how I told you we live in a bachelor pad? Yeah, that's actually really funny because the apartment ABOVE us is actually legitimately a straight-up bachelor pad. Complete with loud, weird music (and randomly one song by Beyonce) with heavy bass at strange hours of the day. So that's been an adventure. Also, this one time we were walking back to our apartment and this lady in our building was like, "Who are you? Where are you going?" and we were like, "Uh...we live here..." and she was like, "No you don't, what apartment?" And we told her and then she goes(with a creepy-weird-knowing smile), "Ohhhhh...with the boys (referring to the Elders)." And we're like: "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. NOOOOOOO. Let us repeat: NOOOOO."
3.)In all honesty, I believe the best decision of my week has been to reinstate a game I played in college called, "Let's See How Often I Can Work Taylor Swift Lyrics Into Casual Conversation Without Getting Called Out On It" (I have a running tally). This game is actually a lot more difficult than you would think because it's not like I can just say, "Romeo take me somewhere we can be alone" without a.) getting called out on my TSwift usage and b.) totally freaking everyone out because, like, sister missionary status. I cannot describe to you, however, the emotional satisfaction when you manage to say, "all we are is skin and bones, trained to get along," and everybody like "wow, Carle Nővér, that was deep," and secretly I'm just like: mwhahaha. That was from the Red album.
Anyways, basically, you should send me suggestion lyrics for next week, I will gladly work them in.
4.) We went caroling-tracting with the Elders yesterday. You know how I started off the first bullet point with a, "It's like we're not even in Hungary!" this was definitely a "Nope. We're in Hungary" moment. No one even opened their doors--it was quite pathetic. Well, I lied, this one lady opened her door and was like, "WHY ARE YOU OUT SO LATE?!? WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?!" and we were like, "....it's 5:15. LITERALLY 5:15!" Anyways, we happened to tract into the branch president and I really can't tell if it was out of sympathy or because he wanted to stop us from embarrassing him in front of his neighbors that he let us in. It's actually all okay, though, because after that we went and caroled in the main square and actually saw a ton of success and one woman was literally in tears and was like, "God bless you" and people were just kind of watching out there windows and we got to share "He Is The Gift" vagy "Ő Az Ajándék" which was super cool.
5.) He Is The Gift.
Go watch it.
christmas.mormon.org---
It's great. Really truly. I don't know. There's just something really special about being a missionary around Christmastime. I think it just really makes you appreciate being a missionary at any other time, really.
I get to share this gift every day. Every single day. And I get turned down again and again and again and again--and it's hard. And I'm just like: this is the best thing in my life. This gift, this knowledge, these ordinances--are eternal. If I were to wrap it up in a bow and shiny paper and make it a physical thingthat I was giving people, would they accept it more? Would people understand what I'm trying to give them then? If I walked up to someone with a GINORMOUS box with shiny red wrapping paper and a green bow and sparkles and said, "This is the Gospel of Jesus Christ! It's totally free and it's totally for you!" would more people listen?
And then I watch "He Is The Gift" and I remember. "The first gift was not wrapped, had no bow, was not purchased online...The first gift of Christmas was a simple gift, a sacred gift. It was a gift of love, and life, and peace, and hope." Physical things, really, don't matter when we have the right perspective. Just like your birthday doesn't make you you, Christmas doesn't make Christ Christ. It's not the fact that He was born--it's the fact that He lived. And that Spirit of Christ, that Spirit of Christmas, is something you can carry with you--every single day for the rest of eternity, December or not. And it's kind of the coolest thing ever.
I send all my love from Hungary, write me people!
Tudom hogy a Mormon könyve igaz!
Szeretet mindig,
Carle Nővér
All the good things:
1.) We went to a lesson at an investigator's apartment, he's this really awesome, really eccentric older guy Moffatt Nővér and I found last transfer through tracting. It was really nice, we'd only met with him a couple times and were teaching him the Gospel of Jesus Christ--specifically baptism. One of my companions challenged him to think about baptism throughout the week: what it means to him, Jesus Christ's example through being baptized, and why it's important to him. Later on she asked him, "So what's your assignment this week?" And he responded with: "To be baptized!" And we were like...WHAT. And he then proceeded to tell us that "well, I can't today or tomorrow because I'm really busy, but later." I KNOW, RIGHT? Missionary's dream! It's like we're not even in Hungary.
2.) You know how I told you we live in a bachelor pad? Yeah, that's actually really funny because the apartment ABOVE us is actually legitimately a straight-up bachelor pad. Complete with loud, weird music (and randomly one song by Beyonce) with heavy bass at strange hours of the day. So that's been an adventure. Also, this one time we were walking back to our apartment and this lady in our building was like, "Who are you? Where are you going?" and we were like, "Uh...we live here..." and she was like, "No you don't, what apartment?" And we told her and then she goes(with a creepy-weird-knowing smile), "Ohhhhh...with the boys (referring to the Elders)." And we're like: "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. NOOOOOOO. Let us repeat: NOOOOO."
3.)In all honesty, I believe the best decision of my week has been to reinstate a game I played in college called, "Let's See How Often I Can Work Taylor Swift Lyrics Into Casual Conversation Without Getting Called Out On It" (I have a running tally). This game is actually a lot more difficult than you would think because it's not like I can just say, "Romeo take me somewhere we can be alone" without a.) getting called out on my TSwift usage and b.) totally freaking everyone out because, like, sister missionary status. I cannot describe to you, however, the emotional satisfaction when you manage to say, "all we are is skin and bones, trained to get along," and everybody like "wow, Carle Nővér, that was deep," and secretly I'm just like: mwhahaha. That was from the Red album.
Anyways, basically, you should send me suggestion lyrics for next week, I will gladly work them in.
4.) We went caroling-tracting with the Elders yesterday. You know how I started off the first bullet point with a, "It's like we're not even in Hungary!" this was definitely a "Nope. We're in Hungary" moment. No one even opened their doors--it was quite pathetic. Well, I lied, this one lady opened her door and was like, "WHY ARE YOU OUT SO LATE?!? WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?!" and we were like, "....it's 5:15. LITERALLY 5:15!" Anyways, we happened to tract into the branch president and I really can't tell if it was out of sympathy or because he wanted to stop us from embarrassing him in front of his neighbors that he let us in. It's actually all okay, though, because after that we went and caroled in the main square and actually saw a ton of success and one woman was literally in tears and was like, "God bless you" and people were just kind of watching out there windows and we got to share "He Is The Gift" vagy "Ő Az Ajándék" which was super cool.
5.) He Is The Gift.
Go watch it.
christmas.mormon.org---
It's great. Really truly. I don't know. There's just something really special about being a missionary around Christmastime. I think it just really makes you appreciate being a missionary at any other time, really.
I get to share this gift every day. Every single day. And I get turned down again and again and again and again--and it's hard. And I'm just like: this is the best thing in my life. This gift, this knowledge, these ordinances--are eternal. If I were to wrap it up in a bow and shiny paper and make it a physical thingthat I was giving people, would they accept it more? Would people understand what I'm trying to give them then? If I walked up to someone with a GINORMOUS box with shiny red wrapping paper and a green bow and sparkles and said, "This is the Gospel of Jesus Christ! It's totally free and it's totally for you!" would more people listen?
And then I watch "He Is The Gift" and I remember. "The first gift was not wrapped, had no bow, was not purchased online...The first gift of Christmas was a simple gift, a sacred gift. It was a gift of love, and life, and peace, and hope." Physical things, really, don't matter when we have the right perspective. Just like your birthday doesn't make you you, Christmas doesn't make Christ Christ. It's not the fact that He was born--it's the fact that He lived. And that Spirit of Christ, that Spirit of Christmas, is something you can carry with you--every single day for the rest of eternity, December or not. And it's kind of the coolest thing ever.
I send all my love from Hungary, write me people!
Tudom hogy a Mormon könyve igaz!
Szeretet mindig,
Carle Nővér