Hungary Week 47

Dear everyone,

This week was CRAZY! It was great, but I am just in shock with all the changes, miracles and experience.  It was super sad to say goodbye to Pécs, especially considering all of the sad members and investigators.  Other than that, it has been a ride to remember and I am loving Szeged.

Tuesday-

This was a great day!  We had a hard time getting all the stuff together for transfers, Elder Bennett and I, but it was successful and we made it a last great day.  We met with a great investigator and put her on a baptismal date and said goodbye to the branch during family night that night.  A lot of investigators came and it was great.  We then had one last district dinner.  I already miss Pécs!

Wednesday-

This day was just a blur.  I took a ridiculously early train to Budapest where I met my new companion, Elder Bracken.  We then headed to the mission home for my "driving test."  I don't think I have been more scared to drive in my life.  I had to drive in the busy city and I haven't sat behind the wheel for more than a YEAR.  I felt like a kid who just got his permit and I entered in the driver's side door of our tiny Opel.  It was successful and we are still living, but I am going to have to get used to driving in the tiny streets of Europe.  We drive the car everywhere, but the hard part is that the air conditioning is broken and it is 90+ degrees everyday.  Oh well, the mission only comes once right?

After that we headed straight to some intense programs, went shopping and I started getting familiar with the BEAUTIFUL city of Szeged.

Thursday-

Elder Bracken and I started getting along great and all was good and dandy.  To make the situation better, we met with two new families on Thursday.  It was so nice to kneel with some families as the head of the house would pray.  Words can't describe the feeling of such an experience.  We also had a great English class with our goofy class of mainly "elderly" folk.  It was a good time.  We then finished the day with some tracting and things went!  Apparently it wasn't just Pécs that has some magic effect on tracting.  I LOVE LIFE!

Friday-

Everyday seemed to be getting better and better, this was especially true on Friday.  We were able to have programs on the hour, EVERY hour in an awesome nearby falú.  It was so awesome, especially concerning the fact that this was 2 more families that were new.  It went so well that we are heading back to their houses for family home evening tonight.  Things just seemed to catch on fire was the referrals began to roll in.  One of the best and most tiring days of my mission!

Saturday-

We were able to meet a wonderful woman I met in Pécs.  She was a new convert in Pécs and she just jumped for joy to know that I was in Szeged because she spends half of her time here in Szeged due to her sick father.  It was great talking to her once again.  We were able to talk and laugh and at the end, we taught her sweet father.  It was a great time. After that, we headed back to the city center and set up a table with various church signs around it.  We were streeting and doing this right next to a natural fountain of mineral water.  It was so great and we met so many people just excited to meet with us.  We met a man in particular that truly impressed me.

His name is Charley and he was a homeless man sitting next to the fountain.  He was watching us for a while until he gather the courage to come up to me.  He simply asked, "What are you doing here."  I shared with him a message about the Book of Mormon to which he responded, "How can I receive one?"  I promised him if he would come to church, a book was his.  

To finish the conversation, he smiled, complimented my Hungarian and began speaking English!  This random homeless man was once a successful teacher, but through a series of events, life turned for the worse.

We exchanged smiles and parted ways.

Sunday-

Charley came!  This random man from the street came to church with the biggest smile on his face.  To see him, along with 7 other investigators at church just warmed my heart.  Szeged is already awesome and we have nothing but big plans for Charley and our great new families.  We finished the day with tracting and were able to teach a wonderful new girl.  She is a sweetheart and it was just great.

As for Elder Bracken, he is a stud and things are going fantastic.  Being a zone leader isn't much different from your average missionary, but it is getting to know more missionaries and helping them in their work.  Life is just great on this end and I am just smiling!

I love life!

Elder Jake Nelson