Hungary Week 81

WOW,

I was blindsided again by transfers!  I am leaving Dunaújváros and moving to a smaller city right outside of Budapest called Érd.  I am going there to get to know the area for a month, so I can get a new mission in mid March.  The only hard thing is that this is just like when I left Szeged, we went from pretty slow work, to 12 baptismal dates and I left right before many baptisms.  Here, as of the weekend, we have 13 baptismal dates and we are planning on having 4-6 baptisms on the 15th of March.  It is just hard to leave right before seeing their miracle of baptism and the results of all the hard work.  I am sure the Lord has a plan for me though.

This last week, we had stellar experiences.  Our days were full of adventure, plannings for zone training, zone trainings in Székesfehérvár and Pécs, a lot of programs, baptismal dates, miracles and joy.

In our zone trainings, we were able to focus mainly on two points:
1. What a successful missionary is
2. How to invite people to make one of the biggest changes in their lives, BAPTISM

We were able to use the experiences of all the people I have been able to split within the past couple weeks because with Elders Ralph, McCurdy and Brown, we set someone on baptismal date!  Elder Ralph just found the person who is on baptismal date, but we were challenging baptism the whole time we were together.  It was awesome to get the missionaries involved and have them share their experiences changing the lives of those they teach.  They all just seemed to glow!

At the end of the training, we challenged two things:
1. Watch the German baptismal challenge everyday for a week (a little clip from the Preach My Gospel DVDs)
2. To follow the 1-2-3 steps to conversion (1st program-contact the person and get to know them, 2nd program-soft baptismal challenge, 3rd program-baptismal date (Latest))

Miracles will come from this!

I also split with Elder McCurdy, the district leader in Pécs.  We were able to talk about EVERYTHING (goals, dreams, challenges, life, etc.).  It was just amazing because we were able to be EXTREMELY effective, set a baptismal date, have a bunch of programs and find some amazing people.

We met this HILARIOUS woman while tracting.  I told her that we brought some questions to ask everyone and asked a couple.  We talked about her religious background and what makes her happy and then she saw our name tags.  She flipped out and asked if we weren't Hungarian.  I broke into to English and asked, "Do you speak English?"  She just started flipping out with excitement, then went off on how she lived in Canada.  She asked if we could help her practice English and then she said, "There isn't much difference between Canadian and American English right?"  I then said, "Not too big of a difference, eh (Like a Canadian)."  She then laughed and said, "YEAH! F**king eh!"  Elder McCurdy and I couldn't help but burst out in laughter.  I haven't heard someone properly pronounce an English cuss word in a LONG TIME.  She was amazing though and we are going back to meet her family soon!

The work is just going fantastically.  People are excited to get baptized and we are seeing miracles on top of miracles.  I am going to miss Dunaújváros, but I know that it is going to be a great last weekend for Elder Jones.  His last weekend as a missionary will be a weekend full of baptisms and miracles; I hope I can come back for it.

I LOVE MY MISSION

Elder Jake Nelson

Hungary Week 80

OH MY GOSH!

This was a legendary week and one of the most blessed weeks of my mission and my life.  Our fasting and prayers were answered MULTIPLE times, we set many new baptismal dates with the future youth of this branch, I was able to make miracles with missionaries from our zone on splits and I am just floating on cloud 9 just thinking about all that is waiting for us in the not too distant future!  This truly is the time of the harvest and we are going to rock the city and zone before this transfer ends!  It is just hard to express my joy in words right now!

To start, I had an amazing split experience with Elder R, a missionary serving in my first area, Veszprém.  He is just a great young missionary in our zone.  He reminded me of myself when we went tracting here in Duna as he just sat on the edge of his seat ready to jump in and testify of the divinity of our message.  I started the split with the classic question, "What do you want to get out of our split?"  He looked at me and said, "I want to become a bolder missionary when meeting new people to teach."  Well, we did it!

We started the day with a 2 hour tracting block and found an amazing woman.  She opened the door with a smile and let us right in.  We went in and shared with her the restoration and our conversion stories.  She then accepted a return appointment so we could give her a copy of the Book of Mormon.  2 days later, when we went back, Elder Jones and I put her on baptismal date for April 5th.  I called Elder R right after and I could just hear the joy in his voice. He went into district meeting right after talking to me on the phone and was able to share his experience with his district.  I still get goose bumps thinking about it!

Another cool thing happened in result of splits, except this one is in regards to my splits with Elder Brown two weeks ago!  This weekend, Elder Jones and I were able to put R and L, two awesome girls around the age of 20, on baptismal date for March 15 along with I, the woman Elder Brown and I put on baptismal date.  When I was on splits with Elder Brown, we prayed about where to go at the late hour of 7:30 and we were prompted to go streeting.  When I parked, I saw R and L in the distance.  We were able to walk them home and teach them about the standards of the church (The Word of Wisdom and the Law of Chastity).  They were so excited to hear this!  To finish, we were able to offer a prayer for R's sick grandmother.  Long story short, these two girls continued in prayer and the grandmother was released this last weekend from the hospital!  

Well, we heard all of this on Saturday!  They came to our branch Farsang party (similar to Halloween) and we were able have a bunch of fun.  I was dressed up as a nerd and Elder Jones was dressed up as an archer.  After spending a little time playing the games with the branch, we pulled a member and the girls aside and were able to have an amazing program with them.  We talked about the power of prayer, the changes repentance can bring and the gift of baptism.  We gave them a baptismal date and L her own copy of the Book of Mormon.  We left with huge smiles that only got bigger when we saw them holding the Book of Mormon praying with gratitude in the parking lot.

I called Elder Brown and he was just so excited to hear.  I then encouraged him to help É, one of his baptismal dates, get ready for March 15 as well so he can come back for some baptismal interviews with the people we helped come closer to Christ on splits.  I can hardly wait!

I don't have much time, but I have an AMAZING last experience to share about M, an awesome 18 year old girl we meet with.  We met with her family a couple weeks ago and gave her a Book of Mormon and shared the promise in it.  Since then, it has been hard to get a hold of her, but a week ago, from today, she called!  We were able to meet her while she was here in Duna.  We met her at a small restaurant and she poured out all the miracles she had experienced since we met!  

She tried the promise and with the biggest smile, she looked at us and said, "I got the peace and happiness you were talking about!"  Elder Jones and I couldn't help but freak out in joy.  She then said, "This weekend I had a dream and I was baptized while wearing white." 

Elder Jones and I dropped our jaws, not only because that is an AMAZING experience, but because we began a fast on SATURDAY NIGHT.  We put her on baptismal date on spot for March 15.  My heart is just so full of gratitude!

Miracles happen I tell you!  All it takes is a little faith!

Have a great week everyone!  Make a miracle!

Sok szeretettel,

Elder Jake Nelson

Hungary Week 79

MIRACLES!  

I am so happy right now.  Time flies too fast on the mission, but all you can do is love each and every moment.  We had an epic week though!  It was full of adventure, miracles and new baptismal dates!

To start, I was able to go on splits with my old companion from Szombathely, Elder Brown.  It was so awesome to see him again.  He is district leader down in Kaposvár, so he came up to Dunaújváros with his companion to experience the miracles of Duna!  It was nice to catch up on life and everything.  It was so crazy to hear him speak because he was just a young missionary when I saw him last.  Now, he is almost in his 11th transfer! 

We had a day packed of programs.  The pinnacle of the day was meeting with an amazing woman named I.  She is about 65 and one of the most open women I have ever met.  Elder Jones and I tracted into her on Thursday and she pulled out her Book of Mormon that she received 10-20 years ago.  Her receiving of the Book of Mormon inspired her to buy one of her first Bibles as well. 

After meeting on Thursday, we asked to come back the next day.  Elder Brown and I taught the Restoration to I and she was just so accepting.  The spirit filled the room and after breaking down some scriptures, we invited her to be baptized on March 15 and she graciously accepted.  It was amazing to see her smile radiating the room.  After accepting, she asked us if she could come to church!  Elder Brown and I just looked at her with our jaws dropped.  AMAZING program.  

After our splits, Elder Jones and I kept going in boldness and challenged a couple we met a week and a half ago to join I on March 15th and be baptized.  They accepted with huge smiles.  

Elder Jones and I also just saw miracles on miracles finding new people and meeting with current investigators this last week.  We were literally hurrying from program to program. 

We were very excited as Sunday rolled around because many people were set on coming to church, but Dunaújváros was then hit with a HUGE ice storm.  We woke up in the morning and our car was covered in ice.  We spent the first part of our day chipping away at the windshield.  After getting in the car, I rolled down the windows revealing an ICE WINDOW!  It was so cool to look at!  We just poked it and it shattered everywhere.  

We showed up for our mission meeting at 7:30, but no one was there.  The branch president was thinking about cancelling church, but the Lord came through for us and a few of the members were able to make it out.  Our 10 investigators planning on coming slowly dropped call by call.  In the end, one of our 65 year old investigators got up the bravery to make it out along with that amazing couple we put on baptismal date this last week.  The Sisters had 2 investigators as well, making the investigator to member ratio very split.  It was definitely a miracle Sunday!

Miracles on miracles.  I am just so grateful for my mission.  I am sure that these last couple months will hold so many memories.  I am so grateful to be here.  I feel like I have finally come to terms with my mission coming to an end and I have found a good balance.  I recognize that the Lord has great things in store from me after my mission, but I want to live these last months even better than the first.  I want to make miracles and I am just living and loving the moment I am in now.  It is a good even keeled balance and trust in the Lord's eternal plan for me.  

Smile this week everyone!  Miracles are coming our way!

Sok szeretettel,
Elder Jake Nelson

 

Hungary Week 78

HEY!!!

Sorry if my email is a little shorter this week.  There is some computer problems with the place we are emailing, but I still want to share a miracle or 2!

I had quite a week full of ups, downs and blessings.  The beginning was a little more interesting.  In one day, a strange man answered his door naked and later I saw him by his apartment complex and he grabbed my bottom!  Elder Jones got in the way of me turning around and hitting him, but needless to say, interesting beginning to the week.  The spirit must have helped us out in that situation!

The Lord blessed us after our interesting experience though!  We were able to find some really amazing people and meet more of that AMAZING family from Michigan.  They are SO prepared and these things are the perfect help for them.  It was very needed considering 4 of the 5 people at church 2 weeks ago were sick with the flu, not including the additional 3-4 investigators with the flu.  So we weren't able to meet with all our amazing investigators, but due to our effective finding, our work is going to bounce back to even better than before.  The Lord works in mysterious ways.

I had a great split with Elder Alldredge.  He was a very good friend of mine in the MTC and it was refreshing catching up on things and see the changes we have made since being in the mission field.  He was up in Budapest and I went up with him.  It was a "Sons of Mosiah" experience for me, I was just so happy to see him sticking strong to the gospel and see where he is now. 

I have been able to reflect on my mission a lot lately.  I am nothing but so happy about the work and the standard I set for myself from the first day of my mission and I intend on nothing other than achieving newer heights and greater things before my time as a missionary quickly passes.  I have been so blessed and the Lord just gives me a greater and greater testimony that this is His work.  The Lord gives us vision, but the application is placed all upon the person.  Looks like I have a lot of work to do, so I better get working fast!

I love you all!  Have a great week everyone!

Elder Jake Nelson

Hungary Week 77

HELLO!

Emailing is sometimes very long, but it is pretty great!  This week was a great one!  We were able to see miracles on top of miracles!  

It all started on Tuesday after emailing, we got a little caught up in programs even though it was P-Day.  We had just stacked programs from 4 on.  The highlight of the night was meeting again with an amazing man.  Two weeks ago, due to the beginning of the year being a little more slow, we didn't have as many people at English Class.  I met one of the coolest guys ever, Z.  He is a family man who heard about our English Class a while ago and wanted to try it out.  

After starting the English Class, he opened up a bit and we just started talking because he was the only one who showed up for the advanced class.  We just talked about our families and we shared our backgrounds.  It was such a great opportunity to get to know him.

After a while, the topic shifted over to missionary work, naturally.  He wanted to know why I was here and what I wanted out of my experience.  He was touched and we finished the class with Moroni's promise for the spiritual message.  Well, this last Tuesday he came back!  I asked him at the end if we could visit his family and he accepted!

He has such an adorable family.  He has a little boy who was dressed up as Spiderman and I was able to show a picture of my nephew dressed up as Spiderman I so happened to have with me.  The little boy looked at it and was like, "Look mom!  He's like me!"  

After to getting to know one another, we were able to gather the two boys, Z and his wife together and sing "When there's love at home."  The spirit filled the room and the 2 boys listened intently.  It was a moment I won't forget.  At the end, we shared our testimonies of our Heavenly Father and planned with them to come back later.  It is moments like this that answer my questions of why I am where I am.  MIRACLES

After that, we were able to really help 2 families that are on baptismal date through the members!  We have been able to work with these amazing people for a while, but they have had a hard time finding confidence in their knowledge, because their baptisms are coming up soon.  We brought some members to simply share their conversion stories for a spiritual message and it seemed as though the people opened up and created some bonds with these church members they have hardly talked to.  It was fantastic.  

Miracles are happening here and I am just so happy.  Life and time is flying by too fast, but I am enjoying every moment of my mission.  I am where I need to be, and that is a great comfort.  The gospel is true and there are only more great things to be had next week.  

Smile this week everyone and make some memories!

Sok szeretettel,

Elder Jake Nelson

Elder Jones is getting in shape for the trip home!  He is in his last transfer so I whipping him into shape! 

Hungary Week 76

The transfer calls came!

I have been on the edge of my seat for a couple days now because I have no idea what's going to happen with the time I have remaining and the unexpected happened!  Elder Jones and I are staying together longer than any missionary companionship I have heard of coming from this mission.  We are staying together in Dunaújváros.  Everyone was prepared to say their farewells to us, but the Lord had different plans I guess.  We have already been together 12 weeks, so why not more!  It will be good though because we have many baptisms coming up this transfer and our investigators were scared to see us go, so we get to see a bunch more baptisms together.  

The strange thing is that I may be in Dunaújváros for a VERY long time now.  We have 9 week long transfers, but there are mini transfers thrown in the middle due to missionaries going home due to the big switch between 6 week and 9 week transfers.  Either way, Elder Jones goes home at the end of this 9 week transfer and if we stay together until the end, it means I get to stay here for 5 transfers and go home from here as well!  We will see what the Lord has in store for us though!

This last week, we saw MIRACLES.  We were able to find 9 new investigators and they all seem very excited.  We were able to find a lot of them from the area book, so they were people who met with the missionaries before, but for some reason or another stopped.  It was very nice!  We were also able to meet many people through tracting and referrals. 

I think the most randomly awesome people we found were some people from Detroit, Michigan!  It was a mother and son who have been living here for a couple years.  They were over at our investigator's house!  We walked in and saw them and introduced ourselves in Hungarian and then we realized the mom wasn't Hungarian.  Elder Jones then asked if they were from America, and the mom told us she was from Detroit.  She then called to her son and said, "Hey Americans" and the kid jumped up from the computer saying, "No way!  You are from America!"  It is awesome because they completely remind me of my aunt and cousin and Elder Jones' home town is only an hour away from them.  We are SUPER excited to meet with them again this week.

We also had a miracle as we tracted into an old investigator of the Sisters.  Elder Jones was going to baptize him on the day M was baptized, but he didn't show up to his baptism.  We never really knew what happened, but then on Friday night, the Sisters got a hold of him!  The very next day, Elder Jones and I looked up some investigators who met with the missionaries 1-2 years ago.  We were able to meet with them and set up a new appointment.  After meeting, we asked them if they had friends in the building we could talk to.  They didn't have too many referrals to give, but we still decided to tract out the building anyways.  On the last floor of the building, L opened up the door with the biggest smile.  Elder Jones and I started screaming and hugging him and he just laughed and invited us in.  He had some rough experiences in the meantime and just wasn't sure if the church was for him.  He started going to other churches and solidified his testimony that this is Christ's church!  He was at church the next day and going down the path again to enter into the waters of baptism.  AMAZING experience.

This week, we were also able to make mission goals for the year of 2014.  It is amazing to see the work going the best it has in YEARS.  We looked at spreads from the past 15 years and we are seeing unilateral increases in all aspects of the work.  It is just astounding to see the miracles the Lord has in store and has already made for the people here in Hungary!  We are getting more missionaries, the leaders in our mission are leading through example and we are seeing a zest for the work that is contagious.  Things really are picking up and there is nowhere to go but up.

I have been able to do a lot of reflection this week as well.  I am just so grateful for my mission and the strength it has already been in my life.  My faith is moving forward in leaps and bounds.  I see the blessings and miracles I am given more and more as the days pass.  I truly know, from the bottom of my heart, that this is the church of Jesus Christ and only through the knowledge and faith this gospel gives can one find that true and lasting happiness we all seek.  

Have a miracle of a week everyone and don't forget to smile!  

Sok szeretettel,
Elder Jake Nelson

Hungary Week 75

Hey everyone!

The holidays are over!  I never thought I would be excited to get back to a regular week.  I am a strange one, what can I say, but this week was so great!  It was full of miracles and happiness.

Monday was awesome!  We were able to extend a baptismal challenge to the head of an awesome family.  I, his wife K and their mother M are going to be baptized on the 1st of March.  The baptismal dates are just flowing in our companionship and throughout our zone.  It has really been amazing to see all the miracles extending from our hard work.  The only strange thing is getting closer and closer to setting baptismal dates towards the very end of my mission.  Oh well, I just have to enjoy the time I have!

Tuesday and Wednesday were very interesting.  We had our P-day from Tuesday night through Wednesday and when we started tracting on Tuesday morning I knew why.  The city was SHUT DOWN.  The apartments and homes were either empty or full with people for a big party.  As the night rolled around, more and more people seemed to roll out. 

Elder Jones and I were able to attend a branch party!  There was food, games and fun!  It brought back memories with my family as I played the board game "Ticket to Ride" with some church members. 

After the party, we arrived home for curfew at 10 (For the holiday) and read the Book of Mormon.  We were given a challenge by President Teixeira's wife at the beginning of November to read the entire Book of Mormon before the end of the year and on the night of the 31st, we finished!  At 11:45 I knelt down to pray about the Book of Mormon and the Lord, once again, gave me that answer I desired.  The Book of Mormon really is true!  There is nothing more sweet than a testimony about these things.

Wednesday, we were able to play some board games in the branch house with the sisters and make cupcakes for M's birthday (The woman who was just baptized on December 28th).  Her face lit up as the four of us showed up with the delicious dessert.  It was a memory for sure!

Thursday, I was in Pécs!  I had some AMAZING experiences with Elder Weaver and a church member.  M is 20 and was just baptized.  We met with him around noon and then told him about our plans to go tracting the rest of the day.  He quickly asked if he could come as well.  

While traveling I talked to him about serving a mission and how much help it could be in his life and he seemed to just brush it off and change the subject, but of course I didn't just let it go!  He said he wouldn't want to serve because people don't listen, so I made him a deal that if tracting went well, that he would serve a mission.  Well, he accepted!  

We got into the first building we saw with the first bell.  After that, we met with MANY people, only to have 4 people say they weren't interested in a jungle of 20 or more doors.  After, I simply looked at him with a smile and he said, "FINE!  You were right, there are nice people."  I can't wait to see where he gets called to!

Friday and Saturday were full of adventures.  We were able to meet with a lot of great people and see miracles on miracles.  Doors were opened and we were able to meet with many.  One of our Sisters also got very sick, so we were able to get her to the branch house and get her a blessing.  I love blessings!  Then, with doctor’s orders, we were able to go to the store and get all the things she needed.  

Sunday was so much fun!  We had some awesome people at church as well!  My favorite was 2 girls about our age.  We met with their mom and things just didn't seem to work out because she had suffered a stroke and has a hard time understanding the concepts of the gospel due to the trauma she has suffered.  As we were leaving our last program with the mom, we ran into them!  They were coming back and we simply invited them to church.  They laughed and said "We are totally going to go."

Long story short, they came!  They showed up a little late and seemed very tired due to a party they were at the night before, but the church members just smiled and made friends with them fast.  It was really awesome to see.

After church, we still had a long ways to go to achieve our goals, but 7 hours of work later, we came home dead tired and with smiles of fulfillment.  It was a great day!  Most definitely full of adventures, ups and downs, but it was one to remember!  

Life is great on this end, but I can't wait to see what the Lord has for me next.  Transfers are next week, so I will have P-day on Tuesday, so I will make sure to share the news!  

Have a great week everyone and remember to smile!

Elder Jake Nelson