Monday, May 30, 2016

MIÚJSÁG MINDENKI?? HOGY VAGYTOK? remélem anyurra nagyserű :) what a fantastic week to be a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Carrying a microwave through budapest is acually my preferred method of  travel

Kedd:
I CAN STAY IN THE COUNTRY. So i think the scariest thing in the world is going to the Hivatal. Oh my heavens those people are intense. and i actually missed the class in the mtc where we talked about extensive government vocabulary. But, luckily for me, Elder Anderson is the best human being in the world and came and translated for me, and made it so i am LEGAL!!!!!!!! Isten meg aldd a Magyart. 
Swenson Nover is legal!!


szerda:
So serda was crazy. we had 4 lessons right in a row and i literally felt like a missionary in America ;) haha but also that night we decided to try out a new fagyi place (best decision) but in the apartments above the belvaros there were these people talking across the way to each other, IN ENGLIGH. haha you dont just casually hear English walking around the streets of hungary! so of course me and Withers went and talked to them and they were the coolest people. One of the guys had lived in székes for 13 years and he said he always sees us missionaries and "our coworkers" haha but he said it was incredible how fast we pick up the language. that is my FAVORITE thing when people say that, cause it is a perfect lead in to how that is tejesen nem lehet isten nelkül. (completly impossible without God) 

Csutörtök:
Withers and Swenson in Budapest
Barbi and alex. They are the most rendes Hungarians i've met ever. They are this young couple (23 and 24) and Barbi is a member and Alex is an investigator. I honestly just felt like we were hanging out with them. then we went to Agis and once again she fed us a FEAST and sent us home with the leftovers. Hungarian food is outstanding. This week was rako krumpli (my fav)


péntek:
SPLITS IN BUDAPEST. first of all. the Elders had this FANTASTIC idea to have us carry this microwave to the mission home, along with our bags for splits. we were THRILLED. and it wasn't even four thousand degrees!! but the STLS came and helped us so don't fret. Right after that me and Adams Nővér went to a lesson to a less active who knows the church is true, but she doesn't have a testimony of the Book of Mormon or Joseph Smith.....? not sure how that works out. haha but i adoooore Sister Adams!!! We were literally laughing the whole entire time. and she took me to the American store and we got REESES. God bless America. God bless reeses. 
Adams Nover and Swenson Nover

Szombat:
So i live in the BEAUTIFUL country of Hungary, and before going home for splits we got to go see the Parlament building up close. I absoutely wish pictures could do it any justice. seriously i sat there like stunned with the beauty. Holy cow i want every single one of you to see it with your own eyes. then we went to the Baszilika which is the biggest Catholic church in all of Hungary. Once again holy cow. also, you guys, we have had MIRACLES these past weeks. we had a mision wide fast last week to help us share the message of the Book of Mormon with the people of Hungary, and let me tell you, fasting works. we have had so many let ins this week, and so many opportunities 

The Parliament building



Vasárnap:
ZOLTAN CAME TO CHURCH. Zoltan is just our little miracle seriously. if you don't remember,  Zotan is this like 68 year old bácsi that we tracted into and he let us in on the first csengő. He looked adorable all dressed up in his suit. the whole entire time i was just freaking out praying that he would feel the spirit and that branch would welcome him, and after he told us how nice everyone was, and how much he liked it. we taugh him the plan of salvation and he just accepted every single thing. he is a MIRACLE. also sunday we got another let it, cecilia néni. When we shared our message with her she just started crying and said how she was feeling so alone and asked us how she knew she needed this message? isnt it amazing how the lord prepares people??

Everyone go and read Mosiah 2-4, King Benjamins address. seriously that i the most powerful conference talk i have ever heard. I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY. LOVE YOU ALL. 


SZERET MINDIG
Swenson Nővér



1.  Did you get your package?

nooooooo :( and i probably wont until transfers, but its okay!!

2.  What did you do for Pday today?

shopping and cards with the elders

3.  Were you able to get some new shoes yet?

YES. and they are the cutest and most comfiest things in the whole world. THANK YOU SO MUCH
4.  Where are the elders in your district from?

anderson is from bountiful, and aardema is from ogden hahaha 

5.  How much time do you guys spend in language training a day?

ususally an hour!

7.  Do you have any young women in your branch?

yeaaaah like 4!

8.  Do you know your exact address?  I would love to google earth you!!

i actually dont..... the belvaros is fő utca in székesfehérvár, so if that helps!!

9.  Have you ever done splits with the sister training leaders?
 
yes yes!!! haha seeeee the above email!

10.  Did you know that your eyes SPARKLE.  Seriously...leap off the page sparkle!!

Monday, May 23, 2016

Szia szia sziiiiiiiiia barátaim és a családom "Hello Hello my friends and Family"



This week was such an awesome week for me and Withers!! our time is FLYING by together and I hope i never ever have to have a new companion! 
Withers Nover and Swenson nover!!!



This week started out with another Zone training. Zone trainings are always so much fun because you get to see everyone and travel around the beautiful cities of Hungary. If you think the pictures I send are pretty, try being in a bus looking at all of the rolling hills, and greens, and just beautiful landscape of Hungary! i WISH pictures could do it justice :(
MTC reunion.  Happy Day

We recieved a random call this week and we had to go into Budapest to give sister Simkins her boot that she was letting Withers nővér use. WE love love trips to Budapest :) I also have a serious problem, and its called "I cant wear shirts that don't have a collar on them" and so I was super stressed for summer! but ne fejl, csak higgy we found some perfect short sleeve collered shirts and life can go on once more. (I know you were all SUPER worried) We then made a trip to Subway, and life was just fantastic :)

Okay so we basically had a MIRACLE week. I don't know about everyone else's missions, but in Hungary, it is literally impossible to get let in while tracting. But this week we decided to redo some 10 stories and try and get the people we missed, and we got let in ON THE FIRST CSENGŐ. two of the most rendes people i've ever met in my life, and we were able to give them a Book of Mormon. then oh you know, just THE NEXT DOOR WE KNOCKED also let us in and this Néni was telling us about how she has never even heard of the Mormon church, and she was looking for something more in her life because she hates the political sadness of Hungary. does the Lord prepare people or what? What a miracle. 



Sunday was probably the best day of my liiiiiiiiife. We have an less active, Sós Balázs, and HE CAME TO CHURCH!!!! I dont think i have ever felt happier in my whole entire life!! it was amazing and the branch was so helpful and we just love him so much! That is such a big step for Balázs! Us missionaries also sang during sacrament and it was beautiful and there wasn't a dry eye in the room ;)


After church Withers Nővér and I took our guitar and ukelele out into the bellváros and sang hymns and had our book of mormons all set up with a sign saying TAKE ONE!!! safe to say we were definitely noticed, and we were able to get out two book of mormons!!! MIRACLES UPON MIRACLES PEOPLE. 

I have been thinking a lot this week about trusting in Heavenly Fathers plan for us here on this earth. I think i've said this a thousand times, but i cannot do this without my Heavenly Father. I think that is something i definitely took for granted before my mission. I think it is just incredible that we have a Father in Heaven, and a Savior that have a perfect plan for us in our life. The quote that i've been thinking about a lot is from last conference by David. L Hallstrom "You can have what you want in life, or you can have something better" I don't have a doubt in my mind that my Heavenly Father has the perfect plan for me. I truly need his help, and his guidance, and his strength, every single day of my life. How incredible that that is all he wants to give to us in our lives as well. I know that having a testimony of this gospel changes peoples lives. I see it every single day. 

best mission. best week. best life. 

anyura boldog vagyunk. 

Sok szeretet,
Swenson Nővér

1.  Pday today?  What amazing things did you do?"
Withers hurt her knee super bad at sport nap, so just groceries and cleaning! 

2.  Is your companion able to run with you yet?
:(
3.  How far do you think you walk every day?
hahahah probably at least 5 miles!

4.  Are there a lot of different nationalities in your city that you talk with?
not tons!!! mostly just hungarian!

5.  How often do you get fed by members, others every week?
haha nulllaaaa
6.  How far away are the closest set of sister missionaries?
in vesprém, but they just died :(

7.  Do you have plenty of blankets?  Are you staying warm?
yep yep yep :)

8.  Do they publish the Ensign in Hungarian?  Do you get an English Ensign to read?
i believe so!!!!
9.  Can you listen to talk tapes?
YES. and you should send me those, and david archuleta! my mission is super chill with music!! so as long as it is uplifting its all god!

10.  Did you know that you have the world's biggest heart.  You are just the most loving giving person ever.!!!!

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Miújsag mindenki????

Miújsag mindenki????

3 months dooooooooooooooooown!!! and What a week here in székesfehérvár!! 

We started out the week with an adventure. haha My comp and I got on a bus to go see our investigator Andréa and on the way, Withers had this idea to get familiar with the area while we were on the bus, just in case we wanted to tract over here someday. So,  we kept going for like 20 minutes, and I had this feeling like we needed to write the street names down. we wrote them down and got familiar with everything, then totally realized WE WERE ON THE WRONG BUS. hahah ahhh luckily the Spirit saved the day and we had everything written down!! that ended up being probably one of the best days of my mission! we were able to go tracting at these adorable little családi házak and we just had such a great time being lost haha.



A little lost in Hungary


Yesterday we had the most AMAZING DAY. so we have this perfect little recent convert named Regina, and she is 18 and she invited us, and like the whole branch over to her house for a hungarian BBQ for the Hunarian holiday we had yesterday. We started out with some archery (so cool right?) her dad is like a professional archer-er and he totally taught us how and it was such a blast. Then we had my first hungarian bbq and it was soooo exciting. what they do is they give you a big piece of literal fat, and you roast the fat over a fire and then let it drip onto your bread, and then you cut up paprikás, és tomatoes, és onions and it is just the most delicious thing you've ever tasted. yay for hungarian food :) suuuper fun day and super fun to get to know the branch even better. 







I also want to talk about a couple of my investigators really quick! i have this one investigator named Paczur Balász who I just am so invested in. I feel like I am on a mission TO HELP HIM. He is such a hard investigator, and  he always has so many questions, but this week we had the most amazing lesson with him. the spirit in that room was so strong and i think we really sparked something within him! We had this huge spiritual prompting to tell him to read the whole Book of Mormon, and that we will do it with him,  so i will let you know how that goes. I just adore him with my whole world. Another little miracle we have is Zoltan. Zoltan is this bácsi who can just talk your little ear off. We went tracting one day and he was the first one we csengőd!! he is super religious, LOVES God. is SO accepting of everything we have taught him. were super excited about him!!! such an adorable guy. 

I love this gospel. I am so thankful for my mission. missions are inspired and we are all exactly where we should be. I hope everyone has the best week possible!!!! I'm praying for you all!!!!!

Szeret mindig
Swenson Nővér


A few Pictures from the week:
Lindsi and her amazing companion

First apartment in Hungary


1.  Pday activities today?
just a lot of shopping and cleaning, we needed a day of rest hahah 

2.  What do you usually do for your district meeting?
nothing crazy, just some spiritual thoughts and stuff!! but exciting news! murphy from my MTC district is joining my district next week so were super excited!

3.  Are you keeping a good journal?
zep!!!!!

4.  What is your favorite thing about your companion...Be specific.
she is just always so happy and so fun and so understanding and just makes my daily life SO much fun! she seriously is amazing and i am SO lucky!! 

5.  Are you thinking in Hungarian yet?
hahahah i might wanna try being able to speak it first haha 

6.  What is your favorite "Hungarian" food that you have eaten yet?
Rakko Krumpli ohhhhhhhh my so good!

7.  Do you run in to any dogs while you are tracking?
dogs. are. scary. hahahah yes yes we have. and dogs do not like misisonaries!!

8.  What is something that you learned during personal study this week?
PATIENCE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THINK IN THIS WHOLE WORLD. 

9.  Do you know when the next time you will be in Budapest is?  I am getting this here little packager all ready to send to you....Just wondering.
the 27th i believe!! transfers are on the 12 of june so then as well!

10.  I absolutely love the way you write your letters.  Your sweet personality comes through with every sentence.  Keep up the good work.
i adore youuuuuuu!

Monday, May 9, 2016

BOLDOGSÁG MINDEN NAP :) Translation: Happiness Every Day



Boldog vagyok lenni itt, Magyarorsagon. Sok aldás. De, Sziastok mindenki! Reméylem minden jo! 

This week was just seriously fire, and full of sooo many amazing things. First of all, I have bought every single one of you a plane ticket to Hungary, because i decided you all need to come here and experience the beauty of this place, because my pictures just simply do not do it justice. like holy COW. you guys I am so blessed. 
Greeny Training

We started off the week with GREENY TRAINING. I got to see my MTC family one more time :´) They are all doing so well and it was crazy fun to see them and hear all of their stories. Also my Mission President and his wife are my favorite people. They both talked about our purpose here as missionaries and it made me so excited to get out, and work. haha weird right?;) but they're just amazing and I am just super blessed. After greeny training we stayed over night with the STLs and went on splits. The STL apartment is a joke it is so niiiiiiiice. haha like they have heated floors. but we made Rakott Krumpli, the yummiest thing in the whole entire world :´) and it was super fun to talk and get to know them. The second day of splits we had the most INSANE hail storm. haha like the hail was legitimately the size of a golf ball, so super safe yes I know haha. 

So i actually don't want to get kicked out of the country of Hungary, so we had to go to the Hivatal this week. it. was. terrifying. haha we had to bring Elder Anderson to translate, because i missed the part in the MTC where we studied intensive immigration vocabulary. 



We went to visit a member in Siófok. She is just the greatest thing. she's a single mom and has, THE MOST ADORABLE 3 year old boy who i just played with the whole entire time. Also, on a side note, its a super humbling experience when a three year old speaks better hungarian than you hahahaha but The Balaton is in Siófok. the Balaton is the biggest lake in eastern Europe and that thing is just beyond stunning. I would describe the city as a Eurpeon bear lake. I promise you i will live there when i am older. haha i also bought you all tickets to come and see that as well, so dont fret. 




Obviously yesterday was the best day ever CAUSE I GOT TO SKYPE MY AMAZING FAMILY. Seriously everyone go and give their Moms another big mother's day hug because you do not know what you've got until you live on A DIFFERENT CONTINENT. And i'm sorry everone, but my mom is kinda the best human being that has ever lived on the face of this earth.
PDay castle hunting







Ive been studying patience a lot this week. I think one of the hardest thing is being patient with yourself. I also think that's one of Satans biggest tools he uses to make us think that were not good enough. GO READ D&C 6:32-33. basically what i've summed up is that God loves us. We are given trials and hard things to make us much better than we could become. My favorite quote from conference, I dont remember who said it i'm so so sorry, but it said "we can have what we want, or we can have something better" God has a perfect plan for all of us. Dont ever forget that okay? how cool that someone knows us better than we could know ourselves.  We are so blessed to be a part of this gospel. I am so blessed to be a missionary. I love you ALL, and pray for you individually in my prayers. 

szeret mindig,
Swenson Nővér

1.  So, what did you do for Pday today?
oh you know, just casually went to A CASTLE. it was unbelievably gorgeous. i will send pictures dont you even worry. 

2.  Do you email your mission president every Pday?
yep!

3.  How long have the Elder's in your district been out?
Anderson dies next transfer :( but Aardema is just one transfer ahead of me!

4.  Have you talked Withers Nover into going to BYU yet?
YES. she doesnt really have a choice haha weve already planned our whole lives after our mission together haha 

5.  What is your favorite part of the day?
Lessons!!! 

6.  How long do you run when you run?
usually like 13 miles? haha i think im funny. no only like 3!

7.  What did you have for breakfast this morning?
Müzli duhhhh :)

8.  Is the bread good there?  Can you get good wheat bread?
YES. oh my heavens its the reason i exist. 

9. Any ideas where I should look for Boxy dresses?
piper and scoot.com Rolee.com, Im sure erin would have a good idea!! just comfy, CUTE, dresses to wear in the summer!

10.  You my dear have the sweetest, happiest heart!!  Keep up the good work!!
i love love love you! it was so fun to talk to you yesterday!!

Tuesday, May 3, 2016

sziastok a családom és a barátaim :)


Re: Happy May 2016!!!


sziastok a családom és a barátaim :)  

HOGY VAGY MINDENKI?! ahh i love and miss you all like crazy! sorry sorry i forgot to tell you that we would be emailing on a tuesday this week, and possibly every week after this, so stay posted haha. also two real quick things this email is gonna be rough. haha the Hungarian keyboard has the y and the z switched, and its on hungarian mode so every word i spell has that nice little red line under it.. so i just apologize in advance haha. also i am just for sure going to do my email this week as a day by day, so sok sikért! 

kedd:
You know our investigator Andréa? we had another lesson with her and she just said the cutest thing in the whole entire world. ahhh we asked her if we could end with a prayer, and then she looked at us, and said "no you can't..... because if you pray, then youll leave" hahah ahh i think my heart was just shattered into a million pieces i adore her so much. Also we had the weirdest thing happen haha we recieved this call on our phone from an American number, and we answered and my trainer started speaking english, so i was super confused, and it turned out to be my teacher from the MTC Robinson Testvér, and he and his parents were in hungary, and he came and took me and my comp, and elder aardema and his comp out to some fagyi! it was sooo fun to see him and talk to him about hungary and get some final advice from him.



Szerda:
BOLDOG SZÜLETÉS WITHERS NŐVÉR. wednesday was suuuch a fun day! it was withers nővérs 20th birthday and we also had zone training in dunaújváros. it was such a blast because i got to see some of my mtc family and the zone leaders are just incredible. we started rereading the book of mormon again and highlighting in different colors 1. every time it talks about the savior, or refers to him 2. the saviors words 3. christlike attributes and 4. doctrine so it has been super fun to see how much the book of mormon is centered on our savior jesus christ. That night we got home a lot later than we thought we would, but i just had this really strong feeling that we needed to go tracting still, and so we walked in the pouring rain to another 10 story and GUESS WHAT. we got our first let it!!!! ahhh his name is gabór and he is the coolest guy ever. he also promised hed come to church so well see what happens there. but the lord truly truly does lead us to those who are prepared to hear the gospel.









csütörtök:
I GOT MY NEW GUITAR. ahhhh thank you thank you mom and dad. i will send pictures it is my favorite thing in the whole entire world. My companion has a ukelele and we are going to table sometime this week and sing hungarian hymns. seriously its the best thing ever. also we had a lesson with Sos Balász this week. He is a less active who actually served his mission in hungary. My companion and i are so invested in Balász. He has a testimony, he is just super lazy. Today we actually had another lesson with him, and we decided we needed to be just super bold with him so we shared with him the talk by M. Russell Ballard "stay in the boat" you guys, it is so important that we do the little things every single day in our lives. by praying, reading the scriptures, and going to church that is truly how we are converted, and stay converted.



i just decided that the rest of my week is exciting to me, but probably not to you guys at home! haha i seriously love this Gospel. and i love my mission. and i LOVE my companion. Seriously i want every single one of you to meet her and to be her best friend because she is amazing. Our Heavenly father has a plan for each and every single one of us. If you ever are wondering about that, go take some time and read your patriarchal blessings. Every single time i read that guy I always feel myself thinking "why on earth do i ever worry about anything in my life? i KNOW that Heavenly Father has my back." what amazing hope this gospel can bring into our lives. 




Answers to Mom's Questions:


1.  Pday activities today?

Nothing crazy exciting!! we went bowling and cleaned our whole apartment!! 

2.  How was your zone conference?
the best best best everrrrr

3.  What do you usually eat for dinner?
me and my companion are obsessed with eggs hahaha so usually eggs 

4.  How big is your apartment?  Do you have any pictures you can show me?
shoot i suck no i dont!! ill send pictures next week!!

5.  Where is your companion going to college?
im convincing her oto go to BYU!! but probably byu or uvu!

6.  Were you able to see any of your MTC district at the zone conference?
yep yep ill attatch pictures!

7.  What is one of your favorite things you studied this week during personal study?
Alma 34-36. i literally just want to be alma and amulek they are the coolest people ever. 

8.  Do you go to your branch/ward youth activities?
hahah theres not much of a branch youth, but we go to sport nap yes :)

9.  Are you the only missionaries in your branch/ward?
yep, just us and the elders!!


10. Did you know that you have the sparkiliest/happiest eyes I have ever seen.  They jump out of the page.!!
love you to Hungary and back :)