Wednesday, November 30, 2016

#LIGHTtheWORLD

#LIGHTtheWORLD

I dont know if you know much about the Church's Christmas initiative this year, but it is called #LIGHTtheWORLD. If you havent watched this yet, PLEASE do. here is the link: https://www.mormon.org/christmas/light-the-world?play=hero





What an amazing week to be a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.



So first of all. Thanksgiving is over and it is CHRISTMAS time. and Hungary does not mess around.

 

The streets here are lined with these adorable little log house looking things with people selling hot chocolate, kürtös kalács, scarves, christmas gifts, and I am kinda obsessed with walking through the belváros.



I had the most traditional thanksgiving of ordering pizza and gyros to a branch house in Veszprém Hungary for a district meeting, nothing too different from what i would usually do at home. 


I have exciting news!!! Okay so Sister Evans and I have had this feeling all transfer like we need to meet with this less active member named Izsó Teri, and she has a daughter named Aniko that sometimes sits in on our lessons (side note there is also this man who lives with her named Attila, and anytime we meet with her and he is there Evans and I just die because that means he is going to cook us some sketchy meal. yayyyyyy. also last time we asked him to get in a picture with us and he said "do you know what the indians think about getting a picture taken? it steals your soul, so no i will not be in your picture") anyway, last time we met with Aniko in the middle of the lesson just said "i would like to be baptized" hahah whaaaaaat this stuff doesnt happen in real life does it?! we are so so excited about it.  



For a little bit i want to talk about JOY. I read Russel M. Nelsons talk about Joy this week and i just cannot even tell you how much that stuck out to me.
"My dear brothers and sisters, The joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives, and everything to do with the focus of our lives" what are we focused on? If i am here on my mission and all i think about is my family, and how hard this investigator is, or what I could be doing at home, where is my joy? I can tell you guys that if we put forth the effort in our lives to look towards christ, and really find the pure JOY that this gospel can offer us, we really really will be happier. i can tell you guys this, because i have experienced it. The atonement of Christ is so real. I used to get so caught up in trying to live my life 100 percent perfect, and then just hating myself when I fell short, but that is the opposite of Christs atonement. We enter a partnership with christ. He is PERFECT. so we do not have to be. We can make mistakes, but what we cant do is live in those mistakes. We need to pick ourselves up, and really actually try to be better everyday, and through Christs Atonement, guess what? we can ALL make it to the celestial kingdom. every single one of us. every single one!


Sok szeretettel, 
Swenson Nővér



Monday, November 14, 2016

Like my good friend Jon Bon Jovi once said, "Wah, were halfway there". howwwwww have I been on a mission for 9 months?






Well we just had an amazing week this week, In just this short time we were able to find 4 new investigators!! I absolutely contribute this to Our Heavenly father, and us trying our very hardest to follow the spirit in our work. on a little side note though, i might, just miiiiight have taught someone in an insane asylum. just maybe. still not sure. but hey, everyone deserves the gospel right? 



Every time we go tracting, we pray and we ask our Heavenly Father to guide us to where we need to go, and to help us say what we need to say, and to speak this crazy langauge haah. We had planned to go to this one 10 storey to tract, and on the way there, I  had this really weird feeling, and I just felt like we should turn, and tract in this specific building. I asked Sister Evans if she agreed, and she did. We tracted this building, and we found this incredible lady named Marta Néni. We were able to have an amazing discussion with her about Christ, and a little bit about the plan of salvation. It was honestly adorable. She brought out her journal and read us this letter she wrote to her children telling them all about Christ, and all about how he suffered for our sins, and how we should always remember him, and thank him for that. We were also able to give her a Book of Mormon, and schedule to meet with her again.

After that Sister evans and I continued our tracting, and a couple of floors down we knocked on this ladys door. At first she looked like she was going to yell at us, but then she just started bawling and  said "Isten Küldte titeket hozzám" which means, "God send you two to me" it was amazing to testify to her that God literally did send us to her, like literally. he stopped me dead in my tracts and gave me the impression to tract in her specific building. It was an amazing testimony strengthener for me, and for Sister Evans. Immediately after that door we said a prayer to our Heavenly Father thanking him for allowing us to have that experience. This work brings me so much joy. I am so happy to be a missionary. 



1.  Pday activity?
CASTLES



2.  Do you do much contacting on the trains?
uhm, not really!! we should though!

3.  Did you get your Thanksgiving package from the Ward?
yes it made my whole entire life. seriously thank you so much!

4.  When you write in your journal do you use different colored pens?
actually haha funny question, i was literally thinking about this yesterday. the journal i'm writing in right now I only use black 7 point pilot pens (probably because i have OCD) but in my other one i did. 

5.  Did you have a meal at any member's home this week?  What did they make?
yes, she made us gúlás(basically just like soup) , and palacsintas.(basically crepes) seriously so good. 

6.  What do you usually make yourself for breakfast, Lunch?
breakfast, I usually take plain greek joghurt, put some honey in it, cut up an apple and a banana and put oats in it. im kinda obsessed with it right now. 

7.  Are the elders in the same town as you?  How do you divide it up?
yes they are! we basically just split the city in half

8.  Do Hungarians pay any attention to the American election?
... yes hahahaha 

9.  Have you heard how good the Utes are doing at football this year?  Pretty exciting!!
yes spencer gives me updates everyweek (SHOUTOUT SPENCER WHADDUP)

10.  Did you know that your mommy thinks about you a million times a day?  LOVE YOU SO MUCH....So, so much!!!
Do you know i probably think about you guys a million and two times? love you more!

Tuesday, November 8, 2016

I purchased a Giraffe onsie





Things that happened: 
- we commandered a taxi this week
- we missed our train back to hungary and had to sleepover in budapest
- I GOT TO SEE GIRAFFES 
- i let a hungarian cut my hair.
- I purchased a Giraffe Onsie




WHERE DOES TIME GO? This week we had spliiiits in the lovely city of Budapest. It is always unreal to go to that city and just see this amazing country more. haha like really I have been on a mission for 9 months now, and it still doesn't get old. I got to split with Sister Lebaron who is my companions trainer right now. also we got to go with Sister Withers again and I only kind of adore her. 


I have been trying so hard to study, and to figure out the difference between allowing ourselves to be unperfect, but still pushing ourselves to be the best that we can be. The other day in my studies I was studying in 2 nephi 4 and it talks a lot about Nephi not yielding to the natural man, and not slacking his strength, and it kinda really explains that a lot. My mission is between me, and God.
My progression, my mistakes, who i am becoming, who i want to become, is between me and God. Some days i can be perfect Sister Swenson, and I can give 100 percent and I am happy with that at the end of the day. But somedays, I am Lindsi and my 100 percent that day is maybe a 75 percent on a perfect Lindsi scale. but thats okay. as long as everyday i am trying, and learning, and growing. This is not me making excuses for myself, I am fully aware of the fact that I am not perfect. Very aware of that, but I have also realized more the point of the atonement, and how to use it more effectively every single day. Jesus Christ doesn't expect me to be perfect, he doesn't expect me to not make mistakes, but he does expect me to realize my endless need for him, and his atonement. I have said this before, and I will say it again right now. I can not do this without him. I need his help. Only with my Savior can my mission be possible I love him. I am so thankful for his atoning sacrifice so that I dont have to be perfect, cause i can assure you, I would have failed. what an incredible, unfathomable person Jesus Christ was, and is. What a sacrifice. I am so grateful, and so humbled.  





2.  What is the dominant religion in Hungary?
probably katolikus, but maybe evangelikus? there are TONS of jehovas witnesses, and this weiiiiird sketchy religion called the hit gyülekezet 

3.  Do you go to three hours of church on Sunday, like here?
yes this branch is super rendes 
4.  How are your dresses/skirts holding out?
pretty good!
6.  Did you get your package from "The ward"?
haha uhm not yet!! 

7.  Is college free for Hungarians?
i dont think so! 

8.  How far would you say you walk every day?
i am actually not sure!! definitely a couple of miles!

9.  Are most of your contacts friendly to you?
uhm... sometimes hahahah 

10.  When I think of you, I just smile....Several times a day!!! LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!!

Saturday, November 5, 2016

I GOT TO GO TO SZÉKESFEHÉRVÁR THIS WEEK.

First and foremost, I GOT TO GO TO SZÉKESFEHÉRVÁR THIS WEEK. my district leader is in székes so we get to go there for district meetings and you could basically say it is my dream come true. I love that place wayy too much. 




We had a really cool experience this week. We found an investigator in the area book named Wallner Viola that met with the missionaries a while back. 
 In the area book there was all this information about how she was super prepared, but then she moved to Germany. I had the impression to call her and see if she could meet. It turns out that she lives in Hungary again, and she was so excited to meet with us. We went to her house, and planned to talk about the restoration, but the spirit lead me to talk about the plan of salvation, and to share with her a story that is very personal to my heart. I felt very prompted to tell her about Sadie Wells, and the plan of salvation. and i have never felt the spirit stronger as i testified that i know I will see her again, and that Heavenly Father has created a PERFECT plan for us in our lives. She was extremely touched and i am forever grateful for that experience. Viola also came to church the following sunday. She is really, really prepared, and I am so thankful that Heavenly Father is trusting her in our hands. 


Saturday we did service in the branch house garden, Then we had this "Meet the mormons" night where we watched Meet the Mormons and talked all about why the Book of Mormon is fontos, and what it means to us. 

Halloween My companion and I dressed up like each other and thought we were hilarious haha.  We switched tags and while we were streeting, this way sick guy with the longest white beard my eyes have ever seen was SO interested in "Sister Swensons" heratige and her family name and that absolutely never happens haha it was so funny that it just so happened to be the one day we switched tags. 

I love this ország. I love arguing with bácsis about why we are here, I love the nénis that tell us that we are going to go infertile for sitting on a bench. I love that they don't believe in air conditioning, I love that if you don't wear a jacket everyone on the street tells you you are going to get a cold, I love eating hungarian food from hungarians that aboslutely stuff you, I love streeting people and hearing their incredible stories, I love knocking on peoples door and telling them how much happiness I have found through Jesus Christ, and the Book of Mormon, I love singing hungarian hymns, I love speaking hungarian, I love this country. I love these people. I love this work. I love being a missionary.



1.  Pday activities today?
WE ARE GOING TO THE ZOOOOOOO!

2.  How big is your new branch?
about 40 members!

3.  Tell me about your new apartment?  Nice, view? Warm?
hahahahahh my apartment is dubbed "the doctor suess apartment" we have like crooked doorways, there is 12 different colored walls, and there is probably like three working light bulbs. 

4.  Do you have any members that feed you in this area?
haha yes actually TONS. 

5.  Where is your companion from?
oregon

6.  Do you ever hear English being spoken in your new town?
sometimes!! not really! there is a return missionary in the branch that speaks fluent english so that is pretty nice!

7.  When is your next zone conference?  Are they always in Budapest?
november 15! yes it is always in budapest!

8.  Have you started thinking about a Christmas list????
yes!!i want an electric toothbrush hahaha

9.  Quick...funny story that happened to you and your companion this week.
we got a let in with this néni, and she fed us pumpkin and she had a bloody eye...? haha idk

10.  Please know how beautiful and precious you are!!!
i adore you!!

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

VESZPRÉMI VAGYOK

VESZPRÉMI VAGYOK 

sziastok kedves barátaim, es a családom. HOGY VAGYTOK? nagyon remélem, hogy minden rendben veletek :)
sok mindent csináltunk ezen a héten. 

Okay sorry im done haha what a crazy crazy week! leaving Szolnok was probably the saddest thing ever. Ah those people just have my heart. But it's been amazing to be here! I absolutely adore Veszprém. I can honestly say i don't think i have ever been anywhere prettier in my life. The branch here is going to be awesome and seriously I just feel myself so well here! My new companion is Hanna Evans, she is from portland Oregon (shoutout to my grandparents and aunts and uncles in Oregon ) but I just adore her! also I am serving with Elder Thomas again and i freaking love that human haha its been way too fun already. 

I had a suuper cool experience this week. So i have been praying very hard that we can find some work here in veszprém, and that we can be lead to the people who are prepared in this city, because ....we literally have zero investigators right now.  On Saturday we had a cool experience where some things fell through, and we were able to make it to a look up that we weren't planning on doing, but I felt like we should go and visit her. We got let into the building by a miracle haha usually no one will let you into the building. when we rung her csengő she immedietly let us in to talk with her. We had such a good lesson with her about Joseph Smith, and why he is important to her personally in her own life. I have seen the Lord's hand in my life every day here on my mission, but especially recently. I have prayed every single day, in almost every single prayer for the gift of tongues, that i can speak with, and teach these people here in Hungary.Its been amazing to see the Lord's hand in my life, and to be able to understand these people, and talk with them, and to say what i want to say, and teach them this amazing gospel that means SO much to me! 



LOVE YOU ALL. THE CHURCH IS TRUE, I PROMISE. 

sok szeretettel, 
Swenson nővér

1.  Pday today?  What did you do?
went all around veszprém to sight see. this place is INSANE

2.  Is there more places to sight see in your new digs?
hah YES 
3.  How big is your new branch?
around 40

4.  Do you have any investigators?
haha none 

5.  How are you sleeping?
really good my bed in veszprém is so big :')

6. Did you get your package?
yes and you are the absolute BEST HUMAN BEING. 

7.  What is your absolute favorite Hungarian main dish?
oh jaj... its so hard to choose! probably töltött paprika! FINOM. 

8.  Does your new companion like to run?
not really, but she lets me run :)

9.  Do you have any pictures of your new coat?
sajnos nem :(
10.  You are my sunshine!!!
love youuuu!