#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