Ahhhhhh what a week!!!!

ahhhhhh what a week!!!!

Soooo this week we got a new companion!!! Now we are three!! Sister Brantley (my MTC companion) came to us from Dunaújváros. I am sooo excited to serve with her again. haha trios are kiiinda the worst, and when we go tracting i feel like we are a little mob, but it's okay because I love my companions more than life haha.

1, This week we had the most district unity I have ever seen in my life haha in the morning  Sister Gordon and I ran to the store to get some stuff to make the Elders cookies, just because we love them and as a little service, and when we got home, there were flowers on our doorstep from them. DISTRICT UNITY PEOPLE. 

2. This week while we were tracting the most ADORABLE husky came up and tracted with us. haha it kinda just became our best friend.   But i probably had the saddest moment of my life, because we had to leave Szandaszőlős to go home, and he just kept following us,  We just had to distract him and run away from him. leaving him all alone, friendless. I had to run away from a friendship this week people. that is what being a missionary does to you haha.

3. WITHERS. so I got to go on splits this week with Sister Withers (my mom) and you could mayyyyybe say that it was the best day of my entire life. Withers served for 6 months in Szolnok so it was so fun taking her to lessons and having her teach our investigators with me that she taught as well before. It was seriously so much fun and we just got right back into the hang of things. I want to serve with her again SO badly. fingers crossed people. fingers crossed. 

So so so sorry I dont have that much time!! Next week I will give a much better email i promise haha things will be settled down a little bit more with the move and everything. I love being a missionary. I love Hungarians. I love Hungarian. I love this work. I love teaching people things that they have never even heard of before,  Things that actually have the power to completely change their lives. Thats what this gospel does. It changes peoples lives.

SOK SOK SZERETETTEL, 

Swenson nővér! 

1.  What did you do for Pday today?

helped brantley move in, grocery shopping, played guitar, nothing too exciting!

2.  Have all of the STL's that you have had splits with, been absolutely fabulous?

YES. ahhhh also i got to go on aplits with my mommmmm :)

3.  Do you think that you are going to be able to replicate some Hungarian food when you got home...i.e. Make us a good old fashioned Hungarian feast?
YES. i will get all the receptes i possibly can!

4.  Do they celebrate Halloween in Hungary?
they dont really celebrate halloween sajnos :(

5.  Do you have a mission saying or slogan or something like that?

teach repentance, baptize converts. 

6.  Can you wear fingernail polish?  What colors do you like?

yes! like blues, and greens!

7.  Have you thought about anything you might like in your package?  I am going to try to get it out this week....

8.  How often do you get to Budapest nowadays?

like nevverrrrrr sajnos :( but we will be going next week!!

9.  What does Gordon Nover want to be when she grows up?

she doesnt really know!

10.  Did you know that I look at your pictures every day and see your beautiful face...and smile sooo big!!

i hope sooo! i miss you guys SO much!!

Ziaszok kedves barátaim és a családom :)

I am so so sorry I do not have a lot of time today but i will fill you in on the highlights of the week.

1. We were streeting one day and just casually walking along, minding our own buisness, and we loook ahead and see LITERALL 5 TOADS IN THE STREET in front of us. Haha it was probably the best day of our lives and we obviously went and played with them (pictures to come)

2. A Néni that we streeted blessed us. 

3. BREAKING NEWS EVERYBODY. we streeted a man and he let us know that he has seen God. and that God is black.

I was reading Elder Uchtdorfs talk "He will place you on his shoulders and carry you home" this week and I aboslutely love it. There are a couple of parts I want to share with you guys! "If our faith does not change the way we live- if our beliefs do not influence our daily decisions- our religion is vain."

 I have such a strong testimony, that our testimonies take work. If we are not constantly striving to better ourselves, constantly studying the scriptures, constantly trying to be a better person than we were the day before, then basically like Uchtdorf said, our religions are vain. I love that bold statement. Serioulsy the apostles speak in such a clear, bold, motivating way. 

The last part of his talk says this "Our loving Heavenly Father can, and will rebuild us into something far greater than what we were. far greater than what we can ever imagine." This is something I have been thinking about for a lonng time. It is a really scary thing to just completely turn your will over to God. to completely let everything you do, be by his will. BUT,  I just want to bear testimony that I have seen the difference it can make in your lives. I have seen my investigators start to give up little things like coffee, and start to do the things that our Father in Heaven wants us to do differently, and it really does make a difference. I have seen it in my life. 

Sorry for the super short email! persze i love you all and pray for you every single night. DON'T TAKE THIS GOSPEL FOR GRANTED. 

sok szeretettel,

Swenson nővér :)

1. pday plans?

nothing too exciting. color a princess coloring book, play guitar, grocery shop haha exciting right?

2.  Do you have plans for conference yet?

not yet!

3.  What time of the day are you usually out of your apartment going to appointments or knocking on doors?

it depends!! but we usually tract after lunch, so around like 1 ish?

4.  I loved the pictures of your cooking!!  Do you cook a lot of fish?

not a ton, but i lOOOVE salmon. 

5.  Is Gordon going back to Dixie after her mission?

she doesnt know for sure!!

6.  Does your branch meet for three hours on Sunday?

hahah we are literally at church for 5 hours on sunday with the tanács meeting at the beginning and choir afterward!

7.  Are there any American restaurants, fast food, etc in Sloznok?

hahahah none

8.  Is it starting to get cooler?
kinda, but its still suuuper hot!!

9.  Do very many people speak English in Hungary?

uhmm not tons, but there definitely still are! nobody in our ward does!

10.  Did you know that you are just the best kind of happy, beautiful person?  LOVE, Love,LOVE you!!!

you are the nicest mother in the world. I LOVE YOU. 

Did any of you guys have a bácsi point a gun at you this week?

Did any of you guys have a bácsi point a gun at you this week?

How's that for a starting sentence of an email?? (mother I am alive I promise.  Everything is okay) haha this week was seriously so much funnnnnn. We got to tract a ton of családi houses and we were right next to 4 goats just casually roaming the street ( I love Hungary)  We got this let in with this crazy bácsi, who only wanted to talk about America, then like midway, while I was bearing my testimony he stands up and walks upstairs and gets his son.   Nice, but so awkward cause his son is like 30 and just such an awkward citizen. So brutal. Anywho, as a miracle from GOD we got a phone call and we pretended like we had to leave... BUT... not before he took us into the other room to show us his GUN WALL. haha he took one off while he was talking to us and he kept like pointing it at us.. Gordon nővér and I made this eye contact that just said "well, this is it, this is how we go. right here, right now" haha but ne féljetek, were still here to tell the tale.

I have another exciting story about this week about giving out Book of Mormons,  I promise this isn't the only thing i do out here, I just LOVE streeting people...One day this week we finished one of our lessons at around 8 o'clock. and we were suuuuper tired because we had a super busy day.  We knew we should stay out until 9 o'clock haha... We began to street and we were able to give out the two Book of Mormons that we had with us. We ran back to our apartment to grab some more Book of Mormons. We continued to street and we gave out 2 more!!!. At this point we had already given out 5 Book of Mormons that day, and it was around 8:50, and we were kinda trying to figure out hoooowwwww much we really wanted to go back out. But obviously we knew that we needed to go back out and try for just 10 more minutes. We grabbed two more book of mormons and went back out! We said a really heart filled prayer to our Heavenly Father thanking Him that we were able to give out 5 Book of Mormons already that day, and we also asked to help us give out a couple more.. We went out and were able to give out two more!!! and how big of a blessing that was. in my prayer i kinda almost felt silly asking if we could give out two more, because we had already had been blessed so much! but i am so thankful that we decided to go back out and that we could give two more of Heavenly Fathers children a Book of Mormon.

 I have such a strong testimony of exact obedience. I have seen the blessings of it in my missionary work. This doesn' mean that we are perfect, no one is perfect except for our Savior, Jesus Christ. But that doesn't mean that we dont try our best every single day to be a better person than we were the last day. I am so thankful for a loving Heavenly Father, that notices our efforts to be better, and is truly proud of us. 

I love this place, I love being on a mission, I love not being in school right now (hehehe), and most of all I love my Savior, Jesus Christ. i have such a testimony that he cares about us you guys. I know i have said this in every single email, and i will probably say it in every single one i write in the future. It is so important that we know that we are all a part of God's family, and we are all his children, and he really just wants the best for us. This gospel is SO simple. and we are SO blessed. 

1.  Pday activities today?  Any sightseeing going on?

szolnok isnt really a "sight seeing city" hahaha but today i basically baked all day. i am on this new thing where i abosolutely adore cooking. haha so i just baked all day long yayyy 

2.  Do you have a member that can play the piano in your ward?

nope! haha we as missionaries play!

3.  What day do you guys have district meeting?

thursdays!

4.  What is a "hungarian" thing that people do?  Like in America, everybody watches football on Sunday...Any Hungarian "things"?

uhm...... the only thing i can think of right now is that when there is like a concert, or a performance, everbody claps in sync. so its not just like a chaos of clapping, its like everyone claps at the same time, haha its kinda really cool...  haha something all hungarians do is cook hah they just cook alll dayyyyyyyyyy lonnnnnng

5.  Does milk come in plastic jugs in Hungary?

actually no! haha usually its paper!

6.  I am starting to think about  my next package.....any requests???

hmm i will think this next week :) youre the bets mom everrrr

7.  Are you a pro at riding trains now?

actually yes, haha i love trains!

8.  Do any missionaries in your mission have cars?

nope :(

9.  Do you need some winter shoes?

YES hamarosan 

10.  Did you know that you have the absolutely most beautiful shiny, sparkly eyes...window to your beautiful soul!!!

you are such a nice mother:) love you!

Yes!!! of course I would love some more of your chicken foot soup, thaaannnnks...."

Yes!!! of course I would love some more of your chicken foot soup, thaaannnnks...."

I wish i could tell you guys that I didn't have to say that sentence this week, but I did. I LOVE THIS CRAZY HUNGARIAN LIFE THAT I LIVE. 

I don't have much time this week sajnos, but I want to tell at least one cool story that happened this week!!  We set a pretty high goal for giving out Book of Mormons this week, and it was coming to the end of the week, and we still needed to give out 4 more Book of Mormons on Sunday to reach our goal. Before going out whiiiiiiich is pretty close to impossible seeing as how we usually give out only 4 book of mormons in a week haha, We prayed to our Heavenly Father to help us give these Book of Mormons out, and to help us find those people who are in need, and prepared to accept this gospel.

 

We went out tracting and immediately gave out 2 Book of Mormons, and i was really excited about that, but after that, we still had to give 2 more away. We went streeting and tried to talk to as many people as possible, but we just couldn't give out our final two. We almost began to go home, and then I saw this family, and i had a really big impression to go and talk to them. We went like so awkwardly out of our way to go and talk to them, and I was so excited to talk to them, thinking that they basically all were going to be baptized after hearing this message from me haha buuuuut unfortunately they they did not talk to us long enough to let me get out the full name of our church haha. I was so confused as to why i would have had such a strong prompting, if they just didnt want anything to do with us. We continued to walk in the direction that the family was, and turned the corner, and literally the next people we came upon were another family. We started talking to them and they were so interested. they took a Book of Mormon, and I was able to testify to them that this book can change their lives through the atonement of Jesus Christ. It was such a learning experience for me that God answers our prayers, maybe just not in the ways that we expect him to. I was so glad that I followed that spiritual prompting, and we were able to make our goal of giving out 9 Book of Mormons in one week :) (we are in Hungary haha what do you expect!!)

sok szeretettel, 

Swenson Nővér :)

1.  Pday activities today?

grocery shopping, showing gordon nővér around Szolnok

2.  How far away from your apartment is your church building?

like two streets away. god bless america :')

3.  Did you have splits this week?
nope nope, we have them in september 13 and 14 and WITHERS IS THE NEW STL. so i get to go on splits with her, you could say im pretty excited!!

4.  Is there such a thing as chips and salsa in Hungary?
hah you can get them at big stores, but its not really a usual thing. 

5.  How is the fruit and vegetable selection in the grocery stores?

INCREDIBLE. they have such a good selection at the stores we shop at. 

6.  What do you usually have for breakfast?  Do you always have the same thing?

usually i make oatmeal from scratch. haha are you proud of me?

7.  How many zones are there in your mission?

5 zones!

8.  Do you put on makeup every day to go out tracting?
HAHAHAHHAHA no

9.  Does Gordon Nover play any instrument?
nope!

10.  Did you know that you have such a pretty, beautiful face?  You just stand out in your pictures!!

haha its cause youre my mom :)

UPDATE ON CRAZY BÁCSI WE TRACTED INTO

UPDATE ON CRAZY BÁCSI WE TRACTED INTO: so we walk into the branch house the other day, and on the table is a nice little letter written in English "dear double missionary thank you very much book, Alexander" sooooooooo basically that bácsi is my favorite person that I have ever come in contact with and I could not even believe my eyes cause that is probably the funniest thing ever. Is it even funny? Am i just definitely a missionary now? haha 

UPDATE ON COMPANION: soooooo I basically am the luckiest person because Gordon Nővér is the best human. She is adorable. She is from St. George Utah, went to school at Dixie State, and has been on her mission for a year. We are liiiiterally going to be best friends and I cannot wait for this transfer!!!! (I guess its already here, but you get the idea haha)

This was kiiinda a crazy week with transfers and everything. saying goodbye to Greenwood was soooo sad :( but its okay because change is good you know?! 

Highlights of the week:

1. We decided to pray about where to tract, and have the spirit lead us there. so we kinda were just walking around, and felt like we needed to talk to this old investigator in the area book. we went to their 10 storey and csengőd them, and they were home! they let us in and we had a really cool spiritual thought/ lesson with them. also its a family!!!! yay yay yay! When we were leaving the Mom told us that it was really cool that we came today, because she was having such a terrible day and needed something that would uplift her. You guys, Heavenly Father is truly mindful of all of his children. I am so thankful that we were able to follow the Spirit and have the opportunity to teach that family. also they set up with us again so I am very excited to see what could happen :)

2. AUGUST 20. my first holiday in Hungary!!!!!! This holiday is about some king, that did some thing with christianity? As you can tell I am well versed in Hungarian history. BUT the day was so fun. We went to a members house and had a traditional hungarian "bogrács" which is where they cook this giant thing of soup in a big pot over a fire. We played all these games with the members.  Our investigator Polett came, and I adore her so much. Such a good time!! That night we watched fireworks over the Tisza river and I ONCE AGAIN had one of those moments where i felt wayyyy too blessed to be a missionary here in this beautiful country of Hungary. 

3.  My companion and I were invaded by 2 of the BIGGEST BEES I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE. We literally locked ourselves in our little room for the evening and did not dare to come out because I am sure we would have lost an arm. 

nagyon szeretlek titeket. remélem minden rendben veletek :) 

sok szeretettel, 

Swenson Nővér

1.  What did you do for your Pday today?

Just grocery shopped, gordan nővér unpacked a little, i played guitar, and we played some cards with the elders. 

2.  Do you see the Elder's in your district every day?  How do you split up the town?

the town is basically in half, and we usually do end up seeing them everyday!

3.  Do you and your companion do your companion study in Hungarian?

hahaha no

4.  How is the running going?

my new comp doesnt love running as much sajnos.. but im hoping to go still a couple times a week!

5.  Did you get your package?

yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and i adore you thank you thank you thank you!!!

6.  Are you missing any American foods like crazy yet?

yesssssssss cafe rió and cottage cheese and milkshakes 

7.  Do you like to wear scarves?
sometimes!! i really like the plaid red one we got for my mission!

8.  You said you would like a selfie stick....do they work with regular cameras?

yes!

9.  What was the last dinner that you cooked for yourself?

thai foooooood :)

10.  Did you know that your outfits always look so cute in your pictures?  You just pull off that beautiful American missionary thing!!!

you are adorable thank you hahaha 

What a Crazy Week. August 16, 2016

What a crazy week!! haha i feel like i could say that every single week serving here in the Hungary budapest Mission. 

I am so sorry i dont have much time this week so i will just hit some of the highlights from the week. haha

First of all GREAT NEWS: I AM STAYING IN SZOLNOK :') I was so scared I was going to have to one and done my second city, but ne féljetek!!! I will be getting Gordon Nővér and I know her a little bit cause she was in my last zone, and she is ADORABLE so i'm super excited to serve with her :)

Second, I HAVE BEEN ON A MISSION FOR 6 MONTHS. where does time even go?

Third I have to tell you my FAVORITE LET IN SINCE I HAVE GOTTEN TO THIS ORSZÁG. Greenwood and I were tracting and the smallest bácsi  I've ever seen just opens up the door and lets us right in without stopping for two seconds. What this bácsi lacked in size, he made up for in volume. haha when he talked to us, he talked like 2 inches away from your face, and basically just yelled at you, staring at you with his giant bácsi glasses. He kept saying "I didn't know girls were coming over" and he ran into the room to lace up his pajama pants with a church belt. haha classic. He just kept telling us that he knows about Roosevelt and kept walking us around his tiny 10 storey apartment showing us all of his books and then told me I have beautiful eyes, and grabs greenwood and moves her into the light, because little do we know he is blind in one eye.  Then he told her she has beautiful eyes too. haha He then  decided to show us his typewriter and explains to us that all he spends his time doing is writting letters to this newspaper on his typewriter. Anyway it was kinda just the weirdest, funniest experience of my life, and as I read that back i realize that I did a terrible job explaining this, and I am so sorry to everyone.  Just know it was HILARIOUS. and I am just so happy that people like this man exist in this world that is all. haha

Last night we had the most TENDER dinner at one of the member's house. It is Elder Bairds birthday on the 20th,  so they made him this huge birthday surprise and it was so fun and so tender because they are just the sweetest, most caring people in the whole entire world. They made us SO MUCH delicious food, and Ircsi made Baird his favorite fun fetti cake. SUCH a good end to the transfer.

I have been reading the 4 gospels and Jesus the Christ by  Talmage for my personal studies lately, and I real quickly just want to bear my testimony of our Savior. I have such a deep appreciation for everything that my Savior has done for me, and every human on this earth. As I read miracle after miracle that he performed during his life here on earth, I kinda just sit here astonished about them all. These things really happened you guys. Jesus Christ raised people from the dead, he gave blind people vision, he fed FIVE THOUSAND people with 5 loaves and 2 fish. I know sometimes we just read these things and think, "oh yes that's very cool that those things happened" but no, these things are MIRACLES you guys. miracles that the son of God was sent down to earth, and performed these for his brothers and sisters on earth. the atonement is real. and can help every single one of us, every single day. I have seen it on my mission. I have seen people change. once again i am just so grateful for this gospel, and i am SO grateful that I can be a missionary in this crazy country i get to call my home for the next year :)

SOK SZERETETTEL, 

SWENSON NŐVÉR

1.  Pday activity today?

packing ahhhh and getting ready for transfers!!

2.  How are your sheets holding up?

pretty good actually!

3.  Are you thinking in Hungarian?  Do you still have to think in English and translate, or are you able to just talk????

haha i mean when im speaking hungarian i think in hungarian, and no i can basically just talk now! 

4.  Do you prefer to wear dresses or skirts and blouses?

dresses for suuuuure

5.  Is it still crazy humid and hot?

not as bad as in june and july!! but definitely yes. haha ahh it gets sooo hot! 

6.  Do you still get time to play your guitar?

yes, it is literally my favorite thing in the world. 

7.   Is all of your stuff going to fit in your old and new suitcase?

I HOPE SO AH. 

8.  Have you formed an opinion as to what is your favorite Hungarian meal yet?

definitely rakott krumpli! or anything with nöl kedli in it. holy yummmmmm.

9.  Do you have a zone conference every transfer?

yes we have about 3 a transfer!

10.  Did you know that your eyes SPARKLE?  You are crazy beautiful my amazing Lindsi!!

you are adorable and i miss you SO MUCH!