January 15, 2015

Sziastok!

The time here is UNREAL and I'm not going to stop saying that until it stops happening lol. We're getting so much done, but at the same time it feels like we should be so much better at Hungarian by now, and we're just all so ready to be out of here. So many groups of English speaking missionaries have already left here during our stay alone, and two groups of Spanish-speaking missionaries (and those speaking similar languages) have already left. Less than two weeks, though, and that'll be us!! 

One of our teachers, Beaumont Testver (Brother Beaumont), came in to our class the other day and asked us why we were in class and not packing our bags up. Apparently, there was some kind of mis-communication along the way, and he was told that we were actually leaving the 20th. We all got super excited and riled up because we thought we might be breakin' out of this joint! Turns out, the email he got was wrong and we're still here until the 26th haha. We don't have our travel plans yet, but hopefully they'll come soon because we're dying to know when we're going to leave! The MTC is great and all, but now it's time to be done lol. Europe!!! In 11 days!!! Whaaaa?! What makes it even cooler is that even though we're not by any means fluent with this language yet, our teacher told us that if we had to pack our bags and leave today for Hungary, we'd all be capable of surviving. I think he said that partially to make us feel better about ourselves just because there's a fair amount of people who speak some degree of English in Budapest.

This week, Elders Martineau, Winkel, and I got to help out with welcoming the new missionaries again, but this time as traffic directors! It was freezing outside, but the police officers for BYU came to help us out and we all got to wear those super cool bright neon jackets that you see them wear sometimes for big events or when a stoplight doesn't work or something like that. They also gave us those little packets that you shake up and they're super warm for your pockets, and those were really cool because we just don't really use those very much down in nice, warm 'Zona! So we got to direct traffic and feel really important and all that good stuff. That was pretty cool. And free hot chocolate!!

My companion's been super sick these past couple of days, too. He's missed the last six or seven days of class to stay and rest in the dorms because he's felt super crummy, so we've been in and out of the doctor's office a lot. I've made some friends at the BYU student pharmacy where we go to pick up his prescriptions. Turns out, it's basically just a cold that feels super bad because he's got minor asthma that occurs when he's sick, but that's actually good news because that means that hopefully he'll recover in time to leave for Hungary! I've been super lucky to not have gotten sick at all. This is his fourth time being sick, and that's just here in the MTC.

So not much time left to write, but just wanted to share one cool experience that happened this week that's strengthened my belief that God knows us and our needs! Elder Nordberg and I were going on a split to check on our departure information in the main office, and on the way we past a group of two elders standing on the side of a hallway. One of them was crying hysterically, and the other was obviously overwhelmed because he didn't know how to calm down his companion. We decided to stop aside for a moment and see if we could help with anything, and this missionary proceeded to tell us that he was being sent home. He had been struggling with severe anxiety, depression, and sleep insomnia, and his body was apparently taking a physical and mental toll as a result. We didn't know him before we met him, but we just gave him a hug and told him that it would all be okay someday. We told him that God loves him and that we love him and that whatever happens will happen, and it will work out to help him in some way. In the end, he was still pretty distraught and sad, but at least we had had the chance to tell him that. It only makes sense that God knows us since he's our Heavenly Father, so it's awesome that sometimes he lets us help other people like true Christians would do.

Anyways, just wanted to share that quick little story with you all! Have another great week, I'll look forward to writing home one more time before we leave the MTC!! Nagyon szeretlek titeket es a legeslegjobb vagytok!!

Saying goodbye to the Japanese elders

Saying goodbye to Sister Stigen

Provo, UT temple, taken by Kinnon

Kinnon and his friend from Arizona, Elder Johnson

Kinnon and Elder Winkel