This week we worked a lot with younger people. We did a presentation at a school, took blankets and caroled at the youth ward of a hospital, and taught a lesson to 3 very young girls (more about that later). As I realized how much we did with the younger age group it made me think of when Christ visited the Americas, "he took their little children, one by one, and blessed them, and prayed unto the Father for them."
Of those three things I listed above, I think the one that really touched me the most was the program with the 3 little girls, approximately ages 13, 9, and 4. You all might be wondering why we were teaching 3 little girls without their parents. First off, we did have another male in the room and we did have parents consent (to my understanding) so we were following all the rules. Anyways, these children were found tracting. Their parents were initially interested but to our knowledge arent interested anymore. They have other siblings too and I think there is an older sister that is interested too (Im note sure on the details, we just inherited this family from the companionship that closed down).
Back to the lesson, Elder Shuck and I were running late, so when we didnt show up on time, these three little girls all went over to the branch house hoping to find us there. Elder Smith, a senior missionary, was at the branch house and called us over. This alone touched me a lot. I dont think these children have been shown the love they should have been shown in their lives. In fact, Im not sure how kind the parents are to these children. It was really touching to me that these three girls went over to the branch house when we didnt show up. It told me that they must really really want what we bring to them, and they probably dont even understand much, especially the youngest. I think what makes them so desirous to meet with us is the love they feel and kindness. They go to church and different activities and when they do people are so kind to them and I think they really feel loved.
For the lesson we just had a few minutes of attention span from them to teach a short lesson on faith based off of how Nephi built the boat, we talked little about prayer too. But as we were there in the lesson, I kind of envisioned young Amy Julie and Becky in the shoes of these girls, i envisioned these three little girls being my sisters and I just wanted them to have the love and family and happiness that my sisters had growing up. I hope this is making sense. I was just really filled with love for these girls and wanted the best for them.
Change. Its really important, I have found, to do a personal inventory. Take some time and go through your life. Find the things that you want to change and make better the most and then make a game plan for how to make them better. I started that recently and one focus was the langauge. I realized that I feel behind with the language and made some decisions to change that. As a result of that I was able to understand church a lot better than I have previously yesterday. Repentance is 100% Christ based, and part of that is that we need to change our selves. Repentance is change, not just the actions, but the intent. When we make an action plan to change, and these changes put our actions in closer alignment with Christ's will, we begin the process of repentance. Along with this we go to God in prayer and with faith in Christ we can be forgiven.
This week me and Elder Shuck stayed together, but we moved apartments. The other companionship that was in it before didnt leave it the cleanest, but we really like the new apartment and it has much better beds. It has been a bit busy trying to get everything figured out, having had inherited the closed companionships investigators.
In Hungary, Christmas is a huge deal. In fact, the day before Christmas and the day after are also both considered holiday days. The main down town area is lit up and there is a big Christmas tree. There are also a bunch of stands set up selling Chistmas things, its a really fun time of year. Theres no snow on the ground, but its been around 32 f. everyday.
I really appreciate all of your great support and love. Keep it up, being awesome.
Sok szeretettel
Elder Shoop
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