July 14, 2014

Family! :)

It sounds and looks like everyone had a blast at the family reunion!!! I loved all the pictures and all the emails about it! I wish I could’ve been there with you guys! But like my mom said.. by the time the next family reunion comes around I will be back! crazy to think about! -- here is my question though! did anyone get enough courage to ride the rocket??? ha -- I’m glad that everyone had a good time! 

this week went super fast for me. weeks.. days... go by so fast now. I love it. I wake up... and the next thing I know I am back in bed again. it’s crazy! and this transfer has gone by way fast. next week is the new transfer, so new comp. and I will most likely be staying here! which is great because I love it here. everyone says that this is the best place in Hungary and I’ll have to say that as well! -- but since transfers are next week that means our p day is not on Monday.. but moved to Tuesday. then we transfer on Wednesday.. everyone goes into Budapest... gets their new comp.. and then goes out back to their cities! we get a phone call on Monday night telling us where we are going and what we are doing! so that’s how that works. 

I sent the packages this week! hah you’ll laugh when you get them. they should get there this week. but I have to tell you this! the package that you get.. there are 6 things in there.. and 1 of them is for Hannah. I wasn’t able to get it in hers so I put it in yours. so make sure that she gets that :) hope you guys enjoy them :) 

DAD!!!!!!! it’s your birthday this week!!!!!!! happy birthday! I hope that no one forgets this year! ha jk. hope you have a good one. take yourself fishing or something! ha 

I’ll have to say this... the hardest part about this week... was eating all the food that was shoved in our faces. I swear... we set up these 30 min appointments with members.. and it ends up being an hour.. with tons of food. I swear I was about to explode.

we had the normal English class this week.. and I’ve figured out why we have them. it’s because nannies... always... bring us suti, or pastries!!!!!! haha and its super... super... good!!! love it. 

on Wednesday.. my companion and I were riding down to one of our programs in uj varos.... and we were stopped at a stop light... and out of now where on my right we hear " ELDERS! ELDERS! " in an English accent. and it came to be an seminary teacher from California who was here with UC IRVINE to sing at the synagogue. and he was with tons of Americans with their cameras.. and everything. he was the only member there.. but everyone loved us and wanted pictures with us. haha then they invited us to their concert at 7 o clock that night. we went and it was really good. it was so good to see American church members for some reason! just to see Americans it was good! 

on Friday we had zone training.. and my comp and I were asked to give a part of the training. on how we gain trust with investigators. we decided to do a skit.. and then I talked about of preach my gospel for about 10 minutes and gave my thoughts. it went really well. everyone loved our skit! 

this week in Hungary it has been super rainy.! which is so nice cuz it’s not very hot... but it gets really humid here when it rains.. and their rain storms.. are HUGE. it dumps every time. so that’s fun. we got soaked on our bikes a lot. 

my quick short spiritual thought this week is going to be this. I’ve kind of really caught onto this little saying. "ROME WASNT BUILT IN ONE DAY" we all know that Rome was horribly wicked and everything.. but we know that Rome was a great power. it was this great thing. and I like this little saying because it really applies to just about everything in life. it’s a true.. whatever you want to call it! Rome wasn’t built in one day.. and neither are your muscles.. you have to work at it day in and day out. Rome wasn’t built in one day.. and neither is your talent. Rome wasn’t built in one day.. and neither is your wealth... unless you win the lottery. Rome wasn’t built in one day.. and neither is your family. Rome wasn’t built in one day.. and neither are your relationships. Rome wasn’t built in one day.. and neither was missionary work. Rome wasn’t built in one day.. and neither are your faith and your testimony!! if you think that you can read the book of Mormon all in one night. and pray.. and expect some glorious answer or revelation.. you’ll never get an answer. if you just go to the gym once.. and expect to come out like rocky.. that’ll never happen! -- so my thought this week is this. if you are looking for an answer in your life.. if you are struggling with something. if you want something and it hasn’t come to you yet.. if you are currently working on a project.. if your goal is to look like me (jk). if you want a stronger testimony of joseph smith and Jesus Christ.. and the book of Mormon.. always remember that Rome wasn’t built in one day.. and there are certain things that we do... that will either build Rome.. or destroy it. make sure you are always doing those things to build it.. because the one thing that we don’t get back in this life is time. do not procrastinate. procrastination will literally dam you. 

I love all of you! I miss all of you! time is flying! so don’t worry! I’ll be home  reallllll quick! I love you guys and be safe this week!

Watson Elder

July 22^nd 2014

hey family!!:)

loved every one of your emails and sounds like its suppppper hot there, but that you guys are still having tons of fun :) and I’m glad that all of you are alive and healthy!-- I’m sure that you will enjoy Vegas this week!:) ha I remember those days... so hot. miserable! but you’ll have fun! and max! go ball it up bro! just be you and play how you play! and don’t get discouraged! just make the best out of every situation and do your best. and take every moment as a learning opportunity and then be willing and anxious to improve!:) you’ll rock em! go get em! 

a lot happened this week! and of course the biggest thing that happened this week was the baptism!! I’ll get to that in a minute! :) 

first of all.. just like all of you said that it was super-hot back home.. well... it was FREKAING SUÁPER HOT here. yesterday for example..... I literally.. no lie.. did not stop sweating from 9 in the morning.. till late at night. I had a nice shine on me alllll day! and then in one investigators house... they had to get me a towel because sweat was dripping off of my face! ha it’s great.. :) being in full pros... out on humid hot weather... riding a bike. its great :) but this week some clouds are coming in I think. thank goodness!! oh and also Hannah’s cool.... cold.. pad thing that she sent me works miracles!!! I put it on my pillow every night and it does amazing... :) because it gets so hot at nights too.. and there is no ac.. so that cold thing saves me!!!!!! 

this week was filled with super busy long days! we’ve had tons of lessons.. we had tons of things to do to get ready for the baptism.. we played soccer and some basketball... we went to this sweet castle outside of győr that was awesome! they actually had basketball hoops in the back of the castle! I’ll try and send you a pic! I have a cool one of me handing on the rim with the castle in the back ground! it’s awesome! 

so the baptism day went amazing.... we got everything set up.. I’ll try to send you all the pics. it went super well.. a lot of our investigators came and they loved it. even one of them started to cry during it. it was very spiritual and powerful. valintin.. the one pics that I sent you, he was so excited... it was so cool to see his face. after he got out of the font.. he couldn’t stop talking about how he felt. and how warm he felt. it was an amazing experience:)

then on Sunday!!!!!! big day for me.. before the sacrament was passed... we took a chair up to the front and I was able to do the confirmation! yes, it was extremely hard. and it made it even that  much harder because it was ward conference that day.. and all the stake leaders.. with their families were there. tons of people. and if you look at the Hungarian words for the confirmation... it makes no sense.. it’s completely out of order. it’s great. but I was able to do it! myself.. elder carter.. the stake pres. and the second councilor were in the circle. it’s amazing the feeling that you feel when you do those kind of things. literally when I laid my hands on his head.. and you start to speak.. literally the spirit speaks from there on out. I could literally feel the spirit and the power coming out of me, to him. it is unreal. and I gave valintine a blessing after that... and I had something’s that I wanted to say... but I said tons of other things that I didn’t plan on. and I didn’t mess up once in Hungarian. which is a miracle in itself. --- there is no way... no way at all.. that someone.. without divine help can learn this language. it’s ridiculous. the gift of tongues is real. the power of the priesthood is real. 

it was a very special experience and a great opportunity! :)

my spiritual thought this week will be short... 

last Monday we met with this man that we have been meeting with for about a month straight.. every day. but he is moving to malta to find work.. it’s sad, but it’ll be good for him. the last meeting that we had with him was on Monday.. and we planned to share with him 2 scriptures... in 2 Nephi and moroni about coming unto Christ. mid-way through reading the scriptures... we look up and he is crying. so much that he is struggling to breathe. I haven’t felt the spirit that strong in a lesson yet. we all started to get emotional when he started to speak what he could through his tears.. he said some profound things that we should all learn from. he said. "this, pointing to his English book, because we helped him with that too, doesn’t matter. " then he reached out and grabbed the book of Mormon and said that this is what matters.. and then he started to cry a lot again.. and after he gained composure of himself.... he said this " I didn’t think that my sins could hurt me this bad."

this is a perfect example of someone coming unto Christ. someone who is feeling godly sorrow. someone wanting to change. he will be baptized in malta. 

isn’t this true for all of us? shouldn’t we all learn from his wisdom? do we realize that our sins will affect us? and will bring consequences? 

and then on the other hand. do we all realize that coming unto Christ.. and repenting... makes those feelings go away? because we are forgiven? (mosiah 27) (alma 36) 

I love all of you! be safe this week in Vegas!:)

love

elder Watson  

July 28^th  2014

hello family!:)

looks like Vegas was super-hot but tons of fun! and I’m glad to hear that max did really well! :) atta boy! yeah its really weird to think about that I am usually down in Vegas or somewhere else in the united states at this time of there year! but I’m actually on the other side of the world! ha crazy. dad... congrats on the bowling win.... my money was on you.. and you couldn’t let mom beat us all again like last year.. so embarrassing. ,) jk mom:) ha but I loved the pics and glad that you got home safely from Vegas! --- and yeah. I wouldn’t want to be there in during the second coming either! but to be honest sometimes I feel like I am in Vegas every day here in győr. so I know what you are talking about! 

SO! I got a new companion and he is super cool! his name is Elder Nichols! he is from Riverton Utah... kind of funny because we almost moved there a few years ago until I begged you to stay. ha :) he is a pretty young missionary too. he’s only 3 groups ahead of me.. so we both are really young. but we both speak the language pretty well.. enough to get the job done! so that’s good :) it’s fun! he really loves to work hard and to get things done. which I love..... because I like that too. and this last week was so productive! we got tons of work done, 4 new investigators, and tons of programs! it was great! so he is cool.

so like I said, we got tons of work done this week! our mission has certain standards.. / goals.. and there is standard and super standard. and even with a short week we got super standard! and that is really hard to get.. I’ve never gotten it before! so I have a feeling that this transfer is going to be very productive.. tons of work, tons of miracles.. and tons of success! we got all the right tools and attitudes and the spirit to do it! 

our bikes.. well.. my bike got a flat tire this week. so we had to take it back to the shop to wait for them to fix it.. so we are without bikes for a little bit. so that means mom you don’t have to worry too much anymore,):)

one thing I learned about Hungary this week is that they have abnormally huge... bearish... looking dogs! I kid you not! they are the biggest things I’ve ever seen! they honestly look like a small bear! it’s crazy! I’ll have to take a picture next time I see one! it’s insane!

this week tabling we had tons of success.. that’s where we got 3 out of the 4 new investigators.. so that was cool. we also get the most crazy.... weirdest stories from tabling too. because we see the most weirdest people.. and the randomness people come up to us. haha its great. but this week we had a huge group of teenagers come up to us and one of them.. Their leader..... was catholic.. and started to try to bible bash with us. and there was a good 12 kids with him that were around.. idk. high school age. and we started to talk back to him and we said something’s and we bore testimony.. and in 5 minutes.. they turned from trying to make us look dumb.. to being interested. it was great. ha I had fun anyway! then we also had some Jehovah witnesses. come up to us and start trying to fight with us too.. but the same thing happened! but I asked them if they have read the book of Mormon.. and they are like... all cool... yeah.. we know what your book of Mormon is about.. and then I asked them to tell me. and they said it was about joseph smith and his life.. and then I was like.. nope. ha and then I explained what it was.. and bore testimony.. and the one actually took one and was really interested.. but the other one of the companionship started to freak out and told her companion that they needed to go right then. it was great. ha 

this Sunday... I was sitting and the first hymn was about to be played and the bishop got my attention because were all waiting there waiting for it to start but it wasn’t. and it turned out to be that there was no music leader person! ha I can’t remember the name! but he caught my eye.. and well.. yep! I lead music in sacrament meeting this Sunday :) haha I did a perfect job.. of course.. just ask anyone! :) ha so that was fun for me! :) I enjoyed it! we had 5 investigators in sacrament which was really good for us! 

so that was that week! this week we got interviews.. which I can’t wait for.. haven’t sat down one on one with pres. since.. day 1! so I’m stoked for that! um... yeah! we got a pretty busy full week this week! 

just a quick spiritual thought for you guys this week.. 

life. Life is interesting. especially if you think about where we came from. think about it. we spent all of your pre mortal life preparing.. learning... growing... FOR THIS moment right now here on earth. because we knew that earth life would be very short.. and that depending on what we did here on earth would determine our eternal destiny. we knew that it was vitally important to do well here on earth. we know now that this life is limited.. time is limited. we are never gaining time.. we are only losing it. and what we do with that time literally determines our eternal destiny. a lot of people lose this eternal perspective here in life though. they think that they have all the time in the world.. that they will stay a teenager.. a kid.. an adult forever. and we tend to waste time on things that are of no worth. and we spend time being lazy and doing things that are of no productivity. I am even guilty of it. everyone is. 

but if we can learn to always have that eternal perspective.... if we can realize.. and learn.. and understand that life is literally a game of inches.. or.. seconds and minutes... what would we be doing with our time? what really matters? because life is a game of inches. every second.. of every day decisions are before our faces. and those decisions literally determine our destiny. every single one of them. -- so here is my thought. and this is your homework this week! think about what you do in the week. think about what you do, and what you should/ could be doing better. how can you spend your time more wisely? what do you want to be? what do you need to improve on? how are you going to use your.. inches in your life... to insure that you have eternal life in the next? because wither we know it or not.. our full potential is to become like our father and heaven.  but god didn’t become god by going through the motions.. I promise you that. it’s about every day waking up and having that vision in your mind. and insuring your eternal destiny. because each and every day we have trials and problems thrown in our faces. its mortality. we’ve prepared to succeed here in this earth life. now here is the question.... are we succeeding? or do we need to adjust our course and fight for those inches that we need to get in order to gain eternal life? eternal life doesn’t end with baptism.. it starts. it doesn’t end with temple covenants.. it starts. its enduring WELL to the end. not just enduring.. not just surviving.. but thriving. 

I love all of you! 

I miss all of you! almost a fourth done! crazy! told ya time will fly! 

eternal perspective!

Watson Elder