6/8/2015
My
beautiful Family!
I hope
that each one of you had a fantastic last week of school this week! :) I had a
good time looking through all the pictures mom sent me of dad on his mission!
It literally about knocked me off my chair! It was so weird! He hasn’t changed
much! :) ha He should’ve been sent to Europe! But I really had a lot of
fun looking through all of them! Mom! you need to send me more! -- Also I got
really jealous when you sent me those videos of dad catching all those fish
last week! Can’t wait to join ya again!
This
week for me has been really crazy, and so much is going on. 2 investigators got
baptized. When I moved from kis pest to duna.. I called president to get
permission to be able to go back and baptize my investigator but he denied it.
BUT he still got baptized by the bishop and he was also confirmed by the bishop
there! Then Zoltan, alexandras boyfriend also got baptized this weekend!
It was really fun to hear about how they went!
My
first day in duna was on Wednesday! It’s actually a really pretty town.. but the landscape is very pretty. I love it.
there are a lot of hills.. it’s very green.. tons of trees.. super nice areas..
I love it! Our apartment isn’t that bad! it’s better than my last two and by
bed is actually soft!:) The true summer has come this week. it’s really hot and
literally every day.. I’m sweating like crazy! Yesterday we went tracting and
the next thing I know.. I look down where my bag strap is and I got a huge
sweat line. it was really gross. But here comes the second and LAST summer in Hungary!
:)
We
were really busy this week with all the programs we had, getting to know the
new zone.. talking about goals.. talking with the other leaders and stuff. We
went to a funeral.. my first one in Hungary.. it’s really.. depressing.. ha I
got free protein and shake stuff and daily vitamins from a really cool youth
kid in our branch that gets tons of it for free! I was really happy about
that:) that was probably the best part of my week! ha :) jk:)
BUT it
gets even better! get this! we went and looked up this referral and it was this
guy who had lived in Washington for 30 years.. but because of money he and his
wife had to come back to Hungary. their kids are still over in America and one
is in the army. these people are like 60
years old or so. BUT!!!! he was a really hard egg to crack. and he was like..
making fun of us a lot and telling us to stop trying to convert him, even though
we were saying nothing! so I slowed down.. started to ask him about his hobbies..
and he LOVES fishing. and my eyes lit up and I said " HEY ME TOO!!!!"
and he was like " are you serious?? I go all the time! do you want to come
with me? I can introduce you to all of my friends! " I was like. "
YES!!! We would love to!" and then he said " okay! we will go in the
morning for a couple hours and then we can talk about what you have to
say." SOOOOOO 1, we got into his heart! haha 2, my one goal on my mission
is coming true! I’m going fishing in Hungary! ha I will be sure to take a lot of
pictures! don’t worry about that:)
on Sunday,
I got to participate in a baby blessing, my first one in Hungary, and then I introduced
myself to the branch. It was good, the branch seems really nice. it’ll be a
good couple months here, or however long I stay here.
anyway!
dad! could you send me more pics and stories of your mission and how
everything went and how you felt when you were where I’m at? ha it was super
fun seeing all that. love ya!
I love
all of you guys! have a great first week of summer!
Watson
Elder
6/15/2015
Sziasztok!
Hey
everyone!:) I absolutely LOVED reading all of your emails that you guys sent
me. I love getting updates from home. It sounds like everything is doing great
and that everyone is staying busy and having tons of fun. I’m really jealous of
all the trips that you are all taking and all of the trips that you are going
to take, like fishing and stuff. ha But I’m glad that you are all doing
great!
This
week in Duna was one crazy one that’s for sure. I don’t even know where to
start with this week. It might have been one of the most crazy, busy, random weeks
that I have had on my mission. We spent 11 hours on a train this week, we didn’t
have 1 normal morning, we never woke up at 630- always earlier- on Saturday it
was at 4 in the morning, because we had so much to do and we had to travel to
so many places. And so many cool, fun things happened this week!
On Tuesday
morning Frank invited us to go fishing with him at this place. We woke up early
and went with him. We had to drive 30 Kilometers. It reminded me of being home
taking fishing trips and having to wake up early and drive to the place. He stopped
and bought us a breakfast and then we got to the fishing spot and he introduced
us to his friends and then we spent a couple hours fishing and talking about
life and the gospel. We were successful in both of the kinds of
"fishing". We caught a lot of pretty big fish, and we had great
talks about the gospel. It was so hot though, we came home exhausted, but we
had so many programs that day that we didn’t have any time to rest or to do
anything else.
Every
day this week has been so hot. I’m starting to get some serious sweat lines on
my shirt from my bag. We sweat literally all day every day. even in the morning
doing studies.
On Wednesday
we went up to Budapest for the mission leadership meeting. Pres. szabadkai was
there:) it was really cool to see him and talk to him and get to know him. This
week he and his wife flew out to Provo to the mtc. It was a very spiritual meeting.
He stood up at the start of the meeting to introduce himself to us and he was
speaking English because pres. smith and sis. smith don’t speak Hungarian. He
speaks okay English. it’s still hard for him and it’s not perfect. He stood up
and started getting really emotional and he expressed his thanks to us for sieving
his people and how excited he is to serve his people. He is a very humble man
and he said that he hopes that as he gets set apart the lord will give him
strength to speak better English because he is struggling with that right now.
It was really emotional and spiritual for all of us in the room. I’m really
excited for him to come in. He will officially be in July 1. We are all
excited!
On Friday
morning we were invited to go play tennis with one of our investigators. It was
the first time I’ve played in my life and I actually didn’t do too bad.. Ashlee
would be proud of me! ha But! I do want to go play with you Ashlee when I get
home! ha. You gotta teach me some tricks. I actually enjoyed it.
We searched
and purchased bikes this week. So we don’t have to walk everywhere anymore.
But, with our luck, 30 min after we bought them and started using them.. my
comps tire popped.. so... we went back to the service place and they are fixing
it right now and we will get it back today. So we are happy about that:) ha --
and don’t worry mom and Hannah and grandma! we got all the safety gear as
well!
on Saturday
we woke up at 4, to get on a train at 530, to spend a 3 hour train ride to
kaposvár to conduct a baptismal interview with someone who is getting abptized
this Saturday. We had to switch trains 3 different times.. it was really
complicated. ha in the picture I sent you, my comp got a pic of my pointing at
the time and where we are supposed to be going. ha. it was a lot of fun though.
on the train I was able to read 50 pages out of the Hungarian book of Mormon!
It was a good language study time that we missed the whole rest of the week.
Then we got the interview done, met with the other missionaries, and then we
headed back. But then we accidently got on the wrong train.. and it started
going in the opposite direction so we were like.. " what the?" so we
asked someone.. and we were headed to győr. ha so we got off at the first
stop.. we had to call the senior couple who was positioned in that area to come
and pick us up and take us back to kaposvár so we could make the next train. we
had to wait 2 hours for the next train so we went and placed a couple books and
talked to some people. Then we had a 3 hour train ride back. we got back
around 430, and then we had a ward party here in duna. They ha a big dinner,
they call it a bogrács. It was tons of fun. there was a lot of people there, we
played basketball with the members and kids.. and we had soccer.. and other
games. we got 2 new investigators from it. It was a lot of fun. One of the new
investigators is a guy my age and we really clicked.. at the time when I first
met him I didn’t know he wasn’t a member, so I got to know him. and asked him to
see if he was coming to church tomorrow and he was like '" oh! is there
going to be another program like this tomorrow??" that’s when I realized
he wasn’t a member. so I like.. played along with it and I was like yea! but we
are just going to meet in that one room and we can sit down, listen to people
talk, and we can talk some more. Then he realized it was church but he was
happy and he was like " YEAH! I’ll come! " really excitedly. And he
came on Sunday! and he stayed and learned and he liked it! and we have become
really good friends really quick. I’m really excited about him. his name is
akos.
So
overall.... the work here in duna is really good. And it’s just getting better.
It’s really fun being zone leader.. We are so busy though, but it’s making time
just fly.
Next
week we have zone conference and we are in charge of that, then we gotta get
ready for more splits and for president coming in.
I love
you guys! keep having fun and be safe! time is flying! sometimes it really hits
me how fast it’s going and how real it is that I’ll be home soon.
I love
you!
Watson
Elder
6/22/2015
Family!
Once
again it looks like you all had another fantastic week. I’m really jealous of
all the awesome things that you are all doing back at home. It’s really fun for
me to look at all the pictures that you guys send me. I love you guys and miss
you guys!
Congrats
to Zach for getting married! I’m sad that I wasn’t able to be there but form
the pictures that my mom sent me it looks like it was a beautiful wedding! I’m
happy for you my brotha.
This
week for us in Duna was a pretty busy one. It really flew, I feel like it was
just yesterday that it was pday. We had tons of programs all week and then we
had Zone Conference and District meeting.
Before
I get to the zone conference and district meeting one exciting thing happened
this week that was out of the norm. One of our investigators, Elvira, accepted
to get baptized! She will be baptized on July 4! A great way to celebrate the
4th:) ha
Last Saturday
at a ward party we met this really cool kid named akos. He is my age with red
hair. We became really good friends right off the bat, and I invited him to
church and he came to church last Sunday! Then this week I wrote a little
message to him in a book of Mormon and when we met I gave it to him and we talked
a little bit about the book of Mormon. He was really open and accepting to all
of it. He is one of our newest, more legit investigators that we are really
excited about :)
For
our weekly mission ward correlation meeting thingy ( whatever you call it in English)
we usually did it at the branch house because we don’t have cars and the member
lives far out there. but this week they invited us to come over to their house
for dinner and for the meeting and for like a family home evening thing. It was
a lot of fun to be out there. and it was nice to finally be out of the city and
to see the beautiful Hungarian hills.
Outside
of that, I’m sorry if to this point it was really boring.. but literally
nothing cool or out of the ordinary happened!
SO!
Zone conference. It was probably one of the last zone conferences that we will
have up in Budapest (because pres. szabadkai is going to change some stuff) .
It was also President Smith’s final zone conference with all of us. It’s really
weird thinking that after that day, I would never see president smith again.
(although he did say that he was going to come down to Hawaii and watch me play
ball then take me out for dinner when I get home. ha ) but here on the mission I
wouldn’t see him. It was a weird feeling. But It was a great zone conference.
We held a training and conducted. Our trainings and teachings and everything
went really well and there was a great spirit to all of it. Everyone loved it. It’s
been really cool for me to be able to work with the missionaries on a more
personal level. each night we get to call one city out of our 5 and talk to
them and see how they are doing with the work and everything. And we also get
to visit them every once in a while. It’s a lot of fun for me. I love it.
In
district meeting, to give a shout out to dad, I used your famous American,
German war story that you would always use on me. Towards the end of district
meeting I felt like I needed to share that story. So I told them the story and I
drew it up on the board and then left it up to them to get all the principles
and doctrines out of it. And I allowed them to apply it to their own lives and
their own situation. They all really liked it and it was really powerful. So I
guess I should thank you for telling me it so many times. :) ha I also told
them that it was "from my dad and that he told me this story probably like
20 times in my lifetime." ha :)
Anyway!
I love you guys! if you’re all curious what the story is about, I will refer
you to Greg D Watson. ha.
I love
you guys! have another great week! be safe!
Watson
Elder
6/29/2015
Sziasztok!
Well I
can't believe how fast time is flying! I'm 20 years old, I’m on a mission in
Hungary, I have a beautiful family, I have a beautiful girl, and I’m in
dunaujvaros... I think the Lord is treating me pretty well! It’s weird to
me to think that 2015 is already half way over. I feel like I was just in
békéscsaba yesterday or something. I quickly wanted to thank all of you for
your loving support and your encouragement. I love each and every one of you!
And you are all in my prayers every single day. I love you guys and I miss you
guys more than you know! I can’t wait to give each one of you a big hug in the airport!
This
week in the Hungary Budapest mission is a history making one! We are receiving
the first ever Hungarian mission president. He starts on Tuesday! My
Birthday! It’ll be really cool and interesting to see what kind of
changes he has to make. We are all really excited.
This
week as far as my life went, it was a busy one as well. On Monday night we had
a family home evening with a couple members at their houses. It was a really
good experience. Then, later we had a conference call with president concerning
the statues of our zone. It’s interesting and cool to see and talk with a
mission president who is shortly going home. President Smith has done a
great job out here. I only have great things to say about him.
This
whole week was a rainy one. It’s really abnormal. Usually it’s blazing hot, but
lately it’s been so nice and cool because of the rain. Its missionaries dream
weather!
On Thursday
and Friday we went on splits with the elders in székesfejérvár! They call it
the city of the kings. Because before Budapest became the big city, székes was Hungary’s
capital. All of the ancient kings lived in székes and they are all buried here.
It was really cool to go and see the city and all the cool parts. They have a
beautiful downtown. it really makes you feel like you are in Hungary. We took
an hour and a half bus to get there. The elders there are doing really good. We
had a really good day together. I went with Elder Murdock. He and I have become
really good friends. His family recently just moved to the Ogden area. We had a
couple programs in the morning, then during 2 hours of finding we got out 20
books of Mormon with 2 lessons and 2 new investigators. Then we were invited to
go play basketball with a bunch of guys. And it came on a perfect day because I
was there! :) So we went and played ball with them, I recked em. We gave them
some books of Mormon. Then we ended our day with dinner with some members and
all the missionaries in székes so we could say hi to them and tell them some
information. It was a really good day.
Work
is really exploding in our zone lately. Just this week we, as a zone got 6 new
bap dates. And 2 of those are from our companionship.
2
miracles happened this week. 1 of them happened when we got home from splits
and after district meeting. We were walking down by the duna river searching
for people. we locked up our bikes and the first person that I talked to was
this younger guy. I was like " hey, do you speak English? " . in Hungarian.
and he was like " not really, but one second I’m really thirsty then we
can go somewhere and talk." so he went and got a drink real quick from a
fountain then he came back to us. As we were walking down towards the river I
started to get to know him. His name is Imre. He is 29 years old. He has been
homeless for 10 years because he had no respect for his parents and he got into
bad stuff so he left his house and had never returned for 10 years. His teeth
were really messed up, obviously from drinking, not brushing, and not taking
care of himself. But within these past couple years he has really changed his
attitude. He has realized that the things he was doing and getting into wasn’t
good so he stopped. But he has still been homeless and trying to get a job
somewhere.-- we found a bench to sit down on, and in that moment we really felt
this power come into our hearts. It’s a very interesting feeling. I really felt
the power of my calling and this doesn’t happen very often because we are
constantly doing the same things over and over again and we are constantly
feeling the spirit so it’s kind of like.. being wet all the time and then
having a water balloon thrown at you. you don’t recognize that it made you wet
because you are already soaked. Anyway. I asked him " who do you think
that we are? " and he went on and told us what he thought. then I went on
to tell him that we were representatives of Jesus Christ and He has sent us to
you tonight to share with you a very special message that will change your
life. And he accepted it and listened. We continued to promise him blessings if
he would do the things we asked him to do. and He agreed to do them. we set up
to meet with him again the next morning in the same spot. We go back there Saturday
morning and we start with a prayer and he goes on to tell us that after he met
with us and read out of the book of Mormon he got enough courage to return home
and apologize to his dad and to move back in with him. His dad forgave him and
now he isn’t homeless after 10 years. Then, before we met with him, he was
offered a small job by some old people to go and help them in their house and
farm and stuff. It was amazing. it was a miracle. that morning we taught him
the plan of salvation, starting with where we came from, then to Adam, then to
the fall, and then we focused on Jesus Christ and His redeeming sacrifice. Then
we taught about the restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ and a really cool
thing happened. This is definitely a first on my mission. He is the first
person I have met that has cried out of joy that we are not in an apostasy
anymore, but the church and the truth has been restored. He literally started
crying as we told him that. He, then by himself realized that he needed to be
baptized again and he is on schedule to be baptized on July 18. He is so
humble. willing. nice. he is super smart. and he is super prepared. The whole
time I was thinking that this is what it must've been like to be alma baptizing
and teaching all those humble poor people. It was as if we were teaching one of
them.
The
second one is that we met with this older lady names Elvira. After drinking
coffee for 50 years she has finally got off the habit of drinking coffee. She
has some health problems and she requested a blessing to help stabilize her
health so that she can get baptized. We gave her a blessing and she is scheduled
to be baptized July 25.
It’s
just another testimony to me that there are people out there being prepared by
the lord to receive his gospel. We just gotta do our part, be where we are
supposed to be and do what we are supposed to be doing. stay worthy of the
companionship of the holy Ghost. and literally God will cause miracles to
happen with you being the instrument in his hands.
I’m
grateful for all the Lord has done for me in my life! Like I said! He has treated
me very well. I have everything I want! My family, Hannah, I’m on a mission, I’m
healthy, and the lords work is moving forward! And the fruits are the most
amazing thing to see!
I love
all of you! have a great 4th of July weekend! be safe and smart! IM PROUD TO BE
AN AMERICAN!!!!
Watson
Elder
7/7/2015
Family!
Another
transfer has past and another one has come! I successfully spent my 2nd Fourth
of July on my mission in Hungary. I brought the famous American S’more to the
Hungarians in Duna. They loved it. And I "killed" my second companion
in the field. Elder Zwingly is going back home to Washington.
Allot
of historical, cool things took place this week! I’ll start off with the
transfer call that I received this morning while I was in the store shopping. President
Szabkai called and told me that I will be staying in Duna! And get this! I will
be receiving Elder Cannon as the new zone leader! He continued to tell me that I
need to train him to be a good zone leader and he wants us to be really
successful. Elder cannon will be my new companion! And as some of you know..
Elder cannon is from the great old lands of Brigham city.. I went to high
school with him when he was a senior and I was a sophomore. We were with each
other in the MTC. And now we will have the opportunity to serve with each other
for up to 15 weeks! The Brigham city boys are getting back together! I was
really surprised when I got the call! He is a great guy and I think we are
going to get along super well. I’m really excited to get him. So I will most likely
be with him until October. That is when the next transfer happens when zone
leaders go home. so that’ll be the next change. He will be one of my longest
companions.. along with Elder Sterri.
So that’s
the big news this week! besides that.. some other cool things happened.
One
Tuesday president szabadkai came and he called us and told us that he wants to
see us and he wants to see our zone together the next day. So we had to call everyone,
then we had to look up everyone’s train/ bus times to duna. Then we all
met with szabadkai for the first time Wednesday. The mini zone conference was
all in Hungarian! Everyone loved it! IT was for sure different! It took a
minute to get used to it. But I really felt bad for the new missionaries.. they
didn’t understand very much.. ha as far as my understanding.. I’m lucky.. I’ve
been here for a while.. almost a year and a half.. and I understood everything.
he has brought a lot of changes with him as well. it’s really cool to see. He
is a very humble, calm, but powerful and "to the point" kind of
mission president. He has power behind his words. during the conference he
layed down his expectations of what he wants us to do.. and how he expects us
to work. and he especially made emphasis on working out in the morning and
smiling a lot and being happy. He wants us to be the happiest mission in the
world. It was really cool to meet with him and be able to speak with him a
little bit. His wife is also amazing and normal.. and has a young spirit in her
that is going to do wonders to the mission. -- so that.. and then when pres.
called me this morning it took me a minute to adjust.. I’ve never received a
transfer call in Hungarian before! ha pres and I had a good 5 min convo on the
phone about the new call and about elder cannon and what he would like me to
do. It was really cool to be able to speak to my mission president in
Hungarian.
So,
really, that.. and then on Saturday, the fourth of July parties that we had
with the ward were probably the most exciting things that happened this week.
the rest of this week has been burning hot.. it’s been in the 40s. which is
like.. 100s. and we are constantly in it.. we kind of have to be careful. because
we have no ac, no one does, and we are just sweating all day every day. like
right now, I’m in a library.. and it feels like I’m in a sauna. I’m sweating
like crazy. but hopefully it’s like a climax.. and then we will get some
rainstorms.. and it’ll cool everything down and hopefully fall will come
quickly. ha
other than
Wednesday and Saturday we had programs with people literally all day. for
example yesterday.. everyone wants to say goodbye to zwingly.. so we were fed 5
times. I thought I was going to explode. ha.
But on
Saturday we had a big Aaronic priesthood activity.. where we went and shot a
bow and arrow.. and we whipped wips. I learned how to crack a wip! I picked up
on it really quick and they are so much fun. ha I got that wip to crack so
hard.. it was so loud. it was really cool. it was like a gun shot and it echoed
throughout the hills. Then we had a big Hungarian bbq. Then that lasted till
300. then we threw an American party down by the duna river after that at 6. we
had 10 investigators come and like 12 members. it was tons of fun. we had ultimate
Frisbee. then we cooked hot dogs.. made s’mores.. had a football... played
cards.. etc. as we gathered to say the prayer over the hot dogs.. it reminded
me of that Mormon message.. when the guy said " and they blessed the hot
dogs..." haha I almost started laughing. But it was a really good
time.
Sunday
was my comps last Sunday. we both bore out testimonies of Jesus Christ and of
the reality of him. Both of our investigators who are going to get baptized
where there. we have both of them scheduled for July 25. They are looking
really good.
Anyway!
then today I woke up, worked out a little, went shopping, got a call from pres.
now we are emailing at the library.. and after this I’m not sure what we are
going to do. my comp needs to finish packing and stuff. So we will probably do
that.. then we have English class and a feeding program tonight.
I love
you guys! I’m so glad that all of you had a blast this last weekend! I hope you
all had a great fourth and I hope that we all got an opportunity to thank God in
our prayers for the amazing land that we have to live in. America is truly the promised
land. and we are so lucky and blessed to be able to live there and grow up
there.
As
alma said to his son Helaman: 13 O remember,
remember, my son Helaman, how strict are the commandments of God. And
he said: If ye will keep my commandments ye
shall prosper in the land. "
I know
that this is 100% true. sometimes in our lives we have to do a self-evaluation
to make sure that we are on the straight and narrow path. Because Satan can lo
us into thinking that we are okay, when really we are stumbling slowly off the
path. we truly need to ponder the course of our steps. where are they leading
us to?
as
alma said : but behold I say unto you, that by small and
simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many
instances doth confound the wise.
7 And
the Lord God doth work by means to bring about his great and eternal
purposes; and by very small means the Lord
doth confound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many
souls.
And I
would like to suggest that this also can work in the inverse. By small and
simple things Satan trips and traps a lot of people.
2 For God doth not walk in crooked paths, neither
doth he turn to the right hand nor to the left, neither doth he vary from that
which he hath said, therefore his paths are straight, and his course is one
eternal round.
If
not, he would cease to be God. His paths are strict and straight as well. and
there is only one path to become like him And it is strict, straight, and
narrow. And There shall be few who find it. We have found it! We must stay on
it and keep moving forward and on the way bring others to the path as
well.
for a
man filled with the love of god isn't content with blessing his family only,
but is anxious, wanting to bless all the nations of the earth.
I love
you guys! have a great safe week!
Watson
Elder
7/13/2015
Dear
family and loved ones:)
The
Lord finally answered all the missionaries’ prayers here in Hungary and sent
Rain!!! Talking about little things being enjoyed.. For missionaries the heat
is deadly. especially when you are in a mission where you track, street, and
you are outside 90% of every single day. And.. when you are in a Country that
does not use AC! Honestly.. they think it will make you sick. #Hungarians.
The
night that I received Elder Cannon a huge thunderstorm came in and it was
pounding all night long. And it's been raining on and off since then. It’s so
refreshing.
Elder
Cannon and I are getting along great! Probably too well. Time is already
starting to fly and usually the first week with a new companion is the longest
because you are trying to adjust and find a harmony. ha But we found it really
quick and time is just a flying. We are expected to stay together for another
12 weeks. It’ll be a fast 12 weeks that’s for sure. That'll put us in October
with only 4 more months to go! I think the closer you come to the end of the
mission experience.. the more intense the mixed feelings become. There is a
very interesting, peculiar power that is in missionary work; especially for the
full time missionaries. As I have reflected on this journey up to this point.. I
have realized that the second I was a set apart to be a missionary a power and
force came into my life that I have never experienced before. It was like a
huge mantle that came over my shoulders that was too big for me, but then there
was this power that its sole purpose was to help me fill that mantle. Family,
Loved ones, Friends, administering angles, Church leaders, companions, God
Jesus Christ and the Spirit themselves have continually helped me to fill that
mantle.
Through
this whole experience I have learned so many lessons. One of them being the
importance of Family. One of love, another of daily scriptures study and
prayer. One of faith. one of endurance, of sacrifice, of diligence, of hope.
of Those things that matter most and many others. But one of the
greatest lessons that has been taught to me over and over again is that of God..
and how He is a God of LOVE. He is LOVE. He is our father. We are HIS children.
He has done and created everything for us. He wants us to be happy and
successful in this life ( that doesn't mean with money or job occupation.) And
this is the lesson that I has been taught to me several times.. : HE IS ALWAYS
THERE! Listening, waiting, anxiously standing by ready to help us the moment we
call out for help. The condition is on Us. Not on Him. It’s our choice if
we desire to access the Power and Companionship of God in our lives. He has,
and never will give us a trial too large, he will never abandon us ( although
sometimes we abandon him.. ) He will never give us a calling too high and too
overbearing. He will never command us to do something that he has not FIRST
made a way for us to accomplish that thing which he commanded us to do. And He
will never leave us on our own. He loves us. We are his Children. He is
perfect. His character is perfect. His perfections are perfect.. and his
attributes are perfect. He is all powerful. He is all knowing. He is the
beginning and the End. ( alpha and Omega) He is everlasting without
beginning of days or end of years. And the miracle of all this is.. is that he
loves us so much that he wants us to become like him! And he has prepared a
perfect... plan for each and every one of us to be "successful" in
this life. And not to mention.. He sacrificed his only Begotten son in the
flesh so that we can accomplish this. That’s how much he loves us. He will
never leave us powerless. Time and time again here in Hungary.. I’ve been
challenged with this wonderful language of Hungarian. Known as the second
hardest language in the world. I’ve been put in situations where I’m
"on the spot" representing the most perfect being in the
universe. Or I’ve been asked to do something that with human power alone, is
impossible. And time and time again I have learned the lesson that :
those who put their trust in the living almighty God, those who turn to him in
time of trial and need, those who strive to be like His son, those who love
HIM, Those who humble themselves before him, Those who are willing to sacrifice
everything they possess.. sometimes even including family, friends, wives,
children, reputations, scholarships, security, wealth... and those willing to
sacrifice even their own lives... Can exercise enough FAITH ( not merely a
belief.. but a KNOWLEDGE ) unto receiving salvation to their souls and
receiving Eternal life with the Father and the Son. And those people can draw
from the powers of heaven with their faith in time of need. God will always
support those who serve him and love him. It’s amazing. in some moments when I’m
" put on the spot", for example.. talks.. talking to certain people
on the street... giving blessings.. etc. I Speak the most perfect Hungarian I’ve
ever spoke and I just feel it flowing through me! But then at times when I’m at
home practicing.. not " on the spot" .. I struggle. coincidence? I don’t
think so. God has said " in the VERY MOMENT" he will give us the
power and the words to say. Christ has said with his apostles: 20 Neither pray I for these alone, but
for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
21 That
they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in
me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world
may believe that thou hast sent me.
23 I in
them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the
world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou
hast loved me.
24 Father,
I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that
they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before
the foundation of the world.
As we
exercise our faith. As we trust. As we not merely act on belief but on
knowledge... Our "spoiled goods " our trials, our hard times, our
heart breaks, our problems and challenges we can handle with a smile on our
face and joy in our hearts. Having total and complete trust in that being who
created us. hoping knowing that if we stay true.. we will receive a better
world and all our wrongs will be made right.
Again,
it’s all on a condition of OUR individual actions. God is a God of Cause and
Effect. He will respect our free agency. He has given us the power to help. And
Christ has given us the power to be one and have access to all the father has.
And US, as Latter-day saints.. just like the Former day saints.. have those
gifts, tools, powers, priesthoods, and keys to enable us to be one with the
father and the son. Be ye therefore one, and if ye are not one, ye are not
mine.
I love
you guys!
Watson
Elder
ps.
this week I wrote my first letter to president in Hungarian! it was so weird!
pss.
we just did a lot of finding this week and we to a couple new investigators
that are really cool.
psss.
our bap. dates are still on for the 25th! :)
pssss.
this next week will be crazy! we got splits to pécs, we gotta be in Budapest
all day on Wednesday for MLC. then we got to prepare for a zone conference
coming up next week! :)
pssssssss... HAPPY BIRTHDAY THIS WEEK DAD! I LOVE YOU! YOU’RE THE BEST
DAD ON THE PLANET!!!! ENJOY YOURSELF IN YELLLERSTONE!4:)
7/20/2015
Dear
Family and Loved Ones,
This
week was extremely busy, and this upcoming week is the exact same! Here in Duna
it has been upwards of 40 degrees.. which is up in the hundreds range.. It’s
been killer! Our apartment is burning up, the streets are melting ( literally.)
, and there isn’t a cloud in the sky! The Hungarians say that this is one of
the most un normal summers that they have ever had. BUT! It’s been a good experiences
just dealing with it:) ha I’m sure excited for fall though.
It was
a lot of fun watching all the videos that you guys sent me over email. It looks
like everyone is still growing.. and everyone is doing well down in Végas. Way
to keep ballin max! This experience in your life will come quick, might seem
long, but will disappear really fast if you are not careful. So make sure you
live every second!
For
me, Tuesday was a normal day for us here in duna. Then Wednesday we got up
early and went to Budapest for the Mission Leadership Conference with president
szabadkai. It was all in Hungarian and it was a really good experience. We
talked about leadership towards the end and I talked about how we can better
motivate the mission and how we can motivate those missionaries that don’t have
that motivation. and I said sometimes we, as leaders, just need to light a fire
under people’s bottoms.. and how then afterwards be friends and show them that
you love them. And how we need to be the leaders who never change. who are
constant. and be that kind of person that people can trust in. I related it to
a QB on a football team. I had to describe what that is to szabadkai.. but
everyone else got it. ha Yeah, it was interesting for me to translate all
of that in Hungarian.. but it worked! szabadkai liked it! he quoted "
fire" a lot after that :) lol. So that lasted from 9 to 2. we had
lunch and stuff there. Then after that we jumped on a train and had a 3 hour train
ride to Pécs! That night we met with the missionaries there and we walked
around the city and we had a dinner / little district meeting where we
could explain our visions and make sure that they were all doing okay
physically and spiritually. I had the opportunity to give a blessing to one of
the sisters that requested one. Then I slept on the floor that night in a
very.. stuffy room. ha It made me grateful for the bed that I did have in duna.
The next day we went finding and a ton of miracles happened. I was able to
teach the younger missionaries a lot too. It’s so weird.. I am currently the
oldest ( as far as mission life goes ) in my zone. it’s cool, but weird. all in
all we gave out 4 books and got 3 new investigators for them! and we taught
several lessons. It was a successful day! Late Thursday night we got on another
3 hour bus back to duna.
As we
got back to duna the unexpected happened.. and I just started to laugh.. but
get this! My bike got stolen again! idk why they always go for mine! mine is
always the crappiest one! that’s the second time on the mission! ha It was
chained up with a thick chain too.. they just cut it and boom. gone. So we will
see what we can do about that.. as for now.. we are walking everywhere again..
Yes it kind of sucks.
We
have been busy with our own investigators as well here.. everyone is
progressing great. the baptisms are going to go through next week. They are
solid. So we are happy about that. we talk with usually one city in our zone
every night to see how they are doing and just check up on them.. that’s been
fun. But literally.. we are just going going.. from 6 am. ( we have to
wake up earlier to get everything done ) to about 11 at night. can hardly think
by the end of the day. But all of our hard work is starting to pay off. you can
feel and see the fruits of it.
This
upcoming week is another busy one. tonight we are traveling to veszprém..
another gorgeous city in Hungary ( luckily they are all in our zone :) ) on the
request of president szabadkai. Then we have our zone training this Thursday..and
after that we are going to kaposvár on splits.. till Friday night.. then Saturday
afternoon we have a couple baptisms!!!!:) so this next week is full of
traveling..and we have stacked the days when we are going to be at home with
program after program. So that’s that!
Just
remember back home that " Without hard work.. nothing grows but weeds.
"
I hope
everyone is doing wonderfully! pray for rain.. or at least clouds! ha
I love
each and every one of you! You are always in my prayers!
Love,
Watson
Elder
