July 7th 2014

6/23/2014

family! :) 

Once again, it looks like everyone had a really good week back at home enjoying summer and all that has to bring with it! I hope that everyone else is doing great! zach, grandpa and grandma are going to have to tell me about their fishing trip and how it went! I’m jealous.. yes.. I haven’t found an investigator yet that will take me fishing! ha but it’s one of my transfer goals! ha ,) - but I loved hearing about everything that went on :) I love you and miss you guys! 

So a little bit about my week this week! It was pretty crazy with a lot of traveling. We had greeny training on Monday.. and then we had zone conference on Friday! which was super good and cool to see all the other missionaries in our zone. It was a super good, spiritual meeting. I’ll talk a little more about that and what I learned in a minute. 

  

I’ll answer some of the questions that you have first! 

A couple of funny things happened this week! we were tabling one afternoon and we’ve been out there for a good hour or so.. we’ve talked to several people... and then this random lady came out of nowhere and started yelling at us and telling us that the book of Mormon wasn’t true! haha and she told us that is was from the devil and all that, then we started to talk to her back and asking her how she knew that it wasn’t true.. and she wouldn’t give a specific answer, but she just kept saying that it wasn’t true. I guess she went to some convention where they told her what was true in life or something! then, I told her that I knew that the book of Mormon was true and that it was the word of God. she then said that I didn’t know that it was true. and at this point I was kind of laughing. and I said back to her.. how can you say that I don’t know that the book of Mormon is true? have you ever read the book of Mormon before? and she said no. and then she kept on saying that the book of Mormon isn’t true. and THEN. while she was saying all this stuff another guy came up to the table and started yelling at us (mind you this is in the middle of the city where there are tons.. of people)  and he picked up a book of Mormon and said that we will never have success here because Hungary sucks.. and the people are so wicked and that we shouldn’t even try. and then while he was saying all that the other lady was backing him up and saying that is true. hahaha what the? so we just bore our testimony loud and clear and then they went on their way. it was a pretty intense 10 minutes. haha that’s a reason why I love tabling though.. you get so many weird crazy stories! :) The church is true! the book of Mormon is true! I’ve read it. I’ve prayed about it. and I’ve applied it! that is how I know the book of Mormon is true! 

I sent you one picture of a huge night party in győr... yeah they have those all the time.. and we live like right next to where they have them and they are soooo loud! we hear them late into the night almost every weekend! it’s crazy! they have fireworks and music.. people are drunk everywhere.. it’s quite the sight to see sometimes. 

oh, here is a funny thing :) haah you’ll all love this one. so during our English class this week... I decided that I wanted and needed something funny. I needed a laugh. and the Hungarians really needed to work on their (th) sound and their (w)s. haha so.. for about a good 15 minutes.. we worked on our sounds. Hungarians cannot say th sounds.. or ws-.... so we probably said my name like a hundred times.. and the word that really gets them is weather. haha its sooooo funny. they can’t say it. I almost died laughing like ten times. it was great :) ha 

so pretty much my week this week consisted of a lot of finding... tabling.. service finding... tracking... door to door. streeting. etc. and then we taught some investigators! and yes, we are having a huge baptism on July 19! so that’s the big day! :) it’s exciting! and then English class on Tuesdays and Thursdays.... so that was kind of this week! it hasn’t been that hot over here either so that is nice :) we still sweat a lot though since we are riding everywhere! 

so, back to zone conference! it was a great zone conference and it was really refreshing. I just wanted to share a couple of things that I learned there for my spiritual thought this week. 

At the very start of the meeting president talked about how this mission is one of the toughest missions in the world. and that people everywhere say that we will have no success here and that we are just wasting our time.. and if we really want to baptize we should go to brazil or somewhere down south. people say this all the time. and I’m sure you’ve heard it before too. I even heard it from a Hungarian himself! ha - then president talked about how every missionary comes into this mission thinking that because they’ve been told that by friends.. family.. etc. and that becomes that missionaries attitude. and then yes. baptisms don’t happen. miracles don’t happen. hardly anything happens because of our attitude and our faith. -- he really pointed out on how we have to be constantly driven toward success.. and that originates... from our attitude.. and what we believe can happen. and that we are sent here.. to succeed. and how the lord said that the field is white.. and already to harvest. we aren’t sent here to sow.... we are sent here to reap. and yes, it is true.. there is so much more harvesting to do... more than we have the laborers for. I’ve truly witnessed that already. you go to bed at the end of the day with still a huge list of things that we could’ve done.. or need to get done. the Lord truly need more laborers in the field. That scripture is true and is coming to pass. ---

then he talked about how we have to give the lord our personal best every day. even if it hurts. and that our best is greater than we think it is. and that we shouldn’t put limits on ourselves. he showed this video clip of this football movie .... I can’t remember the name... but it was where this coach made this kid.. the captain.. do the death crawl.. ( it’s pretty much a bear crawl with a person on your back.) and he made him wear a blind fold and made him promise that he would give the coach his best. ( let me quickly say that it was .hard. for someone to go even 30 yards doing this.) and so he blind folded the player.. and the player said that he thought that he could only go to the 50. well the coach said  to him again to just give me your best. so they started to crawl.. he got to the 30.. arms started to burn. 50, arms started to burn even more and the coach started yelling at him to keep pushing it and to give it all he as. he got to the other 30 and was about to give up because he couldn’t feel his arms anymore.. but the coach (heavenly father) kept yelling at him to give it his all and to push and to not give up. just 3 more steps.. and when he finally burned out.. ( and those of you who know what this burn out feeling.. or complete exhaustion feels like.. you’ll understand what I am saying better ) the coach took off the blind fold.. and the player was in the opposite end zone. 

so apply that to our life.. the coach is our heavenly father who loves us and wants us to be successful. we will go through hard times. we will be pushed to our (so called limits) in life. where we don’t think we can go another step.. but then you have your Heavenly Father there.. begging you to just go 3 more.. because he can see the end and you can’t. but we must have the faith and trust and we must be willing to give him all that we have. and we will see, just like that player, that there really is no limits. anything can happen. amazing things can happen. miracles can happen. you can get past this hard time that you are going through. there is light on the other side. if we keep pushing and giving the lord all we have. 

D&C 64: 33-34. 

the Lord requires a willing heart, and the willing and obedient will reap the good of the land in these last days. 

I love you all and miss you! have another great week!

Watson Elder. 

6/30/2014

My amazing family!!!! 

First of all.. THANK you so much for the birthday wishes!!:):): you guys are the best :) thank you for all that you do for me and I can’t wait to get the packages :):) thank you for celebrating my birthday without me.. ,):) haha you’ll have the take pics and tell me all about it! 

second.. it’s really raining here right now and it’s coming down hard! I’ve never seen it rain like this before. and this morning we had a program with this thomás guy, who we have been meeting with every day for the last week, and we got SOAKED riding our bikes to the ward house. ha it was great. but now we are here in the library emailing! 

sounds like everyone had a great week! and I was really excited to see and hear how Max's basketball went! sounds like he did well! atta boy! keep working hard. cuz that’s what it takes! -- sounds like Jarom, and Luke are doing great too! and thanks Luke for the prayers! I feel them! you’re the best! 

so a little bit about my week and then the surprise that I got at the end of the week! 

this week we found 3 little kids.. ages about 12. 13. and a 9 year old girl. and they love to play soccer. we played with them on Tuesday.. then Thursday.. and they came to our English classes.. and they love us! they think that we are the coolest people on earth! ha literally! it’s so cool! and get this! they came to church on Sunday for all 3 hours and were really good and then they even stayed after a little bit with us and talked with us! They are really cool little kids and they are becoming more interested in the gospel! my bet is this.. they are going to get baptized before I leave győr. which.. my comp has been in győr for about 5 months.. so he is most likely to get transferred and then I will stay here for another transfer.. which I am super excited about because győr is awesome! :) transfers is on July 24. and we have a baptism on July 19 with 2 investigators getting baptized. and our other investigators are doing really well.. thomáas is really progressing.. that hubarek family is as well.. then we have some others that are really interested and are progressing as well. it’s exciting.

so on Saturday.. I was surprised with a surprise birthday party by the youth and by some people in this ward! ha we were finding for like 3 hours on our bikes on Saturday.. and then my comp said that we needed to go to the church to help this member clean the ward house , so I was like.. okay. and then we went back there.. I walk in.. Kloudia.. who I’m sure you all know who I’m talking about. is holding an iPad to my face! ahah I was like.. what the????????????? and I’ve been wearing a helmet all day so my hair was crazy.. and we walked into that room that you saw on facebook and they started singing happy bday to me and they lit my cake with a literal firework.. candle thing.. haha (which I’m sure is not allowed haha ) but it was great! then they were yelling at me to blow the candle out so I tried like 81 times and it would go out! as you saw.. hha ha and then they gave me a blue t shirt that says I LOVE Győr on it. and then they all were wanting me to give a speech! haha ( this is where all those after game interviews came in handy .) ) ha so I gave them a little speech.. you couldn’t really hear all of it in the video.. but I’ll give the same thought for my thought this week to you guys! but that was the party :) it was a nice surprise! 

this Sunday president was up to our ward for sacrament... and then we had 5 investigators in church which was good.. and yeah! that was pretty much that day! and that was this week! of course there is so much more that happened.. but that’s how much I have time to write right now! 

anyway... so for my last thought for you this week is going to be this. 

when life really comes down to it... the only thing that matters is the people that you know and the people that you love. 

nothing else in life even matters except for that. and I am grateful for the amazing family that I have the family that I was born into. I have the greatest parents who gave me the most important thing they could give me.. and that is the knowledge of our Savior.. and His atonement.. and His plan for us. I have the best brothers who are awesome to be with. I have great grandparents... and great great great grandparents who are amazing people.. and if it weren’t for them.. I wouldn’t be here right now. I have the greatest extended family and I’m so grateful for them. I have the greatest friends who are always supportive of me and who care about me. I am so grateful for Hannah, and all that she has done for me and all of her support, love, and encouragement. and all that she means to me in my life. --- I have the greatest family... and when life really comes down to it.. it’s all about those people I just mentioned. they are the only ones that matter. 

I love you guys and miss you guys! thank you for the birthday wishes! have the best 4th of July and be safe! 

I love you! 

Watson Elder. 

7/6/2014

amazing family!!!!:):)

It was a great week this week!!!! and where do I even begin with your week??? oh I know! what the micsoda is about everyone going fishing in the Uintah’s?????????? hahahaa I saw that.. and I saw those pictures that dad sent and I about died laughing. talk about a surprise!!!!!!!!!:) hahaha it’s great! how did everyone like following my dad 25 miles into the mountains.. going off the trails.. and then eventually getting lost? haha :) jk:) I bet you guys had a blast.. I’m jealous... I’m coming next time! -- was the fishing good? a fish in every hole? who caught the most? did you even keep track? I’m sure Teresa caught the biggest. ha ,) 

I’m glad that everyone had a great fourth of July!!!!!!! everyone got to see fireworks.... and BE IN THE UNITED STATES! ha that’s great:) my companion and I decided that we needed to bring the American pride to Hungary... so we set up a little American buli on Friday night and invited all the youth.. and investigators! it was a good turn out and lots of fun! we didn’t have much money to work with but we made it work! we had a bunch of red white and blue things... and then a flag! - which you saw me holding a few times! I miss my flag! then we had TONS of American desserts.. and everyone loved them.. we made raspberry shakes for everyone.. true shakes.. with ice cream. here they only use milk.  ha but yeah. everyone was freaking out about those.. we had a bunch of games... races... we had a football..  we had everything that we possibly could and it was tons of fun! :) 

I got your guy’s packages this week!!!:) and I loved them!!!!!!:) you guys made my week! thank you so much for sending those cards and candy and jerky.. which yes.. they don’t have those here.. it was so good to eat some! thank you! I love you. you guys are the best :) quick question.. when did you guys send those??

haha I saw the huge party that you guys had for me..:) haha I loved the pictures of it! I’m lucky to have such a loving and supporting family. I love you guys! I can’t wait to actually attend my own birthday party in 2016. ha ,) 

just so you know.. you got a little something coming your way from Hungary.. let me know when you get it! you’ll love it.. especially dad. ha :)

so I don’t have much time this week but ill quickly tell you of all the main things that happened this week. 

so this week győr started some festival that runs all week long and they had fireworks the starting night! and it happened to be on the fourth of July!!! haha so we thought that it was for America.. so we started chanting stuff out our window in our apartment.. and our neighbors texted us and told us happy 4th. haha but it really wasn’t for us. it was good to see fireworks though.. kind of made you feel like you were at home! -- so in gyor that is what’s happening.. there is tons of people.. which is good. we talked to thousands of people this week. 

the language is coming good! I can speak what I want to say for the most part.. still kind of slow.. but that’ll come in time. and I understand mostly everything! except when they mumble or speak like.. supper duper fast. which there isn’t that many people that do that. 

those kids that we found are progressing really well! they came to church again.. and we are going to try to put them on bap date this week again. they love us. we’ve taught almost all the lessons with them. they are so cool. haha but we haven’t met their parents yet! they told us that when they go out they yell to their parents.. "were going to play with the Mormons!" haha its way funny. but that’s our goal this week! :) 

we have that bap. coming up on the 19th which is going to be great. and they both asked me if I would confirm them! so that is going to be an awesome opportunity! ha got to work on my blessing giving in Hungarian.. its supper hard. haha but it’ll be good. we will confirm them that Sunday in sacrament meeting.. it should be interesting! ha little nervous yes! can’t wait for it though :) 

so my mom told me that the fam. reunion is this week and that you guys wanted me to write something for that! so here it is! 

I hope that you guys aren’t missing me too much.. I know that it isn’t as fun without me! ,) ha jk. but I love you guys and hope that you have a great time doing all of the fun things planned! don’t forget to remember me while you are riding the rocket at lagoon! ha I hate that thing.  ( except with Hannah. she makes it fun :),) ha )

I just wanted to share a quick spiritual thought for this week that I hope you will really think about and apply in your lives. it’s this. 

everyone in the world goes through hard times. times of stress.. times of questioning. times of loneliness.. times of heart ache. times of loss. times of sacrifice.. we all have high moments and we all have low moments. we all have specific weaknesses and trials in our life that we are dealing with this very second. -- yes.. even on a mission. even the prophet. no one is immune. -- but how can we make those feelings go away? how can we still be happy? how can we be happy all the time no matter what situation we are in.. no matter how much money we have.. no matter what is going on? it’s this: THE ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE

being grateful all the time takes a conscious effort. but when we are always thankful for the things the Lord has given us... we will always be happy. we will always smile. the Lord has given us everything. and he will continue to give us everything that we need. he loves us and he is mindful of us. and as we keep his commandments he will take care of us. always. he has promised us that. -- when we are grateful.. meaning at night us specifically..... pray for  what we have received and what we have been given.. and specifically for those who have blessed your life.. by name. you will see a spirit come into your life.. you will have the light of Christ.. which will make you happy. it will bring peace. it will comfort you and give you strength. ..... ---- let us ask ourselves.. do we have the attitude of gratitude in our life right now? what can we do better? will you, tonight, get on your knees and thank the lord for all the blessings  you have been given.. specifically.. regardless of your situation or circumstance? 

I encourage all of us to have that attitude. the attitude of gratitude will lighten your life and your burdens. it will change your life.

I love all of you! have fun and be safe! 

love you!

Watson elder 

Weeks 2,3,4..

Weeks 2,3,4..

Family!!!!!!!!

2nd week in Hungary and it went by super-fast! I can’t believe that it is already p-day again! and I can’t believe it is June! if loved all of your guy’s emails and all of your updates! sounds like everyone is glad that school is over and that everyone is ready for summer! I’m glad that everyone is doing well and is having fun!

so I’ll answer some of your questions real quick and then tell you about my week! so you google mapped my area huh?! hah what did you think? if take a lot of the same routes every day. so if you go to the street view.. you can have a good idea of what my view is like every single day!

q1- if do my laundry in our apartment. we have a washer in our apartment.. which is so nice.. and then we just take it out and hang it up! 

q2- wave been cooking a lot of different kinds of food. we cooked this gőlas... if think that’s how you spell it. anyway.. it is like layers of stuff... so we put potatoes... sour cream... tons of cheese... tons of kobasz... which is like a sausage that is way good.. then eggs. paprika... (they cook everything over here with paprika... then some other stuff... and it is way good.... if have a pic I’ll send ya of it! 

q3- Yes we have microwaves.. it’s nice. and we have eaten at other people’s houses.. and they like to serve us tons of bread type foods... and also this rokot krumpli... potato pasta.. it’s different but it is good. haven’t had something too crazy yet though.. which is good. ha 

q4- the money is called forinc... so say if have... 10000 forincs... to get a good idea of how much that is in US money.. you take off the last two numbers and divide by 2. so about 50 dollars. and no... they do not accept American money over here. you have to exchange it. 

q5- Yes! I have been healthy! been so tired by the end of days though.. but my body is finally starting to adjust if think! it’s been good! there has only been one problem! and that has been the cotton. apparently if don’t like cotton.. and there is tons.... of it here everywhere. but those allergy pills have been helping tons with that. so other than that... I’m all good!!!:) 

so about my week!:) 

so every day this week we just teach and find... we usually have 3 programs (meetings) a day then we spend the rest of the day finding.. and I don’t understand people here because most of the people aren’t open and nice... and every time we go up to talk to them and just be nice.. they look at us like they want to kill us. ha one quick story!:)

so we were tracking out in the outer part of gyúr and we were going into these what they call... lepcsu haza... or staircase houses. ha and we go knocking doors in these apartment complexes.. and geez... if will never forget this experience.. it was so funny and crazy at the same time. so first you got to know that more than half of our investigators... are older nanny’s for some reason... ha - old nanny’s love us though I guess. hah anyway.... so we got into this apartment complex.. and every time someone walks in... the door makes  a buzzing sound. so we walked in... and I kid you not.. this apartment complex was about 10 stories high... and you can see clear to the top because the stairs wind up the whole thing. and every single grandma.... came out of their apartments... looked over the edge and down at us at the bottom.. and the one from the top must be like their leader or something... because she asked us what we wanted.. and what we were doing there.. and she could barely hear.. so we were yelling that we were representatives of Jesus Christ or missionaries.. and we wanted to share a message with you... and some other stuff.. and then she yelled back at us and said that she didn’t want it, and that everyone else didn’t want it... and she yelled at us to get out. ha then she threw her cain down the ten stories at us and it almost hit us. hahaha crazy huh?!?!?! true story! so by that time... all of them were yelling at us to get out. geez... what an experience... ha but we kind of started to laugh once we got out.. so crazy..

so I guess you should know that that isn’t too rare... we get yelled at and mocked at allll the time.  especially the youth here... there are a couple high schools here and they come out every once and while... and they see us walking and they start to joke about us and yell Mormons and god speaks today, etc.

a couple ways we find.. is we do door to door. we go streeting... we do this thing called.. tabling... were we go in the middle of town.. by a bunch of people.. set up huge table or Book of Mormons... and posters.. and everything.. and we talk to everyone.. and get their name.. and number.. and give them hand outs and stuff. ha it’s fun. people will stare at your name badge.. for like 10 minutes.. it sometimes gets awkward. ha 

but right now.. we have about 11 progressing investigators... all of them are pretty new. so yeah! 

we teach an English class twice a week.... and it reminds me of that one movie.. it’s fun! it’s funny to listen to Hungarians try to speak English.

language is coming good.. if can understand about... 65% of what everyone says.. so it’s good progress!:)

but the work is going!!! we are getting more and more popular everyday.. which is good. we want everyone to know about us.. and every once in a while.. while tracking.. you’ll come across a gold mine.. with tons of people who are ready to receive the gospel.. and that’s why we go out every day, getting rejected 99% of the time.. but just so we can find that 1%. because they are out there. and they are ready. we’ve had 5 let ins this week.. which never.. ever happens. a let in is where they let us in to teach them. and we’ve got 5 new investigators... that’s a rare thing. so the work is progressing!:)

it’s really good here! it’s really different. there is so much wickedness idk how they haven’t had more natural disasters. ha. it really is so bad. but there are also a lot of good parts about it. the old European buildings are so cool. the cobblestone roads.... it’s really beautiful. and the food is good. and there are a lot of good people here as well. 

so that’s a quick update on me! I can’t wait to get home and tell you all the stories. if miss you guys a lot..

Off to another week!

I love all of you! and miss you! you are in my prayers!  

Thank you for your prayers.. if need em! and if feel them

Love, 

Watson Elder. 

ps. apparently.. everyone knows the show Sherlock homes.. and almost everyone.. says.. ah... doctor Watson! haah it’s funny. 

-----------------------

Okay, so if got permission to email again today because I have to send some pictures to president and that takes about 20 minutes. I thought it would write you guys an email so you didn’t freak out when he calls you or emails you. so DONT FREAK OUT! ha everything is okay! when you get a call or an email from him don’t think I’m dead. hhaa cuz I’m not! 

so this is what happened and I’m sure president will give you more details and along with the before and after pictures. so, I was playing basketball later on yesterday like we always do with some members and their friends who likes to play basketball, it’s a good way to find new investigators. And while we were playing this kid knocked heads with me on accident and it was a pretty hard bang. I thought it was fine because if got hit in the head all the time in high school and if was always fine. I thought that until blood was completely coving my face and people were freaking out. ha so I hurried and went into the bathroom to check it out and get the blood off.. and I new immediately that if would need stitches. if got hit right above my left eye. and there was about an inch cut right on/above my left eyebrow. so I got some paper and put pressure on it and sqoozed it together and hurried and went to the hospital.. (which their hospital and medical system in Hungary is a joke. if ended up waiting 4 hours.. literally 4 hours... in the emergency room waiting for someone to look at me and stich me up. because their health system is free. it’s like Obama care. so anyone can come in for anything. and its waiting list because you are on a list. it was a joke. longest 4 hours. we tired making it a big deal.. but the doctors and nurses just got mad at us. they really don’t care about you. ) and I was put on a stretcher.. and if had to switch some goz every 30 minutes or so.. and if kept applying constant pressure. my comp gave me a blessing about 2 hours in with everyone around. kind of cool experience. we got 2 new investigators out of it. then we waited... and I had to keep drinking tons of water because I lost so much blood and everything I was starting to get light headed a bit. anyway.. after 4 hours.. it was 8 o’clock at night. we finally got in. they x-rayed me for who in the world knows why... if told them that if just needed stitches real quick.. 20 minutes.. and I’d be out! but they didn’t care what I said. then they brought me in.. they sterilized it 3 times with alcohol... stung like a bugger. then gave me two shots right above my eye to numb me. which killed too. then they gave me 4 big stitches... with this.. thicker string stuff, more like staples,  so it would hold in place. then they gave me a tetanus shot in my butt. because of the staples I guess. which killed too. haha  then they cleaned everything up.. bandaged me and then I was off. I have to go back every other day to switch the bandage and get it cleaned. so yesterday was an adventure that no one wants to have.. ha 

So it looks good. I think they did a good job stitching it. it should heal right. I’ll probably have a little scar. it’s not too swollen. I thought it would hurt worse now.. than it did then. and I thought it would be swollen.. but it’s not. and it doesn’t hurt too bad. I’ve been taking some ibuprofen and that has taken some of it away. don’t have too bad of a head ache.. 

so other than that.. everything is good.! just healing now. I walk around with a big white bandage on my head. ha its funny. but from now on... I’ll be ten times careful when I play sports.. cuz if don’t want to go back their again.

so last night was a long night.... but today it is a lot better. just healing now. and then next Wednesday.. they will look at it and then maybe take the stitches out if its good. 

crazy experience. 

I just emailed you guys so that you wouldn’t freak out and have a heart attack when you got the phone call that is everyone’s worst nightmare. so don’t freak out! all good! I'm a man! haha jk. 

But that’s the situation... and if just sent pres. the pics and I’ve been talking to him on the phone. so he said he will either email or call you. so just be ready. 

oh, ps. the before picture that we took... so I could remember this amazing experience... looks 110 x worse than what it really is. if think at least. and it’s really gross.... so don’t freak out too much okay???? promise?? :):) 

I love you guys.. and miss you guys! 

I would love some prayers that it heals correctly.. their medical facilities are sketchy around here. ha 

thank you for all that you guys do.

I love you guys so much!!!!!!!

(D and C 103: 12)

Watson Elder. 

I held up a 4 in this picture. it was after it was all stitched up and if was in the bathroom wiping all the blood that if had on my hands and arms. 4-- for 4 hours of waiting. what a joke. and the guys that are by me are my comp.. taking the pic. and then two Hungarian members that were with us and who we are pretty close to. 

you’ll get the gross ones later. 

love you! :) all is well! :) lord is watching over me! promise you! cool experiences have and will continue to happen! 

oh, and today.. so I went into the hospital this morning.. got a new bandage.. it is healing well. and then went and taught one of our investigators.. and we pretty much gave a perfect restoration lesson and she is super legit. by the end of the month.. if bet she will be baptized.! and now I am sending these emails.. and then another lesson we have to go to. then the English class.. then we are going to dinner with a member. it’s been good.

you are in my prayers always!  if love you! 

6/10/2014

Family! :)

looks like you guys had a great week! hope all of you are enjoying summer back in good ole BC! with that AC... and the houses... and the ice cold lemonade... and the pools... yeah... we don’t have any of that here! :) ha 

It was a hot week for sure! summer has finally started here in győr! school is out.. kids are everywhere.. it’s so hot! yesterday.. we walked back into our apartment for the day... and literally my whole white shirt was soaked... from sweat! it was insane! it’s because it’s so humid here and there is no AC. so there is nowhere to cool down. It’s been fun though! :) 

so I’m sorry that this email came a day later than expected... it was a holiday.. and if didn’t know about it.. and apparently on holidays here.. everything shuts down! so if didn’t have a chance to email! 

but if am so glad to hear from all of you about your week and what you’ve been up to! keep sending all of them! if love them! And if heard that you guys all got together and celebrated MY beautiful Hannah Roses birthday!!!!!!! geez. I am so jealous.. :) ,) I’m glad that it was way fun :) loved hearing that:)

so about my week!!!!!!!! I have a bunch of things that I want to tell you and I have them all written down so I will just go down the list! :)

first! my face! haha its still gorgeous as always... ,) still have the stitches/staples in... get them out hopefully tomorrow! super excited for that.. not working out is killing me! literally! but its good..as far as if can see its healing right! so that’s doing much better! it was a setback.. but it’s all good now! I’m back on track! :) 

Facebook.. I have tons of members here that keep trying to add me as Facebook friends.. and they keep bugging me to tell you to hurry up and add them. so I guess apparently there isn’t a "send friend request" button on their screen.. so idk how you need to fix that.. but they said they messaged you. so maybe you can add them for me. ha thanks :)

This week we went tabling a couple of times and what tabling is... is where we go to the center of the city.. where the most people are.. and we set up this table... we deck it out with Book of Mormon stuff... we put up Book of Mormon pictures... and a bunch of pamphlets out and everything! Then we talk to as many people as we can.. give them pass along cards.. give them Book of Mormons.. get their phone numbers... talk to them about the gospel.. etc! its way fun! we see tons... of interesting things here though.. and the most strangest people come up and talk to us. every once in a while.. you’ll get a typical old Hungarian nanny... that comes up to you and talks to you for hours on end. I kid you not.. Saturday.. we went tabling at night since everyone was out on the streets.. and this old lady came up to us and talked to us for an hour straight.. on several different subjects! it’s so crazy! and they won’t stop! ha its quite the experience! - it’s a great way to get our image out there and it gets tons of people interested and familiar with us! it’s fun! :) 

so during this week.. weve taught several people.. and here are a couple of new.. funny.. where in the micsoda did you get this information type experiences... okay. 1: this lady thought that we worked for the CIA and that the church was just another branch of that. 2: this guy thought that we were sponsored by coke-cola. that’s how we had the money to come out here. ha then 3.. geez I am really sick of this one.. everyone thinks that we are the Jehovah Witnesses and they avoid us like the plague!!!!!!!!!! here I guess they are really aggressive and in your face people.. so really.. they are killing our style!! everyone always thinks we are them! ha

on Sunday! we went to church.. I had the great opportunity to give the Aaronic priesthood to one of the young men in the ward since he didn’t have a dad.. or grandpa or anything. he wanted me to do it. that was a way cool experience! and then after.. we went to this members house and had dinner and got our haircuts! finally!!!!!!! my hair was the longest it’s ever been. and it was so hot! it was so nice to get a haircut. the lady did a pretty good job! you’ll have to tell me how it looks ,) ha 

so one more quick thing about next week before I wrap this up! so next.... Sunday. I will be going to Budapest till Monday night for some training from president. He wants to check out my eye so we are taking a train there Sunday night.. and then training on Monday. so... that means that I don’t know when I will email. it might be Sunday night... or it might mean Tuesday.. or sometime Monday! so just know that! then after that... its normal Mondays.. usual time! :) sorry about all of this scatterness! so that’s that! just so you know :)

alright. that was all! 

but I wanted to share/ tell/ testify of something that has been on my mind lately and something that has been made really apparent to me in the last few weeks. it’s this:

It’s literally killing me to see people not understanding.. not getting... not grasping the concept of how crazy, kicsoda huge.. how freakishly important the gospel is. how big our message that we are bringing to the table is. we teach some of the same people day in and day out and they say they understand and they believe but yet they will do nothing about it. they won’t change. that is the big problem, they are unwilling to change. do they not realize.. that if they don’t change.. they will not live with God again? we must be willing to change continuously for the better.  this morning we taught this lady... and she said that she believes that Joseph was a prophet.. and that the restoration is true. but she won’t change. she won’t do anything about it. ------------ so I guess long story short, to me, is this. 

If you want happiness.. true lasting happiness... it is only achieved through the gospel of Jesus Christ. in the end... it doesn’t matter how rich you were.. it doesn’t matter how much wealth you had.. it doesn’t matter how many cars you had.. its doesn’t matter how many nice clothes you have.. it doesn’t matter how good you were at basketball.. it doesn’t matter how successful you are at one thing or another. allll of that doesn’t matter one bit. in the end.. it’s gone. so I guess what my spiritual thought is for the week is what President Ucthdorf talked on a few conferences ago. focus on what matters most. true and lasting happiness comes through living and aligning yourself to the gospel of Jesus Christ. seek ye first the kingdom of god.. and all things shall be added unto you. 

hopefully you got something out of that scattered message! ha sorry! thoughts are going crazy! :)

I love all of you! have the best week yet! :) enjoy summer! enjoy the little things in life. enjoy the litter victories! 

love you! 

Watson Elder

6/17/2014

Family!!!  :)

I love p days... I love reading all of your emails.. seeing all your pictures.. even though most of them make me jealous... I love hearing about all that goes on!!!!! !:) and it looks like all of you are doing amazing! in the pictures.. all of you look healthy and you look good! most of you. dad.. idk man.. haha jk! BUT especially, of course, Hannah beats all of you :) ,) sorry :) 

Looks like all of you went on fun little vacations! love hearing and seeing all the pictures!  can’t wait to come back and go with you on them! :) 

alright! so my week! tons happened this week and tons of miracles happened! 

first of all! with my head! my face looks amazing as always.... jk. ha but no, it really looks cool! it’s a pretty sweet scar though... ha. I’ll try to get a pic where you can see it good. I got the stitches out on...Wednesday. and it actually hurt.. when they took the stitches out.. I was kind of nervous! but I got them out and it’s all good! everyone says it looks cool and that I will never forget győr now. ha but all is well with that! the human body is amazing! -- but trust me.. I’m not going back to a Hungarian hospital to save my life... ha 

like the picture I sent you?.. we had the legszinesebb buli at our ward house this Saturday! it was tons of fun. the youth put it on and we had a really good turn out with a lot of people... haha that was interesting. and then we just had tons of food.. games.. contests.. there was music.. it was a lot of fun! my comp and I dressed up in all red to match each other. we got the award for the best looking people there.. of course.. haha. 

we finally got our bikes!!!!!!!! it’s  a miracle! we’ve been waiting for 3 weeks now! and we finally got them! it is soooo much nicer.. except it really kills your butt for a good 2 weeks. ha but it’s so nice. we are so much more effective with bikes. and it’s fun to ride around the city in bikes. people look at us funny all the time. ha and yeah.. a lot of people make fun of us.. but that’s all a part of the fun! ha 

so that was kind of this week! with a lot of teaching.. English class.. and other finding teaching opportunities.. OH! but training in Budapest.. it was really good! we had a good 2 hour meeting with president about more mission goals.. rules.. etc. and then we went and got our residence cards so that we don’t have to carry around our passports anymore. which is nice. 

okay. so 2 crazy things happened this week with investigators.. 1 was with this lady names kata.. she is 26 years old. she is dating a member in the ward. she comes to English class.. and she’s met with missionaries a year ago.. but now she’s only met with us once. but get this. after English class... I was sitting out in the hall talking to some members.. and then I was just sitting there listening to everyone else talk.. and she came over to us and asked me if I was tired.. and I was like.. oh always.. and then she started to ask me why.. and what we did on a day to day bases. and then we ended up talking about almost every gospel topic you can talk about.. she asked all of her questions.. We answered them in a way that she understood. and we ended up talking and teaching for 2 and a half hours. till 9 o’clock at night. she said at the end that she opened up to us because we started to talk and teach and answer her questions she felt something she never felt before. she said she felt the passion and the holy ghost.. and that she felt happy! and she wanted to know what it was and how she can always be this happy.. she was so happy because most of her questions were about the plan of salvation.. and why she could feel the spirit with us.. and feel our testimony.. and not others. and we bounced around from topic to topic until we literally covered everything. and she believed it.. and wanted more. so long story short.. I felt the spirit. the spirit was really strong while we were talking. she felt the spirit. it was a freak, out of nowhere, opportunity... and she ended up saying that she wants more and that she wants to get baptized.   THINGS CAN HAPPEN if you’re ready.. and worthy.. and looking.. God places opportunities in your path for success. and lately.... you will never have success in missionary work.. .unless you can master the language of the spirit. mastering the language of the spirit IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING THAT ONE CAN LEARN. that’s my challenge to you guys this week. 

okay and the second story is about this family called the huberak. parents and a little girl who looks exactly like Dora the explorer. haha. long story short.. since I’m kind of on a timed schedule today.. is that we had an amazing lesson with them. they came to the ward party and loved it... they made friends.. and they had questions. we answered their questions.. and we had a great discussion on repentance and baptism. at the end of the lesson.. the dad was crying and the mom asked this question.. If someone wants to become Mormon... how do they do it? .... we got a bap. date. 

miracles happen. and can happen. things can happen. big things can happen if we exercise our faith in the lord. GOD WORKS AND SHOWS FORTH HIS POWER ACCORDNING TO THE FAITH OF HIS CHILDREN. not just in missionary work.. in life. 

last thought I wanted to share with all of you. I’ve been meeting with a lot of rcla,s lately.. or inactive members... and I’ve been really bugged about how.. and why.... in the world.. people go away from all of these blessings? okay. so we asked each of them a bunch of questions. and one really stuck out to me.. and it’s what I want to share a quick thought about. 

why do people go inactive...?

BECAUSE THEY STOP READING... AND PRAYING. 

all the people that I talked to.. the best answer that I got from them was this.. 

I read oh..... maybe twice a month. --- that’s the BEST answer I got. 

my challenge to all of you this week is this. FIND TIME.. MAKE TIME... to read and pray. read from the Book of Mormon more specifically. it is soooo important. it is the keystone to our religion.. and we can either come closer to God by reading it.. or farther away by not reading it. 

so ask this to yourself. .... 

how often do I read?

how often should I read?

how often to I pray?

how often should I pray?

and I encourage and challenge you to make changes if needed. no matter how BUSY.. your life may seem. 

I love all of you! the church is true and this work is real. the priesthood is real. Christ lives and is directing this work personally. 

I miss you all!

love ya!

Watson Elder!