Dec 2, 09

Hi Everybody!
So, I forgot which week this is....it's easy to do here, there's so much going on, and everything just goes by so fast.
So, on Thanksgiving, Elder Holland spoke! It was so exciting! He talked about being thankful (of course--it's Thanksgiving) and then, he just spent the rest of the time answering questions that a bunch of missionaries had sent a few weeks ago...it was really cool, and really humbling, because he got to one that involved being sealed to more than one person (like if your spouse dies and then you get remarried), and he tried to explain it as best he could, but in the end he just said "You know, there are some things that we just won't know the answers to in this life." It was so amazing, because he's an apostle, and there's still stuff he doesn't know...it really helped put in perspective how little we all know, and how much we just need to rely on the Lord and have faith that He will take care of everything.
The Sunday night fireside speaker was someone in charge of missionary affairs (something like that...I'll put his name in the letter home, I don't have my notes right now...). He was awesome! He was so funny, and he really got his point across about the importance of our work. Then, last night's Devotional speaker was the primary general president (Sis. Dalton). She was really good too, she likened us to the 2000 stripling warriors in the Book of Mormon, and she really went in depth with it. She also stressed how important the "Primary Answers" are, and I have to say, I never really thought about it before, but she is totally right (all the teachers here are right!). It really is the simple things like praying, reading the scriptures, going to church, etc. that help us stay close to God. Everything else we do in the church just builds off of those fundamental principles.
Ok, so my dad said my emails were all starting to sound alike...sorry about that, it's just that every week is structured the same...we learn different stuff, but we have a very set schedule, so sometimes I have a hard time remembering what stuff happened in which week. I think Rowland Elder does too...he's the senior district leader, so he picks people to say prayers before and after classes, and one day, I think I said 3 prayers! haha, I didn't really mind, it's just that we have to say them in Hungarian, and my vocabulary is quite limited at present, so all of my prayers sound very similar....Ah, but that district got their flight plans last week! They're leaving this Monday! I can't believe it.....it seemed like we were all going to be at the MTC and going out to the field together....I'm going to miss them, they were all so awesome...I hope I can be companions with at least one of them in the field. Oh, and with that, they're getting released as zone leaders this Sunday....Lundeen Elder and I are going to be the new ones! Ah, I don't know if I'm quite ready for that....but, they were zone leaders from their first day, so I think I'm a little more comfortable after having been here a while. And, I know that the Lord will help me, otherwise He wouldn't have called me to that position. It's kind of funny though, because this happened in the other district as well...the one who is the farthest along in the language and is the best at studying and learning is called as the district leader, and the other two are called as zone leaders. Rowland Elder was the district leader and is just about fluent, and Miller Elder is the farthest ahead in our class, and he just got called as district leader. I think it's going to help me though, because I think Lundeen Elder and I have meetings during the week, so we're going to miss two hours of classes each week....It's going to force me to study as often as I can, which is good, because in school I never really studied, it all just came pretty easily to me. I think this is getting me ready for college...
I so amazingly excited to get to Hungary! We ask our teachers to tell us a story from their missions, and they spend the rest of the class time telling more stories....it sounds like so much fun! And, I know that there are going to be difficult times, but I just need to focus on the good things that happen to me. Lefevre Testver (there should be an accent over the "e"--that's Brother in Hungarian) subbed for our class the other day (he usually teaches the older district) and he said the most important thing to remember while serving your mission is always to have a smile on your face--people will want to know why you're so happy, and you'll actually look like you are excited about the message you have to share. With all the stories I'm hearing, it's not going to be difficult to find something to smile about...Ah, I'm getting so impatient to get out there! I was thinking about it the other day, and I'm at least 1/3 of the way through my MTC stay...it seems like way longer, but then again, the time has gone by so fast, I can't even imagine how soon I'm actually going to be out in the field, and how fast two years is going to go by.
Well, I think I'll wrap it up here...When the time starts getting low, you want to send your email as soon as you can, because if time runs out, you get logged out automatically and your email gets deleted...
Oh, and I promise I'll send pictures back soon...I just wanted to take some pictures of the district that's leaving before I send them...my memory card is not very full right now...
Ah, I almost forgot...haha, the Hungarians apparently have a lot of tradition here at the MTC, so they pass stuff down to each new district...I think we're going to be moving a lot of stuff into our room this week, so I'll take some before and after pictures so you can see how much stuff there is...
We have learned the first verse of the Hungarian poem "Talpra Magyar"--we yell it whenever a district from our zone leaves. Ok, well, I've got to go, but I love you all and miss you! Have a great time at home, and stay strong in the gospel! It will bless you!
--Murray Elder