Transfer 5, week 4

Hi everyone!So, not too much going on this week....We did have a really amazing little miracle though....there's a 21-year old young woman who has been coming to angolóra for the past week or two, and she has stayed for the spiritual message and made friends with László Csaba who is going to the kezdő class. We invited her to church, and she actually came! and then, she stayed for all three hours--she really liked sacrament meeting--the Szamosfalvi family spoke, so it was really good; and then in sunday school, we watched Legacy--she said she would like to set up a meeting sometime so we can finish that with her; then Sis. Crosley took her to Relief Society, and all of the women there were so welcoming to her and invited her back. Then the sisters called to report numbers that evening and said that they had walked with her for most of the way to the train station (she lives in a falu) and had a really great talk with her. She said the thing that she liked the most was how nobody was really the "big boss" of the whole thing--everyone had an opportunity to teach and share their opinion. She seems to be really interested, and we are really looking forward to our next meeting with her--we will probably let the sisters continue teaching her after the next meeting, but i am just really glad that we could see this start, it is really encouraging to see the seed of faith starting within her.On Thursday, we went on splits to Nyíregyháza....that was really fun, in the morning we went tabling, and then in the afternoon i split with Elder Hiencze (i have no idea how to spell his name...). That was pretty fun. Haha, so, the elders in Nyíregyháza made up a game....it's called "claim your territory"....in the summer, it's really hot, so all the bácsis (older guys) roll up their shirts and kind of just walk around with their belly hanging out....the elders say that they're 'claiming their territory'...so, there's not much to the game, pretty much just people-watching....For dinner, we all went to this little Mexican restaurant...there are very few mexican restuarants in Hungary, so that was quite a nice little treat for us. So, other than that, not too much......ooh! it rained on Sunday! and today is completely overcast! I was so happy! haha, kind of the opposite of what most people feel on those kind of days, huh? It had just been a really long time (for me at least) since i had seen rain, and i was getting quite fed up with the blistering hot weather.....so that was nice. Not much else to report on.....hope you're all having a great time! Talk to you next week!Elder Murray

Transfer 5, Week 3

Hello Everyone!
So, week three......yeah. So, I actually kind of started this email about 2 hours ago, but the internet went down, so we went to another mall, wandered around for a bit, and then came back. (it's working now :)
So, things are going a little slower here in Miskolc--the weather is definitely not helping, haha. The heat is turning everyone into little walking sweatboxes who don't really like to stop and talk.... This week has also been a little discouraging, we had one of our investigators skip three appointments without calling, and another potential investigator not show up to our first meeting (although, I should be honest, I think we are partly to blame for that one--we set up the appointment last Monday for this Sunday--yesterday--so, it is very likely that he just forgot about it). But, there is always a bright side to everything--one of our investigators came to church finally! He's actually been a lot of times in the past with his wife, who is a member, but this was the first time he's been to church since I have been here. It was great to see him there, and all the members were really friendly to him. Which reminds me, the members here just seem to be getting more and more friendly, both to the missionaries, and to those we invite to church. It has been extremely encouraging to see the change in them, even though it is an extremely slight one. They all just seem to be slowly becoming a big warm family where everyone is welcome!
So, other than that.....not much going on.....last week we went to the Avas Kilátás (lookout), and then the Diosgyöri Vár (castle)...those were pretty fun....took some pictures.....fried in the heat.....yeah. Throughout the week, not too much going on...went to Budapest for zone leader council....that was pretty good...oh, and we found out that for zone council, after the trainings and everything, we're going on a city tour of Budapest! It sounds pretty fun, I actually haven't seen too much of Budapest, just the same road over and over again that we drive on to get from Miskolc to the Mission Home--it'll be nice to see some more of the city :)
Um.....yeah.....not much going on right now......we're just pretty much dying in the heat....or, at least Sister Crosley and I are......Elder Cheney is from Atlanta, so he said he's pretty much used to this weather, whereas Sister Crosley is from Canada, and I'm from Washington.....it doesn't usually get too hot there......or, maybe I just never went around in the summer wearing dark pants and a button-up shirt......yeah, I'm pretty sure that would make any place seem really hot. But, it's bearable.
So, yeah, not too much to report on......oh! pres. Baughman sent us a cool article....I'll try forwarding it....it was really cool, and kind of subtly emphasizes the benefits of serving a mission.
So, I think I'll stop rambling now.........I hope you're all doing great! Talk to you all next week!
Elder Murray

Transfer 5, Week 2

Hello everyone!Not much to say about this week......interesting with transfers and everything, but i think we're all getting settled in.Transfers was kind of stressful, helping elder Lynn pack and then getting up early to get to Budapest on time, and then getting back to Miskolc and getting adjusted to a new companion.....i managed to keep my sanity though, and things are going really great now with Elder Cheney. He's from Atlanta Georgia, and this is actually his last transfer....wierd. He's having a great time here in Miskolc, maybe the only thing he's struggling a little bit with is the whole zone leader thing--but, he seems to be doing okay in that department too, so we're just looking forward to ending his mission with a bang! haha. Not much new with investigators....we didn't have much time to meet with them this week, with transfers and some other activities. we should be meeting with a lot of them this week, as well as possibly getting some new ones! exciting! Other than that....We managed to meet with the branch leader here before church on Sunday, and the advice we got from him to strengthen the missionary work was to reactivate the less- or in-actives here in Miskolc. That's pretty much common council throughout the country, but it really seemed like he was very determined to see more of the members return to full activity. He gave us a new list of members, with certain names hilighted in three different colors, so we can easily see who is less-active, who is inactive, and who doesn't want to be visited (luckily, there's only one of those...). It was really a great meeting, he gave us all a chance to voice our opinions/questions/comments, and the list was absolutely great. We're really looking forward to using it and to bringing more members back to church. We are certain that when the active members see more and more people returning to activity, they will become more involved in the missionary work. We are really looking forward to giving a little more focus to RCLAs this transfer. We actually have one that we have already been working with for a while--she came to church for the second time this Sunday, and she brought her daughter, who isn't a member. It's been really cool to see the change in her as we've been meeting with her and she's started to return to church. The active members are all great too, making her feel at home once again.Friday was absolutely wonderful with the Szvoboda family's fireside (although, it was very wierd to see Elders and Sister Szvoboda as non-missionaries). We had an amazing turnout, and a pretty impressive amount of investigators as well. Everybody absolutely loved it, and it was such a great experience--the Spirit was so powerful during the whole thing, and it was just so great to be there!So, that's about all the news for this week....Elder Cheney and I are doing pretty well, we're getting off to a pretty good start this transfer. He seems really excited to be here--maybe having a little bit of a struggle being a zone leader, but he seems to be handling that just fine as well.So, that's our transfer so far in a nutshell.....we're looking forward to this week and we're excited to see what we can accomplish here.I hope you all are having a great time, and know that i frequently think about you all!Elder Murray

Transfer 5, Week 1 - July 5, 2010

Hello Everyone!Happy Fourth of July! Happy Canada Day! haha, so, we had zone interviews on Canada Day (July 1st), so everyone was saying happy canada day......Sister Crosley is Canadian, so she was talking about it the whole way to Budapest in the car. she even sang us the Canadian national anthem! pretty cool stuff....haha, and then she called us sunday night to sing the American national anthem with us, and we got her to recite the pledge of allegiance with us.....we're slowly turning her into an American..... :)So, this week.....Monday was really fun, we went to Lillafüred on a little train. The train ride was about 15 minutes long, and at Lillafüred there's a really cool waterfall and a lake and a castle-turned-hotel. It was a really fun day, we all had a great time just kind of wandering around. On Thursday, we went to Budapest for zone interviews (and to celebrate Canada day...hehehe). those were really great, we got to see a lot of missionaries, and the APs gave a really good training. They taught about talking with people on the street, so at the end, we all got to go outside for 10 minutes and try to apply what they taught. It was really fun, and a really great training, because we all immediately got to apply it, so hopefully we'll be able to internalize it and apply it for a long time and not just forget it. After interviews, we went on splits--i went to Nyíregyháza with elders Davis, Pinkston, and Nikolov, and Elder Kubricky went back to Miskolc with elder Lynn. wow, train rides get really boring after three hours. but, we finally got there, and i had a really good time there. I was with Elder Davis for Friday, and then on Saturday I was with Elder Nikolov. They were both really great, and i had a great time and learned a lot from both of them. So, little story for the week....we have one really good investigator who we're meeting with right now who is progressing pretty well. She said that she had been having a hard time this week, so we just had a lesson with her about the scriptures and prayer, and the strength we can gain from those. She was really willing to do the things that we asked her, and she seemed like she was excited to try them out and see improvements in her life. And, then we got a referral from Budapest, and when we called her to confirm the lesson that we had already set up with her, she said that that time wouldn't work, but she can meet later this week, and she wanted to know if she could bring a friend as well who is also interested! It was a very exciting phone call, I'm really excited to meet with them. Both experiences were really great, we're excited to see the gospel start changing their lives for the better. haha, so i just about sent this without saying anything about transfers! haha. So, Elder Lynn is going to Szolnok to be the branch leader there, and his new companion is going to be....Elder Miller! kind of wierd, because they were just companions a few transfers ago...but, he's really excited to be going there and to work there. My new companion is Elder Cheney...i've seen him a few times in Budapest,--i don't really know a whole lot about him, but he seems like a great guy....i guess we'll see....haha, and he doesn't have his driver's license yet, so it looks like i'm going to be doing a lot of driving in the near future.....yay....haha, yeah, so, that's the news for this week. not much else. a lot of interesting things going on with transfers.....oh, and my trainer is going home this week! gosh, that is so wierd to think about.....i can't believe that so much time has gone by since i got here.....Hungary is going to be really wierd without Elder Huggard here.....i guess we'll survive somehow....haha. well, i hope you all have a rad-tacular week! I'll talk to you all next week!Elder Murray