Christmas

Monday, December 30, 2013

I hope that everyone had a very merry Chirstmas, filled with lots of family and sweets. Because literally everyone has decided to give Sister Daniels and I an insane amount of dessert so we have been eatting dessert every morning for breakfast for the past week. It was a great week: we had some time to relax, spent a little more time with members that normal, and was able to talk about the savior a lot. 

Be warned it is a long one this week....Mom and Dad said my emails have been slacking the past couple weeks. So I really think I stepped up my game this week.

Let us start with Christmas Eve. It started out great. A member (who got set apart as a missionary a few days ago and is in the London MTC right now) took us to an investigators and we got to meet the investigators family, which was great. We are trying to figure out how to take a bus out there (they live in a little village) so we can teach the whole family instead of just the daughter at the branch house. And they were super nice and insisted that we take home a christmas tree. So we took that home. In Hungary people put up their Christmas trees on Christmas Eve, a few people the day before but pretty much everyone on Christmas Eve. And then we went to another investigators for lunch with a different member. So that was good. And then the rest of the day was a Pday until we went to a recent converts for dinner with the Elders and we will get to that in a second because it is good. Sister Daniels and I watched Joy to the World 4 times at least on repeat. but looking back it was actually great because as missionaries are just helping people draw closer to their Savior and watching that really helped remind me that we aren't here just to teach the law of Chastity and the Word of Wisdom in a way that our investigators will want to live them but the commandments help us draw closer to our Savior. And we show our faith in him and our love for him by keeping them. and they help us be happy too so that is good. So we went to the recent converts with the Elders and it was the worst Christmas Eve ever. It was nice because she has no family and so we were her family for the evening. She probably cooked like all day and she was so thoughtful and sweet. We sit down and she goes everyone likes fish right? oh gosh. You know that I don't eat fish. It was fish soup. I had heard about it before and thought I might be able to escape my mission without eatting it. But I was wrong. I eat it like a champ. There were 1500 million little bones in every bite. It was so rough. There was so much food and she kept making us eat. It was miserable. and then so much dessert and she kept making us eat. We were there for a super long time and then we got home and I told Sister Daniels I didn't feel well and she thought I was being dramatic because we all know I am. But I wasn't. I threw up it all. Which in the long run was probably better because all the really gross food wasn't sitting in my stomach. So christmas eve night was really rough. but it is ok we got through it.

All of Christmas Day was a Pday and we met the Elders at the branch house and played a little basketball and played monopoly then skyped at a members which was great.

The Day after Christmas we went over to a member family's for lunch. They were the first family to be sealed in Hungarian. All the family's before that were either done in English or more common German. How neat is that? They showed us pictures of their sealing. It was so inspiring to be with this family and see them trying their best to put the gospel and Christ at the center of their family.

We had a great program with one of our investigators on bap date for Jan 11 this week. Chastity is a hard commandment for a lot of people, but as he has been reading and praying he has gained a testimony that it is a commandment from God. The spirit was super strong as he was talking about how sad it is that the world doesn't live according to it and how much better the place would be if everyone lived in align with God's commandments. It was humble to see him get teary eyed as he talked about it. 

We got a new bishopric this week and we are in a district so part of the mission presidency came down for it. On Saturday there was a baptism so they all came down for the baptism too, which was super neat. it was fun to have president and his wife here. It was such a powerhouse of leadership in church and at the baptism because the stake president was also here visiting (we aren't part of the stake though) so the district presidency, the mission presidency and the stake president were here. nuts. that is like all the leadership in the country. I translated for Sister Smith during church and the baptism which was a little nerve racking. I may have made up a few things. who knows?

Funny thing. We went tracting once this week and someone answered through the buzzer thing outside the apartment building ,"no one is here right now. i am not home." ironic. Sister Daniels and I were dying. 

I feel like I had a super spiritual week, but I can never convey that in my emails home. Just know that I am so grateful for Christmas because we celebrate Christ's birth. Someone asked what is more imporant to us Christmas or Easter? I said that at Christmas time we celebrate the Savior's birth but we always talk about why he was born; he was born to be our Savior and Redeemer. To suffer the sins, temptaions, pains, and sorrows of mankind so that we can be redeemed from sin and death. without Easter Christmas wouldn't really be important. We generally celebrate chirstmas more and the christmas season and spirit of christmas lasts for longer, but we always remember the role that Christ's plays in Heavenly Father's plan. I asked her what she thinks and she like Christmas better because she likes baby Jesus better and baby Jesus is the one that brings the presents. I said that's nice. sometimes is it hard to have appropriate reactions in a differerent language.

Love you all and have a great New Year's

Sister Grigg