baptisms are the best

Monday, December 16, 2013

It was such a good week! Because I got to go to an investigators baptism in Pest! It was amazing. I was on splits with Sister Westover in Buda (which was great) and so we crossed the river and went. It was so great. She had also served in Pest and on the way there I just thought a lot about my time in Pest and how much I loved it. Sister Messinger and Magda and I had a lot of really cool things happen with our work while we were there. It was such a great period of my mission. It was the neatest thing to be at the baptism because it went like how Sister Messinger, Sister Magda and I imagined it. We invited a member our second program who then came regularly once a week. And after we walked out of that program we were like Stephen is going to baptize him! and He did! I said the closing prayer and afterwards Gábor said, "as soon as you started praying I thought, I know this voice and all those feelings came rushing back to me from all the times we met." It was so nice. I was just so touched that from my voice the Holy Ghost brought to his rememberence all the times I had met with him and taught him the gospel. It wasn't the words I said that he remembered but the fact that we had the Holy Ghost will us during all those times of teaching him the gospel. When he came out of the water I was just overwhelmed with love for him and so happy for him and making those covenants with Heavenly Father. I was standing next to Sister Magda who was one of my companions when we found him and taught him. We walked back into the chapel together with our arms around each other, smiling. I leaned over to her and whispered we did good. We were so young in the mission, didn't really speak Hungarain, and had no idea what we were doing, but we did good those 7 weeks. We worked hard, we found in him, and brought the Holy Ghost to our programs, which was all that Gábor needed.

 Going back was great. I got to see a few other investigators I taught while in Pest and a few members that helped us out.

This upcoming week should be a good one as well. We are going up to Budapest again for zone conference. We have to get up at like 4 in the morning and we wont get back til late. Which is a little stressful because it takes out a whole day of working. We are getting an investigator ready for her baptism on Saturday! We are so excited for her. She passed her baptism interview this past week and is excited for Saturday. I am so excited. She is one of the reason why I feel like I needed to come to Szombathely. It has been amazing to teach her the gospel and watch her progression.

Merry Christmas!!!

Love you all

Sister Grigg

So I got sick this week and the branch members and our investigators freaked out. I got lots of "gifts". One incident was super funny. It was 9 at night so Sister Daniels and I were planning for the next day, and we got a phone call from a member that said they were outside our apartment. Sister Daniels and I walked outside and there were 3 members while tea and medicine. It was super tender. And also they felt guilty because one of them was the person I got sick from. Hungarians literally make the best tea ever. Sister Daniels and I learned the secret so no worries.

Gábor's baptism in Pest!

more of Gábor's baptism

One of the members here in Szombathely, who Sister Daniels and I are obsessed with. She got back from her mission in Finland like a month ago.

selfie shot of the district, the old one that is.

last shot of the district before 2 of them headed off for transfers. the elders are now in a tricompanionship with a new elder.

Week 39

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

It is transfer week once again. And Sister Daniels and I are staying together again!!! I am so excited. I feel like Sister Daniels is like another Katie, Jenny, or Ally, or something, just one of my sisters. I am so glad we get to spend the holidays together.

It was a great week! There was someone I taught in Szolnok who got baptized and then 2 people I taught in Pest got baptized and then there is another baptism in Pest on Saturday and President gave me permission to go to that one because I will be in Buda on splits so I am so excited for this week! And we have a few people who will be baptized this coming transfer here in Szombathely so that will be fun to help them get ready.

One of our investigators ended up in the hosptial this week! So Sister Daniels and I went and visited her twice and were able to get some teaching in. She said a prayer with her own words! It was amazing.

Another investiagtor invited us and all the elders over for dinner so that was super fun and she is getting baptized soon and then it came out that she doesn't feel like that the LDS church is the only true church. We couldn't even address it because we had to run to another program or else we would have been late. But we met later that week and talked about it and the great apostacy and asking God our questions. She still really wants to be baptized because she likes all the commandments and the friendship. It was so neat. While she drove us home we passed another church and she asked if we knew what it was and we said yes and she goes, "oh they are different they are not like us Mormons." It was the best. And then yesterday as we were walking to the branch house to meet with an investigator she called and goes I am forsure about my baptism (I didn't know she was unsure  because we scheduled the bap interview so I was a little confused on the phone) and she goes I know it is all true. And so I asked how it happened and she shared a cool experience out of reading out of the Book of Mormon. It was the neatest thing to hear her say, " I know it is all true. I know the Book of Mormon is true." I am just so thankfully that Heavenly Father blessed her with a moment like that so for the rest of her life she can look back on that time with the Holy Ghost as the moment she got her answer. I feel so blessed that she called us and shared that expereince with us. This is the same girl that I made the deal with God that I am will name my firstborn daughter after her if she gets baptized. And she is going too! I am so happy for her. The gospel will bless her life so much!

Love you all so much!

Sister Grigg

There is a nice christmas thing set up in the main square

They celebrate Mikolás here and it was the 6th of December. So santa comes and brings chocolate into the kids shoes, which they leave on the windows. So sister Daniels and I tried it and what do you know. Mikolás came!! so great. Interesting fact about that. On christmas it is Jézuska or baby jesus that brings the presents. so I asked what happens if they don't believe in jesus and it is still jesus that brings the presents.

And this is the investigator that was in the hospital. [A/N: I have no idea where this picture is.]

part of the district

grateful

Monday, December 2, 2013

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving full of lots of food and family!!!

We have so much to be thankful for! I am so grateful for the restored gospel! I am so grateful for the Book of Mormon and for our living prophet. I am grateful for my wonderful family and friends!! I am grateful for our investigators. I am grateful for pray and our loving Heavenly Father. I am grateful for our savior and his atoneing sacrifice. So grateful for my new nephew Curtis! I grateful for that we can email pictures. haha. Ok I am grateful. Sister Daniels and I spent all day Thursday telling each other what we were grateful for as we were finding. Our Thanksgiving was just a normal day. We met with a few investigators, did some tracting, and it wouldn't be missionary work with someone didn't dog us. But that was ok. One family that we met with said they watched something on TV about a holiday in America on that day so they asked us about it. It was so hard to explain in Hungarian. Basically what I said was it is a day we spend with our families being grateful for our blessings and we eat lots of food. They asked how it started and I was like uhhhh so the we don't know if this is true, but tradition says that the first people who went to america ate a dinner with the Indians in peace so that is what we celebrate and are grateful for. hahah it was so funny.

One Hungarian tradition that I am so grateful for is the fact that everyone here drinkings fruit tea. Since we do a lot more teaching here in people's apartments than at the branch house like in my past areas, they all have hot tea waiting for us. It is the best in the freezing weather.

It was a pretty good week. We had some great success and then of course there were some dissappointments. We have been branching out and using random members in programs. Right now we are using a lot of the older women in the branch to help us, which is great. But also supper interesting. It is way hard to control the flow of the program and what gets said. Like for example. I told you about G last week who came to the conference. We put him on bap date this week. It was great. So then the next program with brought a néni with us (that is what older women are called in hungary), and I told here we were going to talk about prayer because G hadn't prayed in a program yet and before we said the open prayer she had already told him about the word of wisdom, law of chastity, and fasting. oh my goodness. hahaha. it was such a riot. I was struggling so much though to lead the program in the right direction. They got a long super well so that was good.

We used a member who got baptized like month ago (he blessed the sacrament for the first time this week it was so great, his wife was beeming!) in a program with B about the word of wisdom. What most people say is that the rest of there family won't understand why the aren't drinking black and green tea anymore because everyone drinks it here! So B brought her tiny dog like a real dog but the toy size to the branch house for the program. riot. haha. she was like he feels good here because at home is only follows me around and is afraid of everything and the member goes he feels the spirit too here. Sister Daniels and I were dying. So the dog sat on her lap the whole program. B still brings like 5 kids with here to church every week. We meet with one of them 2 weeks ago and promised him that if he read the Book of Mormon and prayed every night then he would do well in school. And then at church this 15 year old boy told me he got a 5 (which is like an A) on his test. He said he read out of the Book of Mormon every night and has been praying and prayed right before his test. How neat is that!?! The gospel is for everyone. I know that. I am so grateful to be witnessing this small miracles and blessings from the Lord.

In companionship study, Sister Daniels and I have been focussing more on teaching our investigators and addressing their needs and what are they struggling with as we help them progress towards baptism rather than just teaching lessings, and it has been going great! It is nerve racking with the language and stuff because it is so easy to just spit out our memorized sentences but the spirit is so much stronger in the programs. We also have been blessed to feel more charity and love for our investigators with is the best gift from God. I am so grateful for my companion, Sister Daniels!!

I love you all and have a great week!

Sister Grigg

We finally finished the 12 week program with Sister Daniels. She is officially trained!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Monday, November 25, 2013

Dear Family,

It was such a great week!!

I am just so relieved that it wa..... it is snowing. I am no longer relieved about anything.

Ok so in all seriousness I am just glad that Sunday is over! It was a great Sunday because Elder Walker of the seventy came to our branch. But it was being broadcasted to the whole country and I was playing the piano, and I have never been so nervous to play in my life!!! I kept wishing that I had practiced more as a kid and that I had taking lessons longer. Why did I not listen to Mom and Dad? ok but I am greatful that I could play and do that service for the branch because hymns are super important to a service and bring the spirit.

So everyone is doing superwell. Investigators wise. There are some great stories for this week! One of the best is with T. He is doing so well. He is always unsure if he will meet with us more than once in the week but then calls us and says ok. Way cool that he is 28 and willing to give up a little bit of his Saturday evenings to meet with us and learning more about the gospel. But we met with him and we were talking about how the Word of Wisdom went because he had gone to a concert and that is what he had just taught him and everything was great there and he told us about the concert and he told his Book of Mormon with him to the concert because he wanted some blessing getting to and back from Budapest in safety. Such a riot. He took is Book of Mormon and left it in the trunk of his car, instead of just like reading it before he left Szombathely. Sister Daniels and I were laughing so hard as he was describing it! so great.

We had some tender moments with B this week too. I love her so much. We had a great law of chastity lesson and here is the 24 year old and the thing she is the most worried about right now is finding a mormon boy to marry to raise a good solid family. It was a super awesome lesson because of the member that was there who has raised this huge family and a bunch of there kids who grew up not in the States have married in the temple and stuff and so it was great for B. Then the next lesson she asked about polygammy and the Word of Wisdom because she had been reading online. It was my birthday and pooring rain outside so she gave us a ride home because we were going to do weekly planning. and the car rides with her are the best. That is where she committed to baptism and she was telling us that she asked about the word of wisdom because she was going to a birthday party for a friend that night and wanted to know what she should say when people would ask why she wasn't drinking. It was so cool because Sister Daniels and I both didn't grow up in areas with lots of church members so we had a great conversation with her. Then she stopped at the grocery store near our apartment and she told us to wait while she ran in and we were like we can just walking from here it is super close and she goes no just wait one minute and then I figured out it was because she wanted to go run in and buy me a birthday present. so cute. We convinced her that it wasn't necessary. She is so nice.

We tracted into an old man he is way cool. He treats us like his granddaughters and we met with him twice last week and then he came to the conference.

Ok so have a great week!

Sister Grigg

Eat lots of turkey for me!

Sister Daniels and I are getting ready for Christmast before thanksgiving. Since Hungarians don't do thanksgiving I figured it is appropriate. We love the advent calender thing that the young women and young men in the La Canada ward put together. They are the best. We put all the presents underneath the tree and unfortunately they can't be seen here.

here are some of my favorite ornaments. The one that says Dear Elder Grigg (I mean hey it can be confusing...Elder, Sister) ok no I am sure it was just ment for Jeff. I hope he got one that said Dear Sister Grigg.

The one that says I hope you are having good experience in Chile. Because hey Hungry and Chile. They are really similar. one is food, the other you wanted to eat food.

And of course the one from Holly :)

Here is me and Elder Walker and Sister Walker. The member of the seventy who came to Szombathely yesterday. His talk was so great!! Small world Sister Daniels family knows the Walkers pretty well.

Week 36

Monday, November 18, 2013

It was a good funny week. Transfers unfortunately take up the entire day because it is a 3 hour train ride if you take the fast train and a four and a half hour train ride if you take the next fastest. and so that was unfortunate. The rest of the week was great though! It is so nice to be back just in a companionship instead of in a tricompanionship. I loved all of my companions but doing missionary work as just 2 again is so nice! Less stressful.

We meet with O and her mom A and they are the funniest riot together. O is getting baptized in a month and she has been taught most things but then went out of town for several month to Italy to work and just got back. So we were doing a refresher on the Word of Wisdom and tithing and her mom is starting to get way interested, which is great. Asking us questions about what happens if she doesn't get baptized she has been reading the book of Mormon. They are Mongolian and have been living in Hungary for over 20 years so they speak Hungarian. A told us what our husbands are going to be like. She said that mine will be very funny, cheerful, and a good cook. He will always make me try things that he makes. Translating it sounds weird, but it sounded funnier in Hungarian. And that I will have 6 kids. oh goodness. I can't handle that. And Sister Daniels husband will be very proper and a diplomat. haha She wasn't a fan of marrying a "boring, serious diplomat". haha.

Sister Daniels and I spoke in Church on her birthday, and it went well. This coming Sunday, Elder Walker of the 70 is coming to Szombathely for district conference (we aren't in the stake), and it is being broadcasted to the whole country instead of having normal sacrament meeting. And no one knows how to play the piano so I have to play and let's be honest I am not that great and there is a choir musical number and all of my past investigators and converts with see it! Oh goodness. I am nervous.

T is progressing so well towards his baptism in a month. After we taught him about repentence he asked the next lesson if he was doing it right after he explained how he repented in his prayers. He is so great. Came to church for the first time yesterday. It is the perfect balance of being serious about the gospel and laughing and having a good time. He doesn't like Harry Potter though. Problem that I have to get over.

We are teaching a famous Hungarian singer. Not a big deal. She was on the TV on friday (everyone told us, obviously we didn't see it) Last time we meet with her she brought us Abba lyrics that she would be singing because she wanted us to translate them so she would know what she was singing about. so great.

Have a great week!

Sister Grigg

We had dinner at a memebers house last night and they invited over a family (it turns out that the dad of the family is the catholic community president...not quite sure what that means). The girls where super nice and Sister Daniels and I chatted with them a lot and we celebrated Sister Daniels Birthday!!!

Transfers were this past week. Here is the tricompanionship that I was just in with Sister Daniels and Sister Curtin and then the other one is the tricompanionship I was in before that in Pest with Sister Messinger and Sister Magda. That is an investigator in Pest. She is so awesome. She went to help the other sisters in Pest with the luggage and I had no idea I would get to see her. I love her so much!

Here is Another birthday picture of Sister Daniels and I

And then this is the three of us and one of our investigators who is getting baptized in a month. The one I accidentally said the book of mormon had pictures of Brittney Spears. Hey it didn't hinder anything. He is so awesome. In this picture we said be like Brittney Spears. haha.

He had his mom make Sister Daniels and I gulyés on Saturday. It was so good. The day was freezing and it had been a long day and that was the last thing we did before we went in for the night so it was perfect.

I haven't sent home pictures in a few weeks so I can't exactly remember which ones I have sent home. But here is Elder Lynch at District Meeting. Yes he wore that communism soldier unifrom. Sister Daniels loves this pictures because check out her photobomb in the background. nbd.

And then the three of us before transfers infront of the big cathedral in town.

Here are pictures from All Saints Day that I talked about a few weeks ago, when we went to the cemetary and saw all of the graves lit up. It was so pretty and I like how they spend that time of the year way better than we do. 

Week 35

Monday, November 11, 2013

Unfortunately no pictures this week. Our email places has random closings so we had to go into the city to go to a different library (that you have to pay to get into...lame) and we can't send pictures here) 

We had an amazing week this week! Ok so there is way too much to write. But we had a great mini 3 week transfer together, and I am so sad that is has to end because serving with Sister Curtin and Sister Daniels has been amazing! I feel so blessed to have had the oppertunity to serve with both of them. Thankfully, Sister Daniels and I get to stay together, here in Szombathely!!! We are so excited! I will be finishing up Sister Daniels1 training, which is exciting. When the 3 of us got together we made the goal to put 5 people on bap date to be baptized before the end of the year. It was a lofty goal beause we have 1 bap date who had been living out of the country, without contact for the past 3 months. So we got to work and had a lot of faith.

I already told you about B, who I am naming my first child after. This past week we put 3 more people on bap date! Including the one who I accidentlly told that the Book Of Mormon had pictures of Brittney Spears! T is progressing so well and he is the coolest. In our programs we are able to be super spiritual with him, but he is funny so we still can laugh and have a good time. Then M who is Z's wife who got baptized right before I got here, also accepted a bap date. It is definitely up there one one of my favorite programs on my mission. We watched the restoration film which gets them every time. The spirit was so strong, we were able to ask great questions to get her to bare testimony. We didn't go into the program wanted to extend her a bap challenge but we were there and Sister Daniels bore powerful testimony about the Book of Mormon and the restored church, and then Sister Curtin and I were able to build off of each other well. Sister Curtin was giving me the look and the spirit was so strong and so I asked her there was silence for a bit and then she asked to be excused and we talked to her husband and I was so afraid that I had offended her and I was like how good I have read the spirit so wrong. I thought it was the gift of discernment. I felt horrible and then she came back in and said yes!! It was such a great moment. It was also such a great lesson with companionship unity, paying attention to the spirit, and the gift of discernment.

So we went back and had a second lesson with this really cool guy who we have officially named cool G.. it is on the teaching record. He was so awesome. Brought us out dark chocolate. We have a great program with him about the restoration. He enjoyed it. We are hoping to put him on bap date on thursday. He is an engineer and designs stick shifts for cars and also is a DJ on the side. like can you get cooler? besides R in Pest who travels everywhere. She is way cool. I love that the gospel attracts all these cool people! Funny thing about that program is that when we left he tried to give us money. so great and slightly offensive because it was only the equivalent of like 3 dollars. I guess we aren't worth that much. 

So winter has officially hit, and we offically are Hungarian because drinking fruit tea like no bodies business. I rained literally all day on Saturday and we were walking outside for most of the day so that was rough. We were soaked. And then yesterday was the windyiest day of my life. We were literally being pushed from the wind onward, which was cool until we had to walk against the wind. 

I think Sister Daniels and I have to speak in church on Sunday because all the Elders spoke this past Sunday. it is going to be rough. 

Well I love you all have a great week!
Sister Grigg

Great Week

Monday, November 4, 2013

Dear Family and Friends, 

It was a huge holiday week in Hungary. All Saints Day so November first is a huge deal here in Hungary. They don't do Halloween but on All Saints day the go to the cemetary and decorate the graves of their loved ones with flowers and mostly candles. Unfortunately, because of the holiday literally all of our scheduled programs cancelled on us this week and we had a super hard time getting programs and teaching. One major miracle of the week is that the elders told us that the cemetary would be super cool that night so we arranged our schedule to take our dinner hour to walk around the cemetry. We went into the city to look up some people and that was not successful at all but we did a lot of tracting and everyone said they were hurrying to the cemetry so not going to lie we were all a little down hearted. you know the whole trail of the faith thing before this major miracle happens. So as we walk into the cemetary we run into the mom of the investiagtor who I said if she get baptized I'll name my first daughter after her. And she invited us over. we called B (our investigator) and she was in the hospital with her grandma and we hadn't been able to meet with her that week and she said she would come home if we were going. So after spending a little bit in the cemetary (which was beautfiful by the way in the dark with all the candles and such) we headed out to walk to their house which we didn't really know who to get there but thankfully Sister Curtin, who was leading the way must have had a rockin personal study because we got there. And the mom and 2 relatives were there and they were really nice and gave us some of the pizza they were making but actually they were super rude and make super sly comments about our religion. and B got there and was great and we asked if we could share a spiritual thought and everyone agreed and the spiritual thought was a disaster and they shooed us out of the house and B drove us home. But then the 10 minutes in the car with B was amazing. She committed to a bap date on December 21!!! She came to church again this week and stayed for all three hours and brought the big group of kids with her again. It was so great. We had this hard week and day but that 10 minute car ride made it all worth it!! 

so zone conference this week with President and Sister Teixera (who is a seventy and the area president for Europe) was really great! They said a lot of inspiring things especially regarding referrals and progressing investigators and teaching shorter lessons. He had some great analogys too which was awesome. And he is from Portugal so he didn't know it, but I felt like we had a special connection. I lead the musical and I have never been so terrified to conduct music ever haha. So we are trying to implement those things in our companionship. I am so lucky to be serving with 2 great sisters who are open to lots of new ideas and we are just continually trying to improve our teaching all for the benifit of the Hungarians. I am so blessed and said that this companionship will only be lasting for another week probably. So we are going to make this week one of the best weeks on our mission. 

Funny story I may have accidently told a new investigator that the Book of Mormon has pictures of Brittney Spears. It is like not a big deal and we are going to be best friends now because he is obsessed with Brittney Spears, and I told him I went to a Brittney Spears concert. Not a big deal. We are meeting with him again tomorrow and it is going to be great. 

Love you all and have a great week!

Sister Grigg 

I think I told you that we live in a super nice apartment because it is a senior sister's who left from Szombathely and is on a mission right now in Hungary. So this is definitely the nicest missionary apartment I have seen in Hungary.

the great bedroom...sorry its a little messy