In all honesty, I was worried that this week, I would not have anything positive to write about. I went a solid 4 days where all we got was rejection after rejection. I am coming to the end of my first transfer, so this week I tried talking to more people and practiced with the language, too. And it just so happened that as soon as I took a step out of my comfort zone, we began to get doors slammed in our faces (for the first time). the first time - I really tried my best to shake it off (my comp and I actually sang the Taylor Swift song haha). But the second time, the man slammed it so hard that my heart dropped immediately down into my stomach. I look back at those first few weeks when I thought getting no smiles back was hard! I will be the first to admit that after that experience, I let myself get a little weaker. I lost the drive and the energy, I usually have, and just kind of shut down. i didn’t know what I was doing here, I felt like I wasn’t making a difference - just bothering people that were uninterested. I started to focus on negative stuff and it is scary how fast the perspective can change when you let it. The weather has been gorgeous this week and I hadn’t really even noticed because I was too busy being gloomy inside. But here’s where the good stuff comes in-
Last week we had called a woman who was inactive in the church and she agreed to meet with us. And after the long week I’d had, I was praying praying praying for a good moment to come around the corner. And this lady was JUST THAT! When we came in and sat down, she immediately started to tell us about her life. About why she left the church, about how she loves the Sister Missionaries … SCORE haha! The entire time as she talked, I was overcome with such a strong sense of gratitude because although I still feel like I can’t speak much Hungarian, my understanding of what people are saying is growing each and every day. As time passed, this woman continued to like, bear her testimony of how much she loves God and how important prayer is, and we could truly see that she has faith. This woman was hurting so bad. She is all alone, her family has nothing to do with her. My heart broke as she continued to talk because you could totally tell that she just wanted to talk to someone! And we were so happy we could be that someone!!! As we went to share a spiritual thought, she opened to a random page in the scriptures and found a scripture on strength and freaked out and said, “That wasn’t me!” we all started crying by that point. She was so cute and continued to flip through the Book of Mormon to other pages and would find a scripture she (and I) needed to really hear. It was such a testimony to me of the power of the Book of Mormon and how it is the word of God and can help anyone with any trial in their life. I could go on and on about this experience! Haha, she said she can totally see me doing something with writing in my future (? She may be a psychic?) It was just rejuvenating for me to go from wanting to be done, to watching someone’s spirit come out from hiding and to get her laughing and smiling again. I don’t think I have felt the Spirit so strong while on my mission! I know she may have needed us to come at that exact time, but I needed to go to her and learn from her, too! It’s funny how that works!
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Anyway, I LOVE this gospel and I LOVE being a missionary! I am so thankful for the patience the Lord has for me when I crawl back in my shell and give up for a little. But as soon as I start moving, He ALWAYS gives me opportunities to be strengthened. And I know that does not just apply to me as a missionary, but to anyone throughout any walk of life. He has felt every pain - whether it be the rejection of a door slammed in your face or feeling completely alone, and we don’t have to experience any of that on our own. Aren’t we lucky?
My heart is so full.
Then to end the weekend with 2 days of General Conference. We actually watched the Saturday morning session at 6pm and then the Saturday afternoon on Sunday morning and so on. So that was a different experience! No PJ’s or pillows...but being here on a mission, I have never gotten so much out of a couple hours of listening to the leaders of the church! Each talk was full of so much relative inspiration for everyone and made me want to be such a better person in so many ways.
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| Setting up for Conference at the Branch House |
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I really really love this gospel. Have I said that already? I know I’ve already said that I love my Savior, but I could (and will) say that an endless amount of times. Having the knowledge that I am never ever alone can get me through any difficult challenge. And what’s really amazing is , that was what we were teaching that lady I was talking about before. I had no idea that by serving and teaching others, I would be the one learning as much, if not more, than the people we meet with!
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| I hope you all had a wonderful week and enjoyed Conference too! It was so much fun to watch the session live and to know my family was at home watching the same exact thing, as well as my friends out on missions too! We are so lucky. so, so lucky! |
Stay safe and happy!
All my love,
Gertsch Nover
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