Hello Happy: The Lord never fails me. Never. THIS WEEKS EMAIL UPDATE!! 1/30/17

Brooke’s contact info:

brooke.gertsch@myldsmail.net

1122 Budapest

Hajnóczy József utca 14

Hungary

^In Budapest!!

Well this week was full of a whole bunch of miracles. As small as they may seem, they were really big in my book. My perspective had become a little clouded, but the Lord blessed me with many moments that reminded me of who I am and why I’m here. And for that, I am so incredibly thankful. He strengthens me when I am weak and whenever I push myself to serve Him with all my might, the Lord never fails me. Never.

^Budapest

From past experiences, I had grown to kind of (really) dislike tracting after 7:30pm. Here in Hungary, people are going to bed by then and are very upset with us for wanting to share a message with them. I have never been yelled at and kicked out buildings more than when we decide to tract late. So when Monday evening came around, I will admit - I did not have a bounce in my step as we walked up to the tall 10-story building. But I did have a fervent prayer in my heart and promised Heavenly Father that I would try my hardest to share the gospel and to be brave. We got through about 20 people over the intercom, but nothing. The next guy said he was not interested, but let us into the building. Going inside was GOOD because we were freezing, but it was also scary because rejection to the face is never easy. But I went into the building feeling nothing but peace. I knew I was doing what He needed me to do and I figured out I was right just a few minutes later. We went up to the neighbor of the guy that let us in and she was not interested. As the neighbor closed the door, the man that let us in opened his, and kindly asked us what it was we wanted to talk about? Then for the next 30 minutes, we talked about Jesus Christ and the Plan of Salvation. As we were having this pleasant conversation with this man (at 8:00 at night) I had a prayer of thanks in my heart. I put myself out there and put the Lord’s work before my fears and He led me to someone that was ready to listen to what we had to share.

^ This is one of the buildings we tracted....most don’t look like this fyi haha

Another quick miracle I wanted to share was one we found after a little trial of our faith. We had a day of nothing to do, so we went finding…. for hours! I was getting a little down that we had talked to so many people, but nothing. Not one. But, we kept going, kept pushing on and as we were waking back to our apartment for dinner, we passed this old bácsi and I wished him a “jó estét” (good evening). He stopped right there and exclaimed “hey, I know who you are! You’re the mormons! He was absolutely adorable. He began asking all of these deep questions and I cold tell right away he was a logical type of person and struggled to believe in something he can’t see. We talked about prayer and the Holy Ghost, but he still seemed a little frustrated with it all. Then he started to say he is a bad person and is not going to heaven. Broke my heart! Then he looked at me and asked what kind of a person I thought he was. Without hesitation, I emailed and simply said, “You are a child of God and He loves you so much!” Instead of fighting back, his eyes welled up and with a soft smile asked, “yeah?” and I firmly answered back, “yeah.” At 88 years old, this bácsi seemed to think it was too late for him. So it was an amazing feeling to be able to tell him that it’s never too late and that God is waiting for each of His children - no matter the age - to turn to Him and accept and live the gospel.

^This is one of our investigators, Tibor!

^This is my inspiration- Fehér Kati. a member here. she is the sweetest person i have ever met and took us out to eat and to visit a bunch of less actives all over Győr!

Those were just two of the many experiences I have had this week. All in all, I love being a missionary and I love sharing this message of hope and love. I have never been so sure of the truth of this gospel and I am so thankful for my Savior that is with me every single step of the way.