This week has seriously been so crazy. It has been up there as one of the most crazy and life changing week’s of my mission. 

The week started off with a really crazy and unforgettable tracting experience. This letter will go from spiritual to funny and then back to spiritual... so buckle up.

We knocked on this door and the door opened and I couldn’t see the person because of the angle the door opened. So my companion started talking and I could tell she didn’t understand but it wasn’t because of the way my companion said it. The girl was just from Kenya and spoke English.... She was a surprise to us that’s for sure. So she let us in and we started talking and asked why she was here. She said that she met a guy on a online dating site and that he flew to Kenya and met her and her family and then went back... then flew out there again and they got married and he took her back to Hungary.... crazy right??? So this girl when she opened the door was wearing a big shirts and that’s about all I dared to see because other than that there was nothing. It was terrifying but she did end up wrapping a scarf around herself which didn’t really help so yeah... That was crazy. So she let us in and was really interested. She let us download the Book of Mormon on her phone and she said we could come back on Friday. We were able to teach a full lesson to her just in the first meeting it was awesome and she was really interested. Sadly the story doesn’t have a happy ending. We went back Friday and she wasn’t home and we later got a text saying that her husband wouldn’t allow it for us to meet with her... kinda weird but we bore testimony and said for her to read the Book of Mormon and maybe see if she can work it out with her husband. It was still super cool and maybe she will have the opportunity later in life and maybe the husband’s heart will be softened. 

This week I was able to have some really amazing experiences with Bence, the kid I baptized. He is honestly one of the most amazing people I have ever met in my life. I love him so much. We went over to his house and taught him and his family and I now have a really strong and good relationship with him.

This week we also got fed palacsintas which are pretty much crêpes on steroids. They are so good and we had the best family home evening diner with a family. We were able to teach the kids about following the commandments using markers and telling them to put the markers in the order of a rainbow... but we took one color away so they couldn’t do it. When we gave it back we said it was the commandments and that the commandments put our life in order. It was a really cool lesson and was super fun!

Also this week we talked to a ton of people on the street. One of which I taught the whole plan of salvation to. Ha-ha we stood there and I pretty much went through the whole thing and it was so cool. She wants to meet and we will hopefully be meeting with her in the future.

So this Sunday was one of the coolest Sundays of my life ad it started right as I walked into the church doors. I was asked to teach temple prep for the second hour of church and I had no time to prepare so I just went in there and winged it and I think it went well. I just pretty much taught the Plan of salvation and the others helped fill in the cracks. So that was crazy but the craziest part was when I walked into priesthood. I walked in and I knew that Bence was going to get the priesthood today but the thing that everyone left out to tell me was that I would be giving it to him.  It was such a cool experience. 

I ran out of time to write the other things but I will add them onto the next weeks email. I love you all so much and I love this gospel!!

Love elder Ure 

simple step of reading a book...

So this week I will start with what I was going to write last week but wasn’t able to do because I had no time to email. So forgive me I am going to make it up to you. haha. 

Last week we had the baptism and words can almost not describe how amazing it was. It was one of the most spiritual and just peaceful moments I have had in my life. So the morning of we went early and filled the font. Once it was filled we realized that the water was so gross because it was full of dusty stuff and all that because... yes sadly it does not get used very often but hey that’s okay because we are smart missionaries so we built a net to fish out all the gross stuff. We went home and tapped a strainer to a broom and went fishing!! It was awesome haha. So after we were done the water was clean and was ready for some baptizing. 

The next thing we ran into was that one of the baptism jumpsuits ended up being to small to fit one of the boys so we had to get a really big one and just roll up the bottom of the legs. It worked great. He just looked like a little marshmallow. We got that all figured out and then came the baptism. 

 We all went into the chapel and sat and listened to a talked and then there was a really amazing beautiful guitar song sung and played by the mom of the boys and a couple of her family friends and members. It was really strong and invited the spirit right before we went into the water. After that we went to the font! Bence and I went first and I baptized him and it all went well. It was a very different spiritual experience for me. It was just peaceful like everything was in slow motion and I just felt so close to Bence and my Heavenly Father. Words really can no describe what it was like. It was really amazing. It was very fast though because we then had to get out and the next brother went and so on. When we got out I asked him how he felt and he said he felt so weird but in the most incredible way he has ever felt. He said he felt amazing had the biggest smile on his face. It was true happiness. I loved it. 

After we went and had another talk and finished with refreshments, which were really good, and I was able to just talk to Bence and just become even better friends. I love him. He is so awesome. 

Then the next day came around and it was the confirmation.... I have never been more nervous in my life. I am serious. I have played in some pretty intense high stack football games and nothing comes close. I don’t know why I think it was just because I wanted it to be perfect for him. So I got up there and we made the circle and I realized they didn’t have a microphone so I just had to preach it. I should have known I just didn’t think about that. So I start going and all the words come out but I was shaking and it was so weird haha. I could not get my left leg to calm down and during the blessing it was seriously like I was in a different world. I have no idea what I said. I can’t even remember what I said when I took my hands off his head. It was just a blur. I wish it could have been a little more spiritual but I still loved it and was such an honor to do. Don’t get me wrong it was so spiritual that I felt like I was going to fly because my leg was going crazy. 

The coolest part came after. Sacrament ended and I walked out and Bence was waiting with his new Book Of Mormon he got. He hands it to me and he says for me to sign it. I asked why and he said, well I want to be able to go and read my scriptures everyday and for me to be able to open it and see what you write and to remember you and my baptism. I was blown away. I took his Book of Mormon and wrote in it and wrote a short message and testimony and gave it back. It was one of the most life changing moments on my mission to see how much I can change peoples’ lives out here. I love this place and I have learned to love the people. It was such a cool experience. So that was the baptism. It was really great. I will never gorget it.

Then this week started and it didn’t slow down…

So we got our new companions by going into a room and sitting down and then the new ones come in and president reads off your name and who your new companion will be. So he read our names and then got a huge bear hug from my new companion. He is a beast. It’s great. So I got a new missionary straight from America. His name is Elder Gentry and I love the kid. He has a full ride to BYU for football so we are already really good friends. He is from Colorado too so that makes it even better. We talk about football and the Rocky Mountains all day long. He works so hard and is a stud. It’s going to be an awesome transfer.

When I went up to Budapest this week I traveled alone. Our mission president is now having us go straight to our new areas and so I went alone to get my new missionary and it was so weird. I felt like a freak being without a companion. I also got lost in Budapest so it was a crazy adventure but I was able to make it there and find my new Missionary SON!!! He’s my little missionary son and I love him.

We went back to our city and got everything settled and that’s when the miracles started to happen. We went tracting on the first night and were able to give a couple Books out but we came to a building and no one would let us in. It was getting late and we said well should we go? But right then this guy came up to the door that lived there and let us in. so we started knocking and a girl opened the door. We didn’t say much but she just let us in and we started to talk to her about the Book of Mormon. After ten minutes we heard the door open and I was like oh no its going to be her husband and he is going to freak out and kick us out... yes that has happened before. But it just ended up being her roommate and she sat down and started listening also. They ended up both being interested and we set up to go back the next day. So we called Bence and asked if he could come with, he was able to so the next day we went back and taught the restoration. It was the best teaching I have ever had. We taught with power and the spirit and asked if they would be baptized right then. They said they want to read the Book or Mormon first but are willing to consider it. I was able to ask Bence for his testimionyand it was the coolest thing ever! He talked about how ever since he was baptized he has been more friendly, more happy and likes to talk to people now. He talked about how he feels so different and has found real happiness. It was so cool. He is a stud. They brought up fate and how it was not fate that we met. The first girl (Maria) the one that let us in said the only reason she opened the door was because she thought it was her roommate (Naomi) but when she opened it she just felt warmth and she said we were glowing and without even thinking let us in. She didn’t know how describe it but she said she would not have let us in if was not for that. It was a true miracle that we went at that time. 

I love being a missionary. It’s hard but I am becoming someone I would not be able to be without my mission. I am so grateful and I am so thankful for all of you. I know that we can all find happiness and the true path in our lives if we follow our savior Jesus Christ. All it takes is a simple step of reading a Book. Praying about it. That’s it. If you truly want to know you will get an answer. I love you all so much have an amazing week!!

Love Ure Elder 

“JOY” AND THE GOSPEL IS FOR EVERYONE

Well an update on me is that this week I got a call that I will be a trainer starting tomorrow! I am getting a greenie!! My own little missionary son. Its going to be awesome I am super excited.

Well this week was crazy and probably the busiest week of my mission!! 

At the beginning we went and visited the bishop and we met his dog.... a Russian beast of a dog. It was so scary. He said that we needed to go into the house while he holds it outside or it will attack us and kill us. I totally believed it because the thing was huge. Seriously the size of a little bear. So that’s what type of dogs are here if you were curious. 

This week was the last district meeting so we decided to have a little party, it was super fun. I made a famous Hungarian food and the sisters made palacsintas, which are like pancakes. We had a little goodbye party and it was super fun. 

This week we got the Zone challenge, which was to get a certain amount of member ‘presents’ as a zone and we were able to do it so we got a free day in Szombathely and we got to play games and even watch a movie!! We got to watch the movie Inside Out!! It was the cutest movie I have ever seen in my life. I don’t know why, maybe just because I am a missionary but I loved it. It was out while I was home I think but no one had seen it so we chose to watch it! If you haven’t seen it, go watch it. It is unreal. We also got to play a lot of games and run around and just be free and have a little fun. I loved it. 

I even was able to play basketball with my mission president, his wife, and even his daughter... I had no mercy and balled out on them. hahah. 

After the zone day, we went and got food and we ran out of time because the food took forever so we had to run a full mile... not kidding to the train station. I ran in and bought everyone’s ticket and gave it to them when they got on the train. We all made it but wow I was sore that next morning.

I will finish this lame email with a really cool experience. I was able to talk to this teen kid on the street today and before I stopped him I was pretty hesitant. He was a very non friendly type and just kinda sketch looking person but right before I walked up to him I just said to my companion... everyone needs the gospel right? And went and talked to him. It ended up being so amazing. He lives in England and loves learning about religion. I was able to give him a book and he was just so nice and friendly. We had a good long conversation and then he left and said he was going to read the Book and learn more. So it gave me a testimony that it doesn’t matter who you are or what your past was, you could still be apart of this gospel. You can find out for yourself. This gospel is really for everyone.

Next week my email will be massive and I will tell you all about the baptism and all the amazing things that happened with that. I just do not have time this week! I love you all!

Love Elder Ure

The church building

WHAT A WEEK

Well this week has been one of the best weeks on my mission. I have had so many amazing experiences and just have been so happy and have made true relationships with people here that I will have for life.

This week started off with us meeting with an investigator from the sisters because he was creeping on them so they gave him to us to teach. This guy is crazy. Our teaching with him went from the restoration to deep doctrine and just was all over the place. He knows a lot about the gospel so we will see.

This week while tracting we played what are the odds. This is a game where you ask what are the odds you do something and you pick a number and then you count down and if you both pick the same number then the person has to do whatever you said. This game has a lot more rules. It is just hard to explain. Anyway, we played and it was what are the odds that one of us does a whole hour of tracting by themselves, meaning just them talking and no help from the other person or no brake. So yes.... I lost and had to do a whole hour alone. It was rough, ha-ha but super funny!

One really cool thing that happened this week was in church. It was fast Sunday so I was sitting there minding my own business listening to the testimonies and a lady comes up behind me and taps me on the shoulder and asks if I speak English. I say yes and she said that she wanted to bare her testimony and asked if I would translate for her.... So I say yes and we both go up there. She starts talking and is using the most fancy words and vocabulary that I almost didn’t even understand what she was saying in English. She is Danish. She started talking about things that I barely even knew how to explain in Hungarian but then it got to a point were she started to tear up and talk about her dad. I was able to translate this part pretty easily and it was a really amazing experience. She started to talk about how the strength and faith of us all being together and strengthening each other is amazing and it was just a really amazing experience for me. I am supering happy she asked me to do that for her. 

The highlight of the week and the last thing that I will be talking about is what happened with the three boys that we have been teaching. This week we taught them all the Commandments in one week. It was a lot of topics and we only had two lessons to do it. We were able to get it done and they understood and accepted everything. After one of the meetings when we planned their baptism, which will be this Sunday the 13^th. I asked them if all of them have decided who will be baptizing them. The two youngest had already picked some of their teachers in church but the oldest (Bence) had not yet decided yet so I said don’t rush it. Think it over and we can talk tomorrow when you get your interview. So we end the teaching and are just talking and everyone is kind of talking and it was just Bence and I by each other. He ended up turning to me and saying that ever since we started teaching them he had the feeling that I should be the one to baptize him. He said he didn’t know why but asked if I would baptize him. When he asked me the feeling that I felt I have never felt before in my life. The only way I can explain it is the spirit mixed with pure joy. I love this kid and it was one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had. I of course said that I would love to baptize him and after that he started talking to me and opened up a little bit about his life. He told me how hard his life has been and it really was amazing and humbling. He said at the end how excited he is to be baptized with his brothers and get a fresh clean start. He just got the biggest smile on his face and said, “I am so excited”. It is amazing what baptism really is and how much a blessing it is in our lives. I have never felt such happiness and love for someone. He is such a cool kid and I am so excited to be friends with him for my whole life and even more.

Then later in the week during church he even asked if I would be the one to confirm him into the church which is a whole lot of Hungarian and you have to say it perfectly so on Sunday help me out with some prayers; I will need them. It was really cool though. I am so excited but also super nervous like right before a really big football game. It is going to be an amazing week no matter what! 

I would like to finish by saying how much it means to me that we are able to share the faith and happiness with those we love. This church is such a loving and helpful place. It doesn’t matter who you are, what you have done, or at what point of life you are in, you can come to our church and feel love and happiness. That’s why I love sharing it because I know this is where true happiness is. I love you all so much and I hope you have a great week!

Elder Ure

TEN MONTHS!!!

UNO, LITTLE BOYS, AND WATER GUNS

This week has been full of awesome experiences and some pretty funny ones too.

The week started with us going out to dinner with the Swiss family from last week. They wanted to take us to eat and took us to a really nice place on the water that was really expensive... so I got the cheapest thing ha-ha. They talked Swiss German the whole time to my companion so I just kind of sat there and pretended like I spoke that language too... just kind of laughed smiled and nodded my head.  (Shout out to Dylan) We did that all the time when we served together.

This week something really cool happened. The whole week we got canceled on and we weren’t able to meet with anyone so we went tracting and streeting a lot. One day the person we planned to meet with did not show up so we left and just started talking to people on the street. I saw a guy a ways off and said to my companion... I am going to stop him, give him a Book of Mormon, and baptize him. haha I was joking but at the same time not really. So that’s what I did. I stopped him and he ended up being really nice and talking to us. I was able to give him a Book of Mormon and we got talking and he said, “I would love to meet I am curious about this. I will come to English class and church.” So he ended up being the coolest person ever and I am going to baptize him. I am determined haha. 

This week we played Uno with all the youth for a game night and it was the most insane game of Uno I have ever played. They were screaming and throwing cards and it was awesome. I have never played a more fun game of Uno in my life. Who knew I would need to play with young Hungarian kids.

The best part of this week was when I went tracting on splits with one of the zone leaders. We knocked on a house and no one answered so we moved onto the next one and it had an old lady and a young boy in the yard so we said hello. The young boy had a water gun in his hand and right when he heard us he turned around and pointed it at me and said who are you guys. I started to talk and he squinted me with is water gun hahahaha. I was all wet and I was just laughing so hard. The old lady came over and got mad at him but it opened up a conversation with her which led to her letting us in and teaching her the restoration. It was a really cool program and we are going back this week to teach her again. It was such a cool thing and honestly one of the funniest things that has happened to me while I have been on my mission. Sometimes God works through little boys and water guns….

We also were able to find a lady that had a Book of Mormon from 10 years ago. We told her we can give her a better translation and she said she would love that and we are also going to go back and visit her. I saw so many times this week the miracle of just going to work and working all day and going home so tired and just laying in bed and saying, that’s what I call missionary work. So this week was a really great week even though it was only filled with knocking doors and a couple really cool stories. This was a week that I imagined before I left on my mission! Now I am living it!

I would like to finish with saying a quick message about what I have been studying. I have been reading Jesus The Christ for the past couple weeks and have been loving it. I have learned that he is always there in front of us and that we are never alone. He will never leave us. In the book it gives the definition of Emmanuel. It means God with us. I know this is true and I know he is with us and loves us. I love you all so much. Don’t be afraid of loneliness when your savior is always there.

Love Elder Ure