The Atonement has changed my life...

Well this week was super interesting. We started the week off pretty crazy with a practice drill as a mission just in case the world continues to increase in scariness. It went well and we are all safe and we have a great plan for all missionaries to be safe here so there is no need to worry and I don’t think Hungary is really on the popular scale. 

This week the American soldiers that are here hooked us up and they took us out to eat twice. I love talking to them just because they are American and it makes me be able to feel like I am home for an hour. Just being able to understand everything and talk easily is really nice. They also fill us in on the football scores and other cool stuff like that haha. 

This week we were walking on the street and we stopped this one woman and she stopped and started talking to us. We found out that she is a member but she is just inactive. She had some pretty crazy excuses for not coming any more but it was a cool opportunity to talk to her and bear testimony that it can help her. We tried everything but she still didn’t want to meet or come back. So it was kind of sad but you never know what she will remember about what we said in the future.

This week I had a super funny experience. We were tracting and when we tract, we press little buttons and then people can answer a phone in their apartment and talk to you before you even get let into the building. So I was doing that and this lady answered the phone and her dog was going crazy like seriously I was like “what is happening” to that dog so of course I spit out the first thing that’s on my mind and out of real curiosity I asked if that dog was okay hahah. She did not like me asking that and asked who I was and I told her and she didn’t like that even more and hung up. I don’t know if this will be funny to anyone else but it was seriously so funny. 

This week I had the chance to call my mission President like 5 times in a row... which if you didn’t know is ONE, terrifying, TWO, super hard because he is Hungarian so we speak Hungarian with him, and THREE, you forget all the language information you know right when he answers the phone. So I had a jolly good time making a fool of myself asking for help and permission for setting a broadcast. We were asked for help from the members but we had to ask first and it ended up being us talking a lot which is a good thing. He is just intimidating, because he pretty much owns me. He is awesome though I love him.

This week we had a really cool experience. We had worked all day and had set a goal to give out three Book Of Mormons. It was late and we were about to go in but we had one left to give out so we said a prayer for where we should go and then started walking. We saw this guy walking his dog on the other side of the street so we crossed the street and then he crossed the street to where we just were. So we crossed again... for sure not letting him run away from us haha. So I stopped him and right when I started talking his dog just goes of barking and he just lets it. So I couldn’t even hear myself talk so I crouch down and start petting this dog. OF course it loves me because I have magic hands and dogs love me haha but it stops barking and I continue to talk to him. So if you can imagine it I am down there almost sitting on the street talking up to this guy about the Book of Mormon while I am being a dog whisperer. It ends up happening that he wanted a book and took the last one of the night. So it was crazy and super weird but sometimes you just have to teach a dog about the Book of Mormon and have its owner listen and then they will take one haha. It was fun.

Another crazy thing like that happened this week. We were walking streeting again and we stopped this lady and she was in a rush so I asked if she had 30 seconds to talk and she said okay go for it. So I just start going off on this lady about the Book of Mormon and how it helps us learn more about Jesus Christ and that there is a promise in it and she can know that it’s true if she prays about it, I finish and she is like okay you are out of time but I want one so I gave her it she said goodbye and ran off.... I was just like “what the?” It must have been some type of record or something like the whole conversation was under a minute I am pretty sure. It was great haha. It was really cool to see that God is really preparing people we just have to be fast enough to act on it. 

Then last night we were tracting and found a woman that had met with missionaries 10 years before this and had a Book of Mormon but has just been so busy that she stopped reading it. She was so nice and we ended up setting up a time for this week to go back and visit her again. At the en, she said she wanted to give us the reason why she has been so busy so she pulls out this book and it’s all about how to feel good and she wrote it. It looked super professional and gave us one for free. It was awesome. Haha crazy stuff happens on a mission. 

I would like to finish with my testimony on the Atonement this week.

The atonement has changed my life in more ways then I can ever put into words. It saved me from the ignorant young boy I was and all the stupid and selfish decisions I made and then has strengthened me to the point where I can be the man I have grown into. The Atonement has changed me forever and I will always be so grateful for it and I would never be able to say that my Savior did not live, that he did not suffer for me, and that he is not The Christ. This week I saw something I have never seen before. I saw someone that was truly going through hell and I can not imagine what his life was like at this point. He was having some serious trials and I saw it on his face and soul in what he said, but the amazing thing he said was, that is why we have the atonement. Not because this man was a bad person or did anything wrong, but because it was giving him strength to keep going. To never give up and to truly rely on his Savior. Because I know there are times in life that we cannot physically stand and we have to be carried and this is possible because of the Atonement. IF it is too hard, turn to him that saves; The one that is all powerful the Redeemer of the world. I love Him. He loves you.

Love Elder Ure

Let HIM guide you...

This week was a good week! We worked hard and a little of the same and a little of the crazy.

Last week I forgot to write about it but we went and had a fire with a new investigator (hopefully!!) He invited us to go into the woods and cook bacon and sausage over the fire... Did it make me miss camping? You know it did. I loved it. So we went out there and as we cooked stuff over the fire we talked all about the gospel and taught the restoration and about the BOM to him and it were really cool. I was able to tell him my story about the BOM and bare really hard testimony. It was great!

Also this week I was asked to give a blessing to pretty much the only person we meet with. He was really sick and he asked me if I could give him a blessing because he heard about them. So like always I explained what it was and how it works and then gave him one. It was amazing. I love giving blessings because they always make me just warm and fill me with this power that I can’t even explain. Its not even power, it is just the spirit that is a power but hey you get what I mean.

This week we went to Bences house and it was so awesome, we taught him and then he made us palacsintas pretty much crepes and then gave us both ties. It was like Christmas. He got the ties from where he works because he works at a movie theater and they are awesome haha.

Then we ended up missing our bus and had to sit for an hour but the bus came twenty minutes before it was supposed to... woo-hoo Hungary haha. It was okay though because we just sat with Bence and talked and I had Elder Gentry practice Hungarian with him and it was just so funny because Bence pretended to be a mean Hungary and he did it spot on just like everyone we talk to. It was super funny. 

Then one morning we get a knock on our door and I open it and it was two government workers checking our house because we went to get Elder gentry registered. It was super weird. They just walked around was like okay everything is good have a great day... super weird.

Then I had a crazy experience on the street when this drunk guy came up to me and had a sausage in his hand and wanted to give it to me and was telling me how yummy it was and he made me smell it. I almost punched him because I thought he was going to force feed me but he just wanted me to take a whiff. It did smell pretty good but I for sure did not want it.

Then later we went and gave service and moved 60, 60-70 pound planks into some guy’s attic. They must have heard we play football or something because it was seriously work for someone else, not a year old missionary that has almost 0 muscle anymore. It was super hard but I felt awesome after. It was like an old workout I would do and it felt good to be sore again. 

The coolest part of this week was that I was able to give a baptism interview to one of the sister’s investigator. I was able to see her conversion and ask her about her testimony. It was so strong and so uplifting to see someone accepting the message and their life totally changing. It was amazing to be able to do that for her and I seriously spoke the best Hungarian I have yet so it was super cool.

I want to finish with one of the coolest experiences on my mission. This week we stopped someone on the street and I started talking to them. I was able to get a really good conversation going and they asked a lot of questions. Elder Gentry did awesome to put comments in and bare testimony. They asked me the question of what the difference between Good and correct is. I didn’t really know how to answer but the words just came out. I didn’t know how I was doing it or how I was even speaking the Hungarian I was. I knew without a doubt in my mind that My Heavenly Father was talking. Not me. I was just the tool. I don’t remember much but the people said thank you. You just gave us our answer. I was blown away ad just walked away after giving them a Book with my head spinning and a heart full of thanks. I have never felt so much love and been able to have something like that happen. I know my heavenly father loves me and is watching out for all of us. He helped me and he can help you if you just turn to him and ask. I love you all so much have an amazing week and Let HIM guide.

Love Elder Ure 

Endure

Well this week has seriously gone by so fast. I do not know where the time has gone!!!

This week we have worked harder then ever before. We had no programs and officially are at 0 investigators.... so it’s a rough one here. But hey it’s okay because we still are going beast mode every day. I have never been so tired. This week we spent the whole week finding. We would go tracting and then streeting, and then go streeting and then tracting and then sometimes go tabling. So we just talked to a million people this week it was nuts. We even tracted into to two people that don’t speak Hungarian or English, one was Chinese, and the other was from some South American place. It was awesome practicing my sign language.

One of the highlights of this week was one night we were streeting and these guys walk up to us and smack us on the shoulders and say ELDERS!! They were Mormons!!!!! from Utah in Hungary. Like what. This has never happened on my mission so I was pumped. They took us out for ice cream and we had a great talk about America and football ha-ha. So I was super pumped. Later that week one of them even came to church and I spent all of church translating for him. The reason they are here is because they are working here in the army base. They will be here for a couple weeks and we might go out to dinner with them this week!! The one that came to church was a black hawk helicopter flyer.... like what. It was so cool. 

  

This week while we have been doing a lot of finding we were able to get let in a couple of times by a few people. One of the times we got let in and it was the hottest room I have ever been in. We stood and taught the restoration and my Companion and I were just sweating as we taught. It was great because hey a let in is a let in even if it’s so hot.  It went super well and we will be going back hopefully this week.

Something really interesting happened this week also. I learned a ton from it too. We were tracting and we talked to this girl that did not believe in God. The conversation quickly became personal when she opened up about her life and her family. So I opened up to her and told her all about how much my religion and God has helped me in my life and that through the BOM I have received so much strength and love from my Heavenly Father. So I just bore super hard testimony and poured my heart out to her and said, to “give it one last chance to find God” and she still said no and that she didn’t want a Book. So I said okay here’s a card if you change your mind call us. So we left and I was pretty beat up about it because I could see she needed these things in her life. Then a realized that I knew that even when I bore testimony and did all I could people would still reject it. So I had to accept it and move on. I did all I could and that I have dibs on teaching her in the spirit world.

This week we took bence tracting with us and it was seriously the best tracting time ever. I had so much fun because we were just laughing and having a ton of fun. I tried to get him to talk to people but he did not want to and was just being so funny. He is seriously my best friend.

The coolest part of this week was at church when my companion was asked to give a blessing of healing... I forgot how you actually say it in English sorry. A woman walked up to him and said I would like a blessing from you... he didn’t understand so I told him and he just went pail. So we go into the other room and I ask her what for and if she would like it in Hungarian or English and she said it doesn’t matter to me, so I said yes the words are not important it is according to your faith. So I asked my companion which he would like to do and he said he wanted to try Hungarian. So I did the anointing and then he gave the blessing and did a really amazing job for how young he is in the mission. It was pretty cool.

So this week has been really crazy but I would just like to finish with a quick thought about Enduring. Sometimes enduring is just putting your head down, saying a prayer, then keeping your head down and just going to work. Just let the rest go and just do it.

I love you all have a great week!!

Elder Ure

Well last week I left out some key facts in my email.

One was that I saved a hedgehog’s life. It was caught in a rope and I was able to cut it lose and then give it water. It was awesome haha.

The second is we had a Bible VS. Book of Mormon bash with a full on religion. We got let in tracting and we walked to the back yard and there was like 13 people and they where having church. Which consisted of smoking pipes and listening to slow music and I don’t know what else. They asked us about our religion and then started to just tear us apart. They were saying a lot of things against the Book of Mormon and trying to trap us. So we ended up bearing hard-core testimony and then they ended up softening and we were able to give them 4 Books. So we turned the tables on them. One even said he was going to read it.

So this week has been good. 

The week started with us meeting with this guy that wanted to learn about our church... he didn’t say at first why but in the middle of our programs he slips out the fact that he is a teacher and wants to teach his students about our church and that is after we have answered a ton of questions. So we said well can we have someone be there to make sure you teach correct info and he said, “no it’s not allowed.” So he scammed us and hopefully he taught good things about us but it was super weird and really crazy. Then later in the week we had a really cool thing happen. A couple weeks ago I talked about two girls we found that won’t talk to us anymore. Well we went back to see if they were home and they weren’t. So we decided to tract the whole building. We come to one of the last doors and a guy answers. He ends up being the person that let us in when we found the other girls two weeks earlier. He said that when he saw us he said that if we ever knocked on his door he would let us in... So he let us in and we taught him. It ended up that he is the coolest guy ever and wants us to come back and teach more. He said that we can come back only if we don’t try to convince him that our church is true... which I am fine with because he is going to do that to himself. So we planned to go back a couple weeks later. He is going to Germany so we can’t meet for a couple weeks sadly but it was still super awesome. 

This week finished off with us watching the celebration of the Freiberg Germany temple being rededicated. We got to watch President Uchtdorf speak and then go down and high five and kiss and give stones and hugs to all the kids from countries around Germany. The coolest part was that Bence was there and he got to see him and meet him!!! A kid I baptized got to see President Uchtdorf!!!!!! Probably the coolest thing I have ever heard! I was pumped!!!

The next day they broadcasted the rededication and we were able to watch that. It was really cool to see and the spirit was really strong. I miss the temple so much and I loved feeling the spirit that another one is being added again to the world. It’s a big deal here because that is now the closest temple to the members here and they can start going!!

Well that’s all for this week. I love you all so much and I am so grateful for your prayers. I hope you all have a great week.

Love, Elder Ure