Monthly Archives: November 2014

November 25, 2014

It has been another wonderful week in Buda. We got transfer calls this morning and I am heading to a beautiful town called “Győr.” Apparently it is absolutely incredible there! It’s right between Buda and Vienna. I’m so excited! My new companion will be Schnoor Nővér! She is the sweetest and most positive person I have ever met! We are opening up an area there. I guess we are the first sisters to open up in a while so we will be doing a lot of finding!

I have loved serving here in Buda and having Jensen Nővér as my companion. She is the Sister Training Leader and has taught me so much. I don’t know what I’ll do without her! I have met the most incredible people here. It’s so hard to leave people that you have grown so close to and love so much.

We had a busy week full of lessons and finding. Last Monday we went up to Buda castle where the view is absolutely gorgeous! Pictures don’t do it any justice. After, we had delicious hot chocolate from a quaint cafe in the main square.

Sister Martineau and I went on splits for the last time together. We have a lot of fun together and we have become very close. We were always on the go and stayed busy, we even met a man on the bus that thought we spoke French. After seeing Sister Martineau’s name tag, we kept repeating in Hungarian that we don’t speak French but he still wanted to talk to us in French. You’d think he would have known we didn’t speak French by the confused looks on our faces. It is hard enough to speak Hungarian, but when French is brought into it…yowza!!

We had another program with a boy who is 14 and his mom who is raising him on her own. Let me tell you… he is amazing! He is so wise and mature and speaks like perfect English because they lived in…. wow I can’t remember the name! My English is getting so bad and I can’t remember English words anymore. IRELAND. Now I remember! So anyways, he is just incredible! We taught him the gospel of Jesus Christ. But he says that he takes the Book of Mormon with him to school and he will read it during breaks at school. He gets baptized in December! We’ll talked about faith and when something seems to be going wrong, he’ll say “That’s where faith needs to step in”. I was like, WHOOAA.. who is this boy! Such a cool lesson!

 We went tabling this week multiple times and that is always fun. ! I am not afraid to go off and just talk to people by myself. I am improving with the language and speaking, but understanding is just soooo difficult. ALSO, I gave away two BOMs yesterday and bore testimony and got their numbers. Such a good feeling

We had a delicious Thanksgiving dinner with the whole district and President and Sister Smith, Brother and Sister Bagazzi and Brother and Sister Broadhead. It was sooo delicious! We had turkey, stuffing, sweet potato casserole, it was all there and it all felt like home.

It will be hard to say goodbye to our investigators, especially Aniko who I just love. She is getting baptized on December 6th and the more she thinks about it the more excited she gets. You meet people on your mission that change you and your life. I will never forget the people I met in Buda and what an effect they have made on me. It just shows that no matter where you are in the world, the gospel of Jesus Christ will always stay the same. We are all in this together, and they’re so many people around us who have no idea what happiness and joy they can receive from this Gospel. I love being a missionary. I love this gospel. I know it’s true and I want you all to know that I love you and I’m praying for you.

I bid farewell to beautiful Buda and I wish you all a wonderful week!

All my love, Whittaker Nővér

November 17, 2014

Buda is beautiful and flourishing! The work is still strong and our investigators are stronger. The weeks seem to fly by and I am amazed that it is already November and that Christmas is around the corner. Our investigators are doing great and we had some amazing programs.

This week I have been studying about charity and love. I came across a few things that stood out to me. We are all Gods children and each person is so precious. You will never regret being too kind or showing too much love. We all need to try a little harder to express our love to our family and friends and to those around us. We cannot truly love God if we do not love the people around us. Because of Gods love, He sent His Son, who loved us enough to give His life for us so that we can soon return in their presence again. I love you all and I appreciate your emails of love and support. I feel it here all the way in Hungary

Aniko, who is getting baptized in December, mentioned that the more she thinks about baptism, the more it is starting to feel right. She knows this is the true church and when we gave her a tour of the baptismal font, she lit up with a big smile.

We had stake conference this week and got to hear from amazing speakers, Elder Donaldson and Elder Kearon who are both from the Seventy. They are from England, so it was quite a joy to hear their English accents.

I love this work. I love the gospel and the joy it has brought me is indescribable. I hope you all have a great week. Don’t forget to show more love this week to the ones you love.

All my love, Whittaker Nővér

P.S. Check out the longest word in the Hungarian language!

megszentségtelenithetetlenségeskedéseltekert

 

November 10, 2014

Hello friends and family!

First off, I want to tell you all that I love you. All your kind words of love and support give me the confidence and faith I need throughout the week. The mission is like nothing else I’ve ever experienced and what a wonderful adventure it has been.

I have seen so many miracles this week here in Budapest. Our first miracle was being able to see Aniko again. We hadn’t seen her for 3 weeks because she went home to visit her family during the holidays. During our recent lesson we brought up baptism and how she still felt about it. She said she has thought and prayed about it and she feels that this is the true church. We set a baptismal date in December and she couldn’t be happier. Our second miracle of the week was getting to meet with Krisztian. Krisztian is the type of person you teach and after you walk out you want to be a better person. He LOVES the Book of Mormon and having a Christ-centered life is his number one goal. We received a text from him telling us that he’s prayed and received an answer through the Book of Mormon and that this is the true church. I see God’s hand in everything we do here in Hungary.

It has been such a beautiful week here in Budapest. The weather was warm, Christmas decorations are starting to come out and when the weather is good, Hungarians are happy We met all kinds of new people and the work is progressing every single day!

As I was sitting on the subway one afternoon, I got thinking of our loving Heavenly Fathers plan. I looked around and it amazed me how truly, each and every one of us is His child. He loves us and knows us perfectly. We ALL chose to come her to earth, someday accept the gospel and return back to Him. People have no idea how much this gospel with bless and change their lives but it’s our job as missionaries to be those great teachers and teach them the restoration of the gospel. Life isn’t easy and it never will be, but with the knowledge of the Savior and His atonement, there is hope.

God will always be there. Never lose hope. He understands perfectly. I know this gospel is true. I know that you can pray to God and He WILL answer!

I love you all and I pray for you always. Thank you again for all your love and support. I wish you all a wonderful week!

All my love, Whittaker Nover

Something funny about Hungarians. When you say goodbye to people on the phone or on the street you say, “Hello!” when you say hello to people you say, “szia!” (Sounds like seeya)

November 3, 2014

Meggie unfortunately didn’t have time to send pictures or an official letter this week, though she did share a few fun experiences.  Enjoy!

You’ll never guess what I ate last Monday! All of the elders wanted to eat at a restaurant called, Nymos.  Well, it is a fish place. At first I was like, “oh man…..” but I didn’t want to be the silly girl that is the only one who disagrees, so I went. We ordered a whole thing of fish and chips and ate the WHOLE thing! I liked it too! I thought you should just tell everyone in the family that I know you would all be very proud of me!

Also, I ate bunny this week! We have an awesome member named Barnabas.  We all get along well and we got talking about holidays and what we do on Easter, and how the Easter Bunny will come and bring us candy each year. Well, Barnabas just yells out, “I eat them!” We were so taken a back! This week, he surprised us with a bunny leg! It tasted like chicken but I just couldn’t do it. While I was eating all I could smell was Petsmart.

This morning I woke up 30 minutes earlier to make Sister Jensen breakfast. It’s called “Amish oatmeal” and it’s so delicious!! It’s perfect for those cold mornings, and we’re having many of those here in Buda! Last week, I bought a coat. I tried to find the cheapest, but the warmest.  When I was trying on winter coats, Elder Goddridge & Waldvogle were with us, and provided us some “man” advice on which coat was best.  The warm coat I went with has a buckle in the front, and Elder Waldovgel keeps making jokes about how I must be on a roller coaster, saying “well Sister Whittaker is buckled in for the ride!” I’ll be the one laughing when he’s freezing! :)

Thank you mom for the talks you sent me! I didn’t want to put them down! I loved President Eyring’s talk of waiting on the Lord.  I read Isaiah’s chapters this week, and I found them hard to understand.  I’m going to refer back to them soon.  I can’t tell you how much I love it here.  Buda is absolutely incredible, and I can’t wait to see it transformed for the holiday season.  I am also falling in love with the Hungarian language, and find it such a beautiful way of speaking.  Hopefully soon I’ll be fluent enough to sound like the natives!

Thank you for all your love and support, I feel so blessed to be here serving these people, and grateful for the opportunity to share with them the Gospel I love so dearly. Happy November!