Sister Whittaker’s 1st week in Hungary!

I finally made it safely here in Hungary. Getting to Hungary was quite an adventure. We missed our flight to London, which put us back a few hours but it was exciting to talk to people all through the airport. Our flight to London was about 8 hours, which seemed like an eternity. We finally made it to Budapest, got to meet our wonderful mission President and his wife and headed over to the mission home.

The next morning we got to meet our new companions and find out where we would be living for the next 2 months. I cant tell you how blessed I feel to have such incredible companions. I was put into a trio again because so many sister missionaries went home and they didnt have enough trainers. I am so lucky to have the both of them. First, Simons Nővér – She is the sweetest thing in this world. She has only been here for 2 months and she is a dynamite when it comes to missionary work. My other companion is Geröly Nővér, she is from Hungary and speaks Hungarian!! She has been an absolute blessing for me because I have been struggling with the language. She is darling and I cant believe I got them as my companions.

The first day in Budapest was quite the adventure. They assigned us to a city called Békéscsaba which is a 3-hour train ride from Buda. The Hungarians don’t believe in air conditioning which made the train ride quite fun. I don’t think I have ever sweat that much in my life. Finally after our long journey, we settled into our apartment, unpacked a couple things and we were back on our feet to spread the gospel. If you know me, I am a shy, quiet person who likes to keep to myself. Heavenly Father has truly given me the gift to not be afraid. My favorite thing in the world is to go street contacting and tracting. My companions and I switch off who will stop someone and tell them about the Church. I usually start off with the same sentence, give them a big smile and then let my companions take over. The Hungarians talk so fast I can only pick out a couple words but all is well and I have full trust in the Lord. When you have Heavenly Father on your side, you don’t need to fear. Someone will listen and someone is prepared to meet you at that time. Just be faithful, be obedient and be bold and he will guide you. 

I see a miracle every single day here in Békéscsaba.There are days when I gets hard and you are having no success, but then there are moments that make it all better, like this time: We had been tracting for hours and we were having no success. Until finally we knocked on a sweet little old ladie’s door. At first, she didn’t want to let us in but after a few minutes something in her changed. She let us come in and sit down. Now mind you, she is 85 and it just hurts you inside to see her walk. Yet, she still got up many times to grab us some tea and crackers. She told us about her family and how her husband and her two children died years ago and she is all alone. We got to know about her and got all her information. I do’nt know all that she said but I do know that the sprit was there and it was indescribable. She gave us this book full of beautiful paintings and then this hand sewn tablecloth that we now have on our table back at our apartment. As we sat there I just started to cry because of the love I felt from the generous old lady. I then told her köszönöm szépen (which means thank you very much and really the only thing I know how to say) and she then started to cry and thanked us over and over again for coming over. We get to see her again next week which I am so excited about. There are times like that, that are priceless.