Nice...A Pig Head!

Hello everybody!
     Sorry about last week. Things were crazy busy and I ran out of time. I am doing so good! Way better than last week. Last week was kind of poopie. IDK why. This week was about the same, but I felt better about it at least :) I miss all of you so much! I AM EXCITED FOR MAY 11TH.
     This week has been pretty dang good. So funny stories from last week. We tried to make pancakes with buttermilk, but we didn't have buttermilk, so we just replaced it with milk and a little vinegar. I put waaaaaaay too much vinegar and the vinegar here is 20%. SO STRONG. So, basically our pancakes tasted like a disgusting form of orange chicken.
     This week we visited a new lady. She is so cool! She is so prepared. We really like her. She has a super cool family. Her husband is a helicopter pilot. Cool, right?
     This week we also set up an appointment to meet with a member here. Our appointment was for like 9 am. So we get to the branch house and we are waiting and at about 9:15, we text him and ask him if he is coming. Then we get all of these random texts that just don't make a whole lot of sense. In the end he doesn't come. So on Saturday, we get a call from him. He thought that we were his girlfriend texting him from a different phone. AWKWARD. He was super confused, but it was funny. We laughed a lot and then we met on Saturday. He is seriously the greatest ever. Probably one of my favorite people ever.
     This week there was also a baptism! "E" got baptized! She was actually taught a lot by my former companion, Mullen Elder! It was super cool. I had to give a talk on the Holy Ghost. It was super terrifying, but it went really well. At the end of the whole shabang, she was asked to bear her testimony, at a whim. She got up there and it was just spectacular. She did so good. She is such an amazing girl. We are all so impressed with how much she has changed. She really has changed to follow Jesus Christ. Amazing. Miracle.
     The rest of the week was just good.
     Oh. This drunk guy came up to us and tried to tell us how we were just here to "**** with people". Then he invited us to join his secret cult to kill all of the Romanians. Then he gave us a bag. What was in the bag? A pig head. WHAT. WHY. WHY IS THERE A PIG HEAD IN THIS BAG. WHY DID YOU GIVE IT TO ME. He told me to make some soup.
     Adventure. It happens in the Hungary lands :)
     The Mission. This last week was my year mark. I look back at my year and I realized that this mission is worth it. This week we had a program and one of my investigators asked me why I came on a mission. I answered with this answer that is true, "I knew it was a good thing, so I did it." Something I have learned is that faith is a real thing and faith is pretty crazy. I came on a mission, because I knew I should, because it was a good thing, because it was something that I could do to give back to Heavenly Father. I didn't realize it, but I was exercising faith. It is the same thing that we ask our investigators to do every time we ask them to be baptized. They don't know everything. They don't understand everything, but they know it is a good thing and they act in faith. The great thing about this, is that God is perfect and when we exercise faith in Him, He will not let us down. I came on a mission and it has been so worth it. It has been ever so worth it. I look back at every moment and every person I have tried to help and all of the people I love. All of them. It is worth it. If you are wondering if you should serve a mission, the answer is YES! If you can and you feel it is right, come. It is worth it :)
       I hope you all have a fantastic week! Keep doing good things! I love you all!
          Sok szeretettel,
             Neely Elder.

"E's" Baptism!!

The pig head in the trash can.

The t-shirts we got for doing the Volcano
challenge at Gringos Amigos :) Holy cow.
SO. HOT. But we did it!

The things that we have to do to give people a Book of
Mormon. jaj.

"L's" orchard. Cherry trees for days.

Some finomsag that I had to celebrate my year mark!

I finished the Hungarian Book of Mormon on my
year mark. :)

Chicken butchering we attended at one of our
programs. #welcometoHungary.

Too Busy!

This picture of my sweet granddaughter pretty much sums up how I feel!! Sorry no update this week.

Happy Moments in Life.

Hello,
     I am doing so good this week. This week has just been full of great things. I am also excited to celebrate this week! WOW! I only have a year left!!
     Okay so now onto this weeks happenings.
        1. This week we went home teaching with a member to another members house. We missed our bus, so we spent a good amount of time with "A" and later in the week, we kind of hung out with him for a couple of hours while waiting for a program and then they dogged us and yadda yadda yadda and at the end it was cool because we are pretty good friends with "A" now :)
        2. This week we had Zone Training. BEST. DAY. EVER. I got to go to Szeged, shop around, and hang out all day with Brown and Giacalone Elders'!! It was the greatest thing in the world. They are such amazing human beings! I am so proud of them. Seriously, why do I know so many great people?
        3. At Zone Training I realized a lot of things. I feel like I have turned over a new leaf and it feels good. I am so excited to start anew. It is a good feeling. I am excited for what will be :)
        4. This week we went to the Bariek. It was "Z" name day (here every day has a name attached to it and if it is your name day, they celebrate it like their birthday). We brought him some candy and spent some time with him. At the end, he said, "I really want to come to church with you guys. I want to be a part of this, but my mom won't let me do it alone." It was so cool! Here is a small 8 year old who really wants to be a part of this Gospel. It was so cool. At the end, he wanted to say the prayer. It was the most sincere beautiful thing I have ever heard and all he said was, "Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this day, thanks for everything. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen." It was amazing. I don't know how to describe the Spirit we felt. I left feeling very humbled.
        5. This week there was also a free concert at this restaurant with an underground Hungarian band called The Dirty Slippers. So we went and ate dinner (the food was SOOOOOOOOO good) and listened to their music. It was super cool and really fun. It was just a nice way to close off the week (it was Saturday night).

This week I decided I wanted to write down the things that I saw in the world that made me happy. The happy moments I experienced. Here are some of them:

• A girl walked by and her shirt said, "HEY, I love you."
• A homeless guy was laying on a bench like he was posing for a painting.
• One of our investigators said: "Thank you for helping the Hungarians be happier."
• On Fast Sunday, I bore my testimony. Afterwards, the Bishop got up to bear his. He said: "While he was bearing his testimony, I saw Neely Elders shoes. They are real missionary shoes. I am glad we have missionaries here like him."
• This Sunday we also had a concert. As I was sitting there playing the violin and the piano and we were singing and everyone was happy. Then Bishop and a non-member got up and played a guitar duet of A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief and it was so happy :)

This week, I challenge you all to find the happy things in your everyday life :)
Thank you for all of the support and the love. I love you all so much. I am so grateful to have you in my life. Thank you for the encouragement. I can do hard things. I can :)
     Have a great week.
        Sok szeretettel,
           Neely Elder.

My BLOW POP! I finally got my Valentines package!
Thank you very much!

I also love Sushi! #addicted.

My food. Good!

Dinner in Kescke with the band!

A horse we found. Just chained up like a dog. Weird.

#welcometohungary

A circus dog thing that just popped into the middle of the
 town. Cool.

Jo Napot Kivanok Onoknek!

Jo Napot Kivanok Onoknek!
     So, this week has been really language centered. So I wanted to share a little culture with you. Here in Hungary, they show respect to people they are not familiar with or to older people by formalizing them. So today here is a little taste of a normal conversation we have on the street (translated from Hungarian) with a typical Bacsi (older gentleman):
Us: "Good day I wish to him!"
Him: "Good day I wish back to him!"
Us: "Can we ask for a moment from him?"
Him: "They certainly can. How are they doing?"
Us: "We are very good. How does it please him to feel himself?"
Him: "He feels himself well. Who are they?"
Us: "We are missionaries. Does it please him to hear about the Mormons?"
Him: "Do they attend the new white church on Nyiri street?"
Us: "Yes. That is our church building."
Him: "I have attended your services before."
Us: "Really? We rejoice to that! Was it pleasing to him?"
Him: "It pleased him."
Us: "We rejoice to that. Does it please him to meet with us to learn more about our church?"
Him: "No. Onto the next seeing I wish to them!"
Us: "We wish it back to him!"
                 Hungarian. Fun.
     Hahahahah, yeah, but this week we saw General Conference in Hungarian! It was cool, because six months ago, I sat and watched one of the sessions (just one) in Hungarian and did not understand hardly any of it, but six months later, I watched all of the sessions (well, five of them. We always miss one because of the time difference) in Hungarian and I understood almost all of it! It was so cool to see how far I have come. Yay for progress!
     I did not get transferred this week. Weaver Elder and I are staying together! We are pretty excited about it. Also, there are a lot of good restaurants we want to go eat at :)
    Our investigators are doing good! There is one that really stands out this week. He is doing so good! He had a complete turn around. He came to two sessions of Conference (almost unheard of here, even for the members!) and he is just doing so well. He came in the other day and brought in a bag and what was in it? A VIOLIN!!! So I played a lot of music and it felt so good, and it was just so much fun. SUCH A GOOD TIME :)
     Atkinson Nover is getting transferred, and we are getting a Hungarian sister here! She is from Szombathely (Some-bah-t-hey). We are excited for that!
     I am tripping all sorts over the fact that my year mark is coming up so soon. WHERE DID THE TIME GO THIS IS CRAZY. So weird. I am really excited though. It is weird. I look forward to going home, but I am also dreading it, you know? Missions are probably the weirdest thing in the world, because you miss people so hard, but you love people here so hard and you just find that your heart learns to reside in two places. How is that even possible? I don't know. I just know that I love it here and I love the people I have met so much.
     This week has otherwise been kind of lame. I mean, good as far as our work goes, just kind of normal. Nothing exciting. Just normal. Nothing crazy. This week will be more interesting, because we will be going to Szeged! I will get to hang out with Barna and Giacalone!! I am excited :)
     One of the things I learned from Conference is that we are capable of change, because of Jesus Christ! That is a MIRACLE. We can change. We can literally look at ourselves and make ourselves something different. I have many things I still need to change and get better at, but it is possible. Mi kepesek vagyunk erre! A thought coupled with that is a scripture I found the other day. It is from 1 Chronicles 28:20 "Be strong and of good courage and DO IT."  Just do it Nike :) We can do this.
     I hope everything is going super well with all of you! I love you all so much! Have the best week ever!
         Sok szeretettel,
             Neely Elder.
P.S. I wait with much love for May 11th, because you definitely did get jipped last year :)

New shirts that Elder Weaver and I got :)

Elder Meek! The new missionary here in the Kecski-lands.

The new buses here have nice little seat belts for my legs!

Cinnamon Rolls that Weaver Elder made. (annyira ugyes a fiu)

Toilet we found while tracting. We find weird stuff whilst tracting.

Strange wall paper we found while tracting.

Gringos Amigos

Csasztok,
     This week was worse and better than last week all at once. #missionarylife.
     I am doing good. Our investigators are kind of doing not so good, but that is okay, because I will tell you later in the email.
     Elder Weaver and I are doing good. There is a transfer next week (again!) so we will see what happens.
     This week. So on Tuesday our District went running! I loved it so much. It is so much fun. However, after the run the cops came up to us and asked us for our Igazolvany-s (ID cards) and we kind of got kicked out of the Foter. LOL. Later that day we went to Grigos Amigos with the Bishop. It was just a testament to how cool the members are here, because he just did everything he possibly could to help us. So awesome. Also on Tuesday, I had two cool moments while tracting. 1. I realized as I was having a conversation with a teen Hungarian, that I can speak Hungarian! I can speak this language. More than that, I enjoy it! What is this? When did this happen?! So cool. The Gift of Tongues is so cool! 2. I had been having a pretty crappy day and everyone was turning us down. Then we tracted into a man. He was so cool. He had so many good questions, like who God was, why suffering happens, how he could grow closer to God. It was awesome to help him get answers. He said he didn't want to meet with us or listen to us and he didn't show up to English class, but I got to help answer his questions. In the end, I think I realized that God wants to help us feel better when we are sad. Even though he turned down the opportunity, after that little talk, I felt better. I felt happier. I had been able to help someone. That was awesome. I was very grateful for that.
      Wednesday was kind of the worst day ever. So remember how we went to Gringos Amigos? Yeah, apparently it wasn't prepared to well, because almost everyone in our District got crazy diarrhea. NOT. FUN. Especially as a missionary. So I was down in our apartment until like 1:00. Finally I decided that we needed to go out. I felt really bad, but I could walk, so we were fine. We were in a program and towards the end, I was like, "HOLY COW WE NEED TO LEAVE." So we left and I was rushing home, but I couldn't make it. So I calculated the closest place that had a bathroom. Where was it? Nowhere else than Gringos Amigos. So I got revenge on Gringos Amigos by destroying their own bathroom with their foul food. TAKE THAT GRINGOS. LOL. It was pretty funny even though it was absolutely horrific!
     Thursday was probably the highlight as far as missionary life goes. So we have this investigator who we dropped, because he was being a jerk and just making fun of us and asking ridiculous questions. Well, he came to church on Sunday and asked if we could meet. I said, okay and we met. He walked in and he was so quiet and humble and began by asking, "Hey, what do I have to do to be baptized? How long will it take? Do I have to cancel my Catholic baptism?" WHAT. IN. THE. WILD. WORLD. So cool. It was so amazing, because WE DID NOTHING. The Lord just helped him see something. He just said that something had changed in him and he realized that this was a good thing and he wanted it. How cool is that? I will never forget his humility. It was such a big change. So cool. So awesome. These are the miracles I get to see. I am so grateful I get to see them!
     Friday we met with a family out in the boondocks. They had over a friend and he was pretty drunk and he basically made fun of us the whole program. We had a member there that deserves all of the awards. He is so cool. He patiently listened to him and tried to help the man. This member is so Christlike! He even gave him a ride home. It was just amazing to see how patient and kind he was to the drunk man. Even after he had mocked us for an hour straight. What an awesome example he was to me.
     On Saturday we went and did a service project at a member's house. It was so cool to serve someone again.It was fun. I even got sun-burnt! Yay!
     Sunday was awesome. We went to church and had a fifth Sunday combined meeting where the members got together and decided to fast together to help the missionary work here in Kecskemet. So cool! They are such amazing members here! I am really excited, because I feel this is just what our work needs and I think we will see a lot of amazing things this week.
     Because it was a fifth Sunday, we also had a lunch after the meetings. As I was sitting there, looking around at all the people in Kecskemet, I realized that I do love these people here. They are such amazing people. I do love them. I love them so much.
     I am so grateful to be here in Hungary. To be a part of this work. Besides all of that though, I am grateful to have the opportunity to love these people. I am so grateful to get to love them. I am so grateful that I get to know them. What did I ever do to deserve this? Leaving is going to be so hard.
     I love you all so much. I am so grateful for all of you and for all of your support and prayers and love. Thank you so much!
       Sok szeretettel,
             Neely Elder.

On our way to the service project.

Elder Weaver