Whole mix of Emotions!

Dearest Errbody,
     I am doing pretty good :) My week has been pretty good. Basically, I have gone back to junior mode for a while, trying to get a hang of all this stuff. My new companion is awesome. His name is Elder Rae and he is super cool. I will be "killing" (missionary term) him as he goes home in November. Pretty crazy. But it is super cool, because he wants to go out with a bang and we will definitely be doing that :) There are approximately 23 missionaries in my Zone and my Zone covers Szeged, Bekescsaba, Kecskemet and Szolnok. It is pretty cool. We haven't traveled too much yet (except for that car ride from Hell that was getting out of Budapest), but we will starting this week. We have a trip to Buda planned and we also have to go on "Blitz's" to all of our Zone cities. That will be super fun, because that means I get to go to Kecskemet again! Yay! I don't have my international licence yet so I don't drive, but having a car is super weird. It makes time go by differently, like forreals. Super strange and sadly, no we do not have a Senior couple here in Szeged.
     This week was a whole mix of emotions. That last night in Szekesfehervar was pretty sad. But at the same time happy? We said goodbye to all of our investigators. When we told "S" that I was leaving, we started crying. It was pretty emotional. Her little girl ask why I was leaving and she said, "My sweetie, Heavenly Father has called him to go somewhere else to help people like us. But don't worry, he'll come back sometime." By then I was kind of crying too.
     The tripanionship was also hard to close down. We finished cleaning and packing and just kind of sat and talked for a long time. I am going to miss them so much. They are some of my favorite companions.
     Transfers were pretty normal. I got to talk with  a lot of people and that is always a good time. We eventually finished and life was good as Elder Rae and I went on to Szeged.
     Szeged is super cool, even though I still have only seen a couple of parts of this town. That is another weird thing about having a car, I don't get to see as much of the city.
     My first night here, we had a program with a kid. As soon as we went in I realized he looked SUPER familiar. So we started talking and he explains that he is actually from Kecsemet. Turns out that we actually tried to meet with him when I was serving there. Now he is an investigator here in Szeged. I LOVE HIM HE WILL BE MY FAVORITE.
     The rest of the week was just full of cool investigators. They are all so cool, they just need to be members. Half of them practically are already.
     This Sunday was a highlight. I sat by a super cool investigator at church, I went to Sunday School with the Youth and in Priesthood a random member from Eger played the piano with a very long intro AND outro for the hymn.
     Life is good.
     Well, my favorite scripture right now is John 15:16. Please read it, because it is so applicable to missionary work, but to our lives as well. We just have to remember that the Lord has chosen us.
     I love you all so much.
     sok szeretettel,
           Neely Elder.

Elder Barbour, Elder Neely and Elder Simmons
Our last night of the Tripanionship.

Saying good byes :(

Szilvia and Elder Neely saying good bye.

Time's Flying.

Dearest Everyone.
     Well, transfers happened. The beloved Tri-panionship is now dead and gone. Elder Barbour is going co-senior with one of his good friends. Elder Simmons is going to Dunaujvaros with Elder Richards. I am going to...SZEGED. I am going to be a Zone Leader in Szeged with Elder Rae! I am super excited. It should be awesome. I am going to have a car and be in one of Hungary's biggest and greatest cities. Woohoo! I am super excited.
     However, I am so sad to leave my friends from the tripanionship. I love these kids so much. Elder Simmons is seriously the best son I could have asked for. And Elder Barbour is a crazy funny guy. Also he helped me pick out a suit and now I look so good! OMG. So yeah. That's real.
     Outside of that our week was fantastic. We have seen a lot of crazy awesome progress with all of our investigators and with everyone that we meet with. "S" continues to be the greatest member on this planet (oh....I forgot I am going to have to leave her :( She is the greatest). These people are seriously the best. I love all of them so much and I look forward to coming back and meeting with them again.
     EMOTIONAL SEQUENCE: Looking back on the time I have had in Szekesfehervar, I am proud of the work I have done. It has been interesting having Elder Barbour come into it in the middle, because I watched my chapter close and his begin all at the same time. I have done good things here and I am proud of it. But in all reality, I am just an observer of God's amazing work! I have seen His hand moving. It is an amazingly beautiful thing.
     I love you all so much. Keep doing great things. Keep being you. I love you all so much. My favorite scripture from this week is from Jacob. He is kind of dramatic towards the end of his writings, but poetically he is on point when he says: "the time passed away with us, and also our lives passed away as it were unto us a dream." (Jacob 7:26).
   Time's flying.
          Love,
              Neely Elder.

#falulife

A castle I saw on splits this week in Veszprem. Pretty
cool, eh?

Went for a ride with my BFF's Elder Giacalone and
Elder Peterson.

Some Neni's at the Lecso Festival. They took pictures
with us and then sang us a drinking song.

I HELD A HEDGEHOG IT ACTUALLY HURT A
LITTLE BIT.

Cute Hedgehog

My new outfit. #mmmgurl

The simplicity was a spectacular moment.

hello. 9-15-14
     This week was amazing. Thank you all so much for your prayers and support and help......"S"GOT BAPTIZED!!! This week after a great Zone Training, I went on splits with the missionaries in Veszprem and I got a call from Elder Barbour saying that she had called and that she wanted to get baptized on Saturday. Everything worked out absolutely perfectly. Awesome. So cool. It was a beautiful service.
     There were six of us there. It was a quietly beautiful scene. So cool. The simplicity was a spectacular moment. Everything went beautifully.
     Other than that, this week was just pretty normal. The companions are so perfect. We keep having late night talks about how much we are going to miss each other. I love these guys so much.
     I bout a whip.
     I just realized I typed bout instead of bought.
     We had Zone Training. It was good.
     I love you guys so much. I am so grateful to be here on a mission. Sorry this is the worst email ever. Transfers are next week. Craziness.
     I love you all!!
     Neely Elder.

Szilvia's Baptism :)
Elder Barbour, Szilvia, Elder Neely, Elder Simmons

     

Splits in Veszprem!

Splits.

I made Shephard's pie!

Karaoke night at the Branch.

All sorts of ups and downs.

Dearest Beloveds,    9-8-14
     I am doing so well! This week has been so good! We have been all sorts of ups and downs. But it has be fantastic! We started with a fun p-day just hanging out with some of our members. It was a good time. We then met with this investigator on Tuesday at 6:00pm. It was a fantastic lesson and we were able to set a baptismal date with him! Then the next day at 11:00 he dropped us and gave us back everything he had ever received from the church. LOL. You win some, you lose some :)
     This week we also got to go on Blitzes with the Zone Leaders! Which means we hung out with Elder Peterson and Giacalone!! Two of my good friends in the mission! It was the greatest. I loved it so much. It was a good time.
     Elder Barbour's brother also came to the Hungarian lands to visit, so that was fun! We got to show him around a little bit. It was so fun. He also helped teach our English class, so that was fun!
     This week I found a quote that I really like. It comes from Richard G. Scott and it goes like this, "The children of Father in Heaven can do amazing things when they feel trusted." I like that. A lot. When we feel trusted, we can do so much. Sometimes, we want to do tasks and things, because we know that we can do them faster and quicker and better than if someone less experienced does them, but when we give that opportunity to someone else and help them learn, we can accomplish so much more. It is a miracle.
     Sorry this letter is probably the lamest ever, but I hope you all have the best week ever!
Love,
Neely Elder.

Elder Simmon wore two different shoes to district meeting
before he noticed! LOL.

Friends in Veszprem.

Some free soup we got (they gave us extra, because we were
American [huzzah 'MERICA]).

Watching some random fireworks on our roof with a couple
of our investigators.

   

Tripanionship!!

Dear Family,     9-1-14
     This. Week. This week has been great! Okay. Here is my week in a nutshell:

• Transfers. Transfers were fun and all, but I was sick the whole time, so I look like s zombie and felt absolutely horrible. Ugh. It was so bad. The sickness I emailed about last week lasted all the way until Thursday morning. Crazy town. It sucked so bad, but then it was over and we were in our Tripanionship! The Tripanionship is a party. A party with fun members and a lot of limited space, but we make it work out alright. I'll send a picture of our sleeping quarters sometime. LOL.
• This weekend (Saturday at 10:00 to be exact) will be "S" baptism. I am so excited! She is doing so good. This week she said that her entire family is pretty upset that she is getting baptized. She basically said, "It's none of their business. Let's do this". That's dedication my friends. She also called me on Sunday telling me that she couldn't make it to church, because her daughter got put in the hospital. She came anyway.
• This week we met with "K". He has been meeting with the missionaries for a long time, but still has not been baptized. Elder Barbour and us kind of had a stern lesson with him and at the end of it, he decided to be baptized on September 27th! The next day I called him to ask him if he could make it to church. He said yes, but said he wanted to talk to me about the baptismal date and how he wasn't sure if he wanted it or not. Then he came to church and a couple of things happened. Elder Barbour shared his favorite scripture with him. I gave a talk about the covenant of baptism and Elder Simmons chatted with him and made some funny jokes. He told me after church that, "I am 90% ready to get baptized." I have never seen someone smile so big :)
• This week, one of our new members invited us to his niece's wedding. It was my first Hungarian wedding and let me tell you, it was off the chain! Just kidding. We only went to the actual ceremony. We joined like this procession and saw the wedding and then we congratulated the couple and took pictures with them. They were so cute. I love weddings so much, they are so much fun and so happy. I was so happy to be there. It is kind of weird, but that seriously made my entire day. We felt like we were on cloud nine the rest of the day.
•  Last night, while coming home from family night, I got a call from our land lady and she says that the neighbour are complaining that "water is coming from the walls". So I assume that because it was pouring rain, she wanted to make sure that we had our windows closed or whatever and the neighbors were nice enough to inform everyone. So we walk into our apartment and THERE IS A FLOOD. EASILY THREE INCHES OF WATER. It was in our bathroom and our walkway. Luckily it stopped there. Turns out one of our hoses from the washer machine came undone. The sad thing is that this has happened before and we got yelled at by the landlady to not leave the washer machine unattended. Well. As it goes, I see why. So that is what happened and we will see what comes of it

    So that is my week. I hope you all have the best week ever! I love you all so much! Keep doing good things! Keep being happy. I love you all so much!

                 Sok szeretettel,

                        Neely Elder.

Fun with members.

First day with Tripanionship!

A MASSIVE BEE THAT FLEW INTO OUR
APARTMENT!

We were trying to set them up so hard.

Trying to figure out tracting times.

The Wedding in the Basilica's.

8-24-2014 Big holiday week.

Hi everyone!
    OMG. THIS WEEK.
    Okay. So first off, "S" did not get baptized this week, but she is getting baptized on September 6th, and she is just raging forward. Keep praying for her! She is doing so good and prayers help so much!
    Okay. Transfers. I am so excited! Elder Simmons and I are staying together and we are going into a tripanionship with Elder Barbour. He is super cool. It is going to be a party! I am so excited! We will blow Szekesfehvar off the water. It is going to be great!
     Cool things from this week: These last couple of weeks we have been doing Temple Prep with a member that is going to the Temple. This Sunday he got back from his week-long trip and he said, "one week is too short. I wish I could go there forever." Guys. We need to be like these saints. This poor man dedicated and consecrated his time and his money and his everything to prepare to go to the Temple and he had the most beautiful experience. We should be doing stuff like this even more with a Temple of our God so close to us. Please, please, please, please go to the Temple. I miss the Temple so much it hurts. Please use and access that blessing.
     Other than that, this week was August 20th-a big holiday here-and it was fun. Kinda lame as far as our work and stuff goes, but fun.
     I am so out of time! I am so sorry. Have a good day. I love you all so much.
        Sok szeretettel,
            Neely Elder.

Okay, so there was this Christian singing group, and we
went and stood by them, because we were wearing white
shirts and ties too! #mormonprobs

Trapped while tracting #szokasos

The four scoop challenge!

Random hot air balloon in front of our branch house.

Fun with members.