Hungary for the Gospel in Montana: Week 19

Hello loved ones!

I just have to say that this week was AMAZING! It was the first week that Sister Egbert and I could really get doing the work and it felt fantastic!

As I said before, I and/or Sister Egbert had been sick for most of the first 3 weeks of this transfer. We had too much time to overthink things and little to no human contact, on top of being ill. Nothing is worse as a missionary, at least in my experience thus far, than to be stuck at home going crazy!

As a result of all of this, our excitement and eagerness to the Lord's work has been greatly deepened! Our first real day back in, the day's work was not one of particular success. Nonetheless, we were filled to the brim with joy by simply doing it! We went door to door facing rejection and did other means of contacting without receiving responses. It didn't matter how our efforts were being received --of course we would've loved to have been received well, or had some grand miracle-- the fact that we were able to get out of the apartment and be where the people were, made all the difference!

We did have a few little miracles later that day though. One was when we were sent on a wild goose chase with a wrong address! When we finally found the right place, we discovered that the people we were trying to contact had barely gotten home. We knocked on their door and they were very kind, but made it clear they were not interested. What a miracle right? Hahah, well I actually think so! This is because we were able to contact them, be bold with them, and truly know if they were interested or not so we knew how to best use our efforts. If we hadn't been randomly sent to the wrong place in the beginning, we would have gotten there before they were even home and spent a longer time trying to contact them. It was a sweet moment even though we weren't received as we hope to be.

The other little miracle was when we co-taught the Cossins family, with the zone leaders. Brother and Sister Cossins got into a bit of a heated discussion over past offenses regarding bishops. We as missionaries would try to chime in and provide a way out bit they KEPT GOING. Sister Egbert and Elder Steelman were stressed out, and Elder Helms and I were just patiently waiting for them to finish heheh. When it was clear they would keep going, Sister Egbert finally squeezed her way in and was amazing! She channeled her energy from being stressed (through prayers in her heart to God) into a powerful spiritual discussion which changed the whole course of the debate between the Cossins! Elder Helms finished it off very nicely with a talk by Elder Holland (The Ministry of Reconciliation) and a challenge. It turned out beautifully!

Another blessing that has come from the interesting start to our transfer, is the special bond that Sister Egbert and I have developed. She and I were talking, just the other day about how we couldn't have gotten so close so fast without what we've gone through together. We have made many discoveries together that will change our lives forever. I adore her with all of my heart! She believes in me, she pushes me, and she loves me! She makes life so bright and wonderful!

We have many plans and goals for our friends of the church and ourselves! Sister Egbert even mentioned how we have new opportunities to find with our being out of touch with the world, as well as everyone disappearing for the holidays. We have a 10 year old who has just gotten permission from her dad to be baptized and we will be helping with preparations for that! We also have many new potential investigators. Life is good!

Other little miracles from this week:

We found three people that we have been teaching that went off the grid for weeks! Some of them are very ill, so we won't be able to teach them for a bit. At least we know that they are alive, for reals we were so worried about them!

I have been sight reading opening hymns daily in our companionship study! It is a goal I have been working on to get over my piano complexes. I even sight read in front of random people sometimes… for those who know my piano fears / complexes this is a big deal!

We have had lots of people showing up at our game nights and been able to get to know them better!

Randomnesses:

I dislocated Sister Egbert's shoulder! Whoops…

I was sleep talking again and somehow sent an emoji on our zone chat and typed in my notes, all while I was asleep still!

The district leaders helped us contact some sketchy places! At one of them, the person peeked through their blinds, made eye contact with us, and never answered the door… we even knocked one more time! It was super funny and awkward when we made eye contact heheh.

Elder Helms was trying to try new things and ended up breaking his knee by playing basketball… poor thing! He never plays basketball and the one time he did, that happened!

Thank you for your continued love and prayers. I love you all!
Sister Alger

Lots of silly, missionary fun!