Mom!  Happy Birthday!  I spent the whole day saying, Happy Birthday mom, to Sister Kimball.  We took a train to a small village just outside of Kecskemét and I thought we might make a sign and take a picture, but then we ended up talking to someone about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ... so... sorry I didn't get that one.  Hopefully you did get my birthday gift to you though!  The big envelope that had the top ripped was because I forgot to put letters in it... so... I tried again.  

I was so happy to get a letter from Mrs. Caitlin Robbins!  What a sweetheart.  It was really nice.  I will be writing you a real letter soon... and I just love you so much!  Best of luck with school... I did that once... but now I am graduated.  Ha.

Grandma asked about Christmas traditions in Hungary.  Santa comes on December 6, and he gives sticks to bad kids, and candy to good kids, but since there are no completely bad kids in Hungary, kids tend to get both. On Christmas, baby Jézus gives the children the gifts.  On Christmas eve families get together and set up their Christmas tree and then they leave it up as long as they want, or so I have heard.  They have Christmas villages in the town squares, but it is different than you would imagine.  You probably are thinking, oh, some little displays of elf shops or something.  They have booths where people work and they have vendors.  There is even a Rotary Club and a Lions Club International.  That is kinda of random.  They sell warm alcohol.  But I love walking up and down it and seeing all of the people shopping.  I conveniently was freezing one night and there was a hat stand, so I bought a hat and things improved.

We had a really great conference.  The Mission President talked about the end of the world on Friday.  Instead of offering comfort and being like, no big, that won't happen, he was saying that the planets were probably going to allign and there could be something interesting things that happen--and he said some other things that just kind of caught me off guard--but then he said, who knows and that probably nothing will happen!  We will see how Friday goes.   It just surprised me.  

Sister Smith shared with us the story of, I hear the bells on Christmas day.  Such a wonderful story.  We all sang the song and it was fun.  We played some games and then had a white elephant gift exchange.  I thought my gift was pure gold--wipe board markers!  We use them so much when we teach--and the ones at the church aren't the best quality.  But, somehow I ended up with the markers at the end of the game.  And then Sister Kimball gave me the sweater she got as a white elephant, and an elder gave me the nailpolish he had gotten.  People are so nice.  And.  A senior couple gave us gloves.  So nive!  I think they are the prettiest gloves I have ever had, so I will make sure to be super nice to every senior couple :) 

I am happy, everything is great!

Sok szeretettel,

Look how cool that fog is?!  Yesterday we had zone conference in the
big city, so we walked around and ended up at the Buda Castle.
Pretty!!!  This is me and my new hat.  I am also wearing my new boots.
And new gloves.  Turns out when you don't bring winter clothes,
you get a lot of new things!

Kennedy nővér

I am so happy!

Dear Family,

I am so happy.  I really, am just on cloud nine.  Want to know why?  Because the gospel brings us happiness!  I read a little bit in Jesus the Christ today, and at the end of the chapter on the sermon on the mount it talked about pleasure vs. happiness.  Happiness is real.  Pleasure is fake--a gift wrapped up in really pretty packaging, but when you open it up you find it is full of nauseating guilt.  Gross!  Let's all really be happy shall we and find real happiness and joy this holiday season!  Yeah!!  Moving on.

This is in Szolnok.  We snapped this picture on the way home from the baptism there last week.  They really go all out here.  Beautiful, am I right?!  This is me, and Sister Kimball, and Tamás.  It was a great experience from Tamás to see a baptism and understand it better.  It mostly just got me pumped for this....

My first baptism in the country!  It was such an amazing experience!!  I was so happpy to be invovled with his progress.  Misi is so solid.  He bore his testimony on Sunday, which was so tender and sincere.  When he bore his testimony he shared about how he prayed to know the truth, and he said it took time, but he found it.  Some people say that finding answers takes time, and then they don't really do anything but wait.  What I love about Misi is that he worked for it.  He wanted to know it was true, for himself, so he prayed and read the scritpure and came to church, and when he was doing the right things, of course with time it all came!  Some people sit and wait because they know things take time, but that is wrong.  We need to understand the work that goes behind waiting and taking time.

Oh.  Important things, I guess.  I am still in Kecskemét!  I will be here for Christmas and the New Year.  Very exciting.  I have talked with my mission president and I have permission to Skype if that is interesting to you! I have around an hour to talk if I want, and I am allowed to split up the call and talk to siblings since people won't be at home.  I can call anytime on Dec 24 or Dec 25.  Yeah!  Christmas!  But, my companion's schedule is crazy, so I will let you know what her family thinks abou it all so we don't have to keep interrupting the members with coming and going.  I got Grandma's package of decorations, and I got my ipod!  Because it was Mikulás on Dec 6 I opened up all of my gifts from him!  Thanks for the super cute things.  I love the little dangly earrings the most :)  We have a Christmas zone conference next week, so I will be emailing on Tuesday.  

I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!  Gotta go teach a 13 year old girl that is getting baptized in April :)

Sister Kennedy

Boldog Mikulás!

Singing for Mikulás in order to receive a treat from the jolly old man.  Good thing he understands english.

It is December???!?

Wow.  I feel like not all that much has happened since I wrote you last... but obviously things are happening everyday!

We had interviews with the mission president on Wednesday and we were able to talk to his wife while our companion was in their interview with the president.  It was really nice, and they brought down mail.  Mom.  Your card was so funny...  I laughed so hard.  Sister Kimball also enjoyed it.  Who knew they made cards written from cats?!  I got two things from Grandma, one was a decoration, and the other was also a really nice card.  So, thanks!  My interview with President Smith was really great.  We get along really well, and so that is a blessing.  There are a lot of changes coming up in the next couple of months (9 new sisters in March!!) and so we talked about some of the changes and things that will come with that.  He encouraged me to keep being obedient and working my hardest at learning the language.  Exciting!  And... I asked him a question I have had for months... and he said yes!  So, I am going to buy a ukulele today.  I am pretty excited for that!  Still haven't found a tea set that isn't a brazillion dollars, so hopefully I can find somewhere to look today really quickly.

We went to the City Hall on Monday.
Here are some pretty pictures.  Cool.

Where is Jordan Tolman going on a mission?  I had no idea.  Turns out I don't know much about the human world...  Oh!!  And Camille!!  Thanks for your email.  Give me your human address!!  I love you soooo much.  Save me a ski run... and we will go next year :)  But you can't make fun of me... I will have missed a whole season... and I am not a pro ski instructor.  I love you.  Yeah!

Sorry I haven't talked about Misi at all... my bad!  He is so great.  He is 22 and dating a member in the ward here.  He came to church a couple of times, and we met with him the week after I got here and have been meeting with him ever since.  He loves the gospel and seriously has a testimony that it is true.  His girlfriend had already covered the word of wisdom and law of chastity with him, so it was a really special situation.  I want to learn Hungarian just so I can be friends with him and so we can chat all of the time.  He is really awesome.  He had his baptismal interview on Thursday and everything is going forward for next Saturday!!

We have visited the hospital a couple of times this transfer, and it is really interesting.  The hospitals here are a lot different than in America.  For instance, they have a lot of people in the same room, and they are really dark, and I don't like them.  I just don't like hospitals in general turns out... We've been in three different ones this transfer, and some are definitely better than others... but for some reason I just don't like them.  Anyway, it is awesome to see the faith of the members in dealing with health challenges when they are in the hospital.  I love this ward.  

I am so grateful for December!  It is so exciting to have everyone hustling and bustling getting ready for mikulás and karácsony.  Mikulás is the holiday where Santa puts candy in boots for good kids, and sticks in the boots of bad kids, and Jesus brings gifts on karácsony, aka Christmas.  Mikulás is December 6, so I am excited to put some sticks in my compaions shoes.  We have started to decorate our apartment for the holiday, and have drawn a big Christmas tree and hung it up on the wall.  We get to put an ornament on it everyday if we are good.  Ha.  I love it.  There is no snow, and yesterday was the first real time I felt like I needed to bundle up and wear some leggings.  Everything is so pretty here and they are decorating the town something real nice.  Their Christmas village is more like vendors and lights and there is also a bumper car stand set up.  Hope that I can get in on that action sometime!  I love it.

Working with the ward members here has been really cool.  I am glad to hear about the reactivating efforts going on at home.  It is so important for us to focus on the less actives in our wards.  Be there friends.  Reach out to them.  As missionaries, we are trying to contact the less actives and inactives in this ward, but it is so hard.  There are so many people that are inactive.  It is crazy.  There are a couple of die hard members in the ward that already have people they are trying to fellowship and help, but how great if there were even more die hard members that were trying to help bring everyone back into Christ's fold?!  It would be so great.

I finally got my hands on a english copy of Elder Holland's talk from conference.  Wow.  That was a good one!  No wonder people keep bringing it up.  I think we all need to realize our own conversion to Christ and we need to strive on our own to develop that relationship.  And then, we need share what we have learned with everyone!!  Yeah.  Missionary work.  That is where it is at.  "Every member... a missionary!"  That was said by David O. McKay.  Hopefully every member is doing their part.  Invite an inactive, less active, or nonmember friend to the big Christmas pageant your ward is putting on.  Invite their kids to get involved with the Primary.  Do it.

I love missionary work and I am so happy to be on a mission.  It is the best thing I have done thus far in my life and I encourage anyone with the desire to serve to organize their life and go.  No matter how old you are.  Do it.  Yeah.  Missions.

  

Sok szeretettel,

Kennedy nővér

Ó!  És csak szeretnék mondani pici magyarul mert, lehet beszelhetem a nyelv most.  Hát... ez az.  Tényleg, szeretem a magyar nyelv.  Tudom, hogy a misszionáriusi munka a legfontosabb dolog csináljam most ebben életemben.  Tudom, hogy Jézus Krisztus szenvedett a bűniemert és az engesztelés által kaphatunk sok vigaszt.       

Happy Thanksgiving week!

Hello family and friends!

I have had quite the exciting week.  I feel like I am back at the MTC!  We had two general authorities talk to us this week and the Temple President from Frierburg.  My companion and I were just talking about how much they spoil us there... but what a blessing I got to hear so much of the good word here!  Elder Kent F. Richards, Area Presidency, came and spoke to us on Wednesday, and then on Sunday it was Stake Conference, and we heard from Elder Craig Wright, Area Seventy, and the temple president spoke to us, along with the temple president's wife.  Okay.  We'll talk about Stake Conference first!  Yeah!  Hungary has a stake and I am a part of it :)  We left at 7:30, got there around 9:00, and then the fun began!  It was like a Utah ward!!  So many little children wandering around, the Stake Choir, which I am in, was rehearsing in shifts according to when people showed up, we were helping investigators find seats, it was a mini missionary reunion, and the bathroom had a long line.  It was the best!  I was so happy to be there.  We sat on the front row right in front of the speakers, which was cool because I got to make some good eye contact with the speakers.  A couple of Hungarians spoke and bore simple testimony.  It was great.  And then the temple president and his wife spoke, and then President Smith and his wife spoke, and then Elder Wright spoke.  The only one that didn't speak English was Sister Temple President, she speaks German, but there was a girl that could translate for her.  And they had different translators for every speaker thereafter.  I still don't know a lot of Hungarian, but I understand enough that I can tell when someone translated something a little funny, or different.  Wow!  What a blessing to have people in the Stake the could translate though.  It was a really great conference.  I learned that we need to be worthy to receive blessings from God, and that it is really up to us to help missionary work go forward!  By us, I don't mean just the missionaries... but member missionaries... naturally.  I also learned to be your own kind of beautiful.  I liked that.  It was simple and intriguing.  We should really be who we are and love it--we are in fact all children of God.

The zone conference on Wednesday was fantastic.  Elder Richards was blunt and to the point.  Obey the Missionary Handbook, follow Preach My Gospel, and break mission traditions that don't support either.  It was so cool!  We learned what being exactly obedient means, and turns out, we can all do better, but that we are also doing better than we think.  He spoke with such power, and I know that he has been called of God, and I am so grateful I was able to listen to the words he said.  There was one time where I literally could not move.  I was paying so much attention to everything he said, and I wanted to know more, and then I noticed that I couldn't move my body.  It was weird.  But, then I just ignored it, and kept on listening.  The work is hastening.  Missionary work is growing.  I am so grateful to be here and that I can be a builder of the kingdom!  Yeah!  Missionary work is awesome!

Sister Kimball and I have been working on having better language.  Our investigator, Tamás.  English is his passion.  So, we speak a lot of English when we teach.  He heard us say something like dang, or shoot, and we had to describe to him what it meant, and the context for why we were using it, and we realized although those words are considered harmless, that we should really be shaping up our language.  Sometimes we wouldn't have any problems with it, but sometimes we really do!  Working with a companion to fulfill goals is so much more successful than doing it alone.  Plus, we have a money jar that we put 20 forint in every time we say something.  Today an investigator scared me!  40 forint later... Things are going well.  I am trying to speak with more reverenced language, I think it will help me develop meekness, which is a good thing.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!  What an exciting time of year :)  Say hi to Camille for me!  Wow.  Can't believe she's headed home.  I love her so much.  Too bad she didn't learn a common language like Hungarian on her mission.  I don't know how she will ever find a way to use Spanish in Utah.  Leah.  I loved your list.  It was fun!  I am glad I made it on the things to be grateful for.  Ma and Pa.  I hope the East Coast is treating you well.  I am SO grateful you finally saw Warhorse.  I want to see that one someday.  Because it is Thanksgiving this week, I will give a good ol' fashioned Thanksgiving dinner answer--feel free to cut this out and read it to the family as everyone is eating ravenously.  This year I am grateful for Gutenberg, the man who invented the Gutenberg Printing Press.  Everyday I use things that have been printed out, and I read from books, and I do stuff...  the kind of stuff I wouldn't be able to do unless someone invented the printing press!  Honestly.  I am so grateful that I have a copy of A Mormon Könyve in my backpack everyday that I can give to someone, to change their life.  The Book of Mormon is the word of God, and it changes lives.  When people know their purpose, when they understand the direction they need to go to return to our Eternal Father in Heaven, they want to be good.  They want to do what is right.  They have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good, continually.  We meet so many people, everyday, and so many people tell us they aren't interested, but for some reason they stick around and talk to us a little bit longer.  We bare testimony of what we know to be true.  They ask a question, so we talk a little bit longer.  People are ready to be found in Hungary, and they are ready to be taught.  Sure, I am not crazy busy teaching all of the time, and I get rejected TONS, but last night we were out tracting for two hours, and we had two people talk to us, and it was really awesome.  Who knows if anything will come from it?  Not me, they said they aren't interested, but it was such a blessings to bare testimony and share a copy of the Book of Mormon with them.  A Book of Mormon that couldn't have been printed if there wasn't a printing press.  And, that is why I am thankful for Gutenberg, and his printing press.

The Church is true!  Christ is my Savior, brother and friend.  If you don't know that, pray about it, read the Book of Mormon, and find out for yourself.  It is up to us as individuals to find God's truth, and it is here, just for us.

I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

Kennedy nővér

I speak like a child.

Dear family,

MOM!!  Congrats on your win.  What a great blessing.  Whenever people asked us about the election we would just let them know we haven't studied it out and we don't really know what is going on.  One ward member asked us who we would vote for, and when we asked who she would vote for she said, I don't know.  Obama's favorite singer is Beyoncé, and she is my favorite singer, so probably him.  But, we will see how things go.  We just need to remember to love and serve our neighbors and be good representatives of Christ so we can receive blessings!  We have been promised that when we keep the commandments we will prosper in the land, so we should keep 'em!

On Halloween we had a little party for our English
Students.Sister Kimball and I dressed up.  Better yet,
we tied our own ties!!!

Oh.  When I went to the doctors last week I was told I have eye exhema.  Don't know if I spelled that right... but that is what I have.

I loved hearing about Grandma's temple tour.  I miss the temple a lot.  How lucky you all are to have temples in your home towns!!  Or even one less than an hour away.  A couple of people needed temple recommend interviews here, because theirs had expired, and so a member of the Stake Presidency in Budapest had to drive down in order to conduct interviews.  We are so blessed to have grown up where the church has a strong footing.  

Want to know about one of my favorite moments this week?  Okay!  It was definately the Primary Progam!!  There are ten primary kids in our ward, and they did a really good job.  It was funny, too.  Just like any other primary program I have been to.  The church really is the same everywhere!  At the close of the program the kids got up to say their final testimony.  They said things like, Christ is God's son, the church is true, the Book of Mormon is God's word, families are forever, just general things like that.  As they finished I was so stoked I had understood everything they said, and I realized that I had memorized every one of those phrases in the MTC so I could teach.  Awesome!  I guess it just proves that I speak like a child.  At least, when it comes to the gospel.  Kids say stuff all of the time to me that I can not understand at all.  Perfect, leaves room for growth.

Sister Kimball and I at a momument here in
Kecskemét. It represents how Kecskemét is
the center of Hungary, and it goes through
the different areas of Hungary, mostly
the affects of World War II when they
lost so much land. It is really cool.

The work is going really well.  Tamás has chosen a date to be baptized!!  We are so excited to keep working with him and preparing him for that.  He is really excited to see a baptism, and there will be two in December that we are planning on going to, one is our investigator Misi.  He asked us the other day how many people normally go, and we told him it varied, but maybe 20 or so, and he said, 20 people will see me in the water in my swim suit?  Not exactly... but it was a funny thought.  He is so excited to follow Christ and to follow the path that God wants him to follow.  

We continue to prepare Misi for baptism.  He is so different from when we first started meeting with him.  It is amazing the difference in his eyes.  The gospel really makes people happy.  I love it!  We learned about the 10 commandments last program and Sister Kimball showed hand signs for each one, and Misi remembered every one!  I know this because I saw him flashing them to Berta, his girlfriend, during the Primary program.  I am so grateful I get to help with the growth of these people.

President Smith challenged us to build our relationship with Christ and to become more like Him, mostly getting us all prepared for Christmas and such.  We are working on a different Christlike attribute every week.  I have been kind of doing the same thing, but I love the specific direction it has given me.  We should talk about our progress as companions, and we should keep working to really develop it, not just learn about it.  So, this weeks challenge is to get ahold of a copy of Preach My Gospel and read through the Christlike attribute chapter.  Just flip through it, and pick one.  And then try to live that attribute better.  And then in a couple of days, maybe read the whole section about the attribute you picked, and then on Sunday, or another free day, study out the scriptures on it, look it up in True to the Faith, or compare what the "world's" view on the attribute is, and then compare and contrast it to the gospel's definition.  I know that as we study who Christ was and try to live more like Him we will be blessed with peace, comfort, and happiness.

This is the big church in town, and a remarkable sky.
How beautiful.  I am super lucky to leave here :)

The Church is true.  I am so grateful of the little moments I have everyday to testify of what I know to be true.  I want everyone at home to know that I love them, and that I am so grateful for the prayers, love, and support.  Hopefully you all can feel my prayers for you!

Szeretlek,

Kennedy nővér

Sunday was packed with blessings.

Ah!

So sorry, but I don't have much time right now.  We came to Budapest for doctors appointments and got distracted with the big city, so we don't have much time to email.  I got a ton of mail in the office today, and that was really exciting!  Thanks to everyone that wrote me.  I got Daniel and Leah's adorable Halloween card, my awesome moustache(!!!!) and note from Tom, and I got a letter from Ian and Elder Robbins, so it was a pretty good trip to the mission home.

Sister Kimball and I have had a rough time getting into things.  It is so bizarre.  We will have things planned and are all ready to go for the day, when we get a call where someone is coming to fix our apartment (our apartment has been super broken for awhile, so we are getting it all fixed up) and then our day is kind of thrown off.  We have been trying to work our best and put in as much as we can.  We experienced a ton of blessings on Sunday, and I really feel like I don't deserve it.  Luckily, God loves me enough to be able to see all of them.  Let me just run through my Sunday with you.

We woke up, got ready, went to church.  We walked in and there was a couple there from Nottingham.  Best part:  they only speak English.  Her dad is Hungarian, but moved to England, so they come back a couple of times a year and do family history work and go and talk to the family!  We talked to them about the free family history site, because now their nonmember family is super excited about family history, and we told them we would love to meet with them.  Gave them our number they said they would call.  There was a random guy I had never seen before, so I went and talked to him.  His sister is a member in Szeged, and he just moved to Kecskemét for awhile, and doesn't have any friends, so figured he would give church a try.  Awesome!  We spoke Hunglish together, and he should be able to meet with us later this week.  Our investigator who is 87 years old and can't walk very well, got a ride, and came to church!  One of the members brought him.  He has always complained about leg pain and heart pain, but he told me, with a huge smile on his face, that his legs didn't hurt when he was at church!  Such a great blessing.  He saw immediately the blessing from being at church.  It will be interesting to talk with him again and see what he thinks.  All together we had six investigators at church, as well as five less active members.  It was the most full I had ever seen the ward.  During the testimonies I just kept feeling the spirit so strongly and I was so grateful that all of the people there could be experiencing it.

After church we went to a little town, Kiskunfélegyháza.  Our landlady invited us out for dinner, and we had a couple of people we could visit out there, so we went for it.  We took the bus, and talked to the bus driver about why we are in Hungary and we gave him a Book of Mormon card.  He was really nice and made sure we got off at the right stop.  We went to our landlady's home, and we had dinner and we talked a little about the Book of Mormon and left them a copy.  Very amazing family.  They are very well-to-do and had a massage chair we used for a little bit.  It was the weirdest feeling thing ever.  I loved it.

We then went out to visit a member that has been at a recovery hospice place, I couldn't really understand what was wrong with her, but I think she had a stroke last year and has some problems with that, and we talked to her.  It was amazing.  Sister Kimball and I had our lesson plan, but we didn't talk about a single thing we had wanted to.  The spirit just took us somewhere else.  She needed to feel loved, and I am so glad we got to go out to see her.

On our way to the train station we got a call from the unknown number.  Who could it be?  Oh.  The bus driver!  He wants a Book of Mormon and he wants to meet.  So awesome.

The work in Kecskemét is going along beautifully.  Please keep praying for me.  I feel it, and I love it.  God works miracles everyday, we just have to be open to noticing them.  Best of luck with the election, still would love to see a picture of the campaign materials (mom...) and I hope everything is going well with the storm.  People in Hungary pray for the people of New York.  It is so incredible.  They really care about America.  That was just random, and I thought I would share.

Love,
Sister Kennedy