Suga Baby

Hello dearest family and friends!

Why don't we have a few church signs to start things off?

"Hell is hot and sin ain't cool"
"No Jesus No Freedom, Know Jesus Know Freedom"

Hahah which brings me to... Happy late 4th of July! I hope everyone had a happy and safe 4th!
This week was a pretty wonderful one. I'll try to write quickly so that I have time to attach pictures.

#1: Remember R? The one who was moving, and then he wasn't? Well then he was again so instead of getting baptized on the 12th, he got baptized on the 5th! And it was wonderful!! Sister Walker and Sister Griffin (her last companion) found R while they were knocking on doors, and he now has such a strong testimony of the gospel. It was a beautiful baptism, even though I filled the font just a tad bit too high, and may or may not have accidentally sort of fallen in... don't worry about it haha. He shared his testimony right after his baptism and after it was all over, couldn't stop talking about how good he felt and how he wanted to be a missionary :) He's a rockstar. And also moving to North Carolina tomorrow, so we're getting him in touch with his new bishop there so that he will be all set to go. Can't wait for the amazing things he's going to do.

#2: 4th of July as a missionary was pretty great. I love holidays because for whatever reason, people are just so much friendlier and willing to talk to you when they think there is a good reason. Like our country's independence, I suppose. Small little adorable Grovetown held a town BBQ in the park, and they gave everyone free food! Which is super great when you're a poor missionary. And even better because there were so many people there to talk to! Charie: Thank you very much for the package, I wore my 4th of July lei all day long and received many compliments :) And I felt right at home when girls got up and started doing the hula at the BBQ. We had a lock down at 6:00 pm that night (which means we had to be in our apartments) and ended catching a firework show from our balcony. Talk about a tender mercy!

#3: I wanted to give y'all an idea of where I live. Grovetown is a military town. Almost everyone here is in the military because we have Fort Gordon. That being said, the majority of our congregation is made up of young military families, and I've never been in a louder sacrament meeting because of all of the children. But the members are wonderful, and very excited about missionary work. The town has many brand new housing developments to accommodate these new young families, but the town itself is pretty small. John Burt sent me a letter asking me about the downtown area. Well John, there isn't a downtown haha. It doesn't exist. But like I mentioned before, lots of trees and hills, and the people are lovely. We actually spend most of our time in parts of Augusta and Martinez because we have three sets of missionaries in our ward, including a set of elders on bikes, and they have been assigned most of Grovetown itself. There is nothing sadder than passing those poor elders biking up a hill in 98 degree heat and 18000% humidity. Or when it just starts pouring cats and dogs, and all you can do is wave as you pass them by. Props to them. We aren't allowed to ride bikes, but I would trade them if I could. Just so they could have some air conditioning for a bit. Anyway, I'm slowly starting to understand the area a bit better and I'm very excited for the amazing people we are currently working with. We are blessed to have wonderful leaders and willing people to help us with this great work, and that's all a missionary can really ask for.

I love you all so very much.

P.S. I don't know if you've ever had a born-and-raised elderly Southern belle ever call you a "suga baby", but if you haven't, let me tell you, you are surely missing out.

Love, peace, and chicken grease,
Sister Szilagyi