Color-Coordination and Billboards

"​Our lovely, colorful zone :) I promise that we did not color-coordinate, but don't we look snazzy?"

"So cute."

"A and her sisters. Four beautiful girls. And Elder Nelson."

"We're having a good time, can you tell?"

"That's a small frog she's pointing at, if you can't tell hahaha...."

"Welcome to Georgia."

Fudge and Hugs

Hello hello hello!

I'm going to postpone the church sign till next week because someone was a loser and forgot her planner at home.... Ooops.

But.... Holy miracles Batman! SO MANY MIRACLES!!!!!

So our district decided to try something that I've never participated in, which is a "40 day fast" as a District. This means that for this period of time (or 33 days, because that's how many days left we had in the transfer) we decided that each person in our district would fast for a period of 24 hours, taking turns. So essentially, one person from our district would be fasting for that amount of time. We wanted miracles, we needed them. And we knew this was the way to do it. And so we began. The miracles have been outstanding.

#1: A got baptized!!!! Yayy! Holy cow, she is the cutest thing on planet earth. I sent pictures so that you can agree with me. Her baptism went super well, even though the hot water sort of broke, but then we fixed it. And it was the most well-attended baptism I have ever held. So many ward members came to support her :)

#2: Remember J? The cutest, most wonderful 70 year old lady who is the only person I've ever met that was actually born and raised and still lives in Grovetown? Well she's getting baptized on the 30th!!! She is so excited, and told us that after 70 years of searching in faith, she has finally found it. There were tears everywhere people. We asked her if she wanted to be baptized and as soon as she said "Yes" she said that the strongest feeling came over her, telling her that what she was doing was right. In her words: "I was just talking with F last night about how I didn't know if I was ready. I didn't know that I was going to say yes! But as soon as it came out of my mouth, I knew it was right! Alright F, out with the tea!" Holy cow, I love her so much. She calls us her "suga babies" and she makes us fudge, and hugs us real tight, and.... I just plum love her okay? And she loves the church so much. I can't wait for her baptism.

#3: M came to church! And he had a great time. He's the one that we met outside his garage. He is just wonderful. He actually texted us this week and asked if we were coming by. He keeps talking about how he wants to learn more, and we're so happy for him. He is great. Also, watching him duck through every doorway in the church building was pretty entertaining. Him and Sis Arrieta were sitting next to each other in Sacrament Meeting, and when we stood up to sing, I couldn't help but giggle. The juxtaposition between those two was just so great. She's half his height...

#4: We had an amazing less-active family we've been working with attend church for the first time in months and months. And we were so happy to see them. They are such a great family.

You get the idea. Basically, Heavenly Father is amazing and we are so excited about the work here. THE WORK IS HASTENING! I can't wait to see what else He has in store for us.

Happy happy joy joy over here. Even in this heat ;)
Love you all!!!
Sister Szilagyi

Rain and Front Doors

"​Sister Miller, Sister Chou (Japanese), Me, Sister Arrieta (Filipina), 

Sister Araujo (Portuguese), and Sister Baker"

"​Sometime it rains in Georgia..."

"​...So you have to get creative in order to knock on doors!"

"I love the South"

Mahal Ko Kayo

Church sign of the week!!

"Forbidden fruit creates many jams"

I have to admit that is probably one of my all-time favorites so far. Things just keep getting better and better. Speaking of.....

I have an amazing new companion! Her name is Sister Arrieta and she is from the Philippines! And I love her guts. A few fun facts about Sister Arrieta:
-Tagalog is her first language but her English is impeccable.
-She thinks goats are afraid of rain and will get sick if they stand outside in it
-She calls refrigerators "refs"
-Every time she sees a squirrel, she squeals and says,"Oh! So cute! So skinny!"
-The first time she saw a frog, she screamed and ran and hid behind me
-She always says, "That is true." And I love it

She's pretty wonderful. Super hard working, always keeps me laughing, and I can't wait to work with her!

So this week was kind of a crazy one. Sister Walker said goodbye to people and packed on Monday and then Tuesday, we drove to Macon for transfers. During transfer meeting, everyone got a new companion except for me and two other sisters, Sister Baker and Sister Miller. So us three spent the evening as a trio, travelling around Macon, trying not to get lost and attempting to find new investigators for the Macon sisters. And although I did get a little lost a few times (I blame the GPS), we did experience lots of success in our little trio. That evening, we went back to the mission home to sleep, and had spent the time before bed talking with President and Sister Cottle. In the morning, we went on a lovely, surprisingly brisk, walk with Pres and Sis Cottle (nothing like morning exercises with your Pres and his wife!). Afterwards, we had breakfast. And I don't know if you have ever experienced eating warm waffles served with fresh Georgia peaches, while having Book of Mormon scripture study with your mission president, but I would HIGHLY recommend it. It was such a wonderful experience. We then had some time to study and I held some "singing lessons" in the living room. Then came the drive to the airport to pick up our sisters from Salt Lake. I ended up meeting some amazing people in the airport while we were waiting, and having your mission president back you up in a lesson is a mighty powerful feeling.

Eventually, there they came, and we spent the next while and drive back to the mission home learning all about the Temple Square Mission. Which is COMPLETELY different, by the way. And so cool to learn about. So all 220 of the missionaries on Temple Square are sisters and they have sister assistants to the President, sister zone leaders, and sister district leaders. They have 42 different languages spoken, and spend time leading tours of the square, in surrounding historical buildings, and talking online and via phone calls to investigators all over the world! Pretty amazing. These sisters travel from all over the world, to spend a year and a half, far away from family, friends, familiar culture, food, language, etc, to teach people about the gospel of Jesus Christ. With no charge to anyone they're teaching. And actually paying themselves to do it. The stories Sister Arrieta have told me are amazing. Like the sister who did not have enough money to serve a mission, so she harvested coconuts and removed the flesh, dried it in the sun, and sold it in the nearest marketplace, finally saving enough to pay for her mission. It is remarkable. Why would these girls do these things and make these sacrifices? It doesn't make any sense. Unless it was true. Unless they knew with every fiber of their being that this gospel changes lives. That it is the only way to be truly happy. And they wanted to share that with everyone and anyone they could.

We finally arrived back in Grovetown on Thursday evening, after staying an additional night because we realized that we had a leadership meeting the following morning in the mission home, so it would make zero sense to drive 2 hours home and drive 2 hours back. A tiring week, but a wonderful one. The ward already loves Sister Arrieta because it seems like half of the men here served their missions in the Philippines, and we actually have some Filipino women in our ward! So there she stood yesterday, chatting in Tagalog in the middle of the church foyer, happy as a clam. I'm going to be fluent in Tagalog in 6 weeks... don't get too excited.

I am so grateful for this opportunity to serve. And I am so very blessed. As Sister Arrieta said the other day: "You have to work hard to pay Him back! You are in debt to Heavenly Father!" :)

Mahal ko kayo!
Sister Szilagyi

Our Zone

"Here is our zone! Or was our zone.. tear."

Strongly and Distinctly

Church sign of the week!
"Fire and life insurance given here"

HA

Another transfer has come and gone! Can you believe it?? So to start off, let's talk about transfer news... Sister Walker is leaving me :( And so is Elder Stilson and Sister Smith and Sister Jeppson :( But I know that they are going to make their new areas simply fabulous!

So every Saturday before transfers, we have a mission-wide conference call where President Cottle speaks to us and the AP's (assistants to the President) name off all of the people that are going to be transferred, and need to make arrangements to be at the transfer meeting the following Tuesday with their companions. Well during this transfer call, President told us that three "experienced sister missionaries" would be coming to our mission from the Salt Lake City Temple Square Mission a day after transfers to finish out their missions here. And I thought to myself, "Wow, that is super awesome! What a great asset to our mission!" And then, who do you think called us about three minutes after the conference call had ended? President, of course. Who told me that Sister Walker and I were to drive our own car to transfer meeting, and I was to pack an overnight bag, because I would be spending Tuesday night at the mission home and getting my new companion from Temple Square the next day. I am over the moon excited. I cannot wait to WORK. I have such a good feeling about this next transfer. And I am so blessed for this opportunity to work with this new sister, whoever she is. I can't wait to meet her! So, super exciting news there :)

But as far as the work this week? Pretty wonderful. Heavenly Father is so awesome. Here are some "miracles moments" from the past week:

The J Girls. So a few weeks ago, we visited a less active family that moved to the area about a year ago. There's the mom, stepdad, and four daughters. The mom is a convert, the stepdad is not a member, and they both work every Sunday. So we offered to help them arrange rides for the girls to go to church, and they were both very happy. So, we find out that the youngest daughter (age 10), has not been baptized and REALLY wants to be. We set up a time to teach her. We had anticipated the whole family being there, but it turned out to be just L, and her older sister who is 12. It was the most amazing lesson. I almost cried the entire time. Those two are two of the brightest, best, most full of righteousness and goodness, most beautiful daughters of God that I have ever had the privilege of meeting. L told us that every night, her and her sister turn to each other and remind each other to pray. And they take "about 10 minutes". Um. Okay. When's the last time you prayed for 10 minutes? That's a long time, my friend! They asked us where they could get scriptures because they had left theirs at the last place they were living. As we were teaching the Restoration lesson, there is a page in the pamphlet that is about the apostasy and I asked L, "If you were Heavenly Father, how would you restore your church to the earth?" And she sat there in thought, hand on her chin and said, 'Heavenly Father can come to earth whenever he wants right?" "Yes," I replied. "Okay, so I would come to earth and come to more men, like before, and set up the church again just like Jesus had it." Um... seriously? From a 10 year-old. Yes, L. That is EXACTLY what He would do. That is exactly what He did do! And that is basically how the whole lesson went. And then we asked her if she'd like to set a date to be baptized and she said "Yes." Guess who already had a date picked out? L did. Of course. As we were leaving, her older sister asked us how many questions they were allowed to ask. The cuteness. And we took them to our car to grab copies of the Book of Mormon, and L says, "Oh good! I want to read this tonight before bed!" I'm sorry, but I just can't. I can't even express how I feel or how much I love these two very very special girls already. Heavenly Father knew that they wanted this and needed this so very badly and sent us to them. How lucky am I to be a part of His work?

Remember J? The adorable 70 year old that I love with all my heart? Well she called us at the beginning of the week and said that while she was on vacation, she went to church with her friend and to a pioneer picnic and that she just loved them. And then, when she got home, she became very sick. Last night, us and the elders were able to go give her a blessing of healing, and it was so a beautiful blessing. She just kept thanking us over and over. And did I mention that one of the families in the ward just moved in next door to her!? So wonderful.

There are about a million other miracles that I could talk about, like almost getting caught in a drug bust with our ward mission leader... but we didn't. Or going on Fort Gordon to attend church with A, which was so great:

Fort Gordon has a military branch that holds meeting every Sunday on post. It was fast and testimony meeting yesterday, and it reminded me a lot of the YSA Branch in Valdosta: small in number, awkward pauses, amazing people. The Spirit was so strong in that building. There is just something so special and different about being in a group of people like that where you know that they SACRIFICED to be there. Sacrificed a few hours of their precious free time, or time away from work, or families, etc. They wanted and worked to be there, every one of them. It's not easy to be LDS and in the military. After one soldier got up and spoke, I got up and started speaking about how you can feel the Spirit even if you don't know what's being said. I had understood almost nothing of what the previous soldier had talked about, with his military jargon and acronyms, but I knew that he had a testimony. And I felt the Spirit just the same. And how absolutely amazing is that? I talked about how when my mom was on her mission in Argentina, and had just gotten there, she attended church and understood almost nothing of the service held in Spanish. But she felt the Spirit strongly and distinctly. I felt similarly today, even though he was speaking English :) It was a wonderful experience.

But I have no more time! I wish I could write forever. But alas, I cannot.

Just know that this is true. This work is amazing. Heavenly Father loves you. And I love being a missionary.

Sister Szilagyi

Milkshake Cups and Frogs

"​This is what I get to see if I drive just a few minutes outside Grovetown."

"​Sometime we catch frogs in milkshake cups. So. Many. Squished. Frogs. In. The. Road." 

"​Poundin the pavement. It's what we do."

"All of the sisters in our zone :)

Sister Smith, Sister Curtis, Sister Walker, Sister Jeppson, Sister Applegate, and moi"

I Refuse to Melt!

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood, a beautiful day in the neighborhooooood, will you be mine? Will you be mine? Will you be my neighbor?
That's how that goes, right? I can't exactly remember...

Anywho, hello neighbors! Another wonderful week in Grovetown has come and gone, and we are almost done with another transfer! Time sure does fly!

We have been seeing just SO MANY MIRACLES here, it is ridiculous! We are so blessed. We had three (four including one child) investigators come to church again this week. I and two of her daughters were able to make it! We were very happy.

I don't know if I've talked about I and her family yet, but I will do a quick recap. Sister Applegate and I were on exchanges here in Grovetown and came upon M who was sitting outside his garage looking a bit downtrodden, so we walked on over. "Are you okay?" we asked, and he responded that he was just tired. We talked to him for a bit and asked if we could come over and a share a message with his family. He said that that would be fine, but that he had "kind of a full house right now. Me, my sister, our kids, and my mom. Who's a pastor." So yeah, nine people in all. And they are amazing. We've been able to a few lessons with them that have all been a bit loud haha, and they have wonderful questions and comments. I and M both are very knowledgeable when it comes to the Bible and Christianity, so they definitely keep us on our toes. They came over family home evening at the K's house on Monday, and that went really well. Good thing, the K's house is giant. Anyway, I hope that things will continue to progress with them, they are such an amazing family.

Speaking of the K's, can we talk about them for a minute? I love their family so much. They have three kids: B, O, and L. And they are nuts. And so wonderful. L, who is 3, is absolutely hilarious. We were at dinner at their house and I want you to imagine this scene: L, with nothing on but a diaper, leaning over a pile of chocolate chips, which he gathers into a pile close to him... he then leans down, softly snuggles the chips, and whispers, "I love you chocolate chips." Hahahah, he is a hoot. Or when he told Sister Walker: "I love your teamwork!" when she washed the all the dishes. Children are the best.

The work is really progressing here, and I am so glad to be a part of it. Things are still hot as ever, getting progressively toastier actually. (It was 107 degrees with the humidity one day this week.) But I refuse to melt! We will prevail! I love you all! Happy almost-August! Whatttttt??? When did that happen!

Love,
Sister Szilagyi

P.S. One of my favorite families who just moved into the ward are the H's. They are from Washington and are bomb.com. Anyway, Sister H, who has the voice of an angel, recently told me that a woman that I know in the Harlem Ward is Sally DeFord's daughter. Yepp. That is not going to mean a lot to most of you, but for those of you that understand, you'll understand why I had a little freakout moment. Also, she has bright blue hair. It's awesome.