Sing All of My Words

What an amazing week!
This week was one absolutely FILLED with miracles. The Spirit of Christ really brought the Christmas miracles. However, because someone forgot to bring her camera cord to the library again, y'all are going to have to wait till next week to see pictures of the fun. Sorry about that....

I'll do my best to describe some of the wonderful times. The following are snapshots from the scattered brain of Sister Szilagyi:

-We were driving to a lesson with rain pouring down around us. We were worried because we weren't going to be able to go inside this man's house to teach a lesson, because we weren't able to get a member to go with us, and no one wants to discuss the Book of Mormon while being soaked. We are about 10 minutes from his place, when we get a text message from him, asking if we can meet him at Starbucks. Thank you Heavenly Father! Crisis averted! And we were able to teach a wonderful lesson.

-We had gone to see a particular women, who wasn't there, and as we were walking back to the car, I felt impressed that we should knock on just two doors, the ones to the left of her house. We did so, and both doors were opened to us. We were able to sing to both of them, and share a Christmas message with them. One of the families even invited us in, told us that they were looking for a church, and gave us pieces of fruit :) It was such a beautiful example to me of following even the smallest promptings.

-We had been struggling with the decision of whether we should go to Book of Mormon class on Tuesday night, or to a member's house for a nativity (she had invited friends from her neighborhood). We ended up going to the class and one of the ladies we have been visiting brought her husband who is not a member, and we ended up being able to have a great discussion and much laughter.

-I was able to Skype with my family! HAPPY HAPPY JOY JOY

-We had made some Christmas bags to deliver to people, and we were able to give a small rubber band gun and Christmas treats to a little boy who wasn't getting any presents this year. His face. Pure joy. Before we left his house, he asked us if we could say a prayer with him and if we could read out of "the book" (our scriptures). *melting inside*

-On Christmas day we ate so much food that we thought we were going to explode. By the time we had gotten to our last meal of the day, I was feeling remarkably ill, but Sister Owusu was a total champ and cleaned her plate. She just has so many skills, she's a nice one to have around.

-On Christmas Eve, we went caroling with the other missionaries and were able to bring the Spirit to the hearts of others through song. I desperately wish that it was socially acceptable to sing all of my words...

And a few random side notes:

-All of us missionaries received nerf guns from one family in the ward. The elders received single-shot wimpy guns. We received... well let's just say ours are bigger and badder.

-Evidently I look like Elder Carter's grandma. But as he lovingly put it: "But like, a younger version..."

I hope that your Christmas was fantastic. Mine certainly was. In my personal opinion, nothing beats being a missionary during Christmas time. I love you all so much.

BIG HUG
Sister Szilagyi

Birthday Cakes and Blessings

"At the ward Christmas party!"

"Sis Roden (yes, this is best pic of her, she's hilarious), Sis Anderson, 

and the crazy elders, got me a cake for my birthday!​"

"Little did you know that opening packages could be this much fun :)"

"We are mighty blessed!"

"No caption necessary"

Without Toys or Trees or Tinsel

MERRRRRRYYYYY CHRISTMAS!

Let's start with a.... church signnnnn! *whoo hoo*:

"Mary wrapped the first Christmas present"

Loved that one. Also I wanted to give y'all a special Christmas treat and include one of my favorite, most recent, Sister Owusu quotes:
-"Oh! Santa! Oh no... not Santa. That was a lady dressed in red..."

I am currently typing away while the rain is rain rain raining outside, and the smell of jollof rice permeates the air all around me. Sister Owusu has been cooking all this morning and I'm pretty sure that the smell of African food has permanently entered my skin cells. And I'm totally okay with that. Have I mentioned how much I love that girl lately?

Where to begin? Another rollercoaster of a week. When do I NOT write that...? I haven't been feeling too well, but I'm okay now and no matter what, the show must go on! We had some pretty amazing miracles this week:

Such as C and M deciding that they wanted to be baptized on January 10th!
And B (who is A's stepdad) also wanting to be baptized on January 17th and we are so excited for him! He is so prepared. And Bro H coming to church for the second week in a row! And finally being able to meet with T after a super long time of not hearing back from her. And of course tons of super fun Christmas caroling! Also, my ward is the best and one of the women in the Relief Society presidency posted that it was my birthday on the ward Facebook page, so I was receiving texts and gifts and treats all day. They are too sweet to us! Which doesn't even begin to cover the Christmas goodies and packages that we've gotten. Thank you so much to everyone that sent something, you guys are the best!

And some sad moments: such as K (C's husband) deciding that he doesn't feel comfortable with them getting baptized right now. But, I know that the Lord has a plan and that the strength and good example from C will be an incredible influence to their family and that they WILL get baptized, it's just a matter of time. Extra prayers for their family would be appreciated.

"Tis the season" to all of you beautiful souls out there. Thank you again for your cards and packages and prayers. Thank you for being such strong examples of goodness.

I would like to close with the words of Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, from an address given at BYU in December 1977, entitled "Maybe Christmas Doesn't Come from a Store" (which I HIGHLY recommend reading):

"At this focal point of all human history, a point illuminated by a new star in the heavens revealed for just such a purpose, probably no other mortal watched—none but a poor young carpenter, a beautiful virgin mother,and silent stabled animals who had not the power to utter the sacredness they had seen.

Shepherds would soon arrive and later, wise men from the East. Later yet the memory of that night would bring Santa Claus and Frosty and Rudolph—and all would be welcome. But first and forever there was just a little family, without toys or trees or tinsel. With a baby—that’s how Christmas began.

Perhaps recalling the circumstances of that gift, of his birth, of his own childhood, perhaps remembering that purity and faith and genuine humility will be required of every celestial soul, Jesus must have said many times as he looked into the little eyes that loved him (eyes that always best saw what and who he really was), “Except ye be converted,and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt. 18:3.)

Christmas, then, is for children—of all ages."

You all know that children are my soft spot; I got that from my dear mother. So this Christmas, I ask that you look to those children around you. Look to them to remember the reason why we celebrate this time of year. I ask you to look at their stress-free, worry-free, excited little faces and try to be a little more like them. Let's all be excited for Christ. I love you all. Merry Christmas.

Love,
Sister Szilagyi

Karate and the Coolest Kids

"This week, I held up a board which was promptly karate-chopped. Never a dull moment in missionary life."

"Caroling everywhere we go! :)"

"People that I love!"

"​Favorite part of the ward Christmas party? That kid in the star costume."

"One day, I'm going to grow up to be as cool as these kids."

Bittersweet Goodbyes and MTC Reunions

"The wonderful M family"

"​Sad so many friends are leaving, but happy for the chance to see them one last time!"

"Sister Parke. This girl changed my life. Love her SO MUCH"

"And the fun begins!!! Sister Owusu, me, and Sister Tevi"

"Our crazy zone #sharethegift (p.s. Elder Yeager who is lying on the floor goes home in 2 weeks...)"

"MTC reunion at the Christmas Conference!"

Christmas Lights and Caroling

"Bishop's wife and kids :)"

"Christmas lights!"

"SO happy"

"Gifts that we are going to give Jesus this year!"

"Let the caroling fun begin!"

"Most of the group that went to the parade. Don't we look festive?"

Silly Faces and Tractor Tours

"Miss this girl!"

"The E kids :)"

"No fun allowed."

"Touring the John Deere factory!"

Leave It Up to Pictures

Hello beautiful world!

Wonders of wonders, miracles of miracles... where to begin? So many tender mercies have happened to me this past week. And speaking of mercies... remember when I said that I had a good feeling about my new companion? Well, I have been praying and hoping and talking about and dreaming about being companions with one particular individual from Day 1 of the MTC. And it finally happened. The Lord smiled down upon me and gave me the best birthday/Christmas present EVER:

Sister Mercy Obenewaa Owusu is my companion!!!!!!!!!!!

The joy is overwhelming. We are both so happy, and sort of still in a state of shock. For those of you who don't know. Sister Owusu and I met in the MTC (Missionary Training Center) on my very first day as a missionary. We roomed together, and basically became best friends. She is from Ghana (West Africa), is the most amazing cook, has a beautiful alto voice (which I appreciate more than words can express at this time of Christmas caroling), and is a total rock star.

SO many miracles happened this week, but I'll leave it up to pictures to try to relate some of my most recent experiences.

Love,
Sister Szilagyi

He is the Gift

Hey y'all!

Well I know you were all on pins and needles this week, wondering if Sister Szilagyi was being transferred. Oh you weren't? Well, this week we got pretty much zero sleep, because the possibility of being white-washed is extremely stressful. (Being white-washed is when both companions leave an area, and two new missionaries come in.) No need to fret, however, because I, Sister Szilagyi, am staying in Grovetown another transfer. Remember that time that one sister only had two areas in 10 transfers? Oh you don't? That's because it doesn't happen. Like, ever. But I've always been a little different (weird...), so I thought that staying for 5 transfers in another area would be a good idea. It's kind of become my thing now haha.

And I have the wonderful opportunity to be sister training leader again, which I'm extremely excited about. I can't wait to see who my new companion is, but I have a good feeling inside my heart :)
Yesterday, I had to say goodbye to my wonderful, beautiful songbird, Sister McElroy; I miss her already. Pretty much all of my best friends/mentors in the mission are flying home on an airplane today, so that's unfortunate. But that just means that I need to make more friends, right?? I can't wait to see what this transfer brings. Heavenly Father clearly wants me here, so I better work my darndest!

Anywho, this last week was another awesome one. We had such a cool experience happen to us. As you know, Sister McElroy and I really wanted to finish off her mission with a bang, and wanted to contact as many people as we possibly could. During weekly planning the week before, we had planned to go contacting on Saturday, starting at 12:00, and talk to as many people as we could. We prayed that Heavenly Father would give us an opportunity to do so. Well fast-forward a few days and we were out with a member, and what do you know? We find out that on Saturday, Grovetown is having a Christmas parade! And what time do you think it began? Yupp, 12:00. We ended up getting most of the missionaries in our zone together, and began caroling on the side of the street where the parade was happening. Directly after the parade ended, we quickly dispersed throughout the crowd. Sister McElroy and I were able to contact 55 people in about a half an hour. It was such an awesome experience. And it was a great feeling watching most of Grovetown walking around with "He is the Gift" cards in their hands. Heavenly Father is so wonderful to us.

Side note about the parade: There was a float whereupon sat men dressed up in old-timey confederate soldier uniforms. And as they passed us, I watched one of the men look at our group of singing missionaries, and I heard him turn to his friend and say, "Shoot 'em." So that was awkward. Couldn't tell if it was because we were clearly Yankees or because we were Mormon. It was a toss-up. Also, Santa passing out candy to the kids from his float? Yeah, Santa chucked candy at our heads as hard as he could. Which was a bummer. Tootsie-pops hurt. But better candy than eggs!

Back to happiness and joy: one of my very favorite things about December is that we get to go Christmas caroling! Oh the miracles that happen when you sing to people. And to add to the excitement, this year, we are able to tell people about "He is the Gift"! If you have no idea what I am talking about, please click on this link, and watch this wonderful movie, all about how Christ is the real gift of Christmas. I promise you'll love it. I've watched about 30 times now, and I love it every time: http://www.mormon.org/christmas

I love you all so very much. BIG HUG!
Sister Szilagyi

P.S. I forgot to bring my camera cord to the library today, so unfortunately y'all are just going to have to wait till next week for the festive holiday pictures. Try to contain your excitement.

Rolls and Thanksgiving Bliss

"Yes, that is a roll in his mouth. This is the face of pure Thanksgiving bliss."

"Good food and good friends! Elder Carter clearly liked the rolls..."

My Little Heart Grew Three Sizes That Day

Happy December everyone!

The Christmas season is here again and my heart is filled with joy! Don't you just love this time of year? Christmas lights going up, people waving at strangers, it just seems like the whole world is happier at this time of year!

This week was a simply wonderful one, full of humbling moments, and exciting ones, spiritual ones, and ones where your sides hurt from laughing to much. Here are a few of my memories:

-This week we ate spicy homemade crock-pot chili with S, and his adorable son L, and S's mother-in-law while we taught about Joseph Smith and the restoration of the gospel.

-This week we felt prompted to stop by a women's house and we turned out to be an answer to her prayers. She was baptized about a year ago and hasn't come to our ward since she moved here about 6 months ago. She had been feeling completely alone and abandoned by her husband and was trying to come to grips with the possibility of having to be a single mom. We sat on her couch and cried with her, and read in the Book of Mormon about the power of righteous mothers. And we talked about how OUR righteous mothers made the biggest difference in our lives. And then she came to church yesterday :)

-This week a young 15-year-old boy and his twin brother asked us to pray with them that they would finish high school. And we did. And we told them that they could accomplish anything they put their minds to and that God loved them.

-This week a young mother went another week without a job, but felt as though we had been sent to explain the gospel to her. And she felt peace.

-This week I texted Sister Cottle and asked if her and President would like to join us for a lesson at the E's house. They ended up taking us to dinner and to the lesson. President and Sister Cottle cozied up with the E's kids, helping us teach about the gospel of Jesus Christ is a happy memory in my head.

-This week we told a man, who suffered from a stroke and subsequent coma about two years ago, that Heavenly Father wanted him to take care of his body and that he needed to stop smoking. And that we were going to help him.

-This week we had Thanksgiving dinner at the M's house and we burned 3 dozen cookies that morning using a bad pan. But we ended up with enough good ones to deliver them to the people that we love.

-This week we stopped by a girl's house and the man who answered the door told us that she didn't live there. And then we ran into the girl outside just as she was getting home and we realized that her step-dad probably doesn't like us very much.

-This week we attempted to teach lessons with too many kids and not enough discipline, watched other children show off their dancing and rapping and karate skills, and scooted other children off our laps. Repeatedly.

-This week we watched R (who just got baptized) as he helped us teach about the Book of Mormon and listened to him share his testimony of its truthfulness and how much it has helped his life. And my little heart grew three sizes that day.

It was an awesome week. And this coming week is Sister McElroy's final week of her mission. We are going to rock it. Go big or go home. Literally.

I love all y'all!
Sister Szilagyi