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