Monday, January 24, 2011

The Coolest Experience Ever

Sziasztok!

Yesterday was one of the best days of my mission! Does anyone remember that one crazy day in Érd I mentioned last summer when my companion and I were tabling and a drunk, homeless man volunteered to help us? The first person he approached was a girl named Nóra who actually came over and talked to us. She began meeting with us regularly and eventually became a strong investigator. But then she moved to France. I feared that might be the last I heard of her until I got a surprise email from her telling me that she was getting baptized on October 30th in France. Of course I was super happy!

A few weeks after her baptism, she told me that she would be coming back to Hungary for a visit around Christmas time. I was hoping that I could meet her in Érd before leaving Hungary, but she never replied to my email. And then yesterday she walked into the branch house in Pápa for Sacrament Meeting!! My jaw dropped and I was almost speechless. Her timing was pretty good because I was giving my last talk in church as a fulltime missionary. After Sacrament Meeting ended, I got to talk to her and it was the coolest experience EVER! She showed me her French baptismal certificate and told me how happy she is. It was amazing to hear her talk about the gospel and the church and to see how strong her testimony is!!!

During this whole time I was in shock to be talking to Nóra, my old investigator with whom I had struggled to teach the gospel and resolve lingering doubts before she basically just disappeared into France. And now here she was: a strong, dedicated member of the Church of Jesus Christ with a powerful testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel. To think that I was able to help her in the very beginning; well, there is NO better feeling in the world than knowing that you have made a difference for the better in someone's life! I still can't believe how fast yesterday went by, but I will never forget it. Nor will I forget my personal testimony that the scripture in Doctrine and Covenants 18:15 really is true!

~Anderson elder