This
last week in Sopron has been great, as usual! Every week I meet new
people and experience new things that make my love for Hungary even
greater than the prior week.
This week Sexton Növér and I had a few opportunities to serve
people in Sopron and I would like to speak about my experiences while
doing so and what I learned from them.
Our first service opportunity happened Wednesday
afternoon. There is an orphanage, here in Sopron, that one of our
investigators goes and volunteers at, weekly. The senior couple here,
Elder and Sister Brown, are the kindest people you will ever meet and
Sister Brown has a love for children that just melts your heart, well of
course when Sister Brown has an opportunity to go interact with
children she does not hesitate but instead pounces on the opportunity.
So on Wednesday,
the Browns, Sexton Növér, our investigator and I went to the orphanage
to play with the children. Now as you of you know. I was in an orphanage
for the first eleven months of my life and though I don't remember what
it was like, I can just assume that the life for children in some
orphanages is not good. This orphanage though, was the exact opposite.
The children were so friendly and so incredibly happy that we came to
visit them and play games with them. The smiles on their faces were just
a whole bunch of Kodak moments. Sadly, I forgot my camera, but I can
still picture in my mind how glad they were to see us.
Okay, so quite honestly, I've never been a huge fan of babies or
children. That doesn't mean I don't love them or care for them, it's
just I wasn't like zealous about the opportunity to hang out with them,
like Sister Brown, but as I sat with the kids and talked to them (in my
broken Hungarian) I started to feel a connection between us. Even though
some of them were significantly younger than me, I felt as though we
had just created a friendship that could last forever. As I served these
children I devolved a love for them and a desire for their happiness.
Now, that was another thing that surprised me. It's got to be a hard
thing to live I an orphanage, especially when you're older and realize
why you are there and why you stay there, but I didn't see one unhappy
kid, in that orphanage and they were just so incredibly loving towards
one another. They acted as if they are one bug family living in a big
home together. They even call the workers there anyukam (my mother). The
workers are so sweet and loving to those children and you can see it on
their faces!
From the orphanage, I learned the principle of love. Those kids
were some compassionate towards each other and willing to help in any
way possible. That was just astounding to me, especially given their
circumstances. Also, when you serve people, even though you aren't
necessarily friends or acquaintances, you will develop of love for them
that you didn't even know was possible to obtain.
Our second service opportunity happened on Friday.
There is a family that lives a couple of blocks away from the Browns.
They are not members or investigators, at the moment, but they are just
a neighboring couple of the Browns. A tragic fire started in their
house earlier in the week and it burned everything upstairs and left
very few things untouched downstairs. We decided to go over there Friday afternoon and help them pack up things that were still okay.
I had never served anyone who has lost so much, ever in my life so
that was a very humbling experience for me. As we walked in and you just
saw black everywhere, my heart ached for this couple and their son.
While nobody was hurt, you could tell that they were just physically and
mentally drained from this experience. It made me so happy that we
could go over there and help them out.
Sometimes I feel like life is hard and I question why I go through
tough times, but my touch times don't even come close to their tough
times. Then I feel very selfish when I realize that I have all of my
clothes and books and all the necessities back in my apartment and that
they are not all burnt to ashes. The Lord is good to me and my family,
but gives us trials and tribulations not to stop our progress but to
help us experience things that make our progress more meaningful and
helpful, later on in life. I know what this family is going through
right now is hard and they don't know why it had to happen, but The Lord
has so much in store for them, if they just are patient and wait for
The Lord to deliver them blessings, in his timing.
I thank The Lord every day for what the opportunities he has give
me to serve the people in Sopron at this time. This is truly a wonderful
area and I can't think of anywhere else I would want to be than in
Hungary, right now. Again, the Branch here is great and filled with
wonderful people as is the whole town of Sopron.
I hope everything is well with you all and God be with you 'till we speak again!
Whitaker Növér
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