Heaven Is Cheering You On

Hello everyone!!

I'm really starting to love the MTC! Everyone is so awesome and my district and zone are fantastic!! Hungarian is coming along and my comp and I are practically SYLing (Speak Your Language) at every chance we get! 

Tuesday we had a devotional by Elder Neilson of the Seventy and he talked about how to measure success as a missionary! It was super cool listening to the stories of his three sons and how all had successful missions even though each had a different amount of baptisms! It was really cool getting to meet him and his wife later on in the week while me and my companion were walking to our class!

Our lessons went really well with our investigator! We struggled on our second and third lesson but we prayed really hard to be able to have a good last couple of lessons. We ended up getting a commitment from her to be baptized from our last scheduled lesson! However, it turns out that she was a returned missionary from Hungary (who my comp knew beforehand and didn't tell me haha oh well). She told us after the lessons that the reason why she committed to baptism was because she felt the spirit in what we told her was true! It's weird but I'm actually starting to teach better in Hungarian than I am in English. I feel that with Hungarian I can keep things simple and rely on the spirit more because I don't know too much. After all it is by simple things that great things come to pass! On the other hand, with English, I feel that I complicate things too much! 

Another plus: I'm actually starting to understand at least 50% of what my teacher is saying! It's so cool being able to understand and feel that the gift of tongues is at work everyday! 

On Wednesday, a bunch of new missionaries came in (around 750) and my companion kept greeting everyone by yelling in the most cheerful voice possible: "Sziasztok Elderek! Örömell fogatok a MTC!" (translation: Hello Elders! Welcome to the MTC!) It was so funny seeing the missionary's reactions! I almost felt bad for them because it did sound a little intimidating lol

We had a mission president seminar this week and 171 new mission presidents and their wives came in for training from Wednesday through Thursday. The whole quorum of the twelve apostles and President Eyring and President Uchdorf all came but unfortunately we didn't see them. However, you could definitely tell that there was a powerful spirit on campus!

Yesterday we got to go to BYU and get some lunch at the Morris Center because the gym and the cafeteria were getting set up for the week after the seminar! It was glorious eating real food for once after a week of fast food haha (The MTC staff provided us with fast food because of the seminar).

Now for the title. I was on LDS.org and I came across Elder Holland's talk from the last General Conference called "Tomorrow the Lord Will do Wonders Among You." After watching it I felt a spirit of confirmation that what he said was true. Heaven is cheering us all on in all that we do! 

Keep trying and never give up!

Szeret (love),

Elder Ballard

Walking to the Morris Center on BYU campus

BYU!!! My favorite school!

My District

My companion, Elder Fisher

Turn Outward (first letter)

Hey guys! First half week at the MTC is done and I have to say it's pretty intense here especially for the Hungarian folk! 

      First day was crazy! In a matter of seconds I said goodbye to my family for 2 years! I was pretty homesick for the first couple of hours and then after I met my zone leader and other members in my district that feeling went away. Okay my zone is awesome!!! We have the Albanians, the Dutch, the Turks, and of course us the Huns! Each of us speaks different languages and it's sooooo cool to hear everyone speak their own language when they practice and stuff! We obviously have the best zone in the MTC ;) I also found out that Elder Grover, one of my friends from BYU is in my zone!!!! It was so awesome reuniting with him and catching up! I've seen my friends from BYU everywhere! It's so cool seeing their growth and their love for the Lord! Oh also on the first day my teacher spoke just plain Hungarian so I had no clue what she was saying but fortunately neither did everyone else so it's all good.

     Second day was a little better but I was still trying to get into the ring of things. I started getting used to how Hungarian sounded so that was a plus! I'm practically studying whenever I have time haha I also got to meet my Branch president and presidency! They are so cool and so loving! I was made District Leader that day so I'm super excited! 

     Third day (Friday) I finally got to exercise!! It felt so heavenly. I'm trying to break the mile record at the MTC (4:45 minute mile) so I'm back on the training runs with Elder Grover and another elder from my zone. Everyday feels so long but the weeks go back super fast! We also had the opportunity to teach our first lesson in Hungarian that day! We did really well because I think our investigator committed to pray to see if Heavenly Father is real or not so we will be getting back to her today! The gift of tongues is real!!!

    Saturday we did a bunch of language goal setting and also some personal and companion goal setting! 

     Yesterday (Sunday) was really interesting and super spiritual! Having sacrament meeting and having everyone sing in their mission language was confusing, fun, and weird at the same time. I know how to pronounce Hungarian words and phrases I just don't know what they mean half the time but I know the gift of tongues is real and I know that as long as I give my best effort, the Lord will take care of the rest! If you haven't seen the Character of Christ from Elder Bednar I REALLY encourage you to watch it! It's about turning outward from yourself and becoming more Christlike. This is something I've needed to work on and I just need to remember that the reason I'm serving a mission is to help and serve others and bring the light of Christ in their lives. I can't do that if I'm focused on myself the whole time. I encourage you to turn outward and to find ways to serve each other! 

     A little about my comp: His name is Elder Fisher and he is from Sandy, Utah and did two years at Utah University (trust me it's hard)  before serving and HE IS ONLY 18!!! Intellectually and spiritually he is a giant but socially I need to teach him some tips and tricks! He is practically studying whenever I see him so he really helps me a lot with Hungarian translating! Fortunately the U and BYU rivalry hasn't got in between of things so that's good. Oh and pretty much the whole quorum of the twelve apostles and the prophet is coming this week for all the new mission presidents so I'm super stoked! I miss you all and I hope you have a fantabulous week!

Love,

Elder Ballard

My awesome district!

Going to miss Elder Gerratt as he leaves for the Spain MTC 

First day in the MTC

Friends from BYU reunited before they leave (Elder Tracy, Elder Grover, me, Elder Lloyd)

What I saw on the first day class!

The Big Day!

Wednesday finally arrived! We took one last family picture together and  headed to BYU for some shopping. We met up with Jeannetta, Ray and Tara for lunch at the Cougareat. Our drop off time for Joshua was 12:30 pm, so right after lunch we headed to the MTC. Words can't express the feelings we felt as we dropped Joshua off for two years. To be separated from him will be difficult... However, we know the gospel is true and hope that through Joshua's efforts as a missionary others will know it too! D&C 42:6, "And ye shall go forth in the power of my Spirit, preaching my gospel, two by two, in my name, lifting up your voices as with the sound of a trump, declaring my word like unto angels of God,"

Heading to Utah to Drop off Joshua

We left to Utah on Monday, June 13, 2016, to drop off Joshua at the MTC. We stayed at Uncle Tony and Aunt Marielen's home in Elk Ridge. Brad, Julene and Joshua attended an endowment session in the Provo City Center temple on Tuesday. The family went to Brick Oven that evening for dinner.

Provo City Center temple

Uncle Tony and Aunt Marielen

Open House

We had an open house that evening for friends and ward family. We ate homemade vanilla ice cream and strawberry cake. Many people came out to support Joshua! 

Allyse and Claire

Our neighbors, the Custers!

High school cross country friends!

Farewell

Joshua's farewell was on Sunday, June 12, 2016. He spoke on the atonement of Jesus Christ. Many friends and family were there to hear him speak. The Bezzants and Nathan Waite's family were able to come from Colorado. After sacrament meeting, we went home and celebrated by eating some yummy food and chatting with each other.

Bezzant family!

Tony, Joshua's BYU roommate, traveled from Utah to see Joshua.

Mission is getting closer!

Brad took Joshua to Tivoli Village to take some pre-mission pictures in his new suit. These are some of my favorites. He is looking so much like a missionary!

Las Vegas Temple

Joshua received his endowments on May 20, 2016 in the Las Vegas temple. His grandfather Wendell Waite and Brad were his escorts. Joshua was prepared and ready to enter into the Lord's house by taking temple prep classes and being worthy.  The temple president, Brother Nielson, accompanied Joshua through the beginning. He was excited to know that Joshua was serving in Hungary because he was the mission president of Poland, Warsaw mission. After the session, we went out to dinner to Olive Garden. It was a beautiful evening with Joshua!