June 8, 2014



A blast from the past!

Summer has arrived in Hungary!  And we’re told it is only going to get worse – hot, humid days and hot, humid nights!  Can hardly wait.  

We had one sweet sister come to our Family Home Evening last Monday (it has to start somewhere.) She was very proud of herself when she learned she had actually climbed 96 stairs!  It didn’t take long to use all the words we know in getting acquainted and then we sat with our dictionary carrying on a conversation for the next 45 minutes until President Balint stopped by and translated.  Éva actually has had some interesting things happen to her and her family and some great conversion experiences to share.  We hope we have more come to FHE tomorrow.

Tuesday we went to Budapest to 'close' a couple of projects.  It sort of felt like ‘coming home’ to be back in Budapest riding the public transportation from one end of town to another accomplishing our humanitarian work.


We presented educational games, puzzles, flip charts, special mattresses, a mirror and two  computers (Church surplus) to the Bliss Communication Foundation.  They teach special needs children ways to communicate using a variety of such tools.


Seven of the children that were in class that day did a special presentation for us.  The brother in the pictures is from the stake presidency.


Tuesday evening we had a nice treat.  Kimbralee, who is our grandson Bryson’s birth mother, was in town for the week with her school class  from Utah State University.  They were visiting businesses each morning.  We planned to spend the evening with her, but her teacher changed their plans at the last minute and the group went to eat together to a business ‘etiquette-type‘ dinner at which they would be graded.  We did spend an hour or so visiting with her in her hotel lobby before she had to leave with her class.


The next day (with our interpreter, Timi) we purchased a pavilion and camera for the Family Castle Foundation.  We had previously given them the breast pumps, but had some money left over (which we could not transfer to other projects), so we bought her two other items which will be used for their family group activities.  The lady from whom we purchased the pavilion asked questions and expressed a desire to bring her children to church.  

After that we went on a shopping spree – vacuum, deep fryer, TV and router from one store and then were able to get the rest – tables, dresser, cabinet, faucets, pots and pans and an umbrella – all at Ikea for a home for disabled adults.  These will all be delivered and the next time we are in Budapest, we will go to the home for a ‘closing.’
 

When we finished that we had dinner with Elder and Sister Heath, another senior missionary couple (who will be leaving for home soon) and then we headed home to Kaposvár . . .


In the ‘red rocket,’ the car assigned to us.

On the way to and from Sharon was reading The Infinite Atonement by Tad R. Callister.  We HIGHLY recommend this book!!!!   It is truly amazing.  There are so many things to quote, but would be quoting the entire book!

We both had assignments in district meeting on Thursday morning and Elder Miller conducted church meetings today (with an interpreter) as President and Sister Balint are out of town.  Tomorrow is a national holiday (Day of Pentecost) and they went to spend it with his extended family.  

We visited a county institution for the blind here in Kaposvár and offered to help.   The lady indicated to us that they have about 1,500 visually impaired people in this county that they try to help in various ways.


This is the name of our street.  The street signs are on the sides of buildings. . . 

 . . . or not -- which is more often the case!  It makes finding an address with the GPS quite interesting because you can't see the street names until after you turn the corner and maybe there's a street name.


Notice this very fresh garlic bulb.  Had to buy and take a picture.  It was so large, fresh and soft; they are usually very dry (and peeling) by the time they are in the stores.

Just for interest sake, things Hungarian are not so expensive, but anything American is quite pricey – shoes, clothes, food items. There are a few things that are non-existent here:  chocolate chips, brown sugar, Ranch salad dressing, Crest toothpaste, molasses, trail mix, mint and maple flavorings, syrup.   For a high price (because they are American), if you look hard enough one can actually buy peanut butter and peanut M and M’s – in small quantities.  Obviously none of this is life altering, so we will ‘go’ Hungarian for this time of our life.  However, there are three things (so far) that are here that would be nice to have in America:


Love the muesli cereal, which is actually German.  Reminds me of what we had in England years ago – and not full of sugar and fat!


These outside window blinds are such a practical and grand idea.  You can pull them down when it’s raining or storming and keep the windows from getting dirty, or just to darken a room – nice for when a baby or child (or adult) needs to sleep.  Anyone want to go into business and market these in the States?  Blaine, you are the blind man.  Interested?


Not much for canister vacuum cleaners, but ours has a cord feature that automatically retracts! 

We are hoping for visits soon with some branch members.  Unfortunately we need to go with the elders  so we can communicate – just a small issue!   They have been busy and are trying to make appointments.  President Balint does not want us to just ‘drop by.’   Hope that opportunity comes soon. Plus, only full-time missionaries can ride in a mission car -- which is understandable, but proves to be frustrating and inconvenient at times.

This is a rather random post, but all is well.  We miss everyone, but are here because we love the Lord and His gospel and want to serve Him.  We are grateful for so many blessings in our lives, and actually may be asking for a few more!  Love to all!

2 comments:

  1. Yet another interesting post. We have substituted chopped up European chocolate bars for chocolate chunk cookies. They are wonderful. Sometimes when the rhythm of missionary work overtakes, blogs suffer. so I appreciate your "random" post. It's all very interesting. Keep on truckin".

    OXO

    David

    ReplyDelete
  2. Russ has read that book, "The Infinite Atonement" and LOVES it! When we lived in Germany we loved the Muesli cereal with the chocolate chunks in it. Does yours have that? You'll have to bring your year supply back with you. Hope the language is coming along. I can't imagine.

    ReplyDelete

 
SITE DESIGN BY DESIGNER BLOGS