Happy Easter, April 20, 2014

The Senior Missionary couples of the Hungary Budapest Mission gathered
at this week’s Senior Conference.   Does anybody look familiar?  

Another good and busy week.  Monday we went with our interpreter to check out breast pumps  -- yes, we do have interesting projects.  Tuesday morning we learned that if we submitted projects that day, they would review them the next day – about 3 weeks earlier than planned.  So we scrambled to get the needed information and submitted three projects.  All were approved!  That day we were also preparing for company that evening and some food assignments for the Senior Conference the next two days.  

It is always nice to gather with the other senior couples.  We and another sister are still the newest so we introduced ourselves.  We heard testimonies from two couples who will be the next ones leaving.  We also heard from others – the family history couple, a couple who are working well with the young missionaries, and the sister who serves as the mission nurse with useful advice about bedbugs!  Of course President Smith spoke to us and we then had a ‘break-out’ sessions separating elders and sisters –reviewing guidelines, apartment checks and other practical items, language tips and the sharing of ideas and of course, recipes.

After finishing with meetings the seniors took a little excursion to the Citadella on Gellért Hill overlooking Budapest, a most panoramic view of the night lights of the city.  It was on this hill in 1989 that Elder Russell M. Nelson dedicated Hungary for the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

 

The Citadella, or fortress, was built in 1851 and at one time housed 60 cannons.  During the Austria-Hungary era it was occupied by Austrian troops.  In 1899 Budpest took it over.  During the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 Soviet troops occupied the Citidella and tanks fired down into the city.

Atop Gellért Hill in a prominent view to all the city is the Liberty Statue  or Freedom Momument (commissioned by a leader in honor of his son who died in the war).  When the Russians arrived they replaced the propeller that she was to hold aloft with the palm frond to symbolize the country’s freedom from the Nazis.    It now commemorates those who sacrificed their lives for the independence, freedom and prosperity of Hungary. 

A Hungarian hero below the Liberty Statue, Elder Miller was trying to duplicate the pose, but it was very cold and windy!

The next day the seniors went together to Szentendre, a small picturesque town and artist community with colorful baroque houses and churches about a half hour away from Budapest. 

This is a shopper’s paradise with souvenirs galore.   Those who are leaving soon had a ‘hey day.’  

This man skillfully carved the design in the top of this little ‘magic box’ right before our eyes.

We went into this Christmas store – what a collection!  Does the ‘museum’ part bring back memories of childhood?

Actually, there was only one counter of ‘made in Hungary.’  The rest could have been at the Christmas store in Frankenmuth, Michigan – made in China!

One of 9 churches, this Greek-Orthodox Blagovestenska church, is best known and was built mid 18th century.

 Waiting for lunch in Szentendre.

We then visited a most fascinating little place, the Mikro Csodák Múzeuma (Micro Miracle Museum).  A Ukranian man has created these amazing microscopic figures – micro art.  They could only be seen through a microscope, so most of these images are from the pictures on the wall.

The finest (and tiniest) chess set the world over.  The chessboard and chessmen are placed on a pinhead!  They show an arrangement of chessmen from one of the games played by Alexander Aliokhin and Raul Capablanca.  The chessmen are made of gold. 

The smallest book in the world -- .6 mm.  It includes 12 pages of the poetry of Taras Shevchenko.  The pages are sewn together with thread from a spider web.  The cover is made of an immortal (?) petal. 

The portrait is a bas relief and is 3 x 3 mm and is cut out of a sloe (berry) pit. 

The map of Australia is carved in glass, which is inserted into a half of a poppy seed.  The kangaroo is made of gold.

This is a scene on half a poppy seed.

Another scene on half an apple seed.   There were also leaves on a human hair and a pyramid and 4 camels in the eye of a needle—all in gold, but the pictures didn’t turn out.

Friday we had another adventure.  When we priced camping equipment for a project at a Decathlon store, they didn’t have everything and said their larger store would carry it.  With the project approved we decided to start with the larger store.  It took us 1.5 hours to get there by bus (partly because we went the wrong way and ended up where we started.  We had to cross the street and take a different bus.)   In Hungary they don’t stock supplies (because people don’t buy quantities), so we needed to convince the salesman to order what we needed and when it is all here it can be delivered.   We must have been in the store for a couple of hours, but a nice young man who speaks very good English was helpful and hopefully they will call us when the supplies are in.   The next day we bought a stove – a most interesting and varied assignment we have –about to become more so.

This Easter evening we had dinner (traditional ham, potatoes, deviled eggs and braided bread) with several senior couples at President and Sister Smith’s home and enjoyed visiting afterwards. 

Actually Easter Monday is the holiday in Hungary.   That’s the day that businesses are closed.  An old country custom is for the young men to throw water on young girls.  Now cologne has mainly replaced the water.  The girls dress nicely for the occasion and take pride in attracting ‘waterers.’  Afterwards the young men are offered painted eggs, cookies, a drink and then he can go to the next girl.  Don’t know if we’ll witness this or not, but it is talked about.

  

We wish you all a Happy Easter.  We are so grateful to our Savior (beyond our capacity to understand) for His willingness to submit His will to the will of the Father, the gift of the Atonement and Resurrection to us -- so that we that we may all live again.  That is the message of this Easter Day --

 Tudjuk, hogy jó Megváltom él!  (We know that our Redeemer lives!)

April 13, 2014

Storks are common in Hungary.  Here is a stork’s nest on top of a telephone pole.  Now we just need to actually see the stork!  Can you see that the pole is made of cement, like cinder blocks?

Monday began with a meeting with President Smith telling us that we are being transferred to Kaposvár, about 120 miles south of Budapest.   It really was not a surprise; he talked to us about the possibility the first day we were here and has been hinting about it every time we see him – so we were prepared.  A missionary couple who were serving in Kaposvár (he was serving as the branch president) finished their mission and returned home a few weeks ago.  There is no couple coming to replace them.  There is another couple going home in June (and he’s also serving as a branch president) and there is no couple coming to replace them either.   President Smith told us that when he called Salt Lake about his missionary requests, he was told that there are currently 1,900 requests for senior missionaries and the missionary department is receiving an average of 25 applications per week.  There are currently 131 missions without senior missionaries in their office.  There are great needs all over the world.

Friday the office couple took us to Kaposvár to check out the apartment so we would know what we need to take from this apartment and what to donate to the mission.  The drive there was delightful – a gorgeous spring day, small towns, rolling hills, fields plowed and ready to plant and acres of beautiful yellow – canola (oil) fields.  Perhaps that is what the rest of the plowed fields will be planted in for a rotating harvest.

Kaposvár is a city of about 68,000 – much smaller than Budapest – which will be a nice change.  The town looks to be well-kept; at least the apartment buildings we saw as we entered town were in much better condition than most here.   We did walk down the outdoor mall street and met a couple that the Bagozzi's know and went to lunch there – pizza. (Interesting pizzas here:  whatever kind is ordered, there might also be a little corn or mixed vegetables on them.   We had pizza at a Relief Society event and several put catsup on theirs! )

The apartment is on the 5^th floor – the penthouse of this building.  There are 96 steps to get to it and no elevator, so we should build some pretty good quads over time. That will be good, since we won’t have all the walking that we now have.   We will be assigned the ‘red rocket’ car.  Could it be this one?   J/K   We would actually prefer walking and public transportation, but are told it is not as accessible in Kaposvár as in Budapest. 

The new branch president has been a member since October and he and the Relief Society president (who introduced him to the Church) will be married on April 24^th.  Currently he does not have any counselors.   The branch is small, about 64 members on record, 28 average attendance, 44 families, 8 Melchizedek Priesthood (6 attend), 14 prospective elders (1 attends), 33 women (14 attend), and 13 YSA (3 attend), 10 endowed.  So you see, there will be plenty for us to do as we add Member Leader Support to our calling.  We are looking forward, and pray we will be equal to the challenge.

Yes, we will continue our humanitarian calling, and exactly how that will work from that distance, we are not sure.   Our move will be over a period of about a month before we are settled there, as we have some May responsibilities here.  Our area supervisors (from Germany) are coming for 6 days the first week of May to meet us, visit some projects and do some training.   Then on May 14^th, the BYU Chamber Orchestra is coming and will do two concerts in Hungary (one in the Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest) and a fireside, and we are coordinating these events.  (We were contacted about this before we ever came and President Smith asked us to do this as he doesn’t have time.)   NuSkin has a good presence in Budapest and as a sponsor is donating funds so the orchestra can present some medical equipment to several hospitals at their concert.  That way their concert can give something, along with PR for the Church’s name.   (NuSkin offices in Budapest are very nice; we enjoyed washing our hands with hot water!)  This assignment is right up Stan’s alley; it’s taken us to places we would not normally go – to get posters and flyers printed, coordinate the VIP reception and catering, meet with the NuSkin rep, etc.  

As soon as the orchestra leaves, another couple from Church headquarters is coming to have us take them Vesprém, a city 60 miles west of Budapest to see (and film) a garden project that has been thriving for a couple of seasons.    Our work is exciting, varied and keeps us moving.

Tuesday of this week Sister Smith invited several of the senior sisters on an excursion to the Easter Market.  Apparently it is not as big as the Christmas Market or the one on the March 15 (Revolution) holiday, but it was fun to see some of the wares. .

scarves and neck wear,

pottery,

 delicately decorated eggs (big here),

  beautifully decorated Easter cookies,

and potpourri. 

The most fascinating display was the purses made out of long zippers.  The zippers were sewn together and could be totally unzipped and then zipped back up as a purse.

This is looking down the famous Vaci Utca (Street), which opens onto the famous Vörösmarty Tér (Square).  The Easter Market was right at the end of the street.

The day we went to check about the catering, we walked past this well-known Jewish Synagogue. We did not have time to go in it (another day),

but did see the metal weeping willow tree.  It is a Holocaust Memorial and each leaf bears the name of a Holocaust victim.

We also stepped inside this very old Catholic church (built in 1015) and took a picture through the gate. 

This evening we had missionaries to dinner (boy, can they eat) and an open house for our apartment tenants.  Four women came and we had a nice visit – with interpreting help from our interpreter and the missionaries.  All have lost their husbands; one has lived in her apartment over 40 years.  Wish we could have carried on a real conversation; they were delightful.

Life is good.  We are especially grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the restoration of His Church.  We are also grateful for prophets, seers and revelators.  We are grateful for our Savior, His love and mercy and His direction to His children in the latter days. 

May you be blessed this week. 

April 6, 2014

The entry of a high school in our neighborhood -- Hogwarts?

This week proved to be a busy one with a few different activities.  We visited people from two different organizations:  1) the Family Castle Foundation, with 1,200 volunteers who help women through pregnancy, birth and then the breastfeeding process  -- especially those having feeding issues – premature births, no milk, adoption, -- and 2) a neonatologist at one of the city’s hospitals who was lamenting the lack of support for the hospitals here.  His doctors get good training, but they do not have the medical equipment, etc. and so many of the doctors leave to other countries.  For example, in his department, the incubators and ventilators need to be replaced, the equipment to test hearing on newborns is 5 years old, and the sterilizer for the hearing equipment is 28 years old and he holds his breath each time it is used hoping it continues to operate.  

Count your blessings that you live where you do, and that (in spite of problems) the medical care is wonderful.   (On that note, let me just say that one of our senior sisters broke her arm and needed surgery a couple of weeks ago.   They provided nothing at the hospital.  Her husband had to go home and bring her a gown, toilet paper, food, eating utensils, toothbrush, etc.  However, once they did bring her a piece of bread – on the bare hand of a nurse!)

Good news!  We just received approval on our first four projects, so will be completing those (ordering and buying a variety of equipment and supplies) and making presentations in the coming days.

We were assigned this week to do in-depth inspections of 4 missionary apartments.   Because we had to look in fridges, ovens, cupboards we discovered that elders keep no food.   They live on cereal and perhaps peanut butter or mac and cheese (if parents have sent them.)  We were advised to take them a treat if they passed inspection.  Instead of a treat, we took a potato casserole, and now one companionship wants to be taught how to cook.  Another one wants their apartment checked weekly! Mission preparation:  teach your children how to make simple meals and to be a bit creative.

Hungarian elections are today.  We’ll see if there are any changes coming up.  Some of the organizations we have met with are worried about what a change in leadership might mean for them.  We are grateful we have not had radio or TV to listen to, but will be glad to have the posters, flyers and info in the mailbox be over (then our only mail will be the internet bill!).

Hungarians have a thing for red hair. . .dye. . .in a plethora of colors.  In two months we have now seen a handful of those with a natural looking red hair color.  Sorry, can't take pictures of people's hair.

Warm weather is here.  The skirts are getting shorter, the tights are going away, the ice cream and gelato kiosks are appearing on the sidewalks (there was even a McDonald’s gelato kiosk in front of the ‘fancy’ McDonalds), and the tables and chairs are coming out to the sidewalks.  Never mind if the sidewalk is narrow, move over pedestrians.  These two platforms appeared this week in front of places we frequently pass. 

Bicycles and skateboards are more plentiful in the warmer weather.  More sidewalk entertainment is out, like this guy playing a Hungarian version of a sitar, we think. 

Posta – the mail bag.   The post man just went inside.  Doesn’t look to be very full.  Perhaps the internet is used more than snail mail. 

Our ‘homeless cart’ – oops, shopping cart – is very similar to the Posta one.   It is very common and oh, so useful when we are riding public transportation!

Saturday was a low-key P-Day.  We went walking through and around Margit Szegit (Margaret’s Island).  During the Middle Ages, the island was a hunting reserve called the Island of the Rabbits.  In the 13^th Century King Bela founded a nunnery on the island and vowed he would raise his daughter Margaret as a nun if Hungary survived the Mongol invasion. 

We were a bit early in the season to see in action the swimming pools, the water park, the musical water fountain, the open restaurants and the open air theater and cinema –although this tower is the front of that structure.  It looked like they were doing work on it; maybe getting it ready.

We did take a stroll through the island (only about 1.5 miles long and 1/3 of a mile wide) on the meandering walkways and enjoyed the sights and the peacefulness away from the bustle of the city.

We saw the ruins of the Franciscan Priory of the 13^th Century and the Dominican Nunnery, 1241-42.

This Medieval Chapel of St. Michael has in its tower the oldest bell in Hungary – from the 15^th Century.

We see quite a few of trees like these.  These are not nests, but mistletoe which is a parasite – sadly killing the trees.

These were interesting, old trees. They are white (even though the picture doesn't show it well) and very large.

The most pleasant sight was seeing families together in the park – on bicycles, riding together on the ‘bringo’ carts or playing games and picnicking. 

With the time difference, we watched just one session of General Conference yesterday, and the rest, including Priesthood and the General Women’s Meeting, we watched today.  Once again we are so grateful for our loving Heavenly Father and His Son, and their love and care for each of us.  We are grateful for living prophets and apostles and for the timely messages and testimonies given for us.

Tomorrow we have an appointment with our mission president to discuss a ‘transfer.’  Stay tuned. . .