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We look out
the window and what do we see? Popcorn
popping on all of the trees! There are so
many beautiful blossoms – but not sure we’ve seen any apricot trees! As we were driving home the other day
noticing all the blossoms, one elder told us that he grew up singing that song
and never understood it. “But when I
turned 18, suddenly I got it,” he said. And
spring is doing its job exactly right -- warm, lovely days alternating with
cold, windy and rainy ones.
We left last
Sunday evening for Budapest as we had a full day on Monday shopping for a
project.
One stop was at Office Depot
to find an electric stapler (seemingly the only place in Budapest to have one)
and it was across the street from the Avilai Nagy Szent Térez Templom. We stepped inside for a few minutes. They had huge numbers above the altar '1515' and '2015' which seems to suggest the church is 500 years old this year, but the information I found only talked about 200 years.
Another stop was in the Mammut (mammoth) Mall and we thought
this display hanging upside down from the ceiling was unique.
Bet you don’t see these openly displayed in American store
windows every day!
Refresher in the afternoon – and this was the small one!
Finally we were near and had a chance to go into the Eiffel
Palace in the day.
This building was the
publishing and print house beginning in 1893, hence a couple of old printing
presses were displayed in the foyer. The roof and top floors received much damage
during WWII. In 2013 it was renovated, restoring its 1893
character, to an office building housing some Fortune 500 companies.
Its internal
structure and superstructure comply with the highest 21st century
technology and they have received a number of building and environmental awards
in the last few years. We could only
stand (in one spot) in the open atrium and take this picture of two different sides – one very
modern, the other retaining the old iron work.
Our day was a success and we finished
in time to have a free evening – and found a theater with a movie in English – Cinderella.
Oh my, every girl should see this!
It is a fairy tale of epic proportions.
Disney spared nothing! And, to
their credit, there is nothing off-color inserted anywhere. What a delightful experience. We were the only two in the theater.
Tuesday was Senior Conference. Since there are six couples and the mission
president
leaving in June and July, hearing from each
of them constituted most of this day.
In the evening, we ate a quick sandwich and hurried
off to see Aida, at the Erkel
Theater.
We were hoping for the State Opera House, but got this instead. This was not the stage
play Aida, but Verdi’s original opera – a first for Stan and me together.
Voices and costumes were marvelous. With a 45-minute intermission between acts 1 and
2, another 15-minute one between acts 3 and 4, the traditional Hungarian rhythmic
clapping and seemingly endless encores, it lasted 4 hours! Our English speaking
group
was watching this Egyptian story sung in Italian with
Hungarian subtitles! Good
thing we had looked at a summary of the story.
Wednesday the seniors all made the
annual trek to Szentendre, a riverside town known
for its museums, galleries, artists and shops
– emphasis on shops. Here’s a photo of
the
shopping day. The men had as much fun as the ladies.
This is the town where we saw the
miniature museum last year, and we only learned about
the galleries after the fact. We did see a few artists on the street.
We stepped into a small Jewish memorial, a home set aside by family for their brother
who was killed in the holocaust. From this small town 350 people were
taken.
Interesting experience – the group had
lunch reservations at this small, but well-known
restaurant that we learned was started in 1979 -- the first
restaurant in Hungary to be
privately owned, a rather sensitive thing at the time.
Hanging above the kitchen were all these bank notes (money) from around the world. We were told they could build another restaurant with the amount that is hanging up there.
Here’s a cute little lemon
squeezer. We were also shown a photo of
Laura Bush with the
restaurant staff when she visited
there.
Most started with their yummy, famous
cold blueberry soup. Then all our group
began
getting their orders. We were first to order, and then we were waiting.
. .and waiting. . .
and waiting. They were very busy. It was time to go and we asked about our order; the
waitress was adamant that we had only ordered one-half order of soup each. Oh well –
if we only spoke better Hungarian.
So that evening in Dunaujvaros we were grateful for dinner -- a plate of vegetables – had
spinach gnocchi on mine and Stan’s had mashed
potatoes.
Stan and Buci, the branch’s only
16-year old, caught a 6 a.m. train to Budapest on
Saturday morning to attend a youth activity at
the stake center. A youth can't go alone
and only missionaries can ride in our car, so
it was the train. They had a good day; there
was a good attendance. Buci enjoyed the activity; I hear he made some new
female
friends.
And here are a couple of scenes as they walked
from the train station to the stake center.
A tree out of control.
Hungary's version of Deseret Industries. Put all your unwanted 'stuff' out on the street and
for a few weeks it's open season. And then it is all picked up. And yes, it could rain.
Stan said from the time he took the picture on the way in to when they passed it on the
way back, it had grown about three sizes.
On Thursday morning we had zone
training and we were asked to give a presentation
telling about our humanitarian mission. Many of the young missionaries had no idea
about the humanitarian arm of the Church and were quite
surprised to learn.
Our zone goal is to have 150 ‘friends’
(investigators) visit church on Sunday during this
transfer.
Our own district here in Kaposvár has committed to 50 of those. We have
consistently had 8-10 each week. Right now, one sister is scheduled
for baptism next
Saturday – if a place can be found. The pool that has previously been used is
apparently
not available that day.
Another good meeting today with a visiting returned
missionary sister speaking along with
the high councilman. She is a life-time member and is from a town only a couple of hours
away and just finishing serving in the Hungary Budapest Mission. It is wonderful to know
and hear from those who have been
members for their life – an example to all that the
Church is growing and members’ roots are going deeper and are being strengthened.
