Thursday, June 2, 2011

Rakott Krumpli



We try to make tradional Hungarian dishes for them on FHE. This one is actually pretty tasty. It's called Rakott Krumpli. You start with a layer of sliced boiled potatoes, they sliced boiled eggs, then kielbasa sausage, zucchini, then cheese - then you start all over again ending with the cheese. We topped it with bread crumbs which made a nice crunch on top. Then you bake it at 350 for about 30 minutes. Timi helped us with it. It was good to have a real Hungarian in the kitchen. It's kind of alot of work because of all the slicing and boiling eggs and potatoes ahead of time. But the kids loved it. It was fun making something they were so excited about. Even the missionaries were excited to eat it. I understand you have to be careful what kind of sausage you use otherwise it's floating in grease after you bake it. We were lucky because the kind we bought wasn't too bad and ours wasn't too greasy. I thought it was yummy.

YA Service Project



The day after the big Hawaiian Party we had a service project. It was a national clean-up Hungary day. We met at the Center at 9:30 am. We found out there were other people coming but they had missed their train so they would be late. We waited for them until 10:30 am. While we waiting I suggested we start cleaning the street in front of our building, but they didn't like that idea. They said we had been assigned a certain area and they wanted to wait until we got there. So finally we left. We walked quite a ways to the bus stop. As we were approaching the bus stop, they saw our bus coming. So everyone started running. They were afraid we would miss the bus. I thought they were crazy because it was quite a ways to the bus stop. I'm sure they were frustrated with me because I wasn't running fast enough but they didn't realize, they were lucky I was even running at all. Then we rode the bus for about 30 minutes. We got off the bus and walk for another 30 minutes. We got to our assigned place and no one was there. We picked up a few pieces of trash while they were deciding what to do. Then they decided to walk to another place to see if our group might be there. Apparently we were so late our group had gone on without us. As we were walking another bus came by. Suddenly they said " we are going home now, get on the bus" So we went home. It was a little frustrating. By the time we got home it was noon. If we had just stayed where we were, we could have cleaned our own street a little and done something productive. But at least we tried.

Hawaiian Night at Gofri Est




One night in May we had Hawaiian Night for Gofri Est. It was so much fun. One of the YA girls found a hula on Utube- learned it and then taught it to the other YA. She even talked our YA President into doing it with her. She was fabulous but he wasn't so good. It was hilarious to watch him but he was such a good sport. I'm sorry I didn't take more pictures. We served bananas and pineapple with our waffles. We also make leis for everyone. We cut out zillions of paper flowers and then strung them with pieces of straws and yarn. We also make other leis for the walls, hung lanterns from the ceiling and made palm trees with toilet paper rolls. I didn't get a picture of our leis and palm trees on our serving table. The one I took is just what I took in our office after it was all over. One of the AP's found some fabric and made a skirt out of it. He wore it the entire evening. It was so nice to have the missionaries participate.

Szolnok



The first picture is the YW in the Branch. The girl in the purple shirt is Timi. She is from Buda. She speaks English very well so she went with us to be our translator. It was actually a little more relaxing having someone we knew translate for us. The other picture is all the women in the RS. It's pretty amazing to me to see these members come to church each week with so few people there. The girl in the front of the RS sisters in the yellow shirt is going to BYU in the Fall. The woman in the green is Sister Williams. These women were so nice. They were so happy to see us. They came up to me afterwards and just kept saying " Koszonom Koszonom" Thank you, thank you. Then they would point to the pictures I brought. I think they loved seeing pictures of my family. You can tell they are really nice people even though you aren't able to talk to them. I love visiting the small branches in Hungary.

Szolnok


Just outside the church is a nice plot of land. Some of the members planted a garden there. After church they just go into the garden and pick some vegetables. I was talking to one of the members who spoke English. I was saying things like "oh, you've planted carrots here and green beans here, tomatoes here". She was very surprised that I was able to identify the plants by their leaves. I told her I loved having a garden and had planted many in my life. I guess she couldn't imagine people in the states having a garden. I wish we had some land near our ward in Buda. I would definitely plant a garden.
The little red car you see in the background is what we get to drive. It gets great gas mileage. The senior missionaries serving in Szolnok have one just like it. Elder and Sister Williams - They go home in August. Elder Williams is the Branch President. He speaks enough Hungarian that he is able to conduct the meetings and speak with the members. It's very impressive.

Szolnok


Our speaking assignment for May was in Szolnok. One of my favorite missionaries is serving in Szolnok. This is him with his companion. Elder Wanlass and Elder Vandermark - He was in Buda when I first came here, but he was transferred to Szolnok. It was fun to see him. In April when we spoke in Papa, I thought the members seemed so bored. So this time when I spoke I showed them pictures. My topic was Joseph Smith. I showed them pictures of when Marty and Braedon went to New York. They were standing in front of the Joseph Smith home. I also showed Braedon trying to lift a huge rock on the Hill Cumorah ( like he was looking for the Gold Plates) My sister, Terry, sent pictures of her boys in the Sacred Grove and climbing over the fence on the Joseph Smith property. So all these pictures worked perfectly with my talk. The people really seemed to enjoy seeing the pictures. I may do it again when we go to another small branch. I told Elder Wanlass I wanted a picture of him in front of the church. I asked him where the name of the church was so we could take it there. I don't know if you can see it but the name is litterally a piece of laminated paper nailed to the wall over the door. It sure makes you appreciate what we have in the US.

Senior Missionary Conference




One night of the Conference we went up to Castle Hill. The Castle is so amazing. It can be seen from all over Buda and Pest. It's really spectacular to see at night. The statue is of a hunter and his dogs. It's also pretty cool to see. In August they have a country celebration - similar to 4th of July. They have a fireworks show from the Castle. Everyone says it's pretty fun to see that. We aren't sure if we will stay here for that or go to Debrecen. They have a Parade there on the same
day that is similar to the Rose Parade. So we need to decide which we would like to see the most.

Senior Missionary Conference



Here are some pictures from our boat trip to Szentendre down the Danube. It was a beautiful day. We were so lucky to have nice weather. It was so fun to have a day with no responsibilities. We were able to relax and enjoy visiting and getting acquainted with the other senior missionaries.

Senior Missionary Conference

One of the Senior Missionaries made this Energizer Bunny for our Mission President. I think it's very appropriate. President Baughman does so much. I'm surprised he is exhausted most of the time. But he's always smiling and positive about whatever he's doing.

Senior Missionary Conference


We had a Senior Missionary Conference in May. We spent one day sharing ideas and experiences. We also had some training from President Baughman. The next day we took a boat to a little tourist city, Szentendre, about 30 minutes away. We had a great time. Just one of the perks of being a senior missionary.

Zone Conferences


These missionaries did the musical number during Zone Conference. I thought their attire was very clever. They sang a few Patriotic songs. It was very fun even though a few missionaries in our mission aren't from America.

Eger



This is a view from the top of the hill in Eger. It is a beautiful city. We didn't get to stay very long but we enjoyed our brief visit.

Eger



After visiting the Branch in Nyiregyhaza we went to the Branch in Eger. This is one of the Churches in Eger. We weren't really sure if it's a Catholic church or not but it is one of the main religions in Hungary. It was massive and very beautiful. Eger is a beautiful little city.

Nyiregyhaza



After church we found some benches and stopped along the street to eat our lunch. Wendy and Bob had a great time trying to get the pigeons to eat some of their bread. There are no senior missionaries serving in this city right now. Often we eat lunch with the senior missionaries when we go on speaking assignments. So this time we just brought our own lunch and shared it with the pigeons.

Nyiregyhaza



We went on a speaking assignment with the Bagozzis to Nyiregyhaza. Elder Crandall and Elder Lindelof are serving there. Eszter is the redhead in the background. She speaks English very well so she was our translator. This branch was very small but the people were so nice. Elder Crandall is the one who asked me to play the piano and then changed his mind. Eszter was just called to be the YW Pres. She was so excited. There are 4 YW in their Branch. The Branch was very small but they were so happy to see us. We had a great time visiting them.

Londa Chase

This is my new companion getting introduced at Gofri Est. As you can see she's tiny. She's from Hawaii. I really like her. She is here on a temporary assignment until my permanent companion comes. She has been serving in Germany at another YA Center. Even though she's new to Hungary, she has had alot of experience in Germany that has been very helpful here. She has 9 children so cooking for large crowds comes natural to her. We are having a good time.

Szandra Boleska's Homecoming


This is a girl from Hungary who recently returned home from her mission. We had a big party for her on a Gofri Est in May. One of the members brought a chocolate cake. We found out later it had alcohol in it. There were also cherries in it that had been soaked in some kind of alcohol. One of the missionaries told me about the cake. I told him we weren't going to say anything. It was nice of this sister to bring the cake and we were just going to appreciate her thoughtfulness. My companion, bless her heart, just said " well everyone will just be a little happier on their way home tonight." I loved it. I thought it was a great response.