Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Dinner on Vatsi Street



We went to dinner for Wendy's birthday on Vatsi Street. This is what I ordered - chicken breast with aspargus. It was delicious. They also served yummy bread at this restaurant so I was very happy.

Vatsi Street



This is a main street in Pest. We went to dinner one night and found this group of people just frozen in their tracks on the street. They stayed that way for about a minute and then someone blew a horn and they all started jumping and chanting something over and over. It was very fun to see. I guess they were just walking and suddenly stopped mid-step. We didn't know why or what was going on, but it was fun to see it happen. The one girl in the middle who stopped with her foot in the air was probably regretting that pose after a couple minutes.

Elder Davies and Elder Miller



These are the current AP's Elder Davies - ( the taller Elder) is the one who told the story about Football. He's about 6'3" - 240 lbs. One day in HS they had a substitute coach in the weight room who happened to be a woman. The guys on the team were not very nice to her. He said he knew it was wrong so he just did his own thing and tried not to get involved. The next day his coach really worked them out hard for being so disrespectful. He was very upset that he had to do this hard workout when he had done nothing wrong. His coach called him into his office and said "Davies, I expected more from you" He said it was then that he realized he had done something wrong. He hadn't stood up for what he knew was right. He sat quietly and watched his teammates be rude and said nothing. He said it taught him a very important lesson.

May Bulletin Board



This is one of the hard things for me to do here. Each month we need to make a Bulletin Board for the Center. This is the one for May. I've decided when Megan comes in June, she can make the one for July, August and Sept for me so I won't need to do it for a while.

Wendy's Birthday



This is Sister Bagozzi. She and her husband serve in the office. Her birthday was on May 5th. She's always setting up everything for everyone else's birthday so finally it was her turn. She even got the wear the Birthday tiara. She is a super nice lady. I feel very lucky to be here with her and her husband.

Kinley



This is one of the favorites drinks here in Hungary. It looks like some kind of alcohol, but it's actually Ginger Ale. I thought Megan and Marty's kids would get a kick out of this. So I took a picture especially for them.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Hungarian Smores







Last night was so much fun at FHE. We served Hungarian Smores for dessert. My good friend Laura Wood-Thomas sent a huge box of goodies to me. It was soooo generous of her. Anyway in that box were marshmellows. So yesterday I made chocolate chip cookies ( we can't get graham crackers here) Then we just put the marshmellows on top and put them in the oven for a few minutes. They got golden brown and then we served them hot from the oven. I hope you can see them. One of the girls made a sign ( which she is holding) It says kozonom szepen- thank you very much Laura and Melinda. Melinda is Laura's daughter. Melinda was in my seminary class a few years ago. Both have been very nice to write me while I've been here. Laura wanted to do something nice for the kids here. They loved it. It was a very fun evening. As you can see about 6 missionaries also benefitted from her generosity.

Elder Van ost de Man



This is Elder Van ost de Man. He's from Holland. His name is so long we just call him Elder Van. So I guess he ordered a new name tag with is nick name on it. Of course we had to have a picture of that. He's pretty funny. Sometimes he says things that are pretty bold and direct. We are sure if it's because he's just learning English and he doesn't realize what he's saying or if he's just really bold and direct. Anyway we try not to get offended when he says things to us. The other day an Elder came into the Center and Elder Van said " That is an ugly tie. You should never wear it again." So we all just laughed.

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Danube Cruise












We went on a Cruise down the Danube yesterday - May 2, 2011. It's hard to put into words how beautiful the scenery is here. These are just a few pictures of what we saw. Sometimes it's hard to believe I'm really here seeing all these wonderful things. We were so lucky because the weather was beautiful yesterday. It was a perfect day to see everything.

Esztergom Church







This is the second largest church in Europe. We went to see it on Saturday. We walked around the grounds while Deen listened to the Mass. She said the organ music was beautiful. They certainly go to alot of expense to build their churches. You could pay a couple dollars to walk to the top of the dome. It's 411 steps up a very winding and narrow stairway. We decided not to do it. Elder Bagozzi said he would have done it if it was only 400, but 411 was over his limit. : )

Shoes along the Danube



This is a tribute to the Jews who were killed and fell into the Danube. It is really moving to see the shoes they have displayed along the sidewalk. The Germans just lined them up along the edge of the river and shot them. Some of the shoes have candles in them. I'm not sure when but sometimes they light the candles at night. Sister Baughman says it's also very cool to see it at night when the candles are lit. Very sad that so many horrible things have happened here.

Renata Kovacs' Baptism





We were able to have another Baptism on Saturday for Reni. It's pretty amazing to me how many baptisms I've been able to see since I've been here. Reni is very good friend with Timi so that's how she was introduced to the church. The first picture is the Elders who taught her - Elder Gardenhire and Elder Miller. Peter baptized her. The bottom picture with Reni is - Reka ( white shirt- orange skirt) she's been a member for a year and has really helped with the missionary work. Then Heni ( Black shirt- brown skirt) she was just baptized last week. Next Reni - the girl who got baptized. Then Timi who is Reni's good friend. She has tried out for Hungarian Idol. She was doing very well but decided it was not good use of her time after listening to the Fireside with Pres Teixiera. It was really touching to see her make that decision. Last is Lavi - she was also recently baptized. She is so cute. She always says to us " I so happy"