Gilmore Girls in Hungarian

Drum roll please -- We went to this little place to have pizza after the Elders bought their whips. To my delight -- Gilmore Girls was on the TV. It was hilarious because I had seen it so many times I could translate what they were saying. The Elders thought it was hysterical. Of course they aren't suppose to watch TV, but they watched a little to see if I really knew what it was about. They have no idea how many episodes of Gilmore Girls I've watched. And the other good news - it must have been a Gilmore Girls Marathon because as soon as one show was over another one came on. So fun to see Gilmore Girls in Hungarian.

Me, Jeanie and Wendy

We didn't want to be outdone so we got our pictures taken with the whips as well. Of course we didn't try them out first. We're smarter than that. If you don't know what you're doing, it can be rather painful. As you can see --- it was a cold day.

Hortabagy Whips

There's a man in Hortabagy who sells whips. The missionaries are his best customers. It's about a 2 hour drive from Buda. We went there today so Elder Smith, Wanlass, Johnson and Jackson could buy whips. They all already have one but they all bought more. They cost about $100. The guy is super nice and gives them a great deal. It's pretty fun to watch. They take them out in an open space and try them out before they buy them. I think it's pretty hard to get them to make the cracking sound, but all the missionaries were able to do it. Of course the guy was pretty excited because he sold several whips to them.

Elder Johnson

These young men have very different taste than me. Elder Johnson was looking at knives while I was looking at Christmas ornaments and nativities. But it sure was fun shopping with them. I feel sorry for the people who are in the booths. It is freezing cold outside and they are there all day.

Elder Jackson aka " Attila the Hun"

I went shopping this morning with Elder Jackson and Elder Johnson at the Christmas shops. Elder Jackson saw this Attila the Hun hat and had to try it on. It was $300 so of course he didn't buy it. But it was fun getting his picture.

December Bulletin Board

This is the December Bulletin Board. We used Megan's tree for about 6 months so it was time for a change. I like how it turned out. There were some things in the file so it made it easier for us to make it.

Hungarian Home

I tried to get a picture of a typical Hungarian Home. The front of the house is really nice. But it gradually gets more and more run down. In the rear of the home is almost like a barn. Usually that's where the animals live. I hope you can see it. This is one of the best examples I've seen. I love them.

Sajt Night

Here's our Sajt Night. (fried cheese) You make it in an assembly line. First you cut the cheese in st

rips, then dip it in water, then flour, then egg and finally in bread crumbs. Then you fry it in oil. Afterwards you put jam, barbeque sauce, ketchup or chocolate on it. Nothing healthy about this snack, but it's pretty good. It's probably the one and only " Sajt Night" I will participate in on my mission. But it was a fun experience. Sister Bodily ( blonde in the first picture) had never had a Sajt Night and she was leaving to go home in three days. So we did this for her.

Elder Conklin and Elder Davis

One P-day we went to lunch. On the way home Elder Conklin and Davis were jumping poles. Then Elder Conklin was trying to do a handstand on one of them but of course it was too hard. I told him my daughter Rachelle has great core muscles and she could probably do it. It was so funny because he didn't know for sure if I was teasing him or not. I have a picture of Rachelle doing a handstand. Too bad I don't know how to photo shop her onto two poles and then send the picture to Elder Conklin. That would be so funny.

Elder Davis' Birthday

Elder Davis is one of the AP's. Elder Smith ( white shirt) helped me pick out a tie for his birthday. It's in the bag with the purple tissue paper. I thought it was the perfect bag for a tie - tall and skinny. We got the tie from a giant bag of ties other missionaries didn't want. But it's not how much you spend, it's the thought that counts. :) It was a pretty ugly tie too, but he loved it. He even wore it one day.

11:11

I took a picture of the clock at 11:11 on 11/11/2011. Yes I do spend my time thinking of quality activities here on my mission. Honestly I was impressed that I remembered to do it.

Grape bunch of Missionaries

We invited the missionaries over for dinner. We started making the fruit salad and realized the grapes had seeds in them. So I had them sit down for a few minutes and take the seeds out of the grapes for me. I told them they were such a "grape bunch of missionaries" Yes, the fun never ends. Always free entertainment when you are at our apartment.

Reka and Gergo Starosta Baptism

This is a wonderful family. They were inactive for a while and just recently started coming back to church. So after a few months the parents agreed to have their children baptized and the father was able to do it. Many people came to support them. They also have a baby who is not in the picture. As you can see many people also brougth dessert to have afterwards. It was way fun to have everything turn out so nice.

Elder Schwieger

This is Elder Schwieger showing the patch job I did on his jacket. It's really hard to see. He had a nice rip in it so I fixed it for him. Fortunately it's on plaid fabric so the patch didn't show very much. Super nice young man -- He's one of our Zone Leaders.

Sister Kramer and Sister DeLeon

This is Sister Kramer and Sister DeLeon. Sister Kramer is very new missionary. We just recently got a few more Sister Missionaries. It's fun to have them here.

Sister Bodily and Sister Christensen

This is Sister Bodily and Sister Christensen. Sister Bodily just left last week to go home. Both of these sisters are very musically talented. It was so fun to hear their performances.

Giant Pizza

One day the missionaries helped me quite a bit so we ordered two giant pizzas. I have never seen one this big before. They of course were excited to have a bunch of pizza. I thought we would have leftovers but I was so wrong.

Cleaning the foos ball table

Elder Conklin helped me clean the foos ball table. It was really bugging me. I was so happy to have it clean. Elder Conklin is the foos ball king so it was

Argentine Steak House

This is a picture of the steak I had at the Argentine Steak House. The steaks here were really expensive but none of us ordered the expensive ones. The one I had was delicious. After dinner we went to the Cemetery for " All Saints Eve"

Sister Christensen's Birthday

Sister Christensen's birthday was on November 1st. It just happened to be our Super P-day so we had a breakfast with our District for her. She told me her mom always made cinnamon rolls for her birthday so I told her I would make her some. I was worried they wouldn't be as nice as her mom's. Elder Johnson told me " don't worry about it". He was right. She walked in when I was making them and almost started crying. She said " you're making homemade cinnamon rolls. My mom always makes frozen ones." So it was nice she was happy about it. We had a fun time. The missionaries were pretty excited about the breakfast. They didn't realize I had lots of experience making seminary breakfasts.

Hacky Sack Project

We had a Super P-day on November 1st. The AP's and Elder Conklin asked me if I would make them a Hacky Sack. It seemed like an easy project but it turned out to be harder than I thought. We filled it with rice and when they started kicking it, the rice kept coming out. It was fun to see the creative ways they tried to fill it with rice, but in the end it didn't work so well, but it was fun trying.

Elder Johnson and Elder Conklin

This was such a funny story. Elder Johnson needed a haircut. He asked me if I could cut his hair. I told him I wasn't an expert but I had cut my sons hair before and none of them complained. So he and Elder Conklin came over to get his hair cut. So I start cutting it. Elder Conklin keeps making comments - " be sure you do this, don't do that etc" So finally I say " would you like to cut it yourself?" I was afraid I would cut it too short. Then Elder Conklin says " well if I'm going to cut it, we didn't need to come over here." Really - no kidding. So funny - Of course if they had stayed home it wouldn't have been near as much fun.

All Saints Eve

These are some pictures of the cemetery we visited on November 1st. I thought it would be creepy but it was a cool experience. They have a great deal of respect for the dead and pay tribute to them on November 1st. There are zillions of candles all over the cemetery and beautiful flowers.

Elder Bouck and Elder Johnson

Here's a picture of Elder Bouck and Elder Johnson. They're known as the "Mission Twins". I had a hard time telling them apart when I first got here. We just had transfers last week and now they will be serving together. It's amazing how much they look alike. Really nice young men, but very different personalities. I think they'll have fun together.

Halloween Party

Adri and Esti really got into the Halloween Spirit. I loved their makeup. That's Sister Bodily in the background trying to make the picture even scarier.

Halloween Party

I tried to get a group picture but it was hard to get everyone so here's some of the YA who came to the party. There's a few missionaries in there as well. I think most everyone had a good time.

Halloween Party

For one of the games we did a mummy wrap out of toilet paper. They had a great time doing it. Some of the toilet paper here is pretty coarse so it worked great to make mummies.

Halloween Party

This is Sister Christensen. She's the one who did my makeup. I think she did a great job and it didn't take her very long. She's a greenie - only been here for 3 weeks. She's doing so well. We love having her here.

Halloween Party

David was our DJ for the evening. He did a great job. He even played quiet dinner music during dinner. Everyone was concerned about what kind of music he might play but it was all good. The other picture is of Barbye. She is a recent convert. She is super nice and so much fun. She doesn't speak great English but somehow we are still able to communicate.

Halloween Party

Timi wasn't excited about dressing up for the Halloween party so I helped her with her costume. I just went to the second hand store around the corner and got some big earrings- Then we just added a couple of scarves and that was it. Simple and cute ---

Halloween Party

This is the famous foosball table. Every time we have a party the poor Elders have to move it

so there's room to dance. It weighs a ton. This time I got a picture of them doing it. They are such good sports to do it. It barely fits thru the door so they have to turn it on it's side which makes the process even more difficult.

Peter and Casba's Baptism

This is Peter and Csaba's baptism. It was a great experience to see them get baptized. Both are great men. We don't have alot of men get baptized here. Peter's girlfriend ( top picture) is already a member. They met at one of his programs. The Elders thought they would be good friends. But they ended up more than just good friends - They are now engaged to be married. They are a darling couple. It's fun to see families come into the church.

Lilla's Coat

Lilla loves to weave. She made this jacket and her skirt. She brought it one day for me to see the finished product. I asked if I could take a picture with it. She thought it was such a fun idea. It's actually pretty warm.

Senior Missionary Conference

After the tour of Parliament we went to lunch. On the way we saw a statue of Ronald Reagan. No one knew for sure why the Hungarians had a statue of him, but it was fun getting a picture of it.

Senior Missionary Conference

One day of the Senior Missionary Conference we had a tour of the Parliament Building. It's pretty amazing inside. The first is where the Parliament meets to vote on new laws, next one of the ceilings and last a carpet that took 9 months to make- I don't remember for sure but it seems like she said 1400 people worked on it. What I didn't understand is " if it was so much work, why were they letting people walk on it??"

David's Goulash Soup

David made soup for us one night. It didn't turn out very well, but it sure was nice of him to go to all the effort. He didn't realize how long the beans needed to cook so they were a little hard. About an hour after he put the beans in, he told me he usually uses canned beans -- big difference. Last night I made minnestrone soup with the same kind of beans. He didn't even want to try the soup - so funny. Super nice young man. He's one of the guys teaching me how to play Foosball.