Of course no party would be complete without food. We had plenty of that. We tried to get everyone together for a picture but of course it was hard to get them all together. We think about 80 people came to the party so we were happy with that.
When a new group of missionaries come to Hungary, Sister Baughman serves them dinner in their apartment. This time there was a large group so we helped her with the dinner. They are a super group of missionaries. They are excited to be here and ready to get to work. The Assistants are at the front of the table - the rest had only been here for a few hours. It was fun to get to meet all of them before they left for their assigned areas.
Sister Deleon, Elder Olsen and Elder Johnson were all being tranferred to a new area. So one morning we took them to Starbucks for Hot Chocolate and cinnamon rolls. It was super cold outside so it was nice to take a break and warm up.
The Office Elders and the Assistants came to our apartment Christmas morning to open their stockings. There were 3 Office Elders at the time because Elder Johnson didn't leave until Wednesday. We had a great time. On the couch - Elder Van Wie, Jackson, Smith and Johnson. Sitting on the floor - Elder Wanlass. Super nice young men. We love serving with them.
This group of YA drove 2 hours to put on a Christmas play for us. The Baileys ( older couple on the end) are serving in Pecs at the Center there. They brought the Play with them from the states, had one of the YA translate it into Hungarian and then performed it for us. They used the sheet as a backdrop and projected pictures on it from their laptop. It was very cool. When they lit the fireplace the fire turned on. When the dog came into the house, there were barking sounds. They really did a nice job. There were also two investigators who had parts in the play - so that was great.
This is me singing in our Ward Christmas Choir. It was pretty funny because I don't sing and I surely don't read Hungarian very well. But I had a good time. There were lots of people in the Choir so hopefully no one could hear how I was doing.
One night the Elders took me to get a Gyros Sandwich. I had heard about them before but was afraid to go because the place looked a little questionable. But turns out the sandwiches are delicious and I lived to tell about it -- so we're good. I've only been once but the Elders go there all the time. Each sandwich costs about $2.00 so it's right in their budget.
This was another one of our Service Projects. We made hats and scarves and delivered them to a home. I'm not exactly sure the situation of these girls. Some are orphans but others do have family but just aren't able to live with them for different reasons. We were only able to visit the girls room that night. We left a bag for the boys as well. The boys you see in this picture are the YA who came with us. It was a great experience. We sang Christmas Carols and played games. They told us we could come back again which we were happy to hear.
I guess this is my Christmas card for this year. St Istvan's Basilica is in the background. It's one of the biggest churches in Buda. As you can see they really decorate nice for Christmas.
