Feasting in Hungary: January 2018

Monday, January 29, 2018

2018. január 29

Sziasztok!

We had a good time this week. We were pretty busy and we had some exchanges, which was fun. We have a lot of stuff to take care of, so we've been really busy.

The Naár family that came to church the last two weeks came again on Sunday. They are still super awesome and we love working with them. We asked them to be baptized this week, and they said that they would think about it. But then the 10-year-old boy in the family said, "I'm ready now, I'll even get baptized tomorrow." He's a super fun kid, and we love meeting with the whole family. We're going to visit them tonight, hopefully all will go well.

We had exchanges with the assistants this week. It was a lot of fun. We met some Americans which was really interesting. There were a lot of Americans at church in Pest, but we always had things to do, so we didn't talk to them that much. I kinda forgot what Americans are like, so it was fun to meet with some and chat with them. The exchange was fun, we were back in Budapest. It was an adventure getting there though. They kicked everyone off the train a few stops early because there was some kind of problem with the line. We were somewhere on the outskirts of Budapest, and we had to wait for some buses to take us into the city. I was kinda worried because I had no idea where we were, and then I saw one of the buses that we took regularly when I was in Pest. Then a few more buses went by, and I figured out where we were. It was useful that I'd just served in Pest and knew how to get around. We helped this old couple from Miskolc get around too, which was nice.

After that we had a pretty normal week. We met with some of our investigators, but a lot of them aren't progressing. We also had exchanges with the other elders, and Elder Cushing and I worked together for a few hours. It was a fun experience, he's a great missionary. He doesn't have any fear of talking to people, and he'll just say the weirdest things. He asked some police officers where you can buy their hats. That was pretty funny.

We had a great time at church yesterday, the district president came and gave a really good talk. After that we helped Sister Moser in primary, we translated for her. We had a good week, and things are going pretty good.

Szeretettel,
Terry elder

The first two are from last P-day. We went to a really fancy restaurant called Palacsinta Ház and ate some really delicious palacsintas.

Elders Seeley and Cushing

Elder Durney

These are of Elder Gentry, Elder Biesinger, and me.

We had a meeting after exchanges in Budapest, so we took a picture.

These are from Facebook:

Durney and Terry

At the train station

Monday, January 22, 2018

2018. január 22

Sziasztok!
Some fun things happened this week. We finally got some nice winter snow, which was a lot of fun. I took some pictures. Also, Elder Durney's beanie was mine once, but I left it in Szolnok. And now he uses it. Which is kinda funny.

Other than the snow, we also had some missionary work to do, which was also fun. We met with a lot of people, we were really busy all week. Plus we had interviews in Budapest (which basically killed that whole day) and exchanges with the Debrecen Elders. It was a great time.

We visited the Naár family again. They gave us paprikás csirke (Paprika Chicken), which is one of my favorite Hungarian foods. It was delicious. Also, we spent some time talking about the Book of Mormon, and we encouraged them to read every day. After Elder Durney and I bore solid testimony of the power of the Book of Mormon, the mom in the family started talking, and she said something along the lines of "You know, I've already experienced that. I pretty much read the Book of Mormon every day before I go to bed, and I've noticed that it helps me a lot." I don't remember exactly what she said, but it was something to that effect. Elder Durney and I were just so surprised. It's not every day when an investigator just starts bearing their testimony in the middle of a lesson.

The Naár family also came to church, and they stayed for all three hours. They are so great, and we love working with them. They are super golden.

We also went to a couple falus to visit people. It's fun to get out of the cities, but the travel eats up a lot of our time. We visited a family with the Mosers (the senior couple here). The dad in the family is working in Germany right now, so we were just expecting to teach the mom, but the dad joined in through skype. So we had a good time teaching them.

Other than that, we were busy all week. Good times.

Szeretettel,
Terry elder

Terry and Durney

Miskolc in the snow

Keleti pályaudvar, one of the train stations in Budapest.

This sign was on an elevator.
It says, "ATTENTION: Before you step into the elevator shaft, make sure the elevator is there." I think elevator doors shouldn't open if the elevator isn't there.

Elder Cushing and Sis. Moser

Elder Cushing wearing a member's winter hat. He's next to a sort of investigator named Gábor

Monday, January 15, 2018

2018. január 15

Sziasztok!

We had a pretty good week. I'm still getting used to Miskolc, and we keep going to a lot of the nearby towns, which is a lot of fun. Some fun stuff happened this week. Church yesterday was also a lot of fun. We had the primary program, and one of the families we teach came. They really loved church and had a good time. The dad in the family, Csaba, told me that they would probably come other times too, which was fun. They are super nice and they are really fun to meet with. We had another investigator at church, Géza. He's super nice. He came to church 5 times last transfer and then disappeared for a few weeks, but now he's back. We met with him yesterday. He's super nice and he reads a lot from the Book of Mormon.

One of our investigators, Tünde, accepted a baptismal date for March 3rd. I've only met her once, but we are pretty hopeful that it'll work out. She's got a few obstacles that she needs to overcome, but I think she can do it.

Another fun thing that happened this week: When we met with Csaba and his family, we weren't able to teach too much because Zsuzsa, the mom, read a lot of stuff on the internet, and she just told us everything so that we could explain what things were true, and which ones weren't. They read a lot, both from the Book of Mormon and off the internet. They are really interested in the church.

We had exchanges twice this week. One of them was with the other elders here in Miskolc. I was with Elder Seeley and we had a good time. This is his third transfer, which means he's been in Hungary for about 4 months. He's a really diligent missionary, and we had a great exchange.
The other exchange was in Eger and it was awesome, mostly because I was reunited with Elder Leavitt. It was super fun to work with him again. We got to joke around and chat about the people in Pest, and it was a lot of fun. We had a great time together.

Other than that we've had a good time. Elder Durney is great. He's really good at talking to people on buses and trams, which is nice because I really struggle with that. We had a lot of lessons this week, we've been super busy.

Szeretettel,
Terry elder

I took this picture of elder Leavitt on exchanges.

Monday, January 8, 2018

2018. január 8

Sziasztok!

Well, we had a good week, and I managed to make it to Miskolc and survive. It's been fun getting used to a new area with new people. I'm really excited to work here, there are a lot of recent converts and some great people to work with.

Unfortunately, I had to start a new planner and I forgot to bring the old one, so I don't have a list of what we did this week.

Going to transfers was fun, it was good to see some old companions. Also, the sisters that we were with me in the MTC have all gone home, which makes me a bácsi in the mission. I was able to talk with one of them at transfers, which was fun. After transfers Elder Cushing and I went to Miskolc.

Our companions stayed there, so we had the adventure of finding our way to a new city all on our own. It all worked out though, and once we got here, we got to work.

Miskolc is a factory town. There are a lot of 10 story buildings, which means we have a lot of area to tract. We also have a senior couple here, the Mosers. They are super nice, and it's great to have them here. We went to a couple falus (small village/town things) and they took us to them. It's nice to have them give us rides, and they contribute to our lessons, which is always great.

When I first came to Miskolc we took a villamos (tram) to our apartment. We live in the Belváros, which is nice. The area we live in is relatively nice. Honestly, the city reminds me of Dunaújváros, except Miskolc is quite a bit bigger and has better business and a lot more people. The branch is actually about the same size, there were about 45 people at church on Sunday.

We met with quite a few investigators in our first few days. We don't have as many people to meet with as we did in Pest, but the work here is still really good. We had 2 investigators at church, and we met some really nice investigator families. It's been really great to work with them.

I'm still struggling to get to know who is who. I still mix up all of our investigators and I don't know who most of the members are. It's been good getting to know a lot of new people.

I'm still getting used to Elder Durney. He's a great missionary and he works really hard. Getting a new teaching rhythm can be hard. Elder Durney likes to talk more than I do, so he talked a lot in our first few lessons, but we are working on getting a new pattern going. His last companion also talked a lot, so they shared time well, but I tend to be more quiet in lessons, especially at the start of a transfer.
I've had a good time in Miskolc so far. It's a great city and there is a lot of potential here.

Also, we heard about President Monson's death on Wednesday morning, which was really sad. Since then I took the time to read and study his last two talks. In the April Conference he talked about Kindness and Charity in the priesthood session, and he talked about the Book of Mormon. He probably knew that these would be his last too talks, and he chose accordingly.

I encourage you all to take the time to study these talks, if you haven't already. Make them a part of your life, and learn from President Monson's example.

Szeretettel,
Terry elder

Pictures:

The first two are with Attila and Dóra, the recent converts in Pest. They are super nice, and we had a farewell dinner with them. I always forget to take pictures with people, but I finally got pictures with them.
The next one is of Elder McKim. He's going home in February, and he lives in Australia, so I might not ever seem him again. So we took a selfie at Transfers.
The last ones are of our apartment in Miskolc and Elder Durney.

And then I (the mom) am adding a picture from transfer day.

Terry, Murphy, Attila and Dóra

Terry and McKim

Elder Durney and the Miskolc Apartment Terry and Durney in Miskolc Apartment

The senior couple just grabbed a bunch of missionaries so Riker doesn't know the sister missionary.
Next to her is Elder Graham (he replaced Riker in Pest), Riker, and Elder Suggs (Riker was his zone leader for his first two transfers).

Tuesday, January 2, 2018

2018. január 2

Sziasztok!

It's hard to believe that it's already 2018. It's crazy how fast time has flown. Our last week in 2018 was a lot of fun, we had a great time and a lot of work.

Last Monday was Christmas and it was a lot of fun. We got some presents from members in the ward here, which was super nice. We also had the whole day as a P-day, so we ended up spending almost the entire day spending time with the district. It was a lot of fun, and then in the evening we visited Attila and Dóra. We skyped from their apartment, and we had a great time there.

Tuesday was the second day of Christmas, which is when people go and visit their relatives. We had a pretty good day, we spent some time finding, and then we met with Atilla and Erika, some really nice investigators. It was really nice that we could meet with them because they have been super busy. We had a great day.

Wednesday we had a pretty empty day, so we spent almost all of the day finding. It was a lot of fun, we've been super busy lately, and it was nice to have a few hours to spend finding. It was a good day, but nothing too crazy happened.

Thursday was an exciting day. We had district meeting in the morning, which was fun. It was the last district meeting of the transfer. After that we had an exchange with the other elders. Elder Jameson and I had a few teachings, one of those was with Zsolt. It was a really great lesson. At our last lesson, we asked him to pray about a bap. date, and he did. He's decided to be baptized on March 9th. It's been a great experience to work with him and see him progress. He seems a lot happier, and I'm very grateful that I could meet with him.

Friday was a fun day. The exchange ended and then we had weekly planning. The last weekly planning before transfers is always interesting because I was pretty sure that I wouldn't be staying in Pest. But it was fun to plan for our investigators. Then we got dogged in the evening and we had a great time finding.

Saturday..... was weird. A bácsi from one of elder Murphy's old areas offered to talk us to the Nutcracker, and we got permission to go, so we went on Saturday. It was an interesting cultural experience. I had no idea what was going on most of the time, and someone told us that there would be bats in one of the scenes. So I was excitedly waiting for the bats to come. And they didn't. The ballet ended, and there were no bats. I was so disappointed. After the ballet we went finding, which was fun.

Sunday was a good day. It was my last Sunday here in Pest, and it was sad to say goodbye to the members. We met with Alex, which was fun. He's super cool, and I hope he'll get baptized soon-ish. After that we met with some other investigators. It was a good day. And it was new years eve. Good times.

Yesterday we had a good day. We met with a PI, Alexandra. She was found by the missionaries in the summer, and we've been trying to meet with her for a few weeks now, and it finally happened. It was fun, she was super nice. After that we visited Katalin. It was fun to meet with some investigators on Black Monday.

Today we got our transfer calls. I'll be going to go to Miskolc, and I'll be serving with Elder Durney. I don't know him super well. We'll have a good time together, I've heard a lot of great things about Miskolc.

Szeretettel,
Terry elder

Dec. 19, 2017 Zone Conference