Highlight of the week was Zone Day

May 28, 2018

Sziasztok, 

The highlight of this week was the Zone Day we had. This week was interviews and since it was the last interview with President Szabadkai, he decided to throw a "Zone Day" for all the zones which meant on Wednesday we went up to Pest as the West zone and met at the Stake Center. It was a nice day of relaxation because all we did was play games, watch a movie, and eat for the entire day. I got to play basketball for the first time in over 6 months so it was great.

Right before my interview I had been playing basketball for over and hour so my face got really red like it always does when I exercise. So when I went into my interview President Szabadkai thought I had a really bad sunburn, haha.

It was kind of sad because it was the last interview with him and the last interview I will have with my mission president in Hungarian (since our new mission president doesn’t speak Hungarian). He gave everyone a CD of some women singing a bunch of church songs in Hungarian which was nice. 

President and Sister Szabadkaí

Other than that nothing else really exciting happened this past week. We met with a lot of investigators, especially older people we found through tracting. 

Church in Veszprém we travel to every week for district meeting

That is really good that I get 2 packages. I will be going to the mission home on Wednesday, so hopefully I will get the first package then. If not, I will be there the following Wednesday too.

Sok szeretettel, 

Udy Elder

Transfers will be every 12 weeks

May 22, 2018

Szervusztok, 

Yesterday was another Hungarian holiday where no one worked and all of the stores were closed. It seems like one of these happens just about every other week. But this time it was Pünkösd, or Pentecost.   

Nothing too exciting happened this past week. It has been a change of pace being a trainer and having to do most of the talking during lessons. We have one investigator who has come to church a few times, and we asked her to be baptized. She said she will, but she doesn't feel prepared yet, so we will have to work on that and hopefully there will be a baptismal date for her sometime in the near future.  We learned that there is going to be about a 2 month break for all of the English classes we teach as missionaries at the end of the transfer before the new mission president comes in. I don’t know why, maybe they will try and restructure it and try and make it a more effective finding tool. 

The elevator in our 10-story communist apartment building

Also we found out that after this transfer when we combine with the Romania mission our transfers in Hungary will go from 9 weeks to 12 weeks. Since Romania is on 6-week transfers and we are on 9-week transfers, due to the longer MTC language training, when the missions combine they need to be on the same transfer cycle. So we will change to 12 week transfers and the Romanian mission will stay at 6 week transfers. I am a little upset about it because that means we will most likely stay in an area for a really long time. The norm will be to stay in an area for 24 weeks or almost 6 months. 

I already have the Missionary's Little Book of Teaching Tools. I think it might have been Tyler’s. But that is really good that you are sending 2 packages for my birthday. It is also good you won the 4 rounds of golf, and you got the new lawn mower.

Sok Szeretettel,

Udy Elder

This week has been a big change with me becoming a trainer and senior companion

May 14, 2018

Sziasztok, 

This week has been a big change with me becoming a trainer. It is my first time being the senior companion yet alone the trainer, so I have to make a lot of the decisions and teach my companion the ropes of missionary work. My companion's name is Montoya Elder and he is from Layton, Utah so my 4 for 4 run of not having a companion from Utah has come to an end. Luckily he knows how to play the piano, so when we hold our piano class I don’t have to pretend to know what I am talking about. We held our piano class after church and 8 members came. It’s great to see they have a desire to learn. Hopefully one of them can become good enough to play during church. 

Montoya and Udy Elder

Also there was a 22-year old man from England who visited our church Sunday. He is Hungarian but works in England and was baptized about a year ago. He came to visit his mom, and it was his first time going to a church in Hungary. He said he didn’t expect to find a congregation because his whole life he had never heard of Mormons. It was cool to talk to him. Also a week ago while talking to people on the street, we met this guy named Tallár, who is a somewhat famous singer. His friend showed us a video of him on You Tube with over 140,000 views, and he also sang us a little song. I guess I can say I met a somewhat famous Hungarian singer.

I made the wings last night. I usually make them twice a week and they are always goooood. Here are pictures from the castle we went to week before last...

Castle in Csókakó we visited last week

View from castle of Csókakó

Csókakó Castle

Udy Elder at Csókakó Castle

Sok szeretettel, 

Udy Elder

I will be training a new missionary

May 8, 2018

Szervusztok,

This morning we got our transfer calls. And since the mission has gotten considerably smaller in number of missionaries serving since I have been here, there were a lot of changes this week. Now there is one less zone in the mission and all of the districts are a lot bigger.  I will be staying here in Székesfehérvár and the new district will consist of 3 cities: Székesfehérvár, Veszprém and Papa. I also will be training a new missionary which should be a fun and interesting experience. So tomorrow I have to go to a trainer’s meeting to see what it is all about. 

We also went to Budapest for Stake Conference. It was my second time attending stake conference here. The first time was my 2nd week in the country, and I didn't really understand anything, but this time I understood almost everything. It is nice to see my progression. This past week we also went to a tiny village called Csókakő. We went to see a cool castle there, but I forgot my camera today, so the pictures are going to have to wait another week. We also gave service at an old folks home and talked to a bunch of people. I have gone to a couple old folks homes, but this one was a lot nicer. It almost seemed like I was back in America because everything seemed so clean and normal. Also since it has been sunny and hot outside, I have started to become red and I probably will stay red for the next 6 months or so.  

Fagyi is just the word for ice cream in Hungarian. In Székesfehérvár there are a few different places where you can get this stuff. For some reason Hungarians do Ice cream really good because it always tastes good and is soft. There is a Hymns Made Easy book in the church. None of the students have ever played before, so I can at least teach them how to read music and play simple songs. But hopefully my new companion is able to play the piano, so he can help out. I probably won’t be able to use the computer at the church to Google Hangout on Sunday because there is a new one getting installed. But I plan on going to a member’s house who has good wifi.  As of now we are planning on going there from 3-5 pm on Sunday--Hungarian time. I know that is really early for you guys, but it is the only place we can really do it.  

Sok szeretettel,

Udy Elder

We started teaching a piano class

May 2, 2018

Sziasztok,

A flower field we found near a small village

Yesterday was Labor day here in Hungary, but instead of just taking one day off it is a 4 day holiday so most businesses were closed and our p-day got moved to Wednesday. We also went  to Zone Conference in Budapest last week. It was kind of strange because the mission president was in Germany for a meeting, so it was just us young missionaries at the conference. 

We also helped plan a bowling night for the church, and invited all of our investigators and our potential investigators. And we had quite a few non-members come so that was good. We also started teaching a piano class because there is no one in the church who knows how to play the piano. We got 3 youth to come with the hope that one of them will learn and be able to play during church eventually. We'll see how it goes. 

Another interesting thing about this country is that in addition to celebrating birthdays everyone celebrates their "name day." Everyone’s Hungarian name has a specific date assigned during the year in which everybody with that name celebrates their name. It seems sort of weird to me that everyone with the name Zoltán on March 8th celebrates their name. But I guess it's good because it is another reason to throw a celebration. 

The family we are teaching came to church again last week which was good. On Mother’s Day it should be good to Google hangout in the morning your time.  P-day will be on Tuesday next week since transfers are on Wednesday.  

Sok szeretettel,

Udy Elder