Zone conference started at the top of Gillért Hill where Pres. Nelson dedicated Hungary for missionary work

May 27, 2019

Jó reggelt! (Good morning!)

This week was good as we continued our work with some returning members and had some lessons with investigators. We were able to set a baptismal date on July 13^th for the 80-year old woman we are teaching.

We visited a returning member family. This was our second visit. We went with the Elders quorum president. They live in a city called Mihályháza that is 10 km outside of Pápa. There are 4 kids in the family and everyone is baptized except for the youngest who is only 5 years old, the oldest is 15 . The mom's mom also lives with them, and she is not a member. We had a really good lesson with them where we talked about Joseph Smith and the Restoration. There is currently a problem with their car, so they aren’t able to come to church right now, but they will get it fixed and are planning on attending sacrament meeting in a few weeks when the car is fixed.
                                                                                                               
We had zone conference this past week. It started at 7 am which was really early. We stayed the night before in Tatabánya-- a city close to Budapest. In the morning we went to the top of Gillért Hill where President Nelson dedicated Hungary for missionary work. It was a cool experience.

View of Budapest from Gillért Hill

Gillért Hill--Budapest

The rest of zone conference was mainly just talking about smart phones and how we will properly use them. Since I leave soon I won’t have to buy one, but the mission will give me one to use until I go home which will be cool. We will be getting them in about a month I believe.  

This will be the last week of the transfer. P-day will be next Tuesday, and I will find out then if I am leaving or not. 

Sok szeretettel, (Lots of love)

Udy Elder

We spent a lot of time out of Pápa this week

May 20, 2019

Sziasztok Mindekinek,  (Hi All)

Last week was super busy. We spent a lot of time out of Pápa. We had an exchange in Győr. We met with a returning member who was baptized in 1990, pretty much right when missionaries came into the country. He was one of the first 4 members form Győr, and they would travel all the way to Budapest to attend church on Sunday. It was good to talk to him. He has a nice family and is a wealthy man. It seemed he hasn't had much contact with the church for years, so we talked about all of the new and exciting things and also the importance of the Book of Mormon. This week we also had interviews which was good. 

Yesterday we were able to have a lesson with one of our investigators that went well. She is an 80-year old woman, and she said she wants to be baptized. We did not set a specific date, but we hope to do so in the next lesson. She is  Catholic and still has a lot of Catholic traditions. She loves reading out of the Book of Mormon. She has been to church a couple of times. She does have some health problems that come with age, so sometimes it can be hard for her to get around. But when she is able, she will come to church. 

Also a few returning members that we have been working with came to church which was great.

Bandit was really old and it is good that he got a state of the art burial.  Also everyone will be getting smart phones next month, but I am not required to since I go home in August. Things are going good here and I am grateful I can be here. Hope you all have a good week.

Üdvözlettel: (Best Regards)

Udy Elder

We were able to work with returning members

May 13, 2019

Jó Reggelt! (Good Morning!)

I don't have a lot of time to write today because we are in Győr and only have 45 minutes of free computer usage in the library. I don't think we are doing anything too interesting today. It is raining, and we have exchanges here Tuesday, so we came up early and then we don't have to be alone on our p-day. We will probably play card games or something. 

This past week we were able to do more work with returning members. They all have their reasons for not coming to church ranging from it is too hard to get up, being the only member in the family with a desire to attend, and devoting time to other activities on Sunday. We visited a family with the elders quorum president and that went good. As of now the mom is really the only one interested in returning, and we plan on visiting every so often so we can teach the 5 lessons. We will continue to try and work with these returning members. 

The lesson we were suppose to teach after our Google hangout didn't work out because the family wasn't home. We will have to go back later this week. This past week we tracted into a man that is about 50 years old.  He is also a musician/artist and we spoke to him about the restoration and the Book of Mormon. He was excited to come to church, but then we were disappointed when he didn't come. But we are hopeful, and we will see what happens.

Your mother's day dinner sounded good. I can't wait to come home and have food like steak again.  That will be good. That is it for this week. Have a good week.

Sok szeretettel,

   

-Elder Udy

In Pápa there is a Calvinist theology where people go who want to become ministers

May 6, 2019

Sziasztok, (Hello)

The past two days it has gotten a lot colder and it has been raining here almost non stop. We had a few people who promised they would come to church, but the rain gave them an excuse not to come. We are still meeting with our investigator that has been investigating the church for years, and earlier was planning on getting baptized in June. But he says his plan now is to get baptized next summer. It is hard to change his mind about this. He said that before he gets baptized he wants to understand the scriptures more and better keep the commandments. We will go over the commandments with him, and hopefully he will see that he is ready.

Since our p-day was on Tuesday last week, we were able to go to 2 of the 3 places you can sightsee in Pápa because they are always closed on Mondays. We went to a blue dye museum that is in Pápa. It shows how to dye fabric with all of the old machinery of the 1800s. We also visited a church/museum that is run by the Református (Calvinism) Church. They had an Egyptian exhibit that included a mummy which was cool, and then they also took us on a little tour.

In Pápa there is a Református (Calvinist) theology where people go who want to become ministers. Every once in a while we will run into some of the students that go there, and it is usually an interesting conversation. Whenever we try and talk about new revelation and the Book of Mormon, they always shut it down on the basis that the Bible contains everything that one needs. To which we respond that If the Bible contains everything that one needs, then why is it that so many churches exist and why does each church interpret the Bible in a different way? They respond that it is the "work of mankind" which is exactly what our message is about-- that Christ's true church has been restored by the work of God not man. But it saddens us because even after this, they still refuse to learn more.

The Message of the Restoration

I have been really bad with pictures. I can probably google hangout Sunday, but when is good for you since you have church? Would 4 or 5 pm my time work which would be 7 or 8 am your time? About the smartphones, I have heard that those of us leaving in August won't need to buy the smartphones, that the end of August is the real cut off date, but I don't know for sure.  We will have to wait and see.

Sok szeretettel, (Lots of love)

Udy Elder

The church owns a lot in Budatétény that could be the temple site

April 30, 2019

Szervusztok,

Today we got our transfer calls and we will both be staying here in Pápa for one more transfer. Not too much exciting happened this past week. We tracted into this older woman whom we taught twice last week, and she ended up coming to church which was great.

This week our English class will start.  We made a bunch of flyers last week and distributed them to people and businesses. We even ran into a couple of high school English teachers and gave them a bunch of flyers to hand out to their students, so hopefully we can get a decent showing at our English class.

There is a place in Budapest called Budatétény where the church owns a lot that could potentially be the temple site, but nothing official has been said. It is right next to a mall that has a really cool aquarium that I went to, so I was able to recognize the place. Apparently last week they started to cut down the trees at the lot with permission, but then the local people started to get mad that the trees were going away, and then the local government said all construction/ demolition has to stop until a resolution is made. It was in the news and the church members were talking about it this past week. 

We are in the Szombathely District, so we didn't get to go to the Budapest Stake Conference. They have District conference twice a year, but it was the week right before we arrived in Pápa, so I won't be able to go. It was the first stake conference that I've missed. I have been to 3 already because I have always served within the Budapest Stake boundaries up to this point. "R" didn't come to church this past week. We are still meeting with her and hoping she will be able to come. Graduation looked like it was fun. That is all for this week.

Sok szeretettel,

Udy Elder