Monday, June 24, 2013

Week 22 Photos - Buda

"I have been a missionary for 5 months ... can't even believe it!!!! Time goes by so so quickly out here!"

Wednesday was "Transfer Day" which is always bitter-sweet. You are losing friends you have been working with and love (they have been assigned to a new area), but your are getting new missionaries to work with (they have been assigned to Buda) that you know you will grow to love also. Another nice thing about transfers is "I got to see all of my mission buddies who were serving in other areas, and I got to say goodbye to my trainer who is now home!!!"

One last photo of Behunin Nővér, Fresh Nővér, and Falslev
 Nővér at the station on Transfer Day before Falslev Nővér 
leaves for her new area.
Judd Elder and Fresh Nővér traded glasses ... he is being
transferred to another area, but his cousin, also Judd Elder
is staying in Buda! 



And then there was a visit from a friend and wonderful member of the Miskolc Branch:  
"Edina from Miskolc came to visit!!!" Both Behunin Nővér
 and 
Fresh Nővér served in Miskolc earlier in their missions.

A favorite quote that Fresh Nővér shared this week:

"Regardless of our circumstances, we must... go forward with faith and prayer, calling on the Lord for His sustenance and direction. We will discover, as the years pass, that there has been a subtle guiding of our footsteps in paths of progress and great purpose."  by Gordan B. Hinckley

Her comments on this quote:

"I know this has been true in my life! As I look back I can see how the Lord has not only been a part of my life, but has also helped me to have experiences that have taken me to the point I am at now ... which is serving as a missionary! I am so happy that I am here and that my life really does have a purpose. I know all of our lives do when we rely on our Heavenly Father and his plan for us!!!"

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Week 21 Photos - Buda

"I have sooo much to tell you all this week! We did so many things and then found out about transfers ... life is crazy and time goes so so fast!!! I can't believe transfers are tomorrow, and that I will be starting my 3rd transfer (six week period) in Hungary!"

"First of all, last p-day we went paddle boating on a little lake. It was really similar to the paddle boats at the Lake Club at home, but so much more fun because my whole district was out there. We were just telling stories and laughing and the weather has finally been getting nice!!"


This is the Budapest City Park Pond which has paddle
boats in the summer and becomes the largest outdoor
skating rink in Eastern Europe in the winter.
Fresh Nővér and Behunin Nővér are excited about 
going on the paddle boats!
Fresh Nővér with two of the Buda elders ... 
Judd Elder and Judd Elder, they are cousins!
The Buda District enjoying the nice weather
as they float on the pond!

"This week we also had Zone Conferences. The Buda Zone met on Tuesday and was good! ... because I live in  Buda and right across from the Branch House [where the mission office is] I was there periodically on the two days that the other zones had their conferences so I got to see so many of my friends!!! I love them all so much!!!"

This is the Buda Zone ... the one Fresh Nővér is in!

"Then on Saturday we got such a treat, like literally a dream come true for me! We went to the Hungarian State Opera House and got to see the ballet Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs!!!!! I was seriously so so excited that I was like a little girl. I was happy and smiley the whole time I was watching it!!! ... I have wanted to go to a ballet for such a long time now and I got to do it here in Buda!!!"


"It was a beautiful building!!!" The Opera House
was built in 
neo-Renaissance style structure and
completed in 1884. 
It is considered one of the finest opera houses
in the world. This is the central chandelier and
painted ceiling. 
The red seats and balconies that are inside 
the Opera House.
Falslev Nővér, Fresh Nővér, and Behunin Nővér 
in front of the Opera House.
Funny faces while waiting for the ballet to begin!

In her email this week Fresh Nővér talked a little about why she is serving a mission: "The people of Hungary are really why I am here. Relationships, creating these friendships, and having love and happiness are what is really important. It's not about coming home fluent in Hungarian, or developing other cool skills, but it is about the difference I can make by being me. The relationships and friendships that I  make here will last forever. There are so many wonderful people here that I already love, and many more that I have yet to meet, and I am dedicating the rest of my mission to them, to love them, to serve them, and make memories with them!" Some of these special people are ...


Fresh Nővér, Roxane, and István 
Fresh Nővér, Betti, Behunin Nővér, and Falslev Nővér
Fruzsina, Fresh Nővér, and Fanni
Falslev Nővér, Andréa, Fresh Nővér, and Behunin Nővér
Tabling with the YSAs ... The sign says "Ingyenes Angol 
Óra"  or "Free English Hour". It is advertising the weekly 
English class they teach.

Tomorrow is transfer day and the "threesome" and the "golden district" are getting split up. Fresh Nővér said, "it will just be so different so that is really hard. But I know I will have fun and enjoy whatever happens." 

The Buda District ("golden district") before transfers. 
"The best people in the world!!!! I will miss them all 
so much!!!"
The Buda "threesome" ... Behunin Nővér, Fresh Nővér,
and Falslev Nővér before transfers. "We love each
other!"
Having fun in some "néni (silly) nightgowns"!
Behunin Nővér celebrating her birthday!
"I love these people and
this place so much!!!"

Monday, June 10, 2013

Week 20 Photos - Buda

The title of an article in the New York Times on Sunday read : "Hungary Braces as Danube Floods Parts of Budapest," so we were wondering if Aimee would say anything about it in her email this week. She said: "So many of you know that the Duna [Danube] is flooding... No, I am not dead, and my apartment isn't flooded!!! It isn't affecting my living at all, except that a few subway stops are closed. We live too far away from the river for it to do any damage unless there was like a river tsunami! Haha!  Some of the roads down by the river are covered and I guess it is really bad there." 

Fresh Nővér standing on the lower road next to the 
Danube River that is flooded in some places. This picture 
was taken from the Buda side of the river.
This is same street that runs next to the
Danube River as in the previous picture,
but taken from the opposite direction.
The Margaret Bridge is in the background
with the Parliament Building behind it. 
Water that has flooded the street running next
to the Danube starts coming up the stairway. 


"On Saturday we got to go and do some service. I guess there is something called sand bagging and that is what we did. I don't know if it actually worked, but I did some manly man labor for 6 hours! It felt good to do some service, but my body was hurting the next day on Sunday! The worst part is that we did a bunch of sand bagging and tried to make this great force field so the water wouldn't cover an island, and about 2 hours after we finished we had a giant rain/hail storm. I am pretty sure that everything that we did was in vain. It was still great to serve!"


Behunin Nővér, Fresh Nővér , and Falslev Nővér
on the bus to do sandbagging on Margaret Island,
which is in the middle of the Danube River. 
Behunin Nővér, Hardy Nővér , and
Fresh Nővér stop working long enough
for a picture. Love the "Mormon
Helping Hands" vests!!!
Fresh Nővér showing her "sand bagging" skills! 
Judd Elder and Fresh Nővér taking a well-deserved
break from their labors.  
Some of the missionaries that helped with the sand
bagging effort posing by the wall they have made.

The Hungary LDS Mission Website had a post about the floods that threatened cities along the Danube River. It said: "The situation became critical last week for many parts of Hungary when the Danube rose to almost 30 feet above its normal depth. Officials issued calls for emergency assistance."

Here are some of the missionaries that responded
to the call forming a sand bagging brigade.
"Missionaries in Budapest, Kispest, Erd, Tatabánya
and Győr offered their services and were put to work."

"We also got a new member of the family/companionship... (hahaha!!!) ... E.T.  This Wednesday is Behunin Nővér's birthday so yesterday we had a little surprise party for her, and the Elders bought her this stuffed E.T. thing. It is so creepy but so good, because she has always been afraid of ET!"

Happy Birthday Behunin Nővér!!!
Fresh Nővér with her new friend ... ET.
"Good time here in Buda with the Golden
District!!! I seriously love all these missionaries
so much!!!!!


Odds and Ends:

Fresh Nővér next to some street graffiti ... 
not sure what it means!

"How is it June??? Where has the time gone??? I am pretty sure I just submitted my papers and now I am almost a 3rd transfer missionary!!!!! I won"t be mad if time slows down a little bit."

"I know that the secret to happiness is really turning outward and focusing and caring about others more than yourself. "

"I love being a missionary! I love the people and the land of Hungary!"


Monday, June 3, 2013

Week 19 Photos - Buda

This week "I went to Kecskemét (Behunin Nővér's last area) for a baptism. This was really cool, because it was Falslev Nővér's first time leaving the city, my first Hungarian baptism, and we got to travel and see our old MTC companion Broadhead Nővér! It was so fun!!! I love traveling, taking trains, and all of that! I loved seeing this cute little town. I love Hungary and meeting all the people in all the different cities!" 
Behunin Nővér , Fresh Nővér, and Falslev Nővér
on the train to Kecskemét.
They work hard but the "sisters can have fun too!!
... and more fun!!!
Fresh Nővér at the Kecskemét train station. 

Kecskemét lies in the middle of Hungary, in the Southern Great Plains Region  between the Danube and Tisza Rivers. It is the 8th largest city in Hungary and 86 kilometers south of Budapest.

The most important thing, of course, was the baptism.
It is always a joy to witness someone entering the waters
of baptism and making sacred covenants with the Lord. 
Lunch in Kecskemét looks pretty Americanized ... Fresh 
Nővér has chicken fingers and french fries with catchup!
The House of Science and Technology in 
Kecskemét. was originally a synagogue, built 
in 1871. It was damaged by World War 2 
bombing. and restored i1978 as
conference center.
Smiles and funny faces on the streets of  Kecskemét.

Other interesting bits and pieces from this week:

"My bed broke, but I fixed it!"
"With a street performer" in Budapest.
"Teaching the Plan of Happiness" ... if you
look closely you will see that the words are
in Hungarian!  

Speaking of happiness ... Fresh Nővér said "I think it is important to find joy and laughter and happiness in each stage of life. I am grateful for ... all the happiness I have felt while being a missionary."

Fresh Nővér and Hardy Nővér ... good friends!
"Tabling" has been  mentioned in several of Fresh Nővér's
emails, and this is a picture of her and Behunin Nővér
"tabling" last week in the "freezing cold."