Week 62 - Dunaújváros

"BABY ETHAN!!!! I love new babies! I can't wait to see him and Caleb in July. They are so cute and little and I am just going to hold them and play with them! ... Unless they are scared of me. I hope 4 months isn't the "scared of everyone that isn't your mom" stage. Anyways, I love them!!!"

Here is little Ethan David ...
Fresh Nővér's newest nephew!

"So, first I have to tell you what I did yesterday ... I gave a talk in church in HUNGARIAN!!! Yea, I couldn't believe it either. I got the call on Thursday and I was like 'NO!!! This is the worst thing I could ever be asked to do.' But then I thought about it and was like, 'Well, I can't get out of it so I might as well just deal with it and do the best I can.'  I wasn't actually that nervous. I was more like lets just get this embarrassment over with. Haha! It felt good standing up on the pulpit and talking to everyone. Of course I made mistakes, but it was understandable so that was a miracle in itself. I spoke about General Conference and how we can receive revelation from listening to it. The subject was pretty easy because I have had some good experiences with that :) Anyways, that was a big moment in my life! I just feel like when I get back to an English speaking country all of these things will be so much easier, but maybe I'm wrong. I think about giving a talk in English and it seems so easy. I could just talk and say whatever I want. So crazy ... but I did it. I gave a talk in Magyar!!!" [Magyar is the Hungarian word for Hungarian.]

"As of this Wednesday I have been in Hungary for a year ... so weird. I feel like I have been here forever but at the same time like I just got here. I know time just flies by but as a missionary it flies soooo fast. I just want time to slow down and be normal and let me take everything in."

A year ago ...
packed and on her way to Hungary!

"Azon kívül [other than that] nothing else too exciting happened. Pál got baptized but I wasn't there. Sister Petereson* called last night and told me all about it. She said he looked so cute and was so happy, and that everything went really well.  He was confirmed Sunday and even said the prayer in Sunday School :)))  I just wish I could have seen him because he had changed so much in the 9 weeks I was with him that I just can't imagine how much more he has changed in the 10 weeks I have been away from him. It's crazy because we found him in November and he was baptized in March :) Love him so much!!!"

Pál and his wife, Erzsébet.

Sisters Peterson* and Madga, Elders Ralph
and Raymond, and Pál.

Sister Peterson* said ... "Pál on the day
he got confirmed.  I told him that I was
sending this to Sister Fresh, so he'd
better smile! And he did."

"We met with János and Fati this week. It was good and they are both doing great! Other than that we have very little work. We do a ton of finding and people are very willing to let us into their houses and meet with them once, but then they have every excuse in the book as to why they don't want to meet again. It has been kind of hard because we are happy that everyone thinks we are cute and stuff, but we really want to teach them and help them. Hopefully this next week will be better."

"We had a branch lunch on Sunday which was good, and the sun was shining a lot this week which was great!!! We even had comp study out on a bench in the sun yesterday :)))"

Fresh Nővér and Peterson* Nővér
enjoying the sunshine!

"Today we go up to Buda to have the last physical therapy and doctors appointment for Sister Peterson*, and then the interview with the President. I don't know what the final decision will be ... but if she does go home I think they will probably close Duna. :(  I never wanted my city to be closed but the president already has to close 2 cities at the mini so it could be Dunaújváros. Hopefully she will be healed sometime today and we can just stay an finish the transfer out together and the work in Duna will be great!!!"

"So yea life is good, we both couldn't sleep last night because today is a big day and we were really restless, but hopefully everything will work out :) I just hope she feels good with whatever decision is made because that's what really matters."

"I love you all so much and the new babies :)"

"szeretlek
fresh nővér"

*There are 2 Sister Petersons ... one that Sister Fresh served with in Veszprém where they taught Pál. She is still there and is the one who took the photos at the baptism and confirmation. The other Sister Peterson is serving with Sister Fresh right now in Dunaújváros. She loves them both!!!

Week 61 - Dunaújváros

"Milyen volt a hetem??? Jó volt :)‏" [How was the week? It was good :)]

"My life is good! We do the same things everyday but somehow seem to make them fun and/or interesting by just being ourselves. Sister Peterson and I are good friends. It is great to serve with people and get to know them better and form your own opinions about them - I just love her! She is really cool and funny. ... Unfortunately she has some knee problems and might have to go home in a couple of week. It is super sad, so it is good that we have been able to have a lot of fun. We actually go up to Buda once a week for physical therapy. She has one more round and then a doctor's appointment and an interview with the President to decide what to do. The hard thing is that the therapy has not really done much. :( ... What this would mean for me is that I could be in Duna for a long time, or they might have to close Duna which would also be hard. So that is what is going on with us."

"Fun while tracting!"

Peterson Nővér and Fresh Nővér say
"Mi is szeretjük Duna!"

"So this week Pál is getting baptized, but unfortunately I got a 'nem' [no] to go back to Veszprém to see the baptism. I am honestly super bummed about it because I really really wanted to go. So that was kind of a let down but it's okay. At least I got to teach him and set the baptism date with him and all that :) He will be the cutest baptized member in his white clothes ... plus when we come back to Hungary to visit we can go see him :)"

"That is enough sad news. The good news is that the Hungarian went pretty well this week. I think what I need is to be put with someone pretty young in the mission now so I have to talk a lot more.  I only talk about half the time right now, but if I had to talk a lot more that would be cool :)  I'm sure it would be hard but I think it would be fun too!"

"Elder Jones went home and we got a new Zone Leader, Elder Foster. He is from Montana, goes to BYU, and likes to hunt.  I don't know a ton more about him because its only been a few days but he and Seegmiller are a good match so I think we will have a good transfer."

Saying good by to Elder Jones! 

Watching Elder Judd's luggage, he goes
home on Thursday, while  waiting for the
Elders to take us back to Duna.

"János is doing well! He is so cute and the highlight of our days. He is still really strong and just a cool new member, still learning and growing, like us all :) We also met with Fati, Edina Tamás and Gabi.... all of them are doing well and progressing slowly ahaha but its good. We love them!" 

"We found a new lady named Erzsébet and we love her! She is so nice and her apartment is clean. We freaked out after her program and think she could be like the most legit member. ... I try not to freak out about people like this because then they usually go and break my heart and drop us. I just think she is so cool and so I had to freak out :)  We will meet with her again next Thursday. 

"Remember when I told you about Hungarian fish soup (halászlé) and how I did not really like it. Well, we went to this restaurant with a lady from our English class and they had some fish soup. There were not all the bones and it was not super fishy ... and it was yummy :) We will have to go there when we come back. It might just be the pride and joy of Duna!"

Elder Foster, Elder Seegmiller, Szilvi‏, Fresh Nővér,
and Peterson Nővér at a restaurant in Duna.

"This week was not too crazy but still really good. I know we laughed a ton and it was super fun. We are happy and working hard :) Being a missionary is really great! I would love to do it forever but I'm too tired and I know at some point I will fall over dead. Hahaha! But it's good and I love it. I really do :)"

"nagyon szeretlek beneteket [I love you]

Fresh nővér"

Week 60 - Dunaújváros

Sister Fresh began her email this week with the following news:
"Okay ... drum roll please ... I am staying in Duna with Sister Peterson! It's a miracle! Haha! I am with a companion through a mini transfer :)"

A beautiful sunset in Dunaújváros! 

"We did a lot of finding this week and had fun while doing it! For example ... "

"We made our lives into a musical while tracting, as in the life of a sister missionary in Hungary. One whole song in the musical is dedicated to tracting and we thought it would be super cool if there were tons of doors all over the place like in the movie Monsters, Inc. Haha!"

"We streeted a kid and gave him an English class flier. In return he showed us a magic trick. It was the best trade ever!"

"We tracted into a girl who seemed really interested in the church. She told us to come back the next day with Book of Mormon and so we did. When we knocked on her door her boyfriend was there and it was obvious we had interrupted something ... it was the most awkward 15 minutes of my life. Someone once told me that if you are not feeling awkward then you are not doing missionary work right. In this case that was true!"

Fresh Nővér in front of a coal car.
The words on the car mean "good luck".

"Other things that happened this week..."

"Sister Peterson got stuck in an elevator and almost got half her body cut off. Yea, elevators here don't work like they do in America!"

"On our way to Zone Conference Elder Seegmiller spilled some aftershave that we found in our apartment and gave to Elder Jones as a going away present in the car. So ... we all smelled like men once we got to the conference in Buda."

"Fagyi!!! ice cream ... it's back in season :) We had our first ice cream cone this week!"

"ZONE CONFERENCE!!!  It was good. Elder Dyches came and he was really cool! His wife reminds me of a lady in our stake who used to work at Canyon Springs High School. It was great to see my friends and the president and to get to go to Buda :)"

Fresh Nővér and Broadhead Nővér get
to see each other at Zone Conference! 

"Zone conference ... left to right Elders Depallens,
Shuck, Erickson, Sterri and Quinton."

The People:

"The elders had a baptism with a girl named Romi and Elder nelson got to come back for that. It was really great! I can always feel the spirit super strongly at baptisms ... like the really inside powerful feeling that doesn't come all the time. I love that feeling and think we should have a baptism every week :)"

"We also met with János this week ... now he isn't an investigator but a new member :) He is cute! We love him and he is doing great :)"

Remember Pál from Veszprém... well I hadn't heard much about him lately but I saw Sister Peterson at Zone Conference and she told me that everything with him is so good. He is really prepared for baptism. He also still loves and remembers me. He wrote my name first in his book of people that have taught him. He prays for me, that I will be safe and happy. He also said that I need to be at his baptism ... so I will really try because Duna isn't too far. I really hope I get to go :) I talked to Sister Peterson this morning and Pál will have his bap interview today. He said that I am like his granddaughter :)  I love that because he is like my Hungarian grandpa :)"

"I love Hungary :) piros fehér zöld [red white green]
It was a holiday on the 15th!"

"Life is for the most part really good ... We don't have a ton of solid work right now but we are searching and trying so that's all we can do. We do definitely see little tender mercies everyday."

"sok szeretettel
Fresh nővér"

Week 59 - Dunaújváros

"Sziasztok‏ [Hi everyone] ... this week was good :)"

"REPÜLŐS TERVEK (flight plans): So all of you commented on them and I didn't know they sent them to you, but that's a good idea. Wednesday morning we were headed up to Buda for something with the Elders and I got a phone call from the mission office. They asked me 'What airport do you want to fly home to?" mehhhhhhh I was thinking 'I'm not that old yet! I'm not ready for this! I can't go home yet!!!' I was freaking out a little bit because I remember being with Sister Perkins when she got her flight plans, and she was so much older and more experienced than I am ... right? Weird that now I am the old one."

"KERESZTELŐ (baptism): János was baptized on Friday and confirmed on Sunday ... It was so good! He looked great in white, was so cute, and just a little nervous. After he was baptized he came and sat by me and I asked him how it was. He said he felt so good, and that right when he got out of the water he felt warm inside. I heard him later talking to his family that came and telling them about his feelings. Also, his confirmation was so great because literally every priesthood holder was in the circle. János just loves people and so he wanted everyone that was able to be there. After he got the Holy Ghost, he said that all his nervous feelings went away :) He is so cool!!!"

Peterson Nővér, János, and Fresh Nővér
prior to his baptism.

János and his family 

János and Zoli‏

Fresh Nővér and János

"ÉNEKELÉS (singing): Well, I sang [at the baptism] and people said it was good, but I didn't end up doing a solo ... maybe next time.  I'm not at that level yet! Haha! Elder Jones sang with me and we did parts, and there was a line I did sing alone. To me it all sounded bad and weird, but people didn't like run out of the room screaming so I guess that is good :)"

"MÁRCIUS NEGYEDIK (March 4th): My favorite day!!!! It was cool even though we didn't celebrate. I just said that everything was special that day because it was March 4th. Haha! Everyone thinks it's weird that I have a favorite day that's not my birthday."

"MCDONALDST ETTÜNK (We ate McDonald's): So there was a half-off day at McDonald's and so we wrote it in our calendars and went. It was so great, but right when we sat down to eat this creepy guy and his family sat by us. The elders kind of knew him and he was just not a good guy, so we quickly  packed our food in the little boxes and left. I kind of felt like a spy. It was cool ... I loved it!!! I might try and be a spy when I get home :)"

"KŐVÉRTŐL NŐVÉRRE (From fat to sister):  We made this up this week and decided we are going to be healthy and try to loose a pound a week because guess who gained 20 pounds and has 20 weeks left ... yeah, it's me :) mehhhh!"

 "Fat to Sister" Poster

"OLVASOK A TAN ÉS A SZÖVETSÉGET (I am reading Doctrine and Covenants): So we do this thing in our mission where you start to read the Doctrine and Covenants when you have however many days left as there are Doctrine and Covenants sections ... And I started on Saturday. Crazy, but its cool! The Doctrine and Covenants is a nice little thing, so if anyone wants to do it with me you need to read section 3 today :)"

"TANÍTUNK (We teach): So we teach a lot of people ... We track a ton and get let into people's houses a lot, but they don't always want to learn more which is a bummer. People are really busy and just kind of don't have time for religion. It's sad because the church doesn't really take too much time, it just kind of just fits into life :) So, we do a lot of tracking, and we street sometimes, but not too much because my comp has some knee problems. We also teach an English class every Tuesday here in Duna. We are teaching the gospel to a new couple from our class named Tamás and Edina ... and it's fun :) I teach the beginner class with Elder Jones, who dies in 10 days!!!! Crazy!

"We went to a car wash!!!"

"I hope that was some good info, because I can't honestly think of anything else that happened. I know I had fun, and we laughed a lot. Sister Peterson is fun ... I love her :) I won't email next Monday because transfer calls are on Tuesday, so I will be on the computers then. I don't know if I will stay or leave Duna. mehhhhh"

"I love you all ... The church is true :)"

"Sok szeretettel

Fresh nővér"

Week 58 - Dunaújváros

Fresh Nővér's email this week started with:

"BABY!!!!! Ever since Friday I have just been saying 'baby' all throughout the day. I was so excited for right now when I got to find out the baby's gender and see HIM!!!! BABY!! I love babies and I'm so stoked to hold and love all the new little babies that will be/are there when I get home :) So cute! I'm excited to tell people too ... A bátyámnak új kis fia született pénteken! Calebnak hivunk :) So happy he is a part of our family!"

Here is little Caleb Thomas ...
Fresh Nővér's newest nephew!

"So my week was really good. I can't remember anything bad so that is good, right??? Hahaha!" Here are some of the good things she talked about:

Peterson Nővér and Fresh Nővér celebrating
Peterson Nővér's half way mark!

Being Companions with Sister Peterson - "It is so good!!! I love her. ... Sister Peterson is so cute and really similar to my friend Rylie from Romania. The way they say things is very similar and she is fun like Rylie, so I love it!!! It's like Romania again, but in Hungary and with different responsibilities. I'm a lot more tired, but it's still so great. We teach well together, which is sweet. We actually taught Sunday School this Sunday and it was really nice because I knew she had my back the whole time" (Aimee spent the summer of 2012 in Romania as a volunteer working in an orphanage and she loved it!)  

"We love pékség‏!"

The Zone Leaders who also serve in Dunaújváros - "The Zone Leaders are Elder Jones, from Michigan, who dies in March and loves science. I always remind him he is going home soon. He is in denial so I am trying to help him :) The other one is Elder Seegmiller, from Texas, who goes home in July with me. I love them ... they give me rides!!!"

Some of the Investigators:

"János - His baptism will be on Friday! Guess who is very much not musically talented but is singing a solo at his baptism? Yep, it's ME! ahaha I about died when he asked me but you can't say no to your investigator, especially at their baptism. So, yea, I'll be singing 'For the Beauty of the Earth' in Hungarian on Friday... pray for me :) He is doing well though; so sweet, so cute, and so excited to get baptized. When he came out of the interview he was so happy and told us that he passed!"

"Marta - She is our néni friend, and she dropped us. She said she didn't want to change her life or religion because she was too old. She broke my heart a little bit ... investigators do that sometimes. I tell myself I won't get attached but then I always do and its so hard."

"Tamás and Edina - We met them on the street last week and invited them to English class. Tamás already speaks English pretty well and wasn't really interested, but Edina was super sweet and really interested. So, they came to English class and then we ended up teaching them. Tamás isn't religious at all, doesn't really even believe in God, but when we were teaching him he asked us when we started believing in God. He told us that he asked his Jehovah Witness friend and he couldn't tell him. So we both just shared our stories about how we felt and how we knew that God was real, and he thought that it was sweet that we were so young and already knew these things. Edina was just super cute and accepted the Book of Mormon and said she would read it, and when Tamás said he wasn't sure if he would read it she said she would just read it out loud so he would have to listen to it :) We love them already... I hope they do't break my heart."

"Panni - I still love her the most. I haven't talked to her in a while but I know she is good! She just loves everyone and is so cute :)"

"Pál - He is doing well as far as I know. Sister Peterson (Vesprém) said he prayed for me the other day, and loved the picture and letter I gave him :)"

Peterson Nővér and Fresh Nővér
"looking our best for church."

Missionary Exercises -"We go to the branch house and work out with the elders. We each take turns leading work outs... when I do it I usually make us run and stretch and I taught them some cheers last time. We did soccer drills the other day when Seegmiller led and so it's always different" 

"Hmmm... Well, I don't think I have anything else to really add besides the church is true and simple and great. The secret is this, just three words... read, pray, church :)"

"Love you all so much...

Fresh nővér"

Week 57 - Dunaújváros

Sister Fresh began her email with, "This week was great here in the Dunalands!" (Dunalands is one of the nicknames she has for Dunaújváros.) 

Here are some of the things that made it so great:

Transfer Day - "Wednesday morning we loaded the zone leader's car with all of Elder Nelson's and Sister Sexton's stuff ... and then 4 people. They have so many things that we were packed in and I could not even move my arms, but it was super fun so I couldn't be mad.  :) We dropped Elder Nelson off at his new apartment and picked up Elder Seegmiller, which was really convenient. He had a lot less stuff so that was nice! Transfers were fun because I got to see some of my elder friends and some of the sisters too. We had lunch and then I got my new companion Sister Peterson."

Sister Fresh and Sister Sexton 
are squished in the back of the car!

Elder Nelson, Sister Fresh, and Elder Jones "stuffed
in the car" on their way to missionary transfers.  

Sister Peterson - "Everything has gone well so far. She is really nice and funny and pretty. She is really good at Hungarian. She just doesn't fear like I do, which I really admire, and hope some of that will rub off on me :) Sister Peterson is cool because she thinks I'm funny. I know we will be good friends!" 

Fresh Nővér and Peterson Nővér are all
smiles as they work together in Dunaújváros. 

Tracting - "On Thursday we tracted ALL DAY LONG!!! and it was seriously like one of the funniest days ever. We had 4 let-ins and just a lot of really funny experiences. One of our let-ins was with this bácsi (literal translation is uncle, but it means older man). We called him the 'happy bácsi' because when we were talking with him we told him that 'When we pray we use our own words. We don't read it from a book.' He just got so excited and was like 'Yes!!!! That's how it is supposed to be!' Then, I don't know what happened, but I just threw my arms up in the air and was like 'Yea!' and he just loved it!"

"On Saturday we had a harder day. We went tracting all day again but only had one let-in and people were really not so friendly. We did meet this girl that met with the missionaries a while ago but didn't join the church. So we got her number and are going to meet with her this week. We are super excited about her :) Our let-in was a cute little néni (literally translated as aunt) who we gave a Book of Mormon to and then she gave us these little like pencil pouches she had made... It was sweet getting a little present in return :)"

Programs and Investigators - "On Friday we had a lot of programs. ... János is so great. He is like so so solid, and when he is ready is going to be the best church member ever!!! We also met with a new couple. Sister Sexton and I had tracted the husband last week and he told us to come back so we could meet with him and his wife. It was really good! We gave them a Book of Mormon and are meeting with them on Wednesday. :)  We met with Marta, our cute néni investigator and she made us palacsintas. We talked with her about faith and repentance, and we asked her if she had ever prayed about the things that we teach her. She said that she had and that she really hopes they are true. We told her to pray again during this week and that we would talk more about it when we came back to visit her again. We also met with Szandi, our RCLA. She is so cute, and kind of talks a million miles an hour. I'm surprised I understand anything that she says, but she is great! She is progressing so much and really is starting to understand things more."

Palacsintas is a thin crêpe-like variety of pancake
common in Central and Eastern Europe.

Duna - "I really love Duna!!!  I feel like every part of my mission has been so good, and I have learned a really important lesson in each city and each part. I still don't know what I am doing all the time, but I just go forward and don't worry. I think that is why the end of your mission is so great because you have worked hard, learned a lot, and even though you are not perfect, you know that if you do your best it somehow just works out. I love that! So ... Duna is great!"

"Szeretlek titeket :) 

Fresh nővér"

"PS   I'm stoked for baby fresh number three to come this week :)))) Next p- day will be so exciting!" (Her brother Matthew and his wife Brooke's baby is due this coming week. When Aimee got her call she made her married siblings promise that if they got pregnant she would be the first to know ... and she was!) 

Week 56 - Dunaújváros

In her email this week Fresh Nővér said:

"It's Tuesday which means there are transfers this week ... again! [They have been having transfers once a month lately] So I am staying in Duna but am getting a new companion. Her name is Sister Peterson, but not the Sister Peterson I already served with."

She will miss having Sexton Nővér as a companion. These are some of the things she has said about her: "Sister Sexton is great. I love her. We are very very different, but it worked! She is super sweet, and I am grateful for her :)"

Sexton Nővér and Fresh Nővér ... their last Sunday
together before transfers. 

This sweet girl, Hajni, took the photo of
Sexton Nővér and Fresh Nővér.

"Of course we went tracting this week and a few funny things happened ...

First, this guy answered the door and we did our whole tracting approach and then he says, 'Yea you can come in as long as your not those Mormons.' We were just like, 'Well... that's us.'  And we all just kind of laughed and then said good-bye. It was so funny!!! Another time we did the same little approach, and we told the lady that answered the door that we were Americans and she was like, 'I don't deal with that American stuff.' I made this really funny surprised face at her like 'How could you say that?' She kind of made the same face back and then she let us in :)) Haha! Another cool experience was when we tracted into this lady who we are now meeting with. She doesn't really believe in God, but it's ok because we will help her with that!!! We also knocked another door and this guy came and was like, 'Oh, you are the Mormons, Salt lake' in really awful English and then he started making the kissy face and noises at us ... I laughed. The joys of tracting :) It's so fun because every door brings a different surprise!"

One of their investigators is János who is trying to quit smoking. "We decided to go and bring him a surprise and try to give him some hope that he can do it ... We went to his apartment and brought him some snacks and he was so happy. We just told him we know that he can quit with God's help. ... He is super great!"

Fresh Nővér and János

"And it was Valentines Day ... I'm so in love with Duna!!! We did go out to lunch with the elders, which was fun. I paid for Elder Jones because he forgot his wallet ... take it for what is worth. I call it NOT a date! Hahaha!  On Valentines Day we met with this semi-active sister and I love her!! She just talks and talks and talks!  Her husband died a few years ago and so she is kind of sad and lonely. I just know that we bring so much light into her life when we visit that I can't help but love her!"

"Happy Valentines Day ... szeretlek !
(don't mind the mess)‏"

"What else happened this week ... We cleaned the branch house. I mopped a lot with Elder Nelson and would always forget to wring out the mop and so it was really messy, but it was fun. We also had a panini party last night with some members. Elder Nelson and I made all the food. Hahaha!  So get this I cook now! Sister Sexton asked me to help her learn how to cook and it kind of turned into I just cook for us, but I love it! I only really know how to make soups and pasta dishes but I don't really burn anything so that is exciting :)"

"Other than that ... life is good. I am happy and the work is moving along. I love being here and being a missionary. I have learned so so much that I will ever be grateful for :))) Thanks for all the love and support."

"How can it already be the middle of February??? I don"t like this time going fast thing!!! SLOW DOWN!"

"Sok szeretettel

Fresh Nővér"