Flooded!

June 10, 2013

From Hungary to California,

Now do I have a story for all of you. Well, I have a few, but I have one big one that will make you all laugh, gasp, and be amazed with wonder. I'll do my best to make it as close to how it seemed when it happened. 

The day is Friday June 7, 2013. It is a beautiful, hot sunny day without a cloud in the sky. All of us, meaning Békéscsaba Elders, are coming back from Szeged after an awesome District Meeting. We get back to Békéscsaba and we go off to do our own things that we had planned. We went on splits, having me going with Elder R. and Elder B. with my companion, and Elder R. and I went and taught one of their investigators who was preparing to be baptized this Sunday. After our program, we walked out and began to see some clouds coming our way. 'Do you think those clouds will do some serious damage? (as in pouring rain, thunder and lightning and stuff)' I asked Elder R. 'Nah, they don't look too bad. And if it does, it will only be for a short while.' We head back to the branch house where we were going to meet the Elders to get some stuff from them when we hear some thunder from within the clouds that are, now, right above us. When we finally arrive, it begins to rain a little bit. Good timing, right? The other Elders haven’t reached the branch house yet. They were on their bikes coming back from getting dinner and let us know that they were on their way. So we waited, and as we did the rain begins to pick up. Oh and did it pick up, even to the point that the drops that were falling were not your ordinary little drops, but HUGE water droplets. Elder R. and I stood underneath the overhang that leads to the entrance to our branch house watching the storm pick up. Thunder was going off, the wind was billowing and the rain was relentless. 

We began to worry about the other Elders, hoping that they would return in safety. Right as we were talking about them, they came around the corner on their bikes. The only difference about their appearance was that they were COMPLETELY drenched in water. There was not a part of their body that wasn't covered in water. Elder Burch wears glasses and it was hilarious to see them completely fogged up. We all started laughing when we saw them come back, but that stopped after I realized that I needed to go back to my apartment to get something before I headed over to the other Elders house for splits. So they gave us the bikes, wished us good luck and were off. 

No joke, all of the streets were flooded in some way or another. One of them, which we went through, was entirely covered in water! We rode through it and water just sprayed upwards all over us and we could not avoid it accept by jumping off our bikes and falling into the puddle of water below. Going home and back was the most hilarious thing! I think I laughed the whole way because I could barely see with the rain hitting me in the eyes the whole time AND because it was ridiculous how it was raining downwards, and at the same time there was water coming upwards from the ground while we were riding our bikes, so I was literally trapped by water. When we returned home, by the way we dropped by a little corner shop to get bake at home pizzas for dinner that we also used as little umbrellas over our heads as we rode home, we were soaked from head to foot. IT was incredible! Even the clothes I had in my backpack that I took with me were wet, so I had to use some of the other stuff that they had at the house. It was SUCH a fun day, even though it made us soaking wet. 

I don't know if you have heard, but Europe, apparently, has been going through some serious flooding, specifically in Germany. I've been hearing all over the place that Germany is having some major flooding problems. The Duna river in Budapest has also been flooding the streets in Budapest pretty badly also. The Sisters and Elders this past week that are there helped sand bag the place for hours. It's quite interesting how in California you all are going through a drought and here it's quite the opposite.  

So that was the main story that I had for this week for you guys. Other things that happened, we had a baptism for the Elders’ investigator that we held in Szeged with another baptism with the Szeged Elders investigator. It was definitely a great experience. The funny thing about this baptism though was that it was actually held at a Seventh Day Adventist church. They couldn't find a pool or place that would allow us to do it, but the Seventh Day Adventists were kind enough to let us use their font that they had. It was wonderful and we are so grateful for their kindness in letting us use their font. 

We also had two parties on Saturday that we were invited to by investigators, where also we were fed enormous amounts of food. It was unbelievable how much food there was at both places. It was so nice of them to have us over and prepare all of the food that they made, but afterwards my companion and I were walking home moaning because of how much food we had eaten. But, how can we complain, we're missionaries, and feeding programs are the best. :)

Sounds like you all had an awesome week as well. It's so weird to think that TNT is still going. It's another thing that reminds me that things back at home are still going even though I'm away. I'll definitely be seeing them when I get back home next year. That will be awesome! Ashleigh has glasses again! That's way cool! Well, not cool about the fact that you need them but cool because I think they look cool. Plus I'll probably need to get some when I come home, so we can all have glasses! Cool, huh?

Well, that's all for me. I hope you all have a wonderful week and, for a note this week, don't forget to say your nightly prayers! You will be amazed with how much they change your life around if you give at least a few minutes a night by speaking with Heavenly Father. 

Sok Szeretettel,

Magda Elder