Elder Magda and the former Sister Skiba (Stephanie Skiba) |
August 24, 2013
Nos, ez lett egy csodálatos hét,
hallod? (Well, it’s been a wonderful week, you
hear?)
It sounds like you guys have already
heard about my találkozás (encounter) with Great-Uncle
Steve and Great-Aunt Mary. But before I tell you how that went, there was
actually another person that was, and still is, visiting Budapest that I was
able to run into. This person actually was one of the missionaries from my
first transfer and who Elder Abram (my first companion) titled as my 'adopted
mother' in the mission, since this person helped raise me in getting used to
mission life. This person is none other thaaaaannnnnnn.........Sister Skiba!!!!
Or, since she's not a missionary any more, Stephanie!!!! She and her mom are
visiting for the week and have been able to drop by the branch house a few
times to say hello to some people. They also came to church on Sunday and will
be there tomorrow also. It was way kewl catching up with her and reminiscing in
old memories that we had from last year. Kewl thing also, she still hangs out
with Elder Abram back at home and they keep in contact and stuff. He actually
still emails me and he gave me the heads up that she was coming to Hungary for
a little bit and told me to keep my eyes open for her. I'll attach a picture
that I got of us at church last week. (This is
a little mom side-note. Blake does know
how to spell the word “cool” but prefers his unique way of spelling it as “kewl.” There.
We are all on the same page.)
This Wednesday, I met with Great-Uncle
Steve and Great-Aunt Mary! It was such an amazing reunion, even though it was
our first time meeting each other. The really remarkable part was actually how
we ran into them. My companion and I planned on meeting them outside of one of
the metro stops near where they are staying. Just so that you can get a little
picture of the metro stop; when you get off of the metro you have to take a
corner and then go up an escalator to get to the ground floor. I assumed that
they would be waiting at the ground floor watching for us to come up the
escalator. I kind of knew what they looked like, since you sent me pictures of
them, but the pictures were kind of blurry. So Elder Corbishley and I got off
of the metro and took the corner towards the escalator. Next to one of the
pillars by the escalator I noticed a woman that looked very much like Aunt
Mary, but I didn't think it was her because I assumed they would be on the
ground floor. Then she said 'Oh! There's Blake! Right there!' Startled, I kind
of looked around thinking 'Who, what, huuhh??' It was her after all and she and
Uncle Steve were waiting at the bottom of the escalator instead. Ha ha, it was
a great surprise to say the least.
Great-Uncle Steve and Great-Aunt Mary |
It was so much fun being able to
chat with them! We talked about their trip, how they've been doing, what family
they've visited thus far, how they enjoyed being in California and just all
kinds of stuff since we had never before talked to each other. (Blake’s Great Uncle Steve was born in Hungary and fled
with his mother and brothers to Austria during the Communist rule. They emigrated to South Africa. Blake’s Grandfather ended up emigrating to
the US and his Great-Uncle Steve to New Zealand. His Great-Uncle is visiting
family all over the world in one amazing fun-filled trip. This is how he was able to see Blake.) They
also got to know Elder Corbishley, and it made it more interesting with him
being from England and them just coming back from Scotland and England. They
started talking about things that I hadn't even a clue about, ha ha. Also, Uncle
Steve had invited somebody over, Roboz Sándor and his wife, who was related to
us in some way. For all of us it was the first time meeting one another.
Up until the time Sándor came over
we were speaking English, sometimes referring to words in Hungarian. But when
Sándor came over, we talked almost completely in Hungarian. Throughout my whole
mission speaking the language just felt like a normal thing that one does every
day. But when I started speaking with Uncle Steve and the others, every word I
said felt different when it came off my tongue. I don't even know how to put it
into words! I felt like the words had physical meaning to them. Not saying that
when I speak with investigators or with other people about the Gospel that I
feel that there is no meaning behind the words I say, because there is, but
rather it felt natural speaking it this time. I think I mentioned to Uncle
Steve that it was as though there was a different connection as we spoke. He
was surprised at first when he was speaking with Sándor and I just listened to
them. He asked me 'Do you understand what we're saying?' to which I replied
'sure can!' It was incredible! I am so grateful to have met with them. It was difficult
saying good bye, because I would have loved to have stayed and chatted more
with them because there were still plenty more questions that I had that I
wanted to ask. But I am blessed to have had the time that I did have with
them.
Last thing that happened this week
was August 20th, which is the biggest holiday here in Hungary. It's basically
like our 4th of July in the states.
And, kewl thing about it is that I was able
to be here in Budapest for it again! We actually planned on going to Visegrád,
which is a castle north of Budapest, like we did last year, but many of the
missionaries were kind of low on their budgets and we decided to meet at the
park and play sports and then go back to the mission home and play games and
watch the fireworks after. It turned out
to be an awesome day, weather wise and fun wise, and also exhausting. Ha ha, we
played soccer, two-hand touch football, and even some touch rugby (Mom! Don't
forget I said 'touch' rugby). Afterwards we were all practically dead, ha ha,
and we knew it would make the next few days a little more painful. But it was
worth it.
When it got dark, we headed to the Duna and watched the fireworks
from the Buda side near the Szabadság Bridge. It was kewl seeing them from that
side since I saw the fireworks last year from the Pest side.
Fireworks on the Szabadság Bridge |
Elder Magda and Corbishley on Aug 20th |
That was my week overall. Just to
make dad jealous, my companion just got a package from home and gave me a bag
of Jelly
Tots since I told him those were
my favorites. The perks of being companioned with an Englishman ;) Today we are
actually going to get a comp item, which is where we both get the same thing
for us to always remember our companionship together. We are going to get real
nice, legit Hungary soccer jersey. I've wanted one forever and have been stoked
the whole week for it! I'll take a picture of us wearing it so that you can
enjoy it too. I'm so glad to hear that things are working out for Ashleigh
going to BYU I! That's way awesome!! I'm so excited for her! She is going to
have a blast for sure. And people are still getting married and getting ready
to leave for missions. Seems like the world just doesn't wanna stop while I'm
here does it? Tell all those who just got married and are getting married that
I say congratulations! And tell dad I said congratulations on his new calling!
That sounds like it will be sooo fun!! I can't wait to hear how it's going to
be :)
I love you all and enjoy this week
with all the blessings it holds. And, to see them even better, you can heighten
your vision by saying a prayer that morning. Try it out!
Sincerely,
Magda Elder