November 25, 2013
'What is this?!?! A
center for ants?!?!? This needs to be.....at least......10 times bigger than
this!'
'Uh, sir, my fingers
hurt.' 'What's that? Well now your backs gonna hurt because you just pullled
landscaping duty.'
Hint, these quotes all
come from one actor. Hopefully that helps. :)
Greetings and Salutations!
Alrighty all, this one may be short,
but I'll include some pictures to make up for the shortness of it. We had an
interesting week this week. We had programs, but most of them all decided to
cancel a few minutes before the program or just straight up dog us. The first
few we let slide, thinking that there wouldn't be any more of them for the rest
of the week. But, to our sadness, the cancels just kept on coming. There were
times were we felt to tell the person that canceled 'No! You're not allowed to
cancel on us!' Ha ha, but we were able to enjoy the week still, even though it
meant us having extra time finding. We walk so much! Our bikes have been broken
for the past few weeks (due to our laziness of going to the bike shop and
getting them fixed) so we have had to walk all over the place to go from place
to place and we have come back every night slowly taking off our shoes so that
they won't fall off.
Oh the exhaustion! Oh the DRAMA! |
Also, the cold is coming in, which
is just wonderful for missionaries. Snow hasn't come yet, but it's been raining
quite a bit and it just makes the days seem more miserable than they really
are. They also make us so much sleepier. Several times we would be having lunch
and just want to curl back up in bed and just fall asleep and hibernate for the
next few days, but we've been fighting it. Hopefully we'll stay triumphant, ha
ha. :P
That dazed look you get after a long day. |
But this week wasn't too bad because
we had some awesome programs with our progressing investigators. I love every
single one of them and I look forward to each program with them. They are such
incredible people and they all have a real desire to keep the commitments that
we give them. For example, we just met with one of the couples that we are
meeting with this morning and they were curious about my little lapel pin that
I had on my suit that mom sent me a last week that had the Army of Helaman on
it and they asked if they could read the story from the Book of Mormon about
the 2000 Stripling Warriors. So when we met with them today they said
'Oh, we read that chapter that you had us read and we liked it!' They're such a
kewl couple and they love it every time we come over and meet with them. Today
we talked about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and we gave them the commitment to
ponder and pray about being baptized, to which they responded with 'We
definitely want to pray about it.' Such an amazing couple. We also have other
people that we have been meeting with, one being a 19 year old boy who we found
streeting and has been open to everything that we have been teaching him. He
has been reading from the Book of Mormon and loves it. He is just like a
spiritual sponge and he even said in our prayer with him last week that he
hopes to meet with us continually! It has been incredible to see the change and
impact that the Gospel and Book of Mormon have on the people that we meet. I
love them all! They are such great people and we are praying for them
continually that they will continue to progress as well as they are.
Autumn day in Eger |
I apologize for opening up the
wrapped gifts that were in the package. I didn't think that they were also
included in the 'Don't open till Christmas' deal. I just thought 'Oh, how cute,
mom wrapped stuff up. That's totally something mom would do.' I also didn't
think I would get that package as soon as I did. It was just a coincidence that
President Smith came down last weekend for the Branch Conference that we were
having and brought with him all the mail for the city. I still have that little
envelope that I have yet to open, so that will be my surprise for Christmas, along
with Skyping you all. :) This, by the way, is crazy because it will be my last Skype!
Weird, huh? And also, on Black Friday it will have been 2 years since I've had
my mission call. Krazy! Time flies when you’re a missionary, more so if fun is
included in it.
Alrighty, now I'll answer some of
the questions that have been requested.
1. Hungarian Holiday Dish: Well there is a nasty pig jello
called 'Korcsonya' (I believe that's how it's spelled, not sure). Weird fact is
a lot of Hungarians like it. When I first heard about it, I was kind of
disappointed with the decision that Hungary made of making that even a dish to
eat. Just imagine it! Don't try too hard though, it may not be pretty.
2. Hungarians don't really decorate their houses. A good
portion of the country is 5/10 story apartment buildings, so they really don't
have much to decorate. But there are some people that are determined to do so,
which is always nice to see the inner holiday spirit of the people. Usually the
mall is pretty decorated.
3. Oh do they have pets, especially dogs. My word Hungarians
love their dogs. I'm pretty sure people take their dogs out on walks 3-4 times
a day, because I swear I have seen the same person out with their dog at about
1-2 o'clock in the day and then around 6-7 coming back see them again out
walking their dog. Sometimes they even walk their cats! No joke! The next time
I see it, I'll try to sneak a picture. Funniest thing, ha ha!
4. I guess the strangest encounter I've had is just tabling in
Békéscsaba with Elder Channell and just watching people and then feeling
something hit my leg, then looking down and seeing that a bird had just taken a
crap on me. I think the worst part of that though was looking up and seeing the
bird still up in the tree and just staring at me. I don't know what I must have
done to make him mad at me, but I'm pretty sure it was an intentional shot.
Birds...........
5. Dating is somewhat interesting here. It is similar in that
fact that the just hang out with their date instead of going on an actual date.
They also start dating, almost all the youth, around 12, sometimes even
younger. Interesting culture.
6. I would say that Grandparents normally live with the
extended family, at least from what I've seen, or they just live by themselves.
I've run into some really old couples where they probably should be in a
retirement home, but they'd rather just be in their own apartment. Interesting,
but, I guess if that's what you want, go with it.
Basilica in Eger |
Hopefully you enjoyed this week’s
edition of 'Gettin Hungary with Elder Magda'. I hope all of you enjoy your
Thanksgiving! (Which, by the way, here we will probably be having dinner with
the senior couple here in Eger) Enjoy the holidays and have a couple of
homemade rolls in my name!
Sok Szeretettel,
Magda Elder