Monday, March 19, 2012

19 March 2012 Letter (Budapest)

Monday, 12 March
Only a couple scattered thoughts for today.  First off, our apartment has been the worst with bugs on my mission thus far.  I end up squishing one or two almost every day (…and have yet to get a single bug bite).  Elder Masters and S spent the day with us, as S had to come to Budapest to work on Visa preparations so he can go to the United States in 3 weeks.  In the evening we went with the Sisters to get gyroses.  Today was not a P-Day as we have a Super P-Day on the 15th.  Our only program was with a man, T.  He claims to have read the Book of Mormon all the way through, but says he can't agree with our church mostly because we use water instead of wine in the Sacrament.  He then talked about Global Warming and a giant, secret ocean under Hungary and most of central Europe that other governments know about and are going to conquer Hungary to get it.  After the first five minutes, and hearing him say that he'd read the Book of Mormon, I couldn't stop thinking about Elder Christofferson’s talk when he spoke of the Book of Mormon being a filter.  I think it filtered this man right out of consideration to continue.  My one miracle for the program was that after the closing prayer he relaxed and things became a lot more peaceful.  Prayer really is amazing in many instances.

Tuesday, 13 March
One dog and one program again.  We met with A again, at the Mission Home this time, where we learned he is a member of the Baha'i faith (and has been a practicing member for ten years); we also learned that at one point in the past he committed to baptism.  Today's lesson focused on Families, on our roles as Missionaries, and the role of the Church in our lives.  We both felt like it went amazing, and at the end A said he'd come to Sacrament Meeting.  We made many series of calls from the old teaching and finding records again, but had no success.  Also, both of our streeting finds from the other day were false phone numbers.  Phooey.  Well, it's almost 10:30.  Our program was today's miracle.

Wednesday, 14 March
Not much happened today.  Elders Wiscombe and Snyder are here right now and are going to be sleeping over for the Super P-Day tomorrow.  We finally got a couple thousand Angolora fliers printed out.  My miracle today is that I'm already in the Book of Joshua with my reading.

Thursday, 15 March (Nine Month Mark, Super P-Day, Anneliese's Birthday, and a National Holiday of Hungary)
Yep, today was a lot of things.  Today is one of Hungary's main holidays, celebrating their revolution in 1848 against the Austrian Empire.  Elder Reese and I went with Elder Wiscombe, Elder Snyder, and Ingred to Parliament.  It was my first time in the building, and unfortunately, they had everything roped off with the exception of a single hallway to the Crown Room and back.  Afterwards, we went to a really nice buffet called Trofea's and met up with 14-or-so other Missionaries.  How I wish tomorrow was Fast Sunday.  I haven't felt this stuffed since the time Elder Moffett and I went up against a Neni in Nyiregyhaza.  Once we finished eating, we dragged ourselves and our inflated stomachs over to Buda Castle.  That is still by far my favorite thing I've seen in Hungary.  Between the Castle and Parliament, I took over two hundred pictures.  We ended by going to the Mission Home and watching “Meet the Robinson's” in Hungarian.  It has been a long P-Day and I'm thoroughly exhausted, tired, and ready for bed. Still, I really enjoyed today.

Friday, 16 March (200th Day in Hungary)
Yay!  Today is my 200th day in Magyarorszag.  It sure doesn't feel like that long.  Today we met with an older woman named E.  Unfortunately, despite her claims that The Book of Mormon is true, she says her family has always been Catholic and she can't imagine ever leaving it.  Elder Reese and I went to Institute here for the first time since A came.  Afterwards was Gofri Est.  The Post Office and many other companies are still closed as a result of the holiday.  Anyways, the 200th day was the miracle.

Saturday, 17 March (Saint Patrick's Day)
I wore my greenest tie today.  I didn't really see anyone else, civilians or Missionaries, do anything for it though.  We tried to hold our first Angolora today, but not a single person came.  Our only other program cancelled.  We spent some time flyering and some time cleaning the Mission Home.  There was no correlation meeting tonight.  Last of all, and my miracle today: I'm now at First Kings in the Bible.  While reading near the end of Second Samuel, when it talks of David's return to the throne and Jerusalem, the MP3 player played the last verse of "Redeemer of Israel".  The hymn of inheriting celestial glory and returning to God made the tale of David's final return so much more meaningful and more symbolic.

Sunday, 18 March
Today our only program dogged.  We spent a couple hours cleaning and moving furniture in preparation for painters to come for the next 3-5 days.  I'm into Second Kings.  Today contained an unusual, but good miracle: A came to Sacrament Meeting.  Hopefully it's a sign of good things to come.

Sok Szeretettel,

Shipp Elder

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