Monday, 19 MarchI am tired, sore, and happy. Currently Elder Reese and I are in the “Celestial Room” at the Mission Home. Our apartment is being painted for 3-5 days and we can hardly do anything there. All the rooms, along with the things in them, are taped and wrapped up. Today was a good P-Day. Emailing went well, and we played two hours of basketball, but the true highlight and miracle was a cave tour. We went in a group of six on a cave adventure and three hour tour of climbing, sliding, army crawling, belly crawling, flailing, and shimmying. Almost the whole tour was incredibly small and narrow, and sometimes impossibly so. There was one hole named ‘Winnie the Pooh’. Only Elder Abram and I attempted it, and neither of us succeeded. Unexaggerating, it was about the size of a piece of paper with about 1 ½ inches added to the width. I got further, but still got stuck just below the hip bones. They tried pulling me through, but couldn’t; so a few of them had to get on both sides, and with one pushing, two pulling, and me flailing, I slid back out. My hips are both bruised and sore. I very much sympathize with ‘Pooh Bear’ on a much higher level than I ever could have before. All I have to show for our adventure are a few pictures, some bruises, and a giant blister on each foot that have me a little annoyed. Still, that was some of the most fun I’ve had in Hungary. Crazily enough, they have an extreme tour and an expert adventure tour that we didn’t go on. The cave is 29 kilometers, and also contains an underground lake. We never saw the lake, and only traveled through a fraction of the tunnels. I can only imagination what might be in the rest of the cave. That’s it for today. A week from today we will have received transfer calls. Wonder if I’m staying.
Tuesday, 20 March
Today we had two programs. The first was with A1. With A2 having been passed off to the Kispest Elders, A1 is by far our most promising investigator. The second lesson was with a new investigator. She’s meeting for English lessons. I’m not sure how far we’ll be able to progress with her. (As a side note: the painting of our apartment continues; we’re still in the Mission Home for now.) We spent the rest of the day tracting, but met with no success. However, I did get a small miracle out of it. I found a Csengo, and then talked to a man named “Lehmann”. He wasn’t interested. So, after two and a half millennia, Laman still isn’t ready to hear and embrace the gospel. Oh what a fun miracle and coincidence it would have been, to have been able to say that I converted and baptized Lehmann and brought the gospel of Jesus Christ to his descendants at long last. I guess some people are just never (or almost never) ready.
Wednesday, 21 March
So, yesterday I found “Lehmann,” but today I found: Ismail (the first guy I tracted into), Amon, Mozes, Szent (holy/Saint) Peter, and Poo-Poos. We also spent a good amount of time streeting, tracting, and flyering ‘Bimbo Street’. However, we learned that bimbos will be bimbos, and none of them were at all open to the gospel. Now, as both a Lord of the Rings fan and a Missionary, I can agree that I like ‘Bilbo’s more than ‘Bimbo’s. Three other things happened today: Elder Reese and I spent two or so hours this morning helping a member move. The three of us, with one other additional person, filled a van with several cabinets, couches, desks, chairs, ect. That, the caves, and basketball have resulted in a decent workout this week. Our only program was a bit different than usual. We joined a small group of international students at a café for a Hungarian group discussion. While we didn’t get to do any kind of formal lesson, we did have the opportunity to answer a slew of questions. Today’s miracle is learning we will be able to move back into our apartment tomorrow. The painters are almost done.
P.S. There is one last thing: in the group discussion, the other three that were there at the start were all from America, studying here for graduate school, and all three of them have been majoring in Mathematics. Apparently there’s a pretty prestigious program here in Budapest. I’ll have to look up more later.
Thursday, 22 March
Today was a little different. We helped a member this morning for nearly three hours as she carried, made, and baked nearly two meals for 30 people (there was an international faculty manager training). We then had a District Meeting, followed by returning to the kitchen and getting some of the leftovers for a late lunch. Our apartment is done at last, so we also spent a couple hours moving back; and since the workers were kind enough to not clean anything, we had the privilege of moving the furniture back to their places, cleaning, sweeping, and mopping. Our only program today dogged. Last of all, and my miracle, I found my two favorite Hungarian words: ‘ukmukfukk’ (in not time; just like that), and ‘cipofuzopocok’ (shoelace tip).
Friday, 23 March
Today we had splits with Elder Lindelof, our Zone Leader. I got the package sent home. We received and met with a referral and new investigator today. He’s an orphan (adult) from Mexico, who came to Hungary one month ago; speaks Spanish, is semi-self-taught in English, and doesn’t know any Hungarian. He’s asked that we teach him both English and Hungarian so that he can get a job here. I’m excited to teach him and see how it goes. We got another 1600 fliers copied while on splits. In the evening was a baptism. It is only the third one I’ve seen since coming here. The three of us made and brought coconut balls. That’s all I have today. My miracle is our new investigator.
Saturday, 24 March
Daylight Savings takes effect tonight. I’m not looking forward to getting up an hour earlier. I’m half-way through Isaiah in my scripture reading now. I have found a couple hundred parts to mark and highlight. Elder Reese and I gave out over 800 fliers and cards today. Our Correlation Meeting was cancelled again. Last of all we had some miraculous meetings today. We had our first actual Angolora. Only three people showed up; however, because it was such a small group, we got away with having a 45 minute spiritual thought/lesson, rather than the usual 5-10 minute one at the end. Afterwards we met with F for an hour and a half, gave him a Spanish Book of Mormon, and told him we’d like to bring A4 next time (as A4 knows Spanish, English, and Hungarian). He should be a great help in our programs. It’s basically the equivalent of 11:30 now, so I’m off to bed. Good night.
Sunday, 25 March
Today was Fast Sunday, which is always fun, although on my mission I haven’t minded it half as much as before. We went on short, half-day splits with the AP’s, most of which was taken up by Church. I’m in Jeremiah now, and only have twenty-five days to go if I wish to read all the standard works in 40 days. I found a giant, metal apple core today. It reminded me of the Nyiregyhaza apple. We met with a new woman. She was full of questions. My miracle is that transfer calls are tomorrow.
Monday, 26 March (Part 1:::: Transfer Calls)
Transfer calls came this morning. Just a quick rundown: I’ll be staying with Elder Reese, which I am excited about; our new Zone Leader will be Elder Carlsen, and the new AP will be Elder Austin. Those leaving in our districts are Elder Anderson and Sister Mills, and two new greenies will be taking both of their places. – Buda, you are still my home for the next six weeks. J
That’s about all the news I have for now.
Szeretettel,
Shipp Elder
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