Monday, 13 August
Today the four of us went to Koszeg, a small little city
just a short train ride north of here. There we walked all around the
town. The two highlights were the Jesus’ Heart Cathedral and a
Castle. It was at the Koszeg Castle that the Turkish invasion was halted
and, eventually, repulsed. It is in memorial to those events that the
Savaria Carneval will be celebrated at the end of this month. During our
trip to the town, I took almost 100 pictures.
Tuesday, 14 August
One thing I haven’t really included in any past entries
is that since President Smith replaced President Baughman, there have been
several changes. Some examples include rules on iPods, P-Days, Super
P-Days, an increase in District size, District splits, and District meetings;
and a reduction of Zone Leader and AP splits, trainings, and Zone
Conferences. Today we had a really empty day (up to 8 hours of
finding). We spent an hour cleaning our apartment. I made 13 phone
calls and we streeted and tracted for five hours, but we didn’t get a single
program or find out of any of the three.
In the evening we looked up a house where Elders Headrick and
Remy quickly gave a woman a Book of Mormon two transfers ago. Elder
Alldredge and I biked out there and the woman that answered the door asked if
we were Mormon and excitedly let us in. In short, and in no particular
order: they were super kind; the woman and her husband owned one of the two
biggest houses I’ve been to in Hungary; only the wife was there at first, her
husband later joined us; I also got to talk with their daughter for 5-10
minutes on the phone; the daughter has lived in Provo for three years; the
parents have visited her there, and the Mom loves Utah, said that everyone was
super kind and sincere, that the families are beautiful, and at one point said
that after Szombathely, Provo is her favorite place in the world; she said
she’s kept an eye out for Missionaries for over a year but has never seen any;
the daughter has met (still meets with) the Missionaries, and the Mom knows a
good amount about our Church; all three are open; the parents committed to
start praying and reading out of the Book of Mormon; both the mother and the
daughter offered to relay any messages to our families, and the mother offered
us use of her iPad to text, email, or Skype our families if we ever want to in
the future (not really possible, but still a really kind offer); also, lastly,
the husband and wife said we are welcome to come over anytime. Awesome! Now, for the miracle of it all: as I said, or
wrote, earlier the wife “said she’d kept an eye out for Missionaries…but has
never seen any.” They didn’t have a Book of Mormon, but accepted one and
committed to read from it. If you haven’t figured it out yet, the miracle
is that we went to the wrong house! We chose one house, just one
out of thousands, trying to get to one, but went to a different one, and had an
encounter better than we ever would have imagined.
Wednesday, 15
August
Another empty day. We got dogged twice. Went
streeting, and got one find for a mother of two; but she actually lives in
Pest, so I got to pass all her information off to Elder Headrick. We also
had plenty of time to go tracting. We got one let-in; however, it was
with a very scientific woman (almost atheist) who was very set in her
ways. Angolora was tonight. Only one person in my class, and only
three total. My miracle is that our trials in life always cause
reflection, and reflection is always necessary. In addition, I had one
idea for somewhere to go today; however we questioned it a little at first, and
later, when the time came, we completely and entirely forgot it and could not
think of it at all, even to the point where it became pointless and impossible
to try. I have taken that to be a fulfillment of the patterns of the Holy
Ghost and the stuttering of minds it can cause when we follow false ideas.
Thursday, 16
August
Two cancellations today. All of these dogs and
cancellations recently have been frustrating. However, we still had three
programs with members today, all of which were feeding programs. This morning
we went over to X’s and I’s to help mow their lawn and weed.
After we finished they fed us lunch. 1 ½ hours later, Elder Alldredge and
I ran over to K’s. She also had a very large snack for us as we shared
our object lesson. Immediately after K’s program, we went over to have
dinner with T and her parents. It was the first time I’ve tried langos’s.
My first one wasn’t as great as I was accidently told that the salt was
sugar. The rest were much better. I’m really tired tonight.
My miracle today is Hungarian history. I learned the names of the chiefs
of the original seven tribes that inhabited this land back during the time it
first became a country: Almos, Elod, Ond, Kond, Tas, Huba, and Tohotom.
Friday, 17 August
I’m in Sopron right now and am on splits with my second
cousin, Elder Bowen. Jumping back to this morning, Elder Alldredge and I
took a 7:00 train to Gyor, arriving over an hour before the Zone Training
started. So, we took that time exploring Gyor; finding the Belvaros, a
castle/monastery, an obelisk; went on a river walk; then made our way to the
Branch House. This afternoon we had our first “Zone Training.”
While I much prefer “Zone Conference”, the shorter Training does leave more
time for us to get back to our areas and work. After the training (which
was on Prayer), we began our splits. Elder
Bowen and I made it to Sopron in good time arriving around 3:00. It was
nice as it gave us enough time to go streeting, tracting, and take part in the
Branch activity, each for nearly two hours. The apartment in Sopron is
huge and is super nice. It is far bigger than any I’ve served in.
It is also on the fifth floor of a building, so it has a nice view. Also,
the Branch House is located on the third and fourth floors of that same
building. My miracle today is that the way we see and feel about our Missions
reflect the way we see and feel about God and His work. I have felt good
about my Mission so far; my progress and success, both outside and inside.
Saturday, 18 August
This morning we postponed the train ride to split back
until the afternoon, to give me and Elder Bowen, as well as Elders Alldredge
and Abrok, time to study together. Upon splitting back, Elder Alldredge
and I received permission to go with the other Elders and a member to a soccer
game here against the team from Gyor. In the end if finished 0-0, which
is by far my biggest problem with soccer: no one ever scores! In the
evening we played dodgeball for Fiatal Est. Missionary work is going to
be dead this coming week: Monday is August 20, one of the two biggest National
Holidays; Thursday night to Sunday night is the Savaria Carneval, which is even
bigger; and this whole week is the last week of summer before school starts and
is predicted to be hot and sunny the whole week. My miracle today is that
I have decided to take a break from my MP3 Player and Ensigns, and give myself
more time for silent meditation and to read the Book of Mormon.
Sunday, 19 August
Nothing special today. Went to Church, did weekly
planning, dinner at Szvobodas’, and made some calls. Could not get a
single program scheduled. No one is willing to meet this week. My
miracle is that the ordinance of the Sacrament was more reverent and more
spiritual today.
Monday, 20 August
Today was a Super P-Day, since it was also one of the two
biggest national holidays. Elder Alldredge and I left our apartment by
8:00 this morning and began biking out to various castles. We did not
return until 2:00. First was one in Vep. It had nice grounds, being
surrounded by a peaceful forest; although, it did have a lot of bugs.
Something interesting about the castle is that it was actually located on a
college campus. The building itself was really similar to the one at
Szabadkigyos near Bekescsaba. Our second stop was Ikervar. However,
it was surrounded by a gate and walls, which were shut. There are
currently a couple rich families living there, and, while it was really big;
the walls prevented us from getting any pictures or walking around it. Sarvar was the highlight of the day. It
was a big, real, medieval-looking castle (similar to Koszeg and Gyula).
While it’s generally closed every Monday, we were able to get in thanks to the
holiday. While there, I bought some pieces of lapis and apatite. On
the way back we tried going to Vasszecseny, where we learned our map was
inaccurate and that we’d need another hour detour to see the castle there
(which we were too tired to do). Some other notes about the trip are that
in each town and village we visited or passed through, there were dozens of men
and women dressed up going to church to celebrate Szent Istvan (Saint Stephen)
who was the King that allowed Christianity within the country. Elder
Alldredge and I returned tired and sunburned. It wouldn’t have been so
bad, except that today became windy and we were pedaling straight into the wind
the whole way back. When we got back, the
other Elders came over and we just lounged around and lazied away the rest of
the day. Out of all the Missionaries I’ve ever served with or around,
only Elder Vandermark and Elder Reese really liked to travel and go see things
on P-Day’s. I’m looking forward to getting to email tomorrow. My
miracle was getting to ride through the Hungarian countryside today. We
saw storks (haven’t seen them since leaving Bekescsaba), tens of thousands of
yellow Sunflowers, literally several to dozens of millions of pumpkins, and a
drinking fountain (not at all common here in Europe).
Szeretettel,
Shipp Elder
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