Hi everyone!
yeah, that's pretty much all i can say about this past week. It was very....unexpected? Yeah, so, on Monday, we taught an Angolora student, and he seemed really interested in reading the Book of Mormon...he had a few questions, and that's always so great, because it really shows that they're interested.....it was pretty cool. On Tuesday, we went to Veszprém for District Meeting, and that was pretty fun...the best part was that we got to go on splits! I stayed in Veszprém with Elder Lilyenquist, and his companion, Elder Nauman, went with Elder Huggard back to Székesfehérvár. It was pretty cool getting to spend time in another city with a different person and getting to see how they teach...it was way fun! On Wednesday, we split back, and that evening, Elder Huggard and I got to teach 3 Angolora students....it was cool because they're all about 20 years old, and they seemed pretty interested, so it will be fun to see where that goes. Thursday was pretty good...not much to report....I gave my first blessing in Hungarian.....interesting.....I just did the first part, so I just had to read it. We also went to the Branch house to help someone get their car out of the snow....I got to back out the car while they pushed.....wow, i don't know why, it just felt really wierd to be in the driver's seat, even just for those few minutes....i hope i remember how to drive when i get back...haha, just kidding. Yeah, but the guy's name was Ted Kelly (or Kelly Ted....they've switched it for Hungarian, and I don't know which is his last name....) he's the facilities director for our mission, and he lives in Budapest...he was pretty cool, he came here on his mission in '97 or something, and he's been living here since about 2003.
Haha, Friday...oh boy......so, we went with Tibor to get some stuff for the Farsang Buli (Tradition Party? maybe.......) that the Branch was having on Saturday.....actually, he got stuff for that, and we got stuff for our Mexican Night at a member's house on Sunday. It got kind of expensive, but we were still wondering if we'd have enough.....That night, we made the salsa......and ended up with about 5 kilos......i don't know how much that is in pounds, but we filled two pretty big tupperware containers and a jar, so it was a lot! Then, on Saturday, we made our costumes for the Farsang Buli....Elder Huggard made a pretty intense costume.....we were both robots.....actually, if we want to be specific, i was definitely an android from Star Trek.....oh yes, i am definitely a nerd.....haha, but it was fun though. The party went well, and afterwards we were finally able to meet with an investigator that i hadn't met before....she hasn't been able to come because of the weather, so this is the first time i had met her. After we got home, we made fajita and burrito filling and tacos.......we should have been able to tell because of the salsa, but we made a ton. yeah. we also made a lot of tortillas. then on sunday, after church, we made more tortillas. Then we went to the member's flat, heated everything up and had dinner. Everyone really liked it (we had to keep explaining how to fold the torillas), and we managed to teach a great lesson afterwards (we're even meeting with them again!) Yeah, so everything went really well! we were super happy! and, we pretty much have enough food to last us the entire week.......each person had maybe one or two things (fajitas or burritos) and then they were done eating. So.............looks like we'll be eating those for this week. it's not that bad though, everything tastes really good, szerintünk (according to us), so the only bad thing will be the monotony......ha, it won't be that bad for me though, i've had corn flakes for every breakfast and pasta for every dinner.....so, i'm ready....haha.
Yeah, so that was this week. We're emailing kinda late today because we went with a member to a castle in a falu (village). It was pretty fun. really cold though. but fun.
Well, i hope you're all doing great! I can't believe that we're starting the last full week of this transfer.....if we get a call next monday, one of us will be going to a different city.....wierd....but, i'm excited for whatever happens!
I miss you all, and hope you all know how amazing you are!
Elder Murray
P.S. We met with Tibor one night, and he shared a scripture with us that he found while he was studying. It's D&C 111:11. It's way cool. I can't remember it exactly right now, but it is such an encouraging verse! we read the whole section, and it's pretty much golden for missionary work. seriously, we could just shove in the name of whatever city we're serving in, consider members and investigators as the treasure, and we've got a formula for success! it was way cool that he found that and shared it with us.....we're all super excited to do our absolute best now!
I love you all and miss all of you!
Elder Murray
Monday, February 22, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
transfer 1, week 5
HI everyone!
So, I was kind of running out of ideas for subjects for the title, so i just decided to keep a log of where I am in the transfer...if I think of a great title, i'll put that up too.....
Yeah, so this week was great! We're meeting with quite a few Angolora students outside of class, and they all seem to be pretty interested in the Gospel....it's pretty awesome....we even invited one to church, and she came and stayed for all the meetings! I think she even made some friends too.....it was pretty cool.
Haha, so Elder Huggard decided that he wanted to make brownies for Angolora.....he mixed everything together, but still needed a little more sugar, so he used some brown sugar......yeah. haha, then he turned up the oven too much or something, because the batter started boiling or something.....interesting...yeah, but the brown sugar caramelized, and then turned rock solid.......like, Kryptonite, Superman-proof hard. seriously. We had to let it soak in water for a few days before we started trying to chisel it out of the pan......it was interesting....haha, but our apartment smells like caramel brownies now, so that's good......it's always nice to come home after a long day to the smell of brownies....even if there's none to eat...haha
Ah, but Sunday was so great! I got to help pass the sacrament and our Angolora student came. It was pretty much awesome. Then, that evening, we went to a member-family's house so the mom could practice English with us.....Elder Huggard was sitting in one of those plasic lawn chairs, and one of the legs broke..it was funny, he was kind of just sitting on the floor in stunned silence, and everyone was laughing....they didn't really care, it was just pretty hilarious. haha, and Hungarians are kind of funny because they just say things like they are....the mom said "oh, i should have known that that chair couldn't handle your weight" It's funny, becuase they don't say it to be mean or anything, they just say it.
After that, we ran over to another member's house for dinner.....it was SO GOOD! She made paprika chicken with nokedli.......so delicious! Apparently, she always invites the Elder's Quorum president over with the missionaries, and he says that she makes the best nokedli.......it was pretty much delicious.....i don't really know how to describe it, it's kind of like pasta........but not really......i don't know, look it up online or something, the point is, it was delicious! She was really nice too, and I could understand a lot of what she said.....after dinner, we gave her a blessing.....it was really cool. I didn't have to say anything, i just stood in the circle, but it was such a neat experience...even though it was in a different language, I could still feel the influence of the Spirit.
Yeah, so that was pretty much our week...not much else to report...Gosh, it's so wierd to think that this transfer is almost over! Elder Huggard and I might be together for the next one (Even if we're not, i might still be in Székesfehérvár), but time is just going by so fast! I've already been on my mission for almost 18 weeks....that's three transfers, out of the 18 that we have over the two years....my mission is 1/6 of the way over already! AH! I need to get busy! I feel like I haven't done anything, even though every day is packed! I guess seeing that fraction makes it seem way short! (haha, I'm going to be really embarrassed if i did that math wrong......haha)
Yeah, well, I hope you're all having a great time! I miss you all so much, and I'm looking forward to hearing about what's going on with you all.
Elder Murray
So, I was kind of running out of ideas for subjects for the title, so i just decided to keep a log of where I am in the transfer...if I think of a great title, i'll put that up too.....
Yeah, so this week was great! We're meeting with quite a few Angolora students outside of class, and they all seem to be pretty interested in the Gospel....it's pretty awesome....we even invited one to church, and she came and stayed for all the meetings! I think she even made some friends too.....it was pretty cool.
Haha, so Elder Huggard decided that he wanted to make brownies for Angolora.....he mixed everything together, but still needed a little more sugar, so he used some brown sugar......yeah. haha, then he turned up the oven too much or something, because the batter started boiling or something.....interesting...yeah, but the brown sugar caramelized, and then turned rock solid.......like, Kryptonite, Superman-proof hard. seriously. We had to let it soak in water for a few days before we started trying to chisel it out of the pan......it was interesting....haha, but our apartment smells like caramel brownies now, so that's good......it's always nice to come home after a long day to the smell of brownies....even if there's none to eat...haha
Ah, but Sunday was so great! I got to help pass the sacrament and our Angolora student came. It was pretty much awesome. Then, that evening, we went to a member-family's house so the mom could practice English with us.....Elder Huggard was sitting in one of those plasic lawn chairs, and one of the legs broke..it was funny, he was kind of just sitting on the floor in stunned silence, and everyone was laughing....they didn't really care, it was just pretty hilarious. haha, and Hungarians are kind of funny because they just say things like they are....the mom said "oh, i should have known that that chair couldn't handle your weight" It's funny, becuase they don't say it to be mean or anything, they just say it.
After that, we ran over to another member's house for dinner.....it was SO GOOD! She made paprika chicken with nokedli.......so delicious! Apparently, she always invites the Elder's Quorum president over with the missionaries, and he says that she makes the best nokedli.......it was pretty much delicious.....i don't really know how to describe it, it's kind of like pasta........but not really......i don't know, look it up online or something, the point is, it was delicious! She was really nice too, and I could understand a lot of what she said.....after dinner, we gave her a blessing.....it was really cool. I didn't have to say anything, i just stood in the circle, but it was such a neat experience...even though it was in a different language, I could still feel the influence of the Spirit.
Yeah, so that was pretty much our week...not much else to report...Gosh, it's so wierd to think that this transfer is almost over! Elder Huggard and I might be together for the next one (Even if we're not, i might still be in Székesfehérvár), but time is just going by so fast! I've already been on my mission for almost 18 weeks....that's three transfers, out of the 18 that we have over the two years....my mission is 1/6 of the way over already! AH! I need to get busy! I feel like I haven't done anything, even though every day is packed! I guess seeing that fraction makes it seem way short! (haha, I'm going to be really embarrassed if i did that math wrong......haha)
Yeah, well, I hope you're all having a great time! I miss you all so much, and I'm looking forward to hearing about what's going on with you all.
Elder Murray
Monday, February 8, 2010
Weekly letter
Hi Everyone!
OK, let's see if I can remember all the questions I got this week....
Yeah, I got a bunch of letters the other day--I don't think I'll be able to check my mail anytime soon, because the next time I'll be going to Budapest will be either for transfers or to pick up my official visa--both are during the same week (I think, maybe the visa might be the week after transfers...) But yeah, I got a bunch of letters last time I was there, so that was great! I'll try to figure out my actual apartment address for next week--although, it might be too late to send mail to that one, if I get transferred. Whenever I get to a new area, I'll try to get the address posted as soon as possible, so if you want to send letters directly to that one, you could probably do that. Still stick with the mission home for packages though, or if you just want to send letters there too. Yeah, but I'll try to get the address...
Um, I'm pretty sure that anyone who wants to can email me....I just probably won't be able to have a huge reply for them...I could try to reply through this email I guess....but yeah, anyone who wants to can email me.
OK, so, this week....it was great! We went to Budapest on Monday AND Thursday (it was awesome!). Thursday was zone conference, and that was amazing! I got to see two of the missionaries who were in the group above us at the MTC, so that was kind of fun.
So, besides that, we taught a lot of lessons this week...ha, we went out to this little falu (I think that's how you spell it....?) which is like, a tiny city (pretty much, village) to visit a less active. When we were done, we walked the 15 minutes back to the bus stop, realized we forgot the phone, went back to get it, and missed the bus. BUT, the upside was that we got to visit with her a little more, and actually talk to her husband who got there just after we got back for the phone. He's not a member, but I think we built up a pretty good relationship with him, so we're going to try to find a time when they're both home again to teach him. It's going to be great!
Yeah, but this week has been pretty good. I think my Angolora classes are getting a little more interesting....we've been playing 20 questions, and they seemed to like it, but I'm going to try to find some different games to play, just to keep it from getting too monotonous.
OK, so we had one day this week where Pres. and Sis. Baughman came out to interview us....they took us out to lunch afterwards. The food was extremely good, and the portions were huge! I managed to eat all of mine, and I was extremely proud of myself, because I rarely finish meals of that size. Yeah, but after that, we went to two different programs with Recent Converts, and they both fed us. We were stuffed! But, they both fed us palacsintas, which are like crepes, but better--so, that was good. They were delicious! We have officially designated Sunday nights as palacsinta night, because Huggard Elder can make them, so we make a bunch and eat while we just kind of chat about ourselves...it's a great bonding experience, I think we talk more and find out more about each other during that time than we do during the whole week! Ha, not really, but we do talk a lot. It's pretty fun.
Yeah, so, that was my week...I think I'm pretty well set into the flow of things, I just need to learn how to communicate! Ah......but, it's getting better...one of the things we learned at zone conference is to not be constantly translating back and forth in our heads, because we'll just get lost....we need to just either be in Hungarian mode, or English mode....It's kind of difficult for me, but I've been trying to just switch over to Hungarian whenever we're teaching, and it's helped so much! It's really encouraging! Like, I still don't know what they're saying because my vocabulary is so limited, but I'm learning how to hear individual words and kind of sentence structure....it's way cool!
So, I'm sorry if I've already said any of this in the last letter....I can't remember what I've put in my emails and what I've written down in my journal...oh well....It's written down somewhere.... :) I miss you all, but I'm having a great time here! I hope you all know what stellar people you are! I love all of you!
Elder Murray
OK, let's see if I can remember all the questions I got this week....
Yeah, I got a bunch of letters the other day--I don't think I'll be able to check my mail anytime soon, because the next time I'll be going to Budapest will be either for transfers or to pick up my official visa--both are during the same week (I think, maybe the visa might be the week after transfers...) But yeah, I got a bunch of letters last time I was there, so that was great! I'll try to figure out my actual apartment address for next week--although, it might be too late to send mail to that one, if I get transferred. Whenever I get to a new area, I'll try to get the address posted as soon as possible, so if you want to send letters directly to that one, you could probably do that. Still stick with the mission home for packages though, or if you just want to send letters there too. Yeah, but I'll try to get the address...
Um, I'm pretty sure that anyone who wants to can email me....I just probably won't be able to have a huge reply for them...I could try to reply through this email I guess....but yeah, anyone who wants to can email me.
OK, so, this week....it was great! We went to Budapest on Monday AND Thursday (it was awesome!). Thursday was zone conference, and that was amazing! I got to see two of the missionaries who were in the group above us at the MTC, so that was kind of fun.
So, besides that, we taught a lot of lessons this week...ha, we went out to this little falu (I think that's how you spell it....?) which is like, a tiny city (pretty much, village) to visit a less active. When we were done, we walked the 15 minutes back to the bus stop, realized we forgot the phone, went back to get it, and missed the bus. BUT, the upside was that we got to visit with her a little more, and actually talk to her husband who got there just after we got back for the phone. He's not a member, but I think we built up a pretty good relationship with him, so we're going to try to find a time when they're both home again to teach him. It's going to be great!
Yeah, but this week has been pretty good. I think my Angolora classes are getting a little more interesting....we've been playing 20 questions, and they seemed to like it, but I'm going to try to find some different games to play, just to keep it from getting too monotonous.
OK, so we had one day this week where Pres. and Sis. Baughman came out to interview us....they took us out to lunch afterwards. The food was extremely good, and the portions were huge! I managed to eat all of mine, and I was extremely proud of myself, because I rarely finish meals of that size. Yeah, but after that, we went to two different programs with Recent Converts, and they both fed us. We were stuffed! But, they both fed us palacsintas, which are like crepes, but better--so, that was good. They were delicious! We have officially designated Sunday nights as palacsinta night, because Huggard Elder can make them, so we make a bunch and eat while we just kind of chat about ourselves...it's a great bonding experience, I think we talk more and find out more about each other during that time than we do during the whole week! Ha, not really, but we do talk a lot. It's pretty fun.
Yeah, so, that was my week...I think I'm pretty well set into the flow of things, I just need to learn how to communicate! Ah......but, it's getting better...one of the things we learned at zone conference is to not be constantly translating back and forth in our heads, because we'll just get lost....we need to just either be in Hungarian mode, or English mode....It's kind of difficult for me, but I've been trying to just switch over to Hungarian whenever we're teaching, and it's helped so much! It's really encouraging! Like, I still don't know what they're saying because my vocabulary is so limited, but I'm learning how to hear individual words and kind of sentence structure....it's way cool!
So, I'm sorry if I've already said any of this in the last letter....I can't remember what I've put in my emails and what I've written down in my journal...oh well....It's written down somewhere.... :) I miss you all, but I'm having a great time here! I hope you all know what stellar people you are! I love all of you!
Elder Murray
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Report from Székesfehérvár!
Hi everyone! I hope I didn't freak you all out by not writing yesterday--we were in Budapest for new missionary training and to get our visas (training=AWESOME.....getting visas=b.o.r.i.n.g.) Yeah, but the training was absolutely amazing, and it was with our MTC district, so it was just great to be able to see them again! We all totally feel like family, and we're already making plans to get together after our missions. They're all so great! Yeah, but we were in Budapest all day, so I didn't have a chance to email....so today, we're emailing and doing our shopping.
Oh my gosh, this past week has gone so much better than last week! And it's mostly just how I've been looking at things. I missed you all last week, but that's what I was focusing a lot on, so it made me extremely homesick, and even think about coming home--don't worry, that feeling didn't get too serious. :) This week, I've noticed that I still miss you, but I'm able to see that as something to help me--I want to be the best missionary I can for all of you at home who are so loving and supportive of me. You all make me want to do my absolute best! I am so stoked to get down to work! Elder Huggard and I had a great experience on Sunday--we went streeting after we had set our goals, and we were so excited and ready to accomplish them! We didn't have much success with finding people who were interested in our message, but I was pushing myself to just talk to everyone (seriously--everyone. There's not many people out on Sunday nights, and we talked to about 80% of the people on the street. I know, we can still improve, but it's a lot more than we had been streeting.) It's just so great though, because you can really see how the Lord blesses you as you work harder with a real desire to help people. Even if nobody listens to you, He just helps you to be happy. It's just such an great feeling! In the training, Pres. Baughman just said that even if you aren't feeling happy and successful, just smile. He read a quote that was something along the lines of "Do people smile because they're happy, or are they happy because they smile?" It was great, and really got me excited just to have a positive attitude all the time!
So, the language is still being difficult, but the rest of my district said they were having a hard time too, so I feel a little better. I know that it will come as we work hard, sincerely try to understand and speak, and put our trust in the Lord.
I miss you all, and I hope that you all know how much I love you! You're all such great people--you're one of the reasons why I'm out here!
Elder Murray
ps--I've got a little book I'm keeping quotes in--if any of you come across any (serious, inspirational, funny, from movies, from songs--pretty much, anything--just remember to put who or what it's from as well), you should definitely email them to me! or, you could probably email them to my parents, and they could send them my way.
Oh my gosh, this past week has gone so much better than last week! And it's mostly just how I've been looking at things. I missed you all last week, but that's what I was focusing a lot on, so it made me extremely homesick, and even think about coming home--don't worry, that feeling didn't get too serious. :) This week, I've noticed that I still miss you, but I'm able to see that as something to help me--I want to be the best missionary I can for all of you at home who are so loving and supportive of me. You all make me want to do my absolute best! I am so stoked to get down to work! Elder Huggard and I had a great experience on Sunday--we went streeting after we had set our goals, and we were so excited and ready to accomplish them! We didn't have much success with finding people who were interested in our message, but I was pushing myself to just talk to everyone (seriously--everyone. There's not many people out on Sunday nights, and we talked to about 80% of the people on the street. I know, we can still improve, but it's a lot more than we had been streeting.) It's just so great though, because you can really see how the Lord blesses you as you work harder with a real desire to help people. Even if nobody listens to you, He just helps you to be happy. It's just such an great feeling! In the training, Pres. Baughman just said that even if you aren't feeling happy and successful, just smile. He read a quote that was something along the lines of "Do people smile because they're happy, or are they happy because they smile?" It was great, and really got me excited just to have a positive attitude all the time!
So, the language is still being difficult, but the rest of my district said they were having a hard time too, so I feel a little better. I know that it will come as we work hard, sincerely try to understand and speak, and put our trust in the Lord.
I miss you all, and I hope that you all know how much I love you! You're all such great people--you're one of the reasons why I'm out here!
Elder Murray
ps--I've got a little book I'm keeping quotes in--if any of you come across any (serious, inspirational, funny, from movies, from songs--pretty much, anything--just remember to put who or what it's from as well), you should definitely email them to me! or, you could probably email them to my parents, and they could send them my way.
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