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.
Monday, January 25, 2010
First email from Hungary
Hi everyone!
Well, here´s my first email from Hungary! Sorry it doesn´t look foreign or something...haha So, my training area is in Székesfehérvár (the literal translation is Chairly White Castle--I think it used to be the capital a LONG time ago....cool, huh?) It´s pretty cool here, the branch has about 20 (?) members.....I guess I was expecting that many, just because that´s about how many our teachers told us there would probably be, but I was still kind of surprised.....ha, when I introduced myself in church, it was extremely short--I said my name, that it was my 6th day in Hungary, and that I was happy to be there......that was it. Nice, huh?
Ok, so, I pretty much can´t understand anybody....in case you´re wondering, that´s not fun. at all. I can speak a little bit, but I need to expand my vocabulary, otherwise I´ll be stuck with missionary topics for a while.....I know that I´ll be able to understand people as I hear the language more, but I am just very impatient with myself, so I feel like there´s something that I´m doing wrong that is keeping me from understanding people.....hm.
Yeah, but Pres. Baughman and Sister Baughman are way awesome! I totally love them, they are so personable and caring. After they picked us up from the airport, we got to take a nap to help get over the jet lag...the branch house is way cool, by the way. Before our nap, I had to teach a program to a new member, because two people showed up for a companionship, and they needed us to go on splits with them. It was pretty fun. The next day, we went streeting in the morning....I was able to get a few people to stop, but Sister Steck was totally rocking it! She placed 4 or 5 Book of Mormons (I know, the s is in the wrong place--deal with it :) ), and she was having conversations with everyone! Yeah, so that was fun.....oh, and all the food I´ve had here is amazing! I love it!
Oh, I forgot to mention, my trainer is Huggard Elder. He´s pretty cool--I think he was taught by Sister Snow.....? He goes home in 6 months. One thing though, I feel like he likes to spend a lot of time in the apartment....I think we´re getting out on time, I just get really antsy to get outside, and he seems like he purposefully gets distracted by something else...
Yeah, so this is definitely not anything like what I had expected from the MTC....i was expecting it to be difficult, but I am still just blown away by the intense opposition i seem to be facing right now.....something just keeps moving my mind back to home- and MTC-life, so I get pretty homesick sometimes.....that´s only in the apartment though, when we´re outside, I´m just excited to do missionary work! Hopefully I´ll be able to understand people soon, so I´ll be able to actually respond to what they´re telling me...
Ah, one funny story before I go....my first full day in Székesfehérvár (Thursday...) we locked ourselves out of the apartment. Huggard Elder had made some pasta for lunch, and he thought that we should run and by some cheese while it was cooling off....so, we didn´t have our bags or anything (luckily we both had our coats), and we went outside and shut the door. we got down maybe one flight of stairs before we asked each other if either of us had the key......nope. So, he called the landlord, who came about 5 hours later (he doesn´t live in the city)....meanwhile, we just kind of streeted.....fun.....
Yeah, so that´s my first interesting (?) story from Hungary...hopefully it´s not going to set the tone for the rest of my mission..... :) Well, I love you all and miss you so much! Ah, it´s happening again! I need to go outside or something!
Talk to you all later!
Murray Elder
Well, here´s my first email from Hungary! Sorry it doesn´t look foreign or something...haha So, my training area is in Székesfehérvár (the literal translation is Chairly White Castle--I think it used to be the capital a LONG time ago....cool, huh?) It´s pretty cool here, the branch has about 20 (?) members.....I guess I was expecting that many, just because that´s about how many our teachers told us there would probably be, but I was still kind of surprised.....ha, when I introduced myself in church, it was extremely short--I said my name, that it was my 6th day in Hungary, and that I was happy to be there......that was it. Nice, huh?
Ok, so, I pretty much can´t understand anybody....in case you´re wondering, that´s not fun. at all. I can speak a little bit, but I need to expand my vocabulary, otherwise I´ll be stuck with missionary topics for a while.....I know that I´ll be able to understand people as I hear the language more, but I am just very impatient with myself, so I feel like there´s something that I´m doing wrong that is keeping me from understanding people.....hm.
Yeah, but Pres. Baughman and Sister Baughman are way awesome! I totally love them, they are so personable and caring. After they picked us up from the airport, we got to take a nap to help get over the jet lag...the branch house is way cool, by the way. Before our nap, I had to teach a program to a new member, because two people showed up for a companionship, and they needed us to go on splits with them. It was pretty fun. The next day, we went streeting in the morning....I was able to get a few people to stop, but Sister Steck was totally rocking it! She placed 4 or 5 Book of Mormons (I know, the s is in the wrong place--deal with it :) ), and she was having conversations with everyone! Yeah, so that was fun.....oh, and all the food I´ve had here is amazing! I love it!
Oh, I forgot to mention, my trainer is Huggard Elder. He´s pretty cool--I think he was taught by Sister Snow.....? He goes home in 6 months. One thing though, I feel like he likes to spend a lot of time in the apartment....I think we´re getting out on time, I just get really antsy to get outside, and he seems like he purposefully gets distracted by something else...
Yeah, so this is definitely not anything like what I had expected from the MTC....i was expecting it to be difficult, but I am still just blown away by the intense opposition i seem to be facing right now.....something just keeps moving my mind back to home- and MTC-life, so I get pretty homesick sometimes.....that´s only in the apartment though, when we´re outside, I´m just excited to do missionary work! Hopefully I´ll be able to understand people soon, so I´ll be able to actually respond to what they´re telling me...
Ah, one funny story before I go....my first full day in Székesfehérvár (Thursday...) we locked ourselves out of the apartment. Huggard Elder had made some pasta for lunch, and he thought that we should run and by some cheese while it was cooling off....so, we didn´t have our bags or anything (luckily we both had our coats), and we went outside and shut the door. we got down maybe one flight of stairs before we asked each other if either of us had the key......nope. So, he called the landlord, who came about 5 hours later (he doesn´t live in the city)....meanwhile, we just kind of streeted.....fun.....
Yeah, so that´s my first interesting (?) story from Hungary...hopefully it´s not going to set the tone for the rest of my mission..... :) Well, I love you all and miss you so much! Ah, it´s happening again! I need to go outside or something!
Talk to you all later!
Murray Elder
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Jan 13, 2010 last P-Day in the MTC!!!!!!
Hi everyone!
So, today is my last P-Day in the MTC! AH! I cannot believe how fast this time has gone by....it seems like just yesterday it was Christmas, and the day before that that I got here......crazy.......if my mission is anywhere near this fast, it's going to be over so soon...I'm going to be using every minute!
OK, so I'll be sending my Hungary address in a letter too, but I wanted to put it in here just in case anyone got antsy and wanted to send a letter soon...:)
Elder Kyle Murray
Hungary Budapest Mission
Budapest
Hajnoczy Jozsef Utca 14
1122
Hungary
OK, so both of the o's have dashes over them (in Hajnoczy and Jozsef) Yeah, so, I'll probably be writing a bunch of letters on the plane....I'll have TONS of time, so they may be longer than they have been.....don't be expecting all of them to be that long though :)
Ah! So, I forgot to mention this, but we actually got our flight plans on Thursday! A whole day earlier than we were expecting them! Ah, we were SOOOOO excited! It was so unexpected, but we were so happy! It's totally official now...we're going to Hungary!
Ok, so here's our flight plan (and if any of you happen to be at any of these airports, they've discouraged meeting family or friends... :( sorry) We leave Salt Lake City at 8:30 AM on the 18th, arrive in Atlanta at 2:13 pm. Then, we leave there at 3:35 pm and arrive in Paris at 6:15 am on the 19th. We stay there until we fly out at 9:40, and then we arrive in Hungary at 11:50 am on January 19th, 2010. We have to report to the travel office here at 5:00 in the morning on the 18th...yay.....but, I'm really glad that we get to leave early in the morning....that's how they used to do it when our teacher went, but the past few years they've been leaving around 1:00 in the afternoon.....this way, we get to Hungary before lunchtime, so we have half a day before we officially get assigned somewhere! Ah, I'm SO excited! It would be really fun to go to Pecs (accented e) because we met this senior couple who were leaving to serve there...we even got to teach with them a few times in the TRC...they're awesome! It would be so fun to serve in the same city as them!
Well, I've got to go....next time you get an email, it's going to be coming from HUNGARY! AH!
Murray Elder
So, today is my last P-Day in the MTC! AH! I cannot believe how fast this time has gone by....it seems like just yesterday it was Christmas, and the day before that that I got here......crazy.......if my mission is anywhere near this fast, it's going to be over so soon...I'm going to be using every minute!
OK, so I'll be sending my Hungary address in a letter too, but I wanted to put it in here just in case anyone got antsy and wanted to send a letter soon...:)
Elder Kyle Murray
Hungary Budapest Mission
Budapest
Hajnoczy Jozsef Utca 14
1122
Hungary
OK, so both of the o's have dashes over them (in Hajnoczy and Jozsef) Yeah, so, I'll probably be writing a bunch of letters on the plane....I'll have TONS of time, so they may be longer than they have been.....don't be expecting all of them to be that long though :)
Ah! So, I forgot to mention this, but we actually got our flight plans on Thursday! A whole day earlier than we were expecting them! Ah, we were SOOOOO excited! It was so unexpected, but we were so happy! It's totally official now...we're going to Hungary!
Ok, so here's our flight plan (and if any of you happen to be at any of these airports, they've discouraged meeting family or friends... :( sorry) We leave Salt Lake City at 8:30 AM on the 18th, arrive in Atlanta at 2:13 pm. Then, we leave there at 3:35 pm and arrive in Paris at 6:15 am on the 19th. We stay there until we fly out at 9:40, and then we arrive in Hungary at 11:50 am on January 19th, 2010. We have to report to the travel office here at 5:00 in the morning on the 18th...yay.....but, I'm really glad that we get to leave early in the morning....that's how they used to do it when our teacher went, but the past few years they've been leaving around 1:00 in the afternoon.....this way, we get to Hungary before lunchtime, so we have half a day before we officially get assigned somewhere! Ah, I'm SO excited! It would be really fun to go to Pecs (accented e) because we met this senior couple who were leaving to serve there...we even got to teach with them a few times in the TRC...they're awesome! It would be so fun to serve in the same city as them!
Well, I've got to go....next time you get an email, it's going to be coming from HUNGARY! AH!
Murray Elder
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Flight plans this week!!!!
Hi everyone!
So, in case you didn't read the subject line for some reason, we should be getting our flight plans this Friday! AH! Which means, we leave in a little over one week! I cannot believe how fast the time has gone by here! We were coming back from the temple today, and we saw a bunch of new missionaries coming in, and Miller Elder said it feels like just yesterday when we were the new ones....ha, but he said it in Hungarian, so Lundeen Elder and I took a while to understand it....ah! which brings up another thing! This week is Consecration Week! Starting from when we left the temple today until when we enter the temple next Wednesday, we have committed ourselves to only speaking Hungarian, and to being the best missionaries we can be! aw....one of our goals was going to be to go to the RC more than once a week, but now they're only letting English elders (and some Spanish) help there....so we don't even get the one time a week. Bummer....
So, yesterday was our last day with the Albanian missionaries....they left at about 3:00 this morning.....we are going to miss them SO much....they've been here the entire time that we were here, so it's going to seem really weird without them....we've all got each others emails and adresses though, so we should be able to keep in contact over the next few years....Elder Smith and I were even talking about being roommates at BYU.....He's a rad guy. Yeah, but they are going to have so much fun in Albania....apparently there's only about 40 elders and 3 or 4 sisters, so they should see each other fairly often. Ha, and apparently there's this kid who used to chase the missionaries yelling cuss words at them...one day the missionaries said "Ok, we're going to teach you the worst American swear word, but you have to promise not to say it." So now, the kid chases the missionaries around yelling "Baptize me! Baptize me!" It's a pretty funny story.
Speaking of stories, Bro. Sorensen was telling us about when he bought his whip in Hungary.....he tried it out and managed to make a little *snap* so then, this little old neni (the e has an accent; those are little old ladies--a bacsi (accented a) is a little old man) picked up a whip, swung it, and got a huge *CRACK* then she looked over at Bro. Sorensen and just kind of cackled at him. Ha, I love all of our teachers' stories....they make me SO excited to get to Hungary! And I'm actually going to be leaving in 12 days! AAAHHHH!!! I can hardly wait, I am getting so excited to get there! (not the 15+ hour trip....i could do without that). Apparently, on your first day, they let you street for a while just around the mission home (ah, that should be so much fun! not that I'll be able to understand the people I'm streeting....but still!) and then they take you up onto this hill that overlooks Budapest. There's a cool statue up there with a poem on it (which, apparently you have no idea what it says because you still can't read), and you just get to sit and look out over the city. Bro. Sorensen said they take you there on your last day too, and it's really cool because you can actually understand the poem then, and you just get to look out at Budapest and look back on a job well done. ah, I'm so excited! I don't think I can say that enough times to fully describe just how excited I am......
Well, I hope you all had a great holiday and are having a great New Year! I love you all, and am looking forward to hearing from you in Hungary! Postage sounds way expensive, so feel free to email me if you don't want to send a letter.
Sziasztok!
Murray Elder
So, in case you didn't read the subject line for some reason, we should be getting our flight plans this Friday! AH! Which means, we leave in a little over one week! I cannot believe how fast the time has gone by here! We were coming back from the temple today, and we saw a bunch of new missionaries coming in, and Miller Elder said it feels like just yesterday when we were the new ones....ha, but he said it in Hungarian, so Lundeen Elder and I took a while to understand it....ah! which brings up another thing! This week is Consecration Week! Starting from when we left the temple today until when we enter the temple next Wednesday, we have committed ourselves to only speaking Hungarian, and to being the best missionaries we can be! aw....one of our goals was going to be to go to the RC more than once a week, but now they're only letting English elders (and some Spanish) help there....so we don't even get the one time a week. Bummer....
So, yesterday was our last day with the Albanian missionaries....they left at about 3:00 this morning.....we are going to miss them SO much....they've been here the entire time that we were here, so it's going to seem really weird without them....we've all got each others emails and adresses though, so we should be able to keep in contact over the next few years....Elder Smith and I were even talking about being roommates at BYU.....He's a rad guy. Yeah, but they are going to have so much fun in Albania....apparently there's only about 40 elders and 3 or 4 sisters, so they should see each other fairly often. Ha, and apparently there's this kid who used to chase the missionaries yelling cuss words at them...one day the missionaries said "Ok, we're going to teach you the worst American swear word, but you have to promise not to say it." So now, the kid chases the missionaries around yelling "Baptize me! Baptize me!" It's a pretty funny story.
Speaking of stories, Bro. Sorensen was telling us about when he bought his whip in Hungary.....he tried it out and managed to make a little *snap* so then, this little old neni (the e has an accent; those are little old ladies--a bacsi (accented a) is a little old man) picked up a whip, swung it, and got a huge *CRACK* then she looked over at Bro. Sorensen and just kind of cackled at him. Ha, I love all of our teachers' stories....they make me SO excited to get to Hungary! And I'm actually going to be leaving in 12 days! AAAHHHH!!! I can hardly wait, I am getting so excited to get there! (not the 15+ hour trip....i could do without that). Apparently, on your first day, they let you street for a while just around the mission home (ah, that should be so much fun! not that I'll be able to understand the people I'm streeting....but still!) and then they take you up onto this hill that overlooks Budapest. There's a cool statue up there with a poem on it (which, apparently you have no idea what it says because you still can't read), and you just get to sit and look out over the city. Bro. Sorensen said they take you there on your last day too, and it's really cool because you can actually understand the poem then, and you just get to look out at Budapest and look back on a job well done. ah, I'm so excited! I don't think I can say that enough times to fully describe just how excited I am......
Well, I hope you all had a great holiday and are having a great New Year! I love you all, and am looking forward to hearing from you in Hungary! Postage sounds way expensive, so feel free to email me if you don't want to send a letter.
Sziasztok!
Murray Elder
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
It's snowing again and it's almost January! - Dec. 30, 09
Hi Everybody!
Ok, so I was thinking today (oh yeah, it happens) and it's almost New Years which means it's almost January, which means I almost only have about 18 days until I'm in Hungary! (see, that's why I try not to think too hard too often....my line of thought get's kind of crazy...). Yeah, but we should be getting our flight plans next Friday! (the 6th, I think...) And I'm so sad, that Albanians are leaving this Monday! They've been here since we've gotten here, so we've really gotten to be good friends with them...ha, but Elder Smith said he's going to be going to BYU, so hopefully I can find him there....he's such a great guy, he comes into our room pretty much every night just to hang out with us and share his candy....actually, he usually tries to leave his candy, because EVERYONE sends missionaries candy! We have so much right now! haha, one of the Hungarian traditions is this big box of candy that we pass on....I have no idea how old some of the stuff is, but the Starburst I ate was still ok.....haha. Yeah, but I think we'll definitely be adding A LOT more candy....
Ah, so Christmas! It was so great! We woke up early so we could wake up Elder Smith (haha, I got a video of it), then we kind of went back to sleep until 7, when we woke up, made some hot chocolate, and opened presents! It was so much fun, and thanks to everyone who sent something or even just prayed for us! (Believe me, we need all the help we can get learning this language....). Yeah, but Young Women, you are all awesome! The package was super-great! Haha, I don't know if you should have sent the ball though, sometimes when we get back to our residence hall, we bounce it off all the walls and stuff...we stop by quiet time though, so I guess it's ok....haha. Yeah, but thanks so much! It was so great being able to open presents on Christmas, especially since we had no idea what we were going to be getting! Oh, and if any of the Young Women are thinking about serving missions, I would totally encourage it! We've got a sister missionary in our district, and she brings such a different spirit to everything we do....we can see such a difference between those districts that have sister missionaries, and those that don't...sister missionaries bring such strong testimonies, and everyone is so respectful of them.
Ok, so after we opened presents, we got showered and went to the Christmas morning devotional....our district and the Albanian district were ushering, so we got to sit in the 2nd row....and Elder L. Tom Perry was the speaker! Oh my gosh, he is so much taller in real life! On tv, he looks just average height, but he's really tall! His family came too, and they each read something out of the scriptures about Christ's birth, and then he would talk about it.....it was such a great devotional, and afterwards, as he was leaving, he stopped to shake hands with a sister who had sang a special musical number. She was sitting right in front of me, so L. Tom Perry was like, 6 feet away from me! It was so cool!
Ok, after the devotional, we went to lunch, and Elder Perry was there too with his family! We didn't get to sit by him or anything, but it was just cool seeing him sitting with missionaries and talking with them. After lunch, we went to our residence hall to write letters. Then, we went to the fireside where we got to hear from Greg Olson! He showed a bunch of his paintings, and explained how he's learned so much more about the Savior just from the amount of thought that he puts into trying to portray Him.
Oh, so I forgot to mention the fireside from the 20th (I think....). I can't remember the speaker, but he's in charge of the the Home Front, which is the group that puts out the LDS ads on tv, so we got to watch a bunch of them! They are so ridiculously cheesy, but so great! You should all definitely check them out online! (I think they're online....?) One of them is called "The Practice" (I think....) and it won an Emmy! That's so cool! Then, there's another one about divorce, and when they were having tryouts, they asked each kid to bring their favorite toy...the boy who was in it brought his favorite toy car, and the girl brought her favorite doll....before they started filming, they took the girl outside and took her doll away from her. Then, they took the doll inside to the boy, took it's head off, and put his car inside the doll. Then they brought the girl back in, gave her the doll, and started filming. It's so funny, because they do that between takes (sorry, earlier i said it was before filming), and you can see the exact moment when the kids react to what happened. It's pretty funny. There all great though, you should watch all of them.....most of them will have you laughing, if not because they're funny, then at least just because they're so darn cheesy!
Yeah, well, my clock is blinking at me....I've only got about 4 minutes....oh! We heard from an Elder who left a few weeks ago, and we get 1.5 hours for email, so these might start being a little longer...haha. He also said we can watch Disney movies on P-Days, but who wants to go to a foreign country and stay inside watching movies!? I'm going to go everywhere I can! Ah, I'm so excited! Our departure date is getting closer and closer! And the time is definitely speeding up....I don't know how, but it feels like we're going to be leaving really soon! I can't wait!
I love you all, and I hope you all had a wonderful holiday! Remember to keep writing, and I'll send the address that I'll have in Hungary next week....I forgot to bring it with me today.....
Happy New Year! almost....
Murray Elder
Ok, so I was thinking today (oh yeah, it happens) and it's almost New Years which means it's almost January, which means I almost only have about 18 days until I'm in Hungary! (see, that's why I try not to think too hard too often....my line of thought get's kind of crazy...). Yeah, but we should be getting our flight plans next Friday! (the 6th, I think...) And I'm so sad, that Albanians are leaving this Monday! They've been here since we've gotten here, so we've really gotten to be good friends with them...ha, but Elder Smith said he's going to be going to BYU, so hopefully I can find him there....he's such a great guy, he comes into our room pretty much every night just to hang out with us and share his candy....actually, he usually tries to leave his candy, because EVERYONE sends missionaries candy! We have so much right now! haha, one of the Hungarian traditions is this big box of candy that we pass on....I have no idea how old some of the stuff is, but the Starburst I ate was still ok.....haha. Yeah, but I think we'll definitely be adding A LOT more candy....
Ah, so Christmas! It was so great! We woke up early so we could wake up Elder Smith (haha, I got a video of it), then we kind of went back to sleep until 7, when we woke up, made some hot chocolate, and opened presents! It was so much fun, and thanks to everyone who sent something or even just prayed for us! (Believe me, we need all the help we can get learning this language....). Yeah, but Young Women, you are all awesome! The package was super-great! Haha, I don't know if you should have sent the ball though, sometimes when we get back to our residence hall, we bounce it off all the walls and stuff...we stop by quiet time though, so I guess it's ok....haha. Yeah, but thanks so much! It was so great being able to open presents on Christmas, especially since we had no idea what we were going to be getting! Oh, and if any of the Young Women are thinking about serving missions, I would totally encourage it! We've got a sister missionary in our district, and she brings such a different spirit to everything we do....we can see such a difference between those districts that have sister missionaries, and those that don't...sister missionaries bring such strong testimonies, and everyone is so respectful of them.
Ok, so after we opened presents, we got showered and went to the Christmas morning devotional....our district and the Albanian district were ushering, so we got to sit in the 2nd row....and Elder L. Tom Perry was the speaker! Oh my gosh, he is so much taller in real life! On tv, he looks just average height, but he's really tall! His family came too, and they each read something out of the scriptures about Christ's birth, and then he would talk about it.....it was such a great devotional, and afterwards, as he was leaving, he stopped to shake hands with a sister who had sang a special musical number. She was sitting right in front of me, so L. Tom Perry was like, 6 feet away from me! It was so cool!
Ok, after the devotional, we went to lunch, and Elder Perry was there too with his family! We didn't get to sit by him or anything, but it was just cool seeing him sitting with missionaries and talking with them. After lunch, we went to our residence hall to write letters. Then, we went to the fireside where we got to hear from Greg Olson! He showed a bunch of his paintings, and explained how he's learned so much more about the Savior just from the amount of thought that he puts into trying to portray Him.
Oh, so I forgot to mention the fireside from the 20th (I think....). I can't remember the speaker, but he's in charge of the the Home Front, which is the group that puts out the LDS ads on tv, so we got to watch a bunch of them! They are so ridiculously cheesy, but so great! You should all definitely check them out online! (I think they're online....?) One of them is called "The Practice" (I think....) and it won an Emmy! That's so cool! Then, there's another one about divorce, and when they were having tryouts, they asked each kid to bring their favorite toy...the boy who was in it brought his favorite toy car, and the girl brought her favorite doll....before they started filming, they took the girl outside and took her doll away from her. Then, they took the doll inside to the boy, took it's head off, and put his car inside the doll. Then they brought the girl back in, gave her the doll, and started filming. It's so funny, because they do that between takes (sorry, earlier i said it was before filming), and you can see the exact moment when the kids react to what happened. It's pretty funny. There all great though, you should watch all of them.....most of them will have you laughing, if not because they're funny, then at least just because they're so darn cheesy!
Yeah, well, my clock is blinking at me....I've only got about 4 minutes....oh! We heard from an Elder who left a few weeks ago, and we get 1.5 hours for email, so these might start being a little longer...haha. He also said we can watch Disney movies on P-Days, but who wants to go to a foreign country and stay inside watching movies!? I'm going to go everywhere I can! Ah, I'm so excited! Our departure date is getting closer and closer! And the time is definitely speeding up....I don't know how, but it feels like we're going to be leaving really soon! I can't wait!
I love you all, and I hope you all had a wonderful holiday! Remember to keep writing, and I'll send the address that I'll have in Hungary next week....I forgot to bring it with me today.....
Happy New Year! almost....
Murray Elder
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