Sunday, November 29, 2015

November 28, 2015


Happy Thanksgiving!

It's a little bit hard to believe that Thanksgiving in the MTC was already more than a year ago. I can say for sure, though, that it's much, much better in the real world. ;)

Stake Conference was last week on Sunday, and it was really good! Got to see a lot of my friends from Érd and Kispest who also came into the city for the conference, and all the talks were great. Two seventies came, which was pretty unusual, I guess, but it was a good day!

The senior couples here in Budapest, the Simkins and the Petersons, were super nice and put on a Thanksgiving dinner for all the missionaries who live in Buda, including the Szabadkai family. It turned out pretty well, but I wasn't able to eat nearly as much as I probably used to be able to at home, just because our appetites aren't nearly as big as the American-sized plates sometimes! It was good to be able to spend a little bit of time with the senior couples and share a kind of family Thanksgiving with the other missionaries here in the district.

Right after the Thanksgiving dinner, we taught our English class that we hold here on Hájnoczy Utca 14, and then we headed out to drive to Veszprém that night to go on splits with the elders there. It turned out to be a great splits, and I know I learned a lot from being with Elder Heaps for a day! He's still relatively new here in the country, but he's doing a great job with everything and it was great to have him show me the ropes around Veszprém as we went streeting around the castle and had a few programs afterwords.

On the way back from splits in Veszprém, we stopped for gas in a scenic little town on the shore of the Lake Balaton, the biggest lake in Hungary by far and one of the biggest lakes in all of southeastern Europe. Since it gets pretty busy during the summertime, missionaries aren't supposed to be there from April to October. We were lucky enough to see it in the time right before winter! A big puddle, basically, with lots of castles and churches and villages all around its sides. Really cool place.

We also got in all of our cards for the Christmas initiative that's coming out tomorrow! We ordered 50,000 fliers from a print shop here in town, and the sisters here in Buda picked them up yesterday and now we're getting ready to distribute them to everyone around the country. Take a look at the website if you have a second, it's awesome! http://christmas.mormon.org/

Then, today for p-day, Elder Watson and I decided to go take a field trip just outside of the busy part of Budapest to visit a place called the Pálvölgyi Barlang, a super long and complicated system of caves that runs throughout the hills in Buda. It was a fun activity to help us relax a little bit before starting our next week, and the weather inside the cave was much warmer than the chilly air outside. (It started to snow today--ahhh!!)

We're heading to a baptism in just a little bit here--remember Kati who I taught when I was in Kispest with Elder Dalton? Her son's flying in from England to baptize her tonight, so we're going to cross the river and be there for her special day!

Mátyás's baptism is also coming up soon on December 12! We're getting ready his program and making sure that everything's in order for that Saturday. We're all excited about that. :)

I think that's all the major news for today! Have a great week and we'll talk some more next time. :) Love you!






Went on an adventure for p-day today... Took a bus to just
outside of Budapest and went to a cool cave called "Pálvölgy Barlang."
Super pretty place and a good chance to see something
besides tall buildings and concrete.














Splits with the elders in a little town called Vesprém this week.
We were walking around talking with people in the city's
 castle on the hill in the center of the village. Beautiful place.












Splits with Elder Heaps went really well! He's been in Hungary
for almost six months now, and he already speaks
 like a champ. Had a fun time with him!














On the way back to Budapest, stopped for gas next to
 the Lake Balaton, one of the biggest lakes in southeastern
 Europe and home to some of the most scenic places in Hungary!
It was a little bit more gray because it was a cloudy, foggy
day, but you still get the idea of how impressive it is.















Took a few pictures next to the beach before we left back
 for Budapest. Castles and churches all around the shore of the lake.














Tried to take some jumping pictures, with varied success...













Your friendly neighborhood Spiderman Elder





























Had to have a running picture. ;)














Selfie on the beach!













More thin hallways through the caves













Had to climb a 7 meter long ladder at one point
 to get up to the next part of the walk












Little underground river running through a room in the cave













Selfie from the barlang!





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