Easter Monday....another P Day...

Today is Easter Monday. It is a big holiday in Hungary. They began celebrating on Thursday, by either closing the schools early in the day, or all day. It is hard for us to tell. Friday was a school holiday. Saturday, Sunday and Monday are big...most businesses are closed.

Sunday when we left church we noticed many more people had been to church at the Catholic Church at the end of our street. Most of the ladies were wearing dresses.

Our week has been a good one. We worked hard. We got a new office Elder in for training on Monday. He is Elder Pickard. He is 6ft. 6in. tall, and a very nice young man. Elder Davies will be going over to Pest to be in a threesome for the rest of this transfer.

Tuesday was bank day and we had to go there to get some paperwork taken care of and to buy some money for the mission and then get back before Presidency Meeting for Brent. We made it!

Tuesday evening we received another new missionary. He should have come last week with the rest of his group, but he had some health issues that needed caring for, so he came this week.

On Wednesday we received another new missionary. This one comes from Romania and has been in Preston England at the MTC there. He speaks pretty good English, and good Hungarian. He is bright and witty. You may have noticed that I didn't say that about the Tuesday Elder; that is because we haven't met him yet. The President took the Tuesday Elder right from the Airport to the train station to get him to his new area. We should meet him next week.

The Elder that came on Wednesday also went directly to his new area in Tatabanya. He is a distant relative of Norm and Nancy Weber, by the name of Elder Weber (pronounced Veber). He came to the baptism I am going to tell you about later.

Brent spent two days running cars over to the garage to get all the winter tires off and the summer tires on all the mission cars. It was a busy couple of days for him.

Wednesday Eldler Schnebly came late at night and stayed with us so that Brent could take him to the airport early on Thursday. He is heading home ahead of his wife. She is waiting until she gets a visa for Nagy Mama (her mother) . They think it should be soon. Since being released as missionaries, he has served in the Mission Presidency and they have tried to help build the in the Eastern part of this country, while caring for Nagy Mama. They have been in charge of the Outreach (now Center for Young Adults) in Debrecen. .

Thursday was zone interviews, so we had many many missionaries around most of the day. Thursday we made cookies and made funny little Easter Baskets for the Elders and the Allens.

Things like that make life a little more normal for us here.

It always amazes me how quickly the missionaries can wolf down cookies. I don't think I could ever make enough for them.

Friday felt good, as there were not lots of people around and we could get a bit done of what we choose to do. We went to waffle night and then came home. We knew Saturday would be a busy day.

Saturday was the Branch Brunch at the church. We made a big breakfast souffle, which turned out really good.

The people who were in charge had just returned from Cancun and they could not wake up because of jet lag. Finally someone called them. We went ahead and started. Lucky we had the souffle. It really was fun. They are all so nice to be around. We had good food and good company.

We also had an Easter Egg hunt for the kids. They were very funny. Some of the children hunted us down to share their eggs with us. They were really cute.

Reluctantly, we left to make a Home Depot run with the Allens. It is always an adventure to try to find what we need. We are good at making do with what is here.

At 3:00 we attended an incredible baptism.

All the branch from Tatabanya came to the mission home to hold the baptism. It is really hard to find a place in Tatabanya to rent to hold a baptism. Ferre and his family, wife and daughter, were there.

Clara and her grandaughter were baptized. As Clara was baptized the spirit was especially strong. It was a wonderful baptism.

Ferre and his family, wife and daughter, were there. Ferry's family passed out some beautiful decorated eggs to some of us. Ferenc (Ferre is a nickname) (Frank or Francis is the first member in Tatabanya to be baptized. He has been such a great asset to the branch, missionaries and the Church. He is an incredible man.) They are made with beads.

L & B you might remember the tall lady in Tatabanya who speaks English very well (brown short hair). I asked her when she was going to be baptized and she said it is complicated. She was quick to point out that it was not for lack of testimony. I hope that the time will come very soon for her.

As the Baptismal service was starting, a couple of our elders came in with a gentleman they had just met streeting. He is from Mali in Africa and is in Hungary for three months. He had talked to them and then asked where the church was. They brought him over not knowing that there would be a baptismal service. After he observed the baptism, he made the comment that that is how they do it in his church.

Sunday morning he appeared at church again. It was Fast Meeting and at the end he got up and introduced himself as Bishop whatever his last name is. We had called him Sam. He told us how much he had felt the spirit in our meeting and that he would be coming to church to worship with us while he is here in Hungary. The missionaries gave him pamphlets to read. We think that there may not be any missionaries in his area, but perhaps there is a congregation waiting for the Gospel when he arrives back in Africa. I am sure there will be more chapters of this story coming up.

After the baptism was over, we went to VaPiano and on down Fashion Street (Vorosmarty Ter) to the square for the Easter Fair. That was nice.

The fiddler came right up nose to nose with Elder Allen. When he saw that we were Americans he began to sing and play Battle Hymn of the Republic. We sang right along with him.

We enjoyed the silver man. It was fun to watch him watch the people around him. The sights and sounds and smells of the fair is always fun.

We wish that the could buy some of the pottery, but it would be way too expensive to ship home. We will just enjoy looking at it here.

After church on Sunday, we had dinner at the Allens with a gentleman from Cairo, currently. He is a member who works for US AID which is part of the government, giving aid to countries. His name was Jed Barton. Delightful gentleman and we enjoyed our time visiting with him. It is always exciting to see who comes to church when they are traveling.

Today we are scheduled to head to Holoko, a small village in the north, where they have a lovely Easter celebration each Easter weekend. We will have to report on that next week.

The very most important event of this week was one that we were not able to attend. We are so proud of our grandaughter Aubree Gudgell for making the choice to be baptized on Saturday. I will post a picture of her as soon as I figure out how to download the pictures that Rob sent me.

We are halfway through our 10th Transfer. We are amazed at how the time is flying. We realize how much more we need to savor this experience. It is amazing to realize what we have been and are now doing. We are so grateful for this experience. It is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity. I hope that many of you will also have this kind of opportunity. It is well worth whatever sacrifice you may think you have to make to do it.

Much Love...