The Last Post From Hungary...



We made one last trip to the Castle.   It is looking so good this year.   Many changes have come to the area to make it much nicer.  One of the changes are the guards at the doors of the President's home.  Just like London.




No smile from this guy!




This girl coaxed a little smile from this one.  He tried hard not to and it was only just slightly, otherwise they were both standing stiff looking a little scary with the Men in Black glasses.





Check out the pointed toe march they do.   It is impressive to watch.




That beautiful gate.  So sad to leave this behind. 



Saturday was a baptism in Pest.   Such a cute little girl.   Don't be fooled, she is 21 years old.   These are all the missionaries involved with her teaching.



These are many of our relief society sisters from Pest.  They have been so sweet and welcoming to us here.  I needed a picture of them.   The cute president (redhead peeking over the shoulder) changed the closing song for me.  It was very tender and sweet.   How hard to say goodbye to them.




The Houck Family.  They are the strength of the Church here.   President Houck is the Stake Patriarch and has recently been set apart as a sealer in the Temple.   Sr. Houck is in the presidency of the YW program for the stake.  Carolina is everything.   The thing she did most for us was translate in church.  She does so many things, it is amazing.   Counselor in the EFY in Germany, very involved in YSA.   A returned missionary having served in the SL Temple Square Mission.  She is amazing.

  

The Balatoni Family.   He is the former Bishop of the Pest Ward.   Now he is in the Mission Presidency.  Amazing strong family. 




And as we drove out of the parking lot a quick good bye to our good Sunday School Teacher, Brother Bishop.  He is one of the best.  Cute family they are from Nebraska.

We have loved being here in Hungary and again mingle with our many friends across the country, to serve with the Senior Missionaries and the young missionaries. 
We have loved getting to meet so many others in all the countries we have travelled in. 
Truly the Gospel of Jesus Christ is spreading and growing stronger all around the world.   We hope that we have been able to add to that growth and strength.  It is a privilege to serve.



One last trip and then comes the packing...




Thursday we headed to Serbia to do some audits and other stuff.   Who did we run into there (it was planned)  The Ivins from the East Stake and now from Mueller Park Stake.   Small world isn't it?   We enjoyed our time with them and had a bit of tasty food while we were at it.  They have been in Croatia for two months and seem to be doing very well.  They will be doing some of what we have been doing in that area.




As we were driving out of town, we came upon a demonstration that was really blocking traffic.   Note all the police that you can see in the picture.    There were lots more than that.   It did seem orderly.  We have no idea what they were demonstrating about.  This was in Beograd  (Belgrade, Serbia).




We crossed the Dunav (as they call it in Serbia) and what you see is the sun shining on it. (didn't want you to think it was the moon)  We do love the Danaube.   It goes through Serbia and then empties into the Black Sea.




We drove to Croatia.   I am not sure when they had the last war, but there were certainly signs of it.   This is a water tower that they will leave it as it is as a reminder and memorial of that recent war.  The history of war in these areas is so old and also so recent. 




Here is a house that has not been repaired and is riddled with bullet holes.




Here is a bombed out house.   It is right by the railway and the river.  We could see why they would want to bomb that area as supplies would come in both by river and train.

We then spent the night in Croatia and drove to Pecs in Hungary for church on Sunday morning.  We had an interesting experience at the border which we will discuss at a later time.   We did get through.




These are my dear Relief Society sisters in Pecs.  They are so sweet.  It was so great to be with them one last time.




After we went to dinner with the Szabadkai Family.  They are so dear to us and also to all the members of the church.  We do love them.  Bence, their son, served in the Leeds Mission.




They had also invited the Joo Family from Sopron, so we got to have a wonderful meal and visit with them too.   They also are very strong members of the church and contribute much.




Before we left their home I took a picture of them with this plaque which we left with them before the left our first mission.   Denese (Brent's sister) gave it to us for Christmas when we were here before and requested that we give it to someone else, with a suggestion that they could pass it on.   They told us it was still there and they love it so much that they cannot give it up.    It is the scripture from Josuah that says  "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord".  Good job Denese!




Monday we took a hot trip to Szentendre and came home hot and exhausted, but loved spending the time with the Cormars and the Flammers.   I didn't take one picture all day long. 
Tuesday evening we met the Family of a former missionary (Dan Lofgren) for dinner.   We had a great time and enjoyed the food too.  What a nice family.  Lars (in the red shirt) just graduated from Skyline High and will be a pitcher  for the U baseball team this coming year.




Just had to have a picture for my Red Rocks fans...who are our grandaughters. This is Mary Beth Loftgren a great gymnist and a member of the red rocks at the U. 

Today we are really packing!!  It is true that this wonderful experience is coming to an end...rapidly!



Harvest Time...



It is harvest time and it has been so interesting to try to snap pictures of the harvest.





And other times it is a family project.  We are so glad to see that it is more mechanized than we remember from before.

 



These are the storks coming to glean food for the babies who should have a hearty appetite by now.





This is meaningful when you read "the field is white, already to harvest."
We hope that we have conributed in some small way to the bigger harvest.

 This was a wonderful attempt to show how the harvest was done in Poland as we left that country.  We have been so busy since that I have not finished it, but will publish it now and then perhaps update it later.  I took a lot of pictures of haystacks  because of the many ways they stack hay. 

We did have a wonderful and busy trip.

On The Road Again....



Indeed we did hit the road again!   What a trip...long with lots of driving.  First we headed out and then found we had to return home for some very important items.   We finally arrived in Miskolc to do the audit there.   Always a pleasure to visit with President Samosfalvi and President Kuchkar.  The audit went well but did take just a tad longer than usual.  We told them good-bye for this time.



We then drove to Oredea, Romania to do the audit there.
Along the way we found that the "baby" storks are getting much bigger.




We met with Presidents Geambasu and Weber and Elder Walquist at the
 chapel and did the audit and then went to dinner with Elder and  Sister Walquist and President and Sister  Geambasu  and their darling son.   We have so enjoyed them.   In fact, everywhere we go we find wonderful people.  President and Sister Geambasu have been very special to us as his sister is our friend from our ward in Bountiful.




The following morning  we headed on our way again.   As we skirted Debrecen we did drive by the Rooster Church.   It has been fixed up so nice since we lived in Debrecen.  We have noticed that all over Eastern Europe where we travel there is a lot of  "fixing up" of churches that have been sadly neglected for a long time.  I hope that it is an indication of several things, including interest in church by the population, and that maybe the economy is trying to improve just a tad.



Next stop, Nyiraghaza to have a quick visit with the VictorVecony and his mother.   We had seen Victor while he was on his mission in Romania, but not since he was released last September.  He dressed up for us and here we are just a tad bit casual.  

We had a wonderful time visiting with them both.  Victor is a ballroom dancer.   If I was younger I would love to have a waltz with him.  He is a wonderful young man.



On our way again we found some fields of sunflowers.   It seems to me that the sunflowers are early this year.   It is probably just that I want to see the fields that go as far as the eye can see.   They truly are beautiful.



We drove up through Tokay which is wine country.  Beautiful scenery.

Interesting monuments all over.



Then through so many small towns in Slovakia.   Trish Allen, I am sure that this in one of your uncles, several times removed.




Most of the houses in this area a very like Hungary.




Always castles to see.



As we drove into Poland we began to see more wooden houses.   Many have been remodled and added on to make them look very modern.   Some are as they were built.  There is a huge lumber industry in this mountain area.



We love to see the cities in the distance.  To us they are so beautiful.

And soon (a day and a half) we arrived in Warsaw.    More to come.



An Interesting Week....

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We were excited to get pictures of the Bountiful Handcart Days Parade.  There were 2200 Stripling Warriors marching behind Captain Helaman in that parade.   Our Grandson Trevor Randall is right smack dab in the middle of this one.  Don't pay attention to the Red shirt guy...He just was there.



Here they are preparing properly to begin their march.   What a tender  and most approprriate moment to pray before their march.   One of those experiences for those boys to never, ever forget!




Here is Helaman leading out 
We understand that the crowds went wild with cheering.   It took 15 minutes for the whole group to pass by each spectator.  We are sorry that we were not able to be there, but are so grateful to all who posted their movies and pictures so that we could enjoy it.



We headed to Egar this week to train a senior elder to do the audits in the Miskolc District. It was a great day. While Elders Gudgell and Hartwell were doing the audit with Elder Scott, the sisters went to the Piac to help carry the bags of good fresh food back to Sr.  Scott's apartment.    We also were able to have a nice visit with the Hartwells and the Scotts over some delicious palicintas, for our last time in Egar. 




We will always remember this great big church right by the humble chapel of our church.

 

We headed home on a road that eventually got us to the M 3.




It was a beautiful, somewhat cloudy day.   The temperatures were perfect!  Actually it has been unusually mild weather this whole week, with some rain and thunder.   We have five new tomatoes ready to pick out of our "garden" today.




A couple of neni's pushing their bikes. 




We found a Snelgroves wanna be....




Thursday we attended Zone conference, where we were asked to give our farewell testimony.  We love being with the young missionaries.   They are so great!  Actually, the Senior Missionaries aren't too bad either.




Sunday morning we headed west to attend church in Szombathely.   On the way we found a few Sunflowers.   The seem to be almost done.   I think it is early for that.




Sr. Carpenter and I attended Relief Society with these sisters.  What a great solid group of women.   Only two of them have been members less than ten years.   This is an exceedingly well run Branch.   We had the privilege of being able to speak in Sacrament Meeting.  How wonderful to be able to do that. 
We were able to meet Jeno Erdosi while there and look forward to seeing him when we get home, as he and his wife Edit are in our ward in Bountiful.   We hope and pray all goes well today as he goes to get his final approval for his visa to return to his wife.




We met this young married couple.   They quickly showed us pictures of their son, who was at home with his grandmother.  They are Kovacs Balazs and Orsolya (Orsi) .  Balazs' brother used to live in our home ward in Bountiful, but have now moved away.  This is the first time we have met them, at least knowing who they are.   We could have seen them at young adult activities when we were here before.  It was so nice to get to know them.




These folks bid us good bye.

We had a very pleasant trip with the Carpenters, helping them to know a little more about what is in store for them in Hungary.   Each day makes us just a little more thankful for this journey that we have had and will continue to have for a while.