Hallosztok!

Hallosztok! (Hungarians say this a lot - they say "hallo" for hello and goodbye (it kind of throws you off for a bit) and they add the -sztok ending when speaking to more than one person, like sziasztok)

This week we tried​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ a bit of music tracting!  We went to the 10 storied apartment buildings, I brought my violin, and we offered to play a song for those who opened their doors to us.  This actually went a lot better in our heads than in reality.  We had about the same success rate as usual, though one man did ask me to play in the stairwell! though then he started mocking us and our bad Hungarian. It was a pretty hard day, but then we got to attend the baptism of a super sweet man named Kristof who the sisters have been teaching. The spirit was so strong and it was so wonderful to see someone start a new path in his life and covenanting with God to follow Him, always, in return for the gift of the Holy Ghost.

We also frequently call people up from around Nyíregyháza that have expressed a desire to learn more about the gospel.  I called this one man, and as soon as he heard my voice, he said, "Oh! George! How good it is to talk with you!" ... He later explained that he has a cousin named George who lives in Canada and who also doesn't really speak Hungarian, so that's why he thought I was him.

We also found an interesting book in our apartment that claimed that ancient Sumerians actually spoke Hungarian! This is a great example of the Hungarians' exceeding linguistic pride.

This week, we also went over to a man's house, Kornél, to help him put in his ceiling. This ended up stretching out over about 4 hours throughout the week.  He's a really interesting guy.  He's a carpenter, who insists on making everything himself. He speaks British English because he actually lives in England for most of the year, but he still has a pretty thick Hungarian accent, which makes understanding him in English almost harder than in Hungarian, because he uses phrases like, "spanner" (which apparently means wrench?) or "tele-stand". Even when I filter through his accent and figure out the English words he is using, I still have a hard time knowing what he is talking about. He also is not really concerned about safety; he walks around his house on top of his homemade ladder. He was complaining to us about how in America, ladders like his aren't allowed because of safety regulations, but then about ten minutes later he and his ladder both fell into a wardrobe, so I guess those regulations exist for some reason. He also kept calling everyone on his street, "stupid.. dumb.. idiots!", but he was super nice to us. He always gives us oranges when we go over, and when he throws them to us, he always says, "Here! Catch your ball!"  He also showed us a Hoover he has from year 1910! After we had finished working on one of the days, he let us out into his front yard but then didn't have his keys to unlock his front gate (all of the homes in Hungary have gates and metal walls around the whole). He was inside searching for them for a LONG time, but we had an appointment we had to get ready for, so while he was inside we just decided to jump his fence/wall. Unfortunately, after I had made a graceful bound up onto the wall, as I was swinging my leg over I kicked his giant silver rain gutter and the whole thing came crashing down. After that I jumped down and we just booked it. After that, we went to the bakery, went back to the apartment, and while Stringham Elder was taking a shower Kornél called to tell us he found his keys. He also wondered if we had flew over his gate. Our phone call ended with a "Cheers, mate!"

This week I was reading King Benjamin's address in Mosiah. King Benjamin mentions once how Christ has suffered all the temptations of everyone.  I was interested in this idea.  I knew that Christ had suffered all the pain and sorrow we feel on this earth, and also the guilt that comes from sin, but I hadn't realized that He even felt our temptations.  I arrived at a scripture in Hebrews 4:15, "For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." In Hebrews 2:18 it says, "For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted." It was so refreshing to know that Christ knows how difficult life can be sometimes, and how enticing the easy way out can seem. Though He was sinless, and through His perfect example and enabling power we can resist the temptations, choose the right, and live each daily more purely and righteously. I am so grateful for Him and that I have the opportunity to share His gospel with the Hungarians!

Martin Elder

Kovács Ferenc and Ildiko! They are super nice and funny. He is a church member and she isn't, though they both love God and the scriptures.

From the tram in Budapest at New Missionary Training

The city center again, but during WWI

At the museum we went to last week, they had a lot of old paintings of Nyíregyháza's city center that we walk through almost every day!

The moon was SUPER full and bright on Friday!