Sziasztok Barátok! (Hey friends!)

Sziasztok Barátok! (Hey friends)

I cannot believe that it has already been 3 weeks here in the MTC!!! It is unreal! It seems like I was back home just yesterday, and yet it feels like I have been in the MTC forever too. Unfortunately, in the MTC, all the days are very very scheduled, so there is not too much variety from week to week, but I will do my best to try and make it somewhat interesting for you.
It was great to say goodbye to Logan today!   I totally wasn't thinking he was actually going to make it to the temple (especially because it was super early in the morning) but it was great to see him! A little bit of worlds colliding and we could only talk for a little bit, but that goodbye on skype definitely wasn't enough for two years.

 I am really starting to enjoy the classroom and my teachers are hilarious. We have a lot of fun with them as they tell us crazy stories about their time in Hungary.  Even though we try to stay focused and be productive, we are definitely not afraid to crack some jokes and spend a good 15 minutes laughing and telling stories. 

For all those concerned I am feeling a lot better than I was last week! I still have a bit of a cough, but I feel totally fine again.  During the peak of my illness, I sounded pretty terrible (even though I didn't actually feel that bad) and everyone in my class always made fun of me and we all told the teachers that I was dying (because it actually did sound like I was dying). A whole lot of fun here at the MTC though. 

So based on a question that my mom asked me today, this upcoming week I will get to host the new missionaries! What this means is I get to leave class early, and go meet missionaries when they get dropped off, help them with their bags, check them in, and take them to their residence and classrooms and stuff. From what we hear from the Finns, it is the highlight of the week, and I am especially interested to see the terrified faces of the missionaries coming in so I can get a small idea of what I looked like when I first came in. 

Things with the language are getting interesting. I am starting to feel like I can actually say what I want to say half the time (terrible grammar though), but I am also starting to see why the language is so tough. The deeper we get into the language and the better we get, it seems like we get into even more ridiculous rules and exceptions and strange cases! It's been great though and I am getting so much better. Last week on Thursday we have something called TRC, which is basically where volunteers come and we teach them a lesson all in Hungarian. They are mostly people who served their missions in Hungary, but there was actually one local, and nobody could understand what he was saying. It was a really great experience though, because we get so used to listening to our teachers and they talk so slow and help us to understand, that it was a real eye opener when we had to talk to people who would not slow down. They were all super nice though and helped us try to understand well, but one of the guys we talked to, I swear, I did not understand a single word he said. He spoke SOOOOOO fast. We have that again tonight and it is probably the most stressful lesson we teach, but also the most beneficial, as it stretches our abilities that much farther! 

Alright! It's all of your favorite part of the post! That time where I talk about ridiculous Hungarian people that my teacher tells us about!!! Wooooo!!! Alright, so as I mentioned before, the Hungarian people are rather clothing challenged. However, there is a deep rooted fear of sterility within the culture associated with the cold, so in the winter they bundle up like no other. Our teacher told us that they don't have any air conditioning, and even though it gets blazing hot in the summer, nobody or no building has air conditioning because, obviously, AC makes you sterile. Along with this, you can't walk around your house with bare feet (because everybody knows that causes sterility too) so everybody has house slippers they wear, and if you go over to someones house, they will give you house slippers! My teacher said she would have old ladies come up to her in the winter if any part of her was showing and yell at her. So all together, it just sounds like a really hilarious place. There are so many interesting cultural nuances and I am so excited to share my unique experiences in the country with you in about a month and a half! One more interesting Hungarian belief, is that nobody is allowed to sit at the corner of a table, because if you do, that means you won't be able to get married. So clearly the Hungarian people are very concerned about continuing on their blood lines!

Anyway, I think that's about all I could work out of the week. I can barely even remember what happened because you get into the routine you can barely even tell the days apart. It seemed like I was just writing my last post yesterday!!! I absolutely love it out here and I can't wait to help and serve the people of Hungary. I greatly appreciate all the amazing support I am getting and I want you to know that I love you all. Oh, and as promised here's a little Hungarian: 

szeretem időm a MTCbon, és szeretem a miszionáriusokot. Akarom segíteni az Magzorsága embereket. Tudom, hogy Isten segíteni fog engem és tudom, hogy ö szeret minket. Szeretek titeket és köszönem mindenkiért aki megmutattak a szeretetei.

In an effort to discourage you from plugging that into google translate (because it probably makes no sense), I will give you a translation:

I love my time here at the MTC and I love all the missionaries. I want to help the people of Hungary. I know that God will help me and I know that He loves us. I love all of you and thank you all for showing your love.

That's it for this week. Feel free to email me (andrew.dalton@myldsmail.net) or my mom with any questions and I will try and get back to you as quick as I can or plug it in next weeks post. Love you all and hope you have a great week!

Sziasztok Barátok! (Goodbye friends)

Elder Andrew Dalton