Turning 21

Thanks for all the birthday wishes! And before I forget to mention, yes I did get your birthday package! I actually got it last week, I just forgot to mention it in my email! So it arrived with plenty of time to spare!  Definitely enjoyed it. Just some good ol classic American snacks. I have been trying to save the goods and sparingly eat them throughout the week, but last night I opened the goldfish, and went through the whole bag. I just couldnt stop!!  So yeah, I had a good birthday!  You know I like things pretty low key! So the day was pretty much business as usual. Went into the office in the morning. Did normal work and what not. Later on in the afternoon though, we got to play a little basketball which was fun! I was pretty bad given it's been a while, but the weather was GORGEOUS (and still is, not to make you jealous) so that was lots of fun. And then we went out for dinner later and the sisters also brought me cupcakes, so that was actually lots of fun! I will still take a missionary birthday over finals on my birthday like I had in college, that's for sure! 

Today wasn't anything too special either, but it was still good! We had sport nap (sorry, sport day) this morning and played some soccer and basketball, then after we went out to lunch with Sanyi, a member from Győr who moved up to Budapest a few weeks ago. And then we just kind of chilled out, so pretty nice. That's good that you guys are getting some nice weather as well! 

So for a teaching experience of the week... Well, we actually had a good lesson with a guy we taught last week, and he agreed to get baptized next month, but then this week we met with him, and he said that now he has decided that he doesn't want to get baptized. So I guess that's not the best teaching experience, but that's what happened!!! Other than that, we have had some pretty standard programs, but have been in the office extra long because Pres. Szabadkai was out in Frankfurt for a mission president's seminar.  

Anyway, I should probably get going. It's great to hear from you as always  Anyway, have a great week everyone! 

Drew

Some pictures from the Kilátó. It was rather foggy, so we didn't really see much... :P

The kilátó (lookout tower) and some bonfire action!

We also had a visit to Johnny's last week with the Simkins (not sure if I told you about that one or not...) It is an American restaurant and it was DELCIIOUS! 

                                               
                                                   Yes, that is a real, American burger!

                                                        Birthday cupcakes!

Me with Kati who brought me a birthday cake!

Notes from the Office- March & April

 Chillin in the Office! 

Most of you now know that Elder Dalton is serving as Mission Secretary in the office of the Hungary Budapest Mission.   With the new office job he hasn't had as much to write about as his work is more routine.  I've included some letters he's sent over the past few weeks in this post.  I've also included pictures taken by  Katy Susan Spitzer who visits Budapest and is kind to take pictures for me (because we all know that Elder Dalton has not been great about sending us pictures!)

So here are some updates from Hungary....

 

April 16

Well it's transfer week and everything went fine.  It's a lot of work for us here in the office, so it was a little stressful getting everything ready, but now things have quieted down again, so this next week should be pretty normal. Yeah, two left from our district. Elder Priest and Sister Hafen. Which I was sad about because I'm friends with both of them and I served with Priest, so it was fun being with him again, but we kind of knew that they were leaving. It will still be a good transfer!

 The weather has been super nice here recently! Spring in Hungary is definitely a lot more like spring than it is in Maine! I would have gladly gone swimming today! It was actually hot! 

It is definitely weird coming up on my 21st birthday. Even weirder since I'm on a mission. Being on the mission just makes it seem like time stands still, and I don't get older and things don't change while I'm gone, but they totally do change and I am way older now! I definitely don't feel 21 yet, but I guess it will be cool!  Not quite sure what I'll be doing, probably nothing too exciting. 

NBA playoffss! Should be fun! I heard that the Warriors broke the Bulls record for wins! Sounds like they are going to take it! The office senior missionary couple keeps me updated on some sports stuff, so that's been nice. Pday plans... We had sport nap this morning, played some soccer, and then we went with the senior couple to this American restaurant called Johnny's Bistro for lunch and it was AWESOME! Really good burgers and we got milkshakes as well. Just like you would find back home, so that was cool. Then we got a little lost on the way back. Other than that, we will probably just relax. Nothing too exciting! 

Love,

Drew

April 9

So I know I am writing a lot later than usual because we actually had a ward hike today, and it ended up taking literally ALLLLL day. We left at 10 and got back at 6:30... It was really fun though! We didn't go that far (about 11 kilometers. I don't even know miles anymore :P )  When I say hike, it's actually just a walk through the woods, because we don't really have mountains here.  We had to wait every 10 minutes for people to catch up but we got to this little look out tower which was cool. It was foggy, so we couldn't even see out far, but it was still really cool. Then we made a fire and cooked some stuff and had food and sandwiches. It was a fun time hanging out with the members, investigators and the other missionaries. 

We actually have transfers this week (crazy!!!) but we were told we will most likely stay, so I'm not too worried about it. My comp is Elder Krueger and he is a really good guy and I like him a lot! It will be fun having another transfer! Office stuff is good. It can get boring sometimes, but there are some days when it is really not boring, and so I do like it a lot! I probably won't be here for the rest of the mission though. I have now, 1 and a half transfers, and so I will probably be in the office for another full, and then go somewhere for 5 weeks before I head out. So that will be cool. 

Conference was good! I still haven't seen the Sunday afternoon session, but I read some of the conference summaries and it sounds like they were good! I watched all of them in Hungarian, I guess that's good for the last time, but it was really great and I understood a lot of it (when I was paying attention). Always fun having conference, but I am excited for my next conference to be in English! 

Yeah, Mom. I figured you were freaking out a little bit after the attacks, but seriously, Hungary is not a target at all. But they still have police and anti-terrorist people at the airport and metros, but I think we will be alright. And don't worry, I'm not planning on going to the airport for another 4 months.  Yeah, really sad about those missionaries though. We get some updates on them from the office couple here, and my heart goes out to them for sure!

It's been super nice here and spring is totally here. I have been here for over 20 months! It's totally crazy! Can't believe how time goes by. Less than 4 months now. Office work has been going well! We have had more chill weeks with not too much going on which is actually pretty nice to have less stressful stuff going on. So still liking it a lot! Actually, the baptisms in the mission are going down a little bit, but hopefully we can have some more success coming up! Things have been going pretty well with us! We don't have too many people we meet with, but the ones that we do are really great! Hungarians do have a pretty big Easter here. I think it's a much bigger holiday here in Hungary than it is back home which is actually really nice. And they have this funny tradition where the guys spray the girls with perfume and then the girls give them an egg, cuz that totally makes sense! I just think it's funny and want to bring this tradition back to America!!! 

Anyway, sorry gotta run now but I love you all lots! Hope you have a fantastic Easter and a great week! 

Love,

Drew

March 19

We had a mission conference recently with a general authority visiting. It was a pretty big conference. We got to go to the one for Budapest, which was actually a lot smaller than the others, because it was just our zone and all the other conferences were multiple zones, but it was still lots of fun. The 70 was a super cool guy and he talked about some really good stuff. I liked it a lot and it was probably my last big conference with a 70 or someone else coming from other places, so that's also kind of weird. Not much else to say though, we just kind of talked about how we can find people to teach more effectively.  It was good! And these conferences were all in English because the 70 doesn't speak Hungarian. For some conferences, Pres has spoken Hungarian, and the rest of us just English, but I think he's been trying to do more in English so that the younger missionaries can get more out of it as well.