Welcome Home Elder Dalton!

Those of you who have welcomed a missionary home know that this day has been on the calendar for a very very long time! So waiting for said missionary's arrival can be painfully slow....  especially when traveling from Hungary to Bangor Maine... especially when the missionary travel department books the flight to Maine through Chicago ....  all the way across Western Europe, the Atlantic Ocean then half way across America and back again... you see what I mean.  Add to that a planned layover  of 5 hours and a 4 hour flight delay... yup you get the picture....  So here's what we did while we waited.... 

Long dinner at Texas Roadhouse

 Bowling at the Sport's Arena

Mid-night mini golf   

Yes, Logan check that flight status again.... and again....

 With nothing left to do but go to the airport and wait.... 
massage chairs, a Seinfield episode on the cell phone. balloon rescue from the ceiling (wish I had a picture of that) ..... and a 2 am nap on the airport floor.

Finally the plane arrives!!!  With Andrew!!

And all his luggage came with him this time!

 

Yes, we are so happy to have Andrew back home with us!!  It was a great two years!!!   

Thanks to all those of you who enjoyed this blog for the past 2 years!!  I have appreciated your enthusiasm and interest in one very far away missionary!!       Over and out!  

Last Letter from Hungary!

Hey for the last time!!

Seriously, feels pretty unreal to think that this is the last missionary email! The last little bit really sneaks up on you!  When I think that this week I'm gonna be back home it doesn't even seem real! It seems like this is the only life I know, and yet it also feels not that long ago that we first said goodbye! Weird how time flies :P

We are actually going to be pretty busy for the last week. a lot of members have invited us over for our last week, so we won't be bored! We also have zone training tomorrow, so we will be going up to Budapest. Other than that, just getting ready to go back! Packing and cleaning out the apartment and what not. I still have a good amount to do before we go home, but we have the rest of the week! We go up to Budapest friday morning, and then Saturday we head out!

Last thoughts on my mission... It's tough, because there really are a lot of things! I will miss the people that I got to know here the most. That's for sure. And I will miss speaking Hungarian. It will be weird hearing and speaking English everywhere I go! I am really gonna miss just being in Hungary. I've definitely felt tons of blessings though!! It's hard to put into words all the great experiences I've had! Obviously, there were bad ones too, but when I think back on my mission, I just feel happy for the opportunity I had to be here and serve!  Honestly, it's hard to summarize my mission and bring it all together, but really, it has been a wonderful experience. I will always think back fondly on my time here in Hungary and hopefully I will be able to maintain relationships with people here for a long time! I feel like I have grown a lot and feel much closer to my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. My faith has been strengthened and I really feel a love for the gospel and for the people here! It  has been an amazing time here! I can't wait to tell you all more about it when I get back! 

See you soon! Impressed that we made it this whole way!!!

LOVE!

Elder Dalton

Last Stop, Érd Hungary

So yeah, I'm in Érd now.  Great to be with Elder Ady from my group in the MTC and we'll be going home together! Things are actually going pretty well. The branch here is great, they were all super inviting and friendly and I already knew a few of them from Buda so that was cool!  And the city isn't too bad. The bus system is pretty obnoxious, but there are some cool places and lots of cool people!

That's awesome that you got to meet with Elder TD! He wrote me earlier and asked for your number, but I didn't think he was actually going to be able to make it up there! I'm super jealous now that he got to see you guys before I did! It's pretty surreal how close it is now! It's weird I really just feel like I'm going to see you guys tomorrow! 4 weeks seems like such a short time it's unbelievable! I'm glad that you had a good time with Zen and his family. Wish I could have been there, but soon enough...

Elder TD

One of Andrew's mission companions (Elder Zen Tillemann-Dick) was visiting Bar Harbor with his family this past weekend and we had a fun impromptu get together in Agamont Park before they headed off to PEI.  

It's has been CRAZY HOT here the past couple days. Kind of been dying, but its alright! We will survive! And we don't have any AC or anything in our apartment, so it gets pretty toasty at night, but I suppose it could be worse! I don't know how those South American missionaries do it :P 

The Euro cup is happening right now, and Hungary actually ended up doing pretty decent and people were SOOOOOO excited about it. Even in tiny  Érd they had giant screens projecting the games and everyone was really excited about it. They won the group they were in, but unfortunately, lost last night to Belgium. But that was probably the best they had ever done! So understandable that they were so excited.

Things are still going well here in Érd! Earlier in the week, we went to a members house with another missionary who was coming back to visit. He went home before I got here, so I don't know him, but I had heard of him. It was just cool talking with him about the mission a few years ago and what hes' been doing at home and stuff. And the member is super sweet, so we had a good time! We visited a few other members too. We went to this one families house, and they were super awesome. But they live on top of a hill a little ways out from where we are, so we had to take a bus out and then walk up this hill. I know, that probably doesn't sound too bad, but remember, I said it was REALLY hot this week. So the 20 minute walk felt like days in the desert and we arrived at their house pretty much drenched in sweat. Luckily, they had AC so we were able to cool down and we had a good time with them! They have 3 little kids, so we pretty much just played with them the whole time. It was fun! And then on Saturday, we had sport nap, and that family and another family in the ward came and borught all their kids. It was a little different than usual, given that there were probably 7 young kids and then us, but it was a good time! Once again though, incredibly hot....

Other than that, nothing too interesting happened! We are wanting to meet with members a lot given we don't have a whole lot of time left, but there are some investigators we have too! There is one guy that we teach who just recently started coming back to church. He is a super cool guy and is really getting his life together. We have another guy too that we are teaching who wants to get baptized soon, so I guess we are going strong to the finish!

No big plans for p-day. There actually really isn't anything to do in the city.... So we are going to a members in a little bit and probably just hanging out at there place and playing games or something. So nothing too exciting going on :P Anyway, it was great hearing from you and have a great 4th of July weekend! Tell everyone that I say hi and miss you all lots!

Love,

Drew

A Trip to Eger

Heyyy!!!!

Things are going fine here! Kind of same old...but we did have a good adventure this week! We took a little road trip with the senior elder here in the office! One of the missionaries washing machines broke, and a neighboring city's branch house was out of internet, so we took a little road trip! We loaded up the big mission van with the washing machine we had here in the storage and drove to Eger which is on the East side of the country. It was actually the first time I have ever been to the east, so that was cool! So we had our road trip, and then dropped off my companion, Elder Krueger, with the Senior couple in Eger, so he could get working on the internet (because he is a computer genius). Then,  Elder Simkins and I drove to Miskolc, a relatively close by city to bring the washing machine. We ended up having to haul the thing up 4 flights of stairs. It wasn't the lightest washing machine, but we somehow managed to get it up there with the two of us and install it in the elders apartment. Miskolc wasn't super pretty, there were a few nice spots, but then we went back to Eger to meet up with everyone else. After a little bit, Krueger was able to fix the internet, so everyone was really happy there, and then we got to go get some lunch with the Petersons, the senior couple in Eger, the ones who know Jason! They are super nice and we talked with them for a little while. They are still in the same ward as Jason's parents I believe and they said they remembered when he was in young mens. Small world. We went to this palacsinta place (I feel like I have mentioned these before, but palacsintas are basically like crepes) which was super delicious. We also got to walk through the city a little bit which was really beautiful!!! I have a few pictures from the trip that I'll attach. We didn't end up getting back till about 6, and we left at 8 in the morning, so it was an all day excursion! Pretty exhausting, but it was fun! And cool to mix it up and get out of the office for a little bit.

Other than all that, everything was pretty much routine! Nothing too exciting, but tomorrow, we have this broadcast stake conference kind of thing at the stake center. I guess its just some sort of area broadcast, it's coming from Salt Lake. Not really sure what it's going to be or what it will be about, but it should be fun! Oh, and the sisters also have a baptism today, so we will be going to that! Should be good! But yeah, I really only have one more week in the office, which at this point, I am pretty excited about. I have liked it here, and am glad I had the opportunity, but it will be nice to get out at this point. After I get out of the office, I just have 5 weeks and then I'm on my way! Crazy stuff am I right?

 Anyway, hope you all have another great week  Happy summer!!!

Love to all,

Andrew

 This is from stake conference. On the way over, we found the one American school bus in all of Hungary!!! Not quite sure how they got it over here, but there it was!

 We actually got to see a little concert :) One of those big outdoor festivals that they always have in Hungary and actually, one of our investigators was playing at it, and invited us to go check it out. He's a drummer and actually wayyyy good. Super cool guy. It was this Elvis cover band that was actually surprisingly good!!!  It was hilarious though because all the everyone started swing dancing in the front and got way into it. Never knew Hungarians loved Elvis so much but I guess they do!  It was cool. Lots of people and beautiful weather!

 Here's the elvis show. Our friend is the one in the back playing the drums. Didn't really get a good picture of him but he was super glad we came!!!

 The entire hungarian army 

  

A few pics from the car. You might be able to kind of see a few mountains in the back. Yes, Hungary does kind of have a few mountains!!! 

The main square in Eger

And our palacsintas. They usually arent quite that fancy, but we went to a pretty nice place! 

 

Another week in Budapest!

Oh man, I am hungry right now and just thinking about Rosalies Pizza!  Pizza just isn't the same out here! It's pretty dang cheap, but as I'm sure we all know, nothing matches up to Rosalies pizza! We're gonna be busy when I get back!!! 
Well I have 9 weeks left from today. That's one transfer. Pretty crazy when you think about it! I really have been out here for a long time! It feels like this is my entire life, but it also feels like it flew by! Bitter sweet!

My week was good. I feel like I say this everytime, but pretty much same old! Stuff in the office was routine. My friend Mike from BYU went home this week, so that was weird!!! He's going to Singapore where his dad is mission president which is kind of interesting. We also had zone training this week which was fun. Some good stuff and they put on a conference talk and turned off the lights so we all got a little nap in there too! hahahaha. Oh, and a cool little thing for the week: The other day we were finishing up in the office and the weather was nice so we decided to go way out kind of to this random part of the city that is supposed to be pretty nice for some streeting (and a little bit of enjoying the sights) and this is literally a place that I have never been nor will I probably go again, but we get up there and then we are walking down the street, and I see one lady who looks familiar, and then I get closer and she yells out to me and says hi, and I'm trying to place who she is. Well, we go up and talk to her and then I remember she was one of my old investigators from when I was here in Buda the first time! So we talked for a little bit and she said she would like to meet with us again so hopefully we can meet with her next week! One thing I've definitely learned on my mission is that there aren't coincidences for a missionary. Which is pretty cool. God always works with us where we are and we never really know the full extent of his plan and what we might run into that day!!! I have had lots of instances like that running into people we know in random places. So, good to have someone behind the wheel of this work!!!

Other than that, stuff is just pretty routine.  I probably only have a few more weeks in the office, I'm kind of excited to go back to being a normal missionary for a little while, but the office is still good, so no complaints! And I'm hoping I dont have to go too far for my last 5 weeks or at least go somewhere I've already been! That way I can at least do something! 

Anyway, thats about it. There are people painting our apartment right now, so we are going to have to be out and about for pday. No plans, but maybe we will find something fun! Hope everything is going well for everyone back home!

Love you!

Elder Dalton

Here's a few pictures

What a surprise to find Tanja's cousin Melanee at church!

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!