Proof that I made French Toast
My dear companion baking brownies
I think only my family and the Kaltner family will really appreciate this picture ;)
The Kecskemét gang
Budapest streets (it was super foggy)
White Elephant! (I bet you can't guess which one was mine)
I love all of my ornaments!
Kivánok boldog Karácsonyt!! (majdnem)
So yesterday I was in Budapest for our zone's Christmas conference party thing. It was a blast! We had a program at the beginning, then a nice big lunch, then we played some Christmas games. I walked away with a super old, beaten, and basically unusable acoustic guitar from the white elephant! That was fun to take through the metro and on the train. I'm not too sure what to do with it yet. BUT I figure it might have some sort of purpose somehow.
The day in Budapest was great! We took an early train with the Sisters and we were able to see some cool things around the city before the meeting started. I will be sure to send some pictures of our adventures.
My companionship's phone has been one of those super dooper old Nokia phones the size of a brick and didn't even have a color screen. Luckily, the mission got a few new phones and we were the first on the list to get one! We got our new phone yesterday and we are quite happy about it!
I'm glad school and finals is coming to an end for all of you. That always helps lift the spirits.
I'm going to kill the Hungarian word "jövöre" (it means next year) because it's what all of our investigators (except for 1 or 2) have said to us when we try to set up a time to meet. Hungarians get super stressed and crazy this time of year (like people do in America) BUT they do all try to spend a ton of time with their families which is so cool.
We are trying to meet with as many ward members as we can these next couple of weeks. It's been a lot of fun. We went with the Sisters to a little village on Saturday called "Kiskunfélegyháza" which is a crazy long name for such a small place. It was a blast and we sang some Christmas songs to these wonderful people and had quite the adventure in the rain. The last lady we met with was the sweetest Néni and I've never heard so many different terms of endearment within the space of an hour in my whole life! She was so great.
The ward here is amazing. All of us here have a different family feeding us for lunch and dinner on the 24th, 25th, and 26th!
Oh so get this: while walking through the city the other day, we overheard some people speaking English so we went over and talked to them. Turns out it was three girls from Ireland. Two of them were visiting their friend who attends a university here. We spoke with them for a little bit and they were all really really nice. THEN last night on our way back from Budapest, we were all sitting in our train car and we saw them walk past. So we ran out and invited them to sit with us and they were really surprised to see us but gladly sat with us. We were able to talk to them the whole way back and it was super great and random! What are the chances?!
One other random bit that I think is pretty funny: the ward members here have given me a nickname because they think "Alldredge" is too hard to say. So they all call me "Ollie Elder". Kind of random but I get a kick out of it!
I want to thank everyone and anyone who has sent me something for the holidays. It means a lot to me! I have enjoyed it very much.
Well, I'm not quite sure when I will be able to write another general email with the holidays and everything. BUT I hope all of your celebrations are incredible and I hope that Christ is the focus. Not just thinking about him, but trying to acquire his attributes. Learn about him--you cannot love something you do not know. A good place to start would be in The Book of Mormon.
Sok Szeretettel és boldogság,
Alldredge Elder
