Week 13 (Oct. 22-29)

 At a castle tour

 A castle in Sopron

 our first snow today! With our newest convert

 At her baptism

Szervusztok csodálatos emberek!

Good earth it snowed here for the first time today! Elder Hansen (my new companion) is from California, so he's kind of freaking out right now!

On Saturday, we had another beautiful baptism for the Sopron branch. It was in the hotel pool again and it went perfect! It's incredible to see these kind of things happening in real life.

Last P-Day, I was able to go on a rad castle tour of a really old castle in Sopron. It's on this huge mountain side and the inside of it was so cool! It was a blast to walk through it.

Yesterday I gave my first talk! I was the last speaker and I had planned on speaking for 15 minutes (which I knew would already be a stretch for me) and then the Branch President told me to fill the rest of the time and there were 20 minutes left!! As I was giving my final remarks and sharing my testimony I was thinking, "Oh no oh no oh no! DON'T look at the clock... There's no way this has been more than 12 minutes! I have nothing left to say and I'm almost out of things to testify about in Hungarian!! AHH!" but after I said "Amen" I looked over at the clock and saw that I ended perfectly on time!! The Lord really does look out for his missionaries. I could not have done it without Him.

During the week, while Elder Hansen and I were eating lunch that some members made us, they kept trying to feed us more and more and more. Finally, I used the expression: "I'm full as the noon-day bus." and they thought it was the funniest thing they had ever heard. Then Elder Hansen used the expression: "I'm full as a Tesco at Christmas." and they laughed even more. They had never heard those before and they thought it was hilarious beyond belief. Oh man, it was so funny to watch.

Oh speaking of Elder Hansen, he's my new companion. I picked him up in Budapest on Wednesday and we've been working super hard together ever since. He's a really sharp guy and we're having a grand time so far already! It's really been great. We've been wanting to go out and tract since tracting hasn't been done here for 3 transfers. After all of our programs and lessons and everything, the only tracting time we were able to get in was 25 minutes yesterday afternoon. In that 25 minutes, we talked to two people. Both of those people gladly took a Book of Mormon and all of our pamphlets! They even gave us their phone numbers. It was incredible and it made us really excited for doing more in this coming week.

Also in this week, we were teaching an investigator who knows English, German, and Hungarian. I'm her English teacher so I was speaking in English, Elder Hansen taught his part all in Hungarian, and Elder Flammer was there and he served his first mission to Germany so he testified to her in German! It was so dang cool.

This week is the "Day of the Dead" which is kind of like Halloween. I think they celebrate Halloween as well but this Day of the Dead thing happens on November 1st and all of the Hungarians have told us that we HAVE to be at a certain cemetery at a certain time so the Flammers are going to take us to that! I'm excited!

Well, I hope you are all doing super stellar. Don't worry about me, I'm well taken care of out here. These people are incredible beyond belief and I feel so blessed to be serving here in Hungary.

Well, as always, just please read The Book of Mormon. I can't give you a better suggestion.

Sok Szeretettel,

Alldredge Elder

Week 12 in Hungary (Oct. 15-22)

Jó napot kivánok!!

Mi újság?

Today was transfer calls!! Elder Ábrók is (sadly) leaving me and going to the South East part of the country and he's going to be a branch president down there!! (There isn't any priesthood in the branch besides the missionaries.) I'm really excited for him because it's something he wanted to experience on his mission, at the same time, I'm bummed he's leaving me.

I am going to pick up my new companion in Budapest on Wednesday! His name is Elder Hansen. I don't know him and I've never met him so it'll be an adventure! 

This Saturday we are having another baptism!! It's been so incredible to see this investigator progress all the way up to baptism! I am hoping that I will be able to announce some more baptisms in this transfer!

Last P-day we went to a giant sheep field that some investigators told us about and we just walked around the field among the sheep. Then we explored a forest area that was a little further. It was super pretty but my camera sadly died.... On our way back, the huge herd of sheep was completely blocking a road and a bunch of cars were beginning to line up. We were able to watch the Shepherd and his dog round them all back up and bring them back to the field. (something you don't get to see everyday!)

I have to speak next Sunday!! It'll be my first official and planned talk since I've been here. I'm excited for it! It's going to be on Prophets. We'll see how it goes!

This week we put on a fall party for our branch. It went super well and we had a lot of investigators come attend as well! Elder Flammer, Elder Ábrók, and I put on a funny skit for everyone. Then we were all able to enjoy Sister Flammer's delicious dinner she made! It was a great success and lots of fun!

A big group of Hungarians from all over the country went to the Frieberg temple this week. While waiting for the session to start, a temple worker came in and said there would be a slight delay before the session began. Then a couple minutes later, in walks President Monson and he meets everyone there and they all got to shake his hand!! Pretty rad!

This week, I learned the important difference between the two words "mosni" (to wash) and "fosni" (slang for: to diarrhea). So after finishing a meal I accidentally said, "Azt finom volt! De most, fosnom kell." which means: "That was delicious! But I need to diarrhea now." Well, it's all part of the mission experience, right?

Anywho, I hope everyone is really doing swell. You're in my prayers.

Hey, pray to God and ask him a question--He will be able to answer you through the scriptures. Read The Book of Mormon.

Sok Szeretettel,

Alldredge Elder

Week 11 (Oct. 8-15, 2012)

Szervusztok Mindenki!

Ezen a héten volt elfoglalva!

De, az tökéletes nekem!

Last P-day, Elder Ábrók and I toured around Sopron. We were able to go to this huge/awesome watch tower that had a rad view of the entire city. We then rode our bikes ALL THE WAY to the Austrian border. (okay, so it was only about a 20 minute bike ride) But it was an awesome day and I have some grand pictures I will attach.

The elevator that has been under construction for our building is finished now!! We've really been enjoying not having to take the hike to the top floor to get to our apartment multiple times a day. Every Néni in the branch is excited about it as well for attending church!

This past week, Elder Ábrók managed to get me to buy "Liver Cream" at the store this week. And yes, it's exactly what it sounds like. It's creamed liver. So I tried it on some toast and it's some dang good stuff! I bought lots more today and he's so proud that a real American likes one of his favorite Hungarian foods.

We had a zone training in Győr this week and the A.P.s taught at it. It was a swell meeting. I always love being in Győr. It's such a huge and pretty city. (Top 5 biggest in Hungary!)

We were able to watch conference this weekend. It bites because the translators aren't able to put much emotion into the words being spoken. It sure made Elder Holland's talk sound a lot different. But during Elder Nelson's talk all of the branch members kept looking at us and smiling anytime he said "ASK THE MISSIONARIES!!" It was a great conference.

We were able to pick up a lot of new (and super slammin') investigators this week! Ah! I'm really really excited about them. Elder Ábrók and I have an awesome song we sing in our apartment anytime we think about these really great investigators we have. Incredible things are happening. Really.

It's crazy to think that this is already the end of my second transfer. The older missionaries were right, each transfer gets faster. It's starting to get too fast already! Crazy stuff!

I bet there's a lot of guys and girls getting mission papers in now because of the change. The MTC was packed when I was there, I can't imagine even more. It'll be interesting! But it's incredible to see how much the work is increasing! I'm excited to be able to say this to my children: "I went on my mission when the age requirement for boys was still 19!!" Fun stuff.

Anywho, I hope you all have a slammin' week. Yet, it won't be slammin' unless you read The Book of Mormon. EVERY DAY.

Sok Szeretettel,

Alldredge Elder

 The Watch Tower

 View of the city from the Tower

 On the Tower

 With Elder Abrok on the Tower

 I had to buy it and try it and it wasn't too bad.

 Cool fountain and Opera house in Sopron

 We biked to the Austrian border

Week 10 (Oct. 1-8, 2012)

 Rainbow Bridge

 Putting flyers at the Jehovah's Witnesses 

 Sunrise

 Elder Abrok and I

 Just being us

Jó Napot Kívánnok!
Konferencia nagyon szép volt?
Szerintem, igen.
(Translate it!) 


This week went swell as always. I understand I usually tend to be a bit of an optimist. A little too much. So, I'll tell you the more sour things that have happened this week so that you can get a more realistic feel for it: we were "dogged" (they made an appointment then didn't show up then turned off their phone) 7 times this week. We had a visit set up with 2 members, we knocked on their door, they said "coming!" and then we stood outside for 20 minutes and no one ever answered and they turned their phone off. Also, as we were riding our bikes a group of people yelled, "we would like to see you get hit by a car!" SO, that wasn't to vent, that was just so you can get more of a true image of my life here. Other than that, the week was wonderful!

My companion and I have started "Night Flyering" because we have too many programs and lessons in the day, so the only time we can go out and put flyers everywhere is at night. It's been way fun! We're usually out for 2-3 hours and we somehow managed to go through a forest this week to get to the streets where we needed to be. Crazy time! We also walked all the way to a Tesco (European Wal-Mart) and flyered that whole parking lot, which was great because a circus was going on right next to it so there was a TON of cars! And the next day we had tons of new people in all of our English Classes! It was great! Some of them had the flyer with them so we felt pretty great when we saw that. I randomly got a new girl in my English class who is a really young, and professional tennis player for Austria! Crazy stuff!

For a branch activity this week we played "Taboo" which I discovered was super difficult to play in a new language. But it actually worked out to be an advantage because I HAD to explain the words in the MOST simple words and sentences. It was a really fun activity!

My companion and I are really really excited about this new couple that just started investigating. They are so nice and they have been coming to everything! Even Seminary and the baptism last week! We call them the "Rendes" Couple which means classy, nice, and well put together. I think they're going to progress really well and lots of good will come from it!

This week has been busy and this week is looking to be even busier! I'm excited. I've never felt so tired at 10:30 pm and so awake and ready at 6:30 am. These really are the best two years. 

I hope all is great with everyone of you. I'm nearing the end of the book of Alma right now and wow! lots of crazy stuff goes down in all of those wars! Read about it for yourself in the Book of Mormon. You won't regret it.

Szeretettel,
Alldredge Elder

Week 9 (Sept.24-Oct.1)

Sziasztok!

Remélem, hogy mindannyian nagyon boldogok!

This week I was able to participate in my first baptism in Hungary! Good earth, it was beautiful. We baptized a single lady who is in her 20's. She's really nice and she was so happy and excited about her special day on Saturday. She was found by the missionaries before I moved into Sopron. I had the opportunity to be able to teach her 6 lessons leading up to her baptism. It was such a great experience! It took place in a hotel swimming pool right next to our branch house. Our branch president did the actual baptism. Ábrók Elder and I were able to be the witnesses. Wow. Such an awesome experience.

Earlier this week, we took a bus to a little village on the edge of the city. The city was absolutely beautiful and our investigator took us to some cool sights and an awesome castle when we got off the bus. The lesson we had with him went well but he had a HUGE slobbery dog in the room with us the whole time. It would walk between us all trying to get attention. It was getting hair and slobber all over me so I tried to pet it as far away from myself as I could. It decided to sneeze the biggest snot rocket any dog has ever seen--all over my pants, shirt, tie, and arms. It was disgusting. To top it off, the lesson ended about 45 minutes after that, so I just had to sit there with it all over me. Yuck.

The zone leaders visited our companionship this week for some splits. Since Ábrók Elder doesn't do any streeting or tracting, that's what I get to do the entire day that any splits happen. BUT we were able to have some really cool experiences. After a prayer, we just started walking. We had no idea where we were or where we were going. We just kept on walking. Then we went into a random (but not random) apartment complex. Rang a random (but not random) call box. The first cséngő (doorbell) we rang answered and they let us right in. They were at the very top floor, so we hiked up there, they opened the door and let us inside. Come to find out, it was an older lady that joined the church and was baptized 8 years ago. Her children didn't approve and they said they would disown her if she attended church. So she stopped coming. She was so happy that we were there and she told us that she still prays and reads everyday. I was able to set up a lesson with her for this week. It was incredible! 

For a branch activity this week, we gave each of the members a copy of the Book of Mormon and told them to go out and give it to someone on the street. We watched from the windows of the branch house as they all went into the street and a little courtyard that is near us to try to give out their book. It was so cute to watch some of these old ladies talk to people about the gospel and offer them a B.O.M. One lady (who isn't a member yet--she has a bapt. date for this month) loved it so much that she kept coming back to get more books to hand out. She was able to give out 3 in the time everyone else gave 1. It was such a neat experience for them and for my companion and I. The best part is YOU can do the SAME thing. Don't be afraid. I know of one Elder who goes into every "scary" situation with the attitude of, "It's the RESTORED GOSPEL that we are offering them!!" Every member IS a missionary. Share the happiness you find in this gospel. People will respond.

It's looking like this week is going to be super busy for us. Which is really exciting! Things are moving right along here. It's truly great.

I have to wait another week to be able to watch conference. There are only a few places where they are able to broadcast conference here in Hungary. Everyone else has to wait for the week after so that Salt Lake City can send us DVD copies of it all translated in Hungarian. It's going to be really neat to experience it here for my first time (out of four). I hope it's going to be a priority to you all--because these Hungarians can hardly wait.

Well that's all I have for this week, but I really hope you treat yourself to a heavy dose of The Book of Mormon today.

Szeretettel,

Alldredge Elder

 The rad castle we were able to see! 

 A pretty street near our apartment. 

 Baptism!! The Sopron branch with its newest member!