Elder Cameron Alldredge's LDS Mission in Budapest, Hungary: Week 86 & 87

Hű, régóta nem emaileztem.

January 1st: On January first we went with a member family on a little hike. It was a really foggy day but it was still a blast. We had fun finding walking sticks, playing on the playground, using penny-smasher machine... things, eating scones, playing games, and having some great conversations with each other. It was a great way to spend the holiday. A lot better than walking through the dead city avoiding all the spots of vomit.

Our Older Brothers!: So, going back to talking about the family in the previous paragraph, we also met this past week to hold a family home evening with them. The mother wanted to tell us about how cute her two girls were when their neighbor asked who their guests were going to be that day. The little girls replied with, "well... our older brothers are coming over today!!" These two girls are so adorable. I would totally adopt them to be my Hungarian little sisters. (Of course, no one could ever replace the two amazing little sisters I already have who I love so much.)

The Big Day: Being Elder Headrick's last P-day before he goes home, we have a lot of things on our "to do" list. Right after emailing we have a day full of activities and places to visit. Then, we're going to end the day with a baptism! Elder Headrick will be baptizing this man and tomorrow I will be confirming him. He is a stellar guy. He met with missionaries before I got here but I have already seen him progress so much. He was able to successfully overcome the addiction of coffee and cigarettes. We are really proud of him and as we met with him last night we asked him, "are you nervous?" He replied with, "well, yea!! This is the biggest most important weekend of my life!!" Yea, he's awesome.

Persian Family: While tracting the other day we found a family who spoke Persian. There was one girl there who had learned Hungarian so we were able to communicate to the family through her. We would speak in Hungarian and she would translate it into Persian. They all sat down crossed-legged on the floor in front of us. They all had those head things... Head dresses? Is that what they are? I think so. I'm sure you get what I'm talking about. Anyway, they were extremely nice and humble and they loved having us there. We then said a prayer with them before we left and the girl translated it as it was being said. It was really neat and really spiritual for everyone. It's not everyday we get to experience something like that.

Transfers: Transfers are next week which means I will be emailing on Saturday instead of Saturday. HA! The transfer doesn't change my P-day. BUT we have met with president for about 4 hours this week just to talk about transfers. Just when we thought everyone was where they needed to be with who they needed to be, we didn't feel quite right about it and basically changed everything. We thought we had it all set as of yesterday but President just barely came in and said he wants to talk about some changes he feels need to be made after we email. Ack! But this whole transfer thing has been such an incredible experience. It's so spiritual and I know the Lord is guiding his work ever so carefully. This means that on Tuesday, we get to pick up the new missionaries from the airport! I'm super stoked about that! We get to take them around their tour of Budapest and be in the "sorting hat" meeting where they get paired up with their trainer. I'm super stoked for it.

I don't have much more time to email, we have lots to do today! Everything is great on my side of the waters. It's going to be tough having Elder Headrick leave this next week. Not because I want to leave, but because I have really really enjoyed serving with him. It wasn't long enough!!

If you feel unhappy or discontent right now in your life, it's prrroooobbbbbably because you don't study enough from The Book of Mormon. Just sayin'.

Sok Szeretettel,

Alldredge Elder