Old mission reports number 7

Dear Family and Friends,

Report number 7 from 8 January 2007 to 4 February 2007

First of all we want to apologize to all of you who received our messed up report the last time. Somehow that file got corrupted in the copy and paste process. To prevent this from happening again we will just attach the file. If you can’t open it, please let us know and we will try the copy and paste method again.

Attention all you fashion conscious people. The length of the toes on your shoes is significant in Hungary. Where a half inch beyond the tip of your longest toe might be acceptable in the USA, two inches seems to be a much more stylish solution in Hungary. The men’s shoes with these exaggerated long toes tend to be square at the ends but the ladies shoes with the incredibly long toes often end in needle points. The ladies shoes heels come in all different lengths, strengths, and locations on the rear half of the foot. Short heels located in the middle of the foot seem to be making some headway as do the slab heels at the extreme end of the foot.

Sister Dukelow finally had enough nerve to go get her hair cut. No one in the shop spoke English but she took along a picture and some words written down that would help explain what she wanted. The lady did a good job but Sister Dukelow really misses the nice haircuts that her hairdresser gave her in Alexandria.

Just when we thought no one would ever remove two metal strips sticking up from our side walk that were constantly tripping people – one day they were gone. It only took about three months for these hazards to be removed but we are glad we no longer have to remind each other to watch your step for things other than the normal dog mines laid frequently and randomly on our way to work. We have never seen anyone pick up after their dog. There must be a law against soiling the sidewalks but the dogs don’t care.

Our mild winter continues but we did have about an inch of snow on 27 January. We made a long trip by car that day to do apartment inspections and could not appreciate the snow while driving. We visited the cities of Vesprem, Kaposvar, Komlo, and Pecs. We stayed over night in Pecs and spoke in church the next day. Sister Dukelow gave a fine talk on prayer. Elder Dukelow tried to give the same talk he had two weeks prior but without reviewing his Hungarian vocabulary did a pretty poor job this time.

On our way home from Pecs we stopped again in Kaposvar where we attended the afternoon Sacrament service. The first new Kaposvar member, Szili Maria, was confirmed. Sister Szili is a mid-40s school teacher, a former member of the city council, and an exceptionally fine person. We are blessed to have such a strong member join the church. There were approximately 5 investigators in the Kaposvar meeting. Probably the same number of investigators attended the Buda ward today, 4 Feb. Elder Dukelow asked one lady when she was being baptized and she said she had not discussed it yet with the missionaries. He said not to wait too long but to be sure she knows the church is true before she is baptized and not to be baptized before she knows. It turns out the missionaries had not asked her about baptism because she was coming for the first time and had not been exposed to this concept.

Our young friend, Balint, sat next to Elder Dukelow in Sacrament meeting today and not with his mother. An older Hungarian couple wanted Balint to interpret for them as they were saying something to Elder Dukelow. Balint replied politely “He speaks Hungarian” which it turns out in this instance was sufficient for this short conversation.

Our office elders thought they could circumvent the tedious process we were enduring each time we needed to get a missionary a Hungarian driver’s license by going directly to the vehicle licensing office and not using the questionable services of the Nigerian driving instructor who has the system fixed. It turns out that the officials in the licensing office are as apparently as corrupt as the driving instructor and no benefit to us would be gained by trying to do things the proper and legal way. Apparently, for a foreigner to get a drivers license in Hungary, someone needs to be bribed. A license cost approximately $320, including the fee, the physical, photos, official translations of the USA license, etc.

The Hungarians make things difficult for people to buy or sell houses. The purchaser of a house must pay 10 per cent of the purchase price as taxes. The seller of any real estate must pay 40 per cent of the sales price. These taxes are levied regardless of whether the house is sold at a profit or loss.

Approximately half the population of the country lives in apartment buildings built during the Communist era of defective slab concrete which is slowly disintegrating. It is estimated in 30 years these panel houses as they are called will start crumbling. In some places they are wrapping the apartment buildings in insulation and plastic to prevent the exterior walls from crumbling before the interior walls collapse. Elder Dukelow thinks this will just hasten the collapse because they are not using breathable building foil.

Our recent housing inspection turned up a mixed variety of missionary accommodations. Some apartments are worn out and will need to be replaced. Some are sparkling new and we hope our missionaries will keep them looking nice. Elder Dukelow had to sternly admonish a sister for putting tape on the walls of a brand new apartment. The Hungarians do not use US style wall board but instead normally plaster the concrete or block walls and then paint over the plaster. When the missionaries tape up pictures or maps and then pull off the tape, the plaster comes off and we pay for the repairs.

Our VW Polo that was out of commission for four months with a broken motor is down again. We are now trying to decide whether to replace the motor again or junk this car and try to buy a new one. Actually two new cars are needed because we need to replace the other VW Polo that was in the head on wreck with the tractor. We will be car shopping next week and then we will see whether the European Area Office will authorize the unscheduled purchase of these new replacement vehicles.

Our transfer of missionaries last week went smoothly. We had two elders leave and five elders and one sister arrive. That makes us unbalanced in both elders and sisters. We were able to recruit a local sister who was planning on going on a mission as a temporary missionary for 12 weeks to balance out the sisters.

We had only one memorable meal out this past month. Elder Dukelow had roast goose livers on a bed of apple slices with princess potatoes that was absolutely delicious. Sister Dukelow really enjoyed creamed pasta with herbs at the same dinner.

We have enjoyed two visits in our home in the past month from Edith, a mid-single, who wants us to be her grandparents that she never knew. Elder and Sister Ballentine, a senior couple, joined us one night for supper as did Balint and his mother on a separate night for Family Home Evening. We also did a “Priesthood Preview” with Balint because he had not received this training before he joined the church.

We have not been able to find a discount drycleaners but have taken our clothes to a mall drycleaners where our mission president and the assistants take their suits. The service is good but expensive, about $10 to clean a suit. Elder Dukelow had his shoes re-soled at the same location for only $11.

One of the American families here gave us a crock-pot as a gift. We now need to learn how to use it. Sister Dukelow has made some outstanding home made stews on the stove using the “stone soup” recipe, which consists of putting one of each available vegetable into the pot. Elder Dukelow never thought he would be enjoying kohlrabi, celery root, parsnip, and carrots stewed with chicken or pork but it is delicious.

We hope the last of our Christmas packages for our missionaries arrived this past week. One sister mailed us a box on 11 Dec which arrived on 29 Jan. The winner for time in transit was a large box stamped “Economy Mail” which was sent on 5 Dec and arrived on 31 Jan.

We are doing fine. Our health is again good and our spirits are buoyed by the success we are seeing as the Church grows in Hungary. We appreciate the love, prayers, and messages we receive from you. We have received a couple of favorable responses from our request for recruiting help for the Church Educational System missionaries’ replacements but no firm commitments yet. Please keep your eyes open for us because we cannot afford to let those positions go vacant.