Dear Family and Friends, 8th mission report 4 Feb to 11 Mar 07
This afternoon we returned home from Sopron, a very picturesque town, near the Austrian border south of Vienna. In fact the border goes around Sopron and it sticks out like a thumb into Austria. We went yesterday afternoon on the train, stayed in a simple hotel right down in the middle of the historic part of the town. They are renovating the first floor of the hotel, which is really considered the second floor in the USA. They had no elevator and we stayed on the second floor in Hungary or the third floor in the USA. Are you confused yet?
Almost every building in the old part of Sopron has a plaque near the door explaining the historical significance of the building. Most of the entry ways are large arches and not regualar doors. We were in what was once the center of Jewish life in Sopron. There were at least two synagogues in this city operating from the middle ages until 1944. In May 1944 all the Jewish citizens were rounded up and sent to the death camps.
We walked around the old city before church and found an antiques flea market being set up on the main square. Some of our friends who get this report would have really enjoyed looking at the treasures. Old swords, clocks, musical instruments, and small statues of various materials seemed to be the most popular inventory items.
During our Saturday evening training we discussed the importance of preparing and going to the temple with the Branch President. He has about 11 people who are working towards going to the temple this summer. That was good news. There are only about 6 people who have been to the temple and have received their endowments in this branch. They have 30 active Saints who come weekly. Then we discussed the monthly financial report and the 6 month audit. We are all learning how this is to be done.
They have an unique church building in Sopron. It is right downtown. I think at one time it may have been a hotel. There are many stairs to climb to get to the USA second floor, maybe 20 or so, then up another 20 stairs to get to the chapel for sacrament meeting. The Relief Society and Priestood and Primary rooms are up another floor of another 20 steps. There are two Elders living on the 5th floor which is up a metal circular staircase with wooden steps. The apartment on top is large but a very different layout. It even has a balcony. The sad part about this building is that they have at least one member who has great difficulty in getting up all those steps to attend church services. She has multiple scerlosis and is getting worse. During Relief Society meeting she said she just had to lay down on the floor so she did.
Another very, very sad thing happened in our mission just in the past few days. One of our elders who had been here on his mission for about 6 months had a total nervous breakdown or a very severe anxiety attack and just lost it. Our Area doctor came from Frankfurt and escorted him back home to the USA. Both office elders had worked with him before and they just couldn’t believe he was the same person... because he wasn’t. We all feel so bad for him and for his family. Pray for them that they can meet this new challenge.
Spring is definitely in the air and in the trees. We saw some beautiful blossoms on several trees and we even saw some deer in the fields. A group of storks were stalking their supper in one big field. Sister Dukelow didn’t realize that the Danube river was the boundry between Hungary and Slovakia and we could look across the river into that country as we traveled home on the train. Rose says, actually I noticed it yesterday but didn’t know what I was looking at.
Last Wednesday 8 elders and 4 sisters went home and 5 new elders came from the MTC. We already had an uneven number of elders and still it is uneven now with the sick elder returning home. Anyway, transfer week is always a busy week.
We have had people over for family home evening and a few discussions in our home. We had a good discussion about preparing to go to the temple with a sister Gitta who was baptized two weeks ago. Balint and his mother, Gyergi, were there and Gyergi, who has only been a member less than a year did most of the teaching. Gyergi has her own copy of „Preach My Gospel” and is a great teacher. We have also had company. Our good friend Marion Connor from Germany came for a few days. Karen Wright from Alexandria came with one of her friends and we enjoyed a good Hungarian meal with them. It was good to see people we know and love.
We had a little snow, maybe as much as two inches, on 26 February but we have been personally pleased with the mild winter here in Budapest. On the day it snowed we saw people with their skis on the street cars heading up to the slopes above Buda. They probably skied on grass most of the time.
Our computer is sick and is at the laptop doctor. Hopefully tomorrow it will be returned to us in good health. We are using the mission office computers in the mean time to stay in touch. Elder Dukelow is taking over this letter from here on.
On our way to Sopron we noticed a big field where they were drying reeds for thatch roofs. Hungary is one of the few places in Europe where thatch is still produced and the skilled craftsmen are still able to make weatherproof roofs from bundles of reeds. Thatch roofs are very expensive and only seen on the finest new homes in Norther Europe. We have not seen thatch roofs in Hungary. Most of the roofs here are either slate or tile.
We had a social for our mission branch presidents on 3 March. Six of the nine branch presidents came. Two are single and one of these brought a young woman, Zita, who he introduced as an investigator. Zita is a beautiful lady in her mid-twenties who is studying to become a legal assistant. She was wearing what is considered quite fashionable in Hungary, a black ruffled low rider skirt, and a white sweater that covered one shoulder and hung down on the other shoulder half way to her elbow. The sweater may have shrunk after she bought it or she may have grown a couple of sizes because it was a tight fit and not quite long enough. Zita was a bit apprehensive coming into to the social but soon got into the swing of things and had a good time. If anything develops from this „investigator” we will let you know.
Our branch presidents are a great group and a very diverse group of men. One of the branch presidents is a former Hungarian military officer who was released from service when Hungary reduced its forces. He then went into police work, worked at a prison, and now is in the security force at a large department store. Another branch president makes his living as an insurance salesman and financial counselor.
On the other end of the economic scale, we have a branch president who is one of the richest men in Hungary. This brother had a big wine export business and owned several nightclubs. He had searched for the church for many years and when he found it, he sold his buinesses that were not compatible with the church teachings and still prospered.
For those who enjoy adventures in eating, Hungary is the place to eat. If you are not interested in food skip this part. The town of Szeged is famous for its fish soup. We went to a traditional restaurant with costumed musicians and staff who sang along with the music. The fish soup is mostly spicy grease with big chunks of carp floating in the bowl. It taste great but you don’t want to look at it or think about what you are eating. Actually carp is a really delicious fish when prepared correctly. Growing up, Elder Dukelow would only feed carp to the cats but now he enjoys eating it when it is available.
At another memorable meal with the sisters from Alexandria, Elder Dukelow trusting a recommendation from Arthur Frommer, ordered the gourmet menu. This meal started with cream of celery soup (Campbells is better) followed by little pancakes wrapped around ground liver (very tasty). The main course was goulash made from wild boar (fabulous). Dessert was rice pudding and fruit chunks topped with whip cream (also very nice).
Sticking with unusual food for a few more lines: Who ever thought green walnuts could be made into jam? It is quite good and smells like walnut trees in the spring. Creamed chestnuts also make a very nice dessert. Little soft goat cheese patties are better than brie, very smooth and mild.
Our former Area doctor advised us that most missionary health issues could be prevented by more fiber in the diet, more aerobic exercise (20 minutes at a time minimum) and by drinking more water. We try to follow that advice and eat mixed grain musili for breakfast and we drink several liters of water each day. We need to work on the aerobic exercise part of staying healthy but as the days get longer we will start walking more in the evenings.
The mission cars continue to cause us challenges as do the bicycles. Two elders who were using bikes owned by the mission failed to lock them properly and someone stole the bikes. Our cars are never suppose to back up without someone out side spotting for the driver. Three elders sitting in the back seat of one car apparently did not understand this procedure and the car was backed into a tree (ouch – but only $450 to get the dents out). Our tire service in the parking garage of a near by shopping center went out of business so we now need to search for another to get our tires rotated from winter back to summer tires.
Dental tourist continue to surprise us but they seem to be increasing in number. People come from all over Europe and the USA to get their teeth worked on in Hungary. As they tell us, they are able to to pay for the trip, their hotel, and their dental work still save enough money over what it would cost else where to make it worthwhile. Hungarian dentists are often trained in the USA and use the same equipment one would find in a US dental office.
One curious thing about church meetings in Hungary is they sing an opening and a closing song for each meeting, including Sunday School and Priesthood. Almost universally, the closing song for Priesthood is the children’s song, Kindness Begins With Me, which the brethren sing with great enthusiasm.
While we were in Sopron today we had our first experience in singing from the „other hymn book” the one no one likes. The first hymn book the church translated contains 45 songs and it was replaced about six or seven years ago with a different book which changed the text of the songs to more closely translate the English hymns. Unfortunately, correct translations from English to Hungarian rarely follow the same speech patterns and in the case of the second hymn book it failed miserably. The songs are almost unsingable. There are only a few places in Hungary where they use the second hymn book because of its akward translations. Most congregations in Hungary have old, tattered, or self-reproduced copies of the original hymnal because the congregations refuse to use the second hymnal.
We continue to feel blessed that we were called to this mission. We were not expecting to work in a mission office but we now know this work is critical to the success of the other missionaries. We try to do our best every day and so far we have not lost our enthusiasm for going to work each morning. We do get a chance to teach in the evenings and have people visit us in our apartment for gospel discussions each week. We are greatful for the opportunity to serve. We invite those who are contemplating a mission to get their paper work in immediately. We still need a replacement senior couple for the Outreach Center couple who will leave Budapest in October. We have several interested people but so far, no one has committed to come to this ideal situation.
Thanks for remembering us in your prayers.
Love to All - The Dukelows
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