Old mission reports number 12

Dukelow’s 12^th Mission Report 15 July to 2 Sep 07… just delete if not interested

This will not be in chronological order but in order of what we think is interesting.

On 20 August the Hungarians celebrate their national holiday, somewhat equivalent to our July 4^th plus their national saint, Saint Steven whose mummified right arm can be seen for a quarter in the basilica named after him in Budapest. Since the 20^th was on a Monday this year, the enterprising Hungarians turned the holiday into a three day weekend with air plane races on the Danube, parades, folk dancers and of course, thousands of little booths containing trinkets and goodies for you to buy. Sister Dukelow believes there are only a few dozen firms that own the booths and they hire various people to man them during the holidays because they are everywhere and most have the same stuff for sale. Most of the stuff has no prices marked so you don’t know what they will ask for a certain item until you touch it and ask how much it will cost.

The air plane races were quite interesting as they started and finished their course under the chain bridge which was the first bridge to span the Danube in Budapest. Before the races they had some big commercial passenger planes plus an old DC3 fly very low down the Danube. The little racing airplanes are so small and do such fancy tricks that one woman next to us asked if there were really people flying inside the planes because she thought they might be big radio controlled models.

In the evening of the 20^th we watched the fireworks at home on our TV. It poured down rain earlier in the evening and we thought that would drive away the crowds. We may have been part of a very few that left the river bank because it was packed with people. We could hear the fireworks from our apartment and they lasted a good half hour. They were large and colorful. After the fireworks finished, it started raining again.

We went on weekend trips twice each month and saw more of Hungary. We visited Debrecen in the East, Eger and Miskolc in the North and were back in Szeged in the South the last weekend in August. Since then we visited Pécs, Sopron, and Szombathely doing Church audits.

Debrecen is a beautiful university city with many trees along the streets. The LDS chapel is very nice and has apparently won prizes for its landscaping. The city also has a huge park with a big spa in the middle. Hungary’s largest Protestant church is in Debrecen. We headed back to Debrecen to audit their financial records and stopped to see Hungarian cowboys at their Hortabagy national park on this trip. The tourist season is over so the cowboys had gone home. Almost every missionary who makes it to Debrecen owns a fancy hand made braided leather whip purchased at this Hortabagy park. Debrecen has a flower parade on 20^th August each year. We watched the highlights on TV. If you can imagine hundreds of baton twirlers, dozens of club bands, and a group of stilt dancers in shaggy sheep skin coats, you will get the idea.

Eger is a beautiful small city with many pretty flowers everywhere. We did not have time to explore the city because we were on a tight schedule but we will go back on 9 September to speak in church and do some training.

Miskolc also has a beautiful chapel and a wonderful congregation of Latter Day Saints. The branch president is reputed to be one of the richest men in Hungary. He is really a good leader and takes care of his people. Miskolc is an old industrial city with not much charm. It is the third largest city in Hungary after Budapest and Debrecen. There are only two hotels in this city that have ads on the internet. It is certainly not a tourist destination.

We spoke to the missionary who was visiting Miskolc the day we were there who was the first to preach the restored Gospel in Miskolc in 1992. He told us about renting a hall and having 100 investigators at his meetings. They were teaching 50 lessons a week. The current branch president was one of his converts. The missionaries in 1992 were preaching on the street and a group of men were harassing them. A man stepped out of the crowd, punched one of the opponents in the nose, and told the rest to show some respect for these missionaries who were trying to talk about their religion. Later in the week the missionaries were visiting in a home and this same man came into the house as it was his home. The missionaries were afraid he would do something to them but he listened to their message and found it was something he had been searching for. He owned a big wine exporting business and several night clubs. He sold his businesses that were not compatible with the church and the Lord blessed him with other success.

Food is always important in Hungary. There is no social occasion without something good to eat. The Hungarians like to grill fat during the summer. They make a big deal out of selecting the right wood, preferably dried fruit tree wood, to give the grilled fat a special flavor. Stew cooked outside in big pots suspended from an iron tripod over a wood fire is another favorite.

We ate at our favorite Greek restaurant to celebrate our 41^st anniversary. Sister Dukelow had the Mediterranean salmon and shrimp salad. Elder Dukelow had a very tasty pepper steak meal that consisted of a pile of mixed steamed vegetables, with two quarter pound slices of tenderloin on the side. The pepper sauce also was served on the side so everything kept its own flavor.

More recently we ate out as we were doing audits and had some fairly good meals. Last night Elder Dukelow had pork medallions smeared with goose liver that is really much tastier than it sounds. A few days earlier he had a “schweinehaxe” (pork shoulder) that was also very good.

We had a less memorable meal in Szeged. Sister Dukelow had a big plate of penne pasta and strawberry soup for desert. Elder Dukelow tried their version of cordon bleu: chicken breast covered with ham and cheese on a bed of home fries. Unfortunately all he could taste was salt. Probably should have sent it back.

Elder Dukelow ordered three short sleeved white shirts from Lands End over the internet. The Hungarian customs folks charged him 25 per cent customs duty for these shirts. They sent him a letter telling him to go to the main customs office to pay his duty and pick up his shirts. At the first window in the customs office there is a sign in Hungarian that says, “If you don’t have your paperwork, go to window number 5.” Elder Dukelow had his letter so he went to window number one and the man said, “Go to window 5” without even looking at the letter. At window 5 Elder Dukelow received a copy of the same letter he already had and took it back to window 1. The man at window one took the letter and told him to wait. Five minutes later he called Elder Dukelow up to the window and gave him a form that contained the same information as the original letter but it was now typed on high quality watermarked paper. Elder Dukelow was again sent to window number 5. At window number 5, the lady took the new paper and handed it back to Elder Dukelow with the customs packing slip from his Lands End package and told him to go to window 6 across the hall. Elder Dukelow took the slip and letter to window 6. The lady at window 6 told him to go back to window 5. Elder Dukelow objected and in his most polite Hungarian explained the lady at window 5 had just sent him to window 6. The lady at window 6 said to stand aside and wait a few minutes. Elder Dukelow now realized he may have arrived at the Office of Unending Bureaucracy made famous in the trick film of 1977 called Asterix conquers Rome in German. A few minutes later, a new woman brought the shirts from window 5 to the lady at window 6. She called Elder Dukelow, asked him for the customs due, and after he paid, sent him off with the shirts and a note verifying he had paid customs on them. A security guard at the front door checked the note against the packing slip and allowed Elder Dukelow his freedom from this very strange office.

We have been able to participate in teaching a few people with the elders and sister missionaries. The sisters asked us to help teach a Jehovah Witness couple. We told the sisters we would help on the condition that we only spoke of positive, uplifting things and did not contend with the Jehovah Witnesses. They agreed and we met with these people. It was a bit hard for Elder Dukelow to listen to the Jehovah Witnesses explain their understanding of selected verses in the Bible using their specialized translation without giving them the counteracting verses that their organization leaders scrupulously avoid allowing their members to discuss. He tried to get them to accept a Book of Mormon as a second witness of Christ and to read just one chapter, 1 Nephi 2, which explains our understanding of the Fall of Adam. They refused even to touch the Book of Mormon claiming all the knowledge about Jehovah they needed was contained in the Bible and they used no supplementary publications. In the light of the extensive training materials published by their organization the obvious fallacy of that statement escaped them. Elder Dukelow later provided the sister missionaries with a long list of Jehovah Witness doctrinal beliefs taken from their official web site and their favorite scripture verses. The fact that they deny the divinity of Christ sorely disappointed our sisters.

We have a very dedicated group of six hard working yet very compatible senior couples in the mission. These people also know how to have fun. In August, this group took a two hour boat trip on the Danube from Budapest to Hungary’s number one tourist trap, Szentendre (Saint Andrew). It was a very relaxing ride and we enjoyed each others company. On 21 September we will meet again to visit Hungary’s National Memorial Heritage Park at Opusztaszer. We will let you know about that outing in the next report.

Our Church Education System Outreach Center couple, the Roberts, leave on 3 October. Their replacements, Bob and Yvonne Wood, from Payson, Utah, should arrive about the same time. Our next couple to leave, the Stubbs, flies home on 27 November. We surely need some of you to put in your mission paperwork because we have no news of a replacement for the Stubbs and in April, three more couples leave.

Our daughter, Laura, is now living with her Aunt Ann in Orem, Utah. Laura is working at the local Ikea. Gwyndolynn Gentry and her family have moved from Mountain Home, Idaho to Murray, Utah. If any of you faithful readers in those areas would like their phone numbers or addresses please let us know.

Teaching the Hungarian leaders to delegate their responsibilities is a big challenge. In August, President Bauer, in Pápa was released after serving almost 10 years as branch president. Almost everything done in that branch was done by members of his immediate family. This policy caused many people to stop coming. Elder Stubbs is now the branch president and his task in the next three months is to find a new leader.

We had seven new missionaries arrive 22 August. As usual, since they flew through Milan, Italy, they all arrived without their checked luggage. Their bags caught up with them in two days. Just a tip for those of you who may be flying to Central or Eastern Europe and catching connecting flights in Paris or Milan, please pack extra underwear in your carry-on bag. Some missionaries believe it is more important to carry their scriptures and library with them and suffer a bit until their luggage is found.

Vodafone continues to amaze us with its antics. This time they decided Elder Dukelow was not authorized to make service requests for the 63 phones in our network that he had been managing for almost a year. Apparently some Vodafone bureaucrat could not find a document authorizing Elder Dukelow to act on behalf of the church, in spite of the fact that he had met with two Vodafone account representatives and had made numerous transactions with this company. We obtained a letter from his predecessor turning over responsibility for the phones and faxed it to Vodafone and all is well…

Last year the mission sponsored a long series of “Restoration Concerts” featuring the talents of three professional male singers who happened to be serving missions here. This year a new series of concerts will start featuring different, yet equally talented, magnificent voices of two sisters, two elders, and three bell ringers. We don’t have a schedule yet for the concert series but we are sure it will be extensive. President Gasser says we will not do a follow on Christmas concert series. We have not heard the final word from his boss, Sister Gasser, bell ringer in charge.

The Budapest Stake and the Hungary Budapest Mission sponsored a Young Single Adult conference for all central Europe. It was a great success and was written up in the Church News. Our mission office helped support the conference by getting visas for some of the young people who would otherwise not be able to visit Hungary.

About a month ago, a brother William Tarpai, came to church and later had lunch with us. Br. Tarpai is a Human Resource Manager for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). His organization is opening an office in Budapest to handle the accounting, supplies, and logistics for the UNHCR world wide. They will hire approximately 110 people. Elder Dukelow mentioned this employment opportunity to Sister Hauck, wife of the second counselor in the Stake Presidency, and the phone immediately started ringing with inquiries from various people about possible job openings. Br. Tarpai told us today the first positions are posted on the internet and work will start on 1 November. Br. Tarpai is interested in hiring as many qualified Mormons as possible because they have the necessary language skills and can usually be trusted in sensitive positions. If you want to work for the UNHCR in Budapest, we can give you the web sites to check for the positions.

In our tour of the mission to do audits, we were joined this week by Jim and Rona Jurgens from Frankfurt, Germany or Mapleton, UT. They are full time auditors for the church in central Europe and we learned a lot from them as we traveled together. They tried to recruit us as full time auditors for the church but traveling 20 days a month does not appeal to us. At the audit in Sopron, they were astonished when the branch president asked if we could sing a hymn before we left. We sang, “Count Your Blessings.” Later in Szombathely, two faithful and conscientious brothers demonstrated what exact obedience is about as they turned in an audit that was almost without any finding of corrections need. The Jurgens asked if we could take these brethren with us to train the other Hungarian leaders how to properly manage the Lord’s funds.

As we and the Jurgens rode together we exchanged faith promoting stories to pass the time. The Jurgens had a son who served his mission in Nicaragua. This young man was given a very difficult assignment for the last six months of his mission. He was assigned to be the branch president of a broken congregation at the very edge of the mission in a small town where the previous branch president had to be removed and was very openly hostile towards the church.

When young Elder Jurgens arrived in this village with his companion only six people attended their first Sunday meetings. The missionaries decided to visit every member of the church in the village and beyond that to speak with every single person in the village, including the former branch president. When they arrived at the very modest home of the former branch president, he was reluctant to permit them to enter. He allowed them to come in when they promised not to do anything more than sing a hymn. Both young elders were exceptionally talented singers. They sang their first hymn and were asked to sing another. They continued to sing hymns for almost three hours. There was a tremendous outpouring of the spirit. When they left the home they found the entire neighborhood had gathered around this dwelling to hear them sing. The next Sunday the former branch president and his family were seated in the front row of the congregation.

After six months the Jurgens couple traveled to Nicaragua to pick up their son from his mission. They went to the village where their son had last served. The Sunday meetings were attended by106 people. Following church, the Jurgens went to the home of the former branch president so their son could sing for him one last time. Again one hymn followed another until they pleaded they had to leave. When they went out, again they found the entire community had gathered to hear the singing. Everyone in the community hugged young Elder Jurgens and thanked him for his service as he left. His father, who has served in many prominent church positions and enjoyed many spiritual experiences, said with tears in his eyes, this was the spiritual highlight of his life, a never to be forgotten experience.

We enjoy many spiritual experiences as we invite new members and people learning about the Gospel into our homes. Andrea and her 12 year old daughter, Laura, visited us on Friday night. They have been investigating the church for over six months. Laura told of how she had been asked to pray at a Lutheran youth camp this summer. She prayed as the missionaries had taught her to pray, from her heart and not from a memorized prayer. She said it was as if a fog lifted from the camp and people who were before sad and frowning were afterwards smiling and happy. Laura wants to be a sister missionary when she is old enough.

The previous week we were visited by Sandor and Laszlo, both men are very new members. We had dinner together and a good Gospel discussion even though Sandor cannot speak any English. Later Laszlo asked to stay longer and we reviewed scriptures which was a real pleasure to do with someone who is absorbing the Gospel.

We are excited that Rose’s brother LaMont and his wife Sandi are entering the Missionary Training Center tomorrow (Sept 2) they are going on an 18 month mission to Singapore. They will be the office couple for that mission.

Every Sunday is fun as we meet with the Saints because we never know who we might meet and what new friends we will make. We are happy and thankful to be able to serve as missionaries. We pray for you, for your health and your happiness and hope you in turn will pray for us as we strive to serve others.

Love,

Elder and Sister Dukelow