Old mission reports number 4

4^th report from the mission field Oct 30 through November 18, 2006

During the past three weeks we have been very busy. We had our mission transfer day on 1 November. Transfers are every six weeks and we usually send some of our missionaries home on the transfer day and get new missionaries in. We had six missionaries leave and seven come in which left us with an uneven number of sisters. Normally we should have 86 elders, 14 sisters, and 8 couples in our mission. Right now we have 86 elders but only 13 sisters and 6 couples. The 13 December transfer will even out our sisters. If no one drops out of the MTC we will have 106 younger missionaries at the end of January and drop down again at the end of April to only 93 younger missionaries and then probably build back up again to our authorized complement of 100. This fluctuation in the numbers of missionaries creates some challenges in the housing department. We will need three extra apartments for three months and then have a surplus of six apartments for who knows how long unless we close them.

The housing situation is never calm with some missionaries not understanding how to care for an apartment and some landlords not willing to abide by their contracts. We had to pay to repaint a new apartment because the sisters living there did not know they had to open the windows to ventilate their rooms to prevent mould from growing. This morning at 0730 Elder Dukelow had a call from a missionary who is leaving an apartment saying the landlord was there with a bucket of paint demanding the elders paint the apartment before they move. Elder Dukelow told the elders to tell the landlord to read his contract. We are obligated to pay for damages but not to paint when we leave. We had another apartment where the toilet seal failed and the landlord refused to fix it. That landlord’s mother needed a vacuum so she took the one from the missionaries’ apartment without their permission and never returned it. We moved the missionaries out of that apartment. We also moved the missionaries out of an apartment where a prostitute was working in the apartment below them. The owners had a hard time understanding why we wanted to move our people.

While Elder Dukelow is trying to make sure the missionaries have adequate housing, Sister Dukelow is paying the bills. Things got pretty exciting two weeks ago when she was paying rent for November with bank transfers and put an extra 0 on the rent for three apartments. That depleted our housing budget very quickly but the people who received ten times what they should have all agreed to return the extra money. They did not do that last week so we hope it will all show up this week.

Our newest senior couple, Elder and Sister Low from Bountiful, came in on 7 November and are assigned to Debrecen. William Low was a Marriot senior executive for 20 years and served on the Washington DC Stake High Council from the mid 1960s to mid 1970s under Milan D. Smith, the man who rarely slept. Sister Low is a bell ringer and this hobby brought her into contact with Sister Gasser, the mission president’s wife. The Gassers recruited the Lows to come to Hungary on their mission. Brother Low told us the Church is buying back the 16^th and Columbia Chapel from the Unification Church to use as a Washington DC visitors center. Elder Dukelow said this was probably wishful thinking but Elder Low believes they have a firm deal. The Lows wanted to rent a nicely furnished larger size apartment for only six months. The only way they were able to do that was to pay the six months rent up front. Normally that would never happen but sometimes the housing market gets tight and we have to make unusual deals. The Lows also bought themselves a small used car so they are independent of the mission’s meager fleet which is good for them and good for Elder Dukelow who was trying to apportion two cars to three couples. He has one couple who was very unhappy about giving up their mission owned car even for a few months. One other couple does not really care about a car because they don’t like to drive and prefer to use public transportation.

Speaking of cars, we pay a little over $100 to change the oil on our mission vehicles. They use synthetic oil that cost about $16 a liter (quart+). The good thing is the cars can go about 10,000 miles between oil changes. When Elder Dukelow took a newer Skoda in for its first big inspection/service, the service manager wanted to see the inspection book. They looked in the glove box and could not find it. Elder Dukelow talked the man into servicing the car without the book by promising him he would find the book or obtain a new one and bring it in so it could be stamped to show the car had been officially serviced. We later learned that the newer Skoda cars (similar to a VW Polo) have a secret compartment in the glove box and this is where the service record book was found.

Winter tires were also mounted on most of our cars in the past two weeks. The tire service we use is operated by two men out of a small bay in the underground parking garage under the Mammoth, a big shopping center. It has no tire inventory and only one tire mounting machine, a work bench and an air compressor for their tools. They work by appointment only and are usually completely booked two weeks in advance. In the stall next to the tire service is an auto detailing service. The Buda Michelin tire service operates literally on the street nearby, competing with normal traffic and people who want to park as they change tires. Just up the street is a Shell gas station which pumps gas into cars in the left lane of a one way street. When cars are at the pumps, the traffic has to merge into the right lane to get past, almost like in Italy. Most service stations are similar to those in the USA but there is always a person standing at the pumps ready to put gas into your car and wash your windows. This person, man or woman, gets a small tip for the service.

All legal business in Hungary is accompanied by much paperwork, even a hair cut results in an official receipt. There is, however, a huge gray economy in Hungary which is conducted without paperwork or receipts and without paying the 20 per cent value added taxes for each transaction. Elder Dukelow estimates if everyone in Hungary was honest and paid their taxes the government would not have any budget problems.

The dishonesty in Hungary extends into some parts of the government as well. We might almost compare them with some people in the outgoing US Congress. The mission works reluctantly with a driving instructor from Nigeria who guarantees success on the written portion of the driving test. He does this by providing the correct answers while he is translating the text of the test in a city 40 km outside of Budapest where he has made “special arrangements”. Of course the officials know what is going on so the only conclusion is that they are being reimbursed for their cooperation. President and Sister Gasser had the opposite experience when they took their driving test in an office in the city of Budapest and almost failed. The translator was not allowed to assist them in any way. The Dukelows felt badly about taking the fraudulent test with this person because they believe they could have passed the test without his illegal help.

Last weekend the Dukelows traveled by train to Papa to conduct some training on Saturday evening and speak in church on Sunday. Elder Dukelow carefully planned the 2.5 hour trip to Papa from the Deli station next to where we live. We were to leave at 12:10 and transfer at Kelenfoeld and again a Gyor (with an umlaut on the o). When he looked at the board that showed the tracks for departing trains the 12:10 train had the word gyors next to the departure time. Elder Dukelow incorrectly assumed this meant the train was heading to Gyor so we stayed on the train at Kelenfoeld. The next thing we knew we were traveling along the Danube and knew we were headed South and not in the right direction - West. So we asked the conductor and she confirmed we were on the wrong train. This train did not stop again until it reached Szekesfehervar (White Throne Castle) an hour later. We later learned that gyors means fast train with limited stops. The conductor recommended we return to Budapest when we stopped and start over again because there were no good connections to Papa.

Elder Dukelow talked with the man in the information booth at the station and found a train going to Kisber with a connection to Papa. These were very small trains – like one car school busses on rails. The trip turned into a six hour adventure. The small trains stop at each station and between Kisber and Papa the train even stopped where there were no stations or buildings of any type. There were some trees and big bushes and maybe a patch of concrete beside the tracks and the train stopped and people got off or got on. In most places someone was waiting at the track to meet the person getting off the train. There were also no lights, no flash lights used by the travelers, or cars to take them from the stopping point to their houses. They simply got off the train and walked off into the darkness.

In Papa we had a good training session Saturday evening with the church leadership. Elder Dukelow asked them to name the most important commandment. They correctly responded to love God and love your neighbor as yourself. We then reviewed the basic Bible scriptures dealing with God’s love and loving your neighbor. They made notes and marked their Bibles as we went along. None of these people have been church members for very long and none had any religious training during the Communist era so it was good to show them some scriptures outside those used in the standard missionary lessons. On Sunday we spoke on tithing in Sacrament meeting. Sister Dukelow used an interpreter but Elder Dukelow spoke without an interpreter and the people understood his faith promoting stories on tithing. President Gasser wants to strengthen the mission branches outside the Budapest Stake by having a senior couple visit each branch once each month to give some training and speak in Sacrament meeting. Next month we go to Szombathely near Austria.

In Papa we stayed at what one might call a small bed and breakfast but there was no breakfast unless you provided it yourself. The price was right, $25 for a small double room with a bath. In our apartment in Budapest we drink the tap water. In Papa we brushed our teeth with the tap water and then wished we had not because the water tasted very nasty. But we did not get sick.

We have had some good meals in restaurants recently. At one supper Sister Dukelow had a breaded pork chop and Elder Dukelow had a venison pot pie that was very good. In Papa we hunted a long time on a cold rainy walk for the Stork restaurant and we were about to turn back when we eventually found it. Sister Dukelow had chicken drumsticks and noodles in a cream sauce. Elder Dukelow had a most delicious marinated venison roast under a heavy cream sauce with bread dumplings made with bits of bacon. That venison (sauerbraten for you German speakers) takes his prize of the best meal so far in Hungary this time.

We ate twice this past week at restaurants with the Gentry’s who were visiting us. Elder Dukelow ordered an expensive ($18) Budapest style stake one night with duck livers and salsa style sauce. The stake was nothing special but the livers, salsa and veggies were great. At a later meal in an Italian-Hungarian restaurant, Sister Dukelow had pasta with garlic cream sauce with bits of ham and Elder Dukelow had gnocchi with bits of chicken in a heavy cream sauce. When the Hungarians make a heavy sauce you can almost stand your fork in it. It is a good thing we usually eat at home or we would be outgrowing our clothes rapidly with the great restaurant meals.

The Gentry’s, our daughter Gwyndolynn and Eric our son-in-law, came for a quick two-night visit as Eric was on a business trip to Europe. They were our first overnight visitors and our modest guest room met their needs. We were having Zone Conferences so we could not spend the day with them. They bought a one-day tourist pass and saw many of the main sights of Budapest. We live next to the famous Castle Hill and we told them to take the bus to the castle. They chose to hike up the stairs instead and got a good workout on those steps. The Gentry’s met while studying Turkish at the University of Utah and remarked on the Turkish words they noted in the Hungarian language. Turkey occupied Hungary for over 150 years during the Ottoman Empire. Gwyndolynn brought us some much needed cookie sheets, and much wanted maple flavoring and natural peanut butter. People keep telling us we can buy peanut butter here but we have yet to find it. We struggle-by using Nutella chocolate spread on almost a daily basis.

We had Elder Willi Kopischke and his wife, Christiane, of the Central European Area presidency as our Zone Conference guest. He recently returned from being President of the Berlin Mission where he enjoyed great success. After hearing him talk and his ideas about generating interest in the Church it is easy to understand why he was so successful. His basic idea is you must first find a common interest with a person before you can approach him with Gospel topics. He calls it detour missionary work. The danger is some missionaries stay on the detour and don’t get back to what they are supposed to be teaching. Sister Kopischke is the mother of two girls and five boys and a very dynamic person herself. During the Zone Conference we all received our painless flu shots from Elder Jenkins who is an emergency medical technician. Some elders were making a big fuss about getting a shot but they took the shots to get the treats that were provided after the shots. The shots were not mandatory but strongly encouraged by the mission.

Last Friday night we went to the Budapest Opera to see the Marriage of Figaro. Our landlord, Zsolt (sounds like Jolt) Molnar, sang the leading role of Figaro and did a very good job. He also gave us the tickets which were quite good, near the front in the middle of the ground level stalls. The Gentry’s had visited the opera on their tour of the city and were greatly impressed. It is a beautifully ornate building inside and the acoustics are wonderful.

The Emperor Franz Joseph I, who was not an opera fan, had provided the money for the opera house in Budapest with the condition that it could not be bigger than his opera house in Vienna. When he attended the opening of the opera 24 September 1884, Emperor Franz Joseph remarked he should have been more restrictive in his conditions because the Budapest Opera is much more beautiful inside and has better acoustics than his opera house in Vienna.

The people of Budapest overwhelmed the security at the opening in 1884 and stormed inside to see the inside of the building and have been filling it regularly ever since. Many come in their work clothes as the opera starts at 6 PM. Others were wearing evening clothes and also jeans. The tickets are cheap by US standards; ours would have cost $16. The stage is almost as big as the auditorium and provides wonderful depth for the scenery and movement of the performers. There are also ramps over each side of the orchestra pit that allows the performers to come out into the audience. They do multiple curtain calls after each act which we found unusual.

Our landlord, Zsolt Molnar, became quite upset when we had our gas water heater repaired and called him to say it would cost us approximately $95. Apparently he repairs water heaters as a hobby and claims he could have repaired it himself for no cost to us. So we paid that bill and think we are probably better off because we look around our apartment and see many things Zsolt has made or repaired that are of “Hungarian quality workmanship” which is the polar opposite of German quality workmanship. Forty years of Communism almost destroyed the pride of quality workmanship in this people. Elder Dukelow took the storage cabinet lock apart to fix it after the key broke in the lock. Inside the lock he found the remains of three other broken keys. In a different non-functioning cabinet lock he found two more broken keys. If the key breaks buy a new one, don’t fix the lock, seems to be the standard practice.

Mission office work is never routine but we hope some day it will become more routine than continual crisis management. Irritated landlords, frustrated utility companies, and missionaries who lose their mission provided cell phones are normal events. The missionaries who lose their phones must buy new ones. We use cell phones on a network because that allows us to better control the phone costs. The Mission Office Software program developed and provided by the Church as a mission management tool does not like Elder Dukelow. When he tries to use the mail merge function it will regularly freeze up or worse it tells him there are no missionaries in his data base. He has no option but to shut it down and work on something else until the little electrons get tired of playing this game and line up correctly for another attempt. Some software applications are developed by people who know what they are doing. Most of us need to use commercial off the shelf programs that have been tried and proven rather than developing our own.

We are still constantly working on our language skills. Elder Dukelow can do alright in a face-to-face situation but still chokes on the phone when a person calls and thinks he is a native speaker. Sister Dukelow is working with an 11 year old boy and his mother who read with her in Hungarian and the boy then corrects her pronunciation. We pray for the gift of tongues and hope you are praying for us also.

Our other senior couples are getting by without speaking Hungarian and having a great time and many spirit filled teaching experiences. We meet occasionally for training and then have dinner together. They are really a great bunch of people with a vast amount of church service and leadership behind them. After being here for two weeks, Sister Low says, “Where’s the hardships? I thought we were supposed to be facing trials and difficulties on our mission.” Of course she does not work in the mission office where our perspective is a bit different. As one of the couples we met at the MTC writes, we must remember we are dealing with 19 year olds who need a bit more guidance and direction than one would expect from more mature people.

We have had Hungarian people over for Family Home Evening and plan to make it a regular habit. We will have Thanksgiving off because President Gasser says we should celebrate Thanksgiving. We plan to have someone over to our home that evening also. Sister Dukelow has almost mastered her kitchen and turns out magnificent meals on a regular basis. We buy our food mostly at the small corner markets, the size of a 7 to 11 store, and the green grocer who operates on the sidewalk and a small cellar on the next street. The locally grown fruits and vegetables are not as pretty as in a US supermarket but they are cheap and very tasty. Of course we scrub everything before we eat it. We pay about a dollar a pound for bananas but only 25 cents a pound for good apples.

The box of language training books that we mailed to ourselves on 5 Sept finally arrived. We had sent them the cheapest way possible. It cost a dollar a pound and it only took 10 weeks to get here. We have seen many international priority mail envelopes that cost $9.50 to mail and can hold up to 4 pounds—some of them are really taped together because they apparently pop open in transit. Those arrive in less than a week.

We are thankful to be missionaries and have this opportunity to be in Hungary at this time. We wish you all a nice thanksgiving day and hopefully with your loved ones.

With love, Elder and Sister Dukelow