Elder Jeff Nichols: Week 11

Hey family, How are you all doing on this fine day? I will try to tell you exactly what has been happening since I arrived in Hungary. Where oh where do I start. So firstly, I would like to say how hard it is to use a Hungarian keyboard. It is really tricky because the z and y keys are switched. So if I use them in the wrong places that would be why.

My new companion!! His name is Elder Christensen and he is a pretty cool guy! Wait wait wait I need to back up and tell you what has happened since the beginning. Holy Cow. The flights to Hungary were way long so it was very hard to sleep. Everyone was watching some kind of movie or film and I had Dutch people around me for the longest portion of the flight. Ya, it was not terrible, but at the same time I did not say a word of English for 7 hours. It was painful and super long, but somehow I made it work. We took off from SLC at 9:45 a.m. and the flight to Minneapolis was only a couple hours. I loved that portion of the flight. Then it continued and we flew to Amsterdam. That flight was the longest thing of my life. 7 hours of torture. When I finally arrived in Budapest it was such a beautiful day which is weird because all of the time I have been here, it has only been sunny two days. Kind of a bummer, but we learn to live with it.

Me and Cathcart Elder were picked up from the airport by the AP's and the mission president and his wife. They were so kind and really took us in. We went back to the mission home which is so nice! We were able to go with the AP's tracting and to a program that night. While we were tracting, we actually got a “let in” and talked to this super nice (committed to Catholicism) lady. But we talked to her and got her to be interested in the English class which we teach every Thursday and Saturday. She was super nice. Then we went to a program where a lady made little biscuits with nuts on them for us. They were not terrible, but I chose to only eat a few of them hahaha. Then we returned and went back to the mission home and ate with the mission president and his wife and the AP's. That was a really good homemade meal by Sister Smith. It was like rice with whatever you want on top of it. Then we were taken to Gellért Hegy (which is just the top of a hill where Elder Russel M. Nelson dedicated the land, kinda like ensign peak.) Ya, it was super pretty at night time. Then we returned and crashed at like 9 o’clock here. (the time difference is 8 hours ahead of you.)

Next morning we “streeted” and that was rough. Ha, Cathcart Elder and I had to street alone. But we gave away a Book of Mormon and some pass along cards while we were out. It was not too bad, and we were out there for over an hour. Quickly, I realized I do not understand like any Hungarian. Hahahaha. I then got my new companion which is Elder Christensen. He is a way cool guy, and very humble. He has been here for just over a year, and we are serving in Pest (the East side of the city). We actually have the stake center in our zone which is nice. And apparently there are about 120 members attend each week. It's quite funny for me, because about half of the church yesterday was in English. Half of the people there do not speak Hungarian. So, that was not too bad. I understood them.

We have been teaching a ton of lessons, and a ton of people. Right now, we have 4 people on baptismal date and hope to commit a couple to baptism this week. The work is moving forward here!! I have walked further than ever here, and we use a lot of public transportation. My feet are becoming like shoes, in the point they are getting pretty hard. And I found out I had to buy a new side bag because backpacks are not allowed. So I will just wear my backpack when I travel. And I just bought a side bag today. It looks way sick. The other elders here in the zone are Elders Day and Judd. They are way cool and the sisters in Pest are Sisters Magda and Larsen. They are way kind too. Ya I love it here. There is also sport day on Thursdays when we play with members and the investigators. And guess what sport.... Soccer. Of course. hahaha. Our apartment has its glitches. Ha, there is duct tape everywhere and of course leaks too. My bed is like a couch and our bathroom door does not lock or shut completely. Ha, but we do have a tie bag (where missionaries buy a bag of ties for like 100 bucks and then it's a whole bag of ties. So I looked through the leftovers here. Not too good... ha.

I was very sad to hear about the death of Grandma. I cannot believe that. I hope that the family is doing well and I hope the funeral was nice. I miss home, and I miss the family and friends. It is not easy here. Everyone stares at you and they really do not like us. We get rejected a ton... But... When they listen, it is the best feeling. Here in the mission it is super hard to write letters. I receive them ever so often but only when someone in our zone goes to the mission home. So like once every other week. But we do receive them. And yeah, that's about all. There is not a lot of time here to discuss home, so it is pretty easy to stay focused. Ha!

Szia és Szeretlek titaket

Nichols Elder