Summer Camp

Do these look like desperate hands reaching out for help? Actually, it is a monument to the 1956 Hungarian revolution against the Russian occupation. However, I thought it was an appropriate symbol for the phone call we got on Thursday from the organizers for the all Hungary LDS Youth Camp. One of their presenters had to drop out for a funeral and they asked us to substitute. Since two of our youth in Sopron would be there, they said we could bring them up Tuesday, spend the night, and then have fun giving a presentation to four groups on Wednesday.

Saturday night we got our theme: the first part of the 13th Article of Faith: "We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous."

On Tuesday at 8 we picked up Kiki and Bianka, set our GPS for Kóspallag in the woods north of Budapest on the other side of the Danube and started out. The GPS decided to take us on a scenic shortcut along the border with Slovakia. As we were driving along the Danube, the GPS said, "turn left," and about 1 kilometer later "board ferry."

Can you see a ferry anywhere? Kiki thought he might swim across and find one for us.

Half an hour later the ferry arrived and we crossed over.


Finally we arrived at the camp after a four hour trip.

We were greeted by the camp counselors doing a dance. Sorry that the music isn't louder.

This was the largest camp they have ever had. Counting the counselors, there were over 120 there.


Here Kiki is showing off his new shirt and meal pass.

His sister Bianka looks like she is having a good time too.

How about Öcsi, our counselor from Sopron?

Here are the four presenters for the sessions on the 13th Article of Faith. Sisters Tedd and Farkas, President Takacs of the Szombathely district and me. Caroly and I were the only missionaries there. This "all Hungarian" means what it says.

Since most of the kids are the only members in their school, or maybe the only youth their age in their branch or ward, Caroly and I decided to focus on the power of ONE. They first took turns pulling objects out of a bag and as a group brainstormed how they could use the object to change the world, or at least make the world and people around them more pleasant. The objects were a frisbee, a match, a Book of Mormon, a food storage container that they use here to deliver meals, a hammer, a bar of soap, a toothbrush, a pen and a measuring tape. We then talked about how not only can one object make the world a better place, but one person can do the same thing by following the words of the first part of the article of faith. We showed pictures of some of our children and grandchildren and told how their good examples to their peers of this first part of the 13th Article of Faith have changed the lives of others. At the end we showed a picture of the Savior and reminded everyone that he was just one person too. Everyone got a badge with the powerful ONE that I am holding.

Standing next to me is Oliver, the director of the camp, who was our emergency live dictionary for when my Hungarian failed since I hadn't had time to think out everything in Hungarian. I did make it through about three fourths of the presentation.

As a reward for good effort, they invited us to join them for lunch. This should remind our kids of the school lunches they had in Pecs when we lived there in 1990--noodles covered with sugar with a choice of ground chocolate, nuts, or poppy seed. Mom chose the nuts, I the poppy seed.


On our way home, the GPS took us on another creative route, down a muddy road past this horse stable. Of course, mom didn't complain a bit. She said the horse looks like our Monty.

Night at the Opera

As a birthday present, our landlady Eric and her son Csaba treated us to the Mozart opera Don Giovanni performed about 10 miles away in a Roman rock quarry in St. Margarethen. Here is a view of the stage as we descend into the quarry. This is the oldest quarry in Europe and the largest natural outdoor stage in Europe. Sandstone from this quarry build many of the buildings in the center of Vienna.

Here is the "lobby."

You can see that it was rainy when we were there. The performance was interrupted three times for torrential downpours. The start was delayed until 9 and the opera didn't end until 1 a.m. because of the delays.

Csaba and some of his friends had bit parts. That is Csaba standing by the corner of the building in the middle. You can see here how the sets moved around on rails to change the scenes. On the side you can see where they projected German subtitles in case you don't understand Italian. The music was kept the same as the Mozart original but the staging and plot were updated to take advantage of the outdoor setting. We were soaked by the end but the performance was spectacular

They have a larger second stage that they use this summer for a "passion play" on the weekends.

Birthday Bash II

Doesn't this look great? The Joós had us over for a family night birthday party to celebrate my 69th. I forgot to take a picture of the delicious food--paprikas chicken with betsies and chicken breast coated in eggs and cheese with mashed potatoes.

Here's Julia and my balloon. Notice my new birthday name tag

Deja Vu?

As of this week, we have been missionaries for one year. When we saw this field of sunflowers, it reminded us that on our drive to Sopron one year ago, there were fields of sunflowers everywhere--definitely a deja vu moment.

70?

It's birthday time again--starting my 70th year. Yesterday my German class gave me current/apricot jam and my English class this Esterhazy cake--known for being rich and decadent like the Esterhazy family was. You might remember seeing their gigantic palace not far from Sopron in our blog last fall.

The cake has seven thin layers of cake separated by what seems to be thick layers of butter cream frosting. Mmhmm good. The "safe" Robby Bubble drink hit the spot too. I had another piece of cake this morning with a hotdog wrapped in bacon, mushrooms and peppers, and a boiled egg for a "light" breakfast in bed.

Missionary Digs

I'm sure you have wondered what kinds of apartments the Hungarian missionaries live in. Last August you saw pictures of our apartment in Sopron. Since we inspect the apartments in Sopron, Györ, and Pápa every other month, we thought we'd give you a look at life in the "old country." I know you might think that this nest on a telephone pole near a church should be an example for frugal living, but this is actually a nest of baby storks in a village near Pápa.

Elders Hommes and Wright in Sopron probably feel they live in a nest on the top of a telephone pole as they climb the metal spiral up to their attic apartment on the 5th floor above the chapel.

Elders M. Allen and Masters are showing how comfy the beds are in Pápa.

Here is where elders H. Allen and Tracy in Györ study in the morning, when they aren't distracted by visitors bringing zucchini and banana bread and asking them to pose for the folks at home.

Of course, Sisters Feller and Skiba in Györ look like they are posing for House Beautiful--the place definitely has a woman's touch.

Apricot Jam-Hungarian Style

Hungarians love apricots and apricot jam so of course we wanted to know how to make it. First you have to pick the apricots. No dangerous ladders here--just shake the branches with a long stick...

then pick them off the ground.

Here Caroly and Andi are showing how they are pitted...

and weighed--4 kilos apricots for a batch.

They are then boiled until they break down into shreds. Then 2 kilos sugar is added.

Here Andi is sterilizing the many pickle, spaghetti sauce, and other jars and lids collected through the year.

Julia is filling them to the brim. They are capped and turned over for 5 minutes to seal.

Then they are packed in a bucket with a blanket to slowly cool.

I'm the official taster. The jam is heavenly. Since there is no pectin, you use the jam within a few days of opening it--but our experience is that this is no trouble. We put it on our chicken, in salads, in musli, and of course on bread.

As you probably have guessed by now, we aren't going hungry in Hungary! We'll diet when we get home!

Lelki Cukkini?

You've seen our spiritual pizza and spiritual cherry pie. How about spiritual zucchini? Or at least zucchini bread? When we visit members or have them over, it helps us with our Hungarian if we have a repeating theme to talk about, and thus perfect as we go along.

Here's the zucchini bread we are taking to all the members, active or not. We are taking their picture to create a book everyone can refer to. That way we (and whoever comes after us) will recognize the members on the street in this small friendly town. We also sing to them "As I have loved you, love one another" and invite everyone to come to church or give them some other spiritual challenge. The zucchini bread tastes great and everyone so far loves the visits--and our Hungarian is getting better.

Birthday Bash

Why is this bi-plane buzzing our house?


They must have smelled the birthday goulash cooking in the backyard, Hungarian style.

It looks better with each new ingredient added about half an hour apart--two handfuls of chopped onions, six handfuls of cubed meat, a handful each of chopped tomatoes and paprika powder, two handfuls chopped carrots, and finally towards the end three handfuls diced potatoes--give or take a handful or two of each ingredient according to taste. Half a tube of goulash paste hits the spot. The whole process takes about four hours. Add water a little at a time. Too much water all at once dilutes the flavor. It's done when you can easily mash a potato with your stirring spoon against the side of the pot. The smoke adds just the right touch that you can't get if you cook this in the kitchen. Make sure you have nice man-sized hands for the measurements if you want to serve 15 guests two or three helpings.

Did you say you needed some more wood chopped?

Do the birthday people Erika, Elder Thompson, and Csaba look happy with their presents, a lasagna pan and a Csaba plate for his motorcycle? (You can't see my chocolate bar.)

How about the joy on the faces of the guests eating away? Notice the traditional Thompson Birthday Cake (watermelon) for all the dieters.

Zone Conference in Györ

Wednesday we had zone conference in nearby Györ so we got to see another of the chapels in Hungary. Györ is a ward in the Budapest Stake. The chapel is hidden away in the midst of apartment buildings and is easy to miss if you don't know the right alley to go down, but it is in a pretty setting, as you can see.

Volt Fesztivál

All this week we have been having the Volt Festival--billed as the largest youth concert in Eastern Europe. It is located in the forest about 4 long blocks from our house. Downtown by the church this booth has been selling advanced tickets at a discount since April.

Last year over 70,000 young people came from throughout Europe, most camping out in the woods since all the panzios and hotels have been booked up for months. Most of the events start at about 4 and go on simultaneously until 2 or 3 in the morning on two large stages and five smaller stages spread through the woods and surrounded by acres of campsites. Almost 200 bands from throughout Europe perform various types of music from classical to folk to pop to rock. In some of the smaller venues, various famous European DJs take their turns entertaining the troops for an hour or so for a change of pace.

When we came home from our zone conference in Györ on Wednesday, they had 6 extra cars on the train packed with kids. We walked the mile home rather than try to fit on our bus. They have extra busses every 10 minutes or so packed with riders from the incoming trains. Still, hundreds walked with us up the hill. It was like swimming upstream with the salmon during spawning season.

The grassy sides of the streets everywhere in town but especially on the streets near our house are filled with picnickers and people enjoying the sun until the events start at 4. It costs $50 (10,000 forint) for a day ticket, $135 (25,000 forint) for the full four days if you buy at the gate. Most everyone we see has the wristband for the four day ticket.

Our normally empty neighborhood convenience store has been packed with customers getting picnic supplies.

Of course, the first thing the bakeries run out of is the delicious Hungarian version of the hotdog.

The trails that we hike on through the woods are filled with cars and tents. If you look closely you can see the masses of young people heading down the trail to the festival.

Here they are at the official entrance.

Since the festival is over the hill and deep in the forest, we don't hear a thing other than the sound of lots of people singing and talking as they walk up or down the hill in front of our place all day and night. Being from Florida, it all reminds us of spring break--lots of energy and fun--but at that price, we'll stay home. We'll see if we get any extra comers at church on Sunday.

Was it really popcorn?

Was that really popcorn popping on these trees last spring?

They look more like apricots now! And they taste much better than popcorn--nice and sweet. We were thinking of making jam with the bagful that Tibor, one of our English students, gave us, but they were just too delicious. You can see why people love Hungarian fruit.