Hungary!!!

Sziastok csaladom es a barataim :)

Hello family and friends :)

GIACALONE ELDER IS IN HUNGARY! WOOOOOOOOOOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW.

The long anticipated event has arrived! So now you may have noticed that I didn't call from London. Funny story, so our flight from SLC to Dallas was cancelled, which left us with literally no layover in London when the time differences all worked out. So we ended up running around Heaththrow airport to our next flight only to stay GROUNDED on that plane for an hour on the tarmac for unknown reasons, really. So we were all a little discouraged as we flew across Europe to our destination. However, when we saw the Duna (Danube River) flowing like a blue ribbon across the country, we all freaked out. Sure enough, the red-tiled roofs and beautiful huge Gothic spires of Budapest showed up! Literally we (my MTC district) all started freaking out. I actually got a little sick on the plane from London to Budapest, so I was kind of out of it at first, but the screaming and fist pumping woke me up! 

We spent the first day and a half in the mission home in Budapest. It's a very pretty building, just across the river from downtown Pest, on the Buda side, if that makes any sense! The main floor is the chapel and classrooms for the wards in Buda and in Pest, the second floor is the mission offices, the third floor is the living quarters for President Smith and his wife (who are absolutely AMAZING), and the fourth floor is rooms for missionaries to sleep in who are either leaving or just arrived. We had this yummy chocolate pastry upon arrival, and a water bottle. Last week was one of the hottest weeks of my life: it was 100 degrees F in Budapest, and also in the city that I am serving in right now (I'll get to that later ;) ). And it is like 100% humidity right now, so it was NOT a fun first few days. We went and looked at the sights of Budapest the first night, and I fell in love with the city. It is absolutely incredible, such a rich history and full of different people! At night, we went up on top of Mt. Gilliert and looked down on the city. Absolutley incredible! 

The next morning we went streeting with the APs and some of the secretaries. So....I learned that I don't really know any Hungarian! What the heck did they teach me in the MTC? Oh dear, it was interesting. The first lady I stopped said something about her being a Jew and that "Jesus didn't apply to her". Girl, Jesus applies to ERRBODY. 

Super weird. Also, in Hungary when you greet someone on the street you have to do so either in a formal way or a non-formal way, depending on the person. If you don't do it correctly, you may offend the individual and/or get in trouble. I know, lots to take in the first week right?! So, I stop this girl around my age and say to her "Jo Napot Kivanok! (I wish you a good day)". She gives me the most disgusted look I've seen, flips me off, and walks away. As I watch, completely and totally flabbergasated, one of the APs walks on over and says that I just formalized her and that is interpreted as flirting here. So, I've already been breaking mission rules with flirting. Score one for Satan.

Then I didn't formalize this old "batchi" (old man) and he swore at me and walked away. So I've obviously got lots to work on!

The next day I met my trainer! His name is Elder Miller. He is from Salt Lake City and he is a year older than me, so he's been out for like a yearish. He's a really nice guy!!!  I'm also serving in (drum roll) SZOLNOK! Yes! I am serving in the cute little town of Szolnok, which is about an hour southeast of Budapest by train in the eastern zone. There is just Elder Miller and me, two sisters (Sisters Oberhansley and Grigg-yes, the same Grigg who was my ossi in the MTC), and a senior couple, the Herds. As with all towns in Hungary this time of year (nyar, or Summer), modesty does NOT exist, everyone smokes and drinks, and immoral activity is rampant everywhere! So, there is a lot of work to do! We went tracting the other day in some big ten-story old Soviet apartment buildings. Literally the scariest thing ever: the lights were all flickering in the concrete hallways, there was something dead in the corner of one room, and an old lady wearing just a bra met us at her door one time (the best part is that she is a member...). While there though we tracted into this awesome family that seemed like they were just waiting for us! We gave them a Book of Mormon, but before we left Elder Miller turned to me and told me to say a prayer. Now, the family we were with had no idea how to pray, so I was a little concerened with how I was going to go about doing this. So I just offered the most simple prayer I could say in Hungarian. The coolest spirit entered the room, and the whole family was just staring at me and Elder Miller when we finished. It was way, way cool. Like they weren't scared, just curious. 

They want us to come back next Sunday :)

My apartment smells way weird, but I'm getting used to it. It isn't air conditioned, which is horrible during the day, but it cools down a bit at night. Miller and I have our fans that the mission provided to us, so when we have down time we just sit in our rocking chairs and sit with our fans on our faces! It's pretty funny looking. I haven't had a decent Hungarian meal yet, so I'm looking forward to that. I have had some chocolate, which is DIVINE. Along with their cereal: they call them "pillows", and they are like flat Cocoa puffs with NUTELLA inside of them! Oh my gosh they're so good.

Quick shout out to any of my MTC teachers reading this: I forgot to grab all your emails when I went to the email cafe, so....hi :) I miss you all! You can email me here if you want. 

Um, I've lost like ten pounds. Lots of walking and lots of sweating. Sooo yeah, hopefully I gain it all back. The Branch here is so nice, they say that I'm a very happy Elder and that I must have Mafia roots because I am Italian! They are so cute. They are all converts, and the branch president has these sick tatoos that I would totally get if I wasn't Mormon. I bore my testimony and shared my fave scripture with our little branch on Sunday (proverbs 3: 5,6). My Hungarian sucks, but the branch said that for just having two months of learning their language they said I spoke very well! WOO. I don't have a calling, and neither do any of the other missionaires. 

Ummm I'm not sure what else to write! Szolnok is a fun little town, and we are going tabling later today! There is a lot of work that needs to be done here. 

I love you all and miss you tons! Pray for the Hungarians if you can, they are such a charming people. 

Sok szeretettel, 

Giacalone Elder