October 10-11^th

Let’s start off with my happenings on Sunday, which thankfully, were much livelier than Saturdays.

Sunday, the day of the week we as Mormons dedicate and set aside to worship our Heavenly Father, is just as fulfilling and enriching in Hungary as it is in any other part of the world that I have been in. From the moment I first walked in and greeted the missionaries at the door, to when I walked out feeling uplifted and edified, I felt humbled and grateful for the Church’s organization and commitment to bring people to Christ and teach them the restored gospel.

 I didn’t mention this in my previous entry, but when I first stumbled into the half-empty building where the Church resides in Budapest a week ago, I was overwhelmed at the warmth, spirit, and emotions that it evoked in me. It certainly took me by surprise, since I am for the most part reserved and guarded, and keep tight rein on my emotions. But finding the church building, regardless of what language or symbols might decorate its façade, knowing that just inside those doors lay the answers to all of life’s most difficult questions, and people willing to go above and beyond to help bring you closer to Christ, brought a sense of peace, calm, and happiness, that I rarely find outside of our temples. It has proven to be the highlight of my trip thus far, and it’s kind of peculiar when you think about it. I am surrounded on all sides by what the temporal world deems “beautiful” and “majestic”, by cavernous and ancient cathedrals and castles, buildings that are adorned with gold and jewels, and riches beyond our wildest dreams. Yet it was a simple and plain, unadorned, unimposing building, with the words “The Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints”, that truly moved me.

I attended the international branch this Sunday, and was met by some familiar faces. I said hello to the Bucks and Huntleys (the BYU law students interning here in Budapest, whom I had dinner with last week), and President Chapman of course. I also recognized a few others from English class on Thursday, and was cordially greeted by them. We didn’t have a very large group, but it was still a very reverent and enjoyable sacrament meeting. We had Priesthood meeting afterwards, and a German member who lives in Budapest for business gave a great lesson on some of the things we learned from General Conference this year. The international branch is very diverse and has representation from a large array of countries from around the world. We had a sister from the Ukraine there, a family from Korea, a German family, and many more. It felt nice knowing that we were all united there for the single purpose of showing our devotion, and hearing them bare their testimonies from the pulpit was a great experience considering how different everyone’s backgrounds were.

Unfortunately, there are not enough people in the International branch to hold Sunday school, so church is concluded after 2 hours every week. President Chapman approached me after church to ask me if I would like to have dinner with him and some of the expats in his neighborhood (U.S. citizens who are living outside the U.S.), and since my current dinner plans were a microwaveable pizza and slightly acidic tap water from the Danube, I accepted his offer. I also wanted to get a feel for what the expat community is like for those serving in the Department of State and the Armed Forces.

President Chapman had his car so we drove out to his community where a large group of expats live, and where the multi-family dinner was being held this Sunday. He showed me around his house, and we had some time before dinner to watch half a session of General Conference, which we both missed and needed to catch up on. We talked about their experiences as a Mormon family in the service, and about how his family has coped with living overseas in a country so unlike the U.S. We talked about how schooling has worked out for their children, and if his wife tries to work or if she focuses on being a full-time stay at home mom, among another handful of important topics concerning DoS life that I wanted to discuss.

When dinner time came around, we headed out with some chips and drinks that President Chapman had to contribute for the potluck. I had a nice time meeting with the men and women who are living here, primarily serving in the armed forces. I met a man from Special Forces who survived a parachuting accident and literally “bounced” off the ground after plummeting thousands of feet in free-fall. It is a testament to the dedication that our armed forces has, and it really opened my eyes to the kind of things that our men and women do in the line of fire. Watching AFN (the armed forces network) at home, I get to learn about these courageous men and women who sacrifice so much so that we can have everything. I learned about a service member serving in Afghanistan, who while on patrol with his tank convoy, had a grenade lobbed inside. So what does he do? He grabs the grenade and pins it between himself and the vehicle, shielding his fellow servicemen and saving their lives. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, and the Purple Heart. This is just one of the many stories that have sobered me and made me more aware of what these men and women are going through as they serve our country. Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with our presence in Afghanistan/Pakistan, and the political machinations behind it all, I believe that it is necessary to honor and respect our armed forces that are doing their duty and protecting the U.S. flag.

After mingling with the various families there and answering questions about my internship and my hometown, President Chapman and I bid them farewell and he drove me back home. I was really grateful for the meal and for being invited over, and called it a night.

Monday October 11^th

Hooray for holidays! Hooray for Columbus!

….I guess. I was looking forward to a day off work because I was going out to where the toxic red sludge spilled happened to offer help and support, and help clear out the sludge, but the trip fell through and I didn’t end up going. Oh well.

Here and at all U.S. embassies around the world, we celebrate not only every U.S. holiday, but we also celebrate the holidays of the host country.

So instead, I was fortunate enough to visit the McDonald’s down the street and Skype with Victoria for a couple of hours. It was great to see her again. I can’t wait for my internet to actually start working so that I can maintain a better connection with the outside world.

Also, I think that the staff at McDonald’s is starting to recognize me, because before I could even order the girl said, “Big Mac, Large?” I don’t think I have seen her before, so maybe she just assumed I am the kind of man who eats a multi-layered burger full of cheesy goodness and gets large fries and drinks to go with it. Hmm. I really feel that I need to change my eating habits here in Hungary, however, because eating McDonald’s and Burger King is really starting to hurt my stomach...

So, Tuesday will be grocery day, and I am looking forward to trying my hand at cooking again. Whenever I tried cooking before, it was dangerous, because I was not only cooking for myself, but for others. On my mission it was for my companion, if I was at school it was for roommates, if I was at home it was for my family members. And after having been exposed to the horrors of my cooking, they usually begged  - politely asked, that I stop trying. So now that I am on my own, the only person who can be harmed from my concoctions will be me. Hence, there isn’t as much pressure or worries while cooking. Who knows? Maybe I will be able to make some decent Hungarian dishes after my internship to use for the future. Doubtful, but anything’s possible.

After that I headed to FHE at the church building, where I was fed a Hungarian potato salad with fried paprika-seasoned sausages on top, and delicious jam-covered homemade bread slices, all washed down with lukewarm apple juice. Yum! There wasn’t a huge turnout, and since I didn’t have an interpreter to translate what the spiritual lesson was about, I took off after an hour.

Walking home from FHE I ran into none other than President Chapman, who was on his way to play squash with his counselor Jared, and President Baughman, Mission President over the Budapest mission. President Chapman invited me to come along and play with them, so I ran up the hill, changed, and ran back down to catch up with them. President Baughman loves playing squash, and has been playing for some years now. He is amazing! He has us young guys huffing and puffing like we were lifelong chain smokers, while he just chuckled to himself and repeated “next” for the entire 2 hours that we played. It was my first time ever playing squash, and I feel that I did pretty well and learned a trick or two from playing with them. After the intense work out, we were dropped off at the church again by President Baughman, and we all headed our separate ways back home. I ended the night talking to Victoria again, and recounting my squash conquests (with minor references to my many defeats at the hands of Pres. Baughman…)

Thanks Mr. Columbus, for a terrific Monday. :)

Tomorrow marks the beginning of my last week in consular! Management rotation lies just around the corner…