Week 68: Day 546: An Eventful Last Week! See You In Two Days!!!

July 22, 2014

Hey!

Well... this is super weird... It's been a weird week overall, actually. I didn't think my last week would be very eventful, but I've learned on my mission that life never quite goes the way we plan for it... haha! I'll probably keep this pretty short, since I'll be home in like two days and then I can't talk to everyone myself, but I'll give you a run down on my week...

Tuesday... I pretty much thought I was going to die. Haha! Here I was, feeling sorry for poor little Carter (my nephew) who's sick at home with Katie and thinking about how throwing up multiple times doesn't sound fun, especially in this heat........ Yeah. Starting about lunch time I started feeling not so great, but I refused to stay home, because I didn't really think it was that bad and I only had one more week left as a missionary... not the best idea. We decided against tracting, in case I actually did throw up and then there wouldn't be anywhere for me to go, so we streeted down to a main road where we would be taking our bus in a while for a program and English Class. By the time we made it there, I was shaking so badly that I thought I was going to pass out, so we just stopped at the bus stop and waited for it to pass. Any time I moved, I literally thought I was going to pass out. Finally, the bus came and I stood up to get on... not a good idea. Ha. The nearest thing around me was grass.... Let's just say, I have never thrown up in front of that many people in my whole life... on a busy street, beside a stopped bus full of people... But then at least I felt better, and we had a program in 20 minutes with someone new and so the elders came and picked us up (since we had obviously missed the bus...). Made it through that program, but by the end I was feeling not so great again, so I laid in another room/threw up again while Sister Schnoor taught English Class and then the elders drove us home again. We went into the shop right by our apartment to buy some Sprite and Sister Schnoor was asking me about something right as I was buying my Sprite and I was just like Sister Schnoor... I'm going to throw up. So she just was like GO! And she said the lady was super surprised to see her standing there in my place when she turned around to give me my change... hahahaha. Anyway, it was a long night and I literally couldn't even keep liquid down. The next day I was planning on going back out to work, but I couldn't stay standing for longer than about 5 minutes without nearly passing out, so that day was not the most effective, unfortunately... But hey, at least I got it all out of my system before I have to get on an airplane! haha I'm still not really sure what it was, but I think I ate something bad... The mission nurse said it could just be a little bug... all the Hungarians are telling me it was the heat... I don't know about that one... I've never heard of anyone getting THAT sick because of a little sun..... haha!

 The rest of that week was pretty normal... Missionary work and such, working on Memory books like crazy during meal times and at night... It's actually been fun; I have all these random memories from different times in my mission flooding back. My favorite to do was Elder Bennett's from the Christmas/New Year's transfer…and Sister Dinehart's from last transfer...haha we had a lot of good times.

I've remembered again why I never say goodbye to people... It's the worst... mostly just because I feel really awkward, especially when people are crying and I don't know what to say or do. Even worse now as a missionary, because if it's a guy then I can't even really like hug them and it's just overall awkwardness. Funny, because I've left places a lot in my life, but I still can't do goodbyes... just "see-ya-laters" and I'm just not really the crying type, especially not in public. Speaking of... a guy in the branch was taking the transfer super hard and crying at church on Sunday and then he went up to Sister Schnoor and was just like "Why isn't Sister Butterfield crying?! Isn't she sad?!" Hahaha. But really, I am more sad than I am happy, it just still hasn't really hit me. I think I'll just be sitting at home lost in the sauce and still not really realize that I'm not in Hungary anymore and that this part in my life (my mission) is actually over...

Yesterday was interesting. Somehow we had double booked our evening programs, because one family invited us over, but said Tuesday would probably be good too, but we settled on Monday, but then another family invited us over for the same time and that was the only time they could, so we told them we'd reschedule the first one. But, when I called to reschedule, they said it had to be that time and that we HAVE to come, so then we called the other ones back... and it was a long, confusing process, but basically both family's refused to let us cancel or reschedule for another day and then both live super far away, so it was just a really hectic time, but it was really fun. (:

Then... we got transfer calls today and they're taking sisters out of like 5 different cities and replacing a couple of them with elders, because almost all the sister are in trios now... So... we're actually getting white-washed out by two elders... which makes our job a lot harder, because now we won't fit in the car with all of our luggage and the elders.. and we have to leave our apartment super clean and ready for them... and I still have a memory book to finish, but I think I'll just have to do that one at home or something... and Sister Schnoor's doing what I did in my second transfer! (: She's going to Debrecen! (: I'm excited for her, but she'll also be in a trio with an older sister and a new greenie.... so pretty much how we all were when I was a greenie... it should be interesting for all of them.

Basically, I'm just all up in the clouds right now and I can't figure out if I'm happy or sad or if this is reality or where I am right now... I'm excited for tomorrow, because by then all the packing and goodbyes will be out of the way and we just kind of have a free day.. We got an email from President telling us about the plan for the day. We'll go up in the morning and I get my new comp for the day... Sister Broadhead! And we're free until 2, because the two of us have interviews from 2-2:50 and then he told us we are free until 5:30 "to say good-bye to members/investigators/missionaries/etc." so... that's what we'll be doing. Then at 6ish we have dinner and everything after that is still a mystery... We just know that from that point on, we won't be able to be contacted, because we'll have a group dinner, testimony meet and "other activities," I think just sight-seeing and stuff. Then we'll go have a giant sleepover at the mission home and we leave for the airport early the next morning, because our flight leaves at like 8 am... and then.... I'll see some of you!! Crazy...

To quote a great missionary, "And we have suffered all manner of afflictions, and all this, that perhaps we might be the means of saving some soul; and we supposed that our joy would be full if perhaps we could be the means of saving some. We can look forth and see the fruits of our labors; and are they few? I say unto you, Nay, they are many...Now have we not reason to rejoice? Yea, I say unto you, there never were men that had so great reason to rejoice as we...blessed be the name of my God, who has been mindful of us, wanderers in a strange land." -Ammon. I wouldn't trade this last year and a half and the chance to serve God for anything. I can't believe that so much time has already gone by, but my whole life has changed because of it. God knows us so well and he's always watching out for us, knowing what we need most to help us grow, whether it be blessings, or trials, or new experiences and journeys. I'm just moving on to my next one now and hopefully I'll love it just as much as this one. (: It's hard to explain the thoughts of a dying missionary, apprehension and worry and excitement and sadness and happiness and reminiscing, but not really FEAR because I know that because of Christ it'll all somehow be okay in the end and I'll be happy, no matter how it works out, because God's plan is perfect for me and I'll just keep running along, trying to do my part.

Well, that's enough of my rambling. I will talk to you all in a few days. I'll probably spend my plane ride trying to come up with my homecoming talk for Sunday because uh.... I haven't even had time to start. Oops. Love you all and see you on the flip side!

Love,
Sister Megan Butterfield

Our branch mission leader and his family! I like them a lot. (:

Flora! (the one leaving on her mission in October to England!) She told me on Sunday that she thinks there's someone specific here (in Hungary, not Duna) she thinks I should marry.. then we can hang out again when she comes back from her mission. Hahaha. She said she's been thinking about it all for awhile and wanted to tell me her idea earlier, but she waited until my last Sunday when I'm "almost not a missionary" anymore. Hahaha she's my favorite.

Fati! My last time teaching her in YWs. :(

Viki! She lived in Buda when I was serving there last year, but now she leaves here in Duna, so it was nice to always have a familiar face at church. (:

One of our investigators and her mom at one of the programs last night! (: She's my favorite and SO funny. I die whenever we meet with her. She's really pushing for me to move back to Hungary... (her son is the one that predicted our futures/husbands and everything)

Another member family here and their nieces! I like them too. (:

Week 67: Day 538 Almost Home!!!!

July 14, 2014
Hey!

I have to be honest... I considered not writing a group email, because well... you'll be able to hear everything from me in just over a week. So weird. My chain is getting very short. It's been an interesting week. It's been good, but it has prepared me to go home. haha last week you could probably tell that I wasn't necessarily super excited about coming home.. I'm still sad to leave, but I'm ready leave too. It's a strange feeling to know that I'll be home in 10 days, especially when I look at my to-do list. For some reason, missionaries have this great habit of giving their memory books to dying missionaries RIGHT before they're going home... (memory books are kind of like scrapbooks, but you do entries in missionaries' books if you served with them or around them, etc. with tons of pictures and such) anyway. I have 10 days and still have 5 left to do, plus letters for people and members, not to mention packing and the normal missionary day-to-day life... It's been nice though, because it keeps me super busy and I don't have any time to think about anything.

This week was pretty missionary-like. haha, obviously. some tracting, programs, etc. and we got Cleaning checks out of the way. Hey, guess what! Remember before my mission (and in the MTC) when I stalked people's blog here and decided that there was a city that I reallyyy wanted to serve in and talked about going to it all the time…and then I never went there...? Well! Two weeks before the end of my mission, I finally got to go there! haha I have to be honest, after serving in places like Szeged and Debrecen, it really wasn't all that great, but it made me laugh that I finally got to go there for a Zone Training. So yeah... Friday was spent in good ol' Pécs! I remember when I was a greenie and there was another sister who got to go to Pécs with her trainer and I was super jealous that she got to serve there... but looking back, I'm really glad I went to Kispest and got the trainer that I did. (:

Random comment... I heard Germany KILLED Brazil, 7-1. hahahahaha. That’s all I have to say. So sad. Argentina's still my favorite though. I wish I was coming home in time for that last game!

People don't stop talking about the fact that I'm going home and always ask me how I feel and what my plans are for the future. To which I answer I don't know! And I don't know! haha At least some people are having fun with it all... We went to our branch mission leader’s house and they served us cake, but they asked me to do the honor of cutting the cakes and serving them, "to practice for my wedding." Hahaha I couldn't even be mad, but hey, it went smoothly and they approved of my skills. Then, a few days later we went to another members' house and they served us homemade pizza and stuff and had me serve it too. Then, one of the elders spilled his drink and I just cleaned it all up and served them all, while she watched me. And at the end, she just looked at me and said, "okay, You're ready to be a wife! You can go home" and proceeded to make comments about how I "mother" the elders and people around me... meh… I'm still not ready to be a mom, sorry.

Those types of comments and experiences pretty much describe my life lately, but it's fine, I think it's funny. Other than that, nothing too interesting has happened. It's been raining all week and I ain't complaining! I will take rain over the heat any day for my last week here! I'm working my way through "F" in the Hungarian dictionary this week. I just find words I like or find useful and memorize them. For example, I found the word Fegyelem and it reminded me of something and made me smile, so I memorized it.

I don't have much else for this week, but I'll try to send you a couple pictures. I will see you all next week hopefully and oh, hey, I won't be emailing until Tuesday... but then I'll see you right after that. Love you all! Have a fantastic last week without me! ;) Weird how people start writing me right before I'm about to go home, but... hey, I'm still excited to see all of you!!!

Love,
Sister Mgan Butterifeld... the good news, is I obviously can't spell my own name or speak English anymore... *Megan Butterfield

We got caught in the rain... you can see the water running down the street in the background...

There were giant puddles and she thought the way I had to stand to ring and hold the door open was funny... haha!

Our lunch in Pécs! 

Week 66: Day 531: Two Weeks Left!

July 7, 2014

Hellooo!

First off, I just want to apologize in case I offended anyone with my letter last week... My point wasn't meant to be that America is awful. The US is a great country, and I love it! The point I had intended to make was just that I don't like being treated like royalty or super badly, just because of where I was born; I'm not any cooler or better than anyone else just because I have an American Passport. I don't want people to be talking to us as missionaries, just because they're interested in where we're from instead of the Gospel. But I love the United States, just like I love Hungary and Peru and a lot of other countries. Sorry if that came out wrong, I wasn't intending to be offensive! (:

Hm…it's been an interesting week. I'll just say Monday, Tuesday and Sunday (yesterday) were good days and we'll leave it at that... hahah. Nah, but really, Tuesday was probably my favorite. That's when I saw Viki from Veszprém for lunch and we got to catch up and stuff (: Then later that night we had English Class at the branch house and then I got a lot of chocolate and it made me happy. (: Wednesday was good too, actually, cause I was still happy from the day before haha and then we had a whole day of tracting and got 4 let ins and then we had a program with one of my favorite investigators here. Her little daughter made us little sting necklaces while we were there and introduced us to her stuffed animals. haha super cute.

Thursday night we went up to Pest for splits... I got to go with Sister Moffatt! It was funny, just cause neither of us are Sister Training Leaders or anything, so we were just like…meh... who leads? But it was fun. I'm glad I went with her, and I could finally get to know my mission "sister" (Sister Watts trained us both!). The night was interesting... All four of us slept at the same apartment, so it was just like a giant sleepover, which means tons of talking and everyone trying to figure secrets out and stuff... haha, we got a lot of questions about Duna and then a lot about Szeged... That was more interesting. Mostly, because this is the first time I'd seen Sister Maxfield since I served in Szeged and we served our transfer together RIGHT after she was a greenie there, so I heard a million and one stories about Szeged and the members and investigators, but I didn't really understand/remember/pay attention to a lot of it, because I had no idea what she was talking about. So it was interesting to talk about it and hear some stories that she told me.... I didn't do much talking, but I learned a lot of interesting things, now that I know everyone she was talking about...She offered to move back to Szeged with me if I end up going back there to the University...... hahaha. Splits are weird. I used to like them, now they just make me super tired. haha Mostly cause all three of them decided they were tired and within seconds they were all out and I just lied there forever, like always. haha The joys of being a dying missionary. Since about Thursday I've been in kind of a freak out/ panic state of mind... I counted it out and I don't think I've had any of my anxiety attacks since like January, which is a good 6 months, so it's about time... There's just a lot to figure out and I'm not quite ready for real life. But I'm still excited, mostly I'm just trying to think of all the things I'm excited for. Call me crazy, but probably top of my list (after the obvious family and friends and stuff) is going to the movie theater all the time again... and watching all the new movies that came out and all the old ones that I used to watch all the time…and food/restaurants there and playing card games with people who appreciate them. haha Speaking of old movies, yesterday a missionary brought up the movie Saturday's Warriors and it made me laugh, thinking back to how cheesy it is and when we were super young that was the movie our family watched every Sunday along with The Sound of Music.

Anyway... super off track... back to splits... The next morning (on the 4th of July) we woke up and went over to the branch house for the morning workout with the elders there. We did Yoga and learned karate kicks…haha I added in the sound effects, of course. hahah then we split into teams and played soccer. (I don't know if you remember back to Székes on Christmas when Elder Hancey and I were creamed by Sister Broadhead and Elder Bennett in Dodgeball?) Well, Elder Hancey and my team (our two greenies) finally got our vengeance and beat the other team. hahah I just can't get competitive in sports.. oh well. Later on in the day we met back up for our lunch hour to have Hamburgers for the 4th. That day I was with Sister Moffatt and we had a really interesting day...She just barely got transferred to Pest last week, so she didn't really know her way around or who the investigators really are... I think Sister Maxfield just gave me some investigators so that I could deal with them and help her figure out to do with them... yeah... I don't think one of them was used to having someone so serious teaching them, cause I was not willing to put up with his rude or inappropriate comments. mehh. And one of their investigators had a foot fetish, I think? Because he started taking pictures of my feet and asking me if I could take off my shoes for him... what?! I have no idea... But.... needless to say, I was exhausted by the end of that day and I don't think I've ever been so happy to be back in Duna... hahaha

Things are going well here... I'm just really sad that I have to leave so soon. I feel like I always get to areas and right when I feel like I finally am getting to know people and know how I can help in the branch more, I get taken out... We had Branch Council yesterday and holy cow, it was the best branch council I've ever been to on my mission. They know how it works here. It was cool to be able to help give input on things to work on and suggestions for callings for people and for activities for them to plan, but then it just made me ever more sad because I realized I won't even be here for any changes or activities or anything... I even stopped cutting links of my chain for a few days earlier in the week, because I was in denial that I actually have to go home. hahaha (:

Since I'm leaving, and my companion is most likely staying here next transfer, I have switched our roles in the companionship. It'll make for an interesting couple weeks. haha Started yesterday, I handed over everything that I have, like the map, tracting book, etc., and instead of leading us, I am now being led. Mostly, the idea behind it is that I let her figure everything out without trying to take over, because if she does get lost or something then I'm there to figure out how to get back, because next transfer she won't even be able to call me for help. So that was interesting, we walked too far a few times and such, but I just calmly followed, waiting until she realized to see if she could figure out how to solve it. Responsibility is good for people, it's stressful on the mission sometimes, and so I'm trying to do things with/for her that I think would have helped me. There are so many new sister missionaries coming in and even more leaving with my group, that we have been warned that we need to prepare our greenies to be senior or co-senior by this coming transfer or the one after... So I'm just trying to give as much practice with responsibility possible, while she can still have the reassurance or confidence that I'm here if anything goes wrong. It's an interesting experience, but so far so good!

 Anyway…this has gotten super long, and I'll be back in two weeks and we can talk then anyway... haha Recommendation for the week: Read the July Liahona! It's actually super good. My favorites were the article on Perfectionism and the tips for parents raising YSA kids or something like that. The one on perfectionism is called something like Being Perfect in Christ and I read it this weekend right when I needed it. Mostly because I am a perfectionist myself, but also because I was starting to stress out about expectations that I know some people have on others, for example, when looking for someone to marry and it's just a lot when you know someone else's expectations are extremely high and they tend to be disappointed when they realize someone isn't as perfect as they might initially think, and I personally know that I am very far from perfect and have a lot of weaknesses. And of course, as a dying missionary, that's something I'll have to start dealing with at some point... But then I read that talk and it made me laugh. (: But it was actually really good!

Have a good week! Enjoy the AC for me, while I'm out here melting...

Love,
Sister Megan Butterfield

PS - Someone say happy birthday to Uncle Gary and Lindsey (Manning) for me this week if you happen to talk to them! (:

Viki and Flóra (: (both going to the Manchester England Mission)

more chocolate... (:

One of the stranger programs on my mission.... on splits in Pest (notice the Patriotic outfit, Jenny haha)

Stealing Sister Schnoor's pictures again...

A little girl in the branch here! she's so cute! (: She always sits with us in church!

A better quality picture of splits.

I found her creeper pictures of me...Haha I'll pass them on, because I think they're funny. She always laughs at the weird positions I sit in when I'm on the phone or just stressing out...

When I fell asleep memorizing the dictionary.... haha somehow I can fall asleep when I'm not supposed to, but I can never fall asleep when I'm supposed to. Oh well.

At our 4th of July lunch on splits.. the other elders forgot about it and planned a program, so they couldnt come.. awkward. haha

Splits...

 I was really bored one day during lunch......

Week 65: Day 524: Thoughts on the Temple

June 30, 2014

Hey!

Wow…for some reason it feels like it's been an eternity since last Monday... It was a long week, probably because I've just been thinking about the temple all week and really just wanted to be there.... haha. I'm super excited to go back to the temple, I've just been thinking about it all week, but especially last night, because I was talking to some missionaries in Szeged (they like to keep me up to date on EVERYTHING going on there since I've left...) and they were talking about how one of the YSA there went through the temple last week for the first time in prep for her mission and how cool it was to see her at church yesterday once she got back from Germany and how she was just like walking on clouds and it just gave me the chills remembering when I first went through and how it's crazy it's been over a year and a half since my first time and then thinking about how much I miss it and how that's really all that my goals in life connect to... I don't really care all that much/have any requirements about how many kids I have, where I raise them, what I name them, where I live (besides preferably not in Utah haha), I'm not stuck on any one major or job that I HAVE to have... I just want a husband I trust and a strong, happy family sealed in the temple. (:

Reading the things Dad wrote me about some of his ancestors was super interesting. Sometimes I forget that side of our family has been in the church for that long that Joseph Smith was the one that taught and baptized him... so crazy to compare that, which was what I always knew as normal life, to what I experience here in Hungary, where it's the coolest thing to meet one of those few people here who have been a member for like 24 years maximum and it blows my mind that a few of them have been members since before I was even born. And then like how much people here appreciate the temple and how much they work to get to it, it's just so different from what you experience in Utah or even South America. I've learned a lot of good lessons from the people here and I love that feeling of devotion that I see in some people here.

One thing I realized this week was how much I have missed doing RCLA work. Obviously, that's not our main focus here as missionaries, but we're still involved in it. I was pretty bummed that I couldn't do much last transfer, because... for example, if I had to say why I thought/felt I was sent to Veszprém or who I was meant to meet there, almost every reason would connect back to members that I met with a lot and helped bring back to church. To me, that was more fulfilling than most of the "missionary" work I did there with investigators. I love that branch. But anyway, I realized this week how much I missed it, because we've started doing more of that here in Duna and I love that part of missionary work!

The week overall has been interesting... maybe rough is a good word? It was just super long and about half way through I realized I'm finally cracking. haha Sister Schnoor has seen a side of me that most people on my mission haven't seen, at least not in such an extreme. All of my strange sounds I make seem to be back haha and I have had more than a few OCD cleaning sprees, because I can't handle just sitting around the apartment at night or during meals... haha so... crazy me is coming out… or maybe just stressed out me... at least she gets entertainment from it... Other than that, it's been good. We've been trying to make everything more fun, to at least enjoy our time. So we've been teaching each other weird tricks haha and we practice dance moves while we tract (don't worry, not while they're watching us through the door...) So in that aspect, we've had more fun this week, or just learned to laugh at our own stupidity and my stress. We had a Greek Night branch party or something this week and had Gyros, so that was pretty fun. I had to teach the Spiritual Message for some reason, but it's all good haha, went well...

Two new pet peeves that I learned I have this week... 1 - construction workers. Our part of the city is all under construction, so every time we come out of our building in the morning or have to go back in for meals, ALL (and I mean all) the construction workers stop there work and just stare, or try to yell things at us. If only I were a greenie again and couldn't understand strange things in Hungarian... I. Hate. It. I don't understand why some guys think that would make a girl feel good? Rather, it just makes me want to wear a giant paper bag over my whole body every time I have to walk past them. We've actually stopped going home all the time for lunch just because it's super annoying and they're doing construction by both our front and back doors now... 2 - When we talk to people and they think that "America" (AKA - the US) is the greatest thing ever. (Or the worst thing ever). okay, maybe it's just stereotypes that I don't like. But seriously, America's really not all that great... Yeah, maybe that's where I was born, but I don't feel like it's any better than any other place... there are still unhappy people there, still murders, robbers, poverty, drugs, and really anything else bad in the world... I'm glad that I didn't live for a long time, just because whenever we're tracting and having conversations with people and they start complaining and asking "it's not like that in America, right? Things like that don't happen in America, right? How much does this cost in America?" I can truthfully say, "I don't know! I actually grew up in SOUTH America and my companion doesn't know either, she's from Canada!" hahaha lately that's done the trick lately...

We were in charge of Sunday School and Young Women's again yesterday, so I actually really enjoyed Sacrament Meeting yesterday, because it was my one chance to sit back and not have to do anything. haha (: My favorite part was the closing hymn... They announced what it was (Families Can Be Together Forever) and several members started complaining about how they weren't familiar with the song, so when we started singing it, not too many members sang along with us. But this little girl we always sit with recognized it from Primary and was just singing along with her cute little, innocent child singing voice and to me it was actually a really powerful moment to hear her singing it and it brought back so many memories of the past and made me think about the future. Then, when it ended, all the members who had complained were just like “Ohhh, that was a pretty song!” Haha it made me smile. (:

I don't really have much else... This week we're going on splits with the sisters in Pest... I was really excited for it, because Sister Clawson and I had planned to go together again and we planned it specifically on the 4th of July, since I'm missing my favorite family holiday at home for a second time... but... there were transfers last week and she got transferred to a new city for her last 4 weeks... so... now I'm not so excited. Haha I'm sure it'll be good either way. They don't know yet who's going with whom. Sister Moffatt is up there, who I don't really know at all and Sister Maxfield... so we'll see... hahah. I think we're having a little 4th of July lunch party with all the elders in Pest though, so that should be fun at least! haha Other than that, it'll just be a regular week, nothing too exciting, unfortunately. Oh! I lied; a member is coming to visit from Veszprém! She's staying with one of her friends from the branch here tonight and then we're going to go visit them tomorrow or something. I'm not really sure what's happening, but I'm excited to see her! I didn't know her super well when I was actually in Veszprém, but we've written every week since then and she's super cute and getting ready for her mission (: Oh, and one of my investigators from Szeged is here again, visiting her family who are members, so we're going over there tonight for a program! (: I just wish I could get visits from everyone before I go home... (: If only all my cities were closer together, then it wouldn't be so hard! haha Then it'd make time go faster too, because recently time has felt deathly long, for some reason.

Hope you all have a good week! I'll send you some pictures really quickly and then we have to run to some programs.

Love,
Sister Megan Butterfield

My chain is getting shorter!

In case you were curious what some ten stories look like on the inside...I had no idea she was taking pictures...but this is where we ring to the apartments upstairs and try to get someone to let us in... haha!

A long story...but this tack went all the way into her hand and she made me pull it out...hahaha!

We re-decorated our bulletin board during one of my crazy cleaning sprees, using old signs and pictures other sisters had left and then our own. (: 

A close-up of my half. (:

I finished puzzle number two at the beginning of the week, which is probably why all the cleaning sprees started, since I had nothing else to do.. haha!

Week 64: Day 517: Month 17!!!

June 23, 2014

Hey!

Happy 17 months... to me! (: This week went by pretty fast, and I'm not too sad about that either! It was kinda crazy with everything going on, so it wasn't too good for our work here... Like I said, we were in Buda last Sunday and Monday, but that meant we had to do emailing and shopping on Tuesday, which took a lot out of our day, and then we were in Buda all day Friday again for Zone Conferences. It was my group's last Zone Conference, so they made us all give our traditional "departing testimonies" and of course, I was first, since my last name starts with a B... There were only 5 sisters from our group at our meeting and Elder Seegmiller (not in our group, cause he's been here for 2 years, obviously) It was just super weird to be talking about my mission as if it's over and to be talking about going home, because I feel like I still have an eternity left. haha Oddly, I will be sleeping in my own bed at home exactly a month from tomorrow. Sometimes it sounds super short and other times it sounds like I still have a lot to go... depends on the day... or the hour... and my mood. haha but lately it sounds super short. I think it started to hit me after we all bore our testimonies and then the conference was over and everyone started running around telling us that they all need pictures with us, because this might be the last time they see us if they don't get transferred and all five of us just stood there in a circle, while it slowly hit/dawned on all of us, and then Sister Smith came over and started crying about us leaving and it was super cute, but just way too hectic of a day and of emotions. Don't worry, I didn't cry though. haha (: It was a pretty good training too, kind of different from our typical trainings, but I liked it. There was a picture of me in President's PowerPoint presentation from the baptism we had last transfer in Szeged... It made Sister Kovács and I laugh that he chose to put that one in there... (: haha oh well, it was a good picture at least! (: Probably my favorite departing testimony was Sister Fower's (my comp who opened Veszprém with me.. so like a year ago), who compared a mission to water skiing and not being able to ever stand up, so you're just getting dragged along, gulping water and feeling like your back is going to break and you're going to drown, but not being able to let go of the rope.... hahahaha. I almost died laughing. She tied it in pretty well, but yeah, that's kind of what a mission feels like a lot of the time.

Anyway...that was probably the most interesting thing of the week…I think this week will probably go by pretty fast too... most of our investigators could only meet on the days last week when we weren't in Duna, so we couldn't meet with most of them. Luckily, we have a pretty good week set out for us. It'll be good, I feel like I haven't really gotten to know many members here, but all the sudden in one week, a lot of them set up to meet with us, so it'll be good. We're going over to the Branch President and Relief Society president's house tomorrow for dinner (same house... they're married. ha.) I'm excited for that one, I hear they have pretty interesting mission stories; he served here in Hungary and she served in the Baltic Sea mission, back when it was pretty dangerous. Plus, they both speak English perfectly. Literally, his accent sounds like he's from America, it's kinda crazy.

That awkward moment in Sacrament Meeting when someone says "amen" as part of a quote, but no one was paying attention, so the whole congregation repeats "amen" after them, but the talk isn't actually over yet... hahaha. Yeah, that definitely happened last Sunday. It was good. I think only one of the elders and I noticed and it was super hard not to laugh out loud. It reminds me of some interesting talks, or testimonies, last transfer too and trying to stay serious. I've noticed on my mission that I'm actually really bad at keeping a straight face... and keeping my own secrets. haha the weird things you learn on a mission...

Meeerrr, I wish there were a temple in Hungary! I miss it. I can't wait to go in 4 Saturdays... Hey! When, I put it like that, it actually doesn't sound so far away! Especially when you take in account that I haven't been to one in like 66 weeks... plus 9 weeks in the MTC... Holy cow. I've been gone for an eternity.

Hey! Random fact! One of the guys that got his mission call on Tuesday here in Duna is going to the Kosak's mission in Berlin! If you happen to talk to President Kosak, let him know that I'm serving in the same city that his newest missionary is coming from! His sister is going to Manchester, which I think is super cool, cause that's where her best friend, Viki from Veszprém, is also going and they only leave like a month apart! I'm super jealous, because they all have temples in their missions that they can go to. Oh well. There are also two guys I know from Kispest waiting for their mission calls. Ah! It's so cool that so many people are going on missions now; it will be super good for Hungary! (: I LOVE HUNGARYYYY. I had that thought go through my mind so many times this week. I literally just love this country and the people in it and I wish I could just stay here after my mission and travel around and…hang out and stuff. (: oh well. one day.

Mm…We have to run home to do weekly planning and stuff... but I will send you some pictures later today... I have so many from conference! Don't worry though, I won't send them all... Read “I Have Given You an Example”, by Richard G. Scott; it was my favorite talk I read this week! I like the part about the importance of trust; I don't think a lot of people realize how big of a part trust plays in people being successful and reaching their potential. I can see how it applies to so many different situations, like me as a missionary having more trust in my investigators to keep their commitments or do things, or as companions trusting each other, or as a mission president trusting their missionaries and how all of those have an effect on the performance of others and how much confidence they have in themselves to do that. Then, of course, you can apply it to normal life, in the circumstances of family members, parents and kids, in work with co-workers, with dating and friends, etc. Anyway, those are just some of my thoughts from Personal study this morning. (:

Love you all! Have a good week and tell me about how everything goes this week and what your plans are for the next couple months, etc. (:

Love,
Sister Megan Butterfield

One of our comp goals is to do the splits... hahaha failing massively.

The five of us going home.. throwin' it back to the MTC days...

Sister Kovács! (2 transfers ago) I miss her soo much, it's crazy. I don't think I've laughed as much in my whole laugh as I laughed in our transfer together. So sassy, but I love it. 

Sister Fowers! (5 transfers ago) She's the one that bore her departing testimony about being dragged on water skis. hahaha!

AP Squire!

Sister Sexton! Throwing it back to the MTC again... 17 months ago. crazy.

Elder Cutler! I miss serving with this kid! (: 

The Boys! 

Panni and Kriszti came and visited us after Zone Conference!

Panni and Kriszti came and visited us after Zone Conference!

This is what Duna looks like nowadays. Everything's under construction right where we live... it's super great.

Week 63: Day 511: A Day In Buda

June 17, 2014

Hey!

I feel like I haven't emailed or seen anyone on this email list in ages! Time is super weird... We had a good week, nothing too crazy happened. Mostly the highlight was being in Buda yesterday. Honestly, I wasn't super looking forward to it all, but it was really good to see Sister Fresh. It was super funny, because they had all 6 of us Sisters split up into two rooms in the mission home, four beds in one room and two in the other, and they knew us so well that they planned to just have Sister Fresh and I in the room with two beds and everyone else slept in the other. Hahaha. But it was super nice, we just got to talk about life and training and the future and our apartment at home and all of our plans for next semester and stuff. Pretty much we had the whole day to ourselves, because our greenies had to leave at 7:30 am and they told us not to come pick them up until 2:30 pm. I don't think I've had that much freedom in a long time... We just wandered aimlessly around Buda because we're both exhausted and ready to go home and neither of us could think of anything that we wanted to do that sounded even remotely entertaining. Haha! It was probably super sad to see. We just ended up sitting and talking and then we met up with all the elders in the city for lunch and hung out with them for the rest of the time. We picked up our greenies and then they had some stuff they needed to buy, so we ended up going to the mall while waiting for our train. Bad idea. I still don't like shopping. Once Sister Fresh found what she was looking for, the two of us just ended up sitting on the little couches in the stores and laughing about how we felt like old people because we're tired and our companions still have so much energy to be running around doing things. All I need is to sleep for like 2 days solid and I'm sure I'll be back to normal. Haha!

So...I've been a missionary for almost 17 months and somehow on Sunday I STILL managed to forget my name tag. I still don't understand how that happens. I think I've lost my mind, it's just gone. It's a good thing I haven't had any pre-going-home-breakdowns yet. I've noticed that my brain is doing that weird thing that it always did every time we moved countries, where it just like subconsciously starts to detach itself so that the change isn't all that hard. I don't know if that makes sense, I don't want to go super psychology, so I'll try to explain it... but just like I'm still here in body and I'm still doing everything, I'm just not like emotionally all in it, because my brain knows I'm leaving it in 5 week, so it starts to point out all the things that are bad to convince myself that I won't miss it and that I'm better off in the new situation, in this case - at home. It's super strange, now that I've had enough transfers in such a short amount of time that I have started to recognize things my brain does. Or maybe I'm just crazy? That's also possible.

We had lots of funny conversations with people this week. Haha! We were teaching this lady that we meet with and then we got interrupted, because someone came over to talk to her about something, so she called her 19 year old son into the room to "keep us entertained" while she was talking to the lady...... yeah. It actually ended up being a super good conversation about gospel things by the end, but the beginning was super strange and we were all laughing super hard, because he decided he wanted to "foresee" or predict our future marriages for us..?  (In English, because he's fluent) So he told Sister Schnoor that she would marry a blonde man, typical American, good at every sport, not Mormon etc. etc. and proceeded to describe his characteristics and attributes. Then, he went on to describe mine. According to him, my future husband will be European, a little taller than average, brown hair, athletic, super smart, but not Mormon and super into the whole Eastern point of view on religion and life and stuff... interesting predictions. Haha! He almost had both of us, until he told us that neither of them would be Mormon and that by the time we married them, we wouldn't be Mormon either. Haha! Then he lost us both. ;)

Then, the next day, we met with our investigator on bap date (you know, the crazy old man that wrestled me). We had a super good program and helped him shell his peas at the end while we talked to him about things and we were all laughing super hard about something and then he turned to me and was just like Do you really have to go in July? But you're coming back later right? And I told him, that yeah, I will for sure be back in Hungary sometime, I just don't know when. And then he was like "but when you do, can you just stay here in Hungary?" and I just laughed and was like "I'll think about it..." and then he was like "Well, if you come back, I'll introduce you to some boys and maybe you can convert them." and I was just like "eh…I don't know about that…we'll see, János!" and then he was just like "or, haven't you met anyone here you would consider marrying? like you could find someone in your last city, Szeged, and stay there, but just as long as you come visit me!" and then I pretty much died laughing, but I promised him I would come back and visit him sometime. Definitely, the number one thing I will miss in Hungary are the people. I just love them so much, it's crazy.

Well, I just realized that we have to run to catch our bus…We have English class and then two youth in the branch are opening their mission calls! I had more things to write about, but…maybe next week. I love you all! I hope you have a great week!

Love,
Sister Megan Butterfield

My latest project, it helps keep my mind off things, especially since I ran out of all my Sudoku's in Szeged and haven't found any in Duna... ): Mostly, I took the picture for Dad, because it reminded me of him and us all doing puzzles while listening to General Conference and eating junk food. I miss those days. (: 

An exciting day, because the chain link can no longer reach the floor. This week we moved it to hang off something from the ceiling, instead of draping it over the door. Less than 37 days! 

Week 62: Day 504: Tracting and Finding! Lots of Pictures!

June 10, 2014

Hellooo!

I actually have a list of things to write about today. Mostly, it's been a week of tracting and finding, so I've had a lot of time to think and reflect on life and my mission and all that cheesy stuff. I realized that I had given myself about a week or two too long to feel sorry for myself about being thrown out to the middle of nowhere in Duna, the beautiful center of factories and 10-stories... (: haha! It's just cool to think about the progression of my mission and such. I might as well be happy out here and love it out here for the next 6 weeks. I've realized that I'm actually really grateful to experience "opening" a city again, now that I've reached the end of my mission and actually know what I'm doing. It leaves a lot better taste in my mouth, then if I had left after only opening Veszprém and how hard those two transfers were for me... Not that our work is going super well here, in terms of progressing investigators and all that jazz, but within three weeks, we've gotten like 16 new investigators or something, which is definitely more than I ever got in.. probably all 3 months in Veszprém put together. I love having reached the level in my teaching experience and in my testimony, that I feel like I can actually teach, preach and testify with power (obviously thanks to the Holy Ghost) and answer almost any strange question I've had thrown at me. Plus, Duna really isn't as bad as everyone makes it out to be. They kind of have a weird accent when they speak Hungarian, but they're really nice and so many people let us in! Plus, the few branch members that we've gotten to talk to are super funny and lot of them have been members for like 20+ years here, so that's cool. They used to have so many members here Duna, that there were actually two branches at one point. Also, I used to teach this girl who was living in Szeged to play handball and she was one of my favorites there, and now I get to meet with her family here in Duna! (Her parents and youngest brothers are new-ish members here and invite us and the elders over almost every week). So, when Saci's in town, I also get to see her, which is a nice piece of Szeged for me. hahah

Speaking of tracting... haha Last week, we had somehow managed to get "Standard of Excellence" and that means that also get a phone call from the mission president's wife to congratulate us and to talk for a few minutes and it's super cute. Anyway, she started asking my companion what she thought about Hungary so far and about me as her trainer. Our phone is pretty loud and we were in the elevator, so I could hear pretty much everything she was saying, something along the lines of "Isn't she just one of our best missionaries? She's just so great at tracting, and teaching and the language, and.... tracting!" Sister Schnoor just looked at me and burst out laughing. It's kinda our joke. Just call me the queen of tracting and send me the the tracting central of Hungary for my dying transfer... Can't even be mad though, I like tracting.

We had a pretty good week this week... Mostly we just... tracted. We have some investigators that we're meeting with pretty regularly. Hey, remember the story about the man who wrestled me? He's actually on bap date now! So, that's cool. He's super funny. We retaught him the Restoration this week and he just kept asking all these questions and wanting weird explanations and at the end he was just like, wow, you should be a tanitó néni! I had no idea that you had this much knowledge about these kinds of things, like religion and the Bible! uhh... sometimes I don't really understand what people think we do out here for 2 years or 18 months. That's all we do! hahaha

Actually, I do have a random Bible question for anyone who has the answer... So I finished the New Testament last week and am now making my way through the Old Testament. There's a part in Genesis 9:20-27 about Canaan being cursed, but wasn't it Ham that saw Noah? And why was it that big of a problem? What in the world is it talking about?! I literally read it like 10 times and my companion has no idea either. Someone care to shed some light on that for us? Haha.

It's super weird to think that in about 6 weeks, I'll be at home, just doing normal people things again. I can't decide if I'm happy about it or not. There are definitely some things and rules about missionary life that I won't miss, for selfish reasons... but... actually being a missionary? the people? the branches? the food? the language? Hungary? the culture? my companions and missionary friends? not having to plan my own future? Those things I will definitely miss... It's strange when I realize I'm using my last missionary planner and this is my last "full month," and when we plan bap dates for people, realizing that there's no way I'll be here next transfer with them. Life is weird. But conference talks help sometimes... (: My favorites were "The Strength to Endure" by Elder Maynes and "Personal Strength through the Atonement of Jesus Christ" by Elder Richard G. Scott. Read them. (:

We're splitting our email time in half again, but we have English at 6, so we'll be on earlier... at like 4, if any of you happen to be on. Love you all! Have a good week!

Love,
Sister Megan Butterfield

PS:  I forgot to mention a few things this morning... First off, sorry I didn't email yesterday. It's happened enough times that I'm sure you already guessed... it was a holiday here, which means everything shuts down! We went sightseeing at this statue park thing down by the river with the elders instead. I'll send you some pictures... That was our goal this week: to take a lot more pictures, since I've been failing majorly at it. I think we did a pretty good job this week!

Also, next week I'm not sure when we'll be emailing exactly. We have to go up to Budapest this Sunday night, because Sister Schnoor has New Missionary Training stuff starting at like 7:30 the next morning... In other words, Sister Fresh and I are going on splits all day, with free range in Budapest! (:

Other than that... don't mind the pictures if they're kinda gross. It's nasty hot over here. Hungarian summers are pretty much the worst thing ever, and it hasn't even hit July yet... I'm not really sure anymore if it's the heat or coming home that make it impossible to fall asleep for a few hours every night... haha. Speaking of home, I switched around some of my classes for next semester, because I'm working on getting my Associates by the end of winter... So I'll be taking American Heritage at the SLC center on Tuesday nights. Yuck. But, that means I can visit Katie and the new baby (and Rory and Carter haha) every Tuesday at least. (:

okay... cool. Have a good week!

In our elevator on one of our first days together...

Sister Schnoor's pictures from my fitting through the hole out to the roof. I had to go first. hahaha! 

So much chocolate!

She took a picture of me taking a picture? Haha! But this is the church that's super close to our house. 

Dunaújváros... it's split in the middle by this valley thing and we were walking on the other side towards the branch house... We live in the half of the city seen in the picture.

One day we got bored of tracting, so we went exploring for a few minutes and found an opening to get on a roof... This is the picture we took from the roof: 10-stories galore.

The super sketchy opening to the roof...

 So. much. chocolate. I just keep collecting more and more somehow... Some of those I've had since Székes...haha

50 days! (Today I'll cut of 45... this was a few days ago)

we tried to get an action shot of my daily ritual of cutting off a chain link.. haha none of them really worked out...

Meet the elders. Sometimes you get a little tired of "traditional finding"and you have to mix it up...We drove out to some family houses with the elders and we each took one side of the road. haha They're pretty cool kids, we get alone real well. (:

So. hot. This is one of the statue things... 

Sometimes Duna is actually kinda pretty... and then you see another factory...

The District. (smallest one I've ever been in. and I thought our Szeged district of 6 was tiny...) and a photo-bomber. That was a funny story actually. Interesting man.