Screening for a Brighter Future

The following is a PowerPoint we put together for our supervisors to provide them with information about one of our projects.  LDS Charities will be providing the Lions Club in Hungary with a device which will allow them to do vision screening on children.  This device will be added to their other vision screening devices for adults and will travel throughout the country in their mobile van. 

We are very excited about this project as this device will afford hundreds of disadvantaged children the opportunity to be screened for vision problems and allow them the possibility of a "Brighter Future."

Zone Day

 If a Zone has at least 4 baptisms during a transfer (9 week period), the Zone earns a Zone Day where all the missionaries in the zone come together to spend the day playing games, eating a good lunch and watching a movie.  Missionaries from Miskolc, Debrecen, Nyiregyhaza, and Eger, as well as our mission president and his wife enjoyed the fun filled day.  

Our Zone had 5 baptisms - all in our branch in Miskolc.  Unfortunately, we were in Arizona at the time of the baptism.  We were really happy to be home, but so sad to miss the baptism of 2 women and an 8 year old girl, 9 year old girl and a 10 year old boy. . . . but we did get back in time for the celebration with the Zone!  I don't have pictures of Sara and Monika, but here is a picture from primary of our three newest members.  We are up to 8 children coming fairly regularly to primary now - up from only 1 about 3-4 months ago.  Check out the Primary blog post for more pictures and information about our primary.

Erasmus, Jasmin, and Lila
our newest members

President and Sister Szabadkai

December Newsletter

Family Letter

Welcome from slushy Miskolc, Hungary!

            It snowed for the first time on Wednesday and the snow lasted all of about four hours.  Now, is the second time for the snow to fall.  It is getting cold!

            Yesterday we traveled up to the border of Slovakia to a town called Ozd.  Pronounced, Oz’d as in the Wizard of Oz.  The Lions Club had visual screening activity up in this small town, particularly aimed for the Roma.  It was an hour drive up to the town.  We took the area governor for the Lions Club with us.  He speaks fairly good English and told us about some of the history of the northeastern part of Hungary.

  

            When Hungary joined the EU one of the requirements was to shut down all coal mining.  So now, the people of Hungary just burn wood!  I don’t know which is dirtier, wood or coal.  The use of gas as a source of heat is limited due to the high cost of gas.  The EU’s position was a lot like Marie Antoinette who said let them eat cake when she told that they did not have bread.  The EU said in essence,  “Let them freeze to death so that we can say that we are not causing global warming.  The towns and villages that had the coal production are all ghost towns or major pockets of abject poverty.  But what is a few 100,000-people living in poverty in Hungary, when the EU can save the world from pollution from Russia, China and India? 

            I wore one of my Christmas ties to church today and go a lot of comments.  (Good ones) This week is part 1 of Christmas.  On December 6^th, St. Nicholas comes to the homes and bring small gifts and a lot of chocolate!  This is all done in the homes of children.  December 25^th is the other Christmas.  Oh, by the way, they don’t call Christmas, “Christmas” or use his name at all.  It is “Karacsony” meaning yule, noel, nativity and the csony means Christmas, but no mention of Christ (Jézus Kristus).  But we are not missing any Christmas music in English.  It plays non-stop in all the stores! 

            This next week we will be in Budapest on Monday.  We are being honored as helping with 9 communities to get micro grants for projects in their villages for the Roma people and going to a Roma kindergarten with the Red Cross at 10 am tomorrow morning (early start from Miskolc - 7 am).  Tuesday, off to the city of Gyor (jer) that is on the western border near Vienna to make final plans for buying new beds for an organization that takes care of the mentally impaired adults that houses 50 people.  Back to Miskolc for Zone interviews on Thursday. On Friday we are off to Nyiregyhaza and Debrecen to do apartment checks (about 1 3/4 hours from Miskolc and 45 minutes in between each city) and back in time to go to a fund raiser with the Lions Club that night.  Saturday is get ready for going home for two weeks!  Sunday is church and Monday back to Budapest and stay in a hotel near the airport.

            We are excited about going home, but missing Christmas in Hungary and especially missing 5 baptisms on December 16^th in Miskolc will make us think about Hungary while back home.  We have been part of the teaching of the two women being baptized and very much involved with the three children being baptized.  And we thought we were on a Humanitarian mission!

            Our flight is very early Tuesday morning.  Then about 18 hours later we get to see seven grandchildren (one brand spank’n new one named Max!)  So who’s excited about being home for Christmas with grandchildren?