Sister Hannah Schoendorfer in Hungary: Mindenszentek napja (All Saints' Day)

Hello!

It has been a great week here. We met with József every single day this past week and he is doing so great!! One day we brought a member with us named Éva and she brought him a suit jacket that she had and didn't need anymore and it fit József perfectly, he loved it! (József has been talking about how he has been wanting a suit recently for church but right now doesn't have the money for it). He was so grateful for it and wore it to his interview with President Szabadkai this week! We went with him to the interview because he didn't know how to get there and while we were waiting for President, we were looking through a book full of religious art and József was telling us about all the stories of the pictures, he is such a smart guy. József is the sweetest bácsi I have ever met and he is so excited for his baptism which is officially on November 19th!

We had Zone Training last week and we went to two of them (to help with the training). They were both really great and it is always so fun to see the other missionaries from all over the country. After one of the Zone Trainings we had the Duna girls here on splits and I went with Hooper nővér and she is the best! She is in her second transfer and is so kind. I loved being with her and we also helped someone get packed up to move which was fun.

On Saturday there was a huge event all over Hungary where in each of the buildings the movie "Meet the Mormons" was shown and a lot of people were invited. The members and others that came really loved it. McGregor nővér and I made sugar cookies for it which was really fun, I can't remember that last time I have made them from scratch. Everyone was coming up to me and asking me for the recipe which was so funny, sugar cookies aren't really a thing here so I will convert the measurements and give it to them. One of the dads in the ward came up while I was frosting them and was just standing there talking to me as he ate cookie after cookie, he was so funny about it. McGregor nővér and I had a really great part in District Meeting where we talked about building companionship unity and being a light to everyone so we brought a squash for each companionship and then carved them! It was really fun. We brought squashes because we couldn't find real orange pumpkins but it worked out great, sqush are so much harder to hollow out though.

I truly enjoyed church on Sunday and even had the opportunity to translate for a family that was visiting from California. They had the cutest kids and it was really fun for me to translate for them. A few members came up afterwards and were asking me to translate between them so that they could talk to the family.

We went to Sopron for splits and I went with Manwaring nővér who just got to the country a few weeks ago. It was so fun to be with her and Sopron is so so beautiful. We went tracting in the most charming area where all the houses looked like beach houses and we even got to ride bikes! One of the ladies came out of her house with her hands behind her back and only spoke German. We exchanged a few words, I told her the name of our church in German and wrote down a website and then with a biggest smile on her face, she quick pulled her hands out from behind her back and gave us hand fulls of chocolate and wafers and said "Happy Halloween!" So, we were able to turn tracting into Trick or Treating. Instead of Trick or Treating here though, Hungarians celebrate Mindenszentek napja (All Saints' Day) which is where the people honor those who have passed away by going to the cemeteries and decorating the graves with flowers and candles. I saw one cemetery here which was so so beautiful. I love the Pest area so much! Have a great week!

Sok szeretettel, Schoendorfer Nővér