APRIL SENIOR CONFERENCE

We enjoyed a wonderful Senior conference this past week.  For seven of the twelve couples serving here in Hungary this was their final conference.  Each of the couples shared their testimonies and their feelings of what their mission has meant to them. Their lives will forever be changed and each of them expressed their gratitude for this experience. One sister expressed these sentiments: "It is not the places I went, nor the things I did, but the people that I have met that have changed my life."

Our final senior conference together

President and Sister Smith are one of the couples that will be leaving us. They have served a faithful mission and are going to be greatly missed by all of the missionaries as well as the people of Hungary.  They have seen a lot of growth during their three year service here.  Some of the highlights that they shared with us were: This year is the 25 anniversary of the church in Hungary. The growth of church continues here, thanks to the faithful members and the missionary service of our elders and sisters.  In the past three years 3 new chapels have been built in Hungary. Three new branches have been formed and now 3 additional branches have grown enough to be included into the stake. 300 missionaries have come and gone. We have a new stake president and the new mission president is a native Hungarian.  There are currently 124 missionaries serving here in Hungary up from 85 three years ago.

Train stop in Szentendre

Sisters at the town square

Wonderful companions carrying our shopping bags.

The second day of conference we took the train to small Serbian village, Szentendre.  Such a quaint and beautiful place.  We had been there once before but this time is was much prettier with all the trees and flowers in full bloom.  It helped to finally have the temperature up to 75 degrees that day.  It was the first day that the Elders could go without suit coats, and they were excited about that.  

Quaint little restaurant that served us the best blueberry soup!

Hungary is known for their "Fruit Soups".
This is their famous blueberry soup.

A night out at the "Opera House" in Budapest

As part of our senior conference we attended the Opera "Aida".  The opera was done in Italian with Hungarian subtitles above the stage. We studied the plot of the story before hand so we were not completely lost.  It was a wonderful culture experience and a great time was had by all.