Sister Bailey’s Mission Report

[A report on her Hungarian mission delivered at the Dimple Dell Park Ward in Sandy, Utah on October 14, 2012]

I am happy to be able to report on our experiences in the Hungarian Budapest Mission.  It was one of the greatest opportunities of my life.  I absolutely loved our mission.  I have gained many insights into how one can have happiness, strong testimonies, charity, sacrifice and church service, with so little in the way of material things.  Some of the Hungarian members sacrifice so much just to get to Church; many times some of them cannot even afford the bus fare to go. They also have to travel 13 hours to Freiberg, Germany to attend the temple.

We had a Young Adult who actually did his own genealogy, coming up with 120 family names to take to the temple.  There were few cars owned by members of each of the Branches we served in, and our car was very well used for many situations.

As you know, the Hungarians have a sad history of often being occupied by invading countries.  They are still trying to overcome the damage of the Nazi German occupation and then the Russian’s control of their country for over 50 years, which just ended in 1990.

We were recently asked if we felt safe in Hungary.

Read More»

Elder Bailey’s Mission Report

[A report on his Hungarian mission delivered at the Dimple Dell Park Ward in Sandy, Utah on October 14, 2012]

Introduction

When we arrived in Budapest, we were met at the airport by the Mission President and his wife, President and Sister Baughman.  We spent the first night sleeping at the mission home.  The next day, we met with the mission president who gave us our assignments; and we rented a car from the mission.  We then packed the car with our luggage, and using a map and our GPS headed for our new home in Szombathely, Hungary.  This was a city of about 200,000 people that was located three hours away from Budapest, and just fifteen minutes from the Austrian border.

Our mission was truly a life enriching experience, at least partially because we were able to live in Hungary for 18 months.  Sister Bailey and I learned enough Hungarian to say prayers in meetings, greet people, hold simple conversations, and to shop for groceries, gas and other items.

All of our church meetings were in Hungarian.  The first Sacrament Meeting we attended, we were expected to share our testimonies in Hungarian – which we were able to do.  However, when we gave talks in Sacrament Meetings, which was about once a month in a branch somewhere in Hungary, we would use a translator.

The Church in Hungary

The Hungary Budapest Mission was created only 22 years ago.  The mission now has about 100 missionaries, and around 150 baptisms per year.  While on our mission, we were closely involved with 14 convert baptisms.  Each one was unique, and each one was a special experience.

The Church in Hungary continues to grow, and now has about 5,000 members.  Although Hungary has one Stake and six wards, most of the LDS congregations in Hungary are smaller branches, usually ranging from 20 to 60 people.  But they could be much smaller.  Our last Sacrament Meeting speaking assignment was in a new unit that had only two investigators, and four missionaries present on the day we spoke.

We spent much time working with many of the Young Single Adults in Hungary.

Read More»

Brenda’s Mission Farewell Talk

I first would like to thank, our family, friends and members of the Ward for sharing this memorable time with us.  And for the love and great influence that you have been to me.  We are especially touched by those who have traveled so far to be with us today.

A few years ago Bishop Funk invited my husband and me to attend some senior missionary preparation classes.   At the time, we had not thought about serving a mission and so we went to just one session.  Sometime later, Bishop England called us to meet with him, and he asked if we would be interested in an opportunity as senior missionaries.

Read More»

Bob’s Mission Farewell Talk

Introduction

The telephone is an amazing device.  Today, many of us carry it around in our pockets, or in a purse, or connected in some way to our belts.  We can quickly call anyone in the United States, or (for a little extra money) in the world.  If we do not feel like talking directly to someone, or we do not want to interrupt them, we could use the phone to send an email or a text message.  But telephones have not always provided so many possibilities.

My first experience with a phone, that I can remember, was when I was seven or eight years old.  

Read More»