May 29, 2014

Szia! (Sounds like “seeya” in English)

Wow, where do I start? Lets just say that I LOVE the MTC. The spirit here and the people is incomparable to anything else. Yesterday I hit a week here and time just seems to go faster and faster. Now from the beginning, the first day I walked into the classroom my teacher immediately started to speak Hungarian. That was frightening! My companions are absolutely amazing! I was put into a trio, there is Sister Dohm and Sister Briney. Sister Dohm is from Minnesota and she is the sweetest person in this world. I’d like to say that she is the leader of our pack. Sister Briney is from Colorado. She speaks 5 languages fluently, yes… 5! She speaks, Korean, Japanese, Spanish, French and English. She is a smart cookie and she has taught me so much. Lets just say, they both are my tutors when we are learning Hungarian. We sit in a classroom for 11 hours, and the teachers speak not a stitch of English. We are pretty much playing the game of charades. My district is amazing!! Total, we have 7 Sisters and 7 Elders. We have been split up into two rooms. In my room, it’s my trio and four Elders. We have all become best friends. I LOVE it here. We are all on the same floor with the Hungarians, Albanians, Finns and Estonians. It is always a party.

We taught our fist lesson to an investigator on Thursday in Hungarian. The first few days at the MTC were rough. I was being hard on myself and I was the only one who wasn’t understanding anything. I felt like I was letting my companions down, because they were doing so well with the language and the Lord because I couldn’t ever remember my lines when we taught our investigator, Erzsi. We taught our investigator, Erzsi four times but our last lesson I will never forget.

 My companions and I weren’t very prepared with our lesson and this was the last time we would teach her so we wanted to make it good. We had to write it out in English and we had only twenty minutes to translate it in Hungarian, (the longest process). Well, I usually don’t say much in the lessons, I only just smile and say Szia. But today I was just praying and praying that for once I would be able to speak. We walked in and started the lesson. I only had a few lines to say and they went pretty smooth. Then it was time for testimonies. My companions shared their testimonies, shared a few scriptures and did wonderful! Now it was my turn, I looked straight at my investigator, Erzsi and tears started flowing down my face, not even making one mistake with my lines I said, “I know that Joseph Smith is a prophet and that the Book of Mormon is true.” My investigator (who is my language teacher) and my companions all started to cry. The spirit in the room was like nothing I’ve ever felt before. Even though I said only two simple sentences, I know that it was the spirit speaking right through me. I wish I could put into words the feelings we all felt. It was such an amazing experience. AND I actually understood what I was saying!!  

I want to thank my family and friends for the sweet packages I received this week. You’ll never know how much they mean to me. It’s like Christmas morning when our District leader goes and gets the mail and tells you you have packages or letter. Thank you all!!!!

This week we had two incredible speakers. The first speaker we had was brother Allen. What a man! He said to never forget what name you are wearing on your chest, and when you put it on each day you need to step it up even more!! The last speaker we had was Russell M. Nelson. Our zone made sure to sit in the front row, and wow.. I don’t think I’ve ever been that close to an apostle before. 

This week I have learned a lot. I felt like the first few days I was here I was being selfish and thinking only about myself. After the devotional on Sunday we watched a film called, “Character of Christ” given by David A. Bednar. If you haven’t seen it I recommend you do! I know it was exactly for me and what I needed. He said, “the mission isn’t about you, it’s about Him!” “Get over yourselves!” He said. That’s when it hit me. It’s not about me or how well I speak the language, it’s about bringing people to Christ and giving them the hope and happiness they’ve been trying to find their whole lives. It is an honor to wear His name, and to do the work for Him. 

It has been an amazing experience here at the MTC. There is nothing like it. Remember that I love you all so much. Thank you for all that you do and the examples that you are. David A. Bednar said at the last devotional, that if you want the gift of tongues, you will need to pray for it and your family. I am in great, great need for the gift of tongues. 

love, Whittaker Nover!!!

Shout out to Jensen Whittaker! Elder Befus says hello and that he misses you. He says you swam together!  

May 23, 2014

After over four long months of waiting, Sister Whittaker was finally able to enter the MTC as a missionary. It was all smiles and happy tears, with her commenting on how “she felt as though she was on a rollercoaster, waiting for the big drop!”

Though home still hasn’t heard how she’s doing, we’re all anxious to receive updates on our sweet missionary!

March 30, 2014

Cities

• Budapest – with jovial leafy parks, renowned museums, an extensive Medieval Castle District and a thriving nightlife, Budapest is one of Europe’s most delightful and enjoyable cities.
• Debrecen – the second largest city in the country, a cultural and ecclesiastical centre.
• Eger – a beautiful northern town with an ancient castle and camera obscura.
• Győr  – there are many cafés, restaurants, boutiques, and night clubs in its lovely Baroque city center.
• Kecskemét - a town famous for its vibrant music scene, plum brandy, and Art Nouveau architecture.
• Miskolc - with a unique cave bath in Miskolc-Tapolca, the third largest city in the country, located near the scenic Bükk Mountans.
• Nyíregyháza - a medium-sized city with a busy water resort, museum village, and annual autumn festival.
• Pécs - a pleasant cultural centre and university town.
• Szeged - the sunniest city in Hungary with a particularly rich history.
• Székesfehérvár - former Royal seat, currently famous for its Baroque architecture and museums.

 Other Destinations

• Aggtelek - beautiful caves with dripstones and stalagmites.
• Bükk - a section of the Carpathian Mountain range.
• Harkány - a historic small town along the Villány-Siklósi wine route famous for its spas.
• Lake Balaton - the major lake of Hungary and the biggest lake in Central Europe.
• Mohács - Famous for the Battle of Mohács (1526, 1687), These battles represented the beginning and end, respectively, of the Ottoman domination of Hungary. Every spring, the town hosts the annual Busójárás carnival.

 

March 27, 2014

Here is the Hungarian alphabet – 40 natural letters, including 14 vowels

In preparation for my mission I have been reading as many Hungarian missionary blogs as I can find to see what lies ahead for me. I think the biggest concern that most missionaries feel in going to Hungary is…learning the language! From what people tell me it’s suppose to be the 2nd hardest language in the world to learn. I found some wonderful information on Elder Cameron Alldredge’s blog. Here are some things he said about the Hungarian language. Enjoy!

1.  Our name tags are backwards. Mine will say “Whittaker Nover”.

2.  Hungarians don’t have Q, W, or X in their alphabet.

3.  No one really “learns” Hungarian. Even if someone were to move to Hungary, they wouldn’t learn the language. It’s only if you’re born there or you’re an LDS missionary that you would learn it. I guess it’s because it’s so hard.

4.  Basically, the entire language is backwards to English in the aspect of sentence structure. So in English, It sounds like you’re speaking like Yoda. “Whittaker Nover, I am” or “The late-day holy followers Jesus Christ church.” They also don’t have the word “of”. So we have to say “Wisdom’s Word,” and stuff like that. Also, in prayers we say, “Thank you this day for” etc.

5.  One thing that I find hilarious is that in Hungary (because they HATE the French) when you want to tell someone to, “go to hell” (which I would never say) you literally say “go to France.”

6. There is no difference between a sentence that is a question and one that is a command. The only way you can make it a question is a certain voice inflection on a certain vowel in the last word of the sentence. Without the voice inflection, “Will you be baptized?” turns into “You are going to be baptized.”

7.  When you want to say you’re going to Hungary you have to literally say you’re going ONTO Hungary not INTO Hungary. (Because they think they’re so much higher and better than everyone else) I would say I’m going into America but onto Hungary.

8.  When telling time, if you want to say it’s 3:15. You wouldn’t say, “It’s Three Fifteen” You’d say, “It’s Three Quarters to Four”… they measure everything according to the next hour. So 12:30 would be “Half to One” and so on.

9.  The word “-e”… yea–that’s the actual word. You put it at the end of a sentence to make it mean “or not”. So if I wanted to say “We can know that it’s true or not” I would say “Tudhatjuk hogy igaz-e.”

10.  You speak really fancy in formal form. They directly translate to statements such as, “How does it please you to be?” (What’s up?) Or, “Where does it please you to be going?” (Where you headed?)