Week 18 - July 5, 2010 - Tatabanya, Hungary

Dear Family,

A full fledged ward in Tatabánya... Hmm... i don`t think they`re ready for that, but a branch would be good. I think they`re going to have to get a new meeting house soon. We`re outgrowing our little Régi Pékség. (Old bakery)

When we tell people we`re from America they usually seem impressed that we would come to Hungary and especially that we would come to Tatabánya. We haven`t had any problems yet though. Except for this one kid who said 'You`re Stupid!!' as we rode by on the bikes, but I think he was just practicing English.

The Hungarian mail system is pretty stable, things just disappear from packages sometimes. The changes are in the mission. That`s why I suggested to wait. Probably wait one more week before sending anything, but I`ll let you know for sure next week.

I`m glad to hear they`re finally making some progress with your job. Hopefully this girl will pass the background and drug tests.

That`s exciting and terrifying that Cami passed her road test. Good luck on getting her license and everything, and I hope she has a fun time in Tennessee too. Oh and good luck to Kevin and Tanja.

That`s good that you got to go down to your reunion. I actually met a girl here from Delta. She`s a foreign exchange student or a study abroad student, I can`t remember which, but she was definitely from Delta.

It sounds like you had an exciting 4th of July. About as exciting as mine anyways. Painting and sanding for you and streeting and tracting for me. You didn`t go to the parade though? Disappointing. I wanted to ask how the marching band is doing, or if they even have one this year. At least you got to watch the fireworks though. I was thinking about Fireworks the other day. Oh well, at least you are making progress on the big project. The house will be legit when I get home, if you finish it by that time anyways. Just kidding.

I`m still doing well. I can understand more everyday. I still don`t speak very well. The food is pretty good. I get a legit Hungarian meal at least once a week with Roz and Ferenc. I do have a Hungarian cookbook, but it`s written in Hungarian, so maybe I`ll translate and you can cook the food. Sound fair?

I`m glad Simba is slowly growing fur again. If his back end doesn`t pick it up we`ll have to make him a kitty-combover, and then he would never forgive you.

I`m glad you still stay in touch with Larissa. I think she would really appreciate a visit and the pictures. Maybe you could go to the Bluebird while shes working. That would be fun.

Nothing really new from me this week. We got the word about transfers this morning. Elder Cheney is going to Miskolc to be Zone leader and I am staying here in Tatabánya. I`m going to be in a threesome. Again. that`ll be weird. But I think it`ll be good. One of the Elders is Elder Hommes who was in the group ahead of me in the MTC, so that`ll be fun to see him again. He was my favorite. I`ve been rearranging my stuff all morning to make room for them. The changes take effect on Wednesday, though, so I still have some time.

This week was kind of strange. Elder Cheney got his Ingrown toenail cut on Thursday, so on Friday we had to rest for the entire day. I read pretty much all day. I`m running out of things to read, which might sound strange, but I`m serious. I finished Jesus the Christ in one transfer, so now I`ve read the entire Missionary library and I finished the Book of Mormon this morning. I guess I`ll just read them all over again.

That`s about all the news from me. Things are going good. One transfer down, 13 or 14 more to go. I love you all. have a good week. Be safe and happy.

Crouch Elder

Week 17 - June 28, 2010 - Tatabanya, Hungary

Dear Family,

Thank you for the 16th week wishes. There are times when it feels like its going so fast, but other times when time seems to be dragging. But that's normal.

Yeah the baptism was really awesome, and we actually had another one last Saturday too. Now there are 17 members here. Woot. And I have been really good about writing in my journal. I've only missed 2 days and one was because I was on a plane.

I was thinking about Founders Day too. We had a big festival here around the same time. It was pretty cool. I got to see a famous Hungarian singer. I don't think I wrote about this last time. After she sang, Elder Kennedy and I went up to get her autograph, but when they heard we were Americans, they let us go talk to her and I got a picture with her. She's pretty famous. Her picture is on billboards all over the place here.

I guess I'm not so jealous about the dust and the mess of remodeling. That would be pretty annoying and I would be helping. Yeah, Ill stay here with the heat and crazy people.

I'm glad my memory card got there safely. I'm trying to take lots of pictures. Just this morning Elder Cheney and I went up to the bird statue again and then to a cave nearby. It was pretty awesome. I got some pictures with Jimmy. And I got to whip in the cave. We took some video. It was so loud.

As for sending it back, I was going to ask you to wait for a while. In fact, there might be some changes happening soon, so anyone who receives this email take notice, It might be best to hold off sending any letters or packages until further notice. If they've already been sent, they should be fine, but after today, it would be best to wait.

That's really cool that Amos is heading out soon. I'm sure he`ll love the England MTC. Elder Szvoboda (one of the APs) went there because he already speaks Hungarian, and he said it was awesome. .

That's good that Cami passed range. Good luck on the road test, and have fun in Tennessee.

I'm sorry you are still working so much, mom. It seems like they've really been jerking you around at that job. I hope your Private Talk goes well.

The humidity hasn't been as bad this week, but today is pretty hot. It's been raining a lot, which is nice. Ive never seen it rain like this before. I love it. You get soaked instantly.

Speaking of humidity and suits, I don't have the suits in plastic and I make sure that they get aired out and everything. I think they'll be fine.

I hope you all have a good week. Be safe and be good. Kick the cat for me.

Szeretek Beneteket,

Elder Crouch

Week 16, June 21, 2010 - Tatabanya, Hungary

Hey family,

The floor looks awesome. I`m kind of jealous. As soon as I leave you put down nice floors and start fixing up the house. And now I`m in crappy apartments where the carpet and walls are so gross you can still see where things used to sit and hang. It`s gross. I`m sorry the dishwasher is broken. I`ve been missing it since we have to hand wash all of our dishes too.

I`ve been missing canyoneering lately, but I`m glad Kevin has been able to go a lot. That would be really cool if you could take Larissa on a trip. She`s been getting into climbing a little.

I hope Cami can get her licence soon too. Good luck on the tests. They`re pretty easy.

Yeah I remember that baby and the double barrel blast to the leg. That was fun.

So this week has been kind of crazy. This whole transfer has been kind of weird though, but I don`t know the difference. Saturday was the baptism in the Duna (Danube, but it`s not blue. More brown). It was really great. Róz`s husband Ferenc was baptized in the same place so that`s why she chose there. I`m so happy for her though. It`s awesome. She went to the temple with Ferenc a few months ago. She didn`t go in, but she said the feeling of the temple was what made her want to quit smoking and everything else. I`m so excited for them to go to the temple in a year. We confirmed Róz yesterday. I got to stand in the circle. It was such an awesome feeling.

Yesterday sort of took a weird turn though. After sacrament we went to meet an investigator at his garden cottage thing. Lets just say it was one of the weirdest experiences of my life. I wrote five pages in my journal about it, so It would be kind of hard to write about, but I`ll never forget it, so remind me when i get home and I`ll tell you about it. I`ll just say that Laszló is one of the craziest old guys I`ve ever met and we decided to never meet with him again after that experience.

We`ve been tracting and streeting a lot. This area is the newest in the whole country so we`re still sort of lacking on solid investigators. The good news is there is another baptism next week for two of the other elders` investigators.

That`s my exciting news for the week. I sent the picture card last week, but you might want to hold off on sending it back for a while. The mail here is kind of bad. Things get stolen out of packages sometimes, so just be careful about that. I still have plenty of room on my other card so don`t worry.

I love you all and thank you for keeping me updated on everyone`s life. I looked at your blog today too. There were some really funny stories on there like the streaking boys. wow. Anyways, have a good week.

Crouch Elder

Week 15 - June 14, 2010, Tatabanya, Hungary

Dear Family,

So far this p-day has been really good. We went to Esztergom this morning which is one of the largest churches in the world. I took a bunch of pictures, and I'm sending another card home today. It doesn't have the Esztergom pictures but there are a lot on this one too.

That's really cool about the Barlows. That would be crazy to go on a mission the same time as Dani. Good thing she`s married.

I`m sorry the calls were so expensive. I just really wanted to talk to you all and the phones(and everything) in France were really stupid. France was really stupid. The good news is we get plenty of money every month and food and pretty much everything else is really cheap. And we get an hour and a half free to call on Christmas and Mothers Day. Our mission president is awesome.

That's really exciting that weŕe getting hard wood floors and new carpet and everything. I still think about that carpet sometimes because the carpet in our apartment is really nasty. Wait till you see some of the pictures.

Oh the accordion concert. One of the members, Edina, has a daughter named Zsofi who plays the accordion. She invited us to her accordion recital last week. It was really funny to watch all of these little kids making concentration faces while they were playing. They were actually really good too. I just never thought I would go to an accordion concert in Hungary.

My knees are doing okay. We walk a lot though. The good news is we have bikes. The bad news is the bikes are pretty crappy. I took pictures. You`ll see.

I am getting along really well with my companion. We have tons of fun but we still work way hard. Cheney Elder is really good about not wasting time but not going over the top either. He knows how to schedule little things that are fun for us, but still are worthwhile. Like whipping. Hungarian whips are so fun. I have to get one while I`m here. I`m getting so good at it. It`s amazing how loud you can get it. But even while we`re whipping we`re still finding. Old guys will come up while we`re whipping and talk to us and will want to try it, so we let them and they give us tips and then we can talk about the church. It`s really cool.

I`ve seen a ton of weird things. Kind of disturbing things. It`s really hot and humid so the ˝Cats are losing their fur˝ as Ferenc puts it. Everyone is losing their clothes. I´ve see old guys in speedos and thongs and other nasty things and it makes tracting an adventure. I`ve also eaten some weird things. I don`t think I want to talk about that though. We have a baptism this Saturday in the Duna (that`s the Danube). It`s pretty exciting.

The time is passing so fast now that I`m out of the MTC. I can`t believe I`ve been in the country 3 weeks already. I can already understand everyone better and I can speak a little. I just wish it wasn´t so hot and humid. It gets really miserable. Especially when we`re doing service. We do a ton of service. We can`t in the winter so we make up for it in the summer. I don`t mind service, but these things get pretty bad sometimes. I feel like people are abusing us. Oh well. I do it and I try to be happy about it. It just makes me appreciate the dry heat of Utah and the work we do in the yard.

That`s about all my news. Just lots of work and sweaty sweat. I hope you all are happy. Have fun living in the torn apart house for a week. Let me know how it turns out. You should try attaching pictures again. I know that myldsmail accounts can get pictures. I don`t know why it didn`t work last time you tried. Anyways. I love you all.

Kraucs Elder
Hungarian is awesome.

Week 14 - June 8, 2010 - Tatabanya, Hungary

Hey Family,

Sorry I didn't write yesterday, but I had to go to Budapest to get my residency permit. This past week has been pretty good. Really busy and hot and humid but good. I hadn't heard of a unit either until I got here. Yes, Tatabanya is a really small city. There's hardly anything here. I'd say Hinkley is maybe a little bigger and a little more exciting, but it is so good.

We're not running at all right now because Cheney Elder has really bad ingrown toenails. He usually runs when he doesn't have feet problems though, so I'm kind of worried. My knees have been killing me lately, and they get a little bit worse everyday. I've talked to the Mission president's wife about it though, so she's trying to help.

I thought about Dani and Kelly on Sunday. Tell them Happy anniversary from me too. That is pretty crazy that they've been married a year already.

I'm sorry everyone has allergies. Just be glad you're not here. There are cottonwood trees everywhere. It keeps getting in my eyes and stuff. Luckily I don't get allergies, or else I'd be miserable.

That's pretty cool that Larissa wants to do the ILP thing. She hasn't written to me about that yet, but I haven't gotten a single letter here so... That would be pretty legit if she came to Hungary though. Then maybe she would learn some Hungarian.

I'm pretty excited to see the new carpet and Hardwood floor. We definitely needed it though. That old carpet was pretty nasty.

Oh dang, I missed the annual garage cleaning?! Darn! I'm sorry it's not staying clean with two poopy cats and a furry bird, but I hope the birds get out soon. It's always annoying when Birds come in and won't leave. I think Dani would be freaking out if she was there. Everytime I see stupid pigeons around, I think about Dani freaking out about the birds. There are pigeons EVERYWHERE here. They're really annoying.

I've been missing the fresh vegetables like crazy. I was dying for a good tomato a few days ago.

Nothing has really been new with me. And we have to go to a program soon. I'll write a better letter next week I promise. And if you remind me about the accordion concert I went to, I'll tell you about it.

I love you all,
Crouch Elder

Week 13 - May 31, 2010 - Tatabanya, Hungary

Dear Family,

Hungary is good. I still can't believe that I am here. It doesn't seem real. My companion is great. His name is Cheney Elder. He's from Georgia. We are in a town called Tatabánya. (you might want to install the Hungarian Language add on for your computer because I will probably be sending words that have Hungarian characters). Tatabánya is about an hour northwest of Budapest. Its kind of a smaller town, but its been great so far. There are 10 or 12 members here in the "Unit". We meet in a tiny little branch house that used to be a bakery, but I guess they want to turn us into a branch. Cheney Elder is the Unit leader, so we were at the meeting house forever yesterday with all of the meetings about making a branch.

When I was on the plane from France, I kind of got those same pangs of missing you all, even though Ive been away for 3 months already.

That's so crazy that Cami is done with her sophomore year already. I`m glad you are keeping her busy though. It sounds like she is going to have a fun summer. It sounds like you will too with no job.

Yeah, those Nerf guns are different ones. I left the ones that Larissa gave me at home, but someone gave those ones to me at the MTC and I thought it was time they got out of that building so they won't tempt anyone else. So now I have 4 of them. Yay!!

Jimmy went in my carry on because I needed a picture of him in France. You can't really tell it's France from the picture, but it is.

That's pretty exciting that you are writing a book. I'm sure its going to be awesome. Keep me updated with what is happening there. I'm going to start telling people my mom is an author now.

I hope DJ Niebergall enjoys dad as a companion, just tell dad that if he wants DJ to teach the lesson, to give him more notice than "You know you're teaching, right?" as he rings the doorbell.

So this week has been pretty crazy. Getting all settled in and everything. When we got in on Tuesday, we went to the mission home and had dinner and then we went to a big square in Budapest called hero square. It has statues of all the kings of Hungary. It was pretty awesome, but we had to leave when this HUGE stretch hummer thing covered with lights pulled up and all of these drunk teenagers started yelling at us. (I took pictures of all of these things.) After that we went to Gelért Hegy which is a "Mountain" (there are no mountains here. I miss real mountains a lot) inside of Budapest. There is a big fort on top that the Hapsburgs built and now its a monument to the freedom from communism. There's a few big statues, the best of which is a naked guy punching a dragon. Awesome. I took a couple of pictures of Budapest and of the statues.

We slept at the secretaries' apartment that night and got up the next day at 6 because the APs wanted to go running. So we ran for an hour. I wanted to die. But then we got to shower(finally) and went and had breakfast at the Mission Home. Then we went streeting. That was interesting, not speaking the language or anything. After that we got our trainers and headed out. We were able to get a ride with another companionship heading to Győr. I had some time to unpack and then we went streeting. In the time between then and now, we've gone streeting and tracting (I had my first door slammed in my face) and did some teaching. We don't have many investigators right now, so most of the time is spent looking. That's about all that we've done.

On Saturday, I did get to go to a festival called A Tatai Pataran. It was like a Renaissance fair, except it was cool. It was all around this old castle and was actually a celebration of when a Hungarian force took the castle (the one we were at) from a force of Turks. The had a reenactment of the battle, and a bunch of stalls to buy random crap. It was legit.

That was my week. I hope you all have a good week. I love you all. I'll be sending home pictures soon. Be safe and be good. Especially Cami and Simba.

Crouch Elder

Week 12 - May 27, 2010 - IN HUNGARY!

Dear Parents of Elder Crouch,

It was our great pleasure to welcome your son, Elder Crouch, to the Hungary Budapest Mission last evening. He has the spirit and bearing of an excellent missionary and is full of energy and enthusiasm for the Lord's work here. We are very happy he is joining us in the mission field at this exciting time in the history of the Church in Hungary.

Attached are a couple photos of your missionary with his new trainer, as well as a photo of him with President and Sister Baughman. We are taking good care of Elder Crouch, and would like you to know that you can contact us at any time if questions or concerns arise. May God's helping hand be with your family as your son faithfully serves in this great work.

With love,
Elder Recksiek
Office Secretary

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Hungary Budapest Mission
1122 Budapest
Hajnóczy József utca 14
36-1-488-0660
Fax: 36-1-488-0661
hunbud@gmail.com