I am glad to be out here. I don't know why but for some reason this week I really felt a jump in the language. Especially the times where I don't have my senior companion right there and I'm talking to members. I kind of lose the sense that I have someone to rely on and I hate that feeling. I love being in charge of myself and not feeling extremely dependent for everything. So at times I feel ready to be a senior comp. Mainly for the language because other than that I know how to take care of myself and thank you guys for that.
Well this week hasn't been any thing special other than a better feeling with the language.
I'm really anxious to get to the time where I don't realize sometimes that I'm even listening to Hungarian or English. There are already times that I just open to a scripture because I hear a topic that I would like to share about a little more. But then like 10 seconds later I wonder if it was an English sentence or not because some of the people that we teach can speak pretty decent English. But then the program continues in Hungarian and I wonder how I just naturally reacted to things while it was in a different language. It feels like it shouldn't be possible but then at the same time you are already doing it.
Ya, it's a good feeling to baptize someone who you are really good friends with. (He was able to baptize a friend of his before he left for his mission, then was a part of the baptism of an investigator he's gotten to be friends with in Hungary.)
Well idk what else to talk about. I've been better with my journal and so I'm glad about that. I've really been working on getting myself organized. Not just cleaning my desk here and there, but mentally as well. It's still a big shock sometimes to really think that I'm on the other side of the world.
Love you!
Love,
Hosch Elder
(Joshy)
Monday, February 22, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
Week of February 8-February 15, 2010
Well last Saturday I got to baptize Orsós András. He is a funny guy. I'm hoping you guys get to meet him cause we will definitely go to the Pécs branch for church.
Pickerd Elder told me that he got an e mail from you saying that his mom called so I only knew about that about a minute after him.
Ya I knew the elder that was from Mesa who served here. He's elder James P. Vaterlaus and was Clark Elder's trainer and my trainer's comp in the MTC. Small world.
As a whole I'm glad I'm out here. I just miss being able to listen to music and all kinds of stuff that makes me feel on top of the world.
I am glad that Casey is out on his mission. I think that it's cool to hear the impact that I have on people without even trying. I got my memory book back from Komló and the members or good investigators said really nice things, Livia told me that Komló seems a little darker ever since I havent been there, and a member's daughter that has two kids, oldest 12, said thanks for showing my kids that a mission isn't just a serious thing, but can be really enjoyed. I felt worthless in those first few transers. Not being able to speak almost at all and just kinda going with it cause of missing home. But then my good friend in the mission who I want to get a chance to serve with, Alex Recksiek, wrote that in a few months I could be one of the best missionaries because my personality has the ability to touch these people in a way that they will always remember.
But no I havent seen my brothers in their suits. Sadly.
Ya I have been to the bakery here. It's called a Pékség. The one here is amazing and I love it. I usually get the mogyorókrémes bukta. It's basically a croissant with nutella type stuff in it but it's better. Here, peanut butter doesnt exist, so they have a chocolate kind that is good for crepes and stuff.
I know Elder Egan and stuff, he's two groups ahead of me and he told me that he started to try drawing some Dragon Ball Z cause he loved my drawings. lol Elder Austin Bennion is a group ahead of me and is tight. Love that kid.
That's so cool to hear that Adam and Austin are doing sports. I love sports and music. Both are my life and I regretably didn't try out for either and it really sucks. I know I could have done great in basketball and football in high school.
I saw the torch lighting. Some really cool investigators let us see it. They love hockey and told me that Wayne Gretzky did it but then when I watched it I screamed "oh ya baby Steve Nash" before the announcer. They have been to USA a few times and might move to Tucson, they are still looking. But only the mom knows English. She is an English teacher.
Well I love you and everyone else. The basptism was awesome. Many members here tell me that they see pics of me with little hot dogs and me and my brothers in the forest so I'm guessing they all somehow found out about my blog.
Love Joshy AKA Stretch (my nickname here) lol
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Future chef?
Josh sent a picture of some hot dogs he and his companion apparently boiled too long that exploded:
It reminded me of Josh's first self-cooked meal many years ago:
Hungry, anyone?
It reminded me of Josh's first self-cooked meal many years ago:
Hungry, anyone?
February 6, 2010 letter
We got our long-awaited letter from Josh with his memory card full of pictures and little video clips. There are still pictures on it from the MTC so it's been a long time since we've seen many new pictures.
Tidbits from our letter from Josh:
Daddy and Mommy,
'Sup homies? It was great to talk to you over Christmas and New Year's, I really enjoyed it. It was great to talk to Roland and Spencer, Jen and Olivia and Grandma and Elliot and all of you guys. It seems like I was just over at Roland's house throwing mice to chickens and seeing how savage those things really are. Those eggs he made me from his chickens were soooooo good. I wonder what their house looks like now with everything re-done, or has that even been finished yet? (Their house was damaged in recent California fires.)
But ya. I wrote Jake and Casey letters, which I hope they have gotten. I think it would have been cool to have been in the MTC and get letters from a foreign country whereas the rest of my group only got the usual. I never got Jordan Driggs' address and as of now I think it's probably a little too late. He won't get it by the time I get his (MTC) address, get a letter written and sent off, etc. But I am excited to see how they are doing/did in the MTC. I miss that place a lot more than I thought I would have. With a new member, my companion and I watched a missionary video from like the 1980s about the process, where they show missionaries opening their calls, going to the MTC, traveling through the airport, a few missionary moments, then the reuniting of families at the end. It's a lot harder to watch that when you're going through it. You miss the MTC and realize that your mission will go by just like it did in the movie. By the way the MTC has barely changed.
Sometimes it's still hard here. I still don't understand the way I would like to, but I hope it's going to come soon. Especially because tomorrow begins my 5th transfer in the field and with the lack of missionaries I might become senior companion in about 2-3 transfers. It's scary to think about right now but I think I'll be ready when the time comes.
Today we just added up the numbers for the week and we have a mission standard and a super standard. It was a zone goal to reach standard the last two weeks aand then super this week. Well, in the whole mission last week only 2 companionships in the whole mission got standard, my comp and I and a companionship in Pecs. But this week my comp and I got dogged about 8 times with member-present lessons. We needed 4 for superstandard but only got 2. And then we needed 2 investigators in the church, I thought we would have had 3 but then 1 never showed, 1 came, and 1, the one whose daughter likes me, wasn't there. We texted her and asked where she was, was she coming? She said she had car trouble and we told her she should have let us know, we would have come and gotten her, but then she said, "then you would have been late". So with her not coming and missing out on the other 2 programs, we barely missed the super standard goal. Stinks, huh? Well, I still have many weeks here to keep pushing for that.
Also, you remember Orsos Andras that I told you about in my letter a while ago down in Komlo? The missionaries down in Pecs continued teaching him. I got a call from the Pecs Elders telling me he has a baptism date of February 13 and that he wants me to baptize him, so I get to go down and have "my" first bapstism of someone that I found originally, taught almost all the lessons, and became really good friends with him. It's so cool!
It's sad to hear that all the stuff has been taken down around the neighborhood. (Christmas decorations.) Almost nothing has gone on around here so Christmas just came and went. Wasn't anything cool. It was nice to talk to you guys but it wasn't enough, I can talk for hours upon hours, you know that. Really, thinking about it, I've learned so much even excluding the Hungarian lingo. Now looking back at things before my mission, I don't know why I did things certain ways or made certain things harder than they were. I didn't make the simple phone call to say "hey, I'll be home in a few minutes, I'm running a little late", but now I know I'll be a lot better about things like that when I get home. I will come home with "holy" socks from all the walking we do! Even with a car we street (talk to people on the streets) on foot and times we street it's quite some time, an hour or more here and there, but at least I got some socks for Christmas from members. (I'll get you their addresses like you asked.)
Elder Pickerd
Letter continued on 1/24/10~
Well this week has been horrible. I don't know why but I've never wanted to be home more. It's hard to explain but I want to do something normal every once in a while. I think most of it is just that no matter how hard I try, people drop us, reject us, and I still can barely understand very much. Even to Hungarians, their language is hard to them. Grammar is insane and makes it very, very difficult and discouraging for me. And when I'm like that I begin to miss my family and my best friends, Derek, Tenie, and Tiffany a lot, as well as having some free time to do things I enjoy to get my mind off of the things making life hard at the time. Everyone just says, "oh the language will come with time" but I usually feel and see little progress.
On a good note, I have a new companion now, Matt Pickerd. He is about 6'7", holy crud. It's weird to feel short. I'm not used to it at all! He is from Texas and he's really nice. Even the President told me, "you're serving with one of the nicest people in the world." But then he told Pickerd, "I'm putting you with a goofy Elder, you two should have some good adventures." So I guess President likes me enough to know my personality.
The weekly trips have been fine, it's pretty cool to be able to visit the whole zone for a day or 2 and get to see all the cities. Then we start the whole process again.
Well, I'll close for now. Be safe, have fun, and I'll talk to you all later.
Love,
Joshy or Elder Hosch
Tidbits from our letter from Josh:
Daddy and Mommy,
'Sup homies? It was great to talk to you over Christmas and New Year's, I really enjoyed it. It was great to talk to Roland and Spencer, Jen and Olivia and Grandma and Elliot and all of you guys. It seems like I was just over at Roland's house throwing mice to chickens and seeing how savage those things really are. Those eggs he made me from his chickens were soooooo good. I wonder what their house looks like now with everything re-done, or has that even been finished yet? (Their house was damaged in recent California fires.)
But ya. I wrote Jake and Casey letters, which I hope they have gotten. I think it would have been cool to have been in the MTC and get letters from a foreign country whereas the rest of my group only got the usual. I never got Jordan Driggs' address and as of now I think it's probably a little too late. He won't get it by the time I get his (MTC) address, get a letter written and sent off, etc. But I am excited to see how they are doing/did in the MTC. I miss that place a lot more than I thought I would have. With a new member, my companion and I watched a missionary video from like the 1980s about the process, where they show missionaries opening their calls, going to the MTC, traveling through the airport, a few missionary moments, then the reuniting of families at the end. It's a lot harder to watch that when you're going through it. You miss the MTC and realize that your mission will go by just like it did in the movie. By the way the MTC has barely changed.
Sometimes it's still hard here. I still don't understand the way I would like to, but I hope it's going to come soon. Especially because tomorrow begins my 5th transfer in the field and with the lack of missionaries I might become senior companion in about 2-3 transfers. It's scary to think about right now but I think I'll be ready when the time comes.
Today we just added up the numbers for the week and we have a mission standard and a super standard. It was a zone goal to reach standard the last two weeks aand then super this week. Well, in the whole mission last week only 2 companionships in the whole mission got standard, my comp and I and a companionship in Pecs. But this week my comp and I got dogged about 8 times with member-present lessons. We needed 4 for superstandard but only got 2. And then we needed 2 investigators in the church, I thought we would have had 3 but then 1 never showed, 1 came, and 1, the one whose daughter likes me, wasn't there. We texted her and asked where she was, was she coming? She said she had car trouble and we told her she should have let us know, we would have come and gotten her, but then she said, "then you would have been late". So with her not coming and missing out on the other 2 programs, we barely missed the super standard goal. Stinks, huh? Well, I still have many weeks here to keep pushing for that.
Also, you remember Orsos Andras that I told you about in my letter a while ago down in Komlo? The missionaries down in Pecs continued teaching him. I got a call from the Pecs Elders telling me he has a baptism date of February 13 and that he wants me to baptize him, so I get to go down and have "my" first bapstism of someone that I found originally, taught almost all the lessons, and became really good friends with him. It's so cool!
It's sad to hear that all the stuff has been taken down around the neighborhood. (Christmas decorations.) Almost nothing has gone on around here so Christmas just came and went. Wasn't anything cool. It was nice to talk to you guys but it wasn't enough, I can talk for hours upon hours, you know that. Really, thinking about it, I've learned so much even excluding the Hungarian lingo. Now looking back at things before my mission, I don't know why I did things certain ways or made certain things harder than they were. I didn't make the simple phone call to say "hey, I'll be home in a few minutes, I'm running a little late", but now I know I'll be a lot better about things like that when I get home. I will come home with "holy" socks from all the walking we do! Even with a car we street (talk to people on the streets) on foot and times we street it's quite some time, an hour or more here and there, but at least I got some socks for Christmas from members. (I'll get you their addresses like you asked.)
Elder Pickerd
Letter continued on 1/24/10~
Well this week has been horrible. I don't know why but I've never wanted to be home more. It's hard to explain but I want to do something normal every once in a while. I think most of it is just that no matter how hard I try, people drop us, reject us, and I still can barely understand very much. Even to Hungarians, their language is hard to them. Grammar is insane and makes it very, very difficult and discouraging for me. And when I'm like that I begin to miss my family and my best friends, Derek, Tenie, and Tiffany a lot, as well as having some free time to do things I enjoy to get my mind off of the things making life hard at the time. Everyone just says, "oh the language will come with time" but I usually feel and see little progress.
On a good note, I have a new companion now, Matt Pickerd. He is about 6'7", holy crud. It's weird to feel short. I'm not used to it at all! He is from Texas and he's really nice. Even the President told me, "you're serving with one of the nicest people in the world." But then he told Pickerd, "I'm putting you with a goofy Elder, you two should have some good adventures." So I guess President likes me enough to know my personality.
The weekly trips have been fine, it's pretty cool to be able to visit the whole zone for a day or 2 and get to see all the cities. Then we start the whole process again.
Well, I'll close for now. Be safe, have fun, and I'll talk to you all later.
Love,
Joshy or Elder Hosch
Monday, February 1, 2010
Emails from the last few weeks and today:
From the last week or so:
I miss the club (Lifetime Fitness) and stuff like that. I miss a lot but that's not really the problem out here. I just don't really understand why I can't really understand very much out here. I'm doing ok I can understand only the basics and want to be able to know what's going on. I hate the feeling of not being in control of situations. I'm just ready sometimes to get this over with. I'm really going to work on liking a lot more this week so that the rest will be fun.
Well I'll be 20 on Sunday (January 31). What did you get me? JK, I've got enough. It's just emotionally tough for me out here, the work isn't really work for me, just busy stuff. The hard part is the lingo.
Well with the car thing. Because my new comp isn't familiar with the area and it's like 25 degrees and snow, he's from Texas and doesn't know snow {should we point out to Josh that he hasn't driven in snow, either, being from Arizona??}, he already nailed the curb. So after I changed the tire in the snow I was like, thanks dad for "making" me help you fix the car. Now I am glad that I knew how cause he didn't. (totally unsarcastic.) But my comp is like 6' 6" or 6' 7" so I'm the smaller comp and he's really nice. It was another case where we went on splits and then we got calls to serve together. Wierd huh? I wonder who I will split with now after splits this transfer.
I have never heard of a tornado in AZ was it bad or just looked like one was forming? did it cause damage to anything?
February 2, 2010
Right now it is about -10 and snowing like crazy. Well this week we get to go to Kaposvár on Tuesday and then Thursday we will be in Budapest for zone conference. Then we might be in Szolnók on Saturday if we get permission to go for a baptism. Then 2 weeks after that I will get to go to Pécs for splits and then on the 13th I will go back to Komló to perform a baptism and so I get to travel alot from city to city, it messes with the work here in our city so we have to work extra hard to keep up with the stuff. But I have noticed today that when I am happy I can understand a lot more as well as not really worry about anything, so I just need to decide to be happy and all will be fine.
(Look for the cities mentioned above marked with blue arrows-Komló is near Pécs so he'll travel there twice from Dunaujvaros)
That's a funny dream. I havent had a dream in a while that I rememeber. Even that one that I have had several times I can't remember much of it but I do remember that it is wierd. {I'd told Josh that I had a dream his mission President called and asked us to pick him up. He wasn't in Hungary because we could drive to wherever he was, but when we got there he was only 10 years old and didn't have missionary things with him but toys...so the mission President couldn't understand why we'd send a little boy on a mission. I guess it's a mom's way of thinking that it's not possible her young boy is already old enough to be out there!}
I hope that I will be ZL (Zone Leader) during a warmer time though. I'm just not used to being in the car with someone who can't drive very well and admits it. But I love Elder Pickerd otherwise. He is one of the nicest people you would ever meet, he asks me how I'm doing, how my day was, if he can do anything to help, and says goodnight every night.
But as for letters I did get some. I got one from Casey right before he left the MTC and two from you guys. The "throne" one that says I'm the king for the day. Also the one with the guitar certificate in it. It was sweet to see that, I'm anxious (don't worry, not too trunky) but to get one.
And sweet on the contacts. Thanks so much for taking care of things at home.
Love you guys,
Love Josh
I miss the club (Lifetime Fitness) and stuff like that. I miss a lot but that's not really the problem out here. I just don't really understand why I can't really understand very much out here. I'm doing ok I can understand only the basics and want to be able to know what's going on. I hate the feeling of not being in control of situations. I'm just ready sometimes to get this over with. I'm really going to work on liking a lot more this week so that the rest will be fun.
with Elder Pickerd
Well I'll be 20 on Sunday (January 31). What did you get me? JK, I've got enough. It's just emotionally tough for me out here, the work isn't really work for me, just busy stuff. The hard part is the lingo.
Well with the car thing. Because my new comp isn't familiar with the area and it's like 25 degrees and snow, he's from Texas and doesn't know snow {should we point out to Josh that he hasn't driven in snow, either, being from Arizona??}, he already nailed the curb. So after I changed the tire in the snow I was like, thanks dad for "making" me help you fix the car. Now I am glad that I knew how cause he didn't. (totally unsarcastic.) But my comp is like 6' 6" or 6' 7" so I'm the smaller comp and he's really nice. It was another case where we went on splits and then we got calls to serve together. Wierd huh? I wonder who I will split with now after splits this transfer.
I have never heard of a tornado in AZ was it bad or just looked like one was forming? did it cause damage to anything?
February 2, 2010
Right now it is about -10 and snowing like crazy. Well this week we get to go to Kaposvár on Tuesday and then Thursday we will be in Budapest for zone conference. Then we might be in Szolnók on Saturday if we get permission to go for a baptism. Then 2 weeks after that I will get to go to Pécs for splits and then on the 13th I will go back to Komló to perform a baptism and so I get to travel alot from city to city, it messes with the work here in our city so we have to work extra hard to keep up with the stuff. But I have noticed today that when I am happy I can understand a lot more as well as not really worry about anything, so I just need to decide to be happy and all will be fine.
(Look for the cities mentioned above marked with blue arrows-Komló is near Pécs so he'll travel there twice from Dunaujvaros)
That's a funny dream. I havent had a dream in a while that I rememeber. Even that one that I have had several times I can't remember much of it but I do remember that it is wierd. {I'd told Josh that I had a dream his mission President called and asked us to pick him up. He wasn't in Hungary because we could drive to wherever he was, but when we got there he was only 10 years old and didn't have missionary things with him but toys...so the mission President couldn't understand why we'd send a little boy on a mission. I guess it's a mom's way of thinking that it's not possible her young boy is already old enough to be out there!}
I hope that I will be ZL (Zone Leader) during a warmer time though. I'm just not used to being in the car with someone who can't drive very well and admits it. But I love Elder Pickerd otherwise. He is one of the nicest people you would ever meet, he asks me how I'm doing, how my day was, if he can do anything to help, and says goodnight every night.
But as for letters I did get some. I got one from Casey right before he left the MTC and two from you guys. The "throne" one that says I'm the king for the day. Also the one with the guitar certificate in it. It was sweet to see that, I'm anxious (don't worry, not too trunky) but to get one.
And sweet on the contacts. Thanks so much for taking care of things at home.
Love you guys,
Love Josh
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