Love Growing Stronger

For most of the 20th century, Hungarians wishing to be baptized had to travel abroad. One set of missionaries evoked the wrath of the government when they attempted to use a hotel pool as a baptismal font. Members lacked a meetinghouse in which to gather. For more than 20 years, one Hungarian Saint attended another church and saved her tithing in a jar, as she patiently waited for the Church to gain legal recognition in her homeland.

In the spring of 1987, Elder Russell M. Nelson, accompanied by Peter P. Varga, a Hungarian doctor and recent convert, dedicated Hungary for the preaching of the gospel. The Church was getting closer to acquiring legal status, but under Hungarian law, the signatures of 20 local members were required to solidify the process. To fulfill the requirement, nearly every baptized Hungarian member needed to sign the document, but many, wary of government scrutiny, were reluctant to do so. However, thanks to the bravery of local members, the requisite number of signatures was eventually obtained and, on June 1, 1988, the Church received official recognition.

Among the first to be baptized in this new era were Ferenc and Éva Csapó from Dunaújváros. Ferenc read a newspaper article about the Church and was impressed by the Word of Wisdom. His father and father-in-law had struggled with alcoholism, which had negatively affected their family life. Éva and Ferenc obtained the address of the local missionaries, traveled to Budapest, and knocked on their apartment door.

Ferenc was baptized in October 1988, along with one of his sons. Éva was initially hesitant. “I was afraid of the unknown,” she remembered. “I had the desire to be like the Mormons, to join them and to lead the kind of life that they lived,” she said. “But I didn’t want to quit drinking coffee.” Eventually, she said, “I felt the love stronger and stronger in me, which I have experienced in sacrament meetings and on other occasions. I needed those experiences.” One month after Ferenc’s baptism, Éva and another son were baptized.

In 1990, Ferenc traveled to Salt Lake City to record the endowment ceremony in Hungarian. In 1991, Ferenc became district president, and Éva became district Primary president of Hungary. For several years, Éva worked to recruit members for a full district Primary presidency and to instill skills and vision in teachers and branch presidents: “Primary is the most important part of the Church.”