Hi Family,
This is ok if it's too late, it can wait til the next thing that's sent, but if it's not too late, could you send some of those gel pens that are just so nice? The PIlot G-2 series or whatever? Max or Caity will definitely know what I'm talking about.
Last week we went to a trampoline park like Jump-On-It in Utah! It was so fun! We were all really sore afterwards because we had not done any sort of movement like that in so long, but it was just great to go and jump around. What's even better is that we got the whole place to ourselves somehow, and we could do whwatever we wanted! WOO!
When we come back and visit Poland we definietly need to spend a lot of time in the south. No one else in my district wants to go to Auschwitz or the Salt Mines, so i'm not sure if i'll be able to to that...
Ah! The home looks so nice! I MISS CHRISTMAS AT HOME SO MUCH! I mean, I love serving, and we've actually been able to find a real place to help people this transfer, but somedays I just want to go home and lay down on my face and do nothing and not feel guilty for it. Nine months, though, that's close enough. (doesn't it just feel like a little bit ago that I hit my year mark!?!? It's going too fast.)
No, sacrament and Sunday School are are in Polish, with one of the missionaries translating for the english speakers through a microphone in the back corner of the room. However, with last Sunday being Fast Sunday, and the branch already being made up of 60% english speakers, and with there being 4 english speaking visitors, almost all the testimonies were in Polish. And do you know who was the lucky one who had to translate them all into Polish on the spot? That's right. Me. I wanted to take a long nap afterwards. BUT what did happen afterwards, was that one of the members came up to me and said that I did the best translation since Elder Allen (he's long gone, but he was basically a Polish genious, and made lessons that people still listen to to learn Polish.) So that made me feel pretty good.
We get invited to dinners at least twice a week! One with the Daltons and the Strobles every Sunday (the Strobles are a family from the states, but the husband Spencer served a mission here a while ago, and he studies medicine here) and usually a meal with Lucas and Helen from Argentina and Brazil. They're here for work, and they're both amazing cooks. Very blessed here.
It's really about the same as all the other areas I've been in. The branch is larger, for sure, but the problems are the same and the way we spend our time is pretty much the same as well. It's just prettier and smoggier here.
The American's are pretty helpful, and they like to be on lessons with us a lot, but the fact that building friendships with Polish people has that extra layer of difficulty just makes it difficult for finding people for them. But they have given more referrals than other members have.
Ok, you guys ready for a miracle? We begin over a year ago, with the missionary who had my phone before he left. We don't know his name, for it has been forgotten in the anals of time. But what he has done, is while serving in Kraków he gave a Book of Mormon with his phone number in it to a man named Michał. Let time pass by, and let Elder Liechty take up the mantle of this phone, and let him serve his mission for over a year in the north of Poland. In fact, the way the patterns of the mission have been going, is that if you're serving in the North you're probably going to be there for your whole mission. BUT what happens is I get a transfer call from President Turek to go where? To Kraków. The exact opposite side of Poland, breaking all norms and customs of missionary life. And what happens just a few weeks after I get here? Michał calls. What happens after 2 meetings with him? He's preparing to be baptized for the 24 of December. Merry Christmas.
But really, this man is so ready (he's 18 years old). He called asking for time and place of church, and then he actually comes! He's just wearing street clothes and a t-shirt that says "sorry ladies I'm on the night watch" and it's something to laugh about, but guess what!? Two things- first, he came the next week, and he was wearing a collard shirt, a tie, and slacks! And Second- he overheard that the next week (yesterday) was going to be fast sunday, so he asked what that was, and then he ACTUALLY FASTED. WHO IS THIS GUY!? He read 20 chapters of the book of mormon within a week, which is a record for any of my investigators, and he accepts pretty much everything we teach! We don't feel like we're doing anything, and he's just going to end up baptizing himself!
This work is God's work, and he's definetly the one moving it along. I know that even if we're not seeing the effects of our work, seeds are being planted, and someday, someone will come along to sow just as we were blessed enough to do with Michał.
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