24 July 2017

HELLOLOOOOOO

You better make some DELICIOUS pizza for me then! Five Guys Burgers and Fries HAS to be where we go first, and as far as homemade meals, probably steak. It's been a looooong time since I've had that. Also if there could be a box of Cheezits waiting for me on the counter, that would just be amazing! My favorite hymn is either "I Believe in Christ" or "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief", or "How Firm a Foundation", or "Lead Kindly Light".

I've done a little bit of birthday shopping, and I guess you could say I'm having a pretty good time! It's nice, but it also just leaves my companion sitting there with a bunch of bags and standing around awkwardly in the middle of a store. BUT he's going to have to get used to it when his wife goes shopping, so I guess he gets to learn early. We havn't done many fun things for P-day lately, but I think everyone want to go to Auschwitz, so I might have to go there again. The fruit fly battle is going well, but we tried the fruit in the bowl thing, but we didn't have plastic wrap, so we used tinfoil, but that didn't work, so Elder Rasmussen just took the fruit and threw it onto this little balcony thing outside the kitchen window where it's not just sitting and getting grose, BUT it does draw all the fruit flies away from our house. So as long as we have the curtains drawn, it's a pretty good solution!  

There's an investigator we're working with, and he's about 19 but he's pretty small, and so I kind of feel like he's my younger brother. He also acts like he's a lot younger than he his. But we can all tell that he's secretly a good kid but doesn't know how to act like it, and we've been teaching him. He also hands out fliers where we do a lot of finding activites, so we see him a lot! We also helped him stop smoking, and he said that within that week that we worked with him on that, he started to believe in God! It was such a cool experience and we're definitly going to have to keep on helping him out. I really feel like he's my younger brother I never had!

From all the missionaries here, there's 5 investigators with baptismal dates, and two of them were in church yesterday. The missionaries were assigend all the lessons so the lessons were really good and solid. It was good! We've also got three new investigators from this last week, that we're going to meet with. Somehow we've set up a lot of lessons with people from a lot of sources and I'm really excited for this week! There's finally some success!

We also had Zone Conference (MY LAST ONE) and there I said goodbye to Elders Einfeldt and Alvarez because they leave a bit before I do. It was sad, BUT, we'll all see each other really soon anyway, so it wasn't that bad:)

I love you all so much! 

Elder Liechty

17 July 2017

Golly, thanks for the birthday wishes everyone!

Sister Turek and her kids actually sang to me, too, but what's funny is that Sister Turek's birthday is July 16th TOO. So we were able to wish each other a happy birthday and laugh about what a great day it is to be born.

I seriously can't believe that I'm twenty, though. I'm no longer a teenager! WOW. For those who know Spongebob, think of the episode where he lifts up his razor, and says "I... am a MAN". That's how I feel right now.

Also thanks for the tips on the fruit flies. They're EVERYWHERE.

I am definitely going to have to go and get some new clothes These chinos they sell here fade so fast! Also I'm debating if I should wear glasses or contacts when I get home, because I know that all of you remember me without glasses, and that picture of my face you have doesn't have glasses, but I'm also going to be on a plane for 15 hours or so and that's going to be quite the time if I have contacts in. These details matter.

I AM SO JEALOUS that all of you get to see Henry all the time! I hope that we'll be able to find time when I get back. I'm going to have a ton of work to do! All I really care about is Henry though, and I want to see if he's really as cute as you all are making him out to be!

As you know John got home a bit ago, and we've been emailing, and he's making being home sound like the worst thing in the world, and I'm getting a little scared for it now! I used to be all excited that I could go home, but he's making it sound like it's one of the hardest things in the world! He mentioned how he just doesn't really understand his purpose as much as he did now that he's not a missionary, and I hadn't really thought of that, but it's true! There's going to be so much to do that I won't know what to do at all! AHH. Also, the missionaries from my group call me every once in a while, and we all talk about going home all the time, and I still don't really believe that it's actually happening

We're starting to see more success here! In Warsaw there was a baptism, and as a side note, since the Elder Andersen meeting, there hasn't been a week without a baptism! Here in Kato, the other elders have two people they're teaching who are considering baptism, and we're still trying to find people to teach. But last week we focused a lot on our English class, and a lot more people are coming! Two of them actually came to church yesterday! We're also going to help a guy stop smoking, and it's really great, because I feel like he's my younger brother. Hes as old as me, though, but it's really fun to be around him, and he needs some good examples in his life, so that's what we'll be for him!

Next week we'll have my final Zone Conference, and I'll see missionaries from my group for the last time, and it will be so sad. Tears will be shed!~

Love you all!

Elder Liechty

(Birthday Pancake, and trying to keep ourselves sane while tracting

10 July 2017

There was a baptism in Warsaw (actually he was baptised in Idaho, but heck, he'll be confirmed here)! Someone that Elder Sommerfeldt taught!

Mommy!

Well I love you, too! And I'd like to say that I think about you and the fam all the time, but that actually makes me really trunky, so I kind of avoid that.

Nuts, everyone's still getting married. It never ends!

I KNOW. JOHN IS JUST STRAIGHT HOME RIGHT NOW. I can't believe it. I remember thinking about how before I left, I went to visit John's parents, and I was like "dang, the time between now and when John left is so small. When he goes I'm practically there!"... And here we are... There's just going to be a constant stream of missionaries coming home for like, three months, and it's going to be awesome! Also, I saw the class schedule and I'm so excited! I've made plans on how I'm going to get all my work done and stay on top of everything, so basically this whole college thing is going to be a piece of cake!

Alright, I've been saving up and not buying too many clothes because I figured that they'd all get ruined before I get back (and they have) but now is the time. I was talking with Michał from Kraków and I asked if I should get a suit before I go home, and he just looked at me like that was the dumbest question I could have asked and said "have you seen those american suits? Why would you even think of not getting one here!?" Hahaha... fashon. And no, I've kept myself back from opening that card, and I put it inside of a version of a bible that we have that's translated into modern Polish, and sounds a little bit like a child wrote it so I'm not even tempted to get near it!

The new apartment is really good! It's more like quantity over quality, but I'm fine with that! The beds are good, the appliances work, and all those good things. We have a ton of fruit flies, though, so we're declaring war on them and we're going to figure out how to get them away. We've also got a lot of june bugs that fly in, but they're really slow and easy to karate kick out of the air.

Elder Rasmussen is awesome! We're having a great time together! We're both working super hard, and willing to give our all for the work! He's from Sandy (I think) and we already get along so well. It's like another Elder Rowley transfer! We're both painfully aware that I only have 7 weeks left (AHH!) and so we're just going to sprint together to the finish! And I actually really like not being Zone Leader anymore! Sometimes it's hard because I don't always know what's going on, or I don't have that much more of an influence on people, but I think it's a good step down so when I get home I'm not going to by trying to take control of literally everything that's going on ;)

We don't really have any progressing investigators yet. We have had a few lessons in the past week, but nothing huge yet. Do you remember the guy from Ukraine that I talked about a month and a half ago who just suddenly disappeared? He's back! Elders Sommerfeldt and Huffman are going to start teaching him again! Hopfully he doesn't disappear this time! We spent a lot of time visiting with less active members this week, and had a couple of lessons with them! One seems really willing to come back to church, but seems a little ashamed that they've been gone for so long. And we WERE going to have a lesson with a member but there was a bit of a mix up in planning. This member is known for hating the missionaries. We set up with them, and whatever day we actually set up on, they thought Wednesday, and I thought Thursday, so basically this member came all the way to the chapel and no one was there and when we found out on Thursday that that had happened, my heart just dropped! I was preparing for the next few days to face the wrath of this member and preparing myself to just be the most apologetic I could be. When I saw them on Sunday, they looked at me with a glare that could pierce souls, but I just started out by saying how sorry I was and how dumb I was for getting the day wrong, and what do ya know!? They accepted my apology! Look at that! It turns out that actually doing the things the Prophets and scriptures say to do help you out in life and make your situations less terrible! Who woulda thunk!?

I'm just gonna keep going, and keep pushing, and we'll see what miracles come our way!

Love

Elder Liechty

 Celebrating the 4th of july with handdrawn fireworks - looks fun:)

3 July 2017

Mooooooooooooommmmmmmmmmmmmm

I said last week that I'd be writing on Monday this time! I thought he was writing tonight:( But at least I had sent a quick I love you note:)

Oh well...

GUESS WHAT HAPPENED LAST WEEK!?!?!!?!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!?! ??!?!?!?

yep. Final transfer calls! Now it's my turn to get the other missionaries who might be reading this trunky! HA. I'm talkin' to you, Elder Hadfield!

So I'm staying in Katowice this time around. Elder Sommerfeldt is also staying in Katowice, BUT we're not companions! I'm moving apartements and I'm going to serve with Elder Rasmussen! He's AWESOME. He was in our district this last transfer, but he was serving with Elder Zamora, but Elder Zamora's gone off to Poznań to serve with Elder Pettit! This is going to be an awesome last transfer! I also learned, that the most efficient way to pack is just to throw everything hapazardly in and not even bother about organizing. That's what I did all my mission, but this time I needed to pack in about 40 minutes, and it went much better than other times! I can iron my clothes later. I also don't have any leadership positions this time! I'm like a trainee again!

OH! The priest stories JUST KEEP COMING! This last week, right after P-day ended, we went tracting, and we knocked on one house that turned out to be a monestary! (There was nothing on the front, we were Innocent), and a Catholic priest opens the door, and he sees us, and he just starts laughing! He thinks it's the most hilarious thing that two mormon missionaries just walked up to his door! We laugh a little bit with him, but it's just awkward for us, and he's just still laughing after we've stopped. After a couple of minutes, things have settled down, and our new priest friend says "Hey! we're having a grill, you want to come?" and confused out of our minds, we say "Sure!" And it's this group of youth, probably 15-20 of them are all getting ready for a grill that they're about to have to end these group meetings they've been having, kind of like mutual. We stay there for an hour or so, and the whole time they're all asking us about our church and we're able to teach them all about the Restoration of the Gospel! We don't invite them all to learn more about our church (because imagine if a Catholic Priest or anyone else walks into a young mens or womens activity and is like "Hey, guys, you're all wrong and I'm right, so why don't you come learn more about the true church of God!" Like, no, that just wouldn't be very polite. So we just invited them all to our English class BUT THEN one of the youth comes late, and get this- He's already one of our English class students! Last week I translated an interview between some guy and a Christian Reggae band for him (don't ask) and he walked up and when he saw us, he was like "oh yeah, these are the guys that translated that video!". One of the people came to our English class in the end, and she's getting interested in the Gospel now. Just a whole big ball of miracles happened that night!

On Saturday, a returned missionary named Drake Allen came to Poland with a few people who hired him to help out with a big ol' family history event that was going to take place in our chapel. There were about 30 people there, and it was a really good opportunity to meet a lot of people and talk with them! Family History really does open people up, and I've said it a ton of times already, but I really need to get working on it! They also bought a ton of pizza, and gave the leftovers to the Elders, so I think we all know what my diet is going to consist of for the next couple of days!

We had culture night, but we did not plan anything, so we just walked around the city and looked at the chaples and such. We also took of picture of us trying to do the abbey road picture from the beatles, but it didn't turn out very well, so we'll have to try that again. We also ate a nice thai restaurant, but it was actually not that good, and I don't know why I still try to eat asian food in this country because it never tastes good!

Now that we're in July, and I've gotten my transfer call, the end of my mission is a lot more real. When the missionaries left to other cities yesterday we played "God be with you till we meet again" In sacrament meeting, and I realized that in a little bit I'll be hearing that song and they'll be playing it for me... And I really won't be able to do full-time missionary work for a long time. Dad always said that this time is a very special time, and now I'm really starting to understand that. I'm getting a little worried! I'm not going to be able to see or talk with a lot of people I've met and I'm just not going to be a part of the miracle that is missionary work! I'm starting to freak out!

I think that is all for this week! I love you all, pray for you, and tell my companions funny stories about all of you!

Love,

Elder Liechty