I did get Grandma/ the Lepori's package last night and it was HEAVENLY!

Hello Family of mine :) Your letters are the best. Case closed. I just eat em up like candy and I look forward to them so much I can't even tell you. I just hope you know and truly grasp how much you mean to me. I think about you all the time and as I was looking through the pictures mom sent me, I saw an old one of all 6 of us, when annie was just a baby strapped onto Dad's back and Sarah in his arms and Spencer and I were tiny and then I have a picture right in front of the MTC - both of them are in my scriptures and every morning I look at those pictures and they make me smile so big. I love you guys so much. And I love writing these letters in response to your amazing ones and hopefully give you a good idea of what is going on here as we preach in this crazy city :) Before i shoot into the updateage- I did get Grandma/the Lepori's package last night and it was HEAVENLY! Brownie, cookie mix, peanut butter, mac and cheese, candy and some contact solution, I am a happy missionary to say the least. MMM so good! I had peanut butter on my pancakes this morning- reminded me of Spencer and ma slappin that stuff on there, good memory :) Ma any thing you want to put in there is totally good. The cookie mix is a major good move lol. I appreciate it so much. Spence, so sweet about those CD's! Keep the list comin, I expect it to be crazy awesome and crazy long lol. And random request...but can you Spence give me the lyrics for Drops of Jupiter? I've been trying to remember them and it's driving me nutso!!! :P Ok....haha. Sarah, you are a trooper with the soccer games. That sounds like a tuffy, I'm super proud of you for even going that hard. That takes guts and I know you wouldnt give anything less. That is so unreal that John and Troy are leaving and that Phil and RJ wil lbe in the MTC. I'm so excited for them. It's the best. :) Snap they are going to LOVE IT!! So good to hear about RJ's fairwell. And John will do great :) And Troy, I never told him how darn excited I am for him and proud I am that he's representing the European continent with me. He wil be in the same hall that I was in the MTC. Troy my brother, if you get this, or see this just know we're a few small countires away and I will see you on the flip flop :) OK! I'm sitting here writing this in pretty grubby form lol. We just played soccer and ultimate frisbee at this beautiful field- HUGE trees everywhere and all sorts of different colors: reds, oranges, red-oranges, greens, yellows, all that fall beauty. And the weather was just superb. Blue sky. I loved it so much. (and our team dominated....) It was just what I needed though- it's great to go run your brains out after a week of not so much physical exertion. We work out everymorning and even ran on friday...but it's not the same as the beautiful game of Piłka Nozna (soccer lol). And here I am in my dirty, sweaty glory lol. (i've dried off no worries). This week has been a good one for sure. There was one day where I was feeling pretty down, for no good reason, we just walked for like 4 hours and no one at all wanted to talk with us :( But other then that, we worked diligently and it always goes smoothly and quickly when you're doing that. Just like Grandpa said, just like Pop said. Spence, rule of thumb, even if Dad seems like he's being too protective, whatever, he's right. I know this for sure now lol. One tuesday we had to clean out this apartment that President decided to close (I think he's going to open up a new area and won't need that apartment or something). So Elder Gardner, Meacham, Henrie and I all went over there right after study and started to clean that junk yard. Dad would have lost it. :P Just so much old useless junk left by missionary after missionary after missionary. Old ties that you would have to pay me to wear, dirty crusty towels, Liahona's from 1998 (i don't even know how they got there) ajd other random junkola. It was good though- we got down to business and cleaned away. It was sweet talking to Meach and Garder. I love em a lot- just super cool guys who are there for you when you need em. We had to go there two days in a row for a couple hours each to get it all cleaned out, but I was happy with how it looked by the end of it. We ate at an awesome milk bar (which isn't a flat rate ma lol sorry forgot to asnwer that one, you just pay for which things you want, it's just cheap and declicious) and I was a happy camper. We've been meeting with a less active member, Leszek, and a recent convert, Dorota (who I think I've told you about) and we met with both of them this week, which was good. Leszek has a thing about being late to church . If he's 15 or 10 minutes late, he has to leave after sacrament meeting cos he thinks everyone's judging him and such, which isn't true. But it's hard to convice him of that. We had a good meeting, in which I was really struggling to understand everything cos he talks really lazy Polish...his words all slurred together and I was just really tired, so that was a bit frustrating, but it was good. Our lessons with Dorota are always awesome cos she's always calm and understands everything I say and even if I don't know the word, she knows enough English to help me find one that works. She really is rad and this is the last month we get to teach her, cos she'll have been a member for a year, which is just crazy and so awesome. While on the language subject- it's certainly coming. I can keep a decent conversation going as long as we don't get really deep into a subject other then religion lol. The verbs are just way tough to get a grip on, but I'm getting there. I don't feel like I'm behind, so i'm not necessarily worried. I have 4 scriptures completely memorized, I have to do 5 more by the end of the month! That'll be a challenge, but I can do it. lol. Some Poles talk crazy fast and use words I feel I'll never understand, while some poles speak slower and have a clear accent and I understand almost every little thing they say. Our investigator, Edyta who is unreal ( i think I accidentaly called her Edeta before ), talks in a very calm and clear way and I understand 95 % of what she says and it's so great! Cos I can add feed back and share my experiences and feelings and help teach. It's a major bummer for me where I don't understand the conversation enough and have to just sit back and watch Henrie teach, so that's a major driving factor for me to learn quicker. Edyta though really is superb. We had such a good lesson where she talked about some things in her life that were pretty personal, just things having to do with family and such and we talked for a good hour and it was just a great meeting. She really enjoys the gospel and I know she feels the Spirit of calmness and joy when she meets with us. She's such a pleasant person on the whole, it's so easy to talk with her- she laughs and is open to everything we say and just truly contemplates it and I love teaching her for that reason. Just something I've been thinking a lot about this week is how we don't need to convert the whole city of Warsaw or Poland, just those that are ready to here the gospel and who are ready to live this gospel and be happy. That one tough day was so tough because no one wanted to listen. The favorite Polish phrase when we try to stop them is "nie mam czasu!" I don't have time! And it's so frustrating because it would take two seconds to hear the glory and power of this message of joy! But the fact is that the Lord will help us find the elect and he will help the elect find us. I feel like the Lord answered my prayer and gave me hoep and strength as I read the scriptures this morning. I want to say it was Ch. 27 in Alma where Ammon rejoices and boasts in his Lord. He says so many amazing things there that just lifted my spirits through the roof, but one thing that he said was that he wanted to go among the Lamanites that he might find joy in bringing "some" unto the knowledge of their God. And I realize how the Lord has already blessed Elder Henrie and I with Irina and Edyta and we even have a few other investigators who could be promising. But we have these people who are really interested and we will find joy in bringing them into the fold of God as well as whoever else is willing to listen. I hope that all made sense :) I just know the Lord is happy with us and will help us as long as we work hard and are obedient remember what we are preaching. I just rememberd this, but I was touched by President SMith's words pop, that is too nice of him to say that about me. I'll do my best to live up to it, not necessarily to be a leader, but an example and to work my hardest and if leadership is in there, i'll gladly try my best. The rest of the week was mixed with whiteboards and contacting as well as some legal work. Legal work is pretty crazy here in Warsaw, but it's going pretty smoothly. I should be all legal and all is looking good in that sense. The office Elders are awesome, they work it all way well. Elder Gonzalves, one of the Office Elders, is my Grandfather...the Elder who trained Elder Henrie ( my father on the mission lol) . He was also the first person to take me on the Rynek to contact my very first Poles lol. So that all is going well. This e-mail may not be as stellar as the last one lol but I'm trying. O this Sunday was great :) I was in Primary again playing for the little children and I loved it. There are more American kids then Polish kids there, because the Americans parents work at the embassy or have other work her. They split off at the beginning and I was with the English Kids first half and Polish kids second half. Primary is a trip and i respect all who endure it lol, cos it can be brutal. The Polish children are hilarious and I love em. There were only 2 little boys there on Sunday and one of them is named Adam. He's 5 years old and smart as a whip. They were learning I am A Child of God and the kid would rephrase that song in every way humanly possible and it was hilarious :) Well family, I have to go sadly. I just can't tell you enough how much I love you and I much strength you give me. I think about you often, what you're doing, what you're up to, everything and I love hearing from you and I just love you. Ma i'm so glad your feeling better :) I love you! Spence, i'm sending my card home today or tommoorow so hopefully it'll be there in a week :) Hope you enjoy :) Talk to you in a week :) thank you so much for your prayers and thoughts. Suck the marrow out of life :)- your son and brother, Starszy Michael Rushton