Monday, January 26, 2009
Dobra Jest!!!
Dearest Fam -My GOODNESS! Family I have so much to write and so little time, it breaks my heart. I have about 30 minutes to write you all right now cos today is a bit of a wierd day- Today is a normal work day, because tomorrow, we're having Zone P-Day!!! And on Wednesday we have Zone Conference- thus the shortness and so forth. I'll try to make it as good as lasts week lol, but I don't know how that is going to fly. :PFirst to answer the random questions- Sarah, I did read Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry, it was way good, but i don't remember it that well lol. I still don't have Gram's package but I will figure it out this week, na pewno. For Sure. I'm sorry. The Money situation is usually A-OK. I took out some money, because the Dollar is ridiculously high right now - 3.33 Zloty per 1 american dollar. And I actually did kind of need it, cos E. McRae and I both forked out 100 zlots each to pay for our lock on our door...and we haven't been refunded yet. But all is well- I eat like a king, and yes I'm totally good :) Thanks for the relationship updates lol and tell Brock congrats on his mission call, that is legit! Is it Kobe japan? Cos one of My College buddies is there! Ok onto the week! It was a way good week- quite freezing still. It hasn't snowed for a couple of weeks now, but it's still pretty bitter, but all is well- I am keeping way warm- I managed to find some wool socks and I'm taking full advantage of my wool sweater, thermal garments, coat and scarf. And awesome beanie from H&M. :P The week started out crazy, when last monday night, Elder Antczak got a call that he was going to Be transfered to Katowice, right in the middle of a transfer!!! It was way crazy to say the least and I was way bummed- I don't know why the emergency transfer happened, but I was sad to see him go- he's been there since the beginning of my mission. 5 months with that kid; it's wierd to see people just disappear from you like that. We had a way good English class on tuesday- we've been starting them off now reading a scripture out of the Bible, and then at the end of the lesson, those who want to stay, stay and we teach a principle to them from one of the Lessons. Last time, 2 of the Students stayed and listened way intently. Score to say the least. :) Elder Weber, who was with Elder McRae in Kielce, is the Elder who replaced Antczak, and he came in that night too. OOOO!!!! Goodness, one of the funniest, coolest things happened while we were helping Sister Song. She is a 50ish year old lady who's husband travels a lot of work, and with the financial situation she has to move to Brazil, and she donated a Piano she had to the Church, so that the Relief Society would have a piano (you can appreciate that eh ma :)) So E.McRae, Whipple, Mehner and I helped move this Piano into this big van, along with a the bench and this random chair she wanted to donate too- there were not enough seats in the front, so E.Mehner and I sat in the back, while E.McRae and Whipple were in front with Chris, this Mongolian member who was helping us out. As we got in the car, I sat in the chair and it just worked out so I could comfortably play the Piano while sitting in the back of the van. And Chris turns around and knows I can play and Says "PLAY FOR US!" ha so for 25 minutes while we're driving to the Church from the house, we are jamming out - I played Apologize and Chris was singing it, and E.McRae has a video of it. I was crying i was laughing so hard ha. It was just one of those really random, but really amazing moments lol.We had 13 meetings this week- we had planned out everything SO perfectly so that we would have 20+ meetings, but we got flaked, things fell through and we were a bit bummed out. We did have some amazing meetings though- and we will keep working our bums off till we get those 20 meetings!We met with Artur and Irina at her house and it was good- it's a bit tought cos he (he is 13 almost 14 years old) has that computer right there, so it's easy for him to get bored with what we're saying and jump on the Computer, and Irina's afraid that if she lays down the law, he'll run away or something lol. E.McRae and I always agree..."If we ever did that...o we would get it" lol. The sister missionaries were meeting with this young guy, 19 years old, named Marcin (March -een). He lives in this city full of people who just work in factories- he says all people do out there is smoke, drink and do drugs. As a result of growing up there, he has a problem with smoking and drinking and he thinks that there's no hope for him. He gets a little uppity and doesn't take the sister's seriously, so now we're teaching him and it's been good. It's hard to see someone grow up like he has- it's a hard life. We asked him if he would want to stop smoking and drinking, but and he says until he changes his friends, his group of people, it's impossible. We had a good meeting with him though, where we taught him some principles, prayed with him and just had a good talk. He said that he wanted to do what we do- to help people be better and just talk to people on the streets, and by the grace of E.McRae (cos I thought it was going to be bad new) he came out with us the next night while we contacted. It was raining and he saw how hard it is to actually get people to listen to you, and it was good for him. I want so bad for this kid to change his life around, but it's going to take some major work, especially from the Lord. Interesting stuff.We had a good meeting with Tomek- he's working towards getting baptized, but still has not come to church. He's divorced and only sees his children sunday morning, so it's hard for us to even get on his case too much about it, even though we, in all actuality, ride him pretty bad about it, let him know how important he is. Elder Whipple, our Zone Leader, is going to be on his lesson with E.McRae this week (E.Daly and I are going on Exchanges :P) so that'll be good.All our other investigators are doing great, they really are - we have so many right now lol we just need to meet with them all, which is a challege. But we are working as hard as we can, trying to be dilligent and use our time the best way possible. I could write to you alllllllllll day and not run out of things to say, but sadly I have to go. I love you all so much and I promise to make my next letter better. I just want you to know I love it here and am happy in the service of the Lord. Each day is full of excitement, a few challenges, learning, laughing and so many chances to help people and I welcome each and every one. I love you fam. Keep up the prayers and missionary work, it is amazing. To next week :)
Monday, January 19, 2009
So Cold, but so good!!!
Dearest Family :) Que pasa?! :P I love Ryan's little Spanish guys in his letter. I don't understand them at all haha. Fam the letters were rocking to say the very least. So much craziness! I can't believe the water pipe broke ha. You sound like you're in Poland :P It sounds like the first week back was not bad at all. Pop, Monterey sounds beautiful, but I can imagine that the traveling loses it's novelty rather quickly and all you can think about is the fam. Golfing sounds nice though :) Neat to learn about what your doing for the next two years for sure. Ma, i'm glad everything is going so well with the RS. You're going all high-tech on us! Ha i love it. Mom, texting up a wild storm, spreading love, wisdom and recipes at outrageous speeds ha :) That was so darn nice of Jimmy. Goodness I love that kid so much. I think I might drop him a quick e-mail. I feel like a dirtbag in terms of writing letters. To be perfectly honest, it is hard in Warsaw to write letters. P-day is just packed into a little ball where from moment to moment you're running around. I promise, I will write letters soon though. I'm dying to hear how all my friends back home are. Is Tayla married yet???? Lol. Kelsey?? I need to get on that. lol. Returning to normal letter lol. Spencer, sounds like a rocking time at the party. Tell Jazzy-Fizzle Sto Lat!! for me eh? (it literally means 100 years....I think it's a wish that you'll live a hundred years? The Polish people wish you stuff up and down the wall, it's amazing.) Glad you had so much fun brother, I wish I could hear your voice too little bro. And...I don't think there's any other word for Brat. Lol. You could call me Michasz (Mee-ha(like your laughing)-sh) and that's like Mikey lol. Sarah beara what is going on??? You sound sooo good it makes me smile sista. Your reading up a storm- so good to hear you're reading a scripture a day and looking for miracles. That was way touching for me sis :) Sometimes it is hard to find miracles all the time, but you can. Little things can be miracles too, for sure. You're doing amazing sister. Love you so much. :) Annie babe! School sounds like a good time for sure. I loved Science too for sure, it was always crazy how stuff like that experience happens. We will have so much time to do everything we need to. You, Sarah and Spencer and I will watch monk til we're monked out of our minds, and than I'll make you Polish food, and then we'll play Croquet and Monk it again!! :p Something like that eh? :) Love you sister. You, family are too nice to write to me every week. I love it so much. Life here in the Warszawa South Central District was AMAZING this week, for a couple of reasons. First of all, at District meeting, with the inspiration of Our Zone Leaders and Elder McRae, we decided to try to get 20 meetings a week as a companionship. Which is TONS!!! Like....a lot and a lot of meetings. But we were all stoked and excited to do it. Because we know that it is possible with the help of the Lord, despite the loftiness of the goal. So Elder McRae and I were on turbo mode to get these 20 meetings, and we went hard. E. McRae is a work horse lol. I love to work hard, I am willing to work hard as can be and Elder McRae pushes me to do that. I think I'll take that from him as I leave him, probably next transfer. With his influence, we alway try to make the very most effective use of time, and it works wonders. We worked our bottoms of this week and we...after several miralces and crazy events, achieved 15 meetings. Which is by at least 6 meetings, the largest number of meetings I have gotten thus far on my mission, and it felt so good. This next week we are FOR SURE getting 20 lessons. The Sister missionaries got 20 lessons and the Zone Leaders got around 8, and we set a record for the Zone for the most meetings and New investigators (E.McRae and I got 8). Before I shoot into a story, a new investigator, Pop, Is when you actually set up a concrete time and place to meet with someone who has not ever met with the missionaries before. I know without a doubt it's different in other missions, but that is the Poland New Investigator lol. Ok, so a couple amazing things happened this week, I must share. I'm amazed your not all bored from these letters yet...ok lol here they are. First of all, we had a way cool culture flashback/good meeting experience. We've been tracting tons lately, cos it's been freezing. And it's hard to be out there talkin got people for more than 2 hours at a time. So we tracted this building and as we walked inside, it just had a different feel to it. It was obviously very old- there was graffiti all over the walls up to the very top floor, and I was in awe. The stair case was in a big spiral, wooden, and it just felt, like a different time period. We knocked on several doors, and finally made it this one lady who let us in. She was very old, 93 we found out, and had been living in that same apartment room, where we sat with her, since before the war. She was there to see it all and she had a picture of her brother on the wall. He had died during the Warsaw Uprising, and she told us a bit how it was back in the day. We chatted and shared the Gospel with her; she was very kind and seemed to enjoy the message and we left a Book of Mormon with her, she promised she would read it. It just blows me away to be in some of these buildings that are not all that terribly old, but have survived one of the World's most tragic events, and here she had lived through it too. Not all buildings say how old they are and what not, so it was neat to know that without a doubt we were sitting in a house that had lived though the War. When we left the building, it felt like we walked back into the future. In connection to our burning desire to meet with as many people as possible, we had set up a day with 5 meetings. The first four went through so well, and our last meeting was with the Neto's, a couple in the Ward, so we were feeling way good at 19:30, when our second to last meeting ended. We waited for the Neto's to come, and eventually after 20 minutes called them and it turned out that something had happened and they had mis-communicated witheachother- bottom line was they were not going to be there! And we were DETERMINED to get those 5 meetings that day. So we decided to go by our house and tract around there, trying to find a man we had met on Christmas eve, who had pointed in the direction of his house. So in an attempt to find him, we finally entered a building at around 8:35 at night. We had to be in at 9. And tracting doesn't always guarantee a meeting, at all. But we were determined, and though I was somewhat skeptical that someone would let us in, we went onward. We prayed in the Elevator for someone to let us in soon enough to teach them a lesson; which meant in the next 10 minutes. On the top floor of the building, we knocked the first door. An old Babcia (grandma) talks to us through the door (which happens ALL the time and Elder McRae hates it ha), and she was not interested. The next door we try, door number 2 for the evening, opened up. It was an older business-like woman, and I asked if we could share a message with her about Christ. And She said, Yes! I turned to look at Elder McRae and i swear my eyes must have been the size of Walnuts. We taught her a lesson, and she said we could come back in a couple of weeks. To me, it was 100% the hand of the Lord that softenend this lady's heart ot let us in. She wasn't a dandy old lady who lets in any ol' stranger, but she let us in and sincerely listenened and had good questions and I was just in awe, and was so grateful to have that opportunity. So amazing. We met some other amazing people this week. We had ameeting with this man named Krzystof, and as we started to talk about prayer, he very sincerely, with a touch of gratitude in his voice, said, I must come to your Sunday Service. I started to tear up a bit, and E.McRae told me he did to, just cos it was so amazing to hear someone appreciate what we had to say so sincerely. It was amazing. We also met this man Michal. (Mee-how....it sounds japanese lol). He was drunk when we knocked on his door, talking to us in very elegant english. He was way cool though, and we set up for the next day. When we went to his house that next evening, he was a different man. Composed, very noble feeling even and just a very genuine man. He was a translator, he translated books to the caliber of that 1776 book from English to Polish and He knew both languages very well, but he very graciously spoke Polish to us and was patient as we replied. We was so interested and really wants to come to church and is excited to read the Book of Mormon. E.McRae and I both think he has potential to be a Stake President here one day. So many more cool people did we meet...(ok that was on accident...but that's how Polish people form their sentances ha). OOO! Ha, speaking of random things breaking in your house that just shouldn't like water pipes- as we left our house on friday, E.McRae turned the key in the lock, to lock the door. As he turned it, the mechanism somehow broke so that the key just spinned freely in the mechanism, locking us out of the house completely. And it wasn't a matter of having a spare key- no key would work at all! So we found a locksmith in this little shop accross the street and he opened our door for us (but had NOOO idea what he was doing! Ha he took a hammer and wedge and just beat the poop out of the lock until it opened ha). He said he could but a new lock on it, but we'd have to wait til 6 that night, which was devestating, cos we had 2 meetings planned, one of which was with the Herman family. But we stayed and planned for our next week while waiting for him to return. Both our meetings were rescheduled for the next day, and all was ok- and espite our frustration at the turn of events, it all worked our for the better, because the entire Herman family would not have been present had we gone Friday night, but Saturday morning, they were all there. We read out of the Liahona, we slid on this frozen pond (IT WAS THE COOLEST EVER!! I have such a good video of me eating it way good ha o goodness), and Ola, the oldest daughter, and I talked about the Gospel the whole time walking back to the Train. (Pop, we go out there and it takes a good while- but they are so amazing! and Poland needs them to be baptized, and I think we're on a good path. We count our Dinner break as part of the trip, and we feel like it's for sure worth it. They are still in our boundaries too). WE're meeting with Irina's son, Arthur twice this week, and that'll be good. Hopefull he will get interested and baptized soon! Ok, I think I'm going to have to wrap it up here. I love you so darn much and you are the best fam in the world to write me like you do. You make me so happy and I truly do feel like the luckiest Older brother in the World to have the siblings I do. I love you fam. Talk to you next week :) - big hug, little hug, big kiss, little kiss, another little kiss, big hug, Starszy Michael Rushton :)
Monday, January 12, 2009
There can be miracles, when you believe!
> FAM!!!!
> Your letters blew me away today. They really did- they were so amazing, I just read them and was kind of said when they came to an end. Life sounds good down on your end and I'm so glad that you all are happy and enjoying yourselves. I can't believe your a Judge!!! The man dress...I completely forgot about the man dress. I guess it is the symbol of justice. A man in a black man dress, wielding the judge hammer of authority and righteousness. I respect it :) I know you'll love it pop, and it'll be nice for you to be home more. Your letter was so amazing. It's so different now when you talk about your mission. I can relate to it all to well now- I look forward to talking about it even more someday after my own two years have rushed by. Mom- I can only imagine how busy you are with all the Relief Society work, but I know that you are the woman for it. You will do so darn amazing! You have so much love in your heart and such a desire to help and share someone's burden with them. I have first hand experience these characteristics of yours- I am lucky to have a mother who so fully uses them all, and I can't tell you how lucky those sisters are to have you as a leader. I love you momma. :) Spencer brother! I miss you bro ha and don't even worry about making me homesick - 24 sounds RIDICULOUSLY radical - what's going on with LOST? Is it still alive??? Don't tell me what's happened ha :P Soccer sounds like a blast. WE just played this morning in this turf place, but it's outside so there was snow everywhere. I loved it's trash. So darn FUN. We just played as missionaries- no poles today- really fun though. It's so refreshing to run around for a couple hours. You sound fresh and good as Andziej's home made pączki (pone-chki) (amazing donut guys). I love you so much brother. I'll try my best to change the lives you encourage me to change. I appreciate the support tons :) Sarah, excuse me, I mean, amazing goal scorer phenomenon! Snap sista, good moves :) You sound like your doing great, loving the break and such. I loved the story of you and Annie's deal. Ha I wish I could've seen that. I love you sister tons. Annie, sugar you sound amazing. Your good to be a slave to your sister. Ha ;) I'm glad you had such a good week- good luck going back to school! I love you girl :)
> This week has just flown by, and it has been saweeeet! I bought this yearly calendar-planner-book here where i've been recording 3 miracles each day. President asked all the missionaries here to do that awhile ago, and we had done it really simply in our daily planners, but I think doing it like this- really writing down the miracle, how it happened and such, will help me remember and realize how much the Lord is helping us. So i'm writing to you all about these miracles that we've had during the week- some more miraculous seeming than others, but miracles nonetheless.
> I liked a quite I heard from Elder Fuller, my former Zone leader. On the subject of Miracles, he said that they are not "cheap party tricks to attract the impatient audiences, but are rather the way God works." I love this quote because it's true. God doesn't perform miracles to make people believe- he performed several right in front of several people in the Bible and Book of Mormon, but they never listened. He acts throught quite, simple ways.
> This week we spent a lot of time tracting and didn't have crazy success, per usual with knocking doors. But one evening an older man and woman let us in and we were surprised. They didn't look like the most normal people, and we were a but scared at first, but we walked in and were pleased with what unfolded. The room smelt of heavy smoke and it was a bit dingy, but these people listened to us and were quite excited to have us in their home. We had a great lesson and they commited to read the Book of Mormon, and we're coming back this thursday. It was small and simple, but it was sweet to me.
> We got 11 new investigators this week which was a tender mercy. Our investigators are still strong, but we've been looking for more people to teach. It can be a daunting task, right before walking out your door, you think how you have to find, somehow, people who will be interested in hearing your message. Time and time again, the Lord shows us that there are more people then we can imagine in this city- we just have to search a little.
> We had a rockin meeting with this man Jacek, i think i mentioned once. We taught him about the Articles of Faith and he had a few questions, especially about number 10 and that was a little tought to explain in Polish, but I felt like the Lord helped us explain it in a way that he could fully accept and understand. He really believes all we do- he is going to pray if he should get baptized or not.
> Church was amaaaazing this week because it Primary a couple Polish children were there. This one young boy, Adasz, is like 4 years old, but is SO SMART and he's got a rough family life, and i feel like he's never smiling. But on Sunday in primary, his Dad was there ( who was a non member, but super kind guy) and I taught him and his dad about us being Children of God and what that entails. It was a bit tough and my lack of Polish words was depressingly obvious to me, but I think it touched him and his father. The Father asked a question to us about pre-earth life (cos we had sang I lived In Heaven A LOng Time Ago it is True) and we started to teach him, and then I realized Adasz was looking crazy bored, so kind of slid off and left the teaching to Elder McRae and started to read to Adasz a Book of Mormon easy reader in Polish. We read a bit and he was silent. We started talking about his little necklace that i've seen him wear a few times and that he was carrying in a little plastic treasure chest. He told me all about it, how he made one for his mom. We talked about church and how he likes the singing a lot and then after a few minutes he said "so what happened next?" It took me a few seconds to realize he was talknig about the Easy reader BOM. I smiled and we finished reading it. I don't know if he likes Primary any more, but I have hope that he knows he's got a friend there for him. His Dad loved everything E. McRae taught - i hope he gets baptized too.
> We got hooked up this week in terms of food! On Monday, we did FHE at the Bank's house, because there 8 year old son in Primary isn't too hot on the Idea of getting baptized here without his extended family, and understandably. He only wanted his immediate family to be there if they did it in Poland. But his mom told him how there needed to be 2 priesthood holders as witnesses and she thought, "Maybe the Missionaries in Primary could come?" and that really made him happy. And it made me happy to hear about it- I had know idea this young guy even liked us, but apparently he loves us. We did FHE and taught a lesson about baptism and ate some amazing Chicken Enchilada's ( on our request, and as far as I can remember, they tasted a lot like yours ma :)) and it was a grand night. Gave me a small taste of America for the week :) I went on exchanges with E.Fuller and we had a great meeting with a very old member "Babcia Anna" is her name. (Babcia means Grandma :P) Everyone calls her that. She told me to call her that. She wanted me to play Piano for her, and she fed us amazing tomato soup and bread right from the marked with homemade butter and this crrraaazy good jam. I was in heaven :) You could tell how much she loved having us over, so that felt way good.
> We had our Companioship Standard of Excellence dinner with 4 other companionships at The mission home (which is kind of the reward for achieving it). It was great to hear all the miracle stories that went into all the accomplishments. President shared some stories from J Golding Kimball....the apostle who occasionly let some swear words go. And it was hilarious. haha. I promise you President will be an apostle someday, and just to hear him reading Elder Kimball's harmless colorful words made us all laugh up a wild storm. The Dinner was amazing, and the spiritual stories that President shared with us were pricelss. I look forward to sharing them with you fam sometime :)
> We went to the Herman's new residence almost an hour outside of Warsaw. It feels like a home away from home there. I love that family so much. Alicija made us some good open faced sandwhiches and we drank tea, chatted about family-stuff, grades, and played monopoly for a bit. We talked about our missionary work a bit and they were interested. It's still wierd for them sometimes, but I know they will get baptized for sure.
> Brat Herman is solid as all get out. He's conducted the Last two sacrament meetings and sometimes it doesn't go as smooth as can be, but he does his very best and i'm proud of him. He goes with us on lessons in a heart beat- it's thanks to his willingness to help us out in the last minutes that we got the District Standard of Excellence again :) He is a shining example to me of what I can do after my mission. I realize how much the missionaries appreciate the help they can get from members- it is a blessing to have members like Jan Herman here in Poland and I'll try to be a member like he is wherever I am after my missionary. It's a lofty goal- the man is dedicated and I admire it.
> Elder Meacham told me you e-mailed him ma! ha. That was so funny. I love Elder Meacham, he is the man and he said that he'll do his best to track it down. He goes home in the next 4 months, and says he wants to come visit you all in California. :)
> I did get my camera from Uncle john and it is soooo rockin. It works quite well, has a rechargable battery and is just way good :) I will send mine home and again I'm sorry to seem so darn ingrateful...I just want to have tons and tons of pictures to show you all.
> I've got to end it right about here fam. I love you so much and I appreciate the prayers so much. Keep going strong, having fun and remembering the Lord and all he has given us.
>
> So much love-
> Starszy Michael, your son and brother.
>
> Your letters blew me away today. They really did- they were so amazing, I just read them and was kind of said when they came to an end. Life sounds good down on your end and I'm so glad that you all are happy and enjoying yourselves. I can't believe your a Judge!!! The man dress...I completely forgot about the man dress. I guess it is the symbol of justice. A man in a black man dress, wielding the judge hammer of authority and righteousness. I respect it :) I know you'll love it pop, and it'll be nice for you to be home more. Your letter was so amazing. It's so different now when you talk about your mission. I can relate to it all to well now- I look forward to talking about it even more someday after my own two years have rushed by. Mom- I can only imagine how busy you are with all the Relief Society work, but I know that you are the woman for it. You will do so darn amazing! You have so much love in your heart and such a desire to help and share someone's burden with them. I have first hand experience these characteristics of yours- I am lucky to have a mother who so fully uses them all, and I can't tell you how lucky those sisters are to have you as a leader. I love you momma. :) Spencer brother! I miss you bro ha and don't even worry about making me homesick - 24 sounds RIDICULOUSLY radical - what's going on with LOST? Is it still alive??? Don't tell me what's happened ha :P Soccer sounds like a blast. WE just played this morning in this turf place, but it's outside so there was snow everywhere. I loved it's trash. So darn FUN. We just played as missionaries- no poles today- really fun though. It's so refreshing to run around for a couple hours. You sound fresh and good as Andziej's home made pączki (pone-chki) (amazing donut guys). I love you so much brother. I'll try my best to change the lives you encourage me to change. I appreciate the support tons :) Sarah, excuse me, I mean, amazing goal scorer phenomenon! Snap sista, good moves :) You sound like your doing great, loving the break and such. I loved the story of you and Annie's deal. Ha I wish I could've seen that. I love you sister tons. Annie, sugar you sound amazing. Your good to be a slave to your sister. Ha ;) I'm glad you had such a good week- good luck going back to school! I love you girl :)
> This week has just flown by, and it has been saweeeet! I bought this yearly calendar-planner-book here where i've been recording 3 miracles each day. President asked all the missionaries here to do that awhile ago, and we had done it really simply in our daily planners, but I think doing it like this- really writing down the miracle, how it happened and such, will help me remember and realize how much the Lord is helping us. So i'm writing to you all about these miracles that we've had during the week- some more miraculous seeming than others, but miracles nonetheless.
> I liked a quite I heard from Elder Fuller, my former Zone leader. On the subject of Miracles, he said that they are not "cheap party tricks to attract the impatient audiences, but are rather the way God works." I love this quote because it's true. God doesn't perform miracles to make people believe- he performed several right in front of several people in the Bible and Book of Mormon, but they never listened. He acts throught quite, simple ways.
> This week we spent a lot of time tracting and didn't have crazy success, per usual with knocking doors. But one evening an older man and woman let us in and we were surprised. They didn't look like the most normal people, and we were a but scared at first, but we walked in and were pleased with what unfolded. The room smelt of heavy smoke and it was a bit dingy, but these people listened to us and were quite excited to have us in their home. We had a great lesson and they commited to read the Book of Mormon, and we're coming back this thursday. It was small and simple, but it was sweet to me.
> We got 11 new investigators this week which was a tender mercy. Our investigators are still strong, but we've been looking for more people to teach. It can be a daunting task, right before walking out your door, you think how you have to find, somehow, people who will be interested in hearing your message. Time and time again, the Lord shows us that there are more people then we can imagine in this city- we just have to search a little.
> We had a rockin meeting with this man Jacek, i think i mentioned once. We taught him about the Articles of Faith and he had a few questions, especially about number 10 and that was a little tought to explain in Polish, but I felt like the Lord helped us explain it in a way that he could fully accept and understand. He really believes all we do- he is going to pray if he should get baptized or not.
> Church was amaaaazing this week because it Primary a couple Polish children were there. This one young boy, Adasz, is like 4 years old, but is SO SMART and he's got a rough family life, and i feel like he's never smiling. But on Sunday in primary, his Dad was there ( who was a non member, but super kind guy) and I taught him and his dad about us being Children of God and what that entails. It was a bit tough and my lack of Polish words was depressingly obvious to me, but I think it touched him and his father. The Father asked a question to us about pre-earth life (cos we had sang I lived In Heaven A LOng Time Ago it is True) and we started to teach him, and then I realized Adasz was looking crazy bored, so kind of slid off and left the teaching to Elder McRae and started to read to Adasz a Book of Mormon easy reader in Polish. We read a bit and he was silent. We started talking about his little necklace that i've seen him wear a few times and that he was carrying in a little plastic treasure chest. He told me all about it, how he made one for his mom. We talked about church and how he likes the singing a lot and then after a few minutes he said "so what happened next?" It took me a few seconds to realize he was talknig about the Easy reader BOM. I smiled and we finished reading it. I don't know if he likes Primary any more, but I have hope that he knows he's got a friend there for him. His Dad loved everything E. McRae taught - i hope he gets baptized too.
> We got hooked up this week in terms of food! On Monday, we did FHE at the Bank's house, because there 8 year old son in Primary isn't too hot on the Idea of getting baptized here without his extended family, and understandably. He only wanted his immediate family to be there if they did it in Poland. But his mom told him how there needed to be 2 priesthood holders as witnesses and she thought, "Maybe the Missionaries in Primary could come?" and that really made him happy. And it made me happy to hear about it- I had know idea this young guy even liked us, but apparently he loves us. We did FHE and taught a lesson about baptism and ate some amazing Chicken Enchilada's ( on our request, and as far as I can remember, they tasted a lot like yours ma :)) and it was a grand night. Gave me a small taste of America for the week :) I went on exchanges with E.Fuller and we had a great meeting with a very old member "Babcia Anna" is her name. (Babcia means Grandma :P) Everyone calls her that. She told me to call her that. She wanted me to play Piano for her, and she fed us amazing tomato soup and bread right from the marked with homemade butter and this crrraaazy good jam. I was in heaven :) You could tell how much she loved having us over, so that felt way good.
> We had our Companioship Standard of Excellence dinner with 4 other companionships at The mission home (which is kind of the reward for achieving it). It was great to hear all the miracle stories that went into all the accomplishments. President shared some stories from J Golding Kimball....the apostle who occasionly let some swear words go. And it was hilarious. haha. I promise you President will be an apostle someday, and just to hear him reading Elder Kimball's harmless colorful words made us all laugh up a wild storm. The Dinner was amazing, and the spiritual stories that President shared with us were pricelss. I look forward to sharing them with you fam sometime :)
> We went to the Herman's new residence almost an hour outside of Warsaw. It feels like a home away from home there. I love that family so much. Alicija made us some good open faced sandwhiches and we drank tea, chatted about family-stuff, grades, and played monopoly for a bit. We talked about our missionary work a bit and they were interested. It's still wierd for them sometimes, but I know they will get baptized for sure.
> Brat Herman is solid as all get out. He's conducted the Last two sacrament meetings and sometimes it doesn't go as smooth as can be, but he does his very best and i'm proud of him. He goes with us on lessons in a heart beat- it's thanks to his willingness to help us out in the last minutes that we got the District Standard of Excellence again :) He is a shining example to me of what I can do after my mission. I realize how much the missionaries appreciate the help they can get from members- it is a blessing to have members like Jan Herman here in Poland and I'll try to be a member like he is wherever I am after my missionary. It's a lofty goal- the man is dedicated and I admire it.
> Elder Meacham told me you e-mailed him ma! ha. That was so funny. I love Elder Meacham, he is the man and he said that he'll do his best to track it down. He goes home in the next 4 months, and says he wants to come visit you all in California. :)
> I did get my camera from Uncle john and it is soooo rockin. It works quite well, has a rechargable battery and is just way good :) I will send mine home and again I'm sorry to seem so darn ingrateful...I just want to have tons and tons of pictures to show you all.
> I've got to end it right about here fam. I love you so much and I appreciate the prayers so much. Keep going strong, having fun and remembering the Lord and all he has given us.
>
> So much love-
> Starszy Michael, your son and brother.
>
Monday, January 5, 2009
"Lighting firecrackers off on the front lawn..."
Happy new year to you my family -
Goodness, I started off the new year with a good haul of e-mails :) Thank you so much, ha you guys are the best. I wish I could write you all individual letters every week- but I sadly do not have that much time. And I would write novels to you each, and you'd get bored, and never want to write me again in fear that I'd write you a novel, and just a bad cycle would begin ;P I know that's not true- I can at least write my individual notes :) Spence- thanks for the novel kid. It was rocking, and I'm sorry if I made you feel bad, but kind of not cos those were rocking letters. I'm so glad all is well for you brother and I can imagine you loved the ski trip. I wish I was there right next to you. Someday soon eh i love you bro :) Sarah girl- you sound so good and I loved your letter-lacking letter. Ha it was so good, you are amazing little sister and I love you so much. You sound like you had a way fun time. I remember how frustrated I would get snowboarding. I admire your percerverience (goodness I'm forgetting ENGLISH) and spirit. You always had a lot that :) Annie, thanks babe for the letter! Your trip sounded so fun! Goodness, I wish I was there for the snowball fight, it would've been something else- there's TONS of snow right now, and I'm getting pretty good at throwing a snow ball...I would have been an asset to the team ha. I love you little sister :) Parents-first ma, with the money, I'll be way better about taking out home funds I our monthly fund came in way late this month and I was short on money to Christmas shopping, so yah. Mom, you are going to do amazing as Relief Society president. They already love you, I know it. The fact that your worried about it is a confirmation that you will do great- you'll rely on the Lord and you'll do the right thing. I'm not worried one bit :) Pop,I wish I could be there on your lessons. I always said you would be an amazing seminary teacher. I can't believe you resume work either. Sworn in eh? Serious stuff there in Legal land. ;) I'm excited for you and to hear how it all is :) I wish I could have been there boardin with you pop and ma. That would have been something else :) OK...I don' t have tons of time, but I'm going to shoot into what has been one BEAUTIFUL week. :)
I'm gonna lay it down like the Book of Mormon does- very straightforward and without any major suspense- because we know that even in the face of all opposition, the Lord's way will prevail. So there are a few facts t=
hat you need to know.
1. IRINA ZDRZALIK was BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!! by Richard Nabozny- he lives here and speaks Polish and English, he will be a great friend to her, and that is what we need here. Elder McRae and I were in the circle for her Confirmation!
2. We achieved the Companionship Standard of Excellence!
3. Transfers came today. And Elder McRae and I are still together :)
This week has been jam packed with miracles and it honestly has too many to write down to you all right now, but I will relay as many as I can. Fam, I wish you could see what it is like here- this place is Catholic. Poand 3D Catholic. And people here are brave enough to think that maybe their Parents are wrong, maybe their ancestors didn't have the whole truth=
and that maybe tradition doesn't always mean correctness, and they choose to listen to us. It's unreal. I can understand how difficult that would truly be, but I'm blessed that my tradition is truth. And I'm here to share it with these People. I've really thought about it alot this week as we met with this boy named Lukasz. He's young, 22 or around there, and he is a thinker. Such a genuine nice kid and he really likes us, but he just doesn't know what to do. We met twice this last week and in the latter of those two meetings he came in with two pages of deep questions, some that were obviously off of Anti- internet pages and he's really struggling. He came to Irina's baptism though and really enjoyed it, which was way neat. So, onto Irina's Baptism! Irina shocked me, in all honestly. She didn't take tithing super well the first time we had taught it and she was so accepting of everything, I questioned whether she had a testimony of it all. But as she met with us right before her baptismal interview, she held in her hand her Book of Mormon and a Study Journal where she had been taking notes. She knew all the facts and as we went through the questions with her, just to make sure she was good before her actual interview, she fully accepted everything. We even talked about tithing more and the Word of Wisdom and everything, and she promised to live it. The day of her baptism I was feeling terrible- chills all over and aching, and the major runs...probably didn't want to know that, but it was bad. I stayed in bed all morning and got ready to go just before we had to be there. As we went there I realized that I had lost my wallet with all my credit cards and Drivers licesnse, which was a big deal. THe Assistants said they would look for it, cos I was sure I had lost it near the bridge by our house. I was feeling like a loser right about then, with the thought of Irina getting baptized pushing me through. 10 minutes before the baptism, I get a phone call from Ada Bednarska ( old lady who fed us cookies with maggots, remember?). She had given me her address and it happened to still be in my waller.She said a bridge cleaner had called her and he had my wallet. She gave him my number. He called me and I had him call the AP's and they met and exchanged the Wallet. It truly was a miracle. The whole thing was so stressful and I had so much adrenaline going thorugh me, my body forgot I was sick for the next 2 hours. Elder Mehner and I sang "When I am Baptized" and there were some talks given. She was baptized and it went amazingly. She bore her testimony and was so sincere. She is amazing and I know that she will be a great member here. :)
Other news this week- New Years was amazing! There was a MAJOR party going on in the middle of Warsaw, where all the major music artists were going to be - it wouild be as if Coldplay, Avril Lavigne and another really modern popular band were all there - we were not allowed to be there lol. New Years Eve, we helped move Brat Herman and his family to their new house, just outside of Warsaw. It was way good- it took about 4 hours, and t was just really good to help. We were fed way good food afterward too. Ha and we talked to this Russian man who was helping us - he spoke English pretty well but didn't understand everything...which led to some random misunderstandings, and we laughed a lot- Elder Antczak, Mehner, McRae and I. It was a blast. That night we all got together as missionries and played random games and that was a blast. When Midnight rolled around, the=
fireworks were going off everywhere!!!! it was unlike anything I have seen. EVERYONE had fireworks. It was really cool- everywhere you looked there was an explosion in the sky. One of the best fireworks shows I've ever seen- just cos of the randomness of it all :)
Another one of our investigators, Tomek, has taken a baptismal date. He's been progressing for a year! And his date is still pretty fragile, but it was a major step for him.
Elder McRae and I are offically in Warsaw, South Central for at least another two months. I am a happy missionary. Life here is just so good! I talked to Elder Tanner on our 6 month anniversary as missionaries (6 months I've been a misisonary!) and he said Warsaw is goldmine right now. That was good to here. Because when Elder McRae got here, we made a couple goals. One goal was to achieve the District Standard of Excellence. Another to achieve the COmpanionship Standard of Excellence and another to make Warsaw a place missionaries hope to be, because it had a rather sour reputation at one point. Elder McRae and I have been blessed with accomplish=
ing our goals here. And i am quite happy with that. :)
Some other awesome transfer news---- that really is awesome, but you all will laugh nice and good. Elder Fuller and Elder Whipple were my zone leaders this last transfer. I see the the Zone Leaders all the time, they are part of my zone, we're buddies. So this Transfer, Elder Fuller is out of here, to Wroclaw! And now.....Elder Daly is the new zone leader!! Ha i love it. He really is one amazing kid, I think we have the coolest district....
I read Ryan's letter and that blows my mind. That experience is one he will never ever forget. How unreal is that. So powerful. I love you cousin
Also, Jake- I Shop at Carrefour too!!!!!!!! Man I miss you kid. I hope you still read through the novel that is my letter. Just remember, that half way around the world, I'm shopping in the same store as you. ;P
Fam- my time is just about up. I love you all. Your letters are the best and I miss you tons. I dream about the fun times we'll have on future fam vacations. Have a great week ok? Enjoy yourselves and remember who you represent as members of the Church. Read the Book of Mormon everyday, cos I know the power that lies in the constant feasting of such powerful wor=
ds. I love you all so much. Please pray for us over here :) To next week eh?
- Starszy Michael
Goodness, I started off the new year with a good haul of e-mails :) Thank you so much, ha you guys are the best. I wish I could write you all individual letters every week- but I sadly do not have that much time. And I would write novels to you each, and you'd get bored, and never want to write me again in fear that I'd write you a novel, and just a bad cycle would begin ;P I know that's not true- I can at least write my individual notes :) Spence- thanks for the novel kid. It was rocking, and I'm sorry if I made you feel bad, but kind of not cos those were rocking letters. I'm so glad all is well for you brother and I can imagine you loved the ski trip. I wish I was there right next to you. Someday soon eh i love you bro :) Sarah girl- you sound so good and I loved your letter-lacking letter. Ha it was so good, you are amazing little sister and I love you so much. You sound like you had a way fun time. I remember how frustrated I would get snowboarding. I admire your percerverience (goodness I'm forgetting ENGLISH) and spirit. You always had a lot that :) Annie, thanks babe for the letter! Your trip sounded so fun! Goodness, I wish I was there for the snowball fight, it would've been something else- there's TONS of snow right now, and I'm getting pretty good at throwing a snow ball...I would have been an asset to the team ha. I love you little sister :) Parents-first ma, with the money, I'll be way better about taking out home funds I our monthly fund came in way late this month and I was short on money to Christmas shopping, so yah. Mom, you are going to do amazing as Relief Society president. They already love you, I know it. The fact that your worried about it is a confirmation that you will do great- you'll rely on the Lord and you'll do the right thing. I'm not worried one bit :) Pop,I wish I could be there on your lessons. I always said you would be an amazing seminary teacher. I can't believe you resume work either. Sworn in eh? Serious stuff there in Legal land. ;) I'm excited for you and to hear how it all is :) I wish I could have been there boardin with you pop and ma. That would have been something else :) OK...I don' t have tons of time, but I'm going to shoot into what has been one BEAUTIFUL week. :)
I'm gonna lay it down like the Book of Mormon does- very straightforward and without any major suspense- because we know that even in the face of all opposition, the Lord's way will prevail. So there are a few facts t=
hat you need to know.
1. IRINA ZDRZALIK was BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!! by Richard Nabozny- he lives here and speaks Polish and English, he will be a great friend to her, and that is what we need here. Elder McRae and I were in the circle for her Confirmation!
2. We achieved the Companionship Standard of Excellence!
3. Transfers came today. And Elder McRae and I are still together :)
This week has been jam packed with miracles and it honestly has too many to write down to you all right now, but I will relay as many as I can. Fam, I wish you could see what it is like here- this place is Catholic. Poand 3D Catholic. And people here are brave enough to think that maybe their Parents are wrong, maybe their ancestors didn't have the whole truth=
and that maybe tradition doesn't always mean correctness, and they choose to listen to us. It's unreal. I can understand how difficult that would truly be, but I'm blessed that my tradition is truth. And I'm here to share it with these People. I've really thought about it alot this week as we met with this boy named Lukasz. He's young, 22 or around there, and he is a thinker. Such a genuine nice kid and he really likes us, but he just doesn't know what to do. We met twice this last week and in the latter of those two meetings he came in with two pages of deep questions, some that were obviously off of Anti- internet pages and he's really struggling. He came to Irina's baptism though and really enjoyed it, which was way neat. So, onto Irina's Baptism! Irina shocked me, in all honestly. She didn't take tithing super well the first time we had taught it and she was so accepting of everything, I questioned whether she had a testimony of it all. But as she met with us right before her baptismal interview, she held in her hand her Book of Mormon and a Study Journal where she had been taking notes. She knew all the facts and as we went through the questions with her, just to make sure she was good before her actual interview, she fully accepted everything. We even talked about tithing more and the Word of Wisdom and everything, and she promised to live it. The day of her baptism I was feeling terrible- chills all over and aching, and the major runs...probably didn't want to know that, but it was bad. I stayed in bed all morning and got ready to go just before we had to be there. As we went there I realized that I had lost my wallet with all my credit cards and Drivers licesnse, which was a big deal. THe Assistants said they would look for it, cos I was sure I had lost it near the bridge by our house. I was feeling like a loser right about then, with the thought of Irina getting baptized pushing me through. 10 minutes before the baptism, I get a phone call from Ada Bednarska ( old lady who fed us cookies with maggots, remember?). She had given me her address and it happened to still be in my waller.She said a bridge cleaner had called her and he had my wallet. She gave him my number. He called me and I had him call the AP's and they met and exchanged the Wallet. It truly was a miracle. The whole thing was so stressful and I had so much adrenaline going thorugh me, my body forgot I was sick for the next 2 hours. Elder Mehner and I sang "When I am Baptized" and there were some talks given. She was baptized and it went amazingly. She bore her testimony and was so sincere. She is amazing and I know that she will be a great member here. :)
Other news this week- New Years was amazing! There was a MAJOR party going on in the middle of Warsaw, where all the major music artists were going to be - it wouild be as if Coldplay, Avril Lavigne and another really modern popular band were all there - we were not allowed to be there lol. New Years Eve, we helped move Brat Herman and his family to their new house, just outside of Warsaw. It was way good- it took about 4 hours, and t was just really good to help. We were fed way good food afterward too. Ha and we talked to this Russian man who was helping us - he spoke English pretty well but didn't understand everything...which led to some random misunderstandings, and we laughed a lot- Elder Antczak, Mehner, McRae and I. It was a blast. That night we all got together as missionries and played random games and that was a blast. When Midnight rolled around, the=
fireworks were going off everywhere!!!! it was unlike anything I have seen. EVERYONE had fireworks. It was really cool- everywhere you looked there was an explosion in the sky. One of the best fireworks shows I've ever seen- just cos of the randomness of it all :)
Another one of our investigators, Tomek, has taken a baptismal date. He's been progressing for a year! And his date is still pretty fragile, but it was a major step for him.
Elder McRae and I are offically in Warsaw, South Central for at least another two months. I am a happy missionary. Life here is just so good! I talked to Elder Tanner on our 6 month anniversary as missionaries (6 months I've been a misisonary!) and he said Warsaw is goldmine right now. That was good to here. Because when Elder McRae got here, we made a couple goals. One goal was to achieve the District Standard of Excellence. Another to achieve the COmpanionship Standard of Excellence and another to make Warsaw a place missionaries hope to be, because it had a rather sour reputation at one point. Elder McRae and I have been blessed with accomplish=
ing our goals here. And i am quite happy with that. :)
Some other awesome transfer news---- that really is awesome, but you all will laugh nice and good. Elder Fuller and Elder Whipple were my zone leaders this last transfer. I see the the Zone Leaders all the time, they are part of my zone, we're buddies. So this Transfer, Elder Fuller is out of here, to Wroclaw! And now.....Elder Daly is the new zone leader!! Ha i love it. He really is one amazing kid, I think we have the coolest district....
I read Ryan's letter and that blows my mind. That experience is one he will never ever forget. How unreal is that. So powerful. I love you cousin
Also, Jake- I Shop at Carrefour too!!!!!!!! Man I miss you kid. I hope you still read through the novel that is my letter. Just remember, that half way around the world, I'm shopping in the same store as you. ;P
Fam- my time is just about up. I love you all. Your letters are the best and I miss you tons. I dream about the fun times we'll have on future fam vacations. Have a great week ok? Enjoy yourselves and remember who you represent as members of the Church. Read the Book of Mormon everyday, cos I know the power that lies in the constant feasting of such powerful wor=
ds. I love you all so much. Please pray for us over here :) To next week eh?
- Starszy Michael
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