A First Time for Everything :P

My dearest fam -20 years old. Unbelievable lol. I thought I was going to stay 18 forever. ha :P It'll be a different Birthday for sure, but it'll be a good one :) I'll make my Birthday cake, put some frosting on it, keep my bag of Dove chocolate in an easily-accessible location and enjoy the fact that I am no-longer part of the teen-club. It'll be a little sad, but it'll be ok too. Ryan's only got 3 more weeks left in the club and then he's gone too. Live it up cuz. Live it up. :PI loved the E-mails today- I loved hearing the epic beginning of my existence. It's a great one. I love reminiscing upon the last 20 years of my life. The letters in the package and the package itself was perfect and I appreciate it. Y'all sure know how to make a kid feel loved. When you said that Ma, that I've always really been loved, I really do feel blessed for that. I've always had such a loving family who truly truly love eachother, I feel so loved by how much you write me siblings. It's sometimes more then I deserve I feel, and I love it so much :) My grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins have always been such a part of my life too- again, very lucky. I've always had very loving friends who were there for me, who I've had experienes with that I will never forget. It's one crazy part of the mission. After being seperated from all these people you grew up with, you remember random, sweet memories that just make you smile. I've had a lot of those these last couple days. :) All part of growing old. Too old :P How cool is that Sarah that you got your Patriarchal blessing? Such an amazing experience. Read it often when you get it. :) It's the map to happiness. This week has been so jam packed I know for a fact I won't be able to recall it all, but I will try my very best. I definitely felt like I was pushed beyond my comfort and even ability zone a couple of times, which I've learned to welcome. It's I how I grow the most. The first highlight was the Zone Conference in Gdansk. The entire Zone got there the day before and we spent P-day there, because Zone Conference was on our P-day. We played on the beach, walked out on the World's largest Wooden pier and played some soccer. The Bydgoszcz district shopped that night for Bulki Break- the lunch for the Zone Conference. Had to take a taxi back to the chapel cos we had so much food- the taxi driver was bumpin "You Spin me Right Round" when we got in the car. Seeing we were young, he pumped it way loud and we all sang and laughed. It was hilarious. We dropped around 560 zlots for the zone. High roller baby :P The day of Zone Conference we got there way early, prepared all the meat, cheese, vegetables and salads for the Sandwhich Break at lunch and then set up the chapel for the meeting, which would start at 9. I was chosen to conduct the meeting. Zone Conferences are all taught in English, because President doesn't understand Polish, but it is conducted in Polish. So I stood up in front of the zone, in front of so many missionaries who were way older than me and who speak way better Polish then I do and I conducted. I was a bit nervous, considering I've never even conducted a meeting in English, but I think it went well. The meetings topic was obedience and a lot was said that was needed to- a couple of very enlightening and uplifitng talks by President and Sister Engbjerg. We sang the mission song that E.Justice, Daly, Sis. Slaugh and I wrote and it went smoothly, everyone liked it. E.Jones and I gave our presentation about being an Authentic missionary. I wrote up on the Board "Authenticity- the Lord called YOU". We talked about using everything that the Lord has given you in your lives, experiences, personality, differences in style and how to avoid being a "robot" missionary. We had a couple of missionaries do role-plays to display creative contacting and teaching using experiences and it went better than I could have hoped. Largely due to the amount of participation we had from everyone there. It was neat. I felt blessed that it all went so well. E.Meacham gave his "dying Testimony", because this is his last Zone Conference. I cried. I'm going to be real sad to see that kid go. He's a genuine one, and a real friend to me. He honestly is going to come see you fam lol and I know you'll love him. After the conference was over, everyone had to rush to the Train Station to make it home that night. There were 3 districts that had to travel distances of 2 hours, 4 hours and 6 hours. I stayed in Gdansk to go on exchanges with Meacham the next day. We finished cleaning everything up , dropped off our things at the apartment and contacted on the Rynek a bit. That city is by far the prettiest of any that I have seen. It has such a different feel to it, I couldn't get enough. The exchange was one of the best I've had- we saw two true miracles. They are kind interconnected with other experiences I've had and there fore a little hard to follow, but I'll do my best. I don't know if I told you, but Zaneta, the less active woman we were working with here in Bydgoszcz, moved to Gdansk- E.Meacham hadn't had the chance to meet with her but they were in communication by phone. When he told her that I would be there for a day, she insisted that we had to meet. So we set up to meet right after District Mtg. and lunch break. After district meeting we looked at a map to find where she lived, and it turned out to be somewhere quite far- 30 minutes by bus. So we had to skip out on lunch and head to the bus stop. While hurrying to the bus stop, someone calls my name. "Mike, Mike!" I look up and see a black man running towards me- his name is also Michael and he's from Africa and E.McRae and I had taught him one lesson in which I felt that this man was ready for the Gospel, and McRae gave him his own mini copy of the Book of Mormon, because he was leaving to Gdansk the next day. We tried to get in touch with him afterward, but could not. So here we are in Gdansk, he runs towards me, and I see him and can't believe my eyes. He comes up and we chat and are just in awe that we saw eachother on the one day that i'm in Gdansk on some random street that E.Meacham has never been on. I asked him if He read the Book of Mormon and he said yes and that he was ready for "an Intellectual Breakdown of the Book of Mormon" and looked forward to meeting with E.Meacham. It was a miracle wrought by the hand of the Lord in my eyes.We caught our bus, in amazement at what had just happened, and made it to Zanetas apartment. I was so happy to see her and than she had an actual apartment (she was living in that single homeless mother's home here in bydgoszcz) and that her son was so happy. We taught her a lesson and it went great. As we were ending teh lesson, Zaneta's roommate, Karolina, walked in. Zaneta led us into an amazing gospel discussion and we taught her right there. She accepted the invitation to be taught more. Zaneta, who has obviously had a difficult life, was in tears as we left. It's obviousl how important teh Gospel is to her, and what in impact it has on her life. E.Meacham and I had no doubt that the Lord just poured out his blessings on us right there. Two amazing miracles right in a row. A know I'm waxing long, but this week was just "bombfair". Tons of Blessings and experiences. We met with Marek who is still on line to get baptized. He's really thinking deeply about it, considering what it really means. Which is important. Sometimes I feel that he doesn't grasp it all, which can be difficult for me, cos I feel like its my ack of ability to describe, but I think he'll get it in the end. Fabian, the 17 and half year old boy, is ridiculously prepared, I can't even believe it sometimes. We met with him out near his house. We answered some of his questions, chatted about missionary life and again enjoyed the view of that beautiful lake filled with Swans, sunshine just cascading over the scene. It's beautiful thing, to be teaching that boy right there on that bench. He says when he turns 19 he's putting in his mission papers. He's not even baptized yet ha :) He is amazing. I'll send pictures soon- I don't have my camera today. Another first for the mish- I was asked to give a talk, Saturday night at 6:30. We taught a lesson at 7, didn't get home til 9 and then didn't get to start writing til about 9:20. My first Polish talk was a bit rushed lol, but I wrote it it. And I tried my best- I always get a bit nervous speaking in Polish in front of large groups, but I did it lol. I spoke on Nadzieje- Hope. Left to Warsaw right after church.The Baptism of Joseph Banks was like a little piece of America. Small, no worries, and peaceful. It was an amazing experience. I sang and played "When I am Baptized" and E.Lehnig (McRae's comp) played the recorder. We were fed lemon chicken with rice, Brownies homemade by Grandma Banks and then I spent the night with my brother E.McRae. It was so great to spend that time with him. He is the man. And I miss him too lol. A beautiful evening.I got to see E.Mehner who is also one of my brothers. I love him tons. He, like me, is a 6 month Warsaw warrior lol. He's ready to see a little more of Poland. Warsaw still feels like home to me in a way- even though I know it's here where I'm supposed to be.Ok. I know I"ve written a novel. So much to say today. I'm trying to be the best missionary I can. I feel like I can never study enough. I always think about what can I study that will make me better the fastest lol - a better teacher, speaker, more spiritual, more knowledgeable in general. So much room for improvement. Not enough time to study! I love you fam. I appreciate the e-mail so much, they mean the world to me- coming from you all. I'll be thinking about you on the B-day. Looking forward to talking on the Phone :) Be strong fam and keep loving eachother and all those around you. It truly is a beautiful thing we've been give, this Gospel is. Everyday I feel like a get a better feel of exactly how much love God and Jesus have for us. We're blessed beyond measure. True story. :)Have an amazing week fam. :) So much love from Polska. - Starszy Michael Joseph Rushton Jr. p.s. Can you send me Jakes Jimmy's and Kory's addresses? I'm in desperate need of those. :)

Huge Rynek and the Shining Sea

Dear Fam-The letters rocked this week- I usually print them out and read them after a few days to give me a little boost if I need it, but today I won-t have the chance to- I write from an amazingly large and very neat library in Gdansk, the beautiful city by the sea that every missionary in some part of their heart desires to serve in. Just recently the branch up here got a new chapel- it's own building. Not quite like the one in Warsaw, which is practically like one in the States, but more like the one in Bydgoszcz- just a really nice free-standing building that is turned into a chapel. We will be having Zone Conference there. Today though, we have Zone P-day in Gdansk, where we will be playing a little soccer on the beach, walking around the city and what-not. I so look forward to it it's kinda ridiculous :P We had it planned, and than it got shot down, cos Pres doesn't want any more Zone P-days for certain reasons, but we got Elder Guinn to lobby for us and we kinda...won lol. It probably sounds like we had to really barter for it, but in all actuallity it just makes sense to do it here. So the whole zone will be here together and then tomorrow Zone Conference. Sweetness eh? lol. I can't believe you just finished Easter Break. Easter seems like it was 4 weeks ago :P I'm glad you guys had the chance to hang out a bit and relax- Zion's Trek sounds amazing. I loved that thing when we went last time. DJ'ing a dance- it actually was Ma and Dad's anniversary huh. lol So long ago, but so good :) I can't believe your anniversary is coming up already. Goodness. :) Happy Anniversary Mom and Pop :) Last week I most certainly was feeling some frustration in terms of finding people and teaching people, and the struggle for new amazing investigators still wages on, as well as trying to include the members, but it was definitely better this last week. Some small victories make it all worth it. :)First off, that man Marek who I called last Saturday, we met with him Sunday, and then we set up again for Wednesday, the day I went to Poznan. Well, side-track, but I went to Poznan and it was amazing. That place is so gorgeous, I think i said "Wow, that is beautiful," at least 27 times when we walked on the Rynek. It was SOOO BIG. I wish I could properly explain what a Rynek is- but simply stated it's the city square, filled with old buildings, amazing restaurants and architecture. I also realized that being in small Bydgoszcz for a mere month, made anything close to a big city- Poznan for example- seem humongous. To get there, I had to wake up at 6, and catch a bus to the Train Station to make my 7:20 train and then when I got on the Train, it was packed, so I stood in the aisle. A girl was sitting next to me and somehow we struck up conversation- we talked for the entire 2 and 1/2 hour train ride to Poznan, in Polish about so many random things, including the Gospel. She lives in Bydgoszcz but Studies in Poznan. When she comes to Bydgoszcz again we're going to meet, talk about the Gospel and then I'll dish it over to Poznan where she will get baptized. Cos she is golden. My exchange was with E.Warenski and we had an amazing time- contacted some really neat people, white-boarded (i forgot to tell you I can't white-board in Bydgoszcz, it's illegal :() and had an amazing District Meeting. I was happy with how well the district is doing there. I got to see Sis. Gardner, from my Group who I hadn't seen forever. A way good experience :) SOOOO on when I got home the next day, we got into our house, and I asked E.Jones how the meeting with Marek went, and he said, "Look at the Board (where we write all the zone baptismal dates)" and I looked. And his name was there for May 16th! Woo baby! We've met with him twice since then and he came to church yesterday. He doesn't smoke, drink any of the forbidden substances, drugs, nothing. He rocks. And he didn't smell at all the last couple of meetings. Double score! Along with this success came a heart break as well. E.McCuisstion and I taught this lady (who E.Brewster and I had found) English on P-day evening when we work. Afterword we taught her a lesson and McCuistion said that was one of the best meetings he has ever been on in his entire mission- top 10 he said. He's 6 months older than me in the mission. It was amazing. She is in her 50's, her name is Barbara and she was truly ready- open, so happy, funny. We set up again for the next week. I called her yesterday because we we're going to be gone and she was a different woman. Not happy at all, I know for a fact something happened and it just messed her up. I couldnt' believe it. It really hit me- I'm not giving up on her though. She was too ready. But it could take a long while, i don't know. I'll be praying for her. I'm a bit nervous for Zone Conference, cos we have to give a presentation. But it'll be good lol- we're talking about being yourself and implementing all the Lord has given you in your missionary efforts- your personality, your experiences, your abilities into helping the Polish people see the goodness of the Gospel. I hope it goes well :) After Zone Conference I get to go on exchanges with one of my very best mission buddies- E.Meacham. The kid was AP and is now the District Leader in Gdansk, and he dies at the end of this Transfer. We're going to have a rockin exchange though before that happens. I have to go right now- but Meacham is going to California during the summer and he said he'd love to meet you, my family. He's going to bring a few things home for me and whatnot and you would love to talk to him. He is the man and a half. I'll give you more details next week, but right now I gotta jet! II love you so much. I can't tell you how much you mean to me and how much this Gospel means to me. It is true and we will be together forever. Have an amazing week. Suck the marrow out of life :) Elder Michael Rushton

Mike & new comp, Dan Jones

Zone Leaders’ Meeting in WarsawAbove, left to right: Elder Rushton, Elder Jones, Elder Packer, Elder Daly, Pres. Engbjerg, Sis. Engbjerg, Elder Antczak,Elder Shettell, Elder McRae, Elder Lehnig.Front: Elders Meacham, Guinn, Whipple, and Thomas.

Easter and the Walkin Week

Dearest Family of Mine :)How are you doing :) Goodness the Mammoth trip sounded like it was sooooo peaceful and amazing. We most definitely have to do that soon after my return eh :) I'm so glad you had such a good time. Spence, that sounds like such a good time, running up the steep mountain and just looking out over the beauitful Mammoth forest. Mmmm. And Bro don't worry about trunkin me out- I'm always aces when it comes to hearing about what's going on at home. I do tell you though- my heart hurts when I think that I won't get to see you play any shows- please please have someone record these things ok?!!! I'm dying to see it. How cool is that that you get to play with Paper Mache. Legit ha. When and where is that? Lemme know :) Sarah, sooo good scoring those goals and basically rocking life right about now. I love you sis. Annie, Easter sounds like it was so fun! I'm glad you're doing so good with your contacts, I can only imagine how pretty you look without your glasses. I bet you love it :) So great! I love you too sister :) Ma and pa- thank yous o much for the e-mails. They mean the world to me. I love the words of elder Neil A. Anderson as well, when he said "I know I am not yet who I should be." I especially have been feeling that this last week. I feel the weight of everything I could improve on, weighing on my chest. I'll eventually be able to lift it, slowly, but surely. I know it may sound ridiculous and that I'm stressing myself out, but I really don't feel to much stress. Just the fact that I can always speak this labarynth-like language better, I can always know more scriptures, teach better and be a better leader. It's a lot to juggle and I always feel that I could do a better job, but I know the Lord knows I'm working on it. I've been better at studying new words and implementing grammar I've learned, making new and improved formats for studying as to get the most out of it that I can impliment into teaching. I know where I want to be and only the Lord knows where I could be- I'm just trying to give enough so that the Lord can take me to that level, where I am that smooth, refined, sharp and reliable tool that the Lord needs. I am so far from the afore mentioned lol. But I will keep trying. You can count on that.This week was a different one. Probably one of the most difficult I've experienced thus far. We found a step tracker in our house a week ago. Just yesterday we walked 14 miles. 14. 3 other days this week I walked at least that much lol. It was mostly difficult because we set up with a few people who I thought would for sure be there, and not flake our meeting (which happens all the time). I was convinced they would be there. They weren't lol. I was on exchanges with an Elder Brewster from Szczecin, while E.Jones was up there. We got flaked 4 times with no other plans. So we walked the city of Bydgoszcz a couple of times :) It was actually way nice to walk and see the whole city. We talked to same really really nice and promising people and I had a chance to get to know Elder Brewster better which was way cool. E. Jones always says I get too disappointed when a meeting doesn't show up. I do get disappointed - how can I not get disappointed when a person says their ready to meet and I call them the day before to make sure and they say they'll be there, and I have such high hopes for them, and they don't show up lol. I don't let it wear on me, I just have high hopes that these people could be the ones ready to recieve the Gospel at this time. It's like you said Pop, there are people who are ready here- this place is so promising. We just got to find em.We got into contact with a man, Marek is his name, 3 days ago. We had met with him once and he seemed Golden, and after that it seemed like a hopeless effort to get in touch again. I just felt like I should call him Saturday night. I did, and he answered and set up for Easter Sunday. We met and it was great. He is really neat- he doesn't know if he believes it enough to get baptized, but he will pray about it, and we're meeting with him again tomorrow. He smells a tad, and is a bit eccentric. But he deseres the Gospel just like any of us do. I hope the Branch accepts him alright. The Branch here is so strong, and they are all best friends; it can be tough for a new member to break into that circle- it's hard to imagine Branches this small- I don't know if I could have properly, had someone asked me to, pre-mish. It's hard for a new member to gain the trust of all of these long time, solid and dependable members. I know there's been a few cases of people joining the church for money, and the branch is now aware of people like that- so it just takes a while for a new person to really become part of the group. In a way it's sad- it bums me out that they could maybe not completely accept Marek, but I think they will. I know the Lord will make a way for those who are ready. At one time this week, when E.Brewster went back to Szczecin, and Jones was coming back, I was alone for 6 hours lol. It was crazy. In our mission, because we have the entire country, when people travel for exchanges and other random things, they can travel alone. So I was left companionless for 6 hours. It was different for sure, but I made good use of the time- I deep cleaned our apartment lol. It looked so good. I was proud of my work for sure. :P I wrote a couple letters and then picked up E.Jones from the train station. Tomorrow morning I go to Poznan on exchanges. I hear it's one of the most beautiful cities in Poland. I look forward to telling you all about it :)Next e-mail I send will be next Monday. Zone Conference is next Tuesday, in Gdansk. We're having Zone P-day the day before in Gdansk, and so I'll be e-mailing you from there. I love the fact that I didn't travel one smidgen in the first 6 months of my mission and now I've spent so much time on a train I can't even tell you :) O!! President Banks, the former District President, who's wife and kids E.McRae and I worked with in Primary, called this week. There was a dillema when his son was going to get baptize, because he didn't really want to get baptized here in Poland, where he doesn't understand many people and none of his family are here. There was a point where he contemplated getting baptized IF E.McRae and I could come. But this week I got a phone call, saying that The Bank's grandparents are coming up this month, and Joseph, the boy with the pending baptism, decided to get Baptized, but ONLY if McRae and I could be there. President Banks called Pres. Enjbjerg and got the Ok :) So the 26 of April I'm going back down to Warsaw for a baptism lol. Maybe not exactly the kind I hoped I'd be going back to Warsaw for, but it'll be an amazing experience. I feel honored to get to go. They are an amazing family. I hope you get to meet them someday. EASTER! I almost forgot easter. How could I lol. I think it's because, Easter here is something else. It's a three-day holiday, starting on Saturday, spanning through Monday. There were some people out on the Streets on Saturday, not many, but a few. On Sunday, it was a ghost town. It was INSANE. Nothing like i've ever experienced before. Every store closed. I mean NO ONE on the street. In the afternoon, people started trickling onto the street, coming to and from the Catholic Churches, carrying their baskets of eggs, to have them blessed by the priest. It's something else lol. Everyone was with their families that day- which was comforting to know. Everyone took the time to actually spend some quality time with the fam. Easter Church was nice. A few really nice talks (i'm really starting to understand almost 99% of everything that is said on the topic of religion). The Elders in teh District got together and we made a Pork Roast, mashed potatoes and I made...probably close to 100 chocolate cookies. A feast to say the least. It was a grand easter- I think the first one I've ever had from home. Crazy. This next week should be a winner for sure :) I have no doubt. Please keep praying for the people of Poland; i Know there are those who are ready. Just gotta keep searching and teaching. :) I love you so much fam. I am so blessed to be born into the family I was- I couldn't be any happier with any group of people ever. You all are the cream of the crop :) True story. Have an amazing week. Remember how much the Lord loves you and knows you. I'll do my best to do the same :) To next week!! so much Love,Starszy Michael Rushton p.s. PLEASE if you get Kory's letters, or if you can, please send those to me. I've been dying to hear how he is doing. I miss him tons.

Torun!!!

Dear Ma, pop, spence, sarah, and annie :)I write to you from Torun today, and I must say, I am quite jealous that you all are at convict lake, and i would love nothing more than to be with you, but my pain is eased a tad by being here in Torun. It's the city an hour away, and there are 2 elders here, and they come into Bydgoszcz every week for church and District meeting and usually P-day. But today we came out here! It's the home town of Copernicus, and the city claims to be the creater of Piernik. Aka, Gingerbread lol. True story- I bought some, it blew my shoes off. Ha :) I hate to say it but I really don't have tons of time at all to write today, but I'll just give you the basic of what's been happening.I pre-apoligize. We're in an internet cafe, and everyone is already done lol. So yes.Torun is amazing. The Wisla, the river that goes through Poland, passes right through the city here and it's beautiful. We went up into this clock tower and looked out over the entire city and it is breath-taking. We are most definitely coming here when you all come up here ( i'm telling you bro and sisters, work your butts off to come up here!). It's been nice just walking around this old city. There are a couple churches here that are close to 800 years old. That is old lol.This week in Bydgoszcz was grand. WE did get to watch a session of Conference, and I loved it. The Sunday morning session, Elder Neilson spoke, and I truly felt, for the first time for some reason, the mantle of the Apostleship upon him. It really hit me. It was something else. Great talk. The entire session was beautiful. I loved Elder Holland's talk about the Atonement of Christ. So powerful and vivid. So personal- it most certianly helped me learn and appreciate the Easter season to an intense level.We found some neat people this week- met with a couple amazingly kind and hopefully promising people, but the highlight meeting was one that took practically the whole day. In Walcz, this boy named Fabian, was found through the interent by a member in Warsaw, and since than, Fabian has read the Book of Mormon, spoke with missionaries, etc. He lives closest to us, and we've talked to him a few times, and just this Friday, we found the chance to meet with him. And the boy is golden as the shining sun. He wants to get baptized immediately, but he's only 17 and a half, his parents are drunks and will never give him permission, but, we're praying hard for him and I ask you, fam to do the same. He is brilliant. He;s so mature for his age, asked the best questions, and we just had a picture perfect meeting, sitting at the side of this lake in Walcz, where he lives, on a bench, talking about the GOspel, answering his questions. He's handed out 5 Books of Mormon to his friends. 5! He's amazing. He'll have a branch going there before we even get there :) Please please pray for him. Church was grand- my first fast and testimony meeting here in Bydgoszcz. I realized that somethings truly are the same world-wide in the Church, no matter the size, as these little children went up to bear their testimony and all said the same thing. It was adorable and really was just a beacon of light and hope for me, to see the future of the Church in Bydgoszcz in these children. Aniela, an older member, fed us that day. She's so funny, I hope you all get to meet her. :)Well fam, you all sound amazing. I wish I could be there with you, and I am in spirit. Sleep in some for me will you :P All is so good here, I truly do love being a missionary. I've had a couple of dreams this last two weeks where I've been home, my mission was over, but it just felt so wierd, I cried so hard both times. I have no doubt similar will be the case when I actually go home. I'm so glad for the time I have left here. I really am :) It's beautiful here in POland. That is so nice that President sent that letter. So kind. I hope to live up to his expectations.I love you family so much. Have a wonderful week and I look forward to writing you next week. next week will be longer lol sorry :) SO much love! Tell the Stratfords and Payne's hello, give em a hug for me. Starszy Michael Rushton :)

The London P-Day and the magnificent Brazilian Man‏

Dearest Fam :) It's so good to be writing you. This one for sure will have to be a bit more brief, considering it's a Thursday lol. And a 100% BEAUTIFUL Thursday at that, full of Sunshine and to be honest, I just feel happier with that sunny sunshine cascading down upon my face. It's brilliant to say the very least :) Thank you for the scriptures, sorry I was so persistent, and I know picking a favorite scripture isn't easy, but I appreciate it ha. You, family, sound amazing, per usual. Thank you so much for the letters. All sounds well in Zion. A treat to hear every single week :) I got a great e-mail from Gram and Grandpa Rushton. That was very kind of them, I sure do love them tons. AND I got Grandma Diane's package yesterday, and everything was in tact and awesome :) Ha sad story that I didn't get it on December 14th, all the clothes are so perfect for Winter ha, but they will be so valuable for winter Round 2. And the socks are still great to wear right now, when it's not too warm. I also got Grandma Diane's card too. So kind, I appreciate it tons Grandma and Grandpa and love you :) It feels so good to be back in Poland, in Bydgoszcz. It wasn't half as strange as you would've thought to get on an airplane 9 months into your mission lol, which I was grateful for. We flew to England on a 7:50 Flight and got there around 11:00. We made it through into London and Elder Hobbs, who was one of the two other elders, had been to London before for a few days and totally knew how to ride the Tube and everything, it was nuts! Ha, so we rode the Tube to South Kensington, where the Hyde Park Chapel is, and entered the chapel, and found the Mission Office. We talked to the office elderrs there, who were really cool, nice guys, and after kind of sitting around for 20 minutes we asked if they needed us to do anything. They asked us if we had any plans. We said, No lol. We thought about exploring a bit maybe. We submitted that maybe we could look around and be come back by 6, cos that's when our P-day ended anyway. They loved the idea, lol so off we went and saw so many amazing things! Again, Hobbs knew how to get everywhere, which was a blessing, cos we got to see so muchmore than we otherwise would have. Big Ben, Parliament Building were first. I could go on about each little thing, but I think I'll just list them lol. Fish and Chips was next- so darn good! I had to take out home funds ma, cos the exchange rate was disgusting from zlots to pounds. Hobbs exchanged 160 zlots and got 24 pounds. Okropny. Horrible. Rubbish. lol. But we saw the Tate Museum of Modern Art, which included several Monet and Picasso paintings and tons of random cool exhibits- I could've spent forever there, lol time permitted 45 minutes ha. We saw the St. Paul's Cathedral (in Mary Poppin's where the lady's feeding the birds, it's on the steps of St. Paul's. It's HUGE), The Shakespeare Globe Theatre, the Harrods mega shopping center place. We ate REAL milk shakes at this American place called the Hop. That was a life changing experience lol. And then in the evening, we contacted the Streets of London in the English language, which was so wierd. But amazing at the same time. I could certainly more perfectly experess myself and that was a major motivator to speak perfect Polish. I'm studying my toosh off. lol. So, this experience here made the day complete ha. We were contacting and I was loving it. It was just so different ha. And I was in London! It was just smashing, I'll tell you :P SO I contact a few people, have a couple conversations, but nothing amazingly special. Than, my life changed, as I contacted this man. He was Brazilian and he said he would gladly talk to me about Jesus. So we talked and I told him about the Book of Mormon, the man had a strong faith in Christ already, and seemed very down to earth. It was so neat. I asked if I could get his number and if the London Missionaries could set up a meeting with him, and he said surely. So i asked him for his name. And he told me, 'My name is Spartacus." And I said, "Spartacus? Spartacus is your name?" And he said "Yes, it's Roman, very old..." and I told him, "O I know. That is one fine name you have my friend." And we exchanged numbers. Spartacus. Brazilian, in London! Ha I really do think he could be promising though. So cool :)We spent the night with the Office Elders in their flat. It was so different hearing about a different mission. They had 12 baptisms last weekdend. They average 250 baptisms a year. We have 250 active members in Poland. So different lol. It was way neat though and way eye opening. Gave me good perspective on my own mission, gave me some new aspirations and such. Their mission is much more strict then ours on some basic things such as music, they have to have a part in their hair and whatnot. It's so funny- when the district leaders called in last night everyone was asking what their mission was like and I told them,"They all have to have parts in their hair." "WHAT??? NO WAY! That would be terrible lol." It's way funny ha. I Met the London Mission Mission President, President Foulgers. He was a very very kind man and obviously led his mission with love, It was great to talk to him for a second. The we flew back yesterday morning and to be completely honest, It felt so good to say "Dzien Dobry" to the Polish flight attendant as we got back on. I love this place so much lol. More than I maybe even realized. It's beautiful to me in so many ways- I particularly love being back in Bydgoszcz. I already love this place and with the sun shining out the window, seeing all these people walking around, it makes me excited to get out there and preach me so Gospel :)This last week seems like light years ago, but I'll relate the two major major highlights of the week. We had District Leader Training this week, where all the District leaders from Szczecin, Gdansk, Bydgoszcz and Poznan all came to our house the on Thursday night. We ate Manekin (the life changing Nalesniki place) and had a testimony meeting. The next morning we had the meeting where we did the "Training" which involved going through basically all we had been taught at our Zone Leader Training, but on a District leader level. It's interesting, cos everyone's so much older than me, the youngest District Leader is Elder McRae's age in the mission (four months older than me) and the other three are all going home in the next 4 months. So yah lol. It's difficult to really train for me when I've never done the District Leader bit, and probably hard to recieve training from someone so much younger then them, so at the start I just let them know, that they most certainly know how to do this better than I do, and they are welcome to but in any comments they felt were necessary, and then we started. I shared all I had observed and all I felt was necessary, and there was tons that I learned from ZL training to send along, and in the end, everyone commented, made amazing additions to the meeting and it was a major success. Everyone caught their trains before noon, and yah, it was way great :)The second highlight comes from a great miracle the Lord laid in front of us. We were contacting one evening and decided to take some streets we never had before, for some reason, Elder Jones thought we should turn down another street, for no real reason. And then on this street, I looked over at this apartment building that was very pretty, and we decided to tract it. The first lady we rang to wasn't interested, but let us in to the building. The first real door we knocked on opened up, and this man let us right in with a smile. He had a HUGE apartment, with a library surrounding the sides of his main living room and we sat down and conversated. He was interested in religion and we gave him a Book of Mormon, he was amazed with us and that we have such faith. He is a teacher and wants us to come speak to his entire class and introduce our religiona nd what we're doing here. It may not be for a couple of months, but this opporunity is amazing!!! He told us that we were maybe angles for him that day. Someone very close to his Wife had died that day and he himself needed some comfort, and I guess we were just that. The Lord is there for us, no doubt. No doubt at all :)We went on Exchanges with the APs today which was sweet! It was great to work with E.Whipple again. I love that man. So wise. We had some ridiculously amazing conversations and in a mere 2 hours we had found and set up with 3 new promising people. E.Jones met with one of them yesterday and said he is solid. SCORE! I also drove back to Warsaw with them for my flight to London, 4 hour road trip from Bydgoszcz, that was fun :)I made the AP's chocolate chip cookie's too, DELISH. Thank you mama :) ha. I really should wrap it up, but just know how much I love you and I love this work. You're so right pop. It is a complete WIN/WIN situation. I see that daily. It's one beautiful work. All is so good here :) I can't believe it's already APRIL. Unreal. Spring is here, your so right ma. It truly is a thing to be celebrated. I've never been so effected by the seasons before, even in college I was inside so much. Here, you really feel it lol. Have one smashing, jolly, brilliant, non-rubbish week my family and smile a bit for me. I can feel it, even over here. :) I love you, and the Lord loves you more than you can even imagine. Always remember to pray, even when your too tired, or don't feel like it. And read the SCRIPS! 3 Nephi 11,12, and 13 rocked my socks this morning. Some serious power there, I'll tell you :) so much love. tak duzo milosc :)Starszy Michael Rushton Jr.