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. :)