Pure Craziness

Hallo hallo Fam :) Y'all sound like you had the craziest week ever. It made me tired reading about it. lol. Wowza so many things I wish I could have seen! But I'm so glad they all went so well. I can't find the attachment for Spencer's song, but I would really love to hear that. So cool that Christine and Monica stopped by- I really am a dirtbag when it comes to writing letters- I only have p-day to write them, and it is, sincerely, close to impossible. But I'm working on resolving this, cos I worry my friends think I simply don't care. Which is quite false! Ok.The pics fromt he concert were amazing as well. You look so hardcore Spencey lol. I love it. I eat way too many paczki and cake to get that jaw line going. :P That's sad that Rashmi and the fam are leaving, that was so nice of them to send me the tie. It's strange. Things are changing at home. And Kellen is gone on leaving to the MTC. I would like his mission address- if you have that that would be great :)This week was, like unto yours, jammed to the limit, I am quite glad to say. It's never a bad thing to be busy as can be, and on more than a few occassions, I thought to myself "There is simply not enough time!" I'll write the highlights, the people, and a story or two.Jurek is a large less-active man, I'm sure I wrote about once or twice, but he's read the Book of Mormon 12 times, but hasn't been to church for a good while. He is kind as can be, and I think he likes me. This week we went back to his house- his teaching record talked about his Wife, and in it she seemed amazingly on top of life. So when we went to meet with Jurek, we taught him, and as we left, we made it a point to meet his wife, Maryla. She is amazing- was offended by a missionary long ago and from that never joined the church, but she loves the Gospel. We're trying to work hard with her- I made cookies this week for investigators, and we popped in and gave her some. American cookies are a major hit here lol. I went to Poznan on exchanges this week with E.Morgan. It was a way good exchange- we met a man who right from the beginning started talking in English, cos he's an english teacher. We set up for later that night, and miracle of all miracles- the man showed up. We taught him a lesson and his true curiousity came out and it was amazing! I felt like I was bold as can be and we taught him with power. We finished the meeting and I felt like the man has AMAZING potential. So normal. So logical, but so open to believe. Train rides are no longer as exciting as they once were lol- but they still rock. We had interviews this week with President. lol we just had them, I swear, 5 days ago lol. But they were way good. President is very very kind to me. He said he knew that E.Hughes and I had to be together, and frankly, he was very right- I feel like all transfers are done by inspiration, but in this case I really see how I needed it.E. Hughes is from Orem, Utah- he lived in Germany for a year to study in an international highschool and is very much one of those "above and beyond" achievement students. Very motivated and it's amazing. I love it so much lol. I love when I feel I am being pushed and I feel like that everyday now- not that he necessarily is on my back to do better etc.- but that I have to rise to that level, to be a better teacher, speaker, etc. It's just like when I was first with E. McRae- he treated me like I was right there with him, on his same level, and I grow so much because of it. Same situation here- E.Hughes is an amazing teacher, very clear and very organized in thought and action. So much to learn :) He's tall (couple inches over me) and skinny (very) and cooks me tons of meals. I'll no doubt tell more about him through the weeks, but in a nut shell, the kid rocks, and it's a blessing to be with him.SYL-ing is intense, but amazing. I've spoken Polish every moment I've been outside my apartment for the entire last week, and I struggle to find phrases to properly express myself as I write this now lol. Fabian is officially getting baptized on Saturday, at 14:30 at a swimming pool here in Bydgoszcz. We wanted to find a river, but it's getting sunny out here, and the only way to have a baptism on a saturday at a river is if there are people running around in bathing suits and bikini's. Might not invite the spirit :P We somewhat fought...ok we straight up verbally brawled with the Branch President about having it in Warsaw, cos of several several reasons and in the end everything worked out, in peace. Fabian came to church this last sunday and everyone was so excited when his baptism was announced. They haven't seen a new potential priesthood holder in this branch in a few years. I am so excited for him :) I will be singing at the baptism. He asked me if I could give him the Aaronic Priesthood when it's time. I don't know how that works, but I was flatterd- Fabian and I have grown close throught me teaching him. I particularly excited about his baptism, cos I know how ready he is and how serious he is about the Gospel. He so badly wants to serve a mission, to help the church grow here. He'll be a beacon of light to so many here. We're going to out to meet his mother and father next week, and try to work with them.This morning was an SO brilliant too! I called Gregorsz (the man with the Library) to invite him to the Baptism. He said, before I could invite him, that he would love to have us speak to his class this Tuesday at 8 in the morning for an hour and 15 minutes. This morning, we met at his house, he drove us to the university, and we taught a small class of 18 students about the Restoration of the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. Every single student wanted a Book of Mormon, and I was so satisfied with the opportunity. It was amazing- E.Hughes and I really could show them that we were normal people, and were really able to teach a solid lesson. So amazing. A major blessing in the least. :) I'm running out of time, and there is so much more to share. Just yesterday we had two amazing meetings, one with a 22 year old girl Natalia, who showed such desire to find out if this is true. The other to a man Mariusz who last meeting was convinced that we are nothing more than Guinea pigs to God, but now has a sincere desire to find out if there is in fact something more. It's amazing- I feel like I'm seeing blessing after blessing here and it is just an amazing thing.Last night, talking to E.Hughes, we talked about the Gospel, and what experiences we wanted to share with these students. I really wanted more than anything to express the true happiness the Gospel brings, the true peace and joy that comes into your life when you do what is right for the right reasons. When you read and pray and help others, when you obey his commandments, you just feel good inside- not good like you ate a good meal, but good like the Spirit of God is with you and you know that your Father in Heaven is happy because you are trying your best. The Gospel brings happiness. That is what I've been telling a lot of people this week on the street. It brings me true, sincere, lasting happiness that can bring families to love eachother with the knowledge they can be together forever. I can express my gratitude for that. :) I love you fam. I love this work and know it's true. The Gospel is an amazing thing and it is more than just a privlege to be here :) I hope you have one amazing week and I can't wait to hear from you next week. Read, pray, enjoy eachother :) Starszy Michael Rushton p.s. Ma- could you just send a little note to Jimmy, Jake and Kory, Angie, Christine and Monica and Tayla and let em know that I'm sorry i havne't written and I'll do my best to get to them and that I love em. Love you mama, pop, spence, sarah and annie. You guys are too cool for writing me every week. You don't even understand how much I appreciate it :) Milosc!!!(love)

Blessings. Pure Blessings

Dearest Fam :)Happy Birthday Momma :) I send you a humongous virtual hug, and wish I could be there to help you blow out all those candles ;) Just kidding lol I do wish I could be there with you mama, I wish you the happiest Birthday in the world. Treat yourself ha :) Thank you so much for the e-mail, I loved it so much. Life seems to be going to well down there, which makes me rejoice.Papa, I loved your letter so much too- mom, pop really, really loves you. I loved reading every word of that story. It was amazing. You are such a good story teller pop- I think that's why I love reading, and telling and hearing stories so much. It's an art, and you my father are an artist. I love every word you both write.Spence and Sarah, I wish I could be there for the Variety Show/ Football action. I would give some serious bank just to drive you all around to everything lol. PLEASE tape the variety show, I would really love to see it sometime. And send me the song kiddo :) I was telling E.Hughes today about you - Spence, Sarah and Annie- today over a Nalesniki and how awesome you all are. It's a very true fact that my siblings rock the casbah. Annie, you goal scoring machine! I so look forward to playing soccer with you :) We will be the coolest soccer/music playing family this side of the Mississippi :PI really do wish you the happiest B-day mama. And you too Pop in a couple of days. Have such a good day!And that is amazing about the Missionary opportunity. So amazing. Those are the people that are ready for the Gospel. One of the hardest things here is that people know everything is not how it should be in the Catholic Church here, but no one is willing to try to find the fullness of truth.But to be frankly honest I cannot complain this week, because, my family, I have seen some miraculous things the last couple of days. And I am truly grateful to be out here in Poland, in Bydgoszcz, with Elder Hughes.Firstly, Elder Hughes is my hero. I was crazy intimidated when he first came in cos he is a "hardcore missionary", meaning he's basically just trying his very best to be the Lord's Missionary. He SYL's (speak your language- you speak whenever you are outside), he plans superbly for lessons, and knows so many scriptures it's amazing, and has the Gospel down. He is motivated, and dilligent, and at the same time the most normal guy in the world- he's anything but normal in terms of work ethic and fire for the work, but he is normal in terms of outgoing, kind, easy to talk to and crazy fun to be around. i already know, is going to be miraculous.First of all- Fabian, the amazing investigator who lives far away and who we teach on the bench, couldn't get baptized because he didn't have permission from his parents. He was even to afraid to ask for permission. But this last week, on Friday, he called and I talked to him. He said he's really thinking about talking to his mother about getting baptized. E.Hughes and I decided to take a trip out there on Saturday to teach him so that, if it worked out, he could get baptized. As we left out to teach him on Saturday, he called and asked if he could come back with us to Bydgoszcz to go to church- which was amazing, because he had never been before. After a long turn of events the Lord showed us an amazing tender mercy and he stayed at a members house Saturday night, came to church the next day and had an amazing experience there. The members were amazing to him, he loved it. He was sad to say goodbye to us and go back to Walcz. Before he left, he said to plan on him getting baptized for the 30 of May. We said ok, and said we would pray for all to go well as he talks to his mother.Yesterday, we got a text from Fabian at around noon saying " There will be a baptism in Two weeks!! You can start planning for it!" E.Hughes and I jumped up and down with excitement and couldn't beleive it. We called him that night and he will get baptized in Warsaw by the first member he ever met who has really fellowshipped him- Marcin Kulinicz. It's hard to explain to you all why it's in Warsaw, but because Zone Conference is that same week, we will be down there, and he will already be down there. He wants me to speak at his Baptism. We are ecstatic for the boy. E.Hughes made the comment "I wish all my investigators would ask me 'So when can I go to the temple?'" :P He is as golden as they come. :)Yesterday, we had three meetings planned and had a couple hours of time open for contacting. President has really encouraged us to find families and so we made the goal to find an amazing family. We got re-scheduled on a couple of times, so after one meeting in the morning, we had the rest of the day to contact. We had SO MANY amazing conversations I can't even explain. In a park, we talked to a nice couple pushing a stroller- they have 6 young children, cute as could be- 6! In poland!!!- and they gave us their Number, so we could call and set up sometime. 6 children!!!! We were so happy at that prospect. They are religious people who have a testimony of God and prayer already, and we are just excited.That night, we decided to tract for a half hour. We made it through the half hour with out much success, and it was getting pretty late to still tract. For some reason, i said "Just three more doors" and E.Hughes was down. So we did three more doors. 1st door, nothing. 2nd door, a lady opened up and cursed at us, and shut the door. Right about then I was thinking, maybe we should've just stuck with the plan...lol. But the third door was there. And we knocked. And a little 4 year old boy answered. He saw us and called for his "Tata", who came to the door. We talked for a second with this man, and then he invited us in. We taught about Family Home Evening, and the Book of Mormon, and asked if we could come back and teach Him, his wife and his two children. He agreed, we're going back tomorrow night :) We couldnt' believe the amazing people the Lord gave us to potentially teach and what kind of amazing things could come from it. This all happened in one day! Yesterday. We got in the house and thanked the Lord for everything he gave us. It was amazing as could be. One of the best days of my entire mission, by far. :)This is going to be one solid transfer, that is for sure :) I am so grateful to be with E.Hughes. He has that desire, and he's pushing me to grow and learn even more. It's amazing. It's just a testimony to me how when you have the right attitude, and you know why your working, you can do it all day. So happy :) I do feel inadequate in terms of teaching compared to him, but I know I'll grow. He's got a solid half a year on me. I hope I can grow to his level.I know this e-mail is already way...i don;'t know...energy packed and has probably an intense feel of over-excitement, but I really am just feeling blessed lol. It's good stuff ha.We have good ideas to motivate the Zone and become an all-intense super North-West Zone. Our Zone is pretty ridiculous in terms of missionary power. Szczecin in particular is just jam-packed with absurdly talented and amazing missionaries. Good stuff will go on lol. Wooo lol. Slowing down ha. It was sad to see E.Jones go. He is a good guy. I called him and told him about Fabian, and he was way excited, which is so good :) Our new district here is looking way good- and we're excited.O! One more good little experience was meeting with this man named Woldymor. It sounds almost exactly like Voldemort lol. Which is funny :P But we met with him and he said he knows the Book of Mormon is true and he believes this church is true, but if he joins, his wife will dis-own him. The man is 62 years old, and it makes me so sad to hear that his wife would be so harsh to say something like that. We told him that the Lord will provide a way, and asked him to say the closing prayer of the meeting. As he prayed he said "Lord, I don't know what to do. You tell me what I have to do, and i will do it." It touched me as he spoke those words. That's one treat to hearing people pray who don't pray out loud that often- they pray like they should; they are literally talking right to God, like he's right there in front of them, with such familiarity and humility it just touches me. I pray all works out with Woldymar. Fam, I love you so much. It's the greatest blessing to be out here and I look forward to writing you next week. Please pray that all works out with these families and with Fabian and Woldymar. I know the Lord can make a way for them.Have an amazing with with Variety Show and everything, It'll be so rockin- send me that clip spence when you have th time. I would love to hear the song. ( and what song is the "Lend me your voice brother" ? lol...i feel retarded I don't know lol). Enjoy Murrieta, and enjoy eachother. We really are so darn blessed :) Love you fam. I'll be thinking of you :)- much love form the red-head missionaryStarszy Michael :) p.s. Christine sent me an e-mail and said that Kelsey is engaged! First one of the friends lol. CRRRAZY. :P

A New Chapter in the Mish :) May 12, 2009

Dearest Fam- It was indescribably amazing to talk to you. Just to hear your voices and hear how your doing. I feel the exact same way that you were saying ma, and pa, and what Spence said. I feel like we do have amazing communcation- I feel well connected to the family and informed, and I love it. I always print out the letters...I think I'm the only one who does it lol. But I love to read them mid-week when I have a minute or two before studies. They always bring a smile to my face, and give me a boost to go hard, to give it my best, and give it what I can, while I'm out here. It's a blessing beyond comprehension that I have you fam, to support me. To give me these letters every week, filled with smiles and love. It sounds cheesy, but it's true- I can feel them when I read. It means so much. :) It's also a good remimder that The Lord blessed me so much- he no doubt expects just as much in return. You all sound brilliant. I loved your song so much Annie. You keep on writing music eh? We can play in a band when your in high school ;) I love hearing about your love for soccer and for music and life. Your amazing my red headed sister :) Sarah, I loved hearing your WAAAAY too grown up voice. :P You are so yourself, it makes me so happy. I'm proud of you sis :) You are going to rock that song! I wish i could help you as well. But you will do great. Just sing it like you mean it and it'll be great. :) Spencer kid, you can't talk to me on the phone any more- just hearing your voice made me cry ;) I love you so much brother. You know I'm so proud of you. Just stick it out when it gets tough, we will be at BYU together :) Ma, thank you for the mini PMG's. That will be great! They are a coveted item here in the mish. I'll make good use out of it. And an english one isn't necessary lol. It'll be good for me to just do everything in Polish. :) Thank you again so much :)Well Family- after the Phone call, I pulled it together real quick, surprisingly so lol, and we went to this meeting. The girl Aleksandra, who I talked with on the Train to Poznan, was there and we had a way good meeting. E.Jones her and I walked around Centrum, to the Church, showed her the building, taught about the Church, she showed us where she went to high school, and we gave her a Book of Mormon. It was way amazing- cos Jones was convinced that it was going to be a Date thing. Cos that happens sometimes on accident. But it totally wasn't- when I gave her the Book of Mormon, she said thank you so much. I pray she reads it- she would be an amazing member of the church. On the bus ride home, Jones said " She is SOOO Cool! So cool!" Ha it was a success. We'll see what happens :)I got a couple of other good stories, but before them, Transfer news is officially out. It was hilarious, because President usually calls Leadership on Sunday night to inform them of new positions and whatnot, so by P-day people already know everything, but because of Mothers day, President didn't call at all. So last night, people were freaking out, cos no one knew anything at all. Nothing. It was hilarious. President decided to make the calls last night though, and soon enough we figured out what would happen. I will be for sure staying here in Bydgoszcz (haha you guys did a good job guessing, I was impressed ;)) but with a new companion. His name is Elder Hughes- he's a year and 4 months in the country (same group as E.Jones), and has a reputation of being a hard-worker, very obedient and is a very good speaker. We are going to see some amazing things :) I know I will learn a lot and I just know the Lord will bless us. Bydgoszcz will be on fire baby. :) E.Jones is going to South Warsaw ZL with Elder Lehnig, who was just with E.McRae. I am ridiculously jealous of one thing though- E.McRae and E.Antczak are TOGETHER as ZL's in Katowice. Which is ridiculous. haha. Two of my very Favorite missionaries together. In the Deep South lol. I'm way excited for them :) So E.Jones and I met with Marek, with the Baptismal date. He was supposed to get baptized this upcoming Saturday, but he was not quite ready. So we met yesterday, had a very straight forward and good meeting- we went over the Baptismal Interview Questions with him, and he decided that he will for sure get baptized on the 6th of June, with the other man with a Baptismal date, Zbyszek. It'll be a great day :)One of the most interesting experiences of my Mission thus far was meeting with a deaf man, named Irek. He's 22 years old, and has been deaf since birth. He speaks Polish Sign language, and during our meeting, we wrote back and forth on paper. It was intense lol- I had to think really fast in Polish- luckily Jones did most of the writing, but it was way good :) He's a member already- was taught by E.Guinn, but he's less-active. So we're trying to help him out. He's a good kid- just struggles with being deaf I believe. I can't fathom the struggles of being Deaf. He loves the scriptures and the Liahona and has a testimony. It'll be good to work with him.I went on exchanges with E.Whipple on Friday. E.Whipple, with E.Meacham die in two days. On Thursday, the boys are going home. I can't even believe that. I love those guys so much. They both have been a major part of my mission- E.Meacham one of my close friends, and E.Whipple one of my mission heroes. The man just taught me so much about missionary work and how it should be done- he was all against drama and unneccesary fretting over the little things, but was all about getting THE WORK done and helping these people. People called him Daniel (Whipple) the Baptist cos he Baptized so many people lol, even people he didn't teach. It's kind of funny :) But we had a great day. Drove to Walcz and taught Fabian. The kid is amazing. He should be coming to church this next weekend, which'll be great. He asked us tons of questions about the Temple- he had read some article that just slammed the Temple and it was a crazy conversation, but he come to a solid understanding, that someday he will understand the Temple better lol. He was way sad to say goodbye to E.Whipple, who had talked to Fabian on the phone even while I was in Warsaw. He was comforted, that I would at least be staying lol. :)We met some amazing people this week- I was with E.Loosli (who is barely 2 months in the country) on exchanges when he came down here. We worked WAY hard and it was amazing. Got 5 solid phone numbers- got flaked twice, but it didn't matter. It was a beautiful day for sure :) Got some rain, which we haven't had in a long while. E.Loosli is a good kid- all the newbies are amazing, as far as I can tell. They have that new excited blood pumping through em. They're humble cos Polish is redonk, and their ready to work and learn. It was a pleasure- second time as senior companion on my mish ha. We met with Grzegorz- I told you about him, with the huge library in his house, saw him on the Train, offered to give me a ride, his car wasn't there lol. Well we met with him. It was a great meeting, and he still wants us to come to his class to show them what it means to be involved in something. He knows that the youth lack direction, lack purpose, lack drive, and he is impressed with us. He is so "sympatyczny" - which means likeable, and people say it all the time to describe someone we would describe as "funny" "cool" "easy to be around" - they just say, "sympatyczny". Grzegorz is sympatyczny- so genuine and so learned. I think Grandpa would love to talk with him- there would need to be some translation and I don't know if I could translate such a convo without some serious gift of tounges- but he just pulled out all these books that went along with our conversation. He likes to just talk about religion right now, and doesnt' really want to come to church, but I hope someday he will see how important it is and will accept the Gospel. We'll see eh :)I'm trying my best to get a better Grasp on the basic truths, in terms of finding scriptures and ways of explaining them in such simple terms that NO ONE can mis understand what we're saying. SO many terms that we use have become dilluted and don't mean anything, such as Priesthood, authority, baptism, sacrament- all of these are things that exist already here, but in incomplete ways- and it's not always easy getting these people to understand it. I'm trying my best though and I have no doubt I'll get to pick up something amazing from E.Hughes. The Zone is doing amazing. 2 baptismal dates in Szczecin and Two here. We just need a couple from Poznan and Gdansk, and the whole Zone will be set to baptize. I know we can do it. Well family, I'm excited for another 7 weeks here in Bydgoszcz at least- this transfer is a shorty. It ends the first of July- I know that E. Hughes and I can make the most of it. It'll be AMAZING. Pray for us, for our success, pray for me to have faith, and to speak Polish well lol. I love you so much. I would love to have that DVD of Dad's enrobement and maybe Spencer's band again. It meant so much to be able to hear your voices and chat for a bit. Life really is so good hear. I love being in Poland, in Bydgoszcz. I love writing you letters. Someday we'll reminiscse about the Letter-writing days. :) Have an amazing week. Smile and know that I'm smiling thinking about you all and working in the service of the Lord. Remember how blessed we are, and at the same time how much the Lord expects from us. I think we can appreciate life at it's fullest when we do that. But then again I'm just a 20 year old walking the streets of Bydgoszcz ;) I know this is true. I really do. I love you fam with the fullness of this heart of mine. To next week :) To your birthday ma, and then your's pa- sweetness. Love you :) Starszy Michael Joseph Rushton Jr.

May. Already! Kurcze‏- May 5, 2009

Hallo Fam! I'm glad you loved the letter last week. :) Always makes me smile to see that. I swear, the second I see your e-mails open up it's like nectar. I just take it in, word by word. It means the world that you'all write me every week. I just wrote in my journal last night, "I miss the fam something fierce, but I wouldn't have it any other way right now. I know this is where I should be." THe mission is truly just flashing away before my eyes. I can't even believe it somedays. It's already May. I swear Christmas was 4 days ago. I get to talk with you all this Sunday. SOO Darn excited! Ok...so I just looked up and saw that y'all have church at 1 PM, so I'm thinking you can call at 8:00 AM your time? It'll be 5:00 PM here :) It'd be perfect! Sweetness I look forward to talking to you all :) Just do it the exact same way as last time, except my number is 665 300 846. I can't remember exactly how you did it last time, but I'm sure you do. You can try it Saturday night your time at around 10- 10-30 PM to make sure it works and to tell me if 8:00 is too early for you lol. IT'll be 7ish here in Poland in the Morning, so that would be great :) SO EXCITED! OKKKKK! This week in the Sunny Land of Poland was a good one- a tad slow, but good. I'll be honest, I feel like this transfer has been one of the more difficult ones in terms of finding promising people and having good lessons. We've been in a little bit of a drought- but this last week and the arising week have given me some solid rays of hope for sure. This is the last full week of the Transfer. Already 2 months in the town that you call B. I love that ha. I think I'll be staying here for sure for at least another 2 months, which I am more than happy about. I feel like this place is for me. The members are amazing here- the most genuine and so darn dedicated. There have been a lot of crazy people baptized here in Poland, which only brings burdens, often, to the Branches they belong to. But in Bydgoszcz, they really have the cream of the Crop, which is necessary. We need the help here as Missionaries. I can't even express what a good solid member can mean to a missionary.There is this member here. Here name is Ewa. She is the bee's knees because she is young, cool, and gladly helps out with missionary work. She isn't one to hit on the missionaries or anything like that (which is a common case)- she's there to talk and support and be our friends and whatnot, but right there to help with missionary work. It's a blessing in deed. There are tons of Older members like her who are ready and willing and they make this Branch amazing. I honestly think it is the most fluidly run Branch without any help from the Missionaries or Americans. This week...goodness gracious last week was so darn busy I can hardly remember what happened this last week. Ok...this week. We had interviews on Wednesday- first was District Meeting, and then Interviews later that day. We had a bit of a miracle as E.JOnes and I hit the streets for 40 minutes before President came for Interviews. Jones and I just walked a couple blocks near the chapel talking to everyone and we talked to some brilliant people. This one woman in particular, was so kind. She didn't give us her number, but she works in a shop down the street from the Chapel and said she would love to talk sometime- she's very open to relgion and is searching for truth. I look forward to talking with her again. We, in that time, got 4 numbers, and a new investigator - we've called a few of those numbers since then and they've set up with us for this next week. Definitely good news- I feel like it was more success than Jones and I had seen together period. Interviews were good and short. President didn't tell me Straight that I was staying in Bydgoszcz but he seriously implied that I will still be a Zone Leader and I assume it'll still be here in Bydgoszcz. We'll see :) Elder Clause of the 70 will be coming through the Mission this month and it looks like we'll be having a Zone Leader Traning meeting with him. SOunds intense and like an amazing experience. President took us out for Chinese Food afterward- sadly I had eaten an entire Pizza by myself 2 hours before and by the end of the night, I was sure that I was going to blow. lol. I didn't though. Very kind and giving man to say the least :) (Polish Chinese food is aight...but GOODNESS, PEONY is Gold baby). Thursday was the B-day. A wierd B-day to say the least. I forgot it even was my Birthday til I was in the Shower for 5 minutes, it just dawned on me. I said to myself, "You're 20 years old. You old fart." And that was about it :P It was a good day. We ate Manekin (the amazing Nalesniki place) and did a lot of walking around Bydgoszcz. I'm growing to love this city more and more. It's got a real good feel to it. O! This man Grzegorz set up with us, which is a miracle. He's the man who let us in while tracting! I forgot to tell you this last week- but I saw him on the Train ride home from Warsaw. I didn't recognize him at first, but he smiled and said, "I had you at my house once." I smiled and said "Grzegorz." And we talked. He offered to give me a ride home, and he was going to, but when we got out of the Train Station his Car had been hauled away ha. He was kind of embarrassed - I took a bus home and we said goodbye. I called him Yesterday and he was way excited to set up again. So this Wednesday I'll be over there :)I went on exchanges with E.Adams- he's the District LEader's companion and E.Jones was with the District Leader (E.Schoenrock) so we were together. We had a great day- We walked everywhere, talked to tons of people and had a couple of really good conversations with people. Talked to this one way eccentric lady and her boyfriend- both in their 50's. The lady was trying to figure out if we were Jehova's Witnesses or Catholic, because apparently to her those were the Only religions that existed in Poland. She said... "We pray to God...and you pray to....who?" and her Boyfriend said "There's only one God! Kurde" lol. E. Adam's and I laughed real good lol he just seemed genuinley frustrated ha. :PThis last weekend was a holiday. 3ego Maja. Their Independance day. Flags everywhere. It was neat- I had flashbacks to 4th of July and I remembered when we put the Flag in the front of our house. It means so much more to me now.We met with Marek again- he seems to be taking it in pretty good. I felt way good after this last one- but then he didn't show up to Church. I don't know what to do with the man. I want him to realize the importance of it- not just to get baptized out of pressure or anything else. He's hard to read in General- i think I knows the Book of Mormon is true, but just doesn't have that rock solid conviction. I dunno- still working on it. Keep praying for him :)Well I think I've got to wrap it up- I want to send you a few pictures :) I took the one in my sweatshirt this morning so you could see what I look like ha. Just got a haircut yesterday lol a tender mercy that the Lady used scissors the whole time. ha :PI love you fam. I'm sorry this letter isn't the most exciting, but the next one will be better- a good week is ahead of us here in Bydgoszcz, I know it. The Gospel is true. The scriptures are one of the greatest ways to strengthen your relationship with God. THey have SO MUCH power it is amazing. I love reading them more than I ever thought possible. So much truth. Given, right to us. Sometimes it's hard to see people turn down something that is so obviously true to me. I love being here. It's flying by too fast. I'm not the missionary I need to be yet, but I'm trying my best. I love the people here and it's simply a blessing to be on a mission.Talk to you on Sunday! Have an amazing week :) Starszy Michael J. Rushton Jr.