Closing Torun and the Billabong

Family of mine! Woo! Thank you for the letters so much :) I loved what you were saying Pop about Murrieta not changing that much- how it felt like you all had never said bye to Kevin. That is unreal that he is home already! It blows my mind! It's so funny...these days when i write "Murrieta" it sometimes feels like "Hogwarts" or "Neverland". A place that seems so far away and sometimes even imaginary, but ever so close to my heart. It's kind of surreal to think that you will read this letter from a computer in Murrieta. That right now you all are sleeping and i'm sitting in a library in Europe, overlooking the city square watching people feast on the Gelato and set up the benches for the concert that will happen tonight. I wish you all could see this place right now ha - and I know you all will, in a little over a year from tomorrow. Twill be beautiful, eh :) Elder Hughes, who went to high school in Germany for a year, said the same thing, about being shocked about the commodities we take for granted in the States. And that was after living in Germany! I can only imagine what Kevin's feeling lol. So neat :) Tell him I said Hello and give him a hug for me. Sounds like it's all calmed down a bit there, which is nice and sad at the same time. It must've been so neat to have the cousins there with Grandma. Goodness :) Miss em all tons. So glad you had that time thought, sounds priceless :) I love all your insights mother and love hearing about church :) SO crazy to me. This week has been an intense, very different, but good week. I swear it's been 2 weeks since I've written lol I've traveled an incredible amount this week, mostly because of the fact that Torun, the beautiful city an hour away where two of the 6 elders in our Bydgoszcz distrcit worked, is now closed, and I had the "pleasure" of cleaning the apartment out with Elder Deuel. Being with Elder Deuel was a pleasure. He grew up in LA and is a convert of a couple years. He completely turned his life around to become a member and come on a mission. We had some real good conversation, did lots of cleaning ( I swear that bathroom has never been cleaned for the last year and half that place was open...tackled that bad boy by myself. Victory) and carried his OGROMNY (GINORMOUS) amount of luggage back to Bydgoszcz. We went 3 or four times between Bydgoszcz and Torun. It was good though :) I'm learning to adore train rides. The Standard of Excellence dinner was this last Monday, so I took a train down to Warsaw where Elder Hughes and Lehinig (amazing German elder who went with Elder McRae when i came here) picked me up. We taught a couple of lessons- one to a man named Bogdan, who was very insightful about the Bible and Book of Mormon, and the other lesson was with a Family, we did FHE with them! It rocked! Elder Hughes will be teaching both of those people now. After this,we went to Presidents for the dinner. We got there right as President did and had a good evening together. It was so good seeing Elder McRae lol. In the mission it's sometimes hard to completely get to know someone, or really connect with them, especially for me who has only served in two cities...and I'm often excited to see other Elders but with McRae it's like seeing my brother, way relaxed, don't have to prove anything or live up to any expectation. It's way nice. So we had some good chattin. We met the new Senior Couples who are AMAZING. There's the Irelands, from Australia (good stuff eh? Put another shrimp on the barbie!) They are legit. So funny and remind my of my different sets of Grandparents...maybe Elder Ireland is a bit crazier than any of them ha but it's great. We were in awe as they told us all about the Outback and the killer spiders, snakes and random patches of Rain Forest in the Jungle, which are called Billabongs (Crazy right?!). It was neat. There's a sister from Whales. Sister Powel. She knows Sister Hall, my MEn's Choir director! It was so neat! She has a beautiful accent- Elder Ireland couldn't understand her at all...she kind of sings when she speaks. Thick as Skippy's peanut butter. The Dinner was amazing, we heard the testimony;s of the new senior Missionaries and I loved one sisters missionariy...I've forgotten her name, but she is 60 and barely joined the church 10 years ago and expressed how grateful she is for the church, how it changed her entire life and how before that she had anever had a chance to meet the church. She said "no missionaries ever knocked on my door." No doubt if they did, she would have listened. It hit me because I know there are those people who are ready like she was here in Bydgoszcz. Just got to find em! :) A great night though. President is kind as can be and his testimony is inspiring and I love the man. So nice of him to have us over for doing that which we should be doing already as missionaries. He likes to celebrate the goodness of the Lord and the success of His work. Certainly nothing wrong with that :)The next day was transfer day. I said goodbye to Elder Hughes and got on my train with Elder Harvey, and we had a great 4 hour ride back to Bydgoszcz. I love Elder Harvey already. He's easy going, funny, and really wants to work and do what's right. He's from Iowa and is in the same group as Elder McRae and Elder Henrie (four months older then me) and this is his first time as a Zone Leader. I'm actually the Senior Zone Leader and techincally Senior Companion, but that doesn't really mean anything. Basically I just have to teach him the logistics of being a Zone Leader and we'll be working our best to motivate, inspire and set the example for our Zone. He's been district leader in four different cities for the past 8 months and he was also at the Standard of Excellence dinner. We are going to have a rockin trasnfer, for sure :) The work is going well- we're setting up with all the people Elder Hughes and I found and there are so many willing people it's an amazing blessing. We have some seriously promising investigators who I just briefly mentioned last time. One of the ones that stick out in my brain is Magda, a lady Elder Jones and I met on the street who really didn't have time, but todl us where she worked ( on the same street as the Chapel ) and said we could come back and have a conversation as long as no one was in there. We had popped in a few times before, but she either was not there or it was busy, but 2 weeks ago we popped in and she was so happy to see us! We sat down and taught her a first lesson about the Restoration and gave her a Book of Mormon. She was so sincerely grateful for the Book and was so amazed by the Joseph Smith story it simply made us smile and have built in us an amazing hope for this lady. We don't have her number, but she works so close it's not hard for us to stop by, just can't really make any specific plans lol. So we will do that this week. The first of the Torun trips I made with Elder Hughes who was going to Warsaw- the same train goes through Torun to Warsaw. I got off in Torun, Elder Deuels companioni Elder Kalian got on, and they both went to Warsaw. BUT from Bydgoszcz to Torun, Elder Hughes and I talked to this amazing 18 year old kid named Szymon. He was amazing! Going to Bialystok to play a Billiard's Masters tournament and we were the only ones in the wagon with him. We talked a lot and even quite a bit about religion, and as I had to get off I slighly said to Hughes "get his number!" He said "I KNOW!" with a smile. Turns out he couldn't get his number- they came back to the cabin and it was packed and E. Kalian had tons of luggage, so they were seprated. Hughes was way sad, but sometimes that happens. SOOOO on Sunday night as Elder Deuel and I got back from Torun into Bydgoszcz, We walk down the stairs into the main Station, and guess who I see standing there, as if he's waiting for me? SZYMON! That is who lol. He had just got back minutes before from his Tournament. He said, " Small world eh?" I said I thought it was a sign. I got his number, called Elder Hughes and we rejoiced. The problems with Fabian and Marysia have certainly not gotten better. I think it's coming to the point where I need to let him ponder about it himself. We've tried our best- but it's come to the point where their heart's are so hardened they wouldn't listen if an angel struck them to the Ground. It hurts to say that, but it's insane! I feel like i'm experiencing something far beyond my capacity sometimes, but we're still trying. It's so hard because Fabian really was as golden as I made him out to be. Every missionary who ever met him thinks, despite my nature, i'm playing an off-colored joke when i tell them what happened. We just can pray and fast and let him have is agency and hope the Lord will intercede. The Lord of course will if it's necessary...I hope he will soon. The work really is amazing though, and I am so stoked to be with Elder Harvey. We only have four Missionaries now here in Bydgoszcz. The mission is shrinking real good. I do no have Elder Beaty in my district! He's the Elder I've seen least since we've come here, but I'm so stoked to be around him. He is also hilarious and a very good kid, really really like him too. We're going to rock it here :) I love you all from the bottom of my heart and can't express how grateful I am for this Gospel. It means the world to me and it blows me away sometimes how people won't give the Book of Mormon a chance! Cos when they do they see the truth contained therein. It's no longer a matter of sense, but of truth, of revelation and it can does make sense too. You just have to open your eyes, open the cover, to see it. You all sound amazing. I miss you so much, but would not rather be anywhere else. One year down. Blows me away. It'll go faster then I would like, I know that for sure. And I will see you faster than you can imagine, and it'll be like I never left. So until then, I will grind it out, and come home, tired, and worn, but feeling good :) That's my goal. Love you so much :) To next week, my amazing family. - Starszy Michael J Rushton, Jr. and proud of it all :)