The First Capital and a Sweet Sunday

Dearest Fam, I again start my weekly epistle to you all :) A day shorter this time, but possibly even more to write about then last week. lol we'll see.The Fourth of July must have been amazing down there. I certainly did miss the fireworks, the good American grill food and the friends and fam more than anything. We didn't do much here, sadly, at all. It's kind of funny that half the Polish people probably didn't even know it was an American Holiday. One of our Investigators did, and he felt quite knowledgable ha. We did have some minor celebrating though! It was American Food week at this grocery store called Lidl, and a less-active bought us these amazing cookes and muffin mixes. It was 100% legit. Crunchy "brownie cookies" - just like Chips Ahoy. We did enjoy those lol. We also ate Burger King in the local mall here to celebrate our American Heritage. Kind of pathetic now that I write it down...but hey, it was something :P We also listened to the Star-Spangled Banner and some other amazing American songs. And we relished in the fact that we are Americans lol. Being in Poland, talking to people all day, having them ask you if your from England or the States because of our painfully not-polish accents and proudly answering the States makes me proud of my country all the time :) Major occupation-bonus. ha. I did though, miss the Stratford, pool-party, grill combo. I think I'll miss 3 4th's of July on my mission. The next time I miss it though, I'll be home a couple weeks later! Crazy! It's been the first week with our whole new district and it's been amazing. I love these guys- it's different only having a four-man district. It's tighter- only four people in an entire city. It's kind of amazing. I feel like we're special troops here- the 4 muskateers, preaching the Gospel with courage and boldness, bringing truth to all! :P But honestly, it does have a good feel. We are officially an old district. Elder Rasmussen (who was in my very very first district back in Warsaw) is the Oldest. He's 8 months older then me. Doesnt' have a lot of time left. Elder Beaty and I are the youngest...at the end of this Transfer, we'll have a year in the country, offically an older missionary. WE got lots of work to do so, it's a good thing we're all old, and can all "Speak POlish" aka, communicate and teach people lol. The mission is shrinking pop. HUGE groups of missionaries...15, 10, 13, and like numbered groups are going home...and only 3 or 1 or 2 missionaries are coming in to replace them. It's crazy. I think we're going down to 3 Zones next transfer, that's not for sure....but it's the only logical thing I think. RIght now, one of the Zone's, the North Warsaw Zone, only has 12 missionaries. Once upon a time here, there used to 10 missionaries in a district. So, very very small Zone. Just back to the craziness that I am an "old missionary". 4 months ago, I was a young missionary. But now I am old! And I have the responsobility to be an old missionary, to handle investigators, talk about difficult things with investigators, make difficult decisions, things I generally let my senior companion worry about; despite my greatest desires to help, it's scary thinking about how terribly I could mess up a perfectly good investigator if I don't handle a situation well. In all actuality, I don't think the Lord would ever let that really happen...but as a young missionariy in the situation, you are incredibly grateful your senior companion handles that kind of thing. But I'm way grateful for the responsibility now. Elder Harvey and I carry equal weight, but I know all these investigators, I know this area- i kind of have to play the intense senior companion role for a bit here. And it's truly been beautiful this last week.We've seen some solid progress with some investigators, and had a chance to meet some AMAZING new investigators. We both feel the magnitude of the blessings the Lord is giving us and both understand that we have to give it our all for these amazing people. THe branch NEEDS these people, especially in light of the recent troubles with Fabian and Marysia. So we are working hard, and being blessed. One of the neatest experiences I had this week was while teaching this man, Andrzej Pappelbaum, who i've talked about before. He's got Jewish lineage, and really likes me lol. But we met with him, and I KNOW the Lord completely loosened my tounge, but every word that I needed to say, right there. Even things I had never thought about trying to say, he helped me express them in a way that brought the Spirit, and helped him understand the Gospel a little better. Andrzej is really struggling with finding some work- he's 62 and feels like he needs work. But he is an amazing man. One more piece of Background info- we've been meeting with this less-active, the same one that gave us the Brownie cookes. Her name is Janina, and she is older, late 50's. She has an amazing testimony, but was offended, or something a couple of years ago, and has not been to church for two years. It broke my heart, when I finally met her (I had heard about her) because she really does know It's true, and knows the importance of it all. So when Elder Harvey and I met with her, we talked about being offended, and how we don't got to church for people, but for ourselves, and for the Lord. We do it because we know it's right, and what we need. She insisted that she could not come back, that she was not needed there, and that we couldn;t even meet with her, despite how amazingly nice she was to us, because other people need our message and time more then her. We left, insisting on "See you later" instead of Goodbye. I still felt a stinge of sorrow though, feeling I wouldn't see her again.That leads to the most amazin Sunday i've had yet in Bydgoscz, by far. Andrzej promised he'd be in Church and he was. He came and sat down- I had told a couple members he would be there and asked them to greet him. They did, and he felt very welcome. 2 minutes before the meeting started, a random investigator we haven't even talked with for a couple of weeks walks in and sits down, happy as can be. I wasn't complaining ha. 1 minute before church starts, I am sitting at the Piano, which is up by the podium. Janina walks in the door, and sits down. I almost feel out of my chair. We caught eye contact, and she smiled a very big smile. It was priceless for me.All the testimonies were about being grateful for our trials, which is EXACTLY what Andrzej needed to hear. Honestly, I was worried he would thing that I had talked to all the members about him before. It was that perfect.At the end, Janina bore here testimony. It was sweet. I bore mine too. The whole meeting I was in heaven. It was the best. At the end of the block, I came up to Janina, and asked if we could maybe meet this week. She smiled and said, I think so, if you have time. I swear, it was right out of a movie. I think she's back to stay. That night, Andrzej Pappelbaum called us at 10:30, and said he could not sleep without first thanking us for being the means through which the Lord is working to bless his life, to give him peace. He accepted a baptismal date for the 8 of August and insisted that I perform the ordinance. lol we'll see if we can't get a member to do it first, if not, it would be a pleasure. Elder Harvey and I felt immensely blessed. It was the bee's knees, I was happy as could be to call the AP's back and say, you'll have to add another Baptismal date on that list. :)That was the highlight for sure. Today was an amazing P-day. Tomek Mazurek (the one Spencer is frineds with on facebook) drove us out to this sweet old fort village where ancient civilations lived. It was amazing. We then visited the very first capital of Poland, Gniezw. Again, truly amazing. We helped Tomek move a bunch of stuff yesterday, and tomorrow we're eating at their house. Karolina (who speaks fluent...ridiculously fluent English) is an amazing cook, so we're stoked. Tomek and I had a great conversation too on the way home about life in general. He's a way way good guy, and I'm glad I can get to know him. Him and Uncle John served in Afghanistan at the same time. Well, I've got to wrap this bad boy up and send it off. It's been an amazing week, and this next one will only be better. You all sound amazing per usual. I love you so much, and am sorry I didn't get to write you guys a little personal part today, next week I promise :) I am going to Ukraine this week to work out the rest of the legal junk. Lol, I'm taking a 7 hour train from here to Lublin and from there driving with the Office Elders to Ukraine. You are so right about the train being more exciting back in the beginning. BUt it is by far the way to go in terms of travel here in Poland. The scenery is unbeatable. For the package ma...maybe this face wash St.Ives Apricot stuff. Got it at the MTC and it was legit. Felt like sand, but it was so nice at the end of the day. And now that it is HOTTER THAN HADES here, it would be nice to have. :) I love you so much Family and miss you tons, but Sincerely...maybe the most sincerely I've ever said it, know that this is where I need to be. That the Lord has work for me to do here right now, and I still have tons of growing to do. Have an amazing week, I love you and think about you every day. And pray for you too. I know this work is of God. It is the way to Happiness, and I love it. :)much love - duzo miloscStarszy Michael Rushton Jr. :)