Concentration camps and the Good Word

Dear Family!Yes! Katowice is truly a gold mine for missionary work. It is so so different then any other city I have ever been to, but it most certainly has it's own little charm. This is for sure lol. We live in a building called the "Super Jednostka". The Super Unit. It is HUGE! Just one giant block really close to Centrum, so we hardly ever ever have to take tramwaj's and buses places, which rocks the casbah, I must say. But we live on the 15th floor, outlooking the entire city, and it's just the time of year that every night when we come home, the sun is setting softly over the city, and with the pollutional haze, it just looks stunning, honestly :) I love it man. There used to be about 4 different companionships who lived in this building, but now, it's just us, and the Sisters. Good place though. Nice apartment. How did Lunch go with Sister Brown? I went on exchanges with the boy this last Thursday, and loved it. He and I have practically indentical musical tastes, and he's a super nice and just cool kid. We had some neat conversation and did some good missionary work. We had a meeting with a girl who lives in this city called Żory, an hour outside of Katowice, and she had to meet at 9, so we left way early, with no study to make it out there. She is a character- not because she is wierd, she is as normal and kind as they come. She is super intriguiged with our beliefs, and had chatted with MTC missionaries for a couple months before randomly showing up to Church by herself a couple of weeks ago. Since then, she has read barely any from the Book of MOrmon, but has submersed herself deeply in the deepest and most confusing of doctrine, and since this time felt lost, and several other emotions. She now feels that the church is not true, but as Elder Hughes so wisely pointed out, she has no real idea what she doesn't think is true- just a lot of random doctrine which have no support without the basic truths of the Gospel. SOOOO, we have a lot of work there- she's going to have to soften that heart of hers and read the Book! But we had a great exchange in Sosnowiec- the sister city of Katowice where the DL (Elder Brown) lives. Love that kid. I hope I stay here with him in this district for a while. But let me know how your lunch was! Way interested. :)I saw Elder Burt today and his family (his mom gave me a hug from you. Lol o geeze) at Auschwitz. It is in a city an hour away from here along with Birkenau, Auschwitz II. It was such an experience. So intense. The entire camp has been carefully renovated and you can just feel a small small ounce of what really happened there as your led through the different Blocks where people were kept and experimented on and all of the terrible things that happened there. We will for sure be visiting there when you come- I know you all would want to. Birkenau is a bit differnet then Auschwitz- less renovated and way more intense feeling. Just seeing hut after hut- seeing the facilities, seeing the train tracks, the same train tracks that led car after car of helpless victims that were just unloaded into these conditions that make you shiver. SIster Harth, who is from Germany and I, who would not have stood a chance had I lived in Europe at the time, walked through it and it she made a comment how she couldn;'t believe that everything that happened, was all done in German, it made her sick. She commented how it was amazing though that her and I were now there walking through it together. Definitely something everyone should see. We have been busy as can be lately- we've had some crazy adventures this last week for sure haha. One that you would probably like to here was when Paweł, the one with the high voice led us to this older investigator yesterday. The whole Śląsk is this southern area, with Katowice in the center, with little cities surrounding it, connected by tramwaj and buses. This investigator lived in Chorzów, 30 minutes by tramwaj. So we road there with Paweł, who never stops talking, and has no regard for personal space in the slightest. He just gets right up in your grill and it is actually ridiculously hilarious. ELder Hughes and I were just laughing here and there. But it was good- he has sucha good heart and is such a good member. Just a tad eccentric, but wouldn't have him anyother way. We met with Ania, and her family a couple times, the most memorable being the Sports Saturday event we had for children. There was a Polish woman, Ola, who was joined the church in England and lives there, but came home to visit for the first time since she joined the church. She is kindof really ridiculously intense and when she came for her vacation, she basically dominated primary, and turned sports saturday into an uber-primary activity. It's hard to understand it without seeing her in action...but it's the exact thing that i can see myself taking in, enjoying watching Dad hold back his frustration :P I was geting frustrated. But, it turned out to be ok- we played soccer and Sebastian loved it. He is one amazing Kid and we're really trying to help him love the Gospel. He really hasn't been taught much at all, so he's still at the begnning stages, and really only knows about the do's and don't's which isn't very motivating for a 10 year-old kid who's been pretty exposed to the world already. He is a sweet kid- just a bit too smart and talented for his good. WIth a little balance that the Gospel could give him, and his family in general, he will just be a superstar here, in life and for the Church. Which is exactly what we need. Michał is the cutest little kid. I carried him on my shoulders from the field back to the chapel, and Elder BRown was with me. I started to do the only beat boxing i know how, cos he likes it, and elder brown did the little hand wave thing and said "Ballin!", and then Michał did the same thing "Ballin! Ballin!" o goodness it was so funny :) We have some amazing investigators who just need to be asked to be baptized! I didn't get to meet with a couple of them, because I had to go to Warsaw for the last time to finish some legal work (finally got it mostly under control, I owe the Office ELders my life for helping me so much) but I will get to meet one, Ryszard today, who apparently is amazing. Aga, is the other- a younger music-scene girl who is already friends with Martyna, one of the recent converts.Martyna and Natalia- 2 recent converts who are coooool as can be! Kingdom builders all the way. THey are so willing to help and are the kind of people we need helping. They have sincere and kind testimonies and are just amazing. We feel so lucky to have them here in Katowice. ANdrzej Pappelbaum did not get baptized yet, but will be as soon as he gets his mieszkanie (aparment) problems worked out. I admit, I was worried a tad when I left, but he has been to church the past two weeks, and amazingly enough, he won some sort of free trip to the Czech republic! Ha. It's the best. He is doing well though. Which makes me so happy. I really have seen the Gospel work miracles in his life. It's been one of the best experiences. Because I don't know many of my investigators quite yet, I just want to comment on a few members- first the Branch President is the man. So kind, is so on top of the ball. Men like him are the future of Poland. We need more men to take his spot, who can take his spot. That's who we need to find these days. There's the District President- President Pawlik, who is probably 30 years old at the most- his wife is from California. Their children are so well behaved and amazingly brilliant and they speak 100% fluently POlish and ENglish. THe oldest is 10 years old! THere is an 8 year old one and they are just ridiculous! So cool though :)Well I've got to wrap this up. I'll have more concrete stuff about my investigators and such next week. We're bound to see some success soon here. As we work hard, the Lord provides the rest. Elder Hughes is still the man. He is so good for me lol. Keeps me trying harder and harder. I loved your letters so much. I love you all so much and I know you know that. You mean the world to me. How blessed we are to have the knowledge of this Gospel, the knowledge of the Atonement and of God's plan for us. I will always treasure that in a different way since being out here. I've been reading Grandpa's book again for some of study. I just love it. It makes me feel like i'm sitting there talking there to him. Thakn you for the awesome Polish letter Grandpa :)Ok really got to go! Love! Til next week! If you have any questions, want to know about somehting in particular let me konw. THe weather here is nice, not too hot, and becaus we live so high it always feels beautiful~!TO next week my amazing family. Seriously. You are the best :)Starszy MIchael Joseph Rushton Jr.