Phew!! I turned 20 just in time for 2020!! ;)/Wesołych Świąt i Szczęśliwego Nowego Roku!! :) (12/30/19)

Cześć!!

Monday was a normal pday. I was able to talk to all of you except Ethan, but I still saw him sleeping haha!! I was introduced to the strangeness of the pufferfish eating a carrot. Oh! And probably best of all, I was able to witness my brother falling off the bed as he tried to smell his toe. 😂😂 Highlight of the day for sure!! In the evening, we had a good English class with Marcin, Anja (Marcin's fiancée), and Marek/James... whatever he wants to call himself haha. Then, for game night, it was like we had a changing of the guard. We had Solomiya, Adam, and Isabel.... who are also fiancees!! (How do you pluralize that??) But yeah, pretty funny! We played signs and Mafia. I was the narrator and I had to make it a Christmas theme, because that's what they wanted. It was pretty funny! And then, we were blessed with a fun ride home from Adam and Isabel!

Tuesday was Christmas Eve!! And it was probably the strangest Christmas Eve of my life. Actually, no... I KNOW it was the strangest. I can confidently say that. XD First, we went to help out at a service with the Elders, to help with Christmas Eve dinner (Wigilia). It felt like I was living in a movie or video game for a bit. We walk in there and there are just old homeless men roaming the halls, laying on beds, and staring at us. (Keep in mind that we don't hate these people, it's just... Sister Aramaki and I were the ONLY girls there.. and it was kinda freaky haha. So we love the people and wanted to serve them, but weren't expecting to walk into all of them right then. So keep that in mind as I tell this story.) Anyway, so after that initial entrance, we tried to find another door where we could find the people in charge. Instead, we just passed 2 old men. First they just stared... then, one said *yelled* directions at us and the other just stared at us from a blue eye and from a completely white eye! (Creepy at the time, but looking back, it's pretty cool!) We walk in the door, and it looks like we just entered a psychiatric hospital or asylum or something. (Probably because this place was SO OLD!! Like, pre-war building.) We finally find the caretaker and he says almost nothing to us.. he takes us into a room and tells us to wait there for 15 minutes. So we wait there while hearing the scuffle of feet and metal dragging on the floor and the all too often rattle of the door handle... I felt like I was in an escape room and was supposed to look for clues haha. Then, the caretaker finally comes, scares us all!!, creaks the door open, and just stares at us without saying anything. We stare back. He stares more and then says, ".....idziemy??" (We going??) And then he took us to the kitchen for us to help. He would give us a small task and then disappear for another 15 minutes or so, leaving us alone with nothing to do. By the end, we had met and talked with another man who volunteers there. He was excited to talk to us. His name is Janusz and he was a very sweet man. So maybe that's why we were there, to visit with this nice man. Later, we left the place and headed to Babcia's. But wow, we all couldn't help but feel like we had survived something big haha. Adventures in the life of a missionary. 

At the creepy service place, just some pictures to give you an idea of the surroundings. (Featuring Elder Frank because he somehow ended up in all of these.)

Legnica Elders Frank and Baer and us at the creepy place on Christmas Eve!!

Well, we spent some time with Babcia, sang carols, talked, ate treats, and we helped her to get on her computer to Skype her daughter who lives in the states. They were so grateful!! 

Everything was closed on Christmas Eve!! Even Żabka!!

Later, we went home and worked on some things and then went to sleep for 2 hours before getting up again to go to Midnight Mass!! I was so excited! I had never been to any mass before (besides a 15 minute Easter mass). So we went with a group of a few members and friends. Doni, Wilbert, Vova, Max, Anna, and Vova's friend Sergei. We went to this big popular cathedral by Most Tumski. And as we walked in, we saw a news camera. We were trying to avoid it and just go inside, but no dice. It was almost as if they directly targeted us haha. We told them we weren't from Poland, hoping that would make them not want to have us on there. But no!! Seemed like they only wanted us more haha. And the reporter spoke a bit of English, so there was no escape. It was kinda fun, but Sister Aramaki felt so awkward. And I was just thinking, well I hope I don't say something dumb, I just woke up an hour ago.  (But I didn't say anything dumb, don't worry.) And our nametags were very visible, so hopefully some people who watched will look us up! ;) 

Pictures from going to Midnight Mass.

Featuring... us on the News for Midnight Mass!! Haha!

But anyway, Midnight Mass was quite the experience. It was very cool. Very interesting. But oh! I really liked the listening to the choir! It was really cool! (It sometimes sounded like the choir at the beginning of Frozen. Like at the coronation.) It was very pretty! And yeah! Then, we went home, made it home at 2:30am, and made it to bed by 3:00am, and had to wake up at 6:30 still. Wow, what a night. Once again.. adventures in the life of a missionary.

Wednesday was Christmas!! Merry Christmas!! Wesołych Świąt!! It was still a "normal" day for us missionaries, but we still did a few fun things. We started out by planning and open the stockings that Sister Aramaki's mom had sent us!! She is so sweet! And then, we did some of our weekly planning. A bit later, we went to visit Babcia again. We had lunch with her and watched this concert on TV. Yup, we watched TV!! XD It was just a bunch of Christmas carols, so we were 100% allowed to watch that. And it was awesome!! I loved it! Also, random thing, but I would get a bunch of random texts and Facebook messages wishing me a Merry Christmas. They were all from people here, who I have met, but a lot of them I don't know super well. So, I thought it was way nice that they would send that! Anyway, then, we went to the chapel and kind of had a sort of Christmas party. Basically, a bunch of us got together and played games while listening to Christmas music. It was super fun! It was the same group as our Midnight Mass group, but we also had Mehdi and Irek come too. We all had a good time together! 

Christmas Day game party.

Then, we came home and finished our studies and FINALLY I could call my family!! It was so fun to talk and watch them open presents.  I opened presents they had sent me, and they opened presents they are going to save for me for when I get home. It really felt like I was just chilling with them on Christmas morning as they opened their presents. Best thing ever, seriously. So so grateful for technology!!

Christmas gifts my siblings gave me.

Gathered around the breakfast table with my family Christmas morning (for them).

Thursday was the 2nd day of Christmas!! Yes! They have 2!! Anyone wanna start that with me in the states..?? ;) Anyway, we didn't do a whole ton. We were able to finish planning our week (yes, I know it's Thursday..  it's been crazy!), we worked on Facebook for the main church page, and we visited Babcia to practice Polish with her for our language study. We also had a meeting with Mehdi over the phone. It's hard because, we're really just not sure what to do with him anymore. He commits to things and says he really wants to know if these things are true. He says he's reading the Book of Mormon and praying about it, but that he isn't getting answers. We basically just had another long talk with him about how he really needs to have a true desire to know and real intent to act on the answer he receives. We know he was feeling the spirit throughout our phone call because often, he would change the subject quickly or just start rambling on about something so that he could distract himself from the feeling. We're really trying to get him to stop running away from feeling the Holy Ghost, but I'm still not quite sure how to do that. We'll keep working with him as long as he keeps reading and things like that. But I'm really trying to get answers from God and from the Spirit to know as to which direction we need to take things with Mehdi.

Friday we were supposed to go to Legnica for District Council... but the train ended up being late, so we had to just Skype in for that. But it was still good!! After that, we were able to do some work on the main Facebook page and such. And.. okay, I'm gonna skip around a bit now. In the evening, we taught our English class. And funny thing: I asked Lucyna what kind of music she liked and she listed a few. She said she like REGGAE!! What?! I did NOT see that coming!! She's this Polish lady, in her early 60's, and she likes Reggae... haha surprising and kinda funny! XD Okay, but before English, we had a meeting with a guy from India named Mayur. He was one of the people we met through a random group on Facebook. He was so kind and so open and interested! He gladly accepted a Book of Mormon and told us he wanted to read the whole thing. He said, "Okay, I will read this in 2 months max." (WHAT?! This guy is AWESOME!!) And he said he would pray about it and see if he feels that it is true. It's really interesting because he said he is Hindu, but he also loves and really believes in Jesus Christ. So it's very interesting. Also, he prayed at the end of the lesson. We were even in a public place and it was the first meeting, but he still did it! I was so impressed! (Lately, it's felt like pulling teeth to get people to pray at the end of lessons, but not even succeeding at that unfortunately.) Oh! And we asked Mayur if he wanted to come to church and he said, "Yeah sure! I can be there, no problem!" He's so awesome!! And oh my goodness, he was just soaking up everything we were telling him and explaining to him. It was so cool to see that. It's good to have a reminder of what teaching a prepared person is like. :)

Saturday morning, we had a meeting with Joanna and Kajtek. And it was pretty clear that they really aren't looking to change religions right now. They have a good relationship with missionaries and the church, but yeah. They know where to contact us if they do want to change. :) We're of course still friends with them and love them, but we just won't be meeting with them anymore. Okay, later we taught English class to Anna and Viki, and their friend... Anna!! Haha popular name! XD And later, we had a meeting with Lucyna. We had her go shopping to get prepped for doing the Stop Smoking Program. We plan on starting that sometime next week. Yay! We also read the Book of Mormon with her and at the end of the lesson, she gave a really sweet prayer. Probably the most genuine I've heard from her, where she just expressed to our Heavenly Father that she wants to quit smoking, but how it's really hard and she needs His help. It was very sweet and real. And I love that.

Sunday.. wow.. Sunday.. that was a bit of a rough day for us at first. I won't go into detail because it's just frustrating. But basically we got accused/blamed for things that we didn't do and we also got told that we need to be doing certain things that the missionaries aren't actually responsible for. And yeah, it was really rough. Basically, sometimes people here think that the missionaries are supposed to do everything here and that's not true. We end up doing a lot of things to help, even when it's not actually our job. But yeah. I guess they're just still learning here and trying to figure out how to make things work. So, anyway, then, right after that we had a meeting with Lucyna. Some other missionaries had told us that she told them that she wanted to get baptized. So we were asking her about it and then she and Agnieszka (from Legnica) totally FREAKED out on us saying how that is NOT what she said and she doesn't want to be baptized. And we were just saying how that's fine if she doesn't want to get baptized, we just wanted to ask, and we didn't know it was bad to ask.... but off they went. And Sister Aramaki and I just broke down after both of those things. And we couldn't hold it together. We just cried and we had to end the meeting quickly. And then we cried more... yeah... rough day. BUT!! Later, we had the BEST MEETING EVER!! (Seriously mission life is just a very exaggerated version of "real life." And the highs are very high, and the lows are very low. Talk about opposition in all things, right??) Anyway, so we met with a man named Asan. He is originally from Pakistan, but is now living in Wrocław. He's been meeting with the missionaries for a while. But holy smokes.. this guy!! You guys!! This guy is PREPARED!! If any of you have watched "The District" or you're lucky enough to be in a mission that actually looks like "the District" in real life, then you know what this guy is like. He is by far the most prepared person I have met on my mission and he will for sure be baptized in the next month or so. Here's just a few of the highlights from our meeting with him: He studies the Book of Mormon and loves it. He really prays to receive answers and guidance. He has a real desire to change and become better and he recognizes the need to change. He asked about all the "perks" of being part of the Church and so we told him (having spirit always, healthy lifestyle, etc.) and he said, "That sounds amazing! That sounds like something I need in my life." He loves meeting with missionaries and always comes out of it feeling more knowledgeable and fulfilled and asked us how much/often we can meet. And when we asked him if he would be baptized, he said, "Yes, definitely! I want to be! I need to be worthy for it though. But then, I will for sure be baptized." AMAZING!! After the meeting, I said the Sister Aramaki, "Um.. I'm watching the District. This isn't real life. I'm literally watching the District. He is AMAZING!!" So, we definitely ended the week on a really high note. :)

Love and miss you all!!

Siostra Shaylin Carroll

I ❤ Wrocław (yup I'm in there somewhere).

Me and Sister Aramaki in front of the sign!

I met my 4th cousin Elder Isaac Edwards!!/Caroling with a true Christmas Carroll!! ;) (12/23/19)

Cześć!!

Monday was pday once again. Basically we just hung out, emailed, grocery shopped, cleaned, and yeah! We had a good English class and the Legnica Elders came. I was able to do the religious thought at the end. We watched the video "He is the Gift" and talked about that and how we can focus on Christ or family more this Christmas season. It was cool! Then, we had a game night. Przemek had brought these fun things he used for his English class that he teaches at school. It was this Christmas word search and crossword, a Christmas quiz, and then 2 songs where you had to listen and fill in the blanks of the lyrics! I remember doing that last one during German class in high school, so it was pretty fun! Okay, we also played Black Magic. Wilbert already knew it, Sister Aramaki figured it out, Solomiya was almost getting it, but the Elders absolutely did not and I'm pretty sure Elder Baer was going a bit crazy. It was hilarious!! So he would try to organize it to see exactly what the signal was or what I did differently. It even came down to where he had me sitting in a chair, closing my eyes, speaking the exact same way as I simply listed objects, not even as a question, and telling me which time to do the chosen object (make it the 4th or 6th or 10th object). One time I even made it so obvious by saying, "The whiteboard. The blue chair. The black piano. Elder Frank's tie." STILL!! NOTHING!!! The Elders were DYING!! Lucky for us, we have a whole train ride to Warsaw for them to figure it out!! ;) XD

Tuesday was such a great day!! We went to Warsaw for our Christmas Zone Conference! We all met at the Mission Home for that. It was seriously so good!

Zone Conference group picture.

The Williams’ last zone conference!! I love them!!

We talked a lots about Christmas, Christmas as a missionary (how it's definitely different, but so good and memorable), President and Sister Chandler read their journals of their Christmases as missionaries in Poland, and we basically talked about all things Christmas. We also talked about Family History and how we are going to start doing our own family history so that we have a "testimony of it" before we start using it as a tool to help people here in Poland. Of course, having already worked quite a bit on Family History before my mission (so I guess you could say "I have a testimony of it" or experience with it), I was so excited to hear that we will have the chance to do this! I seriously love family history so much! It's so amazing! In fact, last week, we were working on the "My Family" booklet together. We were literally just writing the names and having very strong feelings. Literally just writing the NAMES of these people, of our ancestors, bring such a powerful feeling of love and connection to them. It was such a spiritual experience for both of us. The scripture is real! (Malachi 4:6 "And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers.") Basically it was a really good zone conference. Oh! Sister Chandler, Sister Aramaki, and I performed a musical number too. We did "Oh Holy Night" and I played the violin for it. It was fun and went well! 

Later, we had a catered dinner from a restaurant called Stół Polska, basically it was just really good Polish food. And then! We all went to see the Palace Lights! Basically the Palace Gardens just have lights all set up in them like the lights at Temple Square. It was really pretty! When we got back to the Mission Home, we had what was probably the most spiritual Christmas Devotionals I've ever been a part of. It was just really special!! We sang lots of Christmas hymns (traditional ones and Polish ones) and heard testimonies of our Savior, Jesus Christ. It was beautiful! And that night, all the Sister missionaries spent the night at the mission home. It was a really special experience today. :)

Me and Sister Aramaki at the Palace Lights.

Emily is like our child haha.

Emily is our child still (light tunnel).

Okay fam, some really fun things: So I started this trend of checking to see how closely we're all related using the Family Search app. Everyone was like.. 8th cousins with me. And then I had stopped looking for a while and I heard Elder Edwards yell to me. Turns out, we're 4th cousins!! WHAT?! We're related through William Jordan Flake and Lucy Hannah White. So he has Flake family and he told me how he kind of grew up going to visit Snowflake, Arizona and how he loves it there. And how we have so many good stories in our family history. Then people started saying how we did look like family. (Even though he's half-Italian, I guess the Flake gene still runs strong haha!!) But yeah! So I served with my 4th cousin! Wow, my 4th cousin was my District Leader on my mission! That's pretty cool!!

And some special things with the Chandler family. So, as part of the Christmas Devotional, Sister Chandler sang "The Most Beautiful Story That's Ever Been Told" and wow... it just felt like Mom was there singing. It was really special. I've missed that. Hearing Mom sing, I mean. And so a few tears were shed, but it was so special to feel like a lullaby was kind of being sung to me again. And to feel that sort of "motherly bond" with Sister Chandler again. :) And the other thing with the Chandler's... so Emily (the 11 year old) hung out with me for basically the entire evening. She wanted to be with me at dinner, and at the Palace lights, and walking around with me.. it was so fun! And made me feel so good. And what was probably the most special to me, was this thought that kept coming to mind. Emily is about the same age as Candace would be. So being with her, just felt like how I would imagine being with Candace would be like. So as she chatted with me, was being silly, and wanted to show me things, walked with and linked arms with me, and took goofy pictures with me.... this whole time, I couldn't help but think of Candace. That was really special for me. Because it felt as though, I sort of had an evening with Candace (with the help of sweet Emily). I love Emily and I really have always felt a sort of connection with her from the time I met her. So, maybe she was friends with Candace in heaven? I don't know! But it was definitely a very special experience. :)

Emily Chandler is like my best friend.

Wednesday morning we got up and said goodbyes to everyone before heading to the train station and heading back to Wrocław. (Almost typed "home" haha. I guess it's kind of a temporary home though, so it works.) But yeah, we took a train to Wrocław and went to our apartment to unpack a bit.

The train station looks like Hogwarts!!

(At least that’s what it reminded me of.)

 

Then, we did weekly planning. And in the evening, we taught our self-reliance course to Doni, Wilbert, and Jami. It went well! Afterwards, Jami gave us some of her things (leftover canned food she had, dishwasher detergent, toilet paper...) before leaving Thursday morning!! She's moving! She flew to England and will spend Christmas there and then she's moving to Utah. She has really been feeling like she needs to go to Utah (even though she really doesn't want to). Jami has a lot of very spiritual experiences and the Holy Ghost speaks to her very clearly and plainly. And she's so sensitive to that and she listens. It's so cool! But yeah, she's moving, so we had to say our goodbyes or "see you laters." It was so cool to meet her and have her here with us in Wrocław for about 2 months. It was such a blessing!

Thursday morning I was thinking about this: The Polar Express is gonna be REAL for me this year. There are train tracks that go RIGHT by our apartment. I'm living up North. And I hear trains in the middle of the night!! Never at any other time in my life will I live right next to train tracks, so this is it folks! My Polar Express Christmas!! :) Okay, so not too much happened. But! We helped Agnieszka Kukurenda with her grocery shopping again. I love spending time with her. She has such a sweet spirit!! On the way back to her house, she (almost hesitantly) explained to me and asked me, "Okay, so Daniel was wondering if... well, you said you have a brother who is his age and they both like Legos... so Daniel was really wanting to write him a letter! And maybe they could be pen pals and talk to each other?" I quickly said, "Yes! Of course! My brother would love that. That would be awesome! Yes!" She looked so happy! And that will be so awesome and so cute! Oh my goodness! Anyway, we later took a train to Kraków for exchanges. But it was 2 hours late! It said it was going to be 80 minutes late, but then ended up being even longer! There was a German man who was speaking some Polish with us and trying to figure out what was going on with the train. It took me a bit to place the accent (since I haven't really heard Germans speak Polish before), but while we were checking the departures board, I figured it out! He was German! When we got up to the platform again, I went to find him and was able to ask if he spoke German. His face lot up and he said, "Ja! Ja! Ja!!" And I was able to explain to him that the train was late. It was super basic German, but he seemed so grateful! I'm so glad I was able to help him!! And then, on the train someone helped me!! I was trying to charge my phone, but the outlet was in a place where my charger was too big to fit. This older lady in our compartment saw that I was struggling and she kindly offered her charger to me to use!! It was so kind!! Wow! People are just so good. :)

Friday, we went on exchanges in Kraków. I've been with Sister Lueck both of the other times, so naturally I had to be with Sister Ludlow. (Believe me, I've been praying like crazy just to survive this day and that it would be quick and painless... and, well.. my prayer was answered!) The day went well, I survived, it was painless, but I'm just glad it was a one day thing haha. I know I can handle that now. Okay, so basically, we had a lesson with a returning member in the morning. His name is Marcin and he's way cool. Really open with the missionaries and really trying to become better! Then, we all went to lunch at this Polish "milk bar" (just a place with cheap Polish food). But it was this cute, little cafe inside this fancy building where the Kraków Radio station was based. Pretty cool! Later, we did a fun finding activity where we had a whiteboard and we asked what people's favorite thing about Christmas was and we sang Christmas carols!! So they all went caroling with a Carroll!! ;) ;) Haha, probably my favorite thing around this time of year are all those jokes. XD Anyway, we ended up getting contact information for 3 different people! It was awesome! And then, we stopped by to see the Rynek and the Jarmark there. It was really pretty! And I know I might be biased, but the Wrocław one is a LOT bigger and I honestly think it's prettier! :) Lucky us! We have the best one in Poland!! And apparently one of the top 5 best Jarmarks in Europe!! :D Haha!

Jarmark in Kraków.

Christmas Carp in a small pool in Kraków.

That night, we had a first lesson with a Russian lady named Nadezda. It went really well and she is really interested! She was a very sweet lady. :) It was a really busy day, which was a huge blessing for me. Let's just say that many prayers were answered today. And I am so so grateful for that.

Saturday we came back from exchanges in Kraków. On the train ride home, I had some thoughts. I posted it on Facebook, but for those who didn't see and would like to read them, I'll send it in an email right after this one. It was a pretty cool experience. 

After we came home, we taught an English class with Anna and her husband, and their daughter Viki. It was so much fun! So, part of it, they wanted to understand what the lyrics meant in the song "Last Christmas." I don't know if I've said this before, but the Poles have 2 staples of the Christmas season. That is 1. Home Alone (Kevin Sam W Domu... they LOVE that movie) and 2. Last Christmas (they love that song and it plays everywhere and I have no idea why they love it so much...) Anyway, so we went over the lyrics for Last Christmas!! It was pretty fun! Then, Viki gave Sister Aramaki and I drawings she did for us!! She drew me a picture of Rapunzel. Oh and she wrote "To: Shaylin Carroll, From: Viki." Haha I love the full name thing. XD

Picture of Rapunzel that Viki drew for me.

Anyway, later we had a good meeting with Doni about Eternal Marriage. He said he's never really thought about marriage before now. But now he has it as a goal! Whoo!! We also had a good meeting with Lucyna. She's so sweet and always so happy to see us! I love seeing her face light up when we come to see her! :)

Sunday, church was good. For Sacrament Meeting, after we took the sacrament, we watched the First Presidency Christmas devotional. That was the first time I've ever watched it in Polish, so that was fun! After church, Sister Aramaki and I worked on Facebook. We posted in a ton of local groups just introducing ourselves and why we're here. From that, we messaged all the people who "liked" or commented on our post. We were able to message at LEAST 40 people and are currently in contact with 10 or so. It was literally the fastest way ever to get potential investigators and get talking to interested people!! It was seriously SO AWESOME! We already have 3 or so meetings set up from that. It was maybe about 30 minutes of work to post and start messaging and then so much more came from that. It was so cool!! Later, we had to drag ourselves away from a very successful session of Facebook contacting to go caroling with Isabel, Adam, and Doni.

Going caroling with Isabel, Adam, and Doni.

But that was super great too!  We had a lot of fun visiting members and such. Oh! And Slawa has a pet rat!! It was so cute! (Probably never thought you'd hear those 2 words huh? Cute rat?) Mom! Plug your ears!! But I got to hold it and it crawled up my arm and hung out on my shoulder for a bit. It seriously felt like I was in Harry Potter haha. For some reason it just made me think of how some of them have pet rats haha. Fun times!!

Me holding Slawa’s rat!!

*MOM DON’T LOOK!! I WARNED YOU!!*

Well, we don't have snow here yet, but I'm praying for a white Christmas!! I hope y'all have an amazing week and Christmas wherever you are in the world!! Wesołych Świąt!! :)

Love and miss you all!!

Siostra Shaylin Carroll

Sister Aramaki said the snow made us look like Elsa...

(which reminds me... I still haven't seen Frozen 2..... XD kidding, kidding..)

My thoughts from the train ride home:

This morning, we were returning back to Wrocław from Kraków. We took a train and we normally have tickets with reserved seats. This time was different. We didn't have guaranteed seating. As we got on the train, we went from compartment to compartment searching for any empty seats that we could have for our 4 hour ride home. Nothing. There were no open spaces. There was no room.

So here I am, sitting on the floor in the small corridors of the train car, and I can't help but think of the night the Savior of the world was born. For Him, there was no room in the inn. There were no open spaces or empty seats. It really got me thinking about this and soon I had a song running through my head. It's a Christmas song titled, "Do You Have Room?" It asks a series of questions in the chorus. I want to write them here:

Do you have room for the Savior?

And do you seek Him anew?

Have you a place for the one who lived and died for you?

Are you as humble as a shepherd boy

Or as wise as men of old?

Would you have come that night?

Would you have sought the light?

Do you have room?

So as I sit here on the floor of this full train, I remember my Savior, Jesus Christ. And how, for Him, there was no room. But it doesn't have to be that way with us. We can always give room to the Savior in our hearts. Merry Christmas everyone!!

Order up!! ...First food delivery!! and I met Uncle Michael!!/Super cool Turkish guys, Funny Glasses, Litchi, and Branch Christmas Party! (12/16/19)

Cześć!!

Monday we were able to do more things at the Jarmark. We hung out with the Elders, looked at the shops, tried new foods, and had a good time! It was Elder Jenkins' LAST DAY IN POLAND!!! (Okay, I guess he technically had Tuesday too.) BUT!! We were basically watching him "die"!! (On the mission of course.) He was SO EXCITED!! We had a great English class and game night. Elder Jenkins was so hyper and happy, it was hilarious. Anyway, so basically not much happened on Monday. Oh, but fam, for those of you who know him, you'll be interested to know that Reed Calkins randomly skyped me Monday morning!! (He's in the Netherlands on his mission right now.) I was freaked out so I ended the call. But then he told me it was mission related, so then I answered haha. So, I talked to Reed today which was kinda crazy. But yeah!

At the Christmas market on Elder Jenkins' last day in Poland!!

Tuesday, not too much happened either. The beginnings of our weeks are slow and then they seriously get so packed! We basically just did our weekly planning, studied, helped some people in the Family History Center, and worked on Facebook for a while. Also, I did something for the first time EVER!! I ordered food to be delivered to me! Never done that before... but I got Sushi!!! Ah, it was so so good. And it reminded me of that one sushi date Dad and I went on. That sushi was SO YUMMY!! We should do that again when I get home. Anyway, not a super ton happened on Tuesday either. But we got a lot done.

Wednesday we had a meeting with Agnieszka in the morning. We talked about the temple. There was a very special spirit during that meeting. We watched a few videos and discussed, she asked questions and we read scriptures... By the end of the lesson, it was decided (by Agnieszka) that she would prepare to go to the temple in February with the Branch. Then, we asked her what she thinks she needs to do to be prepared for that and she's going to do that. She was very sincere and you can really see her desire to go to the temple. She really wants to go! And I want so badly for her to go and experience the temple and receive all the blessings that come from going through the temple. I'm so excited for her and that she is now preparing to go to the temple! :) 

Later, we had a meeting with Mehdi. We talked a lot about the Holy Ghost and receiving an answer. And how we need to do that. There was a very strong and powerful feeling of the Spirit there in that meeting. And it was very clear to us that God is really proud of Mehdi and excited to see the progress he is making. (I'm so blessed to have these glimpses of how our Heavenly Father feels about one of His children!!) Mehdi truly desires to know if these things are true. He has really felt the Holy Ghost already. Whenever he comes to church, has a meeting with us, watches videos from the church, and other things, he always feels the same feeling! And it's still new and overwhelming to him, but he's working through it and trying to get used to it and understand it. It is seriously so cool to watch people like this progress and grow as they come closer to Jesus Christ.

Thursday we had a meeting with Anna about the Plan of Salvation. We were even able to have Sister Aramaki's Mom Skype in for the meeting. It was really cool!! I love being able to use technology in this way!! It is truly inspired. But yeah, it was a wonderful meeting, really. Later, we had a first lesson with a guy named Maciek. The Elders found him right before they left and we've been trying to meet with him for a while and it finally worked out! HOLY SMOKES!! This guy!! You guys!! He is SO PREPARED, has so many incredible questions, is so open, has the biggest heart and just a love for all people and all things, and is very quick to understand everything. He had a ton of questions, but they were seriously GOLDEN!! We were able to change plans completely and teach him the Plan of Salvation. We don't normally get through the whole thing because it's so much information, but today we did. He was absorbing and understanding everything. It was so cool to see. And wow... the Spirit was strong and very much present. In the middle, Sister Aramaki and I both felt very strongly that we needed to invite him to be baptized. So we were getting ready to do that by showing him a video of when Christ called his apostles. Then, the feeling changed and we didn't end up asking him. So, we believe that he just needed to see that video for some reason and then he'll be ready for that invitation next time (or whenever we feel to ask him again). But this guy!! He is so excited to read the Book of Mormon! He plans to read the whole thing!! AND he even prayed at the end of the lesson. Wow!! In talking at the end, he said how everything we taught him makes sense. He said something like, "Yeah, I understand everything. I mean.. it just makes sense." And that's so cool because it's so true!! It rings true or sounds familiar or makes sense to us because it is true! And our spirits remember learning about this plan before this life. Ah, it was seriously such a cool meeting!

Friday we were able to meet with Doni and we had Anna on the lesson. It went really well and Anna had some really good insights and personal experiences. We hadn't originally planned to have her on the lesson, but someone else. So, obviously it was meant to be and it was great! Later, we visited Babcia and just talked with her for a little while and made sure she was doing okay. Then, we went and finally had lunch at 5:00pm hahaha... yes LUNCH!! At 5:00!! We were way busy with a ton of random things that came up that morning. 

Anyway, we taught our English class that night. Ömer (the Turkish guy I met at Renoma) and 2 of his friends came at the very end (they got lost). But were very happy to stick around for the Religious Discussion we always have at the end. We ended up talking for an hour!! They were so open and so interested. And they had so many questions! They said, "We know we have walked into a sacred space and so we don't want to be disrespectful. We also have a lot of questions. Is that okay?" Wow! It was so cool!! They had done some research about the church and had read about Joseph Smith's First Vision and even quoted some parts. (WHAT?!) We talked a lot about the Restoration, prophets, the Book of Mormon, the sacrament, and other things. It was like a full on lesson! They said they wanted to meet with us to talk more about it all. They also downloaded the Gospel Library app, so now they have everything in Turkish to do more research about the Church. AND they asked us for a Book of Mormon to read!! WHAT?! It was so cool! There was such a special feeling when they came in and as we were talking. My goodness... they are so cool. We seriously just meet the coolest people!!

Saturday was basically all about the Branch Christmas Party!! We were able to help get set up and decorated for that. We found these funny glasses (you know, the classic ones with the nose and the mustache!!). Anyway, they were just chilling in a pile of Christmas decorations, so we had some fun with those. Everyone wanted a turn wearing them haha. I think Michał, the Branch President's son, ended up taking them home haha. 

Branch Christmas Party!!

This picture of Isabel and President Kwaśnicki is quite possibly my favorite picture ever. XD

Joanna and Kajtek (he's wearing the elf hat) (don't worry, he normally smiles, they just do this for pictures sometimes. He's a super sweet kid!!)

Anyway!! SO MANY people came to the party!! Tons of members and even 2 families who weren't members!! Sadly, Agnieszka  Kukurenda did not come. But! The entire Estes family, Doni, Wilbert, Kajtek, and Joanna came!! We started out with a more spiritual segment. We watched the Church's new Nativity video. (So beautiful!!) Then there were a few musical numbers. Slawik, Isabel, Jami, Sister Aramaki and I sang "Angels We Have Heard On High" AND it was in 3 different languages!! English, Ukrainian, and Polish; one verse in each. Then the Kwaśnicki family sang 2 songs in Ukrainian which was cool. After that, there was a big gift exchange and we even had a visit from Mikołaj!! (Santa came to see us!!) Of course, all the kids were excited about that. And Santa led a bunch of games. Then it was time for food!! There was lots of good stuff, including some Portuguese desserts that Isabel had made. (They were way good!!) It was such a fun day and I was so happy to see so many people!! Joanna and Kajtek had a really good time too. They said it was nice to have such a happy time and break from thinking about all the hard and sad things they have going on right now. I was sad to see them have to leave and go back to reality, but I'm grateful the party provided a brief reprieve for them. I seriously love them so much!! Ah, so yeah, the Branch Christmas Party was awesome!!

Sunday was pretty normal, but!! There was someone at church today who looked strangely familiar!! To those of my friends in Boise, this won't mean anything, but all my Oregonians reading this... listen up!! Michael Gray came to our Branch in Wrocław today. This is Elder Theobald's uncle. He is also Melissa Gibby's brother!! Melissa's kids were my best friends growing up!! I just met their uncle in some random little Branch in POLAND!! It was such a fun surprise!! 

Ran into Michael Gray!! So fun!!

Anyway, I was also able to help a part-member family from Poznań do some family history research. Now, I'm decently good at family history and I know how to work the Family Search website. But they were searching for Russian and Ukrainian names!! Pfffftttttt.... I can't read that haha. But it worked out okay, we figured things out haha. After church, we were able to go to service and had fun talking to a lot of the people there. I love that place so much!

Okay, for the fam: More details from my visit with Michael. It was so fun to talk to him after church. He actually started talking to me and I casually slipped in Melissa's name and he froze and totally flipped out when he found out I knew them. And that we were THAT family who moved to Idaho who Melissa ALWAYS talked about and loves and misses so much! I know I just met him and he's like 40 years old, but he seriously feels like family and it felt like talking to one of my cousins who is my age. It was so cool! And (this might sound cheesy), but my heart and my spirit just felt so excited and happy to see him and be talking to him about people I love so much!! I've been thinking about the Gibby family a lot throughout my mission, so it is seriously so cool that I keep running into Gibby connections. And heck, I'm in the same mission as the only grandchild on a mission in the Gray family!! There are no coincidences!!

Okay, really quick, some Polish Christmas traditions!! Um.. well there are a ton here but I'll give you 2. So.. they have a huge dinner on Christmas Eve. Then after dinner (more like a late lunch sorta thing, think Thanksgiving style) all the kids rush to the windows to look for the first star in the sky. (Sunset is like 3:30pm here, so they don't have to wait so long.) But once they see the first star, then they open all of their presents! Yay!! Haha, okay the other tradition: they eat Carp for part of their Christmas Eve dinner. But they buy it live from the markets in these bag things. Then, they take it home and keep it in their bathtub and keep it alive until Christmas Eve. Then, they kill it, cook it, and eat it. Nice, right?? And yes, they shower with the fish being in the tub. XD XD Don't you think we should start that in the U.S.??? XD

Love and miss you all!!

Siostra Shaylin Carroll

KOCHAM WAS NAJBARDZIEJ (na koniec świata i jeszcze dalej!!) :) :)

With the Elders by the chapel door.

Has anyone out there tried Litchi?? It's a weird little fruit... but kinda good haha.

Facebook is obsessed with telling me that I look like my Mom. I KNOW!! I GET IT OKAY?! (Haha it's a good thing of course, my mom is beautiful!! So thanks Facebook haha).

District council through Skype. Zgorzelec Elders had too much fun with the filters and such.