Cześć Rodzina!!
On Monday, we had a Branch activity that Sister Godfrey and I planned as a way to help our Branch members invite their friends to a church activity that wasn't church. We had an "American Valentine's Party" and it was actually a really big success! We had about 20 people there for our party which is a ton for Szczecin!! :) We all made Valentine cards, played some games, and frosted and decorated heart-shaped sugar cookies! (which we delivered to homeless people on Wednesday) We even had our really nice neighbor Mirosław come to the party!! We were so excited to get him involved with members of the branch and the other missionaries so quickly! And he was also able to meet the Elders and Elder Moody was able to talk to him for a while. Sister Godfrey and I are really wanting to start teaching Mirosław and his wife Anja! :)
On Tuesday, we did our weekly planning in this super cute cafe/cupcake shop. And yes.... we did end up buying cupcakes!! And they were SO GOOD!! And that's saying something, because I don't really like cake all that much haha.
Cup and Cake (weekly planning).
Also, that night, we taught English class. We had 2 girls come AGAIN who had come last week! (Ewa and Kasia) We also had Monika and her daughter, Karina, come to the class. And that's not the best part... ALL 4 of them stayed for the religious discussion afterwards!! AND they ALL took a copy of the Book of Mormon with them!! :D Last week Ewa and Kasia left right after the class was done, so I was really surprised that they stayed. But yeah!! It was so exciting!!
Also, about Monika: She's this lady we met during our Valentine's Day finding activity who keeps telling us that she won't join our church, but still wants to meet with us. Also, she keeps telling us that her daughter would probably be interested in learning about and even joining our church. Which doesn't make sense to me that she supposedly has no interest in joining the Church, but is basically referring and asking us to teach her daughter. Hey, we'll take them however we can get them! If they want to learn more, we'll teach them more! :)
On Wednesday, we finished organizing the Chapel. We had this really cool and big timeline that went all around the room we use for English and also Sunday School. The timeline was of all the big events, people, and prophets from the Bible and the Book of Mormon (complete with pictures). Yeah, it's really cool! Anyway, we took that all down and just put it up on one wall so we could put a whiteboard and bulletin board up on the other wall. So that was a fun project that involved a chair on top of a desk so that a certain person, who happened to be the smallest of the group, could get up and nail the timeline to the top of the wall....... Don't worry Mom, I didn't break anything.. so that certain person couldn't have been me... right?? ;)
Timeline on the wall behind us as Vladymir's Birthday Party.
Also on Wednesday, we had a birthday party for a member of our branch. His name is Vladymir and he's Ukrainian and he is SO FUNNY!! Basically, he doesn't have any family or friends here, but he still wanted to have a birthday party, so he bought a bunch of food and we had a party! We had sushi and pizza!! And whoever told me that sushi wouldn't be good here in Poland you were wrong haha. Actually, I don't know if anyone actually said that to me... but yeah, it was good!! Oh! And some of the pizza had little octopi on it!! So that was a new one haha. Anyone want a piece??
On Thursday, I taught my first real lesson with someone!! We had a lesson with Monika (the one from the Valentine's day finding activity) and we talked about the Plan of Salvation (aka the Plan of Happiness). Man, that lady loves to talk. We learned a lot about her, especially for a first meeting she told us a lot about herself and her life and everything. It was really cool to see someone open up so quickly. We also will be meeting with her again so she is official our first Interested Person (aka "investigator") here in Szczecin!! Also on Thursday, we met another one of our neighbors. He is a 16 year old boy named Wiktor (Victor- in American haha). He actually lives on his own here in Szczecin to go to high school and visits his family on some weekends. I guess there are quite a few teenagers who do that. They live here in the city so they can go to high school, but their families live pretty far outside of the city. Most of them live with someone else they know in the city though, so it's pretty crazy that he's completely on his own. Anyway, he wants to hear more about our church too!! So we set up a meeting with him and the Elders too, and I think it will go really well! :)
On Friday, we took a train out to Gryfice for a meeting with a lady named Ewa. (Different Ewa from the one on Tuesday.) Quick funny story: We were walking down the sidewalk while we waited for Ewa. And we hear this dog and some wheels rolling behind us. It was this old guy in a wheel chair being pulled by his big dog. We move to the side to let them pass and then the dog takes off!! It was just like in a cartoon!! The dog is running super fast and pulling this guy in his wheel chair. And it's tipping and the wheels are coming off the ground and it's skipping over the cobblestone and swerving through puddles... and people are jumping out of the way... and the dog just keeps on flying down the road. It was hilarious and we just died because we couldn't believe it!!
Okay, back to Ewa and our meeting... First, Gryfice is such a cute town!! And we met in this park in the middle and oh my goodness.... it was BEAUTIFUL!! Lots of trees and a field with lots of green grass and a pond with ducks and swans and bridges over the water.... Ahhh.... it was just SO PRETTY!! And we met there with Ewa. Holy smokes does Ewa know her stuff. She has read the entire Book of Mormon, some of the Pearl of Great Price, Doctrine and Covenants, some teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, tons of conference talks from the Liahona magazine, and has really just done a lot of research on the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And she had asked us to bring a DVD of "The Restoration" and the newest Liahona. Wow... We talked with her for a long time and she had SO MANY questions. And I'm sure we didn't get to all of them. But wow... we were really able to clear up a lot of incorrect information she had heard/read about the Church of Jesus Christ. She seems open to learn everything she can about our church. We should be meeting with her again soon!! :)
Friday night, we had our Culture Night!! Here in the Poland Warsaw Mission we get a Culture Night once per transfer (every 9 weeks). Basically we get a few hours to do something cultural. So, all 6 of us missionaries went out to dinner and ate Naleśniki. After that, we went to the Filharmonia and watched/listened (which verb do you even use here?) to a Symphony!! :D The featured piece was Stravinsky's "Firebird" and it was awesome!! It was so much fun to go to the Symphony! And in POLAND!! I honestly still can't believe I'm here....
At the Filharmonia for the Symphony.
On Sunday, I was given the assignment to officially be the ward chorister, which just means that I will be leading the congregation for the hymns during sacrament meeting. And if we have a branch choir, I will be the director of that as well. Haha, look at me now Mom, aren't you so proud?? XD :) We also had a "linger longer" after church, which basically means we just had a Branch lunch together. This random guy showed up who I guess comes around every few months just to mess with the members here. He just comes and argues and is super mean to everyone. So yeah... that was interesting. Dagmara leaned over to me and said, "He has Cruella De-Vil hair!!" And he TOTALLY did!! It was actually hilarious because I had been thinking the same thing haha. Anyway, eventually he left, but Dagmara and I then talked about Disney for a while. Turns out she loves everything Disney as well!! I was SO EXCITED!! Zach, she even started talking about Kingdom Hearts and Zelda!! CRAZY!! Anyway, I told her that she would have to come and visit me in Idaho and then we could go to Disneyland together. And she really wants to do it now haha. It would be SO GREAT!!
UPDATE: The creepy guy came AGAIN on Monday night to see the Sisters!! AHHHHH!!! It's okay, they told him we were in a meeting and couldn't be interrupted. Evaded....this time...
Also on Sunday, we went to the service place with all the kids and we made this cool yarn braiding thing with them. I guess they learn how to do it in Scouts. Oh yeah, scouts and the scouting program is actually huge here and they love it. Monika (the one who is at all the service things ever) was there as well and we were able to set up a meeting with her for this week. She had previously met with missionaries, so we're hoping to find out why she stopped meeting with them. And then start teaching her again!! :)
Monday was super great!! First off... WE BOUGHT OUR PANTS TODAY!! (dress slacks/pants that is).
Also, we had our English class and Monika and her daughter, Karina, came again!! :D We found out that Karina really likes singing. So she will be coming to church and singing with us. And that's how we get people to come to church now haha! ;) But yeah, Karina is this super cool 18 year old girl and I love her so much already!! I feel like I already knew her before. And I really hope to start teaching her soon. We also had our first interviews with President Turek, Monday night. And it was so great! He feels like a Dad to me out here. That's the best description I have of the interview is that it's like sitting down and talking to your Dad for a while. :)
Chocolate Chips and PANTS!! (the one time I'm more excited about clothes than chocolate...)
Quick thought for y'all: Have patience in everything!! Part of having patience isn't just waiting for things to happen, it's making those things happen. Another part of patience isn't just doing it on your own. We're supposed to learn how to rely on and ask the Savior for help. We were never made to go through life alone. Jesus Christ is there to help us and we just need to ask him for that help. I want to learn and understand how I can involve Him more in my life as I'm being patient through my trials. I hope you can have the desire to do the same. I know that Christ wants to help you!! Just ask!! :)
Love and miss you all!!
Siostra Shaylin Carroll
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