On Wednesday, Sister Godfrey and I decided to go and visit Maja since she stopped answering our calls and texts (again...) But unfortunately, our map of Szczecin didn't include her town (right on outskirts of what it shows on our map). So basically, we spent the afternoon wandering around Mierzyn. I should say, wandering around the WRONG SIDE of Mierzyn!! We never found her house. The one time we had been there, it was already dark, so yeah. Oops.... Haha lesson learned... buy a map!! Eventually we made it back to the bus stop that would take us back to the city center, so that was good. And we taught an English class that night at this organization called "Polites." (please don't say it like an American haha!) And there were 7 teenagers there who spoke English really well! So that class will be fun to teach because that means it will be more like an "English Club" where they can practice speaking English and we play games and it's great!!
FAT THURSDAY!! Tłusty Czwartek!! So.. Smacznego!! :D Basically, this is an official holiday here in Poland. It's the last Thursday before Lent and so it's kind of like a "last day of feasting." Basically the Polish people just eat a ton of Pączki (Polish doughnuts) all day. There's huge sales on pączki, huge lines, and it's awesome! Our Mission is split into 3 different zones and so this year, we had a zone vs zone competition to see which zone could eat the most pączki!! And the North Zone won!! WHOOO!!! Haha we beat the South zone by 4 pączki!! It was 235-231!!!! Basically, as a whole, the entire Poland Warsaw Mission ate over 500 pączki!! And one Elder ate 33 himself!! AHH!! CRAZY!!
Pącki on Fat Thursday.
The lines on Fat Thursday.
Also on Thursday, we had another lesson with Monika. She had told us previously that she didn't want to read the Book of Mormon by herself and she wanted to do it with us. But when we got there, she told us that she had been reading a little bit of the Book of Mormon on her own! We committed her to do the 21 Day Book of Mormon Challenge and she said she would. She also keeps telling us that she will never join our church, but she loves meeting with us. And she also told us that she doesn't think it's a coincidence that she met us. Basically, not for herself, but for her daughter. She really wants her daughter to take the lessons from us and learn about our church. But she's "not interested" herself. Hmmmm... ;)
Friday, we unfortunately had 3 flaked/canceled meetings.... which kinda stunk... But we were able to stop by Maja's house and talk to her Mom since Maja wasn't home. We got her Mom's number, so now we can call Maja's Mom to get Maja to answer her phone so we stop dropping by unannounced hahaha. XD We were also able to go to a Children's Hospital and hand out all the Valentine's Cards. They were overjoyed to get them and everyone looked WAY happier than when we first got there. It was great! :)
Side note: Polish people are OBSESSED with KFC!!! It's totally different from KFC in America though. But there's literally KFC's everywhere and I don't understand why.... XD
On Saturday morning, we went to a new service opportunity that we had found out about. We went with this girl, Ola, who we met at Park Run last week. Basically, we went and did service with a bunch of Catholic Nuns. Definitely an interesting experience. I don't think I've ever talked to a Nun before... but now I have! Oh, and like.. all the nuns there spoke English. Which was super random and cool!! We also did a Family History finding activity and talked to people about their families. Sister Godfrey dared me to start a conversation with this one man and so I did. We didn't think he would be interested at all, but then he actually turned into our best contact and conversation of the day. It was really great! Now, aren't you glad I'm such a daredevil... haha! XD :)
On Sunday, we had 3 people in church who weren't members!! It was awesome!! We had Karina come too! And she loved singing the hymns and actually participated a ton in Sunday School and that lesson. It was SO COOL!! She originally came just to practice a song with us afterward. But at the end, she did not seem in a hurry to leave. She seemed like she just wanted to stay there with us all day haha! I asked her what she thought about church. And she said it was really nice, cool, and she really liked it! And she's planning on coming next week too. (She's not even being taught the lessons right now!! I mean, hopefully soon! But she's already coming to church!!) It was super exciting!!
Quick thought: The scriptures are so powerful and it's literally God's word for us. Here's an idea I learned this week that I loved: Pick a "protection scripture" that you can remember whenever you're tempted or sad. This should be a scripture that helps you remember Jesus Christ. This scripture can encourage you, comfort you, strengthen you, give you hope, protect you, and help keep you focused on the right things. I think it's a brilliant idea. Everyone should do this! And memorize it too. :)
Love and miss you all!!
Siostra Shaylin Carroll
Us celebrating Tłusty Czwartek and Elder Moody's birthday as a district :)
At the creative art workshop hosted by Monika Dyker-Woźniak. Today we had a guest Grażyna Nowicka! We talked about what we like and don't like about ourselves, about different emotions we feel in different life situations and how to deal with those.
At the creative art workshop hosted by Monika Dyker-Woźniak.
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