Monday was a great day! We spent the morning getting Sister Ludlow packed and I cleaned the entire apartment. Later, we dropped her off at the train station and said goodbye. Then, I was babysat by Elder Baer and Elder Moody for 4ish hours until my new companion got in. We had fun just hanging out and talking. Haha honestly, it was cool to be hanging out with just guys again. That's what I would do all the time at home, so it felt normal!!
Anyway, after that and English class, we walked to the train station and picked up my new companion, Sister Aramaki!! She and I are really really similar in a lot of things and already get along very well. We are both so excited to serve together!! And honestly, this transfer is going to be so so great! I am so happy, so excited, and so grateful to serve with her! :)
Those trio days.... (I mean 4.27 hours) haha that one time I was in a trio with Elder Moody and Elder Baer.
**From Group Email:
On Monday, I got my new companion, Sister Aramaki!! She was in the MTC group right before me, so I actually met her in the MTC. Little did we know that about 1 year later.... we would be companions!! She is AMAZING!! And I love her so so much!! I'm so grateful to have her as a companion. We've been having such a good time together. And wow... we have so many similarities. Not only in things we do and what we like, but in the way we think and work. It's really cool and it's so great!!
Me and Sister Aramaki!
Tuesday was my 20th birthday!! Holy smokes I'm 20... and that's WAYYY weird. Anyway, thank you all for the many sweet birthday wishes, messages, emails, pictures, etc. It was so so good to be remembered and feel that love. It really made my day, so thank you! :) Tuesday was pretty crazy too with it being my birthday AND the beginning of a new transfer. We just had a lot to do! We planned our week and I shared a ton of information on people with Sister Aramaki. The first weekly planning of the transfer always takes forever because of that haha. But it's good! Later, we went to the chapel to work on Facebook. Sister Aramaki is a Facebook missionary. Basically that means that she, and whoever her companion is, they work on Facebook for an hour every day. They work on the Church's main page (for Poland) and contact people who might be interested and things like that. So, this transfer, I will be one of the Facebook missionaries, which is pretty cool!! Anyway, when we got to the chapel, we found a surprise!! On the whiteboard, there was a note left from the Elders that said, "Happy 20th Birthday Sister Carl!!!" (Yes, they know how to spell "Carroll." It's just a funny inside joke that they sometimes purposely say it wrong haha.) AND they left some surprise gifts for me. They know I love eating healthy so they gave me cauliflower and peaches!! XD It was AWESOME!! (Oh, and they left an Oreo ice cream bar in the fridge. Yes, the fridge not the freezer... but it was still good haha!) We seriously have the best, most thoughtful Elders here! Elder Baer and Elder Moody are the BEST!!
That night when we got home, I cut up an apple, put it in a cup, lit a candle and put it in the center and called it a birthday cake haha! It was super fun! Ahh, mission birthdays are definitely different from ANYTHING else, but they're still good. Thanks everyone!!
We have the best Elders!! They left me a surprise at the chapel for my birthday!
Me with my birthday "cake" and candle!! It was actually an apple. And yes, I realize I look like a pioneer woman in this nightgown, but hey, it's super comfortable. So, no regrets there. XD
Wednesday was a fun day where we did all of our laundry EVER!! Basically every year, right around German Unification Day (October 3), the entire mission washes ALL the bedding. Sheets, pillowcases, blankets, duvets, duvet covers, mattress covers, etc. We stuffed all of that into Biedronka grocery bags and made our trek to a nice Pralnia (laundromat). We filled 2 washing machines that hold 14 kilograms... probably stuffed it to the max and could've had more. (The Elders had to use 5 machines!! It held smaller loads, but still!! It was a LOT of laundry!!) And that basically took a really long time. Then, we got Sister Aramaki's tram card all taken care of. And then, we worked on Facebook for a while. I created my first post!! It's just for announcing General Conference. (We each have posts assigned to us and we've got deadlines and stuff. Kinda feels like a mini job haha. It's fun!) So if any of you are following the Church's Facebook page for Poland, you might see some things posted by me these next 2 months. So that's pretty fun and exciting!! (By the way, the Facebook page is called: Kościół Jezusa Chrystusa Świętych w Dniach Ostatnich - Polska) Basically, we've just had a lot of things on our "to do" list for the beginning of the transfer, so nothing super exciting has happened yet. But we'll get there!!
Thursday, we were able to send a Book of Mormon to someone who requested one, which was cool. Then, we invited people to General Conference (which we have been SO EXCITED for!!). Then, we had to be at the chapel for the Family History Center. We worked on Facebook and I had my first post go up on the Church's main page for Poland. So that was pretty exciting! (Oh and it even got shared by President Chandler! It doesn't show who posts them. It just says it's from the main church page, but it was still cool that President Chandler shared it. That makes me feel better haha.) Also, it's weird how by posting on an "official" page, it suddenly makes your posts look so professional! It's great! We also did our companion study there and watched a short video series by Elder D. Todd Christofferson called, "Daily Bread." It talks about the very real need we have to rely on Jesus Christ and how sometimes He truly is the ONLY place we can turn. I know I've felt that way many times throughout the past few months. It was HARD! But I'm grateful for the things I learned and that I now have a closer relationship with Jesus Christ and my Heavenly Father. I still am working to improve my relationship with them, as I think I will continue striving to do that for the rest of my life, but I know that I am closer than where I was. We also watched "A Piano's Purpose." And that was beautiful and inspiring... it also hit close to home just because my life has always had music and the piano has always been a centerpiece of my home growing up, so it made me think of that. I highly recommend both of these videos if you get the chance to watch them! After that, we had a great lesson with Wiktoria! We had asked her to prepare a lesson for us this time. And she did! Together we read 1 Nephi 8, the story about the Tree of Life. And then we had a really good discussion about it afterwards. It was so great!! We talked about how if we keep our focus on the "tree" or on Jesus Christ, it will be hard to pay attention to the people in the world who mock us or try to pull us away. So, as long as our focus is in the right place, we will be in the right place!
Oh, also on Thursday night, President Chandler called and asked if it was me on the phone. I told him that is was and he said, "We need to repent." And I was thinking, "Oh no... WHAT did I do?!" Then he told me that he and Sister Chandler totally forgot to call and wish me a happy birthday!! So they had their whole family there and they sang happy birthday to me in Polish and it was great! It was just so funny how it started. The Chandler's are the BEST!!
Friday morning, we had a meeting with Agnieszka and talked about General Conference coming up. She's excited to listen to that and then talk to us about it next time. (That was actually her idea, so that's pretty cool!!) After that, we had our first District Council of the transfer. I was assigned to do a segment on "Having the faith to find." It turned out to be pretty cool and we had a really good discussion about it. We all agree that when we go out with faith and are prepared to receive people, Heavenly Father will use our efforts in whatever we decide to do to find people, and He will help them to cross our paths. It's pretty cool that we can be doing ANY sort of finding activity and the Lord can still use what we offer Him. It was good to think about. Later that night, we had English class and a really great religious discussion with everyone. We talked about how each of our lives have purpose, value, and potential. It was really cool! And then that night, of course we watched the new Book of Mormon video!! I love having new ones every Friday! :)
Saturday we went and visited Babcia for a while and had a good time talking with her! On our way to the chapel, we ran into Wiktor and it's a good thing too. Outside the chapel, on Plac Wolności, there was a HUGE crowd of people. Apparently there was a big LGBTQ March going on today and the starting place was right outside of our chapel. Seriously y'all... it was INSANE!! So many people and SO MANY police cars and police officers. Holy smokes... a ton of the cops had these big shields too! And man, I was just trying to go to church!! XD So, not only did we have fun talking to Wiktor for a while, but he was also kind of our body guard and escorted us to the chapel! Haha he's super chill and I love that kid. After doing our studies and working on Facebook for a while, we watched the Saturday Morning session of General Conference!! WHOO!! I am always soo pumped for General Conference. It was so cool though because we literally had the voices of the "world" (or worldly things) RIGHT OUTSIDE our chapel. Full of crowds, noise, and commotion... and then, we're inside watching General Conference and learning about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And of course, it was so perfect that Elder Jeffrey R. Holland was the first speaker. And he spoke about cutting through all the crowds and commotion and keeping our focus on Jesus Christ. It couldn't have been more fitting!!
Sunday was a day full of General Conference!! And it was the BEST day EVER!! Because of the time difference, we have to wait till the next day to watch the Afternoon sessions. (It shows live at 10:00pm-12:00am our time.) So, on Sunday we watched.. get ready... the Saturday Afternoon Session, Women's Session, Music and the Spoken Word, and the Sunday Morning Session. It was such a good day! I haven't seen the Sunday Afternoon Session yet, but I've heard it was amazing so I'm super excited to watch that tomorrow morning! There were so many wonderful talks given. I loved both of Elder Oaks' talks; Sister Aburto; Elder Uchtdorf; our Prophet, President Nelson; and others. If you haven't watched it, or you missed a few parts, please go and watch it!! You will be blessed and will receive answers to questions you have. Maybe even to questions you didn't know you had! There is something for everyone in General Conference. I know that we can receive answers through it as well. I had a few questions going into this conference and there were a few talks that focused completely on those topics and I received answers! It will be the same for you as well.
On top of receiving answers, there were so many cool adjustments. I love the focus on the Youth being leaders and learning to receive personal revelation at such a young age! It's amazing! Such a cool time to be alive and part of the rising generation!! I love being alive in the time when the world is perilous, but it is offset by having the fulness of the gospel on the earth! What a blessing and a privilege to be alive at a time like this!!
Hope you all had a wonderful conference weekend! Love and miss you all!!
Siostra Shaylin Carroll
All the cosmetics I've gotten in the past little bit as gifts... XD
Had my first bubble waffle!
Saw these cars outside our apartment and they kinda reminded me of little toy matchbox cars. Don't know why, but I thought it was kinda cool and fun that they were all different colors and from different companies!
The Elders were really enjoying Conference... XD
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