RIP to the White Handbook (we got a new one and it's blue now haha)/Deep Dreams and Split Pea Soup (11/25/19)

Cześć!!

Monday morning, we went to the train station to get the keys and SIM card from the Elders. Then, we said our goodbyes to them and they headed out on their train. Ahhh!! It was so sad to say goodbye. It seriously felt like I was saying goodbye to 2 of my brothers. 

Saying goodbye to the Elders on Monday

And then, Sister Aramaki and I were left alone as the ONLY 2 missionaries in the entire city of Wrocław!! Ahhh crazy!! We're a "Sister City" for the last 2 weeks of this transfer. Anyway, for pday we were able to watch "17 Miracles" which was fun. And of course, we talked to our families!! And that night, we had a fun English class with games afterwards. For the games, it was just Sister Aramaki, me, Solomiya, and Wilbert. A small group, but it was so fun and seriously... it felt like I was just hanging out with my friends and having a game night!! It was so good to feel that again, even just for a little bit.

Tuesday we had to be at the chapel pretty much all day since the Family History Center was open and we didn't have Elders to split it with anymore. So we did all of our studies, Facebook work, and weekly planning.. yay!! We also were able to have a great meeting with Wiktoria! We had a long talk about life, read the Book of Mormon, and then had a great discussion about that. I'm so glad we were able to meet with Wiktoria again!! :) Later, we helped the senior couple missionaries to bring all the food into the chapel kitchen for zone conference tomorrow. Whoo! It was so fun to see Elder and Sister Williams again!! :)

Wednesday we had Zone Conference here in Wrocław. It's always good to see a ton of other missionaries. There were 5 out of the 8 missionaries from our MTC group who were there. It was me, Sisters Berrett, Lueck, and Eberting, and Elder Olschewski. We were only missing Sister Emett, Sister Webber, and Elder Cheal. So that's fun! 

Zone Conference with most of my MTC group!! 

Poor Elder Olschewski being the only Elder haha.

Anyway, the Zone Conference was completely dedicated to social media and how we can use that more in our missionary work. It was way cool! There is seriously so much that we can be doing with Facebook. So.. they want us all posting every single day, so if y'all see me posting a ton and think I've gone crazy, that's why haha. I've never been much of a social media person and even when I use it, I've never really posted that much, so this will be a new thing for me to be posting every day. Oh, and now all missionaries will be asked to work on Facebook for an hour every day. Okay, probably the coolest thing though is that our mission was selected to test this pilot program for the church. We are one out of six missions who were asked to do this. (Italy Rome, Belgium Netherlands, England Leeds, Portugal Lisbon, France Paris, and Poland Warsaw) Basically, these 2 Elders who served in the Spain Madrid Mission came up with this program or invented this machine that takes algorithms and your geographical location and info like that...  and then, it will send out a ton of friend requests from your account. Then, once these people accept, our job is to reach out to them and start talking with them. When you get transferred, all of the friend requests and friends that were made by "the machine" are automatically removed and the process restarts in your new area. Super smart right? Well, it gets even better. In the Spain Madrid Mission, from their baptisms last year, about 10% of them came from using this tool. How cool is that?! And now our mission gets to be a part of this pilot program for the whole church. It's awesome! Anyway, that's what will be happening there.

Also, that night, we taught our self-reliance course with the Legnica Elders (Jenkins and Frank), Doni, Isabel, and Wilbert. Elder Jenkins asked Wilbert if he was a member, and Wilbert said that he was an investigator!! He considers himself that! So that's cool! Oh and Wilbert said to Doni something about how they both should go on missions together. WHAT?! Then, when, as part of the course, everyone committed to reading the Book of Mormon every day, Wilbert said he would do it. He said, "Sure! Why not?!" So cool! Seriously, this kid is so ready! It's seems just as though the invitation has never been extended, but he's so ready to accept!

Thursday we had a bunch of meetings. Our main one ended up being SUPER long. But holy smokes it was good. We met with this guy named Mehdi who is from Morocco. And in the course of a few hours with us, he went from being anti-religious, but with beliefs similar to Islam beliefs, to beginning to believe that Jesus Christ was more than just a prophet and even saying things like, "if I convert." Whoa... so many things happened in that meeting, I wouldn't even be able to tell you all of them. But the spirit was so strong throughout the whole thing. It was beautiful. We taught him about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. At the end, we showed him a short video which depicts Joseph's account of the First Vision. (It's the newer, shorter 6 minute version.) After we finished watching it, he openly admitted to us that he got emotional while watching it. He was in so much shock and disbelief that he could get emotional like that! He went on to tell us how he NEVER gets emotional. Like seriously.. never. So when he felt that while watching the video, he was almost overwhelmed. And he immediately opened up even more to us. He said he really wanted to know more and understand more about our church. He fully committed to read the Book of Mormon every day this week and to pray about it. Holy smokes, this guy is so prepared. Just through our conversation and the things he's told us. Wow! Oh and another cool thing, I guess he met Elder Chugg a while back, but nothing ever happened with that. Then, when he met the Elders this time some cool things happened. He had been walking along, just listening to his music when he felt like he needed to stop right where he was. So he did, and BAM! The missionaries were RIGHT there! Not only this, but they were in the EXACT same spot as when Mehdi had met Elder Chugg the first time. He said they were even positioned the same way. Whoa... seriously so cool! So, I'm looking forward to meeting with him again!! Later, we had a meeting with Doni and we started teaching him the lessons again. We asked him what differences he sees in his life now compared to what it was like before he got baptized. He said that life before was dark and negative. And now he said, "Life makes sense now." That is the COOLEST thing ever! And I love that he recognizes that because it is so true!! When we're on the right path and doing the right things, life makes sense! We feel meaning and have a purpose. Life makes sense now. Wow!

Friday we were able to help Agnieszka go grocery shopping! Her husband is out of town for about a month. And she has problems with her back which make it hard for her to walk, lift, and carry things. So we went with her to help her do everything! It was a lot of fun! Oh and she bought us a bunch of random treats and surprised us with it at the end! She's seriously the sweetest!! After that, we visited Babcia for a bit which was fun. And of course, she is literally just like our Grandma here and she spoils us so much with treats and everything. She's so cute and sweet! Later, we had a lesson with Wilbert. It went well! At the end, he got a bit worried because he thought we were going to ask him to be baptized. He's read all of "Preach My Gospel," so he knows what we teach and what it eventually leads to (baptism). So he was a bit wary at first. But then he realized that we just wanted him to find out for himself that all of this is true. And he did commit to do that. We were able to have a really open and honest conversation with him about everything. We asked if he truly desired to know if the things he reads in the Book of Mormon, other church books, and the things he hears the missionaries say... are true. And he said he really did want to know. So, we asked him to read the Book of Mormon and pray to know the truth. He said he would. He also said that he's been reading the Book of Mormon every day since our self-reliance course where we committed them to do that as well. That made me so happy to hear! I think he's really searching. He told us he loves being around the missionaries and the members because he feels positivity and a "good vibe" when he's around them. I thought that was pretty cool too. He's a super nice guy and genuine. It'll be exciting to watch him grow.

Saturday we were able to spend some time visiting Agnieszka and Daniel. We learned a new game called "Makał." In some aspects, it's quite similar to "Uno," but then.. not haha! Soooo I won 5ish times and only lost 2 or 3 times. Not saying this to brag though! The first bit, I knew what like.. 2 of the cards did. So mostly it was luck. But at the end... of course it was skill!! ;) Haha, don't know why I went off on that tangent, but anyway!! It was so fun to spend time with them. Oh! And Agnieszka fed us split pea soup for lunch! (In Polish that's "grochówka.")

Me with Agnieszka and Daniel.

Later, we had a good English class, a fun meeting with Irek and Sister Malinowska, and a good meeting with Lucyna. Oh, and Max (counselor in the Branch presidency) called me Saturday night to ask me to give a talk the next day!! Haha, so that was fun!

Sunday was really good! I was able to give a talk on Eternal Families. (And yes, I still played the piano. So anyone who thought the "Carroll show" at church was over. Just come check it out, because we're in Poland now! Hahaha I'm only joking, don't worry!!) Anyway, it went well and everyone really seemed to appreciate the talk. I know the Branch President was especially grateful that I could give a talk last minute since members weren't actually able to come. He said to me, "You saved the meeting!!" I just laughed, thanked him, but just brushed it off haha. It's just kind of normal for missionaries here to do that sort of thing. We do a lot in the Branches here. Also, Mehdi came to church!! I was so excited!! So, cool thing... he told us he couldn't stay for the 2nd hour because he had plans. Well, we got a text from him a few hours later and he apologized for lying to us. He said that he didn't actually have plans. He said he was feeling the same feeling again and was trying to run away from it!! He said that it's definitely a good feeling, but he's just not used to it yet. But he liked church and asked when he could meet with us again! So that was awesome! :) Later, we were able to do more service at the soup kitchen and we even met a guy there who is from Japan!! That was pretty cool for Sister Aramaki since she's half-Japanese.

Anyway, that's pretty much it for this week. Have a great week off for Thanksgiving break! Happy Thanksgiving!!

Love and miss you all!!

Siostra Shaylin Carroll

P.S. I had an interesting dream the other night. I wanted to share part of it with y'all. I'll give the basics at the beginning, but mostly pay attention to the last bit.

Here it is:

"I was in this room and it started filling up with people I knew. I was giving lots and lots of hugs and I knew that my mission was done! But I realized that the timing wasn't right and I got so so sad and I didn't want to leave yet! I wasn't ready to leave Poland. But I just remember crying and crying because I didn't want to leave Poland yet.

In the dream, I asked my Mom why I felt that way. She said, 'Imagine your brain, thoughts, and emotions are like a pool of water and it's been going around, rotating in one direction for so long. (like where your focus is) And then, the mission ends and family comes and that direction (focus) immediately switches. It won't be a smooth process. And it won't be immediate. The water may be choppy at first too. But eventually the waters will smooth out and the water will flow smoothly in the opposite direction.'"

Anyway, I just thought of that last bit in the sense of any big change we have in life. The waters may be choppy, but they always smooth out in the end. Now, I don't know why I have these super deep dreams haha, but I thought some would find it interesting, so I wanted to share. :)

A bunch of the cards we got from the kids at the school

Me with Sister Elżbieta Kaźmierczak.

Me with Sister Iryna.

Christmas is COMING!!!

One year later and I'm: On the News Again... couldn't wait to get on the news again.. ;) XD/ONE YEAR WHOO!! and I saved my companion's life!! (11/18/19)

Cześć!

Tuesday was our pday this week which was kinda cool, but still weird haha. And I realized, I got to talk to everyone... except Hailey.. haha. Darn high school, right? Anyway, we did some work in the morning instead of at night. We had some people come from Poznań to use our family history center. So we worked on Facebook and called the last of the people in our area book.  Yay!! Finally finished that last little bit of things haha. Then, we went grocery shopping and talked to our families. Tuesday basically just felt like a day full of a ton of communication. I feel like I talked to EVERYONE! And it's so awesome!! I love that we can Skype and call our families every week. :)

Wednesday we did a Finding Activity with the Elders. They were on exchanges today so we had all 4 Elders from Legnica and Wrocław. (Baer, Moody, Frank, and Jenkins) For the Finding Activity, we had printed out pages of the Book of Mormon and asked people on the street to read them and mark the things they like. Now, I think some missionaries in the States do this and they call it "the Book of Mormon experiment" or something like that. Sister Aramaki and I couldn't stay for too long because we had a meeting, but it was cool to see all the people who actually stopped and read the pages! We had a good conversation with this girl named Maja. She read the page and marked something. We were able to talk to her about the Book of Mormon. She isn't super religious and didn't really want to meet with us, but she said she wanted to read more of the book, so we gave her a copy and our phone number. After that, we had a meeting with a less active member, named Kasia. It was an interesting meeting. She's just an interesting person haha. We're really trying to get her to come back to church right now, but she has some problems with some people in the Branch, so she doesn't really want to come back. Which is sad.. but we were able to read the Book of Mormon with her and try to help her understand that at church, she can feel the same thing she does as when she meets with us! After our meeting, we headed to the chapel and taught our self-reliance course. Doni and Wilbert came this week. It was really good and we had some wonderful discussions. I don't know Wilbert's full history with missionaries, but he's read the entirety  of "Preach My Gospel" (basically our missionary manual of what we teach and everything) and he loves going out talking to people with the missionaries!! He has definitely had some spiritual experiences and loves being around us. I hope the Elders will start meeting with him.

Thursday did not go as planned.. well.. tell me one day that actually does haha. We started out by having District Council like normal. After that, we were in the middle of our companionship study and planning our lesson for Ewa. When.. guess who walks in the door 30 minutes early! Ewa and Alina!! (Ali) Haha, I was just so happy to see them honestly. Let me preface this by saying.. man, those 2 are TALKERS. Our meeting with them ended up being.. 3 HOURS!! Whoa!! But it was really good. They told us about things they're dealing with and going through right now. And wow, Ewa seemed to actually be taking and applying the things she's learned from missionaries over the years. It was cool to hear her talk about it. We talked a lot about life, trials, repentance, forgiveness, and prayer. We asked Ewa to prayer for guidance as to how to move forward with a lot of things. And she was so willing to do it. (More willing than when I first met her, so that was cool to see!) Anyway, it was a long meeting, but just way good. Later, we didn't have much time for our original planned things, but that's okay. The meeting with Ewa and Alina was seriously so good. And... oh yeah, Thursday was my year mark!! I've officially been on my mission for one whole, entire YEAR!! WHOA!! That's 365 LONG days without a single hug from my Mom!! Definitely hard, but always worth it. :)

Friday was crazy!! Okay, so we had planned with Przemek (this man who comes to our English class) to go visit his school. He asked us to come and be special guests for his English classes. (He's an English teacher.) We thought it was just 2 or 3 classes, but no!! We ended up being there for the entire school day!! So... I went to school in Poland!! Actually, the more accurate statement would be... I taught at a Polish school for one whole day. Maybe I should add that to my resume?? Haha! Anyway, it was way fun and I loved it!! Basically, we were their "special guests from America." Now... I've heard that Poles LOVE Americans. And for the most part, that's true and I've seen that. But today, it was just SO MUCH LOVE!! Holy smokes, these kids were amazing and so cute!! After every class, they all gave us cards they had written and they gave us treats!! Like.. not just one or two small things, but like... an entire cake, a loaf of sweetbread, huge bags of candies, homemade chips, muffins, more candy.., pastries, cookies, and on and on and on... seriously.. it was so sweet!! But in all reality... how on EARTH do they expect two 20 year old girls to eat all that?! Hahaha... (We just brought it all to our party the next day.) What we did with them all day was.. we did a presentation about ourselves, our lives in America, we talked about America, etc. And with the younger groups, we even taught and sang songs together. (Did y'all know that Baby Shark was so viral, it made it to Poland?!) It was a blast!! The Elders had some videos of American football players getting tackled and the kids were DYING!! They thought it was HILARIOUS!! And my cheeks haven't hurt this bad in a while, that's how hard I was smiling!! :) But man... my favorite part of it all was just spending time with these kids and feeling not only their immense love for us, but feeling my overwhelming love for them (and just a small taste of God's love for them.. and THAT is already overwhelming!!). It was so awesome!! Later that day, we were, of course, exhausted from teaching all day (hats way way off to all you teachers out there!!). But then, we taught again!! We had our English class haha. It was great!!

These pictures are from our day at a Polish school with Przemek's classes.

The boy in the blue shirt next to me is Kamil. The super sweet kid who loves to cook and made us homemade chips!! I love those kids!! :)

This one is of all the girls fangirling over American boys... XD  

A super cute card one of the students made for us.

Saturday we were able to go and visit Agnieszka and have a good lesson with her about the Book of Mormon again. We always have really good and interesting conversations with her about the gospel. After the lesson, her son, Daniel had been DYING to play a game with us. So we played Sequence with them. We played on teams. I was on Daniel's team and... WYGRALIŚMY!! WE WON!! Haha, it was really funny to watch Daniel throughout the game. He always makes noises and bounces around and stuff. Basically he can't JUST play the game; he's gotta be doing something else haha! (So Mom, if you thought that was just a "Zach or an Ethan thing" to make random noises while playing board games... It happens all over the world. So.. I guess it's just a boy thing!!) 

Later, after English, we had a pancake party!! And thankfully we had it because we were able to use a ton of the treats we got from Przemek's school!! The party was fun and a lot of people came. Oh Lucyna made this ciasto.. it was like a cream puff cake or cream puff bar. I don't exactly know what it was, but holy smokes it was good! 

Me making a million pancakes for our Pancake Party!!

After the pancake party, we went and visited Lucyna. She talks so much more with us now, than she used to. She's really shy, so this is awesome! Then, we went back to the chapel to open it for the Young Single Adults (YSA). They had just gotten back from a YSA temple trip. They had dinner and played some games. Then, they shared their testimonies or thoughts and feelings about the gospel and/or the temple. So, Doni actually went to the temple with them. It was his first time!! It's so exciting!! He said he loved it! Oh! And he actually shared his thoughts with everyone! That's the first time I've heard him do that in a public setting with a larger group!! It was so cool, he said something like how he loved doing temple work because he knew he was helping people on the other side to get on the right path and he was helping them on their way. He said he felt happy and proud to be able to help them with that. Awww!! I feel like a proud mama! That makes me so happy!!

Sunday all the YSA came to church so we had a HUGE Branch of about 35 people!! WHOA!! It was awesome! So, church was great and I had a lot of fun talking with so many people. (I feel like this week I just talked with like a million people, holy smokes, it's been crazy...) After church, we were able to go to service at Magnolia Park and make food for the homeless again. Oh, and the news station was there. I guess they wanted to do a segment on "Zupa na Wolności" (the organization who runs the whole thing). There were news cameras and everything. They got some good shots of us cutting up food and working and yeah! So... I'll be on the Polish or Wrocław news, which is cool. It's funny... I come on my mission and then I'm on the news more than I've ever been in my life haha. (About this time last year, I was interviewed for Deseret News when I was in the MTC. I guess it's just a November thing?) 

The News came to the soup kitchen where we do service.

Anyway, on our way back to the chapel.. craziest thing happened! Holy flip, Sister Aramaki almost DIED!! Here's the story: 

Our light to cross the street was green and the car in one lane was stopped. Then, another car came speeding through the red light. Sister Aramaki didn't see it and almost stepped out in front of the car!! Ahh!! Luckily, I saw it right before. I threw my arm out in front of her, held her back, and stopped her from walking into the road. Pretty sure I hit her kinda hard, but hey, gotta save a life, right?? But.. oh my goodness it was scary close and I'm just so glad my reflexes were so quick. No doubt it wasn't me, but I had help I'm sure. Guardian angels are looking out for us. We were both pretty in shock afterwards. And people around us as well. I'm pretty sure everyone was pretty mad at the car haha. Anyway, we're safe and alive and unharmed, so... BLESSINGS!! Pray for protection, but remember to be aware and do what you can to take care of yourself too!!

Love and miss you all!!

Siostra Shaylin Carroll

A blast to the past... remnants of communistic Poland... (I just took the picture in black and white, but a lot of buildings here in Poland still look like this.)

Me and Isabel.

Me, Isabel, Sister Aramaki, and Solomiya.

"Yea, and all the earth shall see the salvation of the Lord, saith the prophet; every nation, kindred, tongue and people shall be blessed."

Saturday Morning Miracle: We met... an angel???/Little Miracles and Dzień Niepodległości (11/12/19)

Cześć!!

Monday there's really nothing to report. Thanks for all the emails family! Except you Zach. You don't send me any... XD It was Independence Day yesterday (Monday), so that is why y'all are getting this email today! :)

Tuesday was GOING to be a normal day. Well, everyday is going to be normal... and then it's usually not haha. I honestly don't know how I'm still surprised by that. Nothing ever ends up as planned and things still surprise me!! Haha! Anyway, we were doing weekly planning and we called Lucyna (the older member who we're trying to help to stop smoking). She did not sound normal at all. We couldn't understand her, she was mumbling, sounding confused, etc. So we rushed over to her apartment to check on her. She did not look well and she was acting way different than normal. She was a lot slower, very weak, got disoriented and very confused, was hard to understand, she kept mumbling, had a massive headache, and even had to lay down while we were there. It was bad. Sister Aramaki and I honestly thought she was just going to die while we were there! Luckily she didn't. The Elders came and gave her a blessing. She was doing a lot better after that. We walked to the doctor together and she set up an appointment for the next day. We left after that, but we called a few times to check on her and she was doing a lot better. We still don't know what happened or what was wrong, but God knows and He was able to bless her with what she needs. It was crazy! But a cool experience to be a part of and to be able to help with.

Wednesday, we had a lot happen communication wise. Wiktoria called us about some recent updates on her situation. We're hoping and praying that everything works out. Good news is, her parents finally know about her situation and they are trying to help her. Wiktoria says her relationship with her parents now is better than it's ever been. So, that makes me really happy to hear that! (Earlier, she had said they didn't really care about her or what she did.) So it's really good progress. We were also in touch with Joanna throughout the day. She is finally getting some help in court and with legal things! We also had our District Council today which was good. A bit later, Sister Aramaki and I met with Lucyna (not a member of the Church). We talked about temples and she's really interested in that. She really wants to go, but doesn't want to be baptized into the true Church of Jesus Christ... even though she said she knows this is the true Church of Jesus Christ... yeah, doesn't make any sense. We asked if she would read the Book of Mormon and pray every day this week, so she can gain a testimony that it's true and that this Church is true. She came up with all these excuses as to why she can't and she doesn't have time... yeah. So, I guess she'll just keep coming to Church on Sunday until she decides to make time for it. Sadly (and not sadly, because our agency is a gift!!) we can't gain a testimony for her. She has to choose to do that for herself. After that, we had our first meeting for the Self-Reliance course. Anna, a Ukrainian girl who comes to English, had texted us and asked if our church did any programs to help people find a job. And that was way cool because we've been trying to figure out how to get the self-reliance course started here!! So, we set up a time to have it! Lucyna decided to stay, which seemed harmless at first... but when we were supposed to have discussions as a group, she just said something like, "Oh, well I'm already self-reliant and I have been for years. And I have a great job and I don't need this course. I'm just here to listen." I could not believe her!! And she continued to make comments that were opposite to what we were trying to teach. We asked the question about if we believe that there is a solution to every problem and she said no there isn't. And when we watched a video about how a father solved the problem of his son's worn-out shoes when the father didn't have money to buy new ones. Lucyna said something like, "That doesn't make any sense. They should have just bought new ones. That's a terrible solution." Aggghhhhh... basically it was just really frustrating the whole time. And I just felt so bad for Anna and she was on the verge of tears the whole time. Okay, so, here in Poland... it's really hard for Ukrainians. 1. Because of the language. 2. It's so hard for them to get jobs. 3. The Polish people are sometimes really racist towards them. (It's basically the equivalent of how Mexicans are sometimes treated in the U.S. People making jokes about them only working in construction and their accent and whatnot. It's literally the same here with Ukrainians and I hate it. Because the Ukrainians I've met are seriously so wonderful!) And knowing that background, you can understand more why Lucyna's comments would be really harmful. Anyway, sorry I went on that rant fam, but it was really bothering me. We just need to be kind, thoughtful, and sensitive to the people around us, because we never really know what their situation is. Anyway, we also called Lucyna (the member) to check on her. She went to the doctor today and they're sending her to the hospital tomorrow. She'll be in the oncology ward. So I'm guessing they're checking for cancer. I'm glad we made her set up an appointment yesterday!! Because she was just at the hospital last week and they didn't catch whatever this is. Hopefully all is well!

Thursday, we were able to have a meeting with Anna (Max's wife, the branch member). She wanted some extra English practice because for her calling, she has to report every week to her leaders in Germany... in English!! She gets really scared to do it, so we're just giving her more opportunities to speak in English with us! She's so cute, she also was wanting to talk about the Gospel because she wants to strengthen her spirit. I loved that!! So it's just really good for all of us. We had a really great conversation about God's love for us and she told us her conversion story (how she found the church). Later that evening, we went to Renoma and talked with people there. I talked with this super cute Turkish girl who didn't speak much English, but when she did speak, she had almost no accent! It was the weirdest thing, but so cool. Oh my gosh, she was so cute though. I was also able to talk to this guy, named Robert, from Southern Ireland (so the accent wasn't quite as thick, but definitely still there). It was so fun!! He is really interested in spirituality, so we had a great conversation about that. There were a lot of things on which we agreed. But, of course, there were some differences. Throughout our conversation, he basically just kept saying he had everything he needed in the Bible and didn't need any more than that. (Sound familiar??) Folks, I'm tellin' ya... I hear that prophecy fulfilled nearly every day. XD Anyway, I explained that the Book of Mormon is ANOTHER testament of Jesus Christ and that it only helps us learn more about Christ and come closer to Him. He still had the same argument, but we finished the conversation with agreeing that the most important thing is that people are trying to come closer to Jesus Christ. And hey, that's all we're trying to do as missionaries. Help people come into Christ! So if you or anyone you know are wanting to do that, please call up your local missionaries. If you don't have their number, you can set up with them on comeuntochrist.org. Or even just do research for yourself on that website. It's awesome!

Friday some cool things happened. Here are the highlights. We went contacting and just kind of wandered around, going wherever we felt like we should go. Never strong promptings to go in a certain direction, but just good feelings about where we were going. But as always, we are subtly guided and led. And God always makes our paths cross with those who are prepared when we're out and about. We met a 15 year old girl named Ania. Very sweet and mature. She was awesome! We talked with her for a while and she said that she had gone through a time of not believing, but was now "converted." We gave her a Book of Mormon and at least 3 different times during the conversation, she thanked us for it and told us how interested she was in it. She would say things like, "Seriously, I am so interested in this!" So just very genuine about it all. And totally chill about 2 random girls stopping her on the street to talk about religion. And she wants to meet!! Wow! I have no doubt that she was the "one" we needed to meet that day.

Another cool story from Friday, involves a Facebook notification I received. (I can't put this on the group email, because Karen is on there, and it might mess things up... but feel free to tell people about this story!!) Okay, I like.. never get these notifications, but this time it "randomly" told me that Sister Makylee Scherschligt moved to Bergen, Norway. Now, the ONLY reason I'm friends with Makylee on Facebook is because she sent a referral to us last transfer. And so it seemed totally out of the blue to get a notification that she moved. BUT the city she moved to is the same city where Karen Daehli lives. And what's more? Karen doesn't normally live there. She's only there because she is doing her 1 year of mandatory military service that Norway requires. So the fact that I got a referral from this Sister, became friends with her on Facebook, got this "random" notification that I never get, and then she "happens" to be in the same city as Karen?!?! NOT a coincidence!! So many details have been lined up and God is in all of them!! This Sister missionary has GOT to be just the thing Karen needs.

Okay, I just see little miracles every day! Saturday morning, we were heading on a train to go about an hour away to Legnica, to visit a member there. At the train station, we were trying to buy our tickets, but the line was way long. I started looking at signs to make sure we were in the right line. While I was doing this, Sister Aramaki said that an older lady ("an angel" as she called her) came up to her and told her which line to go to. The correct spot to buy our tickets had no line! But the lady didn't ask Sister Aramaki where she was going or which train she needed, she just told her where to go. And THEN!! She came over and told me, "An angel just told me to come to this line." I asked her who and where the angel lady was. Sister Aramaki had just turned around and seen her right before I asked. But she looked again after I asked her, and the angel lady was gone. She had disappeared! Whoa... Now, whether she was an angel from this world or from another, we don't know.. but either way, sometimes we get little miracles. And sometimes God lets us see them. Sure, to some, it might seem like a little thing. But I truly believe that we are guided and God sends people and/or angels to help us. This was definitely another reassurance to my faith. I feel so blessed to have so many of these experiences and see these miracles!

The Fall trees in Legnica.

Legnica felt like Oregon.. it was weird..

On the train to and from Legnica. 

Fun fact: On the way to Legnica, I realized that most Polish houses and buildings have red Roof shingles instead of the black we normally have at home. So that's interesting!

Saturday we had a really good meeting with Agnieszka. (The member in Legnica) We were able to talk about the gospel, the scriptures, and her conversion story. She was actually a Jehovah's Witness before joining the Church. She said that she always thought it was interesting how the missionaries from our church could look at and take materials from other religions, but for Jehovah's Witnesses, it was completely forbidden. She didn't like how they just decided and told you what was true and what wasn't. She said it was terrible how you couldn't find out for yourself. Agnieszka loves that about the Church that we can always pray to know that things are true and find these things out for ourselves. Anyway, it was a great meeting and she's an awesome lady! That evening, we were also able to meet with Babcia and Lucyna. Both were great meetings! Lucyna was the most talkative in this meeting than I've ever seen her before. It was really cool! She seems to be making progress, which is good to see. We're making a plan with her to go on walks and try to help her kick smoking to the curb. :)

Sunday we had a wonderful experience. Joanna and Kajtek came to church!! They loved it! Afterwards, Adam was able to give both of them a Priesthood blessing. It was a blessing of comfort, peace, and council. And wow. They were beautiful! It was powerful. And the Spirit in that room was so strong! After his blessing, Kajtek was just beaming and smiling. After hers, Joanna was crying and even Adam cried a bit. It was such a tender experience. Before they left, Joanna told us that they felt something here. They loved it and she said they will definitely be back. She gave us both a Milka chocolate bar and both Joanna and Kajtek gave us hugs before they left. Wow. I am so grateful that they are so in tune and aware of their feelings. And that they are recognizing feeling something different here. It's a beautiful thing and I'm so grateful to be a part of it all!

Monday was Dzień Niepodległości or Polish Independence Day!!

Independence Day on Plac Wolności.

Me and Sister Aramaki pointing out the Polish flag on Independence Day (there were Polish flags everywhere and it was awesome!!)

So we didn't have our normal pday on Monday and that's why I'm writing my email on Tuesday! Anyway, we basically just did our studies, weekly planning, and finished up our presentation for Przemek's class. (We'll be going and doing a presentation for these 5th graders I think. It's about America and our lives there and why we're here in Poland. So that should be cool!!)

I felt weird about putting a selfie on the group email, but I wanted to show y'all that I wore the Polish flag on Independence Day!! (white on top, red on bottom!!) :)

Then, we went out for dinner at this Georgian restaurant. And I honestly couldn't tell ya what we ate because it was in Georgian, but hey! It was good!! It was right next to the Rynek.

Dinner at the Georgian restaurant with the Elders, Jami, and Wojciech (Wilbert).

The Georgian food (still no idea what it's called haha).

And on the Rynek, there was this big Independence Day race going on. There were SOOO many people!! It was pretty crazy trying to push our way through the crowds to get back to the chapel in time for English class. But we did and we had a great class and a fun family home evening (game night). Szczęśliwego dnia niepodległości!! :)

Love and miss you all!!

Siostra Shaylin Carroll