Okay, for starters.. I am now in Poznań, Poland! :) It's so pretty here!! My companion is Sister Jensen. She is 19, but will be 20 in May. So we both graduated in 2018 and are basically the same age. Her Dad is in the air force, so their family moves around a lot. They are originally from Idaho, but have lived all over the place. Right now they are living in Mississippi, but will be moving to Washington DC soon. Sister Jensen is in her 3rd transfer in the field. So she just finished her training last transfer with Sister Eberting. She is super sweet! And every morning she asks me if she can cook me eggs! She is so kind and thoughtful and I'm so blessed to be with her. She also really cares about the people here in Poznań. She's a great missionary!
Monday was TRANSFER DAY!! And wow was it a CRAZY day. I had 2 trains today. First, we went from Wrocław to Warsaw. In Warsaw, we met up with the Poznań Sisters and switched companions. I had to say goodbye to Sister Aramaki. 😭😭😭 I love her so much!! And I will miss her a ton!!
Peacin' out of Wrocław like... (Haha, Sister Aramaki and I decided to take a typical "Elder picture." We feel like they do this a lot.) XD
Then, I headed back to Poznań with my new companion, Sister Jensen. We got to Poznań and went straight to the chapel (luggage in tow and all). We joined in the games for Family Night! And I met some of the members! Yay! Then, we went back to the apartment and had a phone call from a man named Mariusz. I guess they had a meeting set up with him for tonight. So I had my first meeting in Poznań over the phone. Kinda crazy! It was short, but good. And we'll call him again this week. Then, I was able to unpack everything and some of the stress of transfers were relieved haha. Unpacking always helps you feel a little more settled in a place. At first, I never think so. But then the more I unpack and get organized, the better I feel. So, yeah! Survived transfers and I'm now in Poznań! My 3rd city or area!! :)
A random church in who-knows-where on the way from Warsaw to Poznań.
Tuesday was the LONGEST day of my life haha. Not that is was bad, it was just so so very long haha. I guess that's what happens when it's a new transfer, and you're in a new city, and with a new companion. Just trying to get my bearings and figure everything out. Haha seriously, the day felt like it lasted for SO SO LONG!! Basically, we did our studies. We were supposed to have a meeting with a returning/less active member here. Her name is Grażyna. But she wasn't answering her phone when we went to visit her... so that didn't happen. But we went contacting for a while instead and I was able to see a bit more of Poznań! Whoo! We went to this really cool park. I haven't seen that much green grass in Poland in a LONG time haha. They don't have too much of that here. So far, Poznań reminds me a lot of Szczecin. I don't exactly know why, but it does. So it kinda feels like I'm back in Szczecin at the beginning of my mission again... hahaha.... And in the evening, we did our weekly planning!! Whoo! And that was my first day in Poznań! (Almost wrote Wrocław there... haha, 8 months is a LONG time.) :)
Wednesday was another "getting oriented" kind of day. It's kind of funny.. Sister Godfrey "died" here. (Ended her mission here.) And I keep finding her things everywhere. It's kind of funny, because usually I see random stuff in apartments and I have no idea where it came from. But now, I'm like, "Oh yup, that's Sister Godfrey's clock." Or something like that. It's pretty funny! Anyway, today we spent some time getting in contact with a ton of people to set up meetings for this week. That was quite the adventure, but it went well! We were also able to go and get my tram card (public transportation card). So that's good! After that, we went to the chapel for language study and to get ready for English. Then, this guy named George knocked on the door and we had a solid 30 minute conversation with him about the most random things. He LOVES to talk. Wow. Oh, he had originally asked us about English classes. And he was talking to us in English.. the guy is practically fluent!! But hey, anyone can come to the classes, so he'll be there! After that, we had our English class. It's the beginners class, which is really fun. Wow, I don't know if I've ever had this much participation in any English class I've taught. They all did so well and it was hard to get them to stop talking. Even during religious discussion! It was an actual DISCUSSION!! It was so so awesome! Also, there's a girl named Zofia who comes to English. And oh my goodness, she is totally going to be a member of the church someday!!
Thursday morning, we headed to the chapel for District Council. Our District is Poznań and Szczecin, so we skyped. It was so weird being on the other side of the call and not in Szczecin haha. In Szczecin, there's Elder and Sister Miskins, Elder Mitchell (our District Leader), and Elder Sorenson. In Poznań, we've got Elder and Sister Womack, Elder Long (this is his last transfer), and Elder Draschil (being trained, this is his first transfer!). Kind of fun thing... In July, I met Yulia Draschil in Wrocław. The day before I met her, her son Jefferson had gotten his mission call to Poland. We all signed a Polish Book of Mormon for him. Fast forward to now, I've just barely been transferred here to Poznań and I end up in the same city where Elder Draschil is being trained!! I couldn't believe it! So that was a really fun connection. After District Council, we had a meeting with the Poznań missionaries to talk about the work here, schedules, different people we work with, etc. So that was good! Later, we taught English class and Marta and Andrej came to that. At the very end, Marcin came running in. To sum it up, our conversation went like this:
Marcin: I'm running from the police.
Me: Did you steal something?
Marcin: Just the hearts of women!
*me thinking and hoping he's talking about Zofia...*
Me: Do you have a girlfriend yet?
Marcin: Not yet.
Me: Do you have anyone in mind? *still thinking of Zofia*
Marcin: You!! *obviously not thinking of Zofia*
Everyone: Ohhhh!!
Don't worry, he was kidding! But it was a pretty funny evening. After English, we were supposed to have a phone meeting with a man named Mariusz. But then he told us to give him a month to read everything and think about it and THEN we can talk. So that didn't exactly go as planned... he said we could still call every week though. So we will do that.
Friday was great! First, we had quite the process of getting me registered in the city. We had to go to the urząd. I think Poznań might be one of the strictest urząds in Poland haha. Wrocław barely checked me for anything. And Poznań, it seems, checked me for everything. Even after I had already finished things, a lady called me back and asked to see my passport again. She wanted to see my stamp and make sure I was legal here. Kinda crazy haha. I can see why Poznań was the place where missionaries got deported... but anyway.. I conquered my 3rd, and hopefully final, urząd!! Whoo!!
I conquered yet another urząd! Whoo!!
After that, we had a meeting with a man named Piotr. It was really good! We taught the Restoration and after every section, he said he agreed with what we had taught. So far he agrees with everything! There was a really special feeling when he read about Joseph Smith's First Vision and his experience of praying to know truth. He also has been trying to read the Book of Mormon every day, despite being way busy with work and things. He says he can already tell that this is a special book, that it's good, that it's from God, and he believes that it's true. He said he will pray about it too. Wow, Piotr is a way cool guy! After that, we went with the Elders and did a Book of Mormon Finding Activity on the Deptak! It was really successful. Though, I did have to go through a ton of "no's" and wasn't having ANY conversations at first. But I just kept going and eventually was able to place 3 copies of the Book of Mormon and exchange 2 phone numbers!! The 3 girls I talked to were all really interested in the Book of Mormon and how it contains answers to all our questions. They all really wanted to read. Magda and Claudia specifically, were really curious about what we believe and even said they would want to meet. It was AWESOME!! I seriously was just so happy after that Finding Activity!! It feels good to get back at it again for sure.
Saturday morning, we were able to meet up with the Elders and clean the chapel together. After all that was done, Sister Jensen and I went to visit Bożena. She's an older lady who is a member of the Church here in Poznań. She's awesome!! It was fun to spend some time talking with her and getting to know her. I'm happy I get to spend time with her until the end of my mission. It's kind of funny though, as you're going to her apartment, it's a little scary looking. (Just super old and dirty and rickety stairs and whatnot...) But then you get into her apartment and it's just a nice little apartment. Haha I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit worried as we were heading in there. XD Anyway, after that, we headed to do service at this soup kitchen. And that was awesome! Making soup and sandwiches with everyone there was great! There are so many kind, fun, and happy people who go there. I'm excited to do that every week too. After that, we were supposed to have a meeting with a girl named Kasia, but she got sick and couldn't come. So we went home and finished our studies instead.
Sunday was my first time at church here in Poznań. I was able to meet the members and such. We had 3 investigators in church!! Whoa! And 2 returning (less active) members! Holy smokes... Poznań is great for people coming to church I guess. It was awesome!! I played the piano haha. We'll see if I end up playing it for the rest of my mission! XD Also, a lady named Agata came to church all on her own! I guess she hasn't been in almost a year and then she just showed up all on her own! And plans to keep coming!! It was so awesome!! :)
Me on a street on the way to church. It's a typical Polish street for ya. Oh! And I'm wearing the skirt Babcia gave me!!
After church, we had a meeting with Ania, who is a returning member. We were mainly just checking up on her and seeing how she was doing. She's way sweet!
Me and Sister Jensen eating ice cream after church. :) (it was in the freezer already, don't worry we didn't buy it on a Sunday!!)
Later, we had Sunday dinner with the Womack's at their apartment. We had breakfast burritos (which I've been craving for like.. forever!!) and had a good time visiting. It was so fun to have a Sunday dinner again! :) Oh, also, really cool thing... the Womack's live RIGHT next to the big, huge soccer stadium here! It's so AWESOME!! They said it gets so loud on game nights haha.
The view from the Womack's apartment.
This blurry one is of the Soccer Stadium there!! It's super cool! (Sorry it's blurry oops...)
Anyway, it's been a good first week here in Poznań! And figuring everything out and stuff. Honestly, I think I'm way better now at moving to new places and getting adjusted quickly. It's a good life skill the mission teaches haha. But yeah! Poznań is seriously so pretty and such a nice city! I love it here!
Love and miss you all!!
Siostra Shaylin Carroll
P.S. Claudia texted us to ask us to meet this week!! She is really curious. She also really wants to come to church! She was actually going to come to church, but overslept. Wow! AND she's already in the middle of 1 Nephi!! Holy smokes! This girl is AWESOME!!
A cool night time street view (feat. the bright full moon).
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