Last Week in Wrocław!!! 😱😱😱/He brought me flowers..... (2/3/20)

Cześć!!

Monday was great. I was able to watch "The Fighting Preacher" (finally haha). It was way good! I just feel like there are a lot of the same things we still deal with as missionaries. So I connected with a lot of things from the movie. It was really cool! Also, it doesn't hurt that it took place in the 20's so the fashion was ON POINT and the music was PERFECT!! I was very excited about these elements haha. But wow, T.C. Christensen really knows how to tell a good story. He's incredibly talented at that. Anyway, that night at English and FHE it was good! Also, it was my last Monday here in Wrocław which is CRAZY!! After 36 Mondays.... it's my last one. Holy flip!! 36 WEEKS?!?! That is a LOOOOOOONG time. Wow.... Anyway, it was my last time seeing Solomiya, so we gave each other a big hug goodbye. I love that girl. She was so sad that I'm actually leaving. Aww!! And yeah, that was my last pday in Wrocław!! Whoo!!

Tuesday we had a pretty busy day of planning haha. Basically we did our studies, planned out our entire week, and worked on Facebook. I even got some first hand experience at having someone judge me before they even got to know me. WHOOO!! It's a REALLY good thing that I watched the Fighting Preacher yesterday because...  wow... yup. Let me just say that I really hate it when people tell me I'm in a cult and that I need to be educated on it. As if I'm so dumb  as to have gotten myself stuck in some cult. And they don't know a thing about what our church actually believes in. I think I just get super offended by the ignorance of people sometimes. But hey she said she would be willing to come to English after she was done freaking out on me. So that's a plus I suppose. 😂 Anyway, sorry, I just had to rant about that for a bit. Also, at the chapel, a ton of people came to the Family History Center today!! Like.. we had all computers going (4), plus a lady on a laptop, plus someone doing microfilms. AND we even had someone cancel their reservation. Normally there's like... Mariusz and 1 or 2 other people. So today the Family History Center was POPPIN'!!!

Wednesday we had a meeting with Artur and Siostra Malinowska. We were planning to teach the Plan of Salvation, but then.... let's just say Siostra Malinowska talks. A LOT!! Artur had a bunch of questions. So it was good that he was able to talk to someone about those. And he's still wanting to meet. He's doing the things we ask so far. He's reading the Book of Mormon and the pamphlets we give him about the lessons. So that's good! Later, we had a little surprise birthday party for Doni. A LATE birthday party haha. It was just Doni, Vova, and Wilbert. It was pretty interesting, but Doni seemed to enjoy it. We also taught our self-reliance course which went well. 

Doni's surprise belated birthday party! XD

Oh! Also, we got our transfer calls on Wednesday!! Yeah, Wednesday!! I guess President decided to call early haha. I'm so grateful. Because then I was able to have a restful night of sleep haha! But it was pretty trippy that he called when he did. Vova had just come in and was talking to us about the coronavirus and telling us how it's spreading and telling us that we need to tell our Mission President to evacuate us! And then RIGHT THEN, President Chandler called! But it was for Transer Calls haha. So, as expected, I will be leaving. He tried to mess with us at first and told us that Sister Aramaki was leaving, but I didn't believe for a second. (President has way too much fun with transfer calls!) XD Anyway, so I will be going to POZNAŃ!!! I'm so excited!! It's kinda crazy though because so far I've followed exactly the same path as Sister Gornichec. 4 months Szczecin, 8 months Wrocław, then to Poznań. Wow! I can't believe I actually called it again!! I kept telling Sister Jensen and the Womack's, "Hey, I'll see you soon!" Haha, but I was actually right! President Chandler said, "Well, the Spirit never lies." Which is super cool! Because the call almost just comes as a confirmation that Poznań is where I'm supposed to be. And President reiterated that as well. He said about the planning process, "I originally had you in Poznań. I moved you around quite a bit, but in the end I kept putting you back in Poznań. For some reason or another, you need to be there! The Lord needs you there." Well, I am way excited to go and serve in Poznań and most likely finish out my mission there. I've heard so many good things about that place. :)

Thursday we headed to Legnica for District Council. My last one ever here! Gaaaaahhhh!! Insane.... It was good!  

Lunch with our District. All of them are staying except me! I'm gonna miss those people.

Then, after that, the Zgorzelec Elders made lunch for us. Elder Puff and Chugg! We had potato salad and kotlet. It was way good! And it was super fun to have a District lunch together. I'm the only one leaving this transfer, so I had to say goodbye to everyone!! Ahh!! I'm seriously gonna miss this District so bad!! Anyway, we headed back to Wrocław. We had a good meeting with Asan. He's doing really well with studying the scriptures and really wants to understand the Book of Mormon. He also has such strong faith in prayer and believes that it works. He prays for things on his own and he asks us to pray for things as well. I think he definitely has a testimony of prayer and it's really cool to see that! And it's cool to watch his testimony grow in these different areas. It's amazing! Later, I was able to put up my last post for the Facebook mainpage. Bittersweet... It was a picture of Wiktoria and her story of joining the Church. It was beautiful!! And people LOVED it!! I don't think I've seen that much reaction on any of the others so far. It was really successful and it made me so happy that I could share her story. :)

Okay, quick story I know Zach will greatly appreciate and possibly Dad too haha. So, after District Council, Elders Puff and Chugg were humming random songs from Zelda, so I casually joined in. It took them a bit to notice someone else was humming too. But then Elder Puff's eyes got huge, his jaw dropped, and his face just lit up. He said, "NO! WAY!!" Elder Chugg said, "She's one of us!! Wow. I would not have expected that!!" Oh my goodness they were so so excited that I knew what Zelda was haha. Seems like it was part of their childhood, kinda like how it was part of mine. Elder Puff said, "I could only ever talk to Chugg and Nielson about this!! Yes!! There's another one!!" And he went on talking to me about all the Zelda songs, how Ocarina of Time is the best one, how Nintendo 64 is the best system, and of course we all love Mario Kart 64. Haha it was a fun random connection we made. And reminded me of when we would ask Dad to play Zelda so we could watch it like a movie. XD Those were some good times. XD

Friday we were able to have a meeting with Kamil. We talked about the first half of the Plan of Salvation. He has trouble remembering what we've already taught him, so we usually have to review what we've been teaching him. Which is fine, as long as he actually remembers what we've been talking about and what he's learning. He's been coming to church and he prays regularly, which is awesome!! He's going to finally start the Book of Mormon this week. (He's been trying to finish another book first.) Anyway, the lesson was good and he's just still progressing well! After the lesson, Kamil practiced piano. I had brought my violin because he said he wanted to play together sometime. So we did that a little bit today and it was fun!! Later, we had a phone call with Mehdi. It sounds like he not only wants to keep learning about the Church, but that he has even been thinking about joining. (At least, the thought has crossed his mind.) He said something like, "If I were to join...." So we were pretty excited about that. It's been cool to see the slow, but steady changes that have been happening with Mehdi. That evening, we taught our English class. Man, I'm going to miss the English classes here. We have the BEST people come. :) After class, I gave the religious thought. We watched BYU Vocal Point's "I Stand All Amazed." And they all really enjoyed it. They said it made them feel happy, calm, and relaxed. I loved that!! At the very end, after we prayed and everyone was leaving, I told them that I wouldn't be there next week because I'm moving. They all looked SO SAD!! And then they lined up to say goodbye. It was so sweet! I really am gonna miss them. :')

Saturday we were able to go and visit Agnieszka in the morning. We watched President Nelson's talk, "Come, Follow Me." And we also watched the video "Faith Crisis: What to do when we feel nothing." She LOVED that one and thought it was so good!! After some discussion, we said our goodbyes. Daniel asked me if I would ever return to Wrocław. I told him I wanted to and that I would try to! Then, he shook my hand goodbye and I got a huge, long hug from Agnieszka. I'm going to miss them so much!! 

Me with Agnieszka and her son, Daniel. (P.S. I LOVE them!! Don't know if I can say that enough)

After that, we went to the chapel and taught our English class. The Saturday one is always busy now. Such sweet people who come. I'm really gonna miss them. After that, we were able to meet with Doni. We had an awesome lesson with him about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Max and Anna came for the meeting as well. We had a really good discussion together. We talked about baptism, the Sacrament, and how we remember the covenants we made at baptism each week as we partake of the Sacrament. Anna also talked about her experience with her baptism. Then, Doni shared his experience. He said that after he got baptized, his life flipped completely around. And that after he got baptized, everything made sense. That was so cool to hear! It gives me such reassurance that he was ready to be baptized when he says things like this. And it's comforting to know that he sees and feels the difference!

Me with Anna and Max (I also love them... basically I love everyone here haha)

Sunday morning, we went to church. It was my last time going to church in Wrocław!! 36 Sundays… Holy smokes! Lucky for me it was Fast Sunday and so I was able to share my testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and express my love to the members here. It was also fun to be able to play the piano for Sacrament Meeting one last time. I was able to say my goodbyes to everyone here. Siostra Malinowska, Siostra Kuchno, President Kwaśnicki, Max, Anna, Ludivine, both Lucyna’s, and others. Interesting thing though, Kamil, Joanna, and Kajtek came… but only to say goodbye and not to stay for church. Joanna and Kajtek gave me a small gift. It was a beautiful watch! Joanna is the sweetest lady. Oh, and probably one of the most interesting (and slightly awkward) things that have happened to me on my mission… Kamil brought me flowers! Not just one like most European men do. But a whole bouquet!! Whoa! And it was in front of so many people and everyone was just like.. “Oh!......” and trying to pretend like it wasn’t awkward. XD So it was very sweet of him! But we honestly can’t even tell if it was just him being nice and friendly or if he was (in the words of Sister Aramaki) “being romantical.” XD Haha either way, we got a lovely bouquet of flowers! 

Me with the flowers from my not-so-secret admirer. XD Haha, but seriously, Kamil is awesome and he will be a wonderful member of the Church one day.

After that, we went and visited Babcia. It was nice to be able to spend some time with her before leaving Wrocław. I love her! And I’m so glad I was able to have 8 whole months here and seeing her. So yeah, I just had a lot of “goodbye’s” and “see you later’s” today, which was fun. I also had my last day of working on the Church mainpage on Facebook. After that, we headed home to do our studies and I finished packing! (Worst part of transfers, just to give everyone that head’s up haha.)

Oh, also, Sunday night, we were able to talk on the phone with Mayur. He's been working a ton, so we haven't had the chance to meet with him. He said things are really hard right now, but he's praying a lot. He said, "I never ask God to take away my problems. I just ask Him for strength to endure and get through them." And I loved that! It was a perfect ending to my time in Wrocław. And I feel like I really learned that principle here. Now... on to Poznań!! :)

Love and miss you all!!

Siostra Shaylin Carroll

Zone Conference group picture.