Monday was a pretty normal pday. We were still in the store, but checking out, a few minutes after 10:00 and this Babcia threw a little fit about it. Oops... And I accidentally went into another store before noon, which is still the designated "senior time." Double oops.. I honestly forgot on that one. Anyway, we were able to play some games for pday and later we got ready for the nightly devotional, which our District was in charge of. I'm really hoping the restrictions get lifted quickly. I want to see a few things before I leave Poland!! Maybe have a few adventures on pday before I leave. I know that's not why I'm here in Poland. But it would be nice.
Tuesday we basically just did weekly planning, contacted a ton of members and whatnot, and worked on Facebook. We also helped Elder Womack figure out something for Zoom. We talked about member and the YSA with him. Sorry, honestly nothing really exciting happened today. It was really just a big planning, coordinating, and contacting kind of day. Oh, I guess we were supposed to have interviews with President. But turns out, he'll be here in Poznań on Thursday, so we moved it to then. I'm really glad to have my interview in person because I only have a few of them left!
Okay, um.. random interesting thing I guess. There is this street close to our apartment called "Akiva Eger Street." I knew the name didn't look Polish. So after a quick search on Facebook (because we don't have google...) I discovered that Akiva Eger was a Jewish Rabbi who emphasized the importance of social distancing during the pandemic outbreak of 1831. I thought that was oddly convenient that we live close to this street and we are in a time of social distancing. XD Also, I never noticed this street name until Tuesday. So, the more you know, I guess. XD
Wednesday morning we had District Council. We do a "life hack" section where people can share tips or recipes or things like that. Elder Zabriskie had it this time. He and Elder Draschil made this hilarious video about how to make pancakes. Including a montage of Elder Zabriskie whisking the eggs for seemingly "hours." Which is Elder Womack's biggest pet peeve, as he clearly pointed out to us on Sunday as we made breakfast burritos... XD It was hilarious! Anyway, later that day I was able to do a post about the poem I wrote, which was cool. I really love this picture of Christ. I thought I should point that out. I feel like it captures His character really well.
I love my Savior, Jesus Christ and I'm so grateful for everything He has done for me. I know that He makes it possible for us to become better people. To try over and over again. He was resurrected that first Easter morning. I know that He lives. I know that as we try to become like Jesus Christ, we will receive help from Him. He will be with us. He will help us change.
Anyway, then we had a lesson with Ola! We taught her the 3 final points we had left to teach her. We taught about the 10 Commandments, Obeying the Law, and Teaching and Learning in the Church. It was pretty straightforward. Then, we were able to just talk more about prophets, the scriptures and applying them to our lives, prayer, faith, and spiritual experiences. I asked her if she had written down any of her spiritual experiences and she said she had! So I challenged her to find them and read them again. She's still praying about baptism, so I'm hoping that by reading her own experiences with the Spirit, she will be able to recognize the answers she is receiving. She's still doing well though and has so much faith. It's just hard because I don't think she realizes it or sees it in herself.
Thursday we had interviews with President Chandler in the morning. It was really good! So crazy and sad though because it was my last one with him before my "exit interview"!! Seriously so crazy.. But I love interviews with President! It feels similar to talking with my Dad or at least some sort of "mission father figure" I guess. So, we just have a really good time talking together. Later, I helped Elder Womack write the Branch History for 2019. He told me the things that happened and I typed it up for him. He had asked me the day before if I would help him with it because I can type fast. XD It was fun to hear about everything that happened here last year! After that, we had a lesson with Marlena. She has been so busy that we haven't been able to have a meeting with her while I've been here. But she was finally able to meet! And it was so good! She is such a faithful lady and she has a deep love for the scriptures and God. It's easy to see that. We were able to talk about the Gospel of Jesus Christ with her. It was very simple, but there was a very sweet spirit there during that meeting. At the end, we asked her about baptism and if she would be baptized. She had a few concerns (more logistical than anything), but besides those, it sounds like she really wants to get baptized. I hope we can resolve those concerns quickly because she would be an amazing member. I loved being able to meet with her. Afterwards, she sent us a text and thanked us for the meeting. She said that it had been a hard day for her, so she was really glad we were able to talk.
A bit later, we had a call with Zoe again. Let me tell ya, that girl is adorable. Just the sweetest and she is always a highlight of my week. We were able to talk with her about prayer. She told us that she had prayed about everything this past week. She even prayed about a girl in her class who is pretty mean to her and she asked God "why does she behave in this way?" She's a very thoughtful and mature 9 year old, for sure. We asked her how she feels when she prays and she told us she feels happy. And this week, she said she would pray and ask God if He loves her. And then, after the meeting she sent us the music video for "The Final Countdown" so there's that too. XD
Our call with Zoe (we tried to see what we would look like with short hair)
Again with Zoe (I have a mustache because I'm acting out a story. I think I'm making chocolate in this shot.) XD
And I discovered that my hair is actually long enough to give myself a full beard/face of facial hair. Yay me. XD
Friday was great! The Womack's got another puzzle. 1,000 pieces this time. Needless to say, we wiped that one out pretty quick. XD Under 3 hours! Oh AND it was WHILE we were messaging people on Facebook haha. XD
In the morning, we had a wonderful meeting with Claudia. We went over the Baptismal Interview questions with her again. She is so ready. The first time we went through it, there were still a few things she wasn't sure about. She still had some doubts and concerns. And you could feel that she needed more time. But when we went through it this time, you could just feel that she was ready. She is so excited to get baptized! She told us it's a big step to make, but she think she's ready and she feels excited. She also finished the Book of Mormon. When I asked her about her experience with that, she said, "I can't really put it into words. But there was just this great feeling of peace. I just felt peace and happiness as I finished the Book of Mormon. It just felt good. My faith in it just grew more and more. The more I read it, the more convinced I became that it's true, the Church was true, and that I really did want to be baptized." That was just a huge testimony builder to me to hear her say that and to see that the Book of Mormon and the Holy Ghost really do have that power to convert people. To change hearts and desires. It's been amazing to see how her concerns and doubts from earlier have slowly just disappeared as she reads the Book of Mormon. I've loved seeing the change that the Gospel has brought into her life. Seriously, you can FEEL the changes that have happened. I love that the Gospel of Jesus Christ can do this for all of us. I've been so blessed to see this change in someone as I've been teaching them. Claudia is the miracle I've been waiting to see for my entire mission. May 9th, here we come!! :)
Later in the day, we had a meeting with Dharmik. We were able to talk about the Plan of Salvation. Dharmik has great faith in and a relationship with God. It's easy to see that. The Spirit was definitely there during that meeting. There was an especially sweet feeling of the Spirit present as we testified of Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice for us.
Saturday was good. We were able to do a lot of work on Facebook and message a bunch of people. Also, when we got to the chapel, the Womack's decided we needed to go on a drive. So we did. Let me tell ya, I don't think I have appreciated just "going on a drive" so much haha. It was so good to get out of the city for a bit, see some of the Polish countryside, and even the rolling fields of yellow!! (Mustard or rapeseed fields) It was beautiful!! It was good to have a break, spend some time with the Womack's, and enjoy the scenery.
Beautiful yellow fields on our drive!! :)
After we got back, we had a meeting with Kasia. She didn't really want to talk about the gospel. She said that's all we ever talk about... well, yes. That's true. We're supposed to haha! XD She wanted to talk about other things and in English. So we read a bit in the Book of Mormon with her and talked about that and then, she talked to us in English about finishing school and things. It was good! And she still wants to meet. She later apologized to us for being grumpy about it earlier and said she still wants to learn more. Good thing we showed her love and tried to compromise with her!! She's great and I'm sure she's just dying for human interaction like we are and everybody else is. Later, during our devotional we found out there was a baptism in our mission today! It's so cool that we're still baptizing even during COVID-19!! Making history... wow!
Our call with Kasia.
Sunday was peaceful. We had our meetings at 10:00 and 13:00. They went well and we had a good group of people for both of them. Even Ola and Kasia (Mom, not the young one we teach) were on the group call for the meetings today! Later, we had our District Devotional. Sunday is always full of meetings. But we had dinner with the Womack's and the Elders right after, and that's always really fun! We're so blessed to be taken such good care of by the Womack's! I love them! For the devotional, we had a guest speaker, John Butler. He talked about DNA and the Book of Mormon. It was really interesting!
Love and miss you all!!
Siostra Shaylin Carroll
Sister Jensen caught a picture of me. Just look how Polish those buildings behind me look though...
Me and Sister Jensen in the Rynek with our masks on *not social distancing for a second oops*
THE RYNEK
Tag picture! I realized I haven't taken any "tag pictures" my entire mission. I thought they were kinda cool though, so now I'm playing catch up. :)
Our view of these beautiful trees on our drive out of town. :)
Chat with the Relief Society Sisters in the Branch (notice Sister Jensen's and my social distance...) ;)
Sister Jensen asked me to cut her bangs and do like a fade-out or whatever it's called. I honestly don't know, that's what she called it. But the bangs like, kinda frame your face, and curve a bit haha. So, she knew that I had NEVER cut bangs and STILL asked me to do it. So I cut her bangs and they actually turned out pretty good for my first time. We were both happy haha.
The first picture is in the middle of it when there were like 3 different lengths and I was slightly terrified I was messing up haha. But the next one is a few days later.
Don't they look good?? Yay!! XD
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