Monday was another pday and I'm still just praying to be able to get out and see more of Poland before going home. I also just want to meet with people in person! I hope restrictions are basically completely lifted before I go home. But it was still a good day. In the morning, we had our apartment inspection and as usual the Womack's were very impressed with how clean everything was. Then, we went to the chapel and I was able to play the piano for a few hours, which was definitely good. Um.. we played some games and yeah! Happy pday haha.
Tuesday we were able to do our weekly planning session. We had a referral we needed to call. Her name is Aleksandra and she was a self-referral. She answered and was so happy that we had called. And holy smokes... she is the best referral I've ever gotten. So, long story short, her boyfriend recently joined the Church and she has seen it change him. She has noticed how happy he is now. At first, she was skeptical, but lately she's been feeling lost and feeling like something is missing in her life and that the Church of Jesus Christ could be that missing thing. So, she started reading the Book of Mormon on her own and she started praying every day. And not just once, but she prays when she wakes up, before all her meals, and before bed. Yeah, I know, right?! She said that she's noticed greater peace in her life since she started doing this. She has seen how people who are members of the Church of Jesus Christ just seem to have this "inner happiness" and she wants that. She wants to learn more about the church and said, "I'm not sure yet. But I feel like this is the right thing to do, so I'm going for it." Wow. We set up for the next day. I was soooo excited about Aleksandra!
Later, we were able to have a meeting with Kasia. We taught her about Tithing. Now, she is a talker, which is fine. That just means that we cover less material, but she understands everything really well. She thought the promised blessings that go along with tithing were wonderful. She really just loves every little part of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and thinks it's beautiful. We're just trying to help her see that there is a difference between the Catholic church and the Church of Jesus Christ. She has really great faith though. We love her.
Meeting with Kasia.
Wednesday we were able to meet with Aleksandra. She is amazing! It turns out, she has been reading a TON on her own. Searching everything on the Church website, reading the Book of Mormon daily, and even found and watched General Conference on her own! She also watched other videos of the Prophet. So, she's been listening to President Nelson and LOVES him. She says she just feels peace when he speaks and feels that what he is saying is right. She drinks deeply from all these sources. She is definitely a true seeker of truth. And as she's been reading and studying and doing all these things, she says she feels peace and she really wants what she sees in the Church. We had an amazing first lesson and taught her about the Restoration. She thought it was so cool that we can ask God questions. She said it makes sense and that she would definitely try it. She is so prepared! I'm so excited to work with her. Seriously, best referral ever!
A bit later in the day, we met with a lady named Klaudia. She's met with missionaries for a while, but like Marlena, has been really busy and this is my first time meeting with her. We taught her about the Word of Wisdom. She made sure she understood everything. She said when she got home, she would have to check her teas and throw out any that aren't allowed. Wow! She's just so willing to follow the Word of Wisdom at the drop of a hat. She has so much faith! She also said something really cool. She said that she had studied the Bible a lot, but whenever she went to church, it never lined up with what she had read. The church was never following what was taught in the Bible. That really bothered her and is what prompted her search for truth. She said she knew that that church wasn't right, but that truth had to be somewhere out there. She is looking for that one true church. Wow, she's amazing!
On Thursday, we were able to go explore some parks, ponds, rivers, and lakes to find a location for Claudia's baptism. We went with Elders Womack, Zabriskie, and Draschil. It was a fun adventure for the day. And my goodness, Poland has some beautiful parks!! That's not really something I did at home, but I feel like after being here, "taking a walk in the park" is gonna be something I do more often haha. It was gorgeous! Also, it was kinda fun because we were in quite contrasting environments throughout the day. We were next to a cathedral and the city and cobblestone and things while looking for a river. And then, a park with a pond and so much green everywhere! And then a forest that turned into a sandy beach near this large lake. We got some fun pictures in all these places. It was really fun! And we decided to have the baptism at the lake in this little secluded spot by the forest. It'll be so serene and peaceful... not to mention picturesque!!
Baptism location hunting by the cathedral (nice tag picture, huh?)
Me wearing my mask by the cathedral whoo! (This is cathedral island, by the way.)
A cool swan picture (credits to Elder Draschil).
Elder Zabriskie asked me to take a picture of him. You can't see it, but Elder Draschil was taking some too. And so, I guess we were all taking pictures of Elder Zabriskie. XD
More baptism location searching... had to get a tag picture to make it look like I served in San Diego or something haha.
Me on the beach!! (It was a lake haha.)
Later in the day, we had our English call with Zoe. It was great! She said she has been praying every day! She also said she asked God if He loves her. She doesn't feel like she got an answer, but she said she would try again this week. Also, we were able to talk about singing. Zoe loves to sing, but not in front of people unless she's in a choir. We asked her what song was her favorite to sing. At first, she didn't want to tell us because she was embarrassed about the TV show it was from and thought we would laugh. Eventually she told us, but made us promise not to tell anyone which show it was. But the name of the song is "The Pony I Want to Be." Now, the reason I bring this up? Zoe said that when she sings it, she changes the words so it applies to her and she sings, "The Person I Want to Be." I guess the character sings it when nobody wants to be with her. Zoe said the song "really describes" her and she obviously feels very connected to it. It was so cool to see that in such a young girl. She is the most mature 9 year old I've ever met. She already has goals and a vision for who she wants to be. I don't know the song she sings, but from the way she talked about it, it seemed like it talks about becoming a better person and having goals. I don't know, but I learn a lot from Zoe and the simple, but sweet and tender life experiences she shares with us. She's an amazing girl!
Zoe showed us her hamster! His name is Hamster. But her mom calls him Trouble.
Not a ton happened on Friday. We were able to do a LOT of work on Facebook because for some reason, nobody was able to meet. Sad. But hey, I made a post, friended some people, messaged a bunch of people, and it was great. I stayed busy. I even found a way to make things interesting as I found people on Facebook. So, I went to all these Disney group pages, found all the Polish people (usually those who lived in Poznań or closeby), and started conversations with them about Disney. Then, I was able to transition over to the gospel. It was awesome! And way fun too haha. In the evening, we had another meeting with Kasia. We just talked about fasting. It was simple, but good. And then she asked us questions about America. That night, we had a devotional with James Curran (James the Mormon). He's really cool. He has an incredible life and conversion story and a really strong testimony of the Gospel. I was grateful we were able to have a devotional with him.
James Curran was our guest speaker, so naturally we took a screenshot picture with him! XD
Saturday we were able to have a meeting with a guy I met through Facebook, named Janvier. It started out as a kind of chaotic and sporadic phone call. He just had a lot of questions for us and he would just rapid fire them at us. Once we answered his initial questions, it calmed down and we were able to have a nice discussion about prayer, receiving answers, the Holy Ghost, and the Book of Mormon. He had really good questions about how to know if you're receiving and answer from God or if it's your own thoughts. And how he would know if he received an answer. We talked about how the Holy Ghost communicates with us and how it feels. He said he would read the Book of Mormon and pray and seek answers. He's very willing to learn and he says he really wants to become Christian. It's cool to see that desire in someone to follow Jesus Christ. Later, we had a meeting with Martyna. It was so good to see her again! We were able to catch up with her and to read the Book of Mormon with her. It was really good! There was just such a sweet feeling of the Spirit there and we learned a lot together. She even opened up more! Martyna is usually pretty shy when it comes to talking about spiritual things, but today, she shared her thoughts with us and it was a really sweet experience. We had a fun evening getting pizza with the Elders and the Womack's. I'm grateful we are allowed to go to the chapel and to spend time with the other missionaries here.
Sunday we were able to have a testimony meeting through Zoom. We had 19 people in attendance, which was awesome! Kasia and Aleksandra were both there too. Aleksandra LOVED the meeting and said it was beautiful! :) A bit later, we also had our "Come Follow Me" class which went well. Later, we had a District Devotional and listened to the talk by President Eyring called "You Are Not Alone in the Work." I recommend listening to it. It was a great talk! Then, we had a fun evening having dinner with the Womack's and the Elders, calling the family for Ethan's birthday, and having a good Mission Devotional. It was another good week! :)
Love and miss you all!
Siostra Shaylin Carroll
Flag day in Poland (May 2) Flags were everywhere!!
Who knows who these characters are?! Haha it's the Backyardigans. Elder Draschil started the whole thing by drawing Pablo the Penguin. And slowly the other characters got added in. XD I even contributed. I drew Austin the Kangaroo haha. It was pretty fun!
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