A memorable Wigilia in Tomaszów Lubelski with family.

There was no official email this week due to Christmas and transfers so I thought I, (Elder Ashworth's mum) would share a little bit about what he has been up to the last couple of days - mainly through photographs.  Just so you know, Elder Ashworth was transferred on Monday 26th December to Warsaw where he is going to serve with Elder Einfeldt as an office Elder.  He loved serving in Lublin but he is looking forward to a new adventure.

On Christmas Eve, he and Elder Dooley travelled to a village in the south-east of Poland called Tomaszów Lubelski.  This is where my grandad (Elder Ashworth's great-grandad) Wladislaw Josef Wisniewski was born in 1926.   Grandad escaped from Auschwitz during the Second World War and was also forced to work on a farm in Germany from where he also escaped.  At the end of the war he joined the Polish Free Army and his division were sent to Oswestry, Shropshire in the UK.  He met my grandma and then settled in the UK.  He died in 2009 and is buried in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, Grandad's sister and her family still live in Tomaszow and this is who Elder Ashworth and Elder Dooley went to meet and celebrate Wigilia with.

Elder Ashworth with his great-grandad's sister

family grave in Tomaszow with memorial to grandad

Grandad Josef (1926-2009)

outside a wooden church

Wigilia

all together

Christmas Day skype

Wesołych Świąt. Szczęśliwego Nowego Roku!

So this week has come around so fast. We've been up to no good as usual and transfers are soon approaching. I'm not too nervous, I'm just happy to be spending Christmas here in Lublin with the Brothers. 

We had our exchange with Elders Haskett and Barlow this week. It was a good time. I've never been around Elder Haskett until this transfer so it was good being around him for a few days. The exchange started Wednesday night after English. For English we decided to practice writing letter to Santa. So we went through a bunch of ways to start letters, the most commonly picked being 'Yo Santa waddup'. It was a good laugh as usual, especially when Elder Dooley wrote that he wanted a pet dragon for Christmas as he doesn't like paying for his bus ticket, he's one of a kind haha. 

So on Thursday, our day started with us being fed breakfast by Elder Dooley, although the pancakes he made were terrible. He got up way earlier to prepare them and woke me up with the question..'do you have any eggs? I only have week old rotten eggs', well I didn't have any eggs so he continued to make the pancakes with rotten eggs..to the surprise of Elder Dooley they didn't taste too good. So we frisbeed them off our balcony, which amused us for a few minutes. We left the house around 9am and tried to catch everyone going to work and school, we have these '#ŚwiećŚwiatu' cards that we need to hand out before Christmas, we have a few boxes of them, so it seemed a good time to go and hand them out early. We went for some hot chocolate again at a place called 'U Szewca' on the rynek, looks just like an English pub, the hot chocolate is so good too, another bonus being that the United V Palace game was being shown on the TV so I got to watch about 30 mins of the game. Get In! 

That evening we were invited round to Ela's house as we arranged to cook for her to repay her for all the meals she's made for us. All 6 of us were there and we just made some proper missionary food, chicken and rice with some potatoes and salad, not too similar to a Classic Polish meal either. It was a solid evening, good people, Christmas music and all that. 

Friday we had our Friday night movie playing at the chapel, we finished the rest of Meet the Mormons and we had a few people show which was good. A guy called Marek came who we meet with from time to time, one of the nicest guys I've met. 

Saturday came around and we took a trip out to Świdnik for some service. Always a blast when we go out there. this time round, we shovelled coal, it confirmed Elder Hansen's thoughts of Eastern Europe..he said 'this is what I imagined when I thought of things I could get up to on my mission'. We shovelled a ton of it...about 1000kg of coal..and then threw it down a shoot into her basement. It was epic! Lunch came, prepared by Beata's mum, which is always quality food. 

The bus ride home was long, by accident we took the longer route home, which is why it was longer. But it worked to our advantage as both Elder Huffman and I were able to chat to the people that sat next to us. Of course the two girls that get on the bus would take the empty seats next to me and Elder Huffman over the many other empty seats.

We arrived home to a very misty and foggy Lublin. We had a bizarre idea for English planned which involved a backwards theme. So for the night we referred to each other as our names but backwards, and we wore our clothes backwards and we walked backwards, faced the wrong way, and just made a fool of ourselves as usual but it was funny. 

Sunday we had our special Christmas sacrament service which involved our branch choir and reading of the birth of christ from the bible, it was nice. I did the narration of the story in Polish and Elder Huffman read it in English. The 4 of us Elders and Michael sang a rendition of 'oh come, oh come, Emmanuel', it went alright I suppose. 

Then came the injury from the week. I shaved this morning before church, got to keep control of the beard you know, I threw my razor on my bed (as you do), then when I got home after church I jumped on my bed and somehow managed to slice my hand a few times on my razor. Who knew that a 4 titanium blade Wilkinson Sword razor from Rossman could have been so deadly!  It legit didn't stop bleeding for about 2 hours. So stupid haha. 

Sunday night we had a dessert and games night with the branch and friends at the Belo's home. It was good to be together before people go back home for Christmas.

So by next week I'll have my transfer call. We'll see what happens. So we have a cool day planned today. We're eating after this and then going shopping for a bit. at 15.30 we're going ice skating with some friends and then at 18.30 we have a bowling family home evening activity planned. So today is kind of a chill out day.

It's not snowing at the minute but it's been snowing, it's been down to -5 most nights, so it's cold. 

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas.

Take it easy!

Starszy Ashworth 🎄. 

District Christmas photo. We went for the 'ghetto' look on purpose.

The snowy streets of Lublin

We shovelled a ton coal for some service

Out with the squad for some food 

DoolMaster 300

Enos 1:26 - Those who are converted share the Gospel of Christ.

Where to begin, it's been the shortest week of my life for some reason, it's just flown by.

On Monday I treated myself to a new pair of jeans and a black woolly hat. We went to the old town and had a district picture that we'll be printing off and sending home as a Christmas card. So look out for that in the post. 

Tuesday we had a District Meeting which President joined us for. We had no clue he was coming, but it was nice to have him there. It's always good when President Turek is in on your meeting because I always learn something new..this time round I learnt the word 'to float' is ryfować. We weren't expecting anyone, so when the someone called the door it freaked Elder Huffman out, haha. We had a rather frustrating lesson with Bartek, it was good to be there with him and teach and all but the understanding of what we teach isn't quite there. 

Wednesday morning I got a phone call from an unknown number, it was Paweł calling to see if he could meet with us during the day. We met up after studies by Old town, with the snow pouring, and went to a place by the Rynek called 'Szewc' which is the word for 'Cobbler'. They had solid hot chocolate, which was needed as it's pretty cold out now. English class was hilarious, we had a bit of an English language segment and we had a chat, and then came the game..inspired by the video I received from my family of what happened at a family get together. We had to spin around 22 times, focusing on the ceiling, and then try and draw a specific thing on the whiteboard, it was so funny. We were all in stitches, it hurt to laugh and breathe for a short while after. 

Thursday was the day that Elder Sommerfeldt and White came to Lublin for exchanges. It was a bit of an adventure as their train didn't arrive till after 10pm. I guess not very unusual for others, but for missionaries it's so late! We had fun though and a moment where I thought I would have to put my 2 weeks of boxing training from when I was 14 to use, as a man ran up from behind us demanding money. I just talked to him and he soon left as he knew he wasn't going to get his 2zł for beer. 

Friday night we had a movie night at the chapel, a time for people to come and find out more about us as missionaries and as a church. Through the week we handed out over 1000 fliers, and we had 4 people show up. Those 4 people were people we personally invited..sounds about right for Poland. It was a decent night though. 

On Sunday we had a good testimony meeting, we had a lot at church too, there wasn't an empty seat. Myself and Ela took turns with the translating. After Church we went to visit someone in the hospital with Paweł. On the way, something happened that I'm always afraid will happen. A bird took a poop on my head, it was the only bird in the tree and it decided at that moment as I walked under to drop it on me. I was so mad, it embedded itself deep into my hair too. We were far from home, and I had nothing but snow and some tissues to get it out, so I had bird poo in my hair for a good 2 hours. 

That's my week. Here's a scripture for you. 

Enos 1:26 - Those who are converted share the Gospel of Christ.  We have zone training tomorrow.  This is the big one about family history and the area plan that we had the Seventy come down and speak to us about.  The zone is doing really well.  We have so many baptismal dates as a mission though, more than I've ever seen.  


Keep praying for me and I'll keep praying for you.

This is Boris, the Siberian Huskey - he belongs to Pawel.

the boys! Elder Summerfeldt and Elder White - they make me look like a kid

making pizza with Pawel and Elder Dooley

Three Nights in Warsaw

This week has been a strange week as we've not been in Lublin for most of it. From Tuesday night to Friday afternoon we were in Warsaw, getting up to all sorts of things with Elders Quakenbush and Mulder, zone conference, MLC and a wild 5:30AM footy match.

Wednesday morning we were up early, as I mentioned before for the football. We had 8 lads there, we just had a kick about in the darkness. It woke us all up for sure. Walking back I was doing some kick-ups and kicked the ball into a big ditch, some work was being done by the side of the road, so I jumped in before anyone noticed and grabbed it. Definitely a 'laugh at myself' moment. Shout out to Elder Mulder for a solid breakfast. At 9:30 we headed back out for an English Blitz by the University.  I've never seen so many students!  Something we'll start doing here in Lublin for sure. We went back home for studies, can never go a day without studies.   The morning of football wrecked us though, as we all at some point had one of those 30 minute long 'prayers' haha. We had a finding activity with Elders White and Sommerfeldt, Quakenbush and Mulder on Nowy Świat, it's all nicely decorated with Christmas lights and it was full of people.

Thursday, Day 2 in Warsaw and the day of zone conference. We left the apartment around 9:30, Elder Quakenbush and I took the car, as we had to give Sisters Dekker and Andersen a lift to the chapel, they both have broken feet, or something like that. It felt so strange being in a car. I miss driving and having that freedom you know. We had a few assignments to make sure it ran smoothly, but that was it for us. Elder Dooley conducted the meeting. Elder Paul V. Johnson presided at the meeting, and of course, we had President and Sister Turek there with us. The theme of the conference was missionary work. We studied 3 Nephi 11, and a few chapters in Alma, no surprises there. It was a solid conference, followed by a huge Thanksgiving, KFC style lunch. 40 chicken breasts, 80 wings, a whole load of mashed potato, gravy, stuffing, and cakes. After Zone training we headed out as a force of missionaries to the centre of the city where we had a finding activity. 

That night we had 6 lads at the APs place. Bebel and Garrison joined us for the evening as we had MLC the next day at 9am. We got up to all sorts of responsible and safe things. 

Friday was MLC. Present were all the Leaders in the mission, President and Sister Turek, Elder and Sister Johnson. We were also joined by some representatives from 'Family Search', members of the church, from Germany, who spoke to us and taught us about family history. The reason being is that there's going to be a huge push with family history work being part of the missionary work here. There are also going to be new courses introduced to the mission and changes to the way we do English. It's certainly inspired and is going to change the mission.

Sunday was a good day. I had to conduct the meeting at church, which took me back a few transfers to Poznań when I had Sundays on my mind 100% of the time. That experience shows me how much work and effort and love all the Bishops and Branch Presidents put into their service. 

Tracting nights. Human interaction is rare, we speak to a phone most of the time 

Zone Conference

Elder White - 6'8"

I'm there at the back somewhere

Mieliśmy wymianę z asystentami - we took the car out for a spin

Amazing view of Warsaw from Ewa's apartment

przepraszam, myślałem że, mogłem pokozać mój Polski

przepraszam, myślałem że, mogłem pokozać mój Polski 

I will use English now haha! I said I thought I'd show you my Polish.

So this week has been another good one. Nothing new really. I'm still loving it here, and I take each day as it comes. We had the Young Womens General President come and speak to us for our Tuesday night devotional, it was a nice change having a woman come and speak to us as opposed to a general authority. She taught us a message of how we need to be loving enough to let heavenly father cut us down, you know the 'currant bush' story by D. Todd. Christofferson.

The Polish is coming on good. For TRC this week, we had it on Wednesday, we taught a native over skype. It was so nerve-racking, and she spoke so quickly so I could barely understand, but it was really enjoyable. Also we had some practice at teaching a less active member, the investigator played by Brat Kimball, our new teacher. The person we skyped was a mid 20's recently baptized member. She lived in the north, I can't remember the place, but she knows Brat Fotu, one of my teachers, which was good. Skype was okay, the sound was bad so I couldn't really hear, and that doesn't help the fact she's speaking a language that I can just about understand when my teacher is talking. Other than that, it was fun. 

Am I ready to go to Poland?  I don’t really know. I would say I can't wait to get there, but teaching the Polish lady over skype yesterday hit me as to how much I will learn when I'm out there. The MTC is just a small piece of what I'll learn and experience. There's a policy at the MTC of SYL (speak your language), and it helps a lot. We read scriptures in Polish as a class each day, but it's hard to follow because of all the cases used and things.

Can't wait for next week, hopefully I'll have more info about flights and if I can call or not. Also I get to go to Salt Lake next week, not to the temple, just to walk around temple square and things, so should be good.    I'm excited for Christmas, it should be really good, we have p day Christmas eve and then Christmas day is a very chill day too! Something else exciting, we should get our flight tomorrow I think! Oh and also, the branch Presidency said we probably can call home on Christmas, so I'll let you know more about that when I know! 

My best bit of the week, probably taking a 40 min shower today haha. The week is all good, lots of good lessons, lots of good opportunities nauczać , uczyliśmy kapłaństwa lekcji again, to jest fun nauczenie the priesthood lesson. 

The sisters are all still great! To jest dobrze być z nimi. Lubię im służyć i są bardzo śmieszne!

It is good to be with them. I like serving them, and they are all very funny!  The new zone leaders are 2 Czech elders, Chadwick and Pickett.

Elder Wilkey from Bournemouth

my new companion Elder Smith from Arizona

when you need to get space from the sisters haha

Elder Sperry and Elder Brown they left for Bulgaria on Tuesday morning

The last of the Bulgarian district to leave, I spent the morning as Elder Halverson's companion just before he hopped on the shuttle to the airport.

Elder Renauld on the left and Elder Seibach left for Bulgaria on Tuesday morning.

Elder Seibach is a big, friendly giant. Love this guy.