This City Makes Sense Now.

Tuesday - Zone Training was a win. I loved being there and teaching and speaking and working with Sister D and Thornton. Sister D was her usual self and was stressing about it haha - but she overcame and did a good job! We have a special zone here in the Warsaw District, I've strengthened and made new friendships through this transfer. To finish off the training I asked Elder Schwanke, Connelley, and Kapela to bear testimony as it would be the last time they could in that kind of setting. The spirit felt as these 3 lads shared what they know to be true and what they've learned through 2 years of service was immense.

Wednesday -  Nothing too much happened this day. We've been trying to go and visit and see what the crack is with all the former investigators we have in the area book. It's been quite an adventure traveling to all these different parts of the city. I know my way around this place pretty well now. It's been a time of uncovering all the dark areas on the map and connecting roads and things. This City makes sense now. We had English club that evening. We had a few people come. Elder Huffman and I were forced into singing our 'creed style' cover of Hallelujah. It was so funny but embarrassing. I played and Huffman sang with his best Creed voice. I joined in to save the awkwardness. I've said this a few times, I've made a fool of myself so many times at English club but I don't really care, it's kind of who I am now. Those at English also loved the performance too.

Thursday was the day that Campora has been waiting for, for around 4 months - I finally sent him his Ryłko  shoes.!  If you're reading this pal, love you man! We had a finding activity that afternoon.  The first guy I spoke just summed up the whole activity. He came up to the 'free table' we had set up and so I approached him and started talking to him.  He says to me 'answer me this..who is Jesus Christ?' I started telling this man who Jesus Christ is for me in my life, he then stopped me and said 'Listen to me, I'm going to give you a name, you are Andrzej Z, now explain to me who you are as Andrzej Z' I was so confused as to what was going on so I just didn't answer him.  He then said 'you trying to explain to me who you are as Andrzej Z is just like you trying to explain who Jesus Christ is, it has no meaning'. He left and I just kind of laughed to myself at what I'd just been a part of.

Friday - We got Flu shots! Hopefully, this means that I'm invincible and will stay healthy through winter. The whole Flu shot episode was so funny and bizarre. We all had to strip down in this room from the belt upwards, and then be checked by a doctor, it was awkward. I couldn't stop laughing though, I've not been shirtless in public for a long time.  For the car lovers out there I saw the most beautiful BMW 330i parked by the deptak. We went tracting that evening and for a bit of fun we had a play in the park we found. Swings, slides, see-saw, the lot! Then next to it was an outside gym - all the equipment is created in a way that when you lift it's always your body weight, but not really. You'd have to do so many reps to break a sweat, but it was hilarious doing exercises on these machines. There was a seated row kind of machine, when you pull back it moves the seat as if you're pulling your body weight, but you can do it really fast and you just bounce up and down, we were in stitches watching each other on these machines, especially when Elder Kapela gave it a go. We have a lot of fun when we do things as a district.

Saturday - I woke and my arm was aching really bad from the flu shot, but I persevered and worked out! Saturday afternoon we were invited round to the house of a friend of the other elders and ours. Present were the 4 of us elders, Michael (Branch Mission Leader), Ela (our friend) and then two of her friends. We had some good food and a good chat around the table. Whilst waiting at the bus stop on our way to the chapel for English we saw some people running from the security guard and a worker of the local Biedronka, they had stolen some alcohol and other things and were being chased, it got my adrenaline going as they managed to catch them! English was a win also, Magdalena, a friend of ours who comes to English taught the class how to juggle. I'm determined to learn how to juggle 4 balls.

Sunday - Church as usual. We spent the evening trying to undo the bad that happened to Elder Huffman. First , he left a folder full of potentials on the bus and then he lost his name tag whilst chasing after the bus. We prayed on the street that we would find his name tag and then the hunt began. We searched all over, retracing their tracks, as we were walking around I saw a 55 bus approaching us (the same number that he left the folder on) I signaled to Elder Huffman, we gave each other the nod and then we absolutely bucked it to the next bus stop, which was about 250m away, we've never run so fast in our lives.  As the slight gradient of the hill started to tire us, the bus passed us and we just about missed it. We never got the folder back, and never found the tag, they'll turn up at some point.

It's been a good week. Now on to the last week of this transfer. It's going to be a good one,  I can feel it.

Autumn

Warsaw Zone Training

Just a random part of town we've never been to before

I feel GREAT! seriously it's good to be here.

(So we decided to do things a bit differently this week and mum asked some questions)

What was your favourite activity of the week? favourite activity of the week was probably the sports finding activity we did on Plac Wolności in the centre of town. We set up a table in the middle of the square and we had the frisbee, American football and then the good old real football that you kick with your feet. All 4 of us were out trying to draw attention to ourselves and get people to come to our sports Saturday activity which has been low on numbers recently and not as effective as it could be. I don't think we'll be able to top last weeks sports day. This could probably be the favourite story and funny story at the same time..so there were a load of people out but then about 15 mins in it started to throw it down..it really rained hard and the streets cleared, but we continued to play as heavy rain fell, we got soaked and then about 15 mins later it stopped and the people came back out. 

What was something you learned about yourself this week? I learned that no matter how much I try I can't learn from reading text-books, it just doesn't work. I'm still trying to find a way to effectively learn Polish and improve.   Also, bugs are attracted to me, I've got a load more bites that are irritating the flip out of me.  Maybe it's because I smell so good, not too sure though. 

How many people were at church and who gave talks etc? We had a decent number of people at church yesterday, maybe 13 of us. Karol shared a few words on faith, loudly and with much expression as he likes to do which is always a good way to start the meeting off, then Sergiusz gave a good talk on the Holy Ghost and following the promptings to do good and then Elder Sommerfeldt shared a few words which was good of him..not easy being in your first transfer and having to prepare a talk. I remember giving a talk in Kielce in my 3rd week in Poland, it was a scary thought, it still is now even though I'm more comfortable speaking in Polish.

What has the weather been like? The weather has been good for the most part with the odd storm here or there.  It's really humid still though and even without the sun shining on you, it's hot and sticky.  I'm going through so much water.

Best teaching moment of the week? We had exchanges this week and I had a good lesson with someone we're teaching with Elder Bebel. Talking is good and bearing testimony is powerful but silence sometimes works just as effectively, there's a spirit that is invited through silence that really gets you thinking and allows you to be receptive to promptings.

Anything funny happened? We had an exchange with Elder Bebel and Sommerfeldt as Bebel is our zone leader, we both went over to their apartment and stayed there two nights. It was fun.  We didn't get up to anything sketchy but we had a laugh within the limits of being missionaries, which was fun. Sometimes it's good to relax and chat about life with good lads, whilst on exchanges. The Exchange turned out to be really effective too.

How is the Polish language coming along - have you learnt any new words etc this week? The language is coming on well, sometimes I take for granted the progress that occurs. I've just learnt that if you pray for help every day and you act in a way that is in accordance with Heavenly Father then you will be blessed. I've not really learnt any new words off the top of my head, just the fluency and understanding is coming on. Sometimes I still don't have a clue what people say but that's just the way it is.  I'm not striving for perfection anyway because it would drive me crazy.

How does it feel to be 9 months in? I feel GREAT! seriously it's good to be here.

What is it like being the Branch President and what responsibilities do you have? Being Branch president is a funny experience, you're always thinking about the members and other things, nothing that I stress over.  I've been blessed, I just don't really ever get stressed about things.  I'm laid back and casual with everything, I blame that on failing my college exams though haha!  I'm enjoying the experience though, it's not one I thought I would be having this early in my mission.

How are the other elders in Poznań doing? They are doing well.  Elder Bebel and Sommerfeldt are a good match, they work hard and have had a lot of success with having meetings with people.  Elder Alvarez is a bro for life and I love his family.

We've been up to a place called Kiekrz recently knocking on doors, it's a 30 min bus ride outside of Poznań and is a little lakeside town, it's really nice out there. We're praying that we'll find a family out there to teach.  We have a trip to Bydgoszcz for zone conference this Thursday which will be good.  It's a 2-hour train ride.  The missionaries in the north zone will be there:- Poznań, Gdańsk, Szczecin and Bydgoszcz.  

ft. Elder Campora's tie, he also goes by Dominik now.

ALVAREZ..who does he think he is?  haha

burgers for p-day

Lakeside in Kiekrz.

Farewell to Elder Campora and Elder Jeffs

As you already know I'll be staying in Poznań and my companion is still Elder Alvarez, we're staying together for another transfer.   We helped Elder Jeffs and Campora this morning and sent them on their way.  It was a good send off, obviously it was hard saying goodbye for a while as I'm good mates with them both.  It's a weird feeling sending them home almost. They will be missed!

I didn't feel well yesterday, so I slept for a few hours through the day after church, probably why I didn't sleep at night.  I got a mosquito bite above my eyebrow and I've had a huge headache since then.  I've taken some tablets though - the bugs seem to like me!

I'm still enjoying life.  I'm learning everyday from the experiences I have and I couldn't be more grateful for that.   Bring on this next transfer - I hit 8 months in 7 days.  Mental!
I want to focus on less active work as we have some good people that could help the branch out a lot.  I know I can do it, not on my own though.  My favourite scripture is in Chapter 26 of Alma verse 12, Ammon is a boss!

Some favourites of the week:-

Favourite meal of the week - Has to be one of the home cooked meals we had.  Elder Alvarez works wonders in the kitchen.   I guess everything with flavour to me tastes good as I stick to my rice and pasta and oatmeal haha. He cooked some beef up and put veg in there with all sorts of spices and sauces, it was good.

Favourite activity of the week - Has to be the grill we had on Saturday, it had been a long day with the audit and English class. It was nice to have a bit of fun with friends and members at the end of the night. We had a huge turnout.

We threw a Branch BBQ/going away party for Jeffs and Campora. So many people came, English students, branch members and friends.

Best teaching moment of the week - I've had a few cool meetings with members this week. Kind of going through them and speaking to them individually so I can get to know them better. 

Funniest thing that happened to me - Funny things happen all the time, nothing sticks out to me though. 

During studies a huge storm hit so of course I went out on the balcony.. ☔

What I will miss about Elder Jeffs and Campora - I'll just miss them both in general, like even now it feels weird not having them around. I'll miss Elder Jeffs' knowledge of Poznań, if you saw Elder Jeffs doing something here in Poznań usually it meant that you could do it haha. Just being able to bro down with Elder Campora will be something I'll miss. Also training them both how to kick a proper football, they were getting good. 

Best word I have learnt - The verb lepszyć sie means to improve yourself, to make yourself better.

Culture Day Hike

So long, farewell for now!

The Book of Mormon - a book with a promise, a book with a purpose.

Hello everyone and welcome to week 30 something.  I've not been counting so I'm not sure where I'm at.

We've had a pretty good week, some nice weather, exchanges and all sorts.

So after Pday on Monday we started our exchange here in Poznań, although Elder Campora got things mixed up. We sorted it though and got on with it. So me and Elder Campora spent a few days together and Elder Jeffs and Alvarez spent a few days together. Monday night we didn't get up to much, just a bit of contacting on the Deptak and then a walk on the Rynek before heading home. Something I've started to do is always walk around the rynek before heading home, we live so close and it's cool to see what things are going on as its always something different. Then Tuesday came, we had our standard District Meeting in the morning before lunch, focusing on the book of Mormon and using it with our teaching and contacting. I read a talk by Elder Craig C. Christensen called 'A book with a promise'. He talks about an experience he had with sharing the book of Mormon with someone. He touched on a few points:

1) It is a book with a promise

2) It is a book with a purpose

3) It is a book that helps us better understand the great plan of happiness

4) It is a book that testifies of Jesus Christ as our Saviour and Redeemer

5) A book that authenticates the prophetic mission of Joseph Smith

I particularly like the point he makes about The Book of Mormon being a book with a purpose. The Book of Mormon is there to help us better understand the principles of the gospel, which is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That is the same purpose we have as missionaries..to help other come unto Christ, we are here to help others understand and accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

After the District Meeting, we went to Kraszkebab as usual which is always a good experience. We had a short finding activity on Fredry before heading back to the chapel with Elder Campora for a lesson we had scheduled. It was a simple lesson in which we just listened and spoke about what she's read in 3 Nephi. It was good having an experienced Elder Campora on the lesson, we got to the bottom of this individual's fears and helped with them.

After lunch on Wednesday, we ended the exchange and I was reunited with Elder Alvarez. We decided to go on a tracting adventure down at Junikowo, another end of the line tram stop south-west of Poznań. We've been there and back a few times this week, it's a nice part of town with some good solid osiedle there. We had a fun English class with the beginners in which we just spoke with them again about their weeks and had a laugh. I keep forgetting to take a picture of me with the class but I'll get it next time!

So Friday I was feeling a little different, I wanted a change. I did my hair differently and went back to my just off centre parting which some of you may know well. Also,  I realised whilst looking in the mirror how bad my tan lines are, especially on my neck from my shirt collar. It looks silly when I wear a t-shirt now haha. We played sports which was good. Just another hour of kicking a football about which I enjoy so much. We had a few people show up too which makes it more worthwhile. 

Saturday we had English class and then had Pizza from Ramini's, some of the best pizza I've ever had. England also played Saturday night.  It's been so hard not to watch it.  When you're walking around town and every bar and restaurant has the game on, driving me crazy! 

Sunday was a fun day.  The first Sunday I would preside at and lead. It went well,  I only forgot to have an opening prayer (it happened, just later than it should have and I had to be reminded haha) and put bread out for the sacrament but it's all good. Elder Alvarez, Jeffs, and I spoke during the meeting. We spoke about the Godhead and each chose a member of the Godhead to speak about. I chose to speak about the Holy Ghost. We had a lesson after church which was cool, just with a young guy with strong opinions and his own outlook on life.

Sunday evening, Marta organised for us to have a BBQ with a few people. So the 4 of us missionaries with Marta, Maciej, one of Marta's friends and a few more went down to the river for this grill. We get there and it turns out that the river is a place for college gatherings. There were so many groups of hoolies and college students just out for the night. One guy got arrested and we spoke with them all, they came over and were confused why we were wearing white shirts and name tags. It was an experience. Poland were playing their first game too, so everywhere was a bit wild. 

That's all from the week. I'm sure more went on though. 

the rynek is packed at the moment

the wind blew over the drying rack and I lost some of my socks!

I Love This Place!

Things that happened this week...

Tuesday - I lead my first district meeting on the transfer. I thought about what I wanted to talk about and prayed and all that..the answer was to teach about motivation, diligence, perseverance etc....I started by sharing a couple of scriptures that get me hyped and ready to work and then we just spoke about things and I asked questions and I showed a talk called 'perseverance' by James E. Faust which is a good talk. Then we set goals..one goal for how were going to improve ourselves physically, mentally and spiritually. We were also graced with the presence of Tanner and Joseph. Tanner being Elder Jeffs' cousin and his friend Joseph who were visiting Germany as he had served there on his mission. Something else interesting was the opportunity I had to give Marcin his baptismal interview. Just a rare experience to have as a 20 year old lad serving a mission and conducting the interview in a 2nd language. FHE was good also as we had a good turnout, around 10 people showed up.

Wednesday - We went round to Iza's house after studies and sang with her and to her mum for a while before teaching her. I thought about reading the introduction of the book of Mormon with her and talking about it. It was a good little meeting. Before English class we went out English contacting, seeing if we could get new people to come to the class..we were told that something had happened with the trams and so we had to get off the one we were on, we walked down to Fredry to see the no.8 tram had come completely off the tracks..mental..and it caused the biggest pile up of trams, maybe 20 in a row. For English class we taught direction and getting around town as we have a blind lady in the class who asked us kindly if we would go through some vocab. We created a maze out of the chairs and furniture in the chapel and had them direct each other through the maze blindfolded, all in English of course..it was mint! 

Thursday - We went and did service again at the hospice..it's a good opportunity for us to help out around the city and get to know knew people but my fingers are hurting from picking weeds 3 weeks in a row for 3 hours straight, I pulled out the mother of all weeds though, the root was as long as my arm. I may have slightly over exaggerated but it was a huge thing. We had an interesting Bożena meal in which she presented us with a new soup of hers...it was pink..and then in the evening we had a meeting with Monika..the half English half gospel kind of meeting.  I went through the Plan Zbawienia with her. 

Friday - Morning in the Park with Krzysztof and Irena learning Polish and teaching English. I look forward to Friday lunch time every week as I get to chill with them and have a laugh. Sport also happened, Elder Jeffs and Campora came this week which was good..we had our Branch mission leader, Markus, there too and we played football and frisbee until we got tired, which didn't take too long as it was roasting. I picked up a pretty good tan that day, just my face though haha. That evening we had a lesson with a lady named Alicja, it was funny as it was the end of a long day, straight after sport, I was tired and sweaty and we were teaching English and yeah..I laughed a lot. 

Saturday - Saturday we didn't get up to whole lot as Elder Freeman got sick through the night. We taught the advanced class and by taught I mean I gave them a list of long words they had to spell and it was fun to see them try and do it. We have a good bunch of people who come to the advanced class sometimes and I get on with them all and it's fun. We went home as Elder Freeman couldn't work so he slept and I worked out, I  studied and then prepared my Sunday School lesson. It was a beautiful day too so I put a chair out on the balcony and sat out in the sun for a bit. 

Sunday - We started church at 10 this week, an hour earlier than usual, we're experimenting in the branch. We had a good service in which both Elder Jeffs and Campora gave talks. I then taught Sunday School on 'praying to our Heavenly Father' and it went pretty well. I used a lot of scriptures to answer all the why, what, when, who, how questions. We went home so Elder Freeman could rest and I cleaned up and made food and caught up on studies. Then came the skype call home. I loved every minute of it and it was nice to see everyone's faces and hear their voices. 

Something extra that happened through the week. We were waiting for a tram and there was a crazy guy doing kung fu chops and kicks on whatever he saw as a target haha. He would do the splits and then stand up really quickly and poke the eyes out of all the big metal poles around. Flipping hilarious. Many Lampposts and fences felt the wrath of him that day. 

You see all sorts of nonsense in Poznań, I love this place.

Szczęśliwego nowego roków

Szczęśliwego nowego roków is how you wish someone a happy new year. You can practise saying that.   So it has been an incredibly crazy past few days!

Our flight in Munich was delayed so we arrived in Poland a couple hours later than expected. Sister Edgren and the Assistants (one of the assistants Elder Jones is from Wales) went home so it was just President that greeted us at the terminal. As soon as I hopped in the car he told me where I would be serving and who with. I was a bit taken aback, but he could tell me because I was the only elder coming in so his decision was pretty easy. The sisters had to wait till the next day to find out with who and where they would be. 

I stayed over at the Office elders apartment that night which apparently is a first. They usually have the missionaries stay over at the mission home, but it was just the sisters that did. I went out to work with office elders until 9.00pm.

The next day we all went into Warsaw to apply for a citizen card of some sort. Whilst we were waiting, I went out contacting with Elder Campora (one of the office elders), it was really enjoyable. First taste of rejection haha.  I got on a train, I met my trainers in Warsaw and we got the 3-hour train ride together. My trainers are Elder Garrison and Elder Taylor.  Elder Garrison has been here in Kielce 14 months.   Elder Taylor was the Zone Leader and Branch President up in Poznan before this.  Elder Taylor has been out around the same time as Jake, he seems so old yet I’m 2 months older than him, it's crazy.  He goes home in July I think and then this transfer is Elder Garrison's last transfer. We live in a tiny flat in a tower block not far from the city centre and Sienkiewicza. It's cosy but it's fun. They're both super cool guys. 

We've done a lot of walking. My feet are feeling the effects but it's good. The Sienkiewicza is a long street that runs through the middle, you should check it out, it's impressive. We walk up and down there daily to get to and from contacting areas and to church. 

The language is nothing like I’ve ever heard. They speak so quickly and so I'm struggling even to pick out words. I make the initial contact but then hand over to my companions to do the talking haha. 

At church on Sunday we had a grand total of 9 people there. It was a strange experience but I got to meet a few of the members which was nice. I played the opening hymn and then also introduced myself and shared a testimony. It went okay from where I was standing.  Prezydent Najburg is the president. He's such a good man! we have English classes on Wednesday night, so looking forward to that. It's a good finding tool.

President and sister Edgren are both really nice. They just welcomed us in and got us all ready and then just shipped us off to our areas. I just found out that we're getting a new Polish mission president when the Edgren's time is up in summer.  I’m in the South zone with Krakow, Katowice, and a few other cities, We don't have a district because the 3 of us are the only missionaries in the city. We have the whole city to ourselves. Sister Kamp is in my Zone, I’m not sure who else of the sisters are. We have a zone training meeting on Thursday in Katowice so we get a nice day out and i get to meet the zone. From the missionaries that I’ve met up to now, which is a good bunch of them, they're all mint. Everyone says it's like a family here and it definitely feels that way.

So a usual day is up at 6;15, Pres likes us to be up early. We're out by 12 usually after studies and lunch break. Then it's contacting or tracting till dinner, and then after dinner we sometimes have lessons, we head back to flat to do member book work or we head out to do more tracting. We currently have 2 investigators that we're teaching. I've only met one of them, we're teaching him tonight actually after emailing. 

We try and do all the contacting and tracting through the day because it is so cold, it was -14 the other night. This big coat that I have does the trick though, just my toes and face and hands that get cold. We went food shopping today at TESCO, they have a tesco about a 5 min walk away from the flat. We spent 175 zlots and got so much food.

Look forward to letting you know about my week on Monday.  I’ll make it a good week!

Do widzenia

You have to be prepared for the -15 degree weather.  Photo taken at the chapel.

Elder Coxx and Buckhoff

In the little town square.  Each city has one., it has another name , like a rynek or something.

Out contacting in the city. Elder Taylor, me and Elder Garrison.

I don't know much about this place or  what the buildings are but its a nice park.