SMACZNEGO JAJKA!

Hello! Happy Easter! 

It's been a pretty solid week here. Also this time of year is always a special time as it's time given to us to reflect upon the life, infinite atonement and resurrection of the Saviour. Being in a Catholic country it's been nice to see the respect and love shown by all those who have taken part in some form of worship this past week, and the Poles worship and celebrate for about a month after too, at least I remember a lot went down in Poznań last Easter. 

We were determined to get to a Catholic Mass over the weekend. That opportunity came on Friday when we were invited to go with a lad and the other Elders. It was long..lasted about 2.5 hours but it was nice. The first bit of the ceremony was focused on the different parts of the crucifixion of Christ, the steps leading up to it, but then it stopped at the cross, nothing mentioned about his resurrection or anything. Then we finished by going to see Christ's grave, a different section of the church. Lots of praying, lots of singing, lots of getting up and sitting down, reminds me of something one of our friends said when he came to our church a few weeks back..he said..'you all just sit here the whole time? we're all fitter than you because we do a lot more moving in our services'. It was nice to be there though, nice to be involved in something the Polish people hold close to their hearts.

Our Easter Sunday service was only for an hour, which was a change. Part of that service was taken up by another incredible missionary musical number, we knew we sounded terrible for the most part but sometimes we sounded like MOTAB, the members all enjoyed it anyway which is what we wanted. After that we were invited around with what seemed like the whole Branch to a members home, all the missionaries and a bunch of YSA and other members were there, full house! The food was quality and the family put on an easter egg hunt for the youngsters plus the Missionaries. The house was a wreck by the end of it but it was worth it to find all the chocolate! 

In front of the huge Catholic Temple. This is right by our house. We went inside to check it out, it's massive! 

We Have To Live What We Teach

Welcome everyone to this weeks events from Poznań. We've had a good week here, as always full of laughs and memorable moments.

Tuesday was a good day..so after our usual district meeting we had lunch and then had a cool opportunity to help a girl called Kasia who just moved from Gdańsk to Poznań. She's in a wheelchair and so needs help moving things around her apartment. Of course, we always love service opportunities. She has a huge Airedale Terrier too and he's so friendly and just wants to play all the time.

On Wednesday all four of us went to Iza's house to share a message with her and also so we could sing her to mum which Iza is very appreciative of. We had Mcdonalds for lunch which is always something to look forward to.  Just had your standard big mac meal. English class was fun, we had the beginner class and decided to do a spelling test with them. The 12 words they had to spell they have to learn and remember for the next class. It's always fun teaching the beginner class, you can have a laugh with them. After the class we went English contacting in town and Małgosia came out with us.  She's a friend/someone we're working with, and it was fun., she went crazy talking to everyone. I met a bloke from north east Yorkshire too which is rare, you meet a lot of Americans but not many English. We had a good chat and he said he knows Oldham well and has been around Saddleworth and all...small world. 

Thursday was an interesting day which started with service at the hospice as usual, although this time we hopped in a van with our pal Włodek and hit the roads. We drove to a place outside Poznań, a nice little village where we met a family who we collected an electric hospital bed off. Then we drove back to Poznań and went to a ladies house where we rearranged some furniture, took her couch down 4 lots of stairs and then brought the electronic bed up the stairs - nightmare it was!  The bed was in pieces too so we had to build it. Beats picking weeds in the garden so I was happy. Thursday night I looked through all my old planners, went on a trip down memory lane. Things I'd forgotten about but then read, shows the importance of writing down the experiences you have. I've experienced a lot in the past 7 months here in Poland.

Friday was a day, we had Elders Liechty and Rowley here in Poznań on exchanges. It makes a difference having 6 Elders here, there's more of a presence and I'm sure it doesn't go unnoticed by the public. I decided to significantly increase my water intake which only has the consequence of being in the bathroom every 10 minutes.  I felt a lot better through the day instead of living off energy drinks.  We spent the evening on the Deptak contacting. We wanted more of a presence there though so I carried a table down there and we brought books and pamphlets and things and had a 'free table' thing going on.  It definitely brought more people to us. Spoke to a nice lad who told me that he really respects the work we do, although he wasn't religious we had a good chat and he told me he just doesn't feel as though he needs a religion or faith in something in his life at the moment, which is a common theme amongst the younger people here I feel. I learnt a good lesson from him though - he told me that he sees all these people around of which maybe 70 percent claim to be Catholic. They teach and talk of principles and doctrine but then don't live what they teach.  

We have to live what we teach!

Saturday was a beautiful sunny day and we played sports in the afternoon for a few hours in the park. The 4 missionaries were there with Markus, his girlfriend Eva and then her two dogs. We played footy and frisbee and then joined some guys who were playing frisbee too and had a game of ultimate with them. Hopefully,  we'll be able to make a weekly thing where we play with them and get more people involved, they seemed game for it.

Sunday was a day of church, studies, eating and planning. Sacrament meeting went well.  I had Bożena, Markus and Elder Alvarez give talks on prayer and then we had a good lesson led by Sergiusz. 

Take care and do good.