You can call me Gramps.

You're probably all wondering why I chose that as the heading of this weeks post. Well, with the group ahead of me leaving this morning, it means that I am the longest serving missionary in the Poland Warsaw Mission. Kind of a mental thought, it doesn't mean anything, just makes me more aware that my time is slowly but surely coming to an end. Especially with the turn of events that have gone down this week. 

The main one of these being that I'm writing from a computer in Kielce, not Krakow, but the city in which my adventure in Poland started. With Elder Haskett leaving and my Comp Elder McMaster also flying home, that left 2 Elders without companions, so President used his brain and sent me down here for the week until transfers next week. 

Honestly it's been a strange and daunting past day or so. As I was sat eating breakfast this morning in my favourite milk bar, the first place I tried proper Polish food in the country, all these memories were whizzing about my mind, reminiscing on the long 7 weeks I spent here with Elder Taylor and Garrison, and later Elder Weiler. The streets are the same, the apartment is the same, the air is the same, the long walk up and down the Sienkiewicza is the same..2 things that aren't the same though, the mission and myself. The mission has changed both in Leadership and in Focus, we're now at 28 baptisms for the year, a mighty effort put forward from both member and missionary. I hope also that I have changed in some way for the better. 

The best thing from the week was all the preparation involved in helping our mate reach his goal of baptism on the 26th. As I am, you'll all be glad to know that the baptism went ahead, our friend is now a confirmed member of the church with a future of trials and joy ahead of him. We had a total of 4 meetings with him through the week and everything turned out well. Funny story, he came out of the changing rooms in his whites, with his clothes on underneath him, and said 'ok I'm ready!', Elder McMaster had to advise him to take his clothes off so they didn't get soaked haha, he's funny. 

I'm looking forward to a week of work and walking here in Kielce. On and upward! 

have a solid week 

Wroclaw

Wroclaw

Wroclaw

Wroclaw

Elder Groseclose and I

So long mate

Kielce

Let's be mighty in word, in deed, and in faith!

Mum! Just let everyone know that I'm alive and well and that we've had a solid week! 

We've had a good few days. So on Saturday we had Elder Erickson and Hansen come up from Mielec for a few days, church and pday so we've had them at our place. Saturday we played footy in the park for 3 hours against all sorts of people, Mexicans, Polish, I have the biggest blister and I'm sure I've broken my foot but it's all good. We just had our 4 elders and had a lad come and play on our team so we had 5. I was going 100% so nobody could stop me. Then today Kielce came up, so Alvarez was here for the day. We went to this mirror labyrinth, got some milkshakes, went up to Wawel castle again, its' been a good day.

Scripture from the week Helaman 10:4-5. Let's be mighty in word, in deed, and in faith! 

I can feel Winter coming!

So just a few things that happened this week - 

On Tuesday we had a bomb district meeting as always, and then we hit the town for some contacting. It was going well until the rain started to fall. We had to pack the table and books away but we carried on going and talking with people. After a countless number of rejections I turned and shouted something, can't remember what exactly.  Elder Huffman said, 'chill..the next person you speak to will take a book, I promise you.'  Him saying that kind of got me hyped, the next person came by. It was a young guy wearing all camo, pretty hard to notice him at first, but we chatted and he was a chill guy interested in religion, especially other faiths different to his own. He willingly took a Book of Mormon and said he can't wait to read it.  The miracle of the day I guess. 

Tuesday was also the arrival of Elders Schwanke and Baldwin.  We picked them up from the dworzec that evening. Elder Schwanke served in Lublin for 8 months so he was buzzing to be back! We had a good day planned with them.

I had Elders Schwanke and Baldwin round for exchanges, had to get a pic before they got on the train back to Warsaw

Wednesday we had service at Beata's house again. Just carrying more trees from the woods to her back garden, building things and knocking things down, nice just to have a bit of physical labour other than walking and talking you know. We get fed some good grub too.  Good classical Polish food. Home-grown and cooked cauliflower soup for starters and then some Pyzy z mięsem for main. We all stayed over at the other Elders place Wednesday night. Which meant a night on the floor for me, I made sure I brought my huge pillow with me this time. 

We've been doing district tracting on nights recently.  Thursday night we tracted, also Sunday night. Sometimes you need that extra push to get out and work.  It always helps when you have the district members out with you to give you that extra energy. 

English class was on Saturday.  We didn't have as many there this time, but still a good 10 or so came.  We still managed to have fun. We went and played sport afterwards.  Elder Huffman and I played head tennis over a volleyball net for about 30 mins before heading out,  as nobody was there. It was good fun though, it took us a while to find our touch, but once it came there was no stopping us. 

Sunday was a solid day. It was fast Sunday as General Conference is next week.  For General Conference we'll watch it at our chapel through broadcast like you do back home.  It'll be translated into Polish though which will be fun as I'll be able to understand what's going on this time, back in April I had no idea. 

The darkness comes earlier now, it's much much colder and I can feel winter coming. It's bringing back memories of Kielce. I don't mind though, it just means I can wrap up and wear the new coat I bought. 

Took me 5 weeks to notice this hanging up in the wardrobe, it may come in handy during Winter!

sunset view from the chapel

We went tracting last night to finish off the week. We missed the bus we wanted to take, so we took another bus and went to the end of the line. We found this really nice neighbourhood with huge houses and all..it wasn't street lit though and was kind of out there, it was so dark! 

there are houses and a road behind me somewhere! 

John 16:33 is what I'll leave you with.

Do widzenia! Życzę miłego tygodnia! 

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.

Locked In Church! - First Week in Poznan.

the Rynek

Another Pday is here! . Jak się masz? mam nadzielę wszystko w domu jest dobrym.

This week has been a complete change to life and work in Kielce. I apologise that I’ve not taken more pictures as I said I would but that will change this week, obiecuje! 

We've had around 8 or 9 sit down lessons this week which is more than I had the whole 7 weeks in Kielce which is mental. We had a few meetings to help people with their English and then about half way through we swap topics and talk about the church with them which they're more than happy to do. There is some huge potential in a few of the people we meet. We had maybe 3 meetings which took that format. 

We went tracting one evening in a really nice bit of the city called Strzeszyn, it's kind of a newly built estate. We returned to a few houses that had told us to come back another time but they didn't want any of it. It was pitch black as this place had no proper streets or street lights, so we found a street that hadn't been touched yet and the first house we knocked on we got invited in. A youngish mother, she listened to us as we spoke with her about the restoration and the book of Mormon. I invited her to read it and her face lit up when she found out we were giving her this book for free. 

We taught two English classes this week. Whatever city you're in, English is always so much fun because you can make a fool of yourself and have a laugh. After the class we hold a religious class where people can stay afterwards to talk about the church, at the moment we're talking about 'Meet the Mormons' as they watched it last week. A couple that have been staying afterwards for a couple of weeks are meeting with us this week, and Elder Jeffs and I are buzzing. We're having lunch at their house and they can't wait for the meeting.

What else have we been up to...We've been at the chapel a lot at night as Elder Jeffs has been preparing things for the branch (as he’s the branch president) and sorting things out. Most of it is done now so hopefully we can get out tracting now up till 9.

We had probably the funniest experience I’ve had yet on my mission which happened yesterday during church. Sacrament meeting was over and done with and an older lady in the ward wanted to leave. Elder Vance told her that she can't leave as we won't be able to do Sunday school. So she says '10 minutes, I’ll stay for 10 mins'. Elder Jeffs then locks the door from the inside with the little bolt safety lock thing. We then realise that we can't open it...we both looked at each other and laughed, rushed everyone in to class and then went at the door trying to open it...but it wouldn't budge. I then jump out of the bathroom window, we're one floor up too, so it was a pretty big drop, to see if I could open it from the outside. We don't even have a key for this lock. We have the tools out and we're taking all the parts of the lock off trying to see what’s wrong with it. We couldn't open the door. The class then finishes...out come the two ladies wanting to leave, they start panicking because they can't get out. hahah I’m laughing writing this. Me and Elder Vance go to both police stations across the road to ask for a ladder but they look at us as though we're stupid and couldn't get their heads around the situation. Finally, we decided that the only way to get them out was through the window. We had a tiny step ladder that didn't quite fit the distance. It was hilarious lifting them out and then getting them down the ladder, I wish I had my camera on me.  We had to get a locksmith to come and break the lock and put a new one on.

Plans for the rest of the day, haircut, lunch with the other elders and then we have meetings tonight. So should be good.  We have zone training tomorrow and a few of the sisters from the mtc will be there which will be good.  We have a fun and busy week which I’m looking forward to.

I'm loving every bit of my mission!

the beautiful Rynek

First injury!

I didn't end up going to Kraków so I’m still here in Kielce.

What have I been up to this week.?

It’s been an okay week, it was a very crazy Tuesday, other than that it’s been a good couple of days.  So after last Pday, I think we just went tracting, we found some new flats built around the back of where we were originally tracting. Hopefully this week we will focus on the North Tracting area that prezydent wants us to go to. 

Tuesday was an odd day, we had a meeting with a man who’s been ‘investigating’ for years. He's a cool dude though. He runs his own Friends of America group and he just loves everything American and can't seem to grasp that I’m English and not from America. So yeah we were in a meeting with him and then suddenly Elder Wieler calls to tell us he's on the train on his way to Kielce. He's Elder Garrison's new comp. We weren't expecting him for a few more days. So that day we had to change all our plans, we had to leave the appointment early to get him from the train station, take all his bags back to the flat, then me and Elder Taylor had to pack and move to the new flat. Tuesday was a busy day.

We spent all Wednesday cleaning the old but new flat, getting food and all settled in and had the English class.  We did some English contacting the morning of the Class. We taught a decent English class although we didn’t get a great turnout but we're hoping to make plans to change the way it’s run and improve how we teach to make it better.

Thursday was the Warsaw day. We got up at 6 as the train was at 7:05. We set off with plenty of time, but there were no buses from near our flat to the train station. We decided to run but I had my black to shoes on so had no traction whatsoever and it had snowed a tonne that night. I put my foot in a ditch and ended up spraining my ankle pretty bad, it swelled up a lot too. 

To make things worse I missed the train, so that was a good start to the morning. I just bought a new ticket for a later train. My ankle is good now though.  I did what needed to get done in Warsaw so I’m legal now. Pretty good day too with the office elders.

Sunday, we had 15 at church. Including the Robbins'. They're a young couple from the states, Brother Robbins plays pro basketball here, the guy is 6ft 9! Pretty good day all in all. We had a few meetings with Prez. after church and then the other elders cooked lunch/dinner for us.

We spent 130 zlots on food this morning, it sounds a lot but 30 quid on food and we got so much. I also got a haircut. I look the part now. There's no way people will reject me now. 

We also met a pretty cool guy called Jakub.  We spoke to him for a good 30 mins on the street, I think on Wednesday. We're trying to set up a meeting with him sometime this week. 

It's working well with 2 companionships here now, we can split the work and members so more of it gets done and more members get visited. I try and get the ball out most days, but it's hard with all the snow and slush around. I'm enjoying myself and working hard. 

Cześć! - Kielce, Poland

Emailing from the library

Cześć! So another week has passed already, crazy how quick that has gone.

I know I said I’d make it an exciting week but it's been tough.  The zone conference was good, it was a nice time to get out and travel to a new city, a much bigger city too. The Zone training was over in Katowice,. so around a 2 hour train ride. We got there and we had a breakfast made, we met the Katowice missionaries, and then more and more as they arrived from across the zone. I got to see Sister Kamp which was a nice surprise, nice to see a familiar face. The rest of the zone seem pretty decent too, it's a shame that we hardly ever meet, maybe once a transfer I think. Which doesn't help you in getting to know the other missionaries. 

On the train to Katowice

The weather hasn't been too bad, it got a bit warmer but then it snowed. I've not had to wear hat and gloves but I still wear my big coat.   It's put a smile on the faces of many members and missionaries knowing about the new mission president, looking forward to it. It will help a lot with the branch presidents and just basic communication that doesn't get done at the moment because of the language barrier. 

So we taught Mat a good lesson on Faith, but he rang us the other night and asked to meet. So we went and met him and basically he read the scripture that we asked him to (Alma 32) and told us that he has no intention on getting baptised, he apologised and said that he didn't want to waste our time. Kind of a bummer but he still comes to church and we teach him because he still wants to be taught, 

Elder Taylor and I went Football contacting the other day. On the Sinkiewicza there's an open bit of the street that is like a flat bridge over a little river. We put up a white board, we were getting people to come to our English class, it said 'bezpłatny Kurs angielskiego' and then underneath 'show us your skills', no one could do any skills, I megged a couple of people haha, and we just had fun for 2 hours whilst doing some finding. 

Dinner and fun with the Daltons

The Daltons took us out to eat

The Daltons are a senior couple for the Katowice district. They have callings in the Kielce branch so come down every two weeks. They're nice and good company, plus we make use of the car when they're down, saves us from walking.

Bring on this next week. Also I’m going on an exchange possibly in two weeks to Krakow for a few days, should be a good trip.  I'm doing good, high spirits, I still can't understand anything or anybody, but I’m loving it! So I'll speak to you next week, tell everyone I love them!

Where we have Church meetings

Trainee tie

The Rynek in Kielce, it looked really pretty that day.  Each city has its own town square.