Saturday April 24th Email

So got moved to Bydgoszcz on Friday and that was an event, right after interviews with the mission president. my train left at 3:25pm and at 3 pm I reminded the elders I needed to get to the train station, no problem, plenty of time ,only the whole front of the station is being remodeled and had to go to an underground tunnel to get to the station and it was crowded beyond belief and I didn't have a ticket , so the elders literally threw me on the train with all my stuff and the elder had to get off the train so it could leave, he asked the conductor to find a car for me and my stuff. Pres..Embjerg called and said to get in 1st class, but no way to get me and my stuff there, so finally got a seat, bought a ticket,(bilet) met a man from DC that works for global energy and is very familiar with APS and wants to talk to Aunt Starr's Dan, so gave him the number, so all in all it was a very interesting trip. then on Tuesday we left for Gdansk for zone conference and got in trouble for traveling in P day clothes, jeans and sweat shirt, just doesn't set the proper example for the younger missionaries, so now have to travel in mission clothes, all the time, just a big bummer, the trains are not the least bit fancy, rather plain with very historic lavs, no running water, if there's one at all on a 3 or more hour ride. not a lot of fun but oh well, livable.

Gdansk is up by the Baltic Sea near Russia ,I will send the card home and you can see pics of walls crumbling down, and then new hotels build very near there, the cab driver wanted $50. American to drive us to the hotel, which would usually cost about 10-15 zl. that's about $5, we gave him 20zl and told him that was plenty, we did not want to go on a tour of Gdansk, but he kept saying , But please , madam, please madam, so finally sister Marshall gave him another 5zl and we left him still begging for American $. we didn't even have any $. We went to St. Mary's Basilica where there's a very old picture (1450")of St. Peter welcoming the people of the world in to heaven with a very unusual handshake, you will see when you down load the pics.
So back in Bydgoszcz and on to opening the youth center. We had our first YSA on Fri and there were 3 people there, hopefully more will come in time. these centeres take a bit of time to get going, It's hard to believe I've been here almost 3 months already. sometimes seems like for ever and sometimes like I just got here. miss all of you like I've been gone forever.

Tenderizing an Easter Chick

Several days ago I received several packages from my girls with lots of Easter goodies and other things necessary to the ease life in Poland. Among all the goodies was a cute little yellow Easter chick. As I held him in my hand he chirped a very loud CHEEP. then nothing more. I turned him over and over looking for the button to make him cheep again then sat him on my hand to just look at him and heard a faint little cheep. I decided he was frightened about being in Poland and, not understanding the language, was afraid to talk again. So I just sat him on my desk and over the next several days gently massaged him looking for the button to make him talk, not a sound. I finally decided drastic measures were needed so I performed some minor surgery and remove his batteries, and then put them back, still not a sound; not even a tiny little cheep. Poor little frightened chick, very cute but can't say a word.

Then Wonder of wonders, my girls called and asked about the packages and did I like everything? Oh yes, I liked everything even the cute little chick that can't talk, I've done everything I can think of to encourage him to talk. "Um MOM", said Rachel, "just hold him in your hand and it will complete the circuit and he will talk, he has to be sitting on his feet." SO I did and he CHEEPED LONG AND LOUD!

I really think this little chick has been totally tenderized and is just happy to know he is loved.

Pictures!

Here are a few pictures of Mom in Wroclaw, Easter Parachute Eggs with the Elders and the Opera House:

 

March 24th Email

I was told on Tuesday that I'm to be transferred to another place, it was to be tomorrow, but tomorrow I am going to Szczrek to a YSA planning meeting and could not really go 5 hours in the other direction. I just talked to Pres. Engbjerg and he said it would be a while longer as the one sister would be serving by herself and doesn't want to do the FHC by herself, so don't know what will happen except I will be here a bit longer and do not know even how long that will be. He wanted to know if I was ok with all that, and ok with serving in the other city, told him I would go where ever the Lord sent me, I was called to Poland not to a specific city.

Now you will never guess what we did yesterday on P day, went to Carmen the opera, all done in Italian with Polish subtitles, so I could neither understand nor read the script. It was absolutely wonderful, a little risque, director's choices, but still very good and wonderful staging. the orchestra was amazing and over the top excellent. you would have loved it.

love ya, MOM

March 13th Email

The class went really well. I only had one student on Thurs, a man about 30 or so, and we always start the class with a prayer. He did not understand the difference between pray and prayer so we talked a bit about one being a noun and the other a verb. He said it is different here because we believe in Jesus Christ and talk about Him, in his religion, Catholic, they go to church and then never talk about it. I told him he could ask the missionaries any question he wanted, however he said he did not know what to ask, he said he would listen to the presentation and then ask whatever he needed. The elders did a shortened 1st discussion and gave him a Joseph Smith pamphlet which he said he would read and have questions next week. Woohoo, his name is Robert and I cannot spell his last name. Okay so add Robert's name to your list and to the prayer roll.

March 11th Email

Today I will teach my first English class. I have the advanced class, that's because I speak the least amount of Polish and the class is entirely in English, hooray for me.

We now have a microwave here at the church. On Wed. Sister Kimball and I walked to the Galleria and bought what we thought was like a crock pot, cool pot,but not what we needed. carried that 15# pot about a mile and a half home and then about a 1/2 mile to the church the next day. Then the elders carried it back to the Galleria and we bought a microwave and they carried that back.

March 8th Email

Tomas Kofol did a fireside here on Friday after Zone Conference, him and his wife. they are both amazing people, I wrote you a letter and told you some of the things they talked about filming the Testament. They are both from Denmark and have adopted two children. that makes them special to me as well.

On Sunday Sister Kimball and I went "whiteboarding" in the Renik. (That is just walking up to people cold and inviting them to listen for a few minutes about the church, or just give them a flier with information on it.) Not many people were even interested and it was absolutely freezing cold about 8 degrees C. Only stayed out for about an hour and got to talk to maybe 6 people, then today I had to go to the post office and a young girl helped me with the postage, she spoke some English and I told her at our church we taught English lessons every Wed and would love for her to come and even bring her friends. she was very interested and gave me her name and phone # so the elders could call and give her the address. Woohoo!