From email sent August 29, 2010
The classes are going really well and the sisters are excited for the next class to begin, It's so fun to teach them. We're starting one in Bydgoszcz tomorrow for karolina, wish you guys could meet her and Tomac, they are such a cool couple, Tomac is quiet and serious and karolina doesn't have a serious bone in her body. she comes over to play cards with us, and the elders come over every Sunday for dinner and cards. so she came tonite and we all played 3 games.but Elder Davis said we CANNOT BREAK TRADITION, so the games and dinner are not part of the routine, besides they never have money for food, I really think they give most of their money away, so we love to feed them whenever possible. great young men, love them to pieces.
Monday, January 31, 2011
From email sent August 14, 2010:
this is a picture of a real stork's nest here in Poland, Storks have been protected for many hundreds of years here, even since the 1300"s. It is considered good fortune if a stork builds a nest in your chimney, mostly now they are seen on the top of poles like this one. They come back each year to the same next and in the sides of the nest other smaller birds build nests. There are not many storks and the mama and papa stork take turns getting food and caring for the young.
the 1st picture is in Gdansk at a parade. love to you all and now you know that storks really do bring babies.
this is a picture of a real stork's nest here in Poland, Storks have been protected for many hundreds of years here, even since the 1300"s. It is considered good fortune if a stork builds a nest in your chimney, mostly now they are seen on the top of poles like this one. They come back each year to the same next and in the sides of the nest other smaller birds build nests. There are not many storks and the mama and papa stork take turns getting food and caring for the young.
the 1st picture is in Gdansk at a parade. love to you all and now you know that storks really do bring babies.
Adam's Ties
From email sent August 14, 2010
pictures of Adam's ties, just a corner of the warehouse and an old 1800's engine I saw on the way home to Bydgoszcz...(ignore the time stamp in the corner-wrong date)
pictures of Adam's ties, just a corner of the warehouse and an old 1800's engine I saw on the way home to Bydgoszcz...(ignore the time stamp in the corner-wrong date)
Shopping and Driving in Poland
From Email Sent August 12, 2010:
just got back from Warsaw and am beyond bushed., we had the most amazing
time with sister Nielson, the new mission matron. We met her at the Bubble
Mall in Warsaw and shopped a bit, found my favorite store in Poland Van
Graaf, and they carry Brookshire shirts and clothes and I love the quality
and the style, only a bit expensive, but worth it, a typical button up shire
made from cotton blend is about 99zl, so really that is about $34 or sol.
not too bad and fit so much better than WalMart stuff. sleeves are long
enough. Guess it's about like Miller Rhodes.
So we shopped for a bit then decided to go to Adam's Ties, He manufactures
men' s neck ties here in Poland for several different men's stores. among
them are Pierre Car'mdin and some I didn't recognize, any way Sister Nielson
and I had never been there and sister Marshall didn't know the way, so got
out her trusty map with key places marked, like the mall, the Church, the
mission home and Adam's ties, so off we went Sister Nielson was driving,
Sister Marshall navigating and I'm in the back seat reading street signs,
only one able to see them and somewhat read them, so Sister Nielson thought
we were not on the right road and said we needed a conference, so pulled up
on the sidewalk between a light pole and a street sign and really checked
the map. decided we were on the right track and just waved her arm out the
window and took off. then continued on that way for a bit and didn't get in
the right lane to make a turn, so just pulled in the safety lane and turned
around, After only 5 weeks in the country she's a real Polish driver. Then a
bit later on we weren't sure if we were on the right road again an did
another sidewalk conference. The statement "if you don't like the way I
drive, stay off the sidewalk" really applies here. She is a riot. love her
to pieces. Got to Adam's Ties and that place is amazing, probably several
thousand or more ties. I did take several pictures and will attempt to ssend
them to you and did buy some ties, then went to a Polish Pottery place and then to
dinner and then to the mission home to crash. today was a zone leader
conference and we helped cook for that and then needed to alter skirts for
Sister Nielson, that's what we went over for. and then home on the train,
another 5 hours,
Train rides are no longer an exciting event and next week I need to Wroclaw
to teach another sewing class. hope I don't have an adventure like last
month.
well better get to bed, tomorrow is YSA and I think we're playing Ping Pong
just got back from Warsaw and am beyond bushed., we had the most amazing
time with sister Nielson, the new mission matron. We met her at the Bubble
Mall in Warsaw and shopped a bit, found my favorite store in Poland Van
Graaf, and they carry Brookshire shirts and clothes and I love the quality
and the style, only a bit expensive, but worth it, a typical button up shire
made from cotton blend is about 99zl, so really that is about $34 or sol.
not too bad and fit so much better than WalMart stuff. sleeves are long
enough. Guess it's about like Miller Rhodes.
So we shopped for a bit then decided to go to Adam's Ties, He manufactures
men' s neck ties here in Poland for several different men's stores. among
them are Pierre Car'mdin and some I didn't recognize, any way Sister Nielson
and I had never been there and sister Marshall didn't know the way, so got
out her trusty map with key places marked, like the mall, the Church, the
mission home and Adam's ties, so off we went Sister Nielson was driving,
Sister Marshall navigating and I'm in the back seat reading street signs,
only one able to see them and somewhat read them, so Sister Nielson thought
we were not on the right road and said we needed a conference, so pulled up
on the sidewalk between a light pole and a street sign and really checked
the map. decided we were on the right track and just waved her arm out the
window and took off. then continued on that way for a bit and didn't get in
the right lane to make a turn, so just pulled in the safety lane and turned
around, After only 5 weeks in the country she's a real Polish driver. Then a
bit later on we weren't sure if we were on the right road again an did
another sidewalk conference. The statement "if you don't like the way I
drive, stay off the sidewalk" really applies here. She is a riot. love her
to pieces. Got to Adam's Ties and that place is amazing, probably several
thousand or more ties. I did take several pictures and will attempt to ssend
them to you and did buy some ties, then went to a Polish Pottery place and then to
dinner and then to the mission home to crash. today was a zone leader
conference and we helped cook for that and then needed to alter skirts for
Sister Nielson, that's what we went over for. and then home on the train,
another 5 hours,
Train rides are no longer an exciting event and next week I need to Wroclaw
to teach another sewing class. hope I don't have an adventure like last
month.
well better get to bed, tomorrow is YSA and I think we're playing Ping Pong
Youth Conference Article
from email sent August 9, 2010
Here is a link to an article written about the July 2010 Young Adult Conference. "Gazeta" is one of the most popular daily paper in Poland.
1st picl. group, 2nd ski lift, took us clear up to heaven 4500 or so ft. 3rd. Esau from Canada, Hispanic, Sister Galbraith, Sister Marshall, my comp, some guy, me, recognize the gray hair and sunglasses, in front are Karolina and Agnieska from Warsaw , all the rest are pics of the group making bird nest(houses) and the last pic is my comp taking a pic of who knows what.
a huge service project, picking uprubbish on the ski trails, and even more huge was the hike down the mountain , just thought you might like to see some of what we did in Szczyrk,
Here is a link to an article written about the July 2010 Young Adult Conference. "Gazeta" is one of the most popular daily paper in Poland.
1st picl. group, 2nd ski lift, took us clear up to heaven 4500 or so ft. 3rd. Esau from Canada, Hispanic, Sister Galbraith, Sister Marshall, my comp, some guy, me, recognize the gray hair and sunglasses, in front are Karolina and Agnieska from Warsaw , all the rest are pics of the group making bird nest(houses) and the last pic is my comp taking a pic of who knows what.
a huge service project, picking uprubbish on the ski trails, and even more huge was the hike down the mountain , just thought you might like to see some of what we did in Szczyrk,
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Elders and Jedis and Wizards, oh my!
the conference was amazing. from minute one and throughout the entire event. however on sport day it rained so hard the entire sports facility field was under 2 feet of water, so all the outdoor games could not be held. so that was a huge bummer as Adam had put so much time and effort in planning and every thing,. had several tournaments rained out, a football(soccer) tourney from each of the countries represented, a volleyball tourney, the arm wrestling was held, but all the outdoor events were cancelled. dang. other games were invented at the last minute at the hotel, there was lots of room and the kids had a blast anyway. about 200 kids from 15 countries were there, plus about 50 senior advisers, a huge success and the speakers were beyond belief, Elder Schutze, area seventy and past temple pres, and seminary/institute teacher gave several workshops and one of the fireside speakers, a most amazing man, Each time I saw him he would ask me "is this the most correct way to say this phrase or word:" his English was really quite good.Then during his address at the fireside he was trying to say a word and asked me "is that the right way? I just nodded yes. Really was a very delightful man, and his wife was the sweetest lady you could imagine.
don't know if I will ever have quite another opportunity like this in my life, The conf. next year in is Romania, however Andziez Wentzel said if I wanted to be a part of that one, it could easily be arranged, I only would have to extend my mission a couple of weeks, It is always held the end of July. I really won't have a responsibility in that conference, just to be there with the Polish kids. who knows , that's a long way off. You cannot imagine the Spirit that prevailed throughout the entire conf. from each workshop and class and event and even the dances were so good. There should be some pictures on the conf. website. I think there is one with a lot of people with the yellow service vest on, the lady with her hand in the air is my comp. and you can just see the top of my head in the crowd, the white haired one. in a month or so there will be a lot of pictures available and I am in some of them, like the monster one in the treasure hunt. for what ever reason there wasn't a pic. of Master Yoda or Gandalf. those costumes really turned out pretty good, especially Yoda's green face. Elder Harding was called Elder Yoda the rest of the conf. just too cool.
don't know if I will ever have quite another opportunity like this in my life, The conf. next year in is Romania, however Andziez Wentzel said if I wanted to be a part of that one, it could easily be arranged, I only would have to extend my mission a couple of weeks, It is always held the end of July. I really won't have a responsibility in that conference, just to be there with the Polish kids. who knows , that's a long way off. You cannot imagine the Spirit that prevailed throughout the entire conf. from each workshop and class and event and even the dances were so good. There should be some pictures on the conf. website. I think there is one with a lot of people with the yellow service vest on, the lady with her hand in the air is my comp. and you can just see the top of my head in the crowd, the white haired one. in a month or so there will be a lot of pictures available and I am in some of them, like the monster one in the treasure hunt. for what ever reason there wasn't a pic. of Master Yoda or Gandalf. those costumes really turned out pretty good, especially Yoda's green face. Elder Harding was called Elder Yoda the rest of the conf. just too cool.
Monday, July 19, 2010
De train, de train!
Latest train adventure during travels for Young Single Adult Conference preparation:
the trip was an event to record, I left here at 11:;30 am to catch the 12:07 train, got there in plenty of time and waited on the peron, got on the train and it was PACKED, STANDING ROOM ONLY, and it's a 21/2 hour trip to Poznan and then about 4 more hours to Wroclaw. , so I got off and the conductor told me I was on the wrong train and to take the next one. Here when you buy a ticket it's good for 24 hours and one can take any train, so I didn't understand how I could be on the wrong train, so waited for the next train at 1;30, only it never came, and it's 35 C, that's about 100 degrees and the humidity is about 90%, and that's sweltering. So I waited for the next train, only it didn't come. I asked a young girl if she spoke English and yes she did, so she was helping me, She was told the next train to Wroclaw was at 2;30pm so I waited there with her, She was such a sweet girl, 19 years old and wanted to go to England to be an au paire and learn better English, So we waited for the next train, and waited , finally she went to the Kasa and asked the clerk about the train, and was told I had the wrong ticket, so was issued another ticket, no different from the first one, so don't know why another one was needed. and didn't cost anymore 51 zl. Finally her train came and I just waited there, Then I met fellow, German army guy on leave and going back to his unit, so he said he would make sure I got on the right train, he spoke English, German, Spanish, about every language one can imagine except POLISH. so the train came and had Poznan stated on the front, so he checked with several other passengers and they all said the train went to Poznan, so we got on and the train was absolutely packed, lots of people on vacation at this time of the year. Then the conductor came by checking tickets, looked a mine, both tickets and said "NIE-NIE blah blah stuff in Polish at 90 miles per hour, all this time she was talking to the German fellow not to me, so he told her the ticket was mine, she looked at me said more stuff in Polish, which I have no clue what she said, then said "baggage-Inawroclaw- off 3:22" I definitely understood what she said, take my baggage and get off the train in Inawroclaw at 3:22" Inawroclaw is a small town about 1/2 way between Bydgoszcz and Poznan. so got off I did and the train went on.
So now I'm in Inawroclaw, went to the Kasa to see about the train to Wroclaw, " at 3:30 peron 3, so I got a bottle of water and went up the stairs to peron 3, a lady and man were waiting there, I showed them my ticket and asked if this was the peron for the train to Wroclaw, Nie-nie peron 1 , so I hurried down the stairs and up the other stairs to peron 1, no-one was there and no train, so by then it's 3:35 so went back to peron 3 and the same lady was there, so I asked her again, is this the peron for the train to Wroclaw, she took me and my luggage down the stairs, across the station and up other stairs, outside to another peron and showed me across the tracks where another station was. and indicated that was where I needed to me. Need I say I was a little distraught by now.There was no one there and no activity and I didn't feel like that was where I needed to be, so back down the stairs and back up to peron 3 this time here husband looked at my ticket and said " tak-tak' I was at the right place all the time and they took off, with the lady apologizing of course in Polish,
so I went back to the Kasa and met another girl that did speak English and she went to the kasa with me and then was told the train came at 5:30pm on peron 3 and would not need to go to Poznan, the train would go straight to Wroclaw, so I just sat there and waited, and met another lady with two little girls , her granddaughters, the youngest reminded me so much of Brynne, all pink and bling. so cute, so they invited me to sit with them on the train, in a 1st class car, still hot as blazes, but not crowded, so in about 11/2 hour we got to Poznan and then went on to Wroclaw, even though I was told the train would go directly to Wroclaw. so got to Wroclaw about 9pm that night. tired, hungry, no food. and so sticky hot I probably looked like a homeless person, should have rolled my knee-hi"s down to my ankles, would have looked the part then. So I took a taxi to Sister Kimball's apt and went to bed,
On Sat. I walked to the church to teach the sewing class,there were 2 young women and 4 sisters and we had such a good time ;and the time went by so quickly and then had to leave to catch the train to Warsaw for the YSA conf.meeting NO problem on the train and met a girl traveling to visit her family and she spoke very good English and is a Spanish teacher. so we talked for about for a while and then took naps and read, It's a 5 hour trip to Warsaw, then the last 3 hours of the trip we talked about the Church, she asked so many questions, great questions and we had such a great time discussing the biggest differences in the Mormon church and other churches. So many points we talked about she said made so much sense, I asked her about her upbringing and she was of course raised Catholic but was leaning toward Buddism, One of the things she liked about Buddism is that they believe in re-incarnation and I asked her how or who decides how and where they come back as, She said just where ever one was needed and in what ever form was needed. So I explained to her that we believe we are always who we are now, when I see her in the next life she will recognize me as a lady and I will recognize her as a lady and if she was a dog or some other animal how would I know who she was, She decided that made perfectly good sense. She asked how did Joseph Smith come to translate the plates and how could he do that if he didn't know the language, so we talked about revelation, and she said that made sense too. She said she wasn't ready to make a commitment to any religion and was investigating many things, so I had her read Moroni 10:4 about the Lord's promise and suggested she pray about it as she did believe in prayer. and several other passages she was interested in, by then we were Warsaw and parted, but not without a hug and kiss. I did love give her a pass along card but didn't have a Polish BOM, she said she would stop and ask a missionary for one if she felt so inclined, Who knows what will happen, but I do know the Lord prompted my answers at that time and gave her information needed to help her make a wise decision. maybe a seed was planted and will continue to grow til she understands what to do. She asked why I came to Poland and not to somewhere in the US, I told her maybe to bring this information just to her. and it was worth it. she did agree. Wohoo.
So my trip back to Bydgoszcz was so uneventful . 7 hours and still hot, too hot to eat. The conference is in a little over a week, there are people coming from15 countries and even 2 guys from Canada. come on over. ok, better get busy , the elders are coming to learn how to cook fried chicken , hope they hurry, I am hungry, haven't eaten much in the last 3 days, only drank a LOT of water, hope all this makes sense, was a very long hot 3 days.
the trip was an event to record, I left here at 11:;30 am to catch the 12:07 train, got there in plenty of time and waited on the peron, got on the train and it was PACKED, STANDING ROOM ONLY, and it's a 21/2 hour trip to Poznan and then about 4 more hours to Wroclaw. , so I got off and the conductor told me I was on the wrong train and to take the next one. Here when you buy a ticket it's good for 24 hours and one can take any train, so I didn't understand how I could be on the wrong train, so waited for the next train at 1;30, only it never came, and it's 35 C, that's about 100 degrees and the humidity is about 90%, and that's sweltering. So I waited for the next train, only it didn't come. I asked a young girl if she spoke English and yes she did, so she was helping me, She was told the next train to Wroclaw was at 2;30pm so I waited there with her, She was such a sweet girl, 19 years old and wanted to go to England to be an au paire and learn better English, So we waited for the next train, and waited , finally she went to the Kasa and asked the clerk about the train, and was told I had the wrong ticket, so was issued another ticket, no different from the first one, so don't know why another one was needed. and didn't cost anymore 51 zl. Finally her train came and I just waited there, Then I met fellow, German army guy on leave and going back to his unit, so he said he would make sure I got on the right train, he spoke English, German, Spanish, about every language one can imagine except POLISH. so the train came and had Poznan stated on the front, so he checked with several other passengers and they all said the train went to Poznan, so we got on and the train was absolutely packed, lots of people on vacation at this time of the year. Then the conductor came by checking tickets, looked a mine, both tickets and said "NIE-NIE blah blah stuff in Polish at 90 miles per hour, all this time she was talking to the German fellow not to me, so he told her the ticket was mine, she looked at me said more stuff in Polish, which I have no clue what she said, then said "baggage-Inawroclaw- off 3:22" I definitely understood what she said, take my baggage and get off the train in Inawroclaw at 3:22" Inawroclaw is a small town about 1/2 way between Bydgoszcz and Poznan. so got off I did and the train went on.
So now I'm in Inawroclaw, went to the Kasa to see about the train to Wroclaw, " at 3:30 peron 3, so I got a bottle of water and went up the stairs to peron 3, a lady and man were waiting there, I showed them my ticket and asked if this was the peron for the train to Wroclaw, Nie-nie peron 1 , so I hurried down the stairs and up the other stairs to peron 1, no-one was there and no train, so by then it's 3:35 so went back to peron 3 and the same lady was there, so I asked her again, is this the peron for the train to Wroclaw, she took me and my luggage down the stairs, across the station and up other stairs, outside to another peron and showed me across the tracks where another station was. and indicated that was where I needed to me. Need I say I was a little distraught by now.There was no one there and no activity and I didn't feel like that was where I needed to be, so back down the stairs and back up to peron 3 this time here husband looked at my ticket and said " tak-tak' I was at the right place all the time and they took off, with the lady apologizing of course in Polish,
so I went back to the Kasa and met another girl that did speak English and she went to the kasa with me and then was told the train came at 5:30pm on peron 3 and would not need to go to Poznan, the train would go straight to Wroclaw, so I just sat there and waited, and met another lady with two little girls , her granddaughters, the youngest reminded me so much of Brynne, all pink and bling. so cute, so they invited me to sit with them on the train, in a 1st class car, still hot as blazes, but not crowded, so in about 11/2 hour we got to Poznan and then went on to Wroclaw, even though I was told the train would go directly to Wroclaw. so got to Wroclaw about 9pm that night. tired, hungry, no food. and so sticky hot I probably looked like a homeless person, should have rolled my knee-hi"s down to my ankles, would have looked the part then. So I took a taxi to Sister Kimball's apt and went to bed,
On Sat. I walked to the church to teach the sewing class,there were 2 young women and 4 sisters and we had such a good time ;and the time went by so quickly and then had to leave to catch the train to Warsaw for the YSA conf.meeting NO problem on the train and met a girl traveling to visit her family and she spoke very good English and is a Spanish teacher. so we talked for about for a while and then took naps and read, It's a 5 hour trip to Warsaw, then the last 3 hours of the trip we talked about the Church, she asked so many questions, great questions and we had such a great time discussing the biggest differences in the Mormon church and other churches. So many points we talked about she said made so much sense, I asked her about her upbringing and she was of course raised Catholic but was leaning toward Buddism, One of the things she liked about Buddism is that they believe in re-incarnation and I asked her how or who decides how and where they come back as, She said just where ever one was needed and in what ever form was needed. So I explained to her that we believe we are always who we are now, when I see her in the next life she will recognize me as a lady and I will recognize her as a lady and if she was a dog or some other animal how would I know who she was, She decided that made perfectly good sense. She asked how did Joseph Smith come to translate the plates and how could he do that if he didn't know the language, so we talked about revelation, and she said that made sense too. She said she wasn't ready to make a commitment to any religion and was investigating many things, so I had her read Moroni 10:4 about the Lord's promise and suggested she pray about it as she did believe in prayer. and several other passages she was interested in, by then we were Warsaw and parted, but not without a hug and kiss. I did love give her a pass along card but didn't have a Polish BOM, she said she would stop and ask a missionary for one if she felt so inclined, Who knows what will happen, but I do know the Lord prompted my answers at that time and gave her information needed to help her make a wise decision. maybe a seed was planted and will continue to grow til she understands what to do. She asked why I came to Poland and not to somewhere in the US, I told her maybe to bring this information just to her. and it was worth it. she did agree. Wohoo.
So my trip back to Bydgoszcz was so uneventful . 7 hours and still hot, too hot to eat. The conference is in a little over a week, there are people coming from15 countries and even 2 guys from Canada. come on over. ok, better get busy , the elders are coming to learn how to cook fried chicken , hope they hurry, I am hungry, haven't eaten much in the last 3 days, only drank a LOT of water, hope all this makes sense, was a very long hot 3 days.
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