Pictures of Home in Katowice

From email sent April 4, 2011:

This is where I live now, it's the biggest apartment building I've ever seen! Every time I move I go to a bigger building. I can't imagine anything bigger than this! It's massive, but the apartments are really kind of small.

Get a load of my GREEN room. Rachel don't paint anything in my house this color, PLEASE!!!

Fast Sunday and General Conference

From Email sent April 2, 2011:

It is Conference Sunday and also Fast Sunday over here in Poland. We get the conference addresses about 8 hours after the event and will watch the sessions throughtout the coming week. However it is Fast Sunday as well and I am directing my fast to each of you. You all do so much for me and I am grateful and I know each of you have huge challenges to face in the coming days and weeks, and have been facing in the last few months. I wish I could help each of you in each challenge but cannot but I can direct this fast to you and ask additional blessings from the Lord in your behalf. I know that through fasting and prayer the Lord will increase your strength to face and overcome challenges.

I have seen His power as I have served here in Poland, the language is so difficult, and I wasn't blessed to be able to speak the language, however the Lord puts in my path people, both missionaries and Polish people, who are patient with me and help me with the language and whatever I need. I do know some language, just enough to usually get me in trouble, but someone always bails me out. I love you kids beyond belief and miss you all so much, I look forward to either seeing you here in July or there in August. Woohoo! The time is going fast and I still have a few things I need to do. so I'm not getting trunky YET.

Love ya,
MOM

Baptisms and Blessed like the Sons of Mosiah

From Email sent march 26, 2011:

Good day today in Katowice: two young men baptized this afternoon. Had part of the service at the church, then got on the tramwie to the public swimming pool and baptized there, then back to the church for the rest of the meeting. Tons of people there, hooray!

Then had a meeting with President Pawlik and Darota, she is the YSA president. President Pawlik doesn't like the idea of me walking home at night, so I have one week to find a husband or he will send prospects. Told him no thank you, that I was blessed like the sons of Mosiah to be kept from harms way and that's good enough for now. Elder Neiman told President Pawlik I was no person to be messed with, I had raised sons well over 6 ft tall and they would take care of me. He is totally impressed with the size of the boys, he saw their picture.

I told them I also think couples should be in the centers, for many reasons, however I am all that is available for now. Maybe some more couples will come, but I'm it for now and will do my best.

love love love ya,
MOM

Home in Kato

From Email sent March 23, 2011:

So home again only about 4 hours away from my last home, cool thing here is I am by myself and you could come visit me and stay here.... woohoo nice enough, 1 bedroom, kitchen, bath w/ shower, dining /living room combo, 1 hall way closet and entry way, about the size of the family room downstairs. But just for me, it's cool. So tomorrow I go meet the kids at the YSA center, some of them I know already as they were at Szczyrk at the YSA conference last July. So that will be great and 2 of the Elders are the ones I served with in Bydgoszcz, Elders Dombroski and Kennedy, and I know Elder Leimer from Germany and there's a new trainee here, Elder Hooker from Utah.

As soon as I get things squared away, I'll take a few pics and send them to you, so here I am in Kato.
love ya, Mom

Package from Home

From Email sent March 21, 2011:

I got the package today from the postman. He was walking up to the apartment building the same time I was and I saw the American postal tape and the picture on the bottom and just knew it was from you, woohoo and it was. Thank you for all the goodies, I love everything, took the container of mints to P day cleaning the church day and had a blast, all the missionaries really liked the goodies, except for the peppermint patties, they don't know about them, wonder why??? :)

Thank you for everything and the timing was perfect. Thank you for the ensigns as well, I will definitely enjoy them and will share them with the Elders and Sisters in Katowice pronounced like, katovitsa, or usually just called Kato. I leave here about 7am Wednesday, Elder and Sister Harding are me down(hurray!), I really did not want to go on the train, so will be able to take all my stuff with me at once.

I love the socks, for St. Patty's day I cut a clover out of felt and wore it on my badge, then had to cut a bunch more for the elders and sisters. I do enjoy serving with these young Elders and Sisters. So now they are playing Books & Runs here in Warszawa and will have to teach the ones in Kato, down to my last two decks of cards, but that should be good and I'll leave them with the Elders in Kato.

Well it's late and I'm done in, nearly through packing but gotta get to bed. love you all and thank you again!

Transfer to Katowice

From Email sent March 17, 2011:

Just got a call from Pres. Nielson and I am being transferred to Katowice down in the south part of Poland , down near where we had our YSA conference last year. The senior couple that is there end their mission the end of March and there are not any other senior couples to take their place; I am the only one with YSA experience so I get to go. So I may be there for 2 months or til the end of my mission, who knows, but I do get to see a lot of Poland in all these transfers. At this point I won't have a companion, sometimes that's a little scary, but I do know the elders that are there, part of the Bydgoszcz bunch that was so close and I'm excited about that.

A Polish Wedding

From Email sent February 12, 2011:

So tomorrow the sr. sisters are preparing a luncheon for a wedding, croissants with chicken salad, buki with ham and ser(cheese) and lettuce. juice , and wedding cake, It's amazing they are getting married as most couples in Poland don't , just live together for several years til they have enough money to get married, Rafael has been a member for quite a while and Agnieska will be a member a year in a week or so. They will go to the temple in April or May, forgot which. because the temple is out of the country, couples can go up to 3 months after the wedding.

In Poland all marriages have to be performed by the state first, then the couple can have a church wedding or whatever, so first we will go to the building were the official ceremony will be done by the state, then the luncheon, then the bride and groom go to dinner with the immediate family, then a party for all that evening, like a reception. Also in Poland , people don't have to wait a year to go to the temple, so they are going in April, Agnieska will be a member a year the end of Feb. Rafael has been a member for quite a while, don't know for sure how long.


State Official, Great Seal of Poland


Rafiel & Agnieska


The Wedding Cake


Eating Wedding Cake


Me, Agnieska, Rafiel & Sister Briggs