Wesołych świąt!

Happy Holidays Everyone!

This week was a good one, nothing particularly miraculous but good stuff happened. The week before last I was looking ahead and thinking about what kind of missionary I wanted to become, who I wanted to be when I completed my mission etc. This week I took that image and made more short term goals targeting specific scripture and language study. I feel like there is so much that I want to do that it's overwhelming. I also feel like I'm spending all this time thinking about who/what I want to be and do. I don't want to get caught up in goals and planning to the point where I never actually just get to work and become who I want to be. I'm trying to find that balance now between creating a vision of who I want to be and letting the experiences I gain lead me.

Polish is, of course, still a big barrier. This week I understood more than ever before but that's not saying a whole lot sadly. There was one lesson in particular where I understand a lot. I don't get discouraged too often or even that discouraged in general and I am being blessed and guided. I just need to get working harder on my language, make it more of a focus.
Starszy Godwin is doing well. Our lessons are good but I'm trying to learn how to be more assertative. It's difficult to speak up sometimes when I know he can explain so much better than me but I'm trying to get over it.

Jarmark (the Christmas market/fair) is as magical as ever. We, with the sisters, spend as much time there as we can. It's fun, Christmasy, and there is a lot of tasty food. The Christmas Spirit is strong with us here in Wroclaw. Elder Godwin and I have been busy decorating stockings, the sisters had some carols so we made some Polish caroling books, and we are just loving the season. Missionary work has sadly taken a hit. You'd think because it's Christmas time people would be more inclined to focus some time on Christ. Instead it's a great excuse for people to tell us to contact them "after the holidays." Everyone is busy finishing things up at work/school and are preparing to leave to go back to their families (since we are in a big city with companies and universities here a big chunk of people aren't originaly from Wroclaw). That's not to say everyone is ignoring us but it does make things more difficult

This past week we had our "culture night." Once a transfer we have an evening from 17:00-22:00 to go out and do something fun and cultural. It's something to plan for so from the beginning of the transfer we've all been thinking of ideas. There were a lot of posters for Peter Pan on Ice, we casually thought about it but when the Lloyds (senior missionary couple) mentioned it we decided to go. This past Wednesday we got together and trammed out to the big Centennial Hall. We had all come with our expectations, slightly differing but pretty grand apprently. When we walked into the stadium the ice wasn't a large rink but a little sqaure in the middle of the floor. We assumed it would be a family show but the only other people besides us were young couples with their kids. Suffice it to say that we were disappointed. BUT then the show started and it was incredible. Never had any of us seen such skill especially on such a little block of ice. There was some cool ince-skating: men holding women above their head on one arm and spinning a million miles per hour, pirates doing crazy swings on ropes, and sword fights. We all enjoyed it in the end and had a lot of fun. Next we were all invited over to the Lloyds for my birthday dinner. Sister Lloyd made pork chops, mashed potatoes and gravy, peas & carrots, and rolls. Then for dessert she made "danish dessert" i.e. yellow cake with whip cream and then this jello-like strawberry layer on top. It was delicious and super thoughtful of Sister Lloyd - they are the best. The next day (my actual birthday) we went to Danuta and Boleslaws (the couple in their eighty's). They sang happy Birthday and Sto Lat, we had cake and they got me chocolates. The sisters gave me a decorated missionary planner. Sister Durrant from the office called to wish me a happy birthday too. It was a happy day. Not too much happened but I knew people were thinking of me (from all over) so it turned out to be a happy birthday indeed. It is funny to think I'm 19 already 1. because that's old and 2. because it's the age I always thought I'd be when I left on my mission.

PEOPLE!

M asked President Cielenski to meet yesterday, who then invited us. The meeting was about Marcin and his baptism. His heart is in the right place but he still has his doubts. Changing is hard and requires a whole lot of faith so I understand Marcin's hestitation. I hope he receives his answer and does what will make him happy.

J is stagnant. His family is as uninterested as ever. We met with him last night and encouraged him to set goals to help him progress and develop in the gospel - it's hard when baptism isn't a set goal already. He has a testimony and hopefully with time his family will turn around, it's hard.

R, our English student, is making progress. At first he only came for the English and didn't like the Spiritual aspect. Now, although still coming primarily for English, he mentioned how he likes coming because he feels good and he likes us. He's starting to feel the Spirit but just doesn't know it yet. He prayed at the end of the last lesson, it was short and simple. He thanked Heavenly Father for us missionaries and then asked for the health of his family and parents. He apologized for the briefness explaining that those were his only desires. He doesn't need money or anything else he just wants the health and safety of his family. Prayer is simple and he might not realize how well he understands it. We invited him to pray twice daily, including his family as well. We're trying to be bold but careful with him. Prayer is such an incredible gift. It is our communication with God, our creator, our father.

W and E have a cool story. Sister Ott, a missionary in another part of Poland, has an old professor from BYU who was praying for missionary opportunties. She saw W and E at temple square, made the Poland connection and got their info. The sisters here contacted them but since they are in our area brought them to meet us at the chapel. They are super nice and were curios to know more. Sadly they are in a rut so many fall into. She works with autistic children and they are both nice good people, the thing is they think that's enough. They see churches as places that give more rules that aren't really needed. The funny thing is that, yes our church requires a lot from our members but the point of it all isn't to follow commandments. Instead the gospel offers us more than we can or need to offer it. We shouldn't follow Christ our of fear, habit or merely because we think "it's the right thing to do." We follow Christ because it brings us joy and the plan Heavenly Father has for us will bring us more peace and happiness than anything else. God doesn't command us to do things for us to become good people, that's a product but His real goal is our joy and success.

Wroclaw is great. The branch members here continue to strengthen me by their committment, faith, and testimonies. Yesterday in church we had Young Women in excellence as our sacrament program. Usually it wouldn't happen like that but since the Calls (with Cindy - 17) live an hour away and the branch is so small it made sense. It was great. Cindy Call and Tsonga Lee (The Lees joined in Korea but moved to Wroclaw and are now in our branch) both spoke along with Sisters Bown, Poklinkowska, and Lloyd. I was really impressed with the young womens' testimonies, they are powerful. They also sang "Because I Have Been Given Much", which invited the Spirit strongly. It was a great meeting! Our members are incredible. I am so blessed.

This is probably the last chance I have to email before Christmas so I send my wishes. Enjoy this time. Have fun with family, friends and loved ones. Look to serve and include others. I'm studying Christ's life this month and remembering all he has done for us. What a great time of the year. Wesołych świąt!

Starszy Kimball 

Month Mark

What a week!

This week was amazing! 

This week our branch had a baptism! The sisters have been teaching T for a couple months and she was baptized and confirmed this weekend. She's a 20-year-old student from Azerbaijan who found the sisters as she was coming off a train. She approached Sister Poklinkowska and said she was looking for truth. As soon as the sisters started teaching T, her testimony began to grow - she was so prepared - she's great! 

Her baptism was Saturday night. First we all met at the chapel, some sisters in the branch arrived early and decorated the Christmas tree and Sister Bown and Poklinkwoska had set everything up for the baptism so it all looked so good. Most of the branch came as well as M and A (investigators) so it was a great turn out. Sister C spoke on baptism and O spoke on the Holy Ghost. Sister C so bold, simple, and testified by the Spirit that it was so powerful. O was honest, relatable, and also testified by the Spirit. Their testimonies were so strong and I felt the Holy Ghost so piercingly. We may not have the most members here in Wroclaw or Poland but we have quality. They are solid members who strengthen my own testimony. It got me excited to find and teach people, to have them be able to testify with such conviction. Plus it was all in English since T is better at English than Polish, that was nice, although they were translated on the spot which actually really helped with my Polish (we'll get to that later.) We then all walked over to the pool. (I wonder what people think of us doing baptisms in a pool here, usually we have a font in our buildings but not here so it's kind of fun!) President Z, the district president, performed the baptism and Starszy Godwin and I were witnesses. She came out of the water in tears, it was a great event. We then returned to the chapel to close the meeting and have refreshments. I got to talk with T a little afterwards. I asked her how she felt to which she said refreshed and "light." It reminded my of my favorite scripture in Matthew 11:28-30 about how Christ makes our burdens "light" as we take His yoke upon us. The blessings that we receive are endless. It was such a great night for us missionaries, for the Branch, and for T. 

Just a little update for the mission baptisms: since I've been her we've had 5. The first three weeks ago, another two weeks ago and then three this past Saturday! The work is rolling along even in Poland!

Yesterday in church she was confirmed but President C, our branch president, with us missionaries and M (the one Melchezedick priesthood holder in the branch besides Pres or Pres Z) stood in the circle. With it T received a great blessing. I'm so excited for her, the gift of the Holy Ghost is so divine and has been such a blessing in my life.

I also had a really good talk with M yesterday after sacrament meeting. We aren't teaching him right now but he's still coming to church, family home evening, and even Tamara's baptism. 

He asked me how I could say that I "know" that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true. I shared my testimony of prayer and being willing to accept God's will and answers even if it's hard (which it often is.) I also invited him to read the Book of Mormon more often and sincerely to gain a testimony of the essentials because he has a lot of doubts. I have question and even doubts sometimes, which I told him. I said questions aren't bad as long as they lead to truth. I went on to explain that we need to humbly be searching for answers. The questions or doubts I have don't shake my testimony because of the basic truths I've grown to know. I told him that he needs to gain experience of listening to the Holy Ghost to know the most important truths, that's what matters most. I know that he is searching and I hope he finds truth and peace.

J was at church yesterday and he said he would be free to meet this week but couldn't give a concrete time so we are calling him today. We still have never officially met with him although he was at the Lloyd's house for Thanksgiving dinner. He seems great and I'm excited to get to know him more.

Polish is still hard. My speaking has improved but my understanding is still lagging quite a bit. I've had several stress dreams about arriving at the end of my mission and not knowing Polish. I know perfection isn't the goal and it will come with time and a lot of hard work so I'm trying not to be too discouraged. 

This week I also was able to set some concrete goals and organize myself. I've been thinking a lot about who I want to be at the end of my mission. Recently I've been trying to figure out how to change to be the person I want while keeping the attributes I want. 

Life is good, I'm happy. The Christmas season is great. It makes me a little sad not to be home but there is still so much joy and holiday Spirit here. Enjoy it :)

Starszy Kimball

Sorry this is late, we were out of town but we pulled some meal times together to write today. I feel like so much has changed, mainly in myself.

Last week we had a Thanksgiving dinner at the Lloyds (the senior missionary couple here.) They said we could invite investigators so both the sisters and us each had three investigators (one of the sisters' guests was K, a Recent convert) there, it was quite the event. We were able to share a big American feast with them all and it was a nice relaxed setting to get to them all better. The food was delicious! In between dinner and dessert we all went around and said what we were grateful for, everyone did it and it was awesome. Everyone there had a good time, there was enough of us to make it fun but few of us to make it intimate and everybody was included. We had M, J, and J2 there. Overall it was fun, the Spirit was definitely present and it was just a happy night.

J is a star, he is strong and doing well but his family just isn't on board. His son came down and talked with us last time, he was nice, had a lot of questions and doubts. He was a teenage son without a strong belief in God but at least he's not against it. We gave him a brochure and asked him to try praying and to look out for answers. Sadly there's not too much to progress towards until we hopefully can meet with J's wife.

M is good. He has a lot of questions and is really searching. He's really patient with me and is trying to get to know me better which is nice because being the junior companion who can barely speak most people aren't that interested in talking to you but he is. Hopefully this week we will be able to meet with him and get a better sense of where he's going.

J2 is awesome. We only met him our first Sunday here and then we was incommunicado since then. At the dinner we were able to talk to him a lot, in English because he was fluent so I understood what was going on. He said that he searched a lot of churches and referred himself to the missionaries here. He said that according to him this is the one church that makes sense and has the truth. He's golden BUT unfortunately his wife is against it so we need to work that out because we see much progress.

It's been a great last couple of days, we were out of town because we had a zone conference in Katowice. This past Monday our whole zone (Wroclaw, Krakow, Kielce, and Katowice) met up and went to Auschwitz together. World War II is a hard topic to discuss often. People want to treat it with the right sensitivity and respect as I will try to do. I noticed a few different points while being there.

1) It didn't seem real. We were walking along the pathways and through the buildings of where such catastrophe occurred but it was hard to realize and understand that it had really happened. We saw the shoes, glasses, hair and more of the prisoners but it's hard to believe that it could really happen.

2) Getting a glimpse of what people went through was a testimony to me of the strength that we have as humans. Many were so valiant and strong and as Heavenly Father's children we can receive so much help and are already blessed with such power within us, it is inspiring and motivating to realize what we are capable of getting through. Amazing examples.

3) We discussed why we went after the trip. A lot of the missionaries didn't like it and found it depressing. I find trips like these to be interesting and although it's hard to find an appropriate adjective it was good. It's important to learn what happened. For me it's important to realize that this still is happening around the world. It sparked my "save the world" instinct I developed in High School.

I have more to say but not the time.

That night we caroled and contacted back in Katowice, I got to talk to a Belgian guy from Flanders but we spoke in French and English. that was super exciting, he didn't seem too interested but we got his number so we'll see. We then had hot chocolate at the senior missionary couple's house. 

The next day we had zone training with President and Sister Edgren and the AP's (assistant to the president - missionaries chosen to be leaders for the mission and help the mission president with responsibilities). I learned a lot and it was fun to meet more missionaries here and spend a couple of days away.

I finally feel more capable and ready to work. I'm not as hesitant and I really want to contribute now. I love you all. 

Starszy Kimball