Wdzięczność - Gratitude

Dear All,

Another week come and gone. Last week I was on a mission high - this week was a little more difficult but before I go into that let me talk about the wonderful people I am lucky to be with here in Wrocław.

Mx is very inellectual and seeks for proof. Sadly between our lessons he read and researched a lot of anti-mormon material (before my mission I had no idea how much there was!). However, the lesson was a succes! We went from his doubts and claims of misinformation to the end where he accepted that through reading The Book of Mormon and prayer he will find his answer. The problem is he doesn't feel like he's received an answer. It's hard, he progressed from having false thoughts to understanding how to find his answer this week but without a confirmation by the Spirit it's difficult to progress further. This week we will focus more on how to find answers through the Holy Ghost with humility and faith. We left it by inviting Mx to make up his mind whether The Book of Mormon is true or not and then pray to find out if he's right. He is a really smart, cool guy. I like him a lot. He wants to know truth. He knows that there is universal, eternal truth and he wants to find it.

Jb is incredible. He is practically a member. He says he has a little more time now to meet. He has great questions and faith. He wants this gospel and church to be true I think. He hasn't found received his answer either (basically what we are waiting on). Basically the key, two different people with different hesitations but it all comes to personal revelation. In order to have the desire and motivation to do all that Heavenly Father asks of us we must understand. We must receive a personal answer and see the blessings of following the commandments in our individual lives. That is what we are trying to help people feel: the love of Christ and Heavenly Father, along with building a relationship with Them.

Now this week was sort of funky, it went well for the most part but I just felt a little off. I'm learning a bunch and trying to improve. I need to rely on the Lord and others more in life. The love I receive from so many is countless and never ending. The thoughts and prayers from all over the world are reaching and touching me here. Thank you. I don't extend enough gratitude but I hope to express my sincere thanks for the love I feel, from all of you and my Savior. Through Christ comes clarity, peace, and light. Turn to Him in all things, especially when we need help. He is always there. 

z miłością,
Starszy Kimball

Dzień Dobry!

This has been my first transfer week, it was more stressful than I thought it would be but I am excited for this new start.

It's a big change being with Elder Meherg from what it was like with Elder Godwin. Elder Godwin reminded me not to compare the styles and never say anything to the effect of "well Elder Godwin and I did things this way." I thought it was obvious advice but it's been interesting learning how natural/tempting it is to say something like that. Changes are changes, for better, worse, or just simply different. It's taken some time to adjust to, in fact I am still am. I was thinking just before transfers about how comfortable I was feeling about things. The first transfer is crazy but then you learn. At first everything was out of my comfort zone but then as I learned and developed my comfort zone expanded. It's truly been a blessing to remember to turn to the Lord for everything. My prayers have again become more fervent and sincere. I do learn so many new things here but much of what I am being taught is remembrance. Repetition sometimes seems unneeded, merely redundant but it's essential for lasting growth. I am excited for this next transfer, to learn new things from Elder Meherg and have a fresh start. Elder Meherg is faithful and hardworking so I'm excited to see what we accomplish this transfer!

One of the greatest blessings about this last transfer is that I stayed in Wroclaw. Most people moved but I was lucky. The branch here continues to be a strength and blessing in my life. One of the best things about a new companion is a fresh start without specific expectations. We can always change and improve but with a new group of missionaries I feel like I can change things a little easier. For example at church yesterday, I talked to many more of the members and had deeper conversations. Before I was timid, unconfident, and relied on Elder Godwin. Now I feel more capable and want to get to know the members here better. With Elder Meherg there isn't that pattern of Elder Godwin taking the lead and me standing in the background. Yesterday I was more outgoing and engaged with the members, I think it also helps that I'm one of the "old missionaries" in Wroclaw, meaning the other missionaries (except for Sister Bown) are all new to the area. I love the members here. I want to serve and help them more but it's one of those situations where they are giving me so much more.

We met Mz on the street Saturday and invited him to church, he came yesterday. We then met with him and taught him a first. The lesson had a lot of tangents and didn't seem to have a great impact but we are meeting again. We will see. This week we have a lot of set up lessons, more than ever before - half are from the sisters (they are terrific!) - I am excited to meet and discuss the gospel with them.

Contacting has been a little tricky recently, I just have felt pretty discourage, especially in the group contactings (ex. whiteboards). This past week we had a whiteboard and I had a really successful time. I didn't teach or talk to more people than usual but my attitude was different. I talked to one bald guy with super sweet sunglasses, who said just two weeks before he had started looking into religion. He said he knew it was a priority but hadn't devoted much time to God. It was a testimony to me that Heavenly Father is preparing people to be ready to cross paths with us. They won't always become new investigators but I know that as we are there fulfilling our role of inviting others unto Christ we will find people who are ready to accept the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Remember to not do things on your own! Rely on others and especially the Savior. I love you all.

Starszy Kimball

Transfers

Dzień Dobry!

My first first transfer comes to an end this week. It's frightening to realize, my mission is already going by so fast. So here is the big news:

I am staying here in Wroclaw but with a new companion, Elder Meherg (nobody here knows him so it's a mystery.) Sister Bown is staying and there will be a trio of sisters including Sister Wood from my MTC group. (Sister Bown goes home in February hence the trio) In addition we are getting another set of elders so we will have 7 missionaries and the Llyods! sidenote: our transfers are nine weeks long, most of the world has six-week transfers/ also this next one is a mega-tranfer of fourteen weeks because of the number of weeks per year.

I am really happy about things, I'm glad about staying in Wroclaw - I love it here and I feel like I just got started. Continuing the work here is a great blessing. However, I am also glad to change things up. I generally don't like change or groups splitting up so it's going to be difficult to say goodbye to Elder Godwin and Sister Poklinkowska. We will have new areas, I will be switching apartments, and I will be learning from different missionaries. Everybody here says that each transfer is a new beginning and those I do like. A new chance to recreate who you want to be. Especially since I was new I think it's important to switch people up so there aren't cemented perceptions. I feel like that limits me sometimes, being around people that know me and my weaknesses no matter how deep or superficial they may be. I feel like with this new transfer I will be able to work on different parts of myself, which is often hard to do when people already associate certain traits, habits, whatever with you.

Another huge reason I am grateful to stay is because of the branch. Yesterday, being fast Sunday, our sacrament meeting was devoted to testimonies. Our members are incredible. Their testimonies are strong and rooted in Christ. I was able to understand more than ever, which was great. I've probably said this before but our members are all about quality. Our mission is small, hard, has little success compared to the rest of the world BUT we are finding people who are searching for truth and they change their lives, devoting their time and priorities to Christ. Most of the members are converts themselves and they give me such hope, faith, and motivation to work harder to find others like them who want to come unto Christ. I am excited to find those people!

People:

We met with M this week, the sisters found him on a group contact, he came to church and they met with him for a little while but since elders teach men we started to meet with him. He is crazy smart and intellectual. He's a philosopher and knows a lot about beliefs of cultures from all around the world so I am really excited to get to know him and better.

While talking to people on Świdnicka, a street near the chapel (where we go a lot), I stopped this woman who believes in yoga philosophy, which shares a lot of Buddhist ideology. She was going off about self enlightenment and how God is this being that expresses Himself through feelings of peace, understanding, and light as we meditate. She had firm faith in her "Eastern Beliefs" and was closed off to anything else so we didn't talk to long. A little later she came back to find me and gave me a paper with the names of her favorite gurus. She was sharing her beliefs and what brings her happiness. It was touching and kind. I learned a lot from her. She had a profound understanding of truth that she has come to know by personal experience. Sadly, because of the way she viewed things she completely rejects "Western religion" as she called it. I don't understand why many people think that truth must be mutually exclusive amongst different religious sects. As I have learned about what different groups of people belief I love to connect the truth each has. There is no monopoly on truth, you can find it all around. M said that he loves learning about different perspectives to build his own belief. The great thing that the gospel of Jesus Christ offers is the fulness of truth with understanding of God's plan for us. Thanks to friends that accepted me, I learned from them to be open. That has been helped me be patient and understand where others are coming from. It's always hard to see rejection because of the joy I know others can experience as they choose to learn for themselves more about Jesus Christ and His gospel restored again on the earth. 

I always thought the examples of family and friends were to help to get me on my mission. Now that I'm here, everything they have taught me and their past and current examples are most pertinent as I carry out my missionary service. 

This next transfer I have a vision with many goals to accomplish a lot but I really want to focus on small and simple things. I used to hate that idea, all I wanted to do was the great and impressive things but my testimony of growing "by degrees" (Mosiah 21:16) has developed as I focus on improving and doing the little things.

I love you all. I love this work. I love my Savior Jesus Christ. I wish you all a great week!

z miłością,
Starszy Kimball

Hello all,

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season!

This past week has been great!

Monday the 23 we had a zone conference with missionaries from Kielce, Krakow, Katowice and Wroclaw. President Edgren and the APs talked about some new focuses and gave training. We had lunch, a white elephant gift exchange, and watched the Christmas Devotional. It's always fun to get together  as a group of missionaries but this time especailly was strenghtening because it was Christ centered, the Spirit was so strong. 

The next day was Christmas Eve, sadly Sister Bown and I got really sick so we couldn't do much (all the missionaries in our district eventually caught the bug this week but we are all better now.) On Christmas most of us were feeling decent at least so we got together and made breakfast. We then watched LDS Bible videos and I'm a Mormon videos. Next we went to the Lloyds where we ate and played games. It was a lot of fun and laughs, it was nice to be in a group on Christmas. Tamara, the recent convert who was baptized a couple of weeks ago, joined the fesitivities the 24th and 25th. She is incredible. Her testimony is progressing and she is solid. Her family in Azerbaijan is opening up more and more as well. They now say that in a year they will support Tamara if she would like to serve a mission (yes she already wants to serve a mission!) They say they have seen a positive change in Tamara since she's met the church. Tamara says that as she has prayed her family has also become more open and accepting. Heavenly Father blesses us all specifically and intimately. His love is personal and present in our lives. 

I was lucky enough to end the day with a phone call home. Us missionaries all were able to talk and sing Polish carols to our families. I love my family. Families are such a vital gift from God and I am grateful for my own. Missions are helpful to reallign priorities and remind us of the importances in life. I know that families can and are supposed to be together forever. I feel so blessed to have the loving examples I do in my family.

I would like to focus today on an answer to a prayer I recieved this past week. At the end of the zone conference President Edgren invited all of the senior companions to share a short scripture and testimony about Christ. They were all heart felt and I love learning how others view Christ and to see the relationships they have built with Him. Sister Bown's words in particular brought peace to me. (she's in Wroclaw with me - our district is the best, I am so blessed to have them) Sister Bown talked about how she has never felt so effective as she does on her mission. She said that as we center our lives on Christ we will feel fulfilled. I often stress about how to sustain and remember all that I've learned and changed. I worry to know whether I am doing enough or how I need to improve. The simple answer is that as we focus our lives on the Savior we will be fulfilled. Through Christ comes peace, happiness, and light. I know that as we learn of Christ and build a relationship with him we will find answers. We will be happy. We will recieve everything that we need and even things that we want. We are fulfilled in Christ. As a missionary we don't get all the usual traditions of Christmas but what we do get is a clear focus of Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of the world. I recently was studying the titles of Christ, there are too many to mention but they show his role to us. Christ is there is uplift us, to help us, perfect us, and to love us. I love Jesus Christ and I promise that anyone who sincerely seeks to know him will find more joy and fulfillment than by any other means. 

I love you all and wish you a very Happy New Year

Starszy Kimball