Chwała na wysokości! ("glory on high" - from a Polish Christmas carol but I thought it was fitting here too)

Well this week has been a blur! 

So much has happened and I have so little time-life is crazy but so good! 

I am serving with Elder Platter here in Żoliborz and things are terrific. On Wednesday I, along with the four other trainers, arrived at the mission home and received some training from President Edgren. That was the real start to the week .The start to all of the inspiration and miracles that have followed. I am a little exhausted and short on time but will try to convey the most important things. 

1. People: 

a) missionaries:

I am currently training Elder Platter. He is from Olympia Washington and graduated the same year as me (is a couple months older though). He is the ideal trainee because he is not afraid to open his mouth! He has a great vocabulary already and his testimony is strong but what i have been most impressed by is his desire to talk to people so freely. It did not come naturally to me and it's not so much that it's natural or easy for Elder Platter (it never is for anyone) but he is fearless on the streets! I am so excited to work along side him. I have an incredible district too! Elder Caskey and Blom are our zone leaders and Sister Blake and Owen are with us too. President met with all of us missionaries here in Warsaw (north half of Warsaw) and held a very inspirational meeting. He talked about the importance of Warsaw as the center of the church here in Poland. We have been blessed with an incredibly hard working, faithful, and motivated group. This morning we had our first district meeting, which was focused on charity and unity. Our district already exemplifies those qualities and I am so excited for what lies ahead. Miracles are coming. President has also been emphasizing the important role of working and being unified with members here in the branch. There are a lot of new faces here bringing a new excitment and energy and I am so looking forward to being a part of it. 

b)investigators

I am worried I have given Elder Platter the craziest first week experience because we have been so busy. More busy than I have ever been on my mission. We are always running from meeting to lesson, shortening our meal times - it's just been go go go. It isn't sustainable but it has been fun. We have been running around all weekend especially. We have had so many meetings and lessons it is incredible. We had a great miracle with a man named Rao from India. We met him in the park near our appartment on Saturday and taught him about the restoration. Growing up in India he had a pastor for a neighbor who took him and his siblings to church. Rao has faith in Christ but since growing up and leaving, stopped going to church and feels the lack in his life. He said he was only free on weekends, I asked him if her would be free for next Saturday, slightly unpleased that we would have to wait a whole week to see him again but then he offered to meet the next day, Easter Sunday. I am grateful for his suggestion despite my mistake of not offering that in the first place! We met with him in the morning and traveled to church with him, teaching him more about our message along the way. I think he felt the Spirit during the church meeting and was very kind. I hope we meet with him this weekend and see more progress! He is currently working as a part of a Madame Curie fellowship researching cures to cancer (namely leukemia) He is great. 
We had a meeting with Wiesław who is a former investigator. He is older, single, and seems to be in need of some friends. After returning I think that he is interested in just having friends and I think he truly is searching for truth. He has some reservations about doctrines and likes objective teaching (which means he doesn't want to only trust his "subjective" side - czyli feelings) but he is very humble and willing to learn and try things out. We have committed him to read The Book of Mormon and pray to know if it and what we have shared is true. This week we will invite him to be baptized and hopefully get a date. 
Konrad and Julia, the couple with three kids, are not progressing and this week we are going to focus on commanments and personal revelation to see if they are committed to really try and act themselves to find truth. I already love them and have such high hopes for them, I just hope that I can help them to act to gain personal spiritual experiences so that they know that what we say is true. 

Life is good. I feel on top of the world. I have the greatest companion and district - I feel like it's just one of those times that everything is lining up. I look forward with excitment and faith for this umcoming transfer. I know mircales will happen and that our hard work, faith, and diligence will see rewards. I am also excited for this new drive to work with members. Everything is great and I just feel like I can do anything. It's one of those "high" points and I am enjoying it. I thank you for your prayers and love, especially for your example.

I have no time I am sorry so I have to send this now but I will write more next week. I love you all!

Have a great week, 
Starszy Kimball

Independence vs. Reliance

Big news this week with transfers! so here it is:

I am staying here in Żoliborz but I will be district leader and I am training! Insane? I know. Some organizational changes happened in the mission so my new district will have Warsaw zone leaders and a companionship of sisters. My district will be full of experienced missionaries so luckily they will be able to help me along will all of this change. This week on Wednesday I will go to the mission home and meet my trainee! I was not expecting this and since I have heard I have felt many emotions. Of course the initial excitement but then as it settled in I experienced a minor freak out of stress and nerves and then with a few deep breaths back to excitement. When I came into the mission it was an "older mission" but with the group just going home and the two after that (including my own trainers group) we will quickly become a very young mission with a ton of missionaries leaving and a whole bunch to replace them.Time on a mission is warped and flies by, especially having two short seven week transfers. I am thankful for the companionship of the Holy Ghost because I have felt at peace for the most part. I am calm and looking forward to this. In some ways I feel unprepared with random worries but I think I am ready for this. In General Conference I received direction to stop thinking about myself and focus on others. I think being senior companion with a new missionary will help me to accomplish this. I remember well how I felt when I came into the country but I am grateful to now be on the other side and be able to help someone else. Difficult times on a mission can be rough but the challenges I have faced have taught me a lot. More than anything I am reminded to more fully rely on the Lord. I also find myself filled with greater gratitude. For now I am going to try and take it one step at a time, not overthink it, rely on the Lord and just try to love and serve those around me.

I am psyched to stay here in Żoliborz because so much is happening and I feel like there is more for me to do.

Jacob, 19-year-old student/linguist, seems to be taking our lessons seriously. Our lesson went well, he's soaking up all that we are saying and has great questions. As missionaries, we have been guided as we meet with him and I feel directed and calm when we talk with him. He is just a super cool guy we are just working on learning how to find answers so we are emphasizing CPR (church, prayer, read) this week. We receive revelation (meaning communication from God) 1. As we attend church and strengthen/ are strengthened by others 2. Pray sincerely to God and 3. Through scripture study, as we ponder and search intently. I am excited to work further with Jacob.
Zbyszek is an English student who we meet with individually. As we meet his priority is to learn English but he also seems to enjoy the gospel topics we discuss. He has some really good comments and likes what we have to say and offer. I am also looking forward to work with him.

Kondrad and Julia are the couple with three kids. Konrad is well versed with many religious beliefs but rejects them for the most part. Julia is less certain but she seems more interested. Everytime we have left a lesson we wonder if we got anywhere, if we helped them at all or got anything across. This past time I think we did. Their oldest daughter, 10, believes with God and goes to church with her grandma. She was excited to join in the prayer with us since she is the only praying person in her family. She is a perfect example of being an example! She is only 10 years old, praying to build a reltionship with Heavenly Father - by her small and simple actions she is setting an incredible example not only for her younger siblings but even for her own parents. 
Bartek is an absolute miracle of the week. While contacting one day we met him but he dismissed us almost as soon as we had approached him. As we were turning to walk away he stopped us sensing we were not Polish/ maybe even American. He asked and that started the conversation. He loves the NFL and NBA and may want to study in the States (so we assume he is finishing up Liceum - high school - now). We then talked about the restoration and he soaked it all up. He took a copy of The Book of Mormon like a golden treasure and told us something incredible. He explained to us that rather than taking his normal tram home he decided to walk down a street he never goes by, he had just been thinking about Easter and how he is in need of a spiritual guide. He then ran into us! This miracle was not lost on him. He was excited to meet and come to church on Sunday (yesterday). Unfortunately, he never showed but we are praying for him and hope that we can set up this week. 

There was excitement Yesterday, it being the Warsaw Marathon. We took our culture night this week and toured the Royal Castle in Warsaw - it was mainly destroyed furing World War II but has been rebuilt to its old glory with a ton of original artwork, decor etc. Right outside of the main sqaure in Old Town was the starting/ finishing line for the race so we were able to see them set up for this big event. Yesterday on our way to church we saw a ton of runners on the metro and trams - a ton of people were involved, I was a little sad I wasn't a part of it. I miss races and runs but it was fun to be in the midst of the city wide event. 

This week leading up to Easter is a great time to reflect upon the life of Christ. Recently, I have been thinking about His role in our lives. The idea of our reliance on Him struck a few question within me. The IB (international baceloreate) heavily emphasizes our need to be free thinkers, although at times we probably all become the same kind of "freethinker" defeating the point. However, from my personal experience the IB helped me to be an independant learner, challenging me to figure things out my own way. The IB gave me a confidence in my own views and abilities to do things my way. This focus on trying to figure it out yourself before asking teachers was a relayed by many of my high school teachers. Despite all of the insecurities, ignorances, and weaknesses that we teenagers have I felt confident in figuring things out my own way. At first I hated it, wishing my teachers would just tell me exactly what they wanted or exactly what and how I ned to complete my tasks. Now I am grateful for the independance and confidence I have, which has fluctuated throughout me time as a missionary. Equally, the IB/ La Chat (my high school) probably creates students who think that their way is best and have some problems here and there with leaders/ authority. I have been thinking about my confidence and as a missionary these my perspective has rollercoastered. This led me to wonder about the balance between being confident and humble. I know that we are all blessed with talents and gifts but, seemingly conversely, we are also expected to rely fully on Christ in our lives. In a lot of ways I want to be independant in the sense of my confidence in myself and my abilities. However, from my experience I also know how much I have had to rely on the Lord in my life. With that I have relied on and found strength from family and friends. Heavenly Father and Christ's goal for us is our happiness, which comes as we become more like them. As they are perfect beings, as we have been commanded to do, we must strive to become perfect. Therefore, we must work exploit our talents as well as develop new skills. Christ isn't there to take away our strength or replace our responsibility but help us on the road to becoming stronger and better. No matter how good "my way" to solving a problem is if combined with the ideas of others in unification the product will be a superior solution. Like with our reltionship with Christ. We must exert all that we can and then as we humbly rely on Him and His everlasting Atonement we will be able to reach our greatest potential. 

Jesus Christ came to Earth to organize His church and lead by example. He taught vital doctrine and performed miracles but the greatest reason for his life on Earth was to fulfill the Atonement. This Atonement redeems us, it lifts us up. Christ suffered for us, meaning he experienced first hand our sins, guilt, weaknesses, trials, pains so that He would know how best to help us. Our Savior willingly died for us on the cross and then resurrected. This complete Atonement is Christ's purpose. Thanks to the resurrection Christ lives, we have a living Savior. He knows us and loves us. He never judges or punishes, instead, he extends mercy, love, and help through all of life's challenges. The reminder of Easter is that as a living Savior, Jesus Christ can bless our lives today if we want it. Never will he force His power over us, we must learn of His light and then seek Him and as we reach out to Him he will envelope us with His love and joy. I know that Jesus Christ lives and loves us. This life has a purpose: for us to progress to become more like our Father in Heaven. We must try to be the best that we can, always relying on Christ because with Him we are stronger. Let us be humble and willing to accept help as well as smart, able, and confident. I am forever grateful for this knowledge I have and promise that through prayer all may feel the love of God.

I love you all and wish a you miłego, dobrego, cudnownego tygodnia! 

z miłością,

Starszy Kimball

One by One

Hello All

There were two major sources of direction for me this week:

1) Zone training (we gather as missionaries and receive some training from other missionaries in leadership positions, generally more senior missionaries)

2) General Conference (the semiannual conference with speeches by the leaders - prophet, apostles, and others - of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which is broadcast worldwide via satellite, internet, etc.)

The start of this great week began with zone conference and the discussions Elder Wilson and I have had about it since. For me the underlying message from zone conference focused on the balance in our missionary work between expecting miracles, the church to blossoming here in Poland, while refraining putting our faith in outcomes rather in Christ. Just that morning Anne, the American mother who we had had trouble getting in touch with but then thanks to a few small miracles were finally set up with texted us saying that she was not interested in meeting with us anymore. In our mission we cannot put our faith in outcomes because, honestly, the outcomes hoped for after our hard work often aren't there. However, we must expect and work to see the work progress. I thought a lot about this and how it is possible. I want to have great faith that people will find and accept the truth, progressing to making covenants (promises that lead to us receiving blessings) with their Father in Heaven and, generally, I do have that faith. The thing is, it's hard to open up, to make myself that vulnerable and give so much love, thought, and effort into serving others just to see "nothing" happen. The incredible thing is that "nothing" doesn't happen, their are miracles in the work here in Poland we are still just "growing" so the work is slower here. I feel that General Conference  to all the world) answered many of my questions. The main message that I received was this: we must serve and love others one by one. That is how Christ ministered and that is how the work will progress here in Poland. One by one. For each person we must build relationships of love and trust, we must put our thoughts, actions, and strength into helping them according to their needs. I think that as missionaries here in Poland we want to completely turn things around and baptize everyone, leaving a temple standing before we leave. This motivation and vision is vital but I learned that is fulfilled truly by ministering one by one. 

At the latter end of this week I had a slight rough patch. I felt confused and overwhelmed. I was thinking all about myself. I was over thinking everything: my mission, my future, my goals, me/who I am and who I want to be. My answer was clear, follow the example of the Savior and turn outwards, another principle that was highlighted during zone training. This is how I will grow and receive blessings, this is how I will find blessings - to think about others rather than myself. When I look to the person I want to be at the end of my mission the main characteristic I want is confidence: in myself, in my faith, in all things really. A sense of peace and security so even when times are rough I can be confident to overcome them. This was another answer I received during conference. To gain that confidence I must remember to build my foundation in Christ and become converted unto him. This will come as I better understand Christ and my relationship with Him, which will come through the service I mentioned above. I am excited for this new found security in my future, the path that Heavenly Father wants for me and how I must do it. I am happy to have light and clarity rather than darkness and confusion. 

Things here with Elder Wilson are great. We met with Jacob and Zbyszek this week. 

Jacob is the 19 year old linguist who is super cool. He has a rough background, which has led him to be independent. He has a lot of good questions and a desire to know more. We are looking forward to meeting with him.

We are having personal English lessons with Zbyszek but, under his suggestion, we are spending the full hour both in English and teaching him about the gospel. It is a great arrangement for both of us and he seems intrigued by the gospel, especially about the peace that it brings.

It's a little weird that the two people we are meeting with right now want to speak English - kind of a blessing and a curse. Polish is coming as ever - it's tough and each day is a different story but I love it.
 Żoliborz is alive and the weather has been a blessing for missionary work. I look forward to applying these new goals that I have discussed. 

Whether you watched conference or not I encourage everybody to review it. God is our Father, he has a plan of happiness for us and wants to lead us to receive those blessings in our lives. He calls prophets on Earth to declare His word to give us guidance to this happiness. I promise, thanks to the personal direction and help I received from conference, that if you study the words of these inspired leaders you will find answers and peace. General Conference is full of truth!

I feel like this was a whirlwind of an email but despite that I have so much clarity and I am so grateful for that. I love you all!

Miłego tygodnia życzę!

z miłością, 
Starszy Kimball