The Higher Law

This week was a lot better. Elder Platter and I got a lot accomplished and we are feeling good. 

The end of the transfer is already fast approaching and it is odd. I had a great exchange with Elder Blom this past week. Being rather quiet, I was glad to spend some time with him to get to know and learn from him more personally. The greatest lesson I learned from him was how to discern the needs of our investigators. Elder Blom asked some inspired questions and got to the root of a lot of problems we have been wondering about. It was great to work with him. 

We are working hard to keep the momentum up! It has been a hectic transfer and I don't want to lose steam now. I also talked with Elders Lanham and Vernon (the APs came and did a finding activity with us) about what I could focus on during the last part of my training with Elder Platter to make sure that I help him with all that he needs. I want to make sure that I am including him in all parts of missionary work, he is already contacting, making phone calls, and leading in discussions so he is advancing quickly.

Our investigators are doing well. Enrique left for Spain this week but before he left Elder Blom and I had a meeting with him. It was one of the greatest meetings I've had. Enrique was back on track. 

Investigators: Enrique is doing really well. Recently, I have been getting mixed signals from him but this week was incredible. His demeaner was changed and he seemed really excited to be baptized on June 28th. He said that nothing would make him happier. He left to Spain for most of the week but he said that we was excited to go and see the temple 3 minutes from his house in Madrid! how cool?! Our other investigators are moving along. It's hard but good. We are starting to understand their personal circumstances better and hopefully this week we can help more.

Elder Adler, came to Poland this weekend to make some preparetions from President Ucktdorf's trip here in June (we are all so excited.) Elder Adler's presence this weekend was such a blessing. During the missionary meeting he held on Friday evening my prayers and worries of the transfer were answered and calmed. I had the opportunity to bear my brief testimony before he spoke (two of us were asked - after my experiences of being asked in the moment during sacrament meetings and stake conferences [chuch gatherings] prepared me to expect that this might happen) and it was an interesting experience. I didn't feel much. I didn't feel nerves or peace. I didn't feel led by the Spirit or lost. It was a rather odd testimony sharing experience. As I sat down I wondered what this all meant. It soon became apparent as Elder Adler began to speak. As he talked about the way his life turned out so differently from how he thought it would the Spirit taught me some key lessons. I then realized how important my testimony about God's specific plan and purpose for us is. I recently have been worryin a lot about the future. Both the near future as well as the rest of my life. Despite the more usual focus on missionary work, at night or any time I had a free moment to think my brain would jet off to thinking about my future. I worried about what I would accomplish, where I would go, and then in return what i would miss out on. I have been wondering about how much I need to plan my life out versus just living in the moment. I have been wondering about a lot and his words brought comfort to me. I was reminded that as I build my foundation on Christ and then trust my Father's path for me I will be blessed and directed. It was a miracle.
Then yesterday, I was grateful for the focus of love in Elder Adler's talk at church. His mention of living the high law, of which Christ taught, touched me. That higher law is the law of love. Love has been the central theme of my mission. I have experienced so much within myself as well as from others. I have strived to gain greater love for some and enjoyed the blessing of a softened heart. I am indeed grateful for Elder Adler's visit and from what I learned this weekend.

One last miracle. While we were meeting with an investigator, Wiesław, he made a comment about how he felt that I had the Spirit in my heart. This was one of the coolest things that anybody has ever told me. I have been working hard to rely on the Spirit when I teach rather than my own knowledge etc and I have been unsure about the outcomes. President Edgren has encouraged us to work on increasing the spirituality of others' as we work and I have been trying but unsure. It was a blessing to here that the people I work with recognize the Spirit it me. I am humbled and grateful to be a servant of the Lord at this time. I am striving to be a tool in this vital, redemptive work. 

I love you all

z miłością, 
Starszy Kimball

Do not procrastinate the day of your repentance

Hello!

For a few many reasons there is close to no time to write today so here is the breif rundown:

1. We have worked hard this week, I am emotionally and mentally drained out of my mind and not too much is going on. The name of the game this week has to do with the fact that it has been really difficult to have investigators see the need to act know. I feel like many don't see the need for what we have to offer in their life and even if they do they aren't willing to make the sacrifices. We offer a message of change, of finding peace and reaching our potential. You can't wait to start this journey. Act now. Do it now.

2. I am going back to the bascis this week. It has been hard but i want to focus on all of the simple little things. Little things such as prayer, scripture study, morning exercise - the little things we do each day that mean so much. I know they will help me to feel better.

3. My brain is fried. I am so exhausted. As missionaries we are tired all the time because of our strict schedule and hard work. Recently, it's gone beyond that. My brain is full all the time. I feel like I am learning so much and trying to hold on to it that everything I know is always making a cycle through my brain. I don't want to lose any of it. I want to therefore continue to pursue all things and do everything. It's overwhleming and doesn't work. I need to calm down and prioritiz (something I have been prompted and encouraged to do by many sources). 

4. I finally made a funny polish mistake. Usually my errors are just lame and awkward but this week at McDonalds my Polish made sense but not in the intended way. I guess it's because i am used to asking for salt in switzerland (yes of course i was asking for salt at the restaurant) I said proszę o sel but sel is french for salt and in polish "cel" means purpose. The poor guy was confused until he finally got that i was trying to say sól because i had just been asking the register guy at McDonalds for a purpose in life... 

5. Life is hard but my faith is strong. I have had it confirmed to me multiple times this week that Heavenly Father has a plan for me and is guiding me to accomplish it! 

Kocham was, 

Starszy Kimball

Softened Hearts

Happy Mother's Day! Miłego Dnia Matki :D

I hope that all of you had a wonderful Mother's Day. I know I did, talking with my family was so fun. I love them so much and receive so much love and strength from them.

Elder Platter and I experienced a miracle this past week as we focused our attention on the blessings of baptism and the Savior's role in our redemption. Recently, I have felt feelings of discouragement. Up to this point on my mission I have worked hard, learned a lot, and grown tremendously but I felt like I hadn't done much to help others. Nothing I had done seemed to have that great of significance. There were many ways that I received confirmaton about Heavenly Father's specific plan for me and this is one of them .We met this woman on the street who had just been crying. Her family has been expierencing a difficult trial for the past three months. It has been difficult. She told us that this was the third time she left the house crying and searching for an answer from God. She then said it was the third time that she had people approach her discussing Christ. The first time it was a Catholic group, then protestant, and now us. She knew that this was an answer from God. He taught her the cleansing, burden-lifting power of the Atonement and that through baptism we can access such blessings. She agreed to read from the Book of Mormon for answers. She didn't give us her number or set up a meeting but I know that we had been placed in her path. I know that Heavenly Father does have a work here for me to do more than just my own personal development. I am excited to serve and be an instrament in the Lord's hands. 

Along with this frustration I have had an increase in impatience with the people I meet. So many are, in a word: rude. We were talking recently about how, as a missionary, you just don't have pride. You have to get over yourself and move on. At the beginning of my mission I remember looking at the more senior missionaries and wondering why they were so quick to get annoyed with people. Now I understand but I also understand that I need to be more patient and full of charity. Like last week I need to stop worrying about myself because those people that are rude are not my problem. There are people that I was sent here to help but that doesn't mean everybody. While reading in the scriptures I noticed how often the hearts of the people were softened. When you think about it we are disrupting others' conversation/ peace, sharing a message and then asking them to spend more time to meet with us as well as give us there personal phone number to be in contact. When you look at it like this, it's no wonder people reject us so often. However, here is the other side. When we can bring the influence and power of the Spirit then others' hearts will be softened. They will feel something as we talk and have their hearts softened (if they allow) to open up to us. It's hard when many don't but some always do feel that influence and are led to let us into their hearts and lives. Those are they for whom I was sent to find here in Poland.

Many of our invesitgators lack personal motivation right now. Our goal this week is to show them why they want the things we speak of and to emphasoze that only by their own actions and experiences can they know of the truthfulness of our message by the peace, clarity, and joy it brings. 

Enrique is a really cool man from Spain that we are working with. He has committed to make some difficult changes in his life to get baptized on the 28th of June. He could use prayers to receive the knowledge of God's plan for him and then have the strength to follow through, trusting and relying on Christ. 

I love you all. I love the women in my life, of which there are many. I am grateful for their strength and examples. I am grateful for my mother who loves me and gives endlessly.

 
Starszy Kimball

"[I] do not doubt [my] mother knew it"

Hello again, 

Poland is just the best. I am currently emailing from a library in the middle of town with a great atmosphere. Life here is just easy and fun and I am loving every minute of it. Time is moving fast. I am astounded that I have been a missionary for 8 months and that tomorrow I will have been in Poland for 6 months. Let's be real, the first few months lasted forever. There was the missionary time warp where days feel like weeks and weeks feel like days. Now everything is just flying past and I'm trying to keep up. Time is a tricky concept and one of my greatest enemies. It has been a goal of mine to learn to love and embrace the concept of time and moving forward but it is hard when I always have so much to do. 

I feel like I am quoting countless other missionaries as I talk about time flying and now I will quote them further and testify that being a missionary enatails riding a constant roller coaster of emotions. This week had some incredible things going on and other harder times. 

One incredible highlight was yesterday at church. Elder Platter and I were blessing the sacrament and right as we were about to go and sit down Ola from Wrocław walked in. She was visiting her friend for the long weekend here in Warsaw and she came to our branch! It was incredible to see her again. A few other missionaries here had also served in Wrocław so it was exciting. It helped me to see how much I have here. I love the people, I have built relationships and I know more experiences are on their way. It was such a blessing to see her and realize how connected i am to Poland.

Elder Platter and I are still super busy, with a lot of meetings and lessons. We are doing well, He is learning quick and we continue to work hard together. I don't think I have ruined him too bad yet. The transfer is still new (which I need to remind myself, I feel like it's going so fast that we are already nearing the end) so Elder Platter and I are still learning how to teach in better unity and I am still trying to teach him as much as I can without overwhelming him. 

We had zone conference this week. When missionaries from all over (this time Warsaw, Lublin, and Kielce) gather and President Edgren and the assistants (missionaries in leadership positions) present a training. They are all inspiring but this one in particular had a powerful effect on me. President has been here for almost a year now so his vision for missionary work here in Poland is clearer and comnig into effect. I am excited for Prsiden't new focus. He really wants to change the culture of the mission. Our lessons and finding activities will now be more focused on baptism. It's a hard balance in missionary work between being bold and being relatable. President Edgren has prayed and pondered a lot about what we should do and we are going to go out and preach repentance and baptism. I am excited. Already we have felt the difference. The people we talk with have a clearer understanding of what we are sharing and offering and the paths of our investigators have a greater focus and direction. 

Elder Platter and I have been working hard and diligently. We have met and taught a bunch of people but we haven't had as much "success" as one might hope. As we discussed and planned for the upcoming week we talked about how we worked. My dad has previously told me that it's not just about working hard but about working smart. Now I am learning how to apply that principle. We can have a million meetings but the more that we invite members to and the more we rely on the Spirit to teach instead of us the greater impact we can have on the lives of others. I look forward to this next week as Elder Platter and I not only put in our effort but are thoughtful in what we do.

Missionary work is just hard. You put so much of yourself into it. You work hard non-stop sacrificing more and more everyday. You have hope that what you do will make a difference. Then frustration, impatience, discouragment comes along. The Adversary is the king of confusion and darkness. Near the end of this week I felt that. My motivation and desire to work has been higher than ever before but as my hope started to falter so did my desire to work. Missionary life is full of ups and downs. As I have experienced them I have often wondered about how I can create a more stable foundation for myself because I have felt manic depressive, very up and then very down. Something I concluded during General Conference was this: to be stable and constant we need a sure foundation in Christ. This way no matter how hard the work is, no matter how many existential crises I have, no matter how dark and confusing and hard the times are I can turn to Christ. This week I experienced that. I was feeling so full of faith, motivation, and energy but then on Saturday and Sunday I felt hopelessness for missionary work in our area. I met frustration and doubt. The Stripling Warriors in The Book of Mormon are excellent examples of perserverance with hard and wise work. They learned from their parents and did not doubt what they had been taught. I stand with them and declare that my mother, my father, my ancestors who have worked and sacrificed so much "knew it". They knew the strength we have when we build a foundation in Christ. They knew the cleansing blessings of being made pure and light thanks to the Atonement. I know that too. Despite the minor falls I know that as I turn to Christ light and clarity will return. 

This new month of May has been labelled by our district here as Maj Miłości (May of love). 

There is so much to love. I love my calling as a missionary. I love the incredible examples around me. I love serving here in Poland. I love my Savior and I know He loves me. 

I wish you all a May full of love!

z miłością, 

Starszy Kimball

Light Absorbtion

Cześć wam

Sorry my emails are becoming more rushed and making less sense. I usually am not this scattered, at least not throughout the week but P-days are often a blur of errands and activities. 

Last Sunday was Easter but I don't think I was able to share how we celebrated. Elder Platter and I got up and met a big congregation at 6:00 at a Catholic church near our house for an Easter morning parade. We walked around the neighborhood and then gathered at the church for mass. It was a great experience not only because of the cultural enjoyment but it gave me a better sense of where others are coming from when I talk to them on the streets. Now I know a little more about how the catholic church worships Christ and what it is like for them. It was fun. A mission isn't really the time to do it but I am fascinated by other religions and look forward to studying more about them in the future. We then attended our own church meetings, did some missionary work with the members of our district (other missionaries here) and had dinner with them. A couple fun Polish traditions:so last Saturday we saw a bunch of people walking around with baskets of eggs, in the Catholic church they group together on the eve of Easter and a priest blesses the eggs. Then on Easter morning they have them for breakfast. Easter breakfast is a big Polish tradition. 

This week was a contrast from the last. It had it's high points but overall it was challenging. However, to start with some positives: the district is incredible and I am grateful for the missionaries I am working with. I am still trying to learn my way around being a district leader, being organized etc but overall things in this department were excellent. I mentioned last week that our first district meeting was a success. It defintely was full of love and energy. I had asked everyone to come prepared to make some goals together. Together we set a ton of great goals and I am excited for what's to come.

This week was hard and I was a little run down: being overlaoded, getting a little sick (annoying cold symptoms: stuffy nose, sore throat, headache, body aches... lame) and meeting frustration. As I recapped our Easter experience maybe i could recap my thoughts about the Savior. During a district meeting back in Wrocław we were discussing light and the symbology of the Savior as the light of the world. I made a comment about how Christ's light is shining and it is our choice to accpet the light or not. Then Ola, a memer who joined us for the meeting - one of my favorites!, added a slight correction to what i said with the words "we should absrob His light." I guess it might have to do with my love for science but I love what she said. That subtle difference highlights profound truth that we not only must choose to let Christ light in but we must take it into ourselves. As plants need light so do we.The Savior provides that light: peace, understanding, hope. The way we can absorb it is by learning of what he did for us and then eternalize His attribute as we strive to better our selves. Absorbing, for me, denotes a change in us - something new is added to our beings. The light of Christ can become a part of us and as we look to our Redeemer He will show us the way. God loves us and has a plan for us. Everything we receive from him helps us to attain peace in this life and eternal life in the life to come. If you desire peace, happiness, and light then turn to Christ. Learn of Him, depend on Him, be uplifted by Him, love Him. He lives and he loves you and the only way you can know that is by personally seeking this out. He will be there to accept you as you call out to Him. I am working to absorb His light. To accept Him more fully in all that I do and let myself be changed through him. 

I am happy, I am grateful for what I have, and I am hopeful that I will be able to share that with others. I love you all.

Thank you for your love and prayers.

Starszy Kimball