I am grateful for...

Well, Kristin is engaged! How exciting and crazy that this is where we are! I'm excited for her and how happy she is. 

I feel towards emailing the same way I did at the beginning of my mission: I have to much to say and it's too hard to articulate it all during my time on Mondays.I will try to share some experiences and thoughts:

We went to Hel today - there is a super thin peninsula that comes off at the north of Poland into the Baltic and at the very tip there is a small town: Hel. It was a major ghost town it being winter and all, but it was an adventure. We enjoyed the forest and the beach with blue skies and A LOT of wind. We found a little pirate cafe and had some żurek (polish sour rye soup with potatoe, kiełbasa, and egg: it sounds a little horrifying but is super good) and hot chocolate. 

This past Friday we had a YSA (for yuong adults) Valetine's social. John, Patryk, and Dawid were all there with friends and a few students from English class joined us. We had food, silly games, and a lot of fun closing with a spiritual thought. A major success. We also had a fun V-day branch activity on Saturday. 

We had a fast for Jósef, a member who has been fighting skin cancer and they had us over to celebrate Irena's (his wife's) birthday. We had a nice visit and good things are happening. We fasted on tłusty czwartek so it was a real sacrifice but for dinner we grabbed some pączki for dessert. I don't feel too jipped because we spent much of this transfer on a hunt for the best pączki so I've had my share recently.

I am feeling good about my transfer and life currently. Things are hard but things are making sense. I am getting a lot of understanding and rather than being stressed and worried about measuring up I am grateful for my experiences and what I have been able to be a part of. I keep being taught the value of gratitude and how I need it more fully in my life - it's a healing power.

Much love,

Starszy Kimball

The Uphill

1. Going uphill is hard and steep, it can be a pain. It's tiring and at times discouraging, but it's the right direction. I feel like I made my way to the bottom of the Matterhorn this past transfer and now I am making my way up. So challenging? Yes. However, I am getting up and moving upward.

2. The sisters asked for blessings this past week from Elder Jackson and I. Afterward I asked for one. A miracle happened. I can tell you with the utmost surety that God, our Heavenly Father, is a God of perfect love. He loves us, He is even grateful for us. He never judges, only hopes to inspire and lift. Remember God's true nature.

Sorry, things are extremely busy but good! Just a lot going on in all aspects of life.

Have a good one :)

Starszy Kimball

Small and simple things

Well I'm running out of time today (kind of on purpose) I left this email for last.

The week's events:

Mateusz lives 50km away from Gdańsk but ordered a Book of Mormon online and then found our number and asked to meet. He is young, sincere, and we had an incredible meeting. He understands his personal responsibility to receive his own conviction of what we teach and seems eager to learn. It just went smoothely, we were able to share a lot, answer a bunch of questions and keep it all to a brief 45 minutes - the dream. My favorite part of the lesson is when he made the connection that baptism is just the first step and our real goal is to be sealed with our families in the temple. Pray for him please, he is golden.

We had a cool white board - the first one since New Year's. I had two good discussions, the second with Adrian, this young guy. Just being out and talking to people can be such a thrill - having succesful, natural moments to connect with someone and share what's most precious. It was fun. 

Things with the branch are good.

Yesterday we met with Patryk - the 21-year-old branch mission leader - as per usual before Sunday school and it was particularly good. We went 10 minutes over just in good conversation. The missionaries and the branch president are on the same page, good communication - things are good. 

I had a good discussion with Józef - the older man in the branch. He's been having operation after operation the past couple of months. We went over to visit him. There was a moment, just the two of us, where (as he sat with pus and blood draining into a little container) he shared his gratitude for me. He said that he knows how much good I am doing here and was encouraging. He then said that he also knows that there is progress to be made. It was what I needed to hear. I'm grateful for my relationship with Józef.

I'm still depressed to be honest. I'm now functional and I'm not at my low point. Down there I felt nothing, now I am back up to feeling stressed and having every emotion and thought cross my mind all at once. It's overwhelming and confusing. I still am figuring things out, still unsure of myself in certain ways but I'm not void of hope. I know that small and simple things lead to great things - equally they lead to greatly destructive things, I am pretty sure I reach where I got to not by one dramatic event but rather a long sequence of many. I'm currently trying to reverse with small and simple to steps to glorious, light greatness. 

Love,

Starszy Kimball