Promised blessings of the discipleship of Christ

Well Kristin got married! It was exciting and surreal to see all of the pictures. I am happy for her, she looked beautiful. It was good to see family and friends gathered, everyone looked great! It is difficult being so far away but I am grateful for the connecting power of technology. 

I was touched again this last week as I sat in Sunday church meetings by the Spirit present. I mentioned last week how grateful I am for the Holy Ghost, for His influence. I have thought about His role, especially what I felt as I sat in church after a hard week. When I have the Spirit I can really see. Confusion is erased and expelled. I don't judge others, but I love them, I am patient and see their best side. Looking at the fruits of the Spirit I can only describe it as being on a higher plane, a higher level of being and functioning. The Spirit does purify us and lead us to be closer to our Savior.

This past Friday Elder Hubbard and I (Elder Weggersen was traveling around Łódź and Bydgoszcz) went to Pruszków with Elders Campora and Wright. Pruszków is a little town about half an hour from our church building in Warsaw where the district president, President Dresler, encouraged us to go to find families. We spent the day there and I had the opportunity to work with Elder Wright - he is one of my favorites. He was being trained by Elder Weggersen my last transfer in Warsaw the first time. For the past couple weeks we have both been having a harder time and we were able to talk - Elder Wright is one of the most genuine, positive guys I know with a heart of gold. We met Kasia, a young mom, in the main park and had a nice converstaion with her: very natural. She was extremely humble and taught me by example. She was disenchanted from talking about the differences between varrying churches because of the contention in determining who is "right" about little details. She said that we all believe in God and that is most important, in her Catholic background she has found God and she may not agree with everything but in humilty she tries to support her leaders and ensures that her personal relationship with God is always strong (a good lesson for us all!) As we spoke I had one of those moments where I was taught something in what I said, sensing the words were not my one. As missionaries we don't go around to declare to others that their church is "wrong" or that ours is simple more "correct" - it isn't in the battle of details where our work matters. These differences do cause many of us in the religious world to lose sight of our end goal of being Christlike but nonetheles the differences do have importance. The differences in doctrine that we offer have meaning and weight because they help us to understand the Savior more and inidividually become more like Him. I, as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, care little about proving somebody wrong and myself right; seeing lives change with more hope, vision, and love as we accept Christ into our life more fully means everything. Elements of truth are all around us and the way we live our lives, the commandments we keep and the eternal laws we break do matter and affect our happiness. Heavenly Father is merciful and is aware of each of us in our circumstances with our personal experience. I know that the teachings and more importantly the Spirit found in this church I represent help me to be the best "me" I can. That is what it is all about. At the end of our pleasant discussion we didn't exchange numbers to set up for another time but we had all learned something. Sometimes experiences like this, although good learning opportunties, worry me about my impact but luckily, Heavenly Father was preparing me for something else.

Elder Hubbard and I met with Adam on Saturday evening. Adam is the young student who Elder Retallick and I met on the street last transfer. We had the best lesson with him yet. He is a good listener and takes what we say to heart. We taught about "The Gospel of Jesus Christ" (referring to the third lesson from the missionary handbook, "Preach My Gospel") which contains five points: faith in Christ, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. We talked about these steps and stages in the most natural and Spirit led way. It was poweful and Christ was at the center of everything we taught. The conversation with Kasia the day before helped prepare me for Adam. I have talked with Elder Hubbard about how we are both tired of feeling like we are trying to drag others to change or accpet our message - the attitude we have as we talk about principles is changed. With Adam we were able to promise all of the blessings that we see and enjoy from being baptized and having the Spirit. He has already begun to repent in his nightly prayers and is being more guided by his feelings. I am filled with respect and love for Adam, I'm glad to be working with him.

God's power is never ending, He will never run out of love, patience or mercy. With this assurance we can pray for and have hope with all of those that surround us, we will be edified as we do. Have a wonderul week.

Starszy Kimball

Calm, peace and upliftment

This week I have run out of time - this email session has been a little more excited with the lead up to Kristin and Zach's wedding! Życzę wam wszystkiego najlepszego! 

I had the wonderful opportunity to go back to Wrocław for the first time since I was trained there. I connected with Danuta and Bolesław and enjoyed being back. It is incredible to think about how long ago my time there was, how much has changed yet how similar the roads and buildings are. 

In Warsaw there is a "Noc Muzeów" (Night of museums) once a year. It occured this past Saturday and our members organized an open house event at our chapel to invite those exploring the city that night. It was an incredible experience. The members put a lot of preparation into it, I was blown away by how many entered through the doors. I had multiple conversations with members and those interested. Seeing the members share not only what we believe but the personal application of this light and truth in their life was incredible. I would like to add my conviction of the light that comes from Christ. 

This past week I struggled and dipped down to some of the same problems I had during my "dark period" in Gdańsk. Confusion, loss of hope, isolation. I am forever thankful for the gift of the Holy Ghost. It brings light into our lives. There are so many sources of information and noise, I get overwhelmed and frustrated. When the light, calm, and peace of truth enters my heart it is unmistakable. It is loving, patient, and makes me better. 

We are working with Karol, Adam, and Sergei - younger guys in their 20s. There is a lot of good going on here! 

Starszy Kimball

An adventure down south

This week so full of fun experiences:

Katowice zone training

I traveled down to Katowice (first time in over a year, it was good to be back) for zone training. Elder Burdick is one of the zone leaders there right now so I got to see him among the missionaries from Kato, Kraków, and Wrocław. They had us do a few interactive exercises to up unity, later Sister Holden had all of us go out and walk along the Polish streets for 10 minutes. We had three instructions 1. stop 2. look 3. listen, so we went out and didn't talk but instead quietly observed the world around us. It was such a good experience. Something that I have struggled with as a missionary is stopping to smell the flowers. It enjoyed it and want to stop, reflect, be grateful for and love my mission everyday. 

Kraków exchange
After the zone training I rode to Kraków and spent a couple of days with Elders Jackson and Ahlander. It was a lot of fun, I love Elder Jackson. President Edgren has been encouraging us to get away from the chapel and explore new areas to find families. Elders Jacksn and Ahlander found a spot right on the border of Kraków that we visited in the evening. We spent dinner hour up there too and at the little local grocery store we bought some sandwich makings for dinner. As we were looking around for a spot to eat we passed a church. The priest was outside and beckoned us over. He asked us who we were, he had heard of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints before but didn't know much. He asked us what we were doing in this small town. A little hesitantly - unsure how we would be received in a small Catholic town in southern Poland - I said that we share a message helping others to deepen faith in Christ. He immediately congratulated us and thanked us for our service. We ended up having a wonderful conversation in which he repeated that we should always feel safe with him. There were some benches outside the church with a beautiful view of the sunny Polish country, he invited us to sit assuring us that we are "safe here". He gave us some little books about the history of the church building. It was one of the most wonderful experiences I have had in a while. I love meeting others who are true disciples of Christ, who follow the Savior's example of love and service. Others in the town were extremely kind, it wasn't a huge place and we stand out with our bright white shirts.

I fell in love with Kraków. It is absolutely beautiful there, the sun was out, and I had an incredible exchange with some missionary friends.

The train home

So many of my favorite experiences are when I traveling on trains. There was a mother and son in my compartment on the train from Kraków to Warsaw. The son was 25-30 and had grown up in Miami. The mom was Polish, married to a man with the opposite upbringing I had - French born growing up in the United States. It was a pleasure to talk with them, about so much.

Mother's Day

I had my last skype session home yesterday. I was glad to be able to have seen everyone. It is sad not being there but the next time I talk with them it will be in person. I am excited to have this beautiful Polish summer to enjoy and then see my family.

Life is full of hiccups, there is still so much to figure out. I want to make sure that I accomplish all that Heavenly Father has for me in the next few months. I'm excited!

Starszy Kimball

Nadzieja umiera ostatnia (last weeks post)

Yesterday in Elders' quorum (the priesthood meeting, the third hour of church when men and women split up) some of the members quotes a Polish saying,  "nadzieja umiera ostatnia" - "hope dies last". Hope has been a reoccurring theme of my mission and I have a lot of hope for this country. We were able to enjoy some Polish holidays, including the anniversary of the Polish constitution - the second in the world after the United States (everybody takes a lot of pride in it here). I was reminded of my love for Poland and had it grow. During MLC (a missionary leadership council) we had the chance to share our personal testimony and conviction of our beliefs. I focused on love. I shared that the advice from my father before leaving on my mission was very simple and very powerful: love the people. As missionaries when we receive our call we are promised that the greatest joy awaits us as we serve the Lord. I have come to know that the love I have experienced, received as well as possessed for others, has brought me the greatest joy I have ever known. 

I am quick to create enmity between myself and others. President Benson (a former prophet) in his talk, "Beware of Pride", explained that enmity is a manifestation of pride. I am so quick to create a "me" and "them" mentality. I learned another lesson yesterday in church. The Moszczyńscy have three adorable children, Ewka and Helenka (twins) and their baby brother, Kristian. They seemed to be a little more tired and restless than usual. They were making more fuss than we have experienced for awhile. It can be so easy to notice their disruption and be annoyed. It isn't hard to wonder why the parents are not handling the situation better or just focus on the burden we face as we try to have a spiritual experience despite the noise. Towards the end when the kids were getting really rowdy Sister Czesak discretely walked over and picked one of the twins up. Later as Kristian started to cry she picked him up and took him out, cradling him in her arms until he calmed down. I have been reminded of the power of small and simple things. The little things we do matter, whether we make a small sarcastic comment or if we make a simple compliment. Sister Czesak could have justified sitting her place being annoyed for not being able to focus especially if she was looking for some guidance or help but what a different attitude to get up and help. I am grateful for the small daily acts of love that I see. It inspires me to be better. 

Love is powerful. As Elder Oaks, an apostle, said, "kindness is powerful." 

Pozdrawiam,

Starszy Kimball