October 15, 2010

Hello family!

Well it has been a crazy week (like every week) but I feel like I have been able to communicate with you a lot, so not a ton is new :) Ah, but I have GREAT news, I got my travel plans!!!! I will be leaving Monday morning 6 am, and flying to Chicago, London, and then POLAND! It finally seems real. My whole district is bursting with excitement. We are definitely ready to leave the MTC. I will miss them though, we really became a family. Apparently we can call during layovers, should I just get a phone card? I still have to get cleared on Thursday by the doctor to leave.

Speaking of doctors, surgery went well, it was fine that you weren't there; I was out of it the whole time anyways. It definitely wasn't worth you staying home from the trip. It sounds like you had a great time! Thank you so much for the letters, flowers, and treats. (I definitely got a ton of junior high 'oohs' and teasing 'ahs' when flowers were sent to me, asking what boy had sent them) Recovering from the surgery isn't what I thought it would be. I have stopped taking all of the pain pills except for the antibiotic and some ibuprofen because the side effects were so bad. However, I still am really nauseous, bloated, and feel like I'm going to pass out. I thought this might have been the Lortab, but two days later it is still lingering... I feel the pain a lot, especially at night, but at least I have a bit more of my mental capacities than when I was on the drugs. I am feeling a bit better today though, and hopefully everything will be back to normal by the end of this week. I don't like not being able to function!! I just am trying to make sure that the things I am experiencing is normal for after surgery, and to avoid having to deal with complications in Poland. Thank you for your prayers, I have definitely felt them. :D

On Thursday after surgery I slept all day (in a place in the health clinic called "sick bay"-- 100% it reminded me of the Space Center. Zach, you should work there :D ), but then was able to teach in the TRC that night. It was awesome. I could recall everything I had studied, answer the questions of the investigator, and for the first time, I was able to teach with the spirit in Polish, instead of just reciting my memorized lines. It makes me very excited to teach real people and actually get started on the work.

Now that I'm not on the Lortab it is really hard to sleep at night (I got 3 hours last night :( ) but when I was on it, I had CRAZY dreams. In one of them, our whole Twin Lakes family was in it! Which reminds me, I see Elder Hunt here all the time and we talk about Twin Lakes. He's way jealous that I'm only going to miss 1 year of it.

On Tuesday we had a devotional by Bishop Richard C Edgley, he is a very good speaker and teacher. He talked about being a successful missionary and how we are a peculiar people. One of the quotes that he said that I really enjoyed was "Faith is the power, obedience is the price, love is the motive, the Spirit is the key, and Christ is the reason" (from Pres Faust). On Sunday Susan Tanner spoke to us in Relief Society (she was in the old YW general presidency) She gave a great history of Relief Society and how Joseph Smith said it was a restored organization, not a new one. She spoke a lot about Charity and our role as women of the church. I also watch Music and the Spoken Word every Sunday. I think of you kids getting ready for church watching it. I liked the phrase "Great achievements are made up of hundreds of mundane acts", talking about Louis and Clark this past week.

Well I love you, here are your Polish phrases of the week:

"Wiem ze mozes to zrobic' " which means "I know you can do it!" Sister Steadman and Marshall and I say it to e/o ALL the time. I think it will continue to be a phrase of the mission.

z byka spadl/es', czy co? --> did you fall off a bull or what? it is a Polish saying which means are you crazy or something? I thoroughly enjoy saying it.

Heath Count:

18 visits to the health clinic and 20 outside visits to different doctors. No joke, we have kept tally.

I love you family, I think about you all the time! Thank you for your prayers and letters, siblings, you will get letters soon!

-Siostra Stay

PS I cleared Physical Therapy for my shoulder, and I’m not worried about it being a problem in Poland.