January 10, 2011

Turnips and Tea

This week was a roller coaster. I definitely felt the prayers of everyone at home and I feel like my Polish has improved a lot this week (aka I'm where I felt like I was when I left the MTC to go to Temple Square). The grammar is (slowly) coming, but it is clicking a little bit more. I do a lot of reading body language, especially when we whiteboard, and try to guess the responses and give appropriate answers/direction to the conversation. Whiteboarding is when we (4-7 missionaries) have a question up on a big whiteboard in high-traffic areas to stop people and then we just talk one on one w/them in the street about the gospel. It is great and less awkward than contacting, but intimidating, because it is all up to you and you have to talk quickly so they don't lose interest and leave.

Example of whiteboard question: "Oh be wise, what can I say more?" Who said this? 1. John Paul II 2. Chuck Norris (they love him here) 3. Jacob 4. Gandhi.

They answer, we say actually it's Jacob, who was a prophet from the Book Of Mormon, and it's a wonderful bridge into talking about the Ksiega Mormon!

On Tuesday we had a great whiteboard followed by an even better time contacting. I felt like I could speak, and people were so receptive! On Wednesday we had the best whiteboard ever. Sister Smith and I only could be there for 45 min b/c we had another appointment, but it was very effective. We had 3 quality BOM placements, 3 lesson set ups with phone numbers and 1 man who was going to come to church on Sunday.

On Thursday we went to Warsaw for the leadership conference. All the leadership and trainers went, so I tagged along and got to see all of the trainees (my 2nd district in the MTC) and worked all day with Sister Marshall, Ellis, and Leppannan! At the end of the day, Sister Ellis, Leppannan and I went on our own to the Rynek in Warsaw and contacted. It was a lot of fun, and Warsaw is a beautiful place. It was great to see them and boost each other's spirits.

Friday and Saturday were pretty rough. We had 3 flakes and a cancellation on Friday, and a lot of unfriendly contacts, and too long of a conversation with a Jehovah's Witness on a whiteboard. Saturday was pretty much the same. We tried teaching Konrad, but he came late to play ping pong and didn't really want a lesson.

Sunday was a crazy day. The man who was going to come to church didn't show up, and none of our investigators were there, but just as it was starting in walked Konrad, in a suit! Miracle. Konrad is that super cool kid that comes to church activities and his family is super Catholic. The crazy thing is that Adam, the new member that he looks up to, wasn't even there that day, Konrad just showed up on his own. Sister Smith and I tried not to overreact and be too excited, but she still gave him a fun-dip as a prize for coming. He stayed for Sunday School and just thought everything was normal. (we only have 2 hours of church) There were good lessons that day, too (hooray!) Investigator Leszek also showed up, made comments in Sunday School and in a lesson after church, said he would think about being baptized. He still hasn't smoked! Oh, awesome.

We also taught a family (kind of). They didn't really know we were teaching them, but we shared all about the Book of Mormon slyly, left one with them and they set up for a return appointment next week. He is this great, well-off man who owns a restaurant and wanted us to teach his kids English, but they didn't have the attention span/were too shy, so we just talked to the whole family and they asked a ton of questions about why we are here and why we would give up all of these things to go on missions.

Hey, friends who are slacking at writing (aka everyone), I want updates! I love being a missionary and the Church is true!

-Siostra Stay

ps The title of the email is b/c Sister Smith and I have officially turned into polish babcias (grandmas) . Last night as we were getting ready for bed at 9 pm we sat in our sweaters ate turnips and fruit tea for dinner. Na prawda.

pps One last funny story of the week. We had a ping pong tournament and Pawel told Sister Smith "Joseph Smith would be so proud of you!!" when she won the game. Oh, Pawel.

** Thank you Kelvin and Camille for the Christmas card and corny jokes! We were sitting on a 3 hour train ride back home from Warsaw so my whole district got to groan and 'enjoy' them. We especially liked the "What nationality is Santa? (North Pole-ish)" ha.

January 3, 2011

Dear Family,
Let me answer questions quickly so I don't forget.
- Mom, I bought the most intense boots ever (which was a process including decisions, yelch!) you can look them up online if you want. They are Sorel brand called "Joan of the Arctic". (sounds warm enough eh?) They have a wool liner with fur in them that I can take out and then they turn into rain boots for the LONG rainy season that Poland has. They are rated to -25 degrees Celcius. I was worried about other boots losing their waterproof-ness so went with these ones.
-I also bought a super warm, quality coat. It is North Face and goes down to my knees with a fur hood. I keep telling my district "I will never be cold again!" It's the kind of coat that will last and be able to maybe go with Savannah on her mission as well.
-I haven't bought gloves here because I wasn't sure if you had sent any, but I can. That might be a bit of a cheaper option (esp with shipping). I will do that, but it hasn't been a huge need so far (however I hear that Jan and Feb are colder than Dec)
-requests: :) The food in Poland is very bland, but at least they have AMAZinG chocolate. If you are sending a love package, I would LOVE soy sauce and something spicy (Tony's creole seasoning or Tabasco). I also miss sour treats. Thank you!!I hope that's it... I'm not in desperate need of anything.

Kato:
Katowice is awesome, I am so happy I am serving here. We have the largest district with 7 missionaries (including Starzsy Hanneman and Tanner in my groups from the MTC). It is in the "dirty south" or the śląsk. Katowice was/is a coal mining city, and as a result has really poor air quality, and is pretty ghetto. It's the poorest section of Poland, but the people here are nicer and more receptive to the Gospel than up north. There were around 25 people at church on Sunday, not counting missionaries. Our branch is the second largest in Poland, and is full of a lot of 'interesting' people. They are wonderful though, the members are happy to help and are very involved. There is a great feeling of unity and camaraderie with our branch of misfits.

Investigators:
Well, Adam isn't an investigator anymore, because he was baptized! (I know I already said that, but it's awesome. He was one of 3 baptisms in the mission last month) Adam is way solid and a cool, normal person. It was a little bit crazy trying to get a swimming pool during the holidays, but at the last minute it worked out. A small miracle happened, and his whole family came to the baptism! There aren't any families in our branch, and they are Catholic, but supportive of his choice to get baptized. The babcia (grandma) came to Sacrament on Sunday to see him be confirmed. We tried to teach her and she turned us down, but she has a Księga Mormona and said she would try to make it to church again next week. Adam is on fire with the Spirit and has a roommate, Kristof, and teenager, Konrad, that he has befriended and is helping out.

Konrad we met from English Class and have just started to teach. He is 17 and loves parkor. He is very religiously Catholic, but we have taught him twice, and he comes to a ton of church activities.

We taught Leszek the non-smoking program, and we will see how it works this week. It kind of is the make or break for keeping him as an investigator.

Life in the mission:
Everything is great, but I got frustrated for the first time this week. I am a little sick of trying to carry on conversations with members, investigators, and people on the street and having zero idea what they are saying. I have been here for two weeks, I should have the language by now... Ha. Well, I think one of the biggest things I need to learn on my mission is patience, and it will take a lot. I feel like the Polish that I used to know in the MTC is gone, but I still just try and speak whatever I can say. I am on my own contacting on the street or having a conversation with people at the chapel a lot more than I expected. It is good and bad, and can only get better. I have been SYLing with Sis Smith, and it is also frustrating, but helpful.

Sylvester:
Szczęśliwego Nowego Roku! (Happy New Year!) They call New Years Eve "Sylvester" b/c it is the name day (catholic way of having birthdays..) for everyone named Sylvester. Sister Smith and I had some sparklers which we lit and launched off the balcony of our apartment using my tights into the snow. I got really creative and got a waterbottle filled with some water, put play-dough in the top and then stuck the lit sparkler in it and sling-shot it for better launching distance. Sis Smith and I live in the superjednostka, which is this HUGE apartment building that houses 1,300 people. It is right next to the spodek, which is an amphitheater shaped like a huge concrete UFO. (Big, concrete things are way in in Kato). There was tons of loud music and partying all night, but Sister Smith and I went to bed at 10:30 and slept through the fireworks.

Well, I love you and miss you! I had a super realistic dream last night about hanging out with the family. I played with and talked with Maggie like the whole time, it was great. I loved the pictures of your little nativity you had. Tell Sister Lewis how much I love her and how much she means to me as well. I love that Caleb wanted me to baptize him, ha.

Thanks for your emails!

-Sister Stay