Whew... with that fiasco last week trying to get the blog posted I feel like I just did this and don't have very much to talk about.
One pretty cool thing did happen this week though. We were doing a whiteboard. It was raining a little bit and so we weren’t really that excited to be outside. Our first question was pretty much a flop, so we decided to change our question to an English invitation. Shortly therafter I had like 3 different people come up to me and ask how long it was free, lol I told them it is always free, they were shocked. Later a guy stopped nearby so I went up and talked to him. He asked a few questions and I told him who we were and why we’re here. I told him a little about the Book of Mormon and he seemed slightly interested. Just before he walked away I handed him a pass along card and invited him to our English class. He left after what was a reather awkward contact. We continued our whiteboard for about another hour with little to no success. Then right before we were leaving the same guy walked by again, I said Hi to him and he shyly came over to me and asked how he could get the book that was on the pass along card. I practically jumped out of my skin... If you have ever seen "The Best Two Years" I was like the older Elder when the guy accepted a committment. I told him we could meet with him and give him one and he replied that that would be great. He told me that he needed the Book so that he could read it! I was super excited and took down his information so I could call later and set up with him.
That was the miracle part.
The sad part is that he didn't show up for the meeting we had set up and when we called him he said that he didn't have time and that "he would call us...". And that right there is the story of my mission thus far, as sad as it is. All you can do is just keep chugging along I guess and hope that someone actually finds 30 minutes in there life to stop and talk to us. Because lets face it, no one is actually THAT busy...
We also went to TGI Fridays this past week :) Yes, we did find one :) I used some of my birthday money to buy a nice meal. Which was the most expensive meal I have bought in Poland. It was like the most expensive thing on the menu actually... like 46 zł!!! That is a lot for a missionary, but when I think about it in dollars it is like 15$!!!!!! Would be like 30+ in the states I think. It was really good...
I also got to see the Gładun's this past week :) They came through Wrocław on their way back to Lublin from their first visit to the Temple :D How great is that :) They are sooooo cool. I love them
We also climbed a tower with about 2.34 billion stairs in it. (jk, it wasn't really that many...but it was A LOT) Got pictures of Wrocław from a great perspective, will upload them soon, perhaps even now, for my poor mother.
Well, I think that is pretty much it for this week. The weather still can't decide if it wants to be cold or hot or humid or rainy...yesterday was hot, today is rainy...weird stuff
Love you all :D
-Starszy Taylor
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Week 27
Sorry it is late everyone, had some internet issues on our end here, but it is all fixed again :D Don't worry nothing bad happened :)
Again, not much to report back on this week, lots of finding going on, still. But we did hav some fun stuff happen this week. It was Elder Holden's Birthday this past week. When we went out to Pizza Hut for dinner we had just finished eating and low and behold and missionary from 5 years ago notices us and comes over with his family! It was cool talking to them, what are the odds they would be able to find us in such a large city. They had met the new mission president when they were at Auschwitz earlier in the week and the AP's had told them that there were no missionaries in Wrocław...The Dad must have pronounced it wrong or something... because we are definitely here... It was cool seeing them. Later that night on mine and Elder Allred's way home we were sitting at the tramwaj stop waiting and this old lady comes and sits down next to me. I had our left over pizza in my hands and I offered some to her. She didn't look like she was in good shape. She asked if I wanted a cigaratte in return, I politely declined and told her that we are missionaries. As soon as she realized what I was talking about she just took off. It just goes to show how closed the people are here most of the time.
On thursday we had a meeting with the Shin family. They are from Korea, the kids (16 year old daughter, and 9 year old boy) both speak great polish and Korean and can understand English. But the poor mother, she speaks this interesting blend of polish and english. It makes it really interesting when trying to communicate because we don't know if we should speak in polish or in English. They were great, we stayed and built lego's with them after lunch. They are great, and so nice to us. Then we headed back to the chapel and helped Sister Kimball out with some stuff on the computer, which I am always so willing to help with ;)
Saturday we helped Sister Kimball get all of her stuff to the Dworzec for her train to Szczyrk (ya try and pronounce that one ;) for the YSA Activity they have this week. Luckily the weather wasn't too bad that day and the train wasn't rerouted or late or anything like that. Back to the weather though... We just went through a heat wave here where it got suuuuper hot. Then the next day it poured rain and cooled off a lot! It has been raining for like 4 days now, but today the sun is out and it isn't too hot. It has been really crazy weather, never seen anything like it. There really isn't a nice happy medium that is stays at here, its really weird. I also called someone that had stopped us on the street earlier in the week and asked if we could set up with him. He said that he would be in church on sunday :D so I just said we would talk about it then.
Sunday rolled around, Stanisław didn't (that was the guy I called) hopefully he is okay, he is pretty old and apparently has come to church before so...we'll see. The openning prayer for Sacrament Meeting was given by 8 year old Cynthia Call, so I don't wanna hear any complaining out of you guys back home when you are asked to give a prayer in Sacrament Meeting :P And yes, I played the hymns again, and will probably do it again this week. The Branch President here said to me "If I keep forgetting to do those CD's you are going to get really good at playing the piano!" lol...
Well, that is pretty much it, I hope it was longer than last weeks... I had to type this one up in a text document because the internet is currently down...so hopefully it comes back up soon so I can post it :D
Love you all!
-Starszy Taylor
Again, not much to report back on this week, lots of finding going on, still. But we did hav some fun stuff happen this week. It was Elder Holden's Birthday this past week. When we went out to Pizza Hut for dinner we had just finished eating and low and behold and missionary from 5 years ago notices us and comes over with his family! It was cool talking to them, what are the odds they would be able to find us in such a large city. They had met the new mission president when they were at Auschwitz earlier in the week and the AP's had told them that there were no missionaries in Wrocław...The Dad must have pronounced it wrong or something... because we are definitely here... It was cool seeing them. Later that night on mine and Elder Allred's way home we were sitting at the tramwaj stop waiting and this old lady comes and sits down next to me. I had our left over pizza in my hands and I offered some to her. She didn't look like she was in good shape. She asked if I wanted a cigaratte in return, I politely declined and told her that we are missionaries. As soon as she realized what I was talking about she just took off. It just goes to show how closed the people are here most of the time.
On thursday we had a meeting with the Shin family. They are from Korea, the kids (16 year old daughter, and 9 year old boy) both speak great polish and Korean and can understand English. But the poor mother, she speaks this interesting blend of polish and english. It makes it really interesting when trying to communicate because we don't know if we should speak in polish or in English. They were great, we stayed and built lego's with them after lunch. They are great, and so nice to us. Then we headed back to the chapel and helped Sister Kimball out with some stuff on the computer, which I am always so willing to help with ;)
Saturday we helped Sister Kimball get all of her stuff to the Dworzec for her train to Szczyrk (ya try and pronounce that one ;) for the YSA Activity they have this week. Luckily the weather wasn't too bad that day and the train wasn't rerouted or late or anything like that. Back to the weather though... We just went through a heat wave here where it got suuuuper hot. Then the next day it poured rain and cooled off a lot! It has been raining for like 4 days now, but today the sun is out and it isn't too hot. It has been really crazy weather, never seen anything like it. There really isn't a nice happy medium that is stays at here, its really weird. I also called someone that had stopped us on the street earlier in the week and asked if we could set up with him. He said that he would be in church on sunday :D so I just said we would talk about it then.
Sunday rolled around, Stanisław didn't (that was the guy I called) hopefully he is okay, he is pretty old and apparently has come to church before so...we'll see. The openning prayer for Sacrament Meeting was given by 8 year old Cynthia Call, so I don't wanna hear any complaining out of you guys back home when you are asked to give a prayer in Sacrament Meeting :P And yes, I played the hymns again, and will probably do it again this week. The Branch President here said to me "If I keep forgetting to do those CD's you are going to get really good at playing the piano!" lol...
Well, that is pretty much it, I hope it was longer than last weeks... I had to type this one up in a text document because the internet is currently down...so hopefully it comes back up soon so I can post it :D
Love you all!
-Starszy Taylor
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Week 26
Well there is another week come and gone, just like that, I can't believe how fast everything goes by when you are out on a mission.
Again, we have spent pretty much all our time searching, and looking, and have not had many opportunities to teach other than our short little lessons we sometimes try to teach to people on the street who seem interested.
So not a whole lot to report about this week, we did have Zone Conference on Friday, that was great. It was our first one with the new mission president. I like him a lot, I think he is great and as much as I loved President Engbjerg, it is nice to have an American mission President. We talked a lot about how the whole mission is in a state of finding right now and that we really need to do our best to find those who are searching. It can be pretty tricky sometimes, especially when it seems like everyone hates us and doesn't want anything to do with us. On the bright side, it has cooled off a bit here.
On Saturday we did have a Culture night with Sister Kimball, we went over to the fountain by our house out in Biskupin and watched the fountain show that they have there at the beginning of every hour. It was raining too, and we didn't have umbrellas so it was an adventure. I took lots of pictures for you Mom, don't worry, and I posted pictures too!
Well, I will try to write some stuff down this week that we do so that I will have more to talk about next week!
Thanks for reading!
-Starszy Taylor
Again, we have spent pretty much all our time searching, and looking, and have not had many opportunities to teach other than our short little lessons we sometimes try to teach to people on the street who seem interested.
So not a whole lot to report about this week, we did have Zone Conference on Friday, that was great. It was our first one with the new mission president. I like him a lot, I think he is great and as much as I loved President Engbjerg, it is nice to have an American mission President. We talked a lot about how the whole mission is in a state of finding right now and that we really need to do our best to find those who are searching. It can be pretty tricky sometimes, especially when it seems like everyone hates us and doesn't want anything to do with us. On the bright side, it has cooled off a bit here.
On Saturday we did have a Culture night with Sister Kimball, we went over to the fountain by our house out in Biskupin and watched the fountain show that they have there at the beginning of every hour. It was raining too, and we didn't have umbrellas so it was an adventure. I took lots of pictures for you Mom, don't worry, and I posted pictures too!
Well, I will try to write some stuff down this week that we do so that I will have more to talk about next week!
Thanks for reading!
-Starszy Taylor
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Week 25
I can't believe I am already about 8 months into my mission!!! In this wonderful country already for 6 months! It goes by so fast! But that probably has a lot to do with the fact that in those 6 months I have had 5 companions!!!Holy Smokes, And I probably won't be staying with Elder Allred after this transfer because the other 2 missionaries here are dying (going home) at the end of this transfer, So the most likely thing to happen will be that me and Elder Allred stay here and get new companions, and one of us will most likely get a trainee! Since I heard there are 9 coming in and then 2 months later 11!!! Holy Cow! We will finally be at mission quota instead of a major deficit right now.
So this week has been....HOT...
about 35 degrees Celsius... which is about 95 degrees F!!! And the humidity is terrible! I am sweating all day and there is nothing you can really do to cool off because Airconditioning is essential non existent in this country... Except we kind of have it in the Chapel, so we tend to spend a lot of free time there, helping out with the Family History Center, since Sister Kimball cannot speak Polish. We try to do some whiteboards but it is sooooooooo hot outside we can barely stand it. We are still always looking for people to teach, most of my mission has been finding, and not teaching. Missionaries who go to places where there are lots of members are so lucky because they get tons of referals and rarely have to go contacting, or tracting, and they probably don't even know what a whiteboard is! lol. It is so amazing to me how different missions can be, even between mission presidents. We have a Zone Conference this Friday, the first one with President Nielson.
More stories about lessons have been requested, and I would love to talk about all the lessons we teach each week, the only problem is that we don't teach tons of lessons each week... When Elder Allred and I got here in Wrocław, we were both new to the city and the previous missionaries here did not have any investigators when they left. So we came into to essentially nothing. Almost all of our time has been spent talking to people, trying to get them to set up with us, and occasionally we find someone who will set up with us, we show up and wait...and wait...and wait... until we realize they are not coming. However, occasionally the Lord does bless us with a miracle. Like the lesson with the Korean last Sunday! Well this week, we got a call from the member, his name is Aaron, who said he had found someone at the Train Station who would like to meet with us! Amazing how the Lord will require you to work so hard, see so little come from it, and then all of a sudden someone you just met a week earlier, who speaks no Polish calls up and says he has an appointment for us! We were suppose to meet yesterday, but something came up on his end and he called to let us know, we are rescheduled for later this week. More on that next week! Pray for those who are searching for the truth to be able to find us here in Poland, we search, but it is so hard to find them, so pray for them to be able to find us! They need all they help they can get!
Well, I think that about sums it up this week. I sure hope it cools off soon... It is so hot even at night that I can't sleep under anything... And for anyone who knows how I sleep, that is really odd, and a testiment to how hot it really is here...
Thanks for reading!
-Szczery
-Starszy Taylor
So this week has been....HOT...
about 35 degrees Celsius... which is about 95 degrees F!!! And the humidity is terrible! I am sweating all day and there is nothing you can really do to cool off because Airconditioning is essential non existent in this country... Except we kind of have it in the Chapel, so we tend to spend a lot of free time there, helping out with the Family History Center, since Sister Kimball cannot speak Polish. We try to do some whiteboards but it is sooooooooo hot outside we can barely stand it. We are still always looking for people to teach, most of my mission has been finding, and not teaching. Missionaries who go to places where there are lots of members are so lucky because they get tons of referals and rarely have to go contacting, or tracting, and they probably don't even know what a whiteboard is! lol. It is so amazing to me how different missions can be, even between mission presidents. We have a Zone Conference this Friday, the first one with President Nielson.
More stories about lessons have been requested, and I would love to talk about all the lessons we teach each week, the only problem is that we don't teach tons of lessons each week... When Elder Allred and I got here in Wrocław, we were both new to the city and the previous missionaries here did not have any investigators when they left. So we came into to essentially nothing. Almost all of our time has been spent talking to people, trying to get them to set up with us, and occasionally we find someone who will set up with us, we show up and wait...and wait...and wait... until we realize they are not coming. However, occasionally the Lord does bless us with a miracle. Like the lesson with the Korean last Sunday! Well this week, we got a call from the member, his name is Aaron, who said he had found someone at the Train Station who would like to meet with us! Amazing how the Lord will require you to work so hard, see so little come from it, and then all of a sudden someone you just met a week earlier, who speaks no Polish calls up and says he has an appointment for us! We were suppose to meet yesterday, but something came up on his end and he called to let us know, we are rescheduled for later this week. More on that next week! Pray for those who are searching for the truth to be able to find us here in Poland, we search, but it is so hard to find them, so pray for them to be able to find us! They need all they help they can get!
Well, I think that about sums it up this week. I sure hope it cools off soon... It is so hot even at night that I can't sleep under anything... And for anyone who knows how I sleep, that is really odd, and a testiment to how hot it really is here...
Thanks for reading!
-Szczery
-Starszy Taylor
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Week 24
We just met the new Mission President! We had interviews this morning and we were able to eat lunch with him as well. He is a great guy and I can already tell he loves us as the missionaries and the polish people as well. I am greatly looking forward to having him as our new Mission President.
This week has been really fast. I can't believe I have already been here in Wrocław for almost 2 weeks now! Elder Allred and I get along great. We finally found time this past week to really clean up our apartment, it has just been really hectic here because we don't spend a lot of time at home because it is so far away. By far away I mean at the end of the tramwaj line. It takes roughly an hour to get from our door to the chapel door. So a lot of the time we find ourselves staying at the other apartment here with the other Elders, who live much closer. We have been doing lots of contacting as well, lots of whiteboards which is great.
We had set up a couple meetings this past week, but all of them flaked on us... (didn't show up) but then on Sunday we had a miracle! Randomly at the beginning of church these two asian guys show up in normal clothes for church. We happily invite them in and get to talking, well, Elder Allred did because I was stuck behind the piano playing some prelude music. (Yes I did have to play in Church again, but I had a little time to practice this week and I didn't make any mistakes through 3 songs all with 3 verses! I was so happy and so nervous) He found out that they were Korean and that one of them was a member who served his mission in New York, and so he spoke English. His friend with him only speaks Korean so all the communicating we did with him was through his friend. They stayed for fast and testimony meeting, which was great. The Member bore his Testimony, and told us a story of how his sister barely missed being victim of a recent terrorist attack in Korea. It was a touching story. After Sacrament meeting we had the opportunity to watch the Restoration with them both. Bless the member, he was able to translate the English copy we had into Korean in real time so that his friend, who seems to be pretty interested could understand. Afterwards we bore our testimonies and explained a bit more about the Book of Mormon. When we asked if we could give him one he practically jumped out of his seat! He was so surprised that we would be willing to give it to him for free! And in Korean too! Unfortunately we didn't have a copy in Korean at the Chapel so we gave him an English one, which he was also just as grateful for, we will be getting a Korean copy soon. It was so amazing how Heavenly Father blessed us like that, even though the appointments we did have flaked us we were still able to teach someone!
English is also starting this week and we hope to have a lot of people show up for that! Sister Kimball is so great, she doesn't speak much polish so the people she speaks to usually communicate in broken English and she always invites them to our English class, so hopefully we have a lot come since we are just starting it this Thursday. On Whiteboards yesterday I really noticed that I can actually communicate with people here! I can understand most of what people are saying to me, and I can say what I want and I am getting to the point where it makes more sense to say it in Polish than in English. Occasionally I have to pray in English, and it is always so weird, I feel more comfortable praying in Polish now, its great! I know that Heavenly Father is really blessing me with the Gift of Tongues! How else could I possibly pick up a new language in just 6 short months!? I am so grateful for this opportunity to learn a new language, it is such an amazing experience.
Well, I think that is pretty much it for this week. We haven't been teaching a lot, been spending all our time looking for people who will let us teach them, which actually seems to be pretty hard here in Wrocław. We are trying though, and I know that as we keep trying the Lord will bless us with people who are prepared to receive the full Gospel.
Until Next week!
-Starszy Taylor
This week has been really fast. I can't believe I have already been here in Wrocław for almost 2 weeks now! Elder Allred and I get along great. We finally found time this past week to really clean up our apartment, it has just been really hectic here because we don't spend a lot of time at home because it is so far away. By far away I mean at the end of the tramwaj line. It takes roughly an hour to get from our door to the chapel door. So a lot of the time we find ourselves staying at the other apartment here with the other Elders, who live much closer. We have been doing lots of contacting as well, lots of whiteboards which is great.
We had set up a couple meetings this past week, but all of them flaked on us... (didn't show up) but then on Sunday we had a miracle! Randomly at the beginning of church these two asian guys show up in normal clothes for church. We happily invite them in and get to talking, well, Elder Allred did because I was stuck behind the piano playing some prelude music. (Yes I did have to play in Church again, but I had a little time to practice this week and I didn't make any mistakes through 3 songs all with 3 verses! I was so happy and so nervous) He found out that they were Korean and that one of them was a member who served his mission in New York, and so he spoke English. His friend with him only speaks Korean so all the communicating we did with him was through his friend. They stayed for fast and testimony meeting, which was great. The Member bore his Testimony, and told us a story of how his sister barely missed being victim of a recent terrorist attack in Korea. It was a touching story. After Sacrament meeting we had the opportunity to watch the Restoration with them both. Bless the member, he was able to translate the English copy we had into Korean in real time so that his friend, who seems to be pretty interested could understand. Afterwards we bore our testimonies and explained a bit more about the Book of Mormon. When we asked if we could give him one he practically jumped out of his seat! He was so surprised that we would be willing to give it to him for free! And in Korean too! Unfortunately we didn't have a copy in Korean at the Chapel so we gave him an English one, which he was also just as grateful for, we will be getting a Korean copy soon. It was so amazing how Heavenly Father blessed us like that, even though the appointments we did have flaked us we were still able to teach someone!
English is also starting this week and we hope to have a lot of people show up for that! Sister Kimball is so great, she doesn't speak much polish so the people she speaks to usually communicate in broken English and she always invites them to our English class, so hopefully we have a lot come since we are just starting it this Thursday. On Whiteboards yesterday I really noticed that I can actually communicate with people here! I can understand most of what people are saying to me, and I can say what I want and I am getting to the point where it makes more sense to say it in Polish than in English. Occasionally I have to pray in English, and it is always so weird, I feel more comfortable praying in Polish now, its great! I know that Heavenly Father is really blessing me with the Gift of Tongues! How else could I possibly pick up a new language in just 6 short months!? I am so grateful for this opportunity to learn a new language, it is such an amazing experience.
Well, I think that is pretty much it for this week. We haven't been teaching a lot, been spending all our time looking for people who will let us teach them, which actually seems to be pretty hard here in Wrocław. We are trying though, and I know that as we keep trying the Lord will bless us with people who are prepared to receive the full Gospel.
Until Next week!
-Starszy Taylor
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Week 23
It is so amazing to me how much can happen in a week, how fast it can go by, and then looking back on it seems like forever ago...
Well, this past week I was transfered to Wrocław to be companions with Elder Allred! It was hard to say goodbye to Poznań and the members there, they are fantastic. I was also super sad to have to leave just before the sisters were going to have a baptism! Elder Contor has told me how great the baptism went! Oh how I wish I could have been there... such is a mission. I was able to say goodbye to some people which was nice. I was so sad that I didn't break the Contor Curse... He has never had a companion longer than one transfer...Until now! But it is weird cause he is going back with an old companion... oh well. I really do like it here in Wrocław though. We have a much larger branch here, it has about 15-20 people. Which is super nice because for the past 5 months I have been in church with less than 8 people...lol, and I have also had to do a bunch of stuff each sunday... I was expecting a bit of a break this sunday... Silly me...
Right before Sacrament Meeting was going to start the Branch President came over to me and Elder Allred and asked us if we played the piano... I don't know what came over me... but I said I played a little bit... Now for the background on my Piano playing "career"... When I was little my parents diligently tried to get me to go to Piano lessons, and practice at home. I did for a while, but eventually refused to go, I didn't like practicing... years went by, occasionally I would hear a song I liked and try and relearn how to read music so I could pick out a few notes here and there. I also played Percussion in Elementary School and Junior High, so I had a bit of music reading practice there too, but again...I didn't practice. Since being on my mission I have found time occasionally to try and pick out some songs on the piano. First in Kielce, then a bit in Lublin. In Poznań, for some reason, I was doing it more...Sister LeFevre was also doing it a bit. I was suddenly able to read the top line of a song and sight read it!!!! Holy Smokes how the crap did that happen....so ya... Sunday came around and as I said before, I told him I could play a little bit. "Great" he said (He speaks English too) "would you be willing to play for us today in Sacrament meeting, it is you or nothing." I should have said no... But I did it. I played the piano in Sacrament meeting for the first time ever! Aren't you so proud Mom and Dad :) all those lessons weren't for nothing! Never thought I would play the piano in church... It went...alright... I had to sight read 2 of the songs...had never played them before then...that was scarry... The members were really patient and grateful :D The Branch President told them it was my first time playing in Sacrament meeting.
Monday we did a Whiteboard, which was fun, always is...I swear I attract the crazy people or something... It is also always great fun when someone tells you "Your Wasting your time, we don't need your help, go home" All you can do is keep smiling :D Family Home Evening was great though! There is a really cool member here named Adam :D He is in charge of Activities in the branch. We also had the Korean Family come to FHE :D They have a daughter and a Son who is 9. He is so funny. The Dad was at work so he couldn't come. Sister Kimball (She is an Elderly Sister who is serving here in the Family History Center) Cooked Chicken Enchiladas for us!!! They were really yummy! At the end of FHE I was teaching the boy how to do a handstand! In Polish! I am so happy to be around kids again! this branch has quite a few! He picked up pretty quick :D I really like it here.
Haven't had any meetings with investigators yet, Elder Allred and I are still trying to figure out where stuff is here... We both are new to the city, so we have been spending a lot of time getting use to everything. We also live really far away... sad day. The weather is great here! Short sleeves are on and the sun is Shining :D Hopefully we can get out contacting soon and find some really cool investigators! I am excited to finally have a normal companion who isn't also Branch President. I should probably be staying in this city for a while too :D I may very well train here! When the next group of Elders come in (They are in the MTC now) there will be 9 of them! Which means that only 4 Missionaries will not train this next transfer! How crazy is that! Well, that is pretty much it for this week. I love you all!
-Starszy Taylor
Well, this past week I was transfered to Wrocław to be companions with Elder Allred! It was hard to say goodbye to Poznań and the members there, they are fantastic. I was also super sad to have to leave just before the sisters were going to have a baptism! Elder Contor has told me how great the baptism went! Oh how I wish I could have been there... such is a mission. I was able to say goodbye to some people which was nice. I was so sad that I didn't break the Contor Curse... He has never had a companion longer than one transfer...Until now! But it is weird cause he is going back with an old companion... oh well. I really do like it here in Wrocław though. We have a much larger branch here, it has about 15-20 people. Which is super nice because for the past 5 months I have been in church with less than 8 people...lol, and I have also had to do a bunch of stuff each sunday... I was expecting a bit of a break this sunday... Silly me...
Right before Sacrament Meeting was going to start the Branch President came over to me and Elder Allred and asked us if we played the piano... I don't know what came over me... but I said I played a little bit... Now for the background on my Piano playing "career"... When I was little my parents diligently tried to get me to go to Piano lessons, and practice at home. I did for a while, but eventually refused to go, I didn't like practicing... years went by, occasionally I would hear a song I liked and try and relearn how to read music so I could pick out a few notes here and there. I also played Percussion in Elementary School and Junior High, so I had a bit of music reading practice there too, but again...I didn't practice. Since being on my mission I have found time occasionally to try and pick out some songs on the piano. First in Kielce, then a bit in Lublin. In Poznań, for some reason, I was doing it more...Sister LeFevre was also doing it a bit. I was suddenly able to read the top line of a song and sight read it!!!! Holy Smokes how the crap did that happen....so ya... Sunday came around and as I said before, I told him I could play a little bit. "Great" he said (He speaks English too) "would you be willing to play for us today in Sacrament meeting, it is you or nothing." I should have said no... But I did it. I played the piano in Sacrament meeting for the first time ever! Aren't you so proud Mom and Dad :) all those lessons weren't for nothing! Never thought I would play the piano in church... It went...alright... I had to sight read 2 of the songs...had never played them before then...that was scarry... The members were really patient and grateful :D The Branch President told them it was my first time playing in Sacrament meeting.
Monday we did a Whiteboard, which was fun, always is...I swear I attract the crazy people or something... It is also always great fun when someone tells you "Your Wasting your time, we don't need your help, go home" All you can do is keep smiling :D Family Home Evening was great though! There is a really cool member here named Adam :D He is in charge of Activities in the branch. We also had the Korean Family come to FHE :D They have a daughter and a Son who is 9. He is so funny. The Dad was at work so he couldn't come. Sister Kimball (She is an Elderly Sister who is serving here in the Family History Center) Cooked Chicken Enchiladas for us!!! They were really yummy! At the end of FHE I was teaching the boy how to do a handstand! In Polish! I am so happy to be around kids again! this branch has quite a few! He picked up pretty quick :D I really like it here.
Haven't had any meetings with investigators yet, Elder Allred and I are still trying to figure out where stuff is here... We both are new to the city, so we have been spending a lot of time getting use to everything. We also live really far away... sad day. The weather is great here! Short sleeves are on and the sun is Shining :D Hopefully we can get out contacting soon and find some really cool investigators! I am excited to finally have a normal companion who isn't also Branch President. I should probably be staying in this city for a while too :D I may very well train here! When the next group of Elders come in (They are in the MTC now) there will be 9 of them! Which means that only 4 Missionaries will not train this next transfer! How crazy is that! Well, that is pretty much it for this week. I love you all!
-Starszy Taylor
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Week 22
Whew...as usual...don't have much time! Guess that has kinda been something you all have gotten use to by now lol
Okay...So, last monday I went on an Exchange with Elder Tribe, who is a zone leader in the zone, but only 1 group ahead of mine. He is so cool and tons of fun to be around and a great missionary. I went out there to Bydgoszcz and we had some meetings and then passed out a lot of English flyers! Came back the next day in the Morning for a crazy P-Day in Poznań because the Elders from Wrocław and the Zone leaders came in for the day! We had lots of fun and played some sports in the park. The only problem was the bugs.... never have I seen so many... It was like playing in fog...of bugs...disgusting... But the sports were fun!
We have also done a lot of whiteboarding this week! Which is great because it is by far my favorite contacting method! We always whiteboard with the Sisters, they are great! So dedicated and brave. I have never seen anyone contact like Sister Spear, she truly has no fear and will contact anyone no matter how awkward I think it would be. She is great. Sister LeFevre is fantastic too, both are super funny and we laugh all day long. It is such a step up from serving along in a city with just your companion, which can get really boring even if you are the best of friends.
On Thursday the weather finally worked out and we were going to FINALLY go try and have our sports Thursday! We changed our clothes and headed out with the Basketball and Volleyball. After walking for about 20-25 minutes we arrived at the park....only to find it completely under water!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes...the entire park was flooded... If you don't know Poland has had a ton of really weird rain lately and for a couple weeks now everyone has been on Flood Warning and the river is practically over flowing! I was absoutely crushed that the park was flooded and we then had no where to play sports. On the way back we passed an indoor pool! ...and no we didn't go swimming lol, but we did go in and see if we could reserve it for the Baptism the sisters have on the 26th! They have been teaching Marta for about a month and she is so ready! Practically teaching herself the lessons! She is a miracle, and exactly what the church needs here in Poland. On Monday she had her Baptismal interview and will be baptized this Saturday by Elder Contor! He is super nervous :) I am super sad though because I will be leaving Poznań before then though :( And even worse, so will Sister LeFevre... ;_; We found out Transfers today! And I will being going to Wrocław! To be companions with Elder Allred! In a District with my trainer Elder Anderton! It should be a super fun transfer! I just hope it lasts a lot longer than this last 4 week one... I can't believe I have to pack again...
This week Elder Contor and I have been handing out literally hundreds of Free English flyers. It is so funny handing them out because everyone automatically says no when we start talking to them, and then they pause turn around and take the flyer after they realize we just told them we teach a FREE (Bezpłatny) English Class... it is really funny :D We better have a ton of people in English tonight!
On Sunday I had to give a talk in Sacrament meeting on Diligence. I used the story of Job, talk about a rough life and never giving up... shoot. Then later on Sunday we did another English Whiteboard, and more flyers! Right at the beginning we had these 2 either crazy or drunk (or both) guys stop and talk to us. They were funny, I took them aside and was talking to them so they wouldn't scare off anyone else that stopped to talk to us. They were crazy... and Polish people are notorious for being able to pull alcohol out of no where, and so he did. He tried to get me to drink it, thinking he was being really nice as a friend or something. I explained to him that we don't smoke or drink, they both shook my hand and told me I was a great man...lol. Then two girls walked past, who weren't exactly modestly dressed, I saw both of their eyes lock on them and they started muttering things between themselves. I knew what was going on so I firmly told them "Bądź Miły!!!" They both snapped to attention and looked right at me and said "Jesteśmy Miły" I thought it was funny. They respect us a lot and like us, One of them started cussing in English and Polish and I told him to stop that too, they were shocked at how high our standards were and kept shaking my hand and bowing their heads. They were really goofy, like 2 stooges really. Well that is my funny story of the week :D
Everything is going pretty good, sad I am leaving but always excited to get to know a new city... But this is the second time in a row I have only used 3 weeks out of my month on my bus pass...grrrr. Oh well
Thanks for reading :D
-Starszy Taylor
Okay...So, last monday I went on an Exchange with Elder Tribe, who is a zone leader in the zone, but only 1 group ahead of mine. He is so cool and tons of fun to be around and a great missionary. I went out there to Bydgoszcz and we had some meetings and then passed out a lot of English flyers! Came back the next day in the Morning for a crazy P-Day in Poznań because the Elders from Wrocław and the Zone leaders came in for the day! We had lots of fun and played some sports in the park. The only problem was the bugs.... never have I seen so many... It was like playing in fog...of bugs...disgusting... But the sports were fun!
We have also done a lot of whiteboarding this week! Which is great because it is by far my favorite contacting method! We always whiteboard with the Sisters, they are great! So dedicated and brave. I have never seen anyone contact like Sister Spear, she truly has no fear and will contact anyone no matter how awkward I think it would be. She is great. Sister LeFevre is fantastic too, both are super funny and we laugh all day long. It is such a step up from serving along in a city with just your companion, which can get really boring even if you are the best of friends.
On Thursday the weather finally worked out and we were going to FINALLY go try and have our sports Thursday! We changed our clothes and headed out with the Basketball and Volleyball. After walking for about 20-25 minutes we arrived at the park....only to find it completely under water!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes...the entire park was flooded... If you don't know Poland has had a ton of really weird rain lately and for a couple weeks now everyone has been on Flood Warning and the river is practically over flowing! I was absoutely crushed that the park was flooded and we then had no where to play sports. On the way back we passed an indoor pool! ...and no we didn't go swimming lol, but we did go in and see if we could reserve it for the Baptism the sisters have on the 26th! They have been teaching Marta for about a month and she is so ready! Practically teaching herself the lessons! She is a miracle, and exactly what the church needs here in Poland. On Monday she had her Baptismal interview and will be baptized this Saturday by Elder Contor! He is super nervous :) I am super sad though because I will be leaving Poznań before then though :( And even worse, so will Sister LeFevre... ;_; We found out Transfers today! And I will being going to Wrocław! To be companions with Elder Allred! In a District with my trainer Elder Anderton! It should be a super fun transfer! I just hope it lasts a lot longer than this last 4 week one... I can't believe I have to pack again...
This week Elder Contor and I have been handing out literally hundreds of Free English flyers. It is so funny handing them out because everyone automatically says no when we start talking to them, and then they pause turn around and take the flyer after they realize we just told them we teach a FREE (Bezpłatny) English Class... it is really funny :D We better have a ton of people in English tonight!
On Sunday I had to give a talk in Sacrament meeting on Diligence. I used the story of Job, talk about a rough life and never giving up... shoot. Then later on Sunday we did another English Whiteboard, and more flyers! Right at the beginning we had these 2 either crazy or drunk (or both) guys stop and talk to us. They were funny, I took them aside and was talking to them so they wouldn't scare off anyone else that stopped to talk to us. They were crazy... and Polish people are notorious for being able to pull alcohol out of no where, and so he did. He tried to get me to drink it, thinking he was being really nice as a friend or something. I explained to him that we don't smoke or drink, they both shook my hand and told me I was a great man...lol. Then two girls walked past, who weren't exactly modestly dressed, I saw both of their eyes lock on them and they started muttering things between themselves. I knew what was going on so I firmly told them "Bądź Miły!!!" They both snapped to attention and looked right at me and said "Jesteśmy Miły" I thought it was funny. They respect us a lot and like us, One of them started cussing in English and Polish and I told him to stop that too, they were shocked at how high our standards were and kept shaking my hand and bowing their heads. They were really goofy, like 2 stooges really. Well that is my funny story of the week :D
Everything is going pretty good, sad I am leaving but always excited to get to know a new city... But this is the second time in a row I have only used 3 weeks out of my month on my bus pass...grrrr. Oh well
Thanks for reading :D
-Starszy Taylor
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)