Monday, February 29, 2016

Sczcecin, Poland - Poznań Zone Conference, The Prayer Room, He is always aware and there

(Raquel sent so many pictures this week - I couldn't decide what to post
 and not to post...so I posted all of them! - Stephanie)

Epic P-day bowling!
Nick, Siostra Sloan, Ola, me, Starszy Einfeldt, Starzy Garrison (floor)
Starszy Einfeldt
Maybe we should post the Plan of Salvation on that backdrop?
Siostra Sloan!
Nothing but love for these two!
I won second place after Starszy Garrison!
(Let is be known because it may never happen again as it has never happened before!)
Zone Conference in Poznań!
MTC peeps!  It was sooooooo great to see them!  Missing you Barney and Lerch!

(photo credit: Joanne Ashworth - thank you!)
We couldn't stop smiling!
"Starszy" steals my camera once again!
Starszy Ashworth and Starszy Coutu!
Starszy McPherson, Starszy Vance, Starszy Garrison!
Starszy Musgrave, Starszy Liechty, Starszy Einfeldt!
Training with Starszy Musgrave!
Starszy Ashworth, Starszy Musgrave, Siostra Dekker!
Siostra Young, Siostra Sloan, Siostra Craig!
Siostra Kamp, myself, Siostra Dekker, Siostra Young, Siostra Craig, Siostra Sloan!
I love these ladies!  I've learned so much from each of them!
Siostra Sloan on the train home from zone conference!
Our awesome elders: Starszy Einfeldt and Starszy Garrison carrying
the whiteboard and easel for street contacting!
Boise Buddies braving the cold!
Although you can't see it in this picture - it was sunny in part of the sky!
Crazy weather!
It is a choice to be happy - no matter the weather!  Ha!
This is such a cute park! Look how cute the kids are bundled up!
The cold doesn't stop Poles playing with bubbles!
 
"Chalk Talks!"
We are trying to build our English Club!
We stand out on the street and invite people!
(Madre D: Don't you love the pram/buggy in the back!)


Sunday School - perhaps we need a lesson on reverence!
(Siostra Sloan took this picture - I think my face might say it all!)
Cześć Family and Friends!!!!

Another week has flown by way, way, way too quickly!! Time is so funny here and I still feel like I just got to Poland when I have been here for two months now! 

This week started off awesome! This transfer we really want to do something every single P-day! So starting last Monday we went bowling with the twins!! It was so much fun! 

The next day was zone training! Zone training was incredible! 

We talked about what it says in our mission call and the blessing promised! We are promised blessings as missionaries but we have to do our part in order to receive these blessings! One of my favorite quotes was: "obedience does not equal perfection, obedience equals repentance!"  I loved this quote because sometimes I feel as a missionary that I have to be 100% perfect but knowing that all I have to do is try my hardest and really rely on the atonement is a huge comfort to me! 

We also talked a lot about miracles and what a miracle truly is! Another quote I loved is: (as missionaries...)"Miracles are the things we do, they aren't the exception, they are the rule!"  
I know I write about it all the time but I truly see miracles or tender mercies everyday! 

The final thing we talked about were the three steps to lasting success! They are: 1. An invitation with every conversation, 2. Setting expectations, and 3. Teaching with boldness! 

The last one really struck Sister Sloan and me! We want to bold when we contact people! We also talked about being bold out of love! I love this! We are delivering a message of change but it is out of love for the individuals with whom we speak!  

It was so good and I just felt so pumped to be a missionary! 

Zone training was also amazing because Siostra Dekker, Siostra Kamp, our Starszy Ashworth and I from the MTC are all in the same zone! It was a mini MTC reunion and we were all so excited! It was so good to see them all! I was so happy to see my trustworthy companions again! It was exactly what I needed!! I have missed them all so much!! 

This week was also a hard week for me to be honest! I struggled this week just trying to feel like I was being a good missionary! I became frustrated because I wanted to be guided by the Spirit to know where we should go or what we should do and I didn't always have a definite feeling.  I've been given the opportunity to lead and when we wouldn't have success I blamed myself! 

Sister Sloan is amazing though and when I told her how I was feeling she suggested to me that I should read the Ricciardi letter! (I'm sure you can find it via Google.) This letter is written by a missionary who served in England with an Italian elder named Ricciardi and everything he learned from him! I really encourage you all to read it because it has changed my entire mission! 

The last passage of the letter is titled "The Prayer Room!" In it the man describes how he had been serving in an area for several months and had no success, when transfers came he was sure he would be transferred and wasn't! He describes how he went into a room in their apartment and prayed out loud for 45 minutes! He was angry and he was ready to speak his mind! He received an answer though that changed his mission! 

Here is his response: 

“Elder Humphrey, I am here. I know who you are. I sent you to those neighborhoods, the very ones where you experienced nothing but rejection. I prompted your changes in direction to even more difficult neighborhoods. I know where each of the elect in your area resides. I know their names. I could send you to those addresses only, and save you the time and sacrifice looking for them. BUT ELDER HUMPHREY, WHAT GOOD WOULD THAT SERVE YOU? The mission experience is to do what you are told, when you are told, to go where you are asked, and know that the blessing comes from enduring what I ask of you. This is not about you; it is about opening your mouth at all times in all places. Doing My will without thought to the end result or consequence...this is what serving a mission is. That day in September of 1986 completely changed my focus. My anger went away. I became cheerful again for the first time in many months. When doors slammed in our faces, I would say to my companions, 'The Lord knows these doors are slamming in our faces. This is part of his plan, the experience. He sent us to this neighborhood; He needs to know we can be trusted servants. That we will actually go where he wants us to go, do what he wants us to do, when he wants us to do it.' ”

I read this last part and began to say the prayer for companionship study! I became emotional as I felt that same love Elder Humphrey experienced!  

I decided to put this to the test!

On Friday night we were contacting and we weren't having any success, we were about to turn back when I felt with 100% faith that we needed to keep going and that we would find someone to talk to! 

We continued and still didn't have any success until we talked to this man! We began talking and Sister Sloan is really amazing and lets me speak a lot with contacts! She introduced us and explained what we did and then she turned to me! 

I started talking about the restoration and the Book of Mormon and how we can learn of God's plan for us and receive answers through it! I felt the Spirit so strong and I know he did too! He said he was interested and wanted to read the Book of Mormon and gave us his number! 

I don't know if anything will come of it and I pray that it will.  I did learn how our diligence really can be tested and if we keep going we will be blessed! 

The Lord knows every door slammed in our faces or person who says "nie mam czasu" (I have no time) to us! He knows how hard we work and if we continue to be diligent and press forward we will receive blessings!  

I am honestly grateful for this week!  It was definitely rough and at times hard.  I learned and grew.  Above all, I felt the love from my Heavenly Father so much this week! Never give up - He is aware of you and me and is ALWAYS with us! 

Looking back on this week I feel grateful.  Times like these are the moments when I truly see God's hand in all things!!

Kocham Was!!

Siostra DeMordaunt

(Note from Madre D:  Here is the complete story of The Prayer Room - it is long but worth the read - especially if you are associated with anyone serving a mission.)


The Prayer Room
This last story runs very deep in my heart, as it represents a major turning point in my thinking about mission life. As I mentioned earlier, I was transferred to Birmingham as my second area. It was a tough blue collar city, populated with a lot of people from all over the world. My new companion was an Elder from California who had one month left on his mission. We were in a part of Birmingham known as Sparkhill. Tough neighborhoods, with lots of people from Pakistan and India. Very Muslim influence, so you can imagine how missionaries preaching Christianity might feel surrounded by mosques. I remember on the second or third day wondering “why put missionaries amongst people who are so devoutly religious but don’t care about Jesus Christ”. A month later my senior companion went home and I received a new companion from Germany who also only had one month left on his mission. This was very difficult for me, as I wondered if God was punishing me. It was very emotional for me to have had two consecutive months of sending missionaries home. Muslim area, two companions, last month for each. Month three I received a new companion and I became a senior companion. My new companion absolutely didn’t care about his mission, and was frankly biding his time, watching the clock, simply waiting to go home (and he had 14 months left).

I deployed the Ricciardi work schedule on him, and he began to come around. 2 months later when he left, he thanked me, but he was really thanking Ricciardi. This was a tough area, we had taught very few discussions, handed out hardly any copies of the book of Mormon, no investigators to church since I had arrived. It was wearing on me. At that point in time I was called to be a trainer. I thought “what a bummer to have to train a new missionary in such an “armpit of the mission” area (please excuse that reference). My spirits where really low, because I had been working harder than ever, being more prayerful than ever, really obedient, and no one wanted to hear our message. At that same time, I was seeing missionaries in neighboring parts of Birmingham scheduling baptisms. One companionship bragged that they had just come back from three days in Scotland (not just outside our area, outside our mission, WHICH IS AN ABSOLUTE NO NO) on a site seeing outing and they had a baptism scheduled the next weekend. I couldn’t believe it. That night I asked the Lord, flat out, why do this to me. Why should I work so hard when those other Elders are having fun, being disobedient, and still baptizing.
I believe this kind of pivotal moment comes into every missionary’s time in the field. It is a moment where you have to decide what is more important, obedience OR everything else...I was now praying to leave the city of Birmingham, because I’d had enough. When transfers came, I thought for sure I would leave (typically missionaries stayed in an area 3 to 4 months). I was now into month 7, but neither of us was transferred. Now I was really mad.


The next morning after the news of no transfer, I got up and went into a spare room on the third floor of our flat that I regularly used for personal prayer. I said what I would describe as an angry prayer. I asked the Lord what the use of staying so darn obedient was if I was to have no baptisms. I said “Father, you are almighty, I pray over the map every day, I stop our bike rides at the slightest prompting to rethink what we are doing, where we are going, all to prove that I am listening, and you still send me to neighborhoods where there is nothing but vile, mean, personal rejection”. Ricciardi of course would have been overjoyed at those kind of prospects. I wasn’t. I could write 10 pages about what I said that morning in that damp, musty, moldy room.

Then it happened. The answer to prayer that changed the course of my mission and frankly my life. Let me fast forward a minute to May of 2007 before I finish the prayer room story. I was working in New York City, living in New Canaan, CT (had lived there 14 years), and married with 6 children and one day I received a call from an old mission friend Michael Walker. We were never companions, but back in 1986 he and his companion at the time had moved in with me and my companion for three weeks while they looked for an apartment in another part of Birmingham.

He was coming to New York City on business and asked if we could meet for breakfast. I had not seen or heard from Michael in over 6 years so I was surprised not only to hear from him, but that he sounded so anxious to see me. I wondered if he was okay or needed help. I picked him up from the airport that morning and we had breakfast at my favorite spot in Manhattan. We reminisced about a lot of mission memories, and then seriousness fell over our meal. He looked at me and said “Can I ask you a question about something that happened when I was living with you and Elder DeGala in Birmingham”. The strangest impression came over me when he asked that because at the very moment he asked the question I already knew what he was going to ask me... I knew this had to do with the “prayer room”.

I quietly said “sure”. The first line out of his mouth was “there was this room on the third floor of that apartment in Birmingham...” I immediately raised my hand motioning for him to stop talking and I began weeping so uncontrollably that restaurant patrons sitting around us became uncomfortable and uneasy. He waited for me to respond. It took 10 minutes for me to gain my composure. He patiently waited, then continued, recounting to me that he had seen me pray in this moldy smelly room in our flat, and he had started using it for his own personal prayers. One morning he came to the room to pray and could hear me praying out loud in the room. He left and came back 10 minutes later and could still hear me praying. He returned several other times over the next hour intending to use the room for his own prayers, and could still hear me in there praying. I had never until that day prayed out loud in my personal prayers, nor had I prayed for longer than 5 minutes, but that morning, with all my frustrations and anger, I decided to say my prayer out loud and I had plenty to say. My friend recounted that though he could not hear what I was saying; when he pressed his ear to the door he could sense the earnestness and emotion of my prayer.

He returned again and this time did not hear me praying, but below the door could still see my shadow. Another 20 minutes went by and upon hearing me open the door he came down the hall and saw my eyes almost swollen shut from crying. As we passed each other no words were exchanged. After telling me the story up to this point over breakfast, he began to weep, as he told me that he entered the room to pray and a flood of emotions enveloped him immediately without explanation, causing him to cry and wonder what had taken place in that room.

So there we were at breakfast 21 years later, in New York City, and he wanted to ask me a simple question. “What happened in that room?” That brings us to the moment that changed my mission forever. What happened in that room is simple, for the first time in my whole mission I asked through earnest prayer for answers I deeply desired and needed, and I received an answer from the Lord, a literal answer that I could hear with the same clarity and resonance that my friend was talking with during breakfast.

That morning I had prayed for close to 45 minutes when I decided to cease praying, still not having formally closed the prayer, just quiet in my thoughts and tears. I was having thoughts of going home, giving up. Then I heard this message: “Elder Humphrey, I am here. I know who you are. I sent you to those neighborhoods, the very ones where you experienced nothing but rejection. I prompted your changes in direction to even more difficult neighborhoods. I know where each of the elect in your area resides. I know their names. I could send you to those addresses only, and save you the time and sacrifice looking for them. BUT ELDER HUMPHREY, WHAT GOOD WOULD THAT SERVE YOU? The mission experience is to do what you are told, when you are told, to go where you are asked, and know that the blessing comes from enduring what I ask of you. This is not about you; it is about opening your mouth at all times in all places. Doing my will without thought to the end result or consequence... this is what serving a mission is.

That day in September of 1986 completely changed my focus. My anger went away. I became cheerful again for the first time in many months. When doors slammed in our faces, I would say to my companions, “The Lord knows these doors are slamming in our faces. This is part of his plan, the experience. He sent us to this neighborhood; he needs to know we can be trusted servants. That we will actually go where he wants us to go, do what he wants us to do, when he wants us to do it”. I became jovial. Missionary work became fun, not work at all, because I stopped taking the rejection so personal and blaming myself. I now knew that all I had to do was talk to as many people as I could for the remaining 14 months, make sure that only the truth came out of my mouth, be prayerful about EVERYTHING, and the Lord would do the rest. The week before I was transferred out of Birmingham we baptized a woman. Nearly 8 months in that area and we finally saw someone step into the waters of baptism. Patience and prayer saved me from possibly quitting.

CS Lewis, one of my favorite authors said something that to me captures what it means to see the Lord Jesus Christ while on your mission. He said “We can say we believe in Christ as we believe in the sun at noon day, not that we can see it, but that by it, we can see everything else”. The things you will witness on your mission, is what makes you a witness of the Lord Jesus Christ. By no means am I suggesting you are a witness in the way that our apostles and prophets are, I am saying that to see people change their lives, to love people from another place, is a testament to the existence of God and his son Jesus Christ. Even as I write this, I am looking out my kitchen window, I see the trees swaying, I see grass and flowers, but I don’t see the sun. However, it is the light of the sun that allows me to see what I see, and that is how I know the sun exists. The existence of the Son of God has that same value to us, as CS Lewis put so well, it is because we can see at all that we know Christ lives.

Thank you for the opportunity to share some thoughts. I have a deep abiding passion about missionary work. I know that your family does too because I have seen it. I will never forget the unconquerable spirit I became on my mission. To walk off that plane and know that I gave it my all was a powerful testament to me that God lives. As you know, you cannot fake or feign a mission. I have over my post mission years attended many missionary homecomings. It’s not hard to tell who really gave themselves to the work, and who had a two year “somewhat interesting experience”. Going on a mission, and serving a mission are two different things. Most anyone can go on a mission, but serving a mission is a whole other ballgame. It is in your blood and upbringing to be nothing but the best missionary. Give Satan a good strong kick in the mouth and “just swing”. Thank you for your service to the Lord.

Love,
Danny Q. Humphrey 

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Poznań, Poland - Zone Conference

MTC companionship reunited!
 Zone Conference: POZNAŃ
(Photo credit:  Pres. &/or Siostra Edgren on FaceBook - Thank you!)



Monday, February 22, 2016

Szczecin, Poland - Sickness, adjustments, goals, and humility!


Picture this path when the leaves are on the trees!
Meet my new companion: Siostra Stephanie Sloan! 
Our apartment's "great room!"
Our bedroom
Siostra Sloan (Colorado raised - currently from St. George, Utah), "The Terrific Twins: Ola & Nick,"
Starszy Court Einfeldt (Cedar City, Utah), Starszy Nathan Garrison (Boise, Idaho)

Boise missionary:  Starszy Nathan Garrison - this one is for his mom Amy!
One of Park Kasprowicza's public art pieces
ParkKasprowicza is the gem of Szczecin!
I love it!
Cześć Family and Friends!!!!

This week was the first week of the new transfer and I already can tell miracles are going to be happening here in Szczecin!

First off - I love my new companion! 

Siostra Stephanie Sloan from Colorado!  She is incredibly artsy! An amazing artist, smart, cute and she sings! She loves books, movies, and music!! (How is that for a good match up with me?!) She is just so much fun! She cries everytime she laughs which is the best thing ever and she also has an amazing testimony and insight into the scriptures!!  I'm ready to learn what I need to learn from her!  Can't believe how blessed I've been thus far with my companions!  It is never perfect but we've all been willing to work with and love one another.  So blessed with Kamp, Pierson and Sloan!  

This letter will be short and sweet.  Our week was shorter due to transfers and Sister Sloan also was sick. She was so pale and I knew something was really wrong.  It was difficult to watch her with a fever from a migraine with aches, sweats and nausea and not be able to help her.  I was so sad for her.  The twins and family brought us soup and some medicine.  (They are seriously the best!) I was going a little stir crazy being inside but I ended up studying Polish and following the rules with media - music and church stuff.  I don't know how I just chilled at home all day before my mission!!!  

Grateful that Siostra Sloan is better!  We are up and running and trying to HIT IT HARD!

We have kind of had an adjustment period this week! Sister Sloan has served in Szczecin before so she knew how everything worked but both the Elders have never served here so we were trying to catch them up to speed!  

We set some awesome goals as a district and as a companionship! That is something I have really come to love on my mission is setting goals! They give me such a better focus and direction! I can tell that this district is going to work hard and make some changes that Szczecin really needs! 


We have already had miracles happen this week! We did some area look ups this week and it seems like Sister Sloan has the magic touch because we have three meetings set up for this week - real, actual meetings! I have never been so excited in my entire life!  Hopefully the seeds planted will start to grow here in Szczecin!  

One of them is a girl I contacted with Sister Craig! I have been trying to get a hold of her for forever and she finally answered! I am so excited!! We are also meeting with a girl that Sister Sloan met with last transfer that attended a baptism! She seems really awesome and willing! 


We also had seriously one of the most amazing things happen to us as we were leaving the chapel - this guy was walking down the stairs of the building our chapel is in and he is asked: "Is this a church? Do you have meetings here?" We explained everything to him! He was like "Ok I want to come!!" Ahhh talk about a miracle - just the fact he was interested and knows where to come is a plus!  


I keep thinking...Szczecin is ready for the gospel or why would we be here!?  I can feel it!  We are just going to have work and work and work! 


This week was also a huge learning experience for me! I am the only one who stayed in Szczecin so I have had to update everyone and help things get running! I was a little nervous at first just because everyone was relying on me and I have only been in Poland for a short time now! I was feeling a little inadequate and was doubting myself about how our district was going to be able to do everything this transfer, but seriously the Lord works in mysterious ways!  I just kept moving and He kept leading.  

We have had all these "mini miracles" in this short work week.  I feel this motivation to improve in every aspect of missionary work as well as just improve who I am! 


Missions are hard but sooooo good!  Poland has lived up to its name for being a hard mission but miracles are happening and will continue to happen!  I keep looking for and noticing the Lord's hand in all things.  Sometimes we forget that God's plan is greater than ours and just have to keep going, learning from the past and working smarter!! 


I recently re-read the talk about a currant bush! (Mom- please post it!) My favorite line is "am the gardener here. know what want you to do." and then the reply, "Thank you, Mr. Gardener, for loving me enough to cut me down.’” 


I have come to know that sometimes we need to be humbled and trust in the Lord's plan and have faith in Him and his His plan - later on we come to realize how much we needed that trial!! 


Our loving Heavenly Father knows and loves each of us - He truly does have a plan for all of us!! 


Kocham Was!!

Siostra DeMordaunt

(From Madre D: Here is the story:  The Current Bush by Elder Hugh B. Brown.  There is also a great three minute video. Tap on this link for the video:  The Current Bush /The Will of God or copy and paste this link:  https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2012-01-014-the-will-of-god?lang=eng )


The Current Bush
Elder Hugh B. Brown
You sometimes wonder whether the Lord really knows what he ought to do with you. You sometimes wonder if you know better than he does about what you ought to do and ought to become. I am wondering if I may tell you a story that I have told quite often in the Church. It is a story that is older than you are. It’s a piece out of my own life, and I’ve told it in many stakes and missions. It has to do with an incident in my life when God showed me that he knew best.
I was living up in Canada. I had purchased a farm. It was run-down. I went out one morning and saw a currant bush. It had grown up over six feet high. It was going all to wood. There were no blossoms and no currants. I was raised on a fruit farm in Salt Lake before we went to Canada, and I knew what ought to happen to that currant bush. So I got some pruning shears and went after it, and I cut it down, and pruned it, and clipped it back until there was nothing left but a little clump of stumps. It was just coming daylight, and I thought I saw on top of each of these little stumps what appeared to be a tear, and I thought the currant bush was crying. I was kind of simpleminded (and I haven’t entirely gotten over it), and I looked at it, and smiled, and said, “What are you crying about?” You know, I thought I heard that currant bush talk. And I thought I heard it say this: “How could you do this to me? I was making such wonderful growth. I was almost as big as the shade tree and the fruit tree that are inside the fence, and now you have cut me down. Every plant in the garden will look down on me, because I didn’t make what I should have made. How could you do this to me? I thought you were the gardener here.” That’s what I thought I heard the currant bush say, and I thought it so much that I answered. I said, “Look, little currant bush, I am the gardener here, and I know what I want you to be. I didn’t intend you to be a fruit tree or a shade tree. I want you to be a currant bush, and some day, little currant bush, when you are laden with fruit, you are going to say, ‘Thank you, Mr. Gardener, for loving me enough to cut me down, for caring enough about me to hurt me. Thank you, Mr. Gardener.’”
Time passed. Years passed, and I found myself in England. I was in command of a cavalry unit in the Canadian Army. I had made rather rapid progress as far as promotions are concerned, and I held the rank of field officer in the British Canadian Army. And I was proud of my position. And there was an opportunity for me to become a general. I had taken all the examinations. I had the seniority. There was just one man between me and that which for ten years I had hoped to get, the office of general in the British Army. I swelled up with pride. And this one man became a casualty, and I received a telegram from London. It said: “Be in my office tomorrow morning at 10:00,” signed by General Turner in charge of all Canadian forces. I called in my valet, my personal servant. I told him to polish my buttons, to brush my hat and my boots, and to make me look like a general because that is what I was going to be. He did the best he could with what he had to work on, and I went up to London. I walked smartly into the office of the General, and I saluted him smartly, and he gave me the same kind of a salute a senior officer usually gives—a sort of “Get out of the way, worm!” He said, “Sit down, Brown.” Then he said, “I’m sorry I cannot make the appointment. You are entitled to it. You have passed all the examinations. You have the seniority. You’ve been a good officer, but I can’t make the appointment. You are to return to Canada and become a training officer and a transport officer. Someone else will be made a general.” That for which I had been hoping and praying for ten years suddenly slipped out of my fingers.
Then he went into the other room to answer the telephone, and I took a soldier’s privilege of looking on his desk. I saw my personal history sheet. Right across the bottom of it in bold, block-type letters was written, “THIS MAN IS A MORMON.” We were not very well liked in those days. When I saw that, I knew why I had not been appointed. I already held the highest rank of any Mormon in the British Army. He came back and said, “That’s all, Brown.” I saluted him again, but not quite as smartly. I saluted out of duty and went out. I got on the train and started back to my town, 120 miles away, with a broken heart, with bitterness in my soul. And every click of the wheels on the rails seemed to say, “You are a failure. You will be called a coward when you get home. You raised all those Mormon boys to join the army, then you sneak off home.” I knew what I was going to get, and when I got to my tent, I was so bitter that I threw my cap and my saddle brown belt on the cot. I clinched my fists and I shook them at heaven. I said, “How could you do this to me, God? I have done everything I could do to measure up. There is nothing that I could have done—that I should have done—that I haven’t done. How could you do this to me?” I was as bitter as gall.
And then I heard a voice, and I recognized the tone of this voice. It was my own voice, and the voice said, “I am the gardener here. I know what I want you to do.” The bitterness went out of my soul, and I fell on my knees by the cot to ask forgiveness for my ungratefulness and my bitterness. While kneeling there I heard a song being sung in an adjoining tent. A number of Mormon boys met regularly every Tuesday night. I usually met with them. We would sit on the floor and have a Mutual Improvement Association. As I was kneeling there, praying for forgiveness, I heard their voices singing:
“It may not be on the mountain height
Or over the stormy sea;
It may not be at the battle’s front
My Lord will have need of me;
But if, by a still, small voice he calls
To paths that I do not know,
I’ll answer, dear Lord, with my hand in thine:
I’ll go where you want me to go.”
(Hymns, no. 75.)
I arose from my knees a humble man. And now, almost fifty years later, I look up to him and say, “Thank you, Mr. Gardener, for cutting me down, for loving me enough to hurt me.” I see now that it was wise that I should not become a general at that time, because if I had I would have been senior officer of all western Canada, with a lifelong, handsome salary, a place to live, and a pension when I’m no good any longer, but I would have raised my six daughters and two sons in army barracks. They would no doubt have married out of the Church, and I think I would not have amounted to anything. I haven’t amounted to very much as it is, but I have done better than I would have done if the Lord had let me go the way I wanted to go.

I wanted to tell you that oft-repeated story because there are many of you who are going to have some very difficult experiences: disappointment, heartbreak, bereavement, defeat. You are going to be tested and tried to prove what you are made of. I just want you to know that if you don’t get what you think you ought to get, remember, “God is the gardener here. He knows what he wants you to be.” Submit yourselves to his will. Be worthy of his blessings, and you will get his blessings.

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Szczecin, Poland - Mighty mini mission, sad but grateful goodbyes and happy hellos!


Culture night:  Starszy Cutting & Starszy Liechty at our restaurant:  Oberża Chłopska
- it was out in the woods and there were goats outside! 
 
First try at pierogi!
The pierogi met my approval!  These were supersized!
Name tag for our mini-missionary!  
I love these two women!
Future leader!
The more selfies the better...right?!
A mini-missionary getting his missiomary swag on!
Starszy Liechty - what?!
Siostra Pokora & Starszy Platter
Headed out to work!
Many bittersweet thoughts and moments since we thought one of us might be leaving Szczecin!

She'll be a legend in my mission history!
Such an amazing trainer!
Siostra Pokora was amazing - never complained once!
Before the serious picture!
The serious picture.  
Apartment shenanigans! Look at those two!
Inside joke cookies for the elders...
(Madre D:  Raquel wrote nothing about the joke. ???  Such missionary humor!
 The writing on the cookies say:
"Sister what are you doing? & Please get off the tram!)
Elder Platter left for the mission home to for his last night as a missionary
 so during the wait for Elder Liechty's train for Poznan we made pancakes.
Starszy Liechty's pancake struggles!
Goodbye to Siostra Pierson
from a branch member and friend that adore her!
 

One last hug!  Oh how I love her
and aspire to be a missionary like her!

Cześć Family and Friends!!!!

To start this weekly letter off... TRANSFER CALLS!!! 

President Edgren called us this past Saturday and I am staying in Szczecin and Sister Pierson left to Wroclaw! The rest of my district, Elder Liechty and Elder Platter, left as well! Elder Platter finished his mission so he left to go home and Elder Liechty is now in Poznan!! We all thought that we were staying together! We all were sad and everything has kind of been bittersweet this week! 

Sister Pierson and I were so sad to leave each other! We have grown so close and she has taught me so much! I look up to her and she is a missionary I aspire to be like! 

My new companion in Siostra Sloan and she is amazing and super cute! The new Elders are Elder Garrison and Elder Einfeldt! I am so excited to see how this transfer goes and I can already tell it is going to be amazing!!

This week was crazy!! The twins were able to serve a mini mission with us this week!! For those who don't know what a mini mission is (I didn't know until I came here) it is an opportunity to serve with missionaries for a couple of days and do their normal missionary work/routine with them! It was suppose to happen at the beginning of the week but the twins were sick so we pushed it back! Instead we just rearranged our schedule and had a normal missionary schedule! 

Except on Thurdsay we had culture night!! We are able to spend one night of each transfer doing something cultural! Our entire distric went and ate at the coziest, cutest, rustic restaurant out in the woods named Oberza Chłopska.  It was like a cabin!  I finally tried Piergoi! They are so so good!! We then went and saw the Georgian Ballet! It was crazy and so much fun!! Think Russian dancing on steroids with accordians, pipes and drums.  Made me miss dancing a little bit. 

The mini mission started on Friday with our district meeting.  This week's district meeting was bittersweet! The meeting was before transfers but we all knew it could be our last one! We finished talking about Christ-like attributes!  There is a great exercise/worksheet in Preach My Gospel about this!

The meeting started off so good because we had made missionary tags for the twins and they were so excited to put them on! They were ready to go work so we started right away with a stanowisko! 

The twins were so awesome!  They weren't afraid at all and just started talking with people right away! The first bit of the stanowisko Ola and I contacted together! I know I have said that the twins have fire testimonies but seriously they are incredible! They know exactly what to say and speak with such confidence about the gospel! We then had seminary and institute! 

I love institute! The members here are so incredibly kind and patient, especially with my Polish! They always ask for my opinions and patiently wait for me to respond in Polish! 

Saturday was amazing! We woke up, had studies, and we were out the door! We went contacting for a while and then we tracted for a while! It was super cold but the twins never complained once! They were so willing to serve and just jump in with both feet! Ola took charge and lead so many tracting discussions! 

We were also able to teach an investigator with her! She was so confident and answered a lot of questions the investigator had! She even bore her testimony about her baptism! There was an incredible spirit in the room!! 

We ended the day with an English blitz! We are really trying to build up our English class here and so we are now calling it "English Club" and focusing it towards a younger audience! We were hanging out ulotki (flyers) like crazy!! 

We then came home and Ola made dinner for Sister Pierson and I because she really wanted to serve us! She is so, so, so cute!! 

Sunday came.  Since we had heard on Saturday that everyone but myself and the Cuttings werer being transfered we all knew it was our last as a district! I had the opportunity to sing with Elder Platter one last time during sacrament meeting! We sang a Child's Prayer in English! We each sang our own parts and then during the last verse when the two parts come together I just felt the Spirit so strongly that I literally had chills all over!

 As I was singing and looking at all the members I realized how much Heavenly Father loves each one of them and how each of them are truly a child of God! I sat down at the end and was filled with love and overcome with emotion! 

We ended the mini mission in Sunday School! It was the last time Sister Pierson and I would teach together! We talked about why it is important to teach the gospel and why it is a part of God's plan! I loved hearing about what they learned from the mini mission and why they think it is important to be missionaries every day! They both want to serve full time missions  - they will be the best missionaries ever!! 

That night we had a Valentine's Day celebration! We made this amazing dinner and then baked and decorated cookies for the members! We went and doorbell ditched all of them and it was seriously so much fun! 

When we came back I helped Sister Pierson finish packing super quickly.  Afterwards we just sat and talked about the transfer and all the funny/awkward moments that happened and everything we learned! We were laughing so hard my abs hurt! I could not have been blessed with a better trainer than Sister Pierson! 

The next day we woke up and had to go and hang with  Elder Liechty because Elder Platter left! We made pancakes all together and then sad goodbye to Elder Liechty.  

Shortly after that I had to say goodbye to Sister Pierson!  It was sad but I was so incredibly grateful our paths crossed and now I have a new friend that I cherish!  

I spent the whole day with the twins and their family which was so much fun and an awesome way to end the transfer!! 

I am so excited for this next transfer!! 

I just want to leave with a quick thought that has been running through my head all week...

Every person to ever exist on this earth is a child of God and has incredible worth because of this! He knows each of us individually.  He wants nothing more than for us to return to Him! 

I have felt the love from my Heavenly Father for me and for others over and over again on my mission! I know He loves us each individually and has a plan for us!! 

Until next week...


Kocham Was!!

Siostra DeMordaunt

(Note from Madre D:  The following are pictures I found online for the restaurant and Georgian Ballet!  I'm so glad they encourage a "cultural night"  - the arts are so good for the soul!)


Oberza Chłopska   http://oberzachlopska.pl
(Raquel's pierogi cost 21,50 zloty = approx. $5.50 in USD! I think we should all meet for dinner in Poland!) 




The Georgian National Ballet:  (from the web)
Georgian Folk Dances hold a niche of a huge treasure among the world’s cultural diversity. They go far beyond merely bringing delight and entertaining audiences. National spirit, personal traits of a Georgian - temper, giftedness, braveness, physical and inner gorgeousness are clearly perceived in it, as in one of the phenomena of Georgian culture. These exquisite and exciting dances depict Georgian history, traditions and culture, deeply impressing audiences.