Gdansk, Poland - A New President, Miracle Seeking, Sometimes a Good Cry Is All You Need

This siostra is doing so well!  I love her!
She has been here two weeks and has already grown so much!

District on the dock!

Pipe Organ in the Oliwa Cathedral - dating back to 1700's.
Has 5,100 pipes and 3 keyboards!

Fourth of July Breakfast!
The Szczecin siostry slept over for interviews with the president! 

Szczecin homies!

Siostra Sloan - love her so much!

Straight from Boise!

Cześć Family and Friends!!!!

This week was a learning week for me! 

There are sometimes weeks where you basically talk to no one - sometimes this can get discouraging but this week wasn't like that! Every single time I started to feel discouraged Sister Groesbeck and I would discuss different miracles we had seen! There were so many miracles this week it was incredible, some of them were small and others were huge, but no matter the size miracles still happened! The Lord's hand is in all things!

We just had a new American family move into our ward!  They are exactly what this branch need! They're absolutely incredible! We were able to have a lesson with them and their cute kids! It was so much fun and I am so excited to see how they are going to help this Branch grow! 

We also were able to have a fun meeting with a couple of members and... my MTC teacher Sister Cheney! It was crazy because she was speaking to me in Polish and I could actually speak back and understand everything she was saying! She is traveling here with her husband!  

I seriously love the members here so much! They are so sweet and are constantly worrying about us! They just make you feel like you are apart of their family! That is something I have truly loved on my mission, I feel like I have gained so many different families! I have never felt out of place or that I didn't belong! They have always welcomed me with open arms! 

We also had some interesting conversations with people! There was a day where we talked to a couple of people about what our purpose in this life is! Each person we asked said there was no purpose to life, only suffering, and then that's it! After trying to talk to them further and tell them there was purpose and that they each had individual worth beyond what they could understand Sister Groesbeck walked away just feeling so incredibly sad for them! I want you all to know this life is meant to be a joyful one! We all have a purpose! There will be trials and heartaches but there will also be incredible joyous moments! We are loved beyond measure! 

Sunday was the most incredible day! The new member we met from Norway came to church and he is the biggest miracle ever! He immediately got up and translated testimonies and agreed to teach the following Sunday! He is so willing to work with us and wants to help the Branch grow! 

Another miracle happened when this family from Belgium walked in! The dad got up and bore his testimony! He said how they had been looking for the church but weren't sure where it was.  Then they saw what he described "an angel" which was our newest member walk into the building in his white shirt and tie, so they followed him and found the church!

He then went on to say he knew the church was growing and it would grow here! He had served in Paris, France on his mission and he described in one of his areas there was only a very small branch that met in a house! He just visited that place and there is a now a ward there! He then talked about how there was no temple in France but now there is one! He said we are waiting for that temple in Belgium but that they know it will come! 

I was overcome with emotion! I felt like I was looking into the future for Poland! It also was incredible because this is where my mom served and she told me there was a promise that the Netherlands would get a temple while she was on her mission.  When we went there as a family I saw that temple! I can hardly write this without getting emotional! The Lord keeps his promises!  

The church is growing here in Poland and there will be a temple here!  I HAVE NO DOUBT!  I WILL ONE DAY SEE THAT TEMPLE!  I am so grateful to be apart of helping it grow here and this is one of the many times when I am so grateful to be a missionary!! 

Our Pday was a day late because we met our new mission president yesterday! He is absolutely incredible!  He is a native so naturally he is very Polish! I also met his family - he has three little kids 0- and oh my heck are they cute!  Everything was in Polish- our entire training and the interviews we had! This is what we need! It will push the language so much here! There are going to be incredible miracles and in fact he even said he expects them! This is going to be huge for Poland! I know it is it's time! I am so blessed to be here for it!!

We didn't really do anything to celebrate the fourth of July.  We had zone conference here so the Szczecin siostry were her and Siostra Sloan made us a great breakfast!  That night I remembered the holiday again and said to Siostra Groesbeck "Man! We didn't do anything to celebrate! So should we sing?!"  She lost it and we died laughing!  We sang the national anthem!  That's how we celebrated our fourth!  

We both had a break down this week!  I had to cry it out and I think Siostra Groesbeck did too!  We are both trying so hard and want everything to work!  It felt good!  I've learned the importance of crying it out and laughing and then working my tail off!  It is all about balance and I know I can't see the big picture that the Lord sees but I can try!  So most importantly it is about trusting Him too!  We are open thus far in our companionship and I like that!  Training can be humbling and yet so good too!  I love Siostra Groesbeck and want to be the best for her!  And I can remember wanting to speak Polish when I was new in the land too!  I still want to speak it better and better!  Humility!  Acknowledging the little and big miracles help our focus and are encouraging!

I'm out of time we are going to a castle for Pday today!  

I could not feel more blessed to be a missionary than I do right now! I love this work and this gospel!

Kocham Was!!!!

Siostra DeMordaunt