Toast in Never Never Land

    First off, I don't have much time today!  But I want to tell you a bit about Elder Sorn, he's our district leader.  He's from Germany.  He's the most hard-working, and personable person ever.  He's so great with people and he's also such a great conductor of the Spirit.  He knows how to lead a discussion on gospel topics and every time we have a District Meeting the spirit is there SO strong, it's like you could reach out and touch it.  Someday I hope I can teach as good of lessons as he does and be such a good example of righteousness.

    Some fun things:  I got to play soccer with Elder Sorn and a bunch of punk Polish kids last week on P-day and it was SUPER fun!  I was the only girl playing because my companion didn't want to play and Elder Skolimowski didn't want to either.  Haha, but yeah, that was fun.  Also, we got to eat at Ewa's again this week and the food was so, SO yummy.  It had carrots and mushrooms and meat and peppers and spices and was so juicy and just super good...

     Speaking of Ewa.  She's like more active than some of our MEMBERS right now and I just love that woman so much.  She is doing alright but needs prayers.  We asked her if she'd asked God if the church was true, she said she hadn't.  Then we asked her if she would...she changed the subject.  SHE KNOWS, I feel so strongly that she already knows this church is true, she just knows it would take a lot of change to admit it.  Man, she's so cool...

     Well, here in Poland there are a lot of Jehovah's Witnesses, believe it or not, and they actually go tracting.  When they go tracting, they leave their mark, too.  I guess some of their members are really forceful and so people automatically shut the door in our faces sometimes I think because they assume we are Jehovah's Witnesses.  I've personally met a lot of really nice Jehovah's Witnesses, but anyways... that's besidest the point.  What I wanted to say about this, is that the Jehovah's Witnesses write in pen on the wall next to the door if they've tracted it.  So there are little 'X's next to the doorbells in a lot of the buildings.  The word 'JUICE' is written - it's English, yes, juice - sometimes above the doorbell and it's usually accompanied with a date.  So I think JUICE means that they got let in at that door.  Then on some doors it says 'TOAST'.  We've been trying to figure out what that means.  I think we finally figured that it means an old person lives there... usually a rather very old person... SO that is the reference we have to the word 'Toast' in the subject line of this entry.  Another reason why I put it there is because this week a lot of our lessons were with the older generation, and let me tell you, I LOVED IT.

     One lesson we had with an older lady who let us in and we sang 'I Am A Child Of God' to her, she said angels had led us to her door because she'd been praying for someone to talk to.  We sat on a bench and had a lesson with an older man who was wearing a baseball cap and had some really cool things to say about how he respects women and he agreed alot with our doctrine.  Another older lady needed someone to talk to about faith because all her children don't believe in God and she is worried for them.  This woman really made me think about being young versus being old.  She talked about how hard it is to be old and how we were only happy because we were young.  At the same time, I look at President Monson and think, that's not true.  We can be happy at any age BECAUSE of the GOSPEL.  There's truth in every story and you can learn something from every person you meet.  And as members of the church we believe in a sort of Never Never Land, you might call it.  Where our bodies will be perfect and never age and we can be happy forever.  It's that hope that we're here in Poland to instill in people.  It's a kind of magic that comes with happy thoughts.  You just have to believe...not in fairies, but in angels.  Not in mermaids or pirates, but in Lamanites and Nephitses, pioneers and visions.  There is a magic to life when you add the Gospel to it.  You can do great things and be super happy, if you only just believe.

      Also, this morning in Personal Scripture Study, I’ve really been praying to know how to study for other people.  I mean, I’m sort of entitled to receive inspiration on what to teach these people!  So I’ve really had a strong desire to figure that out, because I always have questions of my own and want to read about that first before studying for these people.  This morning, however, I prayed that I might be completely committed to finding only things for others and that I would receive some sort of inspiration as to what to teach our less-active members and maybe something I’ll need to use on a contact this week.  The amazing thing was, that after this prayer, I not only had doors opened in my mind as to what we needed to teach one of our recent members, but the questions I had weighing on my mind (which I chose not to address this morning) were actually answered anyways.  SO GREAT! 

     The Principle I learned was this: You really are taken care of when you forget yourself and go to work, and I experienced that in a simple one hour study session this morning!  Also, that God will make your burdens light if you are working hard!

      One more quick story.  There was this man, we just were walking down the street contacting, and Sister Folsom said that the book of mormon helps us understand better who we are, where we came from, where we're going.  He said 'Nie Wiem Kim Jestem' - which means, 'I don't know who I am' - and then he walked away -  it basically broke my heart.  People don't know who they are!  YOU ARE A CHILD OF GOD!  Believe it and act accordingly!  I finished the Hymn book this week and really liked #335, you should all read it.  Also, read the preface introduction thingy to the Hymn book and follow what it says - good stuff!

    Other than that, I just know the church is true!  I know it with all my heart.  And it's re-confirmed to me SO often!  I may not get to sending pictures in the next four minutes, sorry, it may have to wait till next week.  But know that I love you all and the work will go forward no matter what!

     Lots of love,

- Sister Amber Allen

Try Me!

TAVIA!   Congrats on the wedding babe!  You look fabulous!  Holy cow, people getting hitched!  I saw a bride at Park Cytadella a few days ago and I'm strongly tempted to call that place Park Cinderella, seriously it's so beautiful and makes me feel like I'm in a fairy-tale!

Speaking of the Henderson side of the family, have I said that my mission president and his wife remind me of the Fleischels?  And my companion slightly of Michelle Henderson.  Yup! :)

Well, here I sit once more at a computer in a Library in the middle of Poznań!  I didn't bring my camera with me into the room so I probably won't send pictures today.  But I wanted to tell you a few things I've been meaning to say about Poland for a while, you ready? O.k.:

1. Poland doesn't really have normal milk... you buy it in these square cartons and it doesn't taste quite right...BUT I still drink a ton of it and love it just the same.  I was a bit worried that it'd taste so bad I wouldn't want to drink it, but it's not bad.

2. The water here I guess would straight up make me sick if I drank it out of the tap (which I'm sorta skeptical about...but according to the rules, not allowed :) ) Więc, we have a water filter and you can only run cold water through it...which sometimes makes things a bit difficult, but it's cool!  What an adventure, eh?

3. We don't have dryers... in fact, I don't think anyone owns a dryer in Poland.  You just hang your stuff up to dry...which has been alright so far, just you get really crusty towels and have to rub them together.  You should try drying your towels hang dry sometime just to understand the effect...haha...

4. We don't have sheets on our beds, well there's a fitted sheet on the mattress and then a "doo-vey" not sure where that word comes from, pretty sure it's not Polish...but???  I've been sleeping on top of the duvej latley cuz it's been straszny gorący here the past week - SUPER HOT!!!

5. The phone numbers have 9 digits... so like 555-333-222 would be a Polish looking number!

 

Besides all this fun stuff, my heart today is really just super full!  I'm so, so, so, SO grateful for where I am and what I'm doing right now.  I am learning so much it's crazy.  Not just language, people skills, and how to be a missionary, but I'm learning so much about the gospel and so much how to LOVE, truly LOVE others.  I'm not saying this job is easy, because it is not easy.  But I AM saying this job is totally worth it and there's nothing else I'd rather be doing.  There is an article from the June 2012 Ensign about Scouting, I want you to all read it...and apply it to your life, and to your mission.  We're all missionaries, remember?  My favorite quote from the article goes something like this, "We have a legacy of doing hard things in this church."  And you know what!  WE DO.

 

More than ever before, I've been realizing lately how much we are asking of people, as missionaries.  We're asking them to give up so much... but in return, they'll recieve 100 fold!  As a missionary I've seen that as I give 100%, I'm given back 200% what I need and when I need it.  I've been asking to love the people more and to be the best missionary I can be, and I've been able to have experiences where I HAVE felt that love and I HAVE felt like I'm contributing to the work here in Poland.  Here's two stories to illustrate that point:

 

Just last night, we sat down next to a man and had what we usually call a 'park-bench-lesson' - he was just outside about to light up a cigarette and we asked if we could teach him about the gospel.  So he said sure why not, and we sat down and proceeded to try to teach about the gospel... Now I say try because for one, the man was smoking, and Sister Folsom said he smelled alot like beer... for another thing, this man was very talkative and didn't really listen when we tried to answer his questions.  As I tried to be patient with this man, and truly see him as the Lord saw him, it was just so interesting how things came to my mind that I could say to him that totally made sense to him and he finally agreed to something we had to say - I actually said it in English.  But he asked, 'So I have to do things God's way, if He exists, that is... You're telling me he won't let me do things my own way.'  I pretty boldly said, 'Yes!' except for I said 'Tak!' and he looks at me increduously and says, 'Tak?'  Then in English I said, "If you wanted to be a doctor..."  "I don't want to be a doctor"  "Well, if you wanted to be, use your imagination with me here, okay?  If you wanted to be a doctor, you'd have to do things a certain way, no?  There's a proven way to become a doctor, you can't just do your own thing and become a doctor... So God has a proven way, that works, and you can be the best doctor."  "I want to be a tatoo artist..." "Well you can be the best doctor, or tattoo artist, EVER, if you do things his way.  And we're here as missionaries to just invite everyone, Zapraśamy wszystke, to just TRY IT."  "O.k."  - ha!  After all this, he says 'Okay!' - it just made me smile.  And it was a light-bulb moment for me to realize that truly, God has blatantly thrown his hands up in the air and said, look, kids, this is how it is, "TRY ME" and all we have to do is DO IT.  Do what he says and you'll realize He's right, He exists, and his way is best.

 

The last quick story is sort of a sad one.  I was on an autobus this week when a man got on the bus who looked and smelled like he hadn't showered in days.  He was covered from head to foot in dirt and probably other things I don't even want to mention.  It was horrible.  His left leg was huge and swollen and had something wrapped around it.  It was the worst smell I've ever smelled in my life.  He looked so sad.  And he sat two seats away from me.  Everyone who got on the bus moved to either end of the bus as to not sit by him and people were holding their noses.  Later, Sister Folsom told me his leg was rotting.  I wanted to cry.  I couldn't help but know that this was one of God's children!  A son of God!  And I urge you to never let yourself go rotten.  Not in spirit, not in body. Take care of yourself, do it the Lord's way and help other people to stay healthy in body and spirit as well!  Please!

 

I know the church is true.  President Monson is our Prophet today!  Joseph Smith SAW what he said he saw.  The Book of Mormon has your answers.  God answers prayers, and I love you!

- Siostra Amber Allen

Count Your Many Blessings...And Bug Bites!

First of all, Happy Birthday to my other kid-brother Nathan!  He's 17 today, so everyone should call him and say happy birthday :)

Second of all, wow...what a week.  WE HAD A BAPTISM!  I'm trying to remember if I've actually ever been to a convert baptism before, and I think that may have been my first one.  Let me tell you, it was SO amazing.  I really loved the Spirit that was there...I'll talk more about that at the end of the e-mail today...

 

I want to give you a bit of a feel of what people's reaction is to us as missionaries.  Every person is different, so of course we get a lot of different responses.  Everyone in Poland is taught in school as a young child that any religion that is not Catholic is a Sekta - a Sect - and that they are devil worshipers.  Which, of course, we are not.  So we often have to clear that up-- which with impatient people, and a busy world, some people will never know that we don't worship the devil because they don't take the time to find out.  One lady yesterday scoffed at us when we contacted her and said something like 'I can't believe two young girls like you would be out here doing something like this, I can't believe you're affiliated with this Sect!' and then she just walked away.  Another lady today said 'Mormoni!' and actually RAN away...haha...that was funny.  Some people answer the door and say 'I'm not interested' or 'I don't have time' or  'I have my own religion'  Some people can't get off the point that we believe in something besides the Bible.  Excuses, they're like armpits, they STINK, and everybody has them.  God GAVE you the time you have, so you have time for him! 

This week we did what's called a White Board - where you put up a white board in the middle of a busy street, write a question on it in Expo marker, and then you go contacting by yourself and ask them the question on the board and see if they have answers.  I really love it.  I don't have a companion hovering over me, no one is watching me, and I can just contact and say whatever.  It's so great, and I actually handed out two book of mormons on my own!  One was to this really cool guy named Krszystoff and I felt like I actually had a conversation with him.  Another set of guys I talked to had that excuse that they only believed in the Bible.  I didn't realize where I was going with my answer until the answer came all the way full circle and it was really cool that I could see God filling my mouth as I spoke.  I told them that God used to have Prophets, and they're argument 'that God can't change his mind' was such that I was like, well if he can't change his minde, then why do we not have Prophets?  They go, 'well we do have prophets!' and I said, well how do you know someone is a prophet?  'You take what they say and compare it to the Bible, if it agrees, you believe what they say.'  EXACTLY!  That's what the Book of Mormon is, more prophets that agree with the Bible.  It was just cool, to sort of get him to contradict himself... guess what, dude, the church is TRUE! :) 

Sister Folsom and I sometimes come upon a door where when you knock, an evil little dog starts barking and it's really not a good contact usually when people have dogs.  So she said, 'Satan gives people dogs...' Haha...now everything bad that happens we seem to put that saying infront of it, 'Satan gives people excuses...etc.'

There are a ton of people with dreds here, and chacos, and cool pants with the crotch all the way down to their ankles, some of them (not wearing those pants) ride bikes all around with backpacks - I wonder if they just camp all the time?...basically rad. - Sorry that was random.  I just really want one of them to join the church!

I haven't been falling asleep or getting as sleepy lately on lessons and it's been really great.  I feel like someone perhaps prayed for me specifically at home to not get tired, who was it?  Fess up - and THANK YOU!  It's so hard to stay awake here sometimes, when I'm not talking much and the Polish people never turn on their lights even if it's dark.  I am praying for myself to be more awake, and also just more brave to just speak up when I have something to say.

 

O.k. on to the subject line of this e-mail, count your many blessings...and bug bites!

Arsene was baptized this week in the waters of a beautiful lake here in Poznan, by Elder Sorn (Pronounced Sh-or-n).  Arsene is from Russia and Elder Sorn is from Germany actually!  Well it was beautiful, but the bugs were biting us the whole time and I was pretty freaked out.  Like in Provo, I know what's biting me, and if I'm in the middle of doing something I can even let a mosquito bite me and wait to kill it, but here in Poland I had no idea what was eating my flesh and they HURT, BAD!  Haha...so we sang this song for the musical number at the baptism and I'm trying to keep bugs off my legs while singing - it was pretty funny... I have about a dozen huge red marks from the bites and I still don't know what they were.  Besides that, the Spirit was really there at the baptism, it was right, good, and AMAZING.  The church just has to be true after you see something like that and it's so normal and so GOOD! (I also got to learn some POLISH SIGN LANGUAGE AND take off my shoes and play soccer barefoot in a skirt, but that's besides the point...:)

So we counted our bug bites, but we really need to count our blessings.  All of you need to count your blessings!  This week we taught a woman named Beata. She is having a really hard time finding anything good about her life… AT ALL… She doesn’t even consider it a blessing that she has a home! We tried to get her to name off some things she was grateful for and she said she has nothing to be grateful for!  My eyebrows go up at this point and I’m thinking, Beata, you have a home – so I said that to her.  She said, ‘well everyone in Poland has a home…’  It was just really interesting.  She’s not happy because she is not grateful.  At the same time, I don’t know the half of what she is feeling.  Her parents died when she was 18 and she is sick and has had diabetes problems and also eye problems.  She’s had a bunch of surgeries on her eyes.  She’s in her late 30’s, I think, and her life just isn’t full of good things, like I feel mine is.  The whole lesson I just felt like my heart was being ripped out and I felt so bad for her, I wanted to give her everything I had and let her see that life can be good and I felt guilty for having such a good life.  But then I realize, she CAN be happier, she’s just got to do the things we’re asking her to do!  Man…well the principle I learned from this is counting your blessings.  I must be super grateful, my entire life, because I don’t want to be miserable like Beata. 

The same goes for each of you.  This week I want you to take a half an hour and either pray about or write down the things you are grateful for.  Then I want you to really sit back and soak it all in. I had the chance to do that this week.  I can't believe how blessed I am, it's just so unreal.

 

Well, the church really IS true.  It's a done deal.  Nothing you or I can do to make it different, it's an eternal truth.  And every day I love it more! 

Keep reading your Book of Mormon.  I pray for you all, oh and Congrats Jon Cattron on getting your mission call to Chile! :) Way to go.

Talk to you next week

-Siostra Amber Allen

Ambers new address

Hello everyone, I just received a letter in the mail from Amber!! yipee and here is her address
Siostra Amber Allen
Stowianska  38 F   M.10
61-664  Poznan, Polska

Have a great day!
Melanie

Kiss My Ankle Why Don't Ya

   Well hey there, you fun people! Well, to answer a few questions I've been asked recently:

Are you still in Poznań?:

      I am still in Poznań, yes!  This is how transfers work:  We have 9 week transfers, where we are with the same companion the whole time.  Sometimes they have short transfers, sometimes you're with the same companion for more than one transfer.  Sister Folsom says that we will probably be together until she leaves, which is in October, so I have been assuming I'll be in Poznań for the two transfers with her.  However, I am not completely sure.  BUT I LOVE Poznań so I wouldn't mind staying here.  In fact even after Sister F. leaves, I wouldn't mind staying here.  I'd already know my town and have things down and stuff!  So I'm up for whatever.

So does it rain a lot and it is humid?? How has the weather been so far?

      Well it's been rainy and cloudy and then sunny and then rainy and cloudy, and then sunny...basically Poland weather might be as bi-polar as Provo weather.  But I've LOVED the weather here.  Sister F. doesn't like it a whole lot because she hates clouds... but personally I love it.  Because when it's hot, it's way TOO hot here.  So when the quick rain showers can take away some of the heat and leave us with gorgeous sunsets, I'm all for it!

How many Books of Mormon have you handed out?

       This has been a surprise to me, how many Books of Mormon we hand out each week, that is.  I thought for sure we'd only be handing out as many books as we have lessons, but we hand out quite a few each week.  This week I even got to hand out two English ones and that was SUPERB!  It was weird how many people we kept running into who spoke only english.  I think God knew I needed a break, knew I needed to share some feelings.  Because really I think the past month has been one of the quietest of my life.  I just don't get to talk much!  As for numbers, for example, this week we handed out 17 Books of Mormon!  And each person we gave them to actually listened to us for a minute and were AWESOME people.

What is your favorite food in Poland?

        My favorite food so far, would have to be one of the meals Ewa has made us - the soup especially (Chicken Stomach Soup!)!  Or this stuff that a lady Borzena in our stake made us once.  Bigos.  It's super weird...I think it has saurkraut (spelling?) in it and meat and stuff and you cook it ALOT...like for days...and then we put it on bread... YUM!  The food here is WONDERFUL.  Like seriously, SO good.  Weird stuff, but really good.  There's this one stuff called Mysuria (like "Missouri-uh") and it has cucumbers and sour cream or something in it...weird...but it's pretty good too.  Besides all this food, my companion loves to bake and cook.  SO we have had a TON of homemade pizza, these really delicious pancakes with homemade butter-milk syrup, and homemade bread.  It's SO yummy.  I need to statch her recipes before she leaves me here in Poland, for sure!

        Well besides that, oh snap, I have 10 minutes left... SO I'll type fast!  Check out Brother and Sister Reed's blog, they may have more pictures of us: it is reedmission.com - Sister Reed said to Google it and you'll find it easier, I guess.  I may not send pictures today, so check that out!

       A few quick stories!

       My favorite crazy experience this week was when we were walking around my favorite Park - Park Cytadela (google it see what you find) and there was this man sitting on a bench looking off into the distance.  Sister Folsom said something like, 'Let's stop and talk to the man who is pondering about life' - and so we did.  I didn't speak much, as usual, but Sister Folsom told him a bit about what we believed and we got to leave him with a Book of Mormon.  As we were leaving our final words with him, he stood up and said something about blessings.  I thought maybe he asked if we could pray for a blessing upon him.  Sister Folsom said something back, which I assumed she said something like, 'You can pray to have a blessing yourself!' and then randomly, the man fell to the ground on his knees!  I was so confused... then all of a sudden he bent over and kissed Sister Folsom's foot, and then to the right to kiss my ankle!  WHAT!  It was so weird!!!  I turned around and we started walking away and couldn't help but giggle.  I couldn't stop.  It was so funny.  'Did he really just kiss my leg!?' Yeah...weird stuff happens in Poland :)  But he has a Book of Mormon eh!

       Ewa came to church again this week, and we had a really awesome lesson with her earlier in the week as well!!!  I don’t get to say a whole lot when we are on lessons because Sister Folsom knows about 100% more Polish than I do.  When I speak, even if I knew the words before hand, I can’t seem to get them out without sounding like a frightened two year old.  So sometimes I think God gives me a little different perspective and view point of the lessons than Sister Folsom gets.  She knows what the investigator is coming to understand, and has an over all view of what to teach next…me, I have no idea.  But this week as we sat and taught Ewa, about half way through the lesson I just felt the Spirit so strong, like the presence of the Spirit was almost tangible.  More than that, I just felt like two things were extremely true at that point in time: 1. That the church is true, what we were telling her was right!  2. That God LOVES Ewa, and that I love her too.  It was really super overwhelming, and I just wanted to cry.  I got my chance to cry after the meeting when Sister Folsom was chatting with Sister Reed about it on our way back to the chapel.  I walked ahead of them and just sorta cried for a second.  It wasn’t a bad cry, definitely happy, but I just am praying hard that Ewa will accept and ACT upon that Spirit that I KNOW was in the room. Ewa is SO cool and would be seriously the best Mormon EVER.

      I get to go to a baptism this weekend - Arseni is getting baptized - he's one of the Elder's investegator's but I feel like he's ours a bit too!  Cool, cool kid, I'm super excited!

      One day this week we went over to lunch at the Heeley's and I heard four languages in one day and it was CRAZY!  Elder Sorn sang The Bare Necessities in German for some random reason - SO FUNNY... and Sister Heeley talked with her neighbor in French, then I heard Polish, of course, and then English.  Oh man, so cool.

      Well, remind me to tell you about white boards next week, and about people's responses to our message, like the Living Scriptures animated movie of Alma and Amulek...quite funny actually...

      I LOVE YOU ALL!

     The church is SO true.  Keep the faith

- Sister Amber Allen

Be My Thunder

     I appologize if this week's letter is shorter than usual, I may try to use some time to figure out how to send a picture or two!!!  BUT, without further adieu... CZESC!!!  (which means HELLO!!!)  Happy 4th of July last week, and Happy Birthday to my kid bro Gregg :)

     Maybe my favorite thing that happened this week was when we had like 25 minutes before we were supposed to be in our appartment - 9:00 P.M. unless you have an appointment, then it's 9:30 - and there were these huge dark clouds rolling in...thunder...then DOWN-POUR!  Haha...and we were still domaphoning and the rain was coming down this shute and there was a leak and it started spraying at me and my skirt was soaked and we weren't even out in the rain yet!  Then we decided to run home and man...there were RIVERS in the streets and it was just BEAUTIFUL.  Definitely a tender mercy since I've been so HOT here and I feel sweat running down my back all the time and (I usually take cold showers because of it) I can't go swimming and...yep, definitely loved the rain that day.  We were litterally soaked within like 30 seconds.

     I also loved the food we got from Brother and Sister Reed yesterday.  They fixed us chicken with rice and gravy and a nice salad and then chocolate brownies with vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup.  Yep, Sister Folsom doesn't know I don't like chocolate.  I haven't brought it up.  In the MTC I told people I might try to learn to like chocolate while I'm on my mission...haha but it's not working too well.  Sister Folsom LOVES chocolate and keeps eating it all the time and asks if I want some, I just have said I don't like candy much...which is mostly true!  Haha, I just think it'd be almost OFFENSIVE if I told her I don't like chocolate because she loves it so much.  Anyways, back to that meal with Brother and Sister Reed.  They are the senior missionaries here in Poznan (which by the way, you say Poznan like this, POSE (like you're posing for a picture) + NINE (like the number 9)) and they are just GREAT!  I really am so grateful for their influence and help and how down to earth they are.  They are super sweet and have already served a mission in Ukraine, this is their second mission!  I admire them a lot, they are converts, they were both Lutheran until they joined the church like five years after they were married.  Speaking of how long people have served, mom you asked how long Sister Folsom has been out.  She leaves the mission field in four months and hit her year mark in the country last week.  So she knows quite a lot of Polish and loves her mission, definitely a lot more settled in than I am :)

     The language... oh wow.  I've learned that there really isn't a good way to translate English to Polish, or visa versa...really you just have to re-word and re-think your sentances before you spit them out at all.  It's crazy.  But I love realizing that I know a word here and there that I didn't used to know... it's just hard to see that progress sometimes and I really don't feel like I've improved a whole lot.  I'm trying to set goals and accomplish things.  I've memorized a few scriptures in Polish, our 'Cel' or PURPOSE as missionaries, as stated in PMG, etc.  And I also can say things about the Book of Mormon and Families being together forever.  I love contacting and trying to bring up the family, mostly because that's what my testimony is really built around.  Sister Folsom keeps bringing that up, that my testimony is really strong when it comes to family.  I didn't realize that was a focal point in my testimony, like I knew I loved my family, but seriously, that's probably one of the BIGGEST reasons why I'm on a mission, why I'm a member of this church, why I choose to live the principals of the gospel.  BECAUSE OF MY FAMILY! :) I love them so, so, so much.

    The work has been going good, though.  We have a lot of meetings each week, last week felt slower than the week before, mostly because a lot of people are on vacation.  The Euro Cup is now over and people aren't hanging out in Centrum.  Elder Sorn really wanted to watch a match the other day and we helped him get over the temptation by playing us some SOCCER!  It was so AWESOME!  I get the urge to play every time I see kids out playing.  They have courts everywhere, really small ones, with usually hard floors, but we messed around on some grass, just the four of us missionaries.  Elder Sorn looks like he could be really good - he's from Germany, and played on a club team there, they don't have like College teams I guess...

     Someone asked me to compare the mission field to the MTC.  Haha... I don't know if you can compare them, they're SO DIFFERENT.  I definitely miss my MTC buddies... like alot.  I want to know how they are doing and what they're new companions are like and who they're meeting.  It's like I had to say good bye to my family again when we left each other that second day in Poland.  Some of them are teaching investegators who have baptismal dates so that's cool!  It's weird being with just one other person and sometimes I don't like it.  That's why I love the work.  I love getting OUT of the house!  :)

      Two more random things: I went to a Non-Denominational Christian Church the other day - really crazy I'll have to tell you about it later, especially when they tried to heal a mentally ill person... I've never been to another church before, so that was interesting.  Second thing - the cars here are so small.  And I've only seen short-bed trucks.  It's quite sad.  They don't know what a real truck looks like.... haha...okay... that was for Jenny.  I need to hear from that girl, what is she doing?  That also reminds me, thank-you to those of you who sent me letters this week, seriously it's SO nice to hear from you!  I love, love, love it - thanks!

      Last thing, I know the church is true!  It has to be.  God exists and loves us!  I want you to read Alma 48 about Captain Moroni.  Make a list of all the qualities he has.  Because it says if everyone was like Moroni, the powers of Hell would be shaken.  Bad things are everywhere here.  There are nasty signs, immodesty, just bad stuff, and Satan truly is trying to get us.  He may try to get you through doubts or through being lazy.  BUT WE CAN'T BE LAZY.  Like Moroni, you've got to put up walls, put up defenses.  Do your very best, and Christ will do the rest.  Our Savior loves us.  God loves it when we pray to him.  Talk to him all the time, alright?

      O.k. I'm going to try to put some pictures on here, love you tons!

- Siostra Amber Allen

Poznan: A Tale of Four Missionaries

     Family!!!  Well... there's lots of sunshine where you are... and fires I hear?  Whoa.  Nie Dobre, or as some would say No Bueno... I'm glad that Cornell and Louis didn't lose their homes, and that people are safe.  I guess that means I can't complain about the hot weather here... it's so humid, I swear I lose several pounds a day when the sun is out.  But there's also been a lot of rain storms here in Poland too, and I LOVE the RAIN!  I love having my umbrella out and I love hearing the thunder and seeing lightning, it's so powerful.  Those storms, the fires, perhaps signs of the Second Coming, eh?  I just love it!!!

      Well I want to give you some idea of what Poland is like, then I want to tell you about some of my new FRIENDS!  Well, here in Poland, when people greet you, they give you a hug and kiss you on the cheek, some just make the kissing noise by your cheek and don't really kiss you...haha...but yeah, it's cool!  Two old men have kissed my hand so far, haha, those ones were funny.  Old men are fun, at least the nice ones - the grumpy ones, not so much. 

      The houses and buildings here are mostly made of concrete - flat, boxy, some of the older ones have really cool statues and such peaking out at the tops.  But most of the buildings are painted bright colors, which is fun. I think our building is a peachy color, more pastel though.  We live above a bank and our apartment is probably one of the nicest apartment I've ever lived in.  (Which is funny because I always thought the mission apartments would at least be as dinky as the apartments I lived in for college).  The kitchen is small, but our living room is spacey and nice, and for two people it's just a good little place.

      Since people live in these big buildings all smushed together, no one has back yards - yeah you kids with back yards, be grateful!  To go tracting, "chodzic od drwi do drwi" (going door to door), you first have to get in a locked door in the front of the building in order to knock on each individual apartment door.  That's where there is what's called a domophone.  You type in the number of the home you want to call - we usually do the top door - and then if someone is home, they answer their telephone and we tell them we're missionaries and want to come up!  It's interesting, but I actually like tracting a bit more than contacting, just cuz I don't know much Polish still.

     There is KIWI YOGURT here...um have you ever had kiwi yogurt?  I think it may be my new favorite breakfast food.  It's SO yummy.  Posies grow wild here, and I LOVE posies, actually, so it makes me happy every time I see them.  Here you have to pay to use public restrooms, and there aren't very many - I've seen one in the park and one at the mall, but that's really it.  So we have to use the bathroom at our house and at the chapel and that's it!  Haha, sorta weird, but it's alright and works fine.  The toilets here are shorter and there's no handle to flush with, just a button on top of the toilet. 

    Alright, so new friends...drumroll please.... Some would like to call these people investegators, but I like to think of them as friends, because really, they ARE!  I love these people!  For one thing, they are nicer than the 85% of other people who won't listen to us at all or who give us mean looks, etc.  For another thing, they sometimes FEED US! :)  Ewa is one of our new friends and she feeds us everytime we go over there (which hasn't been very many times, but still...) and she is so cute and SO nice.  She's got her book of mormon all marked up with bright green post-it notes (which is my favorite color...haha...) and she loves the book.  Honestly, that's all you need for a testimony, I think, when people read, they know!  So if you haven't read your book of mormon today, READ IT!  There's promised blessings that come from reading the book, and God is BOUND by His promises, so you do that, and He'll bless you, it's a PROMISE.  :) Anyways, Ewa came to CHURCH on Sunday, and it pretty much made my whole week.  She was in a pretty dress and she tried to sing with us in Sacrament meeting, and answered questions in Sunday School - - basically perfect!  It was just really exciting, my first new friend to come to church!  She said she liked it, and I'm just excited to see where this will lead.

     One new friend is having a hard time believing that God exists and that he really is a loving God.  Her parents died when she was younger and she has a lot of health problems and I can see why it would be hard to believe for her.  The thing is, every time we are at her house, I feel this really great love for her.  It's really interesting because it's like this love flows through me and I have to share it with her, like it's not really my love - I mean part of it is - but it's God's love.  And if that's all I can share right now, then I guess it's okay.  -- It's been a bit frustrating this week with the whole language barrier thing.  It's like you're starving and you have this huge gorgeous meal in front of you but when you go to take a bite you realize there's this glass wall between you and the food.  You can't eat the food if you can't break the glass.  And right now, that glass is ten feet thick for me, I can't talk to people like I want to.  I have so much to say!  But no way to say it...and it's quite sad...maybe I ought to change the analogy just a bit, though, because these people aren't food and I'm eating them... it's more like there's a baby drowning and I can't get to it...yeah that's a bit too dramatic...BUT it's sorta true.  These people do NOT have the truth.  A lot of them are UNHAPPY because of it.  And I have it and can't share it and sometimes it feels heart breaking.  But at least I have Sister Folsom who can share it for me sometimes.

       Sister Folsom, she's a friend too that I haven't given you much info on.  Sister Susan Folsom is from Oregon.  She plays the harp and the piano, has an amazing voice, and wants to be a doctor.  She is right in the middle of her schooling to become a doctor but has already had an internship with a Heart Surgeon and she told me all about it on one of our morning runs this past week.  She talked about all that goes into one heart surgery and it was so FACINATING.  This girl is so smart, and so articulate it blows me away.   Like she always knows just what to say and doesn't say stupid things.  Unlike me, I feel like every word that comes out of my mouth is pretty stupid sometimes.  Bleh.  BUT I'm working on it, and maybe beoing around Sister Folsom will help the words in my mouth come out in a prettier more...thought out way? Hmf.  Anyways, she's super cool, and now I want to come home and take an anatomy class and learn about heart surgery :)

      Well, if there's one thing I learned this week, it's that life is sweet, even when life is hard, it's sweet.  I was reading some hymns this morning, in the 250's - and they talk about going to battle, singing a joyful song.  Those two things really shouldn't go together well...War, I think of people dying, smoke, pain, loss, you know-- bad stuff!  But a joyful song, I think of Do-Re-Mi, or Tonight's Gunna Be A Good Night...haha...weird I haven't thought about that song in quite some time... BUT LIFE ISN'T MEANT TO BE EASY.  And, men are that they might have JOY.  So there's GOT to be a way for hard things to be joyful.  I love it when I finally figure out that way.  It's the getting there that's a bit difficult.

      I love being on a bus and talking to a random person and telling them I'm from the states learning polish.  They get this grin on their face and try to speak to me.  Then I can hand them a Book of Mormon flier and it's just happiness.  I love giving people compliments, it goes miles.  And smiles go miles too, but I think I may have covered that point last week.

     Anyways, I hope you are all being safe and doing good things.  Laura Neumann Williams thank you for your letter, it's the first one I've got while in Poland and it made my day, especially the pictures!  Have I said congrats to Stephen Fleischel on getting engaged yet?  If not, man - you're the man. :) Good work!  And I want an invitation.

     Time is about up, so know that I love you all and that I pray for you.  The work is going forward, I'm praying for a family to teach because the family in Poznan is moving in about two weeks and we won't have one any more.  The strength a family brings to a branch this small is SO amazing.  Families are what it's all about!

     Alright, well Czesc! Till next week!

- Siostra Amber Allen

I'M IN POLAND!!!!

      Well, everyone, I'm in POLAND!  It's taken me 21 years and some change to get here, but here I am, and it's so... EUROPE!  I've never been to Europe before!  There are pigeons, and cobblestone sidewalks, and old ruins and run-down buildings and lots of communist blocks and tiny apartments and street lamps and gorgeous green parks and old ladies and little kids.  Everyone smokes...okay not everyone...but really... so many people smoke, it's sad.  K. but first I have to tell you about getting here!

      We had a flight to Texas, then one hour before the next flight took off, a NINE HOUR flight from Texas to London, England.  We would be arriving in England in the morning... London's morning that is, in your time, the middle of the night!  So this nine hour flight...I didn't know what to expect, never done this before, so I was nervous, about if the person next to me would be boring, weird, an old man who hates the church perhaps... BUT luckily I sat by this cool 26 year old red head who loves Botanical Gardens and studies Art History in Texas.  She was so cool!  And there was an old man next to her, but then his son switched him spots and we had another friend - a 26 year old guy from INDIA.  The three of us knew pretty much everything about eachother by the end of the flight...AND they got probably all three of the Preach My Gospel Lessons somewhere in there.  We didn't talk for nine hours straight or anything, but off and on, and let me tell you it was just so FUN!  I will need someone to send them a picture I took of the three of us later because I am not allowed to e-mail anyone but ONE e-mail to the President per week and ONE e-mail to my immediate family per week.  It's pretty strict, I hear, but I'm cool with it!

     O.k. so we get to London and all 9 of us were pretty beat.  We were tired, I was super tired, and pretty grumpy, I think.  I didn't really want to talk to anyone, and just wanted to sleep.  It was a weird six hour lay-over.  Finally we got to get on the plane to come to Warsaw!   On the plane into Warsaw, Sister Ostler and Elder Jespersen talked up a storm with this Polish guy in English and Polish - he knew both - about the gospel and it was SO SWEET!  Missionary work ROCKS!  Anyways, then we met PRESIDENT NIELSON at the airport and his wife, SISTER NIELSON.  Then we went to eat dinner at their house and go to BED!  That was THE BEST sleep I've had my ENTIRE mission, perhaps my entire life!  Haha, na, but it was sweet.

      Next morning, we ate a delicious breakfast, headed out to see the Rynek - center of Warsaw.  That was my first real taste of Europe, tall buildings, crazy cool looking churches, weird statues... yeah... oh and a TON OF PEOPLE!  We ate at a restaraunt - we ate pierrogies - for lunch, and it was SO yummy.  They are these little noodle things filled with different kinds of fillings, then deep fried or boiled.  My favorites were the potato ones and the spinnach ones!  They have this cool BACON sauce that was pretty fun too. 

     Then, time for the real stuff... my first time doing missionary work in Poland...contacting on the streets of the Rynek.  It was so SO scary.  I was nervous beyond belief, like really, I barely know Polish, or at least that's how I feel...and I have to STOP someone, who probably has somewhere to be, who doesn't normally stop and talk to random strangers, and tell them about my beliefs to see if they'll listen!  WHAT!  Haha... yeah...so I got a new companion for like an hour, Sister Mann, and we went around contacting people.  I would stop someone and say something like, "Dzien Dobry, jestem misionarka i ma...przeslania o..." and then I'd kind of fade off and freak out and Sister Mann would have to back me up.  BUT THE COOLEST THING HAPPENED!  I think it was the second person I tried talking to, was this young girl, 16, and she LISTENED!  Ha, it really was that exciting - she listened to me!  She was really sweet about it and she took a BOOK OF MORMON!  And we got her number.  And Sister Mann is leaving this week, so I really hope someone has her number.  I think about this girl every once and a while and how COOL would it be if she got baptized, because some crazy American girl randomly ran into her on the Rynek her first day in Poland and gave her a book, the BEST book EVER!

     Well, that was crazy, most everyone else said no, of course, but I got my first taste of success, not just my first taste of rejection :)  One lady said in English to us, 'Stay away from me!' and shooed us away with her hand motion, you know.  Haha, I just have to laugh it off.  Then, that night, we were assigned our Trainers!  It was crazy, getting to know where I'd go, and who would be my new companion.  Sister Folsom is my new companion, trainer, and idol.  This woman is the BEST missionary, she's so talented, knows Polish so well, plays the harp, has a big family, is from Oregon, and she's just so good.  I look at her and just wish I could do everything she does.  It's really hard sometimes to be around her just because of how much I want to do what she's doing, but can't.  I feel for people who maybe can't run, or have some other disability, it's like...there's nothing I can do about it - - at least not right away.  I'm trying to learn polish!  And it's getting better, I just need to speak more to my companion, really try...and just mess up!  REALLY that's how I'm going to become good, is by MESSING UP over and over and over again.  It's crazy, but I've come to that realization, might as well mess up a ton now, then feel the sting and learn from it and pick myself back up and do it again, correctly this time.  Seriously, it's going to be hard...SO hard.  But I'll get there.  Cool thing is, people like to hear that you are trying to speak Polish!  Some people, that is.  If you want to get a good view of missionary work here, it's like this: 95% of the people ignore you, cut you off, slam doors in your face, or tell you the following, "Do you think you are ready to have an intelligent conversation with me about this, I think not, Good-bye" (yeah we got that one once).  The other 5% are my FAVORITE!  They love to smile at you and try to help you with your Polish.  The at least SMILE!  Please don't reject anyone this week, would you?  Would you just be nice, and if someone tries to sell you something, at least give him/her the time of day and a cookie or something?  Like really, I don't think I'll ever reject anyone again...

      Two more quick things:

      I saw a man with his buddies, and he also had his son with him, a little blonde boy, SO CUTE.  But the dad came out of this corner store with a bunch of beers and a little juice bottle.  It made me cry.  I see these kids and all thats going on around them and it's just so not fair!  I wish I could take that kid home.  I waved at him and his dad had him wave back...but it was just so sad.  DO NOT disobey the word of wisdom!  PLEASE!  Just don't do it.

      Old Ladies.  I LOVE THEM.  Especially the really nice ones, like Pani Zofia who was so lonely and just wanted to talk.  She walked past us twice before asking us to talk with her because she was lonely - how CUTE!  She was like half my size - they're so SHORT and there are so many of them!  She took out her teeth while she was talking to us and held her dentures there in her hand as we walked.  It was so funny and cute.  So, my challenge, find someone who is lonely this week and just talk to them.  I don't care what you talk about.  Send someone a letter, go visit, take them cookies, just make someone un-lonely for a while!

     Aaah!  Church!  I've got to hurry and tell you about church.  The chapel is half the size of our Relief Society room at home.  We had like 20 people at church, if that, maybe only 17 or 18...  Only one young woman, and we taught her the lesson.  There are four of us missionaries in Poznan - two elders, two sisters, we don't live close to eachother.  We walk and ride busses and trains, it's SWEET.  I'm going to go get a card for that right after this.  I'm e-mailing at a library.  My address...aaah... I don't know...I'll send it to you next week...or write you today - not sure how fast it'll get to you though! 

    WELL time is up!  I have so much more to say.  The work is going forward.  WE ARE teaching lessons, we ARE giving out book of mormons, and we ARE making people's days just by SMILING at them, I've seen their faces light up and I love it.  I've felt the Spirit so many times.  God LOVES YOU.  I pray for a lot of you every night, Tasha, Tavia, Tiffany, Shayla, Shon, Cheris, my family, Jenny, Bobby, Laura, all my missionary friends...and many more of you, just know that I love ya!  The church is true!

- Siostra Amber Allen

Avatar, Krszystoff, and The Hebrews

 

HELLO!  It's my last time e-mailing from the MTC, so if you want a reply to something you send this week, I may not get back to you for quite some time.  We leave for Poland on Monday morning, leaving the MTC around 8:00 and leaving the SLC airport around noon.  We got our travel plans on Friday, the 8th, and we were SO EXCITED.  It's going to be hard to leave Elder DeShazer and Elder Ressler behind.  We've become pretty tight with them and it's just going to be so weird without them.  Gregg sent me a letter saying to be sure to be ready for the change from MTC to out in the field.  Believe me, I'm nervous and worried and scared... BUT I know that this is the reason I CAME on a mission, not to go to the MTC, but to go to POLAND.  So I'm STOKED!  Please pray for me to stay stoked, that I won't get too nervous.  I'm the "Travel Leader" for our group so that will be fun, I get to keep some missionaries in line for a good 24 hours...but it won't be too hard, we have good Elders and Sisters in our group, so I'm not worried.

     Some fun things that happened this week:  Sister Howells ran in the sprinklers one morning during gym  time and the MTC cops came over in their little go-cart thingy and told her she couldn't do that... We all laughed, and I wished I'd have done it with her, but was wearing a white shirt that morning and didn't think it'd be a good idea.  Haha, MTC cops, who would have thunk...

     We missed breakfast this morning because I couldn't find my temple recommend and once I finally found it we were late to the earliest session at the Temple.  When we got back to the MTC, breakfast was over.  Oh well, I'll just wait till lunch!

     Elder Jesperson, from Provo, knows Avatar pretty well - the Airbender one :) and we talked about some of the characters the other day.  I couldn't remember all of their names and it was really weird because I had to dig deep to find them.  Maybe it's cuz I'm learning POLISH!  Haha, kinda fun, though, to talk about Avatar.  Watch an episode for me, will you? :) 

    I met Simon Dewey's son this week!  Elder Dewey is in our Branch, I think he's from England originally but now lives in Canada.  Simon Dewey is the painter that does a lot of church paintings and they're all over in Preach My Gospel and really just everywhere.  It was cool to make that connection.  I don't like a whole lot of paintings of the Savior, but Simon Dewey's work is probably some of my favorite, because it's so realistic and doesn't make Christ look weird. 

    We hosted again this week, and I got to host companions who are going to the Phillipines.  They are speaking Tagalog (spelling?) and it was fun to take them both, randomly and at different times, to their residence and classrooms.  They both seem like they'll be great missionaries!

    This week was our last time teaching our "investegator" Krszystoff, who is really our teacher, Brat Broadbent.  It was so weird to think we won't get to practice with him again.  He's moving to Idaho with his little family this week.  We will miss him alot.  He is just one of those men that you look up to a lot and know the world is a better place because of him.  I hope I can be as good of a missionary as he was.  He's got so many amazing stories and I can feel the spirit when he speaks.  He's also just a great teacher and I learn so much Polish from him.  I had a "Coaching Missionary Study" with him this last week (he takes us each out individually - kinda felt like a P.P.I. kind of deal) and he was just so nice and so helpful and made me feel like I could conquer the world.  I hope that I can make people feel like that, too.

     Also, our investigator, "Ola" - our other teacher, Siostra Stay, wrote us a note saying she couldn't meet with us anymore because her mom wouldn't let her.  She was acting as an 18 year old girl who had really gotten into the lessons.  I was so excited for her to be babptized!  And then that note, it was really crazy how real it felt, the let down.  I know it's going to prepare us though, I know feeling that will just be a fraction of what it's like when we have a real investegator who you think will make it, and they don't.  How sad!  And how IMPORTANT this work is!  I know it!

     The other day in class, Sister Stay wanted us to have a gospel discussion as a district.  Alot of people hadn't really understood what she said (in Polish) and alot just didn't have any ideas as to what we should discuss, so I suggested Hebrews 11.  Hebrews 11 has always been a favorite chapter of mine, but I hadn't read it for a while and read it earlier in the week and LOVED IT like 100 times MORE this time!  So I really wanted to share it.  We had the COOLEST discussion on faith EVER in our district meeting.  I challenge you all to go read Hebrews 11 this week, it will seriously get you pumped up!

      Also, I read the Home Teaching message - the First Presidency Message, rather - this week and you should read it during FHE sometime and do the little suggested activity at the end.  The lesson made me feel the Spirit and I loved it.  Every family should have a good Home Teacher to bring that message to them this month, just cuz I personally liked it alot!

     I got to read the talk that President Monson gave in Priesthood this last General Conference and it was so good, as well, about the Priesthood power and the wounded soldiers, SO COOL!  Also, yesterday, the man who gave us the devotional showed us a whole bunch of old Mormon Ad's - remember when we looked for a bunch of those on YouTube as a family?  That was fun, and you should look a few up again and watch them.  One of them said, "It's not who you aren't, it's who you are and being yourself is BEING GREAT!" - so just be yourself, because all of you - (my family AND friends) have something to offer and I love ya!

     Well, it's time to say goodbye.  Know that the Church is true, and I'm so excited to be in Poland!  My Polish really isn't up to par yet, but I know that being immersed in it will help SO MUCH, even if I do have a head ache for the first 3 months in-country :)  Prayers work, the spirit is REAL, and I LOVE the Book of Mormon.

     Hugs and smiles from me to you!

- Siostra Amber Allen

   

Breaks, Birds, and Blessings

     Sorry everyone this is late. This is Ambers mother. I was out of town and couldn't remember Ambers silly email to set this up!    

 WAIT!  So is the Allen Family reunion still going on right now!?  If it is, HELLO everyone!  I wrote a letter for you to read at the family reunion because I thought it was this weekend and then this week, and that you'd get the letter I gave to Sister Lamb last Tuesday...but sounds like you didn't get it because I ran into Sister Nanette Lamb this morning up by the temple!  That was fun, gave her a hug and got some news about the family and stuff.  So dad, you have to fly back out to MA?  No good, I'm sorry!  I prayed that your poles would come, I guess it was supposed to happen for some reason, right?  Share the gospel when you go back out there, maybe someone on the plane needs to hear from you! :)

       Alright, so Allen Family, I see these pictures and get a tiny bit jealous!  Looks like a blast!  I'm glad we have a fun family, and that we all know eachother and that we can smile and throw...mud?...pudding?  at eachother and still be friends!  Haha... Nella, so you got baptized this last weekend, right?!  I love you and I'm so proud of you!  And thanks for doing your school report on Poland, I'd love to hear about it!   Teancum, thanks for your message about the food, I've heard SO much about the food, and I'm excited to taste it for myself!  Goldie!  I am so glad you love books!  I love you too!  Syd, haha, no I think Archuletta left the week before I came in, or he was here for only a few days that I was here, because I never saw him, and I know he's out in the field now.  Hey and I love you TONZ too!  Katherine and Nephi, thanks for saying hi!  Nephi, no haven't had to put my companions in head locks yet.  One of them says she's put me in a head lock a few times, though... haha...These sisters are really the best, though!

        Last week in the subject line I talked about purple keys and didn't share the story...SO funny story times:  I was going to the bathroom...and saw this key in the bottom of the toilet...haha...oh, we are so weird... so I told Sister Ostler it was in there after I had finished my business.  She then we decided one of us should get the key out of the toilet.  Sister Ostler did it...with her bare hands...haha the key was probably in there for a long time, cuz it's purple.  Don't worry, we sanitized it... and I want to find the door it unlocks, that'd be SO COOL!

        Next funny story... so last night at Devotional, I was sitting there writing in my notes.  The opening musical number was 'Come Thou Fount' and I love the part where it says 'Take my heart, oh take and seal it, seal it for thy courts on high.'  So I just wrote 'TAKE MY HEART' in really big letters and decorated around it and was coloring it in with some colored pencils.  Well...this elder behind me apparently saw that message, 'take my heart' and took it upon himself to write a note back to me... even though I wasn't writing to him in the first place...He took out his planner and wrote, 'OKAY :)' then tapped me on the shoulder to show me his message!  I didn't really get it at first, but then made the connection and kind of chuckled awkwardly and turned back around to listen to the speaker as he and his buddies just laughed behind me...  WHAT!  And then later, after the devotional, one of them "dropped" a piece of paper and asked me if it was mine... I couldn't believe this was happening... I opened it and it said, "Write me maybe?" then it had the elder's e-mail address and hearts and lips drawn on the paper.  Um weirdo!  Yeah, so I showed our elders and they asked if they needed to go rough the kid up for me.  I feel protected, thanks Elders :) 

       Not so funny story...but it sticks out in my mind...on Saturday, the three of us went outside after a lesson because we were pretty excited about just teaching in Polish and that it went well.  We were so excited that we were giddy and being loud and so we decided to be loud outside instead of inturrupting our elders.  Well we were walking and all of a sudden we hear this huge BANG!  We look over and this guy had ran straight into the fence infront of the MTC on his BIKE.   Like head on, full speed, his bike broke, one wheel was further away from the bike, and he was crumpled on the ground.  Our mouths dropped open and our eyes got wide and we hurried and said a little group prayer.  It was frightening, and he was moaning...then we realized he'd broken a BENCH in half too!  Just yesterday we asked the security guys in the front of the MTC if they knew what happened to the guy.  They said they think he was okay - we saw he WAS wearing a helmet, so that was good - and that he'd disengaged his breaks earlier so that no one would steal his bike, and had forgotten to put them back together.  So he came down that hill, from up by the temple, and couldn't stop.  Crazy!

        One more funny story: We were playing volleyball and I was sort of wrestling the ball away from Sister Ostler on the sand and all of a sudden Sister Howells came out of nowhere and dogpiled us.  My face went STRAIGHT into the sand.  I came up with a mouth and nose full of sand.  It was the weirdest sensation, I really don't think it's ever happened to me before.  I was spitting for a good five minutes, went and washed my mouth out...and had sand in my nose for the next day and a half - haha, it was just fun :) and everyone had a good laugh!

        O.k. well, Saturday was really REALLY great.  We all promised to try to speak ONLY POLISH ALL DAY!  It was AWESOME, let me tell you.  I was more focused, I remembered more words, our lesson went better, and I felt SO exhausted and my head hurt pretty bad at the end of the day.  But I'm pretty sure that I only spoke about 40 words or less in English for 24 hours... how cool is that!  Also, I feel pretty excited that I have the First Vision memorized in Polish.  I got to recite it infront of our whole class because I was the only one who had it memorized.  I really didn't think I could do it, for some reason, and I was sure someone else would get to it before me, but I did it!  Awesome...

        So, basically I feel really blessed, with a lot of things!  There are lots of birds on MTC grounds, and I love to watch them.  The trees here are gorgeous.  It's just pretty and I can see the blessings all around me!  I'm grateful for my family and friends that sent me letters this week, as well as all of you praying for me!  I'm so, SO grateful and I feel your love.

       I felt blessed to be able to be a 'HOST' this week.  A host gets to spend about 3 hours on Wednesday helping new missionaries find their rooms and get their books, etc.  I knew that Hannah Belnap would be coming in that day and was hoping I could host her.  Then when the man in charge of us hosts told us to grab someone if we knew them, I was super excited.  I got to host Sister Belnap!  She was so happy, wearing high heals, and a big smile!  It was fun to see her.  Rachiel Asay is also here with us, and it's pretty cool to be here at the same time as them!

       I want to tell you that I pray for you and that I love ya!  I feel like my prayers are more specific here on a mission, that I really mean it...not that I didn't before, but now that I'm away from you all, I pray with...more intent maybe?  I challenge you to pray with full intent, really mean it, and pray for people by name and ask for something specific.  I've been studying the hymns lately and really liked #191, look it up.  Our Savior is amazing, He truly lived and will come again!  Aaah!  So much more I want to say, but time is up!

 

Love you, love you, love you!

- Siostra Amber Allen -

P.S. did I tell you that I love you?  I LOVE YOU!