Trzemek

Saturday and Sunday  this week were pretty great.  We had a fun little
get together on Saturday night put together by the Reed’s and it was
super fun!  It just felt like I was back at home at a ward party and I
just loved it so, so, so much!  The power of the love of Christ was
evident in that room where everyone came together and just had a good
clean time.  Our investigator, Ewa Musiał said she had more fun than
she’s had in a long time.  I’m just grateful that people know we are
spiritual and can have fun too!  We don’t have to be nuns to do God’s
will.  I also loved Sunday because we had several people at Sacrament
Meeting, I got to meet Sister Leppannen, and Marlena’s lesson in
Relief Society went well.  I was also able to prepare the Young
Women’s lesson for Natali and that was just super fun because to my
surprise it turned out fine!

The Principle I learned was this:  It’s great to be alive, you know?
Right now is the time of our lives, it’s a great time to be breathing,
laughing, crying, highs and lows, it’s just all so good.  I’m grateful
for the perspective we have on life and that we really did want these
hard experiences and these really, really GREAT experiences too!  It's
like Pinoccio (spelling?) how he wanted to be a real boy, with a body
and feelings.  We wanted that too!  And we're getting it, so don't
complain about the hard things, at least you can FEEL, it's better
than where you were before.  The principle, I guess you could say, is
the great Plan of Salvation.  We know where we came from, and where
we’re going, and that makes it all worth it.

My companion and I are doing great.  Really.  I know Sister Folsom
cares about me and that she wants the best for me.  From her this week
I’m learning how to be bold with love.  It’s just been a good-hard
week!

The thing I really wanted to talk about today was the few people I've
met here that remind me of my sister Rachel.  The first was a Down
Syndrome older lady on a bus, I can't remember if I told this story,
so sorry if I have...BUT... There was this lady and she kept looking
at me.  So I moved up a seat to sit behind her and tried talking to
her in my broken Polish.  It was just so fun because I couldn't
understand her really...and she couldn't understand me...but it was
like I knew we were already friends, and she knew it too.

Then the second person is a Down Syndrome man who sits with probably
his mother at this tramwaj stop which we pass in the morning on our
runs.  The first time we ran past him, he just waved really big and it
was fun.  The next time he ran with us for a ways and was shouting
things at us in Polish and that was sweet too.  The next time he just
waived and we said 'Dzien Dobry, Dzien Dobry!!!"  Aw man, I love that
guy and I look for him every morning.  I haven't seen him in a few
weeks and I miss him.

Then there's Trzemek.  He's not Down Syndrome... but definitely
missing a few cards.  He was hitting on this cute Polish girl when I
got on the bus... then he saw me hand an English flier to this lady
and her son so he went over to ask her what it was.  Then he tickled
her son... they were really nice to him.  Then he came to sit by ME!
I gave him a flier, and the lady just grinned at me like she knew what
would happen next.  He must be a Poznań local that a lot of people
know... maybe...?  Haha well he sits next to me...we have a
conversation and I tell him I'm learning Polish...he tries to hold my
hand...I say no thank you. HA!  This guy was pretty much my favorite
part of the day.  Then he gave me a hug...and I didn't hug back.  Then
he went and got Sister Folsom from the other side of the bus to come
sit by us and he stood up so she could sit down.  Then he told her
that I didn't hug back.  We practiced counting, he only got to like 20
then we were BOTH stumped :).  We also covered colors for a while and
I knew how to say brown but let him think about it for a while before
saying it...  Then Trzemek followed us off the bus and a ways and kept
shaking hands and wanting us to come with him and he wanted to wear
Sister Folsom's coat so she let him!  Oh man, then Sister Folsom took
a picture and he wanted to like put his arm around me for the picture,
oh no! :) So here's the pciture we took.  But we should DEFINITELY
hook up him and RACHEL in the next life, I'm down. :)

Every soul is great in the sight of God!  And you should all read the
talk called "His Grace is Sufficient" in the New Era that you sent me.
It's so great, it says, "Grace is not a booster engine that kicks in
once our fuel supply is exhausted.  Rather it is our constant energy
source.  It is not the light at the end of the tunnel but the light
that moves us through the tunnel.  Grace is not achieved somewhere
down the road.  It is recieved right here and right now."  Look for
God's help, he'll give it to you!  God is so powerful yet so merciful.
We should be grateful every day for the Atonement of our Savior.
He's the only way to be with the ones you love forever, you know?  And
I just wish more people would listen.  These people are so beautiful
and they NEED the gospel.  I just wish they would search for truth,
honest seekers of truth, that's all we need!  Man.  The work is going
forward, one step at a time.
I love you all SO much!
-Sister Amber Allen

Grapefruit Babka

Well, you see, this week was plum-full of miracles!!!  It seemed like just one after another kept happening and it wasn’t because of anything I did or anything my companion did, I think, rather it was just God blessing us, SO MUCH!  The first little miracle happened last Monday night.  We had already done some tracting but we had 20 minutes left and could have either walked home or found a new building and done maybe one more klatka…well we decided to do that one last klatka and the very last door in that row of apartments let us in!  He was a young guy who plays the guitar and he was just super nice.  At the beginning of the lesson he said he didn’t like to read the scriptures, and by the end of the meeting he was asking us where he could buy a Book of Mormon!  It was so great!  And the best part was when I was able to recite the Joseph Smith quote about the first vision.  I looked right in Bartek’s eyes and I said it and I didn’t mess up and there was this quiet that came into the room, it was tangible and so real and so… exhilarating!   After the lesson I just wanted to jump up and down because it was so…exciting!  I know he felt the Spirit, as did I, so strongly, and if I just felt like that all day, it’d be so much easier to talk to everyone! 

Another miracle we experienced was when we couldn’t get a hold of this mother, Kamila.  She was so amazing when we met her last week and it was so awesome that she said she’d let us come back, but she didn’t come to Church on Sunday like she said she would and I was pretty sad, to be honest.  Then we came to her house once, knocked, and the door didn’t open, but we were pretty sure she wasn’t home.  A second time we came and knocked, this time we were pretty sure she was home, but just didn’t answer the door.  Sister Folsom said something like, ‘maybe someone is watching the baby and it’s not really her…we’ll give it one more try.’  So we decided to tract the rest of her building and on the first floor we were knocking on a door and in walks Kamila!  Oh man, I was SO excited!  There she was, and it was perfect timing.  We had planned our day in a really weird way that morning, I remember, but it was all supposed to happen that way!  Anyways, super cool…along with other things that happened this week, it was just stellar!

The third one was just super fun.  We were tracting in this building over by our place and an old woman let us in.  I was a bit worried, because you know, the old women usually end up being these cute ladies who want you to come over for tea and cake and you are here to bring people to Christ and get the church rolling and…well…tea and cake doesn’t exactly cut it…  Anyways, we came in and she had us sit down and she started telling us about herself.  Wanda is a super cute and bubbly old lady who is also a holocaust survivor.  This woman rolled up her sleeve and showed us the number tattooed on her arm!  It was crazy.  She was so SO sweet and had a great sense of humor…and then her son came home!  Haha… His name is Jurek and he’s about six foot something and has bright red hair and he probably weighs one and a half of what dad weighs…haha he’s a big man!  And he’s just a goof ball and sort of chuckles like Santa when his mom goes off on a tangent.  So you’ve got these two pictured up in your minds, right?  Well, they’re just some of my favorite people now, they let us share a first, Jurek wants to read the book of mormon and come to English – he’s like 40 years old or so…and he’s got potential, I think.  But we didn’t even know he’d show up!  So that was just awesome.  Then right before we leave, Wanda wants us to meet her neighbors and take some of her food home and feed us dinner and…and…and…haha she’s so sweet.  So she bends over to get us a zuccini to take home and takes it out of the sack and it’s like the size of my forearm…and then she’s like, aw…how about you take a BIGGER ONE and pulls one out the size of my LEG…!!!! Haha and she gave us apples too.  And there’s Jurek just chuckling in the back ground.  We just laughed a lot and I’m excited to go back and see them sometime. 

 

Another experience I loved was last week when we were tracting and doing my favorite thing – SINGING in the KLOTKAs.  Your voice just bounces off those walls in the hallways and it’s great acoustics and Sister Folsom sings Soprano and I sing Alto and it’s basically a blast, like seriously…AND more people open their doors for you too!  So we were singing, and this one lady comes up the hallway with her groceries and tells us we sing beautifully, she’s not interested, but we can come in if we want…GREAT!  So we come in and gave a first, not before we got to sing for her though!  We sang ‘Abide With Me’ and it was so great and the woman even got out her little recorder and had us RECORD it for her husband so he could listen to it when he gets home! J So fun…but the spirit was there.  She’ll remember that song forever.  It was just cool.

Aaah!  So many experiences I want to share… like a girl came to English who’s actually from the Ukraine and has been living in Poland same amount of time I have, but wants to learn English too!  Amazing girl.. Anyways we saw her in the PARK yesterday with her BROTHER and we sat and chatted, turns out her brother’s been in Poland same amount of time as Sister Folsom.  It was so surreal and like meant to be I just had this overwhelming feeling of love for them – again!  Like I’ve gotten this feeling for several people we meet, but it just sorta shocks me sometimes how much I feel like I knew them before.  And that’s what brings me so much joy out here, I’m not searching for strangers, seriously I’m searching for friends.  And I love it, SO MUCH! 

Some silly thing: we…and by ‘we’ I mean, ‘Sister Folsom’…have been making babka’s – it’s a cake, but it’s like lighter than cake sometimes…and…yeah, just a Polish cake… and Sister Folsom put GRAPEFRUIT in one…yuck…haha but the texture was so good and it was so yummy we ate the whole thing…just the after-taste was bad, ha.  Also we taught a lesson to a hippy this week and we think he pulled out some weed while we talked to him.  Oh and we made our own pickles…yeah…and they only take like three days and you don’t put vinegar in them and they’re good and we make pickle sandwiches, sometime I’ll send you a picture – they’re delicious! … What else… oh millions of other things but…

One other thing, I read the introduction page to the King James Bible this morning – you should read it, it’s pretty sweet, especially when looking at it from a missionary perspective – is the PERSECUTION.  Man, sometimes people really rip into us and tell us we’re wasting our lives.  Then we see these young people in horribly immodest clothing smoking and drinking and we think, we’re wasting our lives?  It’s so interesting to me how many people are so rude to us.  They laugh in our faces.  There was one couple who were telling us how we should be traveling the world or doing something fun with our lives because soon enough we’ll be stuck like they are, and they pointed to their two cute kids who were sleeping, one in the stroller and one in her mom’s arms.  We were thinking, are you KIDDING?  That’s where we WANT to get, we’re preparing and hoping for that!  And they were literally laughing out loud at us and talking really loud too, almost shouting.  It was uncomfortable and so sad, really.  Sister Folsom said it reminded her of the Great and Spacious building type of mocking, and truly it was.  I couldn’t believe they were so loud around their sleeping kids too, most people just tell us to ‘shhh’ the baby’s sleeping, go away… anyways… people…

You know it’s really hard not to compare...  Sister Ostler and her companion just got the standard of excellence three weeks in a row, the fourth time this transfer…and I’m just like WHA!  I want to be that good!  And I’m sure Sister Ostler’s language skills are like twice as good as mine, they were in the MTC.  One thing is she’s just so confident, and I am not!  I just need to be more confident, sheesh…but where do I start?!

The principle I’m really trying these days is that I need to really believe in myself, we are doing an alright job and even if I have a SUPER LIMITED VOCABULARY, things are going to be alright!  I can simply testify of Joseph Smith, and God’s Spirit will do the rest of the teaching, it’s so simple, but you’ve got to work so hard to get that Spirit to be with you like that.

My companion and I are doing so good.  I think we’ve laughed more this week and smiled more this week than ever.  Sister Folsom is such a good example and I’m so SO grateful for her language skills.  This week is transfer week and we got called last night and….I get to stay in POZNAń!!!   I also get to stay with Sister Folsom for her last transfer!!!   I’m super excited to get to stay with her in Poznań and really do our best for her last transfer.  I’m not sure how to act about her going home, if I should talk about it or not, I asked her and she said she’s just not going to worry about it, so I won’t talk about it too much I guess.  I don’t want to think about going home so that suits me fine. 

Anyways, I love you all SO, SO, SO much.  And I pray for you every day. I know that the scriptures are what ties everything together.  We can know God exists by reading from their pages!  We can know Joseph Smith is a prophet by reading their pages.  Ewa (said ‘Eh’ ‘Vuh’) read the WHOLE Liahona and wants to know when the next General Conference is!  I’m so excited to watch it with her!  This church really is true.  The Spirit is real.  And I know I’m supposed to be on this mission in Poland, and especially in Poznań right now, God needs me here, even if it is to keep me believing.  He knows what I need when I need it and even though things are sometimes hard, and my faith sometimes get the wind knocked out of it…I stand back up and try again and God helps me out.  I’m grateful for our Savior, and I need to learn more about his Atonement.  Well, remember I love you!

- Sister Amber Allen

When Your Pride Gets Punched in the Face

Well, I’d like to start out my letter today by teaching y’all some Polish!  When you say “no” and shake your head up and down, it means “sure!”…actually you don’t even have to nod your head, ‘no’ just means ‘yes’ here! And how about, “Indyk” means turkey… Maybe Nella would like to know the word for dog, “Pies” – which you say like P.S…yeah.

      Nella my girl, how are you?  I hope that you heal quick and I’ll be praying for you.  You’re like the bravest person I know.  People here in Poland yell at me and make mean faces at me, but they don’t bite!!! Haha, that’s crazy that you got bit by a dog!!!  Love you!

      It's Brittnie's birthday this week right?  Happy Birthday my lovely California Cousin :)  Love you!

      Speaking of people yelling at us, sometimes I'd rather them yell at us than pull what they call a "Flake" on the mish.  So this one lady, we met her on Friday night, and she said we could come to her house on Sunday and have a lesson.  Well we get to her apartment and ring the doorbell, (and I've been flaked already so many times that I told Sister Folsom to stand to the side of the door so she couldn't look through the peep hole and see us) and we see the light in the peep hole go out - aka, someone is looking through... but they didn't answer the door.  So she was in her house, and she's not answering the door... alright so then we decided to call the woman on her cell phone!  We could HEAR it ringing in her house!  But she didn't pick up... AWKWARD!  Pride punch number one.  You think that you've got something and then you don't... well woops, guess it wasn't meant to be!  That really is something that has been hard for me to wrap my mind around here.  People say they'll do something and they don't.  In fact I think maybe 3 out of every 50 people who say they'll do something ACTUALLY do it.  So if you make a promise, and that includes a promise to God - which is what you do when you are baptized and go through the temple - you better follow through.  That includes me, too though, and I have to repent every day for not being who I should be, I can always do better.

       Some of you know how I get when I'm wake-boarding.  The attitude I have when I'm wake-boarding goes something like this... I get a little freaked out, I feel really stupid, I probably turn red, and I mostly don't want to do it, because I've never succeeded at it, I'm no good, and trying again feels useless.  I also don't want my pride to get hurt, so I hold on to it really tight.  And even if I get up for like 30 seconds, and my family cheers for me, I end up feeling dumb that I felt dumb and it just kinda goes in this ugly circle...haha...Yeah... well I hadn't realized it, but that really is the problem with me, it's PRIDE.  It was the problem with the Lamanites too.  And I've felt it here on my mission - that same yucky feeling where you just feel dumb and useless and... BUT that's SATAN!  You're not supposed to get discouraged.  And you are supposed to let your pride get punched in the face.  Just put your pride out there and let it get PUMMLED.  Seriously, you've got to let God do His pruning.  It certainly doesn't feel good.  But I know that if I let my pride get punched in the face, things will all work out for the best and I'll be a better person.  If I'm humbled and I look at things from God's perspective - where he's just pleased I'm trying! - and work harder the next time, that's when things are going to look up.  Otherwise I'll just be in this ugly pride cycle.  Indeed, as Mother Teresa said, "We have not been called to be successful but to be faithful."  - You do your best, your VERY best, and the Lord fills in the rest.

       This week we had a wonderful lesson with Ewa, and her sister Dorota was there and actually listened too!  I LOVE THEM!  Dorota says that you have to sing when you cook for the food to turn out right.  Ewa says you have to talk lovingly to your plants for them to grow! :) and Dorota says it doesn't matter how old you are, it only matters how old you feel, so always feel a lot younger and you'll be fine!  She's so cute, I love Dorota too.  They keep calling us their daughters and oh man oh man if I could just get them baptized they'd make the BEST Relief Society Presidency EVER.  Yeah, so Ewa finally agreed to praying to know if the church was true!  Which is a HUGE step for her, and I'm SO excited.  She's been reading the Ensign and LOVING it, and I'm so grateful we have that General Conference Ensign in POLISH to give her!  Keep reading those talks and preparing for the next general conference with good questions and prayers in your hearts.  I know you'll find answers when you go about it prayerfully!

       One of my favorite things is showing a picture of my family to people.  I need to take a different one around, though, because the one I have been showing people is of us in our Blue Cobandeh T-shirts where Rachel looks like a boy.  Then I have to explain that she cut her own hair and blah-blah-blah...haha but yeah, I need to bust out a different picture.  And LAMINATE IT!  But everyone is SO impressed that I have such a HUGE family.  People here, I've probably already told you, but people here only have one or two kids...

       A couple more quick stories (and once again, sorry this is so spacey and not super cohesive) = We were tracting this building and got let in by a SUPER CUTE MOM!  She had a three year old girl who was watching Curious George and that weird dinosaur t.v. show.  It was all in Polish - super cool. 

But anyways, yeah the mom answered the door and said, “Come on in!” - which is SO RARE! and SO FUN!  She let us pray with her while her little three year old girl ran around with the dog.  It was just super fun to teach a mom!  She asked during the lesson something like, “So if I like your church, can I keep coming to it?”  And Sister Folsom responded, “Well of course!  You can even get baptized if you want!”  Man, I just felt the Spirit and was so sure that Kamila would be at church on Sunday, which she didn’t end up coming.  So we’re going to go visit her this week and see if we can’t have another lesson.  She has experienced some really awesome things in her life, like having her baby was a miracle!  The doctors said she wouldn’t be able to have a child, then she did!  AND She also told us a story about how she’d had questions and prayed and opened the Bible to a random page and there was her answer!  We agreed that things like that happen with the Book of Mormon.  It was awesome.

      Also, the pictures - Sister Folsom made some cupcake-sized Babka's this week and they turned into Volcano Babkas :) it was fun to watch them explode in the oven... hehehe... - Ewa is the one in red, we're eating chocolate ice cream... (Ewa doesn't know I don't like chocolate, shhhh, don't tell her) - That Raspberry thing... yeah...pretty much HEAVEN... or Paradise (in Polish, the word Raj means paradise!) - Yeah, then the cathedral thingy, we went there one P-day and it's pretty cool, has some crazy fun statues, one that looked like the Angel Moroni :)  I've heard it actually has a baptismal font in the basement, but we weren't able to go see it.

     Alright, well, for my last few words, I just wanted to tell you that you need to really not worry about what others think about you.  Just worry about what God thinks about you and everything will work out for the better.  If you are being rude, take that two word sermon that President Uchtdorf gave last General Conference and use it - his two word sermon was ' STOP IT' - seriously, don't be ridiculous and just be a kinder person.  And if you're a parent, teach your children to be kinder as well!  I know the church is true.  The book of Mormon is EVIDENCE that you can HOLD in your hand that it's true.  I love you all SUPER MUCH and pray for you.  I'm grateful for your prayers, I need them.  And thanks for the letters!  I actually got several in one day not last week but the week before, from ward members too! Thanks again!

Lots of love,

- Sister Amber Allen

     

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