"We are all daughters of God"

Visiting Jakub in the hospital. The sisters found his mother's membership record while digging for names to contact. She suggested they visit her son in the hospital. They usually had to bribe their way in. Christmas 2010.

This week we had a different look to our branch. It was AMAZING. We had three less active members show up all wearing suits. Here are three priesthood holders that our branch desperately needs. One, we had a left a note at his apartment in December. We had never heard back but then he came to church a month and half later. Then Jakub walks in the door. It was amazing to see him out of the hospital and in church!

This week, I have had some amazing lessons. The first was with a Amara, a less active member from Mongolia. She speaks Polish, too but not English. She invited us over for dinner and also Emily (the student from America). She fed us these tasty Mongolian meat fried things. She also told us that she likes it when missionaries eat a lot. Unfortunately, I was sitting next to her, so I ended getting a lot more food on my plate than planned. Everytime it looked I might be close to finishing, she gave me more. Good thing we run all the time.  Anyway during the spiritual thought, Sister Bautner and I read the Book of Mormon in Polish, Amara in Mongolian, and Emily in English. As we went around the room reading, I was impressed by how worldwide this religion is. This gospel is for everyone. And as Amara said, "we are all daughters of God."

Museums and More

I took my honors freshman class to the Carl Bloch exhibit at the BYU museum. This exhibit features large altar piece paintings displayed in the United States for the first time. It's incredible the spirit that is felt while going through this exhibit. It was designed to feel like you are walking into a cathedral. Bloch did most of his religious painting near the end of his life, and you sense his close connection to the Savior through his art.

My personal favorite is the piece illustrating Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane. In the placard by the painting, it talks of Christ "praying more earnestly" in the Garden. Praying more earnestly as He performed the Atonement for me? for you? I have been desirous of being more earnest in my prayers after seeing this incredible art.

To get free tickets go to carlbloch.byu.edu

Lodz Baptism Jan 22 2011

This week Lodz district had a baptism! Ania is this great lady who will tell you exactly what she thinks. She bore her testimony in Sacrament Meeting and said, "At first I didn't really understand the whole plan, life before and then everything after, but now it is slowly making sense." "I am happy!" It really is true. I have personally seen a great change in her from when the Elders first brought her to activities. She is happy and she has a light in her life. The Elders told me that before she didn't have anything on her walls, now she has pictures up. Everything becomes brighter with the gospel. She is an amazing lady---as Anne of Green Gables would say, a "kindred spirit."

Okay, the lady I am in the picture with is Jadwiga, a very common name in Poland.  We have two in the branch, and they are always together. She came to the baptism and is very entertaining. We also had this amazing member come to church this week. She is blind and can hear out of only one ear. Yet, she lives alone. The first thing she wanted to do was pay her tithing. Oh, she is awesome. We also had an investigator pay her tithing this week. She is very excited to see the promised blessings.

So background story on Romuald- He was the +1 I mentioned earlier in a previous email. He randomly came to church after we gave him a flyer. He started meeting with the Elders and decided to be baptized. Also, the next week his mom came with him. She investigated the church in 1995 and had a baptism date and then got scared off. However, now she is coming weekly and working towards baptism. So you never know what will happen.

 We have a mission goal to teach a lesson a night (investigators, or new converts /less actives). So we had a lesson set up for when we got back to Lodz from Zone Conference. However, on the train that lesson cancelled and we tried calling everyone we could and no go. So we decided to street contact when we got home. However, we stepped off the train to pouring rain. No one was on the street, and it was super dark. To top it off a car came by, and you know in the movies where the missionaries get splashed (yeah, not as fun as it looks). So we made it home soaking, but it did not dimish our fire. We have had an amazing week. This Sunday we had a high goal of 6 investigators to come to church. Saturday night we tried calling everyone, and noone would answer. We went to bed thinking no one was coming. But 5 investigators showed up on their own! Then another random person just came in and stayed for all of church. He told the Elders that the Sisters (us) gave him a flyer on the street and he decided to come. So 5+1=6 Never doubt!



Soloist at State Honor Choir!

Last week we attended four performances where our baby sang and danced: "Rock and roll Broadway," State Honor Choir and Murray City's Human Rights Celebration.

Rock and Roll Broadway---"Come On Everybody"

Mama Mia

The Bride?

State Honor Choir at Abravanel Hall. She was chosen to solo from 500 girls, all selected to participate from their school choirs.

You can view "The Spanish Lady"  at the following link:

www.youtube.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Pa-vkyzQzM
UMEA Honor Choir, Abravanel Hall, January 15, 2011.

Tram Riding 101

As usual, this week was full of many ups and downs. Everything from great meetings to cancelled appointments, progressing investigators to people vanishing, but through it all, I have been so blessed. This week I got to see another miraculous transformation.

In November, the Harbers and we went to visit a member in a wheelchair who cannot come to church very often. She told us how her goal is to be able to go to the temple. Her husband is also a member but was going the complete opposite direction. He wouldn't talk to us and his wife explained that he wanted to take his name off the records and was meeting with the Jehovah Witnesses.

Okay, jump to Christmas time. We traveled to their apartment to drop off banana bread and the Book of Mormon on CD. It was a rainy night, and they weren't even there. We were able to put the CDs in the mail box but we kind of felt it was a waste of time. However, I didn't know that President Harber put in the Christmas Devotional DVD translated in Polish as well.

Now skip to this week. We got a call from Kasia and was asked to bring an extra Book of Mormon and to come visit. We walked in to meet a changed man. As a couple, they had watched the Devotional and President Uchdorf's talk hit his heart. We walked into a home full of joy. Marcin had a huge smile on; she was smiling. I still cannot believe the change in him. Together as a couple they were starting to read the Book of Mormon again. They are praying again. They both are working to be able to go to the temple. The gospel changes lives.
To view President Uchtdorf's talk, go to the following link:

http://www.ldschurch.org/

Three Kings Day on January 6 in Poland

In Poland, they leave up all their Christmas decorations until after Jan. 6th. They celebrate the coming of the three wise men on this day. I find that very appropriate because I also received three packages! (The fudge was sent November 29. She doesn't comment on the taste.) So it was been a great continuation of Christmas! Thanks so much for everything; I love it.

I wearing my new socks today, and I think they will look great when we go bowling later.  Don't worry I will win :)

Siostra Steadman and Pritchett before she went home. Bowling must be a P-day thing. Pic must have been taken at Halloween time; we just got it in the mail.

Siostra Steadman with Pres. Nielson, Pres. and Siostra Harber and Elders.

Last week they called a Young Men President so that the two young men in our branch had some place to go rather than Elder's Quorum with everyone else. I strongly believe that when a place is ready the Lord will provide. Sister Bautner and I  have met so many Young Men this week that are interested in learning more. It is amazing. I hope they call a Young Women's president next. Last Wednesday, we were contacting for quite a while without any success. It was a bit tough, but we had another hour before our English class (yes, it is still weird to me that I teach English) and so we wanted to meet someone before then. We were walking by our chapel, when we stopped two boys right in front of the window. They started talking to us and seemed interested, so we invited them in to the chapel and taught a short message on the restoration. Amazing! After that we had twenty minutes so went back out to place a book of Mormon. We were talking to this guy who wasn't really interested, but we showed him the Book of Mormon and he was just holding it when this teenage boy walks over and asks, "Can I see that?" "How much does it cost, and where can I get one?" I have never been contacted before, and it felt great to see someone who really wanted the Book.



BRRRRR!

Happy New Year!

I am excited that you are going to read with the Book of Mormon Challenge (see Polish Mission schedule below). I have noticed that obedience and faith always go together. You show your faith through being obedient and you gain more faith as you are obedient.

It has been cold here, in fact, one night with Sister Pritchett it was so cold that our hand warmers froze before we took them out of the package. We have been doing a lot of contacting and tracting. Hopefully, we will be able to start teaching more lessons soon. It has been crazy to be the one in charge of us getting from place to place. We have only gotten lost once.

This weekend we got a phone call from the Elder from Lodz serving in England. He wasn't able to get a hold of his parents for Christmas and asked if we could go visit them and get the right number. We did, and hopefully they were able to connect. But when we visited his mom she explained that she doesn't have the Internet so she waits for letters. And she hadn't received a reply from the last letter. It just made me really grateful for the use of the Internet and the fact I was able to call home on Christmas.

Siostra Steadman's new companion

Transfers are tommorrow and I finally was told who my companion would be. Sister Boutner will come join me in Lodz. So I am going to stay here. I am way excited. On Sunday, the members kept telling me that I wouldn't be allowed to leave. And that they wanted me to stay my whole mission. At least that is what I think they said---maybe it was we want you to leave (who knows it was in Polish). Sister Boutner will be dying after this transfer as well so I will send two companions home.

The "one" young woman in the branch making white chocolate popcorn for Christmas.

I have learned that dzienkuje (thank you) is another way for people to say nie (no). In America, when you say thank you, you are pleased or you agree--not the case here. Dzienkuje-Door slam. So we were telling this to a member who is from England and doesn't speak Polish, but his wife is Polish. He had been in the hospital for a month here in Poland and told us that he has learned three words: needle, pain, and horrible. Horrible was used to describe the hospital or the needle or pain. Anyway, after we told him about how Polish people would use thank you, it was like a light came on. He told us that now it makes sense. Because when he was in the hospital when they brought the food he would tell them thank you and then they would take the food away! He never understood why, but then he told us horible could also be used to describe the food so maybe it wasn't so bad. Oh, you had to feel bad for him, but it was an entertaining story.