North to Alaska---a mostly moose memory

The Land of the Midnight Sun grows huge begonias.

According to the helpful ladies at the Visitor's Center in Anchorage, the lack of direct sun also helps. After some helpful tips we headed towards Denali National Park. But on the way a "must stop" was the little town of Talkeetna.

Remember Northern Exposure---supposedly the TV show was based on the wacky town, where they have a chocolate store, of course.

Dog sleds abound in Alaska---as planters  . .

As photo ops . . .

And we saw several sled dog teams in training where they are still used in Denali Park in the winter.

We also saw little planes by every patch of water---a major source of transportation in the wild.

Siostra Steadman Birthday Wishes at Zone Conference

We had a great zone conference yesterday. So I am sure pictures will be going on the blog soon, Mom. It was here in Bydgoszcz, so it fun to go and not have to catch an early train. Zone Conference was fun to see all the missionaries and to talk some more sister missionaries. I learned a lot. I feel I have a lot to improve. But one thing President Nielson mentioned a lot was why we do things.

Okay random history fact---we found out yesterday that the reason it is taking them forever to get permission to paint our chapel is because it is a historical building. It was headquarters of the SS in

WWII.

July and August birthdays for Bydgoszcz Zone.

This week has been a good week, but a crazy week. The weather still is off and on. I actually pulled out my thermals for a day and the next day we were back in short sleeves. It has been unpredictable.

Thanks for all the prayers and the support. We actually have some meetings we are excited for this week so the prayers are working!!! Oh, and a lady that Sister Garcia taught and I was there when we found her in Lodz has a baptism date so we are excited!

Oh, the Weather in Poland is Frightful in August

Can you believe how fast this summer is going? Here the days are incredibly long, but the weeks seem to flying by. I have been told by many sources that this is the worst summer for weather that they have had. It just keeps raining. This has made it difficult to find people. On Saturday we didn't struggle with the issue of being rejected all day, we couldn't find anyone to talk too. We tried tracting and contacting. No one was on the street and no one was at home. We think they all left to find better weather.

However the rain has provided different ways to find people. For example, on Thursday a huge rainstorm hit while we were contacting. We had an umbrella, but it was raining hard enough it would hit the ground and I promise come back up. It is amazing how quickly the street clears. We took cover in a cookie shop :). In the end we were able to have a good conversation with the store owner. In other words I believe that we now have a reason to try every variety of cookie at the shop.

We also had a cool meeting with a young girl. I am not sure if she will go anywhere right now, but it was one of my favorite first lessons. First of all when we set up to meet she didn't want to meet at the chapel so we agreed to meet outside. Unsurprisingly it was raining so we ended up having our meeting at the chapel. She is Protestant, and it is amazing how many of her beliefs align with our beliefs. For example, she does not believe that we should pray to Mary. She believes that our bodies are our temples and that the Ten Commandments still apply today. It was incredible to hear someone explain to us the same things we try to explain to other people. She is very curious in the Book of Mormon, so we will see what comes of it.

This Sunday was great---we had a lot of members at church. Every Sunday it is almost like going home. The family with 8 kids who live in another city were in a car crash last week on the way from church. The mom and six of the kids were in the van with the dad the 2 kids following behind them in a car. The van with most the family was involved in the crash, and they rolled 3 times. The van was totaled. Miraculously, all of them were okay. However all of them were sent to the hospital and some of them to different hospitals. It was amazing to see how the branch family was here. Members were called and they had people to be at each of the hospitals. The branch here really is a family to help and serve. Then despite everything the entire family was at church again this week. Half the family took the bus in order to be at church.

This week we also had a family from Germany come for church. The father is Polish and the mother is German. Their children mostly speak German and little Polish and a little English. They also brought their daughter’s friend who isn't a member and only speaks German and a little English. I am always amazed at the fact that we are able to have conversations. They are supposed to be here next week and in YWs, so we shall see how it will go.

Olivia just got back from EFY in Germany. She told me that part of the week they had to learn the waltz. I don't think we ever learned the waltz when I was at EFY. She also said that she had a weird American partner. Oh, she is great.

We also had a family who went to Germany to go to the temple for a week. They said that in one of sessions the German missionaries came. It made me very jealous. However they told us that they thought of us while they were there.

Our district is completely out of Books of Mormon luckily we have someone coming from Warsaw tomorrow. We hope to get mail, too. We haven't gotten mail for a month so we are excited.

I love you all

Love Siostra Steadman

Sorry about last week, for some reason the email didn't get sent. But I sent it today and so it is like a two in one day. Now you kind of understand how it is like for us on mail day. This Friday we got mail from Warsaw, and it has been over a month so it was like Christmas. I got mail from some friends, Sister Goodloe and the primary kids, the cousins, Grandpa Peterson, Sister Harber, and Sister Whitbeck. It always fun to get letters and see how everyone is doing. We also got some cases of Ksiegi Mormona. Good thing because I actually had someone come up to me and ask for a book but we didn't have any to give.

Sister Harber told me she had contact with a bishop in Germany and the Danielewski family is doing great. They have started doing baptisms for their family members in the temple and are preparing to receive their patriarchal blessings. That is the best news to get. It is always to get letters from kids they manage to make me laugh and feel the power of their sweet testimonies.

This week was a lot like last week. We did a lot of contacting and searching. As a district we are trying to come up with new ways to find people. Anyone have any good ideas?

Church this week was awesome. It was a packed room. The elders got kicked out to the hall. We had the family from Germany, another couple from Germany, people living in Ireland, England, and from other cities of Poland. It is amazing that no matter where you go, the church is the same. No matter what language everyone has the opportunity to accept the sacrament. Testimony meeting was great as well. It is amazing to hear the testimonies of Polish people. It gives me hope that we will find someone who wants to talk to us.

On a more funny note---this week Sister Garcia and I taught Sunday School to two German 13 year girls. One speaks a little Polish and the other a little English. We watched the Restoration movie with them which we had in German and then tried to talk about it. When I decided to serve a mission I never knew how many lessons I would teach were they didn't speak English or Polish. We also made Sunday dinner for the district. I tried to make Manicotti. It was a fast Sunday so everyone liked it, but it wasn't the typical Manicotti. We had to improvise a little with Polish ingredients.

Kocham was!

Siostra Steadman

What's with the Weather in Poland?

Dzien Dobry!


How was the vacation? I hope you made it home. Or are you still living in the airport? They have great omelets if I remember correctly at the Long Beach Airport. I hope you had great weather. We walked outside Saturday morning, and I am pretty sure it was lightly snowing- as one investigator told me on the phone- it is the end of the world. But yesterday was super hot so you never know what the weather with be like.

So this week was a week of having faith. Faith is the first principle of the gospel but it doesn’t mean it is always easy to keep having faith. Especially when everything we are trying do doesn’t seem to be working. This week we planned to have 10 lessons and in the end we only had one. Our lesson was at the end of day Sunday, so you can imagine how excited we were to have it. It just proves that you can’t give up. Sister Garcia is great at being positive. As she reminded me, at least we were able to plan for ten lessons.

We have had funny things happen all week, but at the moment I can't think of any of them. Oh, except for the fact Sister Garcia and I realized the we both have the same exact skirt, size and all and we both wore it on Saturday, without planning it.

I love you all!

Love Siostra Steadman

Conclusive Proof of Having Lost It

You know you are unorganized when the following occurs:

• You have to wear your thermal underwear in August because nothing else is clean, and it is time to go teach a class, and the air conditioning in your car has just gone out. Wow! Oh, I'm so hot.

• You go to bed at 2:00 a. m. when you have to get up at 6:00 a.m. (Both of these occurred on the same day!)

• You serve chocolate chip cookies for dinner. And went out for lunch. Actually every Sunday after my hubby became the bishop, my daughter and I came home and made chocolate chip cookies. It was our way of dealing with Dad being gone all day. Then when he came home, we had dinner together. A coping strategy that needs to be replaced since all my clothes now need to be replaced.

Two sister missionaries in Poland find out they are related through one pioneer

Everything is going great here in the Big Ghost. Last week we had quite a few lessons; all the hard work from the last transfer is starting to pay off.  I love serving with Sister Garcia again. It has been fun to catch up on all the news of Lodz. We also found out that we are related, distantly, but still. You know Hannah Libby Knight Carter or something like that Mom has told us about, well when I taught a lesson about Family History in Young Womens this week Sister Garcia pulled about a story about her that her mom sent about an ancestor.
(Of only ten sisters serving in Poland, what are the odds that these two girls would serve together in one of the tiniest branches in Poland? And what are the odds they would both know about this great pioneer who joined the Church in Maine and came to Kirtland? I imagine she is smiling in heaven right now, thinking of the sacrifices she made to join the Church and that two of her descendants are preaching in Poland).

Learning new approaches for the Polish language. Siostra Steadman in her new birthday skirt.

 I did have a surprise during English class. They brought me flowers and a cool paper thing for my birthday. I love our English class here. They are so fun and they love to teach us Polish as much as they like to learn English. I also got a birthday card from the Danielewskis! It is always so fun to hear from them.

Before Sister Jones left we had a cool experience. Sister Jones accidentally rang the wrong doorbell for a meeting. So the neighbor answered the door and started to talk to us. She was really confused, and we were really confused. Then our actual appointment opened the door and invited all three of us to talk about the gospel. She kept asking us how we had the strength to come a foreign country and talk with strangers about religion. She then couldn’t understand how our parents would let us go. I left that meeting feeling very grateful for my testimony that I know that this church is true. I am also was very grateful for my parents that they support me and also have testimonies of their own. She promised to read because she wanted to find that strength in her own life. I do not believe that is was an accident that Sister Jones rang the wrong doorbell, and I am grateful for an open neighbor who invited a friend in to learn, too.

Downtown Bydgoszcz.

Our missionary's birthday in Poland!

Thanks for all the birthday wishes! I had a good birthday. I am glad it was on Sunday. Sacrament meeting was great. I could understand it all, and you know it is the end of the transfer when two people give me the numbers of the hymns we are singing. Do you remember my first week here? No one told me and I started to play the wrong song. The members here are great, and I was wished many wonderful things for my birthday. Renata (the branch president’s wife) gave me two necklaces she crocheted so no fears, I was not forgotten. I also got a call from a sister in Lodz wishing me a happy birthday from the branch there. It was fun to talk, but I was really confused as to whom I was talking to for a while. I celebrated my birthday by eating Oreos and ice cream and reading my letters; it was fun.

The branch president in Bydgoscz with his wife Renata. A colorful couple.

This week has been crazy. The weather has not been typical summer weather. In other words, we have been doing a lot of tracting. I have attached a picture of me on my birthday. I am wearing my cute new shirt, but you can't tell because as you may also notice, I also have a coat, scarf, and tights on. I am carrying the whiteboard we use daily and standing on the corner our chapel is on. What happened to the 107 degree weather when I was born? It was definitely the opposite this weekend. Just so you know, this isn't normal for Poland, either.

July 3, 2011 in Poland.

So this week we have transfers. I will be staying here in the Big Ghost as grandma calls it. I am excited---I feel like we are starting to build here. I will be getting a new companion---kind of. Sister Garcia is following me up here! It will be a fun transfer. President Nielson called about transfers and totally forgot my birthday. Then at 10:30 on the dot he barely made it and called to wish me happy birthday.

President Nielson with the statue of the Pole who broke the Engima code during WWII.

This week we had our first Young Women’s activity. It was fun. Olivia taught us how to make necklaces as one of her experiences. I failed completely at it. I still cannot do crafts---not as a leader or as a young woman. Olivia is rocking at personal progress. She had me sign off 8 experiences this week that she has been working on for awhile. She is very detailed in everything she does and keeps track of it and writes everything down. She has way more motivation than I did. She is going to EFY in two weeks for the first Europe-wide EFY. I am way excited for her.

Mom, I got the package today. I love the skirt and the shirt. The DHL guy rang the Domophone, but we weren't fast enough to answer it. So I chased him to his van. But I got it. It was fun to get all the letters from the kids in the ward. And yes, I am sleeping on pretty flowers. Thanks for the pillowcase, Barbara---I love it!

Bydgoszcz at night.