Elder "Starszy" Godwin in Poland: Weekly Email

We received Elder Godwin's weekly email early this morning. If you have followed along with the blog you know that he sends us voice recordings and then I transcribe those and post them up. This last one was long because it was 2 weeks worth. So I will just share some of the things that he wrote.
Transfers
Elder Godwin was transferred from Lodz to Krakow. He was very excited about his transfer. He loved his time in Lodz, he met some wonderful people while there. He loved the missionary couple that also served in Lodz. They are such a kind couple and he said he will miss them. He also very much enjoyed the other Elders that were serving there with him. However, he wants to take as much of Poland in as possible, so he was excited for his next adventure.

He had an interesting trip from Lodz to Krakow. 2 of the Elders were being transferred, but had different departure times. There was some rescheduling that had to happen with one of the elders to be rerouted through Warsaw and so it all ended with that Elder Godwin missed his direct train to Krakow. He was put on a different train that took over 5 hours to get there instead of his original 3+ hours. Elder Godwin was quite loaded down with his luggage too, which he wasn't thrilled about. He is ready to send some stuff back home. He did have a nice man that helped him on to the train and then sat by him. They sat quietly for quiet a while and then they started chatting. They had a real good conversation which I was excited about. With Polish being such a difficult language I am happy when Elder Godwin can progress in his conversation skills. They talked about what the Elders are doing in Poland and our message. They also talked about Catholicism in Poland and what this man believed in. The man got off the train several hours before Elder Godwin. At which point he got bored and pulled out his recorder and recorded a message to us.

Here is a map showing Elder Godwin's travels.

Once he arrived at Krakow he was greeted by his new companion Elder S. He very much likes his new companion and says he is one of the kindest people he has met. It is kind of a small world, his companion is from the same ward as Alan's cousin up in Utah.

They were invited to a nice member family on Christmas and enjoyed a nice dinner and calls from home. It was wonderful to talk to him and be able to have a 2 way conversation with him. He sounds really good and happy. We were able to talk to him for 40 minutes and we didn't have any problem filling every minute of that time. It was wonderful to have our family all together conversing with each other for 40 minutes.

This past week has been a busy week in many ways for Elder Godwin, it was a very interrupted week with all the holidays and conferences as far as work goes. He is excited because they have 2 baptisms coming up next week end.

Elder Godwin shared the following scripture and thought with us.

I had really good personal study today. I read from Enos to Mormon. A lot of it is the records being passed down and also genealogy. There are some hidden gems in there though.

In Omni 26 it says: And now, my beloved brethren, I would that ye should ^acome unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption. Yea, come unto him, and ^boffer your whole souls as an ^coffering unto him, and continue in ^dfasting and praying, and endure to the end; and as the Lord liveth ye will be saved.

A while back we had this conversation with someone. They were telling us that we don't need good works we just need to believe. For me, because I believe in the Book of Mormon it says right in this scripture that "if we give our whole souls as an offering unto him, and continue in fasting and praying, and endure to the end; and as the Lord liveth ye will be saved," this scripture is a call to action.

Also in verse 25 it says: And it came to pass that I began to be old; and, having no seed, and knowing king ^aBenjamin to be a just man before the Lord, wherefore, I shall ^bdeliver up ^cthese plates unto him, exhorting all men to come unto God, the Holy One of Israel, and believe in prophesying, and in revelations, and in the ministering of angels, and in the gift of speaking with tongues, and in the gift of interpreting languages, and in all things which are ^dgood; for there is nothing which is good save it comes from the Lord: and that which is evil cometh from the devil.

That's a strong exhortion from Amaleki to believe in the gift of tongue and languages and prophesying and revelation. Well, this is your spiritual thought for the week.

I know the church is true, the book is blue, Moroni is always on the ball. Read your scriptures, pray, and fast.

Below is a short email he sent with his voice recordings.

Hey all, it was nice to get your very informative emails this week. It was nice talking to you all on Christmas as well.

Things are going great here. Elder S is a really nice guy, just the kindest person.

I was very glad to hear that my package made it safe and sound. I was extremely worried. Tell Erik that his name is really spelled "Irek in Polish". I have seen an Erik sticker somewhere but it wasn't a Polish exclusive. I am glad you liked all the hand-made crafts here. Kraków has even more stuff.

Today we are going to Auschwitz if we can find the right train, wish us luck (even though we will be home before you wake up). We have to return home by 6 p.m. today to be off the streets. Being here on New Years eve should be fun. The Rynek has been packed with tourists from all over Europe for the past week looking to celebrate the New Year.

The temperature keeps messing with us, going up and down at random. Some days start off freezing and by the time the sun goes down, it is much warmer than when the day started. The days are now getting longer which is a nice thought even if it is not yet noticeable. The last couple of days have seen clear skies too so that is a plus to be able to see the sun. It might have to do with the fact that Kraków is down in the mountains. I need to go, Love you all I wish you all the best and I just want to say, keep working hard you are all looking great. Love you all. Happy new year!!!

Elder Godwin with the ward mission leader in Lodz.

I sent Elder Godwin a couple of Christmas stockings and fabric paint so that he and his companion could join us in our tradition to decorate new Christmas stockings each year. They did a beautiful job. We however, ran out of time and didn't get to decorate ours.