Weekly Email - July 29th

Hi all,

 

This week has been rough in some ways, but we are still doing good work. We work all day long every day, we just do contacts with people on the street for 8 hours a day. We did have a lot of fun this week though in doing this work. 

 

For one thing, there was a hula party in a park this past Saturday, and Elder Boyce and I showed up dressed for missionary work. We ran to the closest open store and grabbed the first set of sale items we could find and got changed. We looked fabulous and our branch president loved it (especially my big fat American missionary shoes). He cannot believe that I am a size 47 (13 US). 

 

We had a good lesson with another man on the shore of a lake. It was a real "Jesus" teaching moment. We taught him that message of the restored, everlasting gospel right there in a nice peaceful setting, and then he told us he has no desire to change at all. We also have been working hard with members to get them interested in sharing the gospel. President Edgren is coming to give a fireside talk on Wednesday which we are all excited about, and we are hoping that we can find an investigator that will go with us.

 

In other news, there is a heat wave moving through Poland and we are at about 104 and SUPER HUMID. I am dying over here. 75 with humidity is bad.... 100 with humidity is unbearable. It will supposably subside around Wednesday (so I have heard)...

 

Love you all,

Starszy Godwin

 

 

Weekly Email - July 22nd

Hi all,

 

This week has been another good one. It started on Monday with a trip to the zoo for Elder B and I. We got in for 12 zł and proceeded to walk the whole giant Katowice zoo with every animal from Rhinos to a hippo to emus. The animals are also way more active here where it is not 170 degrees in the daytime. The whole thing was a nice experience that turned great when we saw a "dinosaur park" in the zoo with Dinosaur statues. We then went and rode on Dinosaurs and got some good pictures of that, it was like a dream come true. "I feel like a palaentologist whose been hunting dinosaurs my whole life and finally got to meet one!". That was a blast.

 

During the week we had the opportunity to stop and talk to a girl on the street for a while and it went really well. Her name was A and we talked with her for some time about what she thought about religion, what Mormons believe about religion, and we just had a really good conversation. It was all going really well until she had to go to catch her bus.

 

Other than that,this week we had the opportunity to go to the circus here in Sosnowiec. I was very excited because it was my first circus. It was no "Ringaling" Brothers, but it was very entertaining. The whole thing was in Polish and they had everything from lion tamers (with 6 white lions) to a magician, to a set of clowns doing skits. There was even a Ukranian artist who did the rollo bollo (or however it is spelled) where they balance on a board that is on top of a tube or piece of piping. He was balanced on a board that had a tower of blocks of different sizes underneath it, and then at the bottom was his pipe with a small block on top of it. Not to mention, all of this took place on a platform about 7 feet off the ground already.Then, his assistant threw him three clubs and he juggled up there. It was nuts.

 

That is the meat of the week, the work is going kind of slow, but we are still in good spirits and we know we are doing all we can, so the rest is up to the Lord.

 

Love you all,

Starszy Godwin

 

 

Weekly Email - July15th

This week was great. We have a new mystery person who sends us mysterious text messages through some online texting service who tells us who we should work with to help less-active members. So far that has been going great. We are either naming this mystery person Jarvis from Iron Man, or Q from James Bond. I like Jarvis more. We have found a a few new people to teach, including a woman who sings in the train station tunnels in Sosnowiec. We are stoked about that.

 

This past week we went over to a member's house and helped him clean his basement which is basically a Cold War bunker. In the basement, we found gas masks that he was going to throw away, so we of course took those and cleaned them up and have legit Cold War masks now. We are stoked about that. This member also has the cutest kitten I have ever seen, he is just a little malutki.

 

We are working hard and trying to find some cool investigators who are really interested, we are doing our best hope to get things going. Most of the Katowice members come from our area, so it has a lot of potential, it just takes some work.

 

We found a new super cheap, super awesome grocery store called Kaufland and it beats out even Biedronka and Netto in price, quality and quantity.

 

Hope all is going well for everyone at home. Love you all, have a good week!

 

 Here are the gas masks they found.

Weekly Email - July 9th

Hi Family,

So, all is well, I had a Chance yesterday to meet our new mission president, President Edgren. He is awesome and I already have the utmost respect for him. I am very excited to see where this mission goes. We have been doing a ton of contacting this week with little success, but we are going to shift gears. We have noticed that the members here in Sosnowiec are very open about the gospel and share it with their friends, so we are going to start focusing a lot on working with members. We are trying to work more closely with our branch president who is young and very cool.

I couldn't email yesterday because of our meeting that came up, but all is well here. I am still eating healthy, I do yoga on occasion, and I am feeling good. The branch members here said I speak really good Polish (they said if my grammar and vocab were better, I would sound just like a Pole). I had a good ego boost from that. I am still working out the kinks in my accent like the "L" sound is slightly different here, but it is doing good. I just need to study harder for the grammar and find a fun way to learn vocab, because I can't learn off a list.

Elder B and I are doing great, he is 6 months in the mission and is doing a good job and isn't afraid of talking to everyone. We are working our creative juices, because a whole new realm of possible finding activities has just opened up for us and more options are coming shortly. Elder B got sick this week and we stayed in for a day, that has to be the most boring time of a missionaries life! He is feeling a lot better though, and we have been out working ever since. I found a new flavor of juice here (grape limeade) that is delicious. Juice is just plain better in Poland. Cactus and Banana are always crowd favorites.

I hope all is going well at home I heard it was an exciting week for all of you.

Love you all,

Starszy Godwin

 Here is Elder Godwin with his buddy Mitt Romney. Don't know where he found this, the was no explanation. 

 This is the healthy eating Elder Godwin is doing on his mission. Thanks Elder K for teaching him.

Weekly Email - July 1st

Hi Family

 

Things are going good here. I got safely to Sosnowiec. The work is already going here. We are whitewashing again, which means that both me and my companion are new to the area. We have to figure everything out since we don't know where anything is. We didn't even know where to go and e-mail on P-Days so we are going with the sisters in Katowice (a 20 minute bus ride and a 10 minute walk). 

 

Elder B and I are really going to put a big focus on less active members, Katowice has really good and strong members and we want to work with the families that aren't coming out to church and we hope to bring them back to church.

 

Our area has great access to shopping and food and so you don't have to worry about that. We also have some "I am Legend" style window shutters that we can pull down at night and our place gets locked down tight like unto a dish. Elder B and I are doing great, I am talking a lot more Polish now, so hopefully my language skills will increase. I have found that I have loosened up a lot while talking to people just in the past week. I have also been told 2 times since getting here that if I had a bigger vocabulary and just worked a little on my grammar and phrasing, they would think I was a Pole. They said my accent is really really good, I just need more things to say and better ways to say it. I will definitely be working on that the next year. 

 

It is nice to see that you were able to go to the Nielson's homecoming. Thanks for sending me pictures. I recognized many of those missionaries and it was strange to see how much their personality came out in that picture. You got to meet Elder Johnson, I just love him. 

 

This past transfer I learned so much. It was definitely one of my best transfers. Elder K taught me the power of positive thinking. If we think positive thoughts blessings will flow into our lives. I have started meditating every day. Elder M taught me to be a confident leader. Elder W taught me the importance of memorization. I have just loved serving in Szczecin.

Here is a spiritual thought for you:

"...has the day of miracles ceased? Or have angels ceased to appear unto the children of men? or has the withheld the power of the Holy Ghost from them? Or will he, so long as time shall last, or the earth shall stand, or there shall be one man upon the face thereof to be saved? Behold I say unto you, Nay; for it is by faith that miracles are wrought; and it is by faith that angels appear and minister unto men; wherefore, if these things have ceased wo be unto the children of men, for it is because of unbelief, and all is vain." Moroni 7:35-37

In the January 1996 Ensign, page 16, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said:

"One of the things that will become more important in our lives the longer we live is the reality of angels, their work and their ministry. I refer here not alone to the angel Moroni but also to those more personal ministering angels who are with us and around us, empowered to help us and who do exactly that. (see 3 Nephi 7:18; Moroni 7:29-37; D&C 107:20)...

"I believe we need to speak of and believe in and bear testimony of the ministry of angels more than we sometimes do. They constitute one of God's great methods of witnessing through the  veil, and no document in all this world teaches that principle so clearly and so powerfully as does the Book of Mormon."

Love you all,

Starszy Godwin

 Elder Godwin and Elder K got these Panda hats from a member in Warsaw. They were very excited! This sister makes these.

 This is when Elder Godwin was leaving. He traveled to Poznan on Wednesday afternoon. Then he continued on to Katowice on Thursday.

 While in Poznan Elder Godwin stayed with Elder Caskey. The following morning they both left for two different parts of Poland. Elder Caskey will be serving in Lodz.

  Elder Godwin took this picture on the way to Katowice.

The stove in his apartments is broken so they are resorting to sandwiches and this cute little BBQ.

Weekly Email - June 24th

First off, I got my new area assignment. On Thursday I will be taking about an 8 1/2 hour train ride to Katowice. I will be serving in a town just outside of Katowice called Sosnowiec. I will be a District Leader there, so I will be in charge of 3 other Elders, 2 Sisters, and a Senior missionary couple. I am nervous and excited at the same time. My current companion, Elder K is staying in Szczecin, and I will be serving with Elder B. I hope all goes well in the move and that I am able to get right to work in Katowice. I am definitely going to miss Szczecin and all of the amazing people here, as well as the district here Elders M, W, and K are the best.

This week I officially hit my year-mark on the 20th. I am still trying to figure out how I feel about that. It hit hard that day, I realized that I am half-way done, and that I only have that much time left here on my mission. It is weird.

This past week we ran into a woman on the street who said she had met Mormons a couple of times years ago and that she had wondered where we went... We told her that we were still here in Szczecin and would love to see her at church on Sunday, she said she would be there for sure. Then, on Sunday, we got to church and soon, not only this woman, but her husband also came. They dressed up nice, mingled with members and missionaries, and they sat through sacrament (Elder K and I spoke). They complemented us on our talks, and then they stayed for Sunday school. They answered questions, asked questions, and participated well in class the whole time. After church, they even wanted to invite us over next week for dinner and for us to teach them more about the gospel. We said we would be happy to. They were just such a neat, prepared couple. I will not be able to take them up on their dinner offer unfortunately, because I will be in Katowice, but it was just a miracle that we found them. 

 

We also had the chance to run in to an American family that was traveling through. They had come to visit someone that the husband had baptized 40 years earlier while he served a mission in Denmark. They traveled through Denmark, Germany and Poland. We first ran in to them on our way to an appointment. We visited briefly but had to leave to make it to our appointment on time. After we left the appointment and were heading back to our apartment we ran in to them again. This time we were able to visit for a while. We really enjoyed talking to the family and had a great visit.

 

We also had a chance to go to Zone Conference in Bydgoszcz. It was a long train ride and things were hectic and crazy but it worked out really well. We had a good experience and it was good to be able to see President and Sister Nielson one more time before they head home. They are going to be missed! They the official cutting off a tie of all the missionaries to take with them home for their mission quilt that they are making.

Other than that I am excited to get to see my next city and see how all of that works out. I hope all is well for everyone at home!

Love you all,
Starszy Godwin

Elder Godwin and Elder K. this is the picture the American couple took of them to send to us. That was so nice of the couple. They have a missionary out themselves and know what a blessing it is for us parents to get updates.

This is the first hedgehog Elder Godwin has ran into. He was even able to touch it. He was very excited about this.

Here is Elder K and Godwin with their newly baptized sister. They have really enjoyed teaching S. She is an amazing young lady, so ready to learn and to live the gospel. She has been a true blessing in these young men's mission life.

Repost from Sister Nielson's blog!

June Zone Conferences Begin! Bydgoszcz is first...

Bydgoszcz Zone:  It was so good to meet with our missionaries in Bydgoszcz one last time for Zone Conference.  We had lots planned for this Conference, but first let me introduce the Districts:

The Poznan District: Sisters Lidtka and Bown; Elders Jespersen (District Leader) and Caskey. Sitting: Elder and Sister Sheley. What a great group of Missionaries we have serving in Poznan. They are finding and teaching some amazing people right now.

The Bydgoszcz District: Elders Vernon and Wilson (Zone Leaders) with Elders Allen and Harris (District Leader).

The Szczecin District: Elders Waskiewiecz and Mikolyski (District Leader and Branch President) with Elders Kotter and Godwin.

The Gdansk District: Sisters Young and Swenson with Elders Skolimoski and White. Sitting:  Elder and Sister Tufts.
Making sure our Missionaries are reading 3 pages a day in their Missionary White Handbooks, we decided to have a 'White Handbook Chase'.

Companionships worked together to find answers to questions like: "Find the quote regarding chewing gum while proselyting in the White handbook." (Actually, that is a hard question....it is 'hidden' on p. 42)

All companionships did well. We could tell that they had been studying the Handbook as they should. There was one companionship who did a little better than the rest....

...the Zone Leaders! We would expect nothing less from them. But since the White Handbook also states that Missionaries should not engage in competitive activities (p.22), everyone received a prize but Elders Vernon and Wilson got to pick their 'prize' first!

It was time for lunch. When we are in Bydgoszcz, there is ONLY one place we go....Marcin's! They are delicious and worth the drive to Bydgoszcz! He delivered our lunch and we said 'good-bye'. A very nice man.

Next item of business....Birthdays! The traditional 'Sto Lat' was sung as the cookies were passed out. Happy birthday to Elders Kotter, Godwin, Sister Lidtka, Elders Tufts, Sheley and Harris.
And now for the event the missionaries have been waiting for....

Since we want to include every missionary on the Poland Warsaw Mission 'Tie Quilt', we had to cut their ties early. We started with our Zone Leaders....Elder Wilson and Elder Vernon. (President Nielson was my helper! He did a great job!)

Elder Kotter and Elder Godwin were next.

They were followed by Elder Allen and Elder Harris. (By the look on Elder Harris' face, I think President Nielson must have slipped with those scissors!)

Elder Waskiewicz and Elder Mikolyski's turn......Again, President Nielson hasn't had any practice at this and I think the missionaries are nervous!

Elder White and Elder Skolimoski were our next 'victims'...

...and they were followed by Elder Caskey and Elder Jespersen.

Now for the Sisters. Sister Swenson was ready to give up a piece of her sweater, but Sister Young is going to wait until next week when she leaves to go home to give up her 'memento'.

Sister Lidtka and Sister Bown both gave up scarves....

And now for our great senior couples.  Elder and Sister Tufts each donated to the cause...

...As did Elder and Sister Sheley.

The Bydgoszcz Zone holding up their 'donations'. What a great group of missionaries. We love each and every one of them. We will continue to pray for their success when we return home.

So why the photo of President Nielson driving the car? As we were returning home, we realized that this was our LAST road trip! No more eating in the car. No more getting mislead by a GPS that wants to take us down a muddy dirt road. No more beautiful Polish countryside. (Sniff!) Does that deserve a photo? YES! We have spent countless hours of our mission in the car. But every minute was worth it because it meant we were going to visit wonderful missionaries, faithful members and investigators full of hope.

Arriving at Kosiarzy 22 (6 days later), we find the brickwork in the front of the house complete. Yeah! And we also found an extra surprise.....

We have a water drain! No more 'Lake Kosiarzy' in front of the Mission Home. There are blessings around every corner! I love this life!