Poland and Germany

Whew! How the time is blowing by! It's been a couple weeks of adventure, spiritual highlights, and reunions with dear friends. When was the last time I wrote? So much is happening and it seems like forever ago that I last sent out a picture or talked with someone. The highlight of course was being in the Freiberg temple Tuesday through Friday with just over 50 Polish members from all over Poland. But in reality, the trip started the previous Saturday with a train ride up to Warsaw!

I attended a young single adult activity with members from Lodz and Warsaw that day - a group of 5 of us traveled up to Warsaw to meet up with 2 more members in Warsaw and take another train out to a lake on the outskirts of Warsaw. There we played in the cool water, ate lots of ice cream, tossed my Frisbee around, rented a paddle boat, and had lots of fun.

I then spent the night at the Jecka's (finally!) and we got to catch up on everything that's happened in their life. We were up late talking, laughing, and enjoying the company immensely. There are so good to me! Taduesz is still working with the national Polish folk team, and because of that has to do a lot of traveling (around Europe and even the world!). It makes it hard for him to be in church often, but is staying close and comes when he's around. Emilia is as much a rock as ever (currently teaches gospel essentials) and I love hearing her testimony and love for the gospel.

I attended church with the Jecka's (the Warsaw 2 branch) and was immediately asked to pass the sacrament and then to give a talk! The branch is still struggling (a lot of members aren't happy with the current mission president and the way he's doing things -- there's still a long way to go!) but I was grateful for the opportunity to share my testimony and thoughts on building the church in Poland. It was great to see those who were there, and I encouraged them to reach out to the many members who should have been there. After church I gathered a group of members together at the Lazienki Park to listen to a live Chopin concert underneath the National monument dedicated to Chopin. The concert was incredible, the music and atmosphere breathtaking, and I didn't take any pictures!


Sunday night I traveled to Lodz, slept at the Arzapalos, and the next morning at 5 am we were off to Freiberg! Three cars left from Lodz, all full of members anxious to do temple work, all full of the spirit. I took turns driving, and had forgotten how fun it is to drive on the autobahn! What a thrill! Next time I need to rent a BMW though and really take advantage of those German roads! 9 hours later, and we were in Freiberg.

The week was just incredible. Together with the Saints we did three sessions a day from 8 until 3, with some additional sealing sessions in the evening. I was able to witness the sealing of couple and then the sealing of a 8 year-old child to that couple. Something I won't forget. Everything was in Polish, and it felt great to be surrounded by some friends that I haven't seen in nearly 5 years. I sure did shock some members! Not everyone knew I was coming, and what a surprise they got to see me there with them!

Thursday evening we had a testimony meeting that was wonderful. The first counselor in the temple presidency spoke, several Poles shared their testimonies, and then after we gathered around the piano to sing hymns for almost 2 hours! Mom and Dad, you might recognize Sister Mariola (we stayed at her house 3 years ago!). I enjoyed the opportunity to play, and just felt so touched by the spirit of the members there.

Now I'm back in Lodz and thinking about home. We had a wonderful fast and testimony meeting today - the chapel was the fullest I've ever seen it, with several investigator families present, and many strong testimonies were shared about the temple and the experiences from this last week. Right AFTER sacrament, I was asked to teach the Sunday school lesson for the investigators and recent converts! I had a couple minutes to gather some thoughts, and I think the lesson went really well. I just love the people here, I love the gospel, and I'm very grateful for these opportunities.









Now it's back to work for this week, and then Friday I'm off for more adventures in Ukraine! Take care, and I'll be sure to post more of my adventures as they come my way!

Josh