December 9, 2013

Week 37

This week was so wonderful! This week, as you might remember, all of the missionaries in the Katowice zone got together to go to Auschwitz. It really was a tragic place, but I am so grateful for the knowledge we have of the plan of Salvation! Despite those people's atrocious experiences, they are in a state of peace, and they will one day be able to have bodies again in their perfect form...not starved or disfigured, but perfect bodies! My testimony of the plan of salvation was strengthened so much when I was there. I have more motivation to bring people to the knowledge of the gospel now because I know that the gospel is also being preached to those that died during the Holocaust on the other side.

After our time there, all the missionaries were able to go Christmas caroling together! I've always thought that caroling would be a good finding idea, and it turns out that it definetly is MUCH more effective with a lot of missionaries! I don't think the 6 missionaries of our district really would've been able to cut it...so it was really amazing to be able to sing praises of the birth of our Savior and King! I felt like an angel, in Luke 2 singing "glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, good will towards men!" ... Also, all 6 sisters (8 including sister king and I) slept at our apartment for the night because the next day was zone conference! It was a little crowded, BUT because all of us were together, we had a very rare opportunity to bond as sisters in the mission. 

My tradition always has been with my companions that before bed, we say one way we saw the hand of the Lord in our day that day. but because there were so many sisters, I was able to be 6x as much spiritually strengthened as we recognized the Lord in our work that day! The next morning we also did a big giant comp. study together and I learned SO much from these fantastic sister missionaries! We really do have the best of the best here in Poland and I'm so grateful I was able to get closer with them and have my testimony strenghtened by them.

NEXT, I got to go on an exchange with Sister Poklinkowska in WROCLAW!!!! It felt like I never left! I got to sleep in my old bed and I got to have lessons with the people I used to teach and got to talk with the people I love there! It was so amazing! The thing that was really a miracle for me during that exchange was seeing and meeting with Tamara! When we met Tamara in October, she was PAINFULLY shy! She seemed nervous to share her opinions and was really quiet and didn't ever show much emotion in her facial expressions. I remember, there was one time when we KNEW she was feeling the spirit stongly because she was holding back a smile. But when i got to meet with her this week (3 days before her baptism!!) the gospel of Jesus Christ has changed her!!! She was smiling and laughing and adding her 2 cents with almost everything we said! And when I asked her what one thing was that she's learned since she met us, she said, "I know that God loves ME. That i'm not just 1 out of 7 billion, but that he loves me." When I opened my mission papers almost exactly a year ago, I had this overwhelming feeling like there was someone I had to find that needed to know that Heavenly Father loves them INDIVIDUALLY. Tamara may very well have been that person. My joy is full! She was baptized on Saturday and couldn't sleep that night because she was so excited to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost!

Funny moment: HAHAHHAHAHAHAH We had a meeting with a girl...she was ended up telling us that she smokes pot from time to time and was explaining how it makes her all "spokonie" and calm and la la la... my comp sister king is on her 2nd transfer in the country and bless her heart didn't understand and said, "EXACTLY! that's the Holy Ghost!!!" hahahhaha I was trying SOOO hard not to die laughing in the lesson!

Love, Sister Blake!!