Happy new year!!!

Dzień Dobry!

This week was sooo good! It really was so fun! Sounds like you all are doing great. haha I loved the pictures sooo much. Oh my the picture of the Nativity. haha soooo funny. Except almost made me cry... haha But I miss you all! Sounds like everyone is so happy!

Some things that happened this week! Christmas Eve we hung out at the Gay's (senior couple) apartment. Played games all night and read Christmas stories. It was pretty prime!;) Then at midnight we are actually allowed to go to something called "Midnight Mass". It's just the Catholic church does it every year they have a worship service @ midnight! It was very different. hahaha kinda awkward and we couldn't wear our tags obviously. But actually a really cool experience to see the Polish people and what they do and how dedicated some are to their religion. It also mad me sad and motivated. It mad me sad to see how confused so many people were and how much they were missing out on the FULLNESS of the Gospel! But it was fun and good experience.

Sunday morning we went to a nativity type thing! Oh and got to sleep in til 8! hahah wow that was nice. haha kinda threw off my sleeping pattern though. But we did that, and had a good dinner at the Gay's again. They are the greatest.

And then I got to call you all! haha my heart was like freakin out the last 30 mins before calling you. haha and then i decided to call early cause we had time! and i called! and nobody was even up yet!!!!! hahaha you guys are usually always up by then! But i told mom i would call back in 30 mins then! haha it was really funny to hear you all "MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!" haha but yeah i loved talking to you guys. haha i felt like i talked for like 2 mins. went by so fast! 

But my favorite part was you guys singing "Families can be together forever" and "Silent Night" the spirit was so strong with me there. I just love you all so much!

The best part about my Christmas was talking to my family and hearing how happy they were! I loved it so much! I feel like they are all happier than ever! Heavenly Father has blessed us with so much! Im so thankful for that! All I want is for our family to be together forever! 

So the day after Christmas we ahd Zone Conference in Poznań! We get to the train station at 6:00 and its me my comp and the senior comp. and waiting for the sisters. The sister's get there  with about 15 mins before our train is gonna leave.. and they say "we forgot our presents" (presents for the white elephant exchange) hahha me and my comp both look at each other and started taking off our suit coats and jackets and back packs. hahah and just start running. It was the worst thing ever cause I'm wear my tight suit....thought my pants were gonna rip. haha we sprinted to their apartment and back......haha barely mad the bus with like 30 seconds to spare. and we are just like sitting there sweating and dying on the train. hahah it was so rough! but yeah funny memories.

On the spiritual note. Yesterday we were contacting on the streets. And sometimes when we contact in the really crowded areas people see us and see that we are trying to talk to people and it can even look like we are trying to sell something sometimes. so its usually one "nie dziękuję" after another. Which means no thank you. But i decided to step back for a sec and look for someone i needed to talk to. I saw this younger looking kid. Looked kinda rough, with a beard, and holes in his clothes. But I went and talked to him anyways! I said, "Hey we are sharing a message about The Book of Mormon!" and he said in English, " I don't understand you....what are you doing?" I tried one more time in polish. And he understood! haha he asked a couple questions about the Book of Mormon and I answered for him. I found out he was actually studying at a University in Sweden and speaks English fluent. But we still spoke in polish. As he accepted a Book of Mormon and we exchanged contact information and set up a meeting there was a silent moment for a sec. And I just told him "The Book of Mormon has changed my life, that's why I am here, And I know it can change yours." He said with a smile, " I hope it can because I'm a little depressed."

The spirit was so strong there! Those are some of the best missionary moments when you can feel the Spirit working through you to someone! We are meeting with him this Thursday! So pray for us! 

I hope you all are reaching out to others and lifting them up. Whether they are already members or not! I love my mission so much! Never been so happy! Love you all! Make some good new years resolutions that will bring you closer to Christ! And build his attributes that he has!

Happy New Year! Thanks for everything! 

Ofa Lahi Atu

Kocham Cię!

Loves.

                       -Starszy Fotu

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!! WESOŁYCH ŚWIĄT!!!!!

DZIEŃ DOBRY FAMILY!!!!

This week was a crazy one! The main thing we had was our Christmas Program in Church! It was so awesome! Luckily my comp is really good at the piano, and a sister missionary here (Sister Barth) is really good at the Violin. And for me im really good at turning pages for my companion!

But it was really awesome! Guess how many investigators we had...........We had 4 in church! It was so awesome to see the Lord bless us so much. And everyone of them was so impressed! we had 18 people in church! We've also been meeting with this kid named Grzegorz! He is so awesome and he truely has been prepared to recieve this Gospel! He is probably about 21 or 22 years old. 

Our last meeting with him went really good and I can feel the Lord helping me with the language everyday! But at the end of our lesson I invited him to be baptized! He isnt really sure about it yet, cause he was scared if he was baptized that he couldn't listen to metal music, couldnt dress the same, and couldnt find out more about other religions. But he kept asking more and more questions about baptism and we showed him pictures and what not.

In our lesson just a couple of hours ago he seemed a lot more open about it! Our meeting was with Elder Gay, Our Branch President. And the reason that Grzegorz is so interested in our church is cause of the Book of Mormon and what it testifies of. But also because of how much we all love him! 

It's Christmas and time to celebrate the birth of Our Savior, Jesus Christ. Before going on my mission I had never received my answer from the Holy Ghost about Jesus Christ. But I believed that He lived here and Earth and did what He did. Luckily in the MTC, I recieved my answer and felt the Spirit testify of Him. Now being on my mission for this long, the biggest part of my testimony is that Jesus is The Christ. He came here on Earth and set the way for us to follow. He died on the cross for us and was ressurected. And he still LIVES. The main attribute I have learned to try to develope is Charity. If we have charity we can do absolutely anything. I don't believe we can even imagine the kind of love that the Savior has for us and also our Heavenly Father. But I know that as we try to build that love in our lives for EVERYBODY. Not just some people but EVERY SINGLE ONE of our Brothers and Sisters here on Earth. We will become better people. We will feel God's love even more in our life. And we will come to appreciatte the Atonement of Jesus Christ more in our life. 

Find others to serve. Serve them with love. And love them with all your heart. No matter what they do. 

I love you all! I hope you always remember that we are ALWAYS trying to be like the Savior in this life. If you are always trying to do so, you will be happy, and the Lord will bless you! 

Have the Best Christmas ever! Wesołych Świąt!

Ofa lahi atu! Kocham was! Love you all!

-Starszy Fotu

Hey Hey!

Hey looks like no one woke up this morning! I hope I will be able to e-mail you guys next week! Before I get to talk to you all!

So right now what is going on is we actually have a phone here that we can call home with. this week we are gonna figure out the times we will call home! It's not for sure yet. But ill let you know next week! probably gonna be around 9 or 10 in the morning. I hope that doesn't affect your plans!

But im excited for it and to hear all your voices. unfortunately they aren't allowing us to skype. Maybe next time though!

You all should think of some question to ask me for FHE so we are just sitting there. hahaha im just we will have lots to talk about though!

Sounds like you all are doing great! Thanks to Selu and her e-mail. haha im just kidding I know you all are busy! I love and miss you guys!

The work is great here in Poland! Yesterday we had a good turn out in Sacrament meeting! about 15 people. So pretty good. Our numbers werent too hot this week but we are still working hard! 

We got a guy in sacrament meeting too! His name is Edek and he is one of the most amazing polish people i've ever met! He is just so happy and smiling. He didnt have time to meet after sacrament meeting but he just seemed really excited to learn more and we actually gave him a little part in our Christmas Program for next week so he will be there and he's gonna bring a friend!!!! So cool... Yeah Christmas is coming up! Im so excited. This saturday we are doing a Shoe Polish thing. I dont know if you guys saw the news article about the missionaries in New York doing that. But im soo excited for it!

Then we got the Christmas program! Im singing a solo! wassssgoooooodddd! haha sike. That'd be cool though. haha but im just so happy. The Lord is honestly blessing me so much. I feel so indebt to him. But i know as I work hard and try to bring my brothers and sisters to the gospel, I can repay him in that way! Something i've really learned on my mission is that planning has a big role in the mission life. haha Dad always told me I should use a planner and plan everything out. haha I dont think i ever did. But every night we have a planning session. We first pray. Invite the Spirit and lets Heavenly Father know we are here to do his will. As you plan with the Spirit, The Lord will let you know what he wants you to do and where he wants you to go! I've seen it be a HUGE part in my mission! I heard a quote in the MTC say that "planning can break or make a mission". I know that's soo true. I know you guys dont plan out your days. But pray for mission opportunities! Pray that you will be able to find those seeking the truth, or pray that you will know what to say if you have already found them! I promise the Lord will bless you in the very moment! Act on those promptings! As you do so you will be blessed by the Lord and you will be happy! I love you all! Im so thankful for this Christmas season! I challenge you all to lose yourself in the service of others. As our Savior would. Love you all! Have a AWESOME Christmas!

ofa lahi atu!

love you!

kocham cię!

-Starszy Fotu

And something I realized i was always grateful for was how mom would always have us do a secret santa thing for a family EVERY YEAR! I hope you guys are doing that this year. 

Talk to you all in a week! loves;)

Family!

Hey Family! 

How is everyone doing! Poland is sooo good! I love this city Szczecin! At first when I got ot Szczecin there was 8 people in church. 4 of Which were missionaries. Yesterday we had 19 people in church!!!! So awesome. We have really been workin and helping people back into church and to re-activity. And been finding others! We had 2 investigators in church, Francziszek and Grzegorz! Pretty awesome guys! hoping to set some baptismal dates with them this week! Unfortunately we lost contact with another baptismal date. The one that was supposed to be baptised on Dec. 7. But I'm excited to find others! 

This week was soo awesome cause I was actually kinda stressin out during the week. haha I've learned that stress can be good for you though! But I was stressin cause I was puttin a talk together cause I had to speak in Sacrament meeting yesterday! I was sooo scared and just kinda freakin out. But then Sunday Morning came around and I was just sitting in church with the whole room almost filled. And just soaking in the Spirit. The spirit was so strong with me and I just felt the lord's love for me and everyone there. 

Wow I love church sooo much! I love preaching this gospel to everyone! Please pray for our investigators. We need it! We also got a finding idea that the Senior couple found online! Shining Shoes on the street and giving out hot chocolate! Im SOOO PUPMED right now to do that this week! I'll let you guys know how that goes! Love you guys soo much! Always remember to do the basic things so you have the spirit with you!

Love and Miss you guys. Thanks fo everything! 

ofa lahi atu! Kocham was!

-Starszy Fotu

December!!!!

CZEŚĆ Family!

I hope all is going well at home! sounds like everything is going good! Man I miss you all so much! This week was a little slower week! But still miracles are always happening in the mission field! Im sure I don't notice many of them! But this week we had another investigator in church. His name is Franciszek! He is older and pretty awesome. Except he hasn't had much time for us to teach him but he has been in church! He is super nice guy! But this week we are set up to meet on Wednesday after English class! So wish me luck and maybe a prayer! 

A cool moment I had this week was in church. I am beginning to feel the spirit a lot more in church now because I am actually understanding more hahah. But I love church soo much. I pass the sacrament like every week, cause we don't have that much priesthood in this branch!

But as I was sitting in church I was a little bummed about this other investigator that didn't show up. But then I looked around and noticed how many people we did have in church. Which was 16. About 2 months ago, there was sometimes only 8 or 10 people, including for missionaries. The Lord really has blessed us here in this little town. And I noticed we had 4 people who were less active in the past 4 months that were in church cause we simply when and invited them back. One of them named Anita. She is an older lady bore her testimony. She talked about how she decided to live without God for some time in her life. And was really feeling lonely. And she would sometimes think about coming back to church sometime but never did. Until the Sister's here in Szczecin and a Member went and visited her and invited her back. The spirit was so strong in that meeting. I know that even though the church isn't big here, It's still the SAME church. The only true church on the earth today. I hope you all are working on helping bring others unto Christ before Christmas! I promise as you do the simple things; Reading Scriptures, Saying Prayers, and Sharing your testimony. Heavenly Father will bless you and help you bring others! Act on it! Have faith! Faith takes action. As you do those simple things your desire to share the gospel will grow! I promise! 

I love you all soo much! I love my mission. I would rather be here than any where else right now! Thank you so much for your prayers. The power of prayer is real and our Heavenly Father wants to hear from us! Love you! Have a JOLLY CHRISTMAS SEASON! I know I will;)

-Starszy Fotu

Thanksgiving Dinner! 

And the Senior Couple The Gay's! sooo nice! They have 13 kids too!