Buses, trams, trains, and thousands of people

Hello Family and Friends

Shelby found a new friend

Looks pretty scary

Lunch with Irena, the newest member of the church

Well, what a great week.  I feel so blessed.  I am so thankful to be here in Poland.  We have been having a great time in the Fall weather here.  I don't know where to begin.  First of all, I feel such a deep gratitude for all of the missionaries who have gone before me here in Poland.  We meet people daily that say, "oh yeah, I met some missionaries a few years ago." or "oh I have a book of mormon at home actually." and then they feel even more willing to meet and talk.  What a blessing! Sister Spear, Sister McAdams, and my trainer, Sister Bezdjian of course.  I am sure thankful for them. They have done so much work, and this would be a lot harder without a foundation to start on.  So thank you all for you work :) 

     So I have started to read all of the Doctrine and Covenants and it is awesome.  I really love to see how the Lord talks so clearly to us today.  He really entrusts a lot in us humans down here.  I really like D&C 5, really cool.  We can sure learn a lot about the Lord through these sections.  I'm excited.  I have 2 challenges for you all. 1) read D&C with me :) 2) Say at least one prayer of gratitude daily.  Sometimes it's hard and you forget, and it's even harder when you feel bummed or discouraged or down or something, BUT that's when they are the most meaningful prayers.  It sure makes you feel great to just step back and realize all that the Lord has given.  So there you go :) 

      One day, while we and the elders were doing a whiteboard, Elder Myler said something profound which was an amazing answer to my prayer.  He said (something along these lines. It definitely sounded better when he said it.) "The difference between Disappointment and Discouragement is that when you allow others to exercise their agency and they use it differently than you'd like or than you'd hoped- that's disappointment.  When you allow others decisions to affect or control your agency- that's when you get discouraged." I thought it was a blessing and an answer to prayer.  So I am grateful for that.  I am also so grateful for prayer.  I have been blessed time and time again when I go to my knees.  He really is the only one who can bring comfort to our souls and hope to our hearts.  I am so thankful for prayer.  I have started a study, along with the elders and my companion up here in Gdansk, on Desire.  What is desire? How do you get desire? and How do you keep desire? Obtain and retain.  That is one of my personal goals.  From desire- like it says in Alma 32- can come all other blessings of the gospel.  Must be pretty important.  I hope I can continue to learn about desire.  :) Oh, and one other thing I learned in study this week- Actions fulfill prayers.  Simple right? I've heard it and seen it, but then I really started thinking about it and it just makes sense.  As missionaries especially, we must be diligent, and that stems from Action.  When we Act, we refuse to be acted upon, which shows the Lord we are serious, which opens the door to more blessings, which we probably asked for in the first place, which then allows answers to prayers to flow into our lives.

So this week was fun.  We go around in trams and buses and trains with hundreds and thousands of people squished together.  It's so fun.  As soon as you get on a tram or such, you just gotta go for and talk to somebody about the gospel, other wise it becomes awkward and weird and then ... yeah, too late.  That's been something I've learned here: Just Do It! How did Nike know? Ya just gotta be bold and go for it.  The times that I don't, or I'm afraid or whatever excuse I use, I just feel lame and ... yeah, just lame.  Sharing the gospel is what we are meant to do.  It just feels so good! :) 

      Well shucks, I don't have much time to share a lot of experiences, but when we had a whiteboard, I met a girl and talked with her for a minute and then she said, "I saw you missionaries in the milk bar and wanted to talk to you but didn't have the courage. Thank you for talking to me." I was so excited! She was excited about the Book of Mormon and we have a meeting with her soon. Her name is Dorota. :) Well, I better go.  But the church is so true.  I love the gospel.  I testify that our Heavenly Father is ever so aware of what we are going through.  He truly wants what's best for us.  I love you all.  Have a great week and keep striving to become the person He wants you to be.  Love ya! :) 

      Love, Sister Shelby Ostler