Smoulder!

this is me and my sisters (companionship) in Toruń!

Me and my sisters on a tramway in Bydgoszcz

and then our district in Toruń in front of a stone that says Gdańsk!

Skype on Christmas with the Fam Bam!

And then me in Bydgoszcz in front of a really nice river :)

here are sme of our Bydgoszcz missionaries and our Gdańskees together in  Toruń :) last pday.

so.. this is what happens when you open up your sofa (that happens to have storage space.. haha and then you find these) . Keeps  us warm now that snow is falling :P

so.. the 5 of us had fun. this was us trying to "smolder" haha.

Christmas day- and the 3 of us doing each others' hair :p

The snow in Gdańsk on the main street (Ulica Długa)

This last week has been a little crazy, just because of all the unusual schedules. So after Toruń last week, (which was so beautiful, by the way) we had our Zone Conference in Poznań (another lovely city) and learnt a lot about Christmas, and enjoyed being around the other misssionaries. We all had a gift exchange, so my gift was a kangaroo coin pouch, and I ended up getting an alarm clock and a winnie the pooh wallet haha. It was pretty funny. We also got a slideshow of photos of all the missionaries in Poland and a Bible Videos DVD from the Church, so that was really nice.

After conference, we went back to Gdańsk and the next day got to spend "Wigilia" (Christmas Eve) with a few members in in our branch and the other missionaries in our district. We made cookies for a few different people and it was just a peaceful, happy time. Christmas Day I got to Skype you in the morning!! The other missionaries were eavesdropping and laughed when at the end I said "dovidjenia" (in Bosnian) because they thought I was saying it in Polish - but in Polish they have the same word for 'goodbye' but it's pronounced slightly differently, and they just thought I had terrible Polish haha. Anyway, it was so cool to see you all! For lunch, we got to go to the senior couple's home (it was so tasty) and then the other missionaries skyped their families in the evening and we played ping-pong at the chapel :D. There was a lady working at the reception of the building where the chapel is, so we brought her a plate of cookies and then we were best friends ;) Cookies solve everything, right? :p Oh wow, I just realised I've been saying the word cookies instead of biscuits- I'm a terrible Aussie!

Anyway... Then on Boxing Day I went down to Warsaw for a training, and we got to stay at the Edgren's home (the mission home) and partake of the awesomely delicious food that Sister Edgren makes. (don't worry mum, I'm well-fed!) It was really good because I got to see 3 sisters from my MTC group again (Sisters Smith, Kuchar and Benson). The training went over til the next day, and we learnt a lot about being humble in our callings and as people, how we can maintain high expectations and how to be open to change for the better. So then after coming home, I got to spend 1 night and Sunday morning (for Sacrament meeting and Sunday School) in Gdańsk and then I had to leave again to Bydgoszcz. SO I'll be in Bydgoszcz for the next 4 days while we organise and carry out the Zone Training for our area. (We use what we learnt at our time in Warsaw and meet with the missionaries in our area to teach each other and learn/make goals etc.).

So, I'm missing my companions a little bit, but at the same time, I feel really grateful to be in Bydgoszcz learning from the missionaries here. Today after emailing we're planning on going shopping, so maybe I'll finally buy a bigger coat! Haha we'll see. It's started snowing here -it's breathtakingly gorgeous riding on the trains and seeing the snow-tipped trees and glistening fields. Poland is a beautiful country! On a train I was on yesterday, I met a girl from Azerbaijan who's studying in Finland and just here for a holiday, and we were talking about how good it is to be proud of your country, and also how good it is to appreciate this beautiful world that's been created for us. I love getting to see this other side of the world-it's so different from Australia but I love it! I hope you're all getting out in nature and enjoying this magnificent world! I miss you and love you and thank you for always being my support :)

Til next week!

Siostra Grgich