Birthday!

We went to the Solidarność museum last pday- "Żeby Polska była Polską!"

Sister Smith surprised me with streamer-confetti and balloons and post-it notes put all around the flat for my birthday :) The little board is really cute, coz normally it's filled with her vocab verbs in Polish, and she'll have like example sentences of how to use the words she's learning. So she replaced them all with words and examples about me hehe :) so sweet!

So this was hilarious. We're walking this morning on our way to go email, and Sister Smith is like "oh, we need to go up to the tram platform" (we normally don't catch a tram to get to the emailing place) and when we get up there, the free-for-all advertisement boards are filled with these posters for me saying happy birthday haha. A lady was staring at the board, really confused! Sister Smith got the elders to put them up just before we got there- I wonder how long they'll stay there before getting posted over or ripped down!

I gave a presentation on Australia for our last English class :) Those 2 kids fighting are British-Poles- they have the cutest British accents!

I sent a lot of photos and stuff so now I'm going to be lazy and not write a lot haha. Well this past week was really great! Some of the highlights:

 

We got to meet with an investigator couple, they invited us over for dinner, and they're both super awesome! They have a dog named Sonya haha- I'm not sure if I've told you this before, but like everyone in Poland has a dog named Sonya (or maybe it's spelled like Sonja, I don't know how they spell it). It's so funny when people are like "SONYA, GET OVER HERE" and they're talking to their dog hehehe (of course, in Polish).

 

This week we spoke to a lot of people about modern-day prophets, and how the Church today is still led by a living prophet and apostles, like times preceding, during and after Christ. We had a lot of spare copies of the October General Conference Liahona, so we took a bunch with us to a park and offered them to people, letting them know a bit about what General Conference is and how great it is that we have living prophets. People were generally pretty open (everyone likes free stuff!), and it was good to know that these magazines weren't just getting thrown away, but rather, are being used to potentially help soften the hearts of those who'll read them. 

 

Tuesday was our 'day of miracles' (that's every day, but this day was particularly miraculous!) we met a lot of people randomly on the streets- like former investigators with whom we had lost contact, members and really friendly strangers that were so nice to us. I got to speak to a German family from Dresden, we got in touch with a German investigator who has been wanting a copy of the Liahona in English, and we just happened to have a copy with us, so we were able to give it to him before he goes to Germany for a couple of months. There were tram problems, so our original plans of going to contact at a particular park changed, and instead we had to catch a tram that we normally wouldn't have caught back to the main city, and we got in contact with an investigator who we hadn't seen in a long time (now we're back in contact). We ran into a family from our branch on a tram platform and got to talk with them. I had my guitar, and from another side of the platform a lady asked us to sing her a song, so we did, and she loved it :) There are so many more great experiences, and I've got to go now to eat birthday lunch haha, but yeah, this week was amazing!

 

I hope you all had a great week too, and may your next week be even better!

Love you so much!

Siostra Grgich

I Went to Salt Lake!

Outside a really cool door at Salt Lake temple :D And kids playing in the background haha it was so nice to see children running about- we hardly get to see any youngins here at the MTC

Outside of Salt Lake Temple

Me inside the Tabernacle (amazing acoustics- dad would love it)

myself and Sister Gericitano (I think that's how you spell it) at the Christus Statue

Conference Centre from the outside

inside the conference centre (those amazing pipes!)

Me and the German sister! (woo)

myself, aussie sister and nz sister outside the Conference Centre.

back-stitching in the church's humanitarian centre with Sister Gericitano (from Perth)

YAY Birthday!

Pressies from the Devisons and the Grgichs

Class Photos

Hey fam-bam(and other-bam)! This last week has zoomed by, and I have so much to tell you about. So first thing's first, I went to Salt Lake! Ah, it was so amazing! So on Friday, my companion took me to the cafeteria at 5:45 in the morning, and got ripped from my side, as we said our goodbyes and I went to eat breakfast with the other international missionaries. I must say, it was so strange to not be with my companion for the day! So after a very quick breakfast, we went to the coach/bus and were on our way to the Great Salt Lake! The views are so beautiful, and our bus driver gave us an amazing tour-guide commentary of the surrounding mountains, and buildings, and temples (there are like 5 on the way from Provo to Salt Lake) and he even showed us the area where prophet Thomas S. Monson grew up! It was pretty neat to leave the MTC bubble, and I even met another Aussie girl (she's from Perth and going to Chicago). It was so cool to talk to someone without having to repeat myself every 3 sentences hahah

So then when we got off the bus, we went straight inside the temple. It is so magnificent! There were so many people (so many weddings!) and inside the actual temple, the artwork and architecture is so beautiful. We did a session and it was just so inspiring. It really helped me see things from a different perspective. I definitely encourage anyone who gets the chance, to go to Salt Lake temple!

So after the session, we went outside and split up into smaller groups so that the lovely Temple Square Sisters could take us on a mini tour. So first they took us around the temple- one of the sisters was German, so I was so excited talking to her just wanting to talk about Germany! Haha but we also spoke about some symbolism of the temple. One really cool thing they told us, was that when you actually look at the walls of the temple, there are a lot of big black spots on the granite (i think that's what it is). They're marks in the stone blocks that probably could have been removed in later days, but for whatever reason, they've decided to keep them. And it sort of makes it really unique, and she related it to how we as missionaries, are not perfect, but we are still beautiful in our own individual talents and spirits.

After walking around the temple, we got to go inside the tabernacle (the old building where they used to have conference, and now they use it for choir concerts and as an overflow room when the conference centre is full). It looks really strange from the outside (sort of like a UFO-type thing) but on the inside it's pretty amazing, especially just to think about how many prophets and apostles and great saints have just been in those walls, and declared their testimonies of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was actually really solemn to just sit and look around and feel the spirit. After the tabernacle we got to go to the Conference Centre. It was also really special, particularly because I'm so accustomed to seeing that building on the big screens when we watch conference via satellite or internet, but here I was in the building itself, just enjoying the spirit as the sister missionaries spoke to us some more about special symbolism and some major events that have happened there.

At the end of our short tour, we had a bit more time and got to see the Christus statue where they had beautiful hymns playing, and then we went through some rooms (mainly targeted at non-members) which outlined the Plan of Salvation through videos and props. It was so special, and all of us were crying at the end of the presentation. I am so grateful to have a knowledge of this Gospel. I know that families can be together forever only through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Because of Him, we can repent of our sins, and return to live in true happiness with our Heavenly Father who loves us and cares for each one of us so much. This life truly has a purpose, and there is not a soul in the world that God doesn't care so deeply about. I am so grateful for you, mum and dad, for bringing me up in the knowledge of this Gospel. Without it I'd truly be lost, and wouldn't have the amazing life that I do, with the knowledge of Christ that I do have. I love being a missionary. I don't know what could be better than teaching people about the amazing plan of happiness that Heavenly Father has for us, that we all rejoiced for before we came to Earth.

After the tour, we had a quick snack and our last stop was the church's Humanitarian Centre. They showed us a video of what the centre does, and how many people it affects (it's truly great, look it up online if you haven't already!). We then got to back-stick some quilts for about 20 minutes but then had to go. It was also a really special place to be in, just because of knowing what good that place does for so many people in the world- regardless of religion or race or gender or anything else. There are great paintings of Christ all around the centre, and it just really makes you remember how important it is to have charity-the pure love of Christ. I love my Saviour so much, and I know I have such a long way to go, but I'm ever trying to be more like him.

Well, a lot of other things happened this week, that have just been such a testament to me of how God loves His children, but for now I have to go (no time!) and the next time I write you, I'll be in Poland!! Ahh so exciting :D Have an amazing week, and be good to each other. Tell the girls I love them
I love you so much,
Siostra Grgich