To Gdansk...the l-o-n-g way!

This week we headed up north for member and missionary business. The timing was perfect....we needed to be out of the mission home so it could be freshly painted and the drapes and rugs cleaned. 

As we were putting our bags in the car, we saw this! They had come to fix the sidewalk around the mission home and....

 ...more road work in the front of the house! They must know it is almost transfer week! Hopefully, it will all be in order when we return several days from now.
We needed to be in Gdansk, but we decided to take the long way there....through some of our favorite (and some new) villages we love in Poland.

 Our first stop was Zelwagi (Selbongen in German). This great little town houses the very first chapel built in Eastern Europe and Germany. Fredrick Fisher (from Selbongen) was introduced to the gospel in Berlin in 1920. He served a mission then returned to his home to preach the gospel there.

 This is the chapel that was built in 1929. It was built by members in 2 1/2 months.  Missionaries were removed from the area in 1937; but this Branch was not forgotten by church members. Immediately after the war, President Ezra Taft Benson (then an apostle) visited the Branch via jeep.

 Before WWII, church membership in Zelwagi was 200-250 members. This lake located across the street from the church was probably the site of many of these baptisms.

After WWII, Selbongen became part of Poland and it's name was changed to Zelwagi. The German saints were required to hold their services in Polish or cease to meet. In time, the Saints moved to Germany. The building was turned over to the Polish government became a sports hall then later (1971) was turned into a Catholic church...which is what it is today. There is still a strong, sweet spirit on the grounds of this structure.

 Being in Zelwagi, we decided to do a little exploring. We had heard that there was a very old, unkept cemetery in the area. After looking and looking and looking and asking and asking and asking (in Polish, of course!)......we found the 'trail' to the cemetery...

 ...and the sign...

...and the graves. This grassy hill located above a lake is full of old German graves...and I'm sure there are many German Saints who once belonged to the Selbongen/Zelwagi Branch resting there. 

Time to move on...

Mikolajki....a lakeside town that is full of boaters and great ice cream stands.

We were eating lunch at this restaurant on the dock. It was as entertaining as sitting at the Wahweap Marina at Lake Powell and 'people-watching'. Some things are the same all over the world. If you look closely, you can see that I basically ate lunch alone. Yes, that is President Nielson sitting on the park bench, on the phone...missing everything. But the problem was solved...and that is all that mattered!

Look what I discovered at the marina!!!!!!!  If we had another year in Poland, I would ask Physical Facilities for one of these for the mission home!  But it's ok....I can make 12 very small ice cubes a day...and it is sufficient!

This is the bridge at Mikolajki that takes you from the town to the marina. There were a 'few' locks on it....

...so, we decided to add one of our own! This is a great little city and it was fun to relax for an hour or two.  Making our way up the countryside, we came to another lake city that has become my favorite...Ostroda.

Ostroda, we hear, is very popular with Polish people but virtually unknown to others outside the country. It is another beautiful city with some very cool features....like a wake board course.  Our family would love this.  It is electrical and pulls you in a long rectangle course.   President loved this because the skiers cannot blame their "wipe-outs" on the driver of the boat...

 If we had the time to stay here (which I begged President to do), we would have stayed in this hotel.  A great view and swing.  But we have places to get to.
         We are getting closer and closer to Gdansk....

That means we are driving close to the world's largest brick castle (by surface area--52 acres--also!) Malbork Castle was built in 1406 and was home to the Teutonic Knights, a German Roman Catholic order of crusaders). It is made up of 3 separate castles and once housed 3000 knights (and their servants, of course) Built on the Nogat River, they collected river tolls from passing ships arriving from the Visla River to the Baltic Sea. They controlled a monopoly on the trade of amber. It is truly stunning! It takes around 3-4 hours to tour the castle. Last time (and the only time) we were here, President Nielson did it in 45 minutes! (Probably a tour record! This time he was able to stay for 1 hour and 15 minutes. He's getting better!
We have much to do, but it was nice to take a few hours out of our day to see the beautiful countryside of this beloved country!

Visiting Bialystok for the last time...and a solemn moment.

Sunday morning early:  On our way to Bialystok for Branch Conference via the maze of sound tunnels. It was a beautiful morning....we almost had the road to ourselves!

Today, we also had two 'guests' with us in the car....our Assistants, Elders Tiner and Zelezniak. President needed to do a little planning for Zone Conference and the upcoming transfer and this seemed to be a good time to do it. Also, these two good missionaries were part of the Sacrament Meeting program.  They also need some training on driving around Poland to aid President Edgren when he arrives.

A well-known site in Bialystok...a huge Greek Orthodox Church. We were getting close to the chapel.

Today was a special day for this companionship. Elder Baranowski (left) was called as the new Branch President of Bialystok and Elder Hayes (right) is the new Branch Clerk.  President Dresler (Warsaw District President) was there for the Conference.

Side Note: The new 'Branch President' also has family in Bialystok. He has been able to visit with them on P-day for awhile and some are attending English class. (By the way...President Nielson did not know that he had family there. There are no coincidences!)

We ordered a wood Hymn number display board for the Branch some time ago.  It's lost somewhere between here and Germany.  So our creative and smart Elders came up with their own "display board" thanks to a little tape!  It works just as well and brought a smile to all the members.

Those who were in attendance today.  We appreciated Sister Rzeczycka (Warsaw District Relief Society President) for coming and teaching Sunday School.  We are grateful for Patty, Darota and Halina (she has read the Book of Mormon 15 times in the one year she has been a member of the Church).  What strong and dedicated members of the Church.

The Relief Society of the Bialystok Branch! These members love and take care of one another.
After church, it was time to head back to Warsaw. There is much to do in the next few weeks! Then we passed the following sign....

"Treblinka...Nazi Extermination and Work Camp".  This camp only functioned for just over a year (July 1942-August 1943) but over 800,000 people were killed here in this short time. In August of 1943, the prisoners organized an armed revolt. Guards were killed and 300 people escaped. After this, the camp was dismantled and a farmhouse was built to disguise what had formerly been there.

These concrete 'rail ties' mark the trail of the railway that brought prisoners to the camp. The average life expectancy for a prisoner at the camp was 2 hours.

The entire camp was destroyed by the Nazis but the huge field which was actually a burial pit is covered with memorials....the biggest being the one pictured above which honors the more than 310,000 people who were brought from the Warsaw ghetto to die here.

In the field are 17,000 stones depicting the towns, villages from many nations where (mostly) Jews and others were brought to be exterminated here.  The grass field was the burial pit and it surrounded by the stone memorials.

Many of the stones have the names of the places these people came from. It was a sobering visit. Treblinka was the 2nd largest concentration camp next to Auschwitz. 

Remember how peaceful and calm these sound tunnels were this morning?  The weather was beautiful and hardly no traffic at all. During Church, there was a huge thunderstorm. Because of this storm, on the way home we ran into the largest traffic jam of our entire mission.  We drove 2 kilometers in 2 hours! Because of the rain this afternoon some of the roads in Warsaw were flooded.  So the highways from Bialystok, Gdansk and Lodz were all blocked off.  There was no place to go.  We finally made it home. I was impressed that after three years in Warsaw, President knows his way around this city well enough to find all the shortcuts.  

It was a great day (and much longer than we had planned on) to be with the great members and missionaries in Bialystok.  We also learned more of the incredible history of Poland.  I am still amazed at what happened on the very streets we walk everyday.  The Polish people are strong and resilient. 

Bydgoszcz baptism June 8, 2013

Robert is the newest member of the church in Poland. He was baptized last Saturday into the Bydgoszcz Branch by Leszek and was taught by Elders Allen and Harris. Welcome to the Church, Robert! We hope to see you at the Family Home Evening grill on the 17th!

A few visits we wanted to make before leaving Poland.

As it gets closer to us leaving this beautiful country, there are a few things we wanted to make sure we did before we left.

One was visiting one of our Polish missionary's family. Elder Lyswinski is serving in the Washington Tacoma Mission. His family anxiously waits to hear from him every Monday on P-Day. They love him and are so proud of him. Shown above: Grandma, Mom, Grandpa and twin sisters.

This great family is always so kind to us. We wanted to make sure that we stopped by and said 'good-bye'. Elder Lyswinski's Grandmother is always very concerned with my health. She gave me a raw amber necklace--Baltic amber is known for it's protection and healing properties. I just thought it was known for it's beauty! I love the necklace and this wonderful family who gave it to me! Thank you!

Another stop I have been meaning to make before leaving...

My friend, Wendy, has a Barbie collection that is to die for. I am one of the original Barbie fans! My cousin, Jan, and I used to play Barbies for hours on end. Now, I play with my granddaughters...with all my old Barbies.

These Barbies, however, are 'show' Barbies and way too fancy and expensive to play with! But they sure are fun to look at! It is a stunning collection and this was only one side of the case! Thanks, Wendy, for sharing! 

A (Surprise!) New Sister Arrives in the Mission!

 

Marta has been a HUGE help to our missionaries in Poznan (Sisters Bown and Lidtka; Elders Jespersen and Caskey). She is a great member-missionary. But it's time for her to start her own mission!

As she boarded the train in Poznan...

...she was met by the Assistants (Zelezniak and Tiner) in Warsaw. A few months ago Sister Antkowiak recieved her mission call to serve in the Illinois Chicago Mission.  Everything was ready except one thing...her US visa.  We are still waiting on this but her time to serve the Lord was not put on hold.  She begins her mission service in the Poland Warsaw Mission.  She arrived at the Mission Home to be set apart and receive her first assignment.

We all had a wonderful visit. Sister Antkowiak was set apart and is now a full time missionary and representative of the Lord and His Church.  There was one more thing that we needed to attend to...

She needed to leave with us something to remember her by.  Sister Antkowiak was here last weekend at the YW Conference and has been a tremendous teacher and member in Poznan.  When her visa paperwork is all resolved, she will enter the Provo MTC and then head to the Illinois Chicago Mission shortly thereafter.

Her two new companions are Sister Howells and Sister Barth.  All three will be serving in the Warsaw I Branch.  What a great addition to our mission!

After dinner, being set apart and everything else,  she was off with her companions to get her luggage put away and then out to preach the gospel to the people in Warsaw.  Welcome, Sister Antkowiak, to the Poland Warsaw Mission! We love you and are grateful that you will be serving alongside us for a short while!

Young Women Conference in Poland

These beautiful Young Women in Poland found themselves all gathered together at the Warsaw II Branch last Sunday. How did this happen? Well, let me tell you.....

 A Young Women Conference was announced, and they started gathering at the mission home in Warsaw from all corners of Poland...from Szczecin to Wroclaw to Poznan to...

 Bydgoszcz! Young girls (ages 12-18) came together to make friends and learn more about the gospel.

They all settled in....all over the Mission Home!

The first night, the group was brought together by having fun trying out their karaoke skills!  

The girls loved it and had such a great time singing together.  We have some very talented YW and YSA's.

Our YSA's finally got their chance at the microphones when the younger girls went to bed. (We love and appreciate all the YSA's who helped make this Conference a success. They were a great help and an even greater example to the younger girls!) Everyone had a full schedule the next day and needed some rest.  Somehow some of the YW thought they could operate on only a couple of hours of sleep...sounds just like "girls camp" worldwide!

The next morning, everyone was up early for scripture study with President Nielson. These young girls are truly growing strong testimonies of the gospel. They love the scriptures and love studying them.

 After scripture study, Sister Jarosz (Warsaw District YW President), announced that today was a very special day.  It was CHILDREN'S DAY in Poland! (Every American child I know has always asked why there wasn't a 'kid's day' in America.. The usual response....."because EVERY day is Kid's Day!") But in Poland, there actually is a celebrated Children's Day where children receive presents.

 Scripture Study was followed by a hearty breakfast......

 ...by one and all....

 And then it was time to catch the local buses and head to the Wolska Chapel where more great activities and instruction would be given.

After the girls left, I went downstairs to grab something out of the pantry. Hummmm.....looks like girls camp to me! :) So, Bishop Call and President Teshima (my local leaders in Las Vegas), it seems I have already attended Girls Camp for the year!

 The Wolska Chapel: The theme of the Conference was "Stand ye in Holy Places and Be Not Moved". Here everyone is gathered together for a great discussion/lesson on this topic.

Julia (Warsaw I Branch) was the guest teacher with Marta (Poznan) translating. (I love how the Church prepares our young people for the challenges of the day...)

 As part of the lesson, they played the scripture game "Faith Factor" where teams competed to find answers from the scriptures to some very important life questions.

It was a great way to 'liken the scriptures' unto themselves. (I Nephi 19:23) 

 There were 'challenges' given to teams for extra 'points', such as...who could eat the whipped cream off their plate the fastest!

 Or, I guess you could just eat it this way!   There were games that emphasized teamwork and the importance of working together. (Strength in numbers!)

 And games that the only purpose was to get to know one another!

The Young Women also had an opportunity to make 'Value Bracelets' from beads the colors of the eight Young Women values...Faith, Divine Nature, Individual Worth, Knowledge, Choice and Accountability, Good Works, Integrity and Virtue.

What was going on as the girls were getting ready to return to the Mission Home? A Grill was being prepared for some very hungry YW. And who better to make it happen than Brother Jarosz!

Everyone was back at the Mission Home....

...and it was time to eat!

Afterwards, everyone changed into Sunday clothes where they practiced for the song they would be singing in church the next day. We had a great fireside ending with a testimony meeting.  I can tell you that even in Poland where our Church numbers may be small, when the spirit is in our meetings the church is as strong as any place on earth.  

And that's how we came to take this picture. The next morning, everyone left early to be at the Warsaw II chapel for church. The Conference was truly a highlight and a faith building activity for all of the YW in Poland. Testimonies AND friendships were strengthened. 

A VERY special 'Thank you' to the Jarosz family for ALL the work they did to help this Conference be a success. We appreciate their willingness to help the church in Poland grow! We love you!