Monday morning....early! What a great way to enter the Mission Field....the day after being taught by an apostle of the Lord at our All Poland Conference. We took Sister Alex Modzelewska to the Chopin Warsaw airport at 5:00 am to catch her plane to the United States where she will be entering the Mission Training Center in Provo, Utah, to learn the Romanian language. She is excited and miracle after miracle came for her to depart on this day with all of her Polish obligations satisfied.
Sunday night, President Staples (Branch President of the Warsaw II Branch) and his wife, Seiya, came to say good-bye. Alex was then set apart as a full-time missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints by President Nielson. She now lives all the mission rules for the next 18 months.
One last good-bye at the airport.....and we put her on the plane for a very long flight.
And who was waiting for her when she arrived in Salt Lake City? Some of our great former missionaries most of which had taught Alex the gospel in Katowice, Poland.....Angela Smith, Stacey (Helfrich) Day, Tracy Allen, Lauren Hulme, Tess Brown and Stewart "Hollywood" Tribe. 
Of course all were hungry and what better place to orient a foreigner to American food than IHOP.....a restaurant that serves the best breakfasts 24 hrs a day! There Alex was met by more former Polish missionaries! (L to R): Stewart Tribe, Carson Garrett, Tess Brown, Thomas Eastman, Stacey (Helfrich) Day, Will Plumb, Tracy Allen, Sister Modzelewska, Angela Smith, and Lauren Hulme (kneeling). We are SURE the party didn't last long, because Sister Modzelewska had to get to bed by 10:30 pm (mission rules! but the plane didn't arrive until 11:00pm so this may have been a few minutes past bedtime...).
Tuesday Morning: Sister Modzelwska enters the Provo MTC. Taking one last picture in front of the Provo Temple which is across the street from the MTC. A BIG THANK YOU to all our former missionaries who made Sister Modzelewska feel welcomed. We love you and think about you often! AND....we are so proud of our Sister Missionary from Poland. Sister Modzelewska has a strong testimony and is ready to share it with others....to help them find the happiness that she has found by joining the church.
What a mission does for a person. Everyone who can, needs to serve a mission. You can see the smiles the faces and the growth in those former missionaries from Poland. These are the best of times, days never to be forgotten.
that's so sweet. brought tears to my eyes.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for posting the status of Alex! I had seen one picture on FB and so knew she had arrived safely to the US. I loved seeing the former Polish missionaries there to greet her as she arrived to the US and then were angels to her before going into the MTC...loved, loved the post!
ReplyDeleteIt was the best day of my life! Sister Modzelewska is going to do so great!
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