February 11, 2008...a low key week

Dearest Family, > > I've got to get 400 English words typed out for this new language program that's going into effect and I have to write my Pres. letter as usual so this e-mail might be a quickie. This week was really low key. Almost depressingly low key. All of our set-ups fell through and none of our investigators came to church yesterday. And it was just one of those weeks where it felt like no one cared I existed when I was on the streets. I taught a few good people, none of them have materialized into anything yet though. I think the low point was during a white board yesterday when we had been out there for about 2 hours and not one person had stopped to talk to me yet. We were asking people who their hero was, pretty common one. Anyways, i resulted to desperate tactics and decided to speak with a heavy american accent. Actually worked pretty well for a while, got a few numbers after that. We had some drunk larrys randomly start dancing in front of our whiteboard. I'm still convinced that the Lord put larrys in Poland just to keep the missionaries sane and provide us with a source of entertainment. > > I think the highlight of this week was when Elder Duty and I were looking for another form of service to do each week. Duty isn't a huge fan of the Jewish Cemetary. Last week for service the guy that runs the place had us move a pile of dirt. We had to shovel dirt into a wheelbarrow and move it. The whole time i was thinking about all that stuff we did in the backyard, Dad and how you kept saying that I'd be doing it sometime on my mission. So yeah Duty and i decided to call up some dom dzieckos which are like orphanages. We contacted one and headed out there one night and it was wayy the heckk out there. When we got there though it wasn't really like an orphanage at all. They welcomed us right in for herbata and their home was amazing. Usually, well atleast the few homes I've been in, I've also been overcome with kind of an uneasy feeling. Usually they've got pictures of the Pope or Mary or just saints up everywhere and it's just way catholic. This was just like a normal home, it was almost like walking into an LDS home back in the states. I kept expecting to see the Oakland Temple or first presidency up somewhere. Anyway, there were 2 parents and 10 kids. 2 of them were their actual children, but I'm pretty sure that they've adopted the rest. The fell in love with the kids just being there 5 minutes.. and the parents are just rock solid. The husband works for the European Union so he makes quite a bit of money and yeah they are just these way normal people, way chill. The whole time all i could see was all 12 of them decked out in white ready to jump into the water... Nah, that would be amazing though wouldn't it. So yeah Elder Duty and I and maybe a couple other Elders are going to go there once or twice a week and teach them English and maybe play soccer or something with them... doesn't start for a couple weeks though. I'm stoked for it.> > Duty and I no longer have any baptisimal dates, although Krystyna is supposedly coming to English tomorrow, we'll see if that goes down. I don't think i really understood what i was getting myself into with this whole Poland thing haha, no it's good though I love the Elders I'm around and i enjoy talking to people probably more than anything I've ever done. It's just definitely been a change from the spiritual atmosphere of the MTC. The only teaching we do everyday is on the street so the spiritual fueling i get during the day basically only happens during my study in the morning. Elder Duty is getting pretty trunky on me unfortunately. I have a feeling that these next two months, being the last of his mission, might be a little rough. You get the companion you get for a reason though. So finding the good and the learning opportunities in any situation is always a good thing. Important to keep that vision that the Lord is shaping me and i can either fight the process and end up a larry or let the process happen and become what He needs me to be.> > I finally got some packages from the Poczta! Although I'm afraid I'm not going to get the one you sent me Mom. Duty is going to call Bytom for me today to try and get my package but it might be on its way back to the states by now. Dunno what their hang up with it was. I did get a couple davagee packages from Sydney though and those seemed to make it through ok. > > By the way i saw a little cafe off the rynek that has chess boards set up.. I'm going to have to do some special interest contacting one day i think ;-) > > Sorry this email was way rushed, have a good one all> > Happy Valentines Day > > elder daly