PREFACE: We heard that there was a candy bar in Poland called a fart bar. Hannah thought that was pretty funny and asked Spencer to send her one :) (8 year old humor).
Family!
Great to hear from you, once again! We are trying out a new library from which we can email, and they don't have anywhere where I can hook up my camera or my voice recorder. We'll have to find somewhere else to email next week so I can send them to you. Emma, I got a few pictures of Polish architecture for you as well. Anyway, I apologize that you won't get a voice recording this week, but I will send one as often as I can. I haven't received the Conference Ensign or the blog letters yet, but I am hoping they will come today, or soon. We left home before the mail came. Hannah-bear, I will look to see if I can find a fart bar here in Poland. Directly translated, fart means luck in Polish. So that candy bar is a luck bar, or lucky bar. I will definitely send home some candy bars regardless though. My favorite is called a lion bar. It's kind of like 100 Grand bars, but with a wafer in the middle. They use a lot of wafers in candy here in Poland. It's super good, as long as you like wafers, which I do. Also, if you have any requests on what you want for Christmas, let me know and I will try to buy it and send it home. I'm planning on putting together a Christmas package to send home to all of you. Also, I was talking to Sister McGrath this week, and she said the earlier you can send a Christmas package the better. I guess the mail gets super busy here, just like anywhere else, around Christmas time. You should probably send it to the mission office (the address you have to Warsaw), rather than to our apartment in Sosnowiec. Transfers are on December 22nd, so I could be somewhere else completely different in the country, so I wouldn't want my package out in Sosnowiec. Someone will be able to give it to me coming from Warsaw on that transfer day, plus we have zone conference right before Christmas, so I will still get it one way or another.
Crazy to hear about all the mission calls! I'm excited for everyone. You'll have to tell Mikelle to say hi to the Karlssons! Speaking of which, is there any way you can get me their address? I wrote them a letter back to the Dear Elder they sent me in the MTC, but I'm not sure how Norwegian addresses work, so I can't really send it.... I would greatly appreciate it if I could get their address.
I'm feeling great and I'm healthy, but Elder Bokinsky has been getting over a cold he has had, so this week has been a little bit low on missionary work. We've been trying to get him healthy, but we've had a lot going on still.
We had a baptism this past Saturday, which was great! It wasn't D's hers is scheduled for December 1st, along with her son P. This was one of the Sisters' investigators named A. She used to be a Jehovah's Witness, but is now a fully-fledged member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I was actually able to stand in the circle while she was confirmed. It was really cool to hear a blessing like that in Polish and to understand a lot of what was going on.
Speaking of blessings in Polish, we gave D a blessing this week, in Polish. I actually gave her the blessing. It was an incredible experience. I was really nervous that I wouldn't be able to say everything I wanted to in Polish and that the message she needed to hear from the Lord wouldn't be able to come out clearly in the Polish I know, but I shouldn't have feared. I was able to say everything I felt like I needed to, albeit not in perfect polish. Still, I am comforted to know that she knows exactly what the Lord felt like she needs to know. After the blessing, she told us she felt the love of God come from our hands through her whole body and give her strength and energy to do exactly what she needs to do. She struggled to describe her feelings on the subject. Elder Bokinsky and I both smiled, looked at each other, and knew exactly what she felt. It's strange how hard it is to describe feelings of the Spirit, but how certain we are that we know exactly what someone else is feeling like. It brought me such pleasure as well to be able to give her that blessing. What an incredible tool the Priesthood is. I feel like I'm learning so much more out here about the gospel. So many things that I have taken for granted that I now have a much greater knowledge of.
D is progressing wonderfully. We still have the barrier of smoking to tackle, but she and we have great faith that with the Lord's help, we will be able to overcome. Her son, P, came with her to A's baptism on Saturday, and was at church with her yesterday. He wants to be baptized as well! We now have him scheduled for baptism, along with D, for the 1st of December. We have a lot to teach them, but D is helping us teach P the basics. It is so incredible to see the love she has for the gospel. She just gets it. Already. I don't know how else to describe it. She was so prepared for this. She already knows this is the true church and that what we have is from God. Unfortunately, her husband, D, isn't interested in what we have to say. He's a nice guy and is very willing to let her do what she wants to do with religion, but he just doesn't want much to do with God. Dad, Mom, thank you for being so rock solid in this gospel, and for helping me to learn and grow up within it. I'm just beginning to realize how blessed I am to have you as parents supporting me on my mission and doing so much for me here. I love you so much. I know this work is what the Lord needs to me to be doing. I apologize, I'm running out of time. I feel like I didn't say that much today, but know that I'm doing well, I'm growing in the gospel, and that I love you all. Emms, I'm excited to hear more about this science fair project. It sounds very interesting. Hannah-bear, tell me if you want something specific for Christmas! Heather, love ya.
With love,
Elder Vernon
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