January 28th, 2013

Sara is improving her cooking skills?

Dear Dad, Mom, Andrew, and Hannah,

Thank you for the letters mom! And pictures of shoveling snow. That looks fun :) I'm glad I'm not the only who's cold outside. Also the Christmas card is cute. Yay Bezdjians.

Sister Bown is a really good example of patience. I am really grateful for her patience with me, with people on the street, with members, with investigators, and with other missionaries. She is really willing to wait until the timing is right and the Lord's timing, not ours. I have never known someone who does not get antsy in lines or frustrated when investigators haven't kept their commitments. She is truly patient. She also taught me something about the Spirit this week.

We had a meeting with one of our investigators and it was going well when all of the sudden she started yelling and being really angry about some people who have manipulated her and treated her wrongly and caused her a lot of harm. Then when I said she needed to forgive those people she got REALLY mad and started yelling at me. "Bezdjian! You're only 21 years old! I'm 60. You have no idea what those people did to me! Jesus Christ forgave, true, but he was miraculous. What would YOU do if someone....Don't tell me I have to forgive them!" etc. etc. And just yelling and swearing in my face. It was so lacking the Spirit that Sister Bown and I just looked at each other and we knew we needed to leave. So we left and later that night Sister Bown said something really interesting. Every night, before we go to sleep, we ask each other "what were you grateful for today?" and when I asked her she said for that terrible meeting. She was grateful because it helped her differentiate better when we have the Spirit in lessons and when we don't. Leave it to Sister Bown to see the positive in every situation. I'm lucky to have her as a companion!

Something I learned from the scriptures this week: As we were reading 2 Nephi 31 this week I thought a lot about the gospel of Jesus Christ. We also taught it many times this week so I was pondering it more. I thought about how sometimes it is so easy for me to focus on the baptism, rather than the path that leads to it and the path that follows. It is more important to focus on the doctrine of Christ than just the act of being in the water. I feel that as we focus more on helping our investigators have a humble attitude and repentant heart, they themselves will want to follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized. I also thought deeper about how the gospel of Jesus Christ really does change our attitudes, desires, and natures so that we become more like Him--more forgiving, slower to anger, more helpful, less selfish.

Our Christ-like attribute for this week is: Hope. Preach My Gospel says that hope is "the abiding trust" that the Lord will fulfill His promises as we keep His commandments. I was thinking about that more this week and how I need to have the patience and the hope that the Lord will bless us with what we need and in His own timing. I think it's crucial to remember that. 

A few times this week some people were pretty rude to us but every time, we saw blessings afterwards. For example, this lady on the street was being really rude to me and I felt really sad after when I was walking away. Well it took 2 streets later, but we met a family who exchanged numbers and is willing to meet and talk with us. I know that the Lord's timing is the best and that He really is involved in the work here as well as our everyday lives. 

 

Miracle story of the week! Well the Elders met this girl named Ania on the street on Tuesday and she is really cool. She is searching for the truth and she believes in God and doesn't like praying to saints. We just met her yesterday and it was a great meeting. She also has braces and is just super cute. Her outlook is so positive, even though she's seen rough parts of life. Pray for her please!

 

Other news:

 

*The Reeds have gone to Katowice :(  But the Sheley's (pronounced Scheeee leeees are here and are so, so nice!

*Andrew came to church! Without Ola and the kids, which was really cool. When he saw us walking to church he said it was nice to hear our voices. yay!

*We have our health. A lot of our members/investigators are sick right now. I hope none of you at home are sick!

*I love you Mom, Dad, Hannah, and Andrew! You are literally the best. I pray for you everyday.

Thank you for all you do and for who you are.
Sister Bezdjian

January 22, 2012

Dear Hannah, Andrew, Dad, Mom,

We just got back from Warsaw this morning from Sisters' Conference. It was really cool! I really enjoyed it more than I expected. It is always uplifting and inspiring to discuss and read the scriptures with President Nielson. I am so grateful that he is my mission president. I'm grateful for Sister Nielson and her example too. I couldn't have asked for a better mission president and his wife. 

Judi A. and Stanford W. Nielson

TUESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2013 FROM TEH NIELSON'S BLOG

Sister's Training Meetings...January 21,22.

Our mission has 14 new Sister missionaries arriving between February 23 and July 2.  So we have many things to do and prepare for.    President arranged for all the Sisters to come into Warsaw Monday and Tuesday for training and review.  With 12 Sisters scattered around Poland, it took some time to gather everyone.

First to arrive in the mission home, where our meetings were held, were the Warsaw Sisters.  Sisters Young and Packard (serving in Warsaw II) and Sisters Allen and Sheahan (serving in Warsaw I).

They were followed by our friendly DeGrasso Pizza guy.  He came right in the house like he was a man on a mission.  Once inside we told him about our mission and some other great things that could change his life.  He was right on time as lunch was the first order of business.

Sisters Masters and Forsey arrived next after a 5-hour train ride from Gdansk.  They were up early this morning but still have tons of energy, and they are ready for our meeting.

The group that all arrived about the same time at the Warsaw Central train station were Sisters Bown (Poznan), Smithee (Wroclaw), Howells (Katowice), Ence (Wroclaw), Bezdjian (Poznan) and Holmgren (Katowice).  They all piled into the transporter, and the Assistants drove them to the mission home.

Once we were together, lunch was ready and there was plenty of visiting and socializing going on.  These are just great Sisters, and they really do love each other.

After being the escorts and having their own pizza, Elder Mikloyski and Jensen were on a train to Wroclaw for an Exchange with the Elders there.  Both said it was a little too noisy for them to stick around.

We spent the afternoon discussing various lessons, guidelines, training programs and goals that our new missionaries needed to be aware of.  It is important that all the 'righteous traditions' of our mission be passed on.

The Sisters of the Poland Warsaw Mission! A special thank you to Sister Allen (front row, far left) for sharing some rope games emphasizing the need for unity and leadership amongst our Sisters. The training meeting ended with 9:00pm planning and a resolve to reach the mission goals...then it was off to bed!   Back row (L to R)  Sisters Smithee, Ence, Bezdjian, Bown, Forsey, Masters, Packard and Young.  Front row (L to R) Sisters Allen, Sheahan, Holmgren and Howells.

Early the next morning, it was time for 'hugs' and 'good-byes' as all our traveling Sisters got into a Taxi/Van to head to the train station.

As usual, they were loaded down with mail, packages and supplies.

Meanwhile, our four Warsaw Sisters headed for the bus. They were returning to their apartments to continue scripture study and language training....and District Meeting.

What a great few hours we spent with our faithful Sisters. There is such love and friendship shown amongst our Sisters. They are a joy to serve with. They are diligent, obedient workers who love the Lord....rain, shine (or even snow)!

  

Sister Bown is doing well. I'm excited to see where the mission takes her next. She is a good example to me of a willing helper. Whether it's in the mission home, or in the chapel, or in a tramwaj, she is observant and willing to lend a hand, give up a seat, or greet someone. Without drama or complaining, she is always ready to help someone else. I noticed that when we spent Monday and this morning in the mission home. Whenever Sister Nielson needed help with the food, or moving things, Sister Bown was always right there to help. I like that she helps quietly too; she doesn't make a big deal or let everyone know that she's the one helping--she just does it.

We started doing this new thing in companionship study. We have to find an object in the room or out the window and relate it to Christ. Maybe this is a stretch but the coolest one from this week was the picture of coffee beans on our wall (don't ask me why it's there, it just came with the apt). As all you perfume shoppers know, coffee is essential when buying some really good smelling cologne or perfume. Why? Because after testing and spraying so many different scents, the human nose can get confused about what the smell actually is. It's easy to get mixed up between the smells. But coffee beans clear the nosal palette. Christ is like coffee beans because we can often get confused about our priorities in life. With so many good things on this earth, it's easy to not realize what we're smelling. But Christ clears our minds and helps us make a correct, fragrant choice.

 

Our Christ-like attribute for this week is: Charity and Love. I am going to study how this characteristic will change the way I teach and think about our investigators. I also want to consider different ways we can teach our investigators to develop this attribute. I'm excited to study it more.

 

Something I learned from the scriptures this week: Reading the Isaiah chapters in 2 Nephi in the Book of Mormon along with the footnotes from Isaiah in the Bible was really helpful. President Nielson sent us a text--even though it mentions that it's helpful to look at the Isaiah footnotes in the BOM, I probably wouldn't have done it. But thanks to his text I did and it made a lot more sense with those and with prayer. I still don't understand all of it but certain things were clearer. My favorite part was actually in today's reading--2 Nephi 25. At the end Nephi says we need to do three things. 1 Believe in Christ 2 Bow down (humble ourselves) before him and 3 worship Him with all our heart, might, mind, and soul. And when we do this we will be happy, we will have peace, and it will be well with us at the last day. It reminded me of Elder Holland's talk in the last general conference. We watched his talk again also for Sisters' Conference.

 

Other news from this week:

*I got to see Sister Young, Sister Masters, and Sister Allen at the conference! That was really fun. It's cool to see the changes in them. Then Sister Allen had this ropes course game from it (you can see pictures of it on Sister's Nielson's blog. I probably look awkward!). Anyway we all stood in a circle and then had this orange rope on the ground surrounding us. We all had to get under and outside the rope but none of us could use our hands and only 4 sisters could talk and 2 of them only in Polish. So we worked it out and it was pretty fun. The other side held it with their legs. I just took the rope in my teeth and then our side crouched under it. First time we did it in 48 seconds and the second time was 20. We talked about teamwork and leadership. Really fun.

*Romana is doing great! She is really progressing and learning how to read the Book of Mormon. She's getting excited for her baptism on the 9th. So are we!! Marcin has been a STAR on her lessons and so helpful in explaining things.

*Irena is back on board! She was on vacation for awhile, and I guess she dropped her phone in the pool there so that's why she hadn't been answering. But now we are back on track, she was at church, and will be at Romana's baptism on the 9th to see how it is.

*Sad news: The Reeds are being transferred to Katowice! :( I wanted to cry when I heard but I was just in shock. So now the senior couple from Wroclaw is coming to Poznan now. That will be fun. Starszy Tingey worked with them and he likes them a lot. I will miss the Reeds though.

On short notice, since we didn't have a chance to say good-bye to our Branch members, they organized a little gathering on Institute night to say good-bye. We are so thankful to those who could come, and to those who couldn't make it that night, we extend our love to you. This is a great group of Saints who will always be dear to our hearts. Thank you, Poznan members, for a wonderful 10 months with you.   FROM THE REED'S BLOG

*Our families are doing great! I just love them so much and can't wait for them to accept the gospel of Jesus Christ.

*We went to the Old Folk's home again. We wrote out the song "row, row, row, your boat" phonetically polish for them and then we passed out copies. It was the cutest thing to hear them all sing it. I have to bring my recorder next time.

 

Thank you for all you do and for who you are.

Sister Bezdjian

From the Reed's Blog Jan 16th, 2013

Sunday Obiad

Posted on January 16, 2013 by tom

Another Sunday rolls around for the obiad! We guess these obiads on the second Sunday of each month have been a tradition of the Poznan Branch for quite a few years. We are glad to be a part of the tradition, and it’s always a wonderful time for people to get to know one another better.

Here's the group - there were some different faces at the table, and we always enjoy each person who comes to join us.

We have a family coming to the Branch, Ola and Andrew, and their two children. We certainly enjoy seeing them each Sunday.

These two women are from our English classes. It was nice they joined us for the meal.

The young man on the left is being taught by the Elders. Next to him are Elders Tingey and Stockford, Sister Nielson, and Elder Reed.

Jacek and Marian were chatting together during the meal. Jacek is being taught by the Elders. Marian is our Elder's Quorum President.

Our wonderful sisters - Marlena, Jola, and Regina

Sister Bezdjian, Malgorzata (our Relief Society President), and Grzegorz, who is our food expert

SARA SAID RAMONA IS LIKE A FUN POLISH "MOMMY B"

Sister Bown, Marcin (just recently baptized) and Ramana, who is being taught by the Sisters

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Children’s English

Posted on January 15, 2013 by tom

Last Saturday the Sister Bezdjian and Sister Bown taught the children names for colors in their English class. It was so much fun to watch the children react and respond to the lesson. The parents come to the class, too, and I think they also enjoy watching their children learn more English and interact with the Sisters.

The students had color cards and were exchanging with each other so that they had a rainbow (one of each color).

They went around the building finding all the different colors they could see.

Post from President and Sis Nielson's Blog

SUNDAY, JANUARY 13, 2013

Interview trips start....January 12, 2013

 Believe it or not, our interview trips have gotten SO MUCH easier because of signs like this:

                                       
 We love big, bright blue signs; because that translates to: BIG NICE FREEWAY AHEAD! (On the left is the old way to Lodz and Poznan.....on the right is the new way via A2.  On a snowy day like today, the NEW HIGHWAYS are so welcomed.

It wasn't even a choice....you ALWAYS follow the big blue signs!

 So over the bridge(s) we went! The only 'downside' to the new A2 freeway is the toll booths....of which there are many.....

....and they keep building more!  This is one that will be operating sometime in the future.  Another interesting thing is the Toll prices change for time to time.  But it is worth it not to get stuck behind great big (slow) trucks that you struggle to pass.  

The rynek at Poznan...even though Christmas is over, decorations stay up for sometime afterwards. They are still beautiful.

 Meeting the Poznan Elders (Stockford and Tingey) at a local restaurant for dinner. It was nice to visit with these good Elders.....who, by the way, were back proselyting by 6:00 pm as per the Missionary White Handbook!  They both have not been in Poland that long- Elder Tingey just over 4 months and Elder Stockford just over 2 months.  They are tremendous.  They are teaching some incredible people who we hope will have a desire to follow the example of their Savior and be baptized.  It was a little chilly out tonight.

 Meanwhile, after dinner, I was able to accompany our Poznan Sisters (Bezdjian and Bown) on a lesson.  Sisters Bezdjian and Bown really know how to do missionary work- they are incredible. We met at Jola's house and we were teaching Regina. Talking about the Plan of Salvation, many great questions were asked and answered. Jola and Regina are great friends....Regina is reading and praying about theBook of Mormon to find out if it is true for herself. Her son, Wiktor, is serving a mission in Detroit and will be very pleased to hear this.

We were able to attend the Poznan Branch for Church Sunday. President Nielson had a most important interview. Marta's missionary papers are being turned in. She is SO excited to serve the Lord in this capacity. She is a wonderful teacher and will be a great missionary. We will let you know where she will be called to serve! We love you, and we are very proud of you, Marta!  She will be our 7th missionary from Poland who is currently in the field.

January 14, 2013 - Poznan

Dear Family,

Thank you for the package and the many letters mom! You seriously are THE BEST and those letters just keep me pumped for the rest of the week. Thank you for keeping Sister Bown and me in your prayers. I love you all.

President Nielson and Sister Nielson came to Poznan this weekend! It is always a pleasure to see them. They bought us dinner at the Siox restaurant in the rynek. But before the dinner we had a meeting with this really REALLY cute family! So the elders left and we came late and had to snarf it all down so unladly-like. Then Sister Nielson came with us to our meeting with Jola and Regina! It was a lot of fun and you can probably see some pictures on Sister Nielson's blog. We read 2 Nephi 9 and talked about the Plan of Salvation. Really great meeting.

That was Saturday so the next day President Nielson spoke in sacrament meeting. I really liked his thoughts. Our members love him and Sister Nielson. He talked about people who had heart transplants. He began by telling us about when the first heart transplant was successfully performed. And he told us that those people who had the transplants were supposed to go to the doctor every so often for check ups to make sure everything was going well. Well a few of these people started feeling good. They became casual about the miracle that they had a new heart. They started saying to themselves, well I feel great. I don't need to go to the doctor. And of course, because they didn't have those regular checkups, some of those people died. Which is so sad because it was completely avoidable. President Nielson then compared that to sacrament meeting, daily prayer, and daily scripture study. We all experience the change of heart talked about in the Book of Mormon (Alma 5) but we need to maintain good spiritual health by coming to see the Great Doctor often and regularly. Many people think they are doing great and don't need those daily but neccessary things and the results are spiritual sickness. 

I really liked President's talk and I hope we can all ask ourselves, are we taking our medicine? Are we visiting the doctor regularly? Do we really appreciate the miracle of the new heart the Lord has given us?

Sister Bown is doing great! She is such a quick learner. And she is so eager to learn more. I really like her receptiveness--that is very admirable. I want to be as teachable as she is. She is also a very calm person. I like that about her. I am usually freaking out about something or other but she handles things very calmly and even if she freaks out, she doesn't show it. She picks up on habits very quickly and this week we had some decisions to make and she often suggested one route which turned out to be much wiser in the long run. Foresight. That's what she has. Sister Bown is great.

Our Christ-like attribute for this week is: Faith. Diligence was really great to work on and I think these two attributes are very related. I think faith feeds one's diligence and when I study faith this week, I want to see how I can inspire others to increase their faith in Jesus Christ. One of our investigators would like to increase his faith but it is our job to show him how and help him have spiritual experiences on his own.

Something I learned from the scriptures this week: According to the mission schedule we all finished 2 Nephi 4 today. I think in these last few chapters, my admiration for Nephi has grown. He really is so faithful and desires to be righteous. I like how he is never complacent with how good he is; instead, he seeks to be more merciful like the Lord has always been to him and to all mankind.

Other things from this week:

* Bogusia's birthday was last monday so we had a little "party" with her. We ate cake and talked about the stripling warriors and obedience. She is still in bed and at home a lot because of her broken bones but I think she is doing well. Reading everyday and praying and she wants to come to church next week.

*Romana, our baptismal date is just making leaps and bounds. She met president nielson at church and is giving us referrals almost daily! I love this woman. She just needs to read more on her own--she likes reading with us too much :)

*We started doing a service project thing weekly at an old folk's home near our apartment. It is so much fun. We get to talk about YOU and our lives and they already love us. They want to know everything about our families and daily lives. So I told them the story about Dad's ancestor in Turkey who had the dream about the missionaries. By the way, they all think you're handsome Dad. And everyone thinks Mom is another sister. "young mom!" they all exclaim. 

*Welp. The year mark has come and gone. I have learned and will continue to learn a lot on the mission. I think the most important things I have learned are: to be humble and grateful in all things, and believe in miracles because they happened! Our prayers really are heard and answered by our loving Father in Heaven. 

 *One of our families is doing so great! We read the book of mormon together this week with the Reeds and it was a really nice discussion. They were in church as well and I just feel so good about them! I love these families. 

 

Thank you for all you do and for who you are.

Sister Bezdjian

Please tell Peggy thanks for the christmas card. I really liked it. 

please also tell aunt shell and cole I got their package and I am so thankful for the whoppers! everyone snacked on them in church. It was fun to share with everyone.

January 7th, 2013

New hair cut now all the same length

Dear Hannah, Andrew, Dad, Mom,

Thank you for the year mark package! That was so nice.

 

Sister Bown is really great. She is a really good example of calmness. Which is good because that is something I lack. More than once I have been stressed out or worried about our investigators or feeling rushed. And she in her quiet, unabraisive way reminds me that the Lord is in control. It's really cool.

How Sara and Sis Bown celebrated New Year's Eve

 

Something I learned from the scriptures this week: Well I completely forgot to mention last email. We are reading the Book of Mormon together as a mission until April. Everyone is welcome to follow! On Sister Nielson's blog is the reading schedule. (Not sure of the site but just googling 'poland warsaw mission blog nielson' should bring it right up.)

So the reading this week was in 1 Nephi. Contemplating about Nephi's visions this week was just great. But something stood out to me this morning. Today was chapter 15 when Laman and Lemuel ask Nephi the meaning of their father's visions. We had a similar situation this week, when an investigator and a member asked us about the scriptures. Nephi is a perfect example of how to handle this situations. He reminds his brothers HOW to get personal revelation and not just WHAT everything means. But then, beyond that, he calmly explains the vision's meaning. I love how Nephi doesn't selfishly hold back the information God has revealed to him. He is willing to share it and encourages his brothers to find out for themselves and he does it in a way that inspires them to humility.

 

Our Christ-like attribute for this week is: diligence. Great planners make great missionaries and I am really focusing on chapter 8 in Preach My Gospel this week. I know that if we plan well and work hard, "we will have the Spirit...and we will touch the hearts of the people" (Preach My Gospel). I still have a lot to learn about planning but the mission has definitely helped me think about planning more. I think I would be a lot better at doing my homework and organizing my life now. Planning really does make life more efficient.

 

In other news:

*Romana, our baptismal candidate is doing just great. She loved church yesterday and is inviting all of her friends to her baptism.

*Last night, we had a really cool meeting with this older man named Bogdan and his daughter and grandson. His house looked a lot like Baba's and he started out complaining about communists, and capitalists. I was thinking, oh man. How are we going to pray and start the lesson...But sooner or later we started and the atmosphere completely changed. Soon his little grandson was reading the scriptures out loud for us and helping us with the lesson. It was really cool. And they both prayed at the end! So I hope they'll be excited to meet again and read the Book of Mormon.

 

Thank you for all you do and for who you are.

Sister Bezdjian

 

p.s. Please tell Aunt Hollie thank you for the letter and the package! Sister Bown and I love the pj shirts and it was so nice of her to send it. Thanks!

Notice that a priest would be in the area to bless their building