The end of February...can you believe it? 2/25/13

Dearest family bo bamily,

 

This week was so great! Mostly because I got some great packages from all of YOU!! Thank you for those. Hannah, your letter was AWESOME and I loved it! Thank you mom for the necklaces and those shirts. They are cute and I am wearing two now! Thank you also mom and dad for the debit card! Yay!

I had a great experience this week. We met a contact through another investigator! About a week and a half ago we met a blind woman named Basia on the tramwaj. Unfortunately I wrote her number down wrong and so when we called the next day, the number didn't work. Well we thought that she was lost forever. Then it turns out she talked to her friend about us who is already an investigator of ours! He gave us her correct number and we met with them both this week. It was a testimony to me that the Lord is really involved in the work.

 

Something I learned this week is to have faith and be patient in the Lord's timing. We have been pretty close to the standard but it is so important to listen to the Spirit. With lots of planning and help from our members (and most importantly from the Lord) we achieved the standard of excellence! We were a few things short yesterday. We needed to place 3 Books of Mormon, 1 new investigator, 1 referral, 1 lessactive/recent convert lesson and 1 more investigator with a baptismal date. We were so close and step by step, with the Lord's help, it all happened. The amazing part was our lesson with Basia. She is a neighbor of a less-active member and therfore has had a lot of contact with the Church over the years. Well we were talking to her about her religious background and I just had the feeling to ask her to follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized. And she accepted! Her date is for May 18 so please pray for her. She is really amazing and she has 5 sons from ages 14-24. I can't wait to continue to work with her. Sometimes I want so much for the church to burst out in Poland and I have the faith that it will blossom. At the same time, we want real growth and not just baptisms that turn into less-active members without testimonies and conversion. So it is important to do everything in God's way and in his timing.

 

Sister Bown and I are....doing really well. Elder Tingley is training and the new Elder is really great and being around him reminds me of my first few moments in the country. We are also doing better at evaluating our lessons and asking for referrals from everyone. Something I learned from Sister Bown this week was to be more obedient to our leaders and not complain or disregard their counsel. Sometimes it's hard for me to be humble and listen to leaders but Sister Bown has been teaching me a lot about that this week. If she doesn't agree, she just doesn't say anything and stays wise and quiet. Whereas when I open my mouth, I end up making a fool of myself. She's a good example of quiet dignity.

 

What I learned in the Book of Mormon was in Alma 17, the reading for today. Ammon is one of my favorites in the Book of Mormon and love reading his story and looking for clues for how to become a better missionary. It struck me today that even before he met King Lamoni, Ammon had "rejected the kingdom" and desired to preach the work. So I was thinking today, how can I reject the kingdom? How can I prioritize preaching the word over worldly influences? How can I forsake the world and leave those other things behind in order to meet our 'King Lamoni' aka golden investigator? I hadn't thought of this before either but it says that Ammon and those that went with him prepared themselves by bringing weapons to hunt food. What are our weapons? Anyway just thinking about that stuff. More about Ammon next week definitely.

 

Other fun things from this week:

*The Sheleys made the missionaries dinner last night! So yummy and delicious. Sister Sheley really knows how to cook!

*We went to Andrew and Ola's with Henry (member orginially from Ghana) and Andrew gave us a great cooking lesson. It was really cool. They also came to church which was so good. Henry bore some powerful testimony as well.

*We had lunch with the Sheleys and an investigatign couple. Sooo good! They are doing well. We talked about the Holy Ghost and how they can recognize answers to prayer. They are just so stinking cute.

 

Thank you all for your prayers. I am so grateful to have a family that supports me on the mission. I know that Heavenly Father really is looking out for our family and He is so willing to bless us.

 

Love,

 

Sara

LOVE BRIDGE IN POZNAN

The legend behind this particular tradition is remarkably modern. In 1992 Italian author and filmmaker Federico Moccia published a love story entitled Tre metri sopra il cielo. The book told the story of two young Italian lovers. The hero convinces his girl that it is traditional to seal their everlasting love by attaching a padlock to the third lamppost from the north side of Rome’s Ponte Milvio. Having closed the padlock the key was then thrown into the Tiber flowing below signifying the bonding of the pair forever. While the book later went onto become a film, the story prompted a series of ‘Love Bridges’ to spring up all over the world. In Poznań young couples have taken to engraving padlocks with their names before fastening them to the bridge and together throwing the key into the Cybina. As you can see many couples have already done this and the water below the bridge must be swimming with small padlock keys.

Feb. 18th, 2013

Dearest Raffie, Lindy, Andrew, and Hannah,

 

Ok family. Thank you all for writing! Also, thank you for the cute valentine's cards. Those were fun to get in the mail. You are all the best. I love hearing from you and your words give me energy and encouragement for the upcoming week.  Thank you Mom for doing the praca domowa :D (*ahem* rest of the family...)

 

This week was great. The most amazing thing was a family that we are teaching right now came to church! They have a 4-month-old baby girl and we also had 2 member lessons with them this past week. Things are going great with them and the miracle was that their baby was so quiet and happy all during sacrament meeting and Relief Society. They are the CUTEST family ever, so please just pray for them! They love having us over and I am basically obsessed with them. Of course, when they walked into church with the baby everyone just oogled and awwed so naturally the members love them already.

The principle I learned was...from the Book of Mormon this week. Conversion can happen to anyone--even the most wicked, prideful, and hard-hearted. I love reading about Alma and witnessing his "change of heart" over and over again. It is probably one of the few stories recounted several times in the Book of Mormon. It is also interesting to see how his nature changes and he becomes an instrument in the Lord's hands. He's my favorite person in the Book of Mormon. Who is yours?

My companion and I are doing wonderful! We got transfer calls last night and I am really happy to be staying with Sister Bown in Poznan. There's a lot more I have to learn from her. And there are some people waiting to be baptized and confirmed! For info for you: Sisters Masters and Young are training and Elder Tiner is the new assistant to the president. I just know that some miracles are going to happen in this transfer! I can't wait actually to see what happens.

 

Other exciting things from this week:

 

we ran into Romana last week! on Pday

*One of our favorite people has her baptismal date  for the 30th of March. She loved the Restoration video this week. 

* We had a lesson with an amazing couple and our member Marian this week. Thez are great! 

sorrz from now on mz tzpzing will be weird because I hit something on the kezboard and I cnaąt figure out how to change it back. ooops

*Mz boots died this week )see pics attached=. Too bad. I tried to superglue them and ended up gluing mz fingers to them so that was lame. Anzwaz!

Thank you for all your hard work and love! I love you all.

the elders eating their lunch

 

our kebab diabelski (devil kebab)

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*We had culture night and went to the opera with Natalie! see the pictures. It was so fun. Minus the part where it was all in german. Free lance is the title. It had Polish subtitles.

 Once a transfer the missionaries are able to have a culture night - to gain an appreciation of Poland.  From a recording Sara mentioned trying to get culture night planned was more work than scheduling a week's worth of appointments.

Love,

 

Sara

 

p.s. Well, from this thursday I have 2 transfers left in the mission! Isn't that just CRAZY? ah!

Sis Bown making a bracelet during dinner

Options for dinner rice or cookie dough...guess which one Sara chose.  On the subject of cookie dough the sisters tried to make a more healthy cookie by leaving out the butter - the conclusion was it doesn't quite work:)

This picture was taken in St. George with Sister Bown's parents - Paula and Jim Bown.
We went to their church on Sunday to meet them and hear their oldest daughter, Sarah, report on her mission.
Sarah Bown served in the
Nebraska Omaha Winter Quarter's mission.

Sis Bown and Sis Bezdjian's sisters - Sarah Bown and Hannah Bezdjian
Note Raffie and Andrew's reflection of the display cabinet glass:)

2/11/13 - Sister Missionaries Dancing????

Nutella while planning....

Dearest family,

 

Thank you for your prayers. I pray for you all by name every night and I am so happy that you support me. The mission would be a lot harder if I didn't know that you all are thinking about me and encouraging me.

 

At the Old Folks home where the missionaries volunteer

Siostra Bown doing great! We are getting along really well. One thing I am learning from her is to be graceful, even in frustrating situations. As you all know I am not the most patient person. But that's what we have companions for because Sister Bown is! She is not easily frustrated and I am trying to learn from her example espeically when I have to deal with annoying elders. (just kidding.) Anyway, we are getting in a better groove of teaching and finding too so that is good.

 

Our Christ-like attribute for this week is: Obedience  We're just laying down the law on each other. It's going to be great. Unfortunately we already broke a rule (not home on time) the day we set this goal--but we are going to be better. So that's good to work on. Obedience is really a blessing because the Lord ALWAYS blesses us when we keep His commandments. And whenever we live a certain principle, He pays us for it. Which has to do with the next part of this letter.

 

What I learned from Preach My Gospel this week: This morning I decided to do a study from Preach My Gospel. It says to look at the commandments from Lessons 4 & 5 and think of the blessings you have received. It was really enlightening. The first commandment is obedience and I thought about all the blessings I've personally gotten when I keep the commandments. For sure peace of conscience. No feelings of guilt. It always works out better for me in the long run. The next one is to pray often. And I thought for awhile about this one. Sadly, there was a time in my life where I didn't really pray. And I compare that with now--when I pray at night I realize how many times during the day the Lord has blessed me. I see the events of the day in different light. Whereas before I always only thought about myself (well I'm still pretty selfish now too but hey, working on it) in prayer I think about my family, our investigators, members, leaders, and what they need. And the best part of all, I actually have a relationship with my Heavenly Father. And I am definitely happier. I promise you all that if you pick a commandment, and really try to live it exactly the Lord will bless you more than you would have expected.

 

So the next part is to ask your family in a letter, "What blessings have you received from living [a certain commandment]?"

 

 

So family here's your PRACA DOMOWA! (homework):

 

Raffie: What blessings have you received from living the word of wisdom?

Lindy: What blessings have you received from reading the scriptures?

Hannah: What blessings have you received from following the prophet?

Andrew: What blessings have you received from being baptized and confirmed?

 

Thank you. I can't wait to hear your answers!

Our fun and amazing investigator Romana

 

Anyway! Other things from this week:

 

*We met our investigator's boyfriend (for lack of a better word ! He is really really fun. With Sister Sheley we showed him and our investigator a video of Christ's baptism because she wanted to see what it looked like. It was a really good meeting. They both came to church yesterday and I think they enjoyed themselves. He even wore a bow tie.

*Another investigator is doing great! Her baptism will actually probably be in March at this point. She's doing well--she just prefers to read the Book of Mormon with us so she can comment and ask questions. It's great though. 

 

*We met with one of our amazing families again! Yay!! Their meeting was my favorite. We made spaghetti in the chapel and Henry came too. It was a really great time to talk with them and see where they are at.

*We had a meeting with another beautiful family. They are soooo cute. It was towards the end of the lesson and we were trying to help the father pray. He didn't really want to but their 6 year old daughter stepped in.

With her front teeth missing, cute freckled face and big eyes, she asked "Do you love the Lord God?"

He says: "A little."

"Then PRAY!!!" And she clasped his hands together and tickled him.

Well he didn't do it but she ended up praying at the end. Best prayer I have ever heard from a six year old. (By the way, her rabbit just died.)

"Dear God, Thank you for mom and Dad. Please, I would like a rat. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

*A less active member came with us on a lesson! He is so great. He also prays really sincerely.

Love you all!! have a great week.

Romana with her dog Chanel #5

 

I love you and pray for you everyday!

 

Love,

 

Sara

 

p.s. speaking of dogs.....awkward story.

question for you all to ponder - What do you do when you and your companion are trying to read the Book of Mormon with investigators or pray with them and their dogs are humping in the background?  Pretty distracting!

Feb. 3rd, 2013

Dear Dad, Mom, Andrew, Hannah,

 

Thank you for the emails this week! Well, thanks Andrew for the email a few weeks ago :P Just kidding. But seriously, write me! I love hearing from my dear family bo bamily. 

 

Sister Bown is really good. She is good at being willing to change. Often when we study a principle from Preach My Gospel, she will say, "Sister! We need to do this!" and we will work together to plan how we can have it in our companionship. We had a really fun split yesterday after church with Marta and Sister Sheley. Sister Bown was with Marta and I was with Sister Sheley. Sis Bown shared with me something that she learned. That being a perfect Polish speaker doesn't make you a better missionary. How true that is. Language is simply a skill that helps us but it isn't everything. I learned a lot from my side as well. Sister Sheley is very good at being personal with people and not rushing through things. It is nearly impossible to feel the Spirit's promptings when I am rushed and hurrying. So it was new to me to walk slower, and relax more as we taught the gospel. It was nice. But as Sister Bown said so perfectly last night: "The key to not being rushed is to be on time. And to be on time you have to plan well. And to plan well, both companions have to be on the same page." So true. Sister Sheley really focuses on how the investigator is feeling and how the Spirit is guiding our plans and lessons. It was fun to work with her yesterday. We ended the split with a spaghetti/salad dinner and watched some of the new bible videos with elder sheley and sister sheley as we ate. So fun.

 

Our Christ-like attribute for this week is: Virtue. Sister Bown and I discussed this morning how controlling one's thoughts is probably one of the hardest things to do. It is crucial to becoming like Christ. Changing our thoughts and intents of our hearts to become more like His is a central purpose of our lives on earth. If we can master that, then our words, actions, and everything else will be more in tune with Him. The thing I learned from the scriptures this week really connects with this. I really love Mosiah 5 (and 4 as well) because we learn about the "change of heart" or the true conversion to Christ and his gospel. I love the way King Benjamin's people describe the joy and peace of conscience they have from the Atonement. Everyone needs that relief, whether they realize it or not. We all need peace and the only way to have lasting peace and happiness is to know and live the gospel of Jesus Christ.

 

Thank you for all you do and for who you are. I hope you have a great week!

 

Sister Bezdjian

From Sis Nielson's Blog - THE WORK IS TRULY HASTENING

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 30, 2013

The Transfer Board looks different. 30 Jan 2013

With 29 missionaries coming in over the next three transfers, things are filling up on President's board.  All of the missionaries left of the "dotted line" are the new ones coming in.  The far right column is the Katowice Zone.  Second column from right is the Bydgoszcz Zone.  In the middle is the Warsaw Zone.  President is looking at four cities to place more missionaries and perhaps having Sisters in cities where they have not been before or at least for a long time.
It's all exciting.
If you are one of the new incoming missionaries, study and know Preach My Gospel, be reading the Book of Mormon with us (Jacob 7 today, Jarom tomorrow...) go to the temple as often as you can, go out with the missionaries in your ward and spend time with your family.  Spend some time on your knees.  We cannot wait for you to arrive in Poland, but you have work to do now.  Prepare for the MTC, and then prepare to work and serve like you never have before. We love you and are praying for you already!