December 8, 2014
Dearest Family,
I can’t believe that Anni got baptized! Wow my little sister sure
grew up fast. I am so glad that you made such a great decision to be baptized.
I promise that so much good will come because of it! I love you so much and I
want you to know that I am leaving my legacy behind here so that when you put
in your mission papers in ten years, you can come and help the missionary work here
in Poland too. I am so proud of my beautiful family.
I just want you all to know that I have changed so much. Haha but
I still am the same old Ellie. This morning I got up and ate a banana for
breakfast, but then I was still hungry so I ate a cup of noodle (european style
of course) haha. Sister Tobler was so grossed out! bahaha. Funny food story of
the week. We have been making the rounds running all over visiting all of our
members, less-actives, and investigators last week and this upcoming week
because Sister Tobler is leaving. Yesterday we had two later evening appointments
with some members from this branch, so we made a huge batch of crepes for
lunch/dinner and rushed off. We went to the first appointment and she had made
us soup. Thus I had my first run in with Barszcz soup. Mum would love the
stuff, because it is essentially beets and carrots in broth. It is this crazy
purple red color and stains your teeth. It is actually not as bad as all of the
other missionaries led us to believe, kinda tasty, until you get a huge heaping
bowl of it after you just downed 6 crepes. So yeah, Barszcz soup is not too
bad, unless you go to your next appointment and they make you fish sandwiches.
So then we had to down these slices of bread covered in butter, fish, and fresh
onion. Plus this tea, that I am pretty sure was not tea. Anyways, my tummy was
in a rumble all night long. People put food in front of missionaries, and we
just basically breathe it in as fast as we can, its just a weird missionary
thing.
Tuesday the Kosanoviches had us over for Thanksgiving/ Christmas
dinner. Seriously this family is simply fantastic! Friday we got to go to
Wilanów palace with a Hungarian member whos husband lives here in Warsaw and
saw all of the Christmas lights. Then we made crafts with the relief society
sisters that night. Saturday we went out and visited another member outside of
Warsaw. She bought us lunch, took us out to a bakery, and then sent us home
with a box of Florentine cookies. We were so surprised by her generosity but
she said that because the Americans took such good care of her son when he
served in America that she tries to take good care of the missionaries here. It
was just such a good reminder to us that every missionary has a home and family
somewhere out there. Then that night we had a super cool YSA Christmas Party!
We had about 7 YSA investigators there that the missionaries brought, more than
the YSA members who attended! The growth of the church here is going to start
with the YSA's, and the I feel that things are going to really take off in this
country! Some day there will be a temple here!
Simply put, we worked a lot! This coming week will be kind of
insane. Today we are going to see the Rynek all lit up as our last p-day all
together. We have Róża's baptism next Saturday, plus a ton of other meetings
set up, then add Christmas on top of all of that and we have a very full, great
schedule set up. It has been a blessed four months serving with Sister Tobler.
I don't think anyone else on this earth knows me as well as this point in my
life, she knows me even better than I know myself sometimes. I guess the best
way to put it is, I am "forever grateful" for the time that we have
shared! She leaves me next Monday and it is going to be a hard goodbye.
I love being a missionary. I know that I am where the Lord needed
me to be right now, and I am grateful that the Lord blessed me to be able to
serve a mission. I will never forget this blessed and sacred experience.
Dearest Family, this church is true, it truly is the restored Gospel of Jesus
Christ. It is my privilege and duty to testify of that message. I can't believe
how long it took me to realize it, but the true gift of Christmas was given long
ago, it was our Savior Jesus Christ. Being away from my family this holy season
has reminded me of that very simple and basic message. We are beyond blessed to
have the knowledge and opportunities we do! I love you all and wish you a very
merry week!
Love Sister Benson
No comments:
Post a Comment