August 26, 2013 - Singing with Angels

This week FLEW by! 

Last Tuesday we had zone conference and my mind was BLOWN. President Edgren told us that all of our guidelines would be coming from the white handbook now so that changed our mission a lot. In fact it like flipped it upside down! But I like it. Its like he’s preparing us better for the future. Because after my mission I wont have someone who will write out all the rules for me. You have to be able and willing to make the rules and follow them on your own. In fact the added freedom made me want to be even more obedient. There's a lot of trust and weight on my part to be obedient in order to have the spirit with me. So it is really exciting!! The mission itself is really changing too. He talked about being creative! Which we already started doing! and doing lots of service. Its actually really neat because the things he wants us to do is all the things that fit my idea of successful missionary work. Being creative, doing SERVICE, visiting less actives and working with the members! There’s a lot of excitement. It was a great time to be spiritually uplifted!! 

Speaking of being creative, on Thursday me and my companions oh and Elder Wilson and Neuner.. (we practically forced them to come with us) anyways we decided to try something else new. We sang in the Rynek... every city in Poland has a Rynek it is like the "downtown" where all the shops are and where ALL the people are. So we grabbed our things and went. I have never been so scared in my whole life. it took a lot of guts and I can’t believe we actually did it. We set up right in the busiest part and we sang hymns!! There was always two Sisters and one Elder singing and then one Elder and one Sister contacting and talking to people. We all rotated. It was AMAZING!! It was incredible. People starred, some laughed but more importantly some listened. Nothing brings the spirit faster than music and it was so great!!! We sang in Polish and some in English and it really got peoples attention! I actually taught one man all about the book of Mormon and it was just such an amazing thing to be a part of. I was so proud after :) I know that there were angels singing with us!! That was the highlight of the week. We also had a going away party for the Reed's (the senior missionary couple). This is there last week and we had like 40 people come!! and more than half were non members!! It was so great! The Elders in Sosnowiec are teaching these young guys. They are brothers of one of our members and they are all gypsy and they are so cool!! We taught them how to throw a football and they remind me of Amber and her friends. They are 17. Such a crucial age in life!! So I am very excited that they are showing an interest. I don’t know them that well but I am so proud of them already!! Virginia came with her friend Teresa and a lot of people from our English class and we had so much fun! It was so nice to have everyone there! We played a few games with them. One was an egg toss. Teresa was playing and she went to catch the egg and it landed right in her shirt!!!!! I almost peed my pants!! Anyways it was such a great opportunity to have people come and have fun and get to know each other!

I love everything about being a missionary. I can’t believe how fast time has gone already and I have just loved every minute of it! I learn so much everyday. The more I focus on others and serving them the more change I see in myself! I have never learned so much in my whole life!! I feel so blessed everyday and I know that I have been called of God to be here!!! 

I love you all so much and I miss you all the time! You keep me inspired and I will be looking for your letters!!!

Much love,

Siostra Pearson

August 19th - And now I'm 21!

This week was wonderful! It went by really fast! Actually it all goes by pretty fast now, but I love every minute!

I had such a good birthday!!!

I’ll be honest I didn’t really think it was going to feel like a birthday because everyone says that a mission birthday just isn’t the same but MINE WAS AMAZING! I have never felt so love by strangers in my whole life! Ok they're not strangers but you know what I mean. First of all before I get on with the birthday my bike has been taken away :( I may have shed a tear HOWEVER as a result I have been running.. I know what you’re thinking that’s impossible! I hate running with a passion and with my sport-induced asthma its just not a great time but I LOVE my companions so much I had to do it! Now I’ve been running like 2 miles every second day. I’m pretty sure its just a straight up miracle from the Lord and every time  I run it amazes me that I’m alive! Sister Packard and Sister Petherbridge are so proud. They told me I looked extra old that morning and then yelled ŻART! ok they didn’t yell it cause it was like 6:20 in the morning but I felt the love! ANYWAYS, we came back from running (on my birthday) and I come out of the shower and Sister Packard was on the phone. She gave it to me and it was Elder Wilson and Neuner they called and sang Sto Lat to me! (Happy birthday the polish song) it was so sweet! It was a great way to start off the day! I opened my packages and there was SO MUCH STUFF!! I love all of it! Thank you so much!

We went contacting for a few hours until it was time for English class. When we got to English Virgina and Ambroża sang to me and gave me a necklace! Rafał showed up and wished me a happy birthday and gave me chocolate! Then Adrian came!! It was so nice! He gave me this bracelet he stole form the YSA conference he went to and this magic bubble gum smelling oil that you put on when you have a headache.. I just put it on cause it smells amazing! it was so nice! The Polish people do this really cool thing when its your birthday. They wish you EVREYTHING good health, happiness, a good future spouse and a good mission and the list goes on. It was so beautiful! After English the creepy old man found out it was my birthday... bad idea! He got a little too friendly but I’m over it. The Reed's  (senior missionary couple serving in Poland) kindly had us over for dinner with the Elders and it was delicious! We went back to the chapel to get ready to go contacting again and I was quizzing Elder Wilson in his massive vocab book as Sister Packard was drawing people beating each other up on the white board and then I looked up and she wrote hot and cold on the board. I was like what on earth does that mean! But she does crazy stuff all the time so I wasn’t that worried. THEN they all starred at me smiling and I was really confused! Until I realized what was going on!! They blindfolded me and we played hot and cold to the present they got for me which was SO SWEET since I told all of them they didn’t need to get me anything! Anyways it was really fun! I finally found my present after almost dying cause I was so dizzy. Loved it! They bought me the biggest Aleo drink I have ever seen in my life and the biggest Milka bar to ever exist! it was so nice of them!

Adrian’s mom Helena found out it was my birthday and she spanked me in front of everyone at church yesterday and then told me she loved me and wished me things for like 5 years! It cracked me up. I just felt so much love from the people here and it was just a beautiful day! Just when it thought it was over... WE WENT CRAZY! After planning some crazy stuff went down! We blasted our favorite songs and put on our moustaches and danced for like 30 minutes! We made the little Canadian tree fort you gave me and played this crazy ice cream game! My companions are the best!! I’ll be sending pictures and video evidence of all of this so I won’t go into too much detail .It was a really great day!!! And now I’m 21!!

The rest of the week flew by! We  are really trying to work with the members to get referrals its just taking some time. But something miraculous is about to happen I just know it!! We taught a mom on the street last night and gave her a book of Mormon!! She was our age and she asked if she could buy the book of Mormon! She was so kind and humble. We are really hoping we can teach her! We called George this week again and he is going to read ENOS!! He’s too far for us to go teach but we can sort of do it over the phone for now! So I am very excited about that!

Tomorrow is zone conference! I will have lots to tell you about next week! Transfers are on Sept. 5th so were just about done! People should probably send stuff to the mission office incase I get transferred. I don’t know what will happen but we are pretty sure that the three peas in a pod is coming to an end :( this saddens my SOUL!! But I know that what ever happens will be from the Lord so it will be good!

We made Bigos this week. It looks really sketchy but its really good!!! Its just a bunch of cabbage really with some meat and tomato sauce but it was really good!

I’ll make it all for you when I come home.

Oh! I taught a whole first lesson to Krystyna with Sister Petherbridge with me as the senior companion! It was so scary but it turns out I can say a lot more in Polish than I thought I could! The LORD IS ON MY SIDE! I love you all!

Love Sister Pearson

August 12th 2013 - Zart! such a cool Polish word!

CZEŚĆ!!!

cześć dziewczyna!

Well this week was the worst! ŻART! It was the best, żart means joke by the way. I just yell it really loud now when I’m joking and Sister Petherbridge almost pee's her pants. So for real this week was great! I think its because we had a good P-day and sometimes that helps everything!! This week we went to a CASTLE with Elder Neuner and Wilson. We had a blast! It was so dang hot but we loved it! We could only see it from the outside but it was great! We had to find a new email place so hopefully I can figure out how to send pictures!!

This week Barbra (one of our former investigators) son was visiting from England! He is a return missionary and he's getting married in the temple. He is pretty much the coolest. Anyways we asked him if he wanted to help us with some missionary work it was a long shot since he's here visiting his mom for the week but he said YES! The Elders, my companions and I along with Adrian and Patryk did the coolest thing ever! It doesn’t quite beat ping pong but its a close second! We drew the plan of salvation on the sidewalk in sidewalk chalk and it was HUGE! We wrote questions of the soul on a white board and just taught everyone about the plan!!! It was so awesome!! People stopped for and we could teach them the plan by showing it to them on the sidewalk!!! So COOL! Patryk was the coolest. He served his mission in Scotland and Ireland... I know!.. He was so fearless! He talked to EVERYONE. He taught simply and asked everyone for referrals and we had a blast! He taught us so much! It really made me think about the people we need to have here in Poland. Sadly he lives in England and he’s going to be living in Utah when he’s married to his fiancée. But that is exactly the kind of people we need here in Poland! He taught so many people! He showed up in missionary attire and he was so ready! ON HIS VACATION! That is how I want to be after my mission. I never want to stop doing missionary work. I want to help the missionaries out a ton! It was so great! We all had lunch and ice cream and he went back to England but definitely taught us a lot and gave us a boost. We needed it after last week!

I actually taught 2 lessons all by myself! One guy may or may not have been homeless but he was super nice!! We always have success when we do something creative like that! We just need more ideas! Anyways it was great and lots of fun and better yet SUCCESSFUL! That was like the best part of the week!

It was also 40 degrees that day and I thought I was going to DIE! Especially cause we were outside talking to everyone! But I survived! Ok well I got heat stroke but it was minor. What a blessing! You know how bad I am in the heat.. its a good thing I didn’t even know how hot it was! On Saturday it rained! We sang praises and danced in the street while Sister Packard waited under the bridge because her poor shoes get soaked but then it started to pour so we went under the bridge too and had to wait it out but its a lot cooler now thank goodness!

On Saturday we were making our regular calls for church and we decided to call George (investigator from Kenya) one more time. We haven’t been able to get a hold of him for a long time. When I called I was relaxing on the couch in the church talking to my companions and not expecting him to answer when HE ANSWERED!  I was so shocked I didn’t even know what to do! So naturally I started talking to him and he apologized for not answering or calling in so long. He explained that he had some things going on in his life that were causing him a lot of grieve and stress. He didn’t know what to do or how to call us because it had been so long and he felt bad. He lost his apartment in Katowice and moved an hour away and he may be going to Warsaw or he may be going back to Kenya, lots of uncertainty!!  I was able to just tell him we were thinking about him and praying for him. I shared with him how I know life is hard but that this gospel can help him in his life. I also shared my testimony of how much this gospel has blessed my life and made me so happy and he said he still really wants to learn about the church. I know he felt the spirit again when we were talking and it MADE MY WHOLE DAY! George!!! He’s not lost!! So in about a month we will know his situation but were going to call him this week and give him some scriptures that will help him and just let him know were here! He was so thankful. It was amazing and he thanked me so many times. He doesn’t really have any friends here in Poland and I think it meant a lot to him to have people care about him! What a blessing!

We still don’t have any investigators yet but we are still looking!! Meanwhile, the Elders investigator Chris is really progressing!! He is the best. On Wednesday I was showing him all my pictures and telling him about my life and after I went through all of them he was like why are you so happy? I was able to really tell him why sincerely and that is the gospel of Jesus Christ has changed my life and made me happier than I ever knew possible. I’m happy because I know who I am and my purpose in life and everyday I get to be here in Poland and share this wonderful message with everyone! Then he asked me why we needed the book of Mormon because he can find a lot of the same things in the bible. I simply told him why we needed it and why God gave it to us and I shared my testimony of its truthfulness and invited him to keep reading it and to pray about it. He said he would and thanked me. The next day the Elders had a lesson with him. He told them all about our conversation and how he loves how happy I am and how simply I teach things to him and how much he appreciated it! He said he saw me like his daughter. The Elders told me all of this and I almost cried! Because even though I am not teaching him I am still able to share with him and with others this beautiful message. You never know how the Lord is going to use you so you always have to be ready.

Yesterday I was sitting with Chris and Elder Wilson in church and I shared with him the scripture I shared with you last week the one from the bible but the polish one is translated differently!! I was so sad and I disappointed that it didn’t have the same meaning once it was translated. After Relief Society Chris came and told me he and Elder Wilson found a better scripture for me! Psalms 100 verse 2 ... I looked it up in English and its a little different but in polish its talking about serving with joy and laughter and they picked it out just for me. I was so touched! I really felt so much love!

Virginia had us over with her friend Teresa and we watched Our Search for Happiness with them and gave Teresa a book of Mormon!!

The electricity just went out so I can’t finish the email. I will talk to you next week. I love you so much! Have a great week!! Keep true to your faith!! xoxox

Kocham cię bardzo!!

Siostra Pearson

August 5th 2013 -The hardest week of my mission so far

This week, phew where do I even begin!

Well it’s been a little rough, on Monday we just about died…for real It was 42 degrees. We were trying to get to the mall so we could be in the A/C but all the trams were broken. So in defeat and frustration we went to pizza hut because they would have to have A/C... they didn’t!!! We ate, got some ice cream and we were walking back to the chapel when.. WE SAW OLA it was amazing! We talked to her and she said we had to talk about her "problem". She said she would come to our meeting on Friday.

Let me make this part of the story very clear I know that God changed our plans that day and made everything possible so we could be put in her path. It was a miracle that we saw her. I know that He made that possible. That was only by Him. Alright so then the rest of the story isn’t quite as cool. We were SO PUMPED all week long. We were just waiting for Friday. When we saw her she hugged us so strong and was so firm. She looked right at us and said Friday Friday Friday! We will meet and we will work through my problem. We were praying so much that we would know how to help her. I don’t think I have every prayed for one person so much before. We were so nervous but so excited!! Ola was back! We would finally know what happened! and then Friday came and Ola.. well she didn’t. Words cannot describe what happened after that. I have not felt that type of sadness on my mission thus far and actually ever in my life.

We just sat there in silence for like a half hour. Didn’t even notice the time passing. Then we all prayed separately in different rooms and that’s when the tears were flowing! Sister Packard’s Dad told her something once though. he said, "the more you understand the gospel, the harder it is to see people reject it." and that’s what happened. I was able to not only feel my sorrow but feel a glimpse of the sorrow God was feeling and it was a lot of emotions.

But we picked ourselves up and went out contacting on the streets. Because we are here to find the people God is preparing to receive his gospel. They are here there is no doubt about that in my mind! Even though it was one of the hardest things ever we can’t dwell on the negative things we need to move on and do what we are here to do!

Sadly the people out on the streets were not very receptive this week either. It was the hardest week I’ve had on my mission thus far. But the most AMAZING thing of all is that my companions and I are still happy! Even though its reeeaaallly hard sometimes we still laughed, we still talked to everyone we passed on the streets and even though time and time again we were rejected we just shook it off and kept going! Kept sharing this wonderful message! And that is a testimony in itself. There is no way we could do this on our own! The Lord is on our side and He helps us everyday and gives us strength!

On Wednesday we did an English white board with the Elders to help promote our free English class. Right in front of the chapel where we do this is also a tram stop so about every 20 minutes it would fill up and then a tram would come and pick them all up and then it would fill up all over again. The Elders would go over there and one of them would bravely shout in English that we taught a free English course and then the other would translate and shout it into polish. Now to the polish people this was the craziest thing ever and then they would go and pass out our little flyers to all of the 30 people who were standing there and after watching them do it a couple times I said. I wanted to try! They all looked at me like I was crazy! Why would I want to do that! I’m still new and nervous and that is very not what I would be comfortable doing back home but I thought to myself WHY NOT! So I took Sister Petherbridge with me and she shouted it in English and then I would shout it in polish. It was one of the bravest thing I have done on my mission! I am learning how to be fearless and that will be a great attribute for the rest of my life! I was very proud of myself and we had a ton of fun!

I just wanted to share a couple things I learned this week first of all I found this scripture.

Genesis 21: 6 “and Sarah said, God made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me.”

It was so beautiful I almost cried. I know that God created me to be exactly how I am and that I am happy because he made me that way. I could just feel that I read that just for me this week. I may not speak the best polish or know the bible the best or whatever the case may be but I am happy. Siostra śmieszka is here and I take pride in the joy of spreading happiness! Yes I will occasionally giggle in inappropriate settings or burst out laughing when nothing even funny happened but I am who I am because God created me that way! It was very uplifting and brought me GREAT comfort this week!

That’s about all for this week! You just have to find the joy.

Love you a ton thanks for everything :)

Xoxo Sister Hailey Pearson

The Relief Society meeting where Sister Reed taught us how to make chili and cornbread

Our Family Home evening group