Monday, November 25, 2013 5:32 AM Yeah. I still can't think of a good title. Sorry.

Hi People! (You know, family, friends, random readers of things on the internet - all of you!) I hope you're all having the most CHARMING of days! My day started out PRETTY rockin'!

My alarm goes off at 6:30. At 6:36, I'm awake. Just laying on my bed. Trying to find the motivation to brush my teeth (don't be judgin' - you can NEVER get enough sleep as a missionary. It jsut isn't possible).. And then my phone goes off. 

I'm like, "Ergh (that's the sound of tiredness). What? I already turned off the alarm. Oh. Łódź DL. Huh. 'Ello? Um. This is Sister Young?" 

"Hey Sister Young! This is Elder Finch!" 

"Hi, Elder Finch?" Note that all my comments end in question marks. That's because I'm confused, and my brain is still not fully functioning. 

"Hi! *words words words*"

"Um, what?"

"*words words words*"

"I'm sorry - what?"

"*words words words, but more emphathetically this time*"

"Snow? There's snow?"

"Yeah! There's SNOW!"

And now I almost fall out of bed, trying to get to the window ... Okay, well, not actually "almost". I really just fell out of bed. It was kinda embarrassing. So I stumble over to the window, and what do you know! There's SNOW out there! Granted, not much. But it's THERE! Meanwhile, Elder Finch is still on the phone, apologizing for calling and saying he's weird in the morning (aren't we all, Elder Finch?). And then I made myself some hot chocolate and turned on Elder Fogg's iPod (more on that later) to Mannheim Steamroller. YEAH BABY. My morning rocked today.

Anyways. Due to the changing of the season, the sun sets PRETTY dang early here. At, like, 4 o'clock. That's quite early. And when I say the sun sets, I mean, we're, like, plunged into darkness.. We should probably be carrying flashlights with us everywhere we go. At home, I'd love this sort of thing. In Poland? As a missionary? Not so much. Because that means that I have to wander dark creepy streets, contacting people like a creeper, in the dark. Boo. But hey, we live and we learn. And we find other things to do. Like TRACTING. Yay. And Former Hunts. And Less-Active Hunts. Missionary work - always such an adventure.

On a spiritual note, we did a whiteboad with Elders Finch and Fogg, and I talked to the COOLEST lady. Her name is Iza. And she was SO NICE. Oh my heck. So nice. And I was talking to her about the Księga, and telling her how it helped me, and she was just like, "Yeah? Oh, okay." I could tell she was really, like, soaking in what I said. And the way she looked at the Księga, like it held the answers - it was so cool! Because guess what? That book DOES hold the answers! It was awesome. And as I was talking to her, and testifying about the Book of Mormon, I just thought to myself, "Okay, so this is what it's all about, isn't it? THIS is missionary work. And it's super cool." Sometimes I have these moments where I remember that being a missionary is awesome (because - I'm not going to lie - sometimes I forget), and I'm justl ike, "YES! LET'S BAPTIZE POLAND!" And then I realize there's no font big enough to baptize an entire country. Except, the ocean. That would work. Anyways. 

I had my first experience with alcohol this week. Good news - I am not EVER going to touch that crap again. And stop worrying RIGHT now - it was all an accident. A tragic, TRAGIC accident. You see. We were with Elders Pieper and Gibby at Manekin. Getting naleśniki. Of course. And Elder Pieper's came with this caramel sauce. So, naturally, he tried it. And then he was like, "WHOA. There is something up with that stuff." And I was like, "What are you talking about, kid? It's caramel sauce." And he was like, "Try it!" And I was like, "Alright." So I tried it, and guess what? It was fetching disgusting. Firstly, it tasted like the smell of Larry. EW. And then, it burned going down. Like, burned. So. Now we know it's alcoholic. And it's foul. And for serious - NEVER AGAIN. Good news, parents. I'm not going to go home and turn into an alcoholic. That's not happening.

Since Sister Wendel left and we are senior couple-less, I am the branch pianist. Yes. Thanks for making me take lessons all those years, Mom. Now, I have to play for Sacrament Meeting. Greeeeeeeat. But really - I love it. I thought I didn't, but I do. Piano is my favorite thing. And I didn't realize I actually missed it until I started playing agian. Ah. I can't wait to be at home someday and play REAL music, not just hymns. But. Until then. I'll play in Sacrament Meeting, and it'll be grand.

So - Elder Fogg's iPod. Like, 80% of it is SUPER not wolno (apparently his brother got ahold of it before his dad sent it to him. And by not wolno, I mean SUPER NOT WOLNO. As in, Taylor Swift. And Journey. And Boston. And Imagine Dragons. The tempation is great - but don't worry. I'm tough. I only listen to the wolno stuff). But the other 20% - man, it is good. Okay, well, mostly I listen to his Lord of the Rings music. Because he has a freakin' ton of it. But it ROCKS, and I LOVE it. He has Misty Mountains, from The Hobbit - AH! Can I just tell you all how complete my life now is? SO COMPLETE! LOTR - it's like my comfort music. My comfort food is bean soup with toasted cheese sandwiches. My comfort movie is Sleeping Beauty with Emily and Dad. And My comfort music is LOTR soundtrack. 

Sister M is still SUPER AWESOME. And - good news - she's a QUOTER! A really really good quoter. Ah. It brings me so much joy. I love ALL my companions, they are all incredible. But none of them, until now, have been quoters. It's like coming home, man! I am so happy! She's so great. I love her. Fun Fact - her mother is from Poland (Poznań) and her dad is from Chile. And she's American. She doesn't speak with an accent. She does speak Spanish, but she didn't learn Polish until the MTC (because, let's be honest, it's kind of a useless language. And I say this with all the love of my soul! I LOVE Polish. SO MUCH. But it's useless outside of Poland). She's SUPER COOL. 

I think that's all I've got for ya, dzieci. Thanks for the love and support and prayers! I promise - they're much appreciated!

Siostra Young

Monday, November 18, 2013 5:48 AM Shweet!

Hey guys! What's the word on the street back in the States? (It's an awkward beginning, I know. I just get tired of writing the same thing every week. I'm experimenting. Clearly, it still needs a little work.)

Things are PRETTY great here in Łódź. I'm just, you know, lovin' life. Bein' a missionary. Preachin' the G. What more could a Sistah want?

You know what? I really hate when people call me, "Sister." Sister Young is okay, Siostra Young is great, I LOVE Siostro and Siost, but Sister? Just plain old Sister? Ugh. NOT a fan.

Anyways.

You know how we have "exercise" every morning for thirty minutes? Yeah. NO. It's the worst thrity minutes of my life. I'm not doing anything. I'm being awake. That is literally all I'm doing. My exercise time consists of me, congratulating myself on being awake and trying not to remember the joy that is sleeping in. I need to get a hobby or something. Maybe I'll invest in a jump rope .... Or ... I don't know. Something. It's just lame.

Beata still rocks. We met with her Saturday and talked about church and Sabbath Day and she was like, "So, am I allowed to come see what church is like? I know I'm not a member, but is that okay?" YES! PLEASE COME TO CHURCH! And she was going to come yesterday, but she woke up sick. Dangit, Satan! Stop making my investigators sick! I mean, REALLY. That's just low.

We have this little boy that comes to Dzieci English. His name is Julek.. He is HILARIOUS. We were talking about food last time, and we were playing pictionary, and he would walk up to the board to draw his food, and then he'd look back at everyone and say, "Give me time to finish." And then they'd guess what he was drawing really fast, and he'd just keep going until he was done. He is a boy with some serious personality. My favorite was when he drew his cake. They all guessed cake, and then he kept going, and when he was done, he stepped back and looked at his masterpiece, and said, "Now THAT is a cake." YES. I love this kid. I'd steal him, if that were in any way acceptable. Unfortunately, missionaries aren't allowed to have pets. White handbook. And I'm feeling like children fall into the same category.

LOVEYOU ALL! Have the most incredible of weeks, and I promise to write more next week!

Siostra Young

Tuesday, November 12, 2013 5:36 AM Week 1, Transfer 4. Let's do this thing.

Well. Here we are. Start of the transfer. Let's do this thing! (Nazywaj ten film!)

Sister Montesinos. Is SUPER awesome. She's from Salt Lake (uh ... Midvale? Or something? There are too many outlying territories that belong to SLC. I just can't keep track.) She's been out one transfer, so techicnally speaking, I'm finishing her training. What does that mean exactly? No one is quite sure. But we just go with it. She served her first transfer in Warsaw with my MTC siost Sister Lidtka, so that's fun! She was actually Sister Tobler's MTC comp (Fun Fact - Sister Tobler and Sister Pearson are comps - what the awesome?! I know, I know. That companionship just spells FUN.) She LOVES movies (YES), and books (YES), and the Gospel (YES) - so basically, everything is working out A-okay here w Łodzi. Look out! PS - She LOVES Northanger Abbey. Let's take a moment to appreciate the awesomeness of that statement. NO ONE loves Northanger Abbey! Except for me. And every other classy human being on the planet (which is a surprisingly - and quite frankly disconcertingly - small number). Ah. I am so happy. She is super awesome! Her Polish is good, she's got energy, we both think we're pretty funny - it's just a dream come true. But, you know, whatever.

Good news! I have been informed that Łódź is indeed getting a new senior couple! Hallelujah! I just want to get up and do some Gospel choir singing or something! Senior couples are the BEST. Oh my heck. I'm so excited. I didn't even know how rough I had it back in Kraków (which I suppose is a sort of blessing ... but given the choice, I'd probably just take the senior couple ...).

On Sunday night we were Less Active hunting (yes. Hunting. It's what we do - don't even worry about it). So we ended up in a sketchy looking neighborhood, outside a REALLY sketchy looking building. The freaky kind, that doesn't even have a domophone. It's just like a weird gaping hallway that leads out onto the street, and then you walk in, and on either side there are doors, and behind the doors are scary stairs that end up who knows where. It's kind of a Larry dwelling. (Larry: a homeless person who carries around grocery bags full of garbage and empty beer bottles; dirty, old, scary, smelly. See also, hobo.) So. Here we are. And we see this Larry looking lady. And I was like, "Ohhhh boy." So we go out onto the street, trying to decide what the next course of action will be, and Larry Lady walks out. I was thinking, "You know, I ought to say hi to her." And then I was like, "Yeah. That's a good idea. Say hello to the scary woman. And then she'll grab my bag and run. That's intelligent." And then I was like, "No, no. She's a daughter of God. He loves her. Just say hi. Come on. It's easy." So I was like, "Dzień dobry!" (but out loud this time - not in my head. That would have been weird. And she wouldn't have heard.) And she was like, "Dzień dobry. I think you're looking for me." (Of course, that was po polsku) And I was like, "What?! Krysyna?!" And she was like, "Yep!" And I was like, "Oh.. Well, cool!" So. She's our less active. And we're meeting with her tonight. She was VERY nice, and I kinda feel like scum for calling her a Larry Lady. You shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, friends. So maybe I'll have something more interesting to report about her next week.

We didn't meet with Beata last week (SO SAD!) because she was really busy and then she was in Kielce with family. But we're meeting with her this week, so things are looking up! She is so great. We've got daily contact established with her, and sometimes I feel weird about that, but she's TOTALLY chill and doesn't even mind when we text and call her (even though, if it were me, I think that MIGHT possibly freak me out a little bit. Just imagine it - you're meeting with these missionaries, who want you to get baptized, and then they start calling you and texting you. Everyday. I mean, that's what we're supposed to do, and that's comin' from PMG and mission president and everything, but still. It's a little weird.)

Well. I gotta run. Catch you all on the flip! (I was informed by Elder Finch that that means something about people dying ... I don't believe it. And I'm still going to say it. So. That's awkward. But whatever. It's fine.)

LOVE YOU ALL!

Siostra Young

Monday, November 04, 2013 5:12 AM FORWARD UNTO DAWN

Well. I would NORMALLY start out this email like, "Hey Family! Guess what? Transfer calls happened, and you'll never believe it - I'm staying in Łódź! And Sister Monetsinos is coming here!" But apparently that news is already out. How - I'm still not quite sure. But whatever. It's fine. It's not like I enjoy sharing the surprise of where and with whom I'll be spending Christmas and Thanksgiving. It's like, whatever.

So. Forward Unto Dawn Week was INCREDIBLE. Up until yesterday. But more on that later.

Monday. P-DAY. Er ER! (If you know what this is, you just made it onto the Cool People List. If you don't, well ... I'm sorry. And if you think maybe you know, but you can't be sure, because how do make that sound when you're typing, I'll put you out of your misery. This is a Baby Mama quote. You're welcome.) I loves me some P-Day. We were GOING to go ice skating with the elders, but guess what? The place doesn't open until 18:00. Right when P-Day ends. Which is ultra lame. Then we had a lesson with a less active named Irena. She's SUPER cool. The reason she's less active is becasue she's blind, so it's hard for her to get to church. But she's got a rock solid testimony, and she's a sweetheart. I like her.

Tuesday. We did a MEGA WHITEBOARD with the elders for Halloween. There are about 3 gagillion J-Dub missionaries roaming the streets in Poland, and since they're anti-Halloween, we decided to go the opposite direction. We carved jack o'lanterns with the elders and put them up at the white board and asked people what they were afraid of. It was QUITE a party.

Wednesday. CULTURE NIGHT! AND a lesson with Beata! We talked with Beata about Słowo, and she was TOTALLY okay with it. Yeah boy! Then we had Culture Night. We ate at a Polish restuarant (I wasn't a huge fan, but it was okay), and then we went and saw FIDDLER ON THE ROOF! Po polsku! If that's not the coolest thing EVER, I don't know what is! And I was actually surprised by how much I was able to understand - not because I know the play, but because I know Polish! (And I use the phrase "know Polish" VERY loosely - but hey! If I was able to understand a musical po polsku, maybe I understand more than I give myself credit for!)

Thursday. Halloween! Woo hoo! Halloween actually isn't a thing in Poland. They just don't really do that. But we had a Halloween party with the YSA's at the Lloyd's house, and that was SUPER fun! Ewa and Milena BOTH came, so that was pretty crazy! We think maybe we'll be able to bring them back into investigating the church. But we'll see. Elders Caskey and Fogg had an investigator there (who they'd never actually met before, so that was weird), and he was an ODD duck. Like, I was standing in the kitchen, watching people carve pumpkins, and he came over, and, like, petted my arm. Yeah. It's exactly as weird as it sounds. Or maybe even weirder. He just walked up and rubbed my arm for a couple seconds, and then I was like, "Ooookay, well that's enough of THAT crap," and high-tailed it right out of there. Oh Poland. Oh Poland.

Friday. All Saint's Day. This day is a BIG DEAL in Poland. Basically everyone buys a bunch of flowers and candles and things, and take them to the graves of their deceased relatives. We went to a cemetary with the elders, and it was DECKED. Oh man. SO many candles and flowers. It was SUPER cool! It's a nice way to remember the people you love. So that was really fun. We walked around with them and looked at graves and talked, and it was just great.

Saturday. Actually, nothing of interest happened on Saturday.

Sunday. Yesterday. Transfer calls. I HATE THIS DAY SO MUCH. I am the biggest NOT fan of transfer calls on the planet. I had come to grips with the fact that I was probably staying in Łódź, and Sister Wendel was leaving me. I was ready for that. And I was also comfortable with the fact that Elder Wolfley would be out, because he had also been there for six months (same as Sister Wendel). I wasn't sure what was going to go down with Elder Finch, but I had prepared myself for the possibility of him leaving. What I was NOT prepared for was the fact that Elder Caskey is leaving. We've been talking about transfers for a few weeks now, and we were all SURE that Elders Caskey and Fogg and I would be staying in Łódź, and the others were leaving. That was the plan.. We were ready. But guess what? That did NOT pan out. Wolfley is going to Lublin, Sister Wendel is going to Warsaw (and I'm going to miss her! She's my KOLEŻANKA!), and Elder Caskey is going to Katowice. The good news is, I get to keep Elders Finch and Fogg! And they're going to be comps, so that'll be fun! It'll be great - we'll have an AMAZING transfer, I'm sure. I just don't like it when my people leave. It's dumb. I hate it. So I possibley cried a lot last night. And possibly cried a lot this morning. But whatever. It's all fine.

So that was my week. It was quite eventful. And now I'm just a little sad. What am I going to do without Sister Wendel? And Elder Caskey? And Elder Wolfley? Oh boy. Transfers are lame.

Oh, and guess what else? My sister is engaged. This just keeps getting better and better. Is there anything else lame that could happen? Maybe they could change the missionary age and William can leave on his birthday instead of waiting until school's out? Perhaps the dogs could die. Or ... or ... Oh, I don't know. I'm just over this crap.

Anyways. On a happy note (because let's end this on a happy note) ... The Church is true. That's a happy note.

LOVE YOU ALL!

Siostra Young