So, on Thursday we were sitting in our flat having Tea (dinner), I suddenly looked up at Elder DeShazer and said, Oh! It’s Thanksgiving. We had both forgotten that it was even Thanksgiving. So that was sort of weird. My first Thanksgiving away from home and I forgot it was Thanksgiving. Eh, that's alright though.
I'm glad to be with Elder DeShazer again. Also we've been speaking more Polish together than we originally did. It's hard though because we're talking to everyone and that includes English people as well as Polish, so we have to speak English as well. But when we're walking to go somewhere and/or there's no one around we try to speak Polish.
Our investigators are doing great. We taught a class of four Polish people this past week in the Olsen's flat. It was alright. I don't really think any of them were interested in the gospel. it helps me learn Polish though, and we're planting seeds I think. Elder DeShazer and I are covering the Hull 1st Ward, which is basically West Hull. If you look on Google Maps the boundary is the Hull River and it goes a ways westwards. But we mostly stay in the city and Hull, although once I've been to Borough and South Cave. Also a lot of the members live in Wilerby. A lot of the older Polish people are deep Catholic, but some of the younger ones start to venture off, but a lot are still very Catholic. In the Hull 1st Ward there are eight missionaries, including the Olsens: one Chinese speaking, three English speaking and two Polish speaking missionaries and then the senior couple, who work with the YSA.
A Chinese group is going to be started soon in this ward and I think that will help the ward get ready for an upcoming Polish group. Hopefully, things will kick off again soon; we just need one good person to come. We have Daniel and he's amazing. He only sleeps four hours the night before, but comes to church anyway. I know that we were led to his door; I remember praying to find someone and then being led to that street. I know that God has a plan for all this.
So Elder DeShazer and I were searching for potential Investigator when it was raining late at night. An older Polish man answered the door and started asking us questions. Then, he let us into the hallway (in was a shared living house above a store) so we were dry. He said he was very strongly Catholic. At first he started referring things as to our religion and his religion, but then at one point he realized that our religions weren't very different. And I guess he sort of started to take a bit of a liking to us. He invited us in for a chat and offered us coffee or tea. We told him we don't drink that but that we can drink milk. So he left us sitting alone in his kitchen while he traveled downstairs to the store and bought milk for us. Then we talked and were able to give him a Book of Mormon. He was drinking a bit and it was funny because he asked where our ancestors were from and I told him from Germany. Then he was like, 'but you don't look like Hitler'. That was sort of weird. Well we planted a seed with him I think.
Also the other night we were walking when we heard some people talking in Polish. We got excited and felt like we should go back and talk to them. We met a man who said that he'd turned his life around before to religion and to Christ, but had a bad experience in his church. He said he'll bring his family to church.
I've realized that in these seven months I've learned more than I ever had before (life wise). I think I’ve grown a lot already, and I fell that I’ll continue to grow a lot as well. I used to be scared to talk to random people or to talk to store clerks and stuff. Well, I'm getting better I feel. I've been forced as you might say to talk to people I usually wouldn't want to talk to.
I love going on a mission. I love meeting people and learning all about them. Because it really isn't a building that we meet in that makes a church, it's the people that meet there. I think that this world is about people. Its people that make it up and its people that live in it. We all have different lives, different stories, different things that make us tick. I love just making friends with random people on the street and then giving them the opportunity to learn more about their Father in Heaven who loves them even more that anyone could. And about their Savior who died for them and took their pains in life.
Love you much,
Starszy Ressler
