So Elder Weiler and I are getting really good at trying to follow the
Spirit. It kinda sounds ridiculous, but we literally stop and wait at every
crossroad for the Spirit to tell us where to go. We've realized that literally
we can't do anything without Him, so we try to rely on the Holy Ghost as much as
possible out here!! This week I really learned that God has a plan, and when
we're obedient to His plans, everything works out. On Saturday night, we prayed
before we went out that God would help us find those that were ready, as well as
teach us and help us become better. Wellll... we were out talking to people and
trying to follow the Spirit, and after a while, I got the impression that I
needed to let Elder Weiler follow the Spirit, and to do what he was prompted to
do. Shortly after, he got the impression to sit down on a bench by the Urząd,
and wait. We didn't know for what, and we didn't know how long. We sat there,
waiting for a while, before asking again if this was what the Lord wanted us to
be doing. We got the answer something along the lines of "Did I not speak peace
unto your soul concerning the topic?"... so we waited some more. Turns out, the
Lord was testing our obedience to the Spirit, and teaching us patience, because
we sat and froze on that bench for 2 hours. we looked at eachother, and just
said we would trust in the Lord. It was literally one of the hardest things
I've done on my mission... this place is absolutely freezing!:)
So you know those stories that every missionary has about something
weird and crazy that happened to them on their mission? Yeah, well I think I've
got one. Elder Weiler and I were out doing a whiteboard by a busy mall. I was
out in the middle of the street talking to everyone I could, addressing crowds
of people, and dancing just a little bit(I can't dance, but I always feel like
dancing now for some reason...?), and I contacted a man that didn't want to hear
our message. He walked away, and returned after a bit, interested. I told him
about some of our beliefs, and he told me that he is a Green Witness....
(breakoff from JW's?).... Turns out he wasn't that interested, but he asked if
he could pray for me. I made sure he was praying to God, and was like "yeah man,
I guess". So, he stepped aside, and mumbled something to himself, and then
walked over to me and put both hands on top of eachother on my right shoulder
and started mumbling another language. I was freaking out. I totally thought
this guy was trying to give me an unclean spirit. I was praying the entire time.
After this "muttering wizard" was done, he said goodbye and left, leaving Elder
Weiler and I standing there in the middle of the sidewalk wondering what just
happened... I sure love Poland.
The biggest miracle also happened this week. There has always been a
guy on our branch directory named Jan T. He was baptized and received
both the Aaronic and the Melchezidek Priesthood in the year 2000. The branch
fell apart in Gorzów, (1.5 hrs away by car), and he's been missing for 14 years.
We've been actively searching for him for about a year now. Elder Weiler and I
went out to Gorzów with the Gays, and searched for him. We knew he was said to
live in this neighborhood of 100+ działki.(little garden/summer hut things). The
lady we needed who had the resident list was gone, so we talked to a super
sketchy looking guy with a hack saw. He referred us to a mechanic down the road
that might know Jan. We went and talked to the mechanic. He told us that he
recognized him(we had a picture), and that there were 2 options... 1)He might
have played music with a man down the road somewhere with a green car, or 2)he
was dead, and his son worked at some piekarnia somewhere in town-Polish
directions are terrible. So we decided to look for the green car. As we were
driving down this country road, we saw a green car. We got out and went and
yelled at the house, honked the horn, and two guys came out. They said we were
JW's, and almost went back inside. We told them we aren't, and that we're
looking for Jan. The bigger fellow said that was him. He came up, looked at the
tags, and yelled "Bracia!!"(brothers!!) or coś takiego. Turns out he's not been
able to find the church in 14 years. He's still faithful, living the
commandments, and was so grateful we found him. He now lives on a huge działka
lot, and houses 3 homeless people, and helps them get off alcohol addictions. He
literally started crying, and I've NEVER seen a Polish person cry. We got
numbers, heard stories, visited, and invited him to church. He came to church
for the first time in 14 years yesterday, and he's as strong as ever. He took
the sacrament, met the members, and we gave him like 2 years worth of church
writings. I love that guy so much, and he definitely gives the best hugs ever,
so we're so grateful to have him back!
This week I really learned just How Much the Lord knows us. I was
fortunate enough to receive a blessing this week, and literally I had to stop
afterwards, and say a prayer, and just tell God that he is right, and that he
knows me better than anyone, and tell Him just how grateful I am to Him! I love
being a missionary. I love serving Christ, and teaching people about the Gospel.
It makes me so happy! Love you all, make it the greatest week of your
life!
Love,
Starszy Quackenbush
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