A Review of April in Poland

This month we've had some amazing experiences.

We had a wonderful conference at the Mission Office in Warszawa with our fellow Senior Missionary couples:

We made our first venture outside of Warszawa was to Białystok, about a three hour drive northeast. We went with another Senior Missionary couple. While the Elders met with the younger missionaries to do some apartment repairs we Sisters met with the only YSA member in the city and went on a mini-tour before settling down to some serious planning for the upcoming Eastern Europe YSA Conference being held in Poland this year.

On the floor at the center of the underground crosswalk is a large inlaid directional compass to well-known sites in the world and the distance to them from Białystok

Patty's Białystok

Can you see the 'smile' on the tower of the Ratusz (Town Hall)?

It was the week before Easter and the shops in rynek (market) in the town center were full of colorful decorations and treats for the celebration.

 

 

Traditionally the baskets are filled with food for the family Easter meal and taken to the Church beforehand to be blessed by the priest.

Then, while I was gawking like a tourist, I tripped on a curb and tore the heel of my hand open when I reached out to stop myself from inspecting the cobblestones with my nose. I did NOT tear my stockings! Quite a feat I think, either that or my gaurdian angel caught me :)

Once we got my hand patched up we enjoyed lunch at the 'milk bar' a Polish cafeteria. It was great to try real Polish food - especially the rolled up pancakes (like crepes) filled with sweet cheese and cream! After lunch we headed through the park on the way to the palace and found this interesting creature...

 

Bulldog in the park and the backyard of the palace (now a university)

Front of the palace

Then my friends taught me how to take a 'selfie' to prove I'd 'been there, done that'...

 

In front of the palace and leaving through the front gate.

We participated in our first Polish funeral:

Members rode a chartered bus from the chapel to the cemetery. They bought flowers, wreaths and lanterns from a little shop set against the cemetery wall. Then we reverently followed the hearse through the cemetery to the grave site. The grave diggers waited while the Branch President and others said a few words. I led some hymn singing while the coffin was lowered and the grave filled in. After dedicating the grave the flowers, wreaths and lanterns were lain atop.

 

This month we also helped by chauffering missionaries to doctor's appointments, doing apartment checks just before transfers,as well as purchasing supplies for and putting together 72-hour emergency kits for each of the 9 missionary apartments in our jurisdiction.

Siostra Roulstone (aka Nana) met and angel at the train station while waiting for some missionaries on transfer day...

Easter luncheon at our apartment with the missionaries in our Zone and the Assistants to the President

Easter is big celebration in Poland with lots of Catholic traditions. Easter Monday we went for a walk in the park and cemetery next to the Wolska Chapel in Warszawa. Many of the Polish visit the graves of their family members where the place new floral arrangments and lanterns...

Papa in the cemetery, but not dead yet...

Nana in the park by the Wolska Chapel on Easter Monday...

There are two gminy (branches) of the Church in Warszawa, but only one chapel owned by the Church. It is actually the only church-owned chapel in all of Poland. All of the others are leased spaces. Warsaw I meets at the chapel in Warszawa. Warsaw II meets in a leased office space.

Open House at the Wolska Kaplica (Chapel on Wolska Street, Warsaw):

 

Zaprasamy (Welcome) banner & Dzien Otwarty (Open Day) Banner with Starzy R and Piotr

 

Starszy Roulstone waiting at the tram line for visitors to the Open house - still waiting. Catholic chapel in the background.

Our little missionary choir sings hymns for an audience of half a dozen members/missionaries and two visitors. It's a great day for missionary work in Poland!

Starszy i Siostra Roulstone outside Warszawa II Gmina - ul. Wiktorska

 

Our first Keyboard/Hymn lesson was held at the end of this month. Our first student was Siostra Ryng. She's wanted to learn to play the piano all her life and now the Lord has answered her prayers!

Our first Polish pianist!

What an amazing time we are having here in Poland. I can't believe it is already the end of May and I am only just posting the pictures from April. The time is flying by! We are busy doing the work of the Lord and staying healthy for the most part. We did have a week long bout with eye infections we believe were due to an allergic reaction to the spring pollens, but we survived and can see our way around again! There are definitely challenges here, but we know the Lord loves ALL of His children and wants us to support one another in finding our way back to Him. That is why we are here sharing Christ's restored gospel of love and peace and strengthening the members of the Church. It is the only thing that will save the world from the confusion and chaos and evil which mankind succumbs to when they forget their God. 

My new motto: Be faithful and be happy :)

Nana's Brag

Welcome Isabella!

I was thrilled to be home in time to receive a Skype video call just an hour after Isabella arrived on April 11.

Both Mama and baby are doing well.

Proud Daddy

Mom replaced as the main attraction!

So Cute!

Still in the 'so cute and under one' club, Cousin Lena...

And just turned one and still cute, Deisree...

Dressed up for the party and all un-dressed for some serious cake-eating...

 

Last, but not least - Daddy Fullmer's big day...

Congratulations! We're all very proud of you!

Old Russian Palace

Congratulations!

Lily was baptized last week - she was beautiful! 

Desiree celebrates her FIRST birthday this weekend - she's a walking, talking wonder!

We are in the process of applying for our residency cards and need to visit various offices with an accumulating pile of paperwork. I am glad the Elders in the Mission Office help us with all of this, we would be lost without them.

The other morning we went with them to a government office in the metro (underground train) station downtown only to find that it did not open until noon. This gave us just over an hour to visit the Old Russian Palace in the center of the city. Many people consider it an eyesore in the middle of all of the modern skyscrapers, badly in need of renovations, which are expensive, but I find it fascinating.

Can you see us in the bottom left corner?

On our way to the front door

Is this line to get into the theater? Starszy i Siostra Roulstone with one of the office missionaries Starszy Baranowski, and few other 'friends'

We finally found the entrance. America seems to have found it, too.

Inside we met a group of students on tour; one of them proudly displaying the Polish flag - on his face :) He agreed to pose with a smile. He even said, "Ser!" (cheese)

We paid for a ticket to ride the elevator to the viewing deck near the top of the tower and then took a picture of the grounds where we started from:

If you look closely you can see a little red car parked at the left edge of the line of cars angle parked on the street in the top center of the picture. That's the one the office missionaries were driving us around in for the morning.

Can you see all of the red rooves in the distance? That is the 'Old Town' area where the old market, the Rynek, is that we toured a week earlier.

 

 

I am fascinated by the variety of architecture in the city. There are also large billboards and banners on the sides of many of the older buildings. Can you see the bright red lips on a billboard in the center of the bottom right photo above? 

I still haven't been able to get rid of that smudge on my lens :( 

Starszy R. in the center of the tower.

Our reward for getting this part of our residency application done - a visit to Amrit's Kebab - a 'must-do' when in Warszawa!

It has been a very busy two weeks with continuing our Polish language training, planning for a Young Adult Conference, getting to General Conference broadcasts, participating in our Senior Missionaries Conference followed by the missionary apartment inspections and 'transfers' which occur roughly every 9 weeks. We help with all of that. We are still trying to settle into all of our duties and routines and find our way around. I can't believe we've already been here over a month! Time flies when you're having fun.

Later this week I hope to post pictures of some of the wonderful people we've been getting to know here.

Hugs and Blessings to all of you. We know the Lord lives. He loves us and will give us aid in all we do as we strive to serve Him by caring for one another at home or abroad, for we are all brothers and sisters in the Family of God.