Monday, November 21, 2016

13. Week 13 (4th week in Warsaw): "Make Me More"

Witam!

Make Me More:
Sister D and I went contacting by a busy metro stop a few nights ago. While there, we came in contact with a super nice guy. After we were talking to him about the Book of Mormon for a while, he did what most Poles do (after hearing our accents) and asked, "Where are you from?". We told him we were from the States! He got really smiley and then said, in English, "What do you think of the phrase 'Make Me More'"? We told him that "Make Me More" implies that you want to be better, that you want to change, etc. Then, without saying a word back to us, took a few steps back and made a phone call. The person on the other line didn't answer, but he came back to us and said, "so, the phrase 'make me more' has a positive meaning, yes?". We thought so, so we said, "yeah!". Turns out, him and his buddy are starting up a new business and want that as their name, but wanted to make sure it had a positive meaning in English, incase they go global. He took the Book of Mormon out of Sister D's hands and said, "I know this meeting was not a coincidence and I think this book and your message will help me in the future...here is my number". We're meeting up with him this week, so we're excited about that! But that wasn't the only time I've thought about that encounter this week. I have been thinking a lot about the phrase "Make Me More" in a gospel sense. Heavenly Father can make us so much more if we ask for His help and align our will with His (and use the Atonement daily!). 


Could it be...?:
....another baptisimal date?! Yes! Sister D and I have been teaching this sweet college student, O for a few weeks now. She is adorable and said if she gains a testimony of everything, that she'll be baptized on Jan. 14!

Glitter Girl:
Sister D and I have been really blessed contacting lately. The other night, this lady with SO much glittery makeup walked by. Honestly, I was pretty intimidated by her because she just had a lot goin' on (makeup wise and neon colors everywhere) and I honestly (I hate admitting it) didn't want to contact her. But then, I felt this overwhelming feeling (hint hint--Holy Ghost) to contact her. I then said, "Good Day, We are missio--" and then she cut me off. I thought she was going to yell at me (like a good amount of the people do), but instead, she said, "You're mormon missionaries, yes, I know! I have your book in English, but I would like it in Polish. *we give her a book*. I have to go, but here is my number, I would love to talk later"...then ran away. I can't believe I wasn't going to contact her because she was all glittery! I immediately repented for making such a shallow judgement. And then I prayed out of gratitude for that little miracle. Everyone, glitter or not, needs the gospel. Share, share, share!


Poetry By Siostra D (prepare yourself): 
This week in our English class, we had a poetry slam!  We taught AABB/ABAB poems. Here is my favorite by Sista D:

"I fly like an eagle
 Hungry as a seagull
 As I go to the store
 Always seeking for more" #deep


Cereal Killers: 
A few nights ago, Sister D and I ran out of Book of Mormons (Books of Mormon?--still the #1 missionary debate), so we went to our storeroom to pick up some more. As we were walking up to the building, we realized we forgot the code to get in. We were praying so hard that someone would happen to be coming through the gate when we needed to get through! We turned the corner...and A COUPLE WAS COMING THROUGH THE GATE! They then said, "you're mormons, right? This is your office (and pointed to our door)". We said, "yes, thanks for holding the door, etc". They said, "Wait, why don't you come in and talk with us?" We then entered a different building with them and walked up two flights of dark stairs. Sister D and I were walking in the front, and the couple was behind us. At this point, I was honestly a little creeped out. We then enter this apartment (we're still thinking we're going to be teaching a first lesson or something at this point). We enter, and there are all these people walking around this large room with gloves on, holding bowls and cups and computers asking a few people questions. They put Sister D and I at tables that were next to each other and had us sit down and started asking all these questions. I had no idea what was going on (Polish wise) so I sat this one out. However, they knew Sister D knew Polish so they kept questioning her about allergies/background, etc. This whole time I'm thinkin' that my comp is about to get murdered or poisoned or something. Then, they brought Sister D a bowl with corn flakes in it.  I was so scared that the cereal was laced with something sketchy. And then they brought out another. And another. Turns out, she was just cereal testing. And she got a chocolate bar out of it. So, all was well. 

Fun Fact:
It gets dark at 3:40pm here. 



Happy Thanksgiving! Eat a little extra for me! :)
Pa! Kocham Was!
Siostra Beem <3

Tal can fall asleep anywhere...

Not sure what this means...but they are still cute!

Tal reunited with Sister Larsen (one of her MTC comps).

POLAND!!!

Out having p-day fun celebrating B's birthday!


Loving Bart's t-shirt...

Thursday, November 17, 2016

12. Week 12 (3rd week in Warsaw): "That was cool"

Cześć Wam!
Heavenly Father opened the heavens and surrounded us with miracles this week! 

B got Baptized!!
Last week was NUTS preparing for B's baptism. We were baking goodies galore, making programs, etc. And then Saturday came. And everything fit perfectly into place. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful service. My favorite part? Right after B was baptized and exiting the font, he said, "That was cool"... he is so right...baptism and following the example of Jesus Christ IS cool. 



Our little teaching pool...dive in!:
Sister D and I are really blessed right now. We started teaching a cute little family this week. I'm excited to see where that goes! My first Friday in the country, Sister D and I also started teaching a lady (Jo) from our area book that had been taught back in 2004. Once we started teaching her again, she said that, "now is my time"...she committed to be baptized on Christmas Eve!! Ahh! We also just started teaching this young Ukranian lady (Ta). Here's where it gets interesting: She speaks Ukranian, Russian, and a tiiiiny bit of Polish. Sister D speaks Polish and English. I speak English and know a good 7 Polish phrases about the Restoration. How on earth were we going to teach this lesson? Sister Peresada!! She is a member in our branch who is Ukranian and knows like 400 languages. She was our golden ticket! We were laughing as we walked into this lesson because we had no idea what to prepare or what to bring...so we brought a Russian Book of Mormon, Ukranian pamphlets and a few Polish brochures....just to be safe. Our lesson went a little like this: Sister D would say something, I would testify, and then Sister P would translate it to her and then further explain it. Then, Sister P would take what Ta said and explain it back to us in English. There were straight 4 languages goin' on--by the end, I think all 4 of us had headaches :) It was a special lesson though...it really showed me that the gospel is the same everywhere-- it doesn't matter what language you speak--the message is still the same! 

Other:
-Christmas is in full effect in our apartment! We bought a Christmas tree this morning! Although, when we brought it back to our apartment, we noticed there were no legs for the tree in the box (even though it said there were)? So we did what we do best. We improvised. We stuck the base of the tree in a mug and then tied a white and red dish rag around it to make it look classy. Is it really ghetto? Yes. Is it really festive, though? You betcha. Also, we bought stockings and wrapping paper. Everyone on the metro this morning looked at us like we were crazy carrying around all this Christmas decor. 4 words for those people: tis the season, baby!
-It snowed on November 9th. NOVEMBER 9TH. It's already winter, ya'll. It was -3 yesterday. 


Have a great week!! I love you all! Start thinking of how you will serve others this holiday season!

Pa!
Siostra Beem <3
Poland Warsaw Mission
ul. Wiertnicza 135
02-952 Warszawa
Poland

talia.beem@myldsmail.net



B's baptism, 11/12/2016
B, DeMordaunt, Barlow, Beem, Haskett




Blessed...



Stadion Narodowy, Warsaw
Buying Lewandowski jersey's for the little brother's for Christmas:)


Mom note:  "What time is it in Poland?"  We say this all the time:)
A dear Missionary Mom friend made this for me and I love it!!!

Monday, November 7, 2016

11. Week 11 (2nd week in Warsaw) fence=1, talia=0

Cześć Wam!

All Saints Day:
You mean my new favorite holiday? Poland was BEAUTIFUL Tuesday. Candles galore! The sky was glowing all night! Ah. It was magical. Here's something that wasn't so magical, though: Monday night, for service, we went to the local cemetery to clean graves in preparation for All Saints Day. Honestly, it was really creepy. But we said that we would do it for 2 hours, so we did. Elder McMaster and I were walking in the front of the group on our way out. As we rounded the corner to exit the cemetary, I looked up and said, "Please tell me we aren't locked in here". He was like, "Sister, it probably just looks like it's locked"...nope, the closer we all got....the more we shook the gate...the more my worst nightmare came true: We were locked in a dark Polish cemetery. We all were freakin' out at first, and then we all just started laughing because there was honestly nothing we could do about it. Thankfully, as we started going around the perimeter of the cemetery, we found a break in the fence and escaped!!! Phew. But seriously, it was my worst nightmare. 

Fence=1, Talia=0 :
Every Saturday morning, we play soccer with our district, branch members, investigators, etc. We play on a nice, turf field. However, to get to this field, you have to do a little bit of trespassing. Aka climb a fence. Aka die a little bit. Everytime I climb it I always think to myself, "One day I'm just gonna fall and die". Everyone, that "one day" was Saturday. It hurt like crazy, but it was so funny. To top it all off, one of our less actives invited us to do crossfit with her that night (she is a crossfit instructor and is the most fit lady I have ever met). Why we agreed? I have no idea. Let's just say, my body has never hurt so bad--still does!!

Zone Training:
We had zone training this week! It was so nice to see Elder Dickson and Elder Hansen :) I miss my MTC Elders so much!! We learned some great things to better the work in our areas! I'm blessed to be surrounded by such amazing missionaries. 

BAPTISM OF B!
We have a baptism in Warsaw II on Saturday! We are so excited. It is an incredible thing to see the Gospel change someone--to see the Atonement in full effect! Ah, I don't even have words! He is the first of many. I know it. Also, he calls me "Sunbeem" because apparently, "just Beem is too hard to remember"...the nickname is sticking throughout the branch! Poland is being prepared--we ARE a baptizing mission (not just a "seed-planting" mission!!!!).

I FOUND DR. PEPPER.
No real story to this....just wanted to share the good news.

Not-your-average-contact...but by far my favorite contact:
This week, Sister D and I were contacting near a busy metro station. I stopped this guy and he said, "I'm sorry. I don't speak Polish"...I was like, "Perfect, neither do I!!". We asked him if he was religious at all and he said, "No"...but he had LOTS of questions, specifically about Christ and the Plan of Salvation...the normal "why are we here? where are we going? where did we come from?" questions and what Christ's role was in our lives. He told us he liked what we said, and then said, "I'm sorry. I lied earlier. I am a Muslim. I normally ask these questions to people of other faiths...and I never get concrete answers. I always get answers that steer off of the path. But it was different with you. You directly answered my questions. Your answers made sense. I liked that". The gospel is simple, everyone! Teach accordingly!

Other:
-Sister D is an angel sent from above.
-Polish cheerios are to die for. 
-I miss dryers
-Polish grandmas wear the cutest hats
-I literally HAPPENED to run into Sister Reyes from the LO ward....what a SMALL world!!! 

Have a great week!! I love you all!
Pa!
Siostra Beem <3

ul. Wiertnieza 135, 1 Pietro
02-952 Warszawa Poland

Mom note:  She wrote, "I LOVE it here.  Seriously.  It's incredible.  Thriving is an understatement."

Carving pumpkins with the Warsaw II District
Elder Barlow is in the back next to Tal (he is from her MTC District).
Elder Haskett is on the far right--Tal used to play with his cousin, Sabrina, when she was little. It's a small world...


Getting locked inside a cemetery...

All Saints Day (November 1st)

Warsaw zone
Warsaw Zone Conference, November 2016
The Siostras of the Warsaw Zone.
All Saints Day traditional candy Panska Skorka (the Lord's crusts/skin) - they taste similar
to taffy or nougat.

We are locked in...
Beatriz Reyes Montgomery RANDOMLY ran into Tal at a train station last week:  How crazy is that?
"It was absolutely freezing on Friday. We had been doing a finding activity with 
our district in Nowy Swiat for about 3 hours. Some of our district had to leave early, but we decided to stay an extra hour. We have an empty room we rent out on that street that we teach English in and keep our extra supplies. That's where we leave our bags while we contact. When we were done with our activity, we went back to put our table away, get our stuff, etc. But then we realized that the elders that left an hour earlier had the keys (and they were teaching a lesson about an hour away). So, we continued to contact into the frigid night while they drove all the way back to unlock it for us. Because of that, we were running late (it was probably 9:10 at this point). We were RUNNING from metro to metro trying to get home on time. And then I heard, in the middle of a crazy-busy metro station, "Talia?". I was taken back at first and figured it was just someone else named Talia...but then I looked over and it was Beatriz. So many things had to align for that miracle to happen. Ah, it was so special. That was straight up God's hand. That was NOT a coincidence. She came to church on Sunday and got a blessing from the Elders because she was starting to get sick (because it is the arctic here!!). She was so thankful that we ran into each other. I thanked Heavenly Father so much for that miracle to happen."
Siostra D and Siostra B
They seriously love working and being together...