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...