Cześć!!

Monday, June 29, 2015

1. Elder Cowley's creepy face!!! AHHHHHH

2. Siostra Holden and Me

I wanted to let you all know that I've walked the plank and am now serving in Kraków with Siostra Holden, she is from St. George, Utah and has lived in the Bay Area of California. Starszy Mulder who also served in Łódź, but broke his toe, so now he's in Kraków, too! It's nice to serve with a familiar face!

Well it dawned on me today, just about 15 minutes ago, this really is the best mission in the world. It is the best mission because it isn't just the Polska Warszawska Misja, or the California Carlsbad Mission. It is the best mission in the world because, in fact, it is all one mission! Yes, for logistical purposes there are mission boundaries, but in reality, there are no boundaries to this mission. This mission is borderless and eternal. It is the exact mission that we read about in Moses 1:39 "For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man."

This mission is His mission. It is the mission of the most almighty, expansive, all knowing, and magnificent being in the universe. His mission is just as wielki (great) as He is. Now that, my friends, is something cool.

In this sense, then what does it mean to be a missionary? Well, if His mission is borderless and eternal, then you may best bet that his mission doesn't just last 18 or 24 months on this earth. It is so much more than just putting on your little black name tag and talking to people about the Gospel.

This mission is to help people discover who they are. Whose they are! It is to help people take their vision from their shoes and look up to their creator, to their loving Father. It is to help people learn how to enjoy that beautiful sunset behind the rolling vineyards and oak trees, knowing that that sunset was put there just for them at that moment, to enjoy and cherish.

Really, this mission is hope. It is hope that there is something better and something bigger than what we can see. It is also the hope that comes from the knowledge that we can change. I treasure that knowledge as much as any other principle that I have come to learn of in my life.

I don't know about you, but for me change and hope are intertwined. I can't hope for anything, if I don't think anything will ever change. I also can't change anything, including myself, unless I have hope that some greater power than myself will assist me in the task to do so.

This mission is the best thing that will ever happen to you, you just need to let yourself do it.

Today, we're emailing later than usual because we went to go see the Kościuszki Mount, it is a giant grave for Tadeusz Kościuszko who served in the Revolutionary War. He is buried in American soil! Ever heard of the Kościuszko Uprising? Look this dude up!

Do widzenia!

Siostra Herrera

Monday, June 22, 2015

Skryzpek na Dachu

What an awesome month we've had! Before I came out into the field, I made a promise to myself that I wouldn't let fear keep me from using my talents on the mission. This week, we got to prepare for Open House and we were asked to each teach parts on the Restoration and Plan of Salvation. Elder Garrett also prepared some musical numbers and asked Siostra Benson and I to perform a duet! I never really thought my singing was good, but even though I was scared, our district encouraged us and Elder Garrett said he was very happy with the results! We had members and investigators come and Rafał brought his girlfriend, Asza! I feel so humbled that Heavenly Father helped me realize my worth as His servant!

Every day here in Łódż is filled with love, fun, challenges, and G-d. It is the most indescribable and amazing thing, to be here and devoting all of my time to the Lord. Being a missionary is the single greatest experience that has happened to me so far in my life and I am so eternally grateful! I love these people so much! I love you so much! I love my friends back at home so much! I miss all of you but I am also so grateful to be here. This is where I am supposed to be. Ah, being a missionary jest najlepsze (the best)!

I almost forgot, we got to see Fiddler on the Roof! What a blast!

I love you all and will promise to respond to your emails next week, as we are out of time.

Do widzienia!!

Siostra Herrera

Monday, June 15, 2015

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner

Hi everyone, sorry about the delay! Emailing was hard for the past couple of weeks, but I wanted to let y'all know that I am doing ok here in Łódź and that we are working hard to find new investigators! The 28th is the anniversary of missionary work in Poland, so all of the members are invited and all of the missionaries are coming to help out! That's also the day of transfers, so I will let you know if I'm walking the plank or not (remember that Łódź means boat?).

We got to go to Julianów and tracted the domki (homes/houses as opposed to klatki- apartment buildings) and got let in by a lady seemed open to our message, we gave her a book of Mormon and promised to come back soon.

We got to visit a food fair and ate the best burgers ever! I got a chili burger.

Talk to y'all later!

Siostra Herrera

New agenda cover

1. Elder Fogg. Hahaha, a lady at a bus stop called him the handsomest!

2. My favourite flavour of ramen, pickle!

1. Elders Garrett and Fogg eating ice-cream

2. They're on a diet -_-

1. We made baked chicken

2. curled haircut

1. Zone Conference

2. French's Onion Chicken

Pictures

1. Haircuts

2. Freak rainstorm!

Monday, May 25, 2015

Siostra Benson's Birthday i Jutro jest Dzień Matki w Polsce!

We are going to E. Wedel's and bowling and Manufaktura! Woo!! Also I apologize, I don't have pictures because I forgot my drive and we are getting kicked out for the second time today. I apologize! I totally dropped the ball on that one... I love my companion so much!

Bye!

Siostra Herrera

Monday, May 18, 2015

Never Give Up!

We don't have much time and we are getting kicked out, so I will make this quick. Deciding to serve a mission is one of the greatest decisions can make. Yes, things can be hard sometimes, but that doesn't mean that Heavenly Father has given up on you. All you need to do is try your best, but you don't have to run yourself ragged. :)

I love being a missionary. I love talking to people all day and just noticing them and loving them. When we take the time to care about others, we really just feel more love towards ourselves. There's something special about having the boldness to say hello to others.

Every person you meet is a Child of God. Every person you know needs that hope and that assurance in their lives. It's a not a matter of, if you come to know these things are true, but when you come to know these things are true. I know that missionary work isn't exclusive to just us missionaries, and anyone who thinks that is making it so hard for us serving full time. We need help from members, we need the support and sacrifice of time from those serving in the wards. We can't do it alone!

Don't ever be afraid to talk to someone. The worst they can do is ignore you, and at that point, they feel more uncomfortable when you do. Look into people's eyes when you talk to them, show them that you care. People need each other, we are not meant to be alone. We are meant to be cared for. And we can't only be cared for by other humans here on this earth. We need the light and the beacon that comes only through Jesus Christ. I'm not here to preach about Jesus to everyone, I'm here to witness that he is our Savior and our Redeemer and that the only way we can be truly happy is by learning from him and learning of him. That's why I have such an affection and faith that Poland, very soon, will come to a knowledge of who Christ truly is. They are so happy, and so friendly, and so loving now. Imagine how they will be once they are restored to a knowledge of who they truly are! These people deserve the truth, they deserve the comfort and they deserve the knowledge far more than anyone I have ever met. I love these people with my whole heart and I won't stop until each one of them understands how much more they can become!

These people are incredible. You look into their eyes and you know that there's an ever so thick veil keeping them from their full potential. It's not what saints in the states think at all. Europeans are not so settled and proud that they don't want the gospel. You see in their eyes that they're yearning and striving for that thing, but it's almost like they're afraid to find it. They are the friendliest people you could ever meet. Almost too friendly, they always say my Polish is so good when I know it's not! But they've been able to understand me and I can understand them so wzystko będzie dobrze!

Kocham was!!

Siostra Herrera

Monday, May 11, 2015

Nothing like buckeyes! With Polish ingredients!

-Buckeyes-

-Ingredients

3 cups confectioners' sugar

1 cup creamy peanut butter

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 cups semisweet chocolate chips

-Directions

-use ice cream scoop to dip

-close toothpick hole

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using a handheld mixer, beat together the sugar, peanut butter, butter, and vanilla at medium speed. The dough should end up slightly crumbly. Roll the dough into 1-inch balls. Place the balls on the prepared baking sheet and stick a toothpick into each ball. Place in the freezer and chill for 1 hour.

3. In the top of a double boiler, or in a bowl snugly on top of a pan with a few inches of simmering water, melt the chocolate chips, stirring until smooth. Holding a ball by the toothpick and placing a fork under the ball to stabilize it, dip it into the hot chocolate, leaving a small hole of the peanut butter dough showing at the top of the ball as the "buckeye." Let the excess chocolate drip back into the pot. Return the buckeye to the baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining balls.

4. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight. Remove the toothpicks before serving.

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.

Buckeyes

Pictures

I will miss Siostra Slagowska!

Dzień Matki, Piknik na Działce i Buckeyes!

Dzień dobry, Rodzina!!

What a wonderful time our district had to call loved ones on Mother's Day! I am so grateful for the mothers (and fathers) who have helped me become the Lord's missionary. Because of their influence, I now know that I am a child of Heavenly parents who love me and they have helped me realize how important it is to share this message with other people. Most of all I am grateful for my earthly family being on this mission has helped me to really appreciate them and how much they've been there for me, even if I didn't want to see it before.

I was making buckeyes for the district meeting and picnic and the chocolate just wouldn't stick to the peanut butter balls. It took a few tries, but I ended up getting the buckeyes covered in chocolate. When I took them out of the fridge to see if they had hardened, I realized that the chocolate was not quite hard (I had used chocolate bars that had a different consistency than the ones I bought earlier, so I had to use milk to make it smooth for melting). Every time I had found something wrong with the recipe, I had wanted to chuck the buckeyes in the trash and start over. "No one will want these, they don't look good." Almost the whole time I kept thinking this, the Spirit told me that everything would be okay and just continue working on what I could do to make things better, and you know what? The buckeyes were ok, they even went like hotcakes! What I thought was wrong with them wasn't even an issue to the people eating them.

Negative thoughts and grudges are what the Adversary wants us to think about ourselves and other people, but you know what? The father of all lies can only get into your head if you let him. One thing I try to do is that every time I think a negative thought, I immediately think of two positive thoughts. We can't control every circumstance in our lives, but we can certainly make the best of the situation and work to improve it!

We had a picnic on the branch's działka and it was such a fun time! Our district played sports and got to know the members and less-actives and investigators better! :D

Kocham was!!

Siostra Herrera