Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Szczęśliwego święto Dziękczynienia! (Happy Thanksgiving)

Dear Friends and Family,

HAPPY (EARLY) THANKSGIVING!!!!!!! I can't believe I have already been in the MTC for a month! It feels like I just got here! I'm so glad I still have 5 more weeks to soak it all in! I know I will miss this when I leave, but I also CAN'T WAIT to get to Poland. :)

Well, with Thanksgiving being tomorrow (Whaaaaat??) I just wanted to tell you all how thankful I am for every single one of you. :) I am so grateful for your love, your support, your emails, your letters, your packages, your testimonies, and your prayers! I love you all so much! You all mean the world to me! Even though I can't be with you this Thanksgiving, know I will be thinking of you all, all day tomorrow! 

Funny story! So, Siostra Barney and Siostra Lerch were teaching our investigator Sławek, and the first question they asked him was "Do you have any plans for thanksgiving this week?" And I guess he just got this super confused look on his face, and said, "W Polse?" Which means, "In Poland?" annnnnd yes. Thanksgiving is an American holiday everyone! ha ha! It was hilarious! Siostra Barney was cracking up at herself. :) But THEN! She realized that she had asked our investigator Karina the same question the day before, and she had actually answered!! So, it was funny. :)

I am feeling so grateful this week! (The spirit of Thanksgiving is so great!!) So... here's a few more things I am thankful for:

-I am thankful for my family, and the examples they are to me. My parents and sisters have been reading the scriptures and praying each night since I have been gone, and I find so much joy in that! Just knowing that at night, when I sit down to read my scriptures and pray, even though we aren't together, they are doing the same thing. :) I love them so much!! This week, I've realized that I am the Lord's investigator. We all are! I want my investigators to read the scriptures more fervently, pray with a sincere heart to their Father in Heaven, and strive to build their faith and their testimony in Jesus Christ. Well, since being here, I have realized that that is exactly what the Lord wants ME to do. I am just as much HIS investigator, as Karina and Sławek are mine. :) We all are. 
-I am grateful for amazing friends, extended family, neighbors, and classmates that always keep me smiling! I love hearing about all of your adventures! I may not always have time to respond, but I read every email that is sent to me, and I promise I think of you!! And I pray for every one of you every day. :)
-I am grateful for this amazing country, and the freedoms we have. In the Book of Mormon, it talks of the restoration of the gospel, and how the freedom of religion that the United States has was vital to the restoration! I love the men and women that serve our country, and wish I could really express to them how much they are loved and appreciated.
-I am grateful for the little things. Like, when Siostra D and I stop everything we are doing because we find a perfect leaf on the ground, or when Siostra Barney free-style raps about the gospel, or when you get a simple answer to a fervent prayer, or the Polish sister's and I's end of the day "Polish prayer and group hug." Little things are really big things sometimes. :) I'm so grateful for them!
-I am grateful for the priesthood. SO grateful. This week has been one of a lot of sickness for one of the girls here, and she has just constantly been in our prayers. But one night this past week, she asked for a priesthood blessing for our Starszy, and a few of us were able to be in the room while that blessing was given. I can't even describe to you all how abundant and incredible (for lack of a better word) the spirit was in that room. Starszy Ashworth gave the most AMAZING blessing. I don't think there was a dry eye in that room. :) We are so grateful for his example to us. We love him, and are so grateful for him. That moment just made me SO grateful for the priesthood in my life, and the amazing Elder's here that constantly strive to live worthily of it. The priesthood truly is the power of God. That blessing made us all think of our future's, and how we want nothing more than to be able to raise our families in this gospel, with the priesthood to guide us day by day. I couldn't imagine going through life without it. If any of you ever are sick, have heavy hearts, or just feel the need for a priesthood blessing, please please pleaaase don't hesitate to ask someone. They give comfort and peace in a way that is so hard to describe, but so easy to feel. Anyone can be given a blessing, the Lord is there for ALL of us, ALL the time. :) 
-And finally, I am grateful for this gospel. I am grateful to know and have a relationship with our Savior, who loves ALL of us. He came to Earth and suffered and atoned for our sins, so that we may return to live with our Father in Heaven. Because of Him, we don't have to be perfect. But also because of Him, we can be. I know that if there was only me, or only you on the Earth, he would have still performed His Atonement, because he loves you THAT MUCH. I am grateful for the knowledge I have of the Plan of Salvation. Families can be together forever. The Lord has a plan for us, all of us. He knows our paths so much better than we do. We need only to trust in Him, and follow Him in faith. He will never lead us astray. I'm grateful for Joseph Smith, and his courage, and love for the gospel. He could have given up so many times, because of the persecution and mockery he received. But, he didn't. He KNEW our Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ appeared to Him, he KNEW the Book of Mormon is the word of God, he KNEW that this gospel needed to be restored. He KNEW, and he could not deny it. I am grateful for temples, and the sacrament, and the Book of Mormon. I am SO grateful. The Book of Mormon is the true word of God. It is another testament of the living Jesus Christ, our Savior. I know this, with everything I am. This gospel is our map to eternal life. It is the way to eternal peace, eternal joy, and eternal life. 

Well, I am out of time for the day, but I love you all so much more than I can even tell you! I hope you have an amazing Thanksgiving, and remember how blessed you all are!! Count your blessings instead of sheep tonight, you'll be surprised how many blessings you have. :) The Lord has given us so much. I will be thinking of you all all day tomorrow! 

I love you, miss you, and am so grateful for you!

∞,
Siostra Kamp

My appreciation for this Starszy grew leaps and bounds this week!  He's the glue that holds our District together. We love him!

Some of my Zone :)  We're nerds!  I love them!

My zone leader Elder Brown wanted to try out my violin.  He's a natural.  haha!

All our name tags, on the grass during our temple walk. :)

Some of the Elder's!

I love them!

I love them!!

The best companion ever!

Service day!  Fourth week in a row cleaning bathrooms!  We must be pro or something, because they keep picking us!

Thursday, November 19, 2015

Peace

Dear Friends and Family,

This week was incredible! Every week I am here I think, "There is no way the MTC could get better than it was this week. No way." But somehow it always does. :)

Last Thursday, we had the opportunity to teach TRC's, which is kind of like "Visiting Teaching" or "Home Teaching"! We just taught a simple lesson on faith to a member of the Church (most of them served in Poland!) in Polish, and then we were able to get to know them, ask about the mission, hear stories about their missions, and so many other things! It was AMAZING! :) It made me so happy! TRC has become one of Siostra D and I's favorite things! AND we just found out this week that in a couple weeks we will be Skyping people in Poland and teaching them!!!!! Ahhhh!!! I am so excited! :)

The Polish is coming along really well! It is hard to learn, of course! But it is sooo rewarding! I love having to push myself. :) We have started learning cases in Polish this week, which is SO GREAT! Everything makes so much more sense now!! :) Polish is such an amazing language! Having to work so hard to learn just makes my love for the Polish people grow every day. Siostra D and I still try hard every day to speak to each other in Polish instead of English. It's amazing how much we know already! The Lord is definitely guiding us. There is no way we could do this by ourselves. :)

Siostra D and I were able to teach Relief Society this past Sunday! We taught on the Holy Ghost, and it was amazing. We are always very worried about how our lessons will go, whether we teach our investigators or Relief Society or just share a simple testimony to someone on the street! But they always turn out a lot better than we think they will. :) The Lord answers prayers, and we are so blessed with the Spirit here. There is no place like the MTC. :) Anyway, our Relief Society lesson went just swimmingly. :) I was so happy, because we taught on the Holy Ghost, so I was just hoping and praying that the spirit would be present in our lesson. Well, prayers are answered because not only was the spirit there, I don't think there was a dry eye in the room when the lesson was finished. :) It was incredible. But it had nothing to do with anything Siostra D or I did, it was all the work of the Spirit. The Holy Ghost is the real teacher. :)

So... We had an amazing guest speaker in our MTC devotional on Sunday!! His name was Greg Droubay, and he is the Media Marketer and Director of the Church! He surprised us with a little sneak peak to the theme of the Church's marketing for Christmas this year!!!!! I'm sure most of you remember last years theme: "He is the Gift" :) That one was AMAZING. But oh my lanta, this year's theme is perfect. He showed us the Christmas video, and the spirit was so strong. I don't think there was a single heart in the whole auditorium that didn't feel it! So... It will be released on November 29th!! Keep a watchful eye out for it, it will touch your hearts! :) I'm so excited for you all to see the video and know the theme!! christmas.mormon.org is where to go to find it! :)

Well, us Poles had the most wonderful lesson the other night about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Our teacher asked us to describe what the Gospel of Jesus Christ is in one paragraph, which was pretty easy! Then she asked us to describe what the Gospel is in one sentence, then finally she asked us to describe it in one word. At first, I had no idea which word I could possibly say to summarize every aspect of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but once I sat there for a moment. The one word that came to my mind, was peace. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is PEACE. It is hope. It is the map that guides us to eternal life. Sometimes, I think I try to go too in depth about the gospel in my lessons with my investigators. There is just so much about the gospel that I know would bring them so much happiness! But, as I sat and thought about it the other day, I realized... Imagine how much our Father in Heaven knows. He is omnipotent. If He tried to give us all of His knowledge at once, we wouldn't be able to comprehend anything! Our minds can't handle all that knowledge yet. :) So... how loving is it of our Heavenly Father to give us exactly what we need, when we need it, and how we need it, little by little? He loves us so much that He is willing to be patient enough with us to only give us things step by step, krok po kroku. And it just hit me. Shouldn't I love my investigators like that? :)
Anyway, just a little thought that changed my perspective on some things. :) The Gospel is amazing. It is so simple, yet we could increase our knowledge about it forever. :) It is beautiful, because every aspect of it applies to everyone differently, at different points in their lives. The Book of Mormon is the same way. One day, I will read a verse of a specific chapter, then the next week I will read the same verse, and gain a completely new aspect of what the verse is saying. It's wonderful! 

Our lessons this week with our investigators have been so wonderful. Siostra D and I have gone into the lesson with only our Księga Mormona (Book of Mormon), Biblię (Bible), and an index card of how to say a total of five words!! It amazes me how much the Lord will guide our lessons if we put our trust in Him, and not ourselves. Our teacher told us, "If you want to know if you are teaching by the spirit, don't write a script and read it. Put your lesson in your coat pocket, and let the spirit do the rest." So, we did! And man, our lessons are sooo much more spiritual, and touch our investigators so much more now than they ever did with our scripts. With our scripts, we had perfect Polish because most of the sayings we said were taken right from our Preach My Gospel books, but our words weren't as sincere because they weren't OURS. Now, without the scripts, our Polish grammar may not be as good, we may not be as easy to understand, but our lessons are so much better. I've learned that the spirit is the best teacher. Everyone is the world may not be able to speak the same language, but... we all feel the same language- The Spirit. 

Well, that's about all I have time for, but I love you all and pray for you every day. :) I hope you all know the testimony I have of this gospel. This Gospel is peace. It really is. It is joy for the good days, and comfort for the bad ones. It is your flashlight when the power goes out. I know our Heavenly Father lives. He loves you all so much, and I can feel the love He has for you each time I write you all. The Book of Mormon is the true word of God, it is a testament of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is our Savior. He loves enough to have suffered and died for us. Because of Him, we don't have to be perfect. But through him, we can be. This church is true. God lives. I know it with every bit of me.

I hope you all have an amazing week!!
∞,
Siostra Kamp


Our Zone's sweater Saturday GQ Magazine cover photo.  I love these people!!


I love this tree.  And this temple. And this country.  So, I love this picture.

What?! We're missionaries?! :)  These are our Slovak's!  :)

Siostra D's mom sent us a Christmas tree!!  We are SO in the Christmas spirit, and just CAN'T WAIT to open our Christmas countdown package from Mamma Kamp! :)