Hejka cześć kochani!!!

These last few weeks have been such a whirlwind of fun and hard work 🙂 I LOVE Gdańsk!!!!!

– We had our Christmas zone conference! We sang so many Christmas carols, had a great devotional and went to the Christmas light show at one of the castles in Warsaw. My absolute favorite part of conference though was when Prezydent Chandler sat down at the piano and casually played the most beautiful Christmas medley ever! He and Siostra Chandler are SO talented.

As part of the conference Siostra Sjödin and I sang a duet in Swedish at the conference! We sang “Blott en Dag”, an absolutely beautiful hymn about taking things day by day and relying on the Lord through it all. Below is the English translation:

– Learned how to make Czech cookies with Natálie. She’s the BEST

– Christmas Eve (Wigilia) was amazing. We celebrated with members in the branch, the Bridges, and the Elders and it couldn’t have been better! We had more than the traditional 12 Christmas dishes, including Barszcz (delicious beet soup), Śledź (pickled herring, a kind of fish), Moldovan salad, Carp, Carp in jello, and so many more! And of course, the polish tradition is that you have to try them all! It was definitely a meal I will never forget!!!

– The Polish Catholic tradition is to go to mass at midnight the night of the 24th and we got to go! We were so tired but it was so much fun to stay up and go with our friend Martyna. We went to one of the really old churches in Oliwa Gdańsk and it was the Archbishop’s church so he was there for the mass! We sang lots of carols and then listened to the prayers. One part of the mass that was cool was when the priest sang parts of the prayers and then everyone sang the responses back. It was so beautiful!

-This week we had exchanges with the Lublin Sister and they came to Gdańsk! I got to be with Siostra Berrett all day and we had a blast! The elders in Gdańsk were on exchanges too so all 8 missionaries, plus some of our awesome Gdańsk friends joined us to carol in Old Town. Halfway through our singing it started ice raining, but we weren’t going to let that stop us! We went under a bridge and just kept on singing–and it was even better because it echoed all the way through Old Town! So many people stopped to talk to us and to take some video 🙂

-Found out Ela, a friend who comes to Zupa every Saturday finished high school in Argentina and is fluent in Spanish so now we both have someone to practice with :))

-Got invited to a Jewish concert at the synagogue by someone we’re teaching to celebrate the last day of Hanukkah. We went, hoping it would be at least as good as Fiddler on the Roof and it was even better!!! 😉

The Lord is with us through every experience. I can testify that He knows us personally, and that can continue to learn and grow even through our trials as we rely on our Savior, Jesus Christ. The Atonement of Jesus Christ isn’t just something that happened almost 2000 years ago–it affects you and me, every. single. day. Jesus Christ died for you personally, because He absolutely knows you and He knows the person you are capable of becoming. He is on our side!!! He wants us to be successful and happier than we can ever imagine!!! Because of him, we can find lasting peace in this life. When we are weak, we can find strength through him. When we are hopeless, we can find comfort and direction.

The Lord teaches us in D&C 121,

“… all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.

Therefore, hold on thy way; Thy days are known, and thy years shall not be numbered less; therefore, fear not what man can do, for God shall be with you forever and ever.”

HE– all powerful, all loving God- is with us forever and ever! And with Him, NOTHING is impossible!

I also read a wonderful talk this week from this last general conference, called “Holiness and the Plan of Happiness” by President Eyring. I would definitely recommend it 🙂 It’s a great talk to start the new year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!! KOCHAM WAS TAK MOCNO!!! ❤️

z dużo miłością,

Siostra Baldwin

Mail?!

Siostra Elizabeth Baldwin

Ul. Wiertnicza 135

02-952 Warszawa