SNOW:)

Siostra Owen and Hemming.  Bandits!  Yep...but otherwise I can't speak Polish because my chin is frozen:)

Snow:)

Our little restaurant!!

Hot Chocolate....

Dinner!

Siostra Hemming, Owen and Elder Raines

Tracting:)

January 27,  2014

Yep. that's right everyone! It finally snowed in Kielce!!!! And it's beautiful. It was also in the negatives but we won't talk about that:) Don't worry, I'm warm, Sister Owen let me use some of her hand warmers.

This was a great week! It started off will miracles after miracle! I really love to see how many people the Lord is preparing. It's so cool. Kielce is booming, now we just need to see some baptisms. We met a ton of cool people and are preparing to help them continue to make and keep commitments. To change. To repent!

We spent some good time this week serving the members. I'm not sure how much longer I'll have the privelage of staying in Kielce, but I'm imagining not super long... so I'm really trying to just give it my all! So we went crazy... making banana bread, running across Kielce to lessons and then to service. And we also have tried to serve the community more. It was a success because we had some of our less-actives in church!

Karina is doing really well. She is strong and firm in the gospel and speaks like a member. She is already a missionary and doing so well at it! She reminds me of my own selfless mother. She gives her children her all. It is very inspiring.

Stanislow!

Sister Owen and I had this awesome experience. We had a referall from the office(internet) and we had tried to call it, but the number was unavailable. During my mission, most every referall we've had has ended up being someone pranking someone, or something, so I was a little hesistant to take our whole day to go and find them, but Sister Owen and I did just that. We went out to her little city and ended up being stuck out there all day because we didn't know what time the buses came to go back to Kielce. We met her family who thought that we were amish and polygamists... like most people in Poland! And we ended up eating at this gorgeous restaurant!!! But we didn't get to meet her. When we got home that night,I was feeling like our day was wasted, but then she called!!! It was awesome, she set up and we had a really great meeting! Oh how blessed we are in this work.

Every week we visit this nursing home by our house. Sister Owen and I just started and we love it! This week we visited Stanisław who is such a riot! He is 100 but is still super energetic and sits there telling us about his family and the war. He has a lot of medals. Such a wonderful opporunity. Elder Raines was with us yesterday and afterwards we went tracting. His companion was on a train for exchanges... let's just say it didn't convince people that we don't have polygamy:) hahaha!

I love you all so much! I can't believe how quickly time goes by... but I also know that Elder Dube's talk in last conference about looking ahead is so for missionaries!!! We all have to keep pressing on, not taking a moment for granted!

I love the opportunity I have to be here. I love that I can work on my weaknesses on trait at a time, and lose myself in the work! What a blessing we have to know what we know. I am almost done reading Jesus the Christ, and I am in awe at all that I have learned and continue to learn of Him! I Love to be His Missionary!

Love, Sister Ali Hemming

Disciple...czyli:) (someone who learns)

January 20th, 2014

 

Hello my lovely family!!! I love you so much and I'm so glad that you got my package. I'm sorry that it got opened and that Rori's ring wasn't there. Super Lame:) I hope that you all enjoyed the rest of it though. Also sorry that I sent you crazy amounts of chocolate right when you started the "Getting Into Shape Athon:)" awesome! hahaha. I loved the pictures of Rori cutting dad's hair. Oh dad would never trust me with that:) Too many terrible hair cutting jobs. I also love your story of the temple mom. Sometimes I get what I call " temple sickness". Basically it is decided that I will go to the temple ASAP after my mission.

This week we saw a lot of miracles. I normally like to share the great things that happened to other people and help you see the wonderful lives of these people in Poland, but I would like to share a personal experience. A miracle that happened to me.

We began the week with a Zone Training. It was all about giving your heart to the Lord. I LOVED it. I felt the Spirit so strongly and felt the great love that the Lord has for me. I left it feeling uplifted and prepared to repent and change some of my missionary work, so that I could be a better missionary. Not sure exactly why... or what triggered it... maybe being tired. a little sick. and feeling a bit overwhelmed with the work, but I began from the next day to feel very weighed down. I started to focus on the things I wanted to change in myself and ended up feeling like I couldn't do anything right. For me that was very hard. It's so important for me to know that what I am doing is pleasing the Lord. I felt very weighed down, and the work suffered. I prayed. Super Hard. I cried a little bit:) actually just a lot:) I know that it's good to think about the things you need to change, but I also knew that this was not building and uplifting. So it happened that this week I learned a completely new lesson about the Atonement. I learned so much. My whole life I've learned about the power of the Atonement. It has been at the focus of countless lessons and countless experiences. Even in view of all this, I don't think I've ever really understood how it works. I read a talk " His Grace is Sufficient" and realized that I'm not perfect, nor ever will be. The Savior already paid the full price. My side of the bargain isn't to try and pay it back or to be worthy of His love, he already paid it. My part is to give Him my heart. To give every effort and every conscious thought in order to show Him how much I love Him. As I began to see it in that light, something inside of me changed.I'm still learning more and trying to take it all in stride.  I learned so much, and throughout the rest of the week, we saw miracle after miracle. To me it was as if Heavenly Father was showing me His love. Even in the fact that one day I felt so much joy and contacted this amazing lady!!!!!!!! Actually she contacted me. She was so cool and we talked for a while and she said " You know what... I think that the reason I asked you who you are and what book you are holding ( Book of Mormon) is because you were smiling. You are happy. She's right! I also want you all to know that there are birds chirping and it's raining here! This weather has been a miracle to me. We've also had some lovely and spiritual lessons with some of our investigators. Plus Przemek and his dad came to church!!! I think the love I felt for him was a miracle as well. Their family felt the miracle of temple prayers. And As you can see, I did too. Oh how I love the temple. Sister Owen has been so great, and we've made a super solid goal sheet so that we can not feel overwhelmed. That's why I Love goals! it's so doable if you just draw it out!
I know that missionary work and really life is all about change. It's all about repentance and calling to repentance and being called to repentance:) I am going to begin my week with a fast, that I may know how to better give my heart. I want to " know Him as He is" as Moroni quotes.
I love this work. I can't wait to give more to it. I love my Savior. I love Him so much. I need to give Him my heart, and my desires, and even " every conscious thought". That is my goal.
Love, Siostra Ali Hemming

After contacting in the rain!!!

Love It!!!!

Eating our Sunday obiad in the chapel closet:)  It was a party!

Am I serving in Poland...or is this Jamaica?

Saying goodbye to Sister Moncur!  I Love her!!

Hopefully someday I will be a good cook!

Awkward Day with the Elders

porcupine guy walking down the street...odd:)

Olo!
Alright... maybe not to that extreme, but It has been so warm here lately. I'm SOOOOOOOOOO grateful! It just barely started to get a bit chilly lately, and I can't believe it. I know it's because you have been taking the hit for me in the states:) Thanks!

I miss you all! I love you so much, and I can't believe that you are so wonderful. On my mission I've learned to much about my family, about how blessed and lucky and grateful I am for a wonderful family who has so much love and direction. How could I be so blessed? I don't know, but I love that I can share that joy with others!

So the week started off with me saying goodbye to Sister moncur. I love her and I love sister barth so I know they'll get along great! Now I have Sister Owen! I love her! She came in and we've been working hard and seeing so many miracles. She and I are very alike and have similar goals this transfer, so we're excited to get to see how prayer and faith can build up Kielce! She is from Seattle and went to BYUI. She is 19, and is a great missionary! Elder Retallick went up to Bydgoszcz with Elder Swicegood! Elder Raines is staying in Kielce and training, so he has to deal with me another transfer. poor guy:)

I love to hear about you and your primary teaching mom! Those children will be so much better off thanks to you. How blessed are they. I love to hear about you and dad spending some great time together, Sister Owen and I have been talking about families lately and we are so greateful we have such wonderful examples. There are always opportunities to share the gospel, even to share happiness and love. It's so important as we have so much to give.

This week we saw a lot of miracles, and have one more wonderful investigator! Her name is Stanislawa and she's probably in her 60's. Most of the older Polish women here kind of hate us... so I was a bit nervous at first, but realized that she is SO prepared. I can't wait to tell you how she progresses. Karina is doing well, we are trying to think out of the box and recieve revelation for how to help Przemek. I know the Lord loves him too...  He will come around, As a branch we are all searching for ways to touch them! It will work out.

I still love Kielce, and we are just enjoying life here, Sister Owen and I have decided that we want to look for ways that we try to please others, and change them. We want this transfer to be for the Lord. If it's not for Him, it doesn't mean anything. I have learned alot lately about being grateful for weaknesses, and seeing them in a diferent light. No one is perfect, and that is good, because we never get bored! And anyone who knows me knows I don't like to be bored:) I think that's how I've always been.

I read the talk " His Grace is Sufficient". It changed me outlook on a lot of things. I realize that in my life I am not living right to try and pay back my weaknesses. Nope. I am doing right to come closer to my Savior. To be more like Him, that I may love Him so much that I would do anything to be with Him. To show Him my gratititude. That sure does change things. When that is our purpose, then everything falls into place. I've decided that I am me for a reason! I have something special to bring to Kielce, Poland and the World, and I need to use that and love it! What a great week, Sister Owen and I are so happy and I'm so grateful for all of my MANY blessings.

I love you all so much!
Love, Sister Hemming

Do we know what we have?

January 7th, 2014

KATOWICE ZONE!!! 

Our play!

Yeah!!!!

My Favorite book in my favorite place!!

Kielce District. Our favorite place to eat Roy Ben's.

Our homemade backgammon board.

The Plan of Salvation:)

Hello My Family!!!

What a week:) Oh satan worked hard, but I've seen so much how the Lord is stronger. We as members of the church and true Christian people in general are His warriors:)

So I learned this week SO much about the Plan of Salvation. That the Lord is the center of every single thing we do, and how much His sacrifice means for me. I have really been struggling with knowing that what I am doing is all that I can. I always feel that I can do better, which is true, but I've been blessed to realize so much more that if I'm always pushing to be as far in the right as I can, then I don't need to worry about the left:) I just finished in Jesus the Christ when Christ atone's for our sins and is placed in the hands of Pilate. Wow. he is the perfect example, and He expects out of us our whole souls, and our hearts, but not immediate perfection. For He already payed the price that it costs as we try to come to Him. I also learned this, that not one of us can expect to come to Him without having experienced trials and hard ships. Everyone has their own kind, and I feel that I've been so blessed to know what I know. Do I know what I have? As I have pondered that question I have felt so much love and so blessed. Because Pride and Discouragement are really just ingratitude in disguise. Actually... I reallly think every sin is just Pride in disguise... which is really just Ingratitude. Do We Know What We Have? I will really work on that:) when I saw the Christmas picture of the family with all the presents I just cried. We are SO BLESSED!

I love to hear all of your sweet stories and experiences from the week. It is fun to know what's going on and even the day to day things. I wish I could tell you all the experiences I have, but I just don't have time... and I would get carpal tunnel:) But I love you all! We spent the week working really hard and teaching on the street. On New Years Day and really every other HOliday.. most people in Poland just get drunk. lame. So they light off fireworks everywhere! It's crazy illegal in the states, so it was really wierd to see people just shooting them off their roofs and in the middle of the road and other stuff... crazy! We love our members and spent the week trying to meet with them and strengthening them during this time of year. Ania Trybel is still just going strong, at church every week. Sister Moncur will be leaving me. I am super sad, I love her! But I know she's going where she needs:) She is great! And I can't wait to meet another wonderful sister!!!

Zone Sister!!  I Love them! Sister Hemming is far left.

I will love this week and it wil be the best week of my mission! Just watch and see;) I love you all so much, I pray for you every day!

P.s. it's not even cold really!!! I'm so grateful!!!
i love you!

Love, Sister Ali Hemming