Dream a Little Dream... at the University!: Happy New Years!!!!

December 30th, 2013

Hello my darling family! I love you all so much and it was such a joy to hear from you this past week. I will tell you what happened last week.

On the 18th, we had Wigilia... which is a Polish New Years Eve. That was with the whole branch and it was wonderful! I loved it:) But Polish food is pretty heavy, and I think I'm not used to that ( I don't actually eat Polish food very often:) We spend Tuesday baking with the Relief Society Prezydent because we don't have anyone else who can help her... crazy:) But it was great and a great cultural experience. Then on Monday the 23rd we went to Katowice and had a Christmas Zone Conference. I sang O Holy Night, and it was wonderful to be able to share my talents! I have learned alot about that this week, about how we need to use and share and cultivate our talents in order that we can keep them and multiply them!

Monday evening we went back to Kraków and spent the night there. I was so excited to go and contact on the Rynek!!!! I love contacting by the way, we meet the coolest people and it's a great time to practice my polish:) The Spirit can always tell me what that specific person needs, which really has helped me see the Heavenly Father knows us all personally.

On Christmas Eve we woke up and had our P-Day in Kraków with all of the other districts from katowice!! It was awesome:) We had a great breakfast and spent the day touring Kraków and it was lovely and a beautiful sunny day! We then went back to the Kraków chapel and watched some bible videos and played backgammon! ( my new favorite game:) That night we made a mad run for the train... It was so close to leaving, and we spent some of the night on the Polar Express( not really, but we did take a train and it felt very Polar Expressy:) I loved that. When we got home we ate dinner... salad and beets ( I know. it's pretty ridiculous;) and then we read the Christmas story from Luke 2 and also from 1 Nephi and the Tree of Life. It was a beautiful experience and as I could her our neighbors getting drunk and laughing I realized how very grateful I am to have the opportunity to be a servant of the Lord. No Christmas in my life will ever be the same. Then I said my prayers and went to bed.

The next morning we woke up and had orange juice:) Then we opened our presents. I don't have time today to e-mail and thank everyone, but I am so grateful for Grandma and Granddpa Bird and the calendar and poem! I will e-mail them next week about it. And to Grandma and Grandpa Hemming for the thoughtful gifts. Seeing grandma's handwriting was so sweet to me, and Zeus has already been my cuddle buddy a couple of times. We got ready ( czyli batman t-shirt) and spent the day with the Elders! It was so fun. We played soccer ( I'm actually not bad) and we ate food and we played games and I beat Elder Raines at backgammon... then he beat me:) It was wierd, I always pictured my mission Christmas to include lots of work, but since everyone gets drunk in Poland on Christmas we aren't really allowed to go do proselyting. Anyways, it was a great day.

Then I paced the floor trying to decide what to say in the phone call. I don't know why but it made me nervous. Sister Moncur and I had talked about how it might be better if we called closer to each other so that she wasn't just sitting around for an hour after I talked to my family and freaking out. THat's why when you called I said that we should wait an hour... but after I heard my sweet family's voices I couldn't ever wait!!! I just want you all to know that I love you so much! you are such a wonderful family and this week was filled with comfort and peace for me. I loved to listen you you and hear your voices. I then said my prayers and went to bed. It was a bit hard the next morning, but as I put my trust in the Lord I was completely fine. Oh how blessed I've been:)

This week we had an absolute miracle happen. We were really trying to have the faith that Karina could get baptized, and it was a miracle because on Sunday she had her meeting with Elder Raines and she passed, with one problem... her husband didn't allow it. So Sister Moncur had the great idea to fast for her! So we started fasting and striving for more faith. We went over to their house and made pierogi! It was with pig livers and chicken hearts. literally:) But it tasted good! Then the Spirit took over. We ended up knowing exactly what to say to him and he ended up agreeing to her getting baptized and even said he'd bring a soup to it!!! It was a miracle to say the least. I have been so blessed to see so many miracles. Pray for her. Her baptism is this week Saturday at 15:00!

I love you all so much! Have a wonderful new year and be safe!
Love, Sister Ali Hemming:)