Transfers!

Hello everyone! I just got transferred from Kraków to Poznań, which is about 200 miles north. I'm so excited to be here! Poznań is beautiful. My companion is Sister Baldwin, and we will be STLs, which means that we get to do exchanges with other sister missionaries (they will come and spend time with us and we can learn from each other).

It was so sad to say goodbye to Sis Christensen and Sis Miller though. We had a lot of fun together.

Sorry this is so short, I don't have much time.

I'm so grateful for the Gospel! We are reading the Book of Mormon in 40 days together as a mission, and I have learned so much from it. The Book of Mormon is a good book. I think it's so good because it is the word of God.

Siostra Eberting

Pictures:

1. The last supper

2. Sister Miller's suitcase before she goes home to America. Lots of Polish chocolate

3. We walked past an Airplane museum

4. Wild blackberries

Penguins And "Crazy Horse"

Cześć, family and friends!

First off, I am in a trio! SO MUCH FUN. We are still doing our missionary work, and we get to party at the same time! We are all crazy in our own different ways, so it makes life really entertaining. And story time with the siostry is not something anyone would want to miss out on.

We've got a pretty big workload because we are covering the work of 3 sets of missionaries. There aren't elders in Kraków, and I'm still in charge of all the people we were teaching in Katowice, so we have had a lot going on. I've gotten to meet some phenomenal people here who are so humble and who sincerely want to follow Christ, and that has been really humbling for me. And I've been able to stay in contact with the people in Katowice, so we are still able to help and motivate them.

On Tuesday we had a meeting with a girl named Gabi in the little Relief Society room--just the four of us in the chapel, which is on the third floor of a building. Gabi is super cute. But near the end of the meeting, we hear this noise, and suddenly there's this MAN in the room with us. He seemed like 60 or something, with a wiry little frame, and breath tinted with alcohol. But the thing that really caught my attention was his clothes.

I know of no better way to describe them than a homeless European man trying to dress up like an Indian. And as he began to speak, I realized that that was exactly what he was trying to be.

He opened his mouth and started blabbing on and on about Indians (in the midst of calling us kochane and aniołowie) I looked at the others. They all seemed to be just as much in shock as I was. So I told him we were in the middle of a meeting and couldn't really talk. And then I closed the door of our room on him, kind of just hoping he would leave the chapel.

About 15 seconds later, we hear him shouting "I LOVE INDIANS, OF EVERY TRIBE!!!!!!" And then he ended it like we end our prayers, I just feel sacrilegious repeating that part.

Then he opened our door again, holding a Book of Mormon, asking if it was about Indians. We told him yes, and he could have it. Then he *thankfully* left. So we thought that was the end of it.

Until the next day.

The three of us, again the only ones in the chapel, were practicing for a musical number. Sister Miller says something about how funny it would be if Indian dude showed up again.

And then suddenly he's there again. And he's drunk again. He starts another long rant, and also asks us if he can wash his hands (which are filthy). So we tell him he can, but then he needs to leave. Well, after he finishes he comes and asks Sister Christensen if she's an Indian and if he can schedule a meeting with us. I asked him what his name was, and with a grin, he replied (in English) "Janek! 'Crazy Horse' Janek!" We were trying to kick him out this whole time, but after the third or fourth time, there wasn't much more room for courtesy. So slightly politely, but very firmly, I told him to leave and that he wasn't allowed to be here, and we escorted him out.

For the next hour we were really jumpy at all the noises the chapel was making. But we told the building security guard about it, and now he knows not to let any more men who are dressed up like Indians up. And now we lock ourselves in the chapel unless we are expecting a meeting.

I've been writing a lot of quotes in my planner. One of my favorites: "Penguins in Kraków Zoo eat ALL DAY American vitamins!" --an extremely talkative lady at English class.

Our new mission president is phenomenal. He has given us the challenge to read the Book of Mormon in 40 days as a mission. I'm about 100 pages in, and the biggest thing I notice is how peaceful I feel as I read. And then I start getting insights about my life and how to be happier and how God cares about me and about His other children. In other words, the Holy Spirit teaches me. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God because I am experiencing its power in my life! And you can too, as you read it! It will bring you more happiness than food, money, social media, or a shiny car ever can. So choose to make your study of it a priority over all of those things. You can find your 100% satisfaction guarantee in Moroni 10:4-5 on page 529.

Love,

Sister Eberting

Pictures:

1. We had leadership training in Warsaw, and I got to see my MTC companion, Sister Berrett!

2-3. Making czebureki, a Georgian dumpling. They were really good. I haven't yet died from a heart attack.

4. The bubble mall in Warsaw.

5. Last Tuesday, saying goodbye to Sister Jenkins! She's home with her family now :)

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Vampires And Anesthesiologists

Hey, everyone! I got a lot to tell this week, so buckle up for some good ole' mind vomit. Hopefully you will find it entertaining. First of all, on Tuesday we went to Bytom, to meet with an interested lady there. We've met with her a few times, and she is one of the nicest ladies I've ever met. She found out about the church in Germany and had met with the missionaries there a couple times, I think. She likes the doctrine of the church, and she said she is going to read the Book of Mormon and find out if it's from God or from the devil. So, we will see what happens.....

After the meeting ended, we had to run to catch our 820 bus back to Kato (about a 30-minute ride). So we got on the bus, and I pulled out some flashcards and started working through them. About a half hour later, I looked up and we were nowhere near Katowice. With a little dread, I realized that instead of taking an 820 from Bytom to Katowice, we were on an 820 headed to Tarnowskie Gory. Which is the exact opposite direction. So we got off at the bus station at Tarnowskie Gory and waited another 20 minutes for the 820 that would take us the hour-long bus ride back to Katowice. Fun times. Fun times. So that, my friends, is the story of how we accidentally spent an extra hour on a bus.

On Wednesday, we went to visit a lady we had met a few times. We'd been cleaning her house every week, but we only had a few minutes and so decided to just talk to her.

It was the most entertaining conversation I have ever had with a crazy person.

Among other things, she explained that 1) most policemen are vampires, 2) she has some holy water in a water bottle that she uses to wash her neck with to ward off vampires, cause if they bite your neck, you turn into a vampire, 3) this water was blessed by Darek, whom she had married through magic. And on, and on. We may have been egging it on a little. I'm sparing you all a lot of details in respect for the more faint-hearted members of our audience, but simply put, this poor woman does not have a sense of reality.

On Thursday we had our first zone conference with the new mission president and his family!! They are super awesome. They've got 3 young kids, and both President and Sister Chandler served missions in Poland 30 years ago right when it opened up. They have given up a LOT to be able to serve here. President Chandler is an anesthesiologist. They had a beautiful home in North Carolina, some really nice cars, and the kids have friends at home. But they sold their home, their furniture, and also left three of their older kids who are at BYU right now. President Chandler gave up his work, which he loves. They are a great example of leaving everything behind when the Lord calls.

Another funny thing: When Sis. Chandler was a missionary, she served in Wroclaw, which is where Pres. Turek grew up. So she showed us a few pictures of her with the Turek family, including a little 8 or 9-year-old President Turek.

Saturday night, while we were getting ready for bed, our friend Agnieszka texted.

ANNNNNNNNDDDD she wants to be baptized!!!!!!!!!! This came out of the blue. We were friends and she would come to English and Service night, but we hadn't been meeting with her. So we are way excited!!!! Okay, I realize this is the shortest  story yet, but by far the highlight of this week.

Okay, and last bit of news. So much is happening here, including the departure of my beloved Sister Jenkins to the distant Americas tomorrrow. She has taught me many things, including putting lemon pepper on cucumbers and eating yogurt right out of the container instead of putting it in a bowl first. She has also taught me to take more time to be quiet and peaceful, which is something I've definitely needed to learn (and still working on). Needless to say, I'm going to miss her.

But, for me this means that I will be going to Krakow for at least 3 weeks. Haha, and in 3 weeks I'm going to send my 3rd companion home. I get to be companions with Sister Miller and Sister Christensen. What's more, we have permission to come back to Katowice once a week to meet with people!!!

Siostra Eberting

Pictures:

1. We were in charge of setting up for Zone Conference. Originally, a fire hydrant was also part of the centerpiece, but that got taken out.

2.A train we found while waiting for our bus in Tarnowskie Gory

3. We went to visit a castle in Bedzin. It's on the left side.

4. The Katowice Zone and Chandler family.

Happy Fourth Of July This Week!

Hello family! Happy Fouth of July this week! Don't eat too many hamburgers.

This Thursday we had a meeting with our babcia friend at around 11. Unfortunately she didn't show up until 3 PM. We just happened to be in the chapel when the domophone rang, and so we ended up having a little meeting right there.

I stepped on a decomposing pigeon. We have been passing it every day by the mall for a while, and I finally accidentally stepped on it. At that point, though, it was mostly feathers, so that was fortunate.

We are in the process of destroying all of our paper area books and getting them digitalized. European privacy laws are pretty strict, so it's kind of scary not knowing if you are keeping the privacy laws or not. But we texted a ton of people who were in our area book and asked them if they would be interested in meeting with the missionaries again. 3 are! 1 of them seems pretty promising. Another lady threatened to call the police if we sent another text message. That was a temptation, for sure.

On Friday we went to Park Slaski and did chalk art with Family History. The best part was when we had just finished our second spot and we saw a car coming along the path, Ready to watch our work be ruined, we were pleasantly surprised when the car drove around the chalk and into the grass to avoid running over it. I love nice people.

On Saturday I may have accidentally gone to the Czech Republic. For a branch activity, we went down to the southern mountains and hiked up a ski slope. 2nd time I've been skiing in my life. 1st time backwards skiing. After we got to the top of the ski slope, our branch president said that for the return hike, we were going a different way. By the way our branch president is THE BEST BRANCH PRESIDENT ANYONE COULD EVER ASK FOR. Just so you all know. Anyway, he said that we would go up to the Czech border and then take a turn along another path. I was picturing some sort of painted line at the border, but it was actually very vague. Kind of disappointing. And just so you all know, I didn't mean to leave the mission, but I probably did...It's a good analogy on obedience, though. It's easier to keep the commandments if you stay far way from the border, because the border can be very hard to define.

This may be my last week in Katowice. :( My companion goes home next week, and so I will probably get sent to another city for at least a few weeks. Guess I'll start packing all the stuff I've accumulated the last 5 months....

Love,

Siostra Eberting

Pictures:

1. Group photo. Missing a couple people, though. 

2. At the top.

3. Looking into the Czech Republic

4. Hiking

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