Open

I do not have much to say. We are teaching a cute couple with a two year old daughter and while the husband has already read half the Book of Mormon and felt the spirit, the wife is still a little skeptical about the whole idea and the idea of change. Keep her in your prayers to feel the peace of the spirit testifying of the gospel's truth and divinity.
Just the thought I had that as I teach people about the truths, authority and power of God restored back on the Earth in it's fulness, it makes so much more sense in the context of the grand scheme of things when it is learned about, accepted, and lived by the entire family. So if you have a family member who is a member of the church, or you used to be active and your family still is, I encourage you to change your thinking and decisions for a moment and view the church from their standpoint and to give further investigation or reactivation a shot with an open heart and mind. Listeny openly to what God has to offer you, to what members of the church or the missionaries have to say.

Moroni 10
3....receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.

4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.

I testify that is true. Whoever you are, you will find out more then you ever dreamed of comprehending if you follow the wise recipe of receiving answers from our Loving Heavenly Father. This church is true. I promise.

Elder Wood

It's about time i send some pictures of our transfer.

1. Our house, we occupy the bottom from and basement. best missionary apartment in the mission! ha

2. Elder Toone the day after going to the gym. 

3. The street we live on and Elder Toone, from Alaska. 6 foot 5 inches. They are right, everything is bigger in Alaska.

4.We had a dog for a night. We named him bardzo. Then we found his owner the next morning.

gotta run more next week.

Miracles have not ceased

I salute you, whomever has opened this email. It means a lot when one reads about my experiences what I have to say and then ponders upon it. The things which I make mention to are true. For it is an account of my happenings sealed with my testimony.

Today, something miraculous happened. We have been trying to make contact with a less a active member and his family that use to be a strong member from the states so that we could visit them and inform them that we now have a meetinghouse in Mielec. But literally this guy was invisible, until we were shopping at TESCO (european equivelent to COSTCO) in the foreign food section debating on whether we should buy some mexican cheese queso dip when were heard this "random" lady behind us say," That's the best you'll find around here, it's a Delicacy, if I were you I would buy it." Surprised and chuckling at the comment we turned around and talked to here right then and there for like ten minutes. In the middle of the conversation she started talking about her husband and we had this weird feeling about the convo, I asked what his name was. It was him!!!! It took everything inside of us to not begin laughing and jumping up and down screaming in front of her like we had just won the lottery or found the buried treasure. Instead we calmly told her the situation, she gave us their address and told us we could visit them this weekend. It was crazy! Literally, there were so many things that went into us being right then and there at that exact moment. There are at least 20 underlying factors to why we were not even planning on going to TESCO. Ha but we did and were able to find one of our brothers in the church. Not gonna lie, that was probably the best mexican cheese queso dip I had ever eaten. ;)

I testify that God lives and directs his children today he is so compassionate and caring to lay down blessings right in our laps, if only we could just be as aware to recognize them and be grateful for them. He is a perfect being, his timing is perfect and I believe as well as his sense of humor :)

I wanted to share a passage wit you all and would like you all to think upon it personally in your lives.

Moroni chapter 7
26...And as surely as Christ liveth he spake these words unto our fathers, saying: Whatsoever thing ye shall ask the Father in my name, which is good, in faith believing that ye shall receive, behold, it shall be done unto you.

27 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, have miracles ceased because Christ hath ascended into heaven, and hath sat down on the right hand of God, to claim of the Father his rights of mercy which he hath upon the children of men?

28 For he hath answered the ends of the law, and he claimeth all those who have faith in him; and they who have faith in him will cleave unto every good thing; wherefore he advocateth the cause of the children of men; and he dwelleth eternally in the heavens.

29 And because he hath done this, my beloved brethren, have miracles ceased? Behold I say unto you, Nay; neither have angels ceased to minister unto the children of men.

31 And the office of their ministry is to call men unto repentance, and to fulfill and to do the work of the covenants of the Father, which he hath made unto the children of men, to prepare the way among the children of men, by declaring the word of Christ unto the chosen vessels of the Lord, that they may bear testimony of him.

Reflect back upon the times in your life where you have seen God's miracles and tender mercies. If you can't think of many, ask for some, and keep your senses alert, because you will experience them. For behold, he truly is the same yesterday, today, and forever. I so testify in the name of his son Jesus Christ our Savior who LIVES, amen.

Elder Wood

Pressing Forward with Peace

Recently the work here in Mielec has really picked up. We met a few times with a good friend who finially started taking the missionary lessons after we conquered his boxing training. It was hilarious, so hard, we were so dead but it was worth it cause he is preparing for baptism next month. His girlfriend is pretty interested too! She reads the pamphlets and the Book of Mormon but is too shy to meet with us, she please pray for her :) We started teaching a really cute family  last week and will be meeting with them a few times this week. The dad has already read through Jacob, watched a few sessions of conference, doesn't like the catholic church and really wants to find God so it will be really neat to teach them. Other than that we have a lot of great potentials who want to find out more so we will be busy for sure.
As missionaries we are just about booked everyday now and at times it is hard to focus on each person individually or remember all the tasks at hand, getting meetings set up, planning, continuing to learn a foreign language, etc.... But, lifes the same we are always super busy and always have things to do and we don't know how the best way to balance life is and at times it is hard to press forward through the infinite to-do list. But instead of stress, fear of failure, and anxiety we can all receive peace, strength, and power from our Savior, his Atonement and his Resurection! His power and love is infiinite and he willingly will bless us with it if we just turn to him. Please turn to him, learn of him and accept him just a little bit more in your life this week and on. As his representative I PROMISE you all that you WILL feel a difference and this peace in your life. Please Watch and do what you feel prompted to do while watching. Happy Easter.

Elder Wood
https://www.mormon.org/?cid=HP_SU_9-4-2017_dMIS_fMORG_xLIDyL1-A_

Pictures posted on Poland Missionary Moms (and Dads!) by Sister Dalton on March 28th, Katowice Zone Training Meeting:

Starszy Wood and Starszy Toone work closely with the only member family in Mielec. It is a new mission, Starszy Wood is only the third missionary to serve there. Sister Pawlik graciously took these pictures for me and sent them through Messenger on March 20th.

Above is when Elders Wood and Toone were giving us an update on their investigators before we started FHE.

After FHE (no shots of during, when the Elders were in charge of the lesson and taught about being one, and ended specifically with members and missionaries being one in purpose and working together) Elder Wood looked through some of our gospely books and discussed them with Greg.

They ate treats and talked and planned and laughed with my daughter Ev (closest to camera) and investigators Julia (waving) and Kasia. In that pic you see our ugly kitchen, but notice the dishes are all washed. Elder Wood ropes my lazy sons into washing dishes with him whenever they eat here. It makes me so happy. Last week he actually taught Aaron our 9-almost-10 year old to wash dishes. Earlier that day I had promised to teach him but got extra busy. Somehow a Elder Wood found out and taught him after dinner.

And here they are. Really great guys. Hard working, relying on the spirit and testifying boldly. Elder a Wood is a great blessing for Elder Toone! The other way around, too, of course.   They're a great team.

Foundation

If I were to tell you the many different times where I have seen evident proof of not only the existence of the great Creator, our Heavenly Father, but also of his active, merciful, and miraculous hand in his work of bringing his beloved children closer to him, this email would be never-ending. There have been many things that I have seen, heard, and experienced within the past couple weeks that I am not in the state to write but many of which occur from being precisely in the right place at precisely the right time. 

The church here in Mielec has existed for about three months and we are solidifying the foundation of the branch here as we prepare some young adults for baptsim and continue to teach a young family and others about the Perfect Gospel of their Perfect Savior. 

Recently I have come to see evidently the reality of the antagonist of God's plan. He exists and is doing everything in his power, just as he has done from before the world was, to lead God's cherished sheep away from the Good Shepard, his only Begotten Son. Just as in the early foundation of the church this "father of lies" tried to destroy the growth of the church and discourage the saints through rumors, false information, contention, pride, jealousy, and skepticism. Using the same techniques with the same goal, he is trying to halt the foundation of the church in the small, very conservative city of Mielec. We ask for your prayers on behalf of the Lord's work here. But just as the saints were eventually victorious in the establishment and exponentiation of Zion, we too shall be. In the shadows of the apostasy and lack of truth, the Savior, and his burning light will forever, just as it has, continue to ignite and spread forth as a fire to cover the four corners of this Earth. Remember to build your own foundation on this Jesus Christ of whom I speak and his perfect glorious gospel. For we all know which side wins in the end. Light always overcomes darkness.

Which side are you on?
"And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall." Helaman 5:12

Oh remember, remember...

Elder Wood

NEWSPAPER ARTICLE WRITTEN BY GREG PAWLIK: 

To go directly to the news article published in Polish, copy and paste this link in your browser.  As soon as I receive a translation from Brother Pawlik, I will publish it on the blog. 

http://wcj24.pl/uwaga-mormoni-w-mielcu-felieton/

The following message was posted on the Poland Missionary Moms (and dads!) page on March 25, 2017:

Greg Lisa Lee Pawlik just posted this on the Poland Warsaw Mission page - it features Starsy Toone & Starszy Wood. 

MAKE SURE YOU TAP ON THE LINK AND LIKE IT! TAP ON THE PICTURE BELOW AND IT SHOULD TAKE YOU TO THE LINK!

THANK YOU PAWLIKS FOR ALL YOU DO!

From Greg: Hi! An article was published today about missionaries in my town's local, very popular site. I would really appreciate some likes which will help the text to reach more people. THANKS! Here is a link to the page (you will need to scroll it down to find the link to the article, then - if you are a kind person - you will "Like" it ;) and if you are celestially kind - you can even share it ;) ):

https://www.facebook.com/WCieniuJupiterow/…