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/…

Note:  The Pawlik family is the only family in Mielec who are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  They work closely with the missionaries.  There is only one missionary companionship in this city and Bryton is the 3rd missionary to ever serve there.

BW

Bryton Mecham Wood

 

|

Today, 9:32 AM

The Pawlik family is so awesome! They have a duaghter that is 17 and super engaged in working with us and setting up meetings with her friends and bringing them to english class. Then they have 3 boys, 15, 9, 7. We are going to play soccer with Dawid(15) and his friends and try to find a couple more investigators. I love Mielec, it is the smallest missionary city that we have here in Poland and everyone is nicer and more open actually allowing us to  introduce ourselves. I am feeling great, we are eating really healthy cause Elder Toone is a lifter. Insanity was getting too easy, I was making it through all the 30 min workouts so I bought some ankle weights before leaving Kielce and starting over from scratch alternating between wearing them on my ankles and wrists. Its been pushing me and is my beloved morning routine. Prezydent Turek gave me a new slate as I am only the third missionary in this city on starting from scratch on some fertile soil. So we will see how it goes!

We do have some good prospects and it will be really fun growing the church in this small community in the middle of nowhere Southeast Poland. We will try to work hard and be patient waiting on the Lord to fulfill his promisies. He always will if we let him, It may not be in our timing or when we want it, but it will always be in the best timing according to his will. We must trust him. Oh well, slowly but surely we learn, God's patience is amazing with us, he truly is a perfectly compassionate, caring, merciful and loving Heavenly Father.
Maybe some day we will be able to become like him and all that he is, but we always, always have so much repenting to do and I've come to find how truly beautiful of a gift that is from our God and Savior., We get to release and relieve the feelings of guilt, shame, aloneness, failure, unworthiness, and inadequateness, replacing them with fresh slates of peace, hope, joy, confidence calmness, and contentment and in turn we are improved and refined to become closer to our perfect Savior! How beautiful and incredible is that! Sounds like a win win situation to me. I am so thankful for this plan and the gift and power of the Atonement. Never be afraid to repent, it is one of the greatest gifts and opportunities we have in this life provided by our Redeemer. I testify he lived, atoned, died and LIVES and leads his church today. Remember him and what he gave you is my one and simple request for you all this week.

Love, 

Elder Wood

Break the Ice

My email will be short and precise. 

Repentance and forgiveness are great gifts that our loving Savior enabled us to have thanks to his infinite atonement and sacrifrice. It is the power to change our weaknesses and tendencies of mortal carnal humans into those of strength, self-mastery and godliness. (If you want to know what repentance is, I would refer you to my little sister, who gave an excellent talk in church the other week on the topic.) If we truly feel bad for something and have true intent to change, we have the BLESSING and PRIVILEGE to kneel down before our maker and decide to change our ways. It is awkward, and uncomfortable of course as we must change our habits and leave our comfort zone but if we do so and just break the ice in our own heart, the grace of our perfect loving Savior like a fire will burn inside of us, exstinguish our evil desires, and transform our lives.

We have been able to see the power of the great and all-encomposing sacrifice of our Savior and the restored Priesthood and authority of God spreading as a forest fire across the Earth, igniting a blazing faith and reliance in Christ leaving as a result beautiful fertile seeds of conversion which in turn, truly change for the best, the nature of people here in Kielce. 

We were in a visit with one of our investigators at the hospital, and a man by the name of Alex very humbly asked if he could join our discussions. Ever since then, he has recognized and began to apply the truth and power of this message of the restoration and the Gospel of Jesus Christ by accessing the power of the Atonement of our Savior through faith in Him and repentence and has been transforming himself into the man that he has always wanted to be. After our second visit with him he told us of a dream he had that night where an angel in white appeared to him and told him to slow down his life for a moment and listen to his mormon brothers. 

I believe with all my heart  The Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter Day Saints is true, revelation exists today and that a loving God speaks to his children because he loves us. We just have to be humble and willing enough to listen.

Elder Wood