Apartment Checks before transfer day - Elder Hayes, Elder Mikolyski, and Elder Harris. 
Elder Mikolyski had his bags packed and left that day for Warsaw to be an Assistant to the President.

Krakow Missionaries

Elder Bode going home to Germany for Christmas, Elder Szymanski and Elder Godwin.

 

Sister Holmgren and Sister Ence

                                                                   Elder Spencer Vernon  (Cade's friend)

 

                                                                         Elder Bokinski  (Elder Vernon's companion)

 

Christmas Day 2012

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Brand new from MTC Elder Brown, Sister Ence and Sister Holmgren making gingerbread houses.

Elder Bokinski, Elder Hayes, Elder Brown and Sister Holmgren making gingerbread houses.

 

Sister Ence and Sister Holmgren and Elder Bokinski making gingerbread houses.

 

 

4 completed gingerbread houses made by 4 missionary companionships.

 

 

Elder Hutchinson calling his family on Christmas Day 2012.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kato Christmas 2012

Gosia the RS President did the decorating and the sisters of the branch brought these dessets.

This is bigos or hunters stew that Tracy made for the Polish dinner made by a member sister.

The red pan is full of beet soup with perogis.  Sis Hutchinson is filling rolls with Sloppy Joe mix that President Adrian Urban requested.

 

 

Branch Members

 

 

 

Kate 35 and _______  and Alexander 15 years old

 

 

More apartment photos

If you look sideways you can see our kitchen.  See the large toaster oven on top of the fridge.

 

Our green bedroom with red tinsel wound through the headboard for Christmas.

 

 

Washing Machine

 

 

Christmas Tree 2012 . . . star on top given to us by Sister Bozena

 

Apartment in Katowice, Poland

We drove from Warsaw to Katowice on 8 Dec 2012.  We took this picture from inside the car to show the sun going down at 3 p.m.

 

 

 

We ride the elevator to the 2nd floor and walk down these stairs to our apartment.  Our address is

Korfantego 30/1 which means we live on Korfantego street in building 3 apartment #1.

 

 

When you open the door, this is the entry hall.  The door at the end of the hall is the storage that we LOVE!

 

 

Dining room with table and 4 chairs. Couch which makes into a guest bed, and chair.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Patryk Trela's Wedding 29 Dec 2012

The bride and groom arrive for the civil marriage ceremony in a Museum in Sosnoweic, Poland.

LtoR: E Brown, E Harris, Patryk, Bride, Pres. Adrian Urban, S Ence, S Holmgren
Back Row: Elder Hayes and Elder Bokinski and Siostra Hutchinson.

First English Class in Katowice

Left to right: Klaudia, Mente Rosinske, Adam, Justyna, Marta, Ola, Siostra Hutchinson

The first week English Class was taught by Sister Ence and Sister Holmgren and then Sister Hutchinson was the teacher.  It is every Wednesday at 4 pm.  There are from 6 to 8 non-member students who are delightful individuals who want to improve their English speaking skills.

Arrived in Poland at midnight

7 Dec 2012  We were seated standby on the 10 pm fight from Amsterdam to Poland by a tender mercy!  We were met by our Mission President Nielson and his wife Judi and taken to the Mission Home to sleep.  In the morning, we had a wonderful breakfast and an interview with President Nielson.  He gave us our assignment to go to Katowice to help with the branch.  The departing couple, Elder and Sister McGrath left yesterday morning back to Texas.  Elder McGrath was the Branch President, but the President wants to get the Polish men to have that experience with the support of Elder Hutchinson.  We were assigned a GPS and a car and Elder andSister Peck trained us on how to complete the paperwork in a 4 step process to gain residency in Poland.  Then the Peck's helped us find an ATM and guided us through the city to the freeway that goes south to Katowice.  We drove 3 hours and the young Elders, waiting at the church for us, walked over to our apartment building and helped us find the back way to the apartment parking.  Garmin led us to the public parking lot across from our apartment.  They carried all of our luggage from the car to our apartment.  Then they walked with Elder Hutchinson over to the church so we would know how to get there for church tomorrow.  They were so much help!  What a blessing they were.  They are a threesome, Zone  Leader Elder Mikolyski, Elder Harris and Elder Hayes from Wales.
8 Dec 2012

Laying over in The Netherlands Airport

Dec 7, 2012
We finished Mon. Tues. Wed. at the MTC learning how to work with Priesthood Leaders, the Bell's explained how they look at Missionary applications to select those for CES assignments.  Other Church departments also look at the applications that are submitted.  Any department that has a current (or future need) makes note of that on the application.  A member of the Seventy is part of the Missionary committie then makes notes or recommendations.  Then they go to the Twelve for final determination.  The Prophet reviews the files and issues the CALL. 
Thursday morning, Dec 6, we had a fabulous sendoff. We had breakfast and signed out at the MTC and drove to Dallin's house.  Angela, Savanna, Kristie, Spencer, Tracyane, Chick, Creed, Cole, Catherine, Chaz, Carson were all there waiting to tell us goodbye.  Since Tracy's family have been sick, they just waved goodbye to us Chick and Carson hugged us goodbye, Angela and Savanna hugged us goodbye and Kristie and Spencer drove us and our luggage which Carson and Chick loaded into Kristie's new van.  Kristie helped us drag our four 50 lb. bags to check in and then waited with us and bought us Cafe Rio to take on the airplane for lunch. Yum!
Shari, Marshall, Portia, Fisher and Edison came running through the airport to hug us goodbye and through kisses as we walked down the runway to get on the airplane.  Who ever had such a great sendoff?


Our flights were great.  We sat next to a lady from Denmark on the Atlanta to Amsterdam flight.  She and her husband were very lovely people.  Then we landed in Amsterdam and all flights to Europe have been cancelled due to weather.  We have a boarding pass for 20:55 tonight that is full . . . we are on standby.  If we do not get on this flight it will mess up the Mission President who will be waiting for us at the airport if we do not tell him otherwise.  KLM airlines is really busy!  They gave us complimentary food and phone cards and we are waiting for our number to be called 798.  They are on 623.  While we were getting food to eat, a young lady sat down across from us and Mom started a conversation.  She grew up in Poland and left for a great job offer in The Netherlands.  She was wonderful to visit with and she made the suggestion that we should go visit her mother in Wuge and wrote her mother's name and address in Nana's Mission Journal.  We will go visit her if we get the chance!  Our first referral.

We have finished our first week in the MTC learning Preach My Gospel.  We have learned and role played teaching investigator lessons.  We had a Testimony Meeting Friday night where all the language learning Senior Missionaries were able to bear their testimonies in their slavic language.  We could understand some words in the Norvegian, Finnish, Bulgarian, Russian, and Lithowanian languages.  Today is Sunday and we met with a young missionary branch for Fast and Testimony Meeting and they had 3 special musical numbers by the Districts that were shipping out this week.  It was a great testimony meeting.  Then we went to a Mission Conference.  The MTC Mission Presidency spoke and one District President and all their wives.  Last Tuesday night the Devotional was Elder Eduardo and Norma Gavarret of the Seventy.  He said from the beginning of the world God planned for missionaries in the last days. Tell the people, God lives, Jesus is His Son and he sent me to share a message with you. Today, Sister Hemmert told s story of 2 Miami missionaries who at 9 pm felt an impression to go back to a slammed door.  It was after the hurricane had gone through.  The lady of the house came to the door again and this time she shaid, "You are the young men who helped in the shelter.  Come in.  Miissionaries asked to give her a message, then asked to come back and she asked if she could invite some friends to the next lesson.  6 baptisms resulted.
Last night, Saturday Dec 1, 2012, we sat at dinner with a couple from Calgary, Alberta, Canada who had just arrived today.  His name is Wilford Woodruff, a great grandson of the church president.  As we were visiting, Elder Cook sitting on the right side of Elder Hutchinson joined in the conversation saying, " My great grandfather baptized Wilford Woodruff."  (I believe they said Elder Pulsiver.) 

We have Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday training on Young Single Adults and then we fly off to Poland on Thursday at 1:00 pm.  We are nervous but very excited! 

Alan Hopper, a Warnock cousin, is here in the MTC.  Richard and Donna’s daughter Joy’s son.  We have seen him almost every day in the Bookstore or the Cafeteria. The first day we were so excited to see each other that we hugged before we thought about mission rules.  Woops!  Paul Sorensen, from Cedar Hills Stake is here. We met Lloyd and Mary Lee Burton from Roosevelt, asked them if they knew Bob and Becky Gilbert, they did and added that they served in Nauvoo with Carl and Sybil Warnock.  Mike Murphy from Simi Valley, CA is one of the teachers for Senior Missionaries.   We have met 4 young Elder missionaries going to Poland on Dec 17^th.  We will get there 10 days ahead of them.  We love being missionaries.

Thanks for all your love and support getting us off on this mission!  We could not have done it without all the help.