The Currant Bush

Dzień dobry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't even begin to explain how much I have learned this week. Heavenly Father is blessing me with a lot of opportunities to learn and to grow and to be shaped into the person He wants me to be.

On Tuesday, I enjoyed attending an extraordinary zone conference in Poznań, which is a three-hour trainride from Gdańsk. I was able to reunite with Sisters Montesinos and King from the MTC, and it was fun to see how much each of us have learned and changed. I sang "How Great Thou Art," which was a spiritual experience for me... I really focused on the lyrics, and on how great and how merciful He truly is. President Edgren spoke about Jesus Christ's titles of "Lord" and "Savior"; simply put, he explained that we choose to accept Christ as our Lord, and that Christ himself chose to be our Savior. It was a wonderful reminder to me of the greatness of Jesus Christ and how blessed I am to be His representative here. I received several answers to prayer during that conference, in ways that I wasn't expecting. I've been feeling very grateful all week that my Heavenly Father hears each of my prayers and is willing to provide me with the answers that I need.

After feeling "powered up" on  Wednesday and feeling like I was ready to conquer Poland, those dang headaches I had a couple of weeks ago returned on Thursday. I'll be honest: at first, I was angry. I felt like it was unfair that once I felt so motivated to work harder than I ever have, I encountered another unwelcome setback. However, I have learned so much in the last five days that I wouldn't have learned otherwise. I've been humbled. I've clung to my Savior, and I've come to know what it means to utilize the enabling power of the Atonement. I've felt an awful lot like the currant bush (in the story by Elder Hugh B. Brown), and have come to realize that Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ only "cut us down" because They love us and want us to return to Them. They want us to go through the experiences that are going to strengthen us and help us reach our full potential. They're right there with us, every step of the way, and have provided us with the tools that we need in order to "make it." I may still have headaches, but I've been blessed with a new perspective and am full of hope!

We had some wonderful meetings with our Gdańsk members and less actives this week. Little by little, I can feel our branch getting stronger. We've also taught some powerful lessons on the street. My faith has been renewed that people really are being prepared to hear our message of hope... and we're going to find them!

Thank you for the heart-felt letters and emails this week. I love you! Thinking of you and praying for you always!

xoxo,

Siostra Tobler

(Sister Lenhart and I with our friend, Stanisław. He gave me pepper spray as a gift... just in case. He also loves my youtube music haha.)

(Józef on his birthday this last week. He's the one that calls me "sweet"... I gave him a TOBLERone candybar for his birthday and told him to enjoy something sweet... and he thought it was hilarious. He is one of the most kind-hearted men I've ever met.)

(This is the view right next to our apartment. I caught this during our walk this morning... Sister Lenhart knows how much I love the sun and she humored me when I wanted to catch a few shots of the sunrise.)