Reunited!!

The original 5!! It only took a year for the MTC group to be back together and according to Logan it was epic❤️

Pre-dangerous train track shirt burning!!

One year!!!!!!!!!

Hey Mom!

Haha, year mark is finally here! It seems like it's going slower for me too. I think that's probably what happens when you start telling everyone that you've been out a year about 2 months before you hit the date haha. Luckily it's way easier to say "I've been in Poland for a year" than like a year and a half or 17 months or something like that. So now I'll be saying a year until it becomes 2.

Training is going pretty well, Elder Mandla and I get along really well. He's putting a lot of effort in on the language, and he's not afraid to talk to anyone. Good guy. We can also bond over our mutual love of the beach and the ocean. I'm learning some Australian vocab myself.

Glad to hear that you're enjoying your calling with the YW. IMO, it doesn't beat scouts, but I guess, if you're happy, oh well. You couldn't avoid being around girls for your whole life.

The BYU game should be really fun! I miss watching sports a lot. Apparently the Poland VBall team is coming to Kato in a few weeks, and I really want to go see the game. It would make for a really sweet Culture Night haha. Also, who are the new coaches? Is Bronco still hanging around?

So this week was pretty cool for us. We spent the first half taking care of Zone Training, cause it was hosted in Kato. That went pretty well. All in Polish, but our zone is pretty young now, so a lot of the newer guys needed some help. I guess things are a little different now, I used to be the little guy that could sit quiet for the whole meeting. Not anymore. I had another interview with President Turek after. That was cool. He pretty much just told me a lot of his old mission stories. He's a funny guy. Also he said I was making "Impressive progress with the language". So I haven't given up on that hour of language study after all. You've got proof haha.

We met some cool people this week. One old guy that wants to meet with us. According to him, he's "a sure shot for the Nobel Prize in poetry". I guess we'll see the next time they start handing out Nobel Prizes, but for now I'm a little skeptical. At least he wants to meet!

Our investigator who's been coming to church is planning on getting baptized next month. That's good news. It took a while, but I'm pretty sure he'll make the date. 

The shirt burning was pretty cool. We just went out to some train tracks by our apartment and did it there. Yes, we were watching out for trains. Elder Mandla speaks during the video, so you'll hear the accent haha.

Love you Mom!

Elder Haskett

 

Wildlife!

That is not a carrot stuck to that window! The wildlife in Poland is CRAZY😂

August 22

When he isn't teaching or studying.....😜 A return to Kraków means he gets to visit his old "friend"! That ping pong table was a labor of love😂

August 22nd

Hey Mom!
Sounds like you guys had a crazy week! I'm glad the Jeep (and Noah) is OK! At least he knows, from experience, what to do in that kind of situation!
Tell Luke Mr Escobar isn't all that bad. He likes to take the eighth graders to the weight room and play sports all the time. 
Also it sounds like the missionaries in the ward are pretty good! We got the almighty APs, someone's gotta get baptized now.
So our week has been insane, but good! On Tuesday I was working with the other elders in the city, then on Wednesday, I got my trainee! Elder Mandla! And even better, he's from Brisbane, Australia! Accented and everything. So I've been showing him the ropes. His Polish is... not the best, but he's going hard on studying the language. Making big steps already. Pretty impressive for a new guy. He also has a really good attitude about the work, and he's fearless. Couple that with the fact that he likes to surf, and I think we'll get along just fine.
I also got to see all the guys from my MTC group on Wednesday. That was really fun. We got a good picture too.
Not gonna lie, me being the oldest is making me feel pretty good about my Polish in Katowice right now. Haha, I remember being around all these guys around the year and a half, 2 year mark for the longest time. Now I'm the old fart, and it really doesn't feel like it.
On Sunday we were able to meet with one of our investigators again. He's really thinking about baptism right now. It's been hard to get him to commit to a date, but he's the type of person that, once he's got one, he'll stick with it. Cool stuff.
This week should be really cool, we've got a wedding to go to! The branch president is getting married, and we're all invited. Should be fun.
Year mark is this week! Can't believe it!
Love you Mom!
Elder Haskett

August 16th

Elder Park is on his way home!So long for now......

August 16th

Hey Mom!
I can't blame you for being obsessed with the Olympics, haha everyone here is too. I heard Michael Phelps did something or other but that's about it haha.
Crazy that school is starting already, I remember when everyone was getting around to it last year. Also I'm sure Noah will do fine at tryouts, the 2 hour cram session that he'll probably be taking on the driveway to get ready will be enough haha.
Glad to hear Charlie and Hunter did well, I'm not surprised really. Also, I don't know if this sounds prideful but in my mind our Priest's quorum was always the stripling warriors haha. We're awesome.
So, this week was pretty crazy. First of all, our exchange. It rained THE WHOLE TIME. This is no exaggeration. Usually Poland rain is kinda like Hawaii, minus maybe 30 degrees at a minimum. It starts and then 15 mins later it stops or turns into a light mist. Not this time. For 48 hours straight we were rained on. It actually started in Kato. As we walked to the station to catch a bus, rain. A lot of rain. Even with umbrellas we were soaked. Shoes were full, pants were drenched. It didn't help that some guy drove his van through the gutter and nailed us with a pretty spectacular fishtail. That happens sometimes. But yeah, same thing in the Krak. We had no lessons scheduled, so that meant a lot of contacting in the rain. We had a good time though. Me and Vance teamed up. We carried a drunk homeless guy about 50 yards to get him out of the rain. We tracted into a naked old guy. Full naked. Accidentally stepped on a bunch of snails. The works. All in all, we got about 5 hours of contacting and I think 8 in tracting, over the course of 2 days. New record.
Most importantly, I got to play on my old ping pong table again. That's a real win. I sent some videos of Park and I playing, they're pretty long, but I think they illustrate our rivalry pretty well. For the record I won 5 games out of 6 that day:)
So other than that, this week was pretty quiet. We got like 3 online referrals, and I don't think that's ever happened to me before.
So, transfers: I'M TRAINING! It's going to be awesome. We'll pick up the little guys on Wednesday this week. I haven't met him yet, don't know any names, but I'm pretty excited! Also, I'll be staying in Kato this transfer as District Leader. This upcoming transfer could be a doozy, 10 weeks. I kinda wanted to move cities this time, but it's cool. I'm the only elder that's going to know the city, so if I had left, we mighta had problems haha.
I picked up a new pair of shoes. That's probably a good thing, cause I'm going into Warsaw this week, and I mighta looked a little like a hobo in the old ones. This last week of rain definitely sent off the other pair of shoes on a high note. At the same time, Elder Park and I got some matching comp pants. They're pretty rad.
So Elder Park is gone now, on a plane as of 6:30 this morning. I'm gonna miss him, but this transfer should be fun. I'm the oldest missionary in the city! Wish me luck!
Love you Mom!
Elder Haskett

Summer rain!!!

Looks a little wet???

August 7th

Hey Mom!
Glad you liked the recorder performance by the way.
Also glad to hear that you guys had a solid summer. Sounds like the Lake Powell trip was really fun! It's not as exciting when you have to stay in the slip, but still always a good time. Also, isn't school starting early this year? I thought it usually got going around like the 18th or something like that. Either way, I bet you're going to enjoy Noah having a parking pass for that first day craziness.
Yeah, it's been raining a bunch for us lately. I've kinda given up on trying to stay dry. It wouldn't be too bad if my shoes suddenly failed me. They've been on a downhill slope, but this week the heel split in half, and now I'm soaking up water haha. I attached a picture that I took with my flip phone. Not the best quality haha. Might have to go to the mall later today. Unfortunately the rain does not indicate that summer is over. Most of the universities here don't start till September. One more month!
We're not getting any info about the Olympics yet. Luckily one of the guys we used to meet with that's been on an internship in Germany all summer comes back in a couple weeks, and he was always our sports hook-up.
I haven't heard from Braden yet, but that's probably because he hasn't even had a PDay yet. I'll be sure to welcome him though.
So our week: We had a surprise visit from an ex elder this week. One of the guys who helped sometimes in the MTC. It was pretty sick, he's living in Krakow right now doing an internship for the summer, but he came down to Kato to do some family history work. It was pretty much fun to just hang out a bit. Don't worry, him coming back to live here isn't giving me any ideas haha.
Also a member I was pretty cool with from Wroclaw came to church in Kato this week, that was pretty rad. Her Mom's Polish, and her Dad's American, so she speaks probably the best English out of any of the members. We introduced her to one of our investigators, and I think he weirded her out, so she might not be coming back, haha.
Our guy who got beat up is doing well. We talked to him for a while in Church. He met with the Branch President after too. Things are looking up!
Right now we're getting geared up for our exchange with Krakow! Should be sweet. It's perfect for Elder Park, his fam wants him to start getting souvenirs, and there's no better place in Poland for that than the Krakow Rynek.
Well, that's pretty much all I can think of right now, if you could let me know if it's cool to get a new pair of shoes this week as soon as possible, that'd be cool! I might get a Polish study book too!
Love you tons Mom!
Elder Haskett

July 31st

Hey Mom!

Kind of a weird PDay, we've been busy all day closing an old missionary apartment, and then we came back to the chapel to email and it's busy! So we're actually in a Saturn (kinda like Best Buy), staying really low emailing from the newest Mac laptops they've got. Not gonna lie, using an Apple keyboard again is pretty awesome.

Sounds like you've had a pretty sweet week! 3 movies in 7 days, I wish I could say the same. Dad said the Jason Bourne movie isn't that great, that's a bummer. Park keeps making fun of me cause he'll be able to see it while it's still in theatres, so now it's his loss. Glad to hear the boys had a good week as well, and that you didn't have to do much cleaning. We didn't have the same luck. The Dalton's came for apartment inspections, so we had a lot of cleaning to do. Unfortunately, it was my turn to do the bathroom:(

Crazy that Braden's gonna be out soon! It's pretty cool though. I can't wait to hear that everyone's successfully made it to the MTC. Blake made it back out in the field about a week ago, so the whole crew is putting in work. Cool stuff.

My week has been pretty crazy. We spent a TON of time cleaning out the other apartment getting it ready for the landlord, and then on top of that, our own apartment. I think I still smell like bleach. It's nice though, the flat looks much better, and now we have way more room to play balloon volleyball.

Other than that though, we had Zone Conference again on Friday. I'm not too surprised to hear that you didn't hear about it, now that there's no more constant Facebook updates. You're stuck getting pictures from me now, haha. You'll have to assume that I looked fantastic. Conference was good though, it's fun talking to President, cause he's really easy to understand and stuff. I pretty much got to hang out with Elder Park, Vance, and Einfeldt the whole time. In case you're wondering, yes, that's every comp I've ever had that's still in the field haha. It was fun.

The transfer is only gonna last another 2 weeks. This one really flew by. It's gonna be a real bummer when Elder Park goes home though, we've really gotten along. It's cool though, we've got a lot to look forward to still. The last week, we'll have an exchange with the Kraków elders. That pretty much means I'm about to get another chance to whoop up on Elder Vance and Blunt in ping pong.

Pretty crazy story. You asked if any investigators are coming to church, well we've got one. He hasn't missed a week for 10 weeks straight. I'm pretty convinced he's actually going to be baptized one day. Anyways, he's reading the Book of Mormon right now to get an answer about a specific date for baptism, and he's pretty excited about it. Well this week you know the Pope is here in Poland and people are going crazy. He told a group of younger dudes that he doesn't believe in the Pope, and that he was learning about the Mormons, and these guys beat him up. He told us and then showed us and the other members at church the bruises. Then he told us it was worth it. He read us that one verse in the New Testament where Paul said, "Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong," in 2 Cor. It was crazy. He's like 65, but he got up after the guys hit him and told them to repent. Keep him in your prayers.

The BDay treats are awesome thanks! I'm definitely enjoying all the peanut butter, and especially the Robitailles haha. It feels just like home:)

Have fun this week on the lake! Love you Mom!

Elder Haskett