April 23

Other than that, there was Poznań this week. Cool little city, and I got to spend some time with Elders McMaster and Rowley, as well as meet Elders Groseclose and Dickson. Good guys, we had some fun. During a finding activity, we met this guy from Florida who was like super hyped to meet other Americans. He kept saying "It's been so long since I've gotten to speak English with anyone, let's hang out!" and we kept saying, "Dude, you could talk to American missionaries for the rest of your life here if you came to church every week!". He was a funny guy haha, he was wearing Nike Pro Combat shorts with a matching shirt. He said it's the warmest stuff he owned, since he's from Florida. I believed him, considering he was also wearing socks and sandals. That night we ordered 4 large pizzas for the 3 of us. It was a pretty awesome exchange.

On the way back we had a miracle! As I got on to the train, I noticed that some lady was sitting in my seat, and my first thought was, 'oh great, I'm gonna have to tell this lady to get up'. When I got closer I saw that it was the cousin of the less-active family that we'd been working with! She randomly happened to decide to come in to Warsaw that day to look for some work, and we just happen to be on the same train, in the same wagon, in the same row. Insane. We talked for the 3 hour ride about pretty much everything. She immediately said, "I know this is a miracle. I was nervous about the job search, so I prayed for help. Ten minutes later you sat next to me on the train!" It was honestly so cool. She is going to be returning to Warsaw in about a month to stay, and then she wants to start meeting with us! 

Next week is gonna be interesting. With transfers coming up, it'll be really busy, and add that to the fact that Elders Einfeldt and Bebel are out of here, we're in for a lot of fun haha. Should be something. Starting it all off right though at the trampoline park tonight haha,

That's pretty much all I got this week, we don't have a ton of time today! Love you Mom!

Elder Haskett

April 19

Hey Mom!

Lots of news this week haha! You guys sound like you've been busy! First of all, way cool that Madison and McCall are both expecting! That's so fun!

It's also pretty sweet to hear about the new mission calls haha, it's that time of year again! Portugal and Florida. I got the announcement first from Charlie, he's pretty psyched that Ben's coming to him haha. Let me know when Mike gets his!

Crazy that Cori is already married! That's pretty cool that he's in the military, you'll have to wish them congratulations from me!

Haha I didn't realize that they were having MoPro on Easter weekend, that was probably pretty interesting to organize for you haha. I still remember you had to save the day for my first prom, cause I left without the corsage and you booked it from home to get it to me on time. Good stuff. Glad the boys had fun this year.

As for our week, I guess I can start with the announcement that we didn't have transfers this week haha. Still got 2 more weeks before the next change. As far as I know though, we won't be having any changes, at least in the companionship. We won't be traveling. We're planning the rest of the transfer madness with Pres though, trying to sort out all the travel and stuff like that. It should go pretty smoothly. 

There will be a little travel this week, at least for me. I'll be on another short exchange in Poznań. It should be pretty fun, especially cause the weather in Warsaw right now is pretty lame (it snowed this morning?) and I've heard the north has been nice. Fingers crossed!

Our week was pretty calm. We had a couple days at the beginning to plan for our Zone Conference. That was nice, we had a lot of emphasis on the Savior, what with it being Easter time. It was a pretty cool meeting, very spiritual. After that Elder Einfeldt took off for an exchange in Lublin. That meant Elder Bebel and I were on our own again. Things went pretty well. Spent a lot of time figuring out our musical presentation for sacrament meeting last week. Elder Bebel is a baller on the piano, so he found a cool arrangement of some Easter hymns and then the rest of the missionaries sang. For the very minimal amount of practice we had, things went well haha. 

Easter itself was really fun. Church was only one hour, but then after an American family from the branch invited all the missionaries over for dinner. Dinner itself was awesome, and then after they organized a little egg hunt for all of us. It was way nice of them, and got us all pretty hyped and in the Easter spirit haha. Basically what that means is the next time we have a hunt for a golden egg, I won't be completely out of practice. 

Funny story. The other night we went out for dinner with the other elders, and then we drove them back to their apartment. On the way home, some girls in a car next to us waved, and then rolled down their windows. One of the elders rolled down his window to see what was up, and they were like, "Where are you guys going?" He yelled back "Home!" and they were all like "WEEAAAAK!" We all laughed and kinda forgot about it, but yesterday we were in the car again, this time with the sisters, and I heard yelling from the car next to us, and when I looked over, it was them again! This time, Elder Bebel was like, "Hey where are you guys going?" and they were like pointing and saying something when the light turned green. We took off, and they tried to floor it to pass us, but they stalled their car haha! We were dying as we drove away, but they caught up way fast and then started following us, and Einfeldt had to take some evasive maneuvers to get us out of there haha. We were pretty much in a car chase with a bunch of college girls. Weird, but something worth writing about in the journal.

Culture night was last night! We went out of the city into the woods and had a little campfire! Roasting kiełbasa and marshmallows, I got a little bit of Carpinteria here in Poland! It was way fun. Some bad news though, my camera died on the way there, and I didn't get a single picture by the fire. It was pretty unfortunate.

Good week, and next week should be pretty sweet too! Transfers are coming up, so we're gonna be busy, but it'll be fun.

Love you Mom!

Elder Haskett 

The trio

April 9th

Hey Mom!

Haha sounds like you guys had a pretty sweet week this time around at Carp! I guess there's no way it wouldn't be a sweet week there, but that's pretty cool that the Carp madness is spreading around the stake. The more the merrier, although I heard from Noah that there was quite a bit of encouragement to talk to the girls from the other wards haha. To be expected of course. I hope you guys spent a good amount of time at Robitailles and the Spot, wouldn't be a good Carp trip without it haha.

Pretty cool as well that you guys were talking about a bunch of different ways to study the scriptures. While the constant study shouldn't end after the mission, the two years of at least an hour a day really help to find something that works for you. Everyone's got different learning styles, and I think that I've really found my groove when it comes to reading the Book of Mormon in the last few months.

Haha it sounds like things are about as crazy as usual with the end of school. Gotta love it. I can't believe it's already here. Next year Noah is gonna be graduating and getting his mission call, that's insane. I'll talk to President as well about a Skype call on PDay, I think it should be fine, but I definitely have to check. Either way, the cruise should be awesome haha.

As far as our week goes, things went pretty well! First and foremost, I survived the drive to Kraków haha! It's weird driving these European roads, but I've gotten used to it. Doesn't hurt that it took about 6 hours to get to Kraków, and about 7 on the way back haha. President's a terrible backseat driver, he said so himself, but I don't think he was too nervous with me at the wheel, or at least I hope not. We talked like the whole time (important note: he's a big fan of the Harry Potter series, and likes the NBA quite a bit as well). Good times. Kraków itself was nice, good to be back home haha. Got to reacquaint with the ping pong table, see Elder Liechty, and meet some other elders. We were pretty much just there for the district meeting and a branch family home evening. I met a couple new converts in the branch, which was way fun considering Kraków hadn't seen a baptism in over a year and a half when I was there. Overall, a good couple days, even though I was exhausted when I got back.

The rest of the week went well! Elder Einfeldt had a solo exchange of his own in Legnica, so I was driving again in the big city haha. It was fun. We visited a family a ways out of the city that was referred to us by some missionaries in Bydgoszcz, and they were way cool! We didn't have a lot of time to meet, but as the lesson was wrapping up they got all antsy and wouldn't let us leave without setting up a return apt haha. They were pretty solid for a first meeting, asking all the right questions, very willing to accept commitments. We'll see what happens!

MLC was this week, we got to get all the Zone Leaders ready for Zone Conferences, which we'll be having on Wednesday. Should go well, and there's gonna be pizza paid for by not me, so I'm hyped. 

Interesting sports Saturday this week. We were on the field playing when a couple of coaches came over and were like, "Yo we've got the field reserved for a big game, you guys gotta get off." So we moved, only to see a bunch of 6 year olds come out and take our spot. We got kicked off by some kindergartners. The worst part is, they were better than us. It's cool though, cause for the first time in my whole mission, I got to play volleyball! There was a net set up, and it felt so good to hit again haha. Kinda weird though, I had a slam at one point in the game, and I turned around and was talking to the team and our branch mission leader came over and beaned me in the back of the head with the ball. Not really sure why haha, he's an older guy, but he was smiling when he did it, so I guess that was his way of saying nice shot? I try not to question most of the stuff that happens anymore.

Another funny story. We were out on the city center (you've already heard plenty of stories that started this way) and these two homeless guys started walking toward each other from opposite ends of the square. They got into the middle and one just decked the other dude in the face. Then he walked away, while the other dude's nose started bleeding. Not a word was said. The whole thing went down as "Bad Day" by Daniel Powder blasted from the speakers. Homeless dude number 2 really was having a bad day.

The city by Kraków is out by a new missionary city called Mielec. I've never been, but I've heard a lot about it!

Love you Mom, have a great week!

Elder Haskett

March 27th

Hey Mom!

Sounds like you guys have been keeping yourselves pretty busy! Haha lot of sports, and I bet you're excited to work together with the basketball coaches for the next year or so. Smart move if you ask me, getting you to be team mom, once Noah takes off they've got Luke, and then Caleb. Capitalize on the Haskett dynasty.

Way nuts that Sabrina and Lauren are living it up in Hollywood, hopefully all that stuff works out for them. I forgot to ask earlier, how long are they gonna be staying in LA for all this? Is there like a time limit, or are they just waiting for some kind of a big break?

I bet Nema and Caleb are pretty psyched for the week in AZ. Beats staying at home waiting for the rest of the boys, that's for sure. I still remember when I was the only one who wasn't on the 2 week spring break schedule, and you guys would all leave me and Dad at home for a while. That was always a quiet week haha. I did like the excuse to stock up on survival snacks though.

As for us, we had a pretty awesome week! Things started off right away on Tuesday, with a lesson at a less-active family's house. We made the drive out of Warsaw to visit, and they happened to have a cousin staying with them. She's from Norway, but moving back to Poland in a few weeks. Anyways, her mom passed away about a month ago, and she was way interested to hear about the Plan and the Restoration. We talked about the church for a while, and towards the end she was just like, "Oh, is there any way I could borrow one of your copies of the Book of Mormon to take with me back to Norway? I just want to know more, but I won't be here!" Haha after explaining you that we literally have like a hundred copies to give away for free, we set up so she could get in contact with the missionaries close to home, and she's hyped to come back here and meet with us after the move. Yay!

Then right after, this guy called and was like, "I received a Book of Mormon 3 years ago, and I have read the entire Book, along with the Doctrine and Covenants. I have a monthly subscription to the Liahona, and after a lot of personal study, I know that the Church is true and want to be baptized as soon as possible." Crazy. We visited that night, and found out he's a retired doctor. He is missing a leg from a disease that's come back pretty strong in his other leg. He says that he doesn't have a lot of time left, but wants to make sure he is baptized before he dies. An interesting detail, while we were with him, he opened up his D&C to a verse about Christ healing others by faith, and asked us to pray and see if that could possibly be God's plan for him. We're going to be visiting him again this week with President Turek, it should be interesting! Pray for us!

Other than that, we had an exchange with the elders from Kraków this week. Good to see and work with Elder Liechty again. We were able to schedule a few meetings, but nothing too crazy happened. This weekend there was a YSA conference for all the young adults in Poland. A group came up from Kraków and we were in charge of getting them from the train station to the chapel. On the way I found out one of them was a recent convert who Elder Vance and I met on the street! We gave him his first Book of Mormon, and he read it and got in contact with the missionaries almost exactly a year later. Cool stuff, he remembered the red hair haha. That night I found out that an investigator in Wrocław set a baptismal date with the sisters. When I was serving there I actually was asked to give her a blessing to help her quit smoking, as she'd been struggling to do that for about 3 years. Turns out she finally did it, and now she's ready! Haha it takes some people a little more time than others.

This week should be a fun one. Tonight I'll be taking a train to Gdańsk for a 3 day exchange. Very pretty city, I'm excited. Then we've got quite a few meetings already set up. We'll see how it all goes! No pictures this week, my camera is all packed away for the exchange, but I should have a bunch next week! 

Love you Mom!

Elder Haskett

Spring break

Hey Mom!

Just a heads up, I'm gonna be rushing this email a bit haha, something came up and I'm gonna have to drive President to Kraków today in a little bit. So much for Pday haha.

Haha I am a little jealous that you're in Carp, I miss the beach. Fun that Josh was able to come up with Noah. I am still keeping contact with Val, we write all the time. He's doing well. He's not playing for CSUN, but he's the manager for the boys club. Cool stuff.

Sounds like you guys had a good trip in AZ! Haha I've never actually been to a Swig, but I've heard plenty about it on the mission from all the people who went to BYU. I'll have to check it out haha. Also, Conference was great! We've gotten to watch all of the sessions already haha, being in Warsaw made it a little easier, considering they translate it live from our chapel. Favorite session was definitely Priesthood session, Eyering's talk was awesome (and Elder Bednar gave Poland a shoutout!), but they were all great.

Haha I would have to agree, that week's stories were above average. It was cool to meet the guy from Kraków, and I think I'm gonna get to talk to him again tonight, and then the lady from Wrocław was awesome. She's planning on being baptized the day before Easter.

As for last week, things went really well! Left for Gdańsk Monday, and got to spend a few days with Elders Curtis and Theriault. We spent pretty much the entire time working with members, which was awesome! Got to do some service in a yard, we got fed, and got a few referrals from different people! One of the guys we met with had a view of the ocean from his window, and I think I about lost it haha. Smelled a beach breeze for the first time in over a year, it felt a little like home:) I'm convinced now that I was meant to serve in Gdańsk last summer, but something got messed up. They play beach volleyball there on Pdays! The only bummer was the weather. Things overall in Poland are warming up, but we had a really foggy couple few days in Gdańsk. I tried to take pictures but it was usually just me and a grey cloud haha. I got one right before I got on my train that was decent, so we're good!

After that we basically had a lot of planning meetings here in Warsaw. We're working on getting transfers ready, which was a really interesting process to see from the inside. It seems like President really trusts us haha. We were able to put together quite a few companionships and pick out a few leadership positions. Made me wonder what was going through President and the AP's minds when they put together all of my other transfer calls haha. Hopefully they didn't have to much trouble with me.

Then we watched Conference pretty much through the entire weekend haha. That was cool. All good sessions, but it was weird watching my last Conference on the mission! I can't believe it's already been a year since last Conference and Easter in Wrocław! I still remember spilling a Fanta on myself in the back of the chapel and all of the members just quietly laughed during an Uchtdorf talk. Good times.

Running out of time, but I'll let you know about this Kraków thing next week! Love you Mom!

Elder Haskett