Dzień dobry!

Hey everyone,

It's been a few weeks, I've moved area up to a place called Szczecin (sh-che-cheen). It seems to be a lovely place, I've not seen much of it, but of what I have seen its a nice place and I'm happy to be hear. I'm training this transfer which is a nice little shake up. I've also whitewashed this area, meaning my companion and I are both new to the area. We reopened it to missionary work and so the work has been a little slow but I've got faith that it'll pick up again soon. We have a lovely senior couple up here who are looking after us and helping us settle in so we're having a good time with them. Makes the place feel a little more like home. I've never had senior missionaries in any of my areas and well it's a real blessing having them here. We had a mission tour this week, Elder De Feo of the Europe area presidency held 2 conferences with us over zoom. It was a great experience and he shared some really great teachings with us. He's a lovely man and has a really strong testimony of his Saviour. He helped us to know what things we can do to let God prevail in our lives, and those things are:

1.Don't deny the spirit of God

2. Worship God

3. Give thanks in all things.

Put God in first place in your lives, you'll always be a winner.

Hope you're all having fun preparing for Christmas in these trying times. I'm hoping that you're all able to see Christ's light shine a little bit brighter.

Starszy Ashworth x

On the move...

Hello everyone, really quick one today,

I'm being transferred. It's exciting news, also kind of sad because I really came to love Katowice but also nice to experience something new. 

I'm moving to a place called Szczecin (shche-cheen) and its alllllllllll the way on the opposite side of the country to Katowice. It's right in the North West of Poland, next to the German border. I've been all over the place on my mission. I started in Łódź which is slap bang in the middle of Poland, then I went to Kato which is South East, then to Rzeszów which is even further south east, I served for a week in Zgorzelec which is the most south-westerly city for missionaries in Poland. I've also been up to Białystok for 3 days which is right up on the North East of Poland and now I'll be serving in the North West. Crazy!  All exciting stuff though.   I'll be training as well which is nice.   I get to look after a missionary and help him be better than I am.

Anyway, I hope you're all doing good?  Remember, Christ loves you for who you are. He's proud of all of your efforts. Do all that you can do and He'll do all that you cannot do. We may not be celestial kingdom material right now but Christ can make us celestial kingdom material. That is the wonderful promise of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Love you all, speak soon.

Starszy Ashworth x

Because I have been given much I too must give....

Hello everyone,

This week was a crazy fast week, I don't really remember much of what happened, because we spend so much time on Facebook its kind of hard to think of anything that's crazy interesting. But we've been working hard, finding new people to teach and it's been goinng really well. Sometimes it drives me insane being sat inside staring at a phone screen which is ironic because that's exactly what I'd be doing about 18 months ago haha. But its all good, safe to say I won't be on my phone as often when I get home.

We had exchanges with the APs this week which was good, we taught some really good lessons and it was a busy day which usually means it goes by in the blink of an eye. There was this one really cool girl we taught who'll be getting baptised next month. We were teaching about repentance and at the end I was bearing my testimony of repentance and she stopped me mid way through and said 'this just reminded me of an experience I had last week while I was reading the Book of Mormon' and she went on to say how she'd had this experience while reading the Book of Mormon and that she was having the same feelings while I was sharing my testimony. I can't tell you how much that meant to me. To know that someone was feeling the spirit as I bore my testimony is such an amazing thing to hear. That's what missionary work is all about. It's about those moments where someone can hear the still small voice, and feel that change in their hearts. That's why we do what we do. Yeah we see cool things, yeah we have stories to tell, but at the end of the day it's about seeing lives change through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Its special.

There's also a hymn i really like, the one where it says 'because I have been given much i too must give...' This hymn has taken on a new meaning for me now that I'm a missionary. I always though of it as like giving away the things we have like food and clothing and money etc. But it's more than that, it's about giving of our love

our time, our effort and our tears. It reminded me of the scripture in Acts where Peter looks down at the lame man and says, "Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee". He took the man by the hand and raised him up, giving him strength to move and to jump and to laugh and to sing. I'm not sure what talents I have, maybe I'm yet to discover them haha, but I know that I have a testimony of Jesus Christ, that He lives and that He loves us with a perfect love. I know that 'when other helpers fail and comforts flee' that Christ never leaves us because He's our faithful friend. I'm grateful that I get to share that with others.

Love and miss you all.

Starszy Ashworth x

Grateful for the Gospel and the comfort it brings.

Hello everyone!

The last week has been really good and miracle filled! So this week we've been in Zgorzelec, its a city on the other side of Poland, takes about 6 hours on the train to get there from Katowice. My companion and I are covering both cities which is cool, kinda crazy that we're doing it but it's a good experience nonetheless. We were busy this week, teaching and filming Facebook ads and whatnot. We also found 4 people which is like crazy for me, as I've not really found many people at all on my mission, so to have 4 in one week was a big blessing. And to make it even better we have got a  baptismal date set. It was really special and I love seeing how much the gospel can touch another's life. Sharing the message of the gospel is a huge privilege and the more I share it with others the stronger my testimony becomes. I'm grateful for the gospel and the comfort it brings us, especially in moments of sorrow, fear and uncertainty. I know that there's a God who loves us, He's our Father and we are His children. He loves us so much that He gave His Only Begotten Son. I'll never quite fully grasp it, but I know it's real and that's enough for me.

I'd just like to share a quote that I read today actually that I really really liked. It was by President Joseph F Smith and he said,

"I rejoice that I am born to live, to die, and to live again."

Its a simple quote, but it spoke peace to my soul. I'm grateful for the perspective the gospel gives. Christ lives, and because He lives we all shall live again. That's a promise made to each and every one of us. We were made for a purpose much greater than we can comprehend.

Miss you all, speak soon.

Starszy Ashworth x

All's well.

Just letting you know all is well with Elder Ashworth.  He's had a busy couple of weeks.  The baptism went ahead and he said it was a wonderful experience. It was transfers last week and Elder Diarra has moved areas and Elder Kellmer has moved into Katowice.   They have been given another city to work in too which is called Zgorzelec.  It is 216 miles away from Katowice on the border of Poland and Germany, in fact the chapel is actually in Germany!  They will travel there once a month and spend a week in that area.  Here's a few photos:-

Another busy week in Katowice.

Hey everyone, another good and busy week here in Katowice. Things are picking up slowly but surely. Its great serving here, i love the branch and my love for the area is growing so much too. The branch president is amazing, I love him to bits, he's the nicest most humble guy and he watches Doc Martin and tells me every week that he's been watching the episodes hahaha. Makes me laugh. This week he asked me what 'Doc' meant haha.. He's a precious soul. Our friend who is getting baptised on Saturday came to church on Sunday which is great because it means she can 100% be baptised this weeeeeeeeek which is really exciting. I've had the privilege of teaching her from the very beginning and seeing the progress she's made has been so special. The gospel is special. It changes lives, I've seen it change mine and now I get the blessing of seeing it change others. We had exchanges this week as well, so the Kraków elders came over to us. It was good, we had a good laugh and it was good to catch up with my old comp elder Yergensen. Shout out to him. The temperature is dropping over here which is kinda scary, winter is coming and I'm not sure I'm a fan of that. I'm English but I'm still not accustomed to the cold weather. I'm like my mum, I need the sun hahaha.

On a spiritual note, I had a strong impression yesterday while reading in 2nd nephi 9 and I wrote down these words. The cold hand of death claims us all, its part of the great Plan. But because of Christ's Atonement and His Resurrection, all will live again. The sorrow, the pain and the grief of death is swallowed up in the joy of Christ. There would be no meaning to life without the Redeeming Christ of Gethsemane and Golgotha. Because of Him we can all have the hope of life after death, and that hope is our priceless inheritance. "Thanks be to God for the matchless gift of His Divine Son."

Speak to you all soon, have a lovely week.

Starszy Ashworth x

Hello everyone.

Hello everyone, it's been a few weeks I think. All of this Facebook work that we're doing is making me hate looking at my phone on pdays haha, so I've taken a little break. But I wanted to let you know how I've been getting on. I'm not too sure who reads these anymore, but if you do then great. It'd be good to hear from you all to see how you're doing, I'll try and find the time to reply haha, but if I don't then I apologise. This last week was really good. I went on exchanges to a city called Białystok, it's right up in the North East of Poland and its a beautiful city. I'm down in the south so it took is 6 hours on the train to get there but it was a really good exchange, I spent the day with Elder Frank, one of the zone leaders, and he's a really good guy. We had a lot of fun. We ate lunch at an Italian restaurant, random because we're in North East Poland haha, but it was good and for desert we got something called a donut shake. Its as absurd as it sounds. It was a snickers milkshake, with this kind of snickers cookie dough around the rim of the cup, a big donut on top and then some cotton candy to finish the job. Should've called it the heart attack shake, I felt gross after it haha, but it did taste amazing. You know it's bad though when the straw you're drinking from is placed through the donut 😂 we taught an older couple as well, and afterwards they let us pick blueberries from their garden and so the fruit made me feel a bit better about myself lol. I learned a lot from the exchange though, and I hope I can go back to Białystok some time. Not many new things are happening in Katowice unfortunately, we're still trying to find and to teach, but good news is that we have a baptism coming up soon. The person has had a baptismal date for a while and so we're hopeful that it can finally happen.

Lastly, I read a scripture this week in Alma and just wanted to share it. It's about a group of people in the Book of Mormon called the anti-nephi-lehis.

They were lamanites who had converted to the Lord. As part of their conversion, they buried their weapons of war, and covenanted to never again fight against God or their brethren. They didn't just put their weapons back in their homes and hide them in a box or something like that, but they buried them deep in the earth. Of them it was written

"yea, I say unto you, as the Lord liveth, as many of the Lamanites as believed in their preaching, and were converted unto the Lord, never did fall away."

This touched me because they had dedicated their lives to God, and they had got rid of that which had distanced themselves from Him, and they made sure to never take up those weapons again, even when their enemies advanced and they faced certain death. It made me think of the 'weapons' that I can bury, to make sure that I never fall away.

Love and miss you all, stay safe.

Starszy Ashworth x

11 months!

Hello everyone! 

Another busy week this week. Time is absolutely flying and the days are all moulding into one. I'll have been on my mission for 11 months as of tomorrow which is really crazy. Its strange to think I left home 11 months ago. I'll be honest, I miss home and I miss my family like crazy, I don't think I'd be human if I didn't, but I'm also so grateful to be serving as a missionary. It's a really special time for growth and development and helping other people. I've grown a lot as a person and I know I'll cherish these moments for ever. We had a baptism last week, one of our friends was finally able to get baptised so that was a really special moment for him and I was really happy to see him make that decision to be baptised and confirmed. Our work here as missionaries isn't to just baptise people and increase numbers but it's to give people an opportunity to return back to Heavenly Father's presence. There's nothing more satisfying than helping someone on their journey home. It's also not exclusive to full-time missionaries. Anyone anywhere can do anything to help someone else draw closer to Christ and you will find so much joy from doing so.

We had zone conference again last week so I got to see Elder Jensen again and my district from the MTC. Its always a good laugh when Elder Jensen and I get together and I'm praying for the day we can serve together haha 😂 I love my companion now though, he's a native Pole I don't know if I already mentioned and we're getting a long really well. We laugh a lot and we have a lot in common so it's good. 

Last thing, the Book of Mormon is a gift from God. It is filled powerful testimony of Christ and His atonement and the Resurrection. It is a powerful book and each time I open it I feel God's love for me and I promise you all that as you open and read it, it will do the same for you.

Miss you all, speak soon!

Starszy Ashworth.

I'm somewhere in the middle

Hello everyone, it's been a while since I've written an email to you all, I've been sending my updates still to my mum but I've not written one on here for a while so I thought I'd send one again haha.

It's been a busy time, I'm back in Katowice which is cool, this time I'm with a Polish companion which is way cool because my Polish is becoming markedly improved and I actually get the opportunity to be fully immersed in the language because he appreciates it when I speak to him in Polish. He speaks perfect English but I need the practise hahahaha. Anyway, my mind has gone super blank now that I'm typing this but I just want you all to know that I'm doing good, and also I want you all to know that God loves you and so does your Saviour. No matter who you are, what you have done or what you haven't done, mistakes you've made or troubles you have, They love you and they always will. It's a truth of eternity that can bring peace to us all. I know it's something I need to be reminded of frequently because often the worries of the day can seem to get on top of me, but fears and worries subside when I remember that my life is precious to my Heavenly Father. So remember that, God loves you and so does His Son.

I've been really busy at the moment which is good, nothing better than being a busy missionary to be honest. We're teaching a lot of people and there's honestly not even time to really kind of gather myself in the day.I wake up, blink, and then it's 10:30 again and I'm going to bed again. It's crazy but it's also really satisfying because I'm doing something that's so important. Lehi said to his sons, 

"8 Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah, who layeth down his life according to the flesh, and taketh it again by the power of the Spirit, that he may bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, being the first that should rise."

I have the honour and privilege of sharing these things ever day. It's a huge blessing. 

I haven't any funny stories to tell, there have been a lot of funny moments but one's that can only be enjoyed in the moment haha. But I'm having a lot of fun and having a lot of laughter you'll be happy to know. 

I just wanted to leave you on this quote that I've always loved, and it helps to illustrate, a lot better than I can, the love that God has for us all. 

“You know, I believe that the Lord will help us. I believe if we go to him, he will give us wisdom, if we are living righteously. I believe he will answer our prayers. I believe that our Heavenly Father wants to save every one of his children. I do not think he intends to shut any of us off because of some slight transgression, some slight failure to observe some rule or regulation. There are the great elementals that we must observe, but he is not going to be captious about the lesser things.

“I believe that his juridical concept of his dealings with his children could be expressed in this way: I believe that in his justice and mercy, he will give us the maximum reward for our acts, give us all that he can give, and in the reverse, I believe that he will impose upon us the minimum penalty which it is possible for him to impose.”

Love you all, speak soon! 

Starszy Ashworth x 

If ever you're feeling down, if you need to be cheered up, go and help someone else.

So hello everyone! I've had another really good week. This week we had a mission-wide conference in Warsaw and it was amazing! It was one of the best times of my life, after all of the covid business and not seeing people and lack of interaction and lack of people etc. I finally got to see everyone and play sports and eat food and talk and just be present with other people. It was such a blessing, I'm not even huge on like gatherings and being in big groups etc. but human interaction is so so necessary. We've continued to teach those that we're teaching and we're having a lot of success but unfortunately Elder Yergensen and I will be leaving Rzeszów for lack of missionaries. A lot of them are going home but no one is allowed to come in so we're low on numbers right now. I'll be leaving next Monday which is sad as I've really come to love this place and the people in it. In all honesty it's been hard to feel like I've fit in on my mission, but in Rzeszów I felt like I belonged, and I really came to know that God needs me here, so I'll always be grateful for that and Rzeszów will always hold a place in my heart. I don't just feel like I'm on a mission but I feel like a missionary and that's been a big blessing for me.

I finished a 40 day read of the Book of Mormon in Polish and it was amazing. I've grown in these last 40 days and for one thing I think it's so cool to see how far I've come with the language, to think that I can read the Book of Mormon in 40 days and understand what's going on, it's special. But most importantly I came closer to my Saviour, I learnt a lot of Him and His character. I also gained a stronger testimony of the Book of Mormon. That book is powerful, it can and it will and it has, changed lives and you may wonder how, how can a book do that? But something special happens when you know that you're a child of God, when you know that He was willing to send His Child, His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to be the Saviour of the world. There's something special that happens when you know that God's joy is your joy, and that His one goal is for you to one day live with Him and be as He is. The Book of Mormon helps us to know all of this, and as we read with sincere desire, Heavenly Father speaks to us from His heart to ours in a way so personal that it could only ever come from Him. So read it, it'll change you.

Lastly, a little story of service. For me, the most joy I feel is in the little acts of service, the spontaneous type, where you don't think you just do. There was a man in a wheel chair wheeling himself up a small hill. He was going slow so I pushed him up the hill. For a moment I think he thought he'd found some extra strength and then he turned back and saw me and was like ah okay. I asked where he was going and he told me so I pushed him there. It wasn't far at all, but as I said goodbye he looked back at me and said thank you, and while I was looking into the eyes of a stranger, for a moment it seemed as though I was looking into the eyes of my Saviour, as though it was He who was saying thank you. I almost chased after him and gave him a hug haha but for me that was a really special moment. As I walked away the scripture from Mosiah came to mind, that as we are in the service of our fellow beings we are only in the service of our God. So if ever you're feeling down, if you need to be cheered up, go and help someone else. Do something to make someone smile, to lighten their load, because in the process you'll lighten your own. There is so much joy to be found in serving others, it brings feelings and rewards that can't be measured in a wordly sense, but it brings more satisfaction than anything else will. You will never regret doing something kind for someone else.

I love you all, it'd be nice to hear from you all, even if I don't have time to reply.

Starszy Ashworth x