The light will come.

Hey everyone, it's been a while since I last wrote something! A lot has changed since then, I'm in a new city with a new companion and I love it. Its so amazing here in Rzeszów. I really have come to love this place already and the people in it. I feel at home and I feel that the Lord has a lot for me to do here and that's something that I honestly struggled to feel while I was in Katowice. 

I've had some really sweet experiences already as I've been here in Rzeszów but one of them was the other week during sacrament meeting. I'm in a group here in Rzeszów, it's not even a branch because there aren't enough members. There's maybe 3 or 4 members and then a family that lives a while out that switch between branches each Sunday. My first Sunday was just my companion and I and then 2 other members. The spirit during the meeting was so strong and as I broke and blessed the sacrament bread, and blessed the water, I was just filled with gratitude and love for my Saviour. I was so grateful to have been able to take part in that ordinance, and to bless it for our humble little group that Sunday. I felt the truth of the promise that when there are 2 or 3 gathered in Christ's name as touching one thing, then He is there in the midst of them. He was there in our midst that day and I was grateful to have blessed the emblems of His body and blood, and renew my covenant to always remember Him and to keep His commandments. I had the opportunity to share my testimony and each time I do I feel that testimony become stronger as the Holy Ghost will always be there to bear witness of the Father and the Son.

One thing I just wanted to add as well is this. When life gets hard, when days seem long, when it seems that the light at the end of the tunnel is never going to appear, Remember Christ. Don't give up, because He never gave up on you. He pressed on to the bitter end, and died of a heart broken. Look to Him and live and press on with whatever faith and hope and love you have.

The light will come.

Speak soon!

Starszy Ashworth

Strange doing normal things..

Hey everyone just a quick one today. We had a really fun week, I've laughed a lot and we've had some fun lessons and met with our friends again this week which is super fun. I went to a really good restaurant this week called Kafej, so if by the off chance you ever come to Katowice you neeeeeeed to go to Kafej. We also visited a museum which was really weird, it felt kind of normal but at the same time it was empty and it was just strange doing normal things haha. I got to learn about the history of Katowice so it was worth it.

I had a really fun time reading this scriptures this week. There was one scripture that really touched me this week from the Bible, when Christ is stood before Pilate, and Pilate sees that Christ is innocent. He turns to the Chief priests and exclaims, 'I find no fault in this man.' I was grateful again for my Saviour, and Pilate saw no fault in Him because there was no fault in Him. He was an innocent and holy Man, pure and full of love, yet He suffered all things for you and I. Pilate then goes on to say,' Behold the Man.'

My invitation for you all this week would be to consider how you can 'Behold the Man.'

Speak to you all soon,

Starszy Ashworth x

Czas leci

Cześć wszystkim!

This week was a busy week and it flew by. We have a lot going on with a few different people so the days are just going so quick which isn't a bad thing but like time is flying. We have a few people we're teaching and they're amazing people, it's been awesome getting to know them. We had a dinner appointment for like the first time in forever this week as well haha which was fun, and the food was great so it was a win win. Sunday was a really fun day, we taught a lesson in 3 different languages; Polish, Spanish and English 😂 it was such a fun time and probably the highlight of my week. I know 0 Spanish so I didn't know much of what was going on but it was still a really fun experience. Besides that I don't really remember many of the details, I've had fun studying, my Polish is improving slowly but surely and I'm happy here in Poland so life's good haha. 

I learned a lot this week about the Plan of Salvation. I'd been studying it again this week, and I just love how much the Book of Mormon tells us about the Resurrection and about how we'll all return to the presence of God at some point, whether we're good or bad. All of us, regardless of what we've done in this life will receive an immortal body, a free gift given to us through our Saviour Jesus Christ. We don't have to earn it, it's simply given to us because of the love that Heavenly Father has for us. This always brings me a lot of comfort, knowing that one day I'll stand before God again. I just hope and pray that that reunion will be a happy one, and that I'll be able to say I gave my all for Him. I hope and pray the same for all you as well.

I also learned that taking a picture with a chicken is really hard, but I did my best 😂

Have a lovely week everyone! 

Starszy Ashworth x 

Cześć!

Hi everyone,

This week was an okay week.  We had a productive week, a lot was going on and it kept us busy. I attended the funeral of the son of a less active member this week, and then after it he asked me to dedicate his sons grave so that was an interesting experience and quite a powerful one. We also have a friend who owns a 'Działka', there really isn't an English word for it, it's some form of a garden but it's more than a garden haha, and we've been going down each week to help him so that was really fun. We dismantled a fridge, scrapped it for parts and cleared out some of his basement. It was fun and it's nice to get outside a bit. We also got a baptismal date this week which is really exciting and it was my first experience of it so far on my mission.

"There was a quote I loved that I read this week and so I'll share it now.

We do not always know how or when blessings will present themselves, but the promise of eternal increase will not be denied any faithful individual who makes and keeps sacred covenants.

Your secret yearnings and tearful pleadings will touch the heart of both the Father and the Son. You will be given a personal assurance from Them that your life will be full and that no blessing that is essential will be lost to you.

As a servant of the Lord, acting in the office to which I have been ordained, I give those in such circumstances a promise that there will be nothing essential to your salvation and exaltation that shall not in due time rest upon you. Arms now empty will be filled, and hearts now hurting from broken dreams and yearning will be healed."

I don't know who needs to hear that but I certainly did, and they are words that have brought great comfort. Amidst all of the craziness of recent times, one truth has been reaffirmed to me over and over again, that Jesus Christ knows me and loves me, He understands me and is with me every step of the way.

Hope everyone has a good week, speak to you all soon.

Starszy Ashworth x

Out & About in Katowice

Elder Ashworth has had a great week with his new companion Elder Chugg who is from Idaho, USA.  They have brainstormed ways to do missionary work on social media and have had a lot of laughs this past week trying those ideas out.  

He's baffled at how our brains can handle more than one language and finding Polish coming more naturally to the point of thinking in Polish.  

After 4 weeks of taking about 25 minutes to walk to Lidl and carrying shopping bags back to the flat he took a right at the end of the street instead of left and lo and behold there's an Aldi 5 mins down the street!  He was over the moon 😊 as well as that he's found a lovely park and says there's even a zoo.  Hairdressers and restaurants opened today in Poland so they've booked themselves in for a haircut next week happy day!  Enjoy the pics.  

Everything will be alright.

So with the current situation not much is certain, and so I got a transfer call this week and President said I'd be getting a new companion. I'll miss Elder Stewart, we had a really fun 4 weeks, but I'm also looking forward to serving with my new companion. He's been out for 21 months so I know I'll learn a lot from him. It's been an okay week, we have a friend who's really progressing and he told us this week that he wants to be baptised and I was just so happy about it. It's amazing seeing the effect that the gospel of Jesus Christ can have on people's lives and the way it can change people. We're still just working on Facebook and we're still trying to find ways to be creative and it's been quite fun. I've had to come out of my comfort zone a lot but I'm starting to have fun with it. I'm learning to cook different things which has been a journey lol, I've had some success and then I've also burnt my rice so it's up and down hahaha.

I didn't really do much else this week, so I just wanted to share a message of hope.

Everything will be alright.

There's a quote I love from Elder Holland and it says,

"Don’t give up. Don’t you quit. You keep walking. You keep trying. There is help and happiness ahead—a lot of it—30 years of it now, and still counting. You keep your chin up. It will be all right in the end. Trust God and believe in good things to come."

I know that this is true. I know that Christ is there for us in every moment, He's there to calm our troubled hearts, to mend what we cannot mend and to fix what we have to fix. I know to Whom I can turn for peace and that's my Saviour. So to echo Elder Holland, just keep going, keep trying, keep loving, everything will be alright.

Everything will be made up for, everything will make sense. All of the dark clouds will part and Christ's light will shine through.

It will seem but a small moment.

Have a lovely week everyone,

Starszy Ashworth x

A baptism in Katowice!

Hey everyone just a few things to say this week. I just wanted to start off with what happened last week. We had a baptism in Katowice! It was one of the best days of my life I loved it. He's such a good guy, I had the privilege of interviewing him last Friday and it was a really special moment for me to see someone so ready to accept the gospel. Then Saturday was the day of the baptism. We walked 14km to a lake where we baptised him and on the day as a whole we walked 20km which was really long haha, but it was so worth it. It was at a beautiful lake in the middle of nowhere and then after that we went and made a campfire, confirmed him as a member, cooked some sausages and chatted for a little while and then came home. It was such an amazing day. It's so good as well to see that the work continues to move forward, even under the given circumstances.

I just wanted as well to share a little thought I had this week. I was reading in Alma in the Book of Mormon about Alma and Amulek. I thought about who they both were, and who they both became, and these words came to mind, 'God calls the unlikely.'

Alma was a man who tried to destroy the Church, but God needed him on His side, and eventually he became a mighty prophet called to preach the word of God. Amulek had rejected God and had refused to accept him, but God needed him on His side, to support and sustain Alma and be his companion. Together they brought many souls unto God, but at first they were two unlikely people to be called to the work. In many ways I too feel like one of those unlikely people, but I've really come to learn that this is the work of Almighty God, and He makes weak things strong to achieve His eternal purposes. 

Love you all and speak soon. 

Starszy Ashworth x