Prophets Are So Important.....

hey momma!

i am so happy here, my comp is awesome and a really funny elder, he is pushing me really hard with teaching and with the language and such, he is encouraging me to change my subject of my contacting every week or so, so by the end of the transfer i will be able to teach a variety of different subjects, and im so excited that i am growing! and yeah i have lost about 30 pounds so far and they keep coming off haha, so eventually i will have to start buying new clothes that will fit me, which i am excited about but i still dont want to spend money while i am here, so the only thing i am scared of is just spending money. so for some good experiences that we had this week: first, we taught a few more lessons to thomas, and he is very smart, but is getting worried about a few things, specifically the word of wisdom, and he is having difficulty reading the book of mormon because it is a little bit to complicated for him to understand, and sometimes he takes things a little bit too literally. so my companion and i, for the word of wisdom question, directed him to lds.org, and asked him to look up some talks from our prophets about the word of wisdom and how it is interpreted in our day, for our day. it made me feel so grateful to have a prophet on earth today, and that when questions come up an any point of doctrine, we can seek and find an answer or an interpretation that will always answer our question, prophets are so important, they are the men that bring us the words of god, nothing has happened on this earth spiritually without a prophet, and im so glad that i came to realize that during our lesson with thomas. he is such an amazing man, and he is keeping his commitments, it is so amazing to finally be able to see an example here in poland, of the lord changing someones life. second, we taught another one of our investigators, named sylvek, who is progressing very well, and we taught him about the keeping the sabbath day holy and fasting. i led the section on keeping the sabbath day holy, it went so well, i love being able to explain things to people, and i love being able to see the look in their eyes when it clicks for them and they understand, it just brings pure joy into my heart whenever i see it happen, and its only been a few times but i know that it will happen more often the longer i am here. i am so happy to be here right now, i am growing and learning, and by the hand of the lord in my life, i am being changed into the man that he needs me to be, and i know that change can only happen here, and i am so grateful for it. l

love, elder summers

 im glad that life is working out well for you, you are happy, visiting family, living life, and everthing is working out perfectly, which is such a blessing, because every day i talk to people who don't have that great blessing in their lives, its sad to see, and then they sadly choose to not listen to something that may not be able to bring wealth and prosperity into their lives, but it will bring peace, knowing that you are okay, there is a plan for them, and god has not forgotten them. 

I Really Couldn't Be Happier Here....

hey dad!

the house thing will work out, just the fact that you feel happy there is a testimony enough to let you know that you are doing the right things, so you will be fine no matter what. everything is so awesome for me right now, and its just getting better and better. i am getting the language but i have so much to learn it makes my head hurt just thinking about it. but i have a long time here, and i know that i will learn it slowly but surely. first, we taught a lesson to a man named thomas, who is from korea and doesnt speak polish, but he does speak english, so my companion and i taught him in english about the plan of salvation, and it was so cool. we bore testimony, he asked some really good questions, and we were able to answer all of them with the spirit. he is a very intelligent man, and loves reading the book of mormon, he is through 1 nephi and got a little confused during lehi's vision, so we talked about that and cleared up all the confusion that he had. it was really good, really spiritual and just a good lesson. the lord truly helps us all in our lives, and i think that most of the time we dont notice it until afterward when we are thinking about the experience, because during this lesson thoughts were coming to my mind that had never come before, different things and different ways to explain things, that now i couldnt explain again. when we live righteously, and fulfill all we can do, the lord supports us, in such a quiet way that we dont even know that it happened until afterward. second, yesterday we contacted down a street named Piotrowska, it is this huge street in the middle of łódź, and there i contacted with a trainee, who had been in the country for 5 days, and it was exactly what i needed. i had been feeling a little scared that i wasnt progressing in the language of polish, until i contacted with the trainee. we, together, were able to stop and talk to people, teach people, and we were able to speak together in unity, it was perfect and exactly what i needed to have happen to give me some more confidence. sometimes i know the lord gives us experiences just to let us know that we are okay, a feeling of peace, or an experience like i had, in his own way, he lets us know that everything will be fine, he loves us, he is with us when we choose to be with him, and he will never leave or abandon us.  

hey momma!

yeah on p-day we can play settlers of catan, we can pretty much playany board game i think, and usually on p-day we kinda just walk around the town, maybe go to a restaurant to eat, and just kinda experience the city a little bit more, without contacting people and trying to get them to listen to our message. yes we do our own laundry, and yes i am doing laundry just fine, but there aren't any dryers in this country, so we all have fans and drying racks in the apartments. so how to say łódź, it is just like this (woo-j) the ł is a w sound, the ó is an oo like in cool, and the dź is a letter combination that makes a j sound. my companion has polish ancestors but he was born in the states and raised there, he grew up in arizona. maybe dad wants a big house like for the same reason that bishop gray wanted a big one, so his family could come over and come back eventually haha. im glad that all is well, smitty is happy, you are all happy, and im happy, i really couldnt be happier here. 

elder summers

We Will Recieve Help....Because He Loves Us

Saying goodbye to his first companion and trainer.....thanks Elder

hey!

wow, you sound like you are doing so good! the Lord is guiding your path so you have nothing to worry about, and Smitty will be fine, he is the toughest dog in the world. The change will be good, you are already seeing family more it sounds like, and since we will be with them for eternity, it wouldn't be a bad thing to be around them haha. yes I loved conference, it was so amazing to be edified by our Prophets, so I am getting transfered to Łódź, Yes I got the travel wods and they are being put to use. and I will keep putting on pictures of my adventures. So I had two experiences that I would like to share with you about what happened this week. The first is about a man named Mirek, who we first met at our English Class two weeks ago, when he came in he had a different, sad spirit about him, he sat through the lesson and he was very willing to participate in everything that we had our English students do. After English he stayed behind and wanted us to sign the Book of Mormon that we gave him for our spiritual thought at the beginning of the lesson. As we wrote down our testimonies in the book my companion talked to him, and sadly he is separating from his wife, and wanted to learn English so he could leave Poland. He showed up to English the next week as well, and after we taught him a little bit about baptism, nothing formal, but we explained what we believe on the subject. We then invited him to church and on Sunday he came and participated in all three meetings, he was already starting to look different, to look happier. This gospel builds people back up after a hard trial, because this religion was restored by Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, and they direct this church, the only thing that this church and its teaching will do is edify us. So no matter what situation you are in in your life, this church can build you up, and I know that is what will happen with Mirek, he is an amazing man and this gospel will strengthen him, and he will find peace in this church.

The second experience happened right after we dropped off my companion to head into Warsaw. We were doing some street contacting, I was by myself, and I manager to stop a man named Marcin. And for the first time, I was able to teach him in Polish, and understand what he was saying, it was the most amazing thing I have ever experienced, and I know that it was through the Lord and his hand in my life that I was able to do that. I taught him about faith, repentance, baptism, and the example that Jesus Christ put forth for us to follow, it was just incredible. This made me think of another aspect of the gospel, which is that when we are doing what we are supposed to do, following the commandments and the plan that our Heavenly Father has put forth, we will receive help, because he loves us, and he wants to help us, but we have to work hard, and after all we can do, after all of our courage and diligence, the Lord will make up the difference, always, I know that he loves each and every one of us, and every person on this Earth needs help at some point, and when we are willing to work for it, our Heavenly Father will help us.

love,

elder summers

They Lead Us, They Help Us, They Love Us.....

hey momma!

so first off i want to say that i got my package! and we are going to save up the deliciousness until he leaves if we can handle it that long haha, but yes it got here, thank you so very much, the treats will be enjoyed and the ties will be worn! obiecuję! yeah the branch is small, but yes, very strong, on the topic of general conference, we will watch them, but it will just have to be spread out throughout the week, but yes we do watch conference i would never miss out on hearing from big tommy! yeah the pizza was awesome, it was kind of like a barbeque sauce on it, it was good, for breakfast yesterday i had oats, and usually we have eggs, or cereal, or toast, just regular stuff that i usually eat for breakfast.  so some new experiences from this week: we started contacting in a park called park Kościuszki, i think i might have mentioned that last week, but this week we really started being as specific as we could in our finding, praying to be lead in the direction of people with certain characteristics, and this week we taught a lot in the park, on monday i was on an exchange with another elder in our district,  he has been out six months, so it was pretty scary to go out and contact with him, because both of us don't know the language very well, but then i had a little bit of a revelation, in the Doctrine and Covenants it mentions how powerful Christ is quite frequently, and it made me realize that i have no reason to fear, ever, as long as i am righteous, the Lord will help me succeed, and during the time i had with him, it worked! i understood so much more,  it was so cool, it is just purely amazing what Christ and our Heavenly Father do for us, they lead us, they help us, they love us, they give us only things that will strengthen us, it is incredible, and i am so grateful to know, that i have a Heavenly Father who loves me, protects me, and helps me. then later in the week we taught a young man in the park, and it was good, we pretty much taught the entire plan of salvation, and he listened and said that it makes sense, he accepted our card and said he would get in contact with us, so it was good. other than that it was life as usual for a missionary, working hard and being fully committed. this church is true, i know it is, and through the last week i have been doing a lot of study on the holy ghost and how amazing he is, he is so important, through him we are directly connected to a god who has created galaxies and universes, through him we receive wisdom and knowledge from an all-knowing being, he is important, he is real, and i know that to be true, and his influence can be felt by anyone on the planet.

love,elder summers

Little Tips and Tricks....

If I remember right....this is one of the oldest castles in Poland. Fischer said it was Bedzin, I don't know if that is the town or the castle? He is loving Poland!

hey momma bear!

yes the park is way awesome, and the work is for sure going fast there, no investigators yet, but more people are stopping to talk to us, so that's good, and that is awesome that you are looking for a house, it is so strange to think that I will come home to a new home with a new ward and new people and just new everything, but I am sure that it will be okay, because I know that when we do what the lord wants us to do, it is impossible to be unhappy, so i am gooooooood. so in our branch, we have about 20 active members, one member, named zygmnunt is trying to read the book of Mormon 1830 times, and right now he is in the 1600's, so we may not have many members, but the ones we do have are very strong its just one branch that we are over, and we don't have a family history center in our building we meet in, so I will try to get in contact, and that is awesome that someone is looking for one of my ancestors, maybe I will find some long distant relative and bring him/her to Christ, that would be so incredibly cool, I will try to keep that in mind and try as hard as I can to get that. everything is just awesome! so for some experiences now, this week we had a zone conference, so I got to see some of my fellow trainees for a day, it was so fun, we got taught by President Edgren, the Assistants, and we had some awesome pizza, and here in Poland they have a cranberry sauce pizza, and a pickle and kielbasa pizza (both of which are delicious), but anyway the AP's taught us a lot on our contacting, with some little tips and tricks, and some things that they and President want us to focus on during our contacting and tracting. and when me and my companion put those into practice it was amazing, we taught more lessons in one day then we had the entire previous week, we taught one man named Marion, who is an older man, we gave him a Book of Mormon and our card, and told him that he could call us at any time to talk, he seemed pretty receptive, but who knows, maybe something will happen and he will decide to listen to our message of never ending happiness, then we stopped a young woman named Kasia, we taught her as well, she had seen missionaries 6 months previous to our meeting, and she didn't have time to talk but accepted a card, she visited our web-site and liked what she saw, and we set-up a teaching appointment with her for next week, she would be an amazing member, and I have faith that she will come to our lesson. then my companion and I went tracting, which is a little hard to do in our area because there are not many houses to go knock on, but we found a little neighborhood and started knocking, and the last door we knocked on, we found a Methodist woman and talked to her for almost an hour about our church, and then at the end of the lesson my companion asked her if we could do anything for her, and she started tearing up, she had been praying for someone to come and help her, and my companion and I happened to be her answer, it was so cool to have that experience, then the next day we went over to do service, and instead she fed us some cake and we drank some fruit tea, and then we talked for 2 hours with her, we talked about the organization of our church, the plan of salvation, and discussed faith, and repentance, and all kinds of topics, the spirit was there, it was strong, but unfortunately she didn't want to hear any more after our discussion, but I know that eventually, she will see and remember what she felt like, and will want that feeling again. other than that it was life as normal, a lot of studying, a lot of memorizing the language and using it, but all is well, I am happy, and I am spreading a message of happiness to anyone who is willing to stop and hear. this is truly the lords work, and I am so proud to be able to be a part of it.

love,
Elder Fischer Summers

elder summers 

When We Work Hard The Lord Blesses Us.....

hey momma!!!

yes I am understanding the language more and more every day, it is so cool, prayer works! and heavenly father is real and blesses us! I know it with all my heart now.yeah it is very weird being so far ahead of you, when I go to sleep at 10:30 (exact obedience right?) you guys just barely hit noon in your day, its pretty funny. everything is going awesome, and I truly am having the time of my life, right now, nothing could be better for me than serving the Lord, and apparently my friends and cousins are doing the same thing, and it just makes me so happy, Poland is the best, its so beautiful, and just awesome, just pure awesomeness. last week we went to this huge castle, called ogrodzieniec, its the oldest one in Poland, and I will put the pictures on my google drive so you can see them. 

 so for some awesome times on the mission for this week. I went on an exchange in kraków for the day of Monday, so I got to experience missionary culture in a different city in Poland, it was fun, we did a finding activity for like 5 hours, it was pretty long, and at the end I had a conversation with a very atheist man, in English, because he wanted to speak English, and I couldn't say what I needed to say in polish... yet, so it was good. its funny how people really want like a physical representation of God, like a sign from heaven or something, and they just don't understand that god knows each one of us, and when we receive our message that this church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, is the ONLY true church on the Earth, it is very personal, and it is given to you in the exact way that our Heavenly Father knows you will accept it, we don't need a scientific journal telling us that God is real, all we have to do is ASK, and we will receive, its that simple. so we are still contacting in the giant park, and we have kind of mapped out areas that people are generally walking and sitting, and the first week that we tried in the park we had no lessons, and hardly anyone stopped to talk to us, but slowly we have started to have more success, we taught a young man, who is an agnostic, and the conversation was very interesting, because he said to us that he didn't believe in God, but then he like started looking around at the beauty around him and then said to us, I want to know if God is real, so we gave him a Book of Mormon and we exchanged phone numbers, and he commited to read it. we did a few white-boards and free tables with our district, we handed out books and talked to people, it was so fun and so good. Then on Sunday, a less-active member that we tried to contact CAME TO CHURCH! his wife had told us that he would be on vacation for two weeks (2 Nephi 9:34), but he showed up, it was so cool. our prayers are being answered, the lord is in our lives, and now that he has given us strength to push harder, it is time to pray more, and work harder, and I know that when we work hard the lord blesses us with strength, and then it is our responsibility to use that additional strength to push harder, and receive more, and then push harder again, so we are constantly progressing, and constantly learning more, and I know that when we do that, our heavenly father will look down on us, and with a tear in his eye, his heart will swell with pride, and he will embrace us with the loving and warm feeling of the Holy Ghost in our lives. 

love,

elder summers

God Loves All His Children....

hey momma!

  So what are some things that happened this week that I can talk about, well we focused on that big park I mentioned again for most of our contacting, and we had some interesting experiences, one woman we talked to and actually taught a little lesson to was a catholic like most of the people in this country, and we talked to her about the resurrection of Christ, and about our sacrament, and about the Book of Mormon and the significance of it, it was really cool, I got to bear a very small testimony in Polish haha, my companion does most of the talking because 1) I don't know the language well enough yet, but that's okay because I am only on week 3 in country, and 2) because polish people like to ramble, so you have to be quick if you want to get a word or two in, but I am understanding more and more each day, it is so cool. and then on Saturday we talked to a young man, he is in his mid-twenties and is a physical therapist, he was in the park to register for a marathon that was being held in the park (maybe another sign of how massive this thing is), it was so cool, my companion asked him if he believed that the Bible was the only word of God that we have on the Earth, and he said that that wouldn't make any sense, because God loves all of his children, so it would only make sense that he would give all of his words and teachings to all of his children, and then we were like hey! That's what the Book of Mormon is, and we got into a pretty cool discussion for that, we exchanged e-mails because he will be leaving on vacation for 4 weeks, but I have a really good feeling that he will find the peace and happiness in our gospel that I and so many others have found. other than that, life was good this week, I know that this church is true, without any doubt in my heart at all, this is the only true gospel on the Earth, and I know that it was restored through Joseph Smith, and that we have a living prophet today that talks to God and Jesus Christ, this gospel may be hard to follow, we may have some things that are hard for people to understand or follow, because we require so much work and diligence and obedience, but the fact is, this is supposed to be hard, because life was never easy for Jesus Christ, and we are commanded to follow his example, to be perfect, "even as your father which is in heaven is perfect", so life wont be easy, but I know that through obedience and faith, our loads will be lightened, our lives will be happy, and we will have peace, through this church, the only true church on the face of the Earth today.

love,

elder summers

Everything About This Is Just Awesome.....

hey momma!

so first off i am glad that the pictures worked for you, feel free to share them with anyone that you want to, the picture of the white house with the red roof is the mission home, and all of the pictures of rooms are our apartment, yes the closet is awesome, only it has a light that is motion activated so to stand in it and have light you have to be constantly moving around in there, so i get to dance whenever i put clothes away, poland is so beautiful you have no idea, it is absolutely amazing how beautiful it is, i cant wait to show you through pictures, and hey, maybe one day in real life. thats awesome that you sold both sleds, it made me tear up to see my baby leave, but im glad that it is gone, i want the funds more than i want the sled.  thank you so much for your testimony mom, i know that everything you said is true, and i know that my heavenly father loves me as well, i have felt so much peace and love from heavenly father here already, and i know that as i am more and more obedient to the mission rules and all of the commandments, i will feel greater and greater peace and joy. yep, im killing off my dad this transfer, its all good, he is an awesome elder, so my area name is Katowice (ka-toe-vee-tseh) good luck haha its hard to describe how to say things because polish is phonetic, but when I talk to you I can try to explain everything and teach you how to say some things maybe. so this week was interesting. the branch president here has decided on a place for us to go and contact for the next few weeks, it is called park śląski, and it is massive, it has smaller parks, little gardens, statues, a soccer stadium, a chair lift, lakes, rivers, outdoor amphitheaters, a zoo, its insane, the place is enormous. so this week we walked around and tried to contact some people, it was really fun, im understanding more and more each day, and I know that eventually I will understand what someone says to me haha, but we really had some good conversations, a few men we talked to were really sound in their faith in the catholic church, we didn't get any new investigators, but we passed out a few book of Mormons, had some good talks, and tried as hard as we could, and I know that as long as I keep trying as hard as I can, that I will be blessed after the trial of my faith. I love the work here, its tough, but I wouldn't have it any other way, the harder you work for something, the better and better it gets when you finally receive it. later in the week we did a "free table" with the sisters, where we set up a table with book of Mormons and pamphlets for people to look at, a young man came up to us and asked about the book of Mormon, my companion talked to him and he accepted one, it was really cool, another thing that I am discovering is that missionary work is very fun, and you have to be creative when doing it, its awesome, everything about this is just awesome.  

love,

elder summers 

hey dad!

yeah our apartment is nice, I like it, and I definitely feel very blessed to have it, but it is definitely not better than our house, because you don't live here, so its impossible for any house or apartment anywhere to be better than the house that you all live in, wherever it is. thanks for everything dad, I love hearing that you are proud of me, and I am so happy for the way that you raised me, im blessed by it every day, and I will continue to be blessed by it, I know it.

love,

elder summers 

Here is a link to Fischer's google Drive where he will be posting his pics...

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B9t0xcipLfbkbDYzZlVEekNtelE&usp=sharing_eic

There Is No Other Place I Would Rather Be....

 

hey dad!

yeah im glad that i made it safely across too, the flights weren't that bad, i got to meet some cool people on them and i got to hang out with my district one last time before we all split off to our individual areas. i wish i could have gone fishing with you guys, i always wanted to go and try to catch a shark, thats too bad you couldn't get one, but i can see that you got a different kind of monster instead haha, that yellow-eye is massive, i bet that was such a fun fight. im glad to hear that you are still busy with the work of the lord in alaska, its so good to hear that. so my trainer is named elder dodge, he is from orange county california, and is an amazing missionary, i got called to serve in katowice, which is a southern town, and we live on lubuska street, so you should be able to look that up if you want on google earth. now for some experiences over the past week or so, oh man where to begin, well on my first day here we went to the mission office to do some legal work, then we went back to the mission home to eat some food, and then the AP's took us out tracting to an awesome palace in warsaw, it was way fun but at the same time i was EXTREMELY nervous for it, nothing too funny or exciting happened there, we spent the night in the mission home then the next day met our trainers and left by train for our areas. When we got to our areas, me and my companion got lost for about 2 hours in katowice trying to find our apartment, so i got to drag my 95 pounds of stuff around the city haha, and while we were waiting for a bus some kids came up to me when my companion was looking at the bus schedule and they said something, and then i what i wanted to say to them was "have you ever heard of our church?" but instead what came out was "have i ever heard of my church?" so you can understand they were very confused, so yep that was my first experience trying to start a conversation in polish. the rest of the week was pretty normal i would say, we did a few white-boards in the street, its where we just set up a board and have a question on it for people to try and answer, so far we haven't gotten any success, we haven't taught any lessons to progressing investigators, but we have taught lessons on the street, my polish is improving, and ive been having more fun here than anywhere else i have ever been, i know this is the lords work, and it will be hard, jesus christ didnt have an easy life, neither did joseph smith, so we shouldn't expect any different, hard times will come, and that is why i am so happy i have a heavenly father to help me. i also met the branch president who is awesome, and is a rock spiritually and physically, i got to bear my testimony in church, it was awesome. some last comments, at some point in polish history they all decided to speak at 150 MPH and never breath while speaking, jehovah's witnesses are everywhere and really weird, and people like to get drunk here, but i love it, im not complaining at all, there is no other place i would rather be than right here in poland right now

Hey momma!
yes it is true, jestem w polcy! yes warsaw is extremely beautiful, and yes i am a left handed polock haha. so my companion is elder dodge and he is on his last fransfer, my area is katowice, the heat is not that bad its manageable and getting colder, my apartment is safe and comfortable, and the food is amazing. im glad to hear that your testimony is still growing strong, and that is the total truth about tithing, and it makes total sense. heavenly father has given us EVERYTHING we have, absolutely everything, and to receive blessings, all we have to do is give 1/10 back, its so simple and yet it says in malachi that we will not be able to bear the blessings of giving tithing because they will be so great, i know this church is true, i know that i have hard times ahead of me, but i know that the lord is with me, and he will not allow me to fail.

All Of Us Are Converts....

hey momma,

yes i am busy on p-day just like any other day, but its okay, being busy just keeps my mind off of the time, and then it goes by fast. yes i do have a flight schedule, we go from salt lake to minneapolis, then from there to amsterdam, then amsterdam to warsaw. we will get into minneapolis at around noon local minneapolis time, and i will call you from there and talk for a little bit, say goodbye and let you hear my polish haha. i really feel that the lord is guiding your lives right now, more than usual, and if i were you i wouldn't fear at all, i know that he will give you the answers you need, so no worries, im just happy that you are following the counsel of the lord. this week we had two devotionals as usual, and one really hit me, during it the speaker called up two missionaries who had been converted after the age of 16, and they told their stories, and what i got from it, is that the lord prepares all of his children to hear the gospel in their time, he knows them, and gives them the path to the light. all of us are converts, and all of us are prepared for the moment when it hits us that this church is the true church of god on earth, fully restored through joseph smith. so im not worried about going to poland and not being fluent in the language, because there are people that have been searching for truth, and our heavenly father prepares them for this message, so why should i fear? i have an all-knowing, omnipotent being on my side, who has created worlds without number, and he is willing to help me. so i have no need to fear at all, because the lord is with me, he will help me, and all i have to do to be worthy of his help is to work and be obedient, which is not hard at all. thank you for everything that you have done for me momma, i really appreciate it, and i will miss the dear elders everyday, but ill be okay. oh and about the food, well the only way i can describe it is like this: our intestines are coiled up with all kinds of turns so food takes a while to work its way through them, but this food has made my stomach into a straight highway, no turns, nothing, so you can imagine what thats like, but its okay because at least i know that i will be fed every day, so no complaints. other than that life is good, im happy and im growing every day.

love,

elder summers

I Was The Current Bush.......

Fable.....Food/Table






hey momma,

im glad that you were able to translate my testimony haha, i love writing and speaking in my language, but i am keeping my journal in english so you can read it when i get home, just a little gift for you from me. i am worried a little bit about it, but not too bad, all i have to do is listen and open my mouth and practice practice practice and i'll understand them eventually. we have meetings with members in poland every wednesday for 40 minutes, so i kinda already know what i am getting into with the speed that they speak and how they speak.  thank you so much for sending shirts, as of right now i do not have them, but thank you so much, it is way too hot here to wear long sleeves ever, and it will be hot in poland too, its been like 85-90 every day in poland for the last month, so i will be in hot weather. im glad that you are working on listening to the spirit, im trying to work on that too haha, and its getting easier the more i do it, during lessons and prayers and even class i will just have a bang! in my head, and all i can think about is what i am supposed to say next, or a question that i need to ask. its amazing how the spirit talks to us through our thoughts and feelings, but it is so awesome when you know that it comes from the spirit.  i am doing great, i am still learning in the language, and we are at the point right now where our teachers can teach us concepts in like 5 minutes, we understand them, and then we practice and get the hang of them, its so cool. its amazing when you start learning something how slow you go, and then when you have a good foundation, your learning increases exponentially because things make connections all over and all you can say is, that makes sense. all polish has taught me so far is how weird english is haha, i have no idea what was happening, the english speakers at the tower of babel must have been extremely wicked, because we got a weird, nonsensical language, but polish makes sense. so this week i guess that i have learned that this MTC is really a special place, my comprehension of the scriptures is sky-rocketing, i was reading in alma 40-50, where captain moroni gets introduced and so does amalickiah, and i loved what the scriptures said about what captain moroni did. he constantly fortified cities and sent out spies to watch the lamanites, so when they came, their defenses were so strong and they were so ready that the lamanites were like, oh crap, what do we do now? and we can liken that to ourselves by replacing the lamanites with satan, and captain moroni with ourselves, we must be vigilant, and be aware of satans tricks, then once we know them, fortify our souls accordingly, so when he comes, we will have the power to destroy him and drive him back into the darkness that he came from, never to tempt us again. and i know that if we do that, and we put on the proper armor, that satan will have no chance against us. i love the scriptures so much, every chapter i read brings me peace, and i always learn something new. be safe and keep having fun in your lives, and ill be home soon.

love,

elder summers

hey dad,

that is one of the coolest stories that i have ever heard, and i think that it is 100% true what you said. i know that animals can feel the spirit, they have to be able to, because they were created by heavenly father and sent here just like us, i think thats one reason why smitty is so excited for prayer, because he feels the spirit and it makes him so happy. the cliffhanger that you left me during my last e-mail was well worth it. as for me here, life is good, but cabin fever is getting to be real, ive been here too long and i want to leave and have my real work start. we get our travel plans tomorrow, so next time ill tell you where i will be flying, and then my next e-mail will be from some internet cafe or library in some city somewhere in poland with my trainer, IM SO EXCITED!!!! one cool thing that we have been able to do hear is skype with members in poland, we get to do it once a week for 40 minutes, so i kinda already know how fast they speak and what it sounds like, when they talk full speed i can understand about every 10th word, and i usually know the idea of what they are talking about, just not the details, and it is so cool, it used to scare me like in week 2 or 3, and after i would hear a polish speaker i would feel so low and i would think that i haven't learned anything at all. but then my companion told me the parable of the current bush from hugh b. brown, it is about a farmer that sees a massive current bush with no fruit, so he cuts in down drastically, then after that he sees drops of water at the end of the stumps, like the bush was saying how could you do this to me? i was making such wonderful growth and you've cut me down. then the farmer says look little current bush, i am the gardener here, and i know what i want you to be, i dont want you to be a shade tree, i want you to be a current bush, and one day when you are laden with fruit you will say, thank you gardener, for cutting me down, for loving me enough to hurt me. and when i heard that i teared up, and wept, because i was the current bush. i had been cut down drastically, i had failed, but i was okay, because the lord knows what we are to become, and he loves us enough to hurt us, so since then, i am glad to be "current bushed", to be cut down and made to restart, because i know i will grow back in the way that heavenly father wants me to grow, and i will be what he wants me to be. anyway thats just something that i learned here, that the lord loves us enough to hurt us, but it is always for our benefit, he will never do anything to hurt us. keep doing what you are doing dad, and just know that i am proud to be your son.

love,

elder summers

Without Christ's Example......

hi momma,

it is amazing knowing that i have so many friends here, it feels so good, because at home, even though i had you and maddie, i still felt alone at school, and in my life i felt pretty alone, but day one here i felt so good, all of the elders in my district are amazing righteous men that i consider my best friends, and it has helped me a lot, and helped my confidence a lot. it truly is amazing what heavenly father does, i dont think he puts much thought into it, considering he knows everything, but im glad all we have to worry about is following his beloved son jesus christ. and that is something that this week i have really tried to do, we have 3 hours of study a day, 1 hour for personal, companion, and language study, and i love it so much. but this week i have really been studying in chapter six of preach my gospel, which is Christlike Attributes, and it has opened my eyes. Christ was so amazing, and we can never live up to him, but that wasn't the purpose of his life. ive been thinking about that as well, and i thought that christ didn't have to preach, all he needed to do was establish a church and perform the atonement, but he had his 3 year earthly ministry for a reason, to give us an example. without christ's example we wouldnt know how to live, how to pray, how to teach, how to bless the sacrament, how to administer the priesthood, we wouldn't know how to do anything, and that's why he did what he did, so we could follow him. so why wouldn't we? so ive been studying christlike attributes to find out how to follow him and become more like him, and all is boils down to is just forgetting about yourself and serving, offering thanks to god at all times for everything, and not complaining. its that simple, if we do those things, our lives fall into place immediately, and we will be blessed, so i have made goals to stop being negative, and to serve in every opportunity i can, and i know that if i do that i will be blessed and helped through my mission. so my plaque scripture i would like to be Alma 7:23-25. and i cant wait to be able to really speak polish haha, i am improving slowly and it is coming, and i know i will learn it, because i have the lord on my side, so i cant fail.  other than that ill leave you with my testimony: wiem że modlitwa jest nieźbędnym działaniem dla nasze zbawienie, poprzez modlitwa możemy utrzymywać milośćą boga, wiem że modlitwa jest bardso ważnym, kocham modlitwa bo modlitwa przynosił dobry czuć i dobry doświadczenie do moje życie, ja nie zobaczę bog, ale poprzez modlitwa i duch swięte wiem że bog i jezus chrystus jest zycienie. I probably spelled things wrong so good luck haha. love,elder summers

hey dad,

its good to know that life hasn't changed for you at all haha, im glad to see that you are still fishing and having fun and catching big fish.  my week was good, it will always be good when i am in the service of my fellow beings, and i love this work so much, i've never been happier than i am right now, it feels amazing to have the spirit with me so often, it has truly transformed me. this week our two devotionals were by stephen b allen, and elder groberg, both of which are very powerful men. i learned from the spirit of stephen b allen's address that when we truly love this gospel we share it in any way that we can, that one duty of being a Latter Day Saint is missionary work, and that missionary work is one of the most amazing things that you can do, for the worth of souls is great in the sight of god. and then elder groberg, he is the man that the movie The Other Side Of Heaven is based off of. And he taught about the importance of bearing testimony, and that no matter where we are we should bear testimony. we bear testimony by how we speak, we bear testimony by how we act, and we bear testimony by how we treat our fellow man. and when we bear testimony like that, it isn't normal, and people will see the difference in our countenances and want to know why we are so happy, and so peaceful. I love the devotionals here, i dont learn much from the speakers, but when i intently listen to the spirit during meetings is when i am taught the most. 

All We Do Is Invite The Spirit.....

hey momma,

I already have less than 700 days and less than 100 weeks, my time here truly is short, and i plan to make the most of it. i am so happy for angie, it is amazing what is happening back in alaska. and it isnt because of me, it is because of the holy ghost, the holy ghost entered maddie's life and she accepted it and allowed him to work his magic and convert her to the everlasting gospel. missionaries dont convert, and members dont convert, all we do is invite the spirit into the teaching situation and hopefully the child of heavenly father accepts that spirit and allows it to change them, yes i got the pictures and loved them so much, everyone looks so great, and cache looks like he has an ecosystem on his face, it sounds like everything is good and you are doing fine. now i want to end with something i learned this week from T.C. Christensen, the man who directed 17 miracles and ephraims rescue. he was the speaker for our devotional last sunday and he told us the importance of journals, so far i have written a page a day in my journal, and i plan on doing that for the rest of my mission, and when i do, i will have 3 1/2 composition notebooks full of my history. and journaling is so amazing, i understand now why the lord wants us to journal, when i journal it makes me think of my day, and it makes me think of the spiritual experiences that i had, and i see how my testimony is growing each day, so please journal, it is so amazing and has blessed my life so much already. i love you mom.

love.

elder summers

The Gift of Tongues Is True.......

Dear momma bear,
My week was awesome, my comp and i taught more lessons and we are getting to the point where we can expound on gospel points without having to write them down, it isnt conjugated (verbs) or cased (adjectives and nouns) very correctly, its broken but the words are coming to our minds. the gift of tongues is so true, and someone said something very interesting in a devotional, he said that once we recognize a gift in our lives, that we should immediately return thanks to heavenly father in prayer, and when we recognize to him that we have that gift, the gift will become stronger, so that is what i am doing with the gift of tongues, whenever i use it i immediately thank heavenly father through prayer, and i have faith that he will answer those prayers and strengthen my gift. i also had a revelation come to me during a language study, i was memorizing some difficult words and i was getting slightly frustrated at myself, and i just decided to sit and think and ponder for a little bit to give my brain a rest, and words came to my head, and they were, keep studying, you already know this language, you are just re-learning it in mortality. i know that was the spirit talking to me, our branch presidency here has told us that we prepared for 1000's of years for this mission, and i know during that time i learned the polish language, and through prayer that language can be unlocked and given to me again. i like working out, i have lost 10 pounds so far just because it is ball-firing hot as cache would say, and i have been going to the fitness center mostly and doing like a 15 minute crossfit style workout then running on an elliptical for 3 miles, it is good, i like it. about the polish dreams, when im dreaming, about every 30th word is polish, but the words dont make sense where they are, i will say like: oh of course i will help with that tomorrow wiara (faith) but they are coming. all 3 of our teacher have said we are learning fast, one, brother smalley, seriously said the words, its retarded how fast you are learning this language. the lord is helping me, and i have realized that i am nothing, i came from dust and will return to dust, i am all that i am because of my wonderful earthly parents, and my father in heaven. i love you mom.
love,
starszy summers

Music And The Holy Ghost.......

hi momma,

 so idk if i have told you about my zone at all, but in my zone all of the languages we have are polish, bulgarian, croatian, czech, and turkish, so we are all eastern europe and a few are headed farther south, so thats all for language. im sure that the house is quiet, but just think, you are going to blink and there i will be again,  im already in month 2 and i have less than 100 weeks left already.  I know that i am loved by everyone in the family, thank you for telling me that, it is very comforting to know that i am so loved, by my earthly family and my heavenly family. Strangely i am losing weight. ive already had to tighten my belt up a notch, so i have that going for me, which is nice (movie quote). yes i received both packages and i shared my manna from heaven (bible quote) with my wonderful zone and they were very happy that i shared my spoils. Our sisters are getting better and better, we are becoming friends as a district now it is so nice. well i want to share something with you momma kinda like my testimony, in english this time. the last two devotionals we have had have grown my testimony. On sunday we had Josh Wright who is an insanely good piano player, he has played at carnegie hall and a few other prestigious places, and what he was playing just taught me that music is a sure fire thing that will always be with you, you can always sing in your head and that hymn will drive away bad thoughts instantly and fill your heart with the spirit. the tuesday night devotional was taught by Elder Andersen of the 12. he taught on nothing but the Holy Ghost and it was incredible. it just proved to me that the most important thing we can have with us is the spirit of the lord, it doesn't matter our level of knowledge or spiritual experiences, if you have the spirit, people will feel it and see it.   Thank you for everything you have done for me Momma, i love you.

love,

starszy summers

hey dad,

well im glad to hear that the world is still spinning on without me knowing haha.  i love it here so much, i really thought that i knew how to teach before i got here, but i had no idea whatsoever, everyday i am learning so much about how important the little things are, and its amazing how putting together all those little things will lead people into this amazing church forever. my testimony has grown exponentially everyday that i am here, but the most growth has happened in two specific areas: the Holy Ghost and music. everyone here seems to be learning something that is going to change their lives forever, and mine so far has been what i just mentioned. All our teachers have really talked about has been teaching by the spirit, that it doesnt matter what we say at all, our words don't do anything for the investigator, all we are are vessels of the spirit, that it is much more important for us to always have the spirit than anything else at all. and about music, that music instantly invites the spirit, no matter where you are or what you are doing, a hymn in your head will calm you down and the spirit will reside in your heart. well i dont mean to sound preachy haha but i just love this work so much and i want to share it with everyone. i know that when cache and hayden went into the MTC they tried to convert us and we made fun of it, but none of us are truly converted yet, and all of us are working on it still, and the most important convert that you can have is yourself. i love you dad, i promise when i get home i will mow the lawn for you again.

love,

starszy summers

We Decide Everyday......

Momma,

Well its funny that you ask about the laundry, i am doing fine with it, i can fold everything so it doesn't look like an ape did it.  speaking of my district i haven't told you about it, it consists of 4 elders and 3 sisters. the first elder is from maryland and is studying trumpet performance at BYU, another is studying acting at BYU, and my companion is studying chemical engineering, all of the sisters went to BYU, one is from lehi utah, another is from Alpine and went to Lone Peak High, the school who's basketball team won the national title two years ago. the elders are amazing and funny, its so nice to be around friends, true friends that love me, are respectful, and just amazing men, the sisters are helping me to learn patience so i guess it is a good thing this is happening. we got to hear two devotionals, one from Stephen B. Allen who said that we decide every day what kind of day it is, and on tuesday we listened to Lowell M. Snow a former seventy, who talked about becoming truly converted to the gospel. but the powerhouse lesson we got was on sunday night we watched Character of Christ by David A. Bednar, i wont say anything about it, but go and watch it, it is amazing. ja mam świadectwo z Bóg jest Ojcem Niebieskim i Jezus Chrystus jest sbawicelem, wiem że Józef Smith jest prorok z Bóg i Księga Mormona jest prawde, my potrzebowamy wiara i swiatło ż szczęsliwe, w imię Jezusa Chrystusa, amen. Good luck translating i may have spelled some things wrong :)

love,

starszy summers 

Hey Dad,

 The priesthood may have been past down, but after all of the apostles died the right to give that priesthood to anyone not ordained to the priesthood left, so in essence the keys were taken from the earth. i don't hold keys, it would be like the apostles, the prophet, and every stake president, mission president, bishop, and elders quorum president instantly dying, i still have the priesthood and you would still have the priesthood, but the keys would be gone, so we could not pass our priesthood on to anyone else, what it means by the priesthood left the earth is the KEYS left the earth, so no one had the right to receive revelation for anyone else, and no one had the right to bestow the priesthood on anyone, the KEYS are the government of the priesthood, and the government of the priesthood dissolved with the apostles,  i just want to share with you one thing that i have learned that has been the biggest thing to hit me, that people are not ever taught by another mortal being, the only true teacher is the Holy Ghost, so when we teach anyone we must do one thing, and that one thing is invite the spirit through simple doctrine, we have been taught here that you do that through modlitwa (prayer) and świadectwo (testimony). so when you talk to someone start by bearing sincere testimony and all that you know, then teach as simply as you possibly can, the Holy Ghost will enter, and the Light of Christ  will come alive and they will know that what you are saying is true. i love you dad, 

love,

starszy summers

And Ray Lewis Hits You Into The Water......

hi parents!

im sorry to hear that barrow was frozen haha but it seems typical. well how is it going do you ask? i can tell you. it is amazing, the spirit here is a constant feeling and everyone here is an amazing person, i have never been surrounded by this many amazing people in my life, i am so glad i am here. addressing the language statement that you had. they have changed the teaching style since hayden learned spanish, there is no longer any getting your feet wet section of learning, its more like you are standing at the edge of a dock and ray lewis hits you into the water. my teacher has not spoken a single english word to us haha, it is kinda overwhelming but i love it so much. i can pray, bear my testimony, and recite our missionary purpose in polish now and ive only been here one little week. my kolega (companion) is not exactly like me, he sings a lot and hasnt ever played sports, but we have a wonderful friendship already and we compliment each other well. we have already taught 4 lessons in full polish to an investigator, our investigators are members that know the language and are just role playing for us, but nevertheless they are speaking in only polish. the spirit knows all languages, and we actually brought him to tears in our last lesson about the restoration of the gospel. i have participated in the choir even though i cant sing worth crap, but my kolega can so its okay, he can drown out my horrible voice. we have had two devotionals, one was taught by janice kapp perry and the other was taught by Elder D. Todd Christofferson. sister perry was in the motab choir and has written songs in the childrens hymn book. she taught on the power of music, and now i know that music is laced with simple doctrine and testimony that helps us build a better foundation for faith. Elder Christofferson taught about satan and his power, he said that the most awful power that satan has is the ability to make us feel worthless and that we can not repent. so it strengthened my testimony of repentance that no matter how much we sin the path to return never gets broken it just gets longer. now to address some questions, the language is coming along well for a week into it, i love my kolega starszy (elder) jeffs, he is an amazing and spiritual man, yes i have seen levi and i have pictures with him at the temple, i would like those small notebooks that you bought for me, i think that is about it,they have plenty of food at the MTC so please dont send me food, i love you so very much and i am proud to call you my parents, and i am so thankful that you raised me righteously enough to go on this amazing mission, this week has been the BEST of my life and i know that every week will be just as good or better.

love,

starszy summers

ps. i learned that poland has 9 week transfers so i only have 12 not 16