TWO WEEKS WORTH!

Welcome from the KeBab capital of the world! So far this is our favorite however there are no less than 500 different ones to try if you could find them. The two workers seen here are standing in front of the 'chicken on the spit' where it is cooked by turning every so often and then just the very outer part is thinly sliced off into a speically prepared pita type flat bread with different kids of ingredients including garlic, cabbage, and hot sauce among other items. They are the best and have found their way on our dinner plate at least weekly. The two young men are from Bangladesh and fix us the 'Missionary Special' which includes melted cheese and a touch of the chicken juice.
Following the food story below is a few photos taken at fireside we had this past Friday featuring Bro. Ryan Millar. He is, as you have concluded the tall one in the pictures, a former BYU graduate who started on the USA gold medal winning team in the 08' Olympics in China. He has actually played in three olympics and will soon begin training for the 2012 games in London. Currently, is playing professionally with one of the better Polish teams where he has a 2 year contract. Further, he has played at this level in Italy and Turkey. They absolutely love their volleyball here, (and throughout all of Europe for that matter) and often play on televison to crowds of 8-10 thousand. He had a wonderful story to tell and kept the young singles and others engrossed for over an hour. The one part that impressed me the most was how, when he was 10 years old he lost his older brother in an auto accident, the divorse of his parents which followed and how his family was torn apart and where he was pretty much left alone to lived in the attic of a friend while he continued his schooling. It was another older brother who got him interested in V-Ball as with his 6'8" height the basketball teams all over the place were wanting him to come and play. He said that in one year he grew 5". But most important was how he made the right choices when his family dissolved by staying in school, off the streets and into sports, where he could have easily gone 'south' since he was mostly unattended to by adults. You can Goggle his name, (ryan Millar) to learn more about him, but let it be know that this is a special young man and a gifted athalete. He and his wife and two young sons live in Alpine, Utah when he is not playing abroad. Jean and I had the priveledge of picking him up at his hotel here in Warsaw after their practice. And of course they were late returning (the snow and Friday night traffic) and we were lost getting there with 'Erma' GPS who was sick and not working, both our cell phones dead and both us having to use the toleta as we were stuck in traffic and snow. Oh, how grateful we are for little prayers of assistance! (At this point, Jean will take over and share some information about the Young Single Adults that we have been called to serve with)
You will see most the YSA in the pictures. We work with them and are with them at least 2-3 nights a week and some Saturdays. They are a great group of the future of the Church in Poland. These YSA all have a story o tell. Kasia who is the short one in the picture with Ryan Millar is the YSA rep. she has a law degree and 2 masters in Law and business. she ia a dynamo and runs on warp speed all the time. her story is too long to tell other than she almost died in delivery as did her mom, mom had ovarian cancer and told to abort or both die anyway. Father had left the family and due to faith and prayer they both survived however mom was in the hospital for months very sick with cancer so Kasio's big brother took care of her. Later they were introduced to the church and Mom and Kasio are dedicated to the Church. I could write pages about each one but it would take too long. They all make great sacrifice to be members of the Church. None of them have cars, they ride public transportation, trams or buses. For some of them, it is over an hour ride and an hour back at least but they come not only for Church but FHE and Institute. They support all the activities.
Interesting thing.... It doesn't matter how small the group is, even if there are only 3, they always have an opening and closing hymn and most always no piano. When they teach a lesson. they teach GREAT lessons. Lots of good discussion.
They arranged the fireside (with our help) and I think it was the biggest thing here in the Church for a long time. Anyway, I love them, they are totally awesome.