A Sunday in Białystok

This past Sunday I spent a good part of the day (11+ hours) with my friend Małgosia. She lives in Warsaw and is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day-Saints also. 

Since February of this year, I have had the privilege of serving and working with this wonderful Polish friend.  She is the District Relief Society President in Warsaw (Poland has two districts) and I am one of her counselors. We spend time planning and serving together ... working to help many of the women in different small congregations of the church throughout Poland.

This picture was taken in March of 2012. 

We traveled to Białystok....a 2 1/2 - 3 hour drive north east of Warsaw.

While traveling in her car, we talked! I speak English and a little Polish...while Małgosia speaks Polish and a little English (though her English is much better than my Polish). We had such a great time visiting, laughing and learning together. I even taught her a few new words!

Białstok is the largest Polish city in the north east part of Poland.

The drive here was lovely as we road past forests, lots and lots of farmlands, and rollings hills.

Though Białystok is a small city, we saw many large churches as we approached Białzstok and inside the city limits also.

We saw more stork nests....and I learned these birds in Polish are called "bocian". I learned the name for "stork" and I taught Malgosia the name for "nest". It took a while to figure out what we were saying...but when we couldn't communicate exactly...drawing pictures helped us a lot!

I didn't get a picture of the area where the congregation meets in Białystok...the members meet on the 2nd level in a large building on a quiet street. There are two rooms, a small foyer a kitchenette and restroom. 

We attended the church service (Sacrment Meeting) and then during the 2nd hour, Małgosia and I taught a lesson about teaching.  It was enjoyable to meet the members of the church in this little area of Poland.. to communicate together, to serve, to learn and worship with them on this Sunday.

Arriving to Białystok we noticed an interesting display of  large monument-like structures, so on our way home we stopped by to check out the display. The area is green, hilly and in a park like setting...

Małgosia said this area was to commemorate and honor those who died during WWII.

Aren't these structures unique? We only wish there had been some signs describing what these structures meant or represented...

Małgosia was demonstrating the use of an old water pump...though it did not bring up any water. We are not sure why this pump was here..but she smiled and we had a fun memory.

Here I am at the foot of one of the structures...

and in between two others...

On one display were 6 white emblems...Małgosia said probably to honor groups of people that served in the war...helping to defend Poland.

This is a symbol (we think) for Białystock.

Here is a symbol for the boy scouts and those youth groups who helped to serve during the war.

I enjoy Małgosia so much! She is a very happy and positive person. I always enjoy working and serving with her...She is an excellent leader who has a huge heart and is an inspiration to many women and church members in Warsaw and throughout Poland.

How lucky I am to get to know her better and to serve beside her in this country!