Anyone starting to read right here should go down to the first post they haven't seen because some of the stuff up here won't make sense...hah..Thank you!

 The Center for Trouble Youth

 This was a really neat road that went past the center. The road to the center was also gravel.

The closest building is where the couple lives. And the farthest is the church and some other living spaces within the church. Really beautiful buildings inside and out. 

This was where I stayed. It looks so much larger inside and it has beautiful wood furnishings and a nice big kitchen to cook. You can also see there that there is a garden beside it with a greenhouse. 

 The awesome tomato plants in the greenhouse. :D

The fire pit where we later had baked potatoes and fire roasted sandwiches. Was amazing good. We also had worship here and it was really great.

 Here is their cellar in which they produced the potatoes to fire bake. This very much reminded me of what Bilbo Baggins house would have looked like. Only a round door..(this is for my brother. :D)

Really had tall trees. Really pretty tall white barked trees. Anyone know the name?

Some of us walking to find mushrooms. Really was a delightful day. :D

It was so beautiful at this center and God really blessed these people with talents. This man is a youth magnet and he is using this gift to reach young people. He said that he realized one day that all these kids were coming to him with their problems and that they were not little problems but very big things. He couldn't believe what the youth is going through these day. So the center began. He asks for prayer as he embarks on this new journey and that even if one soul is converted that all the money and work was worth it. Amen!

The Great Boletus

This was a mushroom picked during our endeavors to find mushrooms. I guess this is one of the most prized finds out here. It is a boletus mushroom and is very hard to find. As you can see there are large bragging rights on this mushroom.

The Great..wait what?!

Unfortunately for Julia and I we only had bragging rights of finding one of the most poisonous mushrooms in the forest and asking if it was edible. We were promptly told that "We could eat it, but wouldn't be alive to tell about if we did." :D After this statement I had to start speaking in an australian accent saying "Cricky! Watch out for that shroom! It's a feisty one that one! One bite from that mushroom and you'd be a dead in five minutes!" 

In my sadness of having to part with this mushroom that I carried for so long, I decided to have a funeral by putting a flower in it and promptly putting it in a beautiful bed of grass. I didn't think much of it until we were walking back and Tom's(my boss) young daughter Amelia (who is fond of her father and was diligently looking for worthy mushrooms) found my mushroom with great awe. "Mommy whats that one??" she said pointing at it in confusion. I started laughing like crazying and everyone looked at me (at this moment realizing I was the culprit). Her mom looked at me and I think she said in Polish "Honey, I think that is a special one from America."  Everyone burst out laughing and talking in polish. It was all too fun. I have already fallen in love with these people and I thank God for my experiences thus far!

The Shroom-ural

My mushroom funeral had to get its 2-cents in too.

First Zloty

This is my first zloty (zwote) and it equals about 33 USD. It is very exciting using a new type of money. It is also very different here with money because getting change can actually be very exciting! They have 5's, 2's, and 1's as coins and so a hand full of change can actually mean something! I knew even as a kid my love for having lots of change would be meaningful someday. :D

Truly Europe

This is my view out my window. Looks like normal European apartment blocks and you see this everywhere. And yes there is a teddy bear sitting on a chair under the tree. Don't ask because I don't know.hah :) Also as you may see people either drive really small cars or big vans. The streets are very narrow here and a small car is a very healthy way to drive. And as for the van...everyone stays out of your way..hopefully.. because on a driving excursion I saw a tipped semi and I can only imagine how that happened... 

   The country

 The country is beautiful here. This picture I took was taken a way back into the woods at a facility for troubled youth. It is an amazing campus and God called 2 very amazing Adventists to take on the job. They both left their comforts of the city and jobs and came out to the middle of nowhere. This is just as shocking for people that come from the country to the city. But they have put their time and effort into this place. I will post pictures of it later. :) I also must note that here mushroom picking is a notorious pastime. People don't  compete by how nice of cars they have or how large of homes, but on the mushrooms they have picked, the neatness of their woodpile, and on the beauty of their garden. :D Really love it.

      Potatoes Anyone?

Here potatoes are very much part of the everyday life. At the market there are nothing but potatoes and I am in heaven! This meal here was a patty made of potatoes and dumplings made of potatoes. It was very good and extremely filling! My roommate Julia and I both got an entree and drinks and it cost only 21 zloty which is 7 USD....WOW...

  Lets make a mess.....lets do laundry!!

 So... hah so about that laundry. Julia and I both decided that it was time to do laundry on Monday. So we went to the Language Bureau to get the translation for our washer(for it was all in German) so we could get started on our endeavor. So we happily tromped home to get started. We put everything in and we had a hard time figuring out how to use it because we didn't get directions.. so yeah, but we eventually got everything going. So we both went to the kitchen to get Lunch ready, happy that everything was well. Little did we know... While we were eating the washer decided that it would give us funny looking Americans a time of our lives. When we later checked on the washer we found that it had spit all of its rinse water on the floor.. yay... Boy was that fun cleaning up! We definitely decided that it was broken and that we wouldn't use it anymore. So we went to the balcony and squeezed out all our laundry and put it out on the hanger. Later we found out that we washed the lady's bike that sits outside of the little shop under our apartment. Fortunately she found it hilarious and smileS and points at us a lot when she sees us. :D Also we found out that half rinsed laundry acts like it has been pressed and starched! I knew something was up when out laundry never waved in the wind... Maybe we will have to sell that patent someday!

Be aware! Lollipop crossing!!

Ah yes. My favorite sign. My Polish friend I was with I think was a bit embarrassed at my unconfined tourist emotions, but she let me do it with her around. :D

Dear Family and friends,

I have made it safe to Poland and am really excited to be here. I had a cancelled flight because of the protests in Germany and the workers did not show. So I was there over night (which is day there at home:)) so it was quite the experience but God provided. It was so amazing because I think God knew I was really frazzled from my trip because the moment I looked down to see the land in Poland I saw a field full of bails. I was so happy to see those bails and I found such reassurance in them being there. Also the first animal I saw in Poland was a cute holstein cow tied in someone yard! That really to me was another testament from God telling me that He would give me comfort even in a foreign land.
So I am here and have met many wonderful people. God is so good. I have learned about 10 word because of necessity in passing out flyers for the school, so it has been good! I really have been having a great time with my new SM buddy and she really is a lot of fun. So I am doing well among the big polish toilet buttons and the children crossing signs that have lollipops on them. Life is good! I surrender all!