Conferencetime

We have a new perspective of General Conference, being in a different timezone, with a different language, very limited ways to view it, and disconnected from regular communication with SLC. For 17 years I watched conference after the fact because I was working during the event to make it happen in all the languages. I grew a little complacent about the spiritual feast it is, viewing the talks as only items on a checklist. This time, however, it was an easy thing to work through the technical difficulties, watch it at odd hours, and switch between English and Polish.

Saturday at 18:00 we connected via the internet in one of the rooms in the office building where our "chapel" is. We ordered pizza for those who wanted to come. We had the usual frustration with getting the TV to connect, so those watching in Polish viewed it on our little laptop while Jean and I and another sister watched on the computer in another room in English. We had 4 members, 4 investigators, and 4 missionaries there. The young Elders have to be in their apartment by 9:30 so we and one of the members (20 year-old young man) watched the afternoon session in our apartment, that finished at midnight.

Sunday we got the chapel TV hooked up so watched the Saturday afternoon session as our church meetings (8 people plus us 4 missionaries). We then had the Elders and two of the young members over to our apartment for dinner and watched the Sunday 6:00 session live together, with the young man staying again to watch the late session until 0:00.

That's the logistics, but the important thing is that it was so inspiring. Every talk seemed relevant and uplifting and powerful. We had some good conversations about the talks. The young man mentioned above has absolutely no hope that his parents will ever accept what he has done by joining the Church and, of course, no hope that they will ever accept the restored gospel themselves. After the late session Saturday and the talks by Elder Anderson, Elder Held, and especially Elder Wada who told a little story about his mother coming to sacrament meeting after 31 years, he said "Wow, before this I felt I was alone."

Love Elder and Sister Bridge

Pictures:
First, some of you don't know me well enough to know when I'm joking, I see now. I love irony and incongruity and sometimes it's not obvious or funny to others besides me. I need to clarify that those Nazi Christmas ornaments are NOT something we would, or even could, buy. They are in the museum on display and they highlight the stark difference between what was being portrayed to the public and what was really happening in Germany at the time. I got feedback from a few people that made me realize I was not explicit about that.

This week a bank, which started a food bank (confusing, right, at least I was), held a food drive and we helped them for a few hours by standing outside a grocery store and asking people to buy items for the poor. The girl in the banana outfit was one of the organizers. 

Some people had the attitude that the poor don't deserve it any more than themselves. 

One lady brought her purchases to our cart and made us count out loud how many items she added. 

One lady put in a small sack of flour (1kg) and said "I've been hungry before too."

One picture gives you a sense of the scale, taken from the back of the chapel at St. Bridget's church. St. Bridget is a Swedish saint and my middle name, McBride, is derived from "the followers of Bridget." Apparently they've got some of her bones in there.

Some interesting details of the alter piece that I hope you can see in the other picture are that the grapes are amber, a famous feature of this area on the Baltic, and donated by ordinary people. Also, at the feet of Mary you see "Solidarność" (Solidarity). Father Henryk Jankowski was head of this church during the 1980's and assisted in brokering negotiations between the striking workers (led by Lech Walesa) and the government. The connection between the Catholic Church and the people of Poland is more than religious, it is their culture and history. Even long-time members of our church still have connections to the Catholic church. This is an example, that they feel that they would not have regained their independence and eliminated the rule of communism without the church's help. Also, Pope John Paul II (from Poland) spoke in support of the movement. He is revered everywhere in Poland and you see his image all over. Under Mary there is a monstrance with his heart (at least part of it) and his blood.