Lahr / Offenburg - Week 11

Hey Everybody!

This week has been a lot better than the last few. It's been pretty rough here, but things are looking up! I have to go pretty fast here but I just want to share a little something real quick.

With Easter being this week, the church has come out with the new video on helives.mormon.org and man is it amazing! It is simply fabulous! With Easter coming, I want you all to watch the video, and know that He does live! He is here. He is our Savior and loves us so very much. This week, I'm really working hard to finish Jesus the Christ. It is such an amazing book and I'm so glad it's on the missionary library. I feel super close to Christ whenever I read it and I can feel His love for me and the people I serve. I hope you all know He is always there. Everything can be mended through Him. He empathizes, cares, and helps to move on through the dreary challenges of life! He is my Hero, Savior, and Redeemer. 

Thought I'd share some words to a primary song:

"A long time ago in a beautiful place, Children were gathered round Jesus.

He blessed and taught as they felt of His love, each saw the tears on His face.

The love that He felt for His little ones, I know He feels for me.

I can not touch Him or sit on His knee, yet Jesus is real to me.

I know He lives, I will follow faithfully, My heart I give to Him, 

I know that my Savior loves me."

Friends and family, the greatest miracle the world has ever seen is the Love of Christ. His Birth, Ministry, Death, and Resurrection encompass the greatest life of any human being to walk this earth. Just imagine that, the most perfect person to ever live loves you, and wants you to be happy. That is a miracle in and of itself. Find happiness through Him! (: He cares, loves, and He Lives! 

Lahr / Offenburg - Week 10

Hey everybody!

It's been a little while since I have sent a group email out. I want to let you all know that I'm doing good. Life is one constant struggle but I'm getting by. Let me tell you about Thursday! It was the craziest day of my life!

On Thursday, I was on an exchange with the ZL's. I was in Offenburg with Elder Meilsoe from Denmark, he's a boss. Our morning started out moving furniture for the new Senior Couple that came in on Saturday. We got that done, but as soon as we got it done, one of the members asked if we wanted to get the other elders and come over for lunch. So we did. She made us Potato and Vegetable soup, with fried eggs on top...... It was quite interesting. Then, she fed us applesauce for dessert! Interesting as well. Hahaha. Then we walked over to another members house. She's from Venezuela and made us mushroom burritos. Literally just mushrooms in a tortilla. I had the most difficult time of my life. We realized by that point that we had missed the bus and needed to walk back to Bahnhof, which is about a 40 minute walk. We were just contacting people along the way and ran into an old lady who tried to hit on us and ask if we wanted to come over later in the day for a 'good time'. Oh man. Then we finally got to Bahnhof and took the train back. Then we did some studies together and went out finding again. We gave out 3 Book of Mormon's but none of those people had further interest. Quite odd indeed. We got spit on by a Turk and sworn at by an American. We finished 3 hours of contacting and had planned to go to dinner with our senior couple the Bignalls. So we jumped on a bus and were headed out there with 6 of us Elders, and all of a sudden the bus ended in the middle of nowhere. So we start walking and see a sign. Next city, 3 miles. So we start a little jog and Elder Howarth is getting whiny that we're jogging. Then Elder Jensen drops his camera and breaks it. We came to a fork in the dirt road and waved down the only car within 3 miles and asked for directions and she lied to us..... Dang it. Then we found a farmer and got the right directions and started walking. Then 2 minutes later he pulls up to the side of us and asks if we want a ride. So we take a ride from a stranger (DON'T JUDGE). Then, we get done with dinner, and walk outside and the bus flies past. Next one doesn't come for an hour. So, it was 9:00. We decided to door houses. Friends and Family, if you are ever in Germany, please, please don't door houses at 9:00. It was one of the most scary experiences of my life. Afterwards, we got hit on by a gay teenage gang before we finally caught the bus to go home. Man. What a day. 

On a more spiritual side, last week we were walking through Innenstadt alone and a guy rode past on his bike, and said, "Missionaries of God, where is God?" I yelled back at him and said, "He's here and he loves you!!!" The guy slammed on his brakes and approached us. We thought we were both dead. He came up and gave me a huge hug. Like I can't even describe. It was way funny. It felt so empowering to tell someone those words. He's here, and He loves you. It's also a good reminder for each of us. Sometimes we get caught up in the everyday labors of life, and we fail to recognize His hand in our lives. But, I can testify, He's here and He loves you! 

I love you all as well. Have a good week!

Elder Sam Hadfield

Friedrichstrasse 26

77654 Offenburg

Germany

Lahr / Offenburg - Week 9

Freiburg Zone Conference, March, 2015

This week, we spent our whole week finding. Probably about 30 hours dooring and streeting. We found 1 potential investigator. Our investigators are all ignoring us - we keep running into a wall like every day. But, I just gotta keep working. There isn't much I can do about the situation of people's acceptance rate or if they're open or not. Just have to control what I can control. It's a lot like baseball. The one good thing that has come out of this week is that the 2 girl's families' are debating on having us bring by the Book of Mormon. I hope they are ok with us coming by to share it with them. This week will just be more of the same nose against the wall to find people who are ready to hear the gospel. So difficult. It's the only way to get anything done here though, so I guess we'll keep doing it. 

Hey Dad, Happy Birthday tomorrow! I hope you have a good one. Love you all!

Elder Sam Hadfield

Friedrichstrasse 26

77654 Offenburg

Germany

Elder Mohn leaving Offenburg March 2015

Lahr / Offenburg - Week 8

Hey All! 

Tomorrow will be my 6 month mark in the mission field. It's quite hard to believe but time really is flying by! I just want to share a couple short messages from President Kohler. He gave a talk in Stake Conference yesterday that was way good. A few weeks ago in our mission tour he talked about Consistent Persistence in Faith and Diligence. It was a great message because he talked about how sometimes there are things in our lives that we have to work at. Sometimes, it feels as if though we aren't making progress because there is no visible movement. He testified that there is always movement going even when we can't see it. With Consistent Persistence in Faith and Diligence, we come to a point where we can see visible movements in the heavy, difficult labors of life. The weight is lifted off our shoulders, and we become new each week by taking the sacrament. Yesterday in Stake Conference, he talked about the parable of the 10 virgins and their oil. He used a phrase that I wrote down but can't quite remember. I believe it's Working for what we're Investing. He talked about how we need to be on constant watch to see how much oil is in our lamps. We always need to be ready for the time that Christ will come again. But, at the same time, we need to have our lamps ready with enough oil at every hour of the day. Satan tempts in the slightest ways and if we don't have oil in our lamps, we aren't ready to withstand those temptations. So my challenge to you is to exercise Consistent Persistence in Faith and Diligence and to Work for what you are Investing in. Constantly check your oil in your lamp. We have been given so many tools in our day to succeed! It's just the little primary answers like reading the Book of Mormon, or going to church, or serving others, oder wenn wir lieben unseren Nächsten wie uns selbst. Loving others as we love ourselves. I know that it's true. Everything that I have been taught in my youth is true. This work is amazing, and when we have the oil in the lamp, we are able to withstand the temptation the adversary throws at us. 

I love you all, have a good week! 

Elder Sam Hadfield

Friedrichstrasse 26

77654 Offenburg

Germany

Lahr / Offenburg - Week 7

Hey everybody! 

I hope you've all had a good week and that you're finding chances to share the gospel. (: I hope to share a quick message that will brighten your week. I don't have a lot of time. I was walking down the street the other day and I just realized how engrossed my mind is in the work. I started to realized how much my focus has shifted from what's going on in the world around us, or what's going on at home, to what is happening here and how I'm going to help these people progress. My dreams are in German now, which is convenient. Hahaha. I learn even when I sleep. 

I wanted to share something about the power of the Priesthood. This week, I had the chance to give my first Priesthood Blessing in German. It was nervewracking to say the least. I'd laid my hands on other people's heads before to listen to a blessing in German, but this time I was up. I was shaking a little bit. We had taught the Word of Wisdom and our investigator has a problem with smoking and he looked at me and asked if I would give him a blessing. I was pretty quick to defer the offer to our member who came to the lesson, but he wanted it from me. I laid my hands on his head, then words just started to flow. I opened my eyes and just felt my mouth running in German. It was literally unreal to me. I couldn't believe it! I testify that the power of the Priesthood is real and manifest in the work today. It could not be a 'made up' power. It literally comes from God.

We were in Sacrament meeting yesterday and singing I Believe in Christ, and something really hit me. A couple months ago, I was wondering if He had forgotten me a little. We came upon the part that says, 'and while I strive through grief and pain, His voice is heard, 'Ye shall obtain'.' I felt prompted again to open the Book of Mormon to the verse in 1 Nephi 21:16 that says, 'I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands.' What a comfort to me and to the whole world. He has literally graven us on the palms of His hands. He has a forever reminder of us right on the palms of His hands. He will never forget us. As His personal representative, I testify that we are never alone. He is always at our side waiting to help us. I stand all amazed at the love He offers us. It is truly wonderful, wonderful to me. Have a fabulous week all! I love you so much. Thank you for your prayers. I feel your prescence here in Germany all the time. 

I love you all! 

LG,

Elder Sam Hadfield

Friedrichstrasse 26

77654 Offenburg

Germany

Lahr / Offenburg - Week 6

Hi All!

This week has been really just fantastic. We were just absolutely on fire this week. We set a record for lessons in our area this week. We now have 4 baptismal dates in our area as well, and we're really hoping we can reach all of them. The 4 are M, M, R, and N. I love Frau N. She's a lady from Columbia and she moved here to Germany a long time ago. But, her husband, who is German, and she are now divorced. We met her on the street, and she's just going through some really hard times. She was so prepared to meet with us though. It's amazing to see the people the Lord prepares. Before our 2nd lesson with her, she had watched the Restoration video online and listened to a talk from President Monson. She loves the church, she's now been 2 times, and her date is the 4th of April. In between conference sessions. (: M is April 11, and M and R are both on the 28th of March. Keep praying for me! I feel so many prayers for me every day. It's incredible. We also found 3 new investigators this week, and 2 by dooring, which is less used in our mission! It was awesome. 

But, the coolest part is yet to come. Last Monday night, after emails, we got a call from President Kohler for 2 referrals in our area. They are both 16 year old girls, who are best friends and went on an exchange program in Michigan, and lived with their uncle, who happens to be the Bishop. While they were there, they became so in touch with the gospel, and learned all of the discussions. They received permission from their parents to be baptized when they returned. Well, they got home last Monday night from their trip, and we have been praying for them constantly. I got in touch with the Bishop last Friday and he reported to me that the families are taking it pretty hard to see their girls change so much. We're really praying for the softening of the families hearts before we contact them again. If you could just add them in your prayers that would be awesome!!
Elder Mohn is transferring to Ellwegan (Stuttgart Zone) for his last 6 weeks. He will be with another Elder that is also going home next transfer. I'm staying in Offenburg, working with Elder Howarth this transfer. He and Elder Killpack were MTC comps. He'll be way fun to work with. He's DL this transfer as well.  We just got news that Elder Bednar is coming to our mission on April 25. I'm so excited to see him in person. In the last couple months, he has become one of my favorites. The whole mission will be coming together for it. It's going to be so cool. I cannot wait! He's going to be awesome.

I love you all, and I hope you have a great week. 

Love, 

Elder Sam Hadfield

Friedrichstrasse 26

77654 Offenburg

Germany

Coming home from shopping