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| Elder Howarth - Transferred 4/9/15 |
Well, transfer calls came in and Elder Howarth is being transferred. My new companion is Elder Monson and I'm staying in Offenburg.
This week was awesome! I really enjoyed General
Conference; especially Elder Holland.
I don't have much time to email because we're taking a
50km bike ride today for fun. So, I just want to share a little experience that happened to me this week. Kind of a parable for life.
So, on Tuesday
after District Meeting we decided to do splits for fun. Elder La Plant
and I were together, (he's a 1st transfer missionary in Freiburg), and
we thought it would be a good idea to go door by a member's house to
help him find some missionary work to do with his neighbors. It was a
15km bike ride out to his house, and 15km back. We were dressed in our
short sleeve white shirts, basically just summer missionary clothes. We
started off, just a funny side note here, we passed the sisters and I
yelled something like, "Ha! Look at the Jehovah's Witnesses!!" Then, like
as soon as I said that, my pants caught in the bike chain and I fell
off the bike and tore my pants. Haha...KARMA. Be nice to Sister
Missionaries! Anyways, we got going and we were riding through the city
of Freiburg, big city, and we got to the city limits and entered
Schwarzwald, known to you as the Black Forest. As soon as we hit the
city limits we hit this massive hill. About that time running through my
mind was the Bike Trek our ward had a few years back. Probably many of
you remember that Bike Trek. For me, the Bike Trek was exciting and I
had been really looking forward to it. We were required to complete
training rides that proved we could make it on our own. We all had to
get physical examinations from the Doctor and prepare ourselves mentally
and physically for the long trip we would take. I completed all the
bike rides to train and got my physical, and I was ready to go. I had
been having problems with my foot at the time but I wasn't worried about
it. Then, about a week before the bike trek, I was told by the doctor
that I wouldn't be able to go because of the problems I had with my
feet, which later required surgery. I was overwhelmingly disappointed. I
wanted to go with my friends and experience this so bad! The day came
and I stayed home. I was able to go up one night and hang with the guys
and kind of be around them. But, anyway, on the last day of the trek,
they came to this hill called the Widow Maker. Very appropriately named
hill. They stopped all of the Young Men at the bottom and told them
about the hill and had a spiritual thought. They told them that if they
could make it up this hill without getting off the bike, they could
accomplish anything that would be thrown at them in life. Then, they
started up. Some had to walk the bikes up the hill, some had to stop to
rest, and some made it all the way to the top. For everyone there, it
was an experience they said they would never forget. I remember the
Young Men tell stories about that experience for years! I was
heartbroken to say the least.
Anyway, we got to the bottom of
this hill and I stopped. I looked up and had these memories flashing
back into my mind of Young Men telling of their stories from the Widow
Maker. As I looked up the hill, I decided that this was my Widow Maker.
If I could get all the way up this hill, I could do anything in life,
much the same way that if I can be a missionary, I can do anything in
life. We started up the hill and pretty fast, almost right off, my legs
were burning. My bike was struggling to shift gears, and I was pretty
much ready to give up. Then, the words came to my mind from a story we
heard at a Stake Conference about 2 months ago, which are the words of
my childhood. This will seem cheesy, but it's from the storybook, 'The
Little Blue Engine that Could.' (Yes, I haven't forgotten Mom). The
train pushes up the hill and struggles to get up, but starts to say,
"Ich kann, ich will. Ich kann, ich will." Which the english equivalent
would be I can, I want to, I can, I want to. Then, further up the hill
begins to say, "Ich weiß, ich schaff's. Ich weiß, ich schaff's." Which
would be the English equivalent of I know I can make it. The words came
to my mind as I pedaled up the hill. Slowly the pain went away and I
thought I was doing pretty good. I became a little prideful. Then, I
heard a bike horn, which meant that someone wanted to pass, so I moved a
little to the side. I turned and watched this old lady pass, laughing
her head off... That was not funny. But nevertheless, I kept going up
the hill. By the time we made it to the top, we had biked 10 km, the
equivalent of 6.6 miles, up this dang hill. I had made it without
getting off the bike. It just goes to show me, that at times of trial, I
know that if I tell myself that I will not walk the bike up the hill,
that I will just keep pushing at it, that everything will be alright in
the end, and the view will be beautiful. Sometimes people may pass us up
during our trials, even old ladies, but it doesn't matter who makes it
first, but rather how we make it up. I know that the gospel is true and
provides solutions for all people in all situations if we just push up
the hill and refuse to get off the bike. DON'T GET OFF THE BIKE. Don't
give up, just keep going. There is a lovely view waiting for you, as
well as the downhill afterward. (: I love you all. Have an awesome week.
Elder Sam Hadfield
Friedrichstrasse 26
77654 Offenburg
Germany
