Goodbye Solothurn!

Dear Sherri

I just would like to thank you for your wonderful son. He has been serving in the Solothurn ward the last couples of months. We had a great time with him. He is a hardworking, humble, funny and good missionary. We laughed a lot and he has been a great help to our daughter Rahel.
You will have him back soon!!! I need to wait for my son to come home from his mission in Denmark. He has still a year to go!!!

Elder Hadfield tried to match a pile of our washed sockes while waiting for his Sunday dinner,. I hate looking for a paire of sock who match.... He actually did my job :) I wondered if my son would have done something similar on his mission????? 
Then we needed to wait outside because my husband wasn't home and I was alone with my daughter. No double date permitted :) so sitting outside is ok, but it got a little cold...
He looks happy doesn't he :)

Best wishes from Switzerland
He soon will be home. You can look forward to a great son.....
Love, 
Claudia Ziegler

Zieglers

Matching black socks for the Ziegler Family waiting for Sunday dinner!

Solothurn Youth Sunday School Class

Hey Family and Friends!  Another week and another month down. School is officially out for the year. Summer is beginning! ☀

S/O to my boys for bringing home the State Championship!

With the beginning of summer comes for me the beginning of a new area, and possibly my final area. I'll be moving over to the country of Austria in an area called Haag am Hausruck. I'll live in Ried Im Innkreis, which I'm almost sure is either a place where my dad served on his mission, or very close to a place there. I'll have a car as well, rolling down the city streets. I'm not too excited for the car, I'll probably be leaving it at home most of the time. There's not too many people you can connect with in a car. My companion will be Elder Liechty from Provo. It'll be a good time, I'm sure. It's a pretty tough place, so it'll definitely be a challenge for my last few transfers. I just hope I've got the steam to finish out really strong.

Goodbye's sucked yet again. It's so difficult to say goodbye to people you love with your entire heart, and have no idea if you'll ever see them again. I hate that part of the mission experience. I LOVE the members here in Solothurn. If I had one wish it would have to be to come back after my mission and visit all these good people I've met. 

My thought this week comes from an experience I had this week and a quote from Preach My Gospel. The quote is from John Taylor, and goes:

 “It is true intelligence for a man to take a subject that is mysterious and great in itself, and to unfold and simplify it so that a child can understand it.”

I've found this quote to be pretty true on my mission in a few different senses. One sense of course is teaching investigators the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the Restoration of the Church. I'm teaching people, who understand about as well as a small infant, the most important, complex doctrine they'll ever hear in their lives, which is peculiarly at the same time the most simple, basic message they'll ever hear. I spend my time trying to bring it to their hearts and help them take it in, just like spoon feeding a small baby, (hoping as well that they can hold it down and not regurgitate it).

Another comes in the sense of my personal study of the gospel. I've found myself studying some of the most deep topics and interesting aspects of the Gospel on my mission. Things so complex I could spend a lifetime studying them. They're also those things that people start to question and raise worries at when they start to look at too deeply. My job however, isn't to dwell on those things, but rather become as a little child, especially as I study the gospel and try to understand it better. Just like a kid will always trust his parents and the basics he's taught, I build myself one principle at a time, always falling back onto the basic truths that I know when times get tough. Too many people forget that we are supposed to become like children, when the one thing that we all are is Children. Children of divine Deity, destined to become like Him, but only when we hold strong to the title that we are His children. Quite interesting right?

So the application of this principle made itself manifest at a member appointment and in a lesson we taught in Sunday School. The lesson was to a rowdy group of 8 or so young men, with 4 young women as well. The regular teacher, the bishop’s wife, has had a difficult time lately getting the kids to focus. So she asked if we would give it a try. We went in and talked about prayer, seeing as some of the boys struggle with prayer. We asked them all what was important to them, and made a list of like 20 things, including soccer, games, phones, girls, food, sleep, friends, family, you name it. We asked them why these things were important to them. Then came the question: If all these things were to be suddenly taken away, what would be left over? Then we talked about personal relationships with Heavenly Father and personal experiences with prayer.

 Coming on a mission really makes you rely on that relationship between you and God. All of a sudden, all these things are torn away from you. Cell phone, girls, friends, family, sleep, games, personal time. All of that is gone, and what's left over? If you don't have the personal connection to the creator of the Universe, our Father, it's going to be difficult. It was a really good lesson with them.

We were then after church at a member appointment and we were ready to pray over Sunday Dinner. The 5 year old daughter wanted to do it all on her own without help from her dad. This was pretty close to what she said. "Dear Heavenly Father, I'm thankful for this beautiful day, that we could go to church and be home. I'm thankful that at Christmas we got presents, and that we got our scooters. We love them. Yesterday, my sister and I rode around the neighborhood really fast. It was so much fun. I love my sister. Please bless this food. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen." We were all laughing, but I thought to myself, man.... This little girl understands prayer.

Until my mission, I just figured God wanted a report of what I did that day, what I was thankful for, and what I needed help with. Here, I've discovered that all He really wants to hear about is the things that are important to us. If it's important to us, imagine how important it is to Him. Even if it is something as small as riding a scooter around the neighborhood. I know when He hears from us, He's just throwing a party up in Heaven because that's how much He cares for us. This gospel is so cool. 

I love you all, prayers on their way!

Elder Hadfield

Solothurn - Week 12

Hey Friends and Fam, 

It's been yet another great week out in the beautiful, rolling hills here in Switzerland. This week is transfer calls again, and we know that according to Swiss law, I have to leave the country, because I've been here 90 days on my American tourist visa. So next week, I'll let you all know where I'm ending my mission. Isn't that an odd thought?! It's been 2 years since I received my call, and more than 20 months in the field.

So, it was a good week. We found a new family through dooring who are open to the gospel. I was able to go on exchange in a struggling area and we found 5 new people together. We have people progressing toward their goal of baptism. The sun has decided to start shining more. I'm doing one of the most important works one could do in this world. Life is great I would say. 

As many of you know, the Baseball State Tournament is this week in Utah. I heard this week that the guys won their first 2 games, and will be playing in the Quarterfinals tomorrow. S/O to my boys for the hard work. As I was thinking about this, Wednesday this week will be the 4 year anniversary of the time that we played in the State Championship and lost in 10 innings, and a couple days ago was the 2 year mark of my last game. So naturally, as it always is, my mind was drawn this week to the greatest game in the world. I had the privilege of playing baseball for 4 years under the greatest high school coach in the state, and learning life lessons from a game I loved.

As I took time to think about it this week, I realized that a lot of those lessons have shaped my mission, and will continue to shape my life. I'd like to share 10 with you, that I believe if a boy can learn playing baseball, will shape him into a man as he progresses in life. 

1. It's not the Will to Win that matters, rather the Will to Prepare to Win  

* If someone wants to be good at anything, they have to practice at it. The same stood for baseball. We would practice as a team everyday after school, until the evening, then there were those of us who would stay after practice to work on becoming better personally, then those same few would be at the gym that night looking to get bigger, faster, and stronger. All of that was in preparation to win.

 * The same stands for missionary work. I remember stepping into my first couple days in the mission field, and feeling completely inadequate and unprepared. Anyone would feel that way. Watching and observing different missionaries, I've learned that sure, we all want a baptism, we all want to be successful, but those who fail to prepare to be successful, will always fail.

 2. Trust Your Teammates  

* Throughout my years of baseball, it was very important for me to learn to trust that everyone would do their job correctly and precisely. To be honest, there's a few kids I played ball with that I didn't really like off the field, but when it came down to it, I would have done anything for anyone of those guys on the field. The trust was developed by the realization that we were working towards the same goal, to win a championship.  

* The same goes in missionary work. You put 75,000 young men and women out on the same field from 75,000 different backgrounds, and you're going to find guys you don't like, respect, or even connect with. But the fact of the matter is that each one of the 75,000 is (hopefully) working towards the same goal. When you're able to put past you the fact that you don't get along off the field, and you can put your game face on and be ready to die for him on the field, that's when you see success. 

3. Measure a Man by the Size of His Heart  

* On the baseball field, if you put the strongest, biggest, fastest guy out there and pit him against the kid who's got nothing but pure heart and a push to win, the kid with the biggest heart will always win. In baseball, you could hardly ever measure an opposing player by their size off the bat. You could measure it by looking into their eyes, and seeing how bad they wanted the thing they were working for.  

* In missionary work, I could put the most talented young man out there. One who has been out for 2 years, and stick him with a rookie who wants nothing but to succeed. The greenie, with the influence of the Spirit will win and be more successful every single time. 

4. Get Over Not Being Perfect, and Move Forward  

* I often made the mistake of criticizing myself too much as seeing how well everyone else was doing. It's important sometimes to step back and accentuate your strengths as well. If all you ever see is the things that you struggle with, then your attitude will always be negative.  

* In missionary work, if I spent the entire time gawking over missionaries who were better at something than I was, I would dig myself a hole that would be hard to get out of. I need to focus on my own progress and recognize my strengths in the process. 

5. Never Be Afraid of Failure  

* I remember pitching in my first varsity game. I was so nervous, and my heart was pounding, and there was more people watching than there ever had been before. I came in, gave up a few runs, but still got my job done, and then the game finished. I had some time to think about it and then the next day, I got asked to pitch again, against the same team, in the same tournament. Knowing how it had felt the first time, I promised myself that I would block out the fear, and give the best I had to give. I came in with the bases loaded, no outs, in a tied game in extra innings, and blocked out the people, the voices, the heart pumping in my chest, and struck out the next 3 batters to end the inning and keep us in the game.  

* If I spend my entire time throughout the day worried about what people are going to think of me, or if I'm going to fail talking to this person, I'm going to be an extremely crappy missionary. If I can get over the fear, I can make miracles happen in the lives of people who are searching. 

6. Your Attitude Can Determine the Overall Success of the Team  

* I remember as well playing on teams where if you struck out and chose to come back to the dugout and have yourself a pity party by throwing your helmet and bat on the ground, you would then be riding the bench. I remember the feeling of one coming back to the dugout, throwing his things around, and it affecting the whole attitude and thus success of the entire team.  

* So a part of it is dealing with disappointment. Maybe I strike out instead of getting a hit and driving in a run. Maybe the investigator dropped us instead of getting baptized. But how I choose to react to that can affect my companion, my district, the members, which overall affects the success of the mission as a whole. How one learns to overcome disappointment will determine how successful one is in life. 

7. Don't Back Down From a Challenge  

* Another good way to say it I suppose is never give up. In my sophomore year, our team had a less than average season and we ended up in a play-in game against another average team to see who got into the state tournament. We beat them 7-6 or something like that. The tournament was double elimination, and we lost our first game and it looked bleak. Many would have thrown in the towel or stopped working hard. But we won our next 10 games or so to make it into the state championship. What an incredible experience.  

* Today, I've been blessed by this lesson as I come and go into new areas with new companions. I know that no matter what the situation is, I can make something great out of it, but only if I don't back down from it. 

8. Leave the Past in The Past  

* This is one I'm still learning and perfecting. This is the baseball experience from 4 years ago where we were one strike away from winning the state championship. All I ever wanted in my baseball career was to win a state championship. I remember the feeling of watching that pitch, being ready to jump up and run onto the pitcher’s mound in a huge dogpile, hold the trophy, put a nice ring on my finger, and celebrate for a long time. But as fate would have it, things turned out differently, and we lost the game. 4 years later, I still struggle with the memory of losing what I really wanted. But if I dwell only on that memory, it will always prevent my success. Leave the Past in the Past, because you can change history TODAY with one swing of a bat.  

* If I spent all my time as a missionary dwelling on the bad experiences, or the stories of what missionaries have done in my area in the past, I would be less than what I need to be, and always hindered by the knowledge that I can't change the past. I would rather focus on changing the past with one swing or one 85 mph fastball. 

9. Play Everyday Like it's your Last  

* Nobody really knows exactly when they'll play their last game of baseball. They may have a good guess, but that guess may be marred by injury or something else. For me, it was in my senior year that I happened to have stress fractures in my back from too much repetitive pitching, and had a shoulder problem, which seemed to get worse throughout the season and still bugs me now. I'm really thankful that I could finish the season, but it just goes to show, you never know.  

* I've seen a couple of missionaries come to the end of their missions early. Completely unexpectedly, one needs surgery, or one is diagnosed with a disease, or a tragedy in the family happens. It's no secret. Life isn't fair. So we should treat everyday like we don't know what's going to come tomorrow because we simply don't know. 

10. Never, Ever, Ever Quit  

* I remember an experience when I was about 10, where I got called on to pitch in a city league game, and I did horrible. I walked a bunch of kids, and lost us the game eventually. I came home that night with the determination that I would never play baseball again because I was so bad at it, and I couldn't pitch. Sitting there wallowing in my sorrow, I remember my dad coming into my room and reminding me that 'Hadfield's aren't quitters', and that I could do anything I stuck my mind to and one bad game didn't determine my destiny. If I had chosen to quit, I would never have lived the amazing baseball experiences I had, and never learned the lessons I did.  

* How grateful I am that one bad choice or chapter doesn't determine my destiny. One bad day as a missionary never determines my complete success or failure. I know as well that I will never, ever, ever quit in the work of God. What a priceless lesson.  All in all, I'm so grateful for the lessons I learned playing the greatest game there is to play. In a game of inches, I learned how to gain those inches, which will help me to gain inches in life. I envy my former teammates who get to play on one of the greatest stages of high school baseball this week, but I know I'm doing an even greater work on an even better stage. What an opportunity to learn about life! I LOVE BASEBALL.

Enjoy your week,

Elder Hadfield

Bern Zone Conference

Solothurn - Week 11

Hey everybody! This week has been pretty long. Some crazy stuff going on this week and lots of fallen out appointments again. That's always a thing though.

I had a really good Austausch in Zollikofen with Elder La Plant after we had interviews with President. My interview with President was really good. It was nice, it's been about 2 and a half months since I've seen him. He's really struggling figuring out what to do with our area. He wants to close us Elders because there's 13 elders in the mission going home, and almost none coming in. He has to close all areas with 4 missionaries in them. So either us or the sisters are getting closed, he just needs to figure out what to do. It would be difficult for the sisters to take over the work we have going here, and they don't have much going on to be brutally honest. So we will see what he does. Who knows?

Another cool thing, to figure out more with the situation, President came to our sacrament meeting yesterday and gave a talk. It was great to have him there. I'd never had President in one of our sacrament meetings before. He gave a talk about hearing different voices. This is kind of where my thought comes from for today.

We all live in a world surrounded by voices. As I think about my home life, I would wake up, pray, and hope to hear the Spirit throughout the day. Then I would go upstairs, hear the voices of my Mom and Dad, of siblings, then of friends at school, of different teachers and professors throughout the day, from a boss or work colleagues, of coaches and teammates, then again of mom and dad before I jump into bed at night again. Not even mentioned in that is my own voice. My own thoughts throughout the day. There's hardly a point where we aren't hearing a voice. So when do we hear the voice of the Spirit? There's points where other people get so tired of hearing the judging, accusing, annoying, or condoning voices of others, that they refuse to continue living the way they are. The voice of the Spirit is never judging, accusing, or condoning, rather loving, understanding, and guiding. When one doesn't take the time to plan a time into their day to listen to the Spirit, life becomes twice as difficult.

As yesterday was May 15, I thought on the restoration of the Priesthood which occurred 187 years ago. If Joseph had never chosen to take time to listen to the voice of the Spirit, we would have no truth on earth today. Miracles happen when we take the time to listen. That's my testimony!

Have a good week, I appreciate your prayers!

Elder Hadfield

Solothurn - Week 10

Hey everybody, 

Just a short email this week because I already Skyped home and had all that fun and jazz. This week, a lot of appointments fell out and it was actually quite a frustrating week. Very draining. It seems to be that we always have one really good week then one bad week on top of it. I don't get why. Hard to explain I suppose. That made for some good solid time on the streets. It's been a while since I've had that.

On Tuesday, we found 7 potentials on a Tausch with Elder Mateer, and on Wednesday 3 more. Since then, no more. There's just some missionaries who find different things more productive than others. I'm of the solid opinion that my time is best spent on the streets seeing the people, and talking to everyone I can talk to. That's the only way this whole experience works.

So there has been a couple points in the past couple weeks where I've been really frustrated, just because there's often a lot to do, and we can fill our time with good activities, or we can fill them with better and best activities that give us the chance to see more people, talk to more of them, teach more of them, and baptize them when it comes down to it. That's a common frustration I have with some missionaries. It's an improvement I keep trying to make as well, as I wasn't always the one to want to go do the best activities, I was just satisfied with the good ones. That's a big lesson I've learned on the mission. So yeah, one of those weeks I suppose. Lots to learn from. 

Shoutout to my mom. I love her with all my heart and she's my number one fan and my hero. Happy Mother’s Day to her and all moms everywhere. 

Thanks for your emails and support. I love you all!

-Elder Hadfield