Lahr / Offenburg - Week 16

Friends and Family,

Wow. My heart is just overflowing this week. There's a lot on my mind. We set another baptismal date this week and this one is really solid. He's an amazing man, and he loves the Book of Mormon. I ran into him on the street this morning and he yelled, "HADFIELD!!!!" and came running at me with a bear hug. He's an all around great guy. (for those of you that get that inside joke).

I feel really blessed and I'm simply on cloud nine to be on a mission. A mission is the greatest blessing of my life. I've told everybody that I wanted to serve a mission since I was 8 or 9. That's of course true, but I could never have imagined the effects I would see in my life. Being on a mission has blessed me and affected my life more than I could ever have imagined. I have changed so much and I owe it to the miracle that I wear the name of Jesus Christ on my chest every day. The whole reason I'm writing this little tender portion here is because this Thursday, the 7th, will be the one year mark since I received the most important piece of mail I ever had received in my life. I remember it like yesterday. It was a B day at school and about halfway through the day I got a text from my mom saying it hadn't come in the mail. Bummer. We had a game against Orem that day that if we won, we would be in the state tournament. That game was one of the craziest baseball games I've ever played in in my life. It lasted long and we were playing through the rain and the snow. The game ended and my mom came up to me and told me it had come, in the neighbor's mailbox. We raced home to open it before mutual as a family. It was really tear jerking opening the piece of paper that I had waited for my whole life and that would change my life forever. As I ripped it open, it took me a while before I could see the paper. I read Alpine German-Speaking Mission. My dream had come true. For those of you that didn't know, this was my dream mission since I was 12 years old or so. I remember opening it again that night with friends and ward members. I remember the faces there and the feelings I had. The mission call goes on to say, "Greater blessings and more happiness than you have yet experienced await you as you humbly and prayerfully serve the Lord in this labor of Love among His children." That couldn't be more correct. I have experience greater joy than ever before. You don't need to drive in the game winning run or win the state championship to get your blood pumping. I remember the first time I invited someone to baptism, and that was more of a rush than being in the state championship game a few years ago. The mission is life changing, and I'll be forever grateful for it. 

The next thing to address is Mother's Day, and I don't really know how to tie this in, but I'll try. My mom has been my #1 fan throughout my life. She's always been there. I can't describe the love I have for her. I was sitting in Sacrament Meeting yesterday and I popped open to one of my alltime favorite scriptures. Alma 56.

 44 Therefore what say ye, my sons, will ye go against them to battle?
 45 And now I say unto you, my beloved brother Moroni,that never had I seen so great courage, nay, not amongst all the Nephites.
 46 For as I had ever called them my sons (for they were all of them very young) even so they said unto me: Father, behold our God is with us, and he will not suffer that we should fall; then let us go forth; we would not slay our brethren if they would let us alone; therefore let us go, lest they should overpower the army of Antipus.
 47 Now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives; yea, they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them.
 48 And they rehearsed unto me the words of their mothers, saying: We do not doubt our mothers knew it.

 56 But behold, to my great joy, there had not one soul of them fallen to the earth; yea, and they had fought as if with the strength of God; yea, never were men known to have fought with such miraculous strength

 My friends and family, I do not for a second doubt that my mother knew it. She always supported me when I went to battle and especially as I made the choice to serve. She's my hero, and I would do anything to become as Christlike a person as my mom is. I was thinking about it yesterday, and I'm waiting urgently for the day that my son or daughter can say the same thing. "I do not doubt my mother knew it." I'm so happy to be on a mission. The blessings this is bringing me may not be able to outnumber the blessings it is bringing my future family. What a miracle a mission is. I'm going to try to live my life right every day so that I can marry a woman who has no doubt that it's true, and shows the light of Christ in everything she does. Thanks for your example, Mom. I don't doubt that you knew it. I love you! 

Elder Sam Hadfield

Friedrichstrasse 26

77654 Offenburg

Germany

Elder & Sister Bednar's Visit - April 25, 2015

Alpine German-Speaking Missionaries on their way to Mission Conference with Elder Bednar

Elder & Sister Bednar / Elder and President Kohler

The Bednar and Kohler Families

Elder Bednar Addressing the Missionaries

Goodbye!

Lahr / Offenburg - Week 15

Hey Everybody!

This week has been awesome. We've been getting some work done and I'm really pleased with the way things are moving forward. Things are looking great! 

Elder Bednar came this week for those that didn't know and he delivered an amazing, absolutely outstanding message. I loved it so much. The whole meeting was about our calling as missionaries and what we can do better to bring the work forward. I need some time to sort thoughts and what not, but very basically, I'd like to share one thing he said that struck me pretty hard. 

He was talking about agency and he said,

"We have so many people in the world today who say, 'I have my agency, I can do what I want.' As a member of the church, that is wrong. Your agency is not given you to choose, but to choose righteously." He goes on, "When we make covenants, our agency becomes changed. We no longer have the choice to do what we please. We are tied to sacred promises we have made to our Heavenly Father and although we CAN choose to break those, it's not really a choice. We must hold on to the covenants we have made and that doesn't take away our agency in the end, but expands it to the furthest capacities."

It's true, what can I say. I don't really have words to follow up an apostle, so have a good week, and think about the covenants you have made, and use your agency wisely! (:

Elder Sam Hadfield 

Friedrichstrasse 26 

77654 Offenburg 

Germany

Elder Bednar's Visit - April 25, 2015 in Munich

The England MTC District - September 11, 2014 - October 26, 2015

Elder Hadfield and Elder Monson - Offenburg, April 2015

Elders Hadfield & Barnhart (Sam's trainer) - Passau October, 2014 - January 2015

Path of the Rhine River - Near Offenburg Germany, Border of France

The Rhine - Close to Border of the Black Forest

Lahr / Offenburg - Week 14

I'm a little rushed on time because we walked into the email shop and there was a lady from England who needed help..... booking a flight. (:  I helped her for about 45 minutes and we got her booked! We've had a great week. Looking forward to welcoming Elder Bednar on Saturday. We will also be getting iPads in about a month. So, I'll be on social media a little bit - but with pretty strict guidelines on its use. It's going to be great to work a little more with technology. Then you'll hear from me more often through facebook posts. (: It's such an interesting way to see the work progressing like that. Great things are happening!
I'll share some experiences teaching this week. Elder Monson and I are quite different, but we still love each other, and we teach really really well together. I can put up with anyone if people are coming closer to Christ. We're learning to love. (:
I'm also learning to cook. Shocker I know. I'm making 2 meals a day, and they're actually good. I love it. Things are looking up. The new Ehepaar (senior couple) we have is amazing. They're doing some of their own contacting on the streets each day and it's really cool to see an Ehepaar as dedicated as that. We're picking up the work here. (: It will be good.
Hope you have an awesome week!

Elder Sam Hadfield

Friedrichstrasse 26

77654 Offenburg

Germany

Lahr / Offenburg - Week 13

Master's Sunday! Augustaplatz

Master's Sunday!  Augustastrasse

Hey everybody,

This week was sure a good one. Things are starting to get a little better around here and it's with everyday hard work! I don't know that I've worked this hard in my life, it's really emotionally draining. I hope you're all doing well and that you all had a fabulous spring break. Don't worry, you weren't the only ones enjoying the nice weather. Today is about 85 degrees. It's so nice. Feels like summer again. I walked outside this morning and heard a lawn mower running and I looked over and saw the fresh cut grass and I recalled several such moments in my high school years. These summer days make me long for the fresh cut grass of the baseball field and the leather on my hand, with my left two fingers holding the stitches of a ball that has changed my life in several different ways. I hope those of you still playing baseball don't take it for granted! It's a life changing experience to be a part of something that special. 

Moving on from my pity party, things are changed up quite a bit this transfer. Elder Howarth is gone, he went to Tübingen, Elder Morey, the Elder from Freiburg, went home, and Elder Smith came from Tübingen to Freiburg, and I am working with Elder Monson, who is coming from Wien. He was trained by Elder Morey, so I get to see some of the results of Elder Morey's hard work. He is a legendary missionary in my eyes. So Elder Monson is in his 8th transfer, Elder Smith in his 6th, Me in my 5th, and Elder La Plant in his 3rd. I'll also be District Leader this transfer which is a change of pace. It feels kind of weird. We're still trying to start fresh with the members and get them excited about missionary work. The Freiburg Elders have a baptism on Saturday night, so I'll get to do the interview for that. We're hoping that some members come so that we can all share in the Spirit that is there. 

Elder Hadfield / Elder Monson

 The first great experience of the week was on Wednesday. I was on an Austausch with Elder Morey and it was the last day of his mission. I have never been in that situation before serving with someone who goes home the next day. We had an eating appointment and they made us Elk, Wild Boar, and Venison stew on top of Spätzle. It was incredible I'll tell ya. And if that wasn't enough, they made pizza as well for us. Afterwards, Elder Morey and I had about 2 hours together before we had to go home. Elder Mohn had called the day before and told me that he had found 20 potentials on his last Austausch, so we were pretty determined to one up him. We went out for 2 hours, and it was a miracle. Everybody we talked to had interest in learning about the gospel. It was auf jedenfall a miracle. We looked at our list at the end of 2 hours, and we had found 20 potentials. We were shocked. Elder Morey had a great last day of his mission and it really taught me something about how the Lord loves His missionaries so much that it probably pains Him to see them go home just as much as the missionary. 

Elder Morey

Anyways, yesterday was church. It was Elder Monson's first week in our branch, and I was supposed to give a talk, but I spaced it like hard core. So instead, they had Elder Monson introduce himself and give a little spiritual thought, and then they asked me to give a 5-10 minute thought. Elder Monson talked about an experience we had on Saturday. We knocked on this guy's door, and he threw open the door and said no interest and slammed it. We knocked again. He threw open the door and said no interest and slammed it. So, we knocked again. He threw open the door and looked at us pretty interested and said, "What do you want?" Elder Monson answered and said that we only wanted to share a message about God's plan for us and help him find out that we have answers to life's questions. Then he looked at us and told us that his daughter had died a while back and that he was mourning because of her. I asked him if he believed he could see his daughter again and he said no. Elder Monson told him that he knew he would see him again. He, in a very mad tone, replied that nobody could know such a thing, especially not us. I felt something inside me boiling up and with all the strength in my body, I looked at the man and said, 'I know you will see your daughter again, and I know because it has been made known to me by God and through revelation from Him. You can know too. Do you want to know?' The guy looked pretty puzzled at that point. We talked for a little longer and he eventually slammed the door again. But we looked at each other and said, 'He knows. He knows.' It was the first time of my mission that I can remember feeling that boiling feeling deep inside and you realize, 'I'm about to bear the strongest testimony that I know how to bear. I'm about to be a representative of Jesus Christ, and testify like He would testify.' I will tell you right now, I've obviously felt the Spirit before, but there was no feeling like that that I had felt before. It was incredible. Elder Monson was standing at the pulpit crying and some of the members were crying, and I was sitting there just going, 'Oh no, I can't do this right now.' I knew there was no way I could get up there and avoid losing it. I stood up and pretty shakily walked up to the pulpit with a copy of the Book of Mormon in my hand and the poem Spuren im Sand. (I know, I went way Utah Mormon, I'm sorry everybody). I read the poem, and told about a personal experience where I had been carried through trials by Him. I was doing okay at that point. Then, I hadn't really planned what I wanted to read in the Book of Mormon, I had just figured I would wing it and share some common verse that everybody shares. I threw open the Book of Mormon to a random page, and it was 3 Nephi 11. My eyes focused on verses 13 through 15. I got through verse 13 ok, and then I just lost it. It goes,

 13 And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto them saying:
 14 Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole earth,and have been slain for the sins of the world.
15 And it came to pass that the multitude went forth, and thrust their hands into his side, and did  feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet; and this they did do,going forth one by one until they had all gone forth, and did see with their eyes and did feel with their hands, and did know of a surety and did bear record, that it was he, of whom it was written by the prophets, that  should come.

When I got done, I looked up and the members were all crying and I was crying and my investigators in the back were crying, and I was just like, "Yeah, this is what it's all about." And it really is. He is the Redeemer of the World. I can't wait until that day when he says those words to me, and I can do the same as the Nephites did and feel the nail prints in His hands and feet and thrust my hand into His side. But, until then, I can bear record that it happened. That He is the Messiah, that He lives. "I know that my Redeemer Lives, What Comfort this Sweet Sentence Gives. He Lives, He lives who once was dead, He lives, My Ever Living Head. He Lives to Wipe Away My Tears, He Lives to Silence All My Fears. Oh Sweet the Joy this Sentence Gives, I Know That My Redeemer Lives.

Laboring in the Vineyard!

Elder Sam Hadfield

Friedrichstrasse 26

77654 Offenburg

Germany

Lahr / Offenburg - Week 12

Elder Howarth - Transferred 4/9/15

Hey everybody!
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