Passau - Week 5

Hey all,  It's already that time of the year again?? Crazy stuff. I can't believe it. 2014 has been the most eventful year of my life by far and definitely one I will never forget. I could really use your prayers. Our investigator pool magically dissipated to almost nothing this week. Which is hard to see, but opens up a lot of opportunity. So keep praying for me! I need it. 

About our investigators:

B is a Nigerian man living in an Azylheim which is like a place they keep refugees and pay them to live there. He has been gone in Nürnberg for 3 weeks now. I taught him the first week I was here and he left. He got back today though and we have an appointment with him on Wednesday, so that is hopeful.

J is a Muslim man in the Azylheim as well. We have multiple meetings with him each week, but honestly he is trying to convert us and much as we are him. He is actually progressing pretty well.

M is the German you have heard about. Unfortunately he is on business for a month.

C is German. I have never taught him, but he definitely has concerns with the Commandments within the church. Whenever we call him, he doesn't have time for us and he lives like a 4 hour train ride away. 

P is a Nigerian man as well. I have never taught him because he is really busy...

Brother Guth, Elder Hadfield on P-day after helping with a service project

Transfer calls came this week and I get to stay in Passau for Christmas which will be wonderful. They already have the Christmas Spirit jamming over here. It is definitely a fun time of the year over here.

Found a Christmas Tree in our Apartment.  We got the lights on with no foul language!  The Christmas presents from home made it safe and sound.

 Earlier today I was reading a copy of the Ensign from December 2012. President Monson gives the opening article on Rediscovering the Christmas Spirit. He talks about an experience he had in the hospital one Christmas where all this little boy wanted was a blessing. He gave him one and the boy, with a huge smile on his face, wished him a Merry Christmas and went on his way. The overarching question of the article was "What gifts would the Lord have me give to Him or to others at this precious season of the year?" 

I was thinking about that question and thinking about Christmas in the past and how I was really in it for myself. That's about to change haha. I was sitting there thinking about it and the song from the Tabernacle Choir came on, "What shall we give to the Babe in the Manger?" I'll just throw the lyrics in here because they are really good.

What shall we give to the babe in the manger,
What shall we offer the child in the stall?
Incense and spices and gold we've a-plenty-
Are these the gifts for the king of us all?

What shall we give to the boy in the temple,
What shall we offer the man by the sea?
Palms at his feet and hosannas uprising;
Are these for him who will carry the tree?

What shall we give to the lamb who was offered,
Rising the third day and shedding his love?
Tears for his mercy we'll weep at the manger,
Bathing the infant come down from above.

That really touched me, especially the last couple lines. I imagine each of us were there on that Christmas night watching with a glad heart, knowing that this was the man who would live a perfect life, suffer for us, and die for us. This was finally him. The man who was prophesied to come for thousands of years lay in a manger. I wonder how I felt that night. 

President Monson finishes with a poem about finding the Christmas Spirit. 

I am the Christmas Spirit—

I enter the home of poverty, causing palefaced children to open their eyes wide, in pleased wonder.

I cause the miser’s clutched hand to relax and thus paint a bright spot on his soul.

I cause the aged to renew their youth and to laugh in the old glad way.

I keep romance alive in the heart of childhood, and brighten sleep with dreams woven of magic.

I cause eager feet to climb dark stairways with filled baskets, leaving behind hearts amazed at the goodness of the world.

I cause the prodigal to pause a moment on his wild, wasteful way and send to anxious love some little token that releases glad tears—tears which wash away the hard lines of sorrow.

I enter dark prison cells, reminding scarred manhood of what might have been and pointing forward to good days yet to be.

I come softly into the still, white home of pain, and lips that are too weak to speak just tremble in silent, eloquent gratitude.

In a thousand ways, I cause the weary world to look up into the face of God, and for a little moment forget the things that are small and wretched.

I am the Christmas Spirit.

Decide now what you will give this Christmas, and be willing to give your best. Heavenly Father gave His best, His only begotten Son. Decide now and execute! Then, when we're all filled with the Christmas Spirit, we'll find that love that Christ had for His fellow men. 

I hope that we can all find the Spirit of Christmas, through finding the Spirit of Christ.

I love you all!  Have a wonderful week!  

Elder Samuel Phillip Hadfield

Eggendobl 4a

D-94034 Passau

Germany

Passau - Week 4

This week has been great. Things just keep getting better. I hope it stays that way!

So this week, obviously, I am going to talk about Christmas. I gave a talk in church yesterday about Christmas, so I will just reiterate some of the things I talked about. 

Christmas is by far my favorite time of the year. I love love love Christmas. There is no feeling you can match than sitting on a couch watching the snow, listening to Christmas songs. There is no feeling you can match than walking downtown and seeing all these happy people and getting the Christmas Spirit. I love Christmas. 

At this time of the year however, it seems to me, that the happy get happier, and the sad get sadder, as well as the alone, more alone. That is the tragedy of Christmas to me. Everyone should be happy. We are celebrating the birth of the Man who performed miracles, walked on water, showed love to everyone, and ultimately atoned for our sins so we can return to our Father in Heaven. How can that make me not turn out and help others?

Passau Germany Branch Members - These are some way cool people

I guess my overall point is, although Christmas comes, difficulties stay. Pain stays. That feeling of aloneness stays. So many people around us have those feelings. If you are one that has those feelings, the invitation is clear. "Come and adore Him." It doesn't mean your pain will go away, but it does mean that you are never alone. Christ suffered for us, so that we would never have to be alone. Yet so many people find themselves alone. Think about this little baby in the manger. Last month in his General Conference talk, President Monson said, "When we walk the same paths Christ walked, we find His arms outstretched towards us. Christ walked the path of aloneness. He walked the path of disappointment. He walked the path of temptation. Most importantly, He walked the path of suffering." Christ knows how it feels to suffer. He suffers with you. 

In our mission last Christmas, the former mission president told the missionaries to have fun and do whatever they wanted. This year, President Kohler came, and said the missionary handbook rules apply even on Christmas. SOOO many people whined about it. Then, with tears in his eyes, he told us about a story that happened to him on Christmas. They had come from a members house, with packages bigger than you can imagine. They passed, at the train station, a man sitting on the floor, with nothing. He was smoking and drinking and the works, but he was alone, so they sat down and talked to him and gave him their packages. We talked about how that is the Spirit of Christmas. What would Christ be doing if He was here during Christmas? I can't imagine He would be watching movies or opening presents, but I can see Him visiting those who are alone, sad, suffering, or all of the above. 

If you want the ChristmasSpirit, do what Christ would be doing if He were here during Christmas. My overall message is that because this little baby is born, we are never alone. He walked the same paths that we do. The point of my letter is summed up by one verse of my favorite Christmas hymn, 

Oh Come, all ye faithful, 

Joyful and Triumphant

O come ye, o come ye, to Bethlehem. 

Come and behold Him, 

born the King of Angels 

O come let us adore Him,

O come let us adore Him, 

O come let us adore Him, 

Christ, The Lord.

 My friends, let us all 'Come, and Adore Him' this Christmas by serving those around us so that they feel Christ's love and they gain the knowledge that He walks the path with them. 

Hope all is well in Zion. I am soaking everything in here. I love it.  Hurrah for Israel!

I love you all. I hope to hear from you this week. (:

Go get that Christmas Spirit BABY!

Elder  Sam Hadfield

Elder Samuel Phillip Hadfield

Eggendobl 4a

D-94034 Passau

Germany

Passau - Week 3

We had Stake Conference in Munchen this weekend so we have been staying in Landshut (about a one-hour train ride from Passau) since Thursday night. It is hard. It is the size of our living room, and currently there are 6 of us there. If I have to sleep on a wood floor one more night I might die. Hahaha. Yesterday we had personal interviews and training with President Kohler in Munchen so we moved our P-Day to today. Today rained so hard and we went out and played soccer in the mud for 2 hours with the Auras family and our district. It was great. My shoes may be ruined and my clothes are soaked in mud, but it was worth it.

We had a funeral on Thursday, and Stake Conference, and Training with President yesterday, so we have been here forever. What I really want to focus on is the funeral and more about families.

So, the Landshut Elders have an investigator who died after 6 weeks in the hospital. She was Buddhist. So this funeral was for a Buddhist at the Catholic church, but they wanted the Missionaries, us, to preside and conduct. They needed a pianist, so that is why I was there. But, this funeral was so so sad. She was cremated and buried in the graveyard at the church. But they wanted all of us to give a short talk in German. So we talked about how families are forever. You can literally not even imagine the pain and sorrow in the families eyes and tears as they let those cremated remains into the ground. It was so hard to watch. But I was thinking, and I have been at a few funerals in my day and I feel like I have never had the reason to mourn or be sad. I know where that person is, what is happening to them, and most importantly, that I will see them again. I know, again, with my whole soul, that families are forever. There is a phrase we have used lately, ´Mit der Familie mein, kann ich für immer sein´ Which directly translated means With the Family of Mine, can I for forever be. Hahaha it sounds a little better in German. (: But I know it to be true with my whole soul. I love this gospel. The hope it gives me that there is never an end, comforts me so much. I am so so thankful for everything we have been given. It is fantastic.  I hope you know that to be true as well. Men are that they might have joy, and my joy comes through my family. (: I love you all. Have a great week. 

Elder Samuel Phillip Hadfield

Eggendobl 4a

D-94034 Passau

Germany

Passau Pictures - October & November 2014

The River Donau outside our Apartment - Passau

Our apartment is the third building on the left

The study room in our apartment (there are 3 other rooms!) - Passau

View from our Apartment - River Donau

MTC Conmpanions Elder Edvinsson and Elder Hadfield - First Transfer in Germany

Our MTC District

Elder Hadfield and Bruder G from the England MTC

Elder Killpack & Elder Garrett

Elder Barnhart, Elder Killpack and Elder Hadfield

Elder Barnhart and Elder Hadfield on a train

The Passau Sisters

Advertisement for the Qaran which means in German, read. But in English, obviously, Lies.

Awesome photo

Passau - Week 2

Hello All! 

How are you all doing? I hope you're well! Let me know people! Keep me in the loop. (: I'm going to keep my email pretty basic this week, but still one of the more spiritual experiences of my life. It's been one of the hardest weeks of my life as well. We've worked really hard and seen no results. That's a hard thing. But, at the same time, I'm happier than I've ever been in my life.

We have an investigator named Martin. I have never met him before, but the Elders before me had one lesson with him. He is the most golden investigator ever (from what I hear). After that lesson, he dropped off the map. We couldn't get a hold of him with our calls or texts, and we didn't have an exact address. So, on Saturday, after 3 weeks of no contact, we decided we were going to find him at all costs. We knew he lived on Danziger Strasse. Now, Danziger Strasse is no walk in the park. It's like 2000 North, but steeper and longer. We hiked up and down this baby for 4 hours on Saturday looking for Martin. The first building we came to, we rang all the bells, and some guy responded and said his name was Martin. We were PUMPED. We ran in and got to the door. Wrong Martin. This guy is absolutely hammered. We look on his apartment floor and he's got like 20 beer bottles, vodka, marijuana, the works. hahaha. We talked to him for a little, and he was swaying pretty bad. He almost fell into my arms like 4 times. We both felt like we should give him a book though, so we did. Then, got out of there. We went to the next apartment building and started ringing bells. We had a former investigator there so we decided to try and visit him. Turns out he's no longer living. At the end of the street, there's houses, and we think it might be one of those, so we go stalking around people's houses. Hahaha. Then, moving on, we walk up to the next apartment building which is by far the most disgusting thing I have ever seen in my life. We talked to a JW who smokes and drinks. hahaha. Then, we saw a Turkish guy crash his car into a pole and get arrested for a DUI. Then, we go to throw someone's trash out, and like 10 rats come scrambling out from around the dumpster. Absolutely the worst apartment building I've ever seen. So we figure it's getting dark and we need to wrap up because we have a lesson at the church in like 15 minutes. So we finish hiking up the hill and get to the church. We get a call from the sisters. They had walked onto the wrong bus by accident and found Martin. LOL. Haha it was so frustrating, but a miracle nonetheless. The Lord works in mysterious ways I tell ya. (;

Our Stake President, President Auraus, is a really cool guy.  He has two 11 year old twin boys. Soccer is their passion. They have an extremely happy family and everything is going great. One day, the two brothers have a soccer game, and inexplicably out of nowhere, Simone collapses on the field and has a heart attack. He dies 3 days later. Such a sad thing. It was terrible for the family, but they have the strongest testimony that Families are Forever. Think about that. Forever. Reminds me of the kid from Sandlot. They handed about a bunch of pins that said Familien Sind Ewig, meaning Families are Eternal. Everyone in the Munchen stake wears those. But on Sunday we had Gemeinde Conference, Ward conference. President Auraus stood up to speak, looked up at the clock, and just broke into tears. We had just sung Families Can Be Together Forever. He said that exactly a month ago, the exact hour, the exact minute, was the time his son died. He talked about how he takes the sacrament with deeper meaning now because he knows that families are forever. If there is one thing I know above all else, it's that Familien Sind Ewig. I know that this life is not the end. You and I, will all live together, forever. Death has no sting, and the grave no victory. I testify from the depths of my soul that Familien Sind Ewig. 

I love you all, I hope you have a wonderful week.  Until next week, 

Elder Samuel Phillip Hadfield

Eggendobl 4a

D-94034 Passau

Germany

First Assignment - Passau with Elder Barnhart

Guten Morgen Familien und Freunden!!

Its been a while! (: I hope you're all doing well. Well, obviously it's been about 10 days since you've heard from me, so there's lots of stories to tell. It's great to finally get here!

Last Sunday, I spoke in sacrament meeting on the Atonement. It was such an awesome meeting. Then later that night, we had a testimony meeting. It was just the ones who were leaving that had the meeting, so only the 12 of us in our district. I loved it. It was so powerful.

One thing I will never forget is the opportunity I had to be at that MTC. I'll never forget the experience I had there. Often it is said, "You only get to be at an MTC once in your life." It's true! Which is a little bit sad. Cherish your MTC experience! It's a good one.

The next morning, (Monday), we woke up at 4 am, and left the MTC at 5:15 for a 7 flight. We were really pushing it because it's a 45 min drive to the airport from the MTC. We barely made our flight, but we did!! We flew to München and got through border patrol and everything. Then we walked through the long hallway. At the end was President and Sister Kohler, the AP's, and the Munich Zone Leaders. It was super cool to finally see them for the first time. They hugged all of us, and we talked for a little bit about things. We put our bags in the van, and they gave each of us a Buch Mormon, and put us on a bus to the Mission Office (30 mins). they told us if we came back with the Book of Mormon, they would send us back to the MTC. (; So we got on this train and I started walking down the aisle. Then I felt it. I was like, "This is the guy." I asked if I could sit next to him, and he was like, "eh." So, I sat down!! Hahaha I said like 6 or 7 things to him and he wouldn't respond. It was the most awkward thing of my life! (: So I got up and left. I sat down to a young kid, about my age. He looked intrigued and asked about my name tag. That's the funny thing so far. I think everyone looks at the name tag. Hahaha it brings interest! So we started talking and I gave him the book. Amazing. Even with my broken German, and his Swiss-German, I could convey a message to him through the Spirit!

Anyway, we got to the mission office and had lunch and went through training the rest of the day. We all interviewed with President Kohler, then went to the multi million dollar mission home down the street for dinner and our new assignments. We had Döner's for dinner, and I promise you I'm going to get fat on them over here. SO GOOD. But then we sat down and got our assignments.

I'm now assigned to the Passau Branch working with Elder Barnhart. Passau is the northern most part of our mission in Germany. Look up some pictures. It's way sweet!! Passau is gorgeous!!! The river Donau runs right through the middle of the city, and is surrounded by churches and historical stuff. And not to mention that, Elder Barnhart is a master chef. He's from Cali and he's a big basketball player. So anyway, we had our testimony meeting again after we got our assignments and we went to bed. The next morning, we got up, they put us on trains, and we were off to our new areas. There's 4 missionaries currently serving in Passau because it's a pretty big city. So, us 2 elders, and 2 sisters. The problem we have is that we don't have any members living within 20 minutes of the city. So member lessons are usually a no go. Our branch consists of about 20 members (maybe). So with the sisters' male investigators, we have to co-teach with them. In my first 3 days, we co-taught 5 lessons with them, but not a single one counted for us. It's just a little rough. But no biggie, right? Our apartment is called the Passau Palace because it is huge! I love love love it. Our place looks right out over downtown Passau and the River. We also have a piano in our apartment. (; I met the rest of our district on Thursday morning. Elder Nebeker from Idaho, Elder Garrett from Utah, Elder Sharp from Australia, Elder Killpack from Utah, Sister McEwen from Scotland, and Sister Wunderli from Hungary. (Those are the two sisters we work with all the time). It's been a blast of a week.

We have some really cool investigators. B is a man from Africa, who has been through all the lessons (2 with us) and he should be baptized here in the next few weeks! (: We have one who is a  progressing very well. His only problem is that he will never pay money to a church, (he's a multi-millionare). Hahaha we'll see if we can work past it. Schwester B is a 70 year old lady who was excommunicated a little while ago for sending emails to everyone in the branch criticizing them for not keeping the word of wisdom because they were all eating sugar.....(crazy woman) (; She's way cool though and has the greatest desire to be rebaptized. We've retaught all the lessons just to make sure she understands, and once she goes through the first presidency, we'll baptize her. So hopefully in a couple of weeks as well! (: The last transfer, they found a golden, who has a baptism date and is ready, but has disappeared off the face of the world for 2 weeks now. I hope we can find him. We found an African man on the street, and we'll start teaching him this week. One of my favorite members from our branch is Bruder Guth(Goot). He lived in California for 25 years, and was baptized and active for 8 or so years. He fought so so hard to keep the Word of Wisdom, and one day, some Sister in his ward criticized him for drinking Dr. Pepper. That broke it for him and he went inactive. He came back to Germany to take care of his dad, and started drinking again. Then the missionaries found him. The 2nd time they met with him, they took with them a picture and bio of the elder who baptized him back in California. He cried and cried and cried for about 30 minutes. Then on Sunday, he showed up in a brand new suit, and has been to church for about 9 weeks in a row now, including yesterday. What a Champ!!! We go over every week to help him build a new 'garage', which is a brick wall, and eat with him and have a lesson with him. He loves the missionaries so much. German has been coming pretty easily for me, but it's a little more difficult here because of the dialect they speak, Bayerische. It's crazy, but still nothing like Swiss-German. Hahah. Yesterday was my first Sunday in our branch. Our church is the top floor of rented out office space. I am now the official piano player in our branch. Our ward mission leader is a 20 year old kid who got home last month from his mission. Our Branch President is President Sacho. Not sure how you spell that. Haha they were way pumped to have a new missionary and they all shook my hand about 12 times. (;
 

Alright, so here's my Spiritual thought for the week. I was reading in Chapter 5 of Preach my Gospel to prepare for a lesson. At the back, the challenge is to get a new copy of the Book of Mormon and mark, in different colors:

Christ's name

His Words

His Attributes

Doctrine and Principles

As I've started that pattern, it's insane how much the Book is centered around Christ. Someone who says we aren't Christian is literally stupid. Hahaha (: I suggest you try it. I've learned a lot! So long for this week,

Bis Später,

Elder Hadfield (:

Elder Sam Hadfield

Alpenländische Mission

Lommelstrasse 7

D-81479 München