Monday, July 31, 2017

Week 40 - Lodz

Hey all!
     How are things going?  Hope they are going well for you all.  Life is good over here.  Still working hard and enjoying life.  It has been pretty warm this week.  This week wasn't too eventful, but fun nonetheless.  There is a main street here we call P-street, and we've done a lot of contacting there recently.  It's a pretty nice street.  We also met with an investigator this week who has been investigating the church for about a year or so, comes to church every week, but isn't quite ready for baptism.  We are working with him and he's making solid progress though.  It's good to see.  But yea, stuff is going well.  We'll work hard this week and make it another solid week.  Have a great week!

-Elder Hadfield

15 And now, O all ye that have imagined up unto yourselves a god who can do no miracles, I would ask of you, have all these things passed, of which I have spoken? Has the end come yet? Behold I say unto you, Nay; and God has not ceased to be a God of miracles.


Monday, July 24, 2017

Week 39 - Lodz


Hello all!
     How are things going for y'all?  Hope they are going well.  Things are good here in Łódź.  It's been getting a little chilly here with a lot of rain for some reason.  The weather here is pretty unpredictable sometimes.  This week we've been trying to do some finding activities in some different locations, and they've been working pretty well.  We actually met a guy who was born in New York, but has traveled all over Europe and stuff for his parents work and now his work.  He's in his twenties right now, and he's super cool.  We've already had lunch with him a couple times, and he's super interested in what we have.  He also speaks 8 languages, which I find amazing.  But yea, we're hoping to get him to church soon.  The work is going well.  So this week, I was reading some more in the Pearl of Great Price, and it's got some really good stuff in it.  I especially liked Joseph Smith - History as I was reading through it.  I'd like to share just a couple verses I really liked:

24 However, it was nevertheless a fact that I had beheld a vision. I have thought since, that I felt much like Paul, when he made his defense before King Agrippa, and related the account of the vision he had when he saw a light, and heard a voice; but still there were but few who believed him; some said he was dishonest, others said he was mad; and he was ridiculed and reviled. But all this did not destroy the reality of his vision. He had seen a vision, he knew he had, and all the persecution under heaven could not make it otherwise; and though they should persecute him unto death, yet he knew, and would know to his latest breath, that he had both seen a light and heard a voice speaking unto him, and all the world could not make him think or believe otherwise.

25 So it was with me. I had actually seen a light, and in the midst of that light I saw two Personages, and they did in reality speak to me; and though I was hated and persecuted for saying that I had seen a vision, yet it was true; and while they were persecuting me, reviling me, and speaking all manner of evil against me falsely for so saying, I was led to say in my heart: Why persecute me for telling the truth? I have actually seen a vision; and who am I that I can withstand God, or why does the world think to make me deny what I have actually seen? For I had seen a vision; I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could not deny it[...]

Reading Joseph Smith's own account of the Restoration is very powerful, and it definitely gave me more faith in the work that I go about doing every day.  One thing that I love about the Restoration is that Joseph Smith's experience in it can easily be applied to our individual circumstances in one way or another.  As Latter-Day Saints, we face some adversity and persecution, but we can stand tall knowing who we represent.  I'm so grateful for the opportunity I have to be a witness of Jesus Christ here in Poland, bringing His amazing truth into the lives of the people here.  How lucky are we to be living in the time we are today.  Love you all, and hope you have an amazing week!
-Elder Hadfield












Monday, July 17, 2017

Week 38 - Lodz

Hello all!
     How are things going for y'all?  Hope they are going well.  Things are good here in Łódź.  It's been getting a little chilly here with a lot of rain for some reason.  The weather here is pretty unpredictable sometimes.  This week we've been trying to do some finding activities in some different locations, and they've been working pretty well.  We actually met a guy who was born in New York, but has traveled all over Europe and stuff for his parents work and now his work.  He's in his twenties right now, and he's super cool.  We've already had lunch with him a couple times, and he's super interested in what we have.  He also speaks 8 languages, which I find amazing.  But yea, we're hoping to get him to church soon.  The work is going well.  So this week, I was reading some more in the Pearl of Great Price, and it's got some really good stuff in it.  I especially liked Joseph Smith - History as I was reading through it.  I'd like to share just a couple verses I really liked:

24 However, it was nevertheless a fact that I had beheld a vision. I have thought since, that I felt much like Paul, when he made his defense before King Agrippa, and related the account of the vision he had when he saw a light, and heard a voice; but still there were but few who believed him; some said he was dishonest, others said he was mad; and he was ridiculed and reviled. But all this did not destroy the reality of his vision. He had seen a vision, he knew he had, and all the persecution under heaven could not make it otherwise; and though they should persecute him unto death, yet he knew, and would know to his latest breath, that he had both seen a light and heard a voice speaking unto him, and all the world could not make him think or believe otherwise.

25 So it was with me. I had actually seen a light, and in the midst of that light I saw two Personages, and they did in reality speak to me; and though I was hated and persecuted for saying that I had seen a vision, yet it was true; and while they were persecuting me, reviling me, and speaking all manner of evil against me falsely for so saying, I was led to say in my heart: Why persecute me for telling the truth? I have actually seen a vision; and who am I that I can withstand God, or why does the world think to make me deny what I have actually seen? For I had seen a vision; I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could not deny it[...]
Reading Joseph Smith's own account of the Restoration is very powerful, and it definitely gave me more faith in the work that I go about doing every day.  One thing that I love about the Restoration is that Joseph Smith's experience in it can easily be applied to our individual circumstances in one way or another.  As Latter-Day Saints, we face some adversity and persecution, but we can stand tall knowing who we represent.  I'm so grateful for the opportunity I have to be a witness of Jesus Christ here in Poland, bringing His amazing truth into the lives of the people here.  How lucky are we to be living in the time we are today.  Love you all, and hope you have an amazing week!

-Elder Hadfield

Monday, July 10, 2017

Week 37 - Lodz

Hey all!
     Things are going well.  I don't have a lot of time to write today, so this is gonna be a shorty.  But this week has been good.  Łódź is a good city.  I enjoy it.  It's the third biggest city in Poland, but it's super spread out, so it almost has a small town feel to it.  This week, something we've been trying a lot is basketball proselyting.  There is a basketball court near our apartment, and so we go there often to play with people there.  There is a group of kids that we have played with a few times, and they are super cool.  We even had lunch at KFC with them the other day.  One of them came to church on Sunday, and another will be coming this Sunday.  Super exciting.  We'll try to get them to come to English as well so we can spend more time together and build that relationship.  But yea.  I guess basketball is good for more than one reason.  Well, that's about all I have for this week.  Hope you all are doing well. Have a legendary week!
-Elder Hadfield







Monday, July 3, 2017

Week 36 - Krakow


Hello all!

     How's it going?  Hope you are all doing well.  This week was my last week in Kraków, and it was a good one.  We didn't have a ton of lessons, but we did have one with our super solid investigator.  That went well.  He came to church again, and I'm sure he will get a baptismal date soon.  Looking forward to hear how his teaching goes.  On Saturday, we got transfer calls.  For at least the next two months, I will be with Elder Toone in Łódź.  Łódź actually means 'boat' in Polish, fun fact for you all.  But I'm pretty excited for this transfer.  Elder Toone served in Mielec two transfers ago, which means we were in the same district for 4 months.  He's a good guy.  I'm looking forward to the time we'll spend together.  I left Kraków today, and that was pretty hard.  I really came to love that city and the people there.  But I'm excited to be here in Łódź and put in some work.  The branch here is really solid from what I've heard, so that will be good.  This week, I read the first four chapters of the Pearl of Great Price, and they are really solid.  There are some good things in there.  It's a good reminder that "[T]his is [God's] work and...glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man."  It's pretty amazing that God and Jesus Christ are literally working 24/7 for our benefit.  If you don't feel like you are anything special, think about that.  Anyways, I gotta go.  I've got work to do.  Love you all, and have a legendary week!
-Elder Hadfield


















Dinner with the Jeff's Family




Myśleniec

Comments from Jake's companion, Elder Ashworth:

Hello, everyone! It's the start of a new transfer. This morning Elder Groseclose and I helped put Elder Hadfield on his train to Łódź. It's about time President kicked him out of his second home. I'll miss his constant tiredness and how he was always just so hot, I'll also miss how he walked, he has a funny walk and slams his feet down, sounds like an Elephant haha, I wish him all the best in Łódź and hope that he'll find his field. 

Friday we had cleaning checks and we did ok, enough that our apartment is safe to live in. We had an appointment set up with this fella in a town called Myśleniec, about 45 mins outside Kraków, this man is a member that got baptised in Austria but recently moved back and wanted a visit from the missionaries. The pictures of us eating lunch with the little fluffy dog are from this trip. It took us absolutely ages to get out there as the traffic in Kraków is terrible, we were sat on the bus for an hour before we even got near the border of the city, I took my shoes off and had a nap. We got there and the man was waiting for us at the bus station with his bike, this is all the info he gave us, we had no idea who or what we were looking for, in a foreign city, looking for someone we've never seen before, we turned the corner and out of the crowd of people we picked him out, we knew it was him, he greeted us, and we started the few km walk back to his place. We were greeted then by his 1 and a half-year-old fluffy puppy named Czarek. The sweetest thing I've ever met, reminded me so much of our Oscar back home, just in the way he acted and how he thought he was the toughest thing about. Myśleniec is a beautiful place, small and quaint, reminded me of Springhead, hills and small houses, few schools knocking about. I think I played with little Czarek the whole time. Piotr made us food and was happy to have us round. We chatted about his life and we told him about ours, all whilst sat in his front garden. He then walked us back to the bus stop and sent us on our way home. Nice guy, hope we can go out and visit him often, help him out with the work he's doing on his house and in his garden.

Saturday was the day of transfer calls, the day all the missionaries are stressed out, wondering when President will call. I was sure I was staying so I was cool and wasn't expecting a call from him, Hadfield, on the other hand, had his phone in hand all day waiting. To take his mind off things we went to Bobby Burger for lunch, the burgers they have there are solid! he called during our few hours in the park playing footy. We found a bunch of lads and made some 5 a-side teams and played for a few hours, getting to know them, talking to them about why we're here and that, it's a good way to talk to people about our church, at least I've found it to be effective. When they see how I play on the pitch, they think to themselves..how is this guy a missionary, I've gotta figure him out and ask him questions..always works. I love a game of footy! President eventually called and told Hadfield his fate, He's off to the Boat (that's what Łódź means in Polish).  That evening we had another Lucas dinner at his home. Ribs, shepherd's pie, goats cheese and bacon, salad, smoothies, he made the lot!