Monday, August 28, 2017

Week 44 - Lodz

Clearing church property in Lodz- Time out for boys to climb trees



Hey all!
     This week was a good one.  It went by pretty fast though.  It's pretty crazy that we are now down to the last week of the transfer.  We get our calls on Saturday and then transfers are on Monday.  I'm almost positive I'm staying.  I've heard that we are going up from 2 elders here to 4, so it's pretty likely they'll just split Elder Toone and I and put us with different elders.  We'll see what happens though.  We had a lesson with O yesterday (the investigator who has been investigating for over a year now), and it ended up going pretty well.   Just reading the Book of Mormon with him, and it's going alright.  Still working on getting him to read it every day, so we'll see how it goes.  We weren't able to have a lesson with D this week, and he's starting to get really busy this week.  So not sure when we'll meet with him next.  Also, this past Saturday, R from back in Kraków got baptized and confirmed on Sunday!  So that's super exciting.  Pretty pumped for him.  So yesterday before church, I was listening to a talk by John Bytheway about the war chapters in the Book of Mormon, and it was really good.  He had a lot of good things in there.  One of the things I liked is found in chapter 40 of Alma.  In verses 1-4, it talks about Moroni strengthening the cities of the Nephites.  It says that they dig pits around the whole city, then they cast up ridges of earth, then they build works of timbers on the tops of them, then they build a frame of pickets on top of the timbers, then they built towers on top of those, then they build places of security in those to defend from the Lamanites.  They weren't messing around.  That's because they were doing it "In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children". (Alma 46:12)  So they couldn't mess this one up.  Neither can we.  John Bytheway spoke of building up those fortifications against satan in our own lives and the importance of doing that.  I know that as we spend our efforts fortifying against satan, we will be "delivered at all times" by the hand of the Lord. (Alma 50:22)   Love you all, and hope you have a great week!


-Elder Hadfield

Monday, August 21, 2017

Week 43 - Lodz

Hey everyone!

     This week was good.  We had zone conference on Thursday in Warsaw, and that was really solid.  We had Elder Sabin there, the same one who spoke in general conference about the young man who wouldn't unroll his sleeping bag so he didn't have to put it away the next morning.  He's in the Europe area presidency.  It was really solid.  He had some good things to say and some good training to give.  He was at the conference we had with Elder Andersen back in May, and so we did some follow-up on that meeting as well.  So yea, that was really good.  We didn't have any super great lessons this week.  We're looking for more potentials through English class and some other things.  We have transfers coming up in just two weeks now, which is pretty crazy.  It feels like we just had transfers.  But yea, life is good.  This week, while preparing for a talk I gave in sacrament meeting, I read some parts of Revelation chapter 7.  I like verses 9 and 14 especially:

After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;
14[...]These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

 I like verse 14, where it talks about those who receive salvation and says that they had "great tribulation" but their robes were "made...white in the blood of the Lamb".  Life is usually a difficult experience, but through these trials, we are molded into the people our Heavenly Father wants us to become.  Have a great week!


-Elder Hadfield



Monday, August 14, 2017

Week 42 - Lodz






Hey all!

     Hope things are going well for you all.  Things are going well over here.  This week has been alright.  We've been putting in more work, and we'll see where it gets us.  Unfortunately, this past week, the investigator we started working with two weeks ago and got a baptismal date with has had some hard stuff happen, and he's convinced he's more comfortable in the situation he's in than with what we have to offer as missionaries.  So we'll see if we can get a lesson in this week and help him change things around. 

The other investigator we are working with has been doing really well though.  He's in his 20s and we had a couple lessons with him this week.  We are reading out of the Book of Mormon right now, and he's making some good progress.  He's honestly such a cool guy.  He started investigating over a year ago, and has come to church for the majority of that time.  He's read a ton of church material too.  If he were to be baptized right now, he would probably be one of our more solid members.  He's even been helping get one of our recent converts to feel included in church.  He's a very logic-based guy, and wants to be 100% sure the church is true before he's baptized. He definitely has that sincere desire, and I'm confident it's just a matter of time before he gets baptized.  Super solid. 

My spiritual thought this week comes from my study in the Old Testament.  I was reading about Joseph this week in the book of Genesis.  I just wanted to share two verses I liked in chapter 41:

15 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I have dreamed a dream, and there is none that can interpret it: and I have heard say of thee, that thou canst understand a dream to interpret it.
16 And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.

I just read those and I find it really awesome how Joseph gives all the credit to God in this passage for his unique gift to interpret dreams.  I think that’s a good example for us, and in our lives we can try to give credit to God when he helps us out.  Well hope you are all doing well.  Have a great week!


-Elder Hadfield






Monday, August 7, 2017

Week 41 - Lodz

Hey all!

     Hope things are going well.  They are going well over here.  This week was pretty solid.  We had district meeting on Wednesday, and President Turek came to that.  That was really good.  Being around President is awesome.  We also had interviews with him that day.  We also got a new investigator this week.  He's a young adult, and we had our first lesson with him on Friday.  The lesson went okay, and at the end, he committed to baptism!  So we're super excited for him.  September 2nd is the date we are working towards, and we are looking forward to help him work toward that.  Also, back in Kraków (my first area) Elder Ashworth and his comp helped set a baptismal date for a really promising guy we started teaching when I was there.  So his date is August 26th.  Super excited to see all of the success our mission is seeing recently.  We'll look to make it improve even more.  In my studies this week, I continued in both the Old Testament and the Book of Mormon.  In the Book of Mormon, I was reading in Alma, and I found an interesting verse in Alma 28.  It's verse 10, which talks about the sons of Mosiah and those that went with them, and their experiences:

And this is the account of Ammon and his brethren, their journeyings in the land of Nephi, their sufferings in the land, their sorrows, and their afflictions, and their incomprehensible joy, and the reception and safety of the brethren in the land of Jershon. And now may the Lord, the Redeemer of all men, bless their souls forever.

I thought that was really interesting how it lists those experiences they had: sufferings, sorrows, afflictions, and 'incomprehensible joy'.  It's like Mormon was linking those altogether.  In our lives, we all seek joy.  Even if we are in the midst of great suffering, we can come to taste the joy we all seek.  What an amazing truth to know!  Well, I love you all, and have a great week!

-Elder Hadfield