Week 48 - Lodz

Elder Blau / Elder Hadfield

Burned Birthday Brownies - "silly Polish ovens"

Hello everyone!

     How are things going for you all?  Hope they are going well.  They're going well for us over here too. 

We didn't have a ton of lessons this week, but the ones we did have were really good.  We had one lesson with W., a recent convert.  We are continuing the recent convert lessons with him.  He's making some good progress.  It's looking like he's going to be able to make it to the temple trip to Freiburg that all the members in Poland are invited too. 

We also had a lesson with T., a less-active, and he's doing really well.  He has a strong testimony.  We invited him to general conference this weekend, and if he doesn't have to work, he'll hopefully be there.  We'll see how it goes. 

This week should be another solid one.  We have been working on new finding ideas, and we're going to try some of those out this week.  We also have zone conference in Warsaw on Friday, and that should be really solid.  Then finally, on Saturday and Sunday we've got general conference, just like you all do.  I'm super excited for it.  What a blessing we have to hear from the leaders of our church every 6 months.  I know that Thomas S. Monson is the prophet of God on the earth today, that he leads this church through direct revelation, and that all of the leaders of this church are inspired men of God.  I love them, and I sustain them. 

I've attached a video posted by the church on lds.org to help you all get pumped for conference as well, so you should all watch it:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8uwY6VEczj_M3VvTjFxREpWWFU/view

It's the video 'Prepare for conference'.  Hope you all have a good experience this weekend!

-Elder Hadfield

Week 47 - Lodz

Hello everyone!

     How are things going for you all?  Hope they are going well.  This week was a good one.  We weren't able to meet with O. this week, but we're hoping for this week.  We haven't found too many new investigators recently, but this week on Friday, Elder Blau and I were talking with people in a park, and we ran into a man named R. who lived in England for a while, and actually ended up meeting the missionaries there.  He's read the Book of Mormon twice already, so he seems really promising.  We're hoping he comes to church this next week.  But yea, it was a solid week this week, we'll look to build off of it this week. 

My thought this week comes from the New Testament.  This week I was reading in Leviticus, and I had a verse cross-reference to Matthew 22, verses 37-40.  These are the verses where Jesus explains that the first great commandment is to "love the Lord thy God with all they heart, and with all thy soul, and with all they mind" (v. 37).  And then the second is "Thou shalt love they neighbour as thyself" (v. 39).  And then, the verse that caught my eye is verse 40: "On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets".  All commandments that we receive from the Lord deal with the love of God and the love of neighbor. As we keep these commandments, we in turn keep other commandments, and we please our Heavenly Father.  We become more like the Savior. 

Well, I love you all, and have a good week!

-Elder Hadfield

Week 46 - Lodz

Elder Hadfield & Elder Blau

Elder Pettit (Jake's Trainer), Elder Hadfield, Elder Blau

Elder Toone, Elder Hadfield

Elder Pettit, Elder Blau, Elder Toone

Birthday Package 2017

Birthday Package 2017

Birthday Package 2017

Birthday Tie

Hello all!

     This week was good.  I started out the week with Elder Barlow, from Monday until Wednesday, because neither of us had our companions yet.  Then, on Wednesday, we all went to Warsaw for the trainer-trainee meeting and picked up our companions. 

          My companion for at least the next two months is Elder Blau!  He's from Missouri, and we are getting along really well so far.  I'm super impressed with his language skills to this point.  So yea, we've been together since Wednesday, and it's going well.  On Thursday, we spent some time getting Elder Blau his monthly pass for trams and buses and stuff, and on Saturday we had our English class and a Polish class with O.  He's doing well.  

          On Sunday, we had district conference in Warsaw, and O. came with us, so that was pretty sweet.  We were all together on the train ride there, throughout the conference, and on the train back to Łódź.  The conference was good.  Elder Ruiz de Mendoza, an area seventy, came and spoke, and it was good.  He had some good things to say about how his testimony was developed.  President and Sister Turek both spoke as well, and they had some really good things to say.  Just an all around great conference. 

          But yea, it was another solid week.  This morning, during studies, I skimmed through 1 John 4 in the New Testament, and it has some really good stuff in there about love.  I really liked two verses:

⁸ He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

¹²[...]If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.

In Preach My Gospel, it's written that charity is the highest Christ-like attribute, and I know that as we strive to develop this attribute in ourselves, we will come to love the Savior more and feel his influence in our lives.  Love you all, and have a legendary week!

-Elder Hadfield

Week 45 - Lodz

Hey everyone!

     This week was a solid one.  We went to Warsaw on exchanges with the zone leaders on Monday, and those were really good.  Warsaw is a good city.  I'm hoping I get to serve there in the future.  We got back to Łódź on Wednesday.  

          On Friday, we went to a Polish restaurant with O, and that was really cool.  Good to spend more time with him.  Then on Saturday, we had Polish class with O and then had a lesson with him after.  We've been reading the Book of Mormon with him, and this week we're going to hook him up with a Book of Mormon study guide.  We're hoping that will be helpful for him as he continues to progress.  

          On Saturday, we also got transfer calls.  I'm staying in Łódź for another two months, and I'm also going to be training!  So that's going to be interesting.  Elder Toone's going to Bydgoszcz, Elder Barlow is coming down from Bydgoszcz to Łódź and he's going to train, and Sister Anderson is staying here and training.  So we'll have three trainees this next transfer in Łódź.  Pretty cool I guess.  It'll be a good transfer for sure. 

          Something that I learned a lot about this last transfer is self improvement.  All of us come up short in different ways.  Luckily, thanks to Jesus Christ and his Atonement, we have the possibility to repent and improve ourselves every day.  When we do that, we come closer to Him and we feel His presence in our lives through the Holy Ghost.  Excited for this new transfer and the opportunities and experiences that we'll have.  Hope you all have a great week!

-Elder Hadfield