Week 71 - Szczecin

Hello everyone!

     This week was pretty good.  It was another fast one.  It was another week where we didn't have too many meetings, so we did a lot of finding this week.  We tried visiting some less-actives as well, and that went pretty well.  We met R., a less-active, at his apartment and had a good discussion with him.  We're hoping to start working with him now and help him get progressing. 

We met with one of our investigators, K., this week and read 2 Nephi 33.  I really like that chapter.  He seemed to enjoy it too.  We were hoping to get him to church yesterday, but that unfortunately didn't end up happening.  Hopefully we can make some progress with him soon.  We were supposed to have a couple meetings with either potentials or formers this week, but unfortunately all of them either flaked or canceled.  So we're hoping that goes better this week. 

I had a doctor's appointment on Friday morning.  That was an interesting experience.  Basically the doctor just looked down my throat and in my ear and said, "It looks like you have an infection of some kind."  Kind of different from the States where they actually like to figure out what you are infected with, but whatever.  So he prescribed me some antibiotic, some Sudafed, and a nose spray to keep down the congestion.  So we'll see what happens with that, hopefully it goes away soon enough.  We also went to the government office to help the office elders out with something, but that didn't end up working out, so we'll have to go back there this week sometime.  

We'll get transfer calls next Saturday (the 10th) already, which is hard to believe, and then transfers are the following Monday (the 12th).  So we'll see what happens.  I feel like Elder Lange and I will probably stay together next transfer, which will also be his last transfer.  However he thinks he'll leave Szczecin.  He's been here for four months now, so I guess it could go either way.  But we'll see what happens.  

This week, we have exchanges with the zone leaders in Gdańsk again, so that'll be good.  Those will be from Tuesday to Wednesday.  On Thursday, we'll have district meeting, and President Turek will be there for interviews as well.  So that will be a good experience.  Then on Friday, we'll have apartment cleaning checks.  So it'll be a busy week.  We're looking forward to it.  Hope everything is going well for you all.  Have a good week!

-Elder Hadfield

Week 70 - Szczecin

How Elders entertain themselves while tracting!

Jake has started running in the community 5k every Saturday as a finding method. He's trying to improve his time each week. One of the organizers took this picture and sent it to him.

Hello everyone!

This week was another quick one.  I blinked, and it's Monday again.  Pretty crazy.  But yea, it was a good week.  We didn't have much going on in the way of meetings, just one with K. and his son, J.  They are our only investigators at the moment, and we haven't had a super high quality lesson yet, but we're hoping that turns around this week.  We have a meeting scheduled with them for Wednesday, and we're hoping to sit down and teach a super focused lesson on the Restoration.

A., our main potential at the moment, has been out of town for a week, so we weren't able to meet with him this past week, but we're hoping to do so at least once this week.  We have another potential, D., who we contacted from the area book, and we have a meeting scheduled for Thursday.  We'll see how that goes, we're hoping to get some consistent meetings with him.  But yea, excited for this week, and we'll see how it goes. 

We have an English speaking club that we go to as a finding idea called 'toastmasters', and basically they just discuss a bunch of topics in English.  Well it was time for us to go, so we went to excuse ourselves, and they wanted us to talk about one more subject each before we left.  The subjects were randomly chosen from face-down cards, and they were Valentine's Day themed.  Well, Elder Lange got 'marriage' and I got 'lovers'.  So you can probably imagine us up there as missionaries floundering trying to talk about these subjects.  It was kinda funny.  

Yesterday in sacrament meeting, I had the opportunity to speak about teaching with the Spirit, and I enjoyed preparing for that.  I learned some good things.  One blessing of having the Spirit with us that I studied and thought was good was that when we have the Spirit with us, though we may be weak, we can be strengthened by the power of God.  I think that's an incredible blessing, because I have many times where I feel weak, but through the Spirit, I can be strengthened to do what I need to in an effective way.  Hope you all have a great week!

-Elder Hadfield

Week 69 - Szczecin

Hello all!  

This week was solid.  It was quick, as most weeks usually are lately.  Last Wednesday, we went to a town about an hour and 45 minutes away from Szczecin called Barlinek.  It was a pretty city.  We went there to visit a couple of referrals we got from church headquarters.  We weren't having any luck contacting them with the phone numbers we had, so we were hoping they'd be home when we went and we could have a lesson with them.  Well, as luck would have it, neither of them were home.  So that was a little disappointing.  We have since then gotten a new number for one of the referrals, and he seems open to meet and learn, so we're hoping to stay in contact with him and visit him soon.  Also this past week, we went and visited K., our 94 year old investigator.  He really likes to talk, and it was hard keeping the lesson focused, so we're gonna see what we can do next time to stay more on topic.  Another one of our potentials, A., was in church again, so that was great to see.  We're hoping to start teaching him here soon, we'll see if we can get that started.  He's a really solid guy.  Yesterday, we had zone conference down in Poznań, and that was a really good experience.  We talked a lot about the Book of Mormon, and it was good.  We watched a video from the missionary department about how only one verse from the Book of Mormon can change a life.  I've definitely seen that personally, and it's amazing what power that book has.  During personal study, I've had a goal to read the entire Old Testament before the end of my mission, and that's been going well so far.  This past week, I really liked a psalm that I read.  It's Psalm 82 verse 6:

6 I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.

I love the doctrine that we are literally children of God, our Heavenly Father, and he loves us.  Sometimes in this world of ours, it's easy to forget our potential and to forget that each of us has worth, but it's an amazing thing that God is literally our perfect loving Father.  What a blessing that each of us has.  Have an awesome week everyone!

-Elder Hadfield

Week 68 - Szczecin

Hey everyone!

     How are things going for you all?  Hope you're all doing well and life is good for you all.  Life is good over here.  This was a pretty solid week.  We were going to have a 1st lesson with a potential named P., but unfortunately he flaked and we haven't had any contact with him since.  But there were some other good things that happened.  We visited a less-active named Z. this week, and he said he'd try to come to church, and he made it.  So that was pretty cool.  We also have another guy from Belarus named A. that we have been teaching English to, and he was also at church yesterday.  That was good to see.  He knows the branch president fairly well, and we're hoping we can make some progress with him.  But yea, the work is going well, life is good, and we're having fun out here.  Next week, we have zone conference in Poznań, so that'll be fun.  I'm looking forward to that.  And yea, hoping that this next week will bring some success, and we'll see how it goes.  Have a solid week out there!

-Elder Hadfield