Week 57 - Lodz

Elder Hadfield doing dishes after the Thanksgiving Meal

Elder Chess Games

Elder Blau's snowman - purchased to show Elder Hadfield it's never too early for Christmas!

If you bang 2 sticks together, squirrels come!

See?

Using the apartment balcony as a refrigerator for Thanksgiving leftovers!

Hello everyone!

          How was your week?  I hope it was good and that you all had a really solid Thanksgiving, wherever you were.  It was a solid week for us.  Another week without many lessons, but still good.  We had a meeting with O. on Saturday, and that turned out really well.  We talked about the purpose of trials, and he had some good thoughts about that and seemed to understand that pretty well.  He was able to make it to church yesterday too, and that was good to see. 

          Obviously on Thursday we had Thanksgiving, or as much as you can have Thanksgiving in Poland. It was actually a really good day though.  We had a Thanksgiving kind of lunch thing with the other missionaries in our district, and that was good.  Than later in the day, we had a branch Thanksgiving party.  We had a lot of Thanksgiving food, and that was good.  We also explained what Thanksgiving is and why we have it, since they didn't know.  We also got a couple English students to come, and that turned out to be pretty cool. 

          My spiritual thought for this week comes from my study in the Book of Mormon.  I was able to finish it off this week, and I like to take up Moroni’s promise each time I finish. My thought comes from the 10th chapter of Moroni, the third verse:

3 Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.

I read this verse, and I really like the part where it says "if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them".  It's kind of crazy realizing how many people all over the world haven't had a chance to read the Book of Mormon.  Yet God in his infinite wisdom and goodness has given you and me the Book of Mormon.  How lucky are we?  I pray that we can use this precious gift God has given us, and I know that as we do, we are led through the troubles and trials of life in safety. 

          Have a good week!

-Elder Hadfield

Week 56 - Lodz

Hello all!

     This week was good.  We didn't have too many meetings this week, but it was still busy nonetheless.  This Friday, we had zone conference in Warsaw, and that was really good.  President Turek had some really good things to say, as did the zone leaders and the sister training leaders.  We're hoping we can ponder and apply their teachings and continue seeing more and more success.  This week should be another good one.  We have another week without too many meetings, but it'll be good for sure.  On Thursday, we're planning on doing a district dinner of some kind in the afternoon, and then in the evening we have a branch kind of activity, so that should be pretty fun.  Hard to believe it's Thanksgiving again already.  It should be a good day. 

Yea, the TV interview thing was just a short thing they had of us on TV.  We were cleaning graves for All-Saint's Day, and some people came up to us and interviewed us.  I think they were fascinated that we were from the States.  Some good publicity, I guess haha. 

For this last week, the most funny thing had to be from zone conference.  Sister Turek made a video to help us learn how to make a bed, and President Turek was the person demonstrating how to do it.  Sister Turek was going through and saying everything that needs to be done, and President Turek was acting it out.  It was just pretty hilarious because President Turek was silent the entire time, but he was just super animated and sassy during it.  It was funny seeing his playful fun side.  

But yea, we'll look to make sure to make it another good week out here in Łódź.  Hope you all have a good week!

-Elder Hadfield

Week 55 - Lodz

Hello everyone!

    Things are going well here in Łódź.  The weeks seem to go faster and faster.  This last week was really good though.  On Tuesday, we had a solid lesson about the Plan of Salvation with W., our recent convert here.  It was good. We have a lesson with him tomorrow, and we're thinking maybe talking about the Restoration or something, so it should be really good.  On Friday, we also had a great lesson with T., the less active we're working with.  We did some family history together, and we watched Elder Holland's talk from last conference titled, Be Ye Therefore Perfect - Eventually (a really good talk, I highly recommend it).  So that was really good.  He was in church on Sunday, and that was great to see.  We also had a discussion with O., one of our investigators.  That was pretty good.  He's making progress in his own time, and doesn't want to be rushed into anything.  He was in church as usual yesterday, and we might have some kind of meeting with him later this week, we'll see how it goes.  Our other investigator, I., was busy this week and unable to meet, so we're hoping we can have some kind of contact this week.  But yea, it was a good week, and we're looking forward to another solid one this week.  We have zone conference in Warsaw on Friday, and that should be really good.  Our zone didn't change much with tranfers, so it will be good to see some of the other missionaries again.  So we're looking forward to that on Friday.  But yea.  Yesterday was a really good day in church.  Sacrament meeting was especially good.  Last week, all of the members in Poland had a temple trip to the Freiberg Temple, so they had a couple of members who went share their experiences and testimonies with that.  I'm just so impressed with the members over here.  They only have about 4 chances a year to go to the temple, and to do so, they have to travel all the way to Freiberg.  What committment!  I testify that the temple is the House of the Lord, and as we participate in the ordinances of the temple, we feel God's love for us more openly in our lives and we are guided by the Spirit.  Because there aren't any temples in or near our mission boundaries in Poland, as missionaries here we don't have the opportunity to go to the temple.  In my time here, I've really gained a greater sense of the importance of temple attendance and a greater appreciation for what they can mean in our lives.  I look forward to the day when I can again go to the temple.  Well, that's about it for this week, but I hope you all have a great week.  Love you all!

-Elder Hadfield

Week 54 - Lodz

26 Sierpnia = 26th of August. Guess when Jake's birthday is?!

All Saints Day!

All Saints Day at the Cemetery

20 zlot hot chocolate!

Getting ready to go clean graves

Elder Hadfield's year mark!

Waiting 15 minutes for the Tram

The look of having to wait 15 minutes or the tram

Elder Blau and his new scarf!

Snow!

Staying together - 18 week transfer!

Hey all!

     How are things going on out there?  Hope they are going well for you all.  This week was pretty solid. We had some solid lessons this week.  We had one with T. at his place on Thursday, and it went well.  We read Moroni 7 together, and he really enjoyed it.  I also send out a daily scripture text to like 10 people, both from back in Kraków and here in Łódź, and he asked if he could get those, and he's pretty pumped for that.  We also had district meeting with President Turek on Tuesday which was pretty great.  President is a great man.  We had a lesson with W. later that day, and we finished the recent convert lessons with him, but we're still planning on meeting with him weekly to keep working with him.  We also had a meeting with a new investigator on Saturday, I.  He's from Ukraine, and we met with him over Skype.  The lesson went well, and he committed to pray daily, so we're excited to keep working with him and see how it goes.  We also on Saturday got our transfer calls.  We found out that Elder Blau and I will be staying together another 9 weeks!  So we're pretty pumped about that.  In fact, our whole district is staying the same.  So that should be really cool.  But yea, we're excited for this next transfer and what it will bring. 

Yesterday, I ended up teaching the gospel principles class.  The topic was prayer, and I found a scripture I really liked.  It's in Alma chapter 37:  

36 Yea, and cry unto God for all thy support; yea, let all thy doings be unto the Lord, and whithersoever thou goest let it be in the Lord; yea, let all thy thoughts be directed unto the Lord; yea, let the affections of thy heart be placed upon the Lord forever.

37 Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day.

Prayer is something that I've learned a lot about on my mission, both through personal experience and through seeing others experiences.  I like this scripture because, as it says, if we constantly direct our thoughts to the Lord through praying often, we will have his influence in our life and we will be guided.  How awesome it is to know that when we have a bad day or have challenges in life, we can talk with the most powerful Being in the universe, and he will listen to us and help us. 

Love you all, and have a legendary week!

-Elder Hadfield