Personal Revelation [Last Email as Missionary]: Frankfurt Week 12

December 12, 2016

Mom and Dad!

HI! Today is my last time emailing you as a missionary! That's crazy, I would say that it's crazy how time flies, but I think I've been saying that for the past almost 2 years. My time here has been wonderful. The past week was also solid; we finished transfer planning in record time, low stress and high success. We had a really cold street display in Frankfurt where we closed out by caroling. The week was a blur between that transfer planning, finishing little jobs that I was in the middle of, and yes, passing on what I've been doing to my two companions who will fill my roll as I leave. One helpful resource that we also have is the "tech tutorial", a small booklet written by tech (office) elders for their successors. I added references to things I've organized, changed and done during my time in the office.

Yesterday I had a cool experience with personal revelation at church as I pondered my past two transfers here, working in the office and in Frankfurt. I pondered what success means. I wanted to do more 'normal' missionary work in my time here and that's something that we constantly work towards while projects and assignments prevent it. We read in the 3rd hour of church from the teachings of Howard W. Hunter and from 1 Corinthians 12. These chapters teach of unity and the importance of working hard in whatever capacity we may be called to. The eye shouldn't be the ear and the hand not the foot, all of the body parts are essential for the body to function as it ideally should. I realized that my time in this area has been well spent, I've continued to do my best to bring others to Christ and been a support in a different way to missionaries involved in the same work. That was good.

Tonight we, a big group of Frankfurt missionaries and members, are going caroling on the Zeil, a strip mall type of street. Tomorrow I'll have my last street display and new missionary welcoming/orientation activities, always a lot of fun. We have a sister coming from Mexico and a couple of German Elders as well adding diversity to our predominantly American group of missionaries :). Our district over here in Frankfurt is also being split up a bit, one Sister is headed to Hanau and an Elder is going to Dortmund, Elder Stiles and Penrod get to stay together and enjoy at least another 7 weeks in Frankfurt. On Wednesday we have "leaver activities" and a testimony meeting at night to which I've invited a few friends from past wards. President Heckman, for example, will make it out. That will be a great day.

I think I'll close for today and see you on Thursday! Thank you for reading my emails and writing me each week. Also, thank you, dad, for your letter! I got it in the mail just a few days ago. 

I know that Jesus Christ leads this work and this church. I'm so grateful for the opportunity to have been in His service in Germany and for all of the wonderful people I've met and meaningful relationships I've made. God, our Father in Heaven, has a plan for each of us, loves and listens to us. We are imperfect people in an imperfect world, striving to make it better and through the Grace of Jesus Christ we can become better, not just in our behavior, but in our nature. I love it.

Thank you!

Elder Blanchard

Leavers Interview: Frankfurt Week 11

December 5, 2016 

Mom and Dad,

I was backing up the van when I left the suitcase in Heidelberg a few weeks ago, backing up your companion is a church wide policy. I withdrew some money today because I got a ticket for riding without a good ticket last P-day. I had a ticket and thought I was in the right area but actually wasn't. Justice beat out mercy that round and I learned, was [what] we find in the Doctrine and Covenants, that we cannot be saved in ignorance.

My interview with president was a special "leavers interview" where we talk about the future. Goals, plans, career, dating, staying strong in the faith. Considering how hard president works and how successful he is, I asked him about time management. I expected some sort or surprise or something like that, but president responded by talking about goal setting and planning. There isn't any crazy secret to being successful and effective, simply having a strong desire, planning and getting to work (and not sleeping) is what does it for my amazing mission president. [Dad note: yeah, Hayden gets on a plane next week to come home. He speaks in church 12/18 12:00PM Antonio/Oso building Las Flores, CA ]

We ended up having two Thanksgiving dinners, the first with all of the senior couples and the second with a family in the ward. I ate a lot of yams, but not as much as I usually eat at home, I needed to hold back a bit more so I could fit two of those big meals :)  [Dad note: we teased him in our last letter about getting sick, that it might have been that he ate too many yams]

I felt a lot better by Tuesday and ended up spending last Monday with the senior couples in the office. I was fed lunch and well taken care of. I napped on the couch over there and intermittently wrote emails. This week I've just had a cough hanging on a bit but have been able to work fairly normally because of how much we do in the office. I'm signing up for wi fi and doing adult things like that :)

We went Christmas caroling with a family in the ward (just like last year, same family, good fun this round too) and had delicious white chicken chili.

On Sunday morning we were able to meet for the first time with our friend Mr Ar who moved here a few years ago from Iran. I met him for the first time at a street display probably 5 weeks ago and we've been trying to find a time to meet ever since. He is Christian and has attended a lot of different churches in Germany but he askes a lot of questions and has been kicked out or left based on things that haven't fit for him. He's excited to read the Book of Mormon and strengthen his faith in the loving God whom he's come to know.

Have a great week, love you!

Hayden

Hayden and others at the Frankfurt Christmas Market

Ponder the Goodness of God: Frankfurt Week 10

November 28, 2016

Subject: Thanksgiving week

Hi Family!

Happy Thanksgiving, sounds like you had a lot of fun :)

This week started out with a fun exchange. I went with my district leader, Elder Passey, and we spent a lot of time finding, aka talking with people and finding those interested in learning more. We found probably 5 people during the course of our split. I enjoyed in particular the conversation that we had with a man named Völker. Unsure of his faith and relationship with God, Völker has been attending church for years and read the bible, but he is still on the search for truth. We testified of the Book of Mormon and its accompanying promises. If he reads the Book of Mormon and sincerely prays through that process, he will reach the faith that he desires. He can know that God really is there and loves him! As we shared these promises and invitations as well as testimony of our Father in Heaven and His love it was so cool to watch the spirit work on this man. He pondered and accepted our invitation, adding as well that he will call us after having read the Book of Mormon.

We also had interviews with president on Thursday and met shortly with Alejandro. He flew to Colombia the day after, so he gave me his email address so I can find him on facebook and we can stay in contact in the future. It's been a joy seeing him deepen his relationship with God.

Other than that, I've been sick since Friday afternoon, have a nice cough and runny nose. My body isn't sore as it was on the first 2 days. Most of the missionaries, senior couples and many young missionaries, have gotten sick in the past few days, I just recently joined the party.

As a Thanksgiving week closer, I'll list some things for which I'm grateful.

I'm grateful that I got sick now rather than in 3 weeks. I work in the office which means my companions normal work isn't hindered by my sickness. Senior couples are awesome. I have really fun companions. I've been a missionary, in the Lord's service for almost 2 years, what a thrill. God is good and looks after his children. The family is happy and healthy. Mom is the relief society president, being blessed and growing though that. Germany hasn't been very cold for the past few weeks. Your package got here, I think I forgot to thank you and Taylor for that, Thanks! The candy was great and I was really excited to see an engagement picture [Taylor and Savanna – married Sept 2016]. There are lots and lots of things for which we can be grateful, we are so blessed.

We often quote from Moroni 10:3-5, inviting people to pray and ask God, the source of truth, if the Book of Mormon is true. The verse prior also contains a powerful invitation.

            Moroni 10:3 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.

That would be my invitation for the week, ponder the goodness of God.

I love you,

Hayden

Thanksgiving celebration. 

In Konigstein 11/21

Christ centered testimony: Frankfurt Week 9

November 21, 2016

Mom and Dad,

Hi! Glad to hear all is well on the homefront. I'm doing well over here too. A lot happened this week so I'll start with a quick overview and try to go in some detail afterwards. Samson lesson, Mission tour with Elder Adler. Rollladen. Fix van. Sammy/finding. Heidelberg.

We had a lesson with our friend Brother S this week. He's been a member of the church for just under 8 months. We talked about keeping the Sabbath day holy and strengthening our relationship to the savior through reverence during the sacrament. He is from Eritrea, a country near Ethiopia, and English isn't his first language, so paying attention during meetings can be difficult [Dad Note: recall, Hayden is attending an English speak congregation in Frankfurt]. It's a lot better though, to teach about the Sabbath day and how keeping it helps us to have a life "filled with joy and peace" (PmG pg 74). Than to just say that we need to be quite and only use our phones as scriptures during church meetings.

Elder Adler, a member of the 70, visited our mission this past week. Of the many things that he shared some that stuck out to me were: the importance of frequently sharing Christ centered testimony- that has been a lesson Heavenly Father has taught me throughout my mission. He talked about how important it is to be ourselves, the church doesn't hire actors, God wants powerful representatives with their personalities, experiences, and feelings.

We also had our Rollladen, a wonderful German shade device that can turn day into night in any room and is made of sheets of metal, fixed. The cord that you pull to pull it up or put it down had broken and our main room was dark for a bit over a week. Let there be light. We had our van fixed because the locking system was broken and that's not a good thing in downtown Frankfurt.

We were able to go for an hour and a half on Thursday and found a man from Eritrea who's interested in learning more, Sammy. That's exciting.

We went to Heidelberg this week to pick up a Sister from a doctors appointment. As I was backing up the van I forgot to throw her suitcase in the trunk, oops! A few hours later we drove back because a nice lady at the nearby university called the number on the suitcase. I'm glad there are great people living in Heidelberg.

Have a great week! Love,

Hayden

Testimony:Frankfurt Week 8

November 14, 2016

Mom and Dad!

Hi! Sorry for the late reply. 

Last week was an exciting one. We got to watch all of the dominoes of purchased tickets fall as the transfer unfolded. Luckily we didn't get to hear or watch much in the way of train departure, which is a good thing because that means that trains were on time and Elders and Sisters were punctual as well.

We helped with the newly arriving missionaries and returning missionaries. The day in Frankfurt was busy and successful as we directed missionaries to and from the street display, where we also participated and talked with people. The street displays are still so much fun to me. Each one is a nice break from office work, a time specifically dedicated to talking to people and inviting them to come unto Christ. I've come to treasure my time in past areas more and set personal goals to share my testimony a lot when I come home. A testimony is such a huge gift from God. He allows us to get to know him, strengthens our faith, answers our prayers, and hopes that we in turn choose to stand as a witnesses of His goodness so that others can come to know and feel it as well. God is so good :)

We had a lesson with Mr A again this week. He's really busy between work, getting his masters and working on his German but he knows it's true. We taught the doctrine of Christ, the cleansing power of the atonement followed by the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel: faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end. He recognized his repentance process in meeting with us, reading the scriptures and praying more.

Mr H was baptized in Heidelberg yesterday! I sent you a picture. That made me so happy to hear of someone who we loved and worked with so much (still love, currently not working with) entering the waters of baptism and making that sacred covenant with God. So good.

I love you! Thank you again for the birthday wishes and I hope you all have a great week.

Hayden

Keep Turning Outward: Frankfurt Week 7

November 7, 2016

Hello Family,

Thanks for the update. Are you feeling better, Mom? You mentioned last week that you were feeling under the weather.

Today we drove to another city, Michelstadt, to clean up an apartment that is changing from an Elder to a Sister area and to get a tire changed for the missionaries there. We had a fun drive there and made it a p-day activity, going with the district and picking up a few souvenirs while we were there. The tire had a nail in it and we had planned to get the whole thing changed at a shop. My old MTC companion Elder Barnhill and I drove the car to the euromeister shop and organized the change. After waiting for a few minutes the man changing the tire came out and informed us that there was no leak or hole. The nail wasn't deep enough to puncture and must have fallen out on our drive over. There was also no spare tire in the car, so we ordered one for the incoming Sisters.

This week we spent a good chunk of time doing transfer planning, planning train rides and logistics for the upcoming transfer scenario. That took probably 4 hours on Thursday and most of Friday and Saturday. I made my companions some spanish stew while they worked on that, bringing back good Heidelberg memories.

We also had a lesson with the Ds, a member family in the ward. They are Italian and Brother D loves to hug and speaks so lovingly as well. He's been a young mens leader working with scouts for the past more than 20 years. Making a difference in young men's lives and sending them on missions for quite some time now. We talked about Preach my Gospel and how powerful of a tool it is for members and missionaries. The first presidency promises, "more happiness awaits you than you have ever experienced as you labor among [the Lord's] children." That is beautiful and so true. It is a principle that goes far beyond missionary service, a principle for life. We can have more happiness than through any other way as we serve and love God's children, our brothers and sisters, we can and will have more joy than through any way. Keep turning outward, serving and loving!

Love you,

Hayden

Hayden's in the middle row of seats

In the Office

Accountability :Frankfurt Week 6

November 1, 2016

Subject: Reply :)

Hello!

Hey, glad to hear you're doing well at home. I'll start by answering a few questions. We have a basement that we store a lot of stuff in, we could fit more for sure (not everything that was at the apartment we were closing), but we don't have enough space in the van to feasibly take a whole apartment of stuff with us.

Looking back at the week it's hard to know what to share. It's been fairly uneventful with office work and normal missionary work sprinkled in. In the office: I'm caught up on orders and have the rough inventory that I wanted to make. Knowing what I have is really helpful so that I don't accidentally order things that we already have too much of. I just finished organizing everything with driver's license translations, who in the mission has one and is working on getting a German license and things like that.

We had a few appointments with senior couples this week, the Markles and Kirks for example, who work in the office with us. Tomorrow we have the Kirks coming to us and will make food for them and they can teach us a lesson! At the beginning of the week we met with a nice couple in the ward and I was really impressed with some comments that were made. In the course of our dinner conversation we talked about some fitness goals that they were working on and during our lesson we naturally talked about goals in missionary work. The Sister owned her actions and said that she simply hasn't had enough desire or "has been too lazy" to exercise. She later made the comment that she uses "the excuse" that all of her friends are church members to not share the gospel as much as she could. Without diving into the topics of how we could adjust our goals and make slow progress instead of no progress, or how she Does share the gospel with her church friends as well ('cause we all need to hear and feel the Savior's love and testimonies of it), I'd like to comment on accountability. I was so impressed that she didn't blame her inaction on anything or anyone else. There was no, "I don't have time" or "it's not my fault". She recognized and owned her actions and decisions and was honest with herself. As a side note, this family does great member missionary work, being a good example to their friends, inviting people to activities and even to hear lessons from the missionaries. She recognizes what holds her back and that enables growth.

The stake president in Frankfurt is also all about accountability. When Elder Taylor and I asked him what he would like us to focus on with the missionaries he wanted us to  help the missionaries to develop a good "return and report attitude". We should finish assignments quickly and correctly, take responsibility for our actions and be excited to report back as a result of that.

This coming week ends the transfer over here. We're getting ready for an exciting week of transfer prep (buying tickets and such) then sending missionaries across the mission next week. Hope you all have a good one.

Love,

Hayden

I don't know if Dad remembers, but at some point in growing up I remember being told not to use the phrase "it's not my fault", thanks for teaching me to be accountable.

Jesus Christ Understands Us: Frankfurt Week 5

October 24, 2016

Hi!

You all have been very busy at home! Yes, Elder Markle, who works in the Mission office with his wife, is also the mission medical adviser. When missionaries have health questions they should talk to him before receiving treatment. He's really funny. We joke around in the office and he's recommended good things like Doritos and reeses to us, Reeses, nuts, protein, right? Glad to hear that Austin's leg is getting better, when do you think he'll be up to full speed again, do you have a rough estimate?

Over here we had a good week overall. Busy with things in the office but going well. We also cleaned out a senior couple apartment that the mission won't be renting anymore. We thought we would have to clear out, take home and figure out what to do with a lot more stuff, but the family moving in said that they would be glad to have what we don't need, so we ended up leaving a lot for them in the way of dishes and furniture. That saved us a lot of hassle and was nice to be a blessing in their lives.

Being in the office we are confronted with time management and priority challenges that are more typically to home. Yes, we still have time to talk to people on the streets and have lessons, just not as much. Other things also come up often enough that dig into our time and prevent us from studying or preparing in a way that we're used to. I do a good job about working out hard and we do typically get at least personal study. This week I'm working on having more focused studies, so I read from Chapter 2 of Preach my Gospel this morning about studies. It focuses a lot on prayer to start studies and on having a strong desire to learn. What I really liked this morning were the blessings that accompany a quality study of the scriptures, "this kind of study prepares you for service, offers solace, resolves problems and gives you the strength to endure to the end". What blessings, through our studies, or because of the fruits of our studies, the Spirit can better use us to be a blessing to God's children. We are also given more strength to do one of the biggest steps (surely the longest for most of us) under the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel, enduring to the end.

We met with Sister R as well. Her daughter was sick, so we gave her a blessing. Afterwards we had a good chat with Sister R. She's still going through lots of hard things. I love her and her family so much and just want to see them be lifted and blessed by the Gospel. With so many hard things in life we can only turn to Jesus Christ for someone who understands us perfectly, loves us, and lifts our burdens.

I love you!

Hayden

An ice cream dish call Spaghetti Ice

Stay Open and Sincere: Frankfurt Week 4

October 17, 2016

Mom and Dad,

Things at the office are going well. I did my rough inventory and got everything organized in a day. I've probably mentioned it before, but after I'm done with these little projects my jobs mostly consist of maintenance. I'm definitely doing more with president than I've done before. We typically have office meeting once a week. He and the Assistants had a lot of zone meetings last week and will have a few this week, but after that I'll see President Stoddard at least once a week in the office. Yes, President is a neo natal intensive care doctor (or a title close to that) basically he is a doctor who worked with high risk babies. Elder Markle, another Senior missionary in the office practiced internal medicine.

Spending time with the senior couples in the office is one of my favorite parts of being an office elder, picture a bunch of awesome grandparents, working together to make the mission run and often spoiling missionaries who stop by with paperwork troubles or to get other things done. The Kirks, who sent you a picture of me at the airport a few months ago, are still here and will be here for my whole time here.

Most things that I do in the office are in English, I've occasionally proofread things written by my companions, but they also write well and don't need much help. We're checking if the area office will translate our mission website into German for us, but if not then I might be starting that this week. (Not native, but a lot better than not having a website in German).

The ward is in English and we have people from all over the world here, typically only one companionship goes to ward council. Yes, we were able to visit one of the families who the relief society president is also visiting. They have been really busy lately and move this week, but we'll be visiting them every other week. The family is from Argentina and the mother only speaks Spanish, they're really happy here though and work, language study, and other things are going really well. The lesson and time with the Rs was also a lot of fun. We met with Mr A too this week. He is actually from Columbia, just lived in Argentina for a few years. He speaks English really well, but Spanish is the language of his heart, so we teach in both. He is so open to the spirit and has a huge desire to come closer to God, I love it when he prays at the end of lessons because I can just feel his openness and sincerity with God.

Stay open and sincere,

Love you,

Hayden

Hadyen and his companions at the Frankfurt Train Station

This is at the Dom in Frankfurt

He Still Makes Time: Frankfurt Week 3

Monday, October 10, 2016

Mom and Dad,

I hope Austin and Emily get well enough to run soon, that's a bummer that they've had a slow start to their season. [Dad Note: injuries, shin splints etc]

Your relief society responsibilities are keeping you busy, I'm glad you're enjoying that, looking forward to saying hi nto Sister Rutherford again too :)

By the way, how was Dad's birthday? Which food was eaten, etc.?

To answer some questions. My days in the office are good. I have a much better idea now of what my responsibilities are and how to do the various tasks that belong to me. I think I mentioned already what I'm in charge of. With the orders it reminds me a bit of Golden Spoon, sorting yogurt and taking inventory. Here however I sort different languages of the Book of Mormon and other missionary materials. I had probably 3 missionaries who needed new phones this week and I'm still working on organizing the driver's license materials so that missionaries can receive a translation of their American licenses. Exciting stuff in the office! Not really to exciting, but I enjoy it and it makes missionary work possible for the other missionaries in many ways. Emily mentioned a few weeks ago in an email how much she likes organizing things (in the things that she's involved in at school right now) and I enjoy the same privilege in the office.

Unfortunately we don't have as much time as we currently want to do typical missionary work, we've been learning and catching up on projects and tasks that need to be done. We had ward council this week and the relief society president gave us a list of people to visit. We're also starting to meet with the R family again (from Columbia) When I was here last time Elder Taylor and I worked with them. On an exchange Elder Passey (my district leader) and I taught a man from Argentina, Spanish and English mixed lesson. His name is Mr A and he is so open to the spirit, we had such a special lesson together talking about the plan, centered on the atonement of Jesus Christ. He is working on a German fluency exam, a masters thesis, has work and other things going on in his life, but still makes time to meet with us. We all have the same amount of time, life is just about priorities and what we choose to do with our time. We watched the last session of conference in church yesterday and I really liked the focus on service throughout and Elder Bednar's message about knowing the Savior. Not just knowing about Jesus Christ, but building a personal relationship to Jesus Christ. He listed 4 points, faith in him, following him, serving, and believing Him. All of this takes time and the personal relationship to Jesus Christ needs to be a conscious priority. I love it :)

Love you all!

Hayden

General Conf: Frankfurt Week 2

October 3, 2016

Subject: Re: October 2, 2016

Mom and Dad!

Elder Mejía stayed with the Zone leaders in Heidelberg until he also visited Frankfurt. He is currently training in Heidelberg Spanish. I honestly don't understand 100% why I had to go as early as I did. I had a normal P-Day on Monday, just in Frankfurt, and my predecessor shared a few tips and taught me a bit about my new responsibilities on Sunday night. Transfers have definitely changed since Taylor left, we are transferred typically on Tuesday now, there is no transfer call and we don't all have to go through Frankfurt and meet there how they used to do it.

Yeah, Elder Mejía and I had an amazing last week together. I'll miss him. He's planning, however, to live in Germany after his mission, so that will make it easier to stay in contact. I'll ask him how our Heidelberg friends are doing. As far as the work in Frankfurt: I'm coming into the Office Elder area which currently has 1 investigator, a Nigerian brother whom I found during my last time in Frankfurt. We're in building stages as far as the missionary work goes for the companionship. The ward seems excited and we heard some powerful conference messages about missionary work as well, so that will help. Working in the office we also have different responsibilities than other areas of the mission. I am in charge of cell phones, internet for senior couples, drivers license things and orders. We also set up new apartments and help with repairs throughout the mission. In this past week we helped with transfers, back to the rollercoaster of picking up new missionaries and sending old ones home, figured out what are jobs are, and set some sister missionaries up with a new apartment.

General conference was amazing. We are so blessed to have inspired leadership and be guided by Jesus Christ through his apostles and prophets. Many thoughts regarding the Great Plan of Happiness were shared. I love that as we prepare ourselves to live with God one day, prepare to return with him, we are also coming closer to him during this life. I haven't seen the Sunday afternoon session of conference yet, and there were so many powerful messages but so far my favorite talk was probably that of Elder Cornish. Without Jesus Christ we aren't enough, but we know that through him we are enough. Good enough, enough to achieve and be what we want to be, enough in God's eyes. God knows that we make and will make mistakes, but loves us despite our weaknesses and mistakes. His love and grace are amazing.

I love you too!

Hayden

Back to Frankfurt: Heidelberg/Frankfurt week 24/1

September 26, 2016

Hello!

I talked to the Senior couples at the office and it's being changed to John Wayne [DadNote: flight home in Dec. Likely speaking 12/18 in church at 1pm], they passed the message to Salt lake. I have considered living in the FLSH, foreign language student housing, I don't know if or how complicated that would be... If that's not a possibility then WyView for sure.

I had an exciting transfer call this last weekend and an exciting week. Elder Mejía and I felt pretty sure that I was staying, then on Saturday morning we received a call from President. I was released as a district leader, called as an office Elder and Elder Mejía was called to train. So I came back to Frankfurt. I actually got here last night and started learning about what I'll be doing [DN: not usual to transfer before Tuesday/Wednesday]. I'll be in the English Speaking ward and my new companions are Elder Penrod and Elder Stiles.

On my last day in the Spanish ward I took pictures with most of the members and we set a baptismal date with our investigator who came to church. First time we had someone at church in the Spanish ward and it was awesome to watch the Spanish members helping him to feel welcome and making friends. It was our friend Da from Malaga, he loved hearing all of our members from Southern Spain. I love that ward and I'll miss it a lot. 

We also found a really prepared Cuban man in our last week, Mr D. He plays bass and many other instruments and is very close to God. When we were with him we could feel such a love an openness. He was so open to the Spirit.

Be open to the Spirit and humble to hear God's counsel at General Conference this weekend.

Love,

Hayden

Primary So Fun: Heidelberg week 23

September 19, 2016 8:50 AM

Hello Family,

Nice quiet week at home, post wedding and everything else that was going on. Mom, Happy Birthday! I thought of you but can't remember if wished you a Happy Birthday. Now you have time to celebrate too :) 

We typically only attend the Spanish branch, but if a German or English speaking person that we're teaching plans to come then we visit the German ward as well. In my second and 3rd transfer here I also did the translation during sacrament meeting. Elder Mejía does like Sport, exercise together on the back patio. Highs and low's of the week: Mr H is struggling with some personal things. High would be visiting primary.

Why was visiting primary so fun? Because kids are really cute, and missionaries are heros to primary kids. It really brought me back to those days, singing primary songs and imagining what it would be like to serve a mission. I also want to thank all or the primary teachers out there for your patience and love, I was so impressed by the sister who taught that lesson. This week I also had a split in Karlsruhe and a street display down there, gotta love that city. The people were friendly and we had some interesting conversations. One interesting conversation was with a psychologist. she is religious but has her doubts about answered prayers and how much we just make up ourselves. Science may be able to explain and measure effects or reactions, but in many of the discussions that I have with people on the street it fails to explain the why. I shared with her that I Know that God loves each of his children, that that is more than a belief in my life.

I love you too!

Hayden

 

Spirit Was Like a Bon-Fire: Heidelberg Week 22

September 12, 2016 8:57 AM
Subject: Re: Sept 11, 2016

Hello!

This week was solid. We didn't have loads of lessons or find a bunch of new investigators, but I felt the spirit so much this week. Fast and testimony meeting was really spiritual, I had a fun exchange with the zone leaders, I received many answers to prayers and the lessons that we had were wonderful.

On Wednesday night we had a lesson with Mr L and Brother Keil (the member with whom he has a really strong relationship) and the spirit was like a bon-fire there. Elder Mejía started by asking Mr L if he had any questions or concerns, things on his mind, and he said yes. Mr L had been thinking a lot about the spirit recently and asked how he can have the spirit with him more often. In response to his question and desire we talked all about the doctrine of Christ. Being cleansed of our sins through the atonement of Jesus Christ, having faith in Him, repenting, being baptized and receiving the gift if the Holy Ghost. These things as well our  life long process and foundational things that we do to strengthen the faith, repent and keep our covenants are reading in the scriptures, praying and coming to church.

That is what the Lord promises us and what we can have as we keep our baptismal covenant, take His name upon us, always remember Him and keep His commandments and the Spirit will always be with us. As we do these things we can always have the Spirit to be with us, there are definitely special moments like that lesson as well, full or love and where the Holy Ghost powerfully testifies to us that what we are doing is good, when we can feel the spirit simply fill our hearts.

I love it. Mr L does too.

Love you!

Hayden

Temple Rededication: Heidelberg Week 21

September 5, 2016

Mom and Dad,

You have a married son! Congratulations!! Thanks for sending the pictures so quickly, I really need to be better at that. I'll try to send some from my iPad today, I planned time to send pictures then left my camera in the apartment, sorry about that. They look so happy. Have a good recovery week on the homefront.

My week wasn't quite as exciting, but it was up there. Seeing as we found Mr H again we had 3 lessons with him and he has now accepted the word of wisdom and is working on it. We also met with our friend Mr L, from Peru but has grown up in Germany. We met him with a family in the German congregation who knew him well from last year when you was investigating the church more. That was a special lesson. As much as we missionaries study, pray, and prepare, nothing can replace the relationships and friendships that members build. Missionaries leave, members of the church can make a lifelong friend.

Over the weekend the Freiberg temple was rededicated and we were able to visit 2 of the 3 re-dedication sessions. Elder Mejia translated for the first and we visited the following one normally. Elder Uchtdorf presided and shared messages in his native tongue. It was really cool to hear him speak German, and the messages were powerful. He told a story that brought the scripture in Matthew 25 to life, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, my brethren, ye have done it unto me. We need to be Christlike and treat others as we would treat Christ if he were here. Full of love. 

Brother K made the comment that prayer is the most important thing for him and that made me really happy.

I love you so much and wish I had more time to write in a more organized way, have a great week!

Hayden