Pure love of Christ

I am absolutly loving Pinneberg.  It is a blessing to be here.  The people are nice and the ward is just great.  I do miss Dresden a lot and the ward there.  The work here is going great.  We have 5 investigators that are right on the edge of baptism.  It will be a good week :)  I can't believe that it has already been a transfer since I left Dresden!  Transfer calls are on Saturday. I will tell you about a experience this week though that I sent to a friend as well.  

So we found this lady in the list that we have of investigators.  We called her up and made out an appointment (this was 4 weeks ago).  We had a great first appointment and she took it all in with no problem. We then made out another appointment for a week later which ended up not working out for her so she had to cancel.  She said that she would call but that she is also crazy with work.  We then waited a week before we would call again and she never picked up for another week.  When we called at like 10:30 in the morning one day, she answered with a tired voice, all I said was, 'Hello Frau Lorenz,' and she hung up.  We had been praying our hearts out for this lady, had members pray for her and then we messed it because she was woken up.  (It is hard enough for missionaries to get appointments with people and experiences that that doesn't help haha).  I literally cried as I prayed.  I thought that I had made her turn away from the church in that moment because I had called too early and had woken her up.  I love these people.  I put my trust in them and give them my heart. Well, a couple more weeks went by with no contact and we were just going to go by on Tuesday, we felt that we needed to wait until Sunday (yesterday) for whatever reason I don't know but it was said to me clearly.  So we waited until yesterday.  I was scared but I knew that whatever happened, the Lord's hand would be in it.  We knocked on the door and she had a blanket wrapped around her.  She said she was sick but said that we could come in.  She seemed very down and sad but okay that we were there.  We just wanted to help her in any way.  We let her talk and come to find out, she had been in bed for the last 3 days with little to eat because of sickness and alone.  She had a son that would come and help but not much.  She said that if we had come any earlier than today she would have sent us away.  She said that she had been humbled and knew why she was sick now.  Being prompted, we came by and that is when she needed us.  We talked and just cried together.  She is just a normal, active, 50 year old women whose husband has died and has one son and work.  She just needed to talk.  We then asked if she wanted a blessing and we gave her one...That feeling that we felt last night was no light prick in the heart.  It was incredible, like the room was about to light on fire in the pure love of Christ for this women.  I don't know how else to describe it!  She felt it, was crying and said that we can come over anytime.  So grateful that I was able to live that.  

I love the work!

Always remember that time is how you can show love and that is what we all need.  

Happy Valentines Day! (Yes mom you can be my valentines :)) Next year as well but the year after that I can't say haha.  

Elder Hays

YEEEEE

Well it was a great but very hard working week haha.  I loved every part of it though.  We found 6 new investigators this week and taught a good 9 lessons!  It was a good week with lots of blessings from the Lord.  

On my mission so far I have learned a lot.  The Lord has really allowed me to be broken down.  I hope that the reason for this is so that He can build me up the way that He wants me to be.  An old story depicts the situation very well.

'There was a group of women in a Bible study on the book of Malachi.  As they were studying chapter three they came across verse three which says, "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver." This verse puzzled the women and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God.

One of the women offered to find out about the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible study. That week the woman called up a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest in silver beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver. As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that, in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest so as to burn away all the impurities.

The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot - then she thought again about the verse, that He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver. She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. For if the silver was left even a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.

The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?"  He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that's the easy part -- when I see my image reflected in it."

If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has His eye on you and will keep His hand on you and watch over you until He sees His image in you.

AUTHOR UNKNOWN'

This story is one of great worth to me as I let myself be formed into the man that God wants me to be.  Here is another one.  

The Touch of the Master's Hand

'Twas battered and scarred,
And the auctioneer thought it
hardly worth his while
To waste his time on the old violin,
but he held it up with a smile.

"What am I bid, good people", he cried,
"Who starts the bidding for me?"
"One dollar, one dollar, Do I hear two?"
"Two dollars, who makes it three?"
"Three dollars once, three dollars twice, going for three,"

But, No,
From the room far back a gray bearded man
Came forward and picked up the bow,
Then wiping the dust from the old violin
And tightening up the strings,
He played a melody, pure and sweet
As sweet as the angel sings.

The music ceased and the auctioneer
With a voice that was quiet and low,
Said "What now am I bid for this old violin?"
As he held it aloft with its' bow.

"One thousand, one thousand, Do I hear two?"
"Two thousand, Who makes it three?"
"Three thousand once, three thousand twice,
Going and gone", said he.

The audience cheered,
But some of them cried,
"We just don't understand."
"What changed its' worth?"
Swift came the reply.
"The Touch of the Masters Hand."

And many a man with life out of tune
All battered with bourbon and gin
Is auctioned cheap to a thoughtless crowd
Much like that old violin

A mess of pottage, a glass of wine,
A game and he travels on.
He is going once, he is going twice,
He is going and almost gone.

But the Master comes,
And the foolish crowd never can quite understand,
The worth of a soul and the change that is wrought
By the Touch of the Masters' Hand.

Myra Brooks Welch

Might we allow the Savior to influence our daily lives as we go about as His saints.  He knows us and Who better do we allow the task of influence?  I love the Savior and His great sacrifice.  

2 Nephi 4 is a relateable scripture to those in loss or sorrow.  May we liken the scriptures unto ourselves and live in accordance to the standards that the Savior has set through latter day servants.  

A quote from our loving prophet,'From the bed of pain, from the pillow wet with tears, we are lifted heavenward by that divine assurance and precious promise: “I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.” Such comfort is priceless.'  

'Good timber does not grow with ease,

The stronger wind, the stronger trees.

The further sky, the greater length.

The more the storm, the more the strength.

By sun and cold, by rain and snow,

In trees and men good timbers grow.'

Thomas S. Monson

I love you and thank you for your prayers.  Pray for us, that we may not be found confounded before men, that we may keep the commandments and that we may find the brothers and sisters that need this Word. 

I love you all.

Elder Brandon Scott Hays 

Settling down here in Pinneberg . . .

Well Tuesday we taught our new investigator Frau F*****.  She is great and we taught for a good hour and a half and she just soaked it all in.  She is about 60 or so and is pretty intrested.  We had a older sister in the ward as a joint teach and she did great answering questions about the priesthood and relief society.  At the end we showed her the family history center and everything.  She was super excited about that and we have an appointment with her this next week doing family history work and talking about the temple.  

We are fed really well here in Pinneberg.  We have a good 4 eating appointments a week so we are always full.  That is good because I am down to 158 pounds.  Crazy huh haha.  Thank you for sending the protein and know that it will be put to good use.  I just have to put some strength into my shoulders so that they can be more supported.  

We had 8 appointments fall out this week which is never fun so we did some finding in the area.  It has been -18°C the last couple of days during the day with the wind coming as well from the ocean. 

  

We found another new investigator this week, his name is N*** and he is 18 years old.  We set out an appointment but it didn't go through so we will go by and teach him and his family this week.  

We have 3 or 4 people now who are on the track for baptism which is good.  We just have to take them the next step in the conversion proccess which will happen here soon.  

This week I went on exchange with Elder Bendixon from Penn.  He is serving in Altona, Hamburg right now so that was a lot of fun!  We taught their baptismal date for Feb 8 and he is doing super great.  

On Saturday, we had another member lesson with a family who is great.  They speak Spanish, German and English.  We talked about goals and how we tie that in to making ourselves better servants for the Lord.  It was good.  We asked our Bishop to pray and give us a couple of areas to work in when we have finding time so we will be dooring those areas and do some finding there.  

We had a good Sunday meeting.  Hadi from Dresden moved into the Altona ward but wanted to come to my ward so he met us at church haha.  He is super awesome!  He is from Iran.  I have a couple of picures with him in Dresden.  

I am trying to be a 'consecrated' missionary.  One that is focused and loves the work.  My success is measured in my commitment to the salvation of souls and I can take that feeling a step higher this week.  

I love you!  Thank you for your support and everything that you do!  

Elder Hays

On top of the world!

I feel on top of the world...Missionary work is the best.  The ward is bringing people to church for us to teach, we have people who listen to us on the street and who make out appointments with us.  

We have 17 year old boys and girls listening to a first discussion, asking us to come back and meet their families.  Whoever said that Germany was a hard mission lied.  The Lord has His ways, His methods about teaching His children.  We can only be a tool, but a worthy and sharp tool.  I have a fire inside my soul and it's raging.  I have never set higher goals this week ever in my mission and I already know it will be a good one.  

The ward here is great, Elder Burri is fantastic and the work as a servant of God builds faith.  

I don't have a ton of time today but I am sending letters out today!  YAY for procrastination!!!!  But I do thank everyone who wrote me for Christmas.  It was very brightening :)

I will send a couple of pictures.  

I wish you all a great week and a happy Monday.  Join us next time.  Stay classy America.

Elder Hays

First week in Pinneberg

Okay so I will start with the beginning of the week.  So for the rest of Monday after we wrote emails, we all just hung out at the church, played pingpong and wrote goodbye letters to all that were leaving.  We then went with the Sisters 2 to Is****'s house (the lady I baptized in September) and had a little testimony meeting with her and her children.  It was great but terrible leaving.  We had family home evening that night so we went back to the church and sung as missionaries a couple of songs and then said our goodbyes.  Sister Rasmussen and I at least because we were the ones leaving.  It was so so sad to say goodbye to such dear friends.  I was excited thought.  The city of Dresden also took a part of me.  I feel so so blessed to have been able to serve there.  D*** had us over for dinner and it was super good!  

Dienstag:  Got to the train station at 8:00 for my train to Berlin at 9:00.  We took pictures, said goodbyes and then Sister Rasmussen and I were off to Berlin Hauptbahnhof.  We had a lot of fun just talking about Dresden and how much we will miss everyone.  She has become a great friend of mine since I have been in Dresden with her for 4 transfers.  She will do great in Berlin Marzahn area.  We got off the train in Berlin to be greeted by sister Rasmussen's new companion Sister Woodward.  Sister Woodward is great and she was in Leipzig when I was in Groitzsch.  We were also in the same group coming out but she was fast tracked.  Sister Ricks was also there as her temporary companion.  Sister Ricks and I were in the same district when I was with Elder Künzle.  She is also a great Sister.  We then booked it up flights of platforms to the ICE trains (the fast ones :))  I got on, said last goodbyes to the east and my good friends and put my bags in the baggage place.  I then was l then was looking for a spot to sit when I saw another Sister at the other end of the carriage!  It was Sister Turner who was on her way to Hamburg as well and will be in my district!  How cool!  Her companions were waving goodbye so I ran over to say hello and It was Sister Ahrenholtz!  She was in my district in Dresden for 2 transfers!  So much joy on such a sad transfer day haha.  Sister Turner enjoyed chatting about our families on the way to Hamburg Hbf.  

We were then greeted by Elder Duff (was in my first district in Leipzig) and Elder Duncan and Sister Bradshaw (from Cedar City).  We went down the platform and met my zone leaders, Elders leuning from Canada and Elder Cannon from...I don't know but I will let you know when I do.  Sister Bradshaw, Sister Turner and I then caught a train heading to Pinneberg.  They got off at there stop and then I got off at Pinneberg to meet the rest of my district Elders Bendixon, Miles and Burri.  Elder Burri and I headed home to plan that night and also had an appointment with a less active member.  

Wednesday-Friday: Planned, had district meeting and worked :)

Elder Burri from Switzerland

Friday Night: I went on exchange with my zone leader Elder Leuning.  He was a MMA fighter back in Canada and is just super great and a really humble guy.  As we are walking home, we talked to 3 people and 2 of them listened to the first lesson and accepted Book of Mormons!  It was a start to a great exchange.  Went back to the apartment and met Elder Schmidt (from Alpine) and Elder Sufiert (from Brazil).  I also knew Elder Sufiert ealier because he was in the same zone as I was in Dresden.  On Saturday, we went out to an eating appointment that we had and had some super spicy chili but was way good.  We spent some good time in the bathroom that day.  We then had a couple of meetings, appointments fall out and did some Train finding.  It was a great day!  Found 2 new investigators and 1 contact for them!  

Sunday:  Went to church and was immediately welcomed from the ward.  Bischof Dannenburg is a great leader and was super nice.   I really miss Dresden A LOT but I really like the ward here. They were all very welcoming and very nice. I got up in church and decided I would give a very bold missionary testimony. I said, 'Elder Burri and I work really well together. We will find people and we will teach people. We invite you today to help in this effort. Find people, bring them together with us and we can both teach people. I promise you brothers and sisters, if we come together in unity of efforts, we will see baptisms here in Pinneberg.' The Bishop came up to me afterward and said that he was super excited that I was excited and that we have that expectation.  It will be a great transfer with people coming to the fold of Christ.  

That was my week in a nutshell.  Got lots done and now time for another :)

I love you!

Elder Hays

Kind of amazing to think that Elder Hays is serving in the same German town that his Bishop served in 1986

Auf wiedersehen.... Leaving Dresden, East Germany

Transfered . . .

I don't know if I want to tell you where I got transfered to but it will be a new experience:)

I get a Swiss companion again!!!  I am really excited about that haha and he is younger than Elder Young is on the mission which is awesome as well.  I am still district leader over 2 other Sisters and a pair of Elders.  I am in the west part of Germany which will be really different! 

For the new year I have set a lot of goals.  I have a vision in my head of who I want to become and what I want to be at the end of my mission.  I have written a list and have set goals and plans to reach these attributes.  

I feel like I have a lot more to do in Dresden but I have been called somewhere else and I will go there.  I will miss the ward a lot and I cried all of Sunday in the meeting which was terrible.  A lot of people came up to me to wish me farewell but I got a few people to cry haha not really but I saw it in a couple of peoples eyes.  Maybe I was just dreaming but I had a great relationship with the young men.  Elder Young and I were with the young men for priesthood meeting every week.  The youth here are so strong.  They all talk about missions, saving up for missions and the whole round.  That is the only thing on their minds and I am so proud of them for it.  They are a great example to me.  I love them so much and will miss them with all of my heart.  A lot of families here really 'lay on my heart' as you would say in German.  

I am going to..........where am I going?  Um......oh yeah to the church today but I leave tomorrow morning!  At nine in the morning here...Crazy huh?!  

Okay...I can't help it anymore....IM GOING TO PINNEBERG-HAMBURG!!!!!!

Allllll the way across the country haha.  I am really excited.  I will be able to ride with missionaries the whole time there in the train which will be a blast.  I can't wait.  

Until next week!  I don't know what else to write...

We had a fun New Years Eve!  We went to a members house and had a huge dinner, sung and played games.  We then hiked up to the top of the hill and watched fireworks until we had to go home but at like 10:30 at night, Samuel Schmitt called and said to look out side of our window.  He was standing there with a couple of other members and his wife and started of this huge firework show!  Okay fireworks in America are lame...Germany does it right.  Everything is completely legal here.  They go so high, run into buildings and just EXPLODE it's a blast.  

I love you and Happy New Year!

Elder Hays

Side note . . . Our Bishop served in this exact same place. Pinneberg in a fairly small town a ways outside of Hamburg.  Here's how he explained the pronunciation . . .

Oh, and Hamburg is pronounced “HOM-burg” (the first syllable is emphasized and rhymes with Tom) – only the “u” is a bit rounded – more like Hambourg – and the “g” is between a hard “g” and a soft “g” – kind of like a hard “h.”  (Might take a little practice J but it’s a beautiful word! J)