Pics of Rostock

Elder Bednar - An Apostle

Ahh man...This week has been nuts!  Monday we went to a really cool museum about Poland during WWII and that was a huge eye opener.  

Tuesday was transfer day.  We headed to the station, I got to say goodbye to a lot of great people and then headed off to Rostock.  When I got there, I got picked up by Tobias, our Ward Mission Leader who is AWESOME.  I've never seen anything like it.  He took us to our apartment and we dropped our stuff off and then we went to an appointment with him.  Just an older sister that needed a blessing.  A great start to the week :)  After that he took us to the church to show us around a little bit.  

Wednesday-Thursday was planning and working.

Friday we went to a member's house and were able to serve them in their garten.  After that we were assigned to take the train to Neubrandenburg and stay the night there in order to get to the meeting for Elder Bednar on time the next day.  We get there and stay with the Elders there.  We get up at 3:45am, get ready and leave at 5am to get to Berlin at 7am.  We arrive at Berlin and I see Elder Young (who I trained in Dresden) I leap out of the car and we have a great talk.  It was awesome to see him again.  He is now Zone Leader in Chemnitz.  After that we all pile into the chapel.  All 280 from us serving in the mission.  We were trying to kill time, so President asked if somebody could lead us in stretching to wake us all up.  He ponders on who he will call to lead then he yells out my name...oh joy...so I go up to help everyone wake up.  I then proceded to lead our mission and stake authorities in 'head-shoulders-knees and toes'.  Mom...I know...What was I supposed to do?!  Everyone got a kick out of it.  Elder Bean and I had the BEST seats.  4 rows back and right in front of Elder Bednar.  I will not attempt to explain what happened in the meeting because the best news reporter in the world could not have written an appropriate enough word for describing that Divine experience.  

That meeting literally ripped my soul apart and put it back together better than it was. I feel strength! I really do! I feel the desire and the burning more powerfully. When Elder Bednar gave his testimony, I couldn't even look at him. He was radiating as he spoke and I shook. My eyes where freaking out and produced some water haha. Just picture a jet on a runway about to take off. Elder Hays standing directly behind the jet engine and then the pilot turns on the jet's engines and you get a picture of Elder Hays. Just let that picture sink in.  

Sunday we went to church like good Christians do.  We had about 7 people or less from the ward there so it was a party :)  After that we found a few new investigators and came home.  

Good week :)  

I love you!

Elder Hays

(Totally going to the beach today...be jealous)

Transferred to Rostock

Haaaaaaaallochen. 

I got transfered!  I am sad to leave Neukölln but I'll go, where you want me to go, dear Lord'.  It was great to give my testimony and then to go give a blessing right after, and then going to eat with Bishop's family, and then going and having a great lesson with N***!  N**** is doing great.  We baptized him on the 1st of June and he has recieved the priesthood, comes to all 3 hours of church since his baptisms, is giving us referalls, is bringing less actives to church and is just so strong!  I'm so proud of him.  I am heading up to Rostock.  It is up on the edge of the Baltic Sea.  I'm excited!  I will be serving with Elder Bean and it will be his last transfer on the mission.  We will go hard :)  

Wanna know why I think the Lord sends prepared people to us? Here's why...So we talked to this lady on the street about a week ago and made out an appointment with her for Sunday at 16.30. Up to this point we had no joint teach and we knew she lived alone. A baptism was taking place at our church from Tiergarten. We ask her if she wants to go and she had no objection. So we take the busses to the church together and show up to the baptism. Well, it starts and they start speaking SPANISH. I can understand spanish but what about the investigator sitting next to me?? I look at her and said I had no idea that this was in spanish and she replies,'I speak spanish'. I was blown away. It was a really pretty baptism of a little spanish girl and our german investigator could randomly speak spanish. It was really cool...We gave her a book of mormon and then found out that she had already read it in english and she asked for one in turkish, so we gave her one in turkish (she was born in germany and grew up here speaking german but grew up in a turkish family and can therefore speak turkish). She said she will read it again and that we can come by with another friend next time so that we can come in :)

2 more transfers left...it's nuts. 

Elder Bednar is coming to speak to us on Saturday!  That will be pretty cool.  I can't wait.  It's like the Super Bowl for missionaries but BETTER. 

Well, I bid you all farewell and until next week!

Elder Hays

Reading the Book of Mormon

So...This week...B*** is getting baptized!  That's exciting right?  I mean, that's why I came out here?  :)  It's always awesome to have a baptism and to see people change in order to be able to be baptized. 

I finished reading the Book of Mormon in English this last week and started in German and am on schedule to finish before I come home so we will see.  It is cool studing the Book of Mormon in a different language because you see certain phrases in a different perspective.  It's awesome.  I actually am almost to 2nd Nephi in Spanish as well! (got it back). 

Have I told you I love Elder Christensen?  Yeah, He's great.

So I wrote a REALLY big story about how we got an investigator to come to a baptism and about the baptism but then the computer deleted it and my draft wasn't saved so I will type it up next week and send it to you. 

I will tell you about J**** though.  He is an African preacher and is INTENSE.  Think about having someone quote to you the bible from memory at the speed of Bethoven's 5th.  We had a great lesson about the Book of Mormon with him.  He would quote some truth from the Bible and then I, and Elder Christensen would quote something from the Book of Mormon and he would be like, 'Whoa'.  That's just like what it says here!  I gotta read this book!  

It's a lot of fun teaching him because I get to talk like an African preacher too.  He responds to it really well If you can picture me doing that.  I get a kick out of it. 

I love you family!

Elder Hays

Meine liebe Familie....

Well well...We meet again computer. 

I am finally getting over my sickness :)  Highlight.

Another Highlight!  I got to baptize M**** on Saturday!  I will send pictures the next time that I am at the church but it was so cool!  He is great.  We should be having another baptism this weekend so we will see how that goes.  This ward is really growing well!  Since May we have had 4 baptisms...I think...maybe one more.  It is great. 

Elder Christensen and I are doing fantastic together.  Definitely one of my favorite comps on the mission.  (haha he's said that a million times)  He brings out the nerd in me :)  We have been having a lot of success and fun together so far.  

We have been working with two in-active members here in the ward who should be coming regularly to church now so that should be exciting!  We will see what happens. 

Do you know what I love?  Passing the sacrament.  I got asked to pass the sacrament yesterday and I have done it a couple of times in this ward but it was so much fun yesterday!  I had a big smile on my face :)

Elder Bednar is coming soon.  I am really excited.  He gave us a couple of talks to read that he gave before he comes so that we can get into a certain midset I presume.  I fancy a quote that he gave in one of them which I can't quote exactly but from memory...He said that a lot of times, we members pray for missionaries, that they may have the opportunity to find somebody to find, that the Lord will put people in their paths...The more effective prayer would be that of asking for opportunities for YOU to find somebody.  We are the full-time finders and the missionaries are the full-time teachers.  Your prayers will receive more answers as you pray for something that YOU can change and act upon. 

I really liked that quote.  A lot of members around the world know that and understand that and live it but the most don't.  We missionaries can tell within 30 seconds of talking with a random member, if they are a missionary or not.  'Every member a missionary!' 

I was thinking the other day...(I tend to do that a lot)...about the scripture, Moses 1:39.  BEHOLD; THIS IS MY WORK AND MY GLORY, TO BRING TO PASS THE IMMORTALITY AND ETERNAL LIFE OF MAN....That is GOD'S goal!  That is the church's goal!  That probably should be our goal!  Member or Missionary.  The members who come to church are not perfect and still struggle but they are 'built of the rock of their Savior'.  When someone walks in the church for the first time, if we have the same goal as God, and feel like we are pretty set up for eternal life with an eternal family and a strong stance in the church, THEN WE NEED TO MAKE THIS NEW PERSON FEEL LIKE A THOUSAND DOLLARS AND talk to him, sit next to him, invite him over for dinner in the week, show him love, show him testimony, help him understand.  Obviously not scare the poor kid but be there for him and make him a priority.  I guess the point I want to come to is that, we, in the church are stable, we have salvation in front of us, those people outside have nothing and some people don't want anything, but when you. see. a. person. with. a. sliver. of. hope. faith. desire. ANYTHING....you'd better be there to give him a door.  If we see that and do nothing, we are denying the opportunity to help God reach his goal and we will pay for that when we stand before Him. 

I don't want to get to Heaven and have someone come up to me and say, 'You knew?  You knew that whole time and didn't tell me?  I know I was a little prideful but I needed that...and now I have to miss out.'

Please ponder this scripture.  Moses 1:39.  Become one with God in goals.

I love you :)

Elder Hays

I LOVE MY LIFE

I will answer all of your questions :)

1. How are you?

I LOVE MY LIFE.  I think that explains a lot.  Elder Christensen are and I getting along like Trevor and Jackson as they were 4 year olds.  

2. How's mission life?

I LOVE MY LIFE.  I don't know how else to put it to be honest.  I enjoy serving the Master and love the work here.  Mission life is the meaning of change.  You aren't serving your mission right if you aren't changing everyday.  

3. How's Berlin?

MASSIVE.  Lot's of people and things to see and do and baptize :)

4. How's your new comp?

(answered in question 1)

5. Where is he from?

Provo, UT

6. How long has he been out?

One transfer less than I have.

7. What did you have for Sunday dinner? 

Potato salad with fish in it and then ice cream :)

I really am doing well. 

I don't have a lot of time for email time because I did my essays for BYU but...know that I love you and we had a great Zone Training meeting!  It was a lot of fun and we talked about the depth and frequency of prayer and how it plays a role in missionary work. We taught an African preacher (who can literally recite the Bible from memory, like seriously) about the Book of Mormon and he flipped out about how amazing it is.  We ate spicy chinese rolls.  We handed out like 1.5 billion books of mormon and then put someone on baptismal date in the zone.  One of the zone members had surgery and I got bit by a spider.  Got a tie.  Talked to another African preacher.  Ran into member randomly.  I feel like with this list that I'm gunna break out into a Tim Mcgraw song but I will leave it at that. 

Love you all!

Elder Hays

So many people to baptize in four months.

Four Months is FOREVER!!!  I have a long time here till I go home and so many people to baptize! 

I love it.  Elder Christensen is my new Comp!  He is a wonderful person.  We get along awesome and he is just super smart and I am very excited about that.  ¿Sabía usted que puedo hablar español?  It's true.  Totally had a conversation with this guy about the gospel at church on Sunday.  El Evangelio es la verdad!  Das Evangelium ist der Wahrheit!  The gospel is the truth!  Watch out book of world records!  Elder Hays almost has 3 languages down! Jk, I really said like 3 words to him and then I forgot so I talked to  him in German but IT WAS COOL ANYWAYS!  

He had a good week of finding this week...even though we had like NO time this week to do anything.  On Tuesday we were at the train station all day, getting missionaries to their assigned stations.  On Wednesday we went finding with all of the brand new missionaries that arrived that day!  (So cute).  On thursday we had district meeting and then planning. On Friday we had a day long meeting for the Zone Leaders and then the rest of the weekend we did a lot of planning for the Zone.  FUN.

I hope you are all doing well.  Keep an eye on Trevor.  He might get drafted into the army because of his immense studlyness. 

I am going to show Elder Christensen a little around Berlin today so it should be fun.  Oh yeah!  Sister Seamons is in my district!  Right when I met her she said she knew my family haha it was so so funny.  I just was so surprised.  She is doing well and is working awesome here.  

We got to meet Sister Seamons before she left.
She is from American Fork and great friends with our neighbors.

Love you!  Thank you for the bars!

Elderly Hays