Christmas Week

Hello everybody!

This week was fairly slow for missionary work because of Christmas but
we had a wonderful time nonetheless. 

On Wednesday we went back to  Waterloo with a lot more missionaries to see the legality doctor
again. We went to McDonald's afterwards and it is amazing how much more class the McDonald's here in Europe have compared to America.  They even bring the food out to you at the table. It is amazing. 

On Christmas Eve we went to an old folks home to sing some Christmas carols. It went really well. Old people are just so funny. One woman was dipping her crackers in her Coke. Haha. That night we went to a members home for a nice dinner and a movie. We watched Big Hero 6 and I was really surprised about the quality of that film. 

Christmas Day we opened presents and spent all day at the Norby's home. I took a glorious nap. In the evening we went to the Albacite's house and they fed us a nice meal. 

On Saturday we planned for the week and had pizza.

Sunday night I got sick so we didn't do much then. I hope everyone got what they wanted from Santa. 

Stay safe this New Year's Eve. God Bless

Elder Hein
Sent from my iPad

Christmas Week!

Another wonderful week in the mission field has passed! 

As far as the terrorist stuff goes, Brussels is becoming more normal. This past week
I saw a lot less military men out and about. I don't know if I should be worried or pleased...ha. 

Wednesday I went to Waterloo to see a
doctor with Elder Palfreyman and the Norby's. The Belgian government might need us to provide health papers from a Belgian Doctor, and since we are the "Guinea Pigs" of this whole legality issue, we went
just to be safe. We are gathering all the papers possible that the government might need so when we turn them in they can decide which
ones are necessary.

Elder Madsen taught Gaspare this week while I was in Waterloo. He said it went very well. Elder Madsen and I are trying to be patient with
him and his readiness to get baptized. He is at the finish line. He just can't make that last step of commitment. On Friday night we had our monthly PPP activity with the young adults. It was really fun.

Saturday we set up all day for the Ward Christmas Party and it turned
out to be a wonderful success. Gaspare showed up and really enjoyed
it. I was able to participate in a little play as the Angel who talked
to the shepherds. I will be expecting an Oscar for my performance.
God bless and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Elder Hein

Yep, Got Spit At!

Hello!

This week was nothing but less active work. I don't know if I have
explained this yet but there use to be a church building in downtown
Brussels in addition to the one we go to now(Strombeek). Earlier this
year, the building downtown was closed so a lot of the members just
decided to stop going instead of coming to the church in Strombeek. So
Elder Madsen and I have been trying to get these people to start
coming to church again. 

We have the ward Christmas party this weekend, so we have also been extending invitations to that as well.  As far as our investigator Gaspard goes, he has been doing well. We were able to meet with him on Wednesday. He read the chapter in the
Book of Mormon we told him to read and he really liked it. We discussed the importance of the sacrament in an attempt to get him to
church. He says he will come to the Christmas Party. He doesn't want to get baptized because he thinks he doesn't have enough faith. Something I have learned through life is that faith comes through
action. The more we act on our belief in God, the more our faith grows. We have been trying to help him understand that.


On Friday we went to Paris for a special 3 zone Christmas conference. It was really fun to meet up with missionaries we haven't seen for a while. I met the new AP, Elder McBride. He is from Canada but his family moved to Frisco a month before he left. He is super awesome,
and he loves hockey so it was fun to talk about how good the Stars are
doing.


We got greeted in Brussels by the flem of a drunk Muslim man. We
walked out of the Metro train and got on an escalator heading down.
Another man walked out of the metro and started to yell at us for no
apparent reason. We kept heading down the escalator and then I see him
leaning over the ledge of the escalator ready to spit. Well I
skillfully dodged the flem as it zoomed past my face but Madsen was
not so lucky. It hit him in the back of the arm. The man repeated this
act but this time we were ready and it didn't hit any of us. There is
nothing quite like missionary work. It's truly a once in a lifetime
experience. His friend then followed us and apologized. We had a good
conversation about how people should respect other religions.


Today we went to the Christmas Market in the center of town. It is so
amazing! I'll attach some pictures.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week. Please try to keep in mind why
we celebrate Christmas.
God Bless

Elder Hein

Government, Lawyers and Me

Hello everybody!

Grand Place Christmas Tree

This week was exciting! We focused a ton on less active work and saw a lot of blessings as well. 

On Wednesday we went on exchanges with the Zone Leaders here in Brussels. I got to go with Elder Empey. He is a super chill guy who knew a couple of my friends that I met at BYU!   On a sad note, we have heard nothing from Simon. He did not pick up his phone this week and was not at his house on Wednesday. We will keep trying this upcoming week. 

On Thursday we met up with Gaspare and he told us that he believes everything to be true.  He believes in the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith, and the Restoration. When we asked why he will not get baptized he gave really lame excuses. So we will be working with him later this week to understand baptism and its importance. He is currently our most promising investigator. 

On Friday I had a very unique experience I will probably never have again. The missionaries in Belgium have been having a very difficult time gaining legality. To make it worse, these terrorist attacks have made the government slow the process down even more. So on Friday I was chosen, with Elder Palfreyman and the Norby couple, to represent the church legally to a Belgian government official. We got with the lawyer for our Church that represents this part of europe and had a meeting to discuss what was going to happen in the official meeting. I felt like such an adult haha. The lawyer was preparing us with things to say and do. It was very intense. haha. When we finally got to the real meeting everything went really smooth. It looks like we will be able to stay in Belgium for a long time. 

Saturday and Sunday were not as nearly exciting. All we did was alot of pass backs to non member homes. Our main focus is to invite them to the Ward Christmas party next week.  

On an unrealted note: Sorry if my personal emails have been short for the past couple of weeks. Elder Wheeler accidentally took my ipad to Cherbourg on transfer day thinking it was his. I will be getting it back by the end of the week. 

I believe I agree

I hope y'all have a good week. God Bless!

Elder Hein

Gold Turtle

Not to many pictures because we have been locked in all week but here is the man riding the turtle. Haha

Hello everybody! 

This week was fairly unproductive due to the terrorism, but it was fun nonetheless. 

Monday through Wednesday we stayed in the apartment and only got to leave 3 times. We went to the Norby home, a dinner appointment, and the train station. The metro system was down until thursday so we had to hitch rides from Elder Norby. 

On Thursday we were suppose to go to the Norby's home for Thanksgiving, but unfortunately the Zone Leaders thought it would be a good idea to send us to Namur until Brussels was safe. So we got cheated of a scrumptious Thanksgiving meal and instead we ate a mitraillette. Which brings me to an embarrassing story about my competence. Me and everyone in our apartment had been calling these sandwiches "meat triads" because that is what every missionary has called it and it is kind of an secret item that everyone serves. It is never on the menu. In reality it is called a mitraillette which means machine gun in french, and it is famous here in Brussels. Please excuse my idiocy. Thursday and Friday we spent in Namur. It is a really small town with an awesome castle on a hill. There is this huge gold turtle too. I will attach pictures. It is really bizarre. 

Saturday we got back to Brussels late, and made calls to set up appointments this upcoming week. On Sunday we had an awesome experience at church. A random man walked in and stayed all three hours. His name is Simon and he is a diplomat for Central Africa. Recently he was drinking alcohol on a plane and someone showed him a scripture in the bible that talks about how God judges people by there actions. So he decided to change his life and stop drinking. For the past week he kept passing by our church feeling like he should go inside. On Sunday he finally got the courage and he absolutely loved it. We get to go teach him on Wednesday. 

The Lord definitely prepares people for the gospel. It is amazing. 

Sorry I didnt have much this week. I hope everyone had a wonderful thanksgiving. Time to put up those christmas trees!

God bless

Elder Hein