Hospital visit, I've been transferred.

Bonjour! 

Elder Empey, myself, missionaries and the young adults from Brussels.

My companions and I with Elder Empey's parents.

Me with the Norby's before the bombings occurred.  They are wonderful people.

Well to start off I am safe. It was an absolutely crazy week
full of emotions. On Tuesday morning at 8:15, while on a bus, I got a
call from Elder Wells. He was in absolute panic. He said "Elder Hein,
Elder Hein!! There has been a bomb at the airport! I am severely
injured! I need you to call President Babin right now and tell him
everything that happened. We don't know where elder Norby is. There
has been a bomb!" Elder Empey then got on the phone and said calmly
"Elder Hein, don't worry about it. I can call president. Just make
sure all the Belgian missionaries are inside." I was just in absolute
shock. My hands were shaking uncontrollably, it was a moment in time I
will never forget. I was just so flustered. The following hours were
nothing but talking on the phone. We were talking to missionaries, the
APs, the Mission President, the Dutch Mission President, and so many
other random people. It was so stressful. The hardest part about it
all was that these Elders were all my friends. Elder Empey has been my
zone leader for 3 transfers, I saw Sister Clain everyday because she
served in Liege, I have been on exchanges with Elder Wells, and if you
have read my blog you know how much Elder Norby means to me. He was
such a good friend when I served in Brussels. We were able to get news
that Elder Norby was safe so that definitely calmed me down. The whole
day was just a blur. We talked to so many people and heard about so
many miracles. It was just crazy.

For the rest of the week we were told to stay inside. So I grew out a
nice beard and played monopoly and other various card games. It was
really relaxing and good therapy for the trauma that we went through
on Tuesday.

Today we went and visited Elder Empey and Elder Norby in the hospital.
Elder Empey is in great condition! He was talking and joking around.
It was a good experience. We then went and saw Elder Norby. We weren't
allowed in the room but we could look from the window. It was really
tough seeing him in that condition, but encouraging to hear that he
had spoke a little bit in the morning.

Oh and I am getting transferred on Tuesday to a city called Tours,
France. I am sad to be leaving the beautiful country of Belgium. I
will definitely miss all the fries and waffles. Haha.

In addition, I learned that one of my friends from high school died
this past weekend. He was a really good friend. So if you could keep
his family and friends in your prayers that would be greatly
appreciated.

It has definitely been a rough week for me filled with tears and other
crazy emotions. I can't deny that. But I also can't deny that God is
always with us. When we need His help, His support, or anything else
He will be here for us. I love Him and He loves us. Have a good week.
God bless

Elder Hein

Tuesday, March 22 - Not a good day

This section of my blog will give you some insight as to what we experienced the day of the bombings in Brussels.

I reside about an hour away in Liege.  However, my area is still in the Brussels Zone.  I served in Brussels the first 3 months of my time in Belgium.

Those missionaries that were injured in the attacks are ones I interact with everyday.  Elder Norby is a man that really took me under his wing while I was in Brussels and I have the most respect and love for him.  He took care of all the young missionaries when we were on lockdown during the Paris attacks.

The morning of the terror acts, Elder Kendrick and I were in our apartment in Liege.  We received a call from the Elders who had been hurt at the airport while they were still in the airport.  They asked us to call all the Brussels missionaries and to direct them not to leave their apartment.  We were informed they had been injured and the scene was not good at all.  We called all missionaries in the area and made sure everyone stayed in doors.

Throughout the day, we were getting updates from family and other missionaries regarding what was happening.  Our mission president, the Netherlands mission president and others were in constant connection with us to make sure we were safe.

We have felt prayers from family and friends and all church members.  Thank you so much.  The Elders and Sister that were injured need them and feel them.

Love,

Elder Hein

p.s.  This is what the mission president sent to all the parents this morning.

Dear Parents of France Paris Missionaries,

As an update to yesterday’s email concerning the explosions at the Brussels, Belgium airport, as widely reported in the domestic and international press, four of our missionaries - Sister Clain, and Elders Norby, Empey and Wells - were at the airport and were injured in the explosions.  No other missionaries were in harms way.  All four of the missionaries received injuries resulting from the explosions in varying degrees of severity, mainly burns, puncture wounds and leg injuries.  At this point none of the injuries appear to be life-threatening.  All four were evacuated from the airport immediately and all four have undergone operations in hospitals in or near Brussels.  We are currently on our way to Brussels to be with the missionaries and attend to them.  All missionaries in Belgium have been instructed to stay in their apartments until further notice.  All other missionaries have been instructed strictly to observe mission rules and regulations relating to safety.

We understand many news outlets are covering this tragedy, with particular emphasis on our missionaries, including The Deseret News, the Salt Lake Tribune and KSL.com.  You may wish to consult webpages for updates and more detailed information. Elder Empey’s parents and Elder Well’s parents have issued separate press releases describing the injuries and treatment of their sons.

Yesterday’s email was based on the best information available to us at that time.  We  hope this update relieves some of the concerns due to uncertainties.  We continue to invite your faith and prayers on behalf of the injured missionaries and their families and loved ones as well as all of those affected by the explosions.  We will provides updates as we are able to do so.

With Love,

President and Sister Babin

Elder Redd

Sœur Terry D. Sillito

Secrétaire /Legality

La Mission Française de Paris

Eglise de Jesus-Christ Des Saints

Des Derniers Jours

131 Boulevard Carnot

78110 LE VESINET

2016001@ldschurch.org

Bureau : 08.05.71.05.30

Portable : 06.82.58.89.58 

I am in a trio!

Bonjour! 

This past week was crazy! On Thursday at Zone Conference, President Babin took aside Elder Motiuk (one of the elders in the apartment) and told him he is going home because of his ankle problems. He has had this huge lump on his ankle for the past two months, and after some scans on Monday the doctors figured out it is a huge rare tumor. The exact name for the disease is pigmented villondular synovitis. Basically it is a tumor that attacks the bones and he need surgery immediately, so they sent him home the next day. Everything should go alright with Elder Motiuk but I am sure he would appreciate prayers from everyone

Liege

. 

So currently I am in a trio with Elder Kendrick and Elder Pumford. Elder Pumford is super cool. He is in his last transfer so he only has a week left, but he is definitley going out strong. The great thing about the whole situtation is that we are now over all of Liege so we have alot of appointments already schedules for this upcoming week. Unfortunately, we probably will not have any time to go contacting this week. Haha

On Pday we went to 3point. It is the spot where Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium all meet. There was a huge tower that we climbed up to get a birds eye veiw. It was absolutely gorgeous. I will attach some pictures.

As far as missionary work goes, Kendrick and I are being so blessed. We were able to teach Gile twice this week and he is doing super well. He has been really progressing in the gospel. It is exciting to see. We saw Sebastien three times this week and with him it has been a little more difficult. We have had to teach him about the restoration four times already because everytime we go over he says he forgot. This last time we saw him we showed him the video of the restoration and he said that should help him remember better. We were able to see Hitomi only once this week but she is doing awesome as well. She has been reading the book of Mormon and praying. She said she has been feeling really good as well. The lessons are in english because she is from Japan so it makes it a lot easier to teach. Haha. Last but not least, Hedi. We were not able to have an appointment with him because he is always busy but he came to church. He told us that he only has 10 pages left in the Book of Mormon!!! Absolutely incredible! He says he has not turned on the tv in like 4 days and has just been reading the Book of Mormon. He is just so ready to learn. Hopefully his work schedule is a little bit easier this week and he can have time to see us. 

Elder Kendrick and I have been so busy and time has been flying by. Going on a mission has just opened my eyes to how on a daily basis I am blessed. 

To finish off I would like to share one of my favorite scriptures. It is found in John 16: 33 and it is Jesus talking to the disciples at the last supper "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world". With Easter coming up I think it is important we all recognize the peace that the atonement and ressurection of Jesus Christ can bring to us. I have a strong testimony that we need to be of good cheer, because Christ has already done the hard part. All we need to do is follow his teaching. 

I love yall. God Bless

Elder Hein

Germany

The Hike

Hello! 

Elder Kendrick and I had a very successful week. 

Funny Ad Campaign in Belgium

Looking back on it I would say that God blessed us with three amazing miracles. It started of on Tuesday by teaching Gile at the church. We had a wonderful lesson and at the end he asked us how baptism works. That was music to our ears. Haha. So we set a baptisimal date with him for three weeks down the road. He is super excited. Hopefully we will have enough time to teach him everything before then. 

The secong miracle happened later in the week when we visited Abraham (less active member we always visit). He told us that he had quit smoking entirely, and that he wants to prepare to enter the temple. He has not smoked for over a week now! I could not believe it! We have been trying to get this to happen our whole time in Liege. Thanks to the Lord and the help of others he has finally put down the cigs.

The third miracle happened on Saturday when we were teaching the investigator who came to church the past week, Hedi. He is super cool! He is from Tunisia and the whole appointment he kept telling us how this is the only true church. It was unbelieveable! He said that he had been to other churches multiple times but everytime he has come to our church he just feels right. So we gave him a baptisimal invite and he accepted! We will try to set a date soon. It is hard to see him because of his job but he has the desire to learn so that should keep him progressing. 

Some other highlights of the week:

On Friday we went to Brussels with the two other EU citizens to finally get our legal papers for Belgium finished. The church Lawyer and the Norbys were there as well. Unfortunately, that whole appointment went horribly wrong. The boss of the man who we had been working with for legality told us that our applications for american citizens in Belgium were done incorrectly, and there are now a ton of new hoops to jump through. The problem is that all missionaries apply for legality first in France becasue that is where the mission is headquartered. Thanks to that, it is extremely difficult for non EU citizens to get legality in Belgium. This could cause tons of changes and it might mean that I am going to be staying in Belgium for a super long time. ha

On PDay, Elder Kendrick and I went and climbed this huge hill in Liege. The problem was we couldnt find a path so we just started to ascend up the side of the hill through thorny bushes and trees. I got a couple battle wounds but I think the view was worth it. haha. I will attach some pictures

God Bless,

Elder Hein

Rappin P West

Panoramic View from the top of our hike.

This is what we bush-sacked through!

Best week so far!

Bonjour!

This week was maybe the most successful week of my mission so far. Elder Kendrick and I just put trust in the Lord and tried to contact as many people as possible. We were able to more than triple the amount of lessons taught compared to the week prior. It was really fulfilling when we saw that at the end of the week. Additionally, we were able to get a few new investigators to teach.

One of them is Gilles. He is super cool, and interested in learning more about us. He plays professional soccer here in Liege and wants to take us to one of his games. He randomly called us a week ago and asked for us to start teaching him. We have taught him a couple times and he came to church a week ago. The other new friend is Sebastien. We met him on the street next to the river on Wednesday. He seemed really interested so we taught him at his house on Friday. He was agreeing with everything we were saying. Then on Sunday a member brought one of their friends who wants to become Mormon. We have yet to teach him but he seems super legit. His name is Hedi. We were not able to meet with Aime this week so hopefully we see him sometime in the next couple of days. Anyways, the work is looking up here in Liege. 

Not much else exciting has happened. It has hailed 3 times in the past week. Kendrick and I were caught outside for 2 of the storms. That was horrible. Haha. We went to Ikea today for lunch. Those meatballs are sooooo good. This upcoming week I get to go to Brussels on Friday for some more EU citizen legality stuff. That should be really fun because I will get to see the Norbys again! 

God Bless

Elder Hein

My name is graffitied everywhere. This is just one of many. The word
Hein in French is used in comic books as the sound people make when
they are confused. Haha.

Beautiful Liege!

Waffles with Dad

Advertisement using Donald Trump - it says, "If this happens, it is the premiere (news company) who will tell you."

Bonjour!

This week started off with finding day. It went a lot better than I thought it would. We were able to teach a few street lessons but unfortunately didn't find anyone super solid.

Elder Kendrick next to a big shoe.

Wednesday might have been the best day of my mission. We taught Aimé in the morning, Abraham after lunch, and then I got to see my dad for an hour! It was so much fun, we got waffles and then walked around the city. My dad even contacted some lady who was speaking English in the waffle line. Haha! It was great to see just a little peek into the contacting skills of the first Elder Hein. After my dad left, we went to Brussels for an exchange with Zone Leaders. I was greeted at the church by a little party all the young adult members threw for me. It was good to see all their faces again. We finished the night of by teaching an investigator. It was a really fun, full day.

The rest of the week didn't even compare to that day but the good news is we have begun to see Aime more and more. He is having a difficult time reading and praying because he is busy finding a job. It's hard to gain a testimony of the church if you aren't reading the scriptures or praying, so that's the roadblock we are facing with him at the moment.  

Finally here is a good scripture I have been thinking about lately. It is found in John 16:33 and it is Jesus talking to his disciples "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." I love this scripture because Jesus is promising us that he is always there to bring peace to our souls in the hardest of times.

Love y'all. God Bless

Elder Hein