Transfers - Staying in Liege

Beautiful Sunset in Liege

Bonjour! Well we got transfer news this past week and it looks like I am staying in Liege with Elder Kendrick. I am excited to stay another transfer with him and hopefully we can get a baptism. Other than that news this week was fairly average.

We have learned that Elder D. Todd Christofferson will be coming to Paris to speak with all the Stake Presidents, Bishoprics and hopefully us missionaries.  We have heard the theme will be missionary work which will be exciting.  As of late, we have really been taught to teach repentance and baptize converts.  I am sure his message will be exactly the same.

On Friday the other missionaries were threw a branch party. (The branch only consists of about 35 members).  Elder Kaonohi was in charge so he made the theme Hawaiian. We ate coconuts, pineapples, rice, and pork. We also sang songs with the ukulele and performed a Haka dance that Elder Kaonohi had been teaching us. It was a really fun night.

We got a new senior couple here in Liege! Elder and Sister Slaughter! They are from Sandy Utah and seem to be really nice. I have been so blessed to be in cities with a senior couple. They make everything so much more fun.

Elder Kendrick and I found a less active family this week that are so cool! They have two sons on missions and three other sons still at home. They like all the same things as Elder Kendrick and I (i.e. sports, music) so we are planning to play basketball with them soon. I haven't played ball in a long time and I am so excited to dominate the paint once more. Haha.

That's pretty much it for this week. Sorry that not much exciting happened. Love y'all. God Bless

Elder Hein

Bastogne

Bonjour! 

Another great week passes by in Liege. All the school kids here are on break this week but us missionaries are still on the grind haha. 

The week started off with exchanges. Elder Kaonohi and I had a fantastic time together contacting less actives. He played football for The University of Hawaii before the mission as an O lineman so, needless to say, we talked about sports all day. Haha.

Later in the week, we were able to do some service for someone Elder Kendrick knew. He was the Ward Mission Leader in Kendrick's last area, Mulhouse, and he had been working on restoring a home in Liege, that his aunt lived in. So we went by on Friday and spent the day cleaning and moving rocks. It is an amazingly big and beautiful home. The Aunt

isn't a member of the church.  It was fun to all work together.

Passed out in the back of a member's car.  Long day!!

On Sunday our investigator Aimé showed up and it seemed like he had a good time. We are going to have to move his baptismal date back a couple of weeks. We just haven't had enough time to teach him everything. Our less active friend, Abraham, also showed up for the second week in a row.

On p-day we went down 1.5 hours south to a city called Bastogne. That is where the famous Battle of the Bulge occurred. It is commemorated with a huge monument in the shape of a star, and museum. To sum up the whole month of war in a quick sentence, the Americans saved the Belgians from the Nazis during the cold of winter by holding the city of Bastogne. It was fun, humbling and inspiring. They were also having an expo about some Texas A&M Aggies who fought in the battle. We wanted to go but we didn't have enough time because the museum itself took 2.5 hours. It was super cool though seeing Aggie stuff everywhere. Haha.

Hope everyone has a fantastic week. 

God Bless.

Elder Hein

The Memorial at Bastogne

Chipotle - 20 year success

Hello everyone!

Liege by night

So Tuesday we went to District meeting and then out to a city called Verviers to do some service. We helped this man move a really heavy book shelf, up some tight stairs.  Needless to say it was very difficult and took us about an hour but eventually found a way to get the job done. The rest of the day was contacting and pass backs. 

On Wednesday we had a lesson with Aime. He is doing really well and loved the lesson we taught. We are trying to get him baptized on the 13th but if not hopefully it will happen soon afterwards. After lunch we visited a less active named Abraham. He is this old man who was Mormon, then turned Muslim, but now wants to be Mormon again.  He is great. We see him about twice a week. The good news is he came to church for the first time in 20 years on Sunday. He seemed to have a great time so things are definitely progressing. 

On Thursday, we went to Brussels (Waterloo to be more exact) and did Belgium legality for Elder Kendrick. Afterwards the Norbys made us a nice welcome home lunch. It was soon good. That evening we took a train to Paris for Elder Kendricks second year France legality the next day. We slept at the APs apartment and in the morning Elder Martin (an AP who is in the Naval Academy) took us out to exercise with a huge log. It was the length of a car and weighed somewhere around 150-200 lbs. I have never worked out so hard in my life. Haha. I am still sore. We then did Kendrick's legality, and we had some extra time so we chilled at a mall in Paris. The important part is we had CHIPOTLE. It is the only
chipotle in the mission and it was so good. Haha. We got home that evening to Liege late at night. 

Landmark near the mall in Paris "La Defense"

Chipotle in France

On Saturday we did some weekly planning and contacting. Sunday was similar, we went to church and then had an appointment with a member followed by some pass backs.
Hope everyone has a great week. God Bless

Elder Hein

Spiderman Party Plates

Sorry I don't have a lot of time this week so it will be short but this past week was great! 

It didn't start off well on Tuesday.  Francois got fired from his job on Sunday so he decided that he is going to stop talking to us until he can figure out who he is. He said he will call us when he is ready again. So that kind of put a damper on things, but as the great Ron Washington once said "that just how missionary life go" or something like that. Haha. 

On Wednesday we went into Brussels for our district meeting with the President of the mission. We had interviews and everything went really well. That evening I got to have dinner with some old friends from when I served in Brussels. It was really fun. The next day we had exchanges with the zone leaders in Brussels. It was a lot of fun and we got a lot of work done.  The only problem for Elder Kendrick and I is that we haven't been in our sector a lot. In fact, two days of every week we have been gone so it has been fairly difficult to get our feet on the ground. 

On Friday we did our weekly planning and celebrated Elder Kendricks birthday in the evening. His mom sent him some Spider-Man party plates, napkins and masks. We made cake too. It was really fun. 

Saturday we did 6 hours of nothing but straight contacting and less active pass backs. It was a super tiring day but we got to know the city really well. In the morning we taught one of our investigators, Aime. He is super legit. He has a baptismal date for February 13 so hopefully that holds. Currently he has no issues with the gospel so it is all smooth sailing. 

Sunday was just a chill Sunday. We went to church and then a members home afterwards. Hope everyone had a great week. 

I found this funny, someone used a band-aid for their name.

God bless.
Elder Hein

A Solid Missionary Week

Bonjour! I had another solid week as a missionary. 

It Snowed!

On Tuesday we went out to a city called Huy (about an hour away) for an appointment with an investigator, Bernard. When we got to his apartment we were so shocked. This guy is the most American Belgium man I have ever met. His entire apartment was nothing but model American military aircrafts, American flags, and other American things. Haha. It was a little weird but the good news is he said he believes that our church contains the truth. Unfortunately he doesn't like having commitments so he won't get baptized. Maybe one day we can change his mind. 

Later on that day we got to meet one of the investigators with a baptismal date. His name is Francois. He is approximately 55 years old and loves the missionaries. He is just your typical Belgian man. He is progressing really well but on Tuesday he expressed some of his concerns to us. He is having a hard time with tithing and the word of wisdom. So unfortunately we had to put his baptismal date back up in the air. The rest of the week Elder Kendrick and I focused really hard on tithing and how we could help him with that. We studied and prayed a lot on how we could get him to accept the law of tithing. When we showed up for our next appointment on Saturday, before we began teaching, he said "I no longer have a problem with tithing. I understand it". We were really surprised. God really did answer prayers.

On Wednesday it was just an average day. We had an investigator flake out on us and then had a meeting with the Branch Mission Leader. He is super cool and he set some goals for the Liege Branch this upcoming year.

Thursday we went to Paris for a conference given by a member of the Seventy, Elder Kearon. It was really good. He stressed the importance of obedience and hard work. It was also fun to catch up with mission friends. I got to see Elder Nagloo (my MTC companion) for the first time since the start of my mission.

Friday another person flaked out on us so we planned for the week ahead and called people all night long. I can't even imagine going on a mission 20 years ago when missionaries didn't have cell phones. Haha. That must have been tough.

On Saturday, we visited with Francois and then went contacting less active members all night long. Unfortunately we didn't have a lot of success.

On Sunday we went to church and then went to find less actives all evening long. We met some interesting people. One older gentleman had a ton of old radios. He has been a member for more than 50 years but doesn't go anymore because he thinks the children get too loud.

As stated earlier, this week my testimony about prayer grew immensely.
We asked God to help us out with Francois and He did. He loves us more than we can imagine.

I hope everyone has a great week. God Bless

Elder Hein

The Stairs of Liege

The Stairs of Liege

Bonjour from Liege! 

On Monday and Tuesday, Elder Madsen and I said goodbye to all the cool members we met in Brussels. This includes the week prior where we had 8 dinner appointments in a row. We didn't have to buy groceries. Haha! 

On Wednesday the trains decided to have a strike, so that was really inconvenient for transfer day. Madsen left at 7 am on
a bus to Paris. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be to say goodbye. He was super dope, and I am going to miss him. The rest of Wednesday was spent in the apartment telling the new elders about the
area of Brussels. At 7 pm I picked up my new companion, Elder Kendrick, and the next day we went to Liege. 

Thursday we contacted a little bit and just got to know the sector a little better. Our sector is absolutely huge. It touches Luxembourg, Germany, and Holland. Elder Kendrick and I will be traveling a lot. On Friday, Elder Kendrick went to Paris for a meeting and I stayed in Brussels. We went to some of the monuments and then met with a less active. 

At the top of the Stairs with my new companion, Elder Kendrick

On Saturday we spent time weekly and transfer planning and did a little contacting. 

On Sunday we went to church which unfortunately starts at nine. The branch is super solid. There are 2 branches in Liege.    After church we went to a members home for lunch. They live right near the point that connects Germany, Holland, and Belgium. It was super fun. That evening we went and gave someone a blessing. On the way back this man contacted us and he was great. He is approx. 25 years old and was preaching some things that directly correlate to what we Mormons
believe. We were like hey... we believe the exact same thing. So hopefully that goes somewhere. Monday we went to the only interesting site in Liege, stairs. There are 374 stairs that lead up to this super
cool view. I've attached some photos. 

Overall Liege has been much cooler than I thought it would be. It is a college town so it is fairly hip.

We have two baptismal dates set up so that is also very encouraging. I love the mission and I have gained a much better relationship with God. 

Love y'all and God Bless.

Elder Hein

The Norby Couple

Paul, the mathematician

Young Single Adults from Brussels

Atomism in Brussels

Happy New Year - I'm moving to Liege, Belgium!!

Hello all,

Well I am getting transferred to Liege with my new companion Elder Kendrick! I thought for sure I would stay in Brussels for at least another transfer but the mission decided to throw me a curve ball. 

The Zone Leaders are going to be moving into Brussels from Liege, therefore my companionship is just being switched into Liege.  Honestly, I am sad I got to only stay for two transfers. Brussels was such a cool city. 

Liege is a city an hour east of Brussels. It is the 3rd largest city in Belgium and there are 4 companionships working there.

We were super busy this past week. Everyone wants to say goodbye to Elder Madsen before he goes home so we have had so many appointments lined up. In fact, we had 8 dinner appointments in a row. 

On Thursday we went to a New Years Eve party that the young adults were throwing
in a hotel. (We got to be there until around 10:30) We had a lot of fun. The city cancelled the firework show
because of an imminent terrorist threat but that didn't stop the locals from having fun. While we were popping our bottle of cider at midnight we watched people in the park light off fireworks. It was really fun.

Elder Aburto and I

New Year's Day was spent at the Norby's house all day. We watched "Emperor's New Groove" (I had never seen it before) and had a nice lunch. 

On Saturday we went to the baptism of Paulino. The other elders have been teaching him for a while. It went super well. 

On Sunday this little Ghanian kid showed up to the English ward with his family and his name is Barack Obama. No joke. He has a Ghanian last name which I have forgotten but his parents call him Obama. Hahaha.
That evening I cut my hair. It was quite the experience. It took two hours but I think the end result was decent. I decided if I teach myself how to do it now I will save time and money for years to come.


Next week I will be emailing from Liege. It going to be tough to say
good bye to Elder Madsen. He has been such a wonderful companion and
friend. 

The District

Walking through the forest with the missionaries.

Candid Picture of Elder Norby and I

God Bless

Elder Hein