5/19/2014

1. Me Stoking the Fire

Dear Family,

What a crazy week.  Last Monday we only had enough time to do the basic P-Day things because we had work scheduled from 3pm until the end of the evening.  At about 6:30 we received a call from the Assistants reminding us to follow up with our missionaries about Zone Interviews the next day. . . on the calendar we received they were scheduled for the day after!  We frantically called the whole Zone and told them there had been a mistake and made arrangements for them all to be in Canterbury on Tuesday for interviews.  It was crazy.  A lot of rearranging and cancelling appointments took place.  It wasn't ideal.  Interviews were great though.  I always love spending time with President and Sister Jordan.  They're such amazing leaders.  We talked about the importance of people recognizing us as representatives of the Lord and what we need to do to be recognized as such.  President Jordan talked a lot about testifying and not hesitating to invite people to be baptized.  If people understand why we are there, they will recognize who we are.  We are here to share what we know is true and call people to repentance.  Sister Gibson (the pianist for the mission band) is in the zone, so after interviews we stayed around with Sister Jordan and sang songs.  It was a lot of fun.  I'm enjoying my time in Ashford.  I hope I stay here for a good 6 months.  I loved being in London North for as long as I was there.  I'd love to do the same here.

The next morning (Wednesday) we tried to see some people we had to cancel on Tuesday, but none of them were able to see us.  We felt really bad about cancelling on one incredibly golden investigator, so we went to the store with her recent convert neighbor and bought her a nice potted flower.  We left it on her porch with a nice note and waited for her to get back to us. The next day I got a call from her saying how much she loved the flower and how much she wanted to meet with us.  She said "I can't even express in words how badly I need you to teach me."  Her neighbor was just baptized 10 months ago, and as we were on our way to see him one day she stopped us and asked us to come and talk to her about him sometime soon.  We assumed she was concerned about his health or something, so we didn't take much notice and just planned to come back in a couple of days.  When we went back to see her she told us that she had noticed a huge change in the Recent Convert over the last few months and told us that she wanted to know what we could do to help her. She's had some hard things happen in her life over the last few years and she really wants to become better.  She told us she even wants to get into a church.  You can imagine why we were so upset about cancelling our appointment with her on Tuesday.  I'm really glad we did something a little bit extra and bought her a flower.  Her recent convert neighbor said she went over to thank him and it looked like she had been in tears.  I think it's probably been a really long time since someone did something nice for her.  Kind acts of service can make the biggest difference in the world.  Go find someone to do something nice for this week.  You'll be so glad you did.

Wednesday evening I left on an exchange to Dover, spent the night there and worked with Elder Lauriola from Italy for the day.  It was a lot of fun.  We did some construction work, taught some lessons, and just had a fun time.  It was a good 1 year out day.  In the evening we had a barbecue and burned a shirt.  If you send me a flash drive I'll give you the video.  Elder Kopischke and Elder Adriano came to Dover in the evening to switch back companions, so we were all able to celebrate together.  It was a lot of fun.  I'll send some pictures of the barbecue.  We stayed the night in Dover and traveled back to Ashford in the morning.  The next day we did some planning, had correlation, taught a lesson, and then I left on another exchange to Gravesend in the evening.  I spent the day in Gravesend and came back to Ashford Saturday night.  I'm pretty sure I was out of my area more than I was in it this week.  I didn't sleep in my own bed for three nights in a row.  It was terrible.  I'm still quite exhausted.  I love exchanges though.  Miracles happen on exchanges.  It's really amazing how the Lord blesses you as you are trying to train and uplift other missionaries.

I really am loving it here.  I can't believe I'm more than half way through my mission now.  It sure has flown by.  I'm still on the upward slope though.  I'm pretty sure a mission isn't a hill with a hump in the middle and then a downward slope to the end.  It's a really steep hill with a cliff at the very end.  At least that's how I'm choosing to look at it.

I hope you all have a fantastic week.  Remember to do something nice for someone and then tell me how it went.  I'll be posting a letter today, so you might hear from be before next week.  I love you all!

Love,

Elder Hein

Here's somemore pictures:

2. What I see when I'm grilling burgers

3. What the burgers see when I'm grilling burgers

4. An Advertisement about how great shopping is in Ashford

5. All of us at the Barbecue

5/12/2014

1. Our booth at the church open house

Dear Family,

It was so great to see you all yesterday.  That picture of the whole family is crazy!  Quin and Tanalie have both changed so much!  Wow.  I hope the Kaysville's enjoy their new home.  I don't have too much time today, nor do I have much to report seeing as we talked yesterday, so this will probably be a really short email. 

In my district we have Elders from Portugal, Italy, South Africa, Hong Kong, Germany, and Sisters from Albania, and Spain.  In the Zone there are also missionaries from Brazil, The Philippines, Uganda, Canada, Mexico, Dominican Republic, and Columbia.  It's quite the group.

I'm going to spend the rest of my time uploading photos.  It really was great to see you yesterday!  I hope you have a fantastic week.

Love,

Elder Hein

Pictures:

2. The White Cliffs from the car window

3. Some cool little sheds on the beach

4. Walking to get some Fish and Chips

5. Who parks their Ferrari at Sainsbury's?

6. After living for a few weeks in darkness, the new lightbulbs finally arrived!

7. Some of the district on the beach at Deal

5/7/2014

Dear Family,

So, it's Wednesday now and I promised an email . . . . . but we didn't leave enough time.  I'm so sorry.  But at least we get to talk on Sunday!  If it's ok, can I call at 7:00?  If I did it any later, we wouldn't get home on time.  That's 7:00 my time, so what is that, like 12 for you?  I'll be on an iPad probably, so I'll just call your email dmhein89@msn.com at 7.  I'll make sure to send a really good email with lots of pictures next week.  There are some good ones you'll like to see.  Again, I'm so sorry about the lack of emails this week.  Just know that I'm doing well; very happy, and the work is doing great.  The members here in Ashford are great.  I love them.  I hope you're having a fantastic week!  Can't wait to see you all on Sunday.

Love,

Elder Hein

5/5/2014

Dear Family,

So, in England there are these things called Bank Holidays when all of the internet cafes close, the libraries shut down, and all of the members go out of town.  Long story short, I've had nowhere to email today until right now and it's too late.  We're having a Zone Training Meeting tomorrow, and then an exchange with one of the district leaders right after, so it'll probably be Wednesday when I send a proper email.  So sorry!  Love you all!

Elder Hein