A little Sicky and A Lot of Hardwork

Today Aldste Haddon's email was short and sweet because he isn't feeling well so he was able to just give us a quick overview of his week...

On Saturday they had a baptism in his new area but have unfortunately lost contact with the rest of their investigators in that area.

Also last week Aldste Haddon was able to go help train an elder in his zone. He and his companion had just arrived in a new area and had basically begun searching and teaching from scratch. So they went out and began knocking on doors and as he likes to call it, 'flipping through the deck of cards until they found all of the aces' (or people who are ready to hear the message of the gospel) They went out and worked hard and put the spirit back into missionary work and brought more momentum to that area. They were able to get phone numbers of five people who are interested in learning more about the gospel and it's exciting to see the work ignite after so much diligence and hard work.

 ...Now he says it is time to do the same in his area.

Upon reading Aldste Haddon's email, I had two conference talks come to mind that I would like to share with you.

The first is from Elder Holland titled "Like a Broken Vessel" he spoke to us about overcoming dark trying times, particularly depression. Although it just sounds like Aldste Haddon had a slow week, I still feel like this message applies to all of us because it reminds us of Heavenly Father's love for us and how He will always provide a way for us to make it through to the other side of our trials.

The second is from Elder Ballard entitled "Put Your Trust in the Lord." In this talk, he teaches us how through trusting in and relying on the spirit, we can and should seek opportunities to share the gospel and work hand in hand with the missionaries.

Both talks are inspiring and uplifting and encourage me to rely on Heavenly Father and trust that as I strive to do His will, I will be blessed with the abilities to fulfill his callings for me and I know that each of us can experience that.

Along with Aldste Haddon's week, our family had a pretty wonderful experience as well...

Last week, our dad received a phone call from a man saying that he had spent a lot of time with Aldste Haddon in Sweden and he and his wife would be coming to Salt Lake City for a business trip and would like to meet and share a message from Aldste Haddon. Of course, this was very exciting to our family and we were eager to meet.

So, Saturday morning we went to downtown Salt Lake and met up with Nick, his wife Jaz, and their youngest son Benjamin. Nick had served as a bishop for many years in an area that Aldste Haddon had worked in and had gotten to know him fairly well. It was such a blessing to our family to be able to meet with them and hear how Aldste Haddon is doing, how hard he is working, and how much he as grown spiritually while serving his mission.

They reminded me of a few things that I was grateful to be reminded of...

1. We are all brothers and sisters in the gospel and in the world, we can be from Sweden, Denmark, Finland and even from the smallest little town in Tooele County, Utah and still learn, love and feel the spirit with each other even upon first meeting.

2. Small acts can bless people more than we realize. I don't know if they realize how much it meant to us to be able to meet and talk with them, it was an hour out of their trip that they could have been doing anything else but they were willing to spend it with us. It reminds me to make more of an effort to go out of my way for people.

3. All missionaries need more people like Nick and Jaz in their lives. They have been an amazing support to our brother, son and uncle and have given him a family away from home, and done things for him at times that we have not been able to. This was a good reminder to me to take our missionaries under our wings and help be their families away from home.

"Missionary: Someone who leaves his family for TWO YEARS so that someone else can be with their family forever."

I just want to leave this post today letting you know that I know that our Heavenly Father is mindful of us and He sends us people and experiences daily that bless our lives. I know that as we listen to the spirit and follow promptings we can bless the lives of others, share the gospel and strengthen our testimony and the testimonies of others. I know that we are not alone in this journey and that we have a loving Heavenly Father and Savior who promise:

 'I will not leave us comfortless, I will come to you'. (John 14:18)
I hope you have a great week! Thanks for your thoughts and prayers for our missionary!