Bed bugs!!!!

Moi ihmiset!!!(Finnish not Swedish.)

This week’s quote of the week goes to a returned missionary named David, “Wow, sleep tight and don’t let the bed bugs bite has a whole new meaning now.”

So I got the excellent news that, my bed and none of the others is infested with bed bugs. The mission has had only a couple outbreaks, and little did I know a couple months ago the bed I am now sleeping with had that problem.
But no one decided to pass that information down to me.

Some fun facts about bed bugs:

   1. They feed from 3-4 o’clock every morning. (Which Psychologically messes with you pretty bad.)
   2. Their bite has a ridiculous itching effect, because of an anesthetic they give to you when they bite at night so that it numbs where they feed so the host doesn’t wake up.(Also messes you up, you think at any time they can be on you.)
   3. They can live up to a year without feeding on a host. (Invincible)
   4. They only way to kill them is to spray, and to be a human sacrifice
until they have all died because of the poison. (I thought we didn't do
sacrifices anymore!)
   5. They seem to only like Elder Haddon’s blood. (#thedevilsinsect)

  But other than getting eaten alive by hundreds of insects every night, it
was a fairly decent week. We had our first “Mission Leadership Council,” with our new Mission President. Being that he had never done one of those and doesn't even know what it is, we really had to backpack him on that one. But it went well.

The work has been going super well here, the investigator that I told you
about last week, that I started playing basketball with is doing fabulous, he his telling everyone about his baptismal date, and that he wants to 3 weeks after go to the temple and baptize himself for his deceased  family.

It’s difficult to teach him sometimes, because I just gets it. We’ll explain something then he will start teaching us about it and then it’s
more of him teaching us then us teaching him. He is just so sick!

On Thursday, we had a Zone training that was fantastic! Elder Jones,
actually is my Zone leader and we did “The Amazing Harvest.” So we had to run through Stockholm, do tasks and go to different parts of the city. Elder Mangum and I thought we would just go kinda slow and have a fun time, until we saw Elder Moe and Nieminem take off sprinting.(Old Companions who were also Assistants.) Then we just knew, it’s go time. So it literally was us 4 sprinting to the subway, then to the King’s palace, and then to the
Nobel Peace Prize center, and throughout Gamla Stan. Throughout we had to do tasks like, give out a Book of Mormon, or contact 15 people/ get a number. It was sick! The finish line was at the temple. But it was super fun and we got to do missionary work. (We probably looked ridiculous as missionaries on a full sprint everywhere. (See unattractive picture.))

Lastly Saturday, I had a fantastic experience, I was able to go to the
temple with a man I baptized in Jakobsberg, Lennart Nyblom, and do baptisms with him there. It was so cool to see the change he has made and go do that with him to help others was fantastic. Right after I was able to watch a wedding of one of my best friends I had met here in Sweden, Pontus. It was something that I really realized very strongly at that time, was the Temple really is “The House of the Lord.” I just knew that everything that we had did had literally help those people on the other side. I am so thankful for
that.

I love you all and really do appreciate the emails and pictures you send, but just like Gordon B. Hinckley said, “Just do a little more, just a little better.” ;)

Love,

Elder Haddon

PICTURES:
1) Some of those bites on my arm.
2-3) The Amazing Harvest We literally sprinted to that building and back.
4-7) Helped out at the Stockholm Archives look at those books!!! (One is from the 1700's)
8) Faylor and I didn't plan that out.... i swear.
9) To avoid the bed bugs i slept on the roof a couple of nights
10) Pontus getting married!
11) Bedbug proofed myself. (try to eat me now!)
12) Sister Beckstrand or should you say Äldste Haddon?????? (She forgot her name tag.)