Surprise Baptisms and Americans

This week has been a week full of surprises for Aldste Haddon. To start off, they decided to do splits with the other district in his area to give it an extra boost. While they were working, they got a phone call from a man that they have been working with who had at one point, chosen to not be apart of the church, but through learning more about the gospel from the missionaries had chosen to get baptized. When he called, he was ready to be baptized then and there, (he had met with the Stake President and received approval) so they went straight to the church, filled the font and performed the ordinance. It was an amazing, and exciting experience.

 

Surprise number 2 came when they were walking down the street and they heard two men yell: ELDERS!! They turned to see some men about their age walking. When they approached, they found out that they were both returned missionaries walking from Iceland across Asia just to say that they can! They visited with them for awhile and everyone went on their way.

 

A little later came surprise number three.

They were walking along and heard a group of finely dressed business men yell: ELDERS!! (In English) So, they turned and as they began to walk up to them one of the men said that he was just telling his friends about them and the gospel. So they began walking and talking with the men. One of them expressed that he REALLY wanted to learn more about the gospel, and Aldste Haddon began talking to him. He told him about his life here at home, the sports that he played and the scholarships that he turned down. The man was so surprised and asked him why he was willing to leave everything behind and put his own life on hold. Aldste Haddon explained that it is more important to him to be able to share the gospel and help people than to fulfill his own dreams and life during this time. He is willing to give up so much so that others can have what we have and know what we know. That Christ lives, that this is His gospel and that through the priesthood and the sacred ordinances that Heavenly Father has given us, we can have eternal life with Him and with our families again. He wants everyone to know that Joseph Smith restored Christ's church on the earth, and that he sacrificed SO much to give us the gospel and The Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ.

The man was filled with the spirit, and Aldste Haddon has promised to find a way to send the missionaries to him in Kansas and he is thrilled to learn more.

 

It goes to show that sometimes the Lord really does work in mysterious ways; who knew that man would have to come all the way to Sweden from America to learn about the church and find a missionary he could relate to.

Clearly, nothing is a coincidence.

 

Watch this video about The Restoration of the Gospel

Lots of Appointments and a Sweet Old Lady

Well Sweden has been a busy place this week...Aldste Haddon and his companion set up the most appointments they have ever had in one day 8 lessons! Sadly, only one of the lessons showed up, a sweet old lady who likes to go on walks with them. He said she's 95 and doesn't have all of the wires aligned like you might hope....he favorite story to tell is the one about moving from Finland to Sweden! He said she is sweet, but it was tough to have that many appointments cancel on them in one day.

A different day, they were walking up the street and a man came up to them and asked what their response was to the verses in the scriptures that talked about how there is only one bible, and we need no more Bible. Aldste Haddon expected that the man hoped to begin an argument with them so he calmly gave his answer about the Book of Mormon being another testament of Jesus Christ and his people in the Americas. 

(Click to read about and see a video introducing the purpose and message of the Book of Mormon.)

To that response, the man was so happy and said he honestly wanted to know the answer and no one had given it to him before and he wanted to know more about 'the mormons'. So they have been teaching him and he is desirous to be baptized! It's pretty exciting, and it just shows how Heavenly Father prepares people to hear the gospel.

Overall, they have really been working hard in the area. The bishop of the ward is so excited with the progress they are making, and set the goal with them to find, teach and baptize 6 new members while they were there. So far, they have baptized 3 new members and it is so exciting to see the work progressing.

President Obama was in Sweden this week as well. He said it made life hard for everyone...they couldn't take buses or cars as usual. They had to walk and ride bikes everywhere and even that was difficult. Needless to say, I don't think he's going to miss him now that he's gone!

All in all, it's been a hectic week but Aldste Haddon is doing well and sends his love!

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Another baptism

Aldste Haddon's favorite quote of the week....

“So...... the Bishop is going to drown me in the water?” Bishop then replying, not knowing any English, “Yes!”

Click to learn about: Baptism by immersion

This week they had a baptism and he said that it was an amazing experience. The spirit was so strong. The man they baptized speaks English so he didn't understand very much of it, but Aldste Haddon repeated everything to him in English. The amazing thing is, even though you don't speak the language, you can still feel the Holy Ghost when truths are being shared and when someone is testifying of the Savior.

He said the bishop was so excited to baptize him but had never said the prayer in English, so he said the prayer, missing a few words and Aldste Haddon was about to tell him to try again but before he knew it, Bishop had picked him up and threw him under the water before he could say anything and smiled the biggest smile in search of approval. He even splashed some of the people watching the baptism! 

This week, our Grandpa Larry passed away. Aldste Haddon was of course very saddened by this event but he shared that this is exactly why he is serving a mission. He wants everyone to know that we, as families, can be together forever. Grandpa Larry was an amazing man, he loved the Lord and he loved his family. Of course he will be missed, but it is such a blessing to know that families are forever and that this is not the end of our journey with him. We don't say good bye, just see you later and that is a great comfort.

The rest of our family was able to travel to Oregon this past weekend to be able to attend the funeral and spend time with family. It was a great experience to see everyone and to remember Grandpa's life. He was a jokester and his fun personality will always be the way we remember him.

Thank you for your love and prayers on behalf of Grandpa Haddon and of course, Aldste Haddon!

Blessings of Freedom

This week, Aldste Haddon got another new greenie fresh off of the plane. He said he's a super smart, talented missionary so he is very hopeful that the two of them will be able to work together well and be successful companions.

They have been working with an investigator who recently moved from another country. The man told the story that he was on a train in his home land and was wearing a cross necklace. When the police saw it and asked why he was wearing it, they asked him what is was for. When he responded it was because he loves the Savior they took him to the back of the train and began to beat him. It became clear that he wasn't going to survive the ordeal when they grabbed a gun to shoot him, so he jumped off of the back of the train. He shattered his legs and bashed in his skull but he survived. He was rushed to the hospital and then told of a place where he could believe how he wished. He was put on the next plane to Sweden. A couple of weeks later, the missionaries contacted him and began to teach him the lessons. After awhile, they lost contact of him. But, recently he called them at 1am and said that he had been roaming around Sweden in search of a job and had found one and was ready to receive the gospel. Aldste Haddon and his companion have been teaching him and he is getting baptized on Sunday after church.

This story reminds me of how blessed I am to be able to live the gospel and profess my beliefs as I wish. We are so blessed to have the freedoms that we do, sometimes I take it for granted and this has reminded me to try to live everyday with a more thankful heart. 

I pray that I will always have the courage that this man had, that no matter what, I will stand up for what I believe. He is already such an amazing example and disciple of Christ.

 Both of the companions Ty had trained

Thank you for all of your prayers for Grandpa Larry Haddon. His health has declined significantly and it doesn't look like our time left with him will be much longer. We appreciate your love and support.

Expecting...again!

Aldste Haddon is doing well! The man they baptized last week was given the Aaronic Priesthood this week and has been doing his family history work to prepare to take the names to the temple to do baptisms for the dead.  Aldste Haddon is so excited to see him so eager to learn about the gospel and already begin temple work. It's one of those moments that really make all the sacrifices of missionary work worth it!

This week, they also continued to teach two other investigators who have scheduled baptism dates! They of course are working hard with these individuals to try to ensure that these dates stay firm.

Aldste Haddon has enjoyed working with is greenie. He is learning the language very quickly and is a steller missionary. But, this week he is being moved to the northern part of the city they are currently serving in and  Aldste Haddon will receive a new greenie fresh off of the plane and get to stay where he is currently located. He's thrilled to meet a new young man willing to serve and to be able to keep working with the investigators and members he has grown to love so much in the area!

Thank you for all of your prayers and support! We are happy to report another great week from Stockholm, Sweden mission!

Thank you everyone for your prayers and thoughts in Grandpa Haddon's behalf. He is being sent home this week and being set up with hospice care. We don't know how much longer he will have with us here on the earth, but we do know that we have learned so much from him and are grateful for his example and testimony that he has used to strengthen our lives. It is times like these that really remind us of how thankful we are for eternal families and the blessings that come from being sealed for eternity. This is why missionaries give so much, so that everyone has the opportunity to learn about eternal families!

Also, look for the new links on blog posts that will take you to LDS.org to explain the terms! I'll try to keep that feature updated from week to week!

This has been a pretty awesome week for Aldste Haddon and his companion!

They have been working with a sister who recently started coming back to church, his quote of the week is from her: “My life was a mess, I had nothing to turn too. When I came to Sweden I thought my life would get better but it has only gotten worse, My sons have a better life here but other then that I was miserable. So I finally had enough and thought about just giving up. But I had a strong feeling that I must go on my knees and pray. So that is exactly what I did, I prayed and as I was praying I couldn't stop crying. I felt so helpless and lost, I had nothing. Then I heard something I don't know if it was a voice in my head or what it was but it said to me, Calm down, it is going to be fine. I felt so much peace and warmth in my heart, then about 2 seconds later the phone rang. It was the Missionaries. They asked if they could come by and give a message about Jesus Christ. I most definitely agreed to it. I know now that my life does have meaning.”

 They had their first baptism on Saturday and confirmed him a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (www.lds.org, www.mormon.org) the following day in sacrament meeting. The spirit was so strong, the man was introduced to the idea of the church when he was down in the dumps and his friend told him to look up the Mormons. (he thought that Mormons were a strange animal he had never heard of....maybe he was more right than we want to believe) He looked up Mormon.org and asked to receive more information, two days later Aldste Haddon and a previous companion showed up at his door and the rest is history. He was desirous to bare his testimony of the gospel but was nervous to do it on his own so he asked Aldste Haddon and his companion to stand on either side of him. As he bore his testimony, he said he couldn't have done any of it without his two angels standing next to him.

Aldste Haddon feels so grateful to have been able to be a tool in the Lord's hand to lift one another's burdens and find the lost sheep. (Luke 15) He knows that without Heavenly Father, none of this would be possible.

His testimony of this principle has rung true to me, and I am grateful of his example. I know that as we  earnestly seek out opportunities to share our testimonies and serve one another, even in small and simple ways, we will be provided with direction on how we can, in our own way, help gather His sheep and help others feel the love of their Heavenly Father through our actions. It doesn't take much to help another person feel loved and important, and sometimes, that is all it takes. I hope I can be better at that and learn from Aldste Haddon.

Dop (baptism) is in the air

As you might remember, Aldste Haddon and his companion had a baptism planned for this weekend, unfortunately, that baptism date fell through. They were meeting with their investigator who doesn't speak English or Swedish with a translator and part of the way through the lesson, the translator and the investigator appeared to be in an argument and from that time on, they haven't been able to reach him to continue teaching more. Of course, this is very upsetting but they are continuing to work toward getting back in contact with him. They think he is an amazing man who is very strong and they really hope to be able to resolve the concerns that arose.

This week, they are also working with another man who plans to be baptized this weekend. He is awesome according to Aldste Haddon. They took him to church on Sunday and an area Seventy was there (a general authority who is over specific areas in the world, they report back to the Prophet and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on their area's successes and concerns) speaking in church. Afterward, he came up to Aldste Haddon, his companion and their investigator and asked the man if he liked these young men, he answered saying they are his dearest friends. He then asked if he believe in the Savior, and the restoration of His gospel on the earth. The man replied that he had a testimony. He then asked why he wasn't getting baptized tomorrow then. When the investigator responded that he didn't feel he knew enough, the area Seventy said, it sounds like you know as much as I do.

This story was touching because it reminded me of the importance of the simple things. Our Savior lives and loves each and every one of us and he does all he does just so we can live with Him again. This is His gospel, and I feel grateful to be able to live it and share my testimony of it. 

Aldste Haddon feels the same way, he is a great example to our family of the blessings that come from sincere sacrifice and hard work and how we can be blessed from giving all we have to Heavenly Father.

Thank you for your love, prayers and support. It means the world to us.

Also, Grandpa Larry is struggling to gain strength and motivation to overcome this huge trial and illness in his life. Our Dad Charlie and Hunter were able to go spend the week with him and family in Oregon, we are unsure of what the future holds but are thankful for the love and support.