Blast From the Past

My kid load has doubled so my blog posting time has been cut by 75% :) so here's a quoted email! It was pretty good so I figured I'd pass it on!

 

Hallå Hallå,

This week's quote comes from Elder Bailey, I was over in Västerås, doing some training over there and this is just one of the many gems that he said, “All I know is I hate hair, I think I am going to get lasik all over entire my body.”

Eh, I'll just let him figure that one out.

 

But this week was actually super good, and not all that much to say. We had the assistance to the President here on Wednesday, where I was able to go with my old companion Elder "Elder". Honestly I had a rough time with him back in Kungsbacka. He was having a hard time in his mission, was super tired. I was just a gun-hoe greenie who just wanted to go baptize the nation. So we smacked heads a little bit.

 

But it was really amazing to see the change in him now. All he wanted to do was get out and work, which I was a huge change from before. He had grown so much from when I was with him. It was just extremely cool to see him make a complete turn around, and so see the missionary, and man he has become.

 

Before he left he told me, “Haddon you kicked my butt into shape, you were an excellent missionary that got me back on my feet and ready to end my mission strong. The missionary you were then, is not even a comparison to the missionary you are now. Thank you for serving.”

 

All the hard times and struggles I had with him, were just then worth it. One thing that I have learned is that God gives us everything in our lives for our experience. To strengthen us and to be the men and women that he NEEDS us to be. So when the hard times come, and they will, just remember what the Lord has said, “Thine Adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment. And if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high, and you shall triumph over all of thy foes.”

Keep on, keepin on folks ;)

Love you all, (Sorry it's short)

Äldste Haddon

Pictures:

Cool ól life preserver 

Flags

Free hair cut for a recent convert in Västerås. (Yes. my hair is gone.)

Oldest University in all of Northern Europe.

 

 

FIRE!!

Here is this weeks' email... it was pretty much the only way it could be said....

 

Hello!!!!

Today's quote is brought to you by our good friend Victoria, “FIRE!!!! The house is going down!!!”

Yes, ladies and gentlemen. We had stopped quiet a gnarly house fire on Saturday. We were able to go over to the family who have 7 boys. The day before they taught one of the younger boys that they should no play with fire. It will burn you hair, skin and all of your toys. Well they little boy just like any curious boy wanted to see if it was true. So he went into there computer room and just set aflame there curtains. That is where we then heard Victoria scream, “Fire!”

We then ran in and batted out the fire. I broke some mission rules and picked up the kids and took them out of there. But all in all, it turned out alright, the house didn't burn down at least!

After she said, “Alright now we can start fresh.” which honestly is pretty impossible after your adrenaline is on full blast.

But we actually had a wonderful week, The same family have agreed to be baptized now we are just helping them through it! So it's very exciting. I just hope that I don't get moved before then! I have been here in Uppsala for a while now! Longest area I have been in and also the Longest companionship. But I am defiantly not complaining. Allsop is one of my best buds.

This week we were able to going to Stockholm several times to prepare us for a Leadership Conference for the Stake. This year's plan is “Påskynda Frälsningsarbete” (Hasting the work of salvation.) So Elder Allsop and I with our great friend Nic Engström taught all of the leaders in the Stake how we can do missionary work together. As most of you know I don't like to speak in front of large groups. I don't know how many times I said no to my dad when he asked me to give a talk. I just don't like it.

Well on my mission I have defiantly had to overcome that. We had had to teach the entire stake about missionary work..... In a different language even. I feel after that experience, I could be a pretty dang good public speaker haha.

This week has just been amazing, we have found so many people to teach and just to serve people. I absolutely love to be a missionary, I know this is God's work. I am more happy here then I ever have been in my life. I want to thank you all for you emails and the love that you have shared. Can't wait to hear from you all next week as well.

Love,

Äldste Haddon

 

Also, as I mentioned about 6 months ago, Tanner and I began the foster care to adoption process and we have BIG NEWS! Check out our blog for info....

tannerandtaylor.blogspot.com

 

 



Miracle (Baptism!!!) on 34th Street

"We go out everyday, Then back on home! Going hard as nails, in the Stockholm North Zone."

 

The Elders in the Stockholm North Zone have a lot to cheer for because they had a baptism on Feburary 9th just as they had set a goal to do months before! They had been teaching him off and on for awhile but last week he wanted to be taught everyday. So they began working with him and teaching him the gospel and he had the desire to be baptized, and sure enough, February 9th was the golden day! It is said that they have broken the Uppsala curse, there has not been a baptism in that area since it was turned into a Zone Leader area!

 

The Miracles didn't stop there, they met a man who was recently baptized and his family. They are earnestly searching for an apartment to move into and the family wants to learn about the church their father joined. The father knows he will be blessed at that the missionaries are called of God and will serve and protect his family. They all express a desire to be baptized. Aldste Haddon has asked us all to pray for their family that they will be able to find an apartment to move into. There is a serious housing shortage in Sweden and it is very difficult for people to find housing.

 

The family of nine that they have been teaching from last week is also preparing for baptism! They have been teaching them and sharing the gospel with them. When they finished the last lesson the whole family asked if they could be baptized because they know that the church is true! Aldste Haddon is so excited to see the work progressing in such miraculous ways but he said there is more...

 

Mohamed (the man who was baptized on the 9th) is new to the area and doesn't really know his way around so Aldste Haddon and his companion road the train with him to show him around. While on the train they ran into a woman who he was good friends with. As they finished talking the woman turned to Mohamed and said: 'trust in the Lord Mohamed, He will get you through everything.' This type of comment is VERY uncommon in Sweden so it opened the door for a conversation about the gospel and the woman is now very interested in learning more about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

 

Aldste Haddon knows that these instances are not merely coincidences or accidents but they are a result of divine inspiration from our Heavenly Father who has prepared His children to learn the gospel at this time in their life and who has also prepared and placed Aldste Haddon and his amazing companion Aldste Allsop in this area. This is the Lord's work. He shared the following scripture from Doctrine and Covenants 100:

"Therefore, verily I say unto you, lift up your voices unto this people; speak the thoughts that I shall put into your hearts, and you shall not be confounded before men; For it shall be given you in the very hour, yea, in the very moment, what ye shall say. But a commandment I give unto you, that ye shall declare whatsoever thing ye declare in my name, in solemnity of heart, in the spirit of meekness, in all things.  And I give unto you this promise, that inasmuch as ye do this the Holy Ghost shall be shed forth in bearing record unto all things whatsoever ye shall say."

 

To end things, the elderly man that is in their ward and who they have been working to help and serve since their arrival recently suffered from a stroke. They were able to give him a blessing (in the handicap bathroom in the hospital, interesting experience) and be there to love and serve him. He has taught them so much about the love of Heavenly Father. This man has been working very hard all his life and Aldste Haddon feels like this is the only way they could get him to slow down! Please remember him in your prayers as well.

 

This has been an amazing week for Aldste Haddon. He has felt the hand of the Lord in every action and knows that he is not doing the work alone.

We know that our brother and son is being watched over and that Heavenly Father is guiding his path and protecting him. We feel so much strength from each of you and are so thankful for all of your love, prayers and support!

 



Finding the Prepared

Couldn't have said it any better....

 

"Put On For My City, (Uppsala)

"So... this week is transfers and Elder Allsop and I are still going to be staying in Thee Dang Uppsala, home of puke filled streets and Australian and Swedish babes. (Elder Allsop’s Quote.)

This week we have an amazing story, but it starts about a month ago. So at the beginning of the New year Elder Allsop and I started to really trying to figure out what we need to do here in Uppsala, so that It will never be that crazy hymn book throwing ward its been. We felt that we really needed to focus on Strengthening the members and also trying to Find, Teach, Baptize. We made a goal, after much prayer and guidance through the Spirit. That we would find, teach and baptize someone on the 9^th of February.

 

"So we went to work. Everyday talking to everyone, also teaching as many as we could. But we got to this last Sunday thinking that we had no one that could even be baptized. We knew for certain that our planning and work would NOT be for nothing. We knew that we could still get this goal that we confidently set in faith with the Lord.

 

"On Sunday hoping and praying one of our investigators would come.... none of them did. But, a man from Sierra Leone, named Mohamed came in the doors. He’s lived in Sweden for about 12 years trying to find the right church, he said that he has found it. On the 9^th of February Mohamed, is going to be following the Saviors example by being baptized. He's already known to the ward as Brother Mohamed! He's one of the greatest men i have ever come in contact with.

 

"But this is not where the story ends, after church we had a woman come into the building. Victoria, she had been driving by the church for the last 7 years. She's been studying about the church for a while now and wants to be baptized with her small family..... of 9. 7 Boys. So we will be teaching them all soon enough. :)

 

"Its going absolutely great here. I am super happy to be doing everything in my power to bring people unto Christ. I love everyone of you and I hope that you all can take those steps towards him as well. "

Mvh,

Äldste Haddon

 



The Rally Brothers

This week, Aldste Haddon was able to go on exchanges with some other elders in the area. As usual, it was a good experience to spend time with other missionaries, but that didn't stop him from loving and missing his companion!

This week they were able to help a man load two tons of wood into his basement. He is an elderly man who can't complete the task on his own so they do it for him every Saturday. This week, they did it in 45 minutes thus causing the man to call them "The Rally Brothers" for their 'heroic speed and strength!'

During one of the exchanges, they were cleaning up the chapel in Uppsala, nearly half of the ward was there working earnestly to get it cleaner than ever. (It's incredible to see the change that has taken place in that area in such a relatively short period of time) One of their investigators came and he was looking pretty upset. They learned that his Grandfather had just passed away, Aldste Haddon gave him a hug and his 'companion for the day' did as well. Which, he said was fine at first but as 30 seconds turned into two minutes and eventually into five things started to get awkward. Apparently, both had been raised to never break a hug until the other person had, it was a battle of the wills and neither of them wanted to be the one to let go first!

 

They were also able to see some of the most famous Swedish landmarks; a moose farm and the world's largest wooden horse!

 

All in all, it has been a good week for Aldste Haddon! Thank you for all of your support and we'll be back next week with more updates!

 

 Moose Farm...? What Happens at the Moose Farm, Stays at the Moose Farm

 Worlds Largest Horse

Worlds Weirdest Missionary

 Moving the Wood to the Basement

 

BIG Changes in a tough area

As you know, the area Aldste Haddon has been serving in has had its well....challenges.... but things are starting to look a lot brighter! They had 60 people at church, an improvement over the normal 40 people that they're used to! There is definitely a new spirit and energy there and it's exciting to be apart of. Here is the email Aldste Haddon sent:

 

Hello There!

Got a couple good ól quotes for the week, 

1# "The problem with winter sports is that - follow me closely here - they generally take place in winter." (Very True.)

 

If you can catch the message here. Its pretty dang cold here. 

This week has been one of the best I have had on my mission. We were got to teach one of our Zone training this last week. We taught how to be missionaries, 

1.Find, 

2.Teach,

3.Baptize,

4. Strengthen.

But of course, we made it into something that we understand. Football. So you are the Coach for this team, (Christ's Team,) And we first need to FIND these Star players or..... The people prepare for the gospel. Once we have found these prepared people, we now have to TEACH them to play the game, or teach them about the gospel. And when they have learned how to play and are in the game, the score Touchdowns, or get BAPTIZED. Sometimes the star players get injured, pull a hammy for example, and we got to get them all fixed up and that is STRENGTHENING the members. It went super well, we got to teach this group of missionaries, what we can do to be better and be those "Coaches" the Lord needs us to be.

We have been doing some serious work here in Uppsala, This Sunday i felt was a really big example of it. We've averaged about 40 people in Sacrament and this week we had over 60 in sacrament with a total of 6 investigators and 3 less-actives in church.

We were able to teach one of out most positive investigator families with the Bishop and it was just a super powerful lesson. Just the all around feeling of the Uppsala Ward is 200X better, it is amazing to be apart of. The bishop said it himself. There has been some HUGE changes here, and it is never going to go back to the way it was.

We are excited to see it continue to growing, and changing of Uppsala. Love being here, and I wouldn't change what i am doing for the world.

Love,

Äldste Haddon

 

Also, one of our AWESOME missionary mom friends who's son is one of Ty's good friends mom (he is currently serving in Taiwan!) Anyways, she types up a quarterly newsletter for each of the missionaries in their group of friends. She sends out a question and the elders respond, she types it up and sends it to all of them and their families. It has been a great way to stay connected with all of the Stansbury elders. This month, Ty sent us his response to her question so we'd like to share it with all of you!

 

What principle of the gospel have you learned to live while on your mission? Faith, prayer, tithing, love, etc. Share a testimony about it. 

I have learned a lot on my mission one of those things following Christ's example in Luke 15:3-7:

 3 ¶And he spake this parable unto them, saying,

 4 What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?

 5 And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing.

 6 And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.

7 I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.

Something I have found Joy in and much success on my mission is through, Bringing back the people to the church.

I have one story about a family that we found in Jakobsberg-Stockholm, It started out with a Woman named, Claudia. She joined the Church in Brasil, and doing that she had to run away from her husband, who was viciously against it. She moved to Sweden. She had 3 young boys, two joined the church in Brasil as well. She found the Church in Sweden and started going as much as she possibly could, problems with the language and distance, made it more difficult to come go as often. 

As the years went on, she stopped going to church at all, went to school, got a degree, and started to work as a cook. She finally got her life together, but she still felt something was missing. She one day finally had enough. She just fell to her bed side and wept. She started to sit there, not knowing what to do. She then started to pray. Her feelings hopelessness and sadness, started to diminish, and  she then started feeling  hope and peace. Then she heard something say to her, "Its going to be alright." She knew it came from God.

After she ended her prayer, 30 seconds later, she got a ring on her cell phone. It was us, the Missionaries. She knew that it was a sign from God, to get her back into the church and to do her duty as a daughter of God. We then Reactivated her and her 2 sons, and the youngest is getting ready for baptism.

I know that whether we are bringing people back, or bringing them here for the first time, it is the same. It is the Lord's work, to bring others unto Him. In my life, I have made mistakes, and been inactive as well. But through good friends like you all, and through the spirits powerful promptings, I am here today. Standing as a witness of Christ, even in the feet of snow. I love you all and thank you for your examples. 

Love,

Elder Haddon

Picture: Claudia and the Family.
Sorry, I have no idea why I can't get the highlighting off of the last quoted part... something to do with how Aldste Haddon copied and pasted the scriptures from LDS.org!

 

 

 

 



Step Up to the Plate

Well things have been crazy for Aldste Haddon in Sweden. Winter finally decided to show up! It was snowing like crazy this week! One morning they woke up to a foot of snow on the ground and they didn't even know it was supposed to snow at all!

 

The elders decided to liken missionary work to baseball because they are both sports lovers and what else should a missionary do?

 

Here's how it goes:

 

Strike out, or Out: Someone just shutting you down completely. “Busy!”,“Not interested.”, “I'm Muslim.” Anything to that effect.

Single: Someone being polite and nice, but not quiet interested.

Double: Having a gospel discussion with someone.

Triple: Getting someones number so we could meet again.

Home-run: A new investigator.

Grand-slam: Baptizing a whole family.

 

 

So, they have been working with an elderly man who is in his nineties and is quickly deteriorating. Aldste Haddon said from last Sunday to this Sunday it appeared that he had lost 10 pounds. He said that he's a little confused but they love him and have concern for him. So they walked to his house to visit him in a blizzard. They realized the importance and fragility of life and feel grateful to be able to serve and love this man toward the end of his life.

 

He finishes his email with his testimony:

 

"After that we defiantly realized that we don't have all that much time here, in Uppsala or on this Earth so we have to everything we can to be those people the Lord wants us to be. We had a good hour walk home after that visit, and it was probably the biggest blizzard I have ever been in. But we still talked to everyone we saw. We got some pretty crazy looks, that was for sure. But whither they listened or not, we still did it because that is what we are called to do. Stand up for Christ, in whatever nation, weather, or circumstance it is what we are called too. But at the end we ended up batting about .500 so it was actually pretty successful."

 

 

These pictures are of a service project they did this week. They helped a man build shelves and put thousands of pounds of paper on them, not totally sure why...