It Was Christmas

Dear all,

Boxing Day again. Luckily, I did not lose my wallet this year, and will actually be able to buy cheap stuff. 

Yesterday was Christmas. We ate a lot of food. We spent the morning with the Filipinos to call home, and then they fed us lunch. After that, through a slight planing error, we ate lunch again with a Nigerian member, then we had an actually Christmas dinner with the Evans, a senior couple in our ward. It was a wonderful day overall.

Also, the day before, Brother Da Rocha, a professional chef in the ward, threw a big Christmas party for anyone that didn't have anywhere else to go. We invited Sister Jung (the Korean lady) and her two kids, and RJ (a young man we work with). We ate a ton of food, and then Sister Jung gave us kimchi pancakes to take home. So much food.

Anyway, that's it for me. Elder Burton and I are going to do something interesting today, and buy some stuff. It's gonna be good.

Love you all,

Elder Hadden

Elder Burton and I took a walk to Mt. Royal the other day while doing companionship study. Here are some pictures. I especially like the one of the Olympic stadium

Christmas Dinner

Dear Brother and Sister Hadden,

We had your son, Elder Hadden, and his companion, Elder Burton, over to our home for dinner today,and had a delightful visit with them.

We were so pleased to hear that they had gone to school together in the 4th grade and were best friends then.  Obviously, this is not a coincidence!

Your son and his companion are doing a great job here in Montreal and we are so grateful to be around and associate with them.

Here is a picture that we took with us and them after dinner.

Thanks,

Elder and Sister Evans

****************

Hello Elder and Sister Evans!

Thank you so much for the picture, and for feeding our son!  (Aren't boys always hungry?  He was eating when we talked to him this morning. )

Merry Christmas!

Sister Rose Hadden 

***************

Sister Hadden,

Yes, they told us where they had been today and what they had eaten!

I'm afraid I did the same thing on my mission so many years ago!

We wish you the best in the coming year,

Elder and Sister Evans

I didn't get a new companion . . .

Dear all, 

Transfers happened this week. Elder Blinn left on his long journey back home to the Maritimes yesterday, and I got my new companion, who's actually just my old companion. I'm back with Elder Burton, this time in Montreal instead of Ottawa. We're both still in the very exciting Montreal ward with the same group of Filipinos, Americans, Nigerians, and a Canadian every once in a while. I'm honestly pretty excited about this transfer. 

Even better, Elder Burton is district leader, leaving me free from the worries of being a district leader for the APs. I really, really did not want to deal with that kind of wonderful mission drama. 

Interestingly, right before Elder Blinn left, we made contact with a Chinese less active in the Montreal ward. She's from China and speaks Chinese better than English, but she was baptized before the Mandarin branch existed, and then never switched over. So she's on our ward list, and technically our responsibility, and now we have two Chinese missionaries to teach her. It's great how that worked out. 

Also, if you remember the Nigerian member Elder Blinn and I found a few weeks ago at the Christmas concert, she has apparently been sharing the gospel with all of her friends in the refugee shelter. She's brought a ton of other refugees to meet with the sister missionaries. The sisters are very excited. 

That's all for me. Elder Burton and I have an exciting appointment at the Canadian Architecture Museum this afternoon, so we need to get going. 

Love you all,

Elder Hadden

Glenn Barrett Letter

Elder Hadden,

Center Ward members wish you a Merry Christmas.  It is cold outside with snow on the ground, so it looks like Christmas time.  President David Stokes, our Elders Quorum President, asked us to write to you and Elder Abrath.

I hope your Mandarin Chinese language speaking is going well.  I am still on the High Council.  I'm glad I got to conduct your Elder's ordination in your home.  I have kidded with the Roger's girl (I forget her first name.  Daughter of Brad and Sarah.) about you, and finding out how you are doing.  

Your Mom gave a good testimony about her trying to finish the Book of Mormon before the end of the year.  I bet being named after a Book of Mormon warrior has its rewards.  You are reminded of faithfulness in the Book of Mormon.  Your Dad is back in scouting with the 11 year olds.

He was at Mutual, but no 11 year olds showed up.

A mission is very rewarding.  It really is quite an amazing experience, serving the Lord full time.  Enjoy it while you can.

Glenn Barrett

****************

Good to hear from you! It's nice to know that you all still remember me back home.

Merry Christmas,

Elder Hadden

The Christmas Concert

Dear all,

I thought of a good story this week.

The other day we were riding the metro home for the night. We ran into a Nigerian lady and her young daughter who had just arrived in Montreal and were trying to find their way back to the refugee shelter by McGill University. Since we live right by there, we rode the metro with her and walked her most of the way to where she needed to go. We told her we were missionaries and that we work with a lot of Nigerians who have just immigrated to Canada, and we got her contact info so we could pass her off to the sisters for them to teach her. 

Before we passed her off, we decided to invite her to the stake Christmas concert on Saturday. The day of, she said she would be coming down, but it took her a very long time to find the church. She showed up about an hour late with a friend (also a Nigerian lady) from the shelter. It turns out, her friend was actually a long time member in Nigeria and she was super excited to find out that she met the missionaries. We told the member about the church schedule, and got the original lady in contact with the sister missionaries. We won't teach her, but it was cool to be where we needed to be.

Also, during the concert, I talked to the Korean member we're working with named Minae. She told me, in very broken English, about her conversion in Korea. Somewhere in the conversation, we started talking about Korean food, and she was impressed that I knew even anything at all about Korean food (thanks RoseE). She invited us over in a few weeks to have Kimchi Chige with her and her family since I said I really liked it. Also, she told me that my Chinese surname is the same as her kids'.

It was a great evening. It was good to be around so many people. 

In other news, transfer calls are this Saturday, and Elder Blinn is going home, so I will for sure be getting a new companion. Wish me luck!

Love you all,

Elder Hadden


Chinese surname - when asked what his Chinese surname actually is, Elder Hadden responded:  "Han. 韓 It literally means 'Korea'.  Korean names can all be translated directly into Chinese. As far as I know, Chinese was pretty much the only writing system in Asia way back when, so most other Asian languages have very strong ties to Chinese."

In the event that no Canada family invited Elders Hadden and Blinn to share Thanksgiving dinner, sister Cat sent Elder Hadden a gift card.  They finally used it for dinner, just way after Thanksgiving.  

No, it's not Chinese stir-fry of some kind.  It's poutine, with every kind of meat.  Kinda of a poutine zoo.

Lunch with Cedric

Cedric de Concordia took Elders Hadden and Blinn out for lunch . . . recently.  They had Vietnamese sandwiches in a Vietnamese cafe, and dessert in a patisserie francaise.  Cedric sent photos, bless him!

A Vietnamese sandwich called banh mi with Elder Blinn and Cedric.

Dessert in a French patisserie!  

Old Port

Old Town Montreal

Dear all,

It has been a week. It's December now, so Light the World is in full swing. To kick off the month, Saturday was an international day of service. All 8 missionaries in our district went over to help a member of the ward clean their uncle's apartment. We spent probably about 4 hours with all of us there, scrubbing the walls, cleaning the kitchen and bathroom, and throwing junk away. It was a really small apartment, but there was plenty of work for all 8 of us. Pretty fun. Kinda gross. 

On Sunday, Brother Brao, the Filipino member we ate with a couple weeks ago, asked us to come and give the sacrament to another Filipino member (Brother De Guzman) in his building. Brother De Guzman has been having some health issues, so he hasn't been able to come to church for a while. Luckily, Brother Brao lives literally right next door, so he still gets the sacrament every week. He told us all about the history of the Philippines. He seemed super grateful to be able to have the sacrament even though he's unable to make it to church.

Afterwards, we helped Brother Brao put a bed together, and we ate dinner with him and another family. Filipinos are so much fun to be around. 

This weekend the Stake is putting on their annual Christmas concert. Last year I sang with the Mandarin Branch, but this year I think I'll just be watching. 

Love you all,

Elder Hadden

OH yeah, we went to old Port last week. Here are some pictures. 

Pont Jacques-Cartier

The oldest chapel in Montreal

The clock tower and the river

Super-bad picture of downtown

Light the World - During the Christmas season, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints make a determined effort to follow Christ's example and find ways to share their time, love, and resources with those in need on a daily basis.

Thanksgiving Dinner

Cedric de Concordia sent these pictures of a late Thanksgiving.  I'm not sure if this is Canadian Thanksgiving (08OCT18) or American Thanksgiving (22NOV18).  Cedric said:  "Here are a few photos of a Thanksgiving meal a little late that we had with your son and his missionary colleagues.  Better late than never!"

"He is doing well, your son!  He is happier to be on l'Ile de Montreal than in Ottawa."
"On the menu:  grilled fish served with asparagus and very tender roasted pork."

没有感恩节

Dear all,

Well, it has been a week.

We went on an exchange with the APs Thursday (they're in our district). I was with Elder Clark, a Spanish-speaking elder from LA, so I got to spend Thanksgiving with a real American. We had dinner with a super Quebecois family, so it wasn't very Thanksgiving-y, but it was filling and good. AND, Elder Clark taught me a few more words of Spanish. I'm gonna be so good at Spanish one day.

On Saturday night, we had a couple of baptismal services. One in our ward for a Cameroonian guy named Mac, and another in the Mandarin Branch. Mac was very very excited to be baptized. Elder Blinn and I have talked to him a lot while he's been learning about the church even though we weren't the ones teaching him. He felt really good, and the service was one of the best one's I've been to. Afterwards, we hung around for the Mandarin baptism since it was in the same building. I got to be around all the members again, and I translated for Elder Blinn. It was a great night all in all.

In other news, one of the members we've been working with is going through the temple tomorrow. We're excited for him.

Today we will hopefully be going to see old port in the snow with Vincent Myuka. I got my real camera, so I should get some half-decent pics.

Love you all,

Elder Hadden

DA with Elder and Sister Evans

Elder Evans, Elders Blinn & Hadden, Sis Evans at a Dinner Appointment

Dear Hadden Family,

This is Elder Evans from the Canada Montreal Mission.  Sister Evans and I serve in the Office and we are also in the same ward as your son, Elder Hadden, and his companion, Elder Blinn.

We invited them to have dinner with us this evening, and as usual, we took a picture afterward and have attached it for you to see.

We are grateful for the opportunity that we have to see your son often in the Mission Office, and want you to know that he is a great young man and you can be proud of his efforts as a missionary here in the Montreal Mission!

Take care,

Elder and Sister Evans

From Elder Hadden  27NOV18:
They serve in our ward and they feed us every once in a while. It's really nice to have dinner from other misisionaries. They get the experience on a very personal level. It's fun to talk to them and see them all the time.    

Canadian Food for American Thanksgiving

Elder Hadden's sister Cat sent him some money to buy an American Thanksgiving dinner if nobody invited them out for it.  Here is their dinner:

Elders Hadden and Blinn eating poutine for American Thanksgiving 2018.

In case you don't recognize this, it's poutine, with every animal on it.  Like a poutine zoo.

A Poutine Zoo

Happy REAL Thanksgiving!

A wintry day in the park

Dear all,

This week started off interesting as we had a Zone Conference with Elder Hamilton of the Seventy. We had a little more than half of the missionaries in the entire mission just in our one Zone Conference (the other missionaries got their own meetings on different days). Elder Hamilton talked to us about increasing our personal conversion and then about improving our teaching skills. He mentioned a couple things which I really enjoyed. The first was that not only should every member be a missionary, every missionary should be a member. We've been doing so much member work in this ward so I thought that was a really good perspective on building relationships. The second was that we should strive to find and teach people who have the means to assist in building the kingdom. I thought it was a very inspiring meeting. 

In addition to the Zone Conference, we had Stake Conference on Sunday. Elder Hamilton spoke during that, as well. I think I fell asleep while he was talking though, so I really don't remember anything he said. Oh, well... 

After the meeting, we made Cedric go pass by some members with us. None of the members were home, so we convinced Cedric to feed us lunch at his apartment. He ended up taking us to his parents' place, and feeding us left-overs from their fridge. It was a very Cedric DA, but the food was really good, so I can't complain.

Sunday evening we went on an exchange with the zone leaders, so I got to head all the way out to the far west side of the island for a day. I was with Elder Jeronimo who was born in Mexico,  but has spent most of his life near Seattle. He's one of the funniest people I've ever met, so we had a really good time running around the Anglophone Montreal suburbs. In the evening, we had a DA with a family from Guatemala. They spoke in Spanish most of the time with Elder Jeronimo, so I was pretty lost. I understood more than I thought I would though. We had some super good tamales. All in all, It was a very good day. 

In other news, winter is here. It's currently -7C and snowing outside. There's been snow on the ground for almost a week now. No more clear roads for Quebec for the next 6 months (not that there were clear roads here in the first place). Luckily, Elder Blinn and I still do't have a car, so we can exploit the lack of snow in the metro system for the winter. 

That's all for me. I have a few pictures I think.

Elder Hadden

Selfie with our friend Vincent Mocha

-7C = 19.4 F.

Snow in Kirkland

Balut

                                                                           Dear all,

Here's the poppy I wore on the 11th. Remembering the
armistice is a pretty big deal up here. I tried to blend in.

More fun in all of Montreal this week. It's really starting to get cold now. I don't think it's stopped raining for more than 24 hours for about 3 weeks now, and we're just hovering around freezing. It snowed a little bit this morning, but it was more rain than snow and it didn't last very long. I know we'll be up to our knees in it in not too long though. I am not ready to be consistently cold for the next 6 months.

Despite the cold, things have still been going very well. Last Tuesday the Elder's Quorum President in the ward took all of the missionaries (there are 8 of us in the Montreal ward) out to dinner and then on a tour of his work. He works as the producer for a pretty big VFX studio in Montreal, so we got to see all the apple computers that made the visual effects for things like Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Stranger Things, Game of Thrones, and even Deadpool. He showed us some of the in-the-works stuff for the new season of Stranger Things, and showed us the layers of effects and the process that goes into making so much of movies and TV. It was pretty cool to get such a personal behind-the-scenes look at all of it.  Not really very missionary-related, but President approved it, so it's all good.

Sunday night, Brother Brao, one of the numerous Filipino members of the ward, invited us over for dinner(?). Really, we just talked to him at church and then he was like ''you can come over sometime tonight. Just knock on the door.'' So, we came over at a totally random time that evening, and he very happily let us in. We came in just as his family, and another family were finishing up eating some balut Brother Brao had prepared early that night. During my time here in Montreal, I have often heard stories (mostly from Vincent Muuche who is Filipino, too) about poor white missionaries experiencing the Filipino delicacy of balut and having many adverse reactions. Balut is a fertilized duck egg that you boil (like a hard-boiled egg) and eat with salt and vinegar. Usually, they are fully formed little duck fetuses that you eat whole, beak, feathers, bones and all. I have really wanted to try it (It's apparently really good, despite looking and feeling disgusting), so I jumped at the chance to finally see what it was like. They were more than happy to share, and sat me down at a newspaper-covered table and gave me an egg. After some instruction, I cracked it open and ate the whole thing. Luckily for my ego, I got one that did not have a fully formed little duck fetus inside, and instead just at a large, brown, and chunky hard-boiled egg. The texture was pretty much halfway between that of chicken and that of a hard boiled egg, and it tasted more like pizza than anything else. I would recommend it.

That was the most exciting thing for this week by far. Coming up this next week is zone conference with Elder Hamilton of the seventy. Should be pretty exciting, and stake conference, also with Elder Hamilton. This will be my 3rd or 4th stake conference this year.

Love you all,

Elder Hadden

A Walk In The Woods

Can you see the city? Me, neither. Montreal is a cool city.

Dear all,

This week we got to celebrate Halloween, which means nothing super special happened. But, we did go on an exchange with the zone leaders, and I spent a wonderful day with Elder Fourie. Elder Fourie has the most interesting accent of anyone I have ever met. He was born in South Africa (he's white though), and is one of the few people in the world who speaks Afrikaans as their native language. However, when he wasn't too old, his family left South Africa to move to Australia. Because of immigration problems, they spent a while in New Zealand where Elder Fourie learned English. He's spent the last 10 years in Perth, Australia. So his accent is a weird mix of Holland, South Africa, New Zealand, and Western Australia. Very very interesting.

All in all, It was a wonderful day of pretty normal missionary work. Cedric even fed us dinner. 

Montreal selfie. Elders Blinn and Hadden

Last Tuesday, Elder Blinn and I had nothing to do, so we decided to take a walk up to the top of Mount Royal. I was super impressed with Mount Royal park. It's in the middle of Montreal, but it feels like the woods. There were times when it was just Elder Blinn and me by ourselves, surrounded by nothing but trees. No city. No people. Just woods. It was amazing. 

Last night while we were visiting some people on our ward list, we decided to go pass by this random guy we heard about from Sister Phillips. We stopped by his address, and he opened the door with a cigarette in his hand and let us in. As we talked, we found out that he was trying to quit smoking and had just relapsed. We talked with him a little more, shared some scriptures, and gave him our number so he can call us if he needs some help. It was a cool experience to be in the right place in the right time and to be able to help out. Hopefully we'll be working with him a little more. 

That's all for me

Love you all,

Elder Hadden

The classical view of Montreal

Look at the woods!

This is downtown!

Happy Halloween

Dear all,

This week was pretty normal. No fire incidents, no donuts, no crazy people, no noodles. Nothing. Just trying to find people. 

We did go on an exciting exchange with the lovely ''Assistants to the President'', however. They are in our district, and Elder Blinn is the district leader, so we went on exchange with them. It was exactly like any other exchange. I was with Elder James (from DC) and we had a good time talking about the MTC and all the museums in DC that I have never been to. I complained that all the museums in Ottawa cost $20 and the museums in DC are free, even though Canada is the one with all the taxes. They seriously are so backwards up here.

The other exciting news of the week is that IT IS COLD AGAIN. Not super cold yet, but we are moving in that direction. ''Winter is coming'' and all that.

We helped the first counselor in the bishopric put up his temporary car shelter (or ''tempo'' for short) for the winter, and afterwards he told us stories about working in the VFX field. He's worked on a bunch of movies, including ''Gravity,''  and had some pretty interesting stories about what goes on behind the scenes of VFX.

He's one of at least four members of the ward that work in VFX and animation. The others have worked for Disney and a bunch of other companies, and all of them have been pretty high up in the industry. The Elders' Quorum President is one such member, and he said he'll take all the missionaries to tour his studio next Tuesday. If I am allowed to, I'll get some cool pictures and send them back. If not, I'll just write about it and you can watch the movies in theaters when they come out. 

Love you all,

Elder Hadden

Oh yeah. This Week, Too, I Guess.

Dear All,

First things first. Our apartment almost burned down this week. The fire alarm went off one night, and everyone slowly wandered out to the street in the cold. We met up with the Mandarin Central Elders (Elder Lehnardt and Elder Hsu) who live in our same building, and after a while of watching fire trucks pull up, got too cold to stand there anymore. We decided to walk around the block to the nearest Tim Horton's to shelter inside until they cleared the building. We stayed there for a few minutes, had a bunch of cheap donuts, and then headed back to our totally unharmed building to finish the night. It was very exciting. 

We, along with our good friend Vincent Mutche, helped a member's brother (?) move on Thursday. The member had texted Vincent that morning to ask if anyone could help out, but since it was such short notice and on a weekday, Vincent could only find us who were available. This member isn't super active, and is a little....interesting. We showed up, chatted a little bit with him, moved all of his brother's stuff into a rented car, and then drove it across town to his new apartment. Since we drove, Vincent, Elder Blinn, and I showed up well before the member and his brother did. We got one of his brother's new roommates to let us into his apartment so we could move the stuff without them. Upon entering the apartment, our noses were confronted with the weird and unpleasant aroma of A LOT of weed, dirt, and onions(?). We looked in one of the rooms and saw the walls covered in crazy drawings and writing. It looked like a set piece from a psycho horror movie. Some real ''all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy'' kind of stuff. Needless to say, we moved all the stuff, and high-tailed it out of there before anyone else could show up. Vincent took us out to get ramen afterwards (pictures included).

This ward is probably the most interesting one I have ever served in. You get all the best of Montreal. 

That's pretty much it for me. I would talk about the people we are teaching, but we don't work with people very consistently. 

Vincent Mewtia and the ramen.

Fire truck selfie.

The donuts. 

A big ol' spider we found.

Love you all,

Elder Hadden

We Had a DA

(Well, I meant to press the send button, but apparently I didn't. Here's the missing email from last week.)

Dear all,

Our week was spent mostly riding buses to and fro all over the island.  A lot of the members in the ward live well away from any metro stations since they have families and cars and stuff like that. Since we don't have a car, we often have to travel for hours and hours just to get to someone's house to see if they live there. I've been able to see a lot of Montreal that I haven't before, and get to know the bus system in Montreal a lot better, too. I feel like I'll be an expert on public transport anywhere in the city by the end of this transfer.

Other than that, we got to talk to some more members, and even got a family to feed us. The Young Mens' president and his wife invited us over for dinner on Sunday at their lovely home in Westmount. They moved here not too many months ago from the frigid, cold LA. It was nice to be around talk about the weirdness of living in Quebec with some other people from the western US. Elder Blinn even got to join in, since even Nova Scotia is not nearly as interesting as Quebec. In exchange for feeding us, we agreed to go and visit some of the less-active families with young men. It was a wonderful DA.

Last week for P-day, Elder Blinn and I accompanied our beloved friend Vincent Mewchew of the LaSalle ward to the impressively large St. Joseph Oratory on Mount Royal. Vincent of the LaSalle ward used to be a Catholic before he was converted by the Book of Mormon musical, so he gave us the insider tour. I didn't take many pictures, because I already sent pictures of it home. 

Love you all,

Elder Hadden

Fall colors on Mt. Royal

The inside of Mt. Royal

The inside of St. Joseph

The river, returning my thumb.

The river again.

DA - Dinner appointment

Happy Thanksgiving

Dear all,

This week was spent mostly in meetings. We had our Zone Conference on Thursday, where a bunch of people got together and listened to some people talk about the church, and then we had General Conference, where even more people got together and talked about the church. I did really enjoy both of them. I even got to watch General Conference in English this time. It made a lot more sense.

All the Chinese missionaries were hoping for them to announce China being opened up, so we can all get transferred to Beijing together, but it didn't happen. I still have one more conference though, so maybe it will happen. 

In other news, yesterday was Canadian Thanksgiving (or as they call it here ''Regular Thanksgiving''). We did not get anyone to feed us, so Elder Blinn and I ended up just going to KFC (or as they call it here ''PFK''). Nobody really cares about normal Canadian holidays in Quebec, so all the KFCs were open, and we got a bunch of chicken for the two of us. In the end, it was really expensive and not that great. It's even worse here than in the States. 

Pretty disappointing, but at least I didn't ruin REAL Thanksgiving for myself. (they call Real Thanksgiving ''American Thanksgiving'' here. They are so backwards).

Anyway, I'll be back next week.

Love you all,

Elder Hadden

Hump Day 27 September 2018

For Elder Hadden's halfway point, I prepared a package with half a package of oreos, half a package of TimTams, half a Toblerone bar, half a Dairy Milk bar, and half a pair of socks.  It also contained a photo book with pics of lots of people holding a sign that said "Happy Hump Day Elder Hadden" and his new International Driving Permit.  

The Salt Lake Scots at the Labor Day Pot Luck

Elder Hadden's response:

". . . Also, I got your package. I expect all the rest of that chocolate when I get home. My companion thought that was the meanest thing ever."

No comment on the photo book or the permit.

Grant

Cat&Grant&Jeff&Lucy Christensen

Back to the McGill 'Hood

Dear all,

Well, I made it back to Montreal. For our last P-Day together, Elder Burton and I walked around downtown Ottawa because we ran out of fun things to do. And then a few days later, I hopped on the Greyhound bus back to the great city of Montreal. I'm surrounded by francophones and Chinese people again. So much fun.

On top of that, I'm living back next to the McGill University campus where I lived when I was with Elder Tsai and Elder Furness. It's just like old times.

We're currently working in the Montreal ward, which is where all of the people who don't speak French, Spanish or Chinese in Montreal go. The ward boundaries cover most of the island, and the ward has about 300+ less active members on record. We have a ''special assignment'' to clean up all the nonsense on the ward records and try to help less-actives come back to church. President keeps referring to this ward as an ''inner city'' ward, which makes me think that it's where all the sketchy gang stuff goes down, but I think he just means that it's very transient and diverse. All in all, it is very difficult to track people down, and often very difficult to communicate with them if we actually do find them. It's a party. 

The best part in everything is that I got to eat poutine at La Banquise with my brother from LaSalle, Vincent Muetzsche. It's only been a few weeks since I last saw him in Ottawa, but it was still fun.

I have very little time today, So I will email next week. Hopefully I'll have a better idea of what I'm doing then.

Love you all,

Elder Hadden