District Leader

Dear all,

It has been another week. I had to be a district leader, which is always a very interesting experience. I remember at the beginning of my mission I was really excited to be a leader in the mission field. It was something I felt like I had had a lot of experience with, and it was a skill that I was able to develop in high school and scout camp, and I was excited to use that in the Lord's work and all that. Sitting and looking back on what the majority of my mission experience has been, though, I feel like the exact opposite happened. I didn't have the leadership experiences I thought I would have, and I certainly don't feel nearly as confident in it as I did before. It's been an interesting experience. I'm glad that I get to try my hand at being a district leader again before I go home, even though it is pretty difficult and confusing for me sometimes.

In other news, Elie, the Haitian guy who came to church last week, canceled the appointment we had with him this week and stopped responding to our calls and messages. By a miraculous chance, we ran into him outside of his apartment on Saturday night and he said that his phone hadn't been working and that he wanted to come to church the next day. We were on a pretty big high after that, until the next morning when he didn't show up to church. Anyway, we're trying to get a hold of him again. Maybe it will be successful, maybe it won't. You never know.

We've worked hard this week to find some new people, and have succeeded a little. We weren't very organized last week, but I think we've got our stuff together for this coming week. Elder Vargas pitched an idea the other day that we would have a "Finding Friday" where we just find all day and build up our pool of solid people. I think he chose Friday just because it sounded good, but I think it's as good of a day as any. We'll see how our schedule turns out for Friday after we set some more appointments this week.

Elder Vargas and I have started fishing on P-days. Last week we went and got a fishing license and a fishing pole (he already had a license, so I just got one for me), and we headed out to the Ottawa river. He really likes fishing, so he showed me the ropes and I managed to catch a fish. This morning we went again, and I caught a good-sized bass. Pictures below.

That's it for me,

Love you all,

Elder Hadden

The perch from last week.



Selfie on the Gatineau River



The bass from this morning

Fishers of Men, Fishers of Fish

The bass and me this morning

Dear all,

It has been another week. I had to be a district leader, which is always a very interesting experience. I remember at the beginning of my mission I was really excited to be a leader in the mission field. It was something I felt like I had had a lot of experience with and it was a skill that I was able to develop in High School and scout camp, and I was excited to use that in the Lord's work and all that. Sitting and looking back on what the majority of my mission experience has been though, I feel like the exact opposite happened. I didn't have the leadership experiences I thought I would have, and I certainly don't feel nearly as confident in it as I did before. It's been an interesting experience. I'm glad that I get to try my hand at being a district leader again before I go home even though it is pretty difficult and confusing for me sometimes.

In other news, Elie, the Haitian guy who came to church last week, canceled the appointment we had with him this week and stopped responding to our calls and messages. By a miraculous chance, we ran into him outside of his apartment on Saturday night and he said that his phone hadn't been working and that he wanted to come to church the next day. We were on a pretty big high after that, until the next morning when he didn't show up to church. Anyway, We're trying to get a hold of him again, maybe it will be successful, maybe it won't. You never know.

We've worked hard this week to find some new people, and have succeeded a little. We weren't very organized last week, but I think we've got our stuff together for this coming week. Elder Vargas pitched an idea the other day that we would have a "Finding Friday" where we just find all day and build up our pool of solid people. I think he chose Friday just because it sounded good, but I think it's as good of a day as any. We'll see how our schedule turns out for Friday after we set some more appointments this week. 

Elder Vargas and I have started fishing on P-Days. Last week we went and got a fishing license and a fishing pole (he already had a license so I just got one for me), and we headed out to the Ottawa River. He really likes fishing, so he showed me the ropes and I managed to catch a fish. This morning we went again, and I caught a good-sized bass. Pictures below.

That's it for me,

Love you all,

Elder Hadden

Me with the perch

The perch from last week.

Selfie on the Gatineau River

I Am Still Alive

Dear all,

It was a crazy week, as transfer weeks usually are. I took Elder Surette to the bus station on Thursday morning and said goodbye, and then waited for Elder Vargas to show up on the next bus. While waiting, I got to meet some of the missionaries from the Halifax mission who were getting transferred to Ottawa. One poor Elder got transferred from Halifax all the way to Pettawawa, two hours west of Ottawa. It's about as big of a transfer as you could possible make.

Elder Vargas is from Southern Texas, and his parents are from Mexico. He said that he spent a lot of time south of the border since that's where his family all lives. He's currently teaching me Spanish. So far, I can pray, and that's about it.

The rest of the week has been a little all over the place. I'm not particularly good at leading areas, and we're still getting settled in. We've had a lot of scheduled lessons, but a lot of them have fallen through leaving us with a lot of awkward finding time. 

The other day, we played a game of pick-up basketball with a couple québécois guys. It's not a finding idea that I have ever tried before, but it was pretty enjoyable and they did give us their phone number. We invited them to come and play with us at church sometime.

Élie, the guy we found last week, came to church on Sunday. It's really good to see that he followed through on what he said he would do. It seemed like he enjoyed himself, and it turns out he already knows one of the members of the bishopric, which is also very good. We should be seeing him again tonight. 

The members seem to really like elder Vargas. We had a DA last night with the Couture family that went very, very well. The last time I ate with them, the conversation was a little dry, but this time it was very lively. 

That's all for me this week. 

Love you all, 

Elder Hadden

Here are some pictures of the lake last week. The whole is an old caved in mica mine. 

Elder Surette is Dead

Elder Surette and me for one of the last times.

Hello all,

Elder Surette is going home this week. Tomorrow he departs for the mission home to spend his last few moments as a missionary surrounded by all the people who are just as ready to go home as he is.

Meanwhile, back in Gatineau, I'll be hanging out and receiving Elder Vargas as my final companion. I've talked to him once, and if I remember correctly he's from Southern Texas (so southern, in fact, that it's pretty much just Mexico). I think he's been on his mission for about a year, most of which he's spent serving Spanish. I think it will be a good transfer, all things considered. I'll send pictures next week.

In other news, the work drags on. We had not very much to do this week, much to the chagrin of Elder Surette. Monday was especially difficult because it was hot, humid, and we had nothing but hours and hours of finding time. Not ideal conditions for an easy end of a mission, but he told me that the thought of the ice cream In our apartment is what kept him going to the end. 

Yesterday, we had just as little planned, but we really lucked out in thinking of productive things to do. We spent the whole day calling old potentials in our area Book, and then passing by as many of them as we could. The end result was that we cleared out a lot of old names, and found three people who are interested in seeing us again. It was, all in all, a much easier and more productive day than Monday.

One of the more noteworthy people we talked to yesterday was a massive Haitian man named Eli. He was very happy to see us and very receptive to what we were saying. He asked lots and lots of questions in the way that says "I actually want to learn" instead of the way that says "I'm pretending like I want to learn, but actually I think you guys are idiots." At the end of our discussion, he was very insistent that he would come to church this Sunday. We'll hopefully see him again both at church and next Tuesday evening.

On a more depressing note and to follow up with that, one of the things I've noticed on my mission is that it really isn't hard to find "golden" people. About once a month or so, I'll contact someone who seems very receptive and almost like they're chomping at the bit just to get into the church. However, very, very few of these people ever meet with us again. It takes you on a sad and disappointing emotional roller-coaster.

That's not to say that I don't have hope for Eli or anyone else we contact, or that there isn't anyone out there who really is prepared. I do have a good feeling about Eli, and I'm excited to meet with him again, but I also would not be surprised if he just disappeared forever.

All in all, I am excited for this next transfer. We have good prospects in the area and our area Book is a lot cleaner. Even if even one we have now drops us, at least I can learn some Spanish with my companion before I go home.

That's all for me. 

Love you all, 

Elder Hadden

Still waiting for Vinsint Muetszche to feed us

Exchanges with Elder Bonny, my favorite Swiss Elder.

Our district from this transfer. Left to right: Elder Bonny, Elder Petit, Sister Fonseca, Sister Hicken, me, and Elder Surette 

Us with Charles, the old Congolese member who fed us sardines and Mayonnaise sandwiches.

Completing the Mission

11 July 2019


Mr. &  Mrs. Hadden

          873 N Sir Michael Dr. 
         Salt Lake City, UT 84116 USA

Dear Brother and Sister Hadden,


Your son will soon be completing his missionary service in the Canada Montreal Mission. His scheduled release date is 30 Aug 2019 . His dedicated labors have been a blessing to all who have worked with him. Elder Hadden has been a hard-working, obedient missionary and returns home with a firm testimony of the restoration of the church in these the latter days, the truthfulness of the Book on Mormon, and the reality of the Savior and His atonement.  He has served in a number of leadership and training capacities in addition to his regular proselyting duties.


In his everyday service as a servant of the Lord, Elder Hadden has worked hard, been cooperative with companions, and obedient to mission rules.  Our mission is an obedient and testifying mission, and he has been a faithful contributor to that cause.


For this reason, his mission has prepared him to serve faithfully in the church in the future and will greatly assist him in making many of life's challenging decisions properly. Through his  words and deeds, many lives have been blessed. He has contributed to the salvation of many souls and has changed lives because of his diligence and sacrifice.


We are always sad to see the missionaries go.  We have come to love them and feel like we are losing our children when they leave  We love Elder Hadden and hate to see him leave, but we realize that it is time for him him to move on to the next phase of his life.


Thank you for your loving support and sacrifices that have made his service possible .We feel confident that he will share with you some of his mission experiences that have now become part of the foundation for future growth throughout his life. We will miss him and know that he will be a great joy to your family. You should have received his travel itinerary from Church Travel via e-mail.  If you have not received the itinerary , or need more information, feel free to call the mission office at 1-514-731-0612


Sincerely,


President Richard A. Low

Canada Montréal Mission

America Day

Gatineau from Ottawa

Dear all,

Another week down and not many left to go. This Saturday will by my last transfer call in the mission. As someone who really hates the kind of stress a transfer call can bring, I am incredibly excited to not have that to worry about. They always turn out just like they need to, but waiting for them is often very unpleasant.

In other news, I had a grand old expat Fourth of July this week. We had our weekly district council on the fourth, and all of us Americans in the district convinced Elder Surette to let us sing "the Star-spangled Banner" as our opening hymn. It was very entertaining just because of how uncomfortable he looked singing it. In the evening, our bishop invited us over for his son's birthday party (they are all very Canadian) and they fed us burgers and ice-cream by happy coincidence. It was very delightful and convenient for me.

In other news, we did very poorly in terms of finding new people to teach last week. We found a lot of new people who were interested in meeting, but for one reason or another, we weren't able to schedule an appointment with them right away (the only reason this is unfortunate is because it means we didn't get to count them in our weekly numbers and it's kind of depressing to report all zeros). Yesterday, however, we called back many of the people we had met the week before and schedule appointments with them (which makes them count for this week) and then we found a couple more new people. It made us feel better about our progress in the area. It was a bureaucratic miracle.

We deep cleaned our apartment yesterday so that we could get it pre-treated for bugs.I always find it fun to tear apartments apart to clean them. We didn't find anything too terrible in this apartment, and now there's nothing terrible at all. And, even better, we do not have bed bugs and hopefully never will. 

I have to get a hair cut today, so that's the extent of our P-day activities. A member named Frère Morin offered to cut my hair and feed us dinner. 2fur1.

Love you all, 

Elder Hadden

O Canada Day

Dear all,

Well, yesterday was Canada Day. We celebrated by getting chicken for lunch, and then got ginger beer for the evening as we sat and watched the fireworks over parliament from our apartment. I felt very Canadian.

President Phillips left this week and President Low came in. We had interviews with him on Saturday so that we could all actually meet him. I chatted with his wife while Elder Surette was in his interview and then had an interview with him myself. They are from the thriving metropolis of Lethbridge, Alberta, and they have already been mission president and wife for a year in Halifax. President Low served his mission as a young elder in none other than the Canada Montreal Mission, so he is very familiar with the area. It seems that he is very into technology. So far, really nothing has changed in the mission. I'll see what happens as things go forward. 

We went to go see one of the members in the ward on Sunday who frequently has a lot of computer issues that he has us fix. He's an old Congolese man. He usually likes to feed us, but this week it seemed like he was a little short on food. He gave us hamburger buns doused in mayonnaise with dollar-store sardines. It was probably one of the most difficult things I have ever eaten on my mission. Definitely one for the journal. The whole encounter was incredibly uncomfortable. 

We have to go to the Canadian mint today. Pictures next week!

Love you all,

Elder Hadden