Christmas Call 2017

At about 10:15 on Christmas morning, Elder Hadden skyped his family, who was anxiously awaiting his call. 

LtoR: Mom, Caitlyn Rogers, RoseE, Caiti

He and his companion, Elder Tsai, were enjoying Christmas festivities at the home of an investigator named Alice from near Beijing, who gets baptized next Saturday.

Elder Hadden seems to be doing well.  He's not cold or hungry, and has his own bed in a tiny apartment in downtown (almost) Montreal.  He reported that Elder Tsai makes good stir fry.  They are two of six Mandarin missionaries in the immediate vicinity, and there are six more scattered elsewhere in the mission.  The branch council is more missionaries than members. They are in one of the few no-car areas of the mission.

They went caroling at the Chinese hospital during the Christmas season, but everyone they sang for spoke Cantonese.  They sang in Mandarin anyway. 

He has worn out his first pair of boots, so will be hitting the Boxing Day sales in Montreal on Tuesday for a new pair.  He also requested some "tracting pants" for his birthday in February. Other than that, he is keeping warm.  

Distinguishing the tones of the Mandarin language is still a struggle, especially if the subject of the conversation or the accent of the speaker is new to him, but he said some things in Mandarin during the call which sounded very impressive to us non-Mandarin speakers. The local Mandarin accent throws extra rrr sounds everywhere, which is also confusing. He said it's like a pirate speaking Mandarin.  So it's getting better, little by little.  

His bucket list for P-Day includes the aquarium/aviary Aquarium Récifal Raging Reef - Montreal.