Mission Accomplished!

Dear Family and Friends,

I don't have any regrets whatsoever with how I concluded the last week of my mission. I accomplished everything that I wanted too and feel comfortable with the final moments of this chapter in my life. However, like I stated last week, this isn't the end of being a missionary. This has been the most incredible experience of my life and words in an email can't describe how I'm feeling right now. I look forward to sharing these experiences with you all in person upon my return home.

I'd just like to leave you with my simple testimony that I know that God lives and Jesus Christ is his son, the Redeemer of the world. I have worked as an instrument in his hands with the Spirit as my guide as I have strived to remain worthy of it's companionship. I know that God has a plan for all of his children and that progression to become like him is a necessary part of that plan. I know coming to serve the people of Uganda and Rwanda was an essential part of my personal progression. I testify that no greater happiness comes than from living a life focused on the Gospel and it's principles and ordinances. I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is Christ's original church restored to the Earth by his hand through the Prophet Joseph Smith. I know this because I have read and prayed about the Book of Mormon numerous times and I know it to be the word of God. I know that Jesus' Atonement is central to that plan and through it, I have become a changed man.

I'd just like to leave you with my simple testimony that I know that God lives and Jesus Christ is his son, the Redeemer of the world. I have worked as an instrument in his hands with the Spirit as my guide as I have strived to remain worthy of it's companionship. I know that God has a plan for all of his children and that progression to become like him is a necessary part of that plan. I know coming to serve the people of Uganda and Rwanda was an essential part of my personal progression. I testify that no greater happiness comes than from living a life focused on the Gospel and it's principles and ordinances. I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is Christ's original church restored to the Earth by his hand through the Prophet Joseph Smith. I know this because I have read and prayed about the Book of Mormon numerous times and I know it to be the word of God. I know that Jesus' Atonement is central to that plan and through it, I have become a changed man.

Love, 

Elder Hazen

Weekly Update~ "Wo Unto Those Who Ease in Zion"

Dear Family and Friends,

This weekend, I was pondering about what progression means to me. On a mission conference call yesterday evening, an elder shared a thought that put my thoughts into words precisely. When you think of progression, the concept of acceleration also comes to mind. One of the synonyms to the word acceleration is advancement. The gospel of Jesus Christ requires progression from his disciples. It is how we become like our Father in Heaven which is one of the purposes of the plan of salvation. Progression is necessary to becoming a successful missionary, but, obviously progression is something that continues even after being a full-time missionary. As I've observed other missionaries before me go home, a lot of them develop a "All is well in Zion" mindset and become idle and let the time pass meaninglessly by. The way I see it, if we put into context with cars, it's almost as if they're stalling before the "finish line" when in reality, the "finish line" is just another mile marker on a bigger road trip. I want to be the missionary to accelerate at the end so I can keep the habits and skills I've developed as a missionary that will bless me for the rest of my life. 

Every transfer, I put a quote in my planner to remind me of my purpose. The quote this transfer was from Elder Gary B Sabin: "If we are not able to be “all in” the way we are presently walking, then maybe we need to run; maybe we need to recalculate our route. We might even need to make a U-turn. We might need to study more intently, pray more earnestly, or just let some things go so we can hang on to those things that really matter. We may need to let go of the world so we can hang on to eternity." 

My Mission has been the experience of a lifetime. The way I am going to accelerate at the end is simple. I am going to do what I've been called to do for two years until, President Carpenter tells me it's time to take off my name tag. I'm going to study every day for one hour. I'm going to take reports from our district leaders. I'm going to use time wisely. I'm going to increase people's faith in Jesus Christ. I love you all, and I'll see you soon!

Love, 

Elder Hazen

Weekly Update~ "Whom the Lord Loves He Rebukes and Chastens"

Dear Family and Friends,

I'm not going to sugar-coat it, this week was difficult for me. The Lord saw if fit to put Elder Hazen through some divine chastening and decided to do it by stretching me physically and spiritually. Last Sunday after lunch, I began to feel body aches that are a common sign of the flu. It gradually got worse and by the end of the night, I was drained. Monday was better after I got on a cycle of ibuprofen and Tylenol prescribed by Sis. Collings. Tuesday, the same feelings came back, and not wanting to miss time in the short time I have left in the field, I tried to push through and work. My family knows first hand that I can be a baby when I'm sick. At around 7, I decided in my mind I had enough of missionary work for the day, but Elder Moyes suggested we go finding. That was literally the last thing I wanted to do, but I decided to grudgingly go along. I did not have the right attitude. I felt like I was demonstrating faith to precede a miracle or faith building experience, but the charity element was lacking. Elder S. Mark Palmer said,"No true teaching or learning will ever occur when done in frustration or anger, and hearts will not change where love is not present."  That is one lesson I was reminded of. The flu left by Wednesday in time for us to attend Zone Conference in peace. The Spirit was felt and we were all edified. 

On Thursday, I had the opportunity to go on exchanges with Elder Andriatsoherina, an elder from Madagascar. (If you can't pronounce that, don't worry, neither could any of our investigators) We had an extremely busy day which flew by and topped off the day visiting an RM with the intent of sharing the Restoration and asking for a referral. There was no need as he already had someone there waiting for us to teach...tender mercy for sure. 

On Friday morning, I woke up with the body aches and a headache and had to drive Elder Andria home and pick up Elder Moyes. I had him drive home and as I was in the car, the most negative thoughts were passing through my mind which is very unlike me and it made me even more frustrated that I was thinking that way. When we got home, I offered a prayer to Heavenly Father that went something like this: "Heavenly Father, right now, I'm not feeling great and you know I haven't been feeling great this whole week. In the scriptures, it talks about how the Savior bears up burdens and makes them light and succors according to people's needs. I need that right now." Honestly, the headaches haven't gone away, but this week I gained greater understanding for the love our Heavenly Father has for his children by chastening them and putting them through trials. I need to be patient with myself when I fall short because, after all, we are dwelling in an imperfect tabernacle of clay. I think as I draw to the close of my mission, it's easy to think that there's nothing more for me to learn but the Lord humbled me and reminded me this mortal life is about progression and constant growing. I'm thankful for his love and the Holy Ghost that is a gift from God and is an indicator when we need to change and what we need to change. 

Love, 

Elder Hazen

Weekly Update~ 'I Can Make Chapatis!"

Dear Family and Friends,

This week was the long awaited Stake Missionary Fireside we coordinated with the Stake leaders of the Kampala South Stake. It was wonderful to see missionaries' efforts with the Stake leaders and it turned out to be a wonderful success. Leading up to the fireside, we had a combined zone finding activity near the stake center. 

A little background information for the experience I'm about to share...The first mission president in the Uganda Kampala Mission was President Duke. Halfway through his mission, he died in a car accident on the main road from the airport to Kampala but, his wife survived. Wednesday evening, at the end of the activity, as we were about to get into a taxi to meet up with everyone again, we heard someone behind us call, "Hey Mormons!". That's not a common thing to hear around these parts so I turned around to find a YSA guy walking behind us. I asked him, "Surely you've been to the states, where are you coming from?" He told us he had just gotten back to Uganda two days ago from Idaho. He told us he knows all about the Book of Joseph Smith and stuff like that and that his neighbor would talk to him about it all the time. He said we probably knew her and that her last name was Duke. I asked him if they lived in Uganda and he said that her husband died somewhere in Africa. We took the time to bear testimony that the things which that sister shared were true and that the misconceptions he heard about us aren't and invited him to get properly informed by coming to the fireside on Friday. Unfortunately he didn't come to the fireside or church but I know we didn't just meet the man by chance.

P-Day was great! We did something different for a chage and spent our day with our family who will be baptized next week.  The mom taught us how to make chapatis (soft layered flat bread similar to Tortillas and Naan) and we taught them how to make pancakes.  Then we took all our food and watched Meet the Mormons!

As I've shared in the past, we are focusing on teaching repentance and baptism as a Mission. Yesterday evening, we taught a sister who is a neighbor of a member in the elders' quorum presidency. It was the first time in a long time that I actually felt I was "preaching repentance".  As we shared with her how she can become clean from the poor habits she has developed and be free from the feelings of guilt she feels as a result. The re-occurring thought I'm having is how the basics of the gospel are so necessary to pass through this life unscathed by the whirlwinds and storms Satan brings. As we drove home from this lesson, Elder Moyes and I talked about how the things we teach tend to influence us as well. I have noticed personally that I am more mindful about renewing my covenants with the sacrament and my desire to continue to improve on the little things. I love this Gospel and the way it has helped me progress on my mission. I know it is true.

I love you all, 

See you in 3 weeks,

Elder Hazen

Weekly Update~ "Spiritual Cataracts"

Dear Family and Friends,

This week we spent time attending Distric Development Meetings for everyone in the zone. It was a good experience as we went over the things we learned in Mission Leadership Conference and demonstrated role-plays on how to teach repentance and baptism in every lesson.

 Alpha, Estella, Sarah, and Albert are all preparing for baptism next week. We are grateful for their commitment and the desire they all have to repent and follow the Savior. Yesterday in church, during Gospel Principles, we were having a discussion about the difference between gifts of the Spirit and the Gift of the Holy Ghost. One sister asked, "how do we get the Spirit to be with us again if we have done something wrong to drive it away?" Albert rose his hand and simply answered, "Repent of your sins and come to church to take of the sacrament to renew your covenants." The simplicity of the gospel blows me away.

This week, I read a BYU Speech talk "Spiritual Cataracts". In this talk, cataracts are likened to living the gospel and how our vision is sometimes blurred on what matters most with pollutants. These pollutants include envy, contention, dishonesty, and lasciviousness. When these pollutants or distractions creep into our lives, we lose focus on the Savior and the gospel, but it is still there. Like with cataracts, it is possible to receive corrective eye surgery that restores our vision perfectly. Repentance is always possible no matter how far we drift from the path. I love the simplicity of the preventative "spiritual antioxidants" as well. Prayer, studying the word of God, and Service. Funny enough, it's the same simple practices recommended to me by President Collings in my interview with him Thursday morning. I know that these simple practices are enough to keep one stabilized in this increasingly unstable world we live in as we show faith in the "Rock of Salvation".

I love you all,

Elder Hazen

Weekly Update~ "The First of Many Lasts On My Mission"

Dear Family and Friends,

Last week, during a conference call, President Collings shared an experience from the life of Brother David Whitmer. The account goes something like this:

In efforts to increase the faith of the missionaries and to draw down the powers of heaven more abundantly, President Collings christened this transfer the "David Whitmer Transfer". For the whole transfer, President challenged us to apply all the things we've been learning in the transfers previous to teach repentance and baptism in EVERY single teaching situation. We have also been asked to get back to reading Preach My Gospel every day and to role-play every companionship study. Every week, we will be having a conference call to spend about a half hour or so sharing experiences and miracles as we see the Lord magnify our efforts in doing the best we can. In the past, I've seen that whenever President counsels us to do something, no matter what, do it, because inevitably blessings do come. 

This week was week 1 of the "David Whitmer Transfer" here in the UKM and the Kampala Central Zone kicked it off with a bang. Early in the week, Elder Moyes received a clear prompting about the sisters coming into our zone. In speaking with Elder Grant in the week previous, he shared with me some concerns all the sisters in the whole mission were having about struggling to find new investigators to teach. We decided to share this with the district leaders in Mengo and Makindye where the sisters will be going and encouraged them to begin doing some finding for both themselves and the sisters so they'd at least have a few people to teach when they got there. When we received a report from them yesterday, both companionships of sisters had at least one investigator at church which was a real tender mercy. 

Also, with it being transfer week, as a zone leader and district leader where there are new missionaries coming, sacrificing time in your area is expected. But, as we took time to drive missionaries to their new areas and running errands to transport forgotten belongings we knew the Lord would bless us. He blessed not only us, but Elder Khoriyo and Elder Dlamini in Mengo by helping us accomplish standards of excellence. On Thursday morning, Elder Moyes and I taught a referral from Bishop Omuya to a lady who works at a mobile money stand across the street from a church named Prossy. She is a sweet lady with a 5 year old daughter named Michelle who cracks us up whenever we walk by. While teaching the restoration to her, we noticed mid-way through the lesson another woman seated close-by to Prossy who was also listening while acting occupied with a magazine on her lap. When we talked about how Christ established his church on the Earth, she couldn't contain her curiosity and closed the magazine. We felt prompted to invite her to participate in the rest of the lesson and the Spirit was present. The Spirit was powerful at the climax of the lesson, as we talked about the first vision. Both were glued, and we extended a baptism date to both. We came to find out that the other woman, Sylvia, obviously one of God's elect, has been visited by missionaries a few times before but, has the most motivation to learn about the Book of Mormon than ever before. Super cool. 

The Gym RJ Works Out In

On Friday, I attended my last MLC of my mission and bore my first of many departing testimonies. The reality of going home finally threw it's first punch. The meeting was extremely uplifting and I wanted to share something I got out of it. Elder Farnsworth talked about how Repentance and Baptism are tightly knit as is the rest of the gospel of Jesus Christ but, he then took time what it means to have a remission of sins. When you put the word remission in the context of cancer, it means the cancer is still in your body, but it is dormant and the effects of the cancer can't be felt temporarily. Same with our spirits when we go through the repentance process. Sin is the cancer of our spirits and when remitted, like cancer, has a chance of coming back. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has the cure to spiritual cancer. In this church, the full and everlasting gospel is taught with all the necessary ordinances. No one else can cure this cancer. This is simply because no one has the Priesthood authority. I testify that through the restored gospel, we can be clean and fully healed of the cancer of the soul and return to live with our father in heaven. I'm thankful for the time I have left to share this cure with as many as possible. 

RJ's Favorite Meal

I love you all,

Elder Hazen

Weekly Update~ "Last Transfer of My Mission"

Dear Family and Friends,

Transfer news has arrived and I will be finishing my Mission in Nsambya with Elder Moyes. Did I ever imagine I'd be finishing in this wonderful place when I got on a plane to Uganda from Rwanda 6 months ago? Not a chance. But am I satisfied? Extremely.

As a Mission, we continue to focus on coordinating our missionary efforts with the ward and stake leadership. This week, President Collings, President Kamya, the Assistants, Elder Beck and Anderson from Kampala South Zone and Elder Moyes and myself from Kampala Central Zone, had another wonderful coordination meeting. Once again, revelation flowed and we set some ambitious goals and created strong plans with the upcoming Stake Missionary Fireside. We did a live announcement via Facebook and got a lot of positive feedback. We are all looking forward to the activity. 

We had a baptism this Sunday for brother Francis Oringa, Brother Joshua for the Nsambya DL side, then brother S. I had the opportunity to interview him for baptism and he brought such a strong spirit into the room as he testified of things he knew to be true as he answered baptism questions. After his baptism and confirmation, he hugged everyone in sight, including the brethren of the priesthood who had just assisted in his confirmation ordinance. I looked at him a few rows back and at that moment, he got up from his chair, went a few seats down the row, and gave sister R big hug. As I witnessed that precious scene, with tears in my eyes, I remembered how amazing it is when people make the changes and steps in their lives to bring themselves more in line with God's will. I am so blessed to be apart of this wonderful work.

I love you all,

Elder Hazen

RJ's Apartment

Weekly Update~ "Enduring to the End"

Dear Family and Friends, 

I hope everyone enjoyed their Mother's Day and talking to their missionaries. After a few visits to Africell, a few calls to Customer Service, and much unnecessary stress, I was finally able to speak to my own mother and it was worth the wait. I love her and my family so much and it's ludicrous I'll be seeing them in the flesh in a few weeks. 

Talking to Each Other on Mother's Day!

This week I went on an exchange with Elder Grant. It was the first time proselyting together since Rwanda. Truly he's a friend for the eternities. The Spirit was present in all lessons, but it was expected working with a powerhouse like him. 

The work continues to progress and we are continuing to see the blessings working with members. The Alpha Stella and Sarah family as well as the Brother Jeff continue to progress nicely and we're looking forward to their baptisms next transfer. 

As my thoughts continue to wander to the Savior, one thing Elder Grant and I discussed was about how difficult it is to endure to the end, but one thing that helps greatly in that process is understanding one's purpose. The Savior was foreordained before the foundation of the world to be our Savior. He has been prepared for his role for eternities. He came to the world, and descended below all, and though blinded by a veil, understood his purpose from a very young age. The Savior knew the whole picture, and it influenced his every action because he knew the salvation of all of God's children depended on it. It gave him the perspective he needed, though bleeding from every pore and pleading that the cup would pass, to suffer an infinite Atonement. I testify with gratitude, that because of the Savior understanding his purpose, he endured to the end so we may have a chance to endure to our end of mortal life and one day be exalted in God's kingdom with our families. 

Love, 
Elder Hazen

Weekly Update~ "Looking for a White Shirt, Not Cream"

Dear Family and Friends,

Today I spent my preparation day in downtown Kampala looking for a new long-sleeved white shirt and  popping tags in the market looking for sweet second hand clothes. As we were walking down the street on the lookout, a gentleman stopped us outside his store and showed us his wide selection of dress shirts. He asked us what color of dress shirt we were looking for and I told him the same color of the shirt that I was wearing. He looked at me, puzzled, and asked ''You're looking for a cream shirt?'' Confused, I then looked down at my shirt, then the white shirt he was holding in his hand and noticed the stark difference between the colors.  I guess I've been working too hard. Haha just kidding.

This week was another good one in Nsambya. We continue to receive a steady flow of referrals from the members and we are seeing the blessings of becoming more unified with them in our work. Nearly every day this week we have had a brother and sister from the ward moving to our appointments with us in the afternoons which has been wonderful for both the fellowshipper and fellowshipee. Sarah and her children, Alpha and Stella are continuing to progress. Stella and Alpha went to Gulu this week for a 4-day data entry course so, Sarah was at home all week alone. Elder Moyes and I took the opportunity to read the Book of Mormon with her a few times throughout the week and she ended up coming to church alone which was neat to see. It's funny because her and one of the members we brought with us to teach, Simon Peter, made a bet to see who could get to church first. Sarah won but, we were happy to see both present for the passing of the sacrament. 

The other family we are teaching, Jeff and his daughters, are all progressing as well. Jeff introduced us to his two first born daughters this week and we got to teach them all the restoration together. I think Jeff was relieved that his family is willing to learn the gospel with him because he was worried that if he continued in the discussions alone, he would cause disunity. As we testified how much this gospel blesses families, the spirit was there. Jeff, two of his daughters, and his young son all attended church yesterday and we were pleased to see them. 

I can't really express my gratitude for how much the Lord has blessed us with our current teaching pool. These people are the coolest people ever to make things even more fun. For example, Jeff is a free-lance artist who has been in the craft business for over 25 years. He has been running a craft-shop himself for the past 10 years in Kampala but recently turned over the business to his oldest daughter, Joanne. He also owns real-estate and travels out of the country to sell his art. It's neat to see how business-oriented he is and it's a pleasure to have gotten to know him. 

 Things just continue to happen for us and as we continue to do our best to help those whom we have been given stewardship over, both investigators and missionaries. We had exchanges with Elder Pearson, Dowdle, Ray, and Ellsworth from Kabowa and also attended their Star Wars themed DDM for May the 4th. It was a blast getting to work with both Elder Dowdle and Pearson reminiscing on old times from Lugazi and Rwanda. 

Happy Mother's Day to every motherly figure in my life, but most of all to my own mother. To quote Elder Holland, ''To all of our mothers everywhere, past, present, or future, I say, “Thank you." Thank you for giving birth, for shaping souls, for forming character, and for demonstrating the pure love of Christ.” To Mother Eve, to Sarah, Rebekah, and Rachel, to Mary of Nazareth, and to a Mother in Heaven, I say, “Thank you for your crucial role in fulfilling the purposes of eternity.” To all mothers in every circumstance, including those who struggle—and all will—I say, “Be peaceful. Believe in God and yourself. You are doing better than you think you are.''

I am eternally grateful to my Father in Heaven that it was part of his divine plan to for my mother to raise me. I love her and my earthly family more than anything.

 I love you all,

Elder Hazen

Weekly Update~ "Blessings Come When We Seek For The Savior's Power as Bad as We Want to Breathe"

Dear family and friends,

RJ and His New Companion Elder Moyes

 One of the oft-referred to stories of this recent General Conference was the woman who suffered from the debilitating blood condition for 12 years. I loved this story in context to President Nelson's talk on Drawing the power of Jesus Christ into our lives. Like the woman who stretched physically and spiritually in order to grasp the Savior's power into her life. There are a few experiences where I witnessed others and myself stretch this week. 

We are teaching a man right now who has gone through a lot. I have seen him bring forth many fruits signifying his repentance and becoming a new man. However, he just seems to be one of those people who can't seem to catch a break. For about the past 3 years, he has been bounced around from home to home, trying to look for a job and making ends meet. He expressed to us that after he met the missionaries, he found a new found hope in life and things began to work out for him. He found a job about a month and a half ago at a casino running slot machines and began a training without pay soon thereafter. However because of the difficulty of circumstances before, along the way he got both his national I.D. and passport stolen, which has now arisen to become a big problem. Last week, his employers requested everyone to display some sort of identification before the training ends this week. In his desperation, he came to us, asking us to spot him 40k UGX for a new passport. I felt awful for him and was really stressed about what to do. After I got off the phone with him last Friday morning, Elder Moyes and I decided to pray about it. When we finished, a story I heard from MLC a few months back came to mind. In Mexico, there was a mission president faced with a dilemma of government marriage being an obstacle to many couples' being baptized. They simply couldn't afford to pay to get it done so they continued to co-habitate. However, the leaders of the church came up with a program to cut the price of marriage. When this plan was presented to this mission president, it didn't feel right for him to approve it. He thought about it all the way to an interview with a young couple preparing to be baptized. In this interview, he discovered that the couple went three days without eating in order to have enough money for their marriage, leading to their baptism into the church. With this experience, the mission president felt inspired to reject the plan and give these investigators the opportunity to exercise faith and let the Lord provide a way. We came to a similar conclusion with this man. When we went to his home to explain why we were not giving him the money by sharing with him the scripture in Luke 8 about the woman with the blood disease, he was completely understanding and the Spirit filled the room. We followed up with him this week and he told us as he prayed for direction on how to find the money to pay for a new passport, he felt inspired he needed to sell his phone and use the money that would be coming from his job to first pay rent so he could keep the spot in the home he is currently staying in, then buy a new phone in a few months. He felt confident it came from the Lord and we were grateful to witness this man stretch himself and seek God's will.

On Tuesday, I went on an exchange with Elder Seibert. The whole day was relatively good, but we hadn't had any really faith building experiences and hadn't seemed to learn much from each other. As we were discussing these feelings on our way to our last appointment which happened to be a member whom we would be teaching the restoration in 15 minutes too, we made a goal with each other that we'd make it the most powerful lesson of the day. But, to our dismay, he bounced us. It was 8:30 PM. Usually, it's time to prepare to go home if your lesson falls through at that time. However, I felt like there was more to be done in the day. We decided to pray and ask the Lord whom he would have us visit to share the message of the Restoration too to conclude the day. We sat and waited for revelation to come. Elder Seibert, having served in Nsambya before, suggested we visit a less-active member. We called him, and he told us he was home, so we put the truck in gear and sped off to his home 15 minutes away. We testified simply of the truths of the restoration, and finished. We were overcome at the Spirit that was present. We felt inspired to ask for a referral and he immediately listed off a name from the top of his head and told us to call him in the morning to find out when we could go together to meet with him. When we got to the car, we offered a simple prayer of gratitude thanking the Lord for using us as tools to share with someone who needed that message and for helping us stretch ourselves. Truly, I know blessings come when we seek for the Savior's power as bad as we want to breathe. 

I love you all,

Elder Hazen

Weekly Update~ "Following the Spirit"

Dear Family and Friends,

I'm sure I've mentioned that last transfer, President Collings gave us a challenge to go into as many members' homes as possible and share the message of the Restoration in 15 minutes. The purpose of this exercise is to be simple and invite the Spirit and after we testify simply, ask for a referral. If done right with the Spirit present, President promised many referrals would come from it. He was right. We applied this in four different different homes and many referrals came from it that we were able to follow up with on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Thankfully, our teaching pool is now full of many people with tons of potential to progress.

Yesterday evening, we had a neat experience with prayer. Elder Moyes is a master at following the Spirit and I've learned so much from him already. At around 6:30, we were waiting for our investigator, Rajab, but when we called him, he told us he was just leaving his house, a 20 minute walk away. I thought it would be a good idea to go visit Andrew, who lived 5 minutes from the church, because he left church early and I wanted to find out why. But Elder Moyes stopped me and asked me if we could pray about it. To be honest, I was a little confused, because I thought it would be an effective way to use our time and it was close, so we could leave right when Rajab got there. But Elder Moyes brought up the idea that if we waited for Rajab, we wouldn't be able to meet with Alpha at 7:30. Alpha was a younger man that we met last Monday evening while visiting a less-active. When we were there, we shared the Living Christ with all who were present and set a return appointment with Alpha in the weekend. And so, we prayed about it. After waiting, we felt that we needed to cancel with Rajab, go see Andrew and maybe another individual, then go see Alpha. We found out why when we got there. At that particular time, Alpha was home with his mother, Sarah, who spoke great English, and had not been to church in some time because of a leg condition she had developed. We invited her to participate in the lesson, as we shared with Alpha the message of the Restoration. From the moment we said "amen" to the opening prayer, both were so engaged, asking questions, repeating what we were saying for clarification, and sharing insights. The Spirit was so strong in the house throughout the entire lesson and both accepted baptism dates in May. When we got back to the truck, Elder Moyes and I knew that we had to be in that home at that time for a reason and just poured out our hearts in prayer in gratitude to Heavenly Father for the blessings we saw throughout that day and that week. There is nothing better as a missionary than feeling a feeling of peace and approval that comes from the Spirit when following a prompting. 

There are many amazing things that are on the brink of happening in this zone and stake as we continue to work with the members. 

I love you all,

Elder Hazen

His Companion is Headed Home

Saying Goodbye to Elder Ward

Rainy Season

Flooding

Locked Keys in the Truck