Monday, February 20, 2017

Weekly Update~ "When You Can, Do Something!"

Dear Family and Friends,

This past week, we were invited to the newly called Stake President, President Kamya's home to have FHE with his family. As we were seated in his family room, he said a few things that were interesting that took on new meaning as the week progressed. He told us a story about one of his friends who happens to be an entrepreneur and works in the medical field. About 17 years ago, he invested some money into planting 20 pine tree saplings. If you're familiar with pine trees, (I'm sure not) they take about 18 years to mature. Fast forward to last year, he was approached by a lumber manufacturer who offered him 400,000 UGSH (About 411 USD) for each tree. When talking to President Kamya, he just said, "I wish I had planted more of them!". President then explained that in life, all too often we are afraid to take action and be agents acting for ourselves because we're waiting for an opportunity to fall in our lap, an individual to walk up to us and say they want to learn more about the gospel without putting the work in, someone to knock on your door with a ring in hand ready for eternal marriage, a school to send an email offering a full-ride scholarship, or your dream company to offer a position of work. We have to take action for the things we desire and that is an eternal principle when it comes to praying to Heavenly Father and asking in faith. With that thought in mind, I was praying for Heavenly Father to help us maintain both our area and Makindye's as we were working through our three-some. As we acted while petitioning the Lord for his blessings, we saw his hand in the work. This is the key to success as a missionary and it is a simple, eternal principle. 

We went on 3 splits throughout the week and met some amazing people both through our own efforts and referrals from members. Less-active members are also beginning to come back to church. There is an overall excitement from everyone in the Nsambya ward as they are engaging in the Lord's work.

On Thursday, While on splits with Bro. Patrick, Elder Chifamba met 2 separate individuals who were both extremely prepared by the Lord.  The first was a man named Andrew. Elder Chifamba began to teach his sister, Betty, but after adamantly proclaiming to be a "Born Again" and refusing to listen, she brought in her brother, Andrew, and told them to teach him because he refuses to go to church. They began teaching the restoration and in the middle of the lesson, Andrew confessed his fear to join a denomination because he was confused about which church was true...music to a missionaries' ears. After testifying of the reality of the restoration, Andrew committed to come to church and see if everything they shared mirrored what he saw at church. He came yesterday, and when Patrick and I went to his home to follow-up, he told us he absolutely loved the services, he felt like he found his church, and told us we were heaven sent. 

The second was a woman named Primah, who had similar concerns. As they shared with her, she told us her sister had actually just come home from fasting and was actually in her room at that very moment that they came praying to know which church to join. She loved the message of the restoration as well. 

Brother Coleman, an investigator that was in our teaching pool when I first came to the area, has now begun to progress as he has kept his Book of Mormon reading commitments. There is now an increase of accountability and he is now excited to share what he has learned with us each time we have come. During the worldwide missionary broadcast, a question was asked, "how can we know if our investigators live the gospel of Christ? A General Authority answered, and explained that there is a natural inclination towards repentance and there is a change of behavior and an increased motivation to keep other commitments. We have definitely seen that with Coleman and we are looking forward to his baptism in March. 

The area is beginning to have success, the three-some is over and Elder Randall is back in his area, we are enjoying serving in Nsambya more and more as we continue to see member participation in the work, and we are happy. Transfers are coming this week!

Love you all,
Elder Hazen
Performing Service with a Smile!




Our Apartment

Typical Dinner

Monday, February 13, 2017

Update from Africa~ "Working with the YSA"

Dear Family and Friends,


This week was another solid week but the zone number dwindled from 6 to 5. Elder Chisale, one of our missionaries serving in Makindye had to leave on Friday to go to Ethiopia to cancel his work permit. Usually, that's a multi week process so he will be staying there until next transfer. Until then, Elder Randall will be working with Elder Chifamba and I in Nsambya in a 3-some. Haha our entire zone lives in one apartment, it's kind of a bizarre experience but we're having a blast. Elder Chifamba has a game called Ticket To Ride that he inherited from one of his former companions and we are all obsessed to the point where we play every night. If you are looking for a new FHE activity, or a new game to add to the closet, that game has my recommendation. When we find it when I get home, I know many nights will be spent playing it in the Hazen home.


We had Zone Conference this week and it was a great meeting. With so few missionaries, our trainings turned more into group discussions which I prefer to listening to someone speak for 20-30 minutes. One part of the meeting was particular interesting to me. With the next schedule changes, the Brethren had some trainings with the Mission Presidents and one topic of discussion was over YSA's. Usually in the past in our mission, we have tried to place more of an emphasis to teaching and baptizing families. There used to be an attitude where we would try and eliminate teaching YSA's as much as possible. However, the Brethren talked about how important teaching YSA's is because they are the ones who make up the strongest building blocks for the foundation of the church in the long term because they are the ones who go on mission, then marry in the temple, then build multi generational member families. 


Sister Collings showed a video clip of a General Authority meeting before conference in the conference center where the Quorum of the 12 spoke to everyone. Elder Andersen was speaking and made everyone who was baptized between the ages 15-25 stand up. I kid you not, about 65 percent of the people in the meeting stood. These are General Authorities. It got me unbelievably excited because our branch is mostly YSA's and they all are excited about missionary work. Sorry for the short email!

I love you all, have a great week!

Elder Hazen

Monday, February 6, 2017

Weekly Update~ "The Profile of a Prophet"

Dear Family and Friends,
This week was another great week. It's been cool to see one of the reasons why I've been sent here so early in my time here in Nsambya. There have been at least half a dozen Rwandese or Burundese individuals I've been able to refer to the church back in Kigali who are here briefly in Uganda for a visit or have family who stay back there. It always makes me so happy seeing peoples' faces light up when they hear the church is there.
Elder Chifamba and I have been hard at work this week. I don't know if I've mentioned but our zone has only 6 missionaries- our district and a companionship in a neighboring town called Makindye. We have been trying to find ways to become more unified as a small zone so when President adds more next transfer, we can hit the ground running This week, I had to take Elder Chisale and Elder Chifamba in to the dentist on Tuesday, (got to visit the Kololo apartment I began my mission from) then had to take Elder Chisale back on Thursday to get his wisdom teeth out. He was down from Thursday to Sunday so on Thursday, we decided to take turns going out with Elder Randall. It was a great experience. I was around Elder Randall when he first came on mission and he was one of the more quiet people. He has become a powerful teacher who teaches with simplicity. We even got to eat dinner at an investigator's house in the evening and their pastor was there so we watched him cast out a "demon" from a girl in their living room. Dinner and a show...nice. 
Elder Chifamba and I are teaching a guy called Dickson and he is one of the most intelligent people I've met on mission. He is a Seventh Day Adventist and has been reading the BOM, His reading comprehension is incredible, similar to my investigator, Protais back in Rwanda. When we visit him, we just sit and listen to him tell us what he learned. However, because he is intelligent, the spectrum is a bit unbalanced and he feels the need to understand everything intellectually minus the spirit side. We had a great discussion the last time we visited him and I think he gets the importance of prayer now. He is making us do a bit of research on grace for him which we gladly will do. 
Brother George got baptized on Sunday and it was neat to see how supportive the ward was. I walked into the area when George was being taught the commandments and he was already well on his way to preparation for baptism. He is a kind old man in his 60's and it's always a pleasure visiting him.
This week, I wanted to enclose one of my favorite talks/speeches by President Hugh B Brown titled "The Profile of a Prophet".
I should like to dispense with all formality, if I may, and address both faculty and students as my brothers and sisters. I adopt that form of salutation for several reasons: first, practically all who are here are members of the Church that established and maintains this university; second, I believe in the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man; and third, I do not intend to give a lecture, certainly not an oration or even a sermon, but simply wish to bear my testimony to my brothers and sisters.
I should like to be for a few minutes a witness in support of the proposition that the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored in our day and that this is His Church, organized under His direction through the Prophet Joseph Smith. I should like to give some reasons for the faith I have and for my allegiance to the Church.
Perhaps I can do this more quickly by referring to an interview I had in London, England, in 1939, just before the outbreak of the war. I had met a very prominent English gentleman, a member of the House of Commons, formerly one of the justices of the supreme court of England. In my conversations with this gentleman on various subjects—“vexations of the soul,” he called them—we talked about business, law, politics, international relations, and war, and we frequently discussed religion.
He called me on the phone one day and asked if I would meet him at his office and explain some phases of the gospel. He said, “I think there is going to be a war. If there is, you will have to return to America and we may not meet again.” His statement regarding the imminence of war and the possibility that we would not meet again proved to be prophetic.
When I went to his office he said he was intrigued by some things I had told him. He asked me to prepare a brief on Mormonism.
I may say to you students that a brief is a statement of law and facts that lawyers like President Wilkinson prepare when they are going into court to argue a case.
He asked me to prepare a brief on Mormonism and discuss it with him as I would discuss a legal problem. He said, “You have told me that you believe that Joseph Smith was a prophet. You have said to me that you believe that God the Father and Jesus of Nazareth appeared to Joseph Smith. I cannot understand how a barrister and solicitor from Canada, a man trained in logic and evidence, could accept such absurd statements. What you tell me about Joseph Smith seems fantastic, but I think you should take three days at least to prepare a brief and permit me to examine it and question you on it.”
I suggested that we proceed at once and have an examination for discovery, which is, briefly, a meeting of the opposing sides in a lawsuit where the plaintiff and defendant, with their attorneys, meet to examine each other’s claims and see if they can find some area of agreement, thus saving the time of the court later on.
I said perhaps we could see whether we had some common ground from which we could discuss my “fantastic ideas.” He agreed to that quite readily.
I can only give you, in the few minutes at my disposal, a condensed and abbreviated synopsis of the three-hour conversation that followed. In the interest of time I shall resort to the question-and-answer method, rather than narration.
I began by asking, “May I proceed, sir, on the assumption that you are a Christian?”
“I am.”
“I assume you believe in the Bible—the Old and New Testaments?”
“I do!”
“Do you believe in prayer?”
“I do!”
“You say that my belief that God spoke to a man in this age is fantastic and absurd?”
“To me it is.”
“Do you believe that God ever did speak to anyone?”
“Certainly, all through the Bible we have evidence of that.”
“Did He speak to Adam?”
“Yes.”
“To Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jacob, Joseph, and on through the prophets?”
“I believe He spoke to each of them.”
“Do you believe that contact between God and man ceased when Jesus appeared on the earth?”
“No, such communication reached its climax, its apex, at that time.”
“Do you believe that Jesus was the Son of God?”
“He was.”
“Do you believe, sir, that after Jesus was resurrected, a certain lawyer—who was also a tentmaker by the name of Saul of Tarsus—when on his way to Damascus talked with Jesus of Nazareth, who had been crucified, resurrected, and had ascended into heaven?”
“I do.”
“Whose voice did Saul hear?”
“It was the voice of Jesus Christ, for He so introduced Himself.”
“Then, my Lord—that is the way we address judges in the British Commonwealth—I am submitting to you in all seriousness that it was standard procedure in Bible times for God to talk to man.”
“I think I will admit that, but it stopped shortly after the first century of the Christian era.”
“Why do you think it stopped?”
“I can’t say.”
“You think that God hasn’t spoken since then?”
“I am sure He hasn’t.”
“There must be a reason. Can you give me a reason?”
“I do not know.”
“May I suggest some possible reasons? Perhaps God does not speak to man anymore because He cannot. He has lost the power.”
He said, “Of course that would be blasphemous.”
“Well, then, if you don’t accept that, perhaps He doesn’t speak to men because He doesn’t love us anymore and He is no longer interested in the affairs of men.”
“No,” he said, “God loves all men, and He is no respecter of persons.”
“Well, then, if He could speak, and if He loves us, then the only other possible answer, as I see it, is that we don’t need Him. We have made such rapid strides in science and we are so well educated that we don’t need God anymore.”
And then he said—and his voice trembled as he thought of impending war—“Mr. Brown, there never was a time in the history of the world when the voice of God was needed as it is needed now. Perhaps you can tell me why He doesn’t speak.”
My answer was: “He does speak, He has spoken; but men need faith to hear Him.”
Then we proceeded to prepare what I may call a “profile of a prophet.”
Perhaps you students would like to amplify what I must condense today and draw your own standard or definition of a prophet and see whether Joseph Smith measures up.
We agreed between us that the following characteristics should distinguish a man who claims to be a prophet:
1. He will boldly claim that God had spoken to him.
2. Any man so claiming would be a dignified man with a dignified message—no table jumping, no whisperings from the dead, no clairvoyance, but an intelligent statement of truth.
3. Any man claiming to be a prophet of God would declare his message without any fear and without making any weak concessions to public opinion.
4. If he were speaking for God he could not make concessions, although what he taught would be new and contrary to the accepted teachings of the day. A prophet bears witness to what he has seen and heard and seldom tries to make a case by argument. His message and not himself is important.
5. Such a man would speak in the name of the Lord, saying, “Thus said the Lord,” as did Moses, Joshua, and others.
6. Such a man would predict future events in the name of the Lord, and they would come to pass, as did those predicted by Isaiah and Ezekiel.
7. He would have not only an important message for his time but often a message for all future time, such as Daniel, Jeremiah, and others had.
8. He would have courage and faith enough to endure persecution and to give his life, if need be, for the cause he espoused, such as Peter, James, Paul, and others did.
9. Such a man would denounce wickedness fearlessly. He would generally be rejected or persecuted by the people of his time, but later generations and descendants of his persecutors would build monuments in his honor.
10. He would be able to do superhuman things—things that no man could do without God’s help. The consequence or result of his message and work would be convincing evidence of his prophetic calling: “By their fruits ye shall know them” (Matthew 7:20).
11. His teachings would be in strict conformity with scripture, and his words and his writings would become scripture. “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Peter 1:21).
Now I have given but an outline that you can fill in and amplify and then measure and judge the Prophet Joseph Smith by the work and stature of other prophets.
As a student of the life of the Prophet Joseph Smith for more than 50 years, I say to you young men and women: by these standards Joseph Smith qualifies as a prophet of God.
I believe that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God because he talked like a prophet. He was the first man since the apostles of Jesus Christ were slain to make the claim that prophets have always made—viz., that God had spoken to him. He lived and died like a prophet. I believe he was a prophet of God because he gave to this world some of the greatest of all revelations. I believe that he was a prophet of God because he predicted many things that have come to pass—things that only God could bring to pass.
John, the beloved disciple of Jesus, declared, “The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” (Revelation 19:10). If Joseph Smith had the testimony of Jesus, he had the spirit of prophecy. And if he had the spirit of prophecy, he was a prophet.
I submit to you, and I submitted to my friend, that as much as any man who ever lived, he had a testimony of Jesus, for, like the apostles of old, he saw Him and heard Him speak. He gave his life for that testimony. I challenge any man to name one who has given more evidence of the divine calling of Jesus Christ than did the Prophet Joseph Smith.
I believe the Prophet Joseph Smith was a prophet because he did many superhuman things. One was translating the Book of Mormon. Some people will not agree, but I submit to you that the Prophet Joseph Smith in translating the Book of Mormon did a superhuman work. I ask you students to undertake to write a story on the ancient inhabitants of America, to write as he did without any source of material. Include in your story 54 chapters dealing with wars, 21 historical chapters, and 55 chapters on visions and prophecies. And, remember, when you begin to write on visions and prophecies, you must have your record agree meticulously with the Bible. You must write 71 chapters on doctrine and exhortation, and here, too, you must check every statement with the scriptures or you will be proven to be a fraud. You must write 21 chapters on the ministry of Christ, and everything you claim He said and did and every testimony you write in your book about Him must agree absolutely with the New Testament.
I ask you, would you like to undertake such a task? I would suggest to you too that you must employ figures of speech, similes, metaphors, narrations, exposition, description, oratory, epic, lyric, logic, and parables. Undertake that, will you?
I ask you to remember that the man who translated the Book of Mormon was a young man who hadn’t had the opportunity of schooling that you have had, and yet he dictated that book in just a little over two months and made very few, if any, corrections. For over one hundred years some of the best students and scholars of the world have been trying to prove from the Bible that the Book of Mormon is false, but not one of them has been able to prove that anything he wrote was not in strict harmony with the scriptures—with the Bible and with the word of God.
The Book of Mormon not only declares on the title page that its purpose is to convince Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, but this truth is the burden of its message. In 3 Nephi it is recorded that multitudes of people testified, “We saw Him. We felt of His hands and His side. We know He is the Christ” (see 3 Nephi 11:14–15).
Joseph Smith undertook and accomplished other superhuman tasks. Among them I list the following:
He organized the Church. (I call attention to the fact that no constitution effected by human agency has survived 100 years without modification or amendment, even the Constitution of the United States. The basic law or constitution of the Church has never been altered.)
He undertook to carry the gospel message to all nations, which is a superhuman task still in progress.
He undertook, by divine command, to gather thousands of people to Zion.
He instituted vicarious work for the dead and built temples for that purpose.
He promised that certain signs should follow the believers, and there are thousands of witnesses who certify that this promise has been fulfilled.
I said to my friend, “My Lord, I cannot understand your saying to me that my claims are fantastic. Nor can I understand why Christians who claim to believe in Christ would persecute and put to death a man whose whole purpose was to prove the truth of the things they themselves were declaring; namely, that Jesus was the Christ. I could understand their persecuting Joseph if he had said, ‘I am Christ,’ or if he had said, ‘There is no Christ,’ or if he had said someone else is Christ. Then Christians believing in Christ would be justified in opposing him.
“But what he said was, ‘He whom ye claim to serve, declare I unto you,’ paraphrasing what Paul said in Athens: ‘Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you’ (Acts 17:23). Joseph said to the Christians of his day, ‘You claim to believe in Jesus Christ. I testify that I saw Him and I talked with Him. He is the Son of God. Why persecute me for that?’
“When Joseph came out of the woods, he had at least four fundamental truths, and he announced them to the world: first, that the Father and the Son are separate and distinct individuals; second, that the canon of scripture is not complete; third, that man was created in the bodily image of God; and fourth, the channel between earth and heaven is open and revelation is continuous.”
Perhaps some of you are wondering how the judge reacted to our discussion. He listened intently; he asked some very pointed and searching questions; and, at the end of the period, he said, “Mr. Brown, I wonder if your people appreciate the import of your message. Do you?” He said, “If what you have told me is true, it is the greatest message that has come to this earth since the angels announced the birth of Christ.”
This was a judge speaking—a great statesman, an intelligent man. He threw out the challenge: “Do you appreciate the import of what you say?” He added, “I wish it were true. I hope it may be true. God knows it ought to be true. I would to God,” he said, and he wept as he said it, “that some man could appear on earth and authoritatively say, ‘Thus saith the Lord.’”
As I intimated, we did not meet again. I have brought to you very briefly some of the reasons why I believe that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. But undergirding and overarching all that, I say to you from the very center of my heart that by the revelations of the Holy Ghost I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God.
Although these evidences and many others that could be cited may have the effect of giving one an intellectual conviction, only by the whisperings of the Holy Spirit can one come to know the things of God. By those whisperings I say I know that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God. I thank God for that knowledge and pray for His blessings upon all of you in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
I testify as a servant of Jesus Christ that Joseph Smith is a true prophet and through him, the final dispensation was ushered in. I testify that all of the keys necessary to salvation have been restored through him and because they have been restored, we have living Apostles and a Prophet who receive direction and revelation from Jesus Christ himself. I know this because I have read the Book of Mormon many times and I know that anyone who reads, ponders, and prays about it, can gain the same witness I've received from the Holy Ghost.
Uganda Sites


Have a great week,
Love Elder Hazen