"Weekly Update~ "Snacks, Chocolates, and Burgers"

RJ's New Apartment in Rwanda

Kitchen

Bedroom with Mosquito Nets

Dear Family and Friends,

    This week, our district was sitting around our living room and talking and I asked Elder Nambale and Elder Nyambita what they think of when they think of America. Elder Nambale replied, "Snacks, Chocolates, and Burgers. I have never been around an American who doesn't like eating snacks or chocolates, and I know all you eat in America is burgers and McDonald's and chicken nuggets." Haha I couldn't disagree!

    This week, Elder Nambale and I were able to get back to the normal schedule and we had a really nice week with some strong lessons. At church, we watched the Sunday Morning Session of General Conference which was nice because Pecos, Jackie, and Jean De Mo were all there and they all enjoyed hearing President Monson speak after teaching them about living prophets on Earth today. Pecos has a wife named Eunice and 2 little boys and they are both planning on being baptized in 2 weeks. He is a guy who loves the Savior Jesus Christ and loves reading and learning in our lessons we have with him.  We may have him baptized a week before his wife because Eunice missed church due to her having a responsibility in the choir at her other services. Jackie and Emable are another couple we found and they love everything we've been teaching them so far. The only problem is that Emable works weird hours during the night and doesn't get home until the morning so he sleeps like all day making it difficult for him to come to church.  His schedule changes this week though so, he promises he will be at church this week so they can continue to progress as a family! Jean De Mo is just a stud YSA who has been coming to church for over a year but, hasn't been baptized yet. Every time we teach him, he already knows everything so, it's more of a review for him. We hope to have Pecos and Jean baptized on the First of May. It was nice to see that session of Conference again and enjoy President Uchtdorf's talk.

    We had the opportunity to go to 2 different members' homes this week. Joel fed us posho and mukenne which was a nice throw back to the food I had in Uganda that I was missing. Andrew fed us pasta with potatoes, beans, and avocados. We had a great time at both homes and I'm grateful for the relationships I'm building with these people!

    This week was also Elder Brogan's birthday. He chose to eat at a Chinese restaurant near the church and it was super good. Elder Nyambita made him a cake so after feasting, we made our way back to the apartment and sang to Elder Brogan "Happy ZL Birthday".

    On Saturday, Elder Nambale and I were expecting a lot of solid appointments,but when we called to confirm, everyone bounced us and told us they were unable to meet. We decided to stop by at a couple's home for a surprise visit. Adolf and Zawadi had been taught by Elder Myers and Nambale before but, had never been to church. We decided to re-teach them the Restoration and emphasize to them praying and asking if the message is true for themselves. When we began talking about prayer, we had a great discussion and I really feel like they understood that God answers their prayers.   And that if they ask in faith, they will receive an answer. We decided to pray with them together. After Nambale said a beautiful prayer and I felt the Spirit so strong. I felt a confirmation for myself that we taught that lesson with power and authority and I know that if they act on what we asked them to do, they will receive confirmation that what we taught them is true. 

    Later in the evening, we had the opportunity to go to the K3 branch and watch Meet the Mormons. It was a great evening and it reminded me of when I watched it a week before I left with all my family the night of my mission farewell. It brought back such sweet memories.

Meet The Mormons

    This week I noticed how much people look at Elder Nambale and I when we walk on the street. Whether it be waiting for a bus, or moving to an appointment, I always feel eyes are focused on me. I got to thinking about it and I realized how important it is that I am always mindful of my calling as a servant of Jesus Christ so these people can recognize me as one. I'm very grateful to be serving these people of Rwanda. Today I went through the Genocide Memorial.  All I can say is it was just plain brutal…they didn't leave anything out they just told it how it was…so many innocent lives lost, it's sickening.  I thought about how much these people have gone through in these past years. Literally everyone has been impacted in some way by it.  But, I gained such an appreciation for these people and I feel so lucky to share with them the Gospel.  I'm grateful to carry a message of hope and peace that can bless these families so they can know for themselves they will be with their families again.

Genocide Memorial

I love you all,

Elder Hazen

Weekly Update~ "Doctrine and Covenants Section 1:38"

New Investigators

Tiniest Investigator

Dear Family and Friends,

    Due to the Genocide Week in Rwanda, we were only allowed to proselyte in the morning from 9 and had to be back home by 3 o'clock. All shops closed for the day by 2 which created some difficulties but, it wasn't anything that a 3 kg sack of rice and beans couldn't solve. Given the circumstances, the Elders of the Rwanda zone met over at the senior couple's home and thanks to their kindness, we were able to borrow their computer and projector and watch all sessions of General Conference which was a very uplifting and spiritual experience for us all. Like last time, I will share a few thoughts I had throughout watching our inspired church leaders. I'd just like to bear my testimony that the revelation Joseph Smith received recorded in D&C 1:38
 " What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same."
Is very true and that this Church is headed by Jesus Christ who uses Prophets and Apostles called of God as instruments in his hands. But first, I'd like to update on a few other things that happened this week.

    For the first part of the week, I continued to work with Elder Packer and Elder Nyambita in a 3 some. One of their Recent Converts is a guy named Jimmy. He was confirmed the week I got here and was being taught with his wife, Isabel. Their baptism dates were set for the 1st of May but Jimmy called the Elders from K1B and asked if he could be baptized earlier because of how bad he wanted it. He was more than ready, so they agreed. On his baptism date, he invited his whole family, some came from Uganda to attend. Long story short, he's just a really cool guy who loves the Gospel. Tuesday evening, we visited him and got to read from the Book of Mormon with him and he told us he was going to begin reading every single night which is a commitment I fully believe he will keep. 

    On Wednesday, we went with two members of the Branch Presidency, Jonah and Jackson, to an investigator's home. Verena stays super far out of town but has come to church 5 weeks in a row and is planning on shifting closer so we decided to begin teaching her. When we got there, we began sharing the Restoration and we had an awesome experience. When we got to the First Vision, I quoted it word for word, and bore testimony and she began to get emotional. She explained about how in 1997, when things were still recovering in Rwanda, there were people still accusing people of being involved in the events that happened and the punishment for that was almost always death. She told us about how one day, she was called to a captain in the Military's Office. The captain requesting her was called Captain Jimmy and he had a reputation among the people that whoever was called by Jimmy, never came back. Naturally, Verena was scared and began praying with all the energy of her heart that she would be saved. When she got to Jimmy's office, he told her that someone had accused her of being involved with the genocide but the man accusing her had been put in prison for lying so she was free to go. She thanked the Lord for this great blessing he'd given her. When Verena came to church for the first time, it was the same day as Jimmy's baptism. After the baptism, she went up to him and asked if he remembered her from 19 years earlier. He said he did and expressed his gratitude that the Lord allowed them to meet again in this particular setting. Verena then expressed to us how grateful she was that we had come to share with her the Restoration and told us that if Jimmy, the infamous military captain was being baptized, she knew that this church and the messages it teaches were true as well. I testify that the Lord works in mysterious ways and I'm grateful to have been able to be apart of that lesson.

   On Thursday, Elder Nambale flew back into town and I was able to begin working with him. I have enjoyed my time serving with him so far. He is a funny dude who gets along well with the members and loves to have a good time so I relate well to him. Haha one day he started sprinting up a hill (Rwanda has TONS of hills) because there was a truck driving behind us that was picking up a lot of dust so I of course had to sprint after him. He loves to sing and dance around the apartment, he is hilarious. I can already tell this transfer is going to be a fun one, he's going to be one of my favorite companions.

RJ's New Companion Elder Nambale

    Yesterday evening, Elder Nambale and I were invited to a birthday party at a member's house. Haha it was one of the most spiritually uplifting birthday parties I've ever been too. An old session of General Conference was playing in the background, a ton of members were over sitting on the couches just talking, and the food was unreal. It was so much fun I love the members of this branch already!

This session of General Conference was one of my favorites so far. Of course, I have a biased opinion because I'm a missionary and I live on this kind of stuff, but here's a few thoughts I had.

The common themes I noticed that the Brethren seemed to be focusing on was:

• The fact we are living in a darkening world with many distractions and things to drag us down. Often times, these things distract us and make us forget our divine identity that we are children of a loving Heavenly Father. This is one of the most important things we can know and this knowledge should guide and direct our choices as we try and please our Heavenly parents.
• How crucial it is that we build up our families by observing the Sabbath Day and keeping it holy, attending the temple, and make time to spend together without the distraction of technology as Elder Ballard said in his talk about family counsels.
• How important it is that we understand how important the covenants we make are, especially the ones we made at baptism and how essential it is that as we partake of the sacrament weekly and have a desire to improve that we can be forgiven of our sins through the Atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ.
• As a Priesthood Holder, I need to understand the potential of the power of the Priesthood I bear. I love how in the Priesthood session, Elder Nelson described how as a bearer of the Priesthood, I need to be doing all I can to be increasing my power. I may have the authority to use this power, but the extent of how much I'm able to use it to bless others and my future family is dependent on how I live my life. 
• Prayer- deep, sincere, prayer is a tool of power. As we pray, we invite the Holy Ghost and are more aware that through the enabling power of the Atonement, we are able to improve ourselves. As Elder Holland said in his talk, God blesses our efforts even as we have just a desire to become better. It doesn't matter where we start, we can always improve. Elder Hales also bore powerful testimony of the Holy Ghost.
• No matter what you've done, you can always be forgiven and restored which is possible through the Atonement. I loved all the messages concerning the Atonement and how it can bless those who have trials, those who have sinned, and those who have a desire to improve. I really enjoyed Elder Uchtdorf and Elder Holland's talk on these subjects. 

  

  How RJ watched Conference

    I gave a talk this week on the atonement. I talked about my mama and how she was an example to me on using the enabling power of the atonement to give her strength during the time she was dealing with my grandpa's death and helping grandma through this hard time. I of course got emotional haha. I feel like it was a good talk though. I am grateful for loving parents who have been examples and have always taught me to set my focuses on the temple. I love my family dearly and I can't wait to continue building on the unity we have that will continue on into eternity because I KNOW as Sis. Oscarson was explaining, that families can be together forever.

 I love you all!

Elder Hazen

Weekly Update~ "Rwanda Bound!"

Dear Family and Friends,

    It's crazy how within one week, how many things can change when you're on a mission. I went to bed last Monday night thinking I'd probably spend another transfer here in Lugazi and finish Tesch's training. However, when I woke up Tuesday morning with 5 missed calls from the AP's, I figured something was up. Elder Ruell notified me I needed to be in Kampala the next morning before 10 so I could go get a police report done. When that happens, it means two things-either you're going to Ethiopia, or you're going to Rwanda. I spent the rest of the day with the thought I was leaving the country, in the back of my mind and I felt mixed emotions all day.

Taking in every last bit of Uganda

    On Wednesday, when I went in for the report, and I found out I'd be spending the next few months of my mission in Rwanda. I am so excited for this next chapter of my mission.  I am excited for the experiences I will have that will contribute to my growth even more. I feel sad to be leaving Lugazi which has become another home to me and the people who have added to my Ugandan family. I'm also going to miss the people in my district during the time I've served in Lugazi- Elder Ray, Elder Ward, Elder Tesch, and Elder Dowdle included. They've become some of my very best friends but, I know as we continue to do what we're supposed too in our new areas, we'll receive many blessings. I will miss Uganda but I know I'll be back soon and I'll build many more relationships with the people in Kigali, Rwanda.  Kigali is the capital and largest city in Rwanda.  Rwanda is very close to becoming a first world country.  It is by far the nicest area in the Mission.  It will be a 45 minute plane ride to Rwanda.  I heard nothing but good thing about it, I will be one of 8 Missionaries in Rwanda!  

Elder Ray, Ward and Tesch

    This week, aside from that curveball (yes, I still love baseball) we had some really neat experiences with a few investigators. We have been teaching a guy named Edward for about 3 weeks now and he has come to church twice in a row. Last week, he was complaining of some stomach issues he's been having and we decided to give him a Priesthood blessing. We followed up with him a few days later and he was feeling tons better. Elder Tesch will begin working on the full family when I leave but, the foundation being built with Edward is becoming very strong. We also had a good experience with Priesthood blessings with Rema. She was supposed to be baptized yesterday but, was unable to come to church because of an emergency with her sister in the hospital. We visited her Wednesday evening and we found her in bad shape with sickness. She was worried she wouldn't be okay for her interview so she asked for a blessing as well. She ended up being okay for the interview. Miracles don't build faith but, it's always neat to see when faith produces blessings in people's lives.

    This week we began teaching a man named Khasada that we found while tracting. When we went and greeted him while he was sitting in a lawn chair outside his home, he just looked at us and looked puzzled. A few seconds after us talking to him and him not really responding, his brother came outside and he told us about how he was in an accident when he was working with the police force up north in Gulu. Apparently, a mortar shell exploded near him and messed up his ear drum so, he is unable to hear very well but, can read lips and can speak clearly. So after we found that out, he pulled out a notebook and he made us write to him and he would answer the questions we were asking. After we got to know him, we gave him a short version of the Restoration and gave him a pamphlet and bore testimony on it. We went back 2 days later and he gave us a list of about 20 questions about the church, it's origins, us, etc. We took a picture of them and answered them that night and gave him the Plan of Salvation pamphlet and bore testimony on it as well in writing. When we came back the next morning, he told us about all the people he had been talking about the pamphlets with and how he was answering their questions. He also asked for a copy of the Book of Mormon and we gave it to him. These lessons were some of the coolest lessons I've been able to teach. I am thankful that the Spirit doesn't necessarily have to be heard but, it can be felt by everyone no matter what difficulty you have in life. I took a few pictures of the notebook from our lessons and here they are if you want to see them. We meet with him again tomorrow.

    This week was a difficult week for food and water. Hahaha, we didn't have water in the apartment for days so, we utilized our outdoor shower and used buckets filled by our backup water supply, pooped in holes, and all kinds of fun stuff (sorry tmi).  Also, with it being the end of the month, we were a bit low on our budget for food so here's Elder Ray and I enjoying a humble meal of posho and beans.

    Last night I began saying good-bye to some people in the branch. Here's me with Sharifah, the family of Dennis, Bruno, Gertrude, Everline, and Sharon, and the family of Winnie, Sheila, and Margaret. 

    My P-Day today we went to Jinja and went sight seeing at the Nile River!

I'm grateful for my mission thus far and for all the things I've learned. I love this gospel and I love being one of the Lord's missionaries. 

I love you all!

Elder Hazen

Weekly Update~ "The Lugazi Rat Trappers"

Elders Wearing Heart Sunglasses from RJ's Valentine's Day Package

RJ's New Friend to Play Ball With

Dear Family and Friends,

   This week was a busy week that was difficult at times, but very fulfilling. It's weeks like these that I appreciate the times of trial because I know it's in those times that I'm growing the most. The first part of the week was spent shaking some of the cobwebs off because it had been nearly a full week since we had gone proselyting and taught anyone. We spent a lot of our time making contact with our investigators and trying to stop by for small visits.  But, we found ourselves getting bounced more times than we were actually teaching. In those cases, we went and visited some recent converts in attempt to get some referrals, but we weren't having much luck with that either. By the time the evening rolled around Tuesday, Elder Tesch and I were feeling discouraged, defeated, and exhausted.  So, we began making our way home. During interviews the previous week, in the Worldwide Missionary Broadcast, Elder Clayton talked about how important it is to seek referrals, but also spend as much time finding on our own efforts. As we were walking home, that thought popped into my head so I suggested that we go and do some "finding". We began by just walking around aimlessly and talking to every single person we saw.  And as we did so, I felt better and better. Near the end of our hour of "finding", Elder Tesch and I both stopped at a house and both agreed we needed to knock on it. When we did so, an older sister answered and we made a return appointment. We followed this pattern of setting aside time to find on our own efforts for the rest of the week and we had our fair share of success. I'm not saying that all experiences where we feel the Spirit leading us to someone turn out to be successful, but I know we are supposed to talk to certain people for a reason.  Whether it be to plant a seed, or teach them a few lessons.
Our struggles reminded me that there is good to every day no matter how bad it may seem. I was also reminded that as President Uchtdorf says, "our attitude determines our altitude".  This week at church, even though we were successful in finding and teaching, our church attendance for our investigators was less than we would've liked it to be. But, as I looked on the bright side, I felt a lot better as we had one father of a family come to all 3 hours of church. In order to be a successful missionary, even when people don't accept our message or keep commitments, It says in Preach My Gospel, "You should not, however, become discouraged; discouragement will weaken your faith and hurt the work".

Enjoying the food at a Wedding and RJ's New Haircut!

  This week, on Elder Ward and Ray's side of Lugazi, one of their investigators got married to a member of our branch so all of us were invited to the introduction ceremony. Haha- I can honestly say I haven't eaten that much on my mission and it destroyed us. Elder Ray had so much food, he had to break the streak and use his first longdrop of his mission. All the kids in the village had a good time as they saw a Mzungu (White Person) emerge, relieved, from their local public restroom. 

The Longdrop Public Restroom

   So lately, we have been having a rat problem in the Lugazi house. We used to see one in our kitchen every once in awhile, but it has progressively gotten worse. On Wednesday night, I woke up with about 2 of them running around in our room and we as a district got a bit fed up with it. So, Elder Robinson, our Zone Leader, gave us some advice on how to trap and kill them. He told us to fill our wash basins with water and put food inside with a broom on the side leading up to the top. Since Saturday, we have killed a grand total of 3 with many more to come. Last night our kill was a team effort, as we saw one run under our fridge. We then brought everyone into our kitchen, closed all the doors, and armed ourselves with brooms, mops, and shoes. Elder Tesch coaxed it from out of our fridge, then I threw my shoe at it which momentarily stunned it, then Elder Ward pinned it under a mop and Elder Ray finished it off with a heavy blow to the head from his shoe. It was definitely a highlight of the week. Enjoy this photo of our victory with our deceased friend. 

The Rat Trappers

   Tomorrow, the mission is starting a 90 day BOM reading challenge. If any of you want to read the BOM before your missions and want to do it with me, you are welcome to it!

I love you all,

Elder Hazen

Weekly Update~ "Training"

Dear Friends and Family, 

   We just concluded Elder Tesch's  (my new Companion from St. George) first week of his first transfer and he has been an absolute champ. We had a lot of firsts with him this week including his first Rolex, first lessons, first meal of mukenne (tiny fish that isn't a mission favorite), first baptism date extended, and so much more. He has been such a quick learner and has adapted so well and I'm so excited to watch him continue to progress. 

   Transfers week is a busy week but we were able to get a lot done. Tuesday was my last full day with Elder Dowdle and we spent our time seeing recent converts and investigators that he wanted to say good bye to before heading out to Busia on Wednesday. On Wednesday, we had a tender moment as a district saying good bye to Dowdle. Pictures speak a thousand words and this one completely explains our friendship. 

   I went on an exchange with Elder Dabb on Wednesday and came back at around 5:30 to meet up with Elder Tesch and so Elder Dabb could go back to Mukono. Elder Ray and I decided to have a bit of fun with Elder Tesch and switched name tags and I told him to act like a complete spaz. We weren't successful, however, because Dowdle told him in Ntinda that I was tall and super relaxed.   So, when he saw Elder Ray and he didn't fit the description, our fun was spoiled.

   Yesterday at church, everything was going normal until in walked Tanner Call, a kid I graduated with at Lone Peak. There's a humanitarian group working in lugazi right now and he is with them! He is going to be here for 6 weeks.  Haha I was stunned to say the least but, it was super cool to see a familiar face. Testimony meeting was absolutely wonderful. A bunch of the members got up on their own and bore simple, sweet, testimonies full of truth.  The spirit in the room was so strong. We were able to have 90 people at sacrament, the most we have ever gotten. It has been amazing to see the progression of this branch in just the 4 months that I have been serving here and I am looking forward to continue seeing the growth as we invite more families to come unto Christ. 

   We are currently teaching two families. Margaret, Winnie, and the rest of the family was at church this week and I was super excited for that. Margaret really enjoyed the meeting and Winnie is going to be baptized next week so we are hoping that she will continue to be a good example to her family and will continue to motivate Margaret to come to church in the future. We also began teaching Japhet and Sarah, a young couple who was referred to us by Francis. It was Elder Tesch's first time teaching the Restoration and he did wonderful and concluded by extending them both baptism dates for the end of this month which they both accepted. 

   This week I wanted to focus on faith. Since I've been on my mission, Alma chapter 32-34 has been one of my favorite chapters to study. It's one of those sections that you can spend a lifetime studying but you can never quite get everything inside because there is so much good stuff! In that passage, Alma gives his brilliant discourse of the seed and how faith is developed. I would encourage you all to go through this passage sometime this week and write down a few thoughts. President Chatfield always tells us to increase our faith and as we do, then the miracles will come. Miracles don't build faith, they come as an outcome of our faith. We always tell our investigators that faith is an action word, but as I was thinking this week, am I taking the necessary actions to show Heavenly Father my faith and doing all that I can to find families? As I thought about that, I began to have a change in mindset and my eyes have been more open to families as we have been from moving from appointment to appointment. Even though Elder Tesch is still young on mission, he is already applying what our leaders have encouraged us to do and whenever he sees a family walking, he suggests that we go and talk to them. I'm very grateful for this work and am excited to begin sharing some of the experiences that will happen in the upcoming weeks.

I love you all,
 Elder Hazen

Weekly Update~ "Time Flies When You're Having Fun!"

  

Fenne Fruit- Grown only in Africa, most similar to an apple in taste

On a Mission, that statement couldn't be more true… In these first 6 months in Uganda, I have had some of the most amazing experiences in my life and I couldn't be loving it more. Thank you all for supporting me so far as I've been out, and I look forward to continuing to share my experiences each week!

  Another transfer has come and gone. I'm so thankful for my companion, Elder Dowdle. These last 3 months have been unreal and it has been so cool to see him mature as a missionary. Of course, I've been able to learn a ton from him as well. His love for missionary work is contagious and I'm extremely thankful for him always pushing me to not only be a better missionary, but a better person. We found out that he is being transferred to Busia, in Eastern Uganda today, but I know he is someone that I will remain friends with for the rest of my life. 

  I found out today that I am going to be training a new missionary for the next few weeks. His name is Elder Tesch from St. George, Utah. I am a little nervous, because I feel like I was where he is just a few weeks ago, but I know with the help of the Lord, the teachings of my mission leaders and president, and Preach My Gospel, I'll be able to help him develop the skills necessary to become a good missionary. I'm excited for the new opportunity I have to learn from him as well.

   With this being transfers week, these last few days, the members of the branch have been having us over for lunch and dinner and it has been amazing. Haha it's never a bad thing being fed as a missionary. I'm thankful for the friendships I've been able to develop with the people here…I know I say things like that a lot, but the people in the wards and branches I've been able to serve in have become my families away from my family and I love them. 

   Today for Pday, we went to Protea Hotel for their buffet breakfast. I know this just looks like a mediocre plate of food, but this is honestly the best thing I've had in 6 months and I honestly shed a tear when I saw the buffet line haha.

Elder Dowdle have continued to focus on families, and I wanted to share a few cool experiences from this week.

• I don't remember if I mentioned them last week, but we were referred to a family by one of our recent converts, Everline, and we have been teaching them about twice a week now. One of the daughters, Winnie, has really grasped onto the Gospel and is absorbing everything we have been teaching her. She has kept all of her commitments, and has been to church twice now. She has even been bringing one of her younger sisters, Sheila, who isn't as interested, but she is still listening. We have been working on her parents, but her father travels to Mukono every day to teach, and her mother still has a lot of questions, but has listened to the first 3 lessons. In an effort to begin to help her increase her testimony, we committed her to pray about everything we have taught her and ask specific questions in her prayer like if Joseph Smith is a true prophet and if he truly did restore Christ's church to the earth. She accepted, and we invited Winnie to close the lesson with a prayer afterwards. She offered a beautiful, humble prayer full of faith asking Heavenly Father to help her mother understand. I have been praying for her as well and hope she has a positive experience because I know how much the Gospel is going to bless that family if they decide to accept it. 
• Hadson, one of David's sons was baptized this Sunday and the service was great. I was able to give a talk on baptism and bare testimony on the importance of baptism and making covenants with God. He was baptized by Elder Dowdle and he bore a great testimony after! I think that hearing our investigators bear their testimonies is my favorite part about baptisms. Also, Reegan has only been a member for 1 complete week, and he is already paying tithing. He came up to Elder Dowdle and I and asked for help filling out the slip. That kid is unreal and I love him to death. 
  
• We have begun making an emphasis on Family History with our Recent Converts to help with their retention. So far, we have gotten a great response. 3 people came to church with their "My Family" books partially filled out and we are going to begin filling out their information and putting it on FamilySearch.org next week. I'm excited to see the excitement for Family History continue to build up!

This week I finished up 1 Nephi. Haha it has taken me a long time because I'm only studying a chapter a day in the Book of Mormon, but because I have been taking my time and reading every little detail, I have been getting so much out of it! This week, I studied 1 Nephi 20 and 21 where Nephi quotes the words of the prophet Isaiah for one of the first times. I have never been good at understanding Isaiah, but as I begin my studies with a prayer, it's been a lot easier! I'd like to focus on 1 Nephi 20:10 and tell you what I learned from it this week. It was my "Ponderizing" scripture for the week. It says: "For behold, I have refined thee, I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction". I love the comparison of us going through trials in this life to a furnace refining the impurities of metal. Our life on Earth is a process during which we learn and gain experience as we prepare to return to live back with God. Trials are a CRUCIAL part of our time on Earth. Personally, I learn the most from the trials I experience, especially on my mission. I know that as I look at these times of trial with an eternal perspective, or from the "big picture", then we can see that our trials come from a loving Heavenly Father who wants us to grow and become better. I read a quote this week that goes like "It is following the lines of least resistance that makes rivers and men crooked". If any of you are going through struggles or hard times, I promise that if you get on your knees and pray for strength, it will be given to you. God is eager and ready to bless those who ask for it, and he will never give you anything more than you can handle. I wanted to share one more quote from "The Continuous Atonement" By Brad Wilcox. He says, "I remember as a young schoolteacher (with a large and active class" asking my wife, Debi, "When does life even out? Why does it always feel like a roller coaster with so many highs and lows all in the same day? I wish life would just level out." Being a nurse, Debi replied, "Brad, when you get hooked up to the heart monitor, you don't want to see a straight line. That's bad news. It's the up and down lines that let you know you're alive." 

I can't express it enough how grateful I am to have this time to be put in the Refiner's Fire for these two years and to work out some of my impurities. 

I love you guys all! I hope all you going through afflictions or hard times get through it!

Love,

 Elder Hazen

Weekly Update~ "Beginning to Understand a Particle of What the Savior's Love is Like"

Dear Friends and Family, 

This week was a wonderful week. In my previous letters these last couple of weeks, I have been expressing some of my frustrations with the lack of people to teach. This week, we were able to receive 4 family referrals and contacted 2 on the street. We have begun teaching 3 of those families and I am just overwhelmed as I reflect on how much I saw the Lord's hand this week. I am beginning to get more confident in stopping and talking to people on the street and I know that increased confidence has come by help from the Lord and the Spirit. I know if I continue doing what's right and continue listening to the small promptings of the Spirit, the success will continue to come. I've also been praying that when we do find families, we'll be able to teach them with power and authority so the Spirit will be able to confirm in their hearts the things we teach them are true. 

We were able to have one Mama and her 4 kids as well as 2 daughters from another family at church this week so I hope more opportunities continue to open up. As I was sitting in church, I was thinking about how blessed Elder Dowdle and I were this week.  I was thinking about how much I wanted the people at church to enjoy the service so they could progress in the gospel.  I realized that I have really grown to love these people and I truly do desire their salvation and I'm beginning to see them how our Savior sees them and I am extremely grateful for that. 

In other news, we've continued to have good experiences with brother David's family. His son, Addison, will be baptized next Sunday and Reegan was confirmed yesterday. Yesterday I also had the opportunity to give David a Priesthood blessing because he's been a bit sick lately. Reegan has developed a habit of following us from appointment to appointment after we finish teaching the family for the day and I've really enjoyed having him around. He's become my little buddy:) Being able to be with David and his family have become one of my favorite parts about serving in Lugazi and I consider it a huge blessing I've been able to get to know them.

Some other side stories:

• It was Elder Ward's Birthday Tuesday and Elder Dowdle and I found a puzzle in our closet so we decided to finish it and put it on his bed as a nice Birthday bonus gift… I really think he enjoyed it.
  
  
  
• The baseball guys have been out of town for tournaments lately so, while Elder Ray went and taught piano this week, Elder Ward and I went and played pick up basketball for a half hour in between lessons at a court nearby…needless to say, the Mzungus (White People) dominated, and I may or may not have thrown down a dunk or two.
• Andrew has been teaching me how to cook local food dishes and I am able to cook a few without his help. My favorite is cabbage with tomatoes and sauce over rice and potatoes. I'm super excited to come home and cook anything I want with a grocery store a 5 minute drive away!
  
• Rain still sucks. Yesterday it was absolutely dumping and we were caught in the middle of a field and we had to sprint to a local motel on the side of Jinja Road to wait out the storm for about an hour. Brian, one of the members was walking with us and he found some temporary cover for Elder Dowdle and I.
  
• Today for P-day, we went to the Mabira Forest about 10 minutes away from Lugazi with some members. We walked through rain forest all morning and afternoon and saw monkeys… made the trip worth it:) It literally felt like walking through Disneyland or something but I kept having to remind myself that I was walking through the real deal. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
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I love you guys so much! This week I'm going to focus on making a point of how important family history is with my investigators. Keep making time for the temple and making it so your ancestors are able to receive the saving ordinances of the Gospel!

Elder Hazen

Weekly Update~ "Goats and Hoes"

Dear Friends and Family,

   This week was a very busy, productive week. We were able to welcome in the New Year (by being home by 6:30 and not sleeping), we were able to visit many members and new investigators, Elder Dowdle threw a few kids, we were able to give a few hours of service, and we were able to have a few baptisms. But I'll explain everything in detail in a second.

   I'd first like to start off by saying Happy Birthday to my beautiful mother and wanted to let her know I'm sending all my love from here in Uganda.

   This week was much-needed because Elder Dowdle and I were finally able to see some of the fruits of our labors these past few weeks. I was very thankful to see the Lord's help. On Wednesday, we got invited over for food by a RM who got back from the Johannesburg South Africa mission a few years ago. He is a cook at a local guest house in Lugazi.  We didn't know what to expect. We were absolutely blown away. He made us rice, beef, and potatoes covered with an amazing gravy. It was amazing! 

   On New Years Eve, there wasn't much clebrating on our part in public due to the fact that we had to be home at 6:30. However, we had a bonfire in our driveway and we burned our Christmas ties in.  I was getting a bit tired of mine...wearing the same tie for a month straight can get boring. At around 9:30, the power went out in the house, so we thought it'd be a good idea to go to bed... or so we thought. For all you wondering, yes, they definitely celebrate New Years here. They celebrate by blasting music in their houses until the early hours of the morning... there were at least 4 trucks driving around our neighborhood playing music so that definitely didn't help things. At around 3 in the morning, the noise began to die down…but then, our guard Steven took it upon himself to keep the party going. So, he took a pair of sticks from the remains of our bonfire and began smashing them together and screamed from time to time "HAPPY NEW YEAR". On Friday, we woke up with a grand total of 4 hours of sleep…so yeah basically I hate New Years now haha. 

   We were able to go to one of our recent converts, Sunday Toko's farm and dig in his yard for a few hours.  Digging in yards and gardens for people in the branch has become my favorite thing to do for service lately. 

A few other miscellaneous stories from this week:

• Elder Ray bought a chicken and slayed it in our back yard...it was a bit entertaining to watch him attempt to chase it down before beheading it.
• Elder Dowdle was swinging kids around while we were waiting for an appointment at someone's house and jokingly asked one if he wanted to be thrown…he said yes, and tossed him into a patch of grass a few feet away...hahaha he didn't like that very much and needless to say, I died laughing. 

   This week, we were able to baptize 3 of our investigators this Sunday. (Pictures will be sent next week…sorry I apologize).  Samuel and Clement moved to Lugazi recently and one of the branch members, Francis, built a great friendship with them, which made teaching them very easy. They have accepted everything we taught them from the very beginning. I'm excited for the contribution and strength they'll add to the branch. The third investigator we baptized is named Jackie. She, like Samuel and Clement, was very accepting of everything we taught her. Her sister, Susan, is already a member. We had a wonderful baptismal service, and I'm so thankful for the Spirit that has helped us teach them.  I'll talk more about the area and our investigators next week. 

   This week, I've been studying the Atonement more in depth and I've learned that my Mission is a lot like the probationary state of testing and progressing that our Earth Life provides as part of the Plan of Salvation. I've come to realize that submitting my will to the Savior is not only the intelligent thing to do, but it's the ONLY way that I can progress and become what he wants me to be in this life and the life to come. If I lose myself for these two years, I'll be able to develop into the type of man I want to become, one that can answer to each of the Lord's calls, one that can be a supportive husband and father, and priesthood holder. 

I love you all. Have an amazing week! Have fun working on your New Year's resolutions,

Elder Hazen

Weekly Update~ "First Time Being Sick on My Mission"

African Delicacy~ Crickets 

Baptism

Baptism

Studying with James 

Dear Friends and Family,

So this week, my luck finally ran out and I got sick for the first

time on mission. It kept me from going out and proselyting on

Friday.  It which was awful because Elder Dowdle and I had a lot of people to

visit.  It ended up working out because we arranged for the

Elder's Quorum president, Andrew, to go on a split with Elder

Dowdle all day.  One of our members, James, was able to stay with me

while I laid on the couch. Let me tell you a bit about James.  He's such an awesome kid. I showed him pics of the family and he thinks maddie is cute…he has started calling me "Muko" which means, Brother-In-Law! He was baptized a few months ago, and this last week, while he was working with us, he expressed to me his desire of wanting to serve a mission.  The next day, I decided to bring him an old Preach my Gospel manual laying around the house.  Elder Dowdle and I shared with him chapter 3 and encouraged him to study that chapter to get familiar with the lessons and how to teach them. When he came over to stay with me while I was sick, he brought his Preach my Gospel so we spent most of the day reading out of it and the Book of Mormon. It was one of the neatest experiences I've had on my mission.  I was so sick and felt awful and this made me feel good to be able to share my testimony with him on missionary work and the impact it's had on me these last few months.  I've expressed to him the great blessings it's brought to me and my life and that it can do the same for him. He has been on fire working with us and it's been neat to see his testimony grow.

This Sunday, we were able to baptize Andrew's brother Isaiah. Isaiah

is one of my best friends here and he makes me so happy whenever I'm

with him. He's seriously one of the funnest kids ever and has such a

powerful testimony. He was more than ready for baptism. The other guys

were also able to have a baptism as well. The work is definitely

progressing in Lugazi and the branch is growing. It's exciting to be

apart of! 

  Today, I was able to have pizza and ice cream from a

resturaunt in Jinja, I know it seems like I say it every week, but it

was probably one of the best meals I've had in Uganda. 

Lastly, my Grandparents have been talking to me about the emphasis

they've put on Family History work.  I definitely agree that its

very important. I'd urge all of you to get to know your ancestors and

get involved in the work by doing your work for those beyond the veil.  There's always something to be done! I promise that as you do

so, and find more time in the temple, you'll receive even more

blessings.

          Love,

         Elder Hazen