Weekly Update~ "Happy Fourth!"

Dear Family and Friends,

Happy Fourth of July! Even though I'm way out in Rwanda, I still have to acknowledge the Independence of the the Land of the Free and Home of the Brave! A little jealous my family is at the 100th Annual National Hot Dog Eating Contest in NYC right now, but it's fine.  This morning the Elders in the Rwanda zone went over to the Gillett's for a hearty breakfast of pancakes, bacon, and eggs and it was unreal. Tonight, after we finish emailing, we'll go over to Juan and Jen's for a potluck so we're going to have a Fourth of July for the books.

I have a few small stories this week and a small spiritual thought. Sorry, I was in the middle of this email then the power went out for 20 minutes…Bless Rwanda.

I just wanted to give a public shout out to our landlady who spoils us and hooks us up with a fat bunch of bananas and tangerines weekly. She's a sweetheart and is so nice to us and I hope she accepts missionaries to teach her someday.

I also wanted to give a fat shout out to Bikorimana Simon, the guard at the church in K1. He's a recent convert and he's one of my favorite people I've met since I've been in Rwanda. He told us that 3 months ago, he couldn't speak a lick of English but since he's begun reading the Book of Mormon, he's picked up on it so much. He now translates for us in lessons and can bear testimony in English. Whenever I talk to him he makes me so happy. Just a good guy:)

This Sunday, I was reading in the teachings of President George Albert Smith manual and I read his experience of his dream when he saw his grandfather.   He asked Smith what he has done with his name. This story has always stuck out to me because I'm lucky enough to share a name with my father and grandfather. I love them so much and I'm doing my very best to honor their name through my actions and service while I'm on mission. 

This week we have Ignatius' baptism which we have all been looking forward to for a long time.   Jean DaMo and Egide's baptism got moved back to the end of July because they're waiting until after they finished exams. We had a nice open house at the church on Saturday and got some referrals from members and investigators. We then taught a family of 6 and it was a powerful lesson. 

Sorry for the short email this week!

I love you guys so much!

Elder Hazen