Weekly Update~ "Truly Good Without Guile"

Dear Family and Friends,

Mission Leader Conference

There is nothing I respect more than when people are "truly good without guile" as President Uchtdorf put it in one of his recent conference addresses. I've had the opportunity to serve around many such people. There is so much power in someone that has a quiet confidence, that shies from center stage, that doesn't need to make their presence known, that pushes recognition to someone else. The Savior was one of such people. In Moses 3:1-2, the difference in motives between the Savior and Satan is apparent in the "I"s and "Thy"s. I've come to realize these motives for serving are what set apart a good missionary from an incredible missionary. A few transfers ago, I had a quote written in my planner that goes like this: "If heights by great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight, if they while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night, then what did motivate their climb? What did companions never feel? Was it fear or prized sublime? Did obligation feed their zeal? Each heights by great men reached above is motivated out of love." In MLC last week, Elder Grant mentioned that humility comes from understanding that as a child of God, you are no greater nor lesser than another of God's children. I struggle mightily at this. I sometimes unrighteously place myself above another because of certain gifts or talents I possess that others lack, but then to balance it out, I look at the great examples all around me and beat myself up, wishing I was more like them. It is these thoughts of self-righteousness that cause me to forget that mission or other forms of service are not about me. It's interesting to look back and see how the Lord has slowly walked me through and picked out my weaknesses one by one and given me the opportunities, people, and experiences to make them stronger. My goal these next few months is to strengthen as many peoples' faith in Christ as possible, and as a result, receive additional ordinances of salvation. Whether that be partaking of the sacrament, receive an advancement in the Priesthood, or making preparations in receiving temple blessings. As I focus more on the individual, I hope to truly lose myself in taking up my cross.

Interview with Pres. Collings

Thank you all for the birthday wishes. Because sometimes birthdays make you the center of attention, I made an effort not to tell anyone. It was the best birthday ever in the full time service of my God.

RJ's Birthday

I love you all,

Elder Hazen

Weekly Update~ "The Spirit Teaches, Not Myself"

Dear Family and Friends, 

   Elder Mumba and I had a wonderful week although it was bittersweet because it was the last time I'll be seeing Elder Ruell for a year. We were able to go on exchanges with him over the weekend while he was in town for Zone Conference. I'm bummed there's gonna be one less Giants fan to talk ball with. We had a few experiences that happened throughout the week that I'd like to share and then I'll talk a little about what I learned at zone conference.

Giant Fans-Elder Hazen and Elder Ruell

   On Tuesday, we met Christina, one of our investigators we have been teaching for about 2 weeks now. She is from Ghana and had contact with the church when she lived there but never met with the missionaries. We had planned to share with her the Plan of Salvation, but when we began following up with her on her Book of Mormon, we decided to take the lesson another path because she had not read the reading assignment and had not prayed to know if the Restoration was true. We bore testimony about the truth of the Book, then Elder Mumba out of the blue asked, "what matters most to you?" She got quiet and began to think. After a few moments of silence, she shared an experience from a few years ago when a voice in her mind asked her the same question while she was in church singing in the choir. She described it as an out of body experience, things proceeding to move all around her, but she felt like she was stopped in time. She answered the question in her mind and told the voice that her son was the most important thing in her life to her. The voice then answered, "would you still worship the same if he was taken away from you?" She said it was difficult to answer, but she told the voice that she would. She proceeded to tell us that she lost her son that next year and it was the most difficult thing she has ever gone through. She told us she still believes in God, but wonders if he truly does love her and the rest of her children. Elder Mumba and I took turns bearing testimony that she will indeed see her son again and that it is possible through this Restored Gospel and the Priesthood. We left the lesson feeling grateful we had heeded a prompting from the Spirit because we know that the success of that lesson wasn't possible without it. 

   Friday was a bit of a roller-coaster for me. In the afternoon, because we didn't have many confirmed appointments, we spent a majority of the day tracting. About a half hour into our finding, we were invited to teach a young family that was a huge blessing. The Spirit was so strong and we were able to include one of the daughters in the lesson because she has been to the church before with one of her friends. Her mother committed to come to church and be baptized along with the daughter. That evening, we had a lesson with a guy called Jean-Claude who we met a week previous while we were street contacting. We got to his home at around 7 and he invited his friend, Shemma, to join us. Jean-Claude is a member of a local pentecostal church, and Shemma is Agnostic. Both studied in foreign countries and both were bright guys. We went through the Restoration with them and they kept asking difficult questions that I had a hard time answering, so I relied heavily on Elder Mumba. At the end of the lesson, they kept bombarding us with questions and quoting things from the Bible I was unfamiliar with. I can't really explain what happened in the lesson other than the fact that I figure the Lord was trying to humble me and bring me back down to sackcloths and ashes because I have never felt so stupid or inadequate in a lesson on my mission than I did that evening. I learned a valuable lesson that it's the Spirit that teaches, not myself. I think lately I might have been relying a bit too much on the flesh of the arm and not enough on the Lord and I felt how lonely it is when I'm left to fend for myself and teach these people. Elder Mumba has been a wonderful example to me since I've been with him as someone who knows how to rely upon the Lord. His prayers are always heartfelt, he always puts in 100% effort to his studies, and many other things. I'm not saying that I'm not doing these things, but there is always room to improve and I think the Lord recognized I may have been getting a bit complacent instead of having steady progress. I'm grateful the Lord chastizes his servants to make them better.

   At Zone Conference, I was finally able to meet President and Sister Collings and I was satisfied with the Spirit I felt in the meeting. They had us prepare by reading a few scriptures in the Book of Mormon and Bible including the entire gospel of John. The focus of the meeting was how to rely upon the Spirit and how to use the Book of Mormon and other scriptures more effectively in our teaching. The AP's gave a training and Elder Robinson mentioned something I really enjoyed. He referred to the story of Abinadi and shared that it wasn't until after he referred to the scriptures and the commandments and the words of Isaiah that King Noah and his priests began to listen. Abinadi was a smart guy and understood the Gospel, but the scriptures bring a special spirit into lessons. When you think about it, Alma became converted, converted thousands of others, Alma the younger was taught the things of his father and taught countless others as well, and so did the sons of Mosiah. When it comes down to it, an entire nation was changed all because Abinadi used his scriptures. Absolutely powerful. I'll share some other thoughts next week. 

Zone Conference with Pres. Collings

Also, Ignatius was baptized!!  It was seriously so nice.  I feel like my purpose in Rwanda was to find him and I know my purpose here has been accomplished;) I was able to perform the ordinance and I got emotional during the prayer. After he came back out of the water I just gave him a big ol hug!

Elder Hazen and Ignatius

I love you all,

Elder Hazen

Weekly Update~ "Agents Endowed With Moral Agency"

Baptism of Jean De Mo

Dinner at the Gilettes, the Senior Couple

Rainy Season in Rwanda 

Dear Family and Friends,

   This week I learned a lot of valuable lessons. It wasn't the easiest week I've had on my mission but again, I'm so grateful for the times of trial which allow me to learn.

   With it being in the middle of the rainy season here in Rwanda, we found it difficult to move from appointment from to appointment so we always found ourselves behind schedule. Due to the fact that people completely stay inside and stop moving during the rain, many times throughout the week people bounced us because they were away from their homes waiting for the rain to pass.

 We weren't able to see 3 of the families we have been teaching this week because they were busy each with their own individual reasons, so we found ourselves tracting and street contacting a lot. Honestly, I've never faced so much rejection since I've been out here as I did this week. There were lessons that we'd completely get through the Restoration and we'd think it went okay, but then they'd ask us a bunch of questions and it's turn into a debate and we'd have to leave because the Spirit was gone. I know we don't get rejected the same way missionaries do around the world by getting doors slammed in faces etc. Nearly as much as they do- and I consider myself very lucky, I haven't had to deal with it much so far but, this week was very frustrating. 

   One night during the end of the week, it was nearing the end of the day and Elder Nambale and I were waiting for a bus in the rain. Feeling dejected and discouraged, I had the Book of Mormon in my hand and I began flipping to random pages and reading random verses. The stories I flipped too included Abinadi, Alma, and Nephi the son of Helaman who were both wonderful missionaries who faced their fair share of rejection and hard-heartedness. As I read those stories, I realized I haven't had to endure through nearly as much as they did throughout their ministry, yet they always remained bold and retained their desire to serve the Lord. As I read these stories, I felt the love my Heavenly Father has for me and the efforts I'm putting in for this work. It felt like I received a warm hug and it was exactly what I needed. 

   I also learned this week how much being at the right place at the right time makes a difference. This week, we met our third less-active member this transfer while walking to our next appointment. It's been super nice because when they see us, they stop us and we are able to take their contacts and schedule a time to meet with them during the week. We have been able to re-activate 2 less-actives through these spontaneous meetings which has been such a blessing.

   I learned a big lesson on humility this week. I won't go into the details, but basically there was a disagreement between me and someone else this week. I felt like I wasn't the one at fault, however I was still stewing about what happened. This morning, as part of the Book of Mormon reading challenge, I read from Alma Ch.60-62. In this section, we read about how Moroni blasts Pahoran for neglecting his armies and basically tells him he and the government are spectators only thinking about themselves while the army fights their battles for them. We learn a lot by how Pahoran responds and I wrote this quote by Neal A. Maxwell in my scriptures in that chapter:

"You and I cannot control the intentions or behavior of other people. However, we do determine how we will act. Please remember that you and I are agents endowed with moral agency, and we can choose not to be offended."

   When I read this quote, I immediately felt the need to apologize. Even though I wasn't the one who started things, I felt I needed to end it.  After I apologized, I felt all tension leave and felt ready to move on. I don't know how he feels now, But I sure feel better.

   To end, I just want to share how much I love teaching families. Right now we are teaching a guy named Olivier who has a son named Eli. When we go over there and teach him, Eli is always present during the lesson and every time we have Olivier pray, Eli repeats everything his father says and it's my favorite thing ever.

I love you all

Elder Hazen