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~ "Delighting in Plainness"

Mother's Day Skype

RJ and His Companion Elder Nambale

Wishing They Could Tract This Way!

Dear Family and Friends,

This week was a great last week with Elder Nambale. We put in some
good hard work as we were counting down the days to call home our
wonderful Mothers. Today we had transfers and we found out that Elder
Brogan and I are swapping companions- Elder Nambale is moving to be
with him to be the second Zone Leader, and that I would be the new
District Leader to replace him, and Elder Mumba would be moving to be
with me.

This week, after feeling like my teaching skills were getting a little
rusty. I really put focus on studying the lessons in Preach My Gospel
throughout the week during my study time. Along with this, during Zone 
District Meeting this week, Elder Brogan told us that we need to place a 
greater focus in preparing lessons for our appointments throughout the day
during our companionship study, so we would be able to come into the lesson
prepared and ready to teach with the Spirit. He talked about how you
grow older on mission and become more familiar with how the lessons
are arranged, sometimes we move away from this step of making our
lesson plans apply to the investigator we are teaching. After this
refresher, Elder Nambale and I made a goal to apply our lesson plans
to each investigator. We would teach throughout the day and write down
the commitments we were going to extend. As we did this, we were able
to teach with greater power and authority and fulfill all our plans we
had made during our weekly planning the week previous. It was a little
change in our routine, and though it took a few extra minutes of our
study time, it made all the difference. Throughout the week, we taught
a few of our investigators who we were on the fence about dropping
them and because we took the time to plan these lessons, they proved
to be very successful lessons and we were able to answer many of the
questions these people were having. I testify that as you take the few
extra minutes to plan and teach with simplicity, it makes a big
difference and I'm grateful we were able to see that this week.

I also wanted to give an update on a young couple we are teaching
right now. Their names are Bosco and Joanne and they have been dating
for about a year. About 3 weeks ago, they came to church together on
their own after our Branch Clerk invited them. Elder Nambale and I
have been teaching them ever since. They are planning on getting
married in December. We were able to teach them twice this week and
it's made me so happy seeing how well they've grasped onto the Gospel.
They both feel like their prayers have been answered concerning the
truthfulness of the Restored Church of Jesus Christ and they are both
progressing so well. Seeing them making the Gospel a priority in their
life reminds me of how when I get home, I want to set my priorities in
the same order with my eternal companion and my future family. I know
the blessings this Gospel brings and I want nothing short of them.

This transfer, I've learned so much about how obedience brings
blessings and allows you to have the Spirit as your constant
companion. There is nothing more important than having the Spirit with
you, especially as you teach. Obedience and having the Spirit are
directly related. When I got here, I realized I needed to fine tune a
few small things and it has helped so much. I'm grateful for my
district I've been able to learn so much from and am looking forward
to the lessons to be learned in the future.

In conclusion, I'd just like to express my gratitude to my wonderful
family and more especially my mother. I love my family so much and am
grateful I was able to FaceTime them yesterday. I know that there is
no greater calling than Motherhood and am eternally grateful for the
example my mother is to me and I love her so so much.

Elder Hazen