Weekly Update~ "School of the Priestood"

Dear Family and Friends,

This week was another solid week in Nsambya with Elder Chifamba! I'm beginning to ease myself in and got my first Sunday in the new ward under the belt. This week was full of many more meetings, but we took advantage of the time we had. The thing I love most about Elder Chifamba is his anxious desire to have his line in the water no matter what we are doing. 

It seems like I just can't get away from Rwanda! We taught two Rwandese this week, there is a Rwandese member in the ward, and Sister Cecille, the R.S president from K2 was at church yesterday because she is visiting her daughters in Nsambya just down the road. Obviously I welcome any opportunity I have to speak my limited, broken Ikinyrwanda and the people enjoy it just as much as I do. Occasionally I find myself speaking Ikinyarwanda phrases I knew to kids and other people passing on the street and they look back at me with a blank, confused look on their faces...I'll learn eventually.

I came back to Uganda and it seems like nowadays I see President and Sister Collings every day. After Stake Conference and Mission Leader Conference last week, this week we had a worldwide missionary conference where there were some changes made to the daily schedule and key indicators. We also had interviews on Friday and had a good talk with President on how we can continue to progress the work in the Nsambya ward specifically. Then on Sunday evening, we were invited over to the mission home for dinner with one of our recent converts and his family. Last Saturday, President and Sister Collings came to our area and spent the morning proselyting with us and we decided to visit a man by the name of Yves. He and his wife are Burundese refugees and have been living in Uganda for a little over a year. They are both journalists and right now is not the greatest time to be a journalist in Burundi. They told us of a story when they were fleeing the country and were being shot at by individuals on bikes as they were approaching the border. They have had their fair share of struggles but many people have reached out and have helped them as they've struggled to keep their heads above water including the former bishop (now stake president) of the ward. President was able to help us in a wonderful lesson about the importance of paying tithing and we really felt the spirit. Yesterday evening was a wonderful experience because the wife came with us and we haven't had the opportunity of sharing the gospel with her yet but I know this experience planted a strong seed in her heart.

As I've gone through another transfer and am now working with a new companion, I have been contemplating a lot on the thought of how mission is a completely unique experience in learning and understanding life, especially with an eternal perspective. This story from "Learning from the Priesthood" from Pres. Eyring caught my eye in my studies this week: 

Not only should you be eager to learn your priesthood lessons in this life, but you should be optimistic about what is possible. A few of us may limit in our minds our possibilities to learn what the Lord sets before us in His service.

One young man left his little Welsh village in the early 1840s, heard the Apostles of God, and came into the kingdom of God on earth. He sailed with the Saints to America and drove a wagon west across the plains. He was in the next company after Brigham Young coming into this valley. His priesthood service included clearing and breaking ground for a farm.

He sold the farm for pennies on the dollar to go on a mission for the Lord in the deserts of what is now Nevada to take care of sheep. He was called from that to another mission across the ocean in the very village he had left in his poverty to follow the Lord.

Through it all, he found a way to learn with his priesthood brethren. Bold missionary that he was, he walked down the lane in Wales to the summer estate of a man who was four times the prime minister of England to offer him the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The great man let him into his mansion. He was a graduate of Eton College and of Oxford University. The missionary talked with him about the origins of man, the central role of Jesus Christ in the history of the world, and even the fate of nations.

At the end of their discussion, the host declined the offer to accept baptism. But as they parted, that leader of one of the great empires of the world asked the humble missionary, “Where did you get your education?” His answer: “In the priesthood of God.”

You may have thought at one time how much better your life would have been if only you had been admitted to study in some fine school. I pray that you will see the greatness of God’s love for you and of the opportunity He has given you to enter His priesthood school.

I know that I am in a department in this Priesthood school right now learning valuable lessons that will bless both myself and my posterity for the eternities. I have thought deeply and with gratitude how perfect God's plan is in putting us in situations and with people who help you learn particular lessons that can't be learned any other way. Elder Grant once shared a thought with me and referred to the Mosaic Law that required people who went through the temple in Old Testament times to stay in the temple after their endowment for a full week so they could contemplate the covenants they made with their Heavenly Father and understand more fully what they mean. Often times people confuse the reason why we go to the temple before our missions. Sometimes they think we go to the temple to prepare for our missions, but in reality, it's backwards. We go on missions to prepare to live our covenants we made in the temple more fully for the rest of the eternities. Truly our Heavenly Father is merciful in giving us two years to live consecrated lives devoted entirely to him and his work. As young adults living in a world with so much temptation and so much pressure to not live according to the standards we've been raised upon, the timing of doing so is so crucial. I'm grateful for each and every one of my companions, areas, and the people who have been put in my path. I know without a doubt God has a hand in my life and am grateful he cares so much about me as an individual, that he has me enrolled in the school of the Priesthood and has and will continue to put me into the best situation possible for me to succeed and live with him again.

Going Away Party for Missionaries Leaving Rwanda

I love you all,

Elder Hazen

Weekly Update~ "We All Are Shepards"

Dear Family and Friends,

We continue to see tender mercies here in Rwanda. Aside from the wasted time going back and forth to the Immigration to figure out visas for Elders and Sisters, it was a solid week and the Lord consecrated our time despite the shorter time spent in the area. 

Edith's son, Ally was baptized on Sunday and it was a neat experience. If you remember, he came home from school for a few weeks at the end of September because he was sick with ulcers. The timing at which he came home was interesting because Edith was struggling in keeping commitments before, but when he came home, she had the extra motivation to read the Book of Mormon and a buddy to come to church with. We progressed both of them to baptism in November, but Ally had to go back to school the day before their baptism date. We moved forward with Edith's baptism and told Ally he would be baptized upon his return home. At the end of November, both he and his sister, Honoline, returned from school the same weekend and we began teaching them together hoping to baptize them both on Christmas. However, they told us that they were planning to go to the village so we went forward with Ally's baptism because Honoline wasn't ready. It was cool to observe them together yesterday at church, as they seemed happier than usual and it was the most comfortable I've seen Honoline at church. It was a nice service, the other Elders had a baptism as well, and we got members to perform both. Evangele, our homeboy who helps the missionaries out like every day, performed Ally's baptism which was his first one. He did great and we felt the Spirit.

Sometimes, you get called to Rwanda, and baptize a couple of fiancees, and they invite you to their wedding 6 months in advance, and you say yes even though you know there's no chance you'll stick around for that long, then you do, and they ask you to be one of the best men in the wedding and you dress up in traditional Rwandese wedding attire. Basically the coolest thing I've ever done on my mission. Bosco and Joanna, my recent converts from K1 got married this weekend and they were kind enough to allow Elder Shumway and I participate in the wedding. I was able to ride in the Land Cruiser with Bosco on our way to the branch building from his house, and even though I couldn't understand a word of the ceremony, the joyous atmosphere was satisfying to me and I also downed like 5 bottles of soda throughout the day. I am so excited for them for when the duration of their marriage isn't for only their mortal lives, but for the eternities. 

Yesterday evening, I was able to visit Brother Jackson, one of the members I have a close relationship with here in Rwanda from K1. I haven't seen him in about 6 months so it was a sweet experience. Last year in October, he lost his second born son. As we listened to him explain his experience in the past year, I felt an overwhelming love for him and his family. He then introduced us to his newborn son which I held for a few seconds. His son's name is "consolation from God" in Hebrew and he is a handsome, strong, little guy.

As we look forward to celebrating the birth of the Savior this Sunday, I want us to consider how we are like the shepherds we read about in Luke chapter 2. I was able to write down a few thoughts of my own. The shepherds were simple men who knew one thing all their lives. All they knew were their sheep. But when the angel came to them declaring glad tidings of great joy, they made haste in spreading the joyous news and in following the star to the newborn Savior. It reminds me of myself, an imperfect high-school kid who only knew baseball leaving what I knew and coming and serving the Lord in a foreign land. Even like Peter and Andrew, who straightway left their nets, their lives were never the same as they heeded the call of the Good Shepherd. On my mission I've changed like Peter and Andrew through the power of the Atonement as I've strived to share the glad tidings that we can repent and change and become better as we take up our cross, and follow the path of discipleship. The biggest thing that stood out to me about the shepherds was their immediate and full obedience to the angel's call to action. They didn't say, "wait, let me take our sheep home" or "maybe tomorrow, I'm tired". They immediately obeyed and reaped the blessings. This Christmas season, may we heed to the call of action from the Savior to love our neighbor. Elder Grant always reminds me that nothing good can possibly come from thinking of ourselves. Whenever we are the least happy, it is when we are more focused on ourselves. As we turn outward, and follow the example of the characters of Christ, we can more fully enjoy this Christmas Season. 

I love you all and Merry Christmas.

Elder Hazen

Surprise Email From Elder Hamilton

Dear Hazen and Grant families,

I had the privilege of being with your sons today in a zone conference in Kigali Rwanda. They are very fine young missionaries and you should be very proud of them. They are healthy and happy and taking part in a great work in Rwanda. Thank you for raising such exemplary sons.

Sincerely,
Elder Kevin S. Hamilton

Weekly Update~ "Help Thou Mine Unbelief"

Dear Family and Friends,

I'd like to start off my quoting a poem by Meade McGuire...it goes as follows:

“Father, where shall I work today?”

And my love flowed warm and free.

Then he pointed out a tiny spot

And said, “Tend that for me.”

I answered quickly, “Oh no, not that!

Why, no one would ever see,

No matter how well my work was done.

Not that little place for me.”

And the word he spoke, it was not stern; …

“Art thou working for them or for me?

Nazareth was a little place,

And so was Galilee.

This week, Elder Grant and I were jacked up on a spiritual high after participating in Mission Leader Conference on Wednesday, and the Zone Conference with Elder Hamilton on Saturday. However, before then, we needed to do a bit of repenting. Going into the beginning of the week, Elder Grant and I were feeling pretty good about ourselves and about the success we've been having. We may have even crossed the line to being a bit prideful. On Tuesday, in the afternoon, maybe out of a spiritual prompting, we received a random call from one of the AP's, Elder Manquele. On the phone, he asked me to take a guess on how many new investigators we were finding on average a week. In the Uganda Kampala Mission, the standard of excellence for this key indicator is 7, and Elder Grant and I were falling a bit short of that the previous weeks. Elder Manquele asked if we could align our average with the mission standard of excellence and I accepted. To be honest, I don't know why he called, but after I hung up and told Elder Grant, we were both feeling a bit frustrated and dejected. Our thought process was something along the lines of, "Don't they understand what we're doing here? We're doing a great job. Why don't our leaders recognize that?" 

The next day at Mission Leader Conference, the biggest thing I took away from the meeting was that we need to sustain our leaders and the Priesthood keys they have. President Collings talked so much about that and about how we as leaders need to convey the messages we receive from President exactly, "nothing varying" He and the AP's also talked about the importance of constant finding so we as a mission are able to accomplish the goal for baptisms we set together.

We have 495 baptisms for the rest of the year. 495 baptisms in one month. 

However, as President and the Assistants spoke with boldness and confidence, I understood that their words were inspired from God. I understood why they called Elder Grant and I and invited us to repent and improve. I was astonished at their words, and I felt a desire to help the missionaries of our zone catch that same fire. 

Later in the week, Elder Hamilton visited Rwanda Saturday Morning to begin his mission tour. Before the main conference, he pulled all the leaders into a room together and we had a discussion for 45 minutes. The main theme of this discussion was to talk about how leadership in the church is different from leadership in the world and discussed principles of leadership in D&C 121. He talked about how we are no better than anyone else and how leadership in the church isn't a hierarchy. I think because we are young and imperfect, we as missionaries get caught in the trap of aspiring for leadership or recognition. As I was reading from the beginning of the Book of Mosiah, I read about how we are all the same in God's eyes and about how meaningless in the grand scheme of things. Yet, I'm thankful for a God who, even though we are meaningless, is mindful of the one and puts him or her in exactly the right situations that are crucial to their ultimate progression to become like our Father in Heaven. There is one final quote that I loved from Elder Hamilton. He said, "Heavenly Father doesn't have some A-Team waiting in the wings to carry on or finish our work. We aren't the JV team. We are all he has and he's going to work with us to bring about many mighty miracles" I'm extremely humbled at that opportunity.

BTW, Ask me if I was asked to drive Elder and Sister Hamilton to the airport.  Yep, coolest thing ever!

I love you all,
Elder Hazen

Thanksgiving

Car Trouble

Weekly Update~ "Is Your Faith Simple Enough?"

Dear Family and Friends,

There is a line that President Collings constantly shares with us when he's giving us encouragement or is trying to uplift us. He tells us that his faith is simple enough that (some certain thing will happen, will receive some certain blessing, etc.). Awhile ago, Elder Grant and I were pondering what that meant in deeper meaning. We concluded that having simple faith means trusting the Lord's promises in the scriptures and from modern-day prophets. All too often, when we hear about these wonderful stories or miracles in conference or the scriptures, we may think, "Oh, that's nice", and think that they applied only to the prophets or those who have greater faith or are more obedient than us. But, that is simply not true. I testify that our Father in Heaven is mindful of all of his children and loves each of us individually. Because of that, we are just as entitled to ALL of God's blessings as the prophets of old were. I testify that God is a God of miracles and that miracles have not ceased, and that is what we are seeing in the Rwanda zone right now. Yesterday, we had 8 baptisms as a zone and have 10 planned for next week. We are seeing more and more of the elect that are being prepared being put in our path. I know I say it every week, but what a time to be a missionary here. Ndara's family was finally baptized and though I have been optimistic about the possibility of it happening yesterday, I truly didn't know if it would become a reality.

Last week, Elder Grant gave a training in our zone development meeting and made a sports analogy. Yes, Elder Grant and I are kindred spirits and loves sports just as much as I do..as you can imagine, we get along very well. But he compared missionary work to Basketball or Futbol or whatever applies best for your understanding. He told us that on our team, we have other missionaries, our companions, the scriptures, the prophets, apostles, our mission president, the members, etc. On the opposing team, obviously is Satan and his emissaries. He compared a few things to missionary work, but my favorite analogy that he made was this: Sometimes, when things are going well for a particular team and a certain player is hot and is scoring, the other team will adjust and double team. It is in that moment that we need to be selfless and for the good of the team, pass to someone else. The Savior is ALWAYS open and will always be there so we can pass, then cut, then score. This work is not our work, it is the Savior's. When we include him, rely on his Atonement, do all we can, then rely on his grace to make up the rest, that is when we will be successful. With Ndara's family, we had to pass to the Savior to make up the rest. We set the goal from the beginning of the week to have the full family of 5 baptized together that Sunday and that we'd do all we could to make it happen by testifying of eternal families and the blessings that would come from making covenants together. At the beginning of the week, only Gerry, the father, and his oldest son, Joshua, committed to be baptized. But long story short, by Friday, Vivane, Gerry's wife, and Benedicte, his daughter, committed to be baptized, and the morning of their interviews, we received a text saying "Justice was ready for baptism". I know that miracles truly have not ceased. Their baptism service was wonderful and the members were a great support. This is the reason why I'm serving, to see families make covenants together and one day be sealed for time and all eternity. I testify that like we read of on Jacob 5, the Lord of the Vineyard is truly laboring with us in this last time that he is pruning and dunging his vineyard.

Lately, Elder Grant have decided to put a knife in our car because of the abundance of mangoes we see on the road. It is mango season here in Africa, and obviously Elder Grant and I are enjoying.
Recently, we have been seeing more service opportunities arise. These last two weeks, we have helped a recent convert, Alphonse, with his compound. Last week we planted cabbages in his garden and this week we planted more bushes.

We also had the opportunity to help the 3rd oldest member in Rwanda, Sister Odette, who is one of the only endowed members in the country, move to Nyamirambo. It wasn't easy, but it was worth it. This experience was especially special to me because this morning, we got news that she passed away last night. I didn't know her well, I've only visited her one other time, but I was extremely saddened at the news. Once again, I felt gratitude for the perfect plan of salvation and I know that this faithful sister is now re-united with her husband, with whom I believe she was sealed too.

With it being Thanksgiving, I just want to express my gratitude to my wonderful father, mother, and younger sisters and other amazing family members. I know that this time of year is difficult to be separated, but we are reaping the blessings because of it. Enjoy the time with your families, and enjoy the turkey.

I love you all,
Elder Hazen

Weekly Update~ "Singing and Soccer"

Dear Family and Friends,

This week was another wonderful week in Rwanda. While all you folks are gearing up for another winter and breaking out your winter coats and snow shovels, I'm still enjoying my 80 degree low humidity out here. The flood of tender mercies continue for Elder Grant and I.

Service with a Smile

1. A few weeks ago, we met a man called Protais while street contacting with Elder Moyes and when we visited, he turned out to be extremely prepared. He has come to church every single week since we began teaching. To say we teach him is giving us too much credit however. When we go to his home, we begin with a prayer and then he tells us everything he learned from reading the Book of Mormon and pamphlet. He has such a sound understanding of the Gospel already, that all we really do is listen and answer his questions when he has them. He gave us a referral to his friends' family that we will be teaching tomorrow. He will be baptized in two weeks and we couldn't be more excited for him.

2. On Friday, it was one of the best days of my mission in Rwanda. We were coming off of exchanges the previous day, and when we have exchanges, sometimes our schedule gets a little disorganized. Elder Grant and I decided to go and visit as many members as possible in the afternoon and we brought a hymn book with us. We would share short spiritual thoughts, then sing with them their favorite hymn then leave. It was seriously such a neat experience and we felt the Spirit so strong in each lesson.

3. Leon was baptized. He was brought into the church by a less-active member and by fellowshipping Leon as he was being taught, he came back to church himself. 

4. We were able to play soccer with members and investigators today and it was great to see both of them interact and get closer together.

Elder Grant and I have been pondering a lot about obedience. We know that God loves everyone, but he doesn't trust all of his children. We know that exact obedience brings miracles, and as we go throughout these next two weeks, we will be relying on that principle as we attempt to finish the year strong and accomplish our zone baptism goal. We are looking forward to the miracles that will come these next few weeks. 

Beautiful Rwanda

I love you all,

Elder Hazen