Weekly Update~ "What Manner of Men Ought Ye To Be?"

Dear Family and Friends,

This week I conducted a lot of self-introspection and was able to learn a great deal.  On Tuesday, Elder Grant and I went on exchanges with the K1 district. I worked in a Tri-panionship with Elder Phiri and Fiagbedzi in my old area and we had a blast. Being with them without the truck reminded me of how much I miss walking and talking to people as we move between appointment and appointment. As I worked with them, I was able to witness first hand how obedience brings blessings. They did not waste a single minute of the Lord's time, and assuming they do this everyday, it is why the Lord has blessed them with so much success. I respect both of these Elders so much and I'm grateful for their example of selfless service to one another and others around them and their diligence.

On Thursday, Elder Grant and I had a great companionship study and were able to have a discussion of why things earlier in the week weren't going as well as we wanted them too. We set a few goals and re-committed ourselves to exact obedience. Elder Grant spent his entire personal study on obedience and shared this helpful insight: Obedience is the first law of heaven. When we are called on our missions, all we are really asked to do is be obedient. Yes, there is a little more to missionary work than that, but when it comes down to it, the teaching, the finding, the service, all comes down to our obedience to our Heavenly Father's and how much we really love them. I think Elder Grant and I realized we were looking beyond the mark a little and were more concerned about why our investigators weren't progressing and were too focused on trying to be an example, but after we simplified everything, we have been having a better time. We know that all that matters is controlling the things that we can control and that exact obedience will bring the miracles that will move the work in our area forward.

Something that Elder Grant and I have begun to try is using the Book of Mormon in all of our finding situations. This means that whether we are street contacting, tracting, or whatever, when talking to people whether talking about the Plan of Salvation or the Restoration, we would always refer back to the Book of Mormon and show them a copy and invite them to learn more about it by inviting them to church or by allowing us to come visit them. You wouldn't believe how well this has worked. People are beginning to become genuinely interested in the message we have for them and there have been people who have literally begged us to leave them a copy. We know that the Book of Mormon has great power and it truly testifies of the Savior and that it brings people closer to him than any other book in the world.

Going back to the thoughts about obedience, I was pondering if I really truly do love the Savior Jesus Christ. I was thinking about it during my personal study and spent a lot of time pondering. I was thinking about his works, his example, his teachings, and towards the end of my study I came to this overwhelming conclusion: Yes I do. I know this because I aspire to be like him and follow his example of selfless love towards others. I work to improve my teaching skills to become a better teacher like he was. I try to be as bold as him in the face of adversity. I love Jesus Christ with all my heart and because of this I will never stop trying to become better through his Atonement.

I love you all,

Elder Hazen

Weekly Update~ "Lord, Is it I?"

The Life of a Missionary

Dear Friends and Family,
This week was an enjoyable week. Early in the week, Elder Mumba
suffered from a bit of sickness so it slowed us down a bit but we
worked hard later in the week to make up for it.

This Saturday, Elder Packer and I went on an exchange. It was surreal
thinking about how 10 months ago, we were sitting in the MTC as
companions day-dreaming about the mission field and imagining what
missionary work was REALLY like. It was a great experience being able
to work with him. Elder Packer and I have become very close over these
past 2 transfers so it was nice to be able to joke around and have fun
while tracting and teaching some strong lessons. We got to cap off the
evening by visiting Jimmy, one of their recent converts who was
baptized shortly before I got to Rwanda. I think I've talked about him
before, but any time I get to visit and sit down and talk with Jimmy
is a treat. This time we visited him, we reviewed about the Law of
Tithing and we re-committed him to live it, even though it's hard, and
promised blessings like good Preach My Gospel missionaries haha. We
then got to talking about his conversion story and he told us how much
he loves this Gospel and that if someone his age came up to him and
shared this message with him, he probably wouldn't have believed them
and he talked about how grateful he is for the missionaries and the
Spirit they brought into his home. It reminded me of a quote President
Brigham Young said that's mentioned in PMG. It basically says the same
thing Jimmy said. I also want to relate this experience to an
experience I had yesterday. Yesterday, Elder Mumba and I were tracting
and we knocked on a certain gate and a man and his son opened it. They
both spoke English so naturally, we were excited. But all of a sudden
he began interrogating us and asking things like, "who are you to talk
about Jesus to me? Are you Jesus himself?" And "Who gave you the
authority to preach this Gospel?" Haha I took this as an opportunity
to bear witness that we have a living prophet on Earth today who
called me to this work and even though he slammed the gate in our face
shortly thereafter, I began thinking about the magnitude of this.
There are over 75,000 missionaries serving around the world at this
time and I can tell you that each of these young adults aren't the
most learned or elite or strongest public speakers around. However, we
do have something special. We have the perfect message and we have
been set apart by the holy Priesthood and have been called by a living
Prophet of God. Despite our inadequacies and flaws, it what makes our
testimonies so powerful. As the Lord makes weak things become strong,
we are able to bring the Spirit into the home of these people and
cause a mighty change of heart. It blows my mind every time I have
thoughts like these.

This transfer, I've learned so much about pride and how much I need to
develop humility. I always think about Jesus' Sermon on the Mount when
he talks about pulling out the beam in thine eye before noticing the
mote in the eye of our brother. On mission, it is so easy to point our
finger at our companions when things aren't going okay in the
relationship even though we are making mistakes that contribute to
tension as well. I testify that as we focus on removing the flaws in
ourselves before focusing on the imperfections of others, there will
be greater happiness in companionships- missionary and eternal. I'll
share more thoughts about this next week. In the mean time, review
President Uchtodrf's conference talk, "Lord, Is it I?"

Today is the anniversary of the passing of my Grandpa
Melendez. Anyone who knew him knew how much he loved this gospel and
how much he loved his family. Since I've been on my mission, I've come
to realize how important both of these things really are and I've feel
like I've grown closer to him since I've been serving. I know he is
with me each day as I proclaim this Gospel to the people of Rwanda.
I'm sending my love to my family- Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, who loved
him as much as I did and especially to my Grandmother.

I love you all,
Elder Hazen