Weekly Update~ "Thrust In Your Sickle WHILE the Day Lasts"

Dear Family and Friends,

   The work in the Kigali 1st Branch is definitely picking up. Elder Namable and I find ourselves running from appointment to appointment in attempt to keep time and meet with all the families we have lessons planned with. We come every evening extremely tired but, I wouldn't have it any other way. This week, President Chatfield and the AP's were in town for the Rwanda Zone Conference as well as exchanges.

Elder Afrifa, Ruell and Wilson with Elder Hazen

   On Wednesday morning, Elder Afrifa, Elder Ruell, and Elder Wilson got into town in time for DDM. After enjoying a nice lunch at one of my new favorite buffets, Elder Afrifa went on exchanges with Elder Nambale and I.  Every time I've been on exchanges with Zone Leaders or AP's, we've always had bad luck with getting bounced by our investigators we had planned to teach for the day, but this time we were able to meet every person we had planned! It was a great experience because I was able to ask a lot of questions that had been on my mind concerning investigators and getting them to come to church.  I was also able to learn from the way Elder Afrifa taught. It was a joy being around him because he has a contagious laugh and smile and loves the work so much. 

   On Thursday morning, we had Zone Conference. Even though I think I say it every time, this was probably my favorite of my mission. Everything I learned was exactly what I needed at this point in time. I'm grateful for the inspiration President receives on behalf of the missionaries in each of the respective areas they work in. Elder Ruell was telling me that he has been to 7 different conferences this transfer and President has had different counsel for each zone. Sister Chatfield began the conference by talking about tender mercies and how big of a role they play especially in missionary work. My whole mission I've always tried to be mindful of tender mercies no matter how big or small. I consider every opportunity I have to share a bit of this Gospel and bear testimony as a tender mercy. If I've learned one thing on my mission, it's that we need to plant as many seeds in the hearts of people as possible, even though we may not be the ones reaping the harvest. President then gave his opening remarks and told us a story about when he was in college and was rushing to finish school and made an agreement with his professors to give him pass fail tests so, he could graduate in as little time as possible. He told us about an English paper he delayed to write until about a week before the deadline. In a time of desperate measures, he asked his older sister to give him one of her papers from her time in college, having graduated with an English major. She gave him her BEST paper she had written throughout her college career, one that she turned in as her final college thesis. It received an A+ and her professor told her it was the best paper he had ever read. After making a few adjustments, President took it and turned it in to his professor. When he received the  paper, his professor told him it was the WORST paper she had ever read and that she was giving him a D+ so she didn't ever have to deal with him again. He told us that while he was elated that he had passed, he told us that if he had just begun the paper and worked on it little by little, he wouldn't have ever had to turn in a paper titled "Why Shakespeare wasn't Shakespeare." He compared this to our missions and that we should be doing exactly what we are supposed to with the little time we have to serve so, we don't have to turn in a paper to the Lord that isn't our best at the end of our two years. As always, President also talked about increasing our faith. He told us that if we want to teach more and find more families, then we need to increase our faith, ask for the Lord to be apart of the work, live worthily, forget yourself, and trust that our Heavenly Father knows exactly where the elite and educated people who will build the branch are and trust him to guide us to them. This had a huge impact on me. I felt the Spirit so strongly and I felt at that moment that I couldn't go wrong in this work because I felt of the power of our Heavenly Father. He already has all the answers and keys to success. It's just as simple as asking him and having the faith to follow the Spirit. He also gave us a Mission President promise and told us that if we ALWAYS follow our priesthood leaders for the rest of our lives, we will never fall away because they truly receive revelation from God on our behalf. The moment we stray from our priesthood leaders, is the moment we stray from God's will for us. He concluded with a quote I really enjoyed. 

"Pray, then work like everything depended on you, then pray like everything depended on God."

   Since Zone Conference I have felt like I have lost myself in the work even more. I am always constantly thinking about these people and praying in their behalf and every time I study or read something, I often find my mind wandering to my investigators and think about how the things I learn can benefit them.

RJ Drinking Kivuguto

On another note,  Elder Nambale and I have a new obsession. Nearly every night, before we go home, we stop at a little cafe and drink a mug of "kivuguto". Haha it is fermented milk so it tastes like yogurt without sugar but when you put brown sugar in it, it's unreal. 

Birthday Party

   Last night, the whole zone was invited over to Jimmy's home for his daughter's birthday party. We got destroyed with food, laughed, exchanged kind words, and just had a great time. Rwandese know how to throw a good birthday party. 

I love you all,

Elder Hazen

Weekly Update~ "I am One With the World and The World is One With Me"

Dear Family and Friends,

   If you're wondering what my email subject is about, here is a disclaimer. It has nothing to do with what I'm about to write, it's just a direct quote from dear Elder Alexander Ray that I thought I'd like to share. When you get locked down in your apartment for 4 days straight, you get a bit stir-crazy and it messes with your head…but before I get to that, I'll tell you about what happened in the week before the presidential election festivities.

   On Tuesday, we had surprise Zone Leader exchanges. Elder Tesch and I were able to work with Elder Robinson and we had a great day. We went out and taught a few lessons and had dinner with our friends here in Lugazi who are here helping out with Musana Jewlery International and are here on humanitarian trips! At the end of the day, when we closed, he gave us a few things we could improve on. My biggest takeaway was that I can always improve on patience throughout the day when people give us a hard time, and he urged us to continue improving each and every day on our missions so our growth is upward for the rest of the time we are here. 

   On Wednesday, we had the opportunity to go to Mukono for interviews with President Chatfield. I love the time I'm able to talk to him about my questions and concerns and am grateful for the insight he shares with me. We also were able to finally view the worldwide missionary broadcast which was unreal. The biggest things I took away from that is that Jesus Christ's should always be on our lips. We always need to be ready to powerfully testify of him. I also wanted to share something that President Chatfield shared in his closing remarks. It is called the Fellowship of the Unashamed and it really impacted me. It is hanging in my study room above my study desk (at the end of my letter). 

So…now the fun stuff during our lock down, the Lugazi district participated in a variety of activities including-

• Playing catch in the front yard with Elder Ward
• Playing rounds and rounds and rounds of cards, 
• Sleeping
• Studying
• Jumping off our balcony onto mattresses (which my mother doesn't approve of)
  
• Having a bonfire in our front yard
  
• Taco Night
  
• Learned Guitar
  
• Elder Tesch lit his hands on fire with hand sanitizer

And many more things. Needless to say, we probably had the most fun out of anyone in the mission. 

   I wanted to share one last thought. Lately, I've been thinking a lot about taking counsel from the Lord. I have been looking for ways to improve myself week by week and I constantly reflect and ask those around me for ways that I can better myself. Obviously, there is no better person to ask, than our Heavenly Father. As Elder Lawrence taught in his talk last October, "What Lack I Yet"? He talks about how the Holy Ghost can inspire us in ways to improve. The principle is the same in 2 Nephi 9: 28-29 and Jacob 4:10. Lately, I've been working on building the faith to act on the things that the Spirit inspires me to change so I can continue the process of steady progression on my mission. As Elder Lawrence counsels, the best time we can do that is on Sunday when taking the sacrament. I would challenge all of you to review Elder Lawrence's talk, read the scriptures I suggested from the Book of Mormon, and get on your knees and sincerely ask something you can improve on so you can feel the influence of the Spirit more in your lives. I testify that as you do that and you act on the promptings you receive, you will receive many blessings.

I love you all very much. Thank you for your continuous support,

Elder Hazen

Fellowship of the Unashamed

I am a part of the fellowship of the Unashamed. I have the Holy Spirit
Power. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has
been made. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I won't look back, let up, slow
down, back away, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense,
and my future is secure. I am finished and done with low living, sight
walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tame visions,
mundane talking, chintzy giving, and dwarfed goals.

I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or
popularity. I don't have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised,
regarded, or rewarded. I now live by presence, learn by faith, love by
patience, lift by prayer, and labor by power.

My pace is set, my gait is fast, my goal is Heaven, my road is narrow, my
way is rough, my companions few, my Guide is reliable, my mission is clear.
I cannot be bought, compromised, deterred, lured away, turned back, diluted,
or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the
presence of adversity, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the
pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of
mediocrity.

I won't give up, back up, let up, or shut up until I've preached up, prayed
up, paid up, stored up, and stayed up for the cause of Christ. I am a
disciple of Jesus Christ. I must go until He returns, give until I drop,
preach until all know, and work until He comes.

And when He comes to get His own, He will have no problem recognizing me. My colors will be clear for "I am not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is the
power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.." (Romans 1:16)

Weekly Update~ "Beginning to Understand a Particle of What the Savior's Love is Like"

Dear Friends and Family, 

This week was a wonderful week. In my previous letters these last couple of weeks, I have been expressing some of my frustrations with the lack of people to teach. This week, we were able to receive 4 family referrals and contacted 2 on the street. We have begun teaching 3 of those families and I am just overwhelmed as I reflect on how much I saw the Lord's hand this week. I am beginning to get more confident in stopping and talking to people on the street and I know that increased confidence has come by help from the Lord and the Spirit. I know if I continue doing what's right and continue listening to the small promptings of the Spirit, the success will continue to come. I've also been praying that when we do find families, we'll be able to teach them with power and authority so the Spirit will be able to confirm in their hearts the things we teach them are true. 

We were able to have one Mama and her 4 kids as well as 2 daughters from another family at church this week so I hope more opportunities continue to open up. As I was sitting in church, I was thinking about how blessed Elder Dowdle and I were this week.  I was thinking about how much I wanted the people at church to enjoy the service so they could progress in the gospel.  I realized that I have really grown to love these people and I truly do desire their salvation and I'm beginning to see them how our Savior sees them and I am extremely grateful for that. 

In other news, we've continued to have good experiences with brother David's family. His son, Addison, will be baptized next Sunday and Reegan was confirmed yesterday. Yesterday I also had the opportunity to give David a Priesthood blessing because he's been a bit sick lately. Reegan has developed a habit of following us from appointment to appointment after we finish teaching the family for the day and I've really enjoyed having him around. He's become my little buddy:) Being able to be with David and his family have become one of my favorite parts about serving in Lugazi and I consider it a huge blessing I've been able to get to know them.

Some other side stories:

• It was Elder Ward's Birthday Tuesday and Elder Dowdle and I found a puzzle in our closet so we decided to finish it and put it on his bed as a nice Birthday bonus gift… I really think he enjoyed it.
  
  
  
• The baseball guys have been out of town for tournaments lately so, while Elder Ray went and taught piano this week, Elder Ward and I went and played pick up basketball for a half hour in between lessons at a court nearby…needless to say, the Mzungus (White People) dominated, and I may or may not have thrown down a dunk or two.
• Andrew has been teaching me how to cook local food dishes and I am able to cook a few without his help. My favorite is cabbage with tomatoes and sauce over rice and potatoes. I'm super excited to come home and cook anything I want with a grocery store a 5 minute drive away!
  
• Rain still sucks. Yesterday it was absolutely dumping and we were caught in the middle of a field and we had to sprint to a local motel on the side of Jinja Road to wait out the storm for about an hour. Brian, one of the members was walking with us and he found some temporary cover for Elder Dowdle and I.
  
• Today for P-day, we went to the Mabira Forest about 10 minutes away from Lugazi with some members. We walked through rain forest all morning and afternoon and saw monkeys… made the trip worth it:) It literally felt like walking through Disneyland or something but I kept having to remind myself that I was walking through the real deal. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
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I love you guys so much! This week I'm going to focus on making a point of how important family history is with my investigators. Keep making time for the temple and making it so your ancestors are able to receive the saving ordinances of the Gospel!

Elder Hazen

"Instagram Surprise!"

Rob and I got a message on our Instagram with this picture.  It was from a woman visiting Lugazi and she noticed our Boy in the Smoothie Shop.  He was not hard to miss, she said she saw him getting smoothies 3 times that week and had to get a picture of him to send to us.  I just love kind people who take the time to brighten someone's day!

Weekly Update~ "Goats and Hoes"

Dear Friends and Family,

   This week was a very busy, productive week. We were able to welcome in the New Year (by being home by 6:30 and not sleeping), we were able to visit many members and new investigators, Elder Dowdle threw a few kids, we were able to give a few hours of service, and we were able to have a few baptisms. But I'll explain everything in detail in a second.

   I'd first like to start off by saying Happy Birthday to my beautiful mother and wanted to let her know I'm sending all my love from here in Uganda.

   This week was much-needed because Elder Dowdle and I were finally able to see some of the fruits of our labors these past few weeks. I was very thankful to see the Lord's help. On Wednesday, we got invited over for food by a RM who got back from the Johannesburg South Africa mission a few years ago. He is a cook at a local guest house in Lugazi.  We didn't know what to expect. We were absolutely blown away. He made us rice, beef, and potatoes covered with an amazing gravy. It was amazing! 

   On New Years Eve, there wasn't much clebrating on our part in public due to the fact that we had to be home at 6:30. However, we had a bonfire in our driveway and we burned our Christmas ties in.  I was getting a bit tired of mine...wearing the same tie for a month straight can get boring. At around 9:30, the power went out in the house, so we thought it'd be a good idea to go to bed... or so we thought. For all you wondering, yes, they definitely celebrate New Years here. They celebrate by blasting music in their houses until the early hours of the morning... there were at least 4 trucks driving around our neighborhood playing music so that definitely didn't help things. At around 3 in the morning, the noise began to die down…but then, our guard Steven took it upon himself to keep the party going. So, he took a pair of sticks from the remains of our bonfire and began smashing them together and screamed from time to time "HAPPY NEW YEAR". On Friday, we woke up with a grand total of 4 hours of sleep…so yeah basically I hate New Years now haha. 

   We were able to go to one of our recent converts, Sunday Toko's farm and dig in his yard for a few hours.  Digging in yards and gardens for people in the branch has become my favorite thing to do for service lately. 

A few other miscellaneous stories from this week:

• Elder Ray bought a chicken and slayed it in our back yard...it was a bit entertaining to watch him attempt to chase it down before beheading it.
• Elder Dowdle was swinging kids around while we were waiting for an appointment at someone's house and jokingly asked one if he wanted to be thrown…he said yes, and tossed him into a patch of grass a few feet away...hahaha he didn't like that very much and needless to say, I died laughing. 

   This week, we were able to baptize 3 of our investigators this Sunday. (Pictures will be sent next week…sorry I apologize).  Samuel and Clement moved to Lugazi recently and one of the branch members, Francis, built a great friendship with them, which made teaching them very easy. They have accepted everything we taught them from the very beginning. I'm excited for the contribution and strength they'll add to the branch. The third investigator we baptized is named Jackie. She, like Samuel and Clement, was very accepting of everything we taught her. Her sister, Susan, is already a member. We had a wonderful baptismal service, and I'm so thankful for the Spirit that has helped us teach them.  I'll talk more about the area and our investigators next week. 

   This week, I've been studying the Atonement more in depth and I've learned that my Mission is a lot like the probationary state of testing and progressing that our Earth Life provides as part of the Plan of Salvation. I've come to realize that submitting my will to the Savior is not only the intelligent thing to do, but it's the ONLY way that I can progress and become what he wants me to be in this life and the life to come. If I lose myself for these two years, I'll be able to develop into the type of man I want to become, one that can answer to each of the Lord's calls, one that can be a supportive husband and father, and priesthood holder. 

I love you all. Have an amazing week! Have fun working on your New Year's resolutions,

Elder Hazen

Weekly Update~ "Best Thanksgiving Feast in the Mission!"

RJ in the Sugar Cane Field

Chad the Turkey

Poor Chad!

Plucking the Feathers off the Bird!

Feast Prep

Homemade from Scratch!

Proud Elders

Dinner is Served!

RJ at the Field

Helping Out at the Baseball Field

RJ and Elder Chabra (Mission doctor)

Elders Wearing Traditional African Walle-Walles

Dear Family and Friends,

   I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and had a great break from school. As for me, having an all American district living together definitely has it's perks because we did Thanksgiving right. Thanks to recipes from home, day trips to Kampala for supplies unavailable in Lugazi, Elder Ray's cooking wisdom, Andrew, our guard's wisdom with cooking turkey, we were able to pull off the greatest feast in Uganda history. The final menu included mashed potatoes and gravy, homemade rolls, macaroni and cheese, a full turkey, green bean casserole, creamed corn, and a banana cream pie and a pumpkin pie. We literally made everything from scratch. We spent literally all Wednesday night and Thursday morning cooking.

   For exercise Thursday morning, we slayed Chad, our turkey, in our backyard and it was one of the more gruesome deaths I've seen of an animal given the fact that we did it with a dull machete... sorry for the details. After proselyting Thursday, we came home in the evening, invited a few of our ward missionaries and Andrew, and feasted. We were even able to enjoy Thanksgiving leftovers the next day.

   In Lugazi, Henry Odong who is a baseball coach of a local little league team in town. I don't know how many of you followed the Little League World Series this year, but there was a team that qualified from Uganda. Henry was trying to get a visa to be able to attend, and my Dad was able to read his story on facebook and they began talking. It eventually came up with him that I got transferred to Lugazi and my Dad got his number and gave it to me a few weeks ago. Last week, I was able to meet him and he showed us where he and his team practice and this Friday, our district was finally able to go to a practice.  It's going to be a common thing going over there to help out with practice and serve them in that capacity.  A year ago, never in a million years did I expect to be in Uganda on a baseball field, pitching to a bunch of kids in a pick up game. It was literally one of the best days of my mission and it made me so happy to be able to play the game I love and grew up playing with a group of people I've grown to love in a place I love. I'm looking forward to more opportunities to be able to serve them in the future!  I also dropped a pamphlet for him, I'm talking to him on Wednesday about it:)

   Yesterday, we were able to see the organization of the second stake in Uganda in Jinja! It was one of the coolest things I've ever been apart of. It was neat to see the overwhelming joy and feeling of accomplishment in the congregation. Many people have been working for decades to help organize this stake and the spirit was so strong when people bore testimony about what becoming a stake meant for them. There is going to be another application submitted for a second stake in Kampala in a few months. I consider it such a blessing to be able to be here during such an exciting time for the church in Uganda. I'm excited what the next few months has in store for the people here!

   Lastly, today I was able to go golfing again with the district and Elder Chabra. We all decided to wear Walle-walle's to rock the African style. After, we had the most amazing Indian food I've ever had in my life. Elder Chabra lived in India for many years and he said the lady who cooked our food makes the best Indian food he's ever had.  I love you all!

Love,
Elder Hazen