Here is my Blog post for this week! I hope you all are having a wonderful day and that you are relying on the lord for everything :)

THIS WEEK!

So this week has been pretty crazy....it has rained every single day, and we had our Branch confererence that consisted of 28 people. But because of those two things....and a few more semi depressing things that happened this week, I have decided that "Attitude is Everything!"

The Craziness!

The rain makes things a little bit difficult because usually it is super windy with the rain as well, which means that umbrella's don't really do a lot unfortunately.  At least it is starting to get warm so we don't freeze at least? See, There is a bright side to everything! And at least it isn't 90% humidity tambien! haha oh and I only ran into one person this week that I knew, and you would never guess who it was. Good old Rhett! It was fun seeing him because he saw me as a missionary and not just a friend. He had some pretty good questions that he asked us about missions and stuff. It felt almost as if it was a lesson, but he didn't speak any spanish...so not quite haha.

The Work!

As far as our investigators go, and the work up here in SLC, it is good! The stake presidency came to our branch conference this sunday and it was a little bit sad....the presidency, their wives, and other visitors made up the majority of the people that were there. The presidency said that there were approximately 400,000 latinos in the Salt Lake valley, and we have a few thousand in our area alone. So there is plenty of work to do, we just gotta get after it! We have been pretty busy the whole time with visiting and stuff like that, but a lot of the times they are working or not home so it is hard to get a hold of them. Currently we are working with a couple specific investigators, The Cordoba family, who is one of the funnest families I have ever met. They hare pretty solid and are looking for change in their lives so we showed up at the perfect time! (Miracle) The other couple investigators that we have are Mariangel, Jackie, and Alejandra. They are all friends of one of our more solid members (Isabel). They were a couple of the 28 people that were there on sunday. It has been a struggle getting people to come to church because they almost all work on sunday and can't take three hours off, so they are talking about changing the sunday meeting schedule to 2  hours instead of 3. The Sunday school class would be taught in the evening of a day of the week instead. It is just something that they are proposing, because we are trying to do whatever we can to save this Branch! 

The Food up here is Awesome! 

Serving in SLC definitely has its perks. One of them being dinner almost every single night with a member, and the occasional hook-up to cafe rio :) The last few nights we ate with a family from the Branch that we are in, and a couple other families from the surrounding wards. Most the people we eat with are either young couples or old couples. So the Old couples know how to cook some good old fashioned meat and potatoes, and the younger couples are SUUUUPER good at ordering Pizza and driving us to Cafe Rio ;) lol Either way, I am not complaining one bit about the food.

The People!

If any of you have ever spent a fair amount of time in SLC, you know how diverse it is here. When I walk passed "The Melting Pot" restaurant, I always chuckle because it is true. We have gotten refferals for almost every race. Every time we walk through the library, we strike up a conversation with someone, and it is always different. I love it. The other day we talked to a guy named Reggie from New Mexico. He was a really smart guy and had a lot of crazy cool stories about UFO's and stuff. We saw him this week again and he was telling some people a story about the time when he was in Roswell and saw some UFO's. haha I wanted to stop and listen, but we had other places to be. Another guy that we talked to wanted us to give him a blessing to help him get rid of the hard feelings he had for Larry H. Miller because he ruined Utah's Hockey Team...? (I didn't even know we had a hockey team in utah?) but it is great. 

Cool Story for the Week!

We have a member in our branch that got really sick this last week and asked us to come give her a blessing. We didn't think she was too sick, but when we got there, we realized that she was in a bad way. We talked to her for a minute and asked if she had Faith that this blessing would help heal her. Of course she said, "Yes". We gave her a blessing, and it was soo amazing! My Companion did the actual blessing and the Spirit was so strong! When we left, I knew that she was going to get feeling better. A couple days later we checked back to see how she was feeling and she was a lot better. Still not back to normal, but a lot better. It is amazing the Power that Faith has. That is the one thing that really can make all the difference in a persons life, "a little faith."

The Million Dollar Question!

So for the past 4 months, I have been told about 10 different times when I am supposed to receive my visa.Each of those times....have passed. But the most recent one I have been told, that comes from a more reliable source, is that at the end of this transfer (Around June 14th) I will be leaving for Argentina!!!! So Cross your fingers, and more importantly PRAY for all the missionaries out there who are awaiting their visas! 

I love you all and hope everything is going so well for you! Remember to always help the missionaries out whenever possible (especially if you see them walking in the pouring rain. Don't just honk and wave at them, pick them up) haha :) but more importantly just keep them in your prayers. This is a Marvelous Work and I am so grateful to be a part of it here in Salt Lake City and Eventually in Argentina! 

Con Amor,

~Elder Zakariah Hazlett

What happened this week...??? The question really should be What didn't happen this week??? This last week was a week full of a lot of things! Everything from Eating Pigs Feet, to Skyping with my Momma! 

Turns out, I did not get transferred. Normally the Missionaries who are awaiting their Visa's never stay more than one transfer in the same area? But this time, we did. Which is nice because we won't have to learn another new area and then have to leave that one too! Entonces...Estoy aqui :) My new Companion is Elder Maldonado. He replaced (no one could ever replace you in my heart) Elder Brown. He is from Pachuca Mexico and is awesome! There is something about being from mexico that makes it so much easier for him to talk to the people we teach? It is weird...it is like he has grown up speaking spanish his whole life? haha but really it is very nice having him! He helps my spanish out a ton. 

After we went to transfers on wednesday, we came back and got started with some planning! We decided to split up the Are we are in so that we could be more successful in finding! Thursday was a Great day for us! We had a district meeting so we didn't actually start teaching until about 4, but from 4 until 9 we were able to teach 4 lessons and we got 5 New investigators! It was amazing and so much fun teaching. My spanish still isn't super great so I struggle with it sometimes, but I am definitely blessed to have a companion like Elder Maldonado because he just clicks with the people! 

Thursday night, one of the New Investigators that we found and taught was a Kid named Alex. He is 16 years old and has had a pretty hard life...I had actually met him a few weeks earlier when he was with a bunch of his friends. We walked passed and they were all calling us names and saying that we worship the Devil and all sorts of stuff. We just kind of ignored it and kept walking. As we got far enough away that they wouldn't be able to hear us talk, I looked to elder Brown and said, "Man, those kids don't know what they are missing out on. I wish they could see into the future and see where those choices are taking them. And they won't listen because they are all together. When they are in groups like that, they just feed off of each other and just keep bashing. Especially that one kid with the red hat (Alex). He seemed super smart (and was kind of the leader of the group). I wish we could talk to him without all of his friends there." Little did I know that a few weeks later I would run into him again and he would not only be alone, but eventually willing to listen. So we continued to talk to him. At first he was a little bit hesitant, but it didn't take long for him to realize that we are still normal people, and not just normal, but actually cool. He had said that he thought all missionaries were just weird kids who loved going to church...Which we do love going to church, and everyone is a little bit weird! But when we told him that we love to play sports and that we went to college before this, he seemed to open up. It is crazy how much people think they know about missionary work, and then how much they realize they are misunderstanding once they actually meet with them! Throughout our conversation with Alex, 2 different groups of friends came over to hangout with him, but both times he said,"Not now guys, I'm in my session with my Homies." (Referring to us as his homies) I really was amazed because that took a lot of courage to say that to the same guys who he was with just a few weeks before bashing on the Missionaries. It was very humbling to know that the Lord was working inside of him to prepare him for that conversation. We left him with a Book of Mormon and we signed inside of it, "To our Favorite Homie Alex" 

There are so many things that happen on the mission that are so similar to that experience. Not necessarily huge miracles but miracles to say the least. 

Another Family that we had a lesson with was the "Cordoba" family. They are AWESOME! Elder Maldonado and I went to visit them saturday morning and we spent an hour there just learning about how they got to Utah. Francisco and his sister have been here for a while now and they live there with their mom. Their Uncle Oscar just barely got there from mexico and speaks no english! And Carla is there as well, she is just a friend but speaks very little english and is expecting a baby in june! They are very new and we have only had one lesson with them but we look forward to teaching them more! They are gonna be Baptized in the near future. Be expecting it :) haha 

So now to the Pigs Feet....

We are lucky to be in SLC because we get fed almost every single night. Our bodies are not so lucky because sometimes we eat enough food to feel like 5 dinners...but it is pretty great not having to worry about dinner. Anyway, last night we had dinner with sister Maldonado from our little Liberty branch. We had some very delicious Pork Soup, but we also were given the Feet of the Pork. I was curious and wanted to try it, but I was a little scared at first. Finally, about halfway through dinner I asked if I could try some....It was probably the strangest thing I have ever eaten....but that is the only thing I have eaten so far that I haven't really enjoyed. It was ok, just not my favorite! The soup however was DELICIOUS!

I also was able to skype with my Mom and Family this week! Which was great! It is a little strange only being a few hours away, especially as the summer and river season is starting, but I am glad I am on a mission and am excited to keep working! 

Now for the Million dollar Question. When is My Visa Coming?

Hopefully I will be able to make it to Argentina in the next month or so...our Visa's don't have an exact Time of Arrival but we have been told  that by the end of this transfer (5 weeks) we should get them! So I am looking forward to that for sure :) 

Anyway, I am all out of time but I love this work! And I love the people that I am meeting and inviting to Come unto Christ! There isn't really a better feeling than seeing someone be baptized and seeing the smile on their face as they know and realize that in that Moment they are perfect. And from that moment on, they are able to continue to grow and better their lives and most importantly, work towards their goal of Eternal Life :) I love this Gospel and the Blessings it has given me! I know this Church is TRUE and that Jesus Christ Lives! And I say that in the Name of Jesus Christ, Amen! 

Con Amor,

~Elder Hazlett

Hola Hola Hola! 

Man this week went sooooo fast. It is true that time flies when you are having fun and working hard! I am more than likely getting transferred this week and to be honest, I am pretty sad about it. I have been here for six weeks and the Liberty Spanish Branch already feels like home. It is small, but full of love for the Gospel. The people that are in the branch are there because they Love the people, and more importantly, they Love God! Six weeks is not enough time at all. I am so happy that I have gotten to know the people here and I hope that the Lord will continue to bless the missionary work that is happening there.

As far as stories go for this week, I have a few, and boy are they great!

"Last Thursday we had Zone Meeting. In that meeting, we had a training about planning and the importance of planning. Elder Olsen (Gilbert, AZ) and Elder Galli (Lima Peru) started the training with a quote that said "If you plan It, the Lord will Provide It." As the training went on, I realized that there were so many things that could be considered "IT". It could be an appointment, or It could also be a baptism, but whatever It may be...It needs to be planned. Having only been in the mission field for a few months, I acknowledged the fact that I am not the best planner in the mission. I had spent the last few months before I left on my mission doing whatever I felt like I needed to do, which involved little or no planning. But, I quickly realized that once I got on my mission it turned into "what the lord felt like i should do" instead of "whatever I felt like I needed to do".  And when the Lord tells you that you need to do something, you should definitely plan on how you are going to do it! 

Later on that day, we were in a room in the stake center doing our weekly planning. (keep in mind that it is thursday.) We hadn't had a single person on date for baptism, but together as a companionship, we decided that we were going to have a baptism that coming saturday (2 days away). We had planned lessons with some potential investigators and we had a lady in mind and were going to teach her later that night and invite her to be baptized. We finished our planning with a full schedule of appointments and Idea's of how we were going to reach our goals, and then we headed off to find, teach, and baptize......All of our appointments that night fell through.....we were devestated and didn't know why we weren't successful? We had prayed, set goals, made plans, and worked hard to find "It". To find our baptism for the week. We got home that night and just sat there for a minute and thought to ourselves "Why?" We decided to stay faithful and not get discouraged, so we said a prayer and started our nightly planning. A few minutes after that prayer, a guy named Luciano called us. We had taught him a few weeks earlier and he seemed pretty solid, but things just kind of faded out with him and we started teaching others. Anyway, he called and asked if we could meet him at the Church and talk to him. We said of course, when? He said, "Tomorrow!" So we scheduled an appointment with him! The next day came, and man was it awesome! We talked to Luciano and he asked when he could be baptized?! WE HAD FOUND IT! That was when my testimony of planning was strengthened. "If you plan IT, the Lord will provide IT" We had no idea that Luciano was going to be our baptism, in fact, he didn't even come to mind...but We planned with faith, and the Lord provided! It truly was a Miracle that I know would not have happened without our planning!"

This is Luciano with Myself, Elder Brown, Elder Maldonado, and Elder Potts at his Baptism on Saturday! It was AWESOME!!

There are so many miracles that happen everyday on the Mission, and I know that the Lord has his hand in all of those! 

Today (P-day) The whole mission went to Ensign Peak with our mission president and his wife. While we were up there, President Winn talked to us about how Brigham Young declared that people from all over the world would come here and learn of the gospel! We as the missionaries here in Salt Lake City are part of that! We are helping to bring the gospel to those who are searching for it. I am grateful for the opportunity that I have to be serving here as I wait for my Visa. It has been a blessing in my life!