It is still summer in the City here in SLC, but it is so good! First P-day of the new transfer and I have so much to talk about! 

First Thing First, My New Companion:

So, at transfers I actually ended up getting a new companion. His name is Elder Morgan and he is from Springville, UT. He is also waiting for his visa to Buenos Aires West (the same mission as me) and when we get them, we will be companions all the way down to Argentina. He is Awesome! It is a little bit hard because we are both only 3 transfers into our missions so our Spanish is a little rough...but It is sooo much fun. We are both trying really hard to speak Spanish to each other as much as possible so that we can practice. We love having the opportunity to go out and teach people even though our Spanish is much less than Par. We have learned a ton over the last few days and talked more Spanish than probably the rest of my mission combined. I am used to having a companion that is either from mexico or who speaks Spanish fluently so I would just kinda listen, bare my testimony, and maybe say a prayer at the end. Now however, Since I have been in this area for 2 transfers and know the members of our branch and know the area, I am leading our companionship. It is a crazy opportunity but it is so fun.

The Work is Real:

Wednesday night after transfers, we got right to it. We came home and planned real briefly and Elder Morgan unpacked a little bit and then we hit the sidewalks. From about 2 in the afternoon until 9 at night, we taught a total of 6 lessons and found 1 new investigator (all in Spanish). It was the first time I really felt the spirit guiding us with the Gift of Tongues. We talked about things and said things that I didn't even know I could say. We invited them all to church and got good responses from all of them. Later that night when we got home and did our numbers for the day and planned for the next day, Elder Maldonado and Elder Revoir (who live in the same apartment as us) were super happy for us and they told us that we had "Greeny Power" haha. 

The next day, we had our District Meeting. Elder Maldonado (My last companion) is our new district leader. He gave a great training about the Restoration. After that we went and visited a couple more people and had a couple great lessons and then we surprised one of the other Elders for his birthday and Had a cake for him. It was the most short-lived birthday party ever (about 10 minutes) but it was still fun.

Friday was one of my favorite days. That was when Elder Morgan and I realized that our Spanish is getting a lot better. We were going to visit one of our investigators but she wasn't home. Across the street was some of her cousins and uncles that she had talked about but we had never met. They were sitting out front so we decided to go talk to them. It was a super good visit. Victor and his Wife are from Mexico and they have lived in Utah for 20 years. They knew English, but they were very impressed with our Spanish and said they never would have guessed that we had only been speaking it for 3 months. Oh, and for those of you who read this and know "Chip" from Chips Grand Tire in Moab...Victor is a Hispanic version of Chip. He is Awesome! 

Saturday was a little bit different. One of the other Elder's in our Zone was sick so I went on exchanges with him for the whole afternoon. He slept while I studied, but I still felt productive because I planned out a lesson for one of our investigators.

Sunday was Awesome! The Leadership Broadcast was pretty dang good! I loved how they stressed the importance of LOVE. It is so true. Most of the people that we talk to that aren't interested, are that way because the last missionaries that they talked to offended them, or they came to church and didn't feel welcome. It is sooo Important that we love everyone no matter what because we don't know their circumstances or what they have been through. After the broadcast, we ate dinner with the Johnson Family. Their son just got off his mission about 2 months ago and he loves helping us out. it is really nice! Then we had a great lesson with one of our less-active friends. He is one of the coolest guys ever and has just had a couple rough things in his life that brought him down a bit, but now he actually came to the missionaries because he wanted to get back on track. It was a super cool lesson in the Church and the spirit was way strong. Finally, as we were locking up the church and getting ready to head home, a car pulled up and 2 people walked over the doors of the church. We noticed that they were speaking Spanish so we decided to talk to them. It turned out that they were members from another branch that were coming to see exactly where this one was so they could bring some friends too it. We talked to them for about 20 minutes about where they were from and their family members that served missions or are serving missions. That was another time where I felt that the spirit was helping us speak the language. We even knew how to ask if they could give us a ride back to our apartment, and they did! haha

The Weather:

Salt Lake city had some of the best weather ever over these last few days. it was about 80 degrees the whole time (maybe a little less) and the sun was never directly shining on us. Even today on our P-day the weather is awesome. It is cloudy and a great temperature. Elder Morgan and I went to the Park for a little while and just sat there and watched the Ducks. It was a great P-day.

Thought of the Day:

So My thought for the day today is about letting the spirit guide your life.I hope most of you got the chance to watch the Leadership Broadcast that they did. It was sooo good and talked about Member Missionary Work. "The greatest work we can do is preach the Gospel" -Joseph Smith. It is cool to think that we literally can preach the Gospel Every Single Day of our lives. In our attitudes, our examples, our words, our thoughts, and our actions. I love being a missionary and being able to spend literally everyday teaching people about the Gospel. Every night when we plan for the next day, I feel the spirit guiding us and telling us who we should teach and what we should teach them. Really, we aren't going to teach any of them anything but simply be instruments in which the spirit can teach through us. Planning has been really hard for me because I am not really a person who plans out everything...but I have felt an amazing change in my attitude towards planning as I have done it with the help and Guidance of the Spirit. A quote from one of our Zone Meetings goes like this, "If you Plan it, the Lord will Provide it." I kinda laughed because I thought of what my mom always said to me which was, "We plan, God Laughs." Which is true because God has a sense of Humor and wants us to learn and if everything went as planned, then we wouldn't have anything to learn from. But I realized that the most important planning we can do in our Lives is: Plan to follow the spirit in everything that you do!  Almost Every single thing that we plan on our missions is directed by the spirit. It still might not happen exactly how we planned it, but eventually it will happen. In life, we plan to provide structure and comfort to our lives. So we can know what we need to do and when we need to do it. But one thing I have realized on my mission is that even though this is our life, we are still on the lords time. And the Lord's timing is perfect. We need to make sure and let the spirit guide us in our lives. When we are in tune with the spirit, that is when the lord will help us to do the things that we need to. Whether we planned it or not. If everything went according to plans, then we would never learn. God changes our plans whether we want him to or not because he has something better in store for us!

Well, the first few days of this transfer have flown by so fast but they have been full of miracles and  good experiences. I am looking forward to the rest of the time I have here and am always hoping for my Visa to come...but for now, I am loving it here :) Take care everybody!

Con Amor,

~Elder Hazlett