September 29, 2014

My new Companion is elder Collins from wyoming. He is a stud and the most Humble Kid ever. WE are so stoked to work together. I am in an area called Villa Tesei in the stake of Caseros. (which is the same stake in which I started my misison). More than a year ago I was here for a couple days visiting and there was a family that recently was baptized and now they are sealed and have callings. IT is incredible to see the difference. This area is a lot different than my last area but it is awesome. WE have some awesome families that we have foundand are working with and we are excited to build up the ward. 

Yesterday the bishop asked me if I could introduce myself and I said sure thing. Then he said "and if you want, you can take a few more minutes because we are short 1 speaker." and then he said "or 15 minutes if you want?" and you can sing a special musical number" So my companion and I sang Press forward saints and I gave a 15 minute improv talk on missionary work. I don`t know how great it was but it was fun and I think I gained the confidence of the bishop haha. Anyway, Here are a few miracles that happened in our first few days, Enjoy :)

Wednesday after the transfer meeting we got backto the area and went straight to work. We blessed the Pension and asked that the Spirit could always be with us and then headed out. WE went and visited a couple people that we had planned to visit, but we wanted to find new people as well. We were walking when the phone rangand we stopped to answer it. As Elder Collins was talking I was looking at the house in front of where we were standing and I felt that we should knock on the door. After Elder Collins finished talking he had the same feeling. We ended up finding a young father named Matias and we taught him the Restoration. He commited to come to church and came on Sunday with his daughter and apologized that his wife and little son couldn`t come but that next time he will bring them all. He is excited to now watch Conference and I know that the Spirit was 100 the reason for that miracle.

The next miracle was right as we left Matias`s house. We were walking away and there was a young women sitting on the sidewalk. We passed her just saying hello, but we felt that we should go backand talk to her. At first I thought "no, just because she is a girl and I wanted to stay focused..." but then I felt it again, so we went back andtalked to her. We set a return appointment and passed by thursday, but it was raining and they were all sleeping....so we came back again on friday. The family let us right in, and the Dad started to cry. We were both a little confused because First, they let us right in without even knowing us, and second because they were just crying. So we started to ask a couple questions to figure out what was going on...The girl is 16 and tried to explain but she just started crying. So her dad started to explain it and was pretty upset. She had been going a little bit down the wrong path with some decisions that she had taken and the friends she was with and it that day that we talked to her was the day that her parents found out about it all and didn`t know what to do. That is why they invited us in, because they knew that we were sent to answer their prayers. We focused our lesson on the Atonement of Jesus Christ and how there is a way to be freed from all of those things. We were able to apply what we learned in some special trainings about what we should teach and every lesson was based on the Restoration. 

There were many more miracles that happened this week, but really I am just so grateful for everything that happened. We were also able to have a baptism this week. Victoria was baptized and it was one of the most special baptisms that I have ever been a part of because she is in a wheel chair and can`t walk hardly at all. So Elder Collins and were asked if we could do the baptism. As we carried her into the water and had her in our arms, the spirit was so strong. We were the only ones that she trusted to carry her. Then when we were about to baptize her I was just thinking in my head that we literally are the only way that she is able to be cleansed from her sins and receive this saving ordinance. After the baptism I carried her up the stairs and into her wheelchair and she just smiled up at me and said "Thank you, Thank you so much." It was a very joyful moment for me.

Fotos. Birthday breakfast in memory of Holly we ate Grits, bacon, and eggs :) SO GOOD! 

and the picture of our baptism :)

--

~Elder Hazlett

September 22, 2014

I had the priveledge of going back to my last area after almost 5 months to be a part of the baptism of the rest of the family that I found and taught almost 9 months ago. there is a picture of all that were baptized on saturday, and another picture of the rest of the family. Also, the one with me and the girl is Crease Frattoni. She is the wife of a family that we found and is now the counselor of the young women!!! I was sooo happy to see everyone there. 

It was such an amazing feeling going back and seeing the progress that they have all made. We had a zone conference this last week with President Robertson and he mentioned a ton about how the progress and success that we have in the mission, will not necessarrily be seen right now, or even weeks from now, but 10, 15, 30 years from now. I just imagine the few people that I have been able to help and how they now are strong in the gospel and helping other people to know the gospel. That is Success! 

Gonzalo who was baptized a few weeks ago was able to come with us to get to know some of my other converts. He is 22 and now getting ready for the misison. Eva. Who is my favorite miracle that we found in my last area trying to find out where to buy fruit and she happened to be working....the rest is history and she is now a ward missionary and secretary of the young women :) She is also getting ready for the mission.

It was a fun week to be able to look back and realize (even though these last couple weeks have been hard) that I have been able to help a lot of people and that anytime you ever get down...you just gotta focus on what you HAVE been able to do, and not so much what you AREN`T able to do. 

In Church on Sunday, our stake president and bishop both spoke and they gave great talks. One about not fearing the changes and having a positive attitude towards living the gospel. And the other about how the most important thing that we can do is develop a testimony. And that testiomy comes throught 4 constant things. Prayer, Scripture STUDY (not just reading but study), Attending church meetings (all 3 hours), and serving (magnifying your calling). It was a great talk and it helped me a lot.

Anyway, I hope that you all are doing just great in your different parts of the world. I want to invite you all like my Stake president here in Argentina to do those 4 things and both feel and see the difference that it makes in your lives. THE CHURCH IS TRUE!!!! 

September 15, 2014

This week was great because we had a lot of cool new experiences. Okmar had his 18th brithday party and all he wanted was a new Suit for his misison and a party with his family and his new ward family. He was baptized just a month and a half ago and we have seen so many changes in him and his family. In the beginning, his parents didn`t even want ot go to church, but little by little we were able to halp omar chagne and his parents have changed a TON. Now Soledad (mom) is one of the best misisonaries that we have. She has a store on the main street here and she invites EVERYONE. They need to get married to be baptized and we are working on that.....but they are progressing a ton. 

We also had a little service project for the Helping hands worldwide service project thing. We cleaned the streets in front of the church and cleaned the church.

Then, the next day at church we had an assistence of 80 which is about the record. WE have our ward conference next week and we are going for a goal of 130! I hope we can get it! We have a huge group of investigators and less active families that we are working with and we are seeing a lot of miracles becaiuse of them. Like always I struggle with the organization a little bit and with a lot of people...it is a scramble sometimnes, but I am happy because I know that God will help us! 

Anyway, I hope you all had a great week and I look forward to talking to ya next week!

--

~Elder Hazlett

September 8, 2014

WE had a lot of cool experiences this weeka as we were able to listen to Elder Gonzalez of the area 70 as he talked to us a little bit about the importance of the Book of Mormon in what we do and letting the people have their own agency! We have to invite to committ, but we can`t do everything for them. Also he talked about how we will be able to baptize without using the book of mormon to teach, but if we want our converts to stay...then we need them to be reading and fulfing their commitments. 

This week we saw a lot of miracles as we found 17 new people to teach. We were able to bring 9 of those 17 to church which is more than half. I have been praying and focusing on the Elegidos and how I can better find them and have more faith that I will be able to find those that are wating and not just find those that are there. I think that has been the hardest thing for me during my mission is focusing on those that are ready to hear the gospel. I tend to get distracted in thinking that they are all just awesome and they are all ready to change...but that isn`t exactly true. As we started applying the book of mormon more in our teaching and contacts and just in every aspect of what we are doing, that is when we started to see a huge difference. I felt a little bit like Dan Jones on page 1 of PMG where he is standing on a crate preaching about the book of mormon. 

We had a leadership meeting and talked a lot about the importance of inviting everyone in order to find the elect. That has been the struggle in our Zone and we are doing everything we can to help them realize the importance of talking to everyone. Some of them feel down because they don`t have a lot of investigators to teach, so they don`t teach a lot, so they feel like bad teachers. Now, the only way that they can improve...is do! You have to find to teach, and teach to improve, so we are hoping that with the special trainings and the new attitude to find, we will be able to help them. 

I know that the Book of Mormon is the key to everything we have and do. I know that we have to read it and want to beleive it in order to gain a testimony of it. And I know that the Application of what we learn in and of the church is the only way that we can gain a testimony.

I hope everything is great back home and just know that I am praying for you! :) 

Love,

~Elder Hazlett

September 1, 2014

This last week was my birthday week. I won`t say it was the best week I have ever had, but I will say that I learned a LOT. 

We had some bad weather, fallen appointments, lost investigators, and not a lot of people came to church on sunday...but what we did have was one of the best Baptisms I have ever been a part of. Gonzalo was baptized!!!! He is the Boyfriend of Mirtha who is a recent convert as well, and the friend of Elvis who got baptized 2 months ago. Now here comes the miracle. Remember how Elvis was basically an alcoholic when we found him 3 months ago...? Well, his conversion is unreal. He literally has trusted 100 percent in the lord. He doesn`t make a good living, but he makes enough to live, and enough to get to church on sunday, and do visits on the weekend. Anyway, to make a long story short...Elvis 3 months ago was a 20 year old who was lost in the world. And this weekend he was able to Baptize Gonzalo. Gonzalo now has the goal of going on a mission in a year when he completes a year (he is 22) and Mirtha is also with her goal set on the misison! IT was a great baptism. Also, Omar (16 who is a recent convert as well) was able to be a witness at the baptism and almost every single person involved was doing something for the first time. It was a rewarding feeling knowing that I was able to be a part of all of that. 

the crazy thing that happened was when they threw Eggs on me...9 eggs and like 5 lbs of sugar! IT was pretty crazy. They came up from behind my and smashed the eggs on my head and then put the flour on top without me knowing. The birthday traditions are pretty crazy here but it was fun. I have the same birthday of the mom of one of our recent converts and so they invited us over for a barbecue. They smashed my face in the cake and then they did the whole egg thing. it was pretty funny.

This week, we started a purification process as a Zone (all the missionaries in the stake). We are focusing right now on purifying ourselves first, in order to be able to help others. in Alma 13:12 it talks a little bit about the purifying process. The only way to make changes in life, is by starting the process of chagne. "la mejor manera para empezar es comenzar" or "the best way to start is to begin". Change is a process, life is a process, and eternal life is the reward. As we use the atonement in our lives, as we learn to nderstand it and apply it, we begin to grow stronger because we are literally "coming unto Christ". 

I knwo that it is hard, but like elder Holland always says, "Salvation isn`t a cheap experience!" IT takes sacrifice, a little pain and suffering, endurance, and a whole lot of Faith. But if Faith can move Mountains, than you better beleive that faith can change us if we allow it. 

I know the Church  is true and restored on earth. I know that Christ lives and that his Atonement is a Gift and  a Privelidge for each of us to be able to use. I know that this work is amazing and it is the best thing that any youth can do. I hope you all have a desire to serve and the Faith to DO it!

Have a great Week! 

Egg in the eye.

They egged me and floured me on my birthday.....

That one was my companion.