December 1, 2014

This weekl was UNREAL!!!! We had probably the best weekend ever but also one of the craziest. 

Throughout the week we were busy working and getting everything ready for the Baptism and wedding of Jessica and MAtias. THEY DID IT!!!!!! MAn was it such an amazing feeling. The week was one of the hardest for them. Everything from having to go directly to the doctors house to get a signature that he forgot to sign in the hospital...to having everyone say a ton of terrible things about the church to put doubts into their heads. But they stayed strong. 

Friday was the wedding and then saturday was the Baptism. Saturday night however was the craziest rain storm that we have had yet. The whole city flooded and nobody could leave their houses.....the bad part is that 1) we were in the church already filling up the baptismal font, and 2) no one was there to be baptized... So we kept our faith alive. Little by little, a few people started trickling in, but Jessica and Matias live in the part that flooded the worst. Taxi`s and busses werent even going close because they were afraid. So I called them and we said, "Don`t worry, the bishop is going to go get you guys." (The only problem is that the bishop didn`t know that he was going to go in his little car to pick them up...) But we knew that he would do it! So we asked him as he arrived at the church and he said,"well...we`ll see what happens" and we left into the flooded streets. 

A we got going towards their house, the water got deeper and deeper. By the time we got there, water had come into the doors a little bit. But we were more than halfway, there was no turning back. 

We showed up at their door and called them. IT was pouring rain and just from their door to the car (20 feet) got them soaked. We headed off towards the church again and we realized that it was even deeper then before. Morena (6 years old) was sitting in the middle back seat and said, "I feel rain". There was water spraying up from where the E-break was.Everyone started laughing and I loked at them and said, "Man your conversion story is so Awesome" We all laughed together and kept going. They said that they were excited to look back in a few years and not only see all the changes, but also how crazy it was! 

We kept moving forward and then a bus passed and the wave actually pushed the car and we moved a little bit. I felt like I was river rafting again! IT was awesome! haha 

Anyways, they were baptized and then they were confirmed the next day. 

I know that got tested their faith to make them stronger and to help them have an even more spiritual experience because the opposition made it even clearer how much they have really changed.

I lvoe this gospel and this family! I hope everyone has their goal on the eternal family so that when the hail and rainstorms and floods that come into our lives have no power over us! 

Con amor! 

~Elder Hazlett

They still throw rice!

                                                                        A beautiful little family :)

November 24, 2014

This was a week of Faith. I have never seen more Faith in action in my whole life than what I saw this last week.

We got out of our stake conference and Matias and Jessica had their interviews. They are super excited for their wedding and baptism and the whole Ward is getting excited. Anyway, Elder Paredes (the elder that did the interview for Matias) came out and talked to me and said that of all the interviews he had done in his life, he never had felt the spirit like that one. HE said, "that kid is gonna be a general authority one day" 

I lvoe that family so much and I know that they are going to be examples in the church.

Jessica has been struggling a little bit however with the small things. Sometimes she felt tired and had no desire to read. The whole morning as we traveled to conference we talked about how faith is Acting even when you don`t see the "Why" as clearly as you would like. She said that it was just hard because she wanted to have a direct pay off. She wanted to see the chagne and blessings immediately. Basically her Faith was a little bit weaker than she wanted it to be and she went to stake conference with the question of, "how can I strengthen my Faith?"

During the conference they didn`t talk a whole lot about faith but they did talk about Missionary work and how each family and each missionary were pre-destined to find eachother and to succeed together. That helped strengthen her faith a little more. 

Then the miracle happened. We got on the train to head back to our city and as we were getting on, a blind man got on the train. I looked at her and said just imagine if you were blind...she said it is true. But then, the blind mans wife and kids got on the train as well. She was also blind. They had a 12 year old son who was literally their eyes. I told her. That, is Faith. She started to tear up when she saw the youngest kid smile and see that netiher the mother or father were able to see the precious smile of their children. 

I know that the things in life are hard, but we need to sometimes take a step back and look at how blessed we really are and let THAT be what strengthens our faith. 

I love you all and hope you are always looking for the good in life because that is what will make us stronger. 

Elder Hazlett

-- 

~Elder Hazlett

November 10, 2014

Elder Collins Left me this week as we had transfers. IT was probably the best 6 weeks I have had so far on my misison and I know that he helped me and taught me a ton! We didn`t ahve a single day that ended with a frown. OR a single day without Miracles. He was called to be Assistent to the president so I am still able to talk to him sometimes, and he will be doing divisions with the Zone leaders, so he`ll be coming back for a day or two :)

Howver, my new companion is Elder Dahl from Dallas Texas. HE is also a champ and has a great spirit of service. We are just getting down to work and he is helping me a lot with my disabilities. He is a great planner, which is my weekness, so he is helping me a ton. I am super good as soon as we go out in the street to work, but the planning is where I strugglee. He said, " Elder, you just gotta find a wife that is a better planner than you and you will be Set for life." haha I am not a terrible planner, I would just rather be with the people and let someone else plan.

Anyway, we had 6 new investigators in Church yesterday!!! WOOT WOOT! Lets just say that God is SOOO MErciful. We have been praying and working so hard with a few families and Finally we are seeing the fruits of our labors. Jessica and Matias are doing great. in a few weeks they get married and then they will be baptized and they already have their goal on the Temple :) 

Betty is a mother of 4 that is struggling with her rebbelious kids but has one that is 13 still who is awesome. Her husband just works non-stop so they don`t have a olot of help in the house. She LOVES church and wants to be baptized with Thiago her son so that he doesn`t follow the same path as the others. 

PAblo and Ezekiel are brothers from a family that we are working with that are progressing as well. They are studs and we are tryingour best to help them to be baptized. 

This weekend we will be having a conference with ElderChristofferson andall the misisoneries and weare super excited. IT will be great to get more advice for the Missionary work for this exact Day and age. They always bring a message of urgency and power to help remind us of what our purpose is! 

This week in Church, they gave us time to talk. I used an example of when we went on the road trip in the motorhome and how if we werent paying attention to the map, we would miss the exit and not arrive. And when we lost the map completely, our pride and personal knowledge made us think that we knew the correct way. I compared it to a living prophet and the time without a map as the Apostasy. We always had the vision of were we wanted to go in mind, but without haveing the constant guide of a prophet to lead us, the people hardened their hearts and started to follow thier own wisdom and ideas. IT was one of the talks that I felt like I was able to express myself exactly how I wanted and I know it is because the spirit was there speaking through me to testify to the hearts of those that were in church. 

I know that we HAVE to follow the prophet and apostles or else we are literally like a car without direction.

I hope you all have a great week and that you do the best you canto help others to find their "map" and follow the prophet!

Elder Hazlett 

November 3, 2014

This week was pretty great. I faith tester as well as a testimony builder. 

The rain couldn`t stop us. Even though for like 5 days straight it was raining, we kept on going! As I got to talking to my companion about it, we started to think about what we are doing and what the world sees in us...We leave our houses and families, work, studies, and everything that we love...to go to a foreign country where we can`t even communicate with the people. We wake up at 6:30 (sometimes earlier) every morning. We follow with exactness a morning schedule that amost no other 18 or 19 year old in the world would ever think of following, we exercise, study the scriptures, we plan and practice teaching lessons, all without having anyone watching over us, telling us what to do other than God through his Prophets and Apostles.  We leave at 10:30 and walk the streets of that foreign land talking to people that we have never ever met before, under the rain; snow; sun; hail;and wind. We get rejected by some, ridiculed by others, accepted by few, but we do it all with a smile on our faces and a testimony in our hearts. We teach simple truths to blinded eyes, hoping and praying with all our heart that God just softens their hearts and opens their eyes just enough to see what we have seen and feel what we have felt. We gain no temporal reward. We have no salary, nor do we get any kind of points for what we do, but we gain the blessings of eternal life and exaltation. We feel the love of Christ more strongly than ever before as we help those who don`t know him...come unto him.

Last night at 8 P.M. as we were completely soaked and walking to our next appointment, I couldn`t help but to crack a smile and laugh a little bit as I saw people inside their warm houses looking out their windows at us and thinking everything possible about how crazy we are, when really, I consider myself one of the happiest people on this planet. Some people might find it hard to believe how being soking wet, freezing, away from home, talking to strangers can bring so much joy, but there is a promise that is taught in Preach My Gospel pg 75 that says, " God wants all His children to know the truth. Therefore, He reveals the truths necessary for salvation through prophets and apostles." To have the truth brings a certain amount of Joy, but to have the truth and live it brings more joy than can be found anywhere else or in any other way.

If I have learned one thing on my mission, it is that Obedience to the Truths and commandments that have been revealed in this dispensation is the ONLY way to find true Joy. And it is also the only way to assure that in the future we will gain even more Joy! 

Like I said in the beginning, it was a faith testing week because a lot of things didn`t work out as we had planned or wanted, but my testimony was strengthened so much as those trials made me reflect and think about many different things. All of them being directed to the fact that we have a Prophet today that guides us and Apostles aswell. That with them we have a sacred promise, "Those who listen to and follow the counsel of living prophets and apostles will not go astray." PMG pg 75.

We have families that are still struggling to soften their hearts and their eyes are not quite opened yet, but that are following the steps that we are giving them and are putting forth their efforts to get to where we are.  

One family said, " Elders, Why are you all so happy?" I would die if I did what you do. We couldn`t help but smile and say. One day when you go through the temple with your family, you will understand :) They just smiled and said that they aren`t stopping til they make it there! We said that we are like their team. A team works together and when one is doing well, the others do better. When one isn`t doing well, the others slow down. But the best part about the team that we are on is that no matter how down we are, we can go forward with Faith knowing that our team Never is going to lose :)

Baby blessing of one of our counselors. I just thought that it was perfect. That is the attitude necesary! Gotta have the Vision.

Family that is getting married and baptized this month :) They are awesome! 

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~Elder Hazlett

October 27, 2014

This week was incredible!!! We started out the incredibleness with all the miracles that we saw with all our investigators. Just little miracles that they had read the scriptures and had good experiences with that, or that they had found out that they had family that was a member and they had recently invited them to church. Just a bunch of little things that helped keep us excited. 

Thursday was a little bit of a rough day because we woke up in the morning and finished with our divisions with the assistents and came back to plan. We left to work and EVERYTHING fell through....we were a little bit exhausted and didn´t know what to do, but we didn´t lose our faith and we kept on going! We went to visit a few more people  and they weren´t there either...so we decided to head to an area where we had one more  contact.  As we walked, we walked passed a house and kept walking....but then we felt as if we should go back. So we followed that feeling and it ended up being a family that had always wanted to know what we did and was very excited to read the book of mormon. She already had other plans for sunday but she said she is now waiting anxiously for us to pass by this tuesday. 

After her, we found another miracle guy. In the morning I was really struggling thinking that it was going to be a LONG day, but I had faith that we were gonna find someone and we did! 

LAter on in the week. Friday, we woke up and studied and then got excited to go to the wedding of Rodrigo and Betty. They got married on friday morning and it was soooo great, but the best part was friday night. We had planned a few weeks erlier to go to the temple with them and another family, but we thought it all wasnpt going to work out. S owe had kind of thrown that idea out...but then, as we were planning that night, we called the member who had a car to go to the temple and he said "lets go!!!" so he talked to his brother (rodrigo who was getting baptized that night) and he took his car and we were able to go with not only rodrigo and his dad who then were getting baptized, but with Jessica and Matias as well who are getting married now in November so that they can get baptized, so that they can enter the temple. They understand PERFECTLY the goal. Not just baptism, but the eternal family. They got some books and stuff at the temple, a picture of the Salt Lake Temple, and Joseph Smith because they have a huge testimony of Joseph Smith. 

Then we went back to our area and prepped for the baptism. IT was AMAZING! Three generations of the family got baptized at the same time. 

Sunday morning, they all were there and were confirmed and Jessica and Matias said, "we are next." Families are what makes the church go round. I am so glad that we have been blessed with so many families here to teach and help. This morning, Jessica and Matias sent us a message that just thanked us for how much we have helped and changed their lives. They said that we are their Angels here on earth. I consider them some of my best friends because they are pretty young still. They are already planning with the other 3 families of recent converts to all get sealed to gether so that Elder Collins and I can plan a trip to come back here to be there. I love it when familes put their Goal as the temple because that is when they really have success and conversion. But for reals, my companion and I were talking about that. IF a family has their goal of being temple worthy and /or getting to the temple to be sealed, they will progress soooo much more in life.

I lvoe these families and I know that this is the true church and that when applied in the lives of anyone, the lives of Everyone will change!

--

~Elder Hazlett

October 20, 2014

There were so many miracle this week and as I was trying to write them, the internet cut out...so I wasn`t able to include them all, but we areworking with some great families and the best is that the Melgarejo family. Augustin and Susanah (grandparents) Rodrigo and Betty (son and daughter in law who get married on friday, and Franco (son of Betty andRodrigo) are getting baptized!!! A Whole family with 3 generations! IT is gonna be so awesome!

This week we were able to find a new family almost everyday! We have been praying like crazy for families and looking everywhere to find them. We were walking the other day and literally talking about how we wanted to find a family when Elder Collins looked at me after looking at a house and said, "lets go knock on the door." We went and knocked onthe door and Luis answered us and let us in and we then talked with him and his wife and 2 kids. After explaining the restoration, She said, "it makes sense," and was super excited to read. They got married a few months ago and didn`t know why...but now they do! They weren`t able to attend church this weekend because they traveled for mothers Day here in Argentina, but they are excited to go next week. 

We also were able to teach half the family of one of the young men we are helping. He is recently wanting to leave his worldy ways and clean up his act so he can have a good life and not be like the rest. So he started, and his mom saw a difference and then they all came to church on sunday. They LOVED church. IT was mothers day and they gave little gifts to all the moms, and Elder Collins and I were asked to talk about how big of an example our moms have been to us and how they have taught us the gospel. It was really good. At the end, Betty (Nocolas`s mom) shook my hand and said, " You made me cry." And nicolas said to his mom that it wasn`t me, but it was the Spirit. Earlier that week we had taught them the plan of salvation but we weren`t planning on teaching that but we felt the prompting to teach it. So we did and at the end of the lesson, Betty said to us, "you answered all my questions." And then Nicolas said, "and mom, you didn`t even ask them those questions." We explained how the spirit works and she was so happy. 

Also in Church we had Matias and Jessica with their two kids and their Cousin. Their little daughter Morena sang in the choir with the primary her first day in the primary and at church. IT was AMAZING because that family is so important to me and to see all the little miracles taking place was just amazing.

There were so many miracles and cool things that happened this week. To top it all off, we visited Maxi (recent Convert) sunday night to help his family (less-active) get back to church, and we found a friend of the family (new investigator) and we taught them all at once and she accepted to be baptized. Maxi bore his testimony of the gospel and how it changes lives. The less active sister said that she would help her read and they could go to church together. And never before in my mission had I felt like I was fulfilling every single part of the work of salvation. Baptize, Reactivate, and Retain. As we left that house, Elder Collins looked at me and said. "We are so blessed Elder." 

IF there is one way to describe what we get in return for working hard in this work, it is Blessings. Blessings of every type. 

I am excited to keep finding more families and helping them recieve blessings!

MAtias, Jessica and morena and their family at a familoy home everning! 

The family that worked with us this week as the ward missionary family

and elder Rojas from Spain. He has less than a month in the mission and I was able to spend a day with him here in our area. HE is great! And LOVES Tennis. ( marshall, he lives next to a country club in spain...road trip to the clay courts after???)

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~Elder Hazlett

October 13, 2014

I Love Argentina. This week we not only had great lunches but great lessons! haha we have been crazy blessed with a ton of people to teach and the opportunity to share something that no one else has! 

    This week, every single lesson we taught had to do with the restoration and the importance of having a living prophet. IT was pretty amazing seeing how our teaching improved in 1 week as we taught basically the same thing the whole time. The most incredible part was the power of the spirit that we felt during those lessons (some better than others). We had quite a few miracles because of it.

    One miracle was a family that we found because one of the sisters saw us walk passed and yelled "hello" in english. At first I thought they were just mocking us, but then wefelt as if we should have goneback. So we turned around and went back to talk to them and the girl that yelled ran and hid. We gained the confidence a little bit and then were able to figure out a little more about their lives. We shared the message that we had, and then at the end we asked them what they thought when we first got there compared to when we left. We sang "ama el pastor sus ovejas" and they were in tears at the end. They went from laughing at us to crying because of us. They have brothers that are younger and aren`t doing the best things and they felt as if we were literally sent from God to help them.
    Another miracle is Matias. I LOVE THAT FAMILY. We passed by to teach him a little bit more about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and instead of us teaching him, he took the pamphlet and taught his 6 year old daughter. IT was so precious!!! I was so happy to see that not only did he understand it, but he had the desire to teach it to his family.

    Another was a less active family that had not gone to church for years. We passed by and taught them....guess which lesson.....the Restoration. They said that they never really understood the importance of the book of mormon, and didn`t really have a lot of faith in Joseph smith. So we invited them to read and then to "come and see" as elder bednar said in the conference.

    I have been spending all this last week just looking for all of the little evidences of why this is the true church, and besides just the obvious Scriptural evidences, I also was able to find so many more!. One young man asked us, Why is your church so rich? If they want to, they buy land and they build a church. We responded, "do you think if God had his church on earth today, then he would have power enough to build his kingdom?" EVIDENCE. Another person was talking about how everyone has the right to worship God where and How they want to. Which is very true, but Worshipping and making sacred covenants with God through Saving Ordenanzes are different things. In a classroom environment the students can all give their opinions, but when it is time to be taught...Who is it that teaches....? The teacher. In a house, who is it that leads...? The parents. For anyone that believes in God, they then also believe that he created all things. And in the creation of all things he established an order. And that order is and will be in all things. Especially in His Church!

    What I learned is that if we have a disire to gain a testimony, we have to look for evidences of truth and not excuses or reasons why not. Jesus never looked for the bad in things, so why should we? 

    Sorry for maybe ranting a little bit...I just took Elder Bednar`s invitation to "come and See" and went crazy with it. If any of you ever find yourselving doubting the church, than follow the advice given by an apostle. And Look for the Good that comes from it. I love this Gospel. And I know it is True.

I don`t have pictures this week, but next week i`ll get some. Love you guys!!

~Elder Hazlett