Elder Zak Hazlett: June 2, 2014

This week we have been having "High Water" here in the zone. Even though we weren`t expecting a very "high Water" month, we have been blessed for our diligence. All of the missionaries in the zone have experience and are really great, there are just a few that are still struggling to Apply Themselves. Something that I struggled with a little bit when I was younger. Our main focus has been reaching our potential in the mission as missionaries and as children of God.

This mprning as I was getting ready, I listened to the farewell talks that we gave in the singles ward (Nate, Libby, and I). I was able to both hear and feel a huge difference in everyone of us and it is incredible. I know that the mission has helped us all a ton to be able to make the changes that we need in our lives.

It is crazy to hear about all the people that have big changes in their lives (weddings, babies, first year with the S-Rig (andrew)) but I know that everyone is going to learn a lot from those experiences. The most important thing is that they keep living their lives in a way that they can learn the most from these opportunities. When Elder Holland came and talked to us, he said that this life isn`t like burger king...there is no "Have it your way". That we will have experiences and we have to face them and learn from them by being humble. These last few weeks every single message from our president has been about being self sufficient and humble so that we can be able to apply the teachings of the gospel. I know that the application of thew gospel is the ONLY way to be obedient, and obedience is the ONLY way to receive the blessings!

O lpve all of you and I hope you are doing well! Keep`applying the principles of the gospel in your lives and I promise that you will see the blessings!

This is more for mom than everyone else, so if you don`t understand it all than no worries. But it has some good points. Thanks marshall for the good advice. I am going to apply it.

The following is my letter to president

Hey president, how have you been?

This week has been a great week in Aldo Bonzi! It was a little bit of a struggle because we didn`t get a lot of people to church, but every area has made progress in both their areas and in themselves and that is the most important thing. They have been finding better people and families that are willing to progress. We still have our problems with the sickness but we are trying to do everything we can to overcome that. The sickness that I am afraid of now is the lack of diligence. There were a couple areas that fell short (some only 1 new investigator) of their goals.

I know that your message in the Sol today was inspired and it was exactly what they needed to hear! I really loved the emphasis that you put on working hard to not only know and understand our purpose but to APPLY it. The application in life is the key to everything. I remember being lectured a few times when I was younger about applying myself. It didn`t matter what the goal was if I didn`t apply myself. In school if I didn`t do the homework, i never learned. In Golf if I didn`t practice what I had been told, if I didn`t hit the range for hours a day (Diligence), or disciplined myself enough to spend time on the short game (details/meticulous obedience)...I never would have been able to acheive my potential. The mission is the same but EVEN MORE IMPORTANT because it has to do with our salvation and the salvation of others. If I have learned one thing in my time in the mission it is that our purpose is not just something that we memorize that sounds succesful when we say it, but looks succesfull when we do it! Nike was never more on target than when they said "Just do it". There really is no other way to look at missionary work.

My uncle sent me this in his email today about his advice in the mission. "If you can only do one thing, get the Spirit and keep it. If you can do two things, get the Spirit and work hard, harder than you've ever worked before. If you can do three things, get the Spirit, work hard, and then be smart and work effectively so that every minute of your mission is furthering the work of the Lord and none of your precious time or talents are wasted."

I know that I have been given talents and the opportunity to use those talents to both help myself, investigators, and the missionaries in this Zone.

Tomorrow in our Zone meeting we have planned our meeting to be about the "Application of our Purpose as Missionaries" We have a couple activities and examples planned that should be great. Next week I will let you know how they go.

My companion and I are doing great! Thank you so much for giving me him as my companion. I have learned a lot from him and his desire to fulfill his purpose and his way of teaching. We have been finding miracles and literally people have called us from the street to talk to them. The miracles come from diligence. And the diligence comes from the application of each aspect of missionary work.

Thanks for everything you have done for me. You are an example to everyone.

Love you all!!

~Elder Hazlett