Just a Little Bit More Every Day

Hello all! Looks like I've only got 15 minutes left for the day. We'll see what 15 minutes can do.

This week has been great. I find it difficult to draw on all the experiences I have every day and then narrow them down for you all in one short, unrevised email. Just know that I learn more about who I am every day. Every person on the street is my teacher. Every conversation a lecture in Life 101.

We share the 1st Vision in nearly every street contact. I love it. It sounds so legit in Cantonese.

I told my companion on the bus to Wan Chai the other day that it seemed strange -- I don't really feel like I'm speaking a foreign language every day. I don't feel like I'm in a foreign country, and whenever something ridiculous or random happens on the street I just think, "Oh yeah, I'm in Asia." But it just shows how the Lord's work is always the same, wherever you are. And it never gets old. When I go to bed at night and account to the Lord what just happened, I grow a little more in my own testimony that God really is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Wherever we are, we are witnesses for a greater good, and it applies to every person. I'm constantly limited by my own doubts and my own fears, but every moment of weakness is a moment of opportunity to learn, grow, and become better.

I guess it's just really satisfying for me to realize the difference it all makes. The way a mission makes good men better -- great if they choose to be. All our faults are surfaced, and then we're given an opportunity to evaluate who we really are and how we're going to choose to deal with what we face. All things must be done in wisdom and order. One epiphany can't change your life or your method of doing things -- all the riddles I have to solve with my own shortcomings or with investigators or with questions that people ask or with missionary work -- they're all a part of a process.

Just know that I learn a little more every day that I am a better man because I am a weak one. The tag I wear is being written on my heart. I realized that I've covenanted in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost to perform every labor in this mission and throughout my life. I've faced plenty of tears and sweat already, but all I can really say is keep it coming. What a wonderful opportunity every moment is.

Mosiah 4:27 -- don't run faster than you can. Let it all be in wisdom in order. Let yourself be taught; it's what you came here to do!

Love, Elder Hazen