Elder Hackleman, Peru Lima West Mission

Monday, July 15, 2013

This Week's Photos from Elder Hackleman's Mission

Elder Hackleman's letters between him and his father 7/15/2013

Elder Hackleman,

I spoke in church yesterday so I thought I would send you my talk I gave since I talked about you in it.

My comments today are based upon a talk given by Elder Quentin L. Cook from the most recent April General Conference titled Personal Peace: the Reward of Righteousness. The Guide to the Scriptures explains Peace as this: In the scriptures, peace can mean either freedom from conflict and turmoil or the inner calm and comfort born of the Spirit that God gives to his faithful Saints.

For the most part the world defines peace as an end of conflict. If I were to hold up a map of the whole earth more than half of it would be covered in conflict of some sort. If we were to look at a map of the United States, we could easily pick out the most violent cities. This year, the city of Chicago is averaging just over 8 homicides per week.

As Elder Cook has said, “Prophets have declared that peace has indeed been taken from the Earth. Lucifer has not yet been bound and exercises power in this dominion. The heavenly aspiration of good people everywhere has and always will be for peace in the world. We must never give up on achieving this goal. But, President Joseph F. Smith taught, “There never can come to the world that spirit of peace and love … until mankind will receive God’s truth and God’s message…, and acknowledge his power and authority which is divine.”

As we narrow our focus more, many, if not all of us, have family conflicts or turmoil of some degree. Perhaps marital problems, wayward children or financial struggles.

Narrowing even more, each one of us, individually, is struggling with a conflict. Not a conflict of violence, but one that may be emotional, physical, mental or sinful.

Arguably our greatest gift that we as individuals have is our agency to choose for ourselves. This, in itself, can create conflict within us. We should always try to remember that inner peace comes from truth. Truth can only come from the faithful obedience to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Let me share a little example with you. Many of you know that Amy and I have a son serving a full-time mission in Lima, Peru. He is doing wonderfully and we can feel the joy that he is feeling come through in his emails that he sends home each Monday. Now, those of you that have had children leave to serve missions know what I am talking about. As parents, you gain a much deeper appreciation for the Law of Sacrifice. The day that we put Elder Hackleman on the plane was one of the best days of my life, but also one of the most painful. I took the entire day off work, because I knew how I would feel. Amy and I were miserable the rest of the day. We had waited for that time since the day he was born and yet it was still so painful. However, quickly over the next couple of days we felt the loving peace come to us that can only come from our Savior and faithful obedience. And of course, we are looking forward to doing it all over again 3 more times!

As Elder Cook taught us, The peace to which I am referring is not just a temporary tranquility. It is an abiding deep happiness and spiritual contentment.

President Heber J. Grant described the Savior’s peace this way: “His peace will ease our suffering, bind up our broken hearts, blot out our hates, engender in our breasts a love of fellow men that will suffuse our souls with calm and happiness.”

For all of us, personal conflicts can afflict us as we transgress the laws the Lord has set. Many who have experienced the Savior’s atoning love as they have faithfully laid their burdens down through the repentance process can testify of the peace they have felt.

One of my favorite stories in the scriptures is told in Alma, Chapter 24. There was a group of Lamanites who had converted to the Church of Christ and were called the Anti-Nephi-Lehies. They were so righteous that they decided to lay down their weapon’s of war and suffer death rather than continue in conflict.

Beginning with verse 15:

Oh, how merciful is our God! And now behold, since it has been as much as we could do to get our stains taken away from us, and our swords are made bright, let us ^ahide them away that they may be kept bright, as a testimony to our God at the last day, or at the day that we shall be brought to stand before him to be judged, that we have not stained our swords in the blood of our brethren since he imparted his word unto us and has made us ^bclean thereby.

16 And now, my brethren, if our brethren seek to destroy us, behold, we will hide away our swords, yea, even we will bury them deep in the earth, that they may be kept bright, as a testimony that we have never used them, at the last day; and if our brethren destroy us, behold, we shall ^ago to our God and shall be saved.

17 And now it came to pass that when the king had made an end of these sayings, and all the people were assembled together, they took their swords, and all the weapons which were used for the shedding of man’s blood, and they did^abury them up deep in the earth.

18 And this they did, it being in their view a testimony to God, and also to men, that they ^anever would use weapons again for the shedding of man’s blood; and this they did, vouching and ^bcovenanting with God, that rather than shed the blood of their brethren they would ^cgive up their own lives; and rather than take away from a brother they would give unto him; and rather than spend their days in idleness they would labor abundantly with their hands.

19 And thus we see that, when these Lamanites were brought to ^abelieve and to know the truth, they were^bfirm, and would suffer even unto death rather than commit sin; and thus we see that they buried their weapons of peace, or they buried the weapons of war, for peace.

What I love about this passage is that it provides not only an example of finding personal peace, literally, but also figuratively. Brothers and Sisters, we need to bury our weapons of war, or in other words, we need to bury our sins. Take whatever sins you are dealing with and repent. Bury them in the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

The Savior taught us in John 14:27…

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth (or in other words not the peace that comes to everyone else’s mind), give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Elder Cook teaches us, “ We all long for peace. Peace is not just safety or lack of war, violence, conflict, and contention. Peace comes from knowing that the Savior knows who we are and knows that we have faith in Him, love Him, and keep His commandments, even and especially amid life’s devastating trials and tragedies. The Lord’s answer to the Prophet Joseph Smith in Liberty Jail brings solace to the heart: “My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; “And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high.”

Elder Cook continues... “Remember, “God is not the author of confusion, but [the author] of peace.” For those who reject God, there is no peace. We all participated in the councils of heaven that provided for moral agency, knowing that there would be mortal pain and even unspeakable tragedy because of the abuse of agency. We understood that this could leave us angry, bewildered, defenseless, and vulnerable. But we also knew that the Savior’s Atonement would overcome and compensate for all of the unfairness of mortal life and bring us peace. Elder Marion D. Hanks had a framed statement on his wall by Ugo Betti: “To believe in God is to know that all the rules will be fair, and that there will be wonderful surprises.”

Brothers and sisters, there will no longer be peace on the earth as defined by others until after the Savior returns. We know this. We have accepted this when we exercised our agency and came to the earth. However, that doesn’t mean that we cannot individually have peace. I think of those areas in Chicago that face unspeakable tragedy every week. Or areas right here in Omaha. These areas are within ward boundries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints. There is peace to be had there and there is peace to be had here. We just need to remember, at the worst of times, who can bring it to us.

We are fortunate enough to live in an area that has a Temple nearby. As we face conflict and turmoil in all its variety, it is the one sure place that we can find peace for any aspect of our lives. As we are faithful in keeping the commandments, we can prepare for, receive a temple recommend and attend the temple. I would encourage all of us to serve in all the areas the Temple has to offer. Whether it’s baptisms, initiatories, endowments or sealings. A peace will come to you like you have never before felt.

In closing, I would like to offer one last comforting example from the scriptures. It’s found in Helaman 3:29-32. It says…

Yea, we see that whosoever will may lay hold upon the word of God, which is quick and powerful, which shall divide asunder all the cunning and the snares and the wiles of the devil, and lead the man of Christ in a strait and narrow course across that everlasting gulf of misery which is prepared to engulf the wicked—

30 And land their souls, yea, their immortal souls, at the right hand of God in the kingdom of heaven, to sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and with Jacob, and with all our holy fathers, to go no more out.

31 And in this year there was continual rejoicing in the land of Zarahemla, and in all the regions round about, even in all the land which was possessed by the Nephites.

32 And it came to pass that there was peace and exceedingly great joy in the remainder of the forty and ninth year; yea, and also there was continual peace and great joy in the fiftieth year of the reign of the judges.

What caught my attention when reading these verses and what I hope we all can remember is the combination of words used in verse. “There was peace and great joy.” I don’t think that it was by coincidence that the people experienced both of these. In reality, they are intertwined. You can’t have one without the other.

I leave you my testimony that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is truth and it allows us to have peace wherever we are. And with that peace we can have great joy.

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen

Talk Given by Tim Hackleman, Sacrament Meeting, Papillion, Ne. USA 7/14/2013

Hey Dad!

First off. I now know to who I can give thanks for every good grade I got on a writing assignment in school. You should write a book. Your talk just made my week. I felt the spirit so strong reading it.

About my investigators. We have a baptism scheduled for this saturday. His name is ******(name withheld). He is 13 and for some reason reminds me alot of nathan. He´s tall and skinny like him and I click with him really well like I always have with Nathan. His mom is a member and has a very strong testimony but his dad isn´t a member. He believes in God and Jesus Christ but only has a testimony of the bible. He doesn´t go to any church because he doesn´t think any of them follow what Christ wants of His church. Which is AWESOME because our church does follow the Bible like none other and is set up exactly how Christ set up is Church in the New Testiment. The problem is he just wasn´t interested in listening. Here´s where its awesome though. We went to teach Jean Pool last week and his dad is usually always working but he came home during the lesson and decided to sit down and talk with us. We didn´t challenge him to anything. It was very casual but I felt like that is exactly what he needed. To get to know other members of the church simply as members before searching to know more. Anyway, it was totally awesome.

I sure do love you all! Keep doing what you do Dad. We couldn´t ask for a better father.

Your First Son,

Elder Hackleman

Letter between Elder Hackleman and his Mom

Elder Hackleman,

How are you doing? We went to Joel’s law firm on our way to Pocatello. Our whole family went in and talked with Joel for a while, as we were leaving I told the ladies at the front desk that we were your family. They giggled and said they had a feeling we were Jaren's family. It was so fun:)

So, Saturday was a pretty awesome day. The investigator that we have been teaching at our house got baptized and he had Seth baptize him. Nathan and Seth had both taken turns sitting in on the lessons with us. Talk about an awesome day. It was so cool. The sister missionary on the very right, "Sister Harrison" is from Saint George. She went to high school with Austin. Her first Sunday here was your farewell.

Also, I guess you heard Grant is in Hawaii having the time of his life. Surfing up a storm ha ha.

Nathan and Seth are having their second week of football camp. Tomorrow Seth goes on a two day, overnight football camp. The entire varsity team is being bussed to some military encampment. Seth said it will be like Remember the Titans. Some scouts who have been watching the teams at their football camps and have pre seasoned ranked Seth's offensive line as number one in the state. Kind of cool.

Nathan was snooping through some of your stuff and found an old pair of Nike shoes you left behind. They fit him perfectly and he is just about as happy as can be. You would think it was Christmas around here. Not much impresses him these days, but that sure made him happy. I have a feeling we are going to need to get you all new stuff when you get back ha ha.

I read an article in the Deseret News that D Todd Christofferson was in Peru for a big mission conference and organized the 100th stake. Did you get to go to the celebration? Did you know that there are only 4 countries in the world that have over 100 stakes? US, Mexico, Brazil, and now Peru.

Well, I sure love you. Keep up the good work!

Love Mom

Hey Momma!!!!

So first to address Elder Cristofferson. No I couldn´t go. There were SOO many people that wanted to go that it was literally invitation only. All the leadership positions from every ward in lima were invited and only 40 missionaries from every mission were invited. I don´t know if it was only 40 from the missions in lima or all of peru but anyway my comp and I couldn´t go. I was bumbed. but I heard about it. Apparently When Elder Christofferson spoke, it was as if a local peruvian spoke. His spanish was perfect and it wasn´t like he had to pause to think of how to say something. Everything just flowed beautifully. I was so jealous. I forgot to mention in my last letter about the earthquakes. I´ve totally felt them! I can claim feeling to 2 earthquakes on my mission so far! SWEET! I am so proud of Seth. and jealous. He performed his first baptism before me! That is awesome though. And number one offensive line in the state!!!!! it all hinges on the center. =) I don´t remember the email of Joel at the firm so can you just tell him and James, David, Trudi, Amery, Lyndsey, and Shannon thank you sooooooo much for the mission donation and that I miss and love them all dearly and can´t wait to come back to visit them all so they better all still be there when I get back!

I sure do love you mom! Hasta la proxima lunes!

Elder Hackleman

Seth's 1st Baptism!

Nathan and Seth traded off sitting in on the Missionary Lessons at our house

Seth had the privilege of baptizing Ryan on Saturday, July 13, 2013, Papillion, Nebraska, USA

Saturday, July 13, 2013

Family Vacation Without Our Missionary

Grant power washed the porch and the wicker furniture. Then we repainted the outdoor furniture.

Seth and Tim trimmed many trees and bushes. This one had taken over the sidewalk until it got a haircut.

Nathan shows one of the trees that got trimmed.

Seth trimmed the birm behind the fence along the canal bank.

Nathan and Grandpa Roger trimmed this tree.

The Hacklemans did yard work for a day as a birthday present for Grandma Karen

Hackleman's load up and leave Fort Collins to head to Idaho, next stop, Bear Lake.

Sunset at Bear Lake. Taken outside our Condo Window.

The Boat Dock was about a mile from the Condo, so we rode there in the back of the Truck

Nathan waiting for Uncle Jeff to take him tubing.

Amy does not like to get into cold water, but since it was 100 degrees, she got in ha ha.

Grant looking for shells

Nathan is wearing his brother Jaren's swim trunks. We kept taking second glances he looked so much like his brother.

Seth skiing!

The water was like glass, Grant loves goofing off.

Seth cooling off

Uncle Jeff teaches Grant to drive.

Beck Reunion


Becks take their volleyball very seriously. Uncle Jared and Seth figured out a way to make a perfect Volleyball Court.

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Blast From The Past


Elder Hackleman When He Was a Baby, Living in Savannah, Georgia

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Elder D. Todd Christofferson Created the 100th Stake in Peru

Elder D. Todd Christofferson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' Quorum of the Twelve created the 100th Stake in Peru on June 30.

Peru is the fourth country to have more than 100 LDS stakes, including the United States (1,504), Brazil (249), and Mexico (226). The LDS membership in Peru has almost doubled in the past 20 years with nearly 528,000 members today, according to the Daily Herald.

In his address to members in the Sunday service, Elder Christofferson talked about the importance of service, as well as church growth in Peru since its first stake was created in 1970. In addition to 100 stakes, Peru also has one temple in operation, with one announced and another under construction.

On the Saturday night before Elder Christofferson’s remarks, about 14,000 local members gathered at the University of San Marcos stadium where they celebrated with cultural dances, a parade of 300 former and current Mormon missionaries and a video about the church’s 50-year history in Peru, according to Mormon Newsroom.com. The event was the largest gathering of Latter-day Saint members in Peru.

While in Peru, Elder Christofferson also gave a live interview on Peru National Radio where he talked about a scheduled day of service (Dec. 7) to clean Peru’s coasts that will be open to members and anyone who wants to participate. He also met with a Peruvian congressman to discussed the importance of families in society.

Abby Stevens is a writer for the DeseretNews.com