Portrait of a Hero - Hazel

A woman legally blind reading on the average of 6 books a month?...That's my visiting teacher Hazel!  Once a month Hazel and Belinda come and visit me to see how I'm doing and to share a gospel message.  We visit, laugh, and share our testimonies!  

Today's HERO is Hazel!  She was born with Optic Atrophy .  In Hazel's own humorous terminology, "I was born with Senior citizen eyes."  From the age of 6-17 she lived at a blind school 3 hours away from her home.  Coming home on weekends to enjoy family life with her Father, Mother, and 5 brothers! 

At school she learned Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic.  At home she learned how to punt a football, ride a horse and Scouting!  As you can tell Hazel's brothers had a big influence on her.  Her brothers taught her to love football and she is a big BYU  and Utah State football fan!  Jokingly she say's that she cheers for both teams unless they play against each other...then she admits to cheering for BYU!

Hazel is not one to sit around and wait for things to happen. Teaching herself to play the organ by ear is a great accomplishment of hers!  Laughing, she says the closest she's ever gotten to driving a car was in the bumper cars at the local amusement park.  There she could drive to her hearts content and never had to worry about who she bumped into! Also, while serving a 1 year mission for the LDS church, in another state, she came across a Book of Mormon written in Vietnamese.  She said she could read the first verse without any problems at all.  Then snickering, she says everyone has the first verse in the Book of Mormon memorized!  Her sense of humor keeps everyone on their toes at our church.

It doesn't take long for people to realize her strong testimony of the Savior and the Prophet Joseph Smith.  Pretty soon you come to know her deep love for our country and 'the freedoms we do enjoy'; and how she appreciates those men and women who defend our countries freedoms.  Being grateful to have been born in America is a blessing she understands and appreciates. Another virtue Hazel possesses is a strong love for her family and the youth.  Never marrying, her 5 brothers, sisters-in-law, 16 nieces and nephews, and 45 great nieces and nephews keep her busy, as she knows where they all are and what they are doing.


Hazel shows the same interest in the youth that live in our Ward (congregation).  Whenever I see her, she asks about my older kids and what's going on in their lives. If you want to know what's going on with our youth, Hazel could probably tell you!

For those of you who are familiar with the Book of Mormon, you'll love to hear that Hazel has decided that in the millennium, she's going to marry one of Helamans Stripling Warriors! (Helaman was a Nephite Captain living in the Americas about 64 BC that led 2000 young men into battle many times but because of their faith, none of them were killed).


Next week Hazel will celebrate her 58th birthday.  She has used her years well in living a life that has uplifted the weak and brought laughter to the hearts of many!  




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