He came to practice law and to head the local farmers cooperative at the urging of Dixie College president Joseph A. Nicholes.

In 1933 Hafen was serving as a member of the St. George Stake presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The cooperative that Hafen came to run in St. George failed after he was there about a year, and never paid him his promised salary.

This group pooled the small amount of capital available in St. George to import fertilizers and sell it to farmers to boost crop output.

This group worked to raise money in case Dixie faced a later crisis of funding.

He served a total of 12 years as a member of the Utah State Senate, first elected in 1952.

In 1953 he worked closely with Ernest L. Wilkinson to draft the legislative bills to provide for the return of Dixie, Weber and Snow College to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.