The Fourth of July and a Capital Weekend

Dear Family & Friends,

            Last Sunday evening we went to dinner at another Senior missionary couple’s apartment and had Hawaiian Haystacks.  Yummy!!  Had fun Facetiming with a couple of our children and grandchildren.   

Our apartment complex really decorates nice for the holidays.  It is all decorated for the 4th!!

Our apartment looks better in the summer with the banner.

The view out our window of the back of the clubhouse.
Monday was a fun 4^th of July.  We were happy to celebrate the birth of our Nation and the freedoms we enjoy compared to much of the world.  We are thankful for that freedom to provide an environment that the Gospel could be restored.  We are thankful for those who have preserved our freedom in the things they did or in their service to provide and protect.  

We started off with a great pancake breakfast at the Little Rock Ward pavilion—lots of people and good food!  Had a pretty quiet afternoon, listened to a patriotic talk by Elder Christofferson about our freedom, how it is under attack, and how we need to protect it by our civic duties, and even took naps.  Went for a drive on our way to Conway where we ate a good barbecue dinner with Brother and Sister Green and two other couples who were their friends in their ward.  He is adjusting to being a new Patriarch and learning his responsibilities.  We had a great visit and ate well (too well!!)!!  Then we went to watch the fireworks for the City of Maumelle at a Senior Couple’s whose apartment backs up to the lake where the fireworks were set off.  It was lots of fun!!

This is a beautiful Pentacostal church all decorated with flags.  They do this every patriotic holiday.  You can see the flags even down the road where the parking lot is.

 Tuesday received 5 new missionary recommends in Outlook, all were sisters, 4 coming in August and one in November.  Also worked on finishing up a Departing Binder for a missionary who left yesterday. 

            Wednesday I worked on a project for Pres. and Sister Wakolo, who wanted information on returned missionaries who had gotten married.  They want to send the new couples wedding gifts and so I had fun tracking them down and talking with their parents who were so happy for their child.  Went to dinner at the Whole Hog—a wonderful barbecue restaurant here in North Little Rock (but they have them all over).  Sure was good!!  Did the laundry and watched a sweet movie on BYUTV.  Jim: One of the additional challenges of working with young missionaries is the lack of practical experience with keeping up with the needs of an apartment. We had one companionship that apparently had a toilet leaking, and rather than do anything about it they just ignored the water running that they could hear.  I got the water bill last week--$600 for using 74,000 gallons of water in one month.  I eventually had the water company go and shut off the water until they got around to having the apartment maintenance man fix it.  That did initiate some action on their part.

            Thursday I spent the whole day creating and mailing letters to the 20 missionaries who will be coming in August, and another to their parents.  Lots of information to be shared.

            Friday I updated charts and the calendar to make sure things were not forgotten.  Did more phoning.  Left the office at 5:30 to go to a Mexican restaurant nearby for dinner, then did the shopping for the week.  Came home and did some of the cleaning which we finished on Saturday. 

            Saturday was fun!  We drove to the Arkansas State Capital building and it was actually pleasant outside, so we walked around the grounds first looking at different memorials.  Then we toured the building.  It was very similar to the Utah State Capital, so was familiar, but its exhibits were all about Arkansas.  What a beautiful state with some really nice state parks and an interesting history.  In the Civil War, most Arkansans fought for the south, but maybe a tenth fought for the north.  Then we went to a small restaurant downtown for lunch, then took a cable car tour of down town Little Rock and North Little Rock.  Came home, did more cleaning, and exercised, and cleaned up and relaxed.

Memorial to Firemen

The Little Rock Nine--brave young people

Jim being carried away by an Eagle

Memorial for all the Arkansas servicemen

The Arkansas State Capital

The chandelier in the center dome

              Also, got word that two of our sister missionaries were in a car accident and are in quite a bit of pain.  They went to the emergency room to be checked over and were released to go home and recover there.  So glad they did not need to be hospitalized for very long.  Pres. and Sister Wakolo were there with them, so that was good.  They are in our prayers, as are all the missionaries.

            Today church was really nice and we picked up Michelle and her grandson that we have been trying to friendship.  She is coming back to the church after many years and much life experience.  We are glad to help her out. She has started to take the lessons and attend church again on a regular basis.

            Love to you all,

            Elder & Sister Hartzell