Dear
Family and Friends,
Last Monday was a “butterfly” day—I flitted
from one project to another. I did
finish a couple of them, but others are ongoing. Sister Wakolo came into the Office in the
afternoon for a little while to do some of her own work. Had some mosquito bites that kept me awake at
night until not only put the anti-itch medicine on them but also put a band aid
over them and that made a big difference!!
Heard that Julie had a successful surgery. Also learned that some cousins had a son who
committed suicide. Our hearts ache for
them!!
Tuesday no new Recommendations came
in. I typed up a bunch of Release
Certificates and the accompanying Stake President’s letters for the
missionaries leaving in October. Put
them in envelopes and got them in the mail.
We also got our flu shots to get ready for the coming winter.
Wednesday I did more letters in the
morning, then spent the afternoon trying to update several different
things. The Assistants came in at 4:00
to work on stuff. This week are
Specialized Zone Trainings, and each zone has its own day. So this week is Tuesday, Wed., and
Thursday. And next week will be Tuesday
and Wed. The Cahoons are gone on those
days inspecting cars and giving some training.
We are grateful the senior couples in each of those zones pitch in to
help. It goes so much faster that way,
especially with the heat and humidity that even in the mornings is almost unbearable! We went to Sam’s Club after work and bought a
lot of water and granola bars for the Office.
Did our laundry at home.
Thursday I worked on the Mission History,
put together a Departure “Mission Memories” binder for a sister who is leaving
early. They don’t tell us why and we don’t
ask, but I only had an hour to get it done and ready for the elders to take
with them to Memphis. I only went 10
minutes over! Had a couple of phone
calls from parents about different things and was able to help them out, plus
some emails. When I type up the stake
president letters, I “share” them with the parents and bishops, and often get
sweet responses of appreciation from them.
Said a final “goodbye” to Elder and Sister Cheney. They have been some of the workhorses of the
mission—taking lots of photos, inspecting apartments and teaching Apartment
Advisors how to do it correctly, helping with the dinners at the Mission Home,
etc. They were here for 18 months and
really made a difference. Now they go
home and visit their children and grandchildren. Exercised in the evening.
Friday, we did cleaning, worked on
more letters, Sister Wakolo came in and worked on some of her own projects, I
went and got pizza and root beer for the Office and it was fun to sit and eat
and talk and laugh at Elder Cahoon’s and others’ stories. I love the companionship of the other people
in the Office. I also did some filing
for Jim, and learned more about taking care of iPads. They are such an important part of the
mission now. Did some shopping on the
way home and fell asleep watching a movie.
Woke up, backed it up, finished it, and went to bed!
From Jim: This has been a very busy
week for me. Usually Monday is the
busiest day of the week, well this week I had three Mondays. There is a lot going on with apartments,
opening, closing, and renewing. On Wednesday I realized that half of the month
was gone and I still had 5 apartments that I hadn’t addressed yet that are due
for renewal by the 30th. I also receive
monthly a financial statement of operations for the mission and there were
several line items that we were well over budget, so I had to do an analysis
and make recommendations on some reallocation from other accounts that we are
doing very well in. I am really going to
miss the Cheneys, besides being great folks, they have been helping me keep up
with the apartment issues. There is no
one to replace them, so that means I get to take over the coordination with the
5 couples that do the inspections in the 5 stakes here, and the coordination
with the office elders to do the assignments.
Elder Cheney did some of the repairs on vacuum cleaners also, and they
did the inspections for one of the zones.
We have been waiting for another couple to be called from the Little
Rock Stake to replace the work done by the Cheneys. I just heard they called a couple so I will
need meet and train them. I cannot believe how quickly the weeks run by. We are looking forward to general conference
in a couple of weeks, really it has been 6 months already since the last,
wow. What a blessing it is to have the
scriptures we do, and to hear from living prophets and apostles that live
today. Their insight and “seership” is
such a blessing to us as we live in a very troubled world with shifting values
and leaders with questionable values.
Saturday was the usual cleaning,
budgeting, taking care of a potted mum we bought for Fall, going to a soccer
game for Gary, exercising, having Holly and the kids over for dinner (they
picked up Chick-fil-A on their way), and then swimming in our apartment
pool. We all had such a good time!!
Today was a wonderful Sabbath Day
and we got to attend Larry and Holly’s ward and watch the Primary program. It was great and we are so proud of our
grandchildren! Enjoyed the other
meetings, too. Had a good discussion in
RS about honesty and being kind. Lots of
different examples and experiences.
There were many different situations that required the guidance of the Holy
Ghost in how to handle them. So grateful
we have the gift of the Holy Ghost in our lives.
Hope you all have a wonderful week!
Love, Elder & Sister Hartzell
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