Dear
Family and Friends,
Last Sunday in church Brother
Bellarose was confirmed. In the evening
we enjoyed good visits with Christi and her family, and with Shelley. They are all doing well.
Monday I forwarded the President’s
emails to the Seniors as I do every Monday.
I updated the 4-year address list for the missionaries, then started a
new 4-year address list that includes a column for email addresses. Those have not been regularly included in the
past. This took me time over 4 days,
finally finishing up on Friday. Also on
Monday we had missionaries in and out of the Office all morning, there for
P-day and emailing their families. After
work, we came home, grabbed the chicken salad we had made Sunday evening, and
went over to the theater room at the club house. Jim: This was a really busy day, three
compromised or lost MSF cards by 10am and then lots of bills to pay. The Sorensens and Hesses brought their salads
to share, too, and we also brought snacks to eat afterwards during the
movie. The salads were all delicious,
and we had a great time watching an old Disney movie called, “The North Avenue Irregulars.” It was really cute and funny! And we snacked on popcorn, carmel corn, and
M&M’s. It was a great FHE.
Tuesday continued work on the 4-year
address list, plus working on other emails and phone calls that came in. Elder and Sister Hess came in and worked all
day. The Sorensens left at 1:00 to drive
to Memphis, go to the temple, and be ready for Zone Conference over there on
Wednesday. We stayed at the Office until
6:00, and were also able to enjoy phone visits with Larry and Brent. We drove down to Little Rock Ward for the RS
Birthday dinner party and celebration.
We had Hawaiian Haystacks (that were delicious), and then shared
testimonies of what Relief Society meant to several of the sisters. I have a strong testimony of RS. It means so much to me. I have learned and shared so many things that
have made a difference in my life. I am
so grateful the Lord gave us this wonderful organization. Jim drove me there and waited for me, eating
a sandwich he had fixed. I wished I
could have shared the dinner with him, but he wouldn’t come in.
Wednesday was real quiet. It was also cold outside, only 30 degrees
this morning. Both the Sorensens and
Hesses were at the Zone Conf in Memphis, so we were in the Office alone. The Office Elders came in a couple of times,
and the Spanish Zone had a Zone Meeting—it’s first! They loved being together and doing their
role-plays in Spanish. We got two new
Missionary Recommendations in—one for May and one for June—so I processed those
which took me all day because I also did their first letters. Went shopping after work, made and ate
dinner, did three loads of laundry, Jim washed the dishes and ironed his
shirts, and watched TV and went to bed.
Thursday was our Arkansas Zone
Conference. Lots of missionaries in the
building from the three zones. We went
all day and loved the presentations and talks and activities. There was such a beautiful Spirit there. We had a great presentation from the two
mental health specialists who help the missionaries in some of their
struggles. They talked about
Companionship Relations and how to get along better and make changes in how
they talk to each other and to themselves.
One phrase we should never use is “makes me” as in “that makes me be
angry,” or “you make me upset.” Instead
we should use the phrase “I feel.” It’s
also good to do a Companionship Inventory every week, not only on your mission
but in your marriages. We had a
delicious BBQ Beef lunch (there were about 140 people there), and also a
presentation of yellow roses was given to Sister Thompson, our Mission Nurse. She has just been released from her mission,
and now Elder Hess is fully in charge as Mission Nurse. The meetings ended at 3:45 with the final
testimonies of those missionaries who are going home in two weeks. Very sad and sweet!! Then for an hour we had lots of missionaries
in and out of the Office to ask questions and pick up media. It was chaotic! Sister Hugentobler came for her last
visit. She left on Saturday to drive
with her family back to her home in Moab, Utah.
Sorry to see her go!! Came home,
made and ate Chicken Curry for dinner, chopped up two heads of cabbage and two
onions for cooking on Friday.
Friday was St. Patrick’s Day, and my
sister, Lois’s birthday. It was so
quiet. All the calls went to the
Sorensens. I sent out Letter 2 to the
missionaries whose Recommends I just processed, then spent the rest of the day
on the new 4-year address list and got it done by 4:45!! Hooray!!
Now I just need to check it and print it up and put them in the “Mission
Memories” binders. Came home and sautéed
the cabbage and onions, then went to the North Little Rock building for an
Irish dinner. We thought we might just
drop off the food and go to Gary’s soccer game, but I was too worried about the
rain that was supposed to come. The
dinner was a lot of fun—good food and entertainment (quite a few good singers,
pianists, and guitar players in the ward) and silly Irish jokes and
activities. Lots of fun! We helped clean up after and went home and
collapsed!!
Saturday--it warmed up nicely the
latter part of the week and was in the mid-70s today. We exercised, dusted and vacuumed, read and
deleted lots of emails that we were behind on, recorded receipts, ate lunch,
then changed and went over the new Broadway Street Bridge (finished a month
ahead of schedule!), and then to the Big Dam Bridge
where we took a nice walk
to the top to look over the Murray Lock, Dam, and Arkansas River.
Then we did a fast walk down and back to the
car, grabbed a quick bite at Wendy’s, then met Larry and his family at the
theater to see “Beauty and the Beast.”
It was wonderful!! They had some
new songs, plus the usual ones, and it was so beautiful!! Loved it!!
I laughed in parts and cried in others. (I know, I’m an old softie!) Came home, Jim did the dishes, and we watched
a western movie.
Today is Sunday. The weather is warming up more and we are
enjoying it very much. We had a quiet
morning, watched “Music and the Spoken Word,” went to church and enjoyed the
talks and lessons, drove home, took naps, and watched a BYU Devotional where
President and Sister Nelson gave talks.
It has been a lovely day!
Some quotes to share from the
missionaries: “If you always do what you
always did, you will always get what you always got.”
“This week we were able to visit a
member. He has not been able to make it
to church in a few years. We have been
over regularly to visit, share a spiritual thought, and assist him in making
plans to return to church. Recently he
was promoted to Sergeant and got his weekends off. Well, he came to church yesterday! He was really excited! And in priesthood he shared his experience
with the brethren. He said that since
the missionaries have visited him constantly, he has felt like he wasn’t
forgotten and that he was still loved, and that gave him the motivation
necessary to keep looking for ways to get back to church! Now he plans on coming every Sunday! We are really excited!!”
We love you and pray you are all
doing well,
Elder & Sister Hartzell
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