Dear family and friends,
Jim: Last Sunday evening we had our weekly visits
with our two daughters and then just before we were ready to go to bed, I
noticed a text from President Wakolo that had come in 30 minutes before. There was some paper work that he needed for
one of the missionaries that was leaving for medical reasons the next
morning. So off to the office we went, got
that ready quickly, and then drove to the mission home and dropped it off. That made for a little later evening than we
had planned.
Monday:
Pat received help again today from Sister Green to do some of the typing for
departing letters to missionaries, parents, and stake presidents. Mine was a typical busy Monday with lots of
bills to pay and I analyzed the monthly financial statement to later review
with President, which we do after a staff meeting. I had
a few things to fix with journal entries to correct the errors. It was raining quite hard when we left the
office.
Tuesday:
We had a lighter day today--no real emergencies. Pat did some shredding and computer
work. We did our weekly grocery shopping
after work and a good phone visit with one of our sons. This evening was
laundry, fix dinner, do the dishes and fix lunch for tomorrow, exciting stuff
eh. I have been listening to Jesus
the Christ and have been enjoying that a great deal.
Wednesday:
So on the weather report this morning it said zero chance of rain, but the humidity
is 97%, glad it isn’t hot yet! In Utah I
don’t think it is ever 97% even when it is raining. In Arizona during the monsoon season it might
have gotten up to 30%. Today Pat got her
fiberglass cast off and put into a removable rigid splint for the next three
weeks. That will make showering a lot
easier. Her arm is healing fine, which
is a great blessing. Today I had three different
apartments that needed specific liability insurance documents prepared of them,
which is more work. Most can just use
the generic report. Pat did a few more
letters to parents and processed two new missionary applications for August
with Sister Hesses help.
Thursday: We attended our zone conference today at the
Little Rock Stake center where we attend church. It was a great meeting and we got to hear
from President Wakolo a couple of times.
The main focus was on how to improve in finding people to teach. He
shared some of his experiences from last week and his calling as a General Authority
Seventy. He has served as a mission
president now for nearly 3 years, was an Area Authority Seventy for 8 years,
and was a stake president before that.
He said he thought he understood church government and operations from
those experiences, but now he said that he really only understood a very little
as he had meetings with the First Presidency, the Quorum of the Twelve, and the
Presidency of the Seventy. I have
several goals I need to work on to improve myself. One thing I cannot do much about is my
hearing. I use hearing aids but when I
am in a cultural hall, with no microphone in use, I have a very difficult time
hearing. Ambient noise is amplified just
as much as speech and I miss a great deal.
In the resurrection, besides getting all the hairs back that I have
lost, I am looking forward to having good hearing. In our ward that we attend we have several deaf
members. I have always been touched as I
see people signing for them and the expression they put into their signing
which emphasizes the expressions they are conveying. I can appreciate somewhat the challenges they
face without hearing well.
Friday:
We had a semi-annual health checkup this morning and then a normal day at the
office. Pat has not had a lot of extra
things to do, so she hasn’t needed the extra typing assistance, beyond what
Sister Hess has provided from time to time since Tuesday. She had Sister Hess
help her send out three stake president’s letters for medical release
missionaries going home on Monday. It has been nice to have a lighter work load
this week.
Saturday: I had to do some grocery shopping and then go
into the office for a little while to deal with an apartment we need to open in
Memphis for a new couple that is coming the end of the month. We did some cleaning and laundry at the
apartment, Pat was able to help quite a little with that, even one-winging
it. At 5:30 we met Larry and his family
at “Larry’s Pizza” and had a fun time and lots of good pizza for dinner,
followed by coloring Easter eggs back at their house after dropping off three
more departure letter for sick missionaries leaving. I am so surprised how many missionaries leave
early due to medical reasons of one kind or another. Often we don’t know any
particulars. After the egg decorating
they had a little party for Pat.
Sunday:
A wonderful Easter Sabbath. We attended
Larry’s ward with them. The Primary kids
sang “Gethsemane” that we learned in 2015 when we taught Primary. It is such a special song and beautifully
done by the children. There were three
speakers, concluding with President Wakolo, who spoke about the atonement. What
he shared was in part that the atonement is all about love, love, love. Love of Heavenly Father for all of us, love
of the Savior for his Father to do all that was asked of him, and His love for
us. We show our love for them by loving
and caring for all our brothers and sisters here. We share the gospel with them, we do our
family history for them, and we serve wherever we are called. It is the atonement or torment. Casualness leads to casualty. President Wakolo no longer sees trials,
tribulations or weaknesses, but rather chooses to see them as training for him and
through the atonement are helping to perfect him. A step towards the Savior is a step away from
the world. When doctrine and principles
overcome personality we progress. The question
he left with us to consider was “what will the resurrection of Jesus Christ
really mean to us each day?”
In
Sunday School the teacher is a converted Muslim. Our lesson was on what we
gained from Joseph Smith. She shared that when she grew up she saw Allah as
God, but not as her Father. That was a very significant doctrine for her. And as I think about it, I never thought
about God as my Father either. When you
do, your relationship with Him changes, and he becomes more real to you and the
hope of your future life with him.
We went over to Larry’s about 5:30 and had a lovely dinner and evening with them. Later we talked to both of our daughters for our weekly visit. Where would we be without our modern communication means.
Our
thoughts and prayers are with you all,
Love,
Elder & Sister Hartzell
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