Almost Halloween

Dear Family and Friends,

            Last Monday didn’t start out too good.  I woke up feeling sick—no fever and nothing serious, but I knew I didn’t feel well enough to go to the Office, so I stayed home and rested all day, eating mostly broth and drinking 7-Up (my favorite drink when I don’t feel good).  I watched TV, read, took several naps, and just took it easy.  When Jim got home, we had a nice visit with Brent and enjoyed that.  Slept good that night.

            Tuesday I felt fine again and went into the Office.  Jim: Yesterday the phones and internet were down most of the day, but they made up for it today.  Monday came on Tuesday this week.  I had taken 105 pictures last Friday of the mission home and yard and needed to send them to Salt Lake.  It took quite a while to learn how to do that as a Zip file and using a special program the Church uses for large file transfers.  We cannot use third party software, like Dropbox for transferring files.   Pat: I had a lot of catch-up to do, mostly taking care of emails, and also sending out letters to the stake presidents of the missionaries going home the end of November.  It’s great printing up their Certificates of Completion to put in the envelopes that their stake presidents will present to them after they get home.  President and Sister Wakolo came in for a couple of hours and it was nice to visit with them.  The Greens were in the Office on Monday and Tuesday, getting stuff done.  And Sister Hugentobler is feeling better all the time.

            Wednesday Jim was busy with Brother Stewart from the Missionary Department in Salt Lake City.  His assignment is to visit all the missions in a certain area and see how things are going with the Finance, Housing, Vehicle Inspection areas, and meet with the mission president.  They visit each mission once during each Mission Presidents tour.  Jim: I have been doing most things correctly, but had a few that I need to improve on. Pat: I worked on answering the phone and taking media orders that Sister H was busy filling.  There were missionaries coming and going all afternoon, bringing in old 4 mission cars and getting 4 new ones to drive away.  The Office Elders were there taking care of stuff (I got to see the shed by our chapel that they have organizing—it looks terrific!!), and the Assistants were there setting up the interview schedule for President Wakolo.  He will be interviewing every Transfer now, instead of just once a quarter.  We went to Sam’s Club after to pick up food for Thursday, came home and did laundry.

            Thursday was MLC—Mission Leadership Conference—where the Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders meet and talk about what the missionaries need to be doing and what the focus of the mission should be.  Jim and I went and picked up Chick-fil-A chicken strips and served them lunch with salad, chips, grapes, and cookies and cupcakes.  We also had a new Senior couple arrive—the Harrises.  This is their 4^th mission—one to a YSA ward, one to Italy, one in their local mission office for a year, and now hear.  They will do MLS.  They are real excited to be here and ready to go to work!  Worked on a beta-testing for IMOS using a new set-up for their correspondence module.  So far I have found quite a few bugs, but hope in the end I will be able to do all my letters through their mail merge instead of what I am doing now—typing in the correct information in the correct place.  We stayed until after 6 pm so Jim could try and get somewhat caught up after yesterday’s visit.  Came home, ate dinner, and I did another batch of laundry while Jim ironed shirts.

            Friday we cleaned for a couple of hours, worked on the IMOS testing, went to the bread store, worked on some of the missionaries medical bills (either faxing copies to Mission Medical or talking to Mission Medical about what else needs to be done.)  We stayed until 6:15, then drove to the Otter Creek building where the Little Rock Ward meets and went to their Fall Social.  We had Nachos and all the trimmings for dinner, then a fun costume parade for the kids, and lots of games for them to play.  Went home and relaxed!!

            Saturday Gary and Bram had their last two soccer games, and we went to the first of each (Gary’s team lost theirs 3-1, and Bram’s won theirs 1-0), then to the grocery store, got gas, headed home to clean our bathrooms and the kitchen floor, then took naps, I went to get a haircut, then exercised, I cut Jim’s hair, ate dinner, watched TV, and had a good night’s sleep.

                Today we are fasting for one of my nephew’s grandchildren who has heart surgery this coming week.  We pray that all will go well and it will be successful.  We took Michelle and Caleb to church and had good meetings.  Jim challenged Caleb, who just turned 9, to think about preparing himself for baptism by sitting in on the lessons his grandma has with the sister missionaries (he is not a member nor is his mother, just his grandma).  He loves church and Primary and is a real good kid!  Jim: In sacrament meeting at the conclusion of one of the talks, Bishop Houston shared the following quote from Jerry Rice, the football player: “Today I will do what others won't, so tomorrow I can accomplish what others can't”.  I think this goes along well with Elder Oaks’ talk a few years ago about Good, Better, Best.  If we want the best results, then we are going to have to do what it takes to receive those best results, putting forth our best effort. Came home, read, and napped, and look forward to visiting with Christi and Shelley this evening.

            A quote from one of the letters to the mission president that he shared in his Monday email:  "'True discipleship happens more outside of our callings than inside our callings, meaning that as a member of the church you minister to others by being a good member rather than ministering because you have a particular calling.’”

            Love to you all,

            Elder & Sister Hartzell

Gary and Grandad

Bram with Grandma & Grandad

Photos

Elders Boggess and Linstrom--our Office Elders

Bram at the cakewalk (blue shirt and white headband)

Larry and Harper at the cake walk

Harper and the cookies she won at the cake walk

Gary playing soccer (in black and green with pink socks)

Cool October

Dear Family and Friends,

            Monday I spent several hours on Leadership Letters—congratulating those missionaries who have new assignments as either District Leaders or Trainers (some were both).  I also email copies to their parents, who are so appreciative about knowing about the new responsibilities given to their children.  Also had some iPad issues I had to call SLC about. 

            Tuesday I worked on both the 2016 calendar that needed some changes, and the 2017 calendar.  I also helped with the mail.  We had Staff Meeting in the afternoon and talked over some of the stuff that is coming up.  Exercised and ate dinner and watched TV.

            Wednesday I spent a long time requesting the missionary travel for those missionaries leaving in January.  It is a pretty big group and I have to be careful to check several things and be sure that it is all correct.  I also worked on letter templates that needed updating, took a lot of orders for media as Sister H has a real croaky cough and can’t talk very well.  She ended up leaving early on Monday and Wednesday, and didn’t come in on Thursday and Friday.  She did go to Urgent Care and found out she has pneumonia!!  So now she is on an antibiotic and trying to recover and get better.  We left early on Wed. to go east to Brinkley, about half way to Memphis, to meet some young sisters who needed to go to Conway.  The two Senior Sisters who serve in Memphis brought them to meet us.  After we took them to Conway, a 2 hour trip, we did our grocery shopping and went home and watched TV.

            Thursday I did letters to the November Departing Missionaries and their parents.  Had information to give them.  I also took lots of media orders (missionaries need more Books of Mormon, Bibles, pamphlets, pass-along cards, etc.), took care of the mail, vacuumed the Office floor and collected the garbage, and had a nice phone visit with my sister Lois.  Exercised in the evening and did the laundry.

            Friday we cleaned the bathrooms and dusted and vacuumed.  I sent letters to the parents of those missionaries who are leaving in February.  I have to order their travel 10 weeks before they leave, so I have to send out the forms to get them back before I need them.  I helped Jim with a project, and took care of the mail.  We left the Office at 2:00 to go to the Mission Home and take photos of the yards, outside of the house, and all the rooms inside the house.  We will have to download them on Monday and send them to SLC to look at.  This is in preparation of a new mission president who will come next July 1.  They want to see if updating needs to be done.  It took about an hour, then we went to Cheddars Scratch Kitchen (because all their food is made fresh from scratch) and enjoyed a delicious dinner.  Then we went to the Fall Carnival at Bram’s and Harper’s elementary school and had a fun time there!!  Then to Larry’s and Holly’s to watch a movie picked out by Bram (Star Wars—The Force Awakens, of course!!). 

            Saturday we exercised, dusted and vacuumed, and I watch movies on Feelin’ while Jim prepared a talk for Sacrament meeting today.  At 2:30 we drove to Maumelle to watch Gary’s soccer game.  He played well and assisted in a couple of scores and his team won 6-1!!  Then we went to the church to print up Jim’s talk, came home and exercised, ate dinner, and watched TV.

            Today was lovely.  We picked up Michelle and Caleb and went to church.  Jim gave a wonderful talk and we enjoyed our classes.  The two Sacrament meeting talks and the RS/Priesthood lessons all seemed to go together about praying, reading the scriptures, and serving to give a person a good foundation in the Gospel. Jim: We too had a good discussion in Priesthood and were asked what is the difference between believing and knowing?  I have since thought of the example from 1 Nephi about interpretation of Lehi’s dream of the tree of life in Ch 15.  Laman and Lemuel are arguing about the analogy of the olive tree, and Nephi says to them “have ye enquired of the Lord?  They respond “We have not, for the Lord maketh no such thing know unto us.” Nephi responds by saying “If ye will not harden your hearts, and ask me [the Lord] in faith, believing that ye shall receive, with diligence in keeping my commandments, surely these things shall be made know unto you.”  We can know by the power of the Holy Ghost that something is true if we are keeping the commandments and are asking.  If we don’t seek, knock, study, ponder and pray then we will not know. To gain a knowledge it takes righteous action.

            The weather has turned cooler, had rain on Thursday morning, but other than that it has been sunny and nice.  Sure do love it!!

            Quote from a missionary:  “This week we got anti-ed (opposed) harder than any other single week of my mission.  We decided to respond with unrelenting Christ-like love.  The results were interesting.  Although none of the people changed their viewpoint toward the church, you could see their hearts being softened.  When someone starts rattling off all the reasons they hate your church, and you reply with ‘you have a lovely home!’ they typically do not know how to respond.  In today’s world it’s so rare to be kind to someone that is being rude to you.  Following the Savior’s teaching of ‘love thine enemies’ has so much power in it.”

            Love to you all,

            Elder and Sister Hartzell

October Transfer Week

Dear Family and Friends,

            Last Sunday was perfect weather—no humidity, temps in the 70’s, clear skies!!  What a great start to the week.  We attended Larry and Holly’s ward to hear our grandson Gary give his first Sacrament meeting talk.  He did well, looked at people, didn’t mumble, showed confidence and bore a sweet testimony.  And a bonus was being able to listen to Bram’s talk in Primary, plus the Primary children sang “The Army of Helaman” to us!!  What a great day!!  Took good naps in the afternoon, cooked my first Pulled Pork and it turned out delicious!!  We had the Office Elders, Elder Boggess and Elder Lindstrom, and Sister Hugentobler over for dinner.  It was such a nice time!! 

            Monday we had missionaries around the building all day for P-day, while the missionaries who are going home Tuesday and the missionaries with birthdays in October went to the temple in Memphis, 2 ½ hours away.  I worked on the 2017 calendar, took care of emails, helped with a few problems, and went over various stuff.  We left for the Mission Home at 4:30 to help get dinner on the table, ate a delicious dinner, and then stayed to clean up.  Sister Wakolo has decided to use the women who clean and care for the Mission Home to also cook for the big dinners this week, so we only helped Monday evening. 

            Tuesday Jim and I spent the first 1 ½ hours in his office doing the input of all the Transfers.  The Office Elders changed the Transfer Board around in President’s Office, and the mailboxes for Sister Hugentobler.  They also had to put together the new bikes that came for the new missionaries.  I worked on emails, faxed in medical bills to SLC, went to Sam’s Club with Sister Green, worked on the Calendar some more, etc. Jim had 22 bills to pay today, and lots of housing issues all week.

            Wednesday we drove straight to the Rodney Parham for the Training of the new missionaries.  I talked to them about how to handle paperwork, referrals, baptism records,and collected passports to be stored in Jim’s Office.  There were no more changes so we submitted the Transfers to IMOS and the changes took effect within the hour.  We had 12 missionaries leave and 15 come in.  We brought the camera to the Office and I downloaded the photos into the computer, reviewed and eliminated any bad ones, labeled the ones I kept, and started emailing them home to the families of the new missionaries.  That took the rest of my day!  The local stake president’s wife brought in sandwiches and fruit for us to eat for lunch.  It was delicious and much appreciated!!  Jim and I did our grocery shopping on the way home and rested in the evening.

            Thursday I processed the two new missionary recommendations I had received on Tuesday, then printed up and sent out a number of different reports.  Then emailed out the photos of the departing missionaries, made a few changes in IMOS, worked on various Office stuff.  Went home and exercised, then TV and bed.

            Friday was much cooler, and rained Thursday night and Friday morning.  I brought my desk calendar up to date, went through the paperwork of the new missionaries—there were several different kinds of things they had to fill out and I had to distribute them to the correct desk.  President and Sister Wakolo came in for 2 hours and got some work and some visiting done.  It’s always nice to have them around.  Then I had to input new email addresses for the missionaries and their parents, and delete the ones of those who just went home.  That is always hard to do! Jim took advantage of having President there and went over the 2017 budget and some other apartment issues. He uses a spreadsheet to keep track of all the details of setting up or closing apartments.  Ate dinner out, came home and changed into warmer clothes, watched TV including the 1^st half of the BYU-Mississippi State game (which we ended up winning—Hooray!!), and went to bed.

            Saturday went to watch Gary’s soccer game but Bram’s team didn’t play.  Came home and cleaned, worked on a project on the computer, took naps, exercised, cleaned up, ate leftovers for dinner, and went to see the movie, “Deepwater Horizon.”  It is a disaster flic, very well done and intense.  We really enjoyed it!

            Gradually the cooler weather is coming and going, but not staying yet.  I need to get out some of my warmer fall clothing. 

            From Jim: I found a great quote in the Institute manual referencing Mosiah 27: 22-24, from Theodore M. Burton, a Seventy, who was asked “’Isn’t it depressing to have to review the sins and transgressions of people involved in such difficulties?’ It would be if I were looking for sins and transgressions. But I am working with people who are repenting. These are sons and daughter of God who have made mistakes, some of them very serious. But they are not sinners. They were sinners in the past but have learned through bitter experience the heartbreak that results from disobedience to God’s laws. Now they are no longer sinners. They are God’s repentant children who want to come back to Him and are striving to do so.“  That is the way God looked at Alma the younger, and it gives me a lot of hope that if I will repent of all the mistakes I make, that He will look at me that way too, one who wants to repent and be better and am still in the process of trying.”

            Hope you are all doing well.  Our love to you—

            Elder and Sister Hartzell

Cooler Weather

Dear Family and Friends,

            Filled with the wonderful spirit of Conference, we had a pretty good week.  Of course, we missed the Cahoons and worried about them as they were headed to a reunion in Florida, but checked on them on Friday and they said they were okay and just enduring a lot of wind and things being shut down.  It sounds like they survived the hurricane okay.  We had no effects here at all.

            It has been nice having the Greens back in the Office, and they seem to be adjusting just fine to their old positions.  Sister H left on Wed. afternoon for a grandson’s wedding in Utah, and she had a wonderful trip and enjoyed the wedding in the Payson Temple!!!  Now she can see why we love it so much—she was very impressed and loved the Spirit there!!

            Monday I worked on sending out letters to missionaries who will be coming in November, forwarding emails of baptism photos to the sister who does our newsletter, and it’s fun to save these photos to the computer.  Lots of emails to read and respond to, including the one the President sends out every Monday.  This one included the lists of all the leaders being released and the new ones being called. 

            Tuesday I started printing up the Letters to the President of each of the Departing Missionaries.  They take about ½ hour to print up each one and we have 12 going home.  As they each print up, I finish putting their Missionary Memories Binder together.  It’s wonderful to look at the wonderful mission they have had summed up in letters and callings they have had. 

            Wednesday worked on the MM binders and more letters, worked on the 2017 Calendar—there is a lot to do for this and I try to do a little every day.  Sister H left at noon, I processed the 3 missionary recommend-dations we received on Tuesday, inputted the Leadership Transfers to get ready to submit tomorrow, went out to dinner with the Greens and had a great time visiting with them.  Did our weekly shopping and the laundry.

            Thursday there were a lot of missionaries who came into the Office in the morning—the new Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders who were being transferred to their new areas.  So proud of these wonderful missionaries!!  We submitted the final list to IMOS, and I sent out congratulation letters to them with email copies going to their parents, bishops, and stake presidents.  I get wonderful emails back from the parents thanking me for sharing that new assignment with them, and occasionally from a stake president or bishop who is not surprised at all and very proud of the young men and women who come from their ward/stake.  I finished the Mission Memories, got some help with ordering iPads from SLC as my order was not going through.  I love having people in Salt Lake available at any time to help with computers, IMOS, phones, etc., etc.!!  Wish I could use them at home!!!

            Friday was cleaning day at the church office—Jim cleaning the men’s restroom and vacuuming, me doing the women’s restroom and dusting.  It takes about 1 ½ hours, and then we start our office work for the day.  I forwarded the finished September Leader out to all the missionaries and their parents, printed up baptismal photos to go on our boards, printed up the programs for the Departing Missionaries Monday night and the Arriving Missionaries Tuesday night, worked on the 2017 Calendar and updated my own desk calendar for October.  The Assistants were in the Office Thursday afternoon and all day Friday doing all the Transfers lists.  It is fun to have Elder Hooker, Elder Hunt, and now Elder James around.  This is Elder Hooker’s last days as an Assistant, and Elder James’ first days.  Fun to see the transition!!  We visited during lunch and Jim told his conversion story and I told our courtship story.  We do have fun stories to tell!!  Went home to eat Taco salad and watch TV.

            Saturday we exercised, cleaned, went to watch Gary’s and Bram’s soccer games (they both did well and either tied or won their games).  We are glad Gary’s feet are feeling better.  We loved watching the BYU/Michigan State game on TV, and also watched the Ohio State/Indiana game that was on at the same time.  Both of our teams won so we were feeling pretty proud of ourselves and our teams!!  Got food at Walmart, cleaned up, watched TV, picked up Sister H at the airport and heard all about her fun trip and the Payson Temple.  Made us homesick!!  More TV and bed!!

            This is Elder Hartzell:  I had a very busy week of dealing with various apartment issues, mostly getting two new ones set up for next week.  Today I am thankful for many things. For technology, whether here or back home we can keep up with our beautiful children and grandchildren and some of our friends through social media and see the fun things they are doing with their lives.   We have telephones we carry in our pockets that we can speak and even see them on. My mother grew up on a farm in Iowa and talked about what it was like when they received their first telephone that hung on the wall.  We have access to the work of God from our prophets as they speak to us from across the world.  We live here in the United States and still have the right to worship as we choose.  In Sunday School today our teacher taught from Helaman 13-16 with the title of the lesson “Repent and Return unto the Lord”. She began the lesson by talking about the difference that may exist between our beliefs and our behavior.  If we are to return to the Lord we need to use repentance to move our behavior up to our level of beliefs.  So many in the world are using their rationalization to lower their beliefs to the level of their behavior.  We see too much of this in our society and around the world.  Jesus Christ and his restored gospel is the only light and path that will lead to happiness for now and in the future.  We often cannot control our environment, but we can control how we react to it.  The love of God will overcome all the evil, but for now we must endure the trials we face with faith and love and hope in that grand day that will come, and react to our circumstances as we can imagine the Savior would act.  .

            Great week and much cooler weather—Hooray!!

            Love,

            Elder and Sister Hartzell

            

Conference Weekend!!

Dear Family and Friends,

Because I had a cold last weekend, I wanted to stay home on Monday, but had too much I had to get done.  So I didn’t interact much with everyone and give “elbow bumps” to the missionaries as they came in.  Still sucked on the Coldeze and seem to be getting over the symptoms.  Dear Sister Hugentobler is still quite sick so she did not come in and stayed home both Sunday and Monday to rest and recuperate.  I worked on letters, including wedding letters to Returned Missionaries (RM’s) that include a picture drawn by one of our RM’s that have been duplicated on nice photo paper to give as wedding gifts.  I have to track down the address that we need to mail them to, plus the name of the person they are marrying.  Sister Wakolo gives me the invitations that come to her, but others we find out by Sister Cahoon checking Facebook.  I also worked on my desk calendar.  Jim and I left the Office about 4:50 to drive to west Little Rock.  We had dinner at a nice Asian restaurant there, then attending the One-night-only showing of “Singing With Angels.”  It is a beautiful movie and we both were teary-eyed the last ½ hour of the film.  We were able to have a good visit with Brent and he told us about the incredible weekend they had had—he got a new calling—from being Assistant Stake Executive Secretary to being Stake Executive Secretary, and their stake was totally realigned with new ward boundaries and new bishoprics.  So he has so many phone calls to make and appointments to set up—he feels overwhelmed but also excited to help with all the changes that need to be made.  We are very proud of him and know that he is capable and hard-working.  Finished the day with listening to the end of the Presidential debate.  It was a let-down after the wonderful movie about the Mormon Tabernacle Choir!!

Tuesday I felt a lot better, but kept sucking on the Coldeze, just not as often.  The weather has finally cooled off and is now wonderful—highs in the 80’s and lows in the low 60’s. Brother and Sister Green from Conway who were our Trainers when we arrived came back into the Office to be trained by Elder and Sister Cahoon to take over for them when the Cahoons leave.  It was so great to have them back!!  I worked on letters in the morning, saw that we had three new young missionary Recommendations in Outlook so added them to the Arrival/Departure list, and we had Staff Meeting in the afternoon from 1:00 to 3:00.  Lots of things going on and that we need to get ready for.  Then we left the Office at 5:00 to go to an Asian Buffet in west Little Rock.  Lots of good food!!  All the Office Staff were there including the Greens, and also the Assistants, and the Thompsons (Mission Nurse and spouse), and Jasmin.  It was lots of fun!!

Wednesday we had Sister-Training-Leader meeting in our building.  It was fun to see the 12 STLs there!  Jim and I went and picked up Jimmy-John boxed lunches for them and bought some for the Office, too.  The owner and manager are LDS and give the lunches to us at ½ price.  And they are good!!  I worked on processing the three new Recommendations, updated our 4-year Address List and printed them up to go in the Miss. Mem. Binders.  No more Coldeze—the cold is pretty well gone and no cough or drainage!!  Hooray!!  Lasted only 4 days!!  Did three loads of laundry in the evening.

Thursday was MLC—Missionary Leadership Conference—that included the STL’s and the Zone Leaders.  Got Jimmy-John’s for lunch again.  I worked on the Mission Memories binders, sent out letters to the November missionaries and a separate letter for their parents.  Busy all day.  Exercised in the evening.  Elder Hartzell has been busy all week with lots of apartment issues.

Friday did two Mission Memories for two Senior couples who will be leaving before the end of October and I didn’t want to miss getting theirs ready so did it early.  The Cahoons took us and Sis. H. out to lunch at Larry’s Pizza—a favorite place.  I worked on more letters and a label page for Jim that had 10 different labels or variations of the label.  It took awhile.  Went grocery shopping, ate a light dinner, visited with the Cahoons when they brought over some food out of their fridge.  Watched a movie before bed.

Saturday morning the Cahoons came by at 8:00 a.m. to give us their apartment keys, we said our last goodbye, and they left.  We will miss them a lot!!  We read, exercised, ate breakfast, cleaned the bathrooms and the kitchen, and were ready to start Conference by 11:00 a.m.  Really enjoyed the sessions, started a batch of cinnamon rolls during the two hour break, and finished them by the evening.  Jim felt a little off so didn’t try to go to the Priesthood Session with Larry and Gary, just went to our chapel close by and did a couple of financial entries he didn’t get finished yesterday.  I also got our budget done and relaxed in the evening.

Today has been wonderful!!  Picked up Michelle and attended both sessions of Conference at our Little Rock Ward building.  We had an International Potluck lunch between sessions and ate a ton of good food.  My contribution was the cinnamon rolls, which were gone in no time.  We just got home.

Pat’s highlights to share that had meaning to me are:  The Plan of Happiness was mentioned numerous times in several talks—it is so important that we know and understand it; prayer was also mentioned a lot; if we loved the Savior more, would we suffer less?; what things can be stumbling blocks in our lives can be stepping stones to others; we need to read the Book of Mormon at least 10 minutes a day; be ambitious for Christ; yes, you are going to be good enough, and yes you are going to make it; repentance is important in our lives; share the Gospel and be missionaries; Joy comes FROM Jesus Christ and BECAUSE of Him; make the Sacrament more significant; experiences with the Spirit come more from what is happening in our hearts than what is happening around us; be actively involved in Sacrament meeting—be an active listener and participant; know the Doctrine of Christ; know and build on the Savior; we can be sorrowful and still be joyful; our children need to know our testimony of Christ; as you repent of sin, you feel more joy.

Jim: Highlights for me from conference: with respect to the atonement, don’t compete or compare, don’t rationalize or rebel, the atonement is for sinner and for saints.  Pray for opportunities to share the gospel, share the plan of happiness in the Book of Mormon, be a witness.  Some things can only be learned by faith.  From Elder Yamashita some challenges we have are for the benefit of others.  Pray for inspiration of what we can do individually to share the gospel. Be a better friend and caring home teacher. Find joy in the gospel despite our challenges.  The restoration is not an event but a process.  And over and over again the testimonies that Jesus Christ is the key to every good thing that can ever happen for us and everyone else. We need to truly worship Him and not just serve. Submit our will to Him, our hearts and souls. God holds the keys to unlock the prison we have put ourselves in.  We need to express our great gratitude to the Savior for all He has done for us through prayers of thanks. Record your feelings. What a blessing that repentance brings us peace.

What a wonderful way to finish the week!!

Love, Elder & Sister Hartzell

Variety of Activities

Dear Family & Friends,

            Last Sunday evening we had the Cahoons over for dinner and really enjoyed eating, visiting, and playing games.  We will surely miss them when they leave this next Friday!!  We also visited with Joseph and his children, Christi and her kids, and Shelley. 

            Monday I ordered iPads for the missionaries due to come in October 11^th and got them late in the week—boy!  That was fast!!  Also worked on phone numbers in our email/text-to-phone address book.  That took most of the day.  We visited with Brent on his way home from work, ate a quick dinner at home, then went to see the movie, “Sully.”  It was a great movie and so glad we took the time to see it.

            Tuesday, Wed., and Thurs. the Cahoons were gone to Memphis so it was quieter than usual.  Sister H was with us Tuesday but left Wed. at noon to fly to SLC for a granddaughter’s wedding on Friday.  I got letters out to the October missionaries who are in the MTC now, worked on Mission Memories binders.  The best news was we hit the jackpot—3 Senior couples came in our email!!!  Hooray!!!  One come in October and will be here for 6 months, one will be our new Office Couple.  They will come the middle of December and be here for 18 months.  One comes in February and will stay a year.  We are so thrilled!!!!! 

            So Wednesday I processed the recommends, finishing them on Thursday.  Lots to do to get them all done.  I took some packages to the post office to be mailed, then went to get my hair cut.  Sent out some letters, took care of some phone calls and emails.  In the evening did the laundry.

            Thursday was weird with everyone gone except Jim and me.  We worked all day on a variety of things.  I did a lot of printing of things like our Mission History that goes in the binders.  We have been a mission for 41 years.  Last year President Wakolo was in charge of a big mission anniversary party and several previous mission presidents and missionaries came to celebrate, too.  It is fun to look at those photos.  Also had a good visit with a cousin who just found out she has breast cancer and will have a “new normal” for the next year of varying treatments.  Our prayers go out to her that she will make it through with as little discomfort as possible.

            Friday the Cahoons were back and it was good to have them back in the Office.   I cleaned the women’s restroom and dusted, and Jim cleaned the men’s restroom as he does every Friday.  I took a lot of media orders for Sister H, typed up the Departure letters that are to be put in their binders, and worked on my calendar for the next two months.  At 10:30 Jim & I drove to our grandkids’ elementary school and had lunch with Harper at 11:15 and Bram at 12:15.  We also went with them to the Book Fair where we bought some books for them and for Gary (they got to choose theirs).  We went to dinner at a Mexican restaurant, did our grocery shopping, and went home to relax.  I started sucking on Coldeze as I felt a cold coming on.

            Saturday I continued with the Coldeze and still felt good enough to attend Bram’s game (he played well but they still lost), did vacuuming and dusting at home, did budget stuff, took naps, cleaned up, and left at 4:30 to pick up Michelle and take her out to dinner.  We went to Applebees and enjoyed good food.  Then we went to the church to eat some cheesecake (lots of different kinds), and watch the broadcast of Women’s Session of General Conference.  I had to leave early to go pick up Sister Hugentobler.  Her plane was late coming in, but we got home fine.  She is suffering from laryngitis!!

            Today I did not feel good so stayed home from church.  Jim went.  I took naps and read and watched some BYUTV (thank heavens for that!!).  It made me sad not to partake of the sacrament and join in the fellowship of the Saints, and also sad because I wasn’t up to going to Bram’s 10^th birthday celebration.  I am glad I got to give him a big hug on Friday! 

            Hope you are all well and happy!

            Love, Elder & Sister Hartzell

The Ides of September

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

September 11, 2016

Dear Family and Friends,

            Today is 9/11, a significant day in our memory of pain, sorrow, loss, and sadness in a world where hate runs so rampant with so many people who are Muslim jihadists.  It has been hard to see the Middle East have so many wars and so much killing.  You would think that we could show more love for each other, but even in this country there is more hate shown than love, at least by the media.  There is a lot of love out there, like all the help in Louisiana but is it on the news?  Nope!! We pray for peace and love. For God is love and without God there is no love.

            Last Monday, Labor Day, we still worked in the Office.  But we left for work early and met the Cahoons at The Waffle House for breakfast.  It is a tiny place and they served big breakfasts but had a limited menu—only 4 choices for waffles.  It was good but not quite good enough to go back.  Then we went to the Office where I wrote letters, answered emails, worked on the calendar, talked with the missionaries who were there for their P-day, and assorted other things.  Jim: I thought that maybe because there was no mail and the Salt Lake finance office was closed, that this might be a lighter Monday.  Well so much for thinking.  It was just as busy as ever, and I didn’t get caught up like I had hoped.   Pat:  We left at 5:00 to pick up dessert and drive to Larry and Holly’s for a wonderful sloppy Joe dinner, talked with the kids about school, and played games.  After Holly put Harper to bed, the rest of us watched “Star Trek—Into Darkness” on a projector TV system that Larry had borrowed.  It was good!  Best was that we could have it up loud and not bother the neighbors!!

            Tuesday worked on Leadership Letters all day and finally got them all done.  Got one missionary recommend in the mail for a young missionary coming in January.  We had Staff Meeting but Pres. and Sis. Wakolo weren’t there because he had had an injection and didn’t feel well at all and she stayed home to care for him.  So he asked Jim to conduct the meeting and it was short and sweet.  Sister Cahoon spent time teaching Jim how to take care of phones and me how to take care of iPads—both jobs that she is doing now and we will do when she leaves.  I don’t know how we will have time for them, but the Lord will provide.  We all went to dinner at the New Asian Buffet in Maumelle to honor Elder and Sister Cheney who will leave our mission next Friday.  We enjoyed lots of good food (too much!!) and enjoyed visiting.  

Farewell dinner at the New Asian Buffet for the Cheneys

We took turns talking to Brent on his way home from work.  Went home and finished a movie and tried to exercise a little walking in place, but I shouldn’t have as it didn’t leave me feeling good.  Talked to Shelley and Stewart, and Stew told us about his baptism!!  He was so excited and said he felt so good!!!

            Wednesday I processed the one missionary recommend, send out letters to the parents of missionaries departing in October, made lots of copies of pages that go in various things, came home and did laundry, and even watched an old movie called “Phenomenon” starring John Travolta.  It is a food movie and I cried at the end.  Jim: I have apartment folders all over my desk.  Some opening, some closing, some some renewing.

            Thursday I started working on the Mission Memories books of both the Cheneys and Cahoons, plus sending letters and certificates to their stake presidents.  I also ordered the travel for the missionaries who will be leaving in November, got another set of letters printed, envelopes made, stamped and ready for pickup.  We have a great mailman named Johnny who is very active in his own church and loves to do stuff with his one grandson whom he talks about all the time.  He is so sweet and we love to visit with him when he comes in.  Helped Jim go through lots of apartment contracts and file other things in his office.  Did a quick run for some Pineapple Whip that is in a tiny stand near us and is soooooo good!!  After work I ate while Jim went for his walk, then he ate, we watched TV, and I exercised walking in place.  Not as good but I get to watch my dance show that gets me going.

            Friday Pres. & Sister Wakolo are doing so much better and came into the Office to spend the day with us.  They sat and read and visited and answered questions and ate lunch with us and it was great!!  We were supposed to clean the bathrooms, and sweet Sister Cahoon and Elder Cahoon got there early and took care of our jobs and theirs, too.  We love them!!  The Wakolos left at 3:00 and Sister H left at 3:30 to drive to Hot Springs, and we all left at 3:50 to go to a 4:00 movie called “Greater” about a University of Arkansas football player named Branden Burlsworth, who was not a natural at playing football but wanted to so badly that he did everything they asked him to do that he went from a walk-on to a scholarship player his Freshman year.  And he did it while staying true to his faith in God and studying his scriptures and not drinking, etc.  It was an inspiring, uplifting story and we all cried at the end!!  Please go see it if you get the chance.  It is an inspiring as “Rudy.”

            One funny story—so about two weeks ago Sister Cahoon lost her keys.  We all looked everywhere, they looked all over their car and apartment, the keys were nowhere to be found.  On Friday all of a sudden Sister Cahoon says loudly, “I found my keys!!” (holding them up from her purse).  She says over and over how she had been through her purse at least 3 times, taking everything out, dumping it out upside down and no keys, and now, suddenly they were in her purse. Boy, was she doing the dance of joy!!  When she told Elder Cahoon, his response was a little subdued and then she remembered a previous time of lost keys—he had lost his truck keys and was sure she had them in her purse, but she didn’t and they looked for several days.  Then one day he asks her to check her purse AGAIN and see if they were there—and this time they were!!  She couldn’t believe it and kept shaking her head and denying that they had been there.  Then she realized that he must have put them there!!  Sure enough, he had found them in another pair of his pants and put them in her purse to “blame” her!!  She was furious with him then, and now she realized he had done it to her again!!!  Turns out he had found them in a cup holder of a car they had taken to the body shop to prepare it to sell.  When he went to pick it up on Friday, he saw them, snuck them into her purse, and waited for her to “find” them there.  Oh, she was furious again and kept hitting his arm (it looked worse than it was!!)  They love to “get” each other.  I am glad that Elder Hartzell and I don’t do that to each other—I don’t think I could take the strain!!  Elder Cahoon has Elder Hartzell laughing a lot at his funny stories, and he will be greatly missed.  They will often talk together for awhile, then they will take a “work break.”  After we got home Elder Hartzell had a phone message about an apartment issue and went back to the office for about an hour.

            Saturday we went to the Farmers Market at St. Joseph Center of Arkansas, bought some fresh produce, and took a tour of the old orphanage.  It is a huge building built in 1908, 3-stories and a full basement, mostly empty now.  They also had Elder care.  

It has a beautiful old chapel with stained glass windows (painted really),

and even has beds in a number of the rooms for summer camps and retreats. 

One guy lives there in one of the simple rooms—it is the CEO of Heifer International!! 

They try to do things simply and he decided to live a simple life.  Most impressive!!  When you think about what those nuns did for all those years to help kids, and some elder care also, living a very simple, but very busy life it is very inspiring.   Afterwards, we went to the Office for about a hour, then Arbys for lunch, then shopped at Kroger, went home and did the vacuuming and dusting, paid bills, exercised and cleaned up, and met Larry and Holly and kids at the movie to see “Pete’s Dragon.”  It was good and we all enjoyed it.  Found out that our grandson, Gary, is having problems with his feet, growth related we think, and we are praying for him.  Got home in time to watch the last 10 minutes of the BYU/UofU football game.  What a heartbreaker for us!!  And nailbiter celebration for them!!  19-20!!

            Today has been a beautiful day—so cool this morning I almost put a sweater on.  Picked up Michelle and Caleb, enjoyed church, heard a homecoming talk of an Elder Smith who just got home from the Utah Ogden/Logan mission.  Gave a wonderful talk!!  Enjoyed the classes especially RS about President Hunter’s messages about families and couples working together to teach their children.  So glad I had such a wonderful husband to lead the way. Jim: actually I was just trying to keep up with my amazing wife.

            Got word that a dear cousin, Julie, has breast cancer and will have surgery tomorrow (Monday) and treatments to start in October.  We have her in our prayers along with other members of our family and friends who have lots of different struggles.  We have quite the list when we pray and all are important to us.

            We love you all and pray you will have a great week!!

            Elder and Sister Hartzell

August 2016 Transfer Week

Dear Family and Friends,

            Transfer Week was a success!!  And we have lived to tell the tale!!

            Last Sunday several ward members came back from helping in Louisiana at about 2:00 a.m. and still came to church.  Other members are still there.  They reported that there was great destruction and lots of stuff that had to be gathered and put out to the curbs for trucks to pick up and haul away.  It is considered a 1,000 year flood!  Our son Larry and his son Gary went down and participated in the relief effort.  They often had to cut out wallboard up to the floodline, leaving just the studs to hopefully dry out so the studs can continue to be used and new wallboard put up.  They posted photos on Facebook and we are very proud of the work they did!!

            And last Sunday evening we were able to have good phone visits with Joseph, Christi, and Shelley.  It is fun to keep up on things that they are doing. 

            Monday was Stewart’s 8^th birthday.  I got to the Office and had to get another “Mission Memories” book together for a missionary who was going home one transfer early.  Worked on emails, helped missionaries who came into the office to email their parents, and lots were around to play basketball.  The Cahoons were gone to the temple in Memphis, so Sister H and Elder Hartzell and I held the office together.  We worked until 3:00, then we drove to the Mission Home to start working on dinner.  We put in the ham and the potato casserole (already prepared) to cook, then made the green bean casserole, cut up melons, made and cooked brownies, made a spinach salad, set the tables, and got stuff ready to eat.  Sister Wakolo finished the Cookie Salad when she arrived, and the Cheneys, Cahoons, and Sister H arrived about 5:30 to help finish things up.  Sister Wakolo buys all the food and prepares it for us cook and finish up.  We don’t know when she ever sleeps.  Brent called during dinner, so Jim and I took turns talking to him.  After dinner, we cleaned up the kitchen, put away food, and left about 7:50.  Came home, put our feet up, watched TV and went to bed.

            Tuesday we had no new missionary recommendations come in—not for new or Senior missionaries.  I worked on emails, plus got photos of the Departing Missionaries from Elder Cheney so sent those with letters to the missionaries themselves and their families.  It feels so good to do those!!  Jim & I spent two hours in his office entering all the transfer changes, which we saved and will submit on Wed.  We left at 4:00 to go to the church to help with the dinner for the Arriving Missionaries.  We had 21 come in (one was a missionary who came back after going home to heal from an injury), and had at least one or two trainers for each of them, so we had 78 for dinner!!  We ate Chicken Teriyaki, rice, tossed salad, cookie salad, rolls and water.  All delicious!!  We cleaned up and left by 7:50, and put our feet up at home to relax and recover.

From left to right--The Cheneys, Sister Hartzell, Pres. Wakolo, Elder Cahoon, and Sister Wakolo at the Senior Table

            Wed. we got up early (5 a.m.) and left by 6:00 to go to the chapel and help with breakfast.  We cooked sausage, Sister Wakolo brought scrambled eggs that she had made (don’t know what time she got up—4:00?!!), and had bagels, cream cheese, cereal, and milk.  After we ate and cleaned up, we gave our presentations to the new missionaries and their companions.  Mine was about keeping the Office informed of changes in the contacts at home, sending stuff back in promptly, turning in their baptism paperwork completely filled out (and readable) and signed, checking on referrals promptly, etc.  Then Jim gave his presentation, and we headed back for the office while the Cahoons gave theirs.  We submitted the Transfer in IMOS, then I worked on entering a lot of data in other places.  After the Transfer info was processed, I started printing up a lot of reports for people to use:  The Organization Chart with photos, the same without, the phone roster, and Companionship Roster, etc.  Some of those things I also send out in emails for the missionaries to use on their phones.  We left at 3:30 to go to the chapel and help with dinner—Sister Cahoon cleaned and we wrapped potatoes to bake, Sister Cheney did Stroganoff, Elder Cheney cut up fruit, and we all helped put stuff out on the tables.  Had the last of the Cookie salad.  Then we cleaned up.  We saw Larry and Gary in the building and gave them hugs—the youth of the Pinnacle Mountain Ward were there as one of the young men was opening up his mission call.  He will be going to the California Los Angeles Mission.  After their ward youth celebrated with him, he and his mother and brother and Larry were invited into our meeting and the missionaries sang the mission song to him and cheered for him!!  It was great!!!!  We left afterwards.

            Thursday we got up early again to help with the breakfast at the chapel, but it was a simpler breakfast.  We ate cold cereal (all different kinds), had bagels, cream cheese, peanut butter, Nutella, jam, muffins, apples, fruit, and juice.  Much of this that they didn’t eat at the time they carried with them later as they left for their assigned areas.  Our cleanup went quicker and we headed for the Office at 8:00 and got to work doing more stuff as soon as we got there.  I had to send out Arrival emails to parents with the photos of their missionary with Pres and Sis Wakolo, with their new companion, with the new group, and with the new group and their Trainers.  They all looked happy and ready to go!!  I put a lot of paperwork that they filled out in their files and gave some to Elder Cahoon, entered more information into the computer, visited with Sister Thompson, the Mission Nurse, about things she needed me to send her that I was not doing (so I will have to go back to February to bring that up to date), and she told me she appreciated all I did and that Sister Nicosia and I had been the most responsive in helping get the information she needed.  In fairness, secretarial work is what I love but it is not everyone’s forte.  I am just glad for the wonderful people before me who did what they could.  We left the Office at 5:00, ate dinner at Panera Bread Co, got home and did some stuff, Jim went to walk at 6:00 and I exercised at 8:00, just walking in place in the apartment (it’s getting too dark at that time to go outside and one of the treadmills is broken).  Had some mosquito bites that itched during the night and, of course, I was worried that they were bed bug bites but found no evidence of bed bugs—thank heavens!!)

            Friday we cleaned at the Office—Jim did the bathrooms, I dusted, Elder Cahoon vacuumed the entry and hall, and Sister Cahoon vacuumed the office as Sister H was home sick with a sinus infection.  She didn’t feel great on Thursday so we are glad she stayed home to rest.  I entered more stuff into the computer (I have about 4 different places to put the information about the new missionaries), went through their paperwork and sent to their parents the letters they themselves had written along with a mission map that they could use to track where their child/missionary was working.  I went to the store with Elder Hartzell to get a couple of things, then to the bank where we waited in a long line of cars to deposit some money he had received for the mission (note to self--don’t go on the Friday before a holiday weekend!!), finally got back to the Office and finished up, leaving about 5:30 to go do our weekly shopping, made and ate dinner, watched TV and went to bed.

            Saturday we cleaned our own bathrooms and kitchen floor, ate, and headed out with the Cahoons and the Rasmussens to go to Scott, Arkansas.  The weather was perfect, cooler and clear all day.  There we visited a state park called the Toltec Mounds, which had Indian ceremonial mounds from 2,000 years ago (not the actual Toltec Indians of Mexico but other Indians),

The Rasmussens, Cahoons, and us at Toltec Mounds

Elders enjoying the view of the lake

Cyprus trees in the water surrounded by roots or other trees?

  had lunch at the Cotham’s Mercantile—an old store built in 1912 that looks like it is ready to fall down but had great hamburgers, including one called The Hubcap that is huge!!, 

Lots of old stuff inside the mercantile

then went to the Scott Plantation Museum where we learned about the processing of cotton and the cotton gin and how they took care of the seeds.  It was all really interesting!! 

Sister Rasmussen working the cotton gin model

 Got home about 4:00 and took naps, then finished the cleaning we didn’t get done in the morning, and watched a movie.  We know that Stewart was baptized yesterday and want to say CONGRATUL-TIONS to him!!  We also started listening to the BYU-Arizona game but couldn’t stay up until the end.  We found out this morning that they won in a squeaker—16-18!!  Hooray!!  Go Cougs!!!

            Today we took Michelle and Caleb to church and enjoyed some wonderful testimonies and lessons.  Came home and just woke up from 2 hour (me) and 3 hour (Jim) naps!!  Much needed and loved!!

            We hope you are all well and enjoying cooler weather as we had this week (lows in the 60’s and highs in the 80’s) and we finally think we have turned the corner from the summer excessive heat.  Woo Hoo!!

            Love you all,

            Elder & Sister Hartzell