Assorted Stuff

Dear Family & Friends,

            Monday had some difficulties—I need to send some letters to the Departing missionaries and their parents, but I am waiting for information to come in including itineraries that I need to mail with the letters, but they didn’t come.  I worked on assorted other things, but none of the regular stuff.  I checked on the zone conference luncheon for Tuesday. Jim: I started learning more about the missionary bikes today.  Sister Green had been doing that, and I need to take it over now, tracking the coming, the going, and for some the loaner bikes.  It rained buckets on the way home and we could hardly hear our phone conversation with our son Brent.  We enjoy visiting with him every week.  We ate dinner, changed, and went to see the movie, “Hidden Figures.”  It was about black women in NASA during the early 60’s.  We had no idea what they accomplished and what they endured.  It was really good and we highly recommend it!!

            Tuesday I made and sent letters to missionaries who will be coming in February.  I made sure the luncheon was set up for the zone conference on Wed., replaced photos on the bulletin board outside of our Office, took care of medical bills, and recorded and filed information that had been sent in.  We came home, exercised, ate dinner, had a good visit with Joseph, and watched TV.

            Wednesday the information I was waiting for came in and I sent out the letters to Departing missionaries and their parents.  It felt good to get that done!  Checked on the lunch for our zone conference on Thursday.  Our Little Rock Ward is preparing it.  Took care of a lot of emails, iPad stuff, and reorganized some binders on my desk.  Grocery-shopped on the way home, and did 3 loads of laundry.

            Thursday we drove to Otter Creek building (the chapel we meet in every Sunday) and had our LR Zone Conference.  We were taught by President Wakolo, his Assistants, the Zone Leaders, the Sister Training Leaders, an activity led by Sister Wakolo, had a delicious lunch, our group photo, bore our testimonies, some more training by Pres Wakolo about being a 4^th Missionary, meaning we serve with “high expectations and high love (for ourselves and the Savior)”, and evaluating how we are serving.  We left and headed back to the Office in pouring rain, worked on phone calls, lots of different issues to take care of, including news of a missionary who is in incredible pain which the doctors found came from a growth in his abdomen and he will be sent to SLC as they believe it is cancerous.  Our prayers are with him and his family.  President Wakolo is spending his time with him and his companions after our zone conference on Thursday and through Friday and yesterday when his plane left.  So sad!  We exercised, ate, and watched Inauguration activities.

            Friday I was busy making copies of all the missionaries who will be here when the next mission president comes on July 1^st.  I only got 1/3 of the way done.  Our new mission president is named Norman E. Hansen, from Washington state.  We have a lot of stuff to be sending him over the next couple of months.  Had a meeting with Sisters Wakolo and Sorensen about the meals and food we need to have ready for this coming week.  A lot of meetings, a broadcast, and an apostle here next Saturday.  I needed to run an errand so arranged to do it right at the time that our President and Vice-President were sworn into Office and got to hear the Tabernacle Choir sing (so proud of them), and President Trump give his talk.  I have mixed feelings about it.  I just wish that everyone would give him a chance and see how he does instead of so many critics before he even gets started.  I pray for peace and cooperation between people.  I hate contention!!  Had a quick dinner in the evening, then drove to Larry and Holly’s for a piano recital.  Both Gary and Bram played very well—so impressed!  Sister Wakolo and Jasmin were there and she also performed.  We really enjoyed it!!  Ate some cookies, visited, and headed home.

Gary 

Bram

            Saturday we got a lot done—dusting, vacuuming, airing out the house (sunshine in the morning and 70 degrees!!), recording receipts, taking care of some business, exercising, cleaning up, going shopping for Jim to get new high-top tennies and a new corduroy sport coat.  Also got a new paper cutting tool for the Office.  The fellow who took care of us was so nice, as are most of the people here in Arkansas.  They talk so nicely to you—lots of Yes, Ma’am and No, Ma’am.  Jim even did it on our way home and it surprised me.  He has always been respectful, but not used those words.  It is neat!!  Came home and had Movie Night. 

            Our friend Michelle called and said she had lost the vision in one of her eyes and was going to the emergency room today to get it taken care of.  It happened when she woke up Friday morning and called our Bishop who is an eye doctor about it.  He said it could be an “eye stroke” or bleeding in the eye.  He wanted her to go to the emergency room right away, but she takes her jobs seriously and put them first—going to her regular job on Friday and then to help an elderly woman in our ward yesterday until this morning.  We are praying for her and hope you will also.  Thank you.

            Today we start a new schedule for church—it doesn’t start until noon so I am doing our blog now instead of this evening.

            Some quotes from some of our missionaries:  “After our convert got confirmed Sunday, she came and sat by us.  Before she had expressed about this black spot in her from all of our past sins and how she was scared that it would never go away.  When she sat down, she said with tears in her eyes, ‘the black spot is gone!’  That’s my favorite part about this work is hearing people’s feelings and experiences of being clean and having the Holy Ghost.”

            “In a testimony of another missionary, she said something about not regretting learning lessons sooner because they were learned in the moment she was ready for them.  I’m grateful for that because I learned a lot of lessons I wish I had learned earlier, but I know I only learned them now because I am ready for them and I am looking for the Spirit to teach them to me.”

            Our thoughts and prayers are also with our cousin, Julie, who just completed her fourth chemo  treatment; Sister Hugentobler who continues to have a bad cough and not feel good; our cousin, Barbara, who broke her other foot just as the first one was finally healed,; and other family members and friends who are dealing with health and other issues in their lives.

            We love you and pray for you and hope you are all doing well. 

            Love, Elder and Sister Hartzell

Sister Hugentobler's Farewell Dinner at Olive Garden.

Bram's Science Fair Project - about the amount of iron in cereals.
He got third place in his division!!  Way to go!!

Friday, the 13th and Stake Conference

Dear Family & Friends,

            Last Sunday evening we had a good visit with Shelley and I worked on the blog. 

            Monday I worked on baptism and other photos to put in the Leader.  Right now a returned-missionary sister is doing it for us.  She had to leave her mission early because of health reasons but still wanted to be involved in missionary work so she offered to publish The Leader for us.  We had a Staff Meeting in the afternoon and I got several new assignments relating to our new mission president.  We found his name is Hanson and he served here in Arkansas on his mission.  So I will start collecting information to send to him so he can start being familiar with the things we are currently doing and deciding what changes he wants to make.  We went to Olive Garden with everyone in the Office to have a Farewell dinner for Sister Hugentobler.  She is still doing poorly and comes in when she can.  Had a good phone visit with Christi and her family.  Her husband Shawn left the previous Friday to fly to China for a job working as a concept artist on a feature cartoon film.  He will be there for three weeks, then come home for some time.  We don’t know when he will go back again.  Hopefully this will last for at least the next 6 months to give them some income until he can find a new permanent job. 

            Tuesday I worked on a lot of Leadership Letters to send to the missionaries, put in their files, and share in an email with their parents.  We had no new Missionary Recommendations come in.  The Sorensens left at 2:00 pm for Memphis and their first two Zone Conferences on Wed. and Thurs.  The Assistants were in the Office most of the day, and other missionaries came and went.  The weather was much warmer and got up to 68 degrees.  It was 47 degrees when we got up today and was 22 yesterday, wild swings. We exercised, had a phone visit with Brent, and spent a quiet evening.

            Wednesday I worked on various papers, emails, and took media orders as both Sister H and Sister Sorensen were gone.  The Rasmussens came in for a visit, and then the Greens, so we went out to lunch with them.  Just as we were finishing up, I got a call from Pres. Wakolo saying that there was NO lunch for their Zone Conference!!  I was just sick about it.  I went back to the Office and found out that there had been a mis-communication between me and the stake RS president over that stake/zone.  Pres. ended up ordering pizza for everyone.  The Rasmussens headed home, but the Greens stayed to help go through different things.  Elder Green helped me with the Mission History, and Sister Green deleted lots of stuff off the computer at the back.  I worked on the Zone Conference Lunch Schedule and made sure the stake in charge of Thursday’s lunch was ready.  We went grocery shopping after 5:15, then home to do laundry and played some games and relax.

            Thursday was a very hard day—it was my “Friday, the 13^th,” even though it was Thursday the 12^th.  I went through the Zone Conference lunch schedule and sent it to Pres & Sister Wakolo to make sure it was correct.  I worked on lots of emails and ordered travel for missionaries leaving March 28^th.  Then I found out that Sister Green had deleted a program that had the Mission Calendar on it that I had spent all Fall working on and finally finished after Christmas!!  And that my computer copies of “The Leader” including baptismal photos were all deleted!!  Talk about being sick to my stomach—I just sat and stared for a while trying to figure out what to do.  Jim helped by going into the Recycle Bin and we found the Calendar stuff—HALLELUJAH!!!

I worked off some frustration by cleaning the bathroom before we left (plus it was much warmer than in the morning!!).  The Sorensens got back from Memphis about 3:00.  Sis H never came in and we found out that her checks had been stolen last week in the break-in so she had spent a lot of time talking to her bank back home in Moab.  It helped that her son is the bank manager! We had a nice visit with Larry on the phone as we drove to the apartment.

            Friday I spent time going into our email program called Outlook and went back three months and found copies of the October and November Leaders and saved them to my computer.  I also found all the baptismal photos and copies them to my computer, too.  By the end of the day I felt much, much better!!  I also worked on faxing medical bills to SLC, finished the Lunch Schedule and sent out the final copies to the 5 Stake RS Presidents.  I also redid the Lunch Book to keep all the information I need in one place.  Sister H came in and I went with her and Sister Sorensen to take the missionaries out to lunch to celebrate 3 of their birthdays and honor Sis. H on her last day as a missionary.  There was a big group and we had fun eating and visiting.  Finished working in the Office by 5:30, did a little more shopping of things we had missed, went home and changed and went to a movie, “Passengers.”  It was pretty good but did have a couple of scenes we shut our eyes in.

            Saturday we exercised, cleaned our apartment bathrooms, updated addresses, made a bean soup, took naps, cleaned up, went to the Little Rock Stake Center and had dinner at 5:15 and enjoyed visiting with Michelle and others.  Then had an awesome Adult Session—several good talks by the 3 sisters who are presidents of the stake auxiliaries about how the Spirit had worked in their lives.  Some great stories.  President Wakolo spoke and gave a great talk about the need for the Gospel and missionary work.  The music was by some mutual youth in our Little Rock Ward and they were wonderful.  President Palmer, councilor in the Stake Presidency gave a wonderful talk on hope and our challenge to act, to increase our hope and faith.  Then President Dixon spoke and talked about surviving in a fallen world and how to overcome the tendencies of the natural man, by walking in the light and way of Jesus Christ.  Saw Sister H and gave her a hug.  She had moved out of her apartment earlier that afternoon.  It has been really foggy the last few days—Jim says it is eerie and I say it is ethereal.  When we were almost home, we exited the freeway and saw a car on the other side of the road that had taken a corner too fast and not only jumped the curb but rode up some heavy guywires attached to a power pole.  It was hanging on them sideways!!  I wished we had taken a picture—it was incredible!!  Oh, well---

            Today was a wonderful Stake Conference.  We sat with Larry and Holly and the kids.  We heard a number of good talks, including one by a young woman about 19 who had joined the church when she was about 12.  Her family were not supportive at all, in fact they were antagonistic, telling her she could only go to church once a week.  Over time they became a lot more supportive, her mother telling her she had changed for the better.  She had a “mean” YW leader who made her do the Young Womanhood program so she could earn her medallion.  She was so glad she did it and was proudly wearing it around her neck.  She talked about her love for the Book of Mormon and how reading it every day really helped her stay close to the Lord and get through the tough times.  Then an older sister, perhaps in her 60’s, spoke of growing up and having visions and being told that was not possible.  But she described them and they were so beautiful.  She eventually found the church just a couple of years ago and finally found the church that had answers to all of her questions and revelations.  She has been going to the temple and loving the Spirit there.  Also, she found out about doing her family’s work to be sealed to them.  “Why would I want to do that?!!  I don’t want to be sealed to THEM!!”  But the Lord told her, “Because that is what I want you to do.”  And the peace she felt was overwhelming.  Her love for the Lord and the Gospel was palpable.  There were other wonderful testimonies, but I will just share those two.  The special musical numbers were by our ward and were wonderful again.  Jim: I just wanted to add one other remark that the wife of the first councilor in the Mission Presidency, Sister Jones, shared.  She spoke about all the things she was thankful for and shared a quote she has on her night stand which says, “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience but rather spiritual beings having a human experience.”  And her husband, President Jones, had all the missionaries stand and sing the Mission Song.  I even cried.  That is impactful to ponder.   We had a quick Missionary Correlation afterwards, then we went to lunch at Larry’s and Holly’s where we had a delicious pork roast salad and rolls with Orange Juliuses for dessert and played Uno and Go Fish.  We left at 3:30, went to the Office for a while, and are now home and enjoying a quiet Sabbath evening.

            We love you all and testify that when tough times happen, just remember that “this, too, shall pass.”

            Have a great week—Elder & Sister Hartzell

Brrrrrrrr!!!! It's cold outside!!!!!

Dear Family & Friends,

            Last Sunday evening we talked to Christi and Shelley and their families.  We also made our lunch for Monday as we would have to leave early.

            Monday morning we got up, got ready and left for the Memphis Temple (2 ½ hours away) at 7:15 a.m.  It was foggy and rainy most of the way.  We enjoyed a wonderful session in the temple with the missionaries who were returning home, the missionaries who had birthdays in December and January, President and Sister Wakolo and the other members of his mission presidency, and other Senior Couple.  What a beautiful and blessed experience it was!!  It is a small temple but is full of the Spirit of the Lord.  Because we didn’t have to stop for lunch, we drove straight to the Mission Home.  It was pouring rain for the first hour or so--I am talking dumping!!!  But we made it safely.  We helped prepare the Departure Dinner and served it to some of our favorite missionaries including Elders Hooker and Hunt who were Assistants, and Elder Boggess who was an Office Elder.  Elder Phillips, another Office Elder, left the past week to get into school right after the 1^st. 

            Tuesday Jim & I spent the morning doing the Transfer Board in IMOS.  It took 1 ½ hours.  The only thing left to do is enter the companionships of new Arrivals and their Trainers.  That happens after they meet.  I also worked in emails and letters and updating information in the computer.  We worked until 4:45, then drove to the Pinnacle Mountain Chapel to help with the dinner there.  More good food and it was so nice to meet the new missionaries who just came in.  What a great group!!  We cleaned up after and left by 8:00, drove home and relaxed.  I also went through papers I had collected to see what was left to gather Wed. morning.

            Wednesday we drove to the Rodney Parham building (same place as the night before—it goes by both names), and did our training with the new missionaries.  It went well and I collected a lot more papers and the passports from 3 of them.  Went back to the Office and finished putting the Trainer/Trainee information into IMOS.  Then I started printing up and emailing all the reports that the missionaries and mission presidency need.  That took most of the day.  I recorded the paperwork that they gave me, and also set up the Zone Conference luncheon schedules for 2017 with the stake RS presidents.  We stopped to do grocery shopping on our way home, ate dinner, and fell asleep watching TV.

            Thursday the Office was closed because the electrical company was replacing a wood pole and had to shut off all the electricity.  We drove by at 11:45 to see if they were done and they were, so we called everyone and told them to come on in.  It felt strange to only be there for ½ a day, but we got things done at home so it was not a waste.  We had picked up cases of water at Sam’s Club as we were running low at the office and also got pizza there for lunch.  Sister Wakolo came in and gave me paperwork that she had collected—paperwork—it’s what I do!!  I also sent Arrival Information letters to the three ASL sisters who will be going in the MTC in a month and arrive here on March 21, one week before the regular transfer.  We left at 5:00 to go home and exercise and have a quiet evening.  I read something that morning from Moroni 7:2 that touched me:  “. . . because of the gift of his calling to me.”  I have learned that each new calling I have in the church is a “gift” that helps me learn and grow.  Some I even ask for, like going on a mission, many are scary, but all turn out to be wonderful!!

            Friday it was bitter cold (20 degrees but felt like 11) and there was 1-2 inches of SNOW on the ground!?!  I know—snow in the south?!!  But it was and we heard from the Sorensens that they got to the Office but it was scary.  There are no snow plows here.  They do put down some sand/salt stuff, but on the hills that are all over Little Rock, the roads get icy and you have NO control!!  We stayed home until 10:00 and ventured out, but when we got to the Office were told that the hill going to the Office would likely be blocked off and, if we didn’t want to spend the night there, we needed to go back home.  So we did!!  So we did our Saturday activities instead:  cleaning, working on music for our iPad, budget stuff, going through lots of emails that we haven’t looked at in a month, and doing some phone calls.  It was nice to stay inside and look at the snow out the window. 

            Saturday we slept in, ate a late breakfast, then drove to the Office and worked for about 5 hours.  The roads were clear but it was still real cold.  I worked on downloading photos of the Departing and Arriving missionaries in my computer, then took a couple of hours to send out the photos to all the Arriving Missionaries’ families.  The Sorensens, Assistants, and Office Elders were there, too.  Felt like Friday instead of Saturday.  It was cold as I think the church heat was affected by the Thursday electrical shutdown.  Afterwards, I got my hair cut, I then cut Jim’s hair, and he colored mine.  We cleaned up and enjoyed a quiet evening.

            Today was cold—I wish I had worn my warm snow boots to church even though there was no snow.  I was warm everywhere but my feet!!  Church was lovely and I feel so good in the Little Rock ward and so welcome.  We got a new elder, Elder ‘Iongi, and a new sister, Sister Inman, in the ward.  The testimonies were beautiful, and the lessons were good.  It was nice to talk about temples and family history work in Gospel Principles, and the Restoration in RS.  We had some investigators and I could tell they really felt something.  Went by the Office on the way home and spent a couple of hours sending out the photos to the Departing Missionaries and their families.  Came home, napped, watched BYU TV, ate dinner, and am writing the blog.

            I received a special email in the Office from a Missionary Mom from the Philippines whose son is a Visa-waiter (serving in the Philippines because his Visa hasn’t come through yet).  She said,  “Thank you so much Sister Hartzell, before I went to a net cafe to open and see if the email I had sent has a reply I really prayed sincerely....hoping that there's somehow a response--and I am so surprise and thankful for your loving reply Sister Hartzell. Thank you from the bottom of my heart-it took a very long time to make a letter because I am so very much concern about how to use correct English grammar. But a voice said just start typing your message what matters is the thought that you really made it for your son and also for Pres.and Sis Wakolo. Again Thank you so much we are so excited for our son to work there as a Full time Missionary. I know you will help him too if he has questions or concern. Like about different cultures and language.. Happy New Year 2017 we are sending our love from our family to all of you there in Arkansas.”  Isn’t that the sweetest letter?!!  The Spirit truly works with all of us.

            Our love and prayers are with all of you—

            Elder and Sister Hartzell

Jim and I on Christmas Eve by our Christmas tree

A foggy day at our apartment

Yes, we have snow!!  In North Little Rock!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2017!!

Dear Family & Friends,

            Monday was cloudy and rained on and off all day, sometimes a downpour, and sometimes just sprinkles or “spitting.”  We had the day off because it was the day after Christmas, so we did some cleaning and made more Cookie Salad and tossed salad.  At 1:15 the Harrises arrived (a Senior Couple who serve in Morrilton), and then the Sorensens.  We went over to the clubhouse theater room and had lots of snacks while we watched a Hallmark movie called, “Trading Christmas,” and then a Disney movie called “Snowball Express.”  We love to watch and laugh at that one!!  There was another couple, the Rasmussens, who were supposed to be there, but a newly baptized member of just a week had had some surgery and then passed away, so they were giving service to the new member’s family.  After we came back to the apartment, I showed the couples Tim Tam Slams (we learned about them in Japan) and a couple of people tried them.  Then we ate the salads at our apartment, then went over to the Sorensen’s apt. for Sweet and Sour Chicken, baked potatoes, and cooked carrots.  The Harrises had brought apple pie for dessert and we provided some ice cream.  It was all so yummy!!  We even sang some Christmas carols before everyone left to go home and relax.  The Harrises went to see the Christmas lights downtown.  It was a lovely day!

            Tuesday we were back in the Office and a beautiful sunny day.  I worked on the Dep. Binders, emails, the 2017 Calendar, the Zone Conf lunch schedule for 2017 to send out to stake presidents and stake R.S. presidents, and ordered Jimmy Johns lunch boxes for the MLC lunch on Thursday.  Elder Phillips came into the Office to say goodbye and we all went in the chapel where he played “Clair de Lune” for us.  (He and 3 other missionaries flew out on Wed, a week early because of school).  When I got back in the Office, I panicked as I could not find my list of things that needed to be done.  I looked and prayed and looked and prayed.  Because I did, I found instead that the 4 missionaries who were returning home had sent me their Departing Testimonies and their Many Mighty Miracles papers to put in their binders, but because I had worked on their binders the previous week, I accidentally put them in their folders.  When I found them, I quickly took them out, put them in envelopes and gave them to them to take home.  Wow!!  That was such a Tender Mercy!!  Then, 5 minutes later I found the paper I was panicking over.  So glad I lost it, then found it again.  We talked to Brent on our way home from work, then found out that Sister Hugentobler’s apartment had been broken into and her jewelry and money and car and apartment keys were stolen.  I don’t know a total value, but the place was a mess.  Everything was dumped out on the floor Except—her garment drawer!!  The police were there awhile, along with Denise, the apt. manager.  We went over later with some dinner and Jim had gone to Lowes and bought PVC pipe and a cutter to put pvc pipes in each of her windows so they could not be opened again like was done before.  Also, Jim and Elder Sorensen gave her a blessing.  We found out that this has been happening more and more, not only here but other places in the area.  Jim secured the Sorensen’s windows and ours also.

            Wednesday, cloudy and misty again.  I worked on the binders some more, printing up more Letters to the Pres, the Assistants (Elders Hunt and James) were there part of the day.  Sis. H did not come in as she had to go to the VW dealership to get her car rekeyed (the apartment was rekeyed right away), and her daughter-in-law came over to help her go through stuff and pack stuff into boxes to go to their house (Sis. H is done with her mission in 2 weeks!!).  She is also starting back into laryngitis, and I was losing my voice, too, so I sucked on Coldeze all day.  We went shopping after work, then watched a Christmas movie on Feeln’.  I had a nice visit with my sister, Lois.

            Thursday was MLC (Mission Leadership Council) in our building, and we got the Jimmy Johns lunch for them (plus we got some, too).  I worked more on the binders and letters until we ran out of ink, so Jim & I went searching for a replacement cartridge, but instead found a place that would refill the cartridge.  However, it turned out to be $7 more than buying a new one.  Oh, well.  Because of running around for 1 ½ hours, I ended staying until 7:00 while Jim went home and exercised, then came back for me when I called him.  I was able to get the last of the 17 binders done (finally!!).  After I got him I exercised, and we watched TV and went to bed.

            Friday I worked on processing the 4 new missionary recommendations that came in on Tuesday.  I also had to do the Departure and the Arrival Programs to give out on Monday and Tuesday evenings.  The Assistants were in the Office all day making up the Transfer Lists.  Sis. H came in but she sounds like she has the croup.  I still sound rough, but no coughing!!  We took a quick trip to McDonalds about 3:30 in the afternoon to meet up with the Tannehills again who were heading back from Georgia to their home in Henderson.  It was good to be able to visit with them some more.  But because of doing that, we did not finish our stuff until 6:15.  We ended up missing the Neighborhood Watch meeting at the clubhouse, but the Sorensen’s sent and said the police were asking us to be more observant and know our neighbors better.  Hard to do as we hardly ever see them!  Quiet evening at home.

            Saturday more rain all day but we did get to sleep in!!  Jim cleaned the bathrooms while I worked on our budget.  It took about 3 hours, but we got it all done—hooray!! We also took down our few  Christmas decorations, but not the outside lights as it was too wet.  We exercised and cleaned up, then met the Sorensens at The Whole Hog barbecue restaurant.  We got there at 1 minute before 5:00 and we were the last ones they let in.  It was delicious and we closed the place down!!  Then we went to walk around the mall a little, then watched the movie, “Rogue One,” again.  We do love our Star Wars and like to see them multiple times!!  Came home and watched TV but only stayed up until 11:00, and then went to bed. 

            HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

            Today was a cold, foggy, and rainy Sunday, but good meetings and talks about goals and New Years resolutions.  Michelle bought a new car yesterday and was so excited to show us her new 2008 Prius.  So we won’t be picking her up any more.  After church we went to the Office for me to do some of my own desk calendaring, and finally got home about 3:30.

            We want to wish you all a wonderful 2017—

            We love you,

            Elder & Sister Hartzell

                    Elder & Sister Sorensen, new Vehicle Coordinator and Recorder/Referral Secretary

Our Little Rock Zone at the Christmas Zone Conference

The White Bags are the gifts for the missionaries from the local wards and branches

The Women of the Office:  Sister Sorensen, Sister Hartzell, Sister Hugentobler, and Sister Green

The Men of the Office:  Elder Hartzell, Elder Green, and Elder Sorensen

Merry Christmas 2016

Dear Family & Friends,

            Monday, Dec. 19, was a chaotic, flitting kind of day.  We had lots of emails, letters to Departing Missionaries to print up and send out, photos to go through, printed up the updated 4-year address list, went through mail that came in, sent out an email to get the information sent back, and had our semi-monthly staff meeting with the Wakolos, etc.  I picked up a quick meal from Captain D;s for Jim & I to share while we talked to Brent, then we stayed until 7:15 working on photos.  Then we came home, watched TV, ate a 2^nd dinner, mended Jim’s pants, ordered Christmas gifts for each other, and had a super cold day-high of 30 and low of 16!! That is very cold for Little Rock.

            Tuesday I gave cinnamon roll wreaths to the Greens and the missionaries at the District meeting.  Worked on 5 Departing Mission Memories Binders.  I deleted all the emails with childhood photos (probably 180 of them!!), did emails and phone calls.  Had 4 new missionary recommendations come in and started processing them.  Started printing up the Letters to the President for the 5 binders.  Jim had lots and lots of bills to pay and new apartments to work on.  We closed the Office at 4:00, dropped off cars at the apartments, and the Sorensens and Sister Hugentobler rode with us to have an Office Christmas dinner at the Asian Buffet—delicious!!  And we ate too much!!.  Then we drove to Sherwood where we drove very slowly through the “Trail of Lights.”  Really beautiful!!  Everyone really enjoyed it.  Went home, Jim ironed shirts while we watched TV, and went to bed.

            Wednesday I worked on sending out Thank You letters to the stake relief society presidents for gathering all the items that were in the gift bags—we had things like toothbrushes, glue sticks, nail clippers, soap, hand sanitizer, pens, colored pencils, gloves, ties, hard candy, and lots of other things.  Also Thank You’s to the two wards that prepared and served the luncheons, and to the stake presidents for their support.  Processed the new missionary recommendations, stopped work at 11:00 to drive to Little Rock and pick up the three grandchildren and take them to lunch at “All Aboard”, then to Toys R Us to let them pick out the toys they wanted for Christmas, and to Barnes and Noble to let Gary pick out some books that he wanted for Christmas.   Then we took them home and went back to the Office, where we worked until 6:00 p.m., went grocery shopping, did the laundry, wrapped gifts, and went to bed.

            Thursday I finished processing the miss recommendations, sent 1^st letters to the missionaries who are coming in February and to their parents, sent out photos of each Zone to all the stake presidents and stake r.s. presidents holding their bags, took care of medical bills that came in.  Learned about BYU winning the Poinsettia Bowl over Wyoming.  Wish we would have watched it but we forgot!!

            Friday sent out 2^nd letters to the February missionaries, worked on the 2017 Calendar, making changes that the president requested.  It is a hard program to work with and I struggle with it.  Elder and Sister Sorensen are being trained every day.  We did our cleaning at the Office in the morning, and had a real treat in the afternoon when Tommy and Elaine Tannehill stopped by on their way from Henderson to Savannah, Georgia.  We had a great time visiting for about ½ an hour, then they continued on.  They have been in rain ever since they left Henderson, so they brought it to us.  We did some shopping on the way home, then watched TV and relaxed.

            Saturday (Christmas Eve) I made the last batch of cinnamon rolls and regular dinner rolls for Christmas dinner at Larry and Holly’s.  We exercised, went through papers that had been building up in piles on the table, went to see “Rogue One” and really enjoyed it, though it had a sad ending.  We came home and opened our presents—I got a new coat, some candy, family slides on DVD’s, a sketch book from Shawn, Jim got a new sweater and a new tie.  More gifts will come next week that we ordered late.

            Sunday, CHRISTMAS!!, we went to two Sacrament meetings and enjoyed lots of musical numbers and some scriptures and talks.  What a great day to celebrate the birth of the Savior. We enjoyed a few wonderful talks and some really great music to sing praises to the King of kings.  How blessed it is to remember the end of His life also, the atonement in the garden and then the resurrection from the garden tomb.  Without Easter no one would remember the baby born to Mary.  We are so thankful to Him and the peace He offers in a troubled world.  The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only true peace.  Bishop Warner also reminded us that we need to learn to hear the music of the gospel in our hearts.  When we get things into our hearts then we can make the changes we need to do to become someone better.   Then we went to Larry and Holly’s and got to see the things the kids received and they opened our gifts, helped them pick up a lot of the wrappings and tape, ate the salads (a tossed salad, Cookie Salad, and Holly’s Rainbow layered salad.  Then Larry cooked the prime rib in his ceramic cooker and we watched “A Christmas Story.”  Then ate dinner, the meat with more salad, Cheesy potatoes, rolls, etc.  Then Jim and I cleaned up the kitchen while Larry and Holly started getting all the stuff ready for them to leave early Monday morning to drive to Colorado for a fun ski trip.  We drove home after 5:00 and were able to visit with Brent and several of his kids, then Joseph, next Christi and her family, and last Shelley and her kids.  We watched a Christmas movie and went to bed—a great Christmas Day!!

            Well, Happy New Year Everyone!!

            Love, Elder & Sister Hartzell

            

Christmas Zone Conference

Dear Family & Friends,

            First—we hope you all have a very Merry Christmas next Sunday!!

            Last Sunday we spent the evening putting missionaries’ names on Christmas cards from the First Presidency and sealing them up to be handed out at the Zone Conferences.  Also had good phone visits with Lois and Christi.

            Monday I was busy all day doing 16 Departing miss letters.  I also had to forward more child photos and work on my Christmas story for the program here in Arkansas.  Our new Office Couple, Orval and Callene Sorensen from Layton, Utah, arrived about 4:15 and met with President Wakolo.  Then he had to leave and asked us to use the Mission credit card to take them out to dinner before showing them their new apartment, which we were happy to do.  They are great people and will take over for Elder Green—Vehicle Coordinator, and Sister Hugentobler—Referral Secretary/Recorder/and Mail Handler.  After we helped them unload their van, we headed to the movies to see “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.”  It was quite whimsical and even scary, but well done and we enjoyed it!!  Came home to visit with Shelley while we got more envelopes ready.

            Tuesday the missionaries helped set up tables to be decorated in the Cultural Hall, the Sorensens came in for their first day of training, I printed up Mission Histories to go in the “Mission Memories” binders, updated the 4-year Miss. Address List, and printed up the letter that goes into their binders.  Went home at 4:30 to exercise, eat dinner, then went back to the chapel for the rehearsal of the program for the Zone Conference.  It was a bit rough but we do have some good singers.

            Wednesday was the highlight of our mission!!!  What an incredible 3-Zone Christmas Conference it was!!!  We had Little Rock, North Little Rock, and Searcy Zones for the Arkansas side.  It started with missionaries arriving starting at 7:30 a.m., trying to take care of stuff in the Office before going into the meeting.  We were in there by 9:15 and it started at 9:30.  Elder Beheshti was presiding.  The Assistants conducted the meeting, starting off with hymn, prayer, and then recitations (the missionaries were impressive with how much they had memorized!!), then President Wakolo spoke and gave a great Christmas message.  Then Sister Wakolo had put together a lovely Christmas program with narrators reading scriptures, songs presented by solos, duets, and trios.  Wow, what an improvement from the rehearsal the night before!!  I have a 6-minute Christmas story talk at the end of it and felt such a good Spirit.  Then Sister Beheshti gave a short talk about changing O to E—Got to Get, as in “I got (have) to do missionary work” changed to “I get to do missionary work.”  The change of attitude can make such a big difference.  Then Elder Beheshti spoke and gave a really inspirational message and told some great stories.  Jim: for me I am most touched by the Spirit thru stories and so the two stories that Pat shared and the story at the end of Elder Beheshti’s talk were the highlights for me.  Good speakers like these are able to paint a great picture of the events they are speaking about by the way they share the stories.  That helps me to internalize the story and feel the principles involved.

            Then we went into lunch put on by the North Little Rock Ward—it was beautifully decorated and had fancy serving tables with sisters serving us with love.  The food was delicious!!  And the desserts plentiful (enough to put in lots of baggies for the missionaries to take home).  Then the missionaries got into Zones and were given their Christmas bags that had been collected from all the wards and branches in the Mission by their own Stake President or a Counselor, and their First Presidency Christmas cards.  Next a couple of games were played, the missionaries did a talent show (very fun!!), then they played lots more games of the Minute to Win It variety.  Some were hysterical!!  Last but not least, they all sat on the floor in front of the stage while childhood pictures were put up on the screen and the missionaries tried to guess who each person was.  They LOVED IT!!!!!  So cute!!

While they were watching that, we brought out the gift boxes that had been coming into the Office from their families, and had 25 that were made by a group of Mission Moms to give to the missionaries who did not get any gifts from home.  These were mostly foreign missionaries.  They were so surprised and pleased—you should have seen their eyes light up after walking to the tables thinking they would get nothing.  What a great feeling it was to see their delight!!  Then everyone had to clean up and go home, which took about an hour before everyone was gone.  As they left, there were so many hugs and Thank You’s, tears and more hugs!!  There was stuff left, and thank heavens for the Office Elders who went around to all the rooms and the chapel to collect all the stuff and the garbage.  It is so wonderful to have young men who are so committed in their service!!  Then we went grocery shopping, home to do laundry and eat a light dinner, and just sit in amazement at the wonderful day we had had!!  (Sorry if you are tired of the exclamation marks—but that is how it was!!)

Thursday was the Zone Christmas Conference of the two Zones in Tennessee—Memphis and Memphis North.  Jim and I and the Sorensens were the only ones in the Office and the phone hardly rang all day.  But we were filled with the glow of the warm Spirit we had felt the day before.  I sent letters to the missionaries in the MTC who would be coming on January 3^rd.  Had to get stuff ready for another missionary who had to be sent home to have a surgical wound that wasn’t healing get some treatment at home.  Went home to exercise and work on Christmas gifts and cards.

Friday was a flitting day—a little of this, a little of that, going from activity to activity.  Everyone was back and we were all busy.  Sister Wakolo came in for about an hour and told me about some stories of some of our most faithful missionaries and the struggles they had had early in the mission field, wanting to give up and go home.  One even wanted to commit suicide and they watched him around the clock for two days, but finally he turned himself around and was one of the happiest missionaries I have seen.  Jim took me to dinner at a Greek restaurant called Tazikis—such good food!  Then we wandered the mall and enjoyed the Christmas decorations, did a little Christmas shopping, stopped at Bed, Bath, and Beyond on the way home, then put our feet up and watched TV.

Saturday I made more cinnamon roll wreaths, we cleaned the bathrooms, exercised, ordered Christmas presents online, sent out more Christmas cards, etc.  The temperature on Thursday was 40degrees, on Saturday it was 70 degrees, and today was 30 degrees!  Incredible!!

Today we had talks in Sacrament meeting about Christmas memories, enjoyed SS, Priesthood meeting, and RS.  Michelle and another sister in the ward were rear-ended on Thursday and are both hurting with back, neck, and headaches.  Please pray for them.  Went to the Office to work on photos in the afternoon, then home for naps and watching Music and the Spoken Word.  Had a good birthday visit with Joseph, and a good dinner, and visits later with Christ and Shelley. 

In our latest President’s letter, he shared a quote from a missionary:  “We were having a rough night with little success last Monday, and we were heading to the church to sync with 15 minutes left and all of a sudden the Spirit told me, “stop.”  And so we got out of the car and knocked on a door.  No one answered.  But then we went to the next house and we got talking to this couple.  The next day, we got a text from a member saying that this lady we had talked to had told her of the night before.  She and her husband had been at ‘rock bottom’ talking and crying over their son who had passed away, when she said, there was a knock on the door.  She said ‘God sent these two missionaries.’  That made me so happy to know that we really ARE on the Lord’s errand.”  There are some great stories that President shares each week. That helps us stay connected with why we are here, to support the missionaries so they can have these teaching experiences.

Today at the North Little Rock building when we stopped to do some photos in the Office, a sister stopped me.  Her name is Sister Edgar.  She has lived here a long time and remembered years ago when Larry and Holly moved here and became a part of their ward.  She was Relief Society President and Holly was RS Secretary.  She said, “Holly is one of the sweetest people—she is a great mother and has a wonderful husband and family.”  It makes me feel so good to get complements about our children and the wonderful people they have married.  This kind of thing happens whenever we visit their wards.  We are so grateful for the positive impact they have on those around them!!

We really love the feelings of love that abound this time of the year, and are treasuring every memory and event that we get to be a part of.  We wish you all a most wonderful Christmas season, and may the feelings of love and service be a big part of your 2017.

Love,

Elder & Sister Hartzell

It's Cold Outside

Dear Family and Friends,

            Last Sunday the chapel was sooooo cold!!  I think someone forgot to turn the heater on earlier and we were shivering!!  In the evening we watched a movie on BYUTV called “Winter Thaw.”  It was very well done and showed a cobbler whose heart changes over the course of a couple of days.  He changed from being selfish to selfless through several experiences similar to Mathew 25.  Quite touching.

            Monday was busy and loooong.  I worked on emails with lots more of missionary photos coming in of those missionaries between the ages of 5 & 10.  I usually had about 15 each day except Tuesday and I had only one!  I worked on and sent out Departing Miss letters, we had an Office Staff meeting from 1:00 to 3:30, and some new assignments from that.  Also travel itineraries to go over.  I left at 4:45 to go get a couple of pizzas for dinner.  When I got back the Assistants were there for our unscheduled “emergency drill.”  The idea was that a text was sent out at 6:00.  The last time we did it, they could leave their cell phones on a go to their emergency family’s home.  This time they had to turn off their cell phones, stop what they were doing and drive directly to the family’s home.  Then someone in the family would call us and tell us which missionaries were at their home.  We would see who would respond the fastest.  We got really worried when one set of three sisters did NOT call, so at 8:00 we called the elders from their district to check on them.  Turns out they had they had left their cell phones in their car and didn’t know about the drill!!  We did eat our pizzas while we were waiting for the phones to ring.  We finally left the Office at 8:30 and headed home for what was left of the evening. 

            Tuesday I did more letters, answered emails, worked on the December calender, helped Sister Wakolo who had come into the Office to get several things done.  At 12:30 we stopped and took the Office Elders and the Assistants out to lunch for two birthdays—Elder Claridge and Elder Hunt.  We went to Larry’s Pizza as it is a favorite!!  Did more work in the afternoon, headed home to exercise, eat dinner, watch TV and head for bed.

            Wednesday I did 17 Stake President’s letters and Honorable Release Certificates, printed them up, sent copies to parents and bishops in emails.  That took all day.  Then we went grocery shopping and did laundry at home. 

            Thursday Jim & I did our cleaning as I had a big project on Friday.  Produced and sent out a couple of letters to missionaries coming in February but going to the Mexico MTC to learn Spanish the beginning on January so they have to get their stuff done early.  I made address labels for all the missionaries to go on the Christmas cards sent to us by the First Presidency.  They will be handed out at our two zone conferences this coming week.  It was an exercise day, and Jim also had a good phone visit with his brother Dean for Dean’s birthday.

            Friday I was in charge of putting the Christmas bags together—one for each missionary, 190 in total.  The Relief Societies in the 5 stakes have been gathering stuff, and we had 5 sisters from each of the 3 Arkansas stakes come and we put all the stuff out, counted it so we knew how much to put in each bag, then went around to gather all the stuff, seal the bags, and put them in a big Christmas bag and several boxes.  The missionaries will get the following:  chapstick, colored pencils, tooth brushes and tooth paste, hand sanitizer, pocket tissue, glue sticks, pens, candy, candy canes, sticky note pads, blank cards, thank you cards, gloves, nail clippers, and ???  (I can’t remember everything but there were a couple of more things).  These will be handed to the missionaries by each Stake President after the luncheon of the Zone Conference.  It took us about 2 ½ hours and we were done!!  Sister Wakolo also came and helped.  Then I had to work on Release letters for 3 missionaries who are having to leave for various health reasons.  We will surely be sad to see them leave.  Had a nice evening at home and I made some Cookie Salad.

            Saturday we got up and drove to the Little Rock ward building where we worked with other ward members doing a deep cleaning of the building and assorted other service projects.  Jim & I worked in the Primary room—Jim dusted the pictures on the walls and anything up high.  A family in the ward came in and they dusted/wiped off all the wood trim (chair railings and baseboards).  I cleaned all the windows and window sills.  Then I went around the building and cleaned all the little windows in the classroom doors, and the windows and sills in those rooms.  It took almost an hour.  Then we had a delicious brunch with lots of muffins, breakfast casseroles of various kinds, several kinds of fruit salad, etc.  We ate well!!  Came home and did our own apartment vacuuming and dusting, put up Christmas lights on our railing, made cinnamon roll wreaths, exercised, wrote the Christmas letter.  Jim had to do the dishes twice with all the baking stuff!!

            Today the chapel was much warmer than last week!!  We were surprised with the calling of a new bishop and counselors!!  Bishop Houston was great!!  But he will be deployed in a couple of months and needed to get things ready for leaving.  Our new bishop is Bishop Warner, who was the First Counselor.  He called Brother Stuckey (who was a great Ward Mission Leader!) as his First Counselor, and Brother Webster who we don’t know to be his Second Counselor.  There were sweet testimonies and feelings shared, and President Dixon gave a great talk, too.  We enjoyed SS class, then had a joint meeting about the new “Teaching in the Savior’s Way” program.  They will start holding classes in January.  Stopped by the Office on the way home for about ½ hour, then came home, ate and are enjoying a quiet Sabbath.

            All week has been cold!!  Glad we brought our long johns!!!

            We love you all and pray you are doing well.

            Love, Elder & Sister Hartzell

December Begins

Dear Family & Friends,

            Monday was a busy day.  I worked on contacting all the Senior missionaries and Apartment Advisors about the Senior Social on Friday.  I did Leadership Letters, emails, took care of the information that Sister Wakolo brought into the office from the new missionaries, had photos to upload and email to parents of Departing Missionaries and New Missionaries.  The local missionaries had their P-day at a different building so it was pretty quiet, just me and Elder Hartzell and Sister Hugentobler.  Went to see the movie “Dr. Strange” in the evening and liked it.  It is quite different.

            Tuesday had a lot of the same kinds of stuff to do.  I have to be sure I had added all the new missionaries and their parents to our email address contact list.  Jim and I cleaned the car after lunch at a nearby car wash—it was looking pretty dirty inside, and we tell the missionaries that they need to have a clean car so we need to set the example.  We exercised after work, then took the regular church music off the iPhone 4s and put Christmas music in my iPad to listen to at the Office.  (We tried to put it in the iPhone but it kept trying to put ALL the music in instead of just Christmas music—very frustrating!!) 

            Wednesday was MLC—Mission Leadership Conference.  This is where the Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders are trained about their responsibilities and given some inspiring messages.  Sister Wakolo fixed a wonderful Thanksgiving lunch with all the trimmings—sure was delicious!!  She even had a friend make pumpkin cheesecake—Yum!!  I also helped Sister Wakolo with a project for Christmas—she had me ask all the missionary parents (of 190 missionaries) to send photos of their child taken between kindergarten and fifth grade.  As I get them in, I record them and forward them to Sister Wakolo.  That has kept me real busy!!!  I also ordered the travel for the missionaries who are leaving during the February Transfer.  Mid-afternoon we had a mock emergency drill to test the missionary communications channels.  It went well. We went grocery shopping after work, and I did 3 loads of laundry.  I have been having some pain in my right elbow, upper arm, shoulder and neck.  I think I clenched it too many times on the hike a week ago, plus all the computer mouse stuff that I do. Also on Wednesday I had a “catch in my get-along” but it was gone on Thursday—go figure!?!

            Thursday was a “flitting” day where I flit from one thing to another.  I had all those photos to take care of, paperwork to prepare for a missionary who was leaving early for mental health issues (many missionaries suffer from depression and other things), letters to send to parents of missionaries leaving in just four weeks, and other odds and ends.  We headed home and exercised, ate leftovers for dinner, and tried not to think about all the things I wasn’t able to get to that day.

            Friday was a welcome break—it was our Senior Social day at the Mission Home.  Everyone brought either a snack/appetizer or a dessert.  We ate and talked and took turns having interviews with President Wakolo.  Sister Wakolo fixed Hawaiian Haystacks and Beef Curry for lunch and it was delicious!!  Then we ate the pecan pie/sweet potato pie/cherry cobbler/apple tart/cookies, etc. that everyone brought.  Wow—we really ate well!!!  The best part was the concluding meeting where the senior missionaries that will leave before next June shared their testimonies.  We stayed until the end to help clean up.  We even dropped off part of our dessert at Larry and Holly’s.  They were putting up Christmas decorations and it was very festive!  Had a quiet evening at home.S

            Saturday was a rainy day after a nice sunny day yesterday.  We cleaned, worked on the budget, exercised, Jim organized photos on his computer (an on-going project), got mine and Jim’s hair cut and mine colored, cleaned up, and went to the North Little Rock ward’s Christmas in Bethlehem party.  We thought there would be dinner but there was only snacks so we came home and ate pot pies, watched some TV and went to bed.  The weather has cooled off and this next week it gets down to 19 degrees on Thursday! What happened to the warm south?!  Of course, last summer we complained about the warm south!

            We enjoyed a lovely Sabbath today, with some great testimonies in our Sacrament meeting, a good lesson in Gospel Essentials about families, and a good lesson in RS about the tender mercies of the Lord.  Lots of rain yesterday and some this morning.

            The Church has started a challenge:  Light the World in 25 Ways Over 25 Days.  We are trying to follow it and share the light of our testimony with others through many different kinds of service.

            We want to welcome our friends, the Halversens, home from their successful and rewarding 23-month mission to Cape Town, South Africa.

            We hope you all have a great week.

            Love,

            Elder & Sister Hartzell

A Wonderful Thanksgiving Week

Dear Family & Friends,

            What a great week this has been!!  We started off with being busy on Monday sending out letters to the missionaries who are coming in January that we just got their recommendations last week.  Jim & I worked on the Transfer Board on IMOS and got that all taken care of and submitted except for the new missionaries who would be coming in on Tuesday.  We left the Office at 3:30 to go to the Mission Home to help prepare the Farewell Dinner for the six missionaries who are leaving and also one more missionary who has to go home because of health reasons.  I was also able to have a phone visit with both Brent and Shelley.  Shelley was at our home in Payson with her in-laws for a fun few days including Thanksgiving.  After a delicious dinner, we got home about 7:30 and I did a couple of loads of laundry, and we wrapped some Christmas packages to give to the Boyles to take home with them.

New Office Elders--Lindstrom and Claridge

            Tuesday we had missionaries in the building all day as they were meeting other missionaries to transfer to new areas.  Some had never been in the Office before so we showed them around.  Got some letters out to missionaries, finished updating the new missionaries and their Trainers in IMOS and submitted it around 3:00 p.m.  I ran a quick trip to the bread store, then Jim and I left at 3:30 to go help with the Welcome Dinner for the new missionaries.  It was fun to meet them!  We ended up not eating until 6:30 so weren’t done cleaning up until 8:30.  We went home as Christi, Shawn and their family were not arriving until 10 p.m.  They stayed at Larry’s and Holly’s. 

            Wednesday morning we drove to the Rodney Parham building for the Training of the new missionaries.  Then went back to the Office and sent out a quick email to let their parents know they had arrived safely.  Worked on calendars, emails, and sent out several reports that different groups in the mission needed, including printing up some for our Office.  We did our Office cleaning—me doing the dusting and Jim the men’s bathroom and the Greens doing the other stuff.  We left the Office at 3:30 and went to spend the evening with Larry and the Boyles.  We had a good time eating, talking, playing ping pong, watching TV, then we left at 8:30 because we had to stop at the store to get last minute stuff for Thanksgiving dinner. 

            Thursday—THANKSGIVING!!—we went over and had crepes for breakfast plus buttermilk syrup, then watched the Macy’s Parade, made the Waldorf Pomegranate Salad, Larry cooked the turkey in his ceramic smoker and it was ready by 2:00.  Jim helped Larry install a trailer hitch on his Jeep.  We had mashed potatoes, Larry’s special gravy, dressing, and corn on the cob.  Wow—it was all so delicious!!  

Thanksgiving Dinner--Yum!!

We had fun going around the table to talk about the things that we were thankful for—including people, gifts, books, movies, B of M people (both major and minor), songs, etc.  Lots of fun things to talk about. 

Holly's beautiful mantle

We all helped clean up, then watched a Hallmark Christmas movie, ate pies, played a “Harry Potter Scene It” game, then watched another movie, and some played “Ticket to Ride.”

            Friday we ate Christi’s Bacon Pancakes—yummy!!  We went to the Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum which had submarine that served in WWII, and a tugboat that had been at final signing of peace with the Japanese, thus bookends to the war.  

On the submarine Arkansas Razorback

We got to tour the sub but not the tug.  The sub was really interesting.  Then we ate at Larry’s Pizza, did some Christmas clothes shopping, sent the men home and shopped for Abby’s Christmas dress (she must have tried on 40 different ones but hard for her because she is so slim and tall that most were too short or too wide or both!!  Finally found one!!  Went home to make Shepherd’s Pie, and I watched a Disney Special while others played video games or Balderdash. 

            Saturday Larry took us on a nice hike up one of the Pinnacle Mountain trails.  

Found a good photo tree

Hiking on Pinnacle Mountain

Wore me out so I didn’t make it to the top—oh, well!!  Then we went to a place called Playtime Pizza and had a great time eating and playing lots of games.  My favorite was the go-carts, and I had fun watching the grandchildren do lots of fun games.  We were there for almost 3 hours.  Then we went to see the movie “Moana” and really enjoyed it!  Went to Larry’s and Holly’s to played Runs and Sets, and went home exhausted!!

            Today we all went to Larry and Holly’s ward and enjoyed a lovely Sacrament meeting where they talked about the Atonement.  Very nice.  We left with Christi and Shawn and family to go home and make lunch while they packed up.  They left at 12:45 and we headed to the Office to take care of a few things, then home for naps, blog writing, dinner, watching some BYUTV, and recovering from an awesome week.!!

            This afternoon we watch the Music and the Spoken Word and then a BYU Devotional given by Brent Scharffs, a BYU professor in the Law School who spoke on the Audacious Faith of the Church of Jesus Christ.  I thought it tied in quite nicely with the Sacrament talks on the Atonement and our thankfulness.  How thankful we are to have a knowledge of the true nature of God, that he is a man and he is the Father of our spirits, that we lived before we can here, and we will live again because of the atonement with God and our Savior Jesus Christ if we keep the commandments and our covenants, live good lives, and serve others, enduring to the end. Then not only will we be with God, but also with our righteous family and friends.  Who would not be thankful for that if they truly knew it.  Well apparently there are many who will not.  One of the interesting points that Dr. Scharffs suggested was that the 1/3 of the hosts of heaven that did not follow God’s plan may have chosen not just in rebellion to God, but that they didn’t want to face the trials that we go through in this life.  I had never considered that possibility and can see how some may not want to face such a challenge.  He told a touching story of a young boy who was in his deacon’s quorum he was teaching, that was in serious automobile accident and in the hospital for quite a while.  This was in the early 90s before they were testing blood very well for the HIV virus, and he received a transfusion that was infected.  That was pretty much a death sentence then.  The boy told of two non-member friends that came to visit him.  One said to him that he was sorry to hear about what happened to him and what did he do wrong to have God punish him.  The other said he was sorry to hear about what happened and that he must have been so righteous that God gave his this great challenge.  Then the boy said that he didn’t believe either was true, but that it was just the price of mortality.  And so it is, we do live in mortality with good and bad things happening to good and bad people.   It is how we face these challenges of life that ultimately counts.  May we have the faith and courage make those right choices that will lead to the happiness that we each seek.   

            Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving—we sure did!!

            Love,

            Elder & Sister Hartzell