Week of May 22-28

Dear family and friends, [hallelujah Pat is back doing the majority of typing the Blog!!!!!!!!]

            Monday, May 22, 2017: It was cloudy all day but no rain.  Pat worked on the letters to the stake presidents of the Departing missionaries—all 17 of them (16 elders and one sister).  It included doing all of the Release Certificates.  Also email copies were sent to their parents and their bishops.    This took all day.  Jim: I had plenty of bills to pay today, replacement of MSF cards, broken cell phones, and an apartment renewal.  We left the Office at 4:30, picked up a quick hamburger, and drove to downtown Little Rock to the Robinson Concert Center for the dance recital of our granddaughter, Harper.  We got there at 5:30 and saved seats on the eighth row which made for good viewing except for the head of the guy in front of me!  Oh well!  The performance started at 6:30, had no talking—just followed the printed program—and ended at 8:30.  They had many good dancers, and we especially enjoyed the two dances Harper was in.  We found out later is was only half the studio and the rest of the dances would be on Tuesday evening.  I am so glad we didn’t have to sit through a four-hour program!!!  It was also Gary’s 13^th birthday, so we went to their house to sing, give cards and gifts, and eat cake and ice cream. 

Harper's dance costume

Gary's birthday

      

  

Tuesday, May 23, Pat worked on printing up copies of the mission history, did the first letters to the Departing missionaries which included sending email copies to their parents, sent faxes of medical bills to SLC, took care of paperwork that the future missionaries had mailed in.  Sister Wakolo was in the office for a while emailing copies of stuff to SLC.  She talked about how President Wakolo not only is doing all his mission President activities, but also had to watch 2-3 videos from SLC each week to train him on how to be a General Authority.  Jim: I worked on my financial and housing secretary handbook, updating and hoping that I have someone to train before we leave. We have also been addressing our computer needs and how to address the needs verses the available, allowable number of computers.  It is going to be extra challenging when one of the computers, which technically is excess, goes away the end of May.    After work we exercised, ate, and relaxed. 

            Wednesday, May 24, Pat finished the letters to the Departing missionaries, and also processed two new missionary recommendations for September Arriving missionaries.  Sister Hess helped with that.  Jim: I worked on an emergency contact plan for notification of the missionaries should we have a severe weather alert. We did 3 loads of laundry at home, and Jim cutup a delicious pineapple and did the dishes.

            Thursday, May 25, was MLC (Mission Leadership Conference) in our building, and we had the zone leaders and sister-training-leaders in and out of our office before and after.  It started at 9:30, breaking for lunch, and ended at 3:45.  Two missionaries were going home on Friday, so I had to get letters ready for them.  One had only been here for two weeks and refused to stay, the other left just 4 weeks short of completing his mission because of his mother’s serious condition, so I got his Mission Memories binder ready to go.  Jim and I went to pick up the box lunches from Jimmy Johns for the lunch.  Took a few minutes to talk to my sister, Lois.  We came home, exercised, watched TV, and had a quiet evening.

            Friday, May 26, was quiet and I was able to finish up the first Departure letters and get the second one out.  Those I did not need to email copies to parents so they went faster.  Jim took me shopping for more nice stationery for the missionaries to use to write their farewell testimony on.  We took them to the mailbox to get them out because of the Monday holiday.  Jim: I had another bit slower day and was able to update the missionary bicycle tracking spreadsheet. We did our weekly grocery shopping, and had fun watching movies at home.

            Saturday, May 27, we did some work in the apartment, then left to try to find a cemetery in Maumelle, which we could not find for the Million Graves project.  We will try to do some phoning next week.  So we decided to drive west on Highway 10 to the Ouachita Mountains (hills) and Forests (lots of green trees and grass).  We were out all day, with surprisingly very light traffic.  We also stopped at Petit Jean State Park to see their pretty waterfall, and to see a glorious vista overlooking the Arkansas River and a view looking east, north, and west.  We stopped in Morrilton to visit the Wieses, one of our Senior Couples, then drove home to rest and recuperate from a tiring day in the car.

Maumelle Lake

A large Razerback

Crystal Falls

Overlook from Ouachita Park to Arkansas River bottom

Pat at Crystal Falls overlook

            Sunday, May 28, this morning as we listened to Music and the Spoken Word, Lloyd Newall talked about Memorial Day, and though it celebrates our family and friends who served our country in the military, it is much more.  We celebrate our family members who have passed on before us, and we look to the future as well, not just to the past.  We are the ones that our children and grandchildren will look back to and so what kind of legacy are we leaving for them to follow.  It was a sobering thought.  I have fond memories of my parents, grandparents, and others, and some of the many things I learned from them.  I hope that I can leave something of value for my progenitors.  Probably most importantly would be our testimonies of Jesus Christ.  How have we emulated His teaching in the way we live our lives?  How have we shown the love that we have felt from God in the way we have treated others?  In our Sacrament meeting today one of the speakers used several examples from his family that tied to how he is an active member of the Church today.  Their examples and sacrifices, from the early days of the restoration, have blessed his life now.  It was a touching talk and made looking forward a more vivid experience for me and how we in our daily lives can effect generations to come. We have modern day pioneers that leave their families to serve and leave a legacy for others.  Our former bishop in the Little Rock Ward leaves on deployment with the Army tomorrow and will be gone for a year.  They and we will be blessed by his example.

            We hope you are all doing well.   Our thoughts and prayers are with you all,

            Love, Elder & Sister Hartzell

The Week after Mother's Day

Dear family and friends,

            The photo of the week was the one we should have posted last week. Pat with her Mother's Day flowers. 

            Monday, May 15, 2017: This was bill pay day and dealing with one especially bothersome apartment rent bill.  The payment check was returned to Salt Lake twice as undeliverable.  I eventually paid it by local check and that was delivered okay, all using the same address.  So today I gave up on the mail service to them and created an online bill paying method.  There are extra fees when we have to do that, but in this case it seems necessary.  We had our staff meeting this afternoon with President Wakolo.  We had a good meeting and addressed some office equipment issues that we needed to finalize to be completely compliant with the guidelines from the missionary department.  The mission is doing well. The doubling of the number of zones has been positive and given some additional leadership learning experiences to more missionaries. Pat had emails to work on, missionaries that needed leadership letters, and correspondence to their parents.  

Tuesday:  Among my usual daily tasks, this week I am spending some time reviewing the files on my computer and deleting the old un-necessary ones, moving some to the OneDrive for additional security from a hard drive failure, and generally doing some house cleaning of files. There was a bunch of old files that should have been deleted several years go.  The printer in my office is now also used by the vehicle coordinator, so I moved it closer to the door so he could more easily retrieve his printouts.  Pat had a Staples order to do, IPad, and more emails to reply to and more leadership letters.  Her wrist is getting better but it slows up her ability to type and she is sore by the end of the day.   

            Wednesday: More MSF card loss issues today to deal with.  One sister has lost hers AGAIN. I also had some financial reimbursements from a couple of missionaries who “forgot” to ask permission before making purchases.  They bought things we already had on hand in the storage shed and could have taken to them.  So sometimes there are financial consequences to pay when we are not completely obedient. During the day Pat and I went to Sam’s Club to buy some food for tomorrow’s Leadership Training meeting here.  This was also the day I entered all the extra MSF payments for the areas or individuals who either live where there is not a lot of dinner appointments, or have extra travel expenses like the assistants and office elders. The Sorensens were gone today to Memphis for leadership training on vehicles.  Sister Sorensen was out sick yesterday but is doing better today. Pat had four more new missionary applications to process today.  That is always exciting.

            Thursday: Today was the Leadership Training meeting for the District, Zone, and Sister Training leaders so we had some 52 missionaries here and enjoyed their presence as they come by to say hi. Otherwise it was a pretty normal day, not too busy. One of the elders had his MSF card compromised nearly three weeks ago and the replacement still has not come.  So he wanted me to declare it lost and get another one ordered.  Which I did.  Then guess what came in the mail a couple hours later.  You guessed it--his card.  So now it will be yet another 2-3 weeks.  One more day of patience was needed. Pat is working on letters to parents for missionaries that will be arriving in September now, to get their current information.

            Friday: This was office cleaning day, the follow up on apartment renewals, a few bills, and work on the emergency contacts for warning of bad weather for the missionaries. Some of the areas are quite spread out and we need to find members to oversee the weather issues there. We did have some more weather alerts for the northeastern part of the state today, and possibly southwest also later. In our prayers we remember a growing large number of individuals with health challenges.  For example in our mission we have 5 couples that provide apartment inspections quarterly for our missionaries.  Four of the 5 couples are having health challenges, three of which will need to be released.  Maybe this is just a function of getting older and knowing more people who have health issues, and maybe it is also signs of the times and pollutions that are also effecting us.   Pat worked on more emails, phone calls, and printed four mission histories for the departure binders.

            Saturday: This was a quiet pleasant day.  We didn’t have anywhere we needed to go, it was raining all morning, so we just had a quiet day at the apartment, sleeping in a bit, cleaning, working on the computer, reading, taking a nap, and exercising.  We also got in some TV time and managed to have three good meals. Pat’s wrist was hurting her, so she only did her exercises for it once today.  She needs a break.

            Sunday: A nice sunny day, and a little cooler.  We enjoy our time in the morning to read and study.  The deaf family we have been picking up fairly regularly are supposed to start attending a different ward today. We hope that works out well for them. We enjoyed our meetings today.  The talks in Sacrament meeting were on the restoration of the priesthood and good reminders of the great blessing it is to have the priesthood once again upon the earth.  We got back home about 3:45 and took a nap before fixing dinner.  Pat is able to help more with the meals, and that really helps. 

            From the missionary news letter from President this past week, he shared this from one of the missionaries:  “On our exchange we briefly talked to a man who is taking his trash cans to the curb. He initially said “are you Mormons? If so shame on you!” Earlier in my mission I would have been very flustered and not sure what to say, but the Spirit put the words in my mouth and I confidently reassured him that we are Christians and we read from the Bible. We believe that Jesus Christ is the only means by which we can get to heaven, and that faith in him is the most important principle of the gospel. It was so amazing to see how his attitude changed and he ended up saying goodbye to us and wishing us luck and spreading Jesus Christ to all those who need him. I am so blessed to have learned how to handle these situations on my mission.”

We hope you are all doing well.   Our thoughts and prayers are with you all,

            Love, Elder & Sister Hartzell

Transfer week and Mother's Day

Dear family and friends,

            Happy Mother’s Day to all you amazing women or as Sister Linda K Burton at the Women’s conference would say “certain women”.  Certain in your testimonies of the Savior and in your role to bless the lives of others.

            Monday May 8, 2017: This is Transfer Day and so the office was extra busy with lots of missionaries ready for their transfer to a new area, waiting on their companion to return from the temple.  Each transfer the missionaries with birthdays or if they are completing their mission have the blessing of going to the temple.  Since it is Pday they use the internet connection to do emails, they play volleyball and basketball and visit a lot.  Sisters Hess and Sorensen made several dozen cookies, and somehow they about all disappear during the day.  You would see an elder come in and get a half dozen and say “they are to share”, yeah right.  We had lots of changes in assignments. One area of Memphis there were some stake boundary changes which affected where the missionaries are serving.  We will need to move two companionships because of that change and find one new apartment.  Finding new apartments is always challenging.  Pat and I input all the changes into the Church tracking system, which took several hours.  Pat also had some missionary tablet issues to deal with. 

Tuesday: I spent this morning working on some apartment rent payment issues, it was much quieter today.  I was planning on inputting the needed payments but all afternoon the internet was down due to a local provider issue. We only had two new missionaries come this transfer and four went home. Pat updated the arrival/departure list.  Her wrist is doing better, but it is a slow process. She exercises it 3 times per day, and is usually very sore by the end of the day.

            Wednesday: We did our training for the new missionaries this morning at the chapel and then drove to the mission office. The rest of the day was quite busy and, because of the internet back up, I had both yesterday’s and today’s work to do.  The new apartment that we needed to find in Memphis has been finalized and we will be in it next Wednesday.  Pat processed 5 new missionary applications, answered emails, and assisted with tablet problems.

            Thursday: This was a calmer day and I got caught up with the work and had time to work on some “c” priority things.  One activity was to send out rent replacement checks to two different apartments which both had their rent payment returned to Salt Lake as undeliverable.  The addresses were correct, so hopefully sending them with tracking they will actually get delivered.  This has happened a few times now, three times this month, and is quite bothersome and causes a lot of extra work. Pat did more letters for the new missionaries, and sent photos to parents of the new missionaries that arrived, and photos to the missionaries who departed.

            Friday: Back to raining again all day today.  We cleaned the office this morning and had a slower day, which is nice.  Some bills to pay and follow up on apartment renewals.  One I have been working on since February that there seems to be some problem with their email delivery.  She receives my emails but it turns out none of hers get sent in return.  She has had problems with email delivery too so it is not just with us. Pat’s arm is getting a little bit better all the time, and can do more little things herself.  We did help her get some baptismal photos up on the bulletin board this afternoon, and she had some iPad and tablet issues to address.  We got her a compression sleeve for the hand and wrist on Wednesday and that seems to be helping also.  This evening we attended a piano recital that our two grandsons performed in last evening.  They played well so that was fun. 

            Saturday: Pat did some food shopping this morning at a local farm stand that the historic Catholic Orphanage runs which we have gone to last year.  All their produce is certified organic so we are getting some good produce as well as supporting a good cause.  We cleaned our apartment and then I had a service project to help our son Larry with a sprinkler system repair.  Pat just took it easy all afternoon.

            Sunday: We had a wonderful sacrament meeting at Larry’s ward that we attended.  The focus of course was on Mothers.  In our Priesthood and Relief Society meetings we talked about the need to read the Book of Mormon.  It was pointed out by one sister that President Monson only spoke for 3 ½ minutes and it was all about the importance of reading the Book of Mormon, so it must be important.   Their ward has several annual goals they are working on and one is for everyone to read the Book of Mormon each day and finish it by April next year.  It is a good goal and good promises when we do what the prophet asks. We have been reading that great book ourselves daily for years and just start over again when we finish.  Pat remembered a story that happened at the office about three or four weeks ago. A fellow came in who was not a member of the church. His partner in business had passed away who was a member of the church. He said that though they were different religions, they respected each other a lot. He knew his business partner would want his last tithing paid so this man brought his business partner’s tithing in to be paid. Pat took him over to the bishops office, gave him a tithing envelope, let him fill it out and put the money in and seal it, and they pushed the envelope under the door of the bishop’s office.  What respect that man had for his business partner. We had a fun evening having dinner at our son’s house and visiting with them.  What a blessing to be serving here.

We hope you are all doing well.   Our thoughts and prayers are with you all,

            Love, Elder & Sister Hartzell

Week of May the 4th be with you

Dear family and friends,

            Monday: Wow, May already, where does the time go.  I was busy all day getting the contract in place for the new missionary couple in Memphis.  It is challenging getting all the agreement issues and funding in place, especially when dealing with very busy people.  I also received a big stack of bills to pay, but was not able to get to any of them.  We had our staff meeting today with President Wakolo.  As often happens, there are changes to be made.  He shared the following a couple of weeks ago: “Our call: We have yet to announce our area of service and assignment. It will be by the end of the month (April). Owing to my age at 49, I have been told by the First Presidency that my service is for 21 years or my release date is in 2037 when I turn 70. On all our meetings that we attended in Salt Lake on Sunday (General Conference session),Tuesday (all General Authorities and wives meeting) and Wednesday (6 new General Authorities and wives meeting with the Twelve Apostles and Presidency of the Seventy) last week, it was exciting to sing hymn number 85 versus 1,2,3, and 7 as closing hymn.”

There is another apartment to close.  I also got the go-ahead to call 10 couples to help with phone contacting missionaries when we have bad weather alerts.  Pat worked on the departure and arrival programs, answered emails, and updated the calendar. This evening after work we had the Sorensens, Hesses, and the sister missionaries, Burke and Stringam, over for dinner.  We shared food and had a really nice visit.  The sisters gave a nice message at the end and left.  We then watched a movie that the Hesses brought that was a bit different and told of a supposed meeting of Porter Rockwell, J Golden Kimball, and Samuel Clemens and their swapping tales.  It was sort of centered on getting Samuel Clemens straight on his knowledge of the Mormons.

Tuesday: This was another super busy day, with all those bills I didn’t get to pay yesterday.  We also had three different apartments that had their rent payment checks returned to Salt Lake as undeliverable.  I checked the addresses for all three and they were correct, so will be re-sent. This will now result in some late fees. I also set up the utilities for the new apartment in Memphis, which had its own challenges. Pat had four missionary memory binders to do and print up the associated letters they have written to the mission president while on their mission. The letters President has sent each week to all the missionaries are now being copied to a jump drive and greatly reduced the size of the binders.

            Wednesday: This morning we drove to Little Rock and had a follow up visit with Trish’s ortho doctor to check her wrist.  It is doing fine and she can now begin some therapy of mild exercises to get her range of motion back.  No heavy lifting or pushing yet.  That is going to take a while.  At the office she processed five more missionary applications with help from Sister Hess. At the office we also had a church employee from the Facilities Management Group in the office, checking the building and we visited about the mission home, which they may sell and buy a newer one.  This one has been owned since the 70s.  We also visited with him about our printer situation in the office and got some help to make things more efficient and functional. It rained all afternoon, and we had flood warnings.

            Thursday: “May the Fourth be with you” was our greeting this morning for Star Wars Day.  I had another supposed non-payment of rent for an apartment, but this time it was an account entry error by the apartment complex.  Today was less busy compared to the beginning of the week.  Less bills to pay.  The new apartment in Memphis was set up today and the couple got moved in okay.    I need to buy a chair for them, but okay on everything else. I got the new apartment all set up in IMOS and the files in order.  I am thankful we have office elders that take care of all the moving in and out. Pat worked on the programs, the envelopes, emails, and other things.  It rained again nearly all day long, stopped about 5 pm so I could go for my exercise walk before dinner. 

            Friday: We did our cleaning at the office today and then had a fairly easy day.  It is nice to not be super busy every day.  Pat did an envelope to collect the missionary medical cards, car cards, and MSF cards from the missionaries who are leaving. The assistants were in and picked up the departure and arrival binders and some other materials for next week’s transfer.  We also had President Wakolo in the office for a little while doing an interview with the religion editor for the Little Rock newspaper.  Sister Hartzell and the public affairs specialist who accompanied her took the lady on a tour of the building and answered questions she had.  This turned out to be a lovely day, sunny all day and felt great when we were out.  Bad weather helps you appreciate the good all the more.  There must needs be opposition in all things, even the weather.  I have been studying Ether in the Book of Mormon and some of that opposition that lead to good things when they repented, and lead to sorrow when they didn’t.  The Lord gives us, or allows us, to have challenges to face, some of which he tells us how to solve, but many He expects us to figure it out and then seek his confirmation that we have chosen correctly.  All of us will have our oceans to cross and the need for light for our journey, Jesus is that light.  As we follow Him we will never be lead astray by the shifting values of our day so long as we pray, study, and listen to the Spirit and to our leaders. After work we met a couple, Roger and Sally Burrup, from our Little Rock Ward who invited us to dinner at Outback Steak House, and we had a lovely time visiting and having dinner with them.

            Saturday: Today was beautiful sunny day to do some cleaning at the apartment and then enjoy a soccer game for one of our grandsons, and then drove to Conway, Arkansas, for their annual “Toad Suck Daze”.  (We wrote about this last year so check there for more information and pictures.)  We enjoyed the toad races by the little kids, watching some dance performances, walking around and just enjoying being out.  We then had a nice potluck dinner with all the senior missionaries in the area at the home of Brother and Sister Green that served in the mission office.  We had good food and visiting. 

In Conway AR there is a nice monument to 9.11

            Sunday: Today was another lovely, sunny day.  We enjoyed fast and testimony meeting and the meetings that followed.  We didn’t pick up the Bowies on the way to church, but took them home afterwards.  A pretty quiet day to read, rest, and enjoy the spirit. We feel the heat and humidity are going to be upon us soon. It was in the low 80s yesterday. 

            Some quotes from missionaries: 

            “My calling gives me authority; keeping my covenants gives me power.”

            “Tell a story—so Tuesday we had some unfortunate happenings.  Our car was in the shop and it was raining.  To make it even better, we didn’t have our rain jackets ‘cause they were in the car.  We said ok we will just ride our bikes fast and hope we don’t get that wet.  Well my bike popped a tire—ha ha!  So we ended up walking 7 miles in the rain.  I thought it would really suck but it wasn’t that bad!!!  Me and my companion made the best of it.  We remembered council given this conference, we looked up to heaven, opened our mouths, and drank the rain ha ha.  We just shared stories while we walked, and we just had a good time.  So actually that was my favorite day this week.”

We hope you are all doing well.   Our thoughts and prayers are with you all,

            Love, Elder & Sister Hartzell

Why Arkansas is green

Dear family and friends,

            Monday: Each week we are thankful for the blessings of modern communications that we can visit with our children by phone or FaceTime or email or text.  When I was growing up, as many of you may have had similar experiences, if you lived far away from aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents as I did, long distance phone calls were expensive so that was very infrequent, so there were letters.  I still have some of those letters. Today we have such ease of communication but then where is there a written record to keep?  Thankfully we can always communicate with God through prayer and we have the written record in the scriptures for His communication with others. Written records are important and many of them have eternal consequences.

            Monday at the office was pretty normal except for dealing with a power outage on one of the circuits in our office.  That unfortunately was the one that ran the refrigerator and we lost all the food in it, which unfortunately was a lot.  The building maintenance man was able to discover the faulty device, which happened to be on the outside of the building and on the same circuit.  He removed it and everything now works fine. Pat had some letters and emails she sent out and worked on her revision to the Secretary’s Handbook reference.

Tuesday: This was a busier day, with plenty to keep busy.  There were apartment issues to settle for a new couple coming the end of the week, and broken cell phones.  Patricia spent time updating a four year missionary address list that is kept, and some email problems that several missionaries were having.  May transfer is pretty small. 

            Wednesday: The last couple of days have been nice, but it rained all day today.  I guess that is why it is all green here.  The emergency radio in the office kept going off all day long, reporting severe thunderstorms north and south of Little Rock, and several tornado watches for those areas.  There were power outages too.  We worry about our missionaries as they are about serving.  There were a couple more cell phone replacements today.  This has been a much more frequent occurrence lately, so maybe there are a large number of phones about the same age and are starting to fail. Pat processed four missionary recommendations and updated the arrival and departure list. Tomorrow is the Missionary Leadership Council (MLC) meeting here in our building, so after work we had to go do some grocery shopping for the luncheon.

            Thursday: We had all the missionary leaders here today for the MLC meeting with President and Sister Wakolo. Patricia and I picked up the chicken strips for lunch at Chick-Fil-A.  There was another broken phone, wow this is getting ridiculous.  I also had to set up a motel stay for the new couple arriving in Memphis on Saturday.  Their apartment won’t be available just yet.  Pat worked with Sister Hess on the three letters that go to the new missionaries whose recommendations we just got this week. One letter for the parents and two different letters for the missionary. There is always a lot of media that Sister Sorensen boxes up to distribute to the different areas after the meeting.  After work we drove to our son Larry’s house to celebrate our granddaughter Harper’s birthday.  That was fun.  She had order cauliflower soup for dinner and donuts for desert. She is a cute little girl, just turned 6.

            Friday: We have had a fairly light week as to work load.  Next week will be busier since it is the week before Transfers, missionaries arriving and leaving, and there is extra things to get ready for them.  We did the office cleaning today, and celebrated Elder Hess’s birthday.  Pat had to do a stake president letter and certificate for a missionary who’s going home early. After work we both got our hair cut.  Patricia always has cut my hair since we were married, so this the first commercial haircut I have had in 44 years.  Quite a savings in all that time.

            Saturday: Today instead of watching the soccer game, we picked up Harper and took her to lunch, and then to a Nature Center in downtown Little Rock.  It isn’t very large, but had fun displays, including some live animals, fish, turtles, a small alligator, and some snakes.  There were other stuffed animals and some pelts to touch.  It was a fun date with her.  We did our apartment cleaning too, and I had to go back into the office to deal with the credit card authorization document required when I paid for the new couple’s motel on Thursday.  I had anticipated this yesterday and called the motel to ask about it, but had been assured it wasn’t necessary.  Well you can see how well that turned out.

            Sunday: Wow what a night last night.  We had a continuous thunderstorm all night.  Lots of rain, thunder and lightning.  The alarm on the phone went off three times related to flood warnings. Just before we were ready to leave for church Pat saw a text from the member we have been fellowshipping that stated that there was a power outage at our building we attend and were going to just have sacrament meeting at the building where Larry attends church.  We were glad for the text or we would have been at the wrong place.  It was a good meeting, which included the Spanish Branch also.  One of the talks was about not taking offense, and referenced a talk by Elder Bednar.  The speaker commented that Elder Bednar commented that taking offense is a choice we make, and not the result of what someone else does or says.  We can decide not to take offense, even if that was the intent of the other person.  The last speaker spoke on how the bar has been raised and continues to be raised as it relates to how we need to do intentional parenting.  We need to choose Christ in all our doing and per 2 Nephi we need to press forward or we will be pushed back by the world.  She ended with a quote from President Eyring that stated that whatever was enough in the past, will not be sufficient in the future.

            We hope you are all doing well.   Our thoughts and prayers are with you all,

            Love, Elder & Sister Hartzell

Pat's Birthday

Dear family and friends,

            Jim: Still the reluctant typist. Patricia’s arm healing is coming along, and I will be very glad when she has her use of it again.  We were so blessed that the accident wasn’t any worse that it was.  It does give one more empathy for those who have much more serious issues to learn from.  I am thankful for the example of others who have faced challenges with faith and trust in the Lord.  It is through Him that we can meet all these challenges and hopefully learn something good in the process, and then help others along the way, as we have been helped.

            Monday: Today was Patricia’s birthday and my decorations were a big hit with her.  She loves a party, the balloons and streamers.  Lots of well wishes all day long, which the decorations promoted for those entering the room.  There were treats of course. We did manage to get in some work today also.  We had our bi-weekly staff meeting with President Wakolo and addressed several issues with him.  He does know what his new assignment is but cannot tell anyone yet. We are still trying to get our office in compliance with the printer guidelines, but that is taking a while.  I also had bills to pay and entering changes into IMOS for changes due to three missionaries going home today for medical reasons.  I also worked on apartment inspection reports and some needs that were identified.  Patricia worked on updating the mission calendar, did emails, and assorted things.  After work we went out to eat at a Japanese restaurant and enjoyed a good meal there.  We had calls from the kids wishing Patricia a happy birthday and singing to her.  It was a great day.

Tuesday: I had a slower day, not much new and so had time to work on less important projects and they was nice to complete.  Patricia worked on some iPad issues, and some letters.  We took some packages to ship and to mail for missionaries also. We had a good visit with Brent on the phone.  After work we exercised, had dinner, and I worked on some photo uploading.

            Wednesday: A little busier day for me, though Patricia has been less busy due to very few missionaries coming the next couple of transfers.  I mostly worked on apartment issues, renewals, and a few closings.  I also worked on an article for the monthly mission newsletter.  They tried to relocate two of our printers today, but will have to come back later to finish.  One printer is too old to network and there was a wiring problem in the new location they will have to come back and fix later.  President Wakolo was doing interviews today, so we had several missionaries in the office waiting their turn to have their interview.  Patricia processed a couple new missionary recommendations with the help of Sister Hess.  After work all the office couples, the military relations couple, the Rasmussens, and the Greens from Conway met and went out to dinner at Olive Garden to celebrate Patricia’s birthday.  Any excuse to eat out, and this was a good one. Fun visit and good food.  I fix our lunches in the evenings so we are not so rushed in the mornings.

            Thursday: Another slower but steady day.  This has been an unusual week, with less new issues, and Patricia still waiting on paperwork from Salt Lake to finish processing some of the Dep missionaries that will leave soon. We had some more things to mail after work today at the Post Office. We picked up some dry cleaning and then did our grocery shopping. This evening we exercised, had dinner, ironed and did laundry.

            Friday: I don’t mention it often, but we start each day at the office with a spiritual thought and then prayer.  It is a great way to start each day.  We also cleaned the office today, the restrooms, vacuumed, and dusted.  The Hesses are helping out most weeks now also, so that helps the work load.  Elder Hess is frequently in the office working on his medical reports, researching, and having conversations in private with missionaries who are struggling with various things.  One sister was in this week to pick up some crutches for a sprained knee resulting from a fall while running for exercise.  Her companion is a great nurse for her.  Elder Sorensen has the never ending tasks of keeping up with car repairs, replacing old cars with new ones, and many related issues. About 4 pm we left early to drive to the mission home to pick up some paperwork left by President Wakolo when they left town for the semi-annual Mission Presidents Seminar.  We stopped at the Two Rivers Park on the way home and enjoyed a little walk there and to just sit and enjoy looking at the river and being out in the park. The park is on an island with a nice bridge access and is a popular locating for biking, jogging and walking.

            Saturday: It was cooler today, overcast, and rained last night.  We attended a soccer game for one of our grandsons, the other sprained his ankle and couldn’t play.  It is nice to be out and enjoying the games and the parks they are played in.  Today was bathroom cleaning day in the apartment, and we spent some time washing clothes and getting winter clothes ready to ship home and hanging up the summer clothes.  We were packed to the brim coming out and won’t be needing all these things until we get back home next fall. We exercised, had leftovers and a quiet evening.

            Sunday: This was a lovely sunny day.  We enjoyed our reading time in the morning and then got ready and picked up Sister Bowie on the way to church.  One of the new converts, an elderly gentleman, probably our age, but I don’t think of myself as elderly, is confined to wheelchair, and today they had a special table set up for him to be able to help bless the sacrament.  That was very nice.  I can remember the first time I blessed the sacrament and what a special privilege that was for me.  I am sure he felt similar. We had a youth speaker and then two brethren.  The first brother spoke about forgiveness and reminded us that if we say we have forgiven someone for an offense, but keep remembering it, then we haven’t really been forgiving.  We have to let it go and let the atonement take it away from us.  The second spoke about the troubled times we live in, and how we need to look for the good and not focus on the bad.  Others declare that they have the truth but are deceived.  He referred to the scripture in Acts 17 where Paul said “For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD, Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.”   We now, as did Paul in his day, live in a time when some people think they know God, but do not.  We have the truth and can be a light to them, if they will listen. 

            After Sunday School and Priesthood and Relief Society, we had a Linger Longer pot luck.  This is easier to do now that we have the last schedule in the building.  It was a nice gathering and good food.  We met a couple of new individuals as we ate.  It is good to gather and to have fellowship together.

            Our thoughts and prayers are with you all,

            Love, Elder & Sister Hartzell

Passover week

Dear family and friends,

            Jim:  Last Sunday evening we had our weekly visits with our two daughters and then just before we were ready to go to bed, I noticed a text from President Wakolo that had come in 30 minutes before.  There was some paper work that he needed for one of the missionaries that was leaving for medical reasons the next morning.  So off to the office we went, got that ready quickly, and then drove to the mission home and dropped it off.  That made for a little later evening than we had planned.

            Monday: Pat received help again today from Sister Green to do some of the typing for departing letters to missionaries, parents, and stake presidents.  Mine was a typical busy Monday with lots of bills to pay and I analyzed the monthly financial statement to later review with President, which we do after a staff meeting.   I had a few things to fix with journal entries to correct the errors.  It was raining quite hard when we left the office.

            Tuesday: We had a lighter day today--no real emergencies.  Pat did some shredding and computer work.  We did our weekly grocery shopping after work and a good phone visit with one of our sons. This evening was laundry, fix dinner, do the dishes and fix lunch for tomorrow, exciting stuff eh.  I have been listening to Jesus the Christ and have been enjoying that a great deal. 

            Wednesday: So on the weather report this morning it said zero chance of rain, but the humidity is 97%, glad it isn’t hot yet!  In Utah I don’t think it is ever 97% even when it is raining.  In Arizona during the monsoon season it might have gotten up to 30%.  Today Pat got her fiberglass cast off and put into a removable rigid splint for the next three weeks.  That will make showering a lot easier.  Her arm is healing fine, which is a great blessing.  Today I had three different apartments that needed specific liability insurance documents prepared of them, which is more work.  Most can just use the generic report.  Pat did a few more letters to parents and processed two new missionary applications for August with Sister Hesses help.

            Thursday:  We attended our zone conference today at the Little Rock Stake center where we attend church.  It was a great meeting and we got to hear from President Wakolo a couple of times.  The main focus was on how to improve in finding people to teach. He shared some of his experiences from last week and his calling as a General Authority Seventy.  He has served as a mission president now for nearly 3 years, was an Area Authority Seventy for 8 years, and was a stake president before that.  He said he thought he understood church government and operations from those experiences, but now he said that he really only understood a very little as he had meetings with the First Presidency, the Quorum of the Twelve, and the Presidency of the Seventy.  I have several goals I need to work on to improve myself.  One thing I cannot do much about is my hearing.  I use hearing aids but when I am in a cultural hall, with no microphone in use, I have a very difficult time hearing.  Ambient noise is amplified just as much as speech and I miss a great deal.  In the resurrection, besides getting all the hairs back that I have lost, I am looking forward to having good hearing.  In our ward that we attend we have several deaf members.  I have always been touched as I see people signing for them and the expression they put into their signing which emphasizes the expressions they are conveying.  I can appreciate somewhat the challenges they face without hearing well.

            Friday: We had a semi-annual health checkup this morning and then a normal day at the office.  Pat has not had a lot of extra things to do, so she hasn’t needed the extra typing assistance, beyond what Sister Hess has provided from time to time since Tuesday. She had Sister Hess help her send out three stake president’s letters for medical release missionaries going home on Monday.   It has been nice to have a lighter work load this week.

            Saturday:  I had to do some grocery shopping and then go into the office for a little while to deal with an apartment we need to open in Memphis for a new couple that is coming the end of the month.  We did some cleaning and laundry at the apartment, Pat was able to help quite a little with that, even one-winging it.  At 5:30 we met Larry and his family at “Larry’s Pizza” and had a fun time and lots of good pizza for dinner, followed by coloring Easter eggs back at their house after dropping off three more departure letter for sick missionaries leaving.  I am so surprised how many missionaries leave early due to medical reasons of one kind or another. Often we don’t know any particulars.  After the egg decorating they had a little party for Pat.  

            Sunday: A wonderful Easter Sabbath.  We attended Larry’s ward with them.  The Primary kids sang “Gethsemane” that we learned in 2015 when we taught Primary.  It is such a special song and beautifully done by the children.  There were three speakers, concluding with President Wakolo, who spoke about the atonement. What he shared was in part that the atonement is all about love, love, love.  Love of Heavenly Father for all of us, love of the Savior for his Father to do all that was asked of him, and His love for us.  We show our love for them by loving and caring for all our brothers and sisters here.  We share the gospel with them, we do our family history for them, and we serve wherever we are called.  It is the atonement or torment.  Casualness leads to casualty.  President Wakolo no longer sees trials, tribulations or weaknesses, but rather chooses to see them as training for him and through the atonement are helping to perfect him.  A step towards the Savior is a step away from the world.  When doctrine and principles overcome personality we progress.  The question he left with us to consider was “what will the resurrection of Jesus Christ really mean to us each day?”

            In Sunday School the teacher is a converted Muslim. Our lesson was on what we gained from Joseph Smith. She shared that when she grew up she saw Allah as God, but not as her Father. That was a very significant doctrine for her.  And as I think about it, I never thought about God as my Father either.  When you do, your relationship with Him changes, and he becomes more real to you and the hope of your future life with him.

        

  We went over to Larry’s about 5:30 and had a lovely dinner and evening with them.  Later we talked to both of our daughters for our weekly visit.  Where would we be without our modern communication means.

            Our thoughts and prayers are with you all,

            Love, Elder & Sister Hartzell

Recovery

Dear family and friends,

            Jim: Last Saturday I enjoyed having dinner with Larry at the Whole Hog Café and our visit, and then attending Priesthood session of conference.  Sunday we stayed in the apartment and enjoyed the two sessions of conference.  There were some really touching talks we listened to and others that inspired goals that we need to improve upon our service and devotion.  I appreciated President Nelson’s talk about the turbulent times we live in and how we can get through them. We need to focus on Jesus Christ, and not on what or how we serve.  We need to read, study and memorize the scriptures, and the testimonies of the living apostles. Elder Holland spoke about Jesus listening can hear the songs we cannot sing.  We all have limitations but we can sing in our own voice the songs of redeeming love we have for the Savior. Accept who we are and make that our best self.  Elder Sabin added to that thought that we need to be all in and stand up inside, and not be complacent with our covenants. Elder Anderson spoke about how we need to try and be more like Jesus in all that we do.  Elder Ballard added that we need to ask ourselves, “how am I doing?”, and evaluate how we are harkening to His voice.  Elder Bednar talked about how we need to focus on who we serve and not where.  Where doesn’t matter. Elder Rasband spoke about the importance of the Holy Ghost in our lives.  Where would we be with his help to bind us to Christ, fill us with joy, and comfort us in those hard times we all have. President Uchtdorf spoke in the priesthood session about the need to be humble and lift where we stand and then on Sunday spoke about having faith, not fear. Find and recognize the Lord’s blessings, the pure love of Christ overcomes all obstacles. And Elder Cook talked about faith as a principle of power.  There were so many more, this is just a few, our quest is to study them and set goals for ourselves to improve upon over the next 6 months.

            Monday: Patricia continues to improve each day.  She received help at the office today from Sister Hess, since typing is impossible for her right now to accomplish her work.  We had our bi-weekly staff meeting, but without President Wakolo, who will not be back in town until Thursday.  We have several questions to address with him when he returns.  One of the issues we are trying to address with the missionaries is their preparedness in event of a serious disaster of some kind.  72 hour kits are to be available and we are addressing that. 

            Tuesday: Today was a little less busy than yesterday.  Mondays are nearly always my busiest day of the week.  Sister Hess help Patricia again today.  There are always letter and reports to address.  Some are on a recurring basis, some specific to leaving or arriving missionaries, and some when a missionary needs to leave the mission early due to illness that have to be done quickly. 

            Wednesday:  This morning we went back to the doctor and had Patricia’s arm re-evaluated.  They took the cast off, and x-rayed again and put a new cast on.  Everything looked good so little or no likelihood of surgery being needed.  That was good news. Sister Rasmussen, another senior missionary, helped out with the typing this afternoon to give Sister Hess time to work on her own assignment of cell phone report analysis. 

            Thursday: Today Sister Green, who left several months ago, came back to help with typing.  She is especially a great help since she knows the system and has served in the position in the past. This has been the week for broken cell phones.  Over the past 10 days we have gone through 6 phones to replace.  That is a lot more than usual. 

            Friday:  We have yet another two missionaries going home in the couple of days for medical reasons.  So stake president’s letters and Release Certificates were prepared for them.  Patricia is able to do a little typing now with the new cast, which has more mobility for her fingers to move, and it is okay with the doctor.  Also today the technology specialist finally came and addressed printer relocation needs.  It turns out to be easier than I thought.

Soccer game at Pinnacle Mt.(this is what they call a mountain in Arkansas)

            Saturday: This was a day of soccer games.  Both Gary and Bram had games in fields near Pinnacle Mountain Park, which we had not been to before.  It was sunny, warm, and windy at times.  It was nice to just be outside and enjoy the weather.  We did cleaning at the Office and at home, had fun playing at the park with Harper, also did some exercising of our own.

            Sunday:  had a quiet morning, took the Bowies to church, enjoyed Sacrament meeting, the testimonies, the lessons, returned home, got dinner cooking, and took naps. 

            Our thoughts and prayers are with you all,

            Love, Elder & Sister Hartzell

Sister Hartzell's accident and transfer week

Dear family and friends,

            Last Sunday we took the Bowies to church and enjoyed our meetings. The concluding speaker in Sacrament meeting was a newly returned missionary, Elder Bailey, who served in Germany and gave a great talk on the Tree of Life.  His younger brother is a ward missionary and has been team teaching our Gospel Essentials class and doing a great job.  He will make a great missionary next fall when he leaves. After Church we dropped of the Bowies and needed to go to the mission office to do a couple things before tomorrow.  We had several people mention to us that the park called “The Old Mill” close to our office is really beautiful with the spring bushes and trees in bloom.  So we decided to stop by and see it.  We had a really nice time taking some pictures and walking around. 

  

Beautiful flowers at The Old Mill

Then just as we were getting ready to leave, life got more interesting really fast.  I tripped and started to fall and could not catch myself. I was able to drop my purse and walk out of my shoes but I fell headfirst into a pond that had rough concrete made rocks and gashed my fore head pretty deep but a clean-cut. I fell headfirst into the water and was completely submerged.  I turned over and tried to stand up.  Jim had jumped in and helped me up and another fellow jumped in the water and they lifted me out of the water to the bank.  The water was about 3 feet deep.  Another fellow there was a nurse and took over assessing me.  Checking my eyes for signs of possible concussion.  Besides my head bleeding pretty badly, also my right arm really hurt, more so than my head and I wouldn’t let anyone touch it.  The fire department responded to the 911 call and determined that I didn’t need an ambulance, and Jim could drive me to an urgent care for treatment.

            At the urgent care I received three stitches in my forehead gash, which was quite deep.  They however didn’t have an x-ray technician so we had to drive to another town 15 minutes to the north and get the radiology done there.  My right wrist is fractured and will need to see an orthopedic doctor in a couple days.  Quite the traumatic afternoon and evening by the time we got back to the apartment.   Jim helped me get cleaned up and I slept on the couch for the next several days to make it easier to get up.  Despite the problems we were thankful that things were not any worse.  The broken wrist was the result of trying to stop myself and that probably saved my head from much worse injury.  There were lots of people at the park that came to help, great Christian service and attitude.  Priesthood blessing helped too.  I am on an antibiotic to prevent infection and a pain killer. Jim: as you can guess this typing is mine so if there are errors consider the source.  The ground at the park is very rough.  Flagstone walks mostly so the ground is uneven and I was unfortunately behind her rather than in front when she tripped.  A helpless feeling, as an initial bystander watching this play out in front of me, and hearing my wife call my name as she is falling into the pond, caused me great heartache and a hard time sleeping Sunday night as I would see that scene, and hear those words over and over.  Thankfully those things fade in time and then we can focus on the blessing we received. 

            Monday we stayed home all day. We rested and took naps and Jim took good care of me. Jim went to the office for a little while in the evening and Larry and the kids stopped in for a surprise visit while he was gone. We played games and that was fun but tiring. 

            Tuesday, we both slept better last night.  I had a hair appointment in the morning and then we went into the office to do the transfer data entry.  President has changed the organization of the mission from 5 zones to 10, so there were lots of changes to make.  It took about 4 hours.  I did okay, but had to take a nap part way through. As long as the pain med is working I am okay, but towards the end of the 6 hours my wrist is really hurting.  We have received a couple good dinners, which Jim especially appreciates, since he doesn’t have to cook it.

            Wednesday morning we had our training for the new missionaries and that went fine.  We were already in west Little Rock, so we went from there to an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon that Larry knows and is in his ward.  It was at the clinic and it was packed and took a long time to get into seeing Dr. Tait, even with an appointment.  Result was confirmed broken wrist of fractures in end of the ulna bone, which fractured in several places.  I have a pretty blue cast now and the hope is that the ulna will heal and not shift alignment.   It was nearly 3 pm before we finally got to the office and worked for a couple hours and went home.  Sister Hess is helping me at my desk, fetching and doing the typing.  She is a great blessing to be available to me, I don’t know what I would have done if she were not available. 

            Thursday went well.  Sister Hess was such a help to me. We sent out letters, answered emails, and processed three missionary recommendations.  We had some shopping to do for the office at Sam’s Club after work, and of course “had to have pizza” for dinner there. 

Friday I got my stitches out this morning and then we did our cleaning of the office, one winger and all.  Sister Hess helped finish the recommendations and the usual answering emails and follow up items with the new missionaries. I received a beautiful flower arrangement delivered from President and Sister Wakolo.  It was a pretty good day.  Jim: I was blessed to have a pretty light week at the office and I was thankful for that, given the other time commitments.

            Saturday was conference and we enjoyed each session, seeing President Monson and hearing to our joy that our mission president was sustained as a general authority seventy.  That was totally a surprise to us, and yet not.  We are proud to know him and his wonderful wife.  They will do wonderful where ever they are called to serve in the world.  We will still have them until the end of June, we assume.

            Love, Elder and Sister Hartzell

Prepare for Transfers- March 26

Dear Family and Friends,

            Last Sunday was lovely.  We ended the day with good visits with Christi and all her family except Connor.  Also did a “We Chat” with Shawn and got to see his fun photos of his weekend in Shanghai.

            Monday was warm—got up to 83 degrees!!  I worked on emails and the 4-year address list.  Jim found an apartment in Morrilton for a new Senior Couple, it was blessing because he didn’t know until Saturday where they were going to be assigned.  We had a good Staff Meeting with President Wakolo, but Sister Wakolo was at home, sick with the flu.  We talked about our schedule for this week and next.  Went home, made dinner, had a good visit with Brent, and had a nice relaxing evening.

            Tuesday I worked on the 4-year list off and on all day, finally finishing it at 4:45!!  Hooray!!  It was hard to add in all the email addresses.  I also printed up 5 of the 13 missionary letters for their binders.  Several sets of missionaries were in and out of the Office because their cars were getting either new or replacement Tiwis (those are the devices that tell missionaries if they are driving too fast or unsafely—like having Mom with them).  Also dealt with iPad issues.  Came home and exercised, cut up a bunch of peppers for the freezer, watched TV.  Jim had a very busy day dealing with three new apartment issues, especially the one in Morrilton, and is struggling with allergies and maybe a cold.

            Wednesday it cooled off again and was in the low 60’s.  We to the Pinnacle Mountain building for training the 3 new ASL sister missionaries who just arrived on Tuesday.  Then went to the Office and printed up the new 4-year address list and put them in the “Mission Memories” binders.  Also 4 more letters to the President, Jim & I did the IMOS Transfer Board for the 3 new missionaries.  Jim didn’t feel good, does have a cold to go along with the allergies, and I took him home at 3:00 and he slept until I got home at 6:00.  He also started taking Coldeze and took it all day Thursday and Friday.  I finished up at the Office, did the grocery shopping, came home and we ate dinner, then I did 3 batches of laundry, and we watched TV and rested.

            Thursday Jim felt a little better and went to the Office for the day.  He was very tired by the end.  We had MLC (Mission Leadership Conference) in the building—32 of our best missionary leaders learning how to do their jobs even better.  Had a phone visit with my sister, Lois, while we got lunch for the missionaries at Jimmy John’s and they were delicious!  Did an order from Staples, sent the emails and photos to the parents of the new ASL missionaries.  At about 2:00 our new Senior Couple came from Sandy, UT, named Wies.  They are lovely people.  He is legally blind, only having about 10 percent of his vision so he can see outlines of people but no details.  She had to do all the driving to get here.  We showed them around and visited with them until President was done with his meetings.  Then he talked to them between 3:45 and 4:30.  We just worked at our desks, finishing things up, then took the Wieses to dinner at Chiles, then to their hotel to spend the night.  They are great people and will be wonderful MLS missionaries in Morrilton.  The Hesses also were in the Office for part of the day and left soon after the Wieses arrived.  Jim was exhausted from the cold symptoms and sinus headache and after dealing with all the apartment issues and finances for the week so far, by the time we got home at 6:15, he laid down for an hour nap, then we watched TV and rested.

            Friday was pretty quiet in the Office.  Not many people came in or called, except for Elder and Sister Sorensen got calls about cars and media orders.  I printed up the last 4 Presidents letters and finished the “Mission Memories” Departure Binders.  Also printed up the Departure and Arrival Programs for next Monday and Tuesday nights, and got the envelope ready to pass out their passports (only had one for the group), and to collect all their cards:  health, money, and gas.  The Assistants were in the Office Thursday night to work on the Transfer lists, and came in at the end of the day to try to finish.  We got some things collected from the supply shed for the Wies apartment for the office elders to pick up tomorrow morning, before leaving for Morrilton. Jim felt a little better today and was able to finish all the needed things for housing and finances.  There are routine reports to check and data entry to do each week, so this is an ongoing process.   Also, as we were leaving the Sherwood Sisters came in, Sister Burk and Bradford, so we took them to dinner at Casa Mexicana.  Had good food and good visits.  Sister Burk is from Colorado Springs, and Sister Bradford is a 2-Transfer missionary from Bentonville, AR, so is going home on Tuesday.  Had a quiet evening at home.  It was raining hard when we went to bed.

            Saturday we worked on emails, cleaned our bathrooms and kitchen, and read and took naps.  Jim felt pretty good all day, and I started sneezing a lot and being more stuffy, so started on the Coldeze and other medicines.  So we didn’t do any sightseeing.  We cleaned up in the afternoon, rested, read, and I went to the Women’s dinner and Conference.  They served “Café Rio” style dinner and it was yummy!!  I got to know Sister Stuckey and Sister Nance and Sister Burrup better--great sisters in the Little Rock Ward.  Went home and took medicine and watched a little TV, then went to bed and slept great.  Jim read and worked on family history while I was gone.

            Sunday it is 60 degrees outside and supposed to warm up to 75.  Having a lovely quiet morning.

            Missionary share:  “This past week I had a very awesome experience.  In my personal study I was studying some things that people will consider it as a deep doctrine.  During my study there’s a feeling hit me that I will always remember to keep on following it every time that I receive it.  I felt it, and can almost hear the words, ‘This is not the time to study things that you want to study.  Is it going to help you in this mission, and your investigators?’  The last questions really hit me.  I immediately closed my deep doctrinal studies, and go straight to Preach My Gospel, and start studying on Chapter 4.  It’s an amazing feeling.  It’s good to know that there’s someone that is guiding me in my studies.”

We love you all Elder and Sister Hartzell