3-19-17

Dear Family and Friends,

We had such a beautiful Sat., I thought we would start with our trip to the Old Mill.  For those who know my favorite Movie, can you guess what these flowers are?  They are Azaleas, and they come in different colors.   Remember in Enchanted April how the ladies visited the castle in Italy during the height of the Azaleas?  They are gorgeous!  The Old Mill was build in a park as a tribute to Arkansas pioneers, and christened in 1933.  It is one of the highly photographed areas, and is the site for about 200 weddings per year.  

The tree on the left is called a Red Bud, and you can see the white azalea's behind the mill.  We will definitely be going there again his week, and watch for the rest of the colorful blooming treats.  

Thousands of visitors come each year to view the park in all of it

splendor and wonder.  We saw many families there taking pictures, a wedding party, and one dripping wet girl who made the mistake of trying to cross the rock bridge across a more narrow part of the pond, This mill was actually in the opening credits of Gone With The Wind!

Kids, what would Grandma Hess be saying if she saw Dad hanging out this window?

Ok you get the idea, it's a beautiful, peaceful place.  We watched the ducks, geese and turtles swim, sunbath, and feed.  

One of our Sacrament speakers was a tiny little lady named Sister Wing.  She taught us an amazing lesson on Fasting.  "Fasting reflects our willingness to be teachable, to submit to His Will.  The Lord speaks to us Spirit to Spirit, not to the body as Satan does." Sister Wing gave us a little history lesson on fasting.  During Mike Huckabee's tenure as governor, the Federal government was cutting funding used for the needy.  The governor called a council of 13 different Faiths to see what could be done through churches to alleviate some of the need.  Sister Wing's husband was the Stake Pres. at the time, and he was sent as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day-Saints representative.  After some discussion, he said that he could offer a plan that would not cost a church a dime. The other pastors, bishops etc, listened intently  as he described the Law of the Fast.  He mentioned that in our church, the voluntary contributions had amounted to $300,000 in Arkansas in one year.  The other faiths were eager to put it to the test.  Wish we knew the rest of the story!

Each time we drive to Memphis, we find it has been early morning!  And, as you can see, you can hardly see when you are headed East.  The first sign of what is coming is when you see the sun's reflection on the side of the Semi truck trailers that are always on the road; then you round the bend, that there is it

 Wish we could get a good picture of the very large bridge that crosses the Mighty Mississippi as we leave Arkansas and enter Tennessee.  This is view of the sky line of Memphis.

                                     Looks like someone needs to clean their windshield!

 We were in TN to attend a Zone Conference for that side of the mission.  I took more of the rice packs to distribute, and here Elder Hess is helping Elder Sorensen hand out buckets, sponges and a flashlight to each companionship.  The missionaries are asked to wash their car every week, so these items would aid them in keeping their car clean.

                                                           
 A trio of sisters found a minister of another church to teach.  They meet with his small congregation, about 20 of them, and teach them several times a week. It's an exciting time to be a missionary in the South.
                                                               A group of lovely Sisters.

 I wanted to share of the highlights from the speakers at the Conference.  1.  Don't waste a day or even a minute of your mission, you will never have this experience again.  (Kind of like our life, there are no do-overs when it comes to our time) 2.  Sister Wakolo "my home is not perfect, but the House of the Lord, the Temple, is. Sometimes in life we take 5 steps forward, and 3 backward, but the important thing is that we keep moving forward.  3. Pres. Wakolo, do we have a personal relaionship with our Heavenly Father, or are we just casual acquaintances?  Before our mission president was a member, he did not allow his wife to read the Book of Mormon.  For eight years he forbid it; then a miracle happened and he read the book for himself, and the rest is history.  He is a master teacher of the scriptures, and says that the more he reads, the more questions he has.  He always ends his instruction with this phrase.  "I will never doubt my faith, I will never question or turn my back on the Book of Mormon.  I will never, no never, no never lose my testimony.

 Looks like someone should have moved the chairs out of the way!  Elder Hess and I are on the right.

 This is Sister Gummow.  She lived in Smoot for 6 months when she was a baby.  Her family moved to Afton and lived there for about  seven years.  Some of you may remember Nancy when she worked at Hastings part of that time.

 These pictures don't do justice to the St. Patrick's dinner that was sponsored by the High Priests in our ward.  It was their second annual party.  It began with the Lord of the River dance, and was hilarious.  Each table was beautifully decorated, and each place setting had a personal Irish Blessing. The dinner was  traditional corn beef and cabbage, potatoes, roast carrots, salad and green desserts.

 Didn't get a good shoot of the contest for best Wear-of-the-green by the men, but you get the idea!

The prize for dress, plus for games and quizzes was the chance to grab a handful of gold from the pot at the end of the rainbow on stage. Many Irish tunes were sung, and a "good time was had by all".


      We finally saw a sign for North Little Rock on our outing on Sat., now we know where we are!

One last thought from our Conferences.  Day two Conference was on the AR side, and on both days two professionals from LDS Family Services  addressed the missionaries.  One of their main points was to teach us to never use the phrase....."You make me..........." No one can make you feel anything.  Instead, say, "I Feel..........." whatever the emotion you are experiencing.  I think it can be a very useful tool to use in our families and relationships with others.  Initially the counselors were there to address companionship's and how to get a long better.  But they gave good advice in many areas of a mission. They advised us to pray out loud, it makes our prayers more real and feel more connected to God.  Look for the good in ourselves, and compliment yourself each night.

Our Love and Prayers are with All of You,

Elder and Sister Hess

*Moses 6:60 For by the water ye keep the commandment; by the Spirit ye are justified, and by the blood ye are sanctified;