May 24, 2017

Hello Family and Friends, it's been a fast two weeks, 

but I did stop long enough to snap one more photo 

of the beautiful and fragrant Magnolias!  I sure wish that they would last a bit longer.  Thank you kids for all of the wonderful Mother's Day cards, gifts and wishes!  Loved getting to talk to everyone of you!  What a nice day.  We had the Office Elders over for dinner and to use our WiFi to Skype with their families.  They are suppose to each get 45 minutes time, but a couple of them went a bit over that.  Since they were typing up our phones and computer, we were late (our time) in getting to talk with some of you.  One Sister in the ward made me this candy lei, she said she knew that I would be missing my family today. So Sweet of her!       In our Sacrament meeting one of the speakers

talked about Faith, and asked, "What does Faith look like?" He quoted a few scriptures and mentioned these men in answering his own question.  Faith looks like Nephi obtaining the Brass Plates. "I did believe all the words which had been spoken by my Father;" It looks like Peter, walking on water, like Abinidi bearing testimony of our Savior despite threats from King Noah, and Faith is like the 2000 Stripling Warriors going off to battle, trusting in God because ..."they had been taught by their Mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them."

Have any old pallets laying around?  Sure makes a fun little garden!  We visited a Farmers Market, that has been in existence for many years and was first established as a means of raising money for the orphanage St Joseph's.  The orphanage opened in 1910 and housed 100's of children until 1978. Now the  money is used for upkeep of this historic building. 

 Fun decorations and silly glasses from the Senior Office missionaries.  And, again, thank you for all of the wonderful Birthday greetings and presents.  We ended our evening with our annual balloon release, but it didn't go quite as planned! It was starting to rain so we just stayed on our little patio to send our love notes to heaven. We let them go, and they drifted up past the balcony above us, then up to the third floor and right ONTO their balcony!  We ran up the 2 flights of stairs and knocked on the door; no one answered.....later, before the sun fully set, I happened to look outside and saw one of the balloons had escaped. 😊 

 One of Elder Hess' Birthday gifts was $ to see the USS Razorback Submarine. (named after a whale, not the AR pig) The following pictures show you an inside look of the sub., and what tiny spaces those men had to live, work, and sleep in.  The picture of Elder Hess going for the controls, was just that, pretend, he didn't want to get thrown off before we even got started!

 Down the hatch!  Luckily we were the only ones on the tour, and our guide went down first....women should not wear a skirt to climb down steep ladders! Below you can see how cozy some of the cots were, and those Sailors even had their own torpedo close by for comfort....

                                  

We see quite a bit of Sister Burk and Sister Stringam, the Sherwood Sisters.  The picture on the left is after one of our dinners with them, and the one below is how they showed up one night after helping out with the YW/YM's color run!  They came to us because they felt like they needed to repent and call President Wakolo.  After the run the youth had music playing and a dance.  They were worried that they had broken mission rules, and we reassured them  that they were not on the naughty list, but had been doing a service.  After a good talking to, and a little food, they left feeling much better.

Through it all, you can see Sister Stringam still holding on to her scriptures.  They are to always have them with them, and I don't think I have ever seen a missionary yet who does not carry them everywhere they go.  

These dainty little yellow flowers were definitely not worth the trouble it took to take the picture.  I only had one Foot Half-way off of the cement and into the dirt to take this shot, and within 2 seconds  I knew that it had been a mistake!! Tiny little ants biting my foot, in my shoe and in my sock!  Oh, and note to self, when you beat a cream colored cloth shoe on your tire, it tends to leave black marks on the shoe :(

We took an hour (more of less, well, maybe 2, and you will see why), and visited the Arkansas National Guard Museum. The museum has a history of the States first Militia up to the present day National Guard. Great displays and history.  There was even a picture and plaque showing one of the WY units that participated in a more recent conflict.

 Yep, Elder Hess could identify many of these, and he pointed out all of the fine features of each one!  I'm glad we were able to visit this museum.

Happy Memorial Day to everyone, and we send our love to each one of you.  Take care, and know that The Gospel Of Jesus Christ is our Sure Foundation, our Savior is our true light and perfect example in this life.  We are His children, and He wants us to return to Him someday.  

love,

Elder and Sister Hess

Oh, and when you read the blog, you will notice big gaps between some of the pictures!  I don't know why, nor to I know how to fix it, must be something with the formatting, and it only shows up when I do a preview. So, if someone out there can help me, I would welcome it!