It's been a while since we have had time to make a post...and the days roll around so quickly! As a refresher....three different times Elder Hess and I were promised that our family would be blessed while we are serving! Once when we were set apart, once in the MTC, and the third time by our first Mission President, Pres. Wakolo. It didn't take long to know about a very special blessing, but it did take a while for that blessings to materialize.😁 And so, may we introduce you to the newest little blessing in our family.....
Harper Noelle McNair!
Isn't she just a little doll? Little is actually right, 5 lbs 4 oz, born on August 28th, 2017! Mother and baby are doing great, Jess is just a bit sleep deprived! Harper has her days and nights mixed up at the moment.
Meanwhile, back to our mission...We had another senior couple come and stay with us for a night. We are in the same Stake, but live over an hour away from each other. This is Elder and Sister Wies, and they are living in Morrilton, and are Member Leader Support. They do a fantastic job with the members and the missionaries, and since the Elders live in the duplex next to them, they get feed regularly! Elder Wies is legally blind, and gets around amazing well!
We showed the Wies's around Little Rock on Sat...walked across the Presidential Park Bridge, an old train bridge, had lunch at "Forty Two", at the Clinton museum, took the trolley around Little Rock, stopping off at the Arkansas Historic Statehouse, then home to get ready for Stake Conference.
I'd say that we look the part of a Hillbilly, what do you think? Simply put, the Ten Commandments make us a better person, a better community, a better nation, and a whole lot better world! One of our speakers at Stake Conference was a recently returned missionary. He told of how his father had died what he was a young boy. Growing up, his mother had taught him to never give up and so while on his mission his mother passes away. This young missionary went home for her funeral, and then went back out to complete his mission. He asked the question, "Why do we fall?... so we can learn to pick ourselves up. Jesus picks us up through the gift of His Atonement." He went on to talk about how attending the Temple encourages Personal revelation as does daily scripture study. He teaches a primary class and spoke about how even in the simplest of Primary lessons, you find true doctrine and that when you stop and look at life, you see that pure doctrine in everyday life, and everyday conversations. In speaking about covenants, he reminded us to not only prepare to receive them, but prepare to keep them.
Another speaker from Stake Conference talked about her missionary son, and she asked him how he keeps going when things get tough? He responded in a letter, that she had taught him to "push through the pain and keep going because quitting never accomplished anything! Good advice. He reminded her of a time when she had told him to....:Grow up, throw up, and get back to work!! The family had taken on a chicken farm to raise money while the father was in school. The speaker, the mother, said that the work HAD to be done, so that is how she responded to her son when he said that he was going to throw up! (think that they may have been cleaning out coops?) He also told his mother "I stand tall with my name tag on! I remember Who I am, and WHOSE I am!"
Another speaker started his talk with a question....."Want Joy and Happiness? then Serve Others!" His second question, "Is there something that Heavenly Father is not proud of me for?" One of the Stake Presidency made this statement...."Your agency is not given so you can get what you want, but what Heavenly Father wants for you." I had never thought of that before.
We look for a new saying on this church sign each month. So, Jonah 2:2 says, ..."I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice." I know that Heavenly Father does hear us.
And, fried Ice Cream we had after lunch at our new favorite Mexican restaurant!
And so family and friends, I'm happy to say, that "Every day I'm Servin in...
And as they say in the South, Have a Blessed Day!
love to all,
Elder and Sister Hess
