Jan 5th, 2018
Dearest Family and Friends,

Wow, a lot of time has passed and a lot has happened in the last 5 weeks.  It was an extremely busy time, but such a Blessed time, too.  I was in charge of the 200 gift bags for the missionaries Christmas, and we started early to get everything put together.  I decided to wrap the mini Doctrine and Covenants that Pres. Hansen wanted the missionaries to have, it took a few nights, but that's one sure way to get into the Christmas Spirit, wrap presents and watch a Hallmark Christmas movie!
 Then I bought, counted, sorted, and filled 200 bags with assorted Christmas candy....all the while trying to make each bag come out equal. I enlisted our great Office Elders and we spent an afternoon putting everything in the bags. Mission T-Shirt, *thanks Deb and Marie for your help...candy, D&C, picture of the Savior, a Christmas poem written by one of the Elders, a Christmas card from the First Presidency, and a Flash Drive with one of the 6 performances the Missionaries did during Oct and Nov. "A Missionary Musical Tribute to the Savior".  They were amazing performances, and the Spirit that attended those choirs of 70-80 voices was overpowering at times.  There were many tears shed, testimonies strengthened and borne of the Savior, that the Spirit could NOT not be there.  The Closing song was always, Amazing Grace, a favorite of the South.

We finished up the bags and stored them away alphabetically. After the last transfer, we had to rearrange them all into Zones.

 Another great moment in the mission was when Elder and Sister Lynn G. Robbins of the Seventy came to visit.  We had wonderful Zone Conferences, and they taught us all so much.  Some of his teachings include the following: The Savior said that He would MAKE us fishers of men, not Call us to be one.  We are only successful as we let the Lord lead us, guide us. We are His CHILDREN, not His perfected adults.  He talked about the Lord's different weapons of war - fire, wind, earth quakes, etc, and how the Lord likes to stack the odds so that the people know that the battle is His; example would be David and Goliath. The Lord gives us weakness to humble us, and obedience brings blessings. I see that last one everyday in the mission. You can sense what kind of missionary you are talking to if they are obedient and humble. He reminded us of the Stripling Warriors, and even though none of them perished, many were wounded. They had to be brought out of the battle field, and  Nourished back to health, just like we have to nourish those who have lost their faith. In preparation for Elder Robbins visit, the mission was asked to read and ponder of one of his talks, "Be 100% Responsible", given at BYU Education Week, Aug 22, 2017. You will find this a great treasure trove for learning.  Hess Kids, please find it and read it. At the conference, he told the missionaries that they are enrolled in 505 classes here, classes like Diligence, Patience, Good works, all of Christ's attributes. "I firmly believe that a missionary rarely carves out his stature more than when he is on a mission; it shapes your life forever. It is the Best university for Mother/Fathers, Husbands/Wives in teaching us the virtues of Christ." I had about 20 pages of notes from E Robbin's teachings.

 Another highlight of the Christmas season was being the choir for the Forgotten Carols!  We had many many practices, and the full cast did an amazing job.  The ward here does something for the whole community every year, and that was their gift this year. 

 Of course you all knew about the "Light The World" campaign that the Church offered this year.  What an inspired program it is and was, and countless hours and acts of service were rendered because of it.  The special giving vending machines brought in close to half a million dollars in aid.

More thoughts from Elder Robbins: "A problem is a goldmine'!  No problem? No challenge to fix or learn from. Example would be Ammon as he took King Lamoni's sheep to be watered.  Look what that problem resulted in... "Good Samaritan opportunities are not convenient.  Pray to see the problems of those you want to teach and lift.  He told many stories; Missionaries walking by saw a man on the side of the road, his motorcycle wouldn't start. he had tried and tried but to no avail.  After the Elders had delivered their message, the man tried again and it immediately started up. The prophets have told us that their are no coincidences in this work.

Even this picture doesn't do justice to the amount of packages that came into the office for Christmas!  This load came all in one day. The Mail truck delivered this load early one morning, and filled the whole truck! Once again, every package was recorded, tagged with name and zone and placed into separate corners for later distribution. Check out the President office where Elder Hess hangs out...

 We made sure that every missionary received a package, and many wonderful missionary moms helped to fill in the gaps. 

This is one of the reasons that we don't like the drive to Memphis and back, I-40!  Elder Hess has to speak at Zone Conference now and then, and this shot was taken on our last trip back to N.L.R. There can be lengthily delays due to accidents or heavy traffic, and when this happens to the Office Elders in the transfer van, you will find the missionaries out walking up and down the line of cars handing out Books of Mormon, and meeting new people.  You can also find different types of "road kill" along this stretch, even deer!

Hey Deb, this picture is for you....remember when we use to fight over the chicken gizzards and hearts that Mother would fry up for us?  Now we could each get our fill without the fight!

I had to look this one up, couldn't figure out what is was,,,,,Smoked Pork Tail! Looks like it's a bargain. One night close to Christmas, I was checking out at Wal-Mart, and an older "Arkansanian" couple behind me had FIVE large gallon containers of frozen Chitlins that they were buying! Glad I was having turkey and ham for Christmas dinner....

Now this is a Christmas tradition that I can handle!  Sure glad I brought the recipe with me...

Because I am behind in posting, this will have to be in two parts.  

We are so blessed to be on this mission, so blessed to work with 188 other wonderful, faithful, consecrated missionaries all trying to do the Lord's work. We are doing our best to "Speak up", bear Testimony of our Savior, love the people here in AR, and bring souls to Christ.  Because everyone of you reading this is a member missionary, please do the same.  "Perfect love casteth out fear", and we are all commissioned to be missionaries, "Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the Lord, and they shall fish them; and after I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks." Jeremiah 16:21

We send you all our love and best wishes for the New Year.  "Things we don't change will remain the same", Elder Robbins...

Elder and Sister Hess