Scars

Well hello once again everybody. I hope everything is crackalakin' in your
humble abodes :)

I am so jealous of mom and dad seeing Brad in Madagascar and having a
vacation during their mission.....so lucky! But hey, in your defense, you
have both paid your dues, so I think you have both earned it, so I will just
put my foot where my mouth is! Hahaha ;)

So I figured out why my pants keep on ripping at the seam in between my
legs....I have stretch marks on my inner thighs! Chub chub here is either
gettin yolked a little too fast, or just putting on his winter coat early ;)
either way, I was very surprised when I discovered that. I took my 3 pairs
of pants (ya that is right, I ripped 3 pairs of pants) to a lady in our ward
who is a master seamstress and she gladly sewed them all up, bless her
heart. I am trying to exercise in the morning, I am on and off with that. I
just love the peace and quiet in the morning, I don't know why. I know, I am
a weird person, but I just like sitting there and pondering, it is a very
peaceful time of day :) but I will make an effort to get back into shape for
sure!

This week was a hard week. One thing I can assure you, is that we are
working hard. It is just a little disappointing right now, cuz our numbers,
if you were to see them, would show that we are not working hard. We have
had low numbers the last 2 weeks. We are focusing on finding. We did only
about 10 hours of tracting this last week, but I think we need to do more,
hopefully we will average about 2-3 hours a day. I do know that no effort is
ever wasted on a mission. I always try to remember that when we tract all
day and literally have no success. We do, however, leave pamphlets at almost
every door we stop at. A lot of the time, they just say "we are not
interested, but we will take the pamphlet", which is just a nicer way of
getting rid of us faster. I hope that if I do not see a lot of success
personally, that the next set of Elders will be fortunate to. I think that
we are just planting a lot of seeds right now. 

We got new phones the other day. Samsung Galaxies. Wow, these
phones are waaaaaaaaaay to nice for missionaries to have, at least in my
opinion. Touch screen and everything. I am sure all of my buddies who are
foreign are thinking that we are spoiled, which we are, living wise, I
cannot complain about that. We struggle with finding people, but are good
living wise, while a lot of other missionaries have vice versa. I think Brad
mentioned that to mom and dad. Do not worry, my hat is tipped to the Elders
who literally walk thro slums and are in major poverty, it is a big
affliction you have to face, but one that the Lord is aware of that you are
in :) I love my mission. I love all of the afflictions I go thro because
they are what make me a man. Last night as we got back, I looked at my right
hand, cuz that is the one I usually knock on doors with, and it is beat up
and has some scratches. I don't know why, but I was happy to have that scar.
It showed that I worked hard that day. "I earned my scar". That is what I
think us as missionaries have to do. We experience trials and afflictions
for our personal benefit. Jesus Christ earned his scars, in his hands and in
his feet, symbolizing all of the afflictions that he went thro. That is what
went thro my mind as I looked at my bruised hand. For that day, I had earned
my scar and I can show everyone that I worked :) It was interesting
comparing my situation to the new Elder who is out here. His suit is new and
all of his journals and planners look very nice. Although I have only been
out for 8 months, which is not all that long I know, I looked at some of my
stuff and it is starting to show some use and get some tears here and there.
I love "earning my scars" so I have proof of the work I did :) Thank you
again everyone for your support, the Lord is aware of your effort and I know
without a doubt that you will be blessed for it :)

Love,

Elder Hartman