Turkey Week

Hello fellow citizens of the U.S. (and whosoever else may come across this from another country)

I got the package that Summer sent, it was awesome, thank you very much. The shoe shine was probably my favorite part. I honestly never thought I would like shoeshine as much as I do right now. After I used it, the whole rest of the day, I kept on looking down at my - somewhat - shining shoes. My proselyting shoes are very worn out right now, they are slowly starting to fall apart. I am hoping to use them my whole mission :) but it made my day to see that shine on them, I could not stop smiling :) :)

We do have a dinner for Thanksgiving set up, so we are taken care of. It will be a great day to try and catch some people home too, since it is a holiday. I am excited :)

The way we do missionary work in this area is really different from the way I am used to doing it. In Whitehorse, due to the size of the branch, I am used to having to go out and do a lot of work on our own. In Klatt, they assign us a lot of people to visit, so there is a lot of less active work and recent converts. Neither of the ways they execute missionary work is bad, it just varies depending on where you are. The ward here is awesome with missionary work. Members are ready to attend lessons with us, and they are great about suggesting names for us as well.

Since it is Thanksgiving, I have a quote from Elder Holland regarding this holiday. He was speaking in the MTC, a few year ago, and told all the missionaries in there to picture there families at home, around the dinner table. All of the family is there, except for your chair, which is empty because you are out on a mission. It is the exact same for Heavenly Father. We are on missions here on earth. Our seat in Heaven is empty. He wants us to come home to Him. He misses us dearly. We are all His children. He wants nothing BUT the best for us. I know he is our Heavenly Father. I will miss all of you dearly this holiday season. I will be thinking of you a lot and I hope you have fun and make memories with each other that you will remember for years to come. Thank you again for your support, I love you!

Love,

Elder Hartman1

Questions from Mom that I am answering:

1. The area is doing great! The members are awesome. We do a lot of works with less actives, so I am still having to adjust to that, cuz I am used to tracting all day and doing a lot of the missionary work ourselves, but this ward takes great care of us :) The weather is getting pretty chilly. It is about -10-0 usually. Our doors are starting to freeze shut in our cars. Makes things interesting :) The new apartment is awesome, I am sending pics of it in a separate email so you can see.

 

2. He is from Blackfoot, Idaho. He is 19, played football and basketball in high school. He has been on his mission for almost 4 months now.

 

3. It is good, nothing too hard, just take numbers and plan District meeting once a week. Our District actually has 4 areas in it, counting ours. The sisters, us, another companionship in Anchorage, and then one in Dutch Harbor, so we have to do it over the phone, which is kinda stressfull cuz I cannot do a lot of activities I was planning.

 

4. I will always remember the fellowship in Whitehorse. Everybody knowing everybody. The branch there is awesome because everyone is really close. They say a small town is a big family, which is how I will always remember it. Also, teaching David and Xenia, I will always remember them too. Those were the best lessons of my mission, hands down.

 

5. A lot of stuff, mainly turkey bowl, then eating dinner at members houses (we have more than one dinner set up).

 

6. Those questions are hard. The best I would say, was just tracting, I always have a blast doing that. The worst was when we found a Jehovas witnessed who bashed with us, that was depressing.

 

7. Stuff for Christmas, I thought about this. All I want for Christmas is pictures of family, and any pics of my buddies and I too, if you have any. And any quotes, likes books with quotes, or just pictures, whatever you got. Those are the main thins I would like-for now at least :) I did get the sweatshirt and I LOVE IT!!! It is awesome, thank you so much!!!