Oct. 28, 2013 - No Visa Yet

Well, I haven't gotten my visa yet, but I feel it coming soon...I hope. 

A lot of cool stuff has happened this last week. Elder Oaks came and talked to the Georgia Atlanta and the Georgia Atlanta North missions, and I got to shake his hand! It was awesome! He didn't prepare a talk, he just spoke by the spirit, but it was super cool. He gave 10 Attributes that a missionary should come home with, but I left that in my journal in the apartment so I'll send those to you next week. It was truly amazing and you could really fell the Spirit there. That was on Saturday. 

On Friday, we did service for the Brady family all day. That was fun. Their family is super super super cool. They are seriously just like family. Sister Brady is just like mom...super into health stuff and natural things. She actually bought moms book. But all the kids play music and they are super talented. They have 7 kids, and their house is always a party. Whenever we visit, it's like visiting cousins, I feel like. And they like us so much that they signed up every week to feed us...so we're there a lot. But they are way fun. 

On Thursday, there was this huge Emergency Preparedness summit by the Red Cross hosted by the church at the Stake Center. So all the missionaries in our zone went over and catered/greeted/directed traffic/served lunch...and all that stuff that is required at events like that. It was super fun because a lot of people from different religions were showing up at our Stake Center and being greeted by us missionaries. It was awesome. We met a lot of cool people and made a lot of cool friends. But the mornings are super cold here. I don't know why, but it's been extra cold down here. 

So extra thanks goes to dad for sending me those sweaters. Thank you! We invited our investigators, the Polish guy and his son, to prepare for baptism, and they want to! Richard (actually spelled Ryszard and pronounced Rih-shard) can be baptized, but Peter's mom won't let him because she's against the church. But we'll see how that goes. Please pray for them. They need it. 

Our other progressing investigators, Jared and Sarah, who's mom is a member, seem to be good. We haven't visited them in a while since Sister Oliver has been sick. But they are super awesome. 

There is always so much to send home. I obviously can't send everything, but I can send home my testimony of the truthfulness of this gospel. I know this gospel is true. That is a simple, commonly stated phrase, yet it expresses the truth. I know this gospel is true. Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. He puts us in the right places we need to be at the right times. When you're having a tough time, and you know you followed the Lord, don't get discouraged. He has put you there because he knows you can do it. He knows what you are capable of more than you are, and he will give you the strength and desire to continue onward. To quote the wonderful words of the famous Kathryn Hintze, "When things get tough, remember Abinidi. Remember Joseph Smith. Remember the Pioneers." Katie put that in a letter that she left in my suitcase. The only thing I would add to that is Remember the Savior. Whenever things are tough, remember that there is someone who knows exactly what you're going through and exactly how to help you. You just need to chose to turn to him. This gospel is true, and I hold that declaration dear to my heart. If you don't know that for yourself yet, you can. Turn your heart to the Lord, and let him guide. I love you all so much, and I am so happy that I am a missionary! I hope everything is going well in London! 

Choose the right and follow the light

-Elder Hintze

Oct. 21, 2013 - It's getting cold!!!

So the mornings and the evenings are getting kinda chilly here in GA. I like the cold, so I'm enjoying it. It really isn't that cold, but it's getting there. 

We've been teaching a part member family and the kids wanna get baptized, so we're gonna set up a date this week. Also, the giant Polish guy who has that amazing escape story? He's been to church 5 weeks in a row. He's super cool, and as soon as we start teaching him, we're gonna try to set up a baptismal date. It's hard to teach him since he lives outside our area, but he wants us to teach him. And his son lives in our ward boundaries so he wants to go to church with his son (about 14) who's probably gonna get baptized too! He used to be a chef for the Communist Army, and so he's cooking for the scouts this Wednesday. We're gonna stop by and see if we can teach him then. 

So Elder Snow from the MTC got his visa! He's from Virginia, and he leaves at the end of the month. And I signed some more visa papers on Saturday, so I think my visa is going through. But if by the time Elder Snow leaves, and I don't have my visa, there will be a spot open in the Portuguese Branch...so maybe I'll get transferred there ;)...but hopefully my visa comes through. 

So our ward has 8 missionaries in it! One set of Elders, one trio of Elders, and now, a trio of Sisters! Two of the sisters just came in last week, so they're being trained by a sister from Tahiti named Sister Paepaetata. She is super cool, and she's helping me with my French! She's gonna give me a Preach My Gospel in French. There's a couple in our ward who both served missions in France, so he started printing me out lessons. It's pretty fun. 

I can't really think of anything else that's going on, but I love you guys! I hope everything is super fun in London. Continue to choose the right! I love you guys!

Oct. 14 - Transfers

Well, I have officially been in Georgia for a month on Wednesday! It's crazy how fast it's going! This Wednesday is transfers, and I'm not going anywhere. Elder MacDonald became district leader, and our old District Leader is leaving. His name is Elder Winter, and we became pretty good friends. 

So some cool news. The Brady Family, which are super cool and have guitars and have us over every week for dinner, the mom just bought mom's book! She said she got a signed copy too! I never told her about your book either. She just found it and bought it. Pretty cool. 

Another cool thing, but my mission president is President Mark Wolfert. Apparently he helped build DoTerra or something, so they give oils out to all the missionaries. I've known about this since I got here, but I just forgot to mention it. 

There is also a family , the Torrez family, that are obsessed with Nertz. So they invited us over and had a nertz competition...because apparently no one can beat their family. Well...Guess who won the Nertz competition? Yeah thats right...Elder Hintze is the Atlanta Georgia North Nertz Champion. So I do feel very at home here, but the longer I'm here, the more I want to be in Brazil. There were 10 visa waiters who came out with me. 9 to Brazil and 1 to Kenya. Well, the Kenya Elder got his visa, so I wonder if the visa process is going or if that even affects me at all. 

Anyways, this week has been a lot of tracting. We met a lot of interesting people. I saw this one guy on the street and asked him "Hey whats up?" and he asked what we were doing and we said we're just out sharing a message about Jesus Christ. He then said, "Oh , I am pretty set in my religious beliefs. I worship Moloch the Sumarian God...Actually, I've been looking for a goat to sacrifice. Do you know where I can get one?" Well, he put on a pretty good show, but I could tell he was kidding, so I just started asking him questions we ask people but substituting in Moloch. For example, I asked him how he came to find his faith in Moloch. Anyways, it was super funny. But yeah, there are some weird people out here. And some really awesome people, too. 

As far as our other investigators, none came to church because Richard and Peter had a Tai Kwon Do tournament. But we are teaching this lady named Pat. She's pretty old, but she's nice. She's been reading the Book of Mormon, so that's good. But it's been fun. I love this work and I love being a missionary! It's such an awesome experience! 

I am so grateful for you guys and I love you all! Good luck in London! I'll try to get more pictures in next week, but I hope Mike has an amazing birthday. And Also, Happy Belated Birthday to Chase! I hope he had an awesome birthday. Okay, well, I gotta go, so I love you all! Boa Sorte!

Tchau!

Elder HIntze