So, yes. I am in Brazil. My area is in the city of Uruguaiana (I didn´t know it was legal to put that many vowels in a word). It´s on the boarder of Argentina, and I´m gonna go check out Argentina today! Pretty cool, huh?
My companion is Elder Martins, from Natal, Brazil. He speaks no english. We share an apartment with 2 other Elders; Elder Allen and Elder Oliveira. Elder Allen is from Springfield, Virginia (Woot! Woot!) and Elder Oliveira is from Sao Paulo.
Its flipping hot. It feels like a Virginia summer. I sleep with no blanket or anything with a fan blasting on me. As for the bugs, the only ones I´ve seen are Volkswagens. Seriously, like every other car is a Volkswagen bug. But theres not a lot of cars anyway. People drive motorcylces, ride bikes, ride horses, and horse n buggies, and walk.
The church building is beautiful and there are 4 chapels in the city. The streets are roamed by wild dogs, wild cats, and wild horses. I´m scared of the horses. I don´t understand a thing that is going on. The people down here, the Gauchos, speak SO FAST and they blurb all their words together. It is so tough to understand, but I´ll get there. Elder Allen told me that the language is even worse here in Uruguaiana, so it´s harder to understand. He speaks really well.
The food rocks. So, I flew from Atlanta to Sao Paulo, but our flight left a little later, so we missed our flight to Porto Alegre, and then our flight to Santa Maria. So we got another flight to Porto Alegre, and then a 5 hour bus ride to Santa Maria. Then we stayed in a Hotel in Santa Maria because we arrived pretty late. I got my own room with a king sized bed. It rocked. Then the next day we walked around Santa Maria, recieved our companions, did visa stuff, ate lunch with President Parrela, and stuff like that. Then we stayed in the hotel again. I also got the same room again (oh yeah). Then the next day, I left with Elder Martins to Uruguaiana. It was a 7 hour bus ride from Santa Maria to my city. Woohoo.
The work is extremely different down here. It´s hard to do anything because I don´t understand anyone. But it is my first week, so I didn´t expect to understand anyone anyways. I feel like I can say what I want, but I don´t know what people are saying to me. I do understand Elder Martins though, so he normally repeats what people say so I can get it. People here always talk about my blue eyes. They think they are so cool, haha. It´s funny.
So, people either pronounce `Hintze` perfectly, or they cannot say it at all. I was called Elder Hitler yesterday. Anyways, this is the hardest thing I have ever done, and sometimes I wish I were back in Georgia. But Brazil is super cool. I love you guys so much and I miss you all a lot! Choose the right and stuff!
Love Elder Hintze
Well, this is my last week in the US for awhile! I just found out that I fly to Brazil with Elder Charles, who is going to Sao Paulo East Brazil. So I'll lose him in Sao Paulo when I fly from Sao Paulo to Santa Maria. It used to be that I fly to SP and the Porto Alegre, and then a 5 hour bus ride to Santa Maria, but the SM Airport just opened, so I get to fly down there. I can't tell if this week is gonna go by really fast or really slow...but I am super excited to be headed to Brazil!
So I served in the Collin's Hill Ward last transfer with Elder MacDonald and Elder Rodrigues. The only set of Elders in the Ward were Elder Calkins and Elder Schmidt. Well, I've been reassigned to the Northpoint Singles Ward. And my companions are Elder Calkins (yes, the same one I was just with for 10 weeks) and Elder Thomas. Elder Thomas was friends with Francesca back in Utah! He used to hang out with her! It's kinda funny. This is his last transfer, so he goes home in January. But I'll be gone.
Thanksgiving was cool. I got transferred the day before, so I got to spend thanksgiving with a family that I don't know! It wasn't as weird as you think...just another day of missionary work! We spent it with the Mack family. Jenn Mack and Justin Mack are both return missionaries and their both in our singles ward, and their parents are super cool. Jenn served in Nevada and Justin served in Phoenix Arizona Spanish Speaking with Elder Alex Janzen! How crazy is that? Justin just got back a month ago, and he is super cool. Jenn's been home for a while, but there is another Mack out on a mission in the Philippines! He has some cool stories from the storm. It's cool how all the missionaries survived that. How is Jeff doing? I haven't heard about him yet.
On Saturday, every missionary who had a baptism in November got to go to the Temple. While I was in the Temple, I met a guy who said he had a mission companion in Denmark with the last name Hintze, so I said my Pa and his brother both served in Denmark. His name is Don Jensen, and I emailed Pa about it. That would be cool if he was Pa's companion!
The temple was super cool, and while I was there, I was thinking about Brazil. Well, a distinct voice came into my head that said, "You will be fine in Brazil". So, I can't wait to be fine! Haha! But I am so excited! I leave Georgia in the Winter, and arrive in Brazil in the Summer! CRAZY. But I also leave next Monday night and arrive Tuesday morning...Man...a lot of flying.
I've had a ton of fun this week though! Since I'm in a YSA ward now, we only tract apartment complexes. It makes me think of dad on his mission. I feel like I'm doing the same thing he did! Oh! Speaking of, we tracted into a photographer for National Geographic! I thought of dad, and how good he would be at that. Anyways, this week has been super fun.
When we're out, I just wanna talk to everyone! It's super easy once you open your mouth. But you've just gotta open you're mouth. As members, the best thing you can do for missionary work is to open your mouth and talk with people. Talk with everyone that you can about the church. Plant those seeds! And get to work! Missionaries aren't the only ones on missions! The purpose of a missionary is to teach. The purpose of a member is to get people to teach. Seriously, though. Do it. Everyone needs to hear that they are worth something and that they have a Heavenly Father who loves them. It is all of our responsibility to make sure people know that. So get to work people! The work is hastening!
Well, I love you all so much! I hope ya'll have a fabulous week. PEACE OUT!
Elder Hintze
HAPPY THANKSGIVING
