From the City in the Middle of Nowhere

Howdy people. So my week was quite grand. We had a lot of cool things happen, so I will explain:

-We have a baptism! She was supposed to be baptised this Saturday, but we moved it to next Saturday since conference will happen. Then she can get confirmed the next day. But her name is Silvia. Remember Bianca? Well, the mother of Bianca is Nadir, and Nadir is a member. And Silvia is this old senhorinha that lives with them. She came to church with Nadir once and then we visited them and she told us she wants to get baptised. Pretty dandy, if I do say so.

-So remember Bianca? Yesterday when we were teaching Silvia the commandments, Bianca was there too. We have to speak really loud so that Silvia can hear us, but Bianca is a little impatient. So we're reading about the 10 commandments in the Book of Mormon. But Bianca went ahead and read the whole chapter when we were teaching Silvia. So by the time we were talking about commandment #2, Bianca had read the whole chapter. So it ended up that Bianca taught Silvia the whole 10 commandments, better than I think my companion and I would have. It was super funny since Bianca is not a member. She's just a little lazy and impatient. But their family rocks.

-So this week we were going to teach a lesson and we passed by the house of an inactive member. Well, this inactive member is also a Profesora of English. So when we passed by, we waved to her, and she waved for us to enter. So we entered in the middle of one of her classes. And then she asked me to teach her students something. So, I began teaching English in a formal English class setting. I taught them how to say "Cool", "Sweet", "That's Rockin'", and "Peace Out.", along with some other stuff. It was sweet.

-We've been doing a lot of Noites Familiares with the ward members and they are inviting all their friends and its awesome. We're teaching a bunch of people and it is super cool. The ward members are super pumped about the Work of the Lord, so they're working hard as well. Missionaries can change lives, but the members make the difference.

-We contacted this guy named Edidio this week, and we taught him about the Restoration. He was very engaged and was a little bible-bashy. At the end of the lesson, he said: "If I take this Book of Mormon and this Pamphlet from you guys, you can't teach anything about your religion." So I explained to him. "Of course we can't. We could teach you all the doctrine of our church in the Bible, but without the Book of Mormon, we're nothing. If you read this and know it's true, than you can know that this Joseph Smith was really a Prophet, and that God really loves you and His church is established here on this earth, for you." Now, this is the kind of stuff that we say all the time, but this time it hit me. I really grew to understand how the Book of Mormon really is the most important thing of our religion. How great the love of our Heavenly Father must be, for him to send us just one little book, adjoined with one little prayer, to know that his church is here and that we can begin to receive infinite happiness in this life and for eternity. Yet, so many people are so ignorant and won't read or pray. God is the creator of the universe. He created all truth. If we want to know truth, all we have to do is ask him! It's simple! And you know where we find truth...THE BOOK OF MORMON! The Book of Mormon is true people! Read it! Pray about it! This church is true, and Jesus is our Savior. I am so grateful for this Gospel!

Anyways, if I could leave you all with one piece of advice, every conversation you have, somehow involve the church. You have this incredible gift. Share it.

Well people, the church is true. Choose the right, and don't do drugs.

Peace

Elder Hintze

A Terra de Promessa

OLA!

 

So this week was interesting, like all weeks. The work is awesome but with Carnaval, it was a little interesting.

 

-The nights of Carnaval were Thurs, Fri, Sat, and Sun. It was loud and the roads are extremely dirty and smell like a barn. There were these super cool giant floats in the streets. Like REALLY cool stuff, but I didn't have my câmera so I couldn't take fotos. Saturday night, we went to bed with loud music blasting from the streets, and we woke up at 6:30, with the same music blasting. And when we went to church at 8, it was still blasting. However, the Ward went from 25 people in church last week to 55 this week, so things are better!

 

-An inactive member in the Ward died this week :( I had met him once but we were working with his wife. We knew he went to the hospital but we didn't know he died until the Bishop called and asked us to sing at the funeral. So we went to the cemetery and we all sang Mais Perto, Quero Estar (Nearer My God to Thee) and everyone was crying. It was super sad. I almost cried too.  So then we went to out his coffin in a wall. So here in Uruguaiana, they have this giant court Yard and walls filled with coffins. Its got aisles and aisles of walls of dead bodies. Kinda crazy. But no disrespect, it was so cool. The first thing I thought when I entered was "Golly, Mike has got to see this." Its crazy. You feel like your in a fantasty world. But it was still sad.

 

-We are teaching this two kids, Lazaro and Barbara. They're mom and older sister are inactive, but the older sister really wants to go to church again. The problem is, she's a tad sassy, so she's not all inclined to let them got to church or seminary or the English classes we teach. It's sad. We had a baptismal date marked for them this saturday, and they were all super pumped, but they didn't/couldn't go to church, so the date fell through. It's sad, but I have hope for them. Lazaro is 11 and he is so cool. We show up and all he wants me to do is draw him cartoon animals, and then, after that all he wants to do is listen to the lessons. He is so awesome.

 

-The Ward wants to have a party and they want American Pancakes. So mom, can you send me a recipe for Pancakes and syrup?Something simple. And a recipe for crepes, too!

 

-I've been studying a lot about how we can learn by the Spirit, and one thing I learned is that we are accountable for what we learn. So we need to apply what we learn, imediately. If we don't apply what we've learned, did we really learn it? So in your studies, Always try to apply what you learn and live what you learn. Be a living testimony. And the more you do this, the more you learn, the more you grow, and the more you feel the Spirit. It's crazy how much more you learn when you apply things. You may think you've learned something, but until you're doing it, you've learned only a fraction of what you coul've learned.

 

Anyways, this week was crazy cool, and I'm exciting to continue on! Being a missionary rocks socks. So, I love you all so much! If I could give one tip to ya'll...read Preach My Gospel and study the scripture references like crazy. They're sweet. Okay, I love you all.

 

Peace

 

Elder Hintze

Hola Familia

Okay, so this week was a little bit slow but a little bit awesome. 

-We did a lot of Family Nights and had a lot of fun connecting with the families. They're starting to trust us a lot and invite their friends and stuff, so things are picking up!

-My companion loves to talk to people so I quite enjoy it. We're starting to talk to a lot more people and teach a lot more lessons. 

-A member went to Argentina and bought us Peanut Butter, so I'm pretty much happy. Also, I found Nutella. And Oreos. 

-I also think about what I can write to my family during the week, but I always blank out right when I have to write it. So I really have no idea what to say right now. 

-My city is in the middle of nowhere but it's pretty big. So  sometimes I feel a little bit trapped. But all is well. 

-My new companion is super cool. We get along really well and he's really helping me with my portuguese. 

-We've been doing this "game" with families during Family Nights where they write down 5 of their dreams that they get to take with them on a journey. At different pit stops of the journey, they have to leave one dream behind. At the end of the journey, they're left with the dream that is most important to them. The end of the journey is Heaven, and if their dream is a worthy one, they can enter into Heaven. It really helps them reflect on what's imporant in life, and it's interesting to see that pretty much everyone that enters "Heaven" wrote down something about their family. It also helps us to see whats important to our investigators and what we need to do to teach them better. It's super fun, super cool, and super effective. Now, only imagine if superman did it. THen it would be extra super. 

I really forgot everything that happened this week, but it's just another week of missionary work. Well, I love you all so much! Keep on enduring to the end and remember who you are!

Love

Elder Hintze

Sweet Week

Well, this week was sweet. A lot of cool stuff is happening. My companion is super cool. His name is Elder Pereira and he's from Rondônia, a state in Brazil on the frontier of Bolivia. He's super cool and he has a guitar! Woot woot! But sadly, I just got the mission weekly email and it says that they are changing the instrument rule, and we can only have instruments if they're owned by the ward. So he's gonna donate his guitar to the ward, and I'm gonna donate my ukulele. But hey, it's all good. Alright, so here's my week, peeps:

-My companion works hard and it rocks. He is also really cleanly and it rocks. So this week we were sleeping on mattresses in the district leaders apartment until our house was ready. President called and ordered that we move into our apartment immediately, so we did. It was pretty funny. But it's now just me and Elder Pereira.

-When I was living in the other apartment, there was an elder who dried his clothes in the microwave.

-I got my packages, Mom. No worries. I actually got 5 today. We're headed to the District Leaders apartment after emailing to pick them up.

-We had an awesome lesson with this lady we met named Vilma. We found her name on a piece of paper in our apartment and went to visit her. We started talking about the Expiação (the Atonement) and the started talking about Batismo (Baptism), which led to a discussion on Autoridade (Authority), and eventually led us to talking about about how she needs to pray to know whether or not we have the authority to baptize in the name of Christ. The Spirit was there and it was super cool. The questions were all inspired and it turns out her son is a member in a city in our mission. I don't know what will happen, but pray for Vilma! Also, pray for Bianca, to help her have a desire to go to church and be baptized, and for Loide, that her family will have a desire to return to church again. 

-We've been doing family nights with members of the ward and having them invite friends or menos ativos (less actives). So far, all the Noites Familiars (family nights) have fallen through. Except one, last night. But when we showed up, they had forgoten. But it's all good because we taught an awesome lesson on the Expiação and it really helped them I think. The menos ativo husband said he now has a desire to know mor about the Book of Mormon. 

-So I know you all wonder about the day to day stuff. If you want to know, just open up Preach My Gospel. It says exactly what I'm doing and how I'm doing it. It's pretty simple. 

Well, I love you all so much! You all are so cool, I can't believe it. And someone has to stop Mike from being so studly. 

Good luck in everything you all do. Remember that I'm praying for all of you specifically. 

Rock on

Elder Hintze

Also, in Alma 31:36, Alma and his friends hi-five because the Gospel is too awesome. 

Love ya

Transfers

Well this week has a lot of news. So let me start:

-Transfers! My companion, Elder Martins, will leave to Santa Maria, and Elder Pareira will come here to Uruguaiana. He comes tomorrow. 

-Elder Allen, an Elder from Virginia, left on Sunday. I was living with him and him and I became super good friends. It was sad to see him leave, but he finished his mission off strong. 

-So we met this girl this week who was married by another set of missionaries in order to prepare for her baptism. But she was never baptized. We started teaching her and she filled all the requirements to be baptized on Saturday, so we challenged her, and she accepted. Saturday finally came, and we waited at the church with the district leader (he was gonna interview her). We waited for 3 1/2 hours. The whole time she said she was coming. But finally, she never showed up and said she didn't want to be baptized. So that day was really unproductive. But oh well, we did our part. It's just hard to see people not want to come into the happiness and peace of the gospel. 

-This week is the week of Carnival, a week long festival of sinning. "Carne" means flesh in Portuguese, and Carnival is pretty much a party of the flesh and the natural man. It's crazy. So everything in the city is shut down. It's terrible. But hey, Satan may be hard at work, but the Lord will always be on top. 

This week was full of baptism prep, and transfers, so nothing really happened. But this Gospel is true. Nothing in the world will change that. I love you guys so much. Keep doing the right thing. 

Love Elder Hintze