The Moon is Actually a Giant Space Turtle

HOWDY! So my week was a very interesting week! I have a lot of stuff to do this p-day so I'll try to write it fast!

So my birthday was flippin' sweet! My companion made me a pineapple cake and we made little hot dog things that they make in Brazil and it was delicious. 

Tuesday was District meeting and the Sisters AND the Elders both made me a cake too. So I got 3 cakes on my birthday. Yes, it rocked. 

This week, I went on an exchange with one of the Zone Leaders and he came to our area. Before the exchange we stopped at the post office and guess what? I GOT A PACKAGE! It was full of American goodies and PEANUT BUTTER! THANK YOU SO MUCH! So Elder McArthur from Bountiful, Utah came and we had a little American Party with America Stuff. It was a party full of freedom, liberty, and awesomeness. But we had a really awesome experience together. We were walking and we saw a mansion. I had a feeling that we should have knocked at the door. But I was kind of intimidated so I told Elder McArthur "Challenge of the Week: Get a return appointment there." He just laughed and then I saw someone leave the mansion so I said "Too late, the challenge is mine to fulfill." So I ran over and started talking to a woman. I asked if she needed help with something that she was doing and she said no. Then I asked if she had ever talked with missionaries before. She said "No, and I don't want to.". Wow. So I kept talking to her and after awhile she asked me where I was from. I said "Oh, I'm from Washington DC"  She sort of flipped out and said "OH! I've been to Washington DC!". That was really a surprise to us because most people in Alegrete have never left the state of Rio Grande do Sul. We started talking about DC and the United States. It turns out that she has traveled all over North America. Then she told me "Of all the cities that I've been to, I love the people of Washington DC the most!". That made me feel good! So I told her "I like you a lot, so I'm going to give you a present. No TWO presents." I gave her to pamphlets and then she said "I like you guys a lot, too. Whenever you want to pass by, just knock and we can eat snacks and chat." She told us we could pass by whatever day in the afternoon and she would be at home. From "I don't want to talk to missionaries" to "Let's eat snacks and chat", all because she likes Washington DC. It was cool to see that the Lord put in the place that he needed me to help one of his dear children, and how the Spirit prompted me to do something! I'm so grateful for the direction of the Spirit! It's amazing!

That night, Elder McArthur got really sick and spent the whole night throwing up, so it was interesting. 

Friday, there was a Family History Activity. Every family that went prepared a poster of their family tree, and then we watched a video about family history. I was able to explain somethings about Family History showing stories from Ferdinand Hintze on FamilySearch and talking about how Daddy Bill was a genealogist. It was cool! 

Saturday, was Leticia's Baptism! It was awesome! I used the cake mix that I received in the package and made an American Cake for her. (SIDE NOTE: Don't let the Brazilian Relief Society eat American Pillsbury Cake. They freak out and corner you, asking for the recipe.) Before the baptism, things were really hectic. No one from the bishopric arrived. There were children running around the chapel screaming because of an activity from the other ward. People were running in and out. But after some major faith, the ward mission leader arrived in the name of the Bishopric and was able to preside at the baptism. It was such a spiritual experience, and you could see the change on Leticia´s face when she left the water. I'm so grateful that I was able to be part of this great change in her life! Really, I felt the Spirit so strong. Afterwards, I played a special hymn on the piano, and the Sisters sang to her. It was such a cool experience. 

Here's a picture of THE MILLION HORSES THAT GOT IN OUR WAY ON THE WAY TO THE BAPTISM!

After the baptism, everybody ran to the Stake Center for a Talent Show. It was super crazy cool and there are some secret hidden talents here in Alegrete that the world needs to know. There was a band that played that was super awesome. After they got off stage, I ran over to the room where they kept their instruments so I could "take a picture with them". I started talking to them and now they're going to come to the church this Saturday so that they can learn English to sing in English. It was cool!

But really! I'm so grateful to be a member of this church! It is the true church of Christ! 

I'm getting kicked out of the lan house, but I'll stop at another one a little bit later to finish sending the photos. 

I LOVE YOU SO MUCH

adios!

ELDER HINTZE

Helllooooo

First off, thanks for all the birthday messages! My inbox was more full of emails than my stomach was full of cake. (I haven't eaten cake yet today, but just go with the joke.)

So my week was super duper awesome. 

The sisters gave us a reference of girl that lived in our area. We decided to pass by, and when we got there, she let us in. I was super surprised because SHE LOOKS JUST LIKE KATIE. Well, kind of. But still. We started teaching her, and we found out that she had had a baptism date set almost a year ago, but she didn't want to keep the commandments. But now, she has made some huge changes in her life and she's ready to be baptized. 

She's also talking to all of her friends. She's 17 and has a lot of friends in the church, so it was super awesome when she came to church because she was highly integrated. And then, she liked church so much that she bore her testimony in fast and testimony meeting! It was way cool! She's set to be baptized this Saturday, right before the Stake Talent Show, of which she has already prepared an act that she's going to perform. I don't know what happened, but the Lord knew it was my birthday, and blessed us with someone ELECT. It's AWESOME! I am so grateful for the Lord and his tender mercies and that I'm here to help his lost sheep. 

Eliane, who was preparing for her baptism this week too, didn't go to church, so she's gonna have to wait another week. I think it's better this way because now we can accompany her to see if she really stopped smoking. Her son, Guilherme, who's 19, would be baptized with her too, but he also, didn't go to church. But only because he suffered an accident playing soccer, and his back is super messed up and he can't move. So I can't really blame him for not going to church. But this week we're gonna work really hard with the so that they can be baptized on the 20th. They're super awesome and I really have learned to love them.

Well, my week was super simple, but super awesome. Today the Zone Leaders called and sang Happy Birthday in 3 languages (Portuguese, English, and Spanish.) But it lacked the family tradition of singing Happy Birthday in Danish. But I'm so grateful that I can be here in the mission field on my birthday. I'm so grateful for the things that I'm learning and the opportunity that I have to help out the people here in Brazil. It really is a blessing! 

I was teaching a piano class and then I let my companio teach while I went to search for hymn books. Well, the other elders of the other ward were having an activity with their ward, so they challenged me to a question battle, and I lost. The question was "How many pages are in the Bible?" So next time you need to know the number of pages in sacred religious text, don't ask me. 

Well, I love this work, and I love you all. You really are amazing, and I'm so grateful for all of you. It's amazing that we can be here on the earth to be a part of an eternal family. 

I love you all so much!

Elder Hintze

Hello Folks!!!

HELLOOOOOOOOOO

So this week was a blast. It was super duper awesome. So I'll start:

Tuesday was Zone Conference, so we went to a small city on the border of Uruguay called Quarai. There were a lot of missionaries that I knew there, so it was a blast. But the training was even better. We learned a lot about how to be better missionaries in general and I realized that I've got a lot of things to change.
I'm working on it! Then I had an interview with President Parrela, and might I say, my mission President is the best mission President ever. I really love him and I'm so grateful I was called to the Brazil Santa Maria Mission to learn from him!

Wednesday, we called the Relief Society President and asked if she and her husband (the old bishop) could visit Odilon and Sônia with us. They agreed and we went and taught them about the Restoration. It was really awesome because Odilon really hit it off with Cesar (the old bishop), and Sônia and Maria (the pres of the RS) already were having such a strong relationship. The message was really spiritual and they agreed to read the Book of Mormon. But all because of the presence of the members, they were able to make strong relationships within the church, and feel the Spirit much much stronger. It was sweet.

We passed by in the house of Eliane this week. We're helping her to stop smoking in preparation for her baptism on the 12th of September. She is super awesome, and she's always trying to help people. The only problem is, that she helps everyone...on Sunday! So it's hard to take her to church! She reads the Book of Mormon like crazy, so I really hope everything works out! Her son, Guilheirme, is ready to be baptized the same day too, so it'll be sweeeeeeet!

Friday, I discovered how to make ice cream.

Sunday, there was a huge festeval in one of the parks in the city with 3,000+ people there. So Me and my companion went there with the Zone Leaders and with contacted everyone and gave out Liahonas. It was super cool. There was a band playing and there were a ton of people everyone, so I said to one of the Zone Leaders, "Do you think they'd let us make an anouncement on stage about the church?" He said he had no clue, so we decided to go up and ask. I didn't think they would let us, but they totally did! So him and I got on stage and anounced the Guitar, Piano, and English classes that we're teaching and also the hours of the church services and then I had the oportunity to bear my testimony to all of them. It was such a cool experience! My companion got it on video, so I'll see if I can send it. When we left the stage, everybody was coming up to us and asking about the classes, so I really hope this gives good fruits! 

                                             Video of the announcement in the park!

So this week I was studying in 4 Nephi and I found something really really cool. So it talks a lot about the Nephite Civilization after the apearance of Christ in the Americas. In verse 16 it says that they were the happiest people from the creation of the hand of God. I was thinking, what did they do to be so happy? Then I read in verse 12 about how they were obedient and kept the commandments of God. It's super simple to be happy then! Be obedient to the commandments of God! When we obey commandments, not only do we recieve the natural blessings that come with obedience, but we also recieve much more blessings directly from God. And when we don't keep the commandments, God doesn't punish us, but we just suffer the natural consequences of our actions. But when we keep the commandments, we experience the natural consequences of obedience PLUS other blessings directly from the hand of God. So. Be Happy. Keep the Commandments. (I'm putting that on a t-shirt)

I love you all so much! I really know that this church is true! You all rock!

Choose the right and don't do stupid stuff.

I LOVE YOU

Elder Hintze

Our Microwave Exploded

I'm kidding. Our microwave is in perfect tact and functioning quite well, actually. 

Well, my week was pretty sweet. A little bit slow because my companion is trunky and goes him in a month, but it was still a sweet week. 

So Tuesday was Zone Meeting. We had a cool training on reactivating the members who have potential to serve in the priesthood. It's called the Elders in Perspective program, and we're using 50% of our time doing this. Apparently, this Stake is the worst stake in all of Brazil. The frequency of the entire stake is less than the frequency of our ward back home (It's about 250-275 people). So we have some work to do. 

We went a painted a fence for an inactive family this week. It was sort of cool, but then we learned that this family left the church to build their own church. So I took a snapshot of their church in construction. It's super weird. After having received a testimony of the truth, and serving in the church for many years, why would anybody leave? It's incredible how many people leave the true Church of Jesus Christ for simple things. This guy just wanted more money, so he's building a church. Weird. 

Wednesday, we walked from one end of the area to the other the entire day, and all of our appointments fell through. We were pretty unmotivated but we decided to stop by at one more house at the end of the day. We went and knocked on the door of Odilon and Sonia, a couple that accepted the challenge to be baptized, but hadn't seen them in a while. When we knocked, Odilon answered and said that we wouldn't be able to enter that night, but that would could pass by the next day. So we went home, planned, and went to bed. Then we went back the next day, and the lesson was awesome. We taught about eternal families, and they loved it so much. It was such a spiritual lesson, and we were able to answer a lot of questions for them. Then, we invited Sonia to a Relief Society activity, and she said she wanted to go. We talked to the Relief Society President, and Saturday, she went by, and took Sonia to the activity. Apparently, it went really well! Maria, the President of the Relief Society, told us that Sonia said "Oh, I'm so happy to be a part of this new group of friends". Which is super awesome. It's crazy how happy I am that the members are really embracing this family. It's incredible the power that the members have to make the difference. 

Saturday, we did a family night at a recent converts house and we made tacos again. Nobody knows what tacos are, so they loved it, obviously. (Tacos are amazing). I think I'm gonna open a restaurant called "Taco Party" and it will be like a Cici's Pizza but with tacos and fajitas and amazing Mexican mixtures of awesomeness. 

Well this was my week! I am so grateful that I can be here to help so many people come closer to Christ. Christ really loves us, and if you want to feel that love, just read about Him! The scriptures are His words, and when we read them, we feel the Spirit, which is how we feel his love. In Moroni 8:16, we learn that "perfect love casteth out all fear". When we feel the Savior's love, all of our fears, all of our worries, will be cast out. But how can we get this perfect love? Verses 25-26 in the same chapter give you a little formula that you can apply to receive this perfect love of Christ. Go and read it, ponder on it, and then apply it to your life.

I love you all so much and I know this Church is true!

Rock on n' stuff, 

Elder Hintze

DA TERRA DOS GAUCHOS

Olá gente! How are ya'll? So my first week here in Alegrete was pretty darn great. Winter is ending and it's getting hot again. Yipee! (said the sweaty american, sarcasticly). Not much happened this week, considering that we're opening an area. This is the 4th area that I've opened on the mission, and the first weeks are always slowest. But we got some work done. 

When we got here, the elders that were here before us used up all the credit on the cell phone, so now, we can't call anyone until the end of the month, which is not super cool. But hey, who needs a cell phone anyway? The other elders also left a list of the people that they were working with, so we went to visit all of them this week. We met Eliane and Guilherme, and they are super cool. Eliane was already to be baptized, and when she went to the baptismal interview, she didn't pass because she had been smoking. When we visited her again, she expressed a lot of desire to be baptized, so we started to make some goals with her. Sunday, she could smoke 20. and today she can smoke 19, and so forth. My companion is making a fake cigarette case for her, and making fake cigarettes. On each cigarette, he wrote a scripture that she can look up when she has the desire to smoke. We're gonna give it to her this week, and I hope it all works out.

 We went to contact a address that was left with us, and when we got there we were confused. We ended up in a veterinary store. We went in and started talking to someone, and it turns out that the other elders had passed by and talked with him. My question is why were the other elders in a veterinary store. Anyways, we started to teach him and his wife, and we invited them to be baptized. They started thinking and then they expressed a lot of desire and accepted, so I hope all goes well with them, too. We're gonna stop by there house this week so I'll have more news next week. 

This week, I was studying about Jesus's ministry here in the Americas. It really made me feel like I knew my Savior a lot better. Christ was such an amazing teacher! He was gentle, kind, loving, used the scriptures, spoke simply but powerfully. Wow. Go and read 3 Nephi. One part that hit me is when Jesus was talking about loving our enemies. He said that we need to love them and pray for them and serve them. But why? "For [God] maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good."

It's true. Both the good and the bad have the priveledge to feel the sun. And both the good and bad have the priveledge to feel the Love of Christ. So we need to let our "light" shine on others so that they can feel the perfect love of our Savior. We have the light of the Gospel to share, so let's let our "sun" shine on both the good and bad. I love the scriptures. They are such a source of spiritual strength and awesomeness. READ THEM!

I really know that this church is true! It really is the true church of Christ. And we all the oportunity to feel the love of Christ! (Romans 8:38-39)

I love you all so much!

I hope your week is awesomer than Spider-man eating Nutella on the moon.

-Elder Hintze

Transfers

Annndd the news of the transfer......I'm leaving the palmtreeless city of Palmtrees! I'm leaving Palmeira das Missões and I'm off to Alegrete. I'll be the District Leader, and my companion will be Elder Martins, my trainer. It's his last transfer so I'll be "killing him off"'. 

So this week was a little weak...(heh, get it? week...weak...heh, okay...)

All of our appointments fell through, so we decided to go knock doors. We started knocking doors, and after a good amount of time, we realized that we were in a new area of the city and that nobody lived there yet...so that's why nobody answered....But then we tried one last house just because, and guess what? Someone lived there! She was busy but she said we could come back, so it was cool. 

We got to teach Rafael again this week. It was super cool again. He had his Bible out and was questioning some of the stuff that we were teaching again and we just said, "You can throw all the evidences down that you're right, and we can throw all the evidences down that we're right. But the only way that you can know for yourself that the message that we share is true, is by saying a prayer and asking God himself if the Book of Mormon is true." And then he said "Well, what does the Book of Mormon have to offer that the Bible doesn't". I thought of a whole bunch of things, but none of them felt right to say, so I just said, "A testimony of the only true church of Jesus Christ." This hit him hard. It really touched him, and it really helped him understand our purpose there. We weren't there to discuss religion, we weren't there to talk about the weather and sip tea and crumpets, but we were there to show him the only true path to happiness. And now, he has a lot of desire to know about what we have to offer. It was really cool seeing the way that the Spirit led the discussion. The Spirit really does perform miracles. 

Well, now I'm leaving Palmeira, and although it wasn't my favorite area, I definitely learned a lot. I really learned to love my companion, Elder Gomes, and the other elders that lived with us. (Elder Penha from Recife, Brasil, and Elder Mejia from COLOMBIA) . It was really cool to make these bonds with them. But now I'm off to do the will of the Lord in Alegrete. It's gonna be sweeter than lollipops dipped in nutella. 

Well people, I know that the church is true! It really is. It's not really a church that we're part of, but the fold of the Lord. Other churches are just organizations that teach good stuff. But we are really the fold of the Good Shepard. 

Espero que tudo seja bom com vocês esta semana. 

I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!

Elder Hintze

Wasssssuuuppppp?

Eu acho que O Senhor queria que eu estivesse em Palmeira para que eu pudesse aprender cozinhar.

 

My week was quite dandy. Full of the normal/awesome stuff of missionary work. But first, I would like to give a shout out to Elder Austin Barrus, for being an AWESOME friend and sending me a Book of Mormon in German and a super inspirational letter that helped me out a whole lot. If anybody wants só um pedaço de felicidade, just have Elder Barrus write you a letter.

 

So we had 29 people in sacrament meeting this week. It was a lot better than 9 from last week. It was fast Sunday, and normally nobody bears their testimony here, so it's just the missionary and the branch president. But this week, almost all the members got up and bore their testimony, incluiding a non-member that was there! It was super cool to see how the Spirit was brought into the room by one powerful testimony, and it left everyody else wanting to bear one too! I wanted so badly, but I thought it better that the members strengthen one another, especially since this stuff never happens. And I get to bear my testimony everyday, so it just wouldn't be fair. But it was so cool and I'm so grateful for this little tender moments that we know that Heavenly Father really does love us.

 

Last Monday, we has a family night at a members house. We watched "Joseph Smith: O Profeta da Restauração" and I made crepes for everybody. And yes, we found Nutella, so it was fantastic. 

 

We passed by Beatriz and Luisa everyday this week, and we could not find them at home. It was super weird, considering that Beatriz had that amazing experience that she needed to hear our lessons. But then, one day, as we were trying to find her again, we ran into her on the street. But she was holding hands with a guy that had to have been 35 years, and Beatriz is 50 years old, more or less. It was super weird, but it goes to show that the adversary knows what will happen if she hears our message, so he's working, too. It only means that we have to work 10x harder. Challenge accepted.

 

This week, we found a guy named Rafael. He's a student at the college here in Palmeira, and he's studying Theology. He is super cool, super open, and super smart. I felt like I was in Georgia again when he was talking about the Bible. We taught him about the Restoration and about Priesthood Authority. He then started to pull out random scriptures just to proof us wrong (not in a rude way, but in a civil/gentlemen-who-sip-tea kind of way). I don't know what happened, but let's just say the Spirit is the best Bible Basher. So many explainations, answers to his questions, biblical information, and much more that I didn't even know I knew left my mouth and responded to every doubt that he had in that moment. It was super cool to see how the Spirit was working. But then, to stop the useless "civilized bible bashing" (which I never really liked to do), we left him with an extremely powerful testimony of the Book of Mormon. We explained that the only thing that will ever respond truthfully to whichever question he has, will be the Spirit. And that if he ponders in the Book of Mormon and searches humbly to know the truths of God, that God, through to power of the Holy Ghost, will reveal truths to him. It was a super amazing experience and it really goes to show that, regardless of worldy knowledge of the bible or anything, the only thing that really matters is if you humbly and sincerely seek answers from God. Forget about you own personal knowledge, but search the knowledge of the Lord. In Him, you will find all your answers.

 

I was study in Helaman 12, and I began to think. Here, Nephi, the son of Helaman, is preaching repentance to the people of Zarahemla. In verse 8 until verse 21, Nephi starts talking about the power of God, and if God wants something to happen, it will happen. It says stuff like, "If the Lord shall say - Move - the mountains shall move...and if the Lord shall say...then it will happen" It was super cool, but it was showing the power of God in comparison to the nothingness of man. Then Nephi begans to teach about repentance. I started to think and a phrase appeared in my mind. "If the Lord shall say -- Thy sins are forgiven thee-- then thy sins will be forgiven." It really hit me. Really, the Lord has the power to take away anything bad that we've done. Whether it be something horrible, or even just a bad thought, he has the power to heal us. Men offer a million ways to be happy and "be free of sadness" but it is only through the atoning power of Jesus Christ that we can be healed from the sadness of the natural man, and experience the endless happiness promised to us by Mosiah in Mosiah 2. My challenge to you all would be to pray every night and sincerely seek the forgiveness of the Lord, whether you did something horrible, or something simple, you can and will be forgiven. But first, you need to seek forgiveness. 

Really, the Church is true. God loves each and every one of us! I know it's true!

Choose the right!

 

I love you all! I hope your week is better than waking up to the smell of bacon on Saturday morning. 

Rock on 

Elder Hintze