Die on Monday, if you die on Friday, you'll ruin everyone's weekend!

HELLLLLOOOOOOO!!!!! I am just the happiest camper today! This last week was busy but we are doing a crazy awesome work here in Uruguaiana. It's cooled off...the beginning of this week was hoootttttt but now, the weathers cooled down and I had to put a sweater on when I woke up! Winter is coming people!!!

In an elevator on our way to teach

Elder Carlos de Souza and I are working hard, talking to everyone we see. We have a goal to talk to every family that passes us on the road, or every family that we see in their house, and to follow the Spirit to know which houses have families so that we can knock on those doors. When we talk to these families, we carry one of the churches special magazines that talks about the temple. We show them pictures of the temple and explain that the temple is the House of the Lord, and that it is a very sacred place. We explain that is the only place that is authorized to seal families for eternity.It's been very effective and I've been able to learn so much about the importance of the temple. I see families on the street and in their homes and I just can't imagine them without the amazing blessings of the temple. I am so grateful to bee sealed to my family for all eternity! i know with assurance that God loves his children, and because of this love, he gave us families, the source of our happiness. And when we have an eternal family through temple ordinances, we can have that happiness for all eternity. I love the Lord and I'm so grateful for the Temple!

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Speaking of eternal families, we've been working with an amazing family, Thiago and Patricia. They're a young, amazing couple with 2 beautiful children. We've been working with them since I got here, and we've also been emphasizing the importance of the temple and eternal families. They've been going to church every week, praying as a family, reading the scriptures together, and everything! Last Sunday, we went to their house with the Bishop. We had left the pamphlet "The Family: A Proclamation to the World" with them. With had written the day 28th of April at the bottom of the pamphlet, and we told them to pray, read the pamphlet, and then, if they felt the Spirit when the read the Date at the end, that they would be married and baptized that day. When we got there with the Bishop, they looked at us and told us "Well, we thought about it, and we think we're gonna get married in the middle of the year" I freaked out, because I knew they hadn't understood that marriage for them is not just a way to be more happy, but a way to repent of what they had been doing wrong and to obey the commandments of the Lord. Luckily, the Bishop jumped in and bore his testimony of the importance of obeying the commandments, and that marriage is a commandment to be fulfilled. We all bore our testimonies of the family, and the temple and told them to kneel, and pray as a couple if they needed to be married and baptized on the 28th. We were going to go back on Tuesday, but Thiago called us and told us that he had to work. So we remarked for Wednesday...and then the same thing happened and we remarked for Thursday...and then Friday...we got really worried that they were just trying to avoid us. So when he remarked for Saturday, we prayed that it would all go well. When we arrived on Saturday that looked at us and told us "Well...we received an answer....it doesn't look like the 28th will work out"....My heart dropped...but then they continued..."so we'll just get married that week after, on the 4th of April"....WOOOHOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! I was so happy! We've been working with them so much and I've soon the changes that they've made...so new we're working to marry them in the chapel after the last session of General Conference and then on the 11th, them and their children will be baptized!!! And they're already planning their sealing, too. (They told me that they want to get sealed in the Washington DC temple!). Patricia is an English Teacher, and Thiago works in the office of an agricultural engineering place. They are pretty well off, and such a happy family. I'm so excited for them to be able to experience the happiness of an eternal family in a little over a year!!!!!

My week was great, and I just wanted to share these experiences that I had. I love the Gospel and the perfect plan of Salvation that God has prepared for all his children. The church is true!!!!

LOVE YOU ALL

ELDER HINTZE

Kit Kat and H2OHHHH

Hello People!

So this week was pretty simple. Last P-day I traveled to Santa Maria for the Mission Counsel. It was great at the Zone Leaders were able to discuss what we can do better as a mission. Afterwards, I had the rest of the day to just wait. And my bus would leave after lunch on the next day, so I just spend the afternoon visiting members in the city that I love. I went with another Elder from Washington, DC and we ate the best flippin' cake ever at a members house. It was pretty darn sweet. It was so great to see all the great members and recent-converts that were there.

We got back to Uruguaiana on Wednesday night. We went to the store and bought some stuff to make dinner. And then we slept!

We had a really cool experience this week with the Area Book. We found the name of a couple that were being taught a couple years ago but weren't baptized because they weren't married. We decided to visit them. We got there and started to talk to him. His name is Rodrigo and he said that he's known the church since 2006 but it's been 3 years since the missionaries hadn't passed at their house. He explained that the only reason that he wasn't baptized was because he wasn't married, but in the past 3 years, him and his wife had gotten married. We challenged them that night to baptized on the 11th of April. He accepted!. The next day, we went and started to explain about the Restoration of the Church, and he already knew everything! We watched the Restoration Film with him and we testified that God has called a prophet again. We left him with a talk from Thomas S. Monson, and left the challenge for him to pray to know if the Book of Mormon was true. It was a great experience and now the Ward will have one more family!

We've been working a lot with another family, Tiago and Patricia. They go to church, read the scriptures, and pray together! They're great! They're going to get married on the 28th and their baptism will be a little bit after. Pray for them that everything will go right!

I love being here on a mission! I love the opportunity to serve the Lord, and show my love for him through this great service. I love you all, and just want you to know that I know that the Church is true, and that the Book of Mormon is a proof of the truthfulness of this Church. Please read from the Book of Mormon daily and gain a testimony of it, so that you can also feel the same joy that I feel from knowing that this book is true.

I love y'all!

Elder Hintze

I'm selling my lunch to buy my dinner

CONGRATULATIONS TO MY BEAUTIFUL AND AMAZING COUSIN, LUCIA MONTAGNOLI, WHO ENTERED THE MTC LAST WEEK TO GO TO THE ITALY MILAN MISSION! GOOD LUCK, LU!!!!

TRANSFERS!!!!!

So I'll be staying here in Uruguaiana. I'll be training a new Zone Leader. His name is Elder Carlos de Souza. I have no clue who he is. But I'm excited. Today, I'll head to Santa Maria for the mission council and I'll be heading back here on Wednesday night.

So my week was pretty awesome. We baptized João Paulo this last week. He's the nephew of a member family and they've been taking him to church, and he wanted to be baptized. We've been working with him, and wow, he's amazing. He's only 9 but he's super smart and knows everything about the church. It was a really cool experience to work with him.

We had marked another 2 baptisms this last week for 2 young women, Vitoria and Mariana. Vitoria is 13 and her older sister and little brother are members. Mariana is Vitorias aunt but she's 16. So we had been working with this family, and they were supposed to baptized. We went to Vitoria's house to confirm her baptismal interview, and when we got there, the first thing that she told us was "I don't think I want to get baptized anymore". We freaked out a little bit. (Actually, a lot). She was so prepared to be baptized and had been ready for weeks! Then she got a little more sincere and told us "Look. You're always saying that I need to pray and ask God if the church is true, and I still haven't done that yet!" She started expressing to us that she wasn't prepared spiritually and that she hadn't been keeping the commitments we were leaving. She told us that she wants to be a good member of the church when she's baptized, and that she didn't think she could if she didn't have a testimony. We explained to her that she was prepared and that she was already a great member of the church, but she still wanted to wait a little. So we're going to work with her more, and help her recognize the testimony that she already has. It made me a little happy to see that she actually has desire to be baptized. She's great and we'll definitely keep working with her.

We had a cool experience this week. We were walking to a plan after lunch, and an old man sitting on a chair called us over to talk with him. We were a little hesitant because he looked drunk. My companion looked at me and said "Here we go...". We went over and he asked us if we were "preachers of the Word". We said that we were missionaries sent by Jesus Christ. He looked at us and said. "Perfect." He started crying and telling us about his crazy health problems and how nobody knew what he has and how his wife and son had passed away. He asked for a prayer, so we went into his house and gave him a blessing. We talked a little bit about the Plan of Salvation and marked an appointment to pass at his house the next day to explain more. He accepted. We've gone to his house every day this week, and he went to church with us on Sunday, and he wants to come to church every Sunday! It was amazing to see how humble and willing he was to follow Jesus Christ. When I get back from Santa Maria, we're going to visit him and mark a baptismal date. He is a really great guy with great desires. Please pray for him. His name is João.

I love being here on a mission! It's such an amazing and incredible opportunity! I'm so grateful that the Lord gave me the opportunity to serve him! I know that this is His true Church!

This week, I want you all to think about the blessing you have from serving others. Find 3 scriptures about service and then read a conference talk about service. Right me a short email about what you learned and how you can search to serve people daily.

I love you all so much! You all rock!

Have an incredible week.

Elder Hintze

TACO BELL

"Quem quer, faz. Quem não quer, manda" -Bispo Coutinho

"Whoever wants it, does it. Who doesn't want it, commands"

HELLO PEOPLE!

This week was crazy slow. And I have no time. So here's what happened.

On Tuesday, District Meeting was awesome. We talked a lot about work with the members, and what we need to do to have the members trust us. It was really interesting. And I learned a lot.

On Wednesday, I found out that I would travel to Santa Maria and go on a division with the Assistants.

On Thursday, we canceled lunch and made potato cakes filled with pepperoni, and then I got on a bus and travelled 8 1/2 hours to get to Santa Maria. I got there late at night and then went to sleep.

On Friday, I woke up, studied, and then did 1 visit with the Assistants before heading back to the bus station and riding the bus another 8 1/2 hours back to Uruguaiana. I got there late, went home, and slept.

On Saturday, we were going to baptize 2 girls who are relatives of a member, but some problems went down and we had to move it to next week with our other baptism.

On Sunday, it rained as if Noah was still building his ark.

And that was my week! The division made no sense, and I travel 17 hours alone in 2 days just to make 1 visit, but I'm not complaining. It was actually a really edifying division and I learned a lot. It was actually fun to ride the bus through the giant field in Rio Grande do Sul. This is such a beautiful state in Brazil, holy moly..

I love being on a mission! It is the best thing ever!!!!1 I am seriously learning so much and changing so much. I'm grateful that the Lord loves me enough to give me the opportunity to be here on a mission.



I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!!

Have a fantastic week.

ELDER HINTZE

TASK OF THE MONTH:
Read all the talks from General Conference in October to prepare for this coming General Conference

A perfeição se encontro nos detalhes

Hey everyone! This week was great. If your trying your best, it's hard to have a week that isn't great. This week wasn't filled with amazing, glorious miracles, just the little day to day miracles, for which I am so grateful.We worked hard this week, and we were able to help our investigators to progress. So here's what happened.

On Tuesday, instead of having district meeting, we stayed at home for another 2 hours studying the doctrine of Christ and doing special practices on how to invite others to be baptised. It was great, and we learned a whole lot.

We've been working with a family that is part member. There are 2 children that are members, but the parents and the other siblings aren't. We're working a lot with Mariana and Vitoria, 2 girls who are super awesome and are progressing a lot. They went to church last week, and they stopped drinking coffee and everything. They're marked to be baptized on the 28th, so please pray for them! They went to a special conference this week, so they'll be out of the city, but they both brought their Book of Mormon with them to read, so that is pretty awesome! Pray for them!

Elder Aguiar. my companion, is super awesome. He is a hard worker, and I'm so grateful that I can learn from him. I know the Lord loves me because he puts me through experiences that help me grow and become more like him. I'm so grateful for the Gospel!

Sorry, this ones short, but I hope you all know that I love you!!!!!

I hope your week rocks more than Rocktopus.

Elder Hintze

You Could Make That With Just One Tie!

OLLLLAAAAAA GGENNNNTTEEE!!!

So this week was really awesome, like always. But first I want to congratulate Elder Josh Hamm and Sister Sydney Sperry for completing their missions! Congratulations! You guys are awesome.

So Monday was sweet. After completing all of our p-day responsibilities, we went home and slept. Oh, what a wonderful feeling. Then, that night, we went and visited some people. We had marked a family night at a members home, but when we got there, it didn't work out because the wife hadn't gotten home from work yet.

On Tuesday, we did a special zone meeting to start off the transfer. We sang "Called to Serve" and I can't express the power of a Zone of missionaries singing this song. Wow. It's amazing. The Sister Training Leaders gave a training about keeping commitments and helping our investigators to understand the importance of commitments. Afterwards, I gave a training about obedience, and my companion gave a training about really loving our investigators. It was a powerful meeting and we all felt the spirit very strongly.

On Wednesday, we visited a ton of people, and then we had a meeting with our Ward Mission Leader.

On Thursday, we visited some people, but mostly prepared for the mission tour on Friday. We had to organize the travel plans, and prepare the zone to travel to Alegrete. And then, that night, we had a baptism of a really awesome guy named Alex. They were married and got baptized that night. She was already a member and was returning to church, and Alex had been prepared to be baptized. It was amazing.

On Friday, we all went to Alegrete to see Presidente Mazzagardi, of the 70, and in the Presidency of the Brazil Area. He came and visited our mission, and wow, was it powerful. He gave us so many little tips to help us to be better missionaries, and he inspired us with amazing words. Holy moly, it was indescribable. One thing that he said that caught my attention was:
"When the tribulations and difficulties come, it's because the blessing are in reserve".
I thought a lot about what he said, and it is really awesome. It reminds me of a thing that mom taught me when we lived in Stoneleigh in Round Hill. I woke up one Sunday and didn't want to go to church. I wasn't sick, or anything, I just didn't feel like getting up. Mom came into my room and I told her that I didn't want to go and that I'd just stay in bed. She asked me why and I told her that "I wasn't feeling too well". She looked at me and told something that I have remembered my whole life. She said "Nick, there is always the most resistance before something good happens." I thought about that and decided to overcome the resistance of wanting to stay in bed, and I got up and went to church. Nothing extremely special happened at church that Sunday, but I learned an important lesson...We need to be stronger than the resistance. And we we do that, we qualify ourselves for the blessings that are in reserve.

Saturday and Sunday were normal days of searching for people. We're opening an area, so we're trying to find a bunch of new investigators.

Well this was my week. It was fun, and simple, but it was awesome. I love being a missionary and I love working hard.

I hope your week is cooler than polar bears surfing on ice.

LOVE YOU ALL

ELDER HINTZE

Todo Mundo tá Sassy Rapaz

HELLLLLOOOOO THERRREEE PEEEOPPPLLEEE

So I'm here in the infamous Uruguaiana again! Woohoo! It's not that bad of a city, actually. The people here are awesome and the ward helps a lot, but man, do I miss Santa Maria. But all is well. It's whatever the Lord wants for me.

So I'll be quick, because this week was mostly walking and searching addresses.

And yes, once again, I am opening an area. This is the 5th area that I've opened, holy moly.

So on Monday, we went to Carla's house and spent a fun p-day there. It was quite awesome. We ate hot dogs, played ninja, took pictures, and played hymns on guitar. It was sad because I love that family so much. It was so hard to leave that ward, my goodness.

On Tuesday, I woke up early and went to the Mission Council.  It was my first mission council and it was pretty cool. We first heard President Parrela give a talk to all the Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders. Then Sister Parrela talked for a little. Then we went into the cultural hall and sat in a circle by zone, and talked about some ideas that we have to help the missionaries and any problems that we were having in the zone. We were super busy and we didn't have much time so it was pretty rushed. My bus left the station at 12:30, and the Council ended at 12:10...and we still had to run to the restaurant to grab our lunch, pay a taxi, and run to the bus station. Luckily, everything worked out, and after a 7 1/2 hour bus ride, I'm here in Uruguaiana again!

On Wednesday, we visited some addresses that the other elders left for us, and then we went with the Ward Mission Leader to show us the area.

On Thursday, we visited some people with the bishop. We asked him if he had any friends that he wanted to visit with us and he decided to take us to his coworkers house. We went and we taught about faith, repentance, and baptism. Then, he miraculously asked us when he could get baptized! We marked a date to return and teach him the restoration and mark a baptismal date with him. It was pretty sweet! His name is Fenner, and him and his family are really really great. If you could pray for them, that would be wonderful.

On Friday, we walked the whole day, looking for addresses.

Saturday, we ate lunch with the ward at an activity. Ya'll really need to eat churrasco (Brazilian barbecue). It is the best thing ever. And I'm here in the south, where they have the best churraso ever. Then we taught an English class to all the youth. That night, we were going to have a family night at an investigators house, but it fell through, so we went the the Ward Mission Leaders house. It turned out that there was a friend of the Ward Mission Leader's son who was there playing soccer, and he wasn't a member. We started to talk, and we ended up teaching him and marking a baptismal date for the 14th of February! It was a little miracle! His name is Marcelo, so pray a lot for him.

Sunday, we went to church, and it was really cool. It was a great testimony meeting. Afterwards, we went to lunch. Then, we went to the chapel that I attended when I was here in the city a year ago. We went there to make a missionary choir for the zone conference that's coming up this Friday. Elder Mazzagardi from the Area Presidency will be there, so we're preparing something super-duper. After, we went to ward council, and then we visited some other people.

This week was super simple but it was full of little miracle, and hard work.

I was studying this week about personal values, and how we need to all establish our own personal values in order to remember who we are and what we stand for. For example, Benjamin Franklin had 12 values, the Young Women's theme has 7, President Hinkley had 10. So what we need to do is:
1. Determine what our values are
2. Write a paragraph about each value and what it means
3. Make goals about what you can do daily to live that value.

As we learn to live our Values, we can be guided in our lives, and we will be more established. We will know who we are and we will live to reach our potential. And we will know what we stand for and who we can really become. Every person is different, therefore, every person should establish their own personal values, according to who they are, what's important to them, and the goal to be more like Jesus Christ.

My 12 Values are:
Hard Work
Knowledge
Charity
Patience
Organization
Perseverance
Self-Control
Creativity
Diligence
Discipline
Efficiency
Wisdom

You should all establish your own values and recite them weekly as you plan your week so that you can remember who you are and what you want to become. This will help you to recognize who you really are and who God wants you to become. Do this in the spirit of prayer so that the Holy Ghost can guide and help you. I can promise so many blessings! It really helps, I promise!

I love you all so much and hope your week is full of awesome spiritual experiences!!!!


Alright people. I LOVE YOU!!!!

Elder Hintze