Tell the Elders the Rock Socks

HELLO PEOPLE!

So this week was what we call "show de bala" (it was quite dandy).

So monday, after p-day ended, we went and visited Leticia with the Sisters because it was the Sisters who actually found her and they were being transferred and wanted to say goodbye. We played guitar and sang hymns with her, and it was super awesome but sad because the sisters and Leticia had a really strong relationship. Afterwards, Elder Lemos (the missionary that was with me while I was waiting for my companion) was going to train a new missionary, so he was gonna head off to Santa Maria to get him, so he needed to go back to his apartment and pack for the trip. While he was packing, I ordered a pizza to celebrate a transfer well done. We ate amazing Brazilian pizza and reflected on the transfer and life. It was cool. 

Tuesday, we woke up at 5am to drop the sisters off at the Rodoviária (Bus Station), and then we continued on with our day until my companion arrived. Around 5pm, Elder Mamani, my new companion from Peru, arrived. It was sweet. He's 27 and from Peru. His parents aren't members of the church, but his brothers are, but he's the only active one in his family. He was baptized at 15, but at 16, he went inactive. When he was 23, he started to go to church again, and then decided to serve a mission. It's kind of cool. He's a cool guy who is a hard worker and is really excited about missionary work, so it's awesome to be his companion. 

Tell the Elder's in Ashburn that they Rock Socks!!!

We went to Eliane's house, a woman who is still trying to stop smoking. My companion is super excited and Eliane really likes him, so she got super pumped up about stopping smoking. We made no smoking signs and pictures off Jesus to fill her house, and we took a cigarette box and wrote the names of all her children on it, and it's really helping her to stop smoking. When we were teaching, she got up in the middle of the lesson and made a declaration to the rest of the family that there would be no more smoking in the house ever again, and if anyone wanted to smoke, they had to leave the house. It was awesome because she started telling everyone that this was extremely important to her so that she could follow the Lord and be baptized and that she wanted to arrive at the day of her baptism clean and worthy to be baptized. It was really cool to see the change that she had from just a desire to stop smoking to determination to stop smoking. It was so cool to see how the Spirit works in people to make these changes. 

Last night, we had a meeting with the ward mission leader, who's name is Peterson. He's a captain in the military, and he lives in a special, guarded military community. So every time that we enter, we have to show our identity. Well, we didn't have our identities, so well called Peterson and he said that he would meet us in the front and they would let us in. So as we arrived and were waiting for Peterson, we started talking to the soldiers. There was a guy there who wasn't a soldier but he was just hanging out with the guards. We talked to him and he was pretty cool, but then Peterson arrived and we headed over to his house. After the meeting, we were walking back to our house, and as we left the military post, that guy was still there hanging out with the soldiers. We left the community and started heading home, and then we heard footsteps running behind us, and then suddenly this guy that was hanging out with the soldiers arrived. He asked where we were heading and asked if he could go talk with us. We started walking and talking, and he was a really cool guy. He gave us his address to pass by his house and talk more with him. We kept talking, and I don't remember what I asked him, but then he told us that he wasn't happy sometimes. I asked him why and he said that there are lot of problems in his family and that only 1 out of every 5 days he's happy. Then he asked if we could pray for him. I said of course we could, but then I told him that it was much more important if he prayed for himself because he has a Heavenly Father that wants to talk to him. He asked me how he could pray and we started teaching him how to pray. We arrived at our apartment and he asked if we could say a prayer with him before he left and we said that we could but I told him that he would have to do it. He was a little hesitant so I told him that I would say it and that he would have to repeat what I say. He agreed and then he started to hug us, and put his arms on our shoulders to pray. So we just went with it and started praying, huddled in the middle of the road at night. The prayer was super spiritual and I could feel the spirit really strong testifying to him that he was loved by his Heavenly Father. We left him with some pamphlets and directions to pray and then he left. It was a cool experience to really feel the Spirit and help a son of God who really needed it. 

I really know that this Church is true! God loves each and every one of us, and he has a specific plan for each of us individually. Pray and talk to Him every time that you have the chance.

I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

Elder Hintze

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