Sister and Elder Hintze: 1/23/23

 

Hello family and friends,

The last time I wrote we had just finished one week at the MTC. Since then, we had another equally enriching week at the MTC and then took off on our trek across Utah, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida. We took a short detour to Florida to visit with my sister, Sally, in Orlando, and my brother, Bob, and his wife, Jennifer, in Ft. Meyers, each for a day. They were both short but wonderful visits! And then it was off to Georgia!

We arrived this past Saturday just in time to empty the car’s contents into the apartment and get a few groceries. We were greeted the minute we pulled into the driveway by a lovely, sweet southern lady who lives next door. She and her husband, who are our landlords, purchased the home next to theirs to provide a place for the missionaries who serve in their town to live. The house was built in 1923 and is divided into two apartments. The Elders live in the other half. We are getting settled and creating a comfortable nest. The area we are in is absolutely gorgeous. The green, rolling hills are dotted with charming, hundred-year-old homes that are on very large lots. Horse pastures, peach orchards, and cotton fields abound!

Our first day in the mission field was the Sabbath, so we started our mission with a sacrament meeting. Linda, the landlord, invited us to go to church with her a bit early so she could introduce us to some people. We were welcomed with typical warm, southern hospitality! Before we even left the church building, we had two dinner invitations for this week!

There are upwards of three hundred names on the ward membership role, but only seventy to eight people are attending church each week. Our calling is to build and strengthen the Lord’s kingdom in Thomaston, Georgia. So, we started right off by visiting people. On Sunday afternoon we first visited Tori and Tosha and their four children. We were warmly welcomed into their home and had a lovely time getting to know them. We were told the reason they don’t attend church is that Tori works nights and gets home at 4:30 a.m. While that’s true, he is off on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. As we listened while they shared more about themselves, we learned the real reason. Tosha’s father passed away about six months ago and the funeral was held in the church chapel. We found out that Tosha was having a hard time being in the room where she last saw her dad. We asked if we could return to share the message of the plan of salvation with them. They welcomed us to come back to teach them, so we are going to see them again on Friday. We hope that we can help Tosha to feel peace in knowing that she will reunite with her father again someday.

Next, we went to visit Mike and Mary. They are a lovely couple, about our age, and very recently married. We had a great time learning about their careers and their life adventures. We discovered that we all love Mexican food, so we made a future date to go out for Mexican food together. Mary is a member of the church, but Mike is not. This ward is abundant with part-member families. Mary attends church periodically, and Mike sometimes comes with her.We hope to see them in church more often.

Yesterday we went to visit Brenda, a ward member who is in the hospital in Atlanta. No one in the ward knew much about her condition and neither did we. When we arrived, we were a bit surprised to find her in the Intensive Care Unit. We were even more surprised but very pleased, to have them let us both in to visit at the same time. We learned that she has only one daughter who lives in Thomaston, almost a two-hour drive, and has had no visitors since she arrived in the hospital five days earlier. We asked her if she’d like us to pray with her, and when she said yes, I reached out to offer her my hand. She grabbed it tightly, covered our clasped hands with her other hand, and as I offered a prayer, a very sweet spirit attended us in the room. We were so grateful that we decided to make the drive to see Brenda.

The Elders are doing an incredible job here bringing people into the fold. There were two people in church for the first time last Sunday, and there are two baptisms this coming Saturday. The Elders just knocked on the door and asked us if we are free tonight to go with them to dinner tonight at the home of the young woman who is going to be baptized on Saturday. While we were looking forward to eating our first home-cooked meal in almost four weeks, we are very excited to get to go on our first teaching visit with the Elders.

We already love it here in Thomaston! The people come in all colors, shapes, and sizes! The sacrament was blessed by a man with a forehead tattooed from one end to the other and the closing prayer was offered by a barefoot young woman with purple hair. The gospel is true everywhere and is for every single soul.

We are so incredibly grateful to have been called to serve in Georgia. We know that this is where the Lord wants us to be.

Much love,

Elder and Sister Hintze