Sister and Elder Hintze: 3/6/23

 

Good morning, family and friends,

These Mondays sure do seem to roll around quickly! We had another fantastic week in the
lovely land of Georgia. Spring has sprung, everything is blooming, and the allergies are coming
in with a vengeance. These peach trees have begun to blossom with beautiful pink flowers and
will be brimming with plump, juicy peaches by July. Georgia peaches are one thing we’ve really
been anxiously anticipating!

Our first highlight for the week was our new investigator, Latrice. It’s such a delight to teach
her. She’s gone to many different churches over the years, resulting in nothing but confusion.
She does not have a strong, scriptural foundation, and she is elated with what she’s learning. She
came to church yesterday for the first time. She has a beautiful smile that was glowing on her
face the entire morning. We will teach her again on Wednesday this week. She is very anxious
to progress on her spiritual path.

We also had a wonderful visit with the Wyatt family (name changed). Brother Wyatt and his
wife met while going to school in Utah after he served a mission in the Philippines. They have a
temple marriage and now have two beautiful little girls. Brother Wyatt has gotten caught up in
the all too familiar habit of getting on the internet to find answers to his gospel questions instead
of seeking answers in the scriptures. That habit will pull you down every time. We have been
meeting with them and finding scriptural answers to the questions that they were hung up on.
They came to church on Sunday and we believe they found joy in their worship. We will be
returning to meet with them again this week. We have developed a great relationship with them.
They have invited us to their daughter’s birthday party this Saturday. She came out of primary
yesterday jumping up and down with joy!

We had the opportunity to volunteer again this week at the soup kitchen at the Baptist church.
Elder Hintze and I took on organizing the food storage room, as we promised we would. It was
a daunting task, but we got it done!! With gloved hands, we removed everything from every
shelf, as they were covered with roach droppings. Ugh! Once we got it cleaned, the organizing
began. There were bags and piles of random cans and boxes of food that had been donated.
Much of it had to be discarded because the cans were outdated and bulging. But the ones that we
were able to keep got organized on the shelves so that when someone comes in needing food,
they can at least see what they have to offer. It was a satisfying job to complete, and Tammy
was so very appreciative.

Every Friday our ward mission leader feeds us and the Elders dinner over our weekly mission
meeting. He’s a great cook and is introducing us to all of the southern specialties. We’ve had
jambalaya, shrimp and grits, and this week it was shrimp and okra po’ boy sandwiches with his
mother’s famous banana pudding recipe. I have to admit, that banana pudding could become
habit-forming!!!

The last thing I’ll share for this week was our lovely day off on Saturday. Elder Hintze
happened to find out that there was an RC airplane swap meet going on this past weekend in the
neighboring town of Perry. So, we planned to go to the swap meet, and my treat for spending
hours looking at airplanes was a trip to Hobby Lobby to get some supplies to make a spring
wreath for our doorѡѢѣѤ After our lovely morning, we went out to have a hearty meal before
beginning our fast for fast Sunday. While sitting outdoors at Cold Stone licking the remains of
our decadent ice cream bowls, a young man walked up to talk with us. He was very shy and
soft-spoken and it took us a minute to figure out why he wanted to speak with us. As it turned
out, he had noticed our name tags as missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day
Saints. He wanted to share with us that he had just been baptized that very morning. He was
absolutely glowing, and just so happy. He told us that he was sixteen years old and that he is
going to prepare himself to serve a mission in a few years. His visit with us was a very sweet
tender mercy to end our perfect day!

Spiritual thought for the week:

Elder Hintze and I have recently been discussing how the Lord blesses our efforts. Everyone
that we visit and teach is at a different place in their spiritual journey. But no matter where we
are on our journey down the covenant path, the Lord tells us, “Draw near unto me and I will
draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me, ask, and ye shall receive; knock,
and it shall be opened unto you. (Doctrine and Covenants 88:63)

So, no matter whether we’re taking the first step on our spiritual journey or have been on our
journey for a lifetime, this scripture tells us that the Lord promises to bless our actions. As we
work to draw nearer to Him, he reciprocates our efforts with blessings. I have a personal
testimony that this is true.

Have a great week!
Love,
Elder and Sister Hintze