Sister and Elder Hintze: 6/19/23

 

Monday, June 19, 2023

And, another week has come and gone! We’re in the rainy season in Georgia now. In the very

early hours this morning, a storm came through with thunder that jolted us out of bed and

lightning that sounded like it struck right next door. I haven’t heard a storm like that since my

childhood in St. Louis. For some reason, I remember them more from my childhood than from

my adult years. I guess thunderstorms seem more ominous and are more memorable to a small

child. Or could it be senior brain, remembering things from fifty (no, I guess that’s sixty) years

ago but forgetting why I walked into a room!!!

One of the Elders in our district, Elder Wright, completed his mission last week. Transfer days

just switched from Wednesdays to Fridays, so fortunately we got to see him one last time on

Thursday at our weekly District Council before he left to go home on Friday. Elder Hintze and I

provided lunch after our District Council to the eight Elders in our District. We also found out

on Wednesday night that Elder Chapman, who has been serving here in Thomaston with us, was

going to be transferred on Friday, along with Elder Affleck, our current District Leader. So, it

ended up being quite a celebration. The Elders enjoyed the pulled pork for sandwiches that Elder

Hintze smoked, along with homemade potato salad, coleslaw, and watermelon. To top it off, we

served brownie ice cream sundaes for dessert. It seems that these young men can eat whatever

amount of food is placed before them! After lunch, we all took the opportunity to write in each

of the journals of the Elders that were either finishing their mission or being transferred to

another location. Writing in their memory books was a great way for us to share our testimonies

with them and let them know the lasting impact of the work they’re doing.

This past week we taught Megan her second temple preparation lesson. She’s quite ready to

prepare herself to go to the temple to receive further light and knowledge. When we enter the

temple with a humble attitude, we can be edified and enlightened by the spirit with new

knowledge and understanding. In the temple, we make covenants with God to live the laws of

the gospel. In return, we receive ordinances in a beautiful, sacred ceremony that will enable us

to return to the presence of God to live with Him in exaltation someday. We are honored to be

teaching Megan what she needs to know to be prepared to enter the Holy House of the Lord.

We had another one of those days this past week where we didn’t have any appointments, so we

took off down the country roads to visit people that we’ve not met before. It was a long day of

knocking on doors and finding no one home. But, the last two homes we went to were fruitful.

One of these homes we had actually gone to once before and Robbie came out to the porch when

he saw us approaching his house. He told us he had been sick and his wife wasn’t home, but he

welcomed us to come back on a Friday, which would be a good day for them. So, this time, on a

Friday, his wife Angela was home. Unfortunately, they were sick again with an upper

respiratory illness, so Angela said that’s the reason she would not invite us in. But, she did

engage in a very friendly conversation with us out on the front porch for quite some time. We

knew from our records that she is a member of the church, but we’ve not seen her there. So, I

asked her if she has ever attended the Thomaston ward. She told us that she actually served as a

primary teacher in the ward for several years. We don’t know why she has stopped coming to

church, but it’s not uncommon in this area when the spouses embrace two different religions

(which is very common) the spouse that is a member stops attending church. Angela welcomed

us to call and schedule a time to come visit them again.

A Relief Society activity was planned for this past Saturday morning called “Writing Your

Family History.” Since I have done quite a bit of writing my own personal story, I volunteered to

help. I thought that I was simply volunteering to add to what they had already prepared, but I

found out just a few days prior to the event that I was the sole presenter! Fortunately, I have

enough passion for writing our personal stories that it wasn’t difficult for me to gather enough

information to fill the time. The class was a super success! There were fourteen ladies in

attendance. They ran the gamut from seasoned writers to those who didn’t know where to begin.

We discussed the importance of telling your story so no one else will try to tell it for you (and

most probably not tell it the way you would) and the reasons that many of us procrastinate this

seemingly daunting task. I shared with them my method for telling my story, which is writing

short vignettes about people, places, or events rather than thinking of my life story as one big

book. It makes it so much easier to realize that you can sit down for 15 or 20 minutes to write

about a memory rather than thinking that you must write about your entire life in chronological

order. I shared a few examples of personal narratives and they were off and writing. Several

people shared what they had written at the end of class. It was an extremely enriching morning.

A few weeks ago, we met with our mission president, President Farias. We discussed with him

the idea of us beginning to meet with people in the neighboring ward in the next town. Because

there have been senior missionaries in Thomaston continually for the past four years, the

members who are not attending church have been pretty saturated with visits. There have been

no senior missionaries in any of the surrounding towns, so there would be a greater opportunity

to find inactive members who have not been visited by missionaries. President Farias was highly

in support of that idea. We are waiting for the official green light from him, which would be

access to the records so that we can begin that additional work.

Have a wonderful week,

Love,

Elder and Sister Hintze