Sister and Elder Hintze: 6/6/23

 

Monday, June 5, 2023

Here we are in June already!! We’ve been here in Thomaston for five months! Since senior
missionaries do not get transferred every six to twelve weeks like the younger missionaries, we
are more susceptible to getting attached to the families that we are working with. We have
prayed with them over their trials, have been invited into their homes for dinner, have attended
their children’s birthday parties and baptisms, and have had picnics in the park. I’m beginning to
realize that at the end of our mission, it’s going to be very difficult to leave these people that we
have grown to love.

This past week was a wonderful week full of teaching and learning opportunities. We have a
brand-new couple that we’re teaching, Sam and Elaine. Sam grew up in the Catholic church.
His wife was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. When she was in her
final days of life, he made a promise to her that he would be baptized into the church in order to
go to the temple and have their children sealed to them. In the church, we have the blessing of
participating in a temple ordinance that allows our families to be sealed so that we can remain
together as a family for all of eternity. So, Sam promised his wife that he would make sure that
the ordinance gets done for their family. He went through the necessary steps to keep his
promise to his wife, but he was never truly converted and hasn’t ever embraced the principles of
the gospel. Sam is a cantankerous kind of guy. He has a lot of negative things to say about
people and experiences. He likes to talk, a lot! And boy, can he fabricate and exaggerate a story.
The first time we visited them, he hardly ever stopped talking, allowing us very little time to
share anything. But his wife, Elaine, asked some questions about the gospel, so we asked her if
she would like us to return to teach her. She said yes, and we made an appointment to return the
following week. We were prepared for Sam’s incessant talking to make it difficult for us to teach
Elaine. Weren’t we taken totally by surprise when Sam sat completely silent as we conversed
with Elaine for 45 minutes!!! We had a beautiful discussion about the apostasy and the
restoration of the gospel. She is interested in learning more, and we are returning to teach her
again this week.

(Elder Hintze jumped in this week and wrote the remainder of this email)

We also met again with our friend, Megan this past week. Megan is interested in preparing to go
to the temple to receive her endowment. She has only been a member of the church for about 13
months and she has totally changed her life since embracing the gospel of Jesus Christ. She has
begun going to school to become a nurse so that she can better support her daughter Sam (who is
totally attached to Sister Hintze!) and her countenance shows a light that brings a smile to our
faces. It is such a wonderful blessing for us to be part of her story.

We so dearly love Wyatt and Kelli and their daughters and we pray that they will fully embrace
the gospel before we leave in seven months. We went to their home and watched the movie
“Joseph Smith – Prophet of the Restoration” hoping that would spark some remembrance of the
testimony Wyatt once had as a missionary in the Philippines. Even though Kelli has been a
member all of her life, she has very limited knowledge of the history of the church and the
gospel. Kelli was surprised to find out about the extensive persecution of Joseph Smith and the
early saints and it moved her to see their sufferings for the gospel’s sake. Joseph endured so
much to complete his work. The trials that he suffered should give us all cause to seriously
consider the gospel he was willing to suffer so dearly to restore.

One of the wonderful qualities of this ward is the ward garden. It produces tons of fresh
delicious, produce. I (Elder Hintze) spent some time this week weeding a very long row of okra.
The garden has turned out to be a useful missionary tool. We pick produce to take to people
whom we have been trying unsuccessfully to contact. They seem to open the door for a head of
cabbage when it will stay closed when they see the head of a missionary.

 
Have a great week!
Love,
Elder and Sister Hintze