Sister and Elder Hintze: 7/24/23

 

Happy Pioneer Day, everyone!

Today, July 24, is a Utah State holiday that is celebrated to commemorate the arrival of the first

group of pioneers, led by the prophet Brigham Young, into the Salt Lake Valley in 1847. We

honor their valiant faith and their tremendous sacrifice to carry on through great trials so that

they could enjoy religious freedom and so that the gospel of Jesus Christ could carry forth. I

didn't walk the 1,300 miles from Nauvoo, Illinois to Salt Lake City pushing a handcart through

blizzards, but I have forged my own way in the same pioneer spirit to become a believer and to

bring the gospel to my own family. I remain eternally grateful that I have made the choice to live

by the principles taught by Jesus Christ so that I can enjoy the blessings of the spirit and the

eternal blessings offered to the faithful. Today I am blessed to be serving as a missionary in

Georgia with my husband, bringing the joy of the gospel to the lives of others. So, Happy

Pioneer Day!

This past week has been another great week in missionary service. We have taught some

lessons, had dinner with members in their homes, spent a p-day at a state park with the Elders,

and I even left my missionary companion for a few hours to go meet a sister in the ward for

lunch!

You just never know where you’re going to have a missionary experience, and this week our trip

to Costco was the place that was replete with opportunities to share the gospel. A woman

standing behind me in the return line asked me where we were from. I told her we were from

Springville, Utah, and asked her if she was familiar with Utah. She said she was raised in Idaho

Falls and was familiar with Utah. Rather than asking her if she was a member of the church, I

simply asked her if she has remained active in the church. I chose to assume she was a member

of the church based on the fact that she grew up in Idaho and had probably noticed our

missionary badges, prompting her inquiry as to where we were from. She told me she was not

still active in the church, but that she still took her daughter to Activity Days on occasion. She

said it was her “almost ex-husband” that brought her to Georgia. She doesn’t like living in

Georgia and is struggling with homesickness while she endures the pain of divorce. We made

eye contact and shared a tender moment as I said to her, “Sister, go back to church and partake of

the sacrament. I have been through what you’re going through, and I don’t know how I would

have endured without the Savior as my companion. You will gain the strength you need to grow

through this experience by taking the sacrament.” She proceeded to return her merchandise, as

did I at the register next to her. When we both finished our transactions at about the same time, I

approached her and said, “The Lord loves you and the gospel is true.” With tears in her eyes, she

gave me a hug, and we again acknowledged each other with eye contact and parted ways. Later

in the evening as I shared this experience with Elder Hintze, he asked me if I had asked for her

contact information. I told him I had not, as I felt no need to follow up with her because the

encounter was touched by the spirit just as it was. I don’t even know her name, but the Lord

knows her, and I do believe she gave serious contemplation to my invitation to return to church.

And this special moment was only one of three experiences that we had in Costco that day!

The whole reason we drove to Costco was because it is in the town where we had our scheduled

interview with the Mission President that day. At our last interview, we shared with him the

name of a restaurant that we really enjoyed. He consequently took his wife and daughter there

and they really enjoyed it too. So, when we saw him at our zone conference we decided when

we have our next interview we should go together. So, with another of the senior missionary

couples, we enjoyed a wonderful Middle Eastern Lebanese dinner at our favorite restaurant,

called Beirut. It was a very enjoyable evening. President and Sister Farias are from Brazil. We

really enjoyed getting to know them better and learning a little about Brazil. We were so

surprised to learn that the traffic in Sao Paulo is so bad that you can only drive on certain days of

the week depending upon the number on your license plate!!! If you are found driving on the

wrong day, you are fined $100.

Our ward celebrated Pioneer Day with a pancake breakfast on Saturday morning. Sister

Hutchens did a great job retelling the basic history of the church and sharing the story of the

pioneers, including her own pioneer ancestry. Several ward members who have served as

pioneers in their own families were asked to speak and share their experiences. Sister Druce,

who was raised Baptist, joined the church in the 1960s. She told of how she hid her Book of

Mormon in a hat box in her closet and took it out late at night to read. She is now 88 years old

and I absolutely love to hear her stories. She is an amazing woman, still driving on her own the

one-hour drive to the temple once a week. Sister Cairns, who was Catholic, and myself were

also asked to tell our stories. Rather than telling the story of how I came into the church, which

I’ve told to this audience in the past, I chose to share how the gospel is blessing my family and

my posterity. As a result of my commitment to my faith and to the church, my children and my

grandchildren are now enjoying the blessings of the gospel in their lives. My son served a twoyear mission in Uruguay, my daughter was married in the temple, my grandchildren are

participating in all of the programs for the youth that build faith and character, and I have a

grandson who now passes the sacrament on the Sabbath. And that is just the beginning of the

great blessings that we have enjoyed as members of the restored Church of Jesus Christ.

I want to share one final special moment of the week. Last week I told you about Wyett and

Kelli, who have gotten into the habit of church-hopping. We encouraged them to focus their

efforts in one place and to come to the church where they once felt the spirit of the gospel. This

past Sunday, a few minutes after the service began, Wyett slipped into the pew behind us with his

two darling daughters. He is now coming on his own without prodding from us. His wife is

working on Sundays now, yet he is choosing to get his two and four-year-old daughters dressed

and ready on his own and come to church. We can see the light returning to his countenance and

the joy of the gospel planting itself in his heart. It made us so happy to see him in church. When

Elder Hintze and I turned to look at each other, we both had tears in our eyes.

Well, although we have discussed the fact that most of our pictures are of wildlife and scenery,

and we emphasized the fact that we need to take more pictures of us, we again failed to do so.

We are always so engaged in the moment that we forget! And unfortunately, the person taking

pictures at the pancake breakfast Saturday morning said she was so engrossed in what I was

saying that she failed to take a picture! But I promise we will include some pictures next week.

But for now, I couldn’t help but include the picture of this amazing mansion on top of this

beautiful green hill.

We hope you all have a wonderful week!

Much love,

Elder and Sister Hintze