Sister & Elder Hintze: 7/3/23 & 6/23/23

 Monday, July 3, 2023

Happy July, everyone! As of yesterday, we are officially halfway through our mission. Some
days it feels that way, and other days it feels like it went by in a flash. All I know is when the
time comes to leave, there are people that it will be very hard to say goodbye to. The friendships
we’ve made here will always be held dear to us.

This past week was a great missionary week. We had another temple preparation lesson with
Megan. The transformation she has made in her life is amazing. She went from being on drugs
to living with the light of God and the guidance of the spirit in her life. She is a great mom to her
three-year-old daughter and has begun taking classes at the local college with the aspiration of
becoming a nurse. She is such a joy to teach. She answers questions insightfully and is
understanding and progressing. We are so excited to accompany Megan to the temple to receive
the blessings of the endowment that await her there.

An activity day with the children (ages 6-10) and the youth (ages 11-17) is held every
Wednesday evening. In this ward, since the people are so many miles apart and since there are
very few children and youth, on most Wednesdays they have their activity at the same location.
This past week the activity was at Sister Allred’s home. There is a vast dichotomy in the wealth
of the people here. Some live in run-down, dilapidated trailers and others live in mansions.
Sister Allred often hosts the youth because of the massive size of her magnificent home. I guess
someone let the cat out of the bag that I used to be a Foods and Nutrition teacher, so I was
invited to teach the young children some cooking skills. The youth were outdoors swimming in
the pool and eating pizza and the children were in the huge, industrial size kitchen cooking with
me. We had a lot of fun learning to make tacos healthier by hiding some vegetables in them. In
the beginning, I asked the kids how many of them do not like green peppers, and every hand
went up. With disgruntled faces, they chopped the peppers really small as instructed and sauteed
them, along with some onion, into the ground beef. They were surprised to find that they could
hardly see the peppers and certainly couldn’t taste them. They learned the value of the added
Vitamin C from the green pepper hidden in the tacos, they learned to chop and saute, and they
certainly enjoyed eating their delicious tacos. Vicky helped me assist the kids with the chopping. It was such a fun night!

The most exciting missionary opportunity of the week was teaching Jasmine. I think I’ve
introduced Jasmine to you in the past. She is the owner of the print shop in town and printed our
flyers for the Emancipation Day celebration about a month ago. As she was printing and reading
our material, her interest was piqued. At the end of the celebration, I asked her if she would like
to learn more, and she said yes. Elder Hintze and I always teach together, but Jasmine
specifically asked if there are women that could teach her. So, I enlisted another sister in the
ward to teach with me. The first time I taught Jasmine I took Linda, and this week I took Vicky.
Vicky added very insightful comments and shared her testimony of the gospel with Jasmine. We
are praying for Jasmine to progress in her desire and understanding of the gospel.

We ended the week with a moving, spectacular Stake patriotic musical fireside. It was worth the
one-hour drive to the Stake Center. Two women wrote this program about 15 years ago. We
were told that each year it is changed and enhanced a bit, but the message stays the same. It
began with the presentation of the flag. Through narration speaking the words of our founding
fathers, beautiful, patriotic songs sung by the choir, and visuals displayed on a large screen, they
moved through the entire birth of our country from the time the pilgrims arrived on the
Mayflower, through the writing of the Declaration of Independence and the wars that were
fought to defend and sustain our independence. There was a large choir with a few solos and a
beautiful trumpet soloist. The program was magnificent and brought tears to many eyes. We
decided to go thank the trumpet player for sharing his beautiful talent and we discovered that he
and his wife and children used to live in Springville and knew President Mortensen, our Stake
President, very well. It’s a very connected world in the church! The program ended with my
favorite, a salute to the armed forces. They played the songs from each of the branches of the
armed forces while those who served in that branch of the military stood. It brought back
memories of the several times I took my mom to similar programs in St. Louis, where I proudly
stood for my dad to represent his service in the army.

Our friend, Lisa called us early in the week and told us that in the recent storm, two trees had
fallen in their yard. She and her mom live on their small farm with their two horses. Her mom is
in her eighties and she still takes care of the horses and helps Lisa with the outdoors. They are
both amazing women. We went to assess the damage and see how much help Elder Hintze
would need. They were huge trees that need strong, young men and a chainsaw! He made some
phone calls and is getting the help he’ll need. In the meantime, Elder Hintze asked them if we
could share a spiritual message with them. They invited us to sit on their screened-in back porch,
and we had a lovely visit. Lisa’s mom, Julieanne, who doesn’t profess to be a believer, asked a
few questions. Since we had already been visiting for some time, we asked her if we could come
back and teach her about the gospel. She agreed to have us come and teach her. Lisa is going to
be co-teaching a Relief Society lesson with me this Sunday and we’re both hoping her mom will
come to hear the lesson she will be teaching.

In our Sunday School lessons, we are now studying the final part of the completion of the Lord’s
purpose on the earth, the Resurrection. This is such a poignant topic for me. The major question
I had that led me on my search for the gospel was, “Where do we go when we die?” In Judaism,
we were not taught about life after death or resurrection. But it was actually the Old Testament
prophet, Isaiah, whose prophecy of the Messiah turned my heart to know that Jesus Christ was
the Messiah and made Himself an offering for our souls so that we could return to God perfected
and cleansed. This powerful prophecy is found in Isaiah chapter 53. If you want to read the
most accurate description of the life of the Savior, His reason for coming to earth, and the
purpose of His Atonement, read this chapter. In my recent study of the Resurrection, it became
apparent to me that the first believers of Christ’s resurrection were women. I think it’s
interesting to note that women are included more in the New Testament than in the Old
Testament. Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and another Mary, the mother of James were the first
people to tell the apostles of what they had witnessed. But the women’s words seemed to them
to be idle tales, and they did not believe. Jesus had to come and tarry with the apostles in person
in order for their eyes to be opened and for them to recognize that they were seeing the Lord in
His resurrected body. Once the apostles believed, what did they do? They went to the temple
daily (Acts 2:46). The apostles were Jewish. When they gained a witness of Jesus Christ as the
Savior, they did not give up their Jewish practices. Instead, they increased them by spending
more time in the temple giving thanks to God. This witness added to their understanding and did
not take away anything that they already had.

Elder Hintze and I love the opportunities we are presented with to share the gospel. I am grateful
that we live in the greatest nation in all the world where the freedoms that we’ve been given have
allowed the gospel to come forth in its fullness.

Happy Independence Day. Our country is the “Home of the Free, Because of the Brave.”
Much love,
Elder and Sister Hintze

Monday, June 26, 2023

Well, just as soon as we announced that we would begin dividing our time between Thomaston

and Griffin, the opportunities blossomed here in Thomaston. So, for the time being, we will stay

put in Thomaston.

We had a powerful spiritual sacrament meeting yesterday. What made it even better is that three

people who have not been to church since we’ve been here in January were there!

We had another day last week without any scheduled appointments, so once again we decided to

visit the homes of people whose names are on the ward roster but whom we’ve never met before.

The first person whose door we knocked on was Sam. He stepped out on the porch to visit with

us. He was friendly and offered the information that he hadn’t been to church since his divorce

four years ago. Sam is a young man in his early thirties who is a paramedic. He works 24-hour

shifts and said he often sleeps the next day, which makes it hard to get to church. And, he said

he just simply forgets about church. We shared a spiritual message with him and told him that

the Lord loves him and would love to have him back in church. I suggested that I send him a

text on Saturday night to remind him and he agreed to that. I sent the text and got no response.

And, lo and behold, we walked in yesterday morning and he was sitting in the last pew! We

greeted him and told him how happy we were to see him. Elder Hintze had a chance to talk with

him at greater length in Priesthood meeting. He shared that he’s going through some hard times

and welcomed us to continue meeting with him. We know that hard times can always be eased

with the Lord at the center of our lives. We will continue to support Sam!

The next person who surprised us at church yesterday was Frieda. We’ve been to visit Frieda

several times and have brought her fresh, homemade bread made especially for her with whole

wheat flour and no sugar because she is diabetic. She always had an excuse as to why she

couldn’t come to church. For some people, it takes having to hit rock bottom and experiencing

really difficult times to bring them to their knees. For Frieda, it was just the opposite. Frieda

uses her little car as a personal taxi service. She drives people where they need to go for a fee.

And that is how she puts food on the table. Well, her car broke down, and for a week she was

without a car, and therefore without a job. In some miraculous way, which she didn’t fully

explain, she was able to obtain a 2021 Toyota. She said that since the Lord blessed her so

incredibly, she felt compelled to come to church to show her gratitude. She declared that she is

back to stay!

The third person who surprisingly showed up was Richard. We have visited Richard on

numerous occasions. Richard has terminal pancreatic cancer and has been having chemotherapy

treatments. One time that we were there we visited with his wife because he was too sick to get

out of bed. But on several occasions, he was dressed and ready to greet us and we enjoyed a visit

sitting around his kitchen table. One of the times that we went to visit he was actually going to

drop his son off at a football practice. So, the chemo has slowed the progression of his cancer for

now. On our last visit with Richard, we shared with him the parable of the laborers that is found

in Matthew Chapter 20. The message of this parable is that it doesn’t matter at what hour you

come unto the Lord. No matter how late in life it is that you invite the Lord into your life, the

blessings and rewards will be equal to one who has labored in the vineyard all of his life. We

told Richard that the important thing is that it’s not too late for him to come back. And yesterday

was the day that Richard said the Lord spoke to him. What a wonderful thing to have Richard sit

next to us singing hymns and worshipping the Lord.

On the same day that we met Sam, we knocked on a door of a couple named Josh and Teri. Josh

came out on the porch to visit with us. He said he was not able to invite us in because his wife

was nursing the baby. I asked how old the baby is and he said one month. Well, you know what

happens in the church when someone has a baby (or surgery or any other need). People inundate

the new parents with casseroles, cakes, cookies, laundry and housecleaning services, or whatever

else they stand in need of. Since Josh and Teri are not active in church and are therefore not

receiving any of these services, I offered to bring them a meal. I asked Josh what kind of food

they like, suggesting several different options. When I mentioned a homemade lasagna, his eyes

lit up. So, I’m going to take them a lasagna dinner tomorrow. We are looking forward to getting

to know them better.

Elder Hintze had a big, big, really big (haha) birthday yesterday. Now he’s as old as I amѡѢѣѤ.

Since his birthday fell on the sabbath day, and knowing that our Sunday was committed after

church with a baptism and a teaching appointment, we celebrated his birthday on Saturday. We

went to the neighboring town of Zebulon and enjoyed strolling through a local farmer’s market.

We purchased a few small things, and as we were walking toward the car to leave, I saw a booth

that said “fresh, local beef.” So, we put our packages in the car and walked back into the

market. Although we weren’t going straight home and therefore couldn’t buy any meat, we were

curious to see what they had. We approached the booth and I said, “Where’s the beef?” The

woman running the booth introduced herself as Cindy and when she noticed our tags, sheepishly

said, “I should be coming to your ward.” We had a friendly chat with her, she told us she sells

the meat from her home, and we told her we would come by to purchase some meat from her. A

coincidental accident meeting a member of our ward after deciding to turn around and go back

into the market??? I don’t think so!

We continued our lovely afternoon with a visit to a bookstore in town and lunch at a “hole in the

wall” BBQ restaurant. Then all I had to do for the remainder of the afternoon was try to keep the

surprise dinner gathering a secret. Surprises are always so hard to pull off, and this one was no

exception. I called the restaurant in the middle of the week and told them we would have a party

of twelve. They said they would have the table ready. I was going to have everyone there when

we arrived, but one of the people in the party said that the best surprise party he’d ever had was

when his wife had him in the restaurant first and everyone showed up after they were seated and

one by one, joined them at the table. So, we got there early and were seated at a table for two.

Fortunately, they seated us behind a wall, so the others were able to come in and occupy our

large table without Jerry seeing them. I texted everyone in the group and told them to text me

when they were all present and seated. Unfortunately, without seeing my text first, someone

texted and said “We’re here”. So, I brought Jerry out to the large table where I was expecting to

see them all seated, but they weren’t all there yet and one couple was still walking around the

restaurant trying to find the table. Although the surprise was dampened, it was still a really fun

time. We have made some wonderful, lasting friendships here in Thomaston.

After the busy day Saturday, on Sunday evening we enjoyed a quiet dinner at home. Elder

Hintze requested meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and roasted cauliflower for his birthday dinner.

Most of you may not know how much Elder Hintze loves ketchup, and that he believes that the

primary purpose of meatloaf is simply to serve as a vehicle to deliver the ketchup!!! So, I gave

him his very own bottle of ketchup with his meatloaf and he was as happy as lark!

Over the past number of weeks, in our Come Follow Me program, we have been studying the

last week of the Savior’s life. What an amazing experience it has been to study the Atonement,

the Crucifixion, and the Resurrection, the most monumental events in all of the history of the

world, in such depth. As I’m sure many of you have also experienced, every time I read and

study these events, my understanding broadens and my conversion deepens. I just love the

description in Luke Chapter 24 where the two traveling disciples, before they even recognized

the Savior, asked Him to abide with them and stay the night. They knew that they felt something

burning in their hearts as they walked and talked with this stranger. And the risen Lord stayed

and ate with them, and when he broke bread and blessed it, they recognized Him. One of my

favorite hymns is “Abide With Me, Tis Eventide.” I can so clearly remember the first time I felt

a burning in my heart as I recognized the spirit of the Lord teaching me. When have you asked

the Lord to abide with you?

With much love,

Elder and Sister Hintze