"Hello Family!! So let me give you a quick history on Dothan, Alabama, in the form of a reading assignment. Go and read Genesis 37:17, and you can learn something new, about where I live. Also Have you guys read Matthew 17?? I read this, this week and it blew my mind, when Christ is on the Mt of Transfiguration with Peter, James, and John. And they see that John the Baptist is going to come back and restore all things. And he was just beheaded 3 chapters earlier. And then along with that, and the JST for Matthew 17. Holy smokes. What other church out there besides The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, has record that John the Baptist came and restored their church? Now thats all I'm saying, seems like a pretty big reason to believe in what we have!!! So this week was by far are most successful week!! We got 5 new investigators, which is a record for me!! A lot of really good things happened!!! Every single one of our lessons was so solid! And I had said that I had not yet taught a first lesson, and I taught two first lessons this week! Crazy."
"Monday - It rained harder than I have ever seen it. The roads were covered in water, like flooding, it came down. And we were out in the Chevy Malibu just pushing through, it was crazy. We were at the Dothan Rescue Mission, when it started coming down.. Nothing can compare to the DI. Any whom so that night our Baptist preacher friend Brother Willie Parker, took us out to eat at CiCi' pizza. But any whom, so ya they took us out and he is super nice, I just wish that somehow we could convert him, because he could bring a lot of people with him. I love it when he prays, I really do feel the Spirit when he prays, but my oh my it is an extravagant prayer. When he dropped us off, and we were getting out, he just breaks into prayer, and says, "Lord just put a hedge around these here Brethren." Haha, I love him! So after that we went with Gabe Hall, who just got home from his mission in Arizona, Hall family, with the beautiful home. So we went to see a referral that live way out in the middle of no where, so we get there, and they have a locked gate. So we try and call them again, and they say they're on vacation, but he is way interested and has been reading the Book of Mormon!!!!!!!! I know right?!?!?! Some how he just got lost when the 1st Elders turned him over to the other elder months ago."
"Tuesday- So we had a blockbuster day planned out. Three member present lessons, and then all of the members canceled, and the rain came in a terrential down pour! So the day went to shambles. We visited a potential, and talked with him for a bit, and then while biking home I said, why don't we try and go this other way home... 12 miles later and like 9 giant hills later, we made it home, so my clothes were drenched, it looked like I had been swimming, pants and all. So I found myself in the cold shower. So the only good thing that happened today, was I basically hustled everyone in basketball that evening, but then again whats new? I really do love playing basketball on Tuesday nights, its the only chance we get!"
"Wednesday - Pioneer Day! How were the fireworks at Mueller Park? I went through the 4th of July and the other days, without seeing one firework.. :( Hope that was good! I was thinking a ton about the fireworks, and being there with ya'll. So I had to take 2 other Elders out in our area, while Elder Stubbs went to zone training something. So I got to drive a car for the first real time in almost 2 months! Except one time when Stubbs eye got swollen shut, funny story. So we visited this Less active lady Barbra Erb. And she told us her conversion story, and it was powerful. It really is neat, how I can sit there and listen to people talk, and I can piece together their problems, and what they need. The Spirit is real, so we have a lot to go off of with her. We went on to have 6 lessons today!!! That never happens here.. Never. It was awesome! We got a new investigoor Barbra Phillips she is german, 79 years old, and she previously saw the missionaries, but got dropped because of smoking, but they didn't even teach her the 1st lesson.. That makes me mad, everything comes back to The Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith! Then we met with a gentleman Danny Dee's, been around the church for 30 years his boss is mormon. We got him to pray vocally and it was one of the few times he said he had done that in his life, it almost brought me to tears. Then we had dinner with the Granthams, he had a Ford Model A from the 1920s in his shed, it was sweet!"
"Thursday - Thursdays are annoying because we have to do weekly planning, I know it is so important! But I'm in that daggum apartment until like 2 in the afternoon, and I go crazy. But... President Smith came out teaching with us, my oh my, he is the man! He really is. I can't wait to learn from him more, it really was so awesome. So we had an appointment set up with a recent convert Lynda, neighbor, so we get there and Lynda says, oh no I didn't set anything up, after she told us that she did.. So were like crap. This is bad with President here, but then he ended up getting us in just by being "President" she thought it was so prestigious, and her house she thought was messy, so she was talking to here grandma in heaven saying, oh no she is gonna be mad, oh I'm so sorry grandma, I will clean this up. So her name is Gloria, the family that came to church and then thought it was too loud. And her daughter Zoya. First off Pres Smith felt prompted to offer her a blessing, which we normally don't do to non members, but we did it, because she is having health problems, and she was crying during the blessing and it was powerful stuff. So we then went onto do the first lesson, it was a sketchy lesson because Linda and Gloria love to talk. But she was excited and said that she was going to read the Book of Mormon, so we are going to meet with them again this week!!!!"
"Friday - In the morning we met with Forest Bain's nieces boyfriend, who just got out of prison.. I know, I thought the same thing.. But he really is looking to turn his life around. Apparently he was in prison, because he had past stuff that he wanted to clean up, so he turned himself in. So we taught him the 1st lesson, and it went great. He was a little confused with it all, just because it was new. But he lives with Forest, so he already has great support there. Clergy duty nothing happened, the last few weeks it has been rough, we have been given very few chances to talk to people, because we can only go to the ER and the CCU and we can't proselyte, and lately no one has been giving us the time of day. But after that the Evans family took us to eat. Both of them are from Bountiful, Utah. They are solid. He is an anesthesiologist pain specialty guy, but they are loaded. And so they took us to some Mexican restaurant and it was tremendous, and then to Coldstone, oh man coldstone never tasted so good!"
"Saturday - Holy cow, we are like Dothan's professional movers. So there is the new medical school that is coming to Dothan, so we are getting lots of young families into the ward. So we helped the Marturello family move in. Or move out of an old apartment into their house. All of the Utah families are so solid, I don't mean that negatively to everyone else, but all of the members that used to live in Utah, which there are quite a bit. Are super solid, and do lots with us. So we moved him out of his 2nd story apartment, and then moved everything upstairs in their house. Hard work. So we get home shower and get a call, that someone else needs to be moved. So we met with the German woman again, we brought her a German Book of Mormon hoping that would be easier. So we then moved the other lady in, her son was less active. But we moved them quick, because we had a member that ordered us pizza, that we had to be home too. :) So then we visited some less actives. I started talking to people about Bama football!!! Its heating up down here. I am going to start talking football with people if we don't have anything else to go to, cuz I got lots to say about that. This may sound stupid.. But we visited this member family and he was asleep on the couch, watching baseball, and I was like man.. I used to do that, and that made me sad for like a quick second."
"Sunday- It was ward conference. President Bess spoke in Priesthood about the Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood, and I'm pretty sure that everyone in the audience's eyebrows were singed, because he was spitting fire up there. I wanted to get up and start applauding! He talked about us a little bit in it, and a story that he had of someone that we talked to him about when we were over for dinner. And then after ward conference, they have a big lunch. Its the darndest thing that I've ever seen. Hahaha. It is a southern thing to do that I guess. Then after church we taught a buddhist japanese lady that we tracted into, she already believes a lot of things that we do, but in a way weird sort of buddhist way. Then we visited Paul Kennedy, the most interesting man in the world, blind stroke guy, while talking about God, he referred to him as "Chuck". Haha. He doesn't have the priesthood and we asked him about it and said the priesthood is for leaders, somebodies got to be the follower, thats me."
"There you have it!! Really was a great week. I have been trying to exercise greater faith! Because I got into the thinking of oh well nothing is going to happen, or they won't be home.. But if I can't believe that its going to happen, then God sure isn't going to give it to me. So that really helped a lot this week!! I really grew in my testimony on Faith and Prayer this week. God is willing to give us so many gifts, we just are the ones with not enough Faith to receive them, or to act on the things that we receive. Also ya'll should watch the Mormon Messages, here are some of my favorites, a lot of them will make you cry, so be ready for them: Enduring Love, Waiting on our Road to Damascus, Earthly Father Heavenly Father, Men's Hearts Shall Fail Them, Watch Your Step, and my personal favorite, Mountains to Climb. Sometimes I sit back and think about the 2 years that I have to serve and it is so daunting, but I know that I am where I'm supposed to be, and there is no greater feeling than to be a missionary in the service of God, to wear Jesus Christ right on my chest. There really is no greater reward. I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH. YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH I MISS YA'LL. "
Love, Elder Hintze
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