"You know what only this church has and nobody else? THE PRIESTHOOD!"

Monday, September 8, 2014

Hello Family!!!!

This week was a pretty crazy one... last week was the best, with nothing but teaching and meetings.... but this week wasn't our best! We were busy all the time, but we didn't seem to get much done! So we are going to try and regroup this week, and do better! ... alright lets get to it!!

Elder Thackeray & Elder Hintze

Monday - We had dinner with the Grissett's, they took us to Longhorn Steakhouse... super good! Then we helped the Delp's to do a little service project of moving a desk to someone else's house for them! Then we taught Gonzalo Mendez.. and I don't remember what we really talked to him about, he has heard everything, so we do a lot of more little in depth stuff, and read the Book of Mormon with him heavily... Satan is just working on him really, really hard, this week was the first time that I have been worried about him.. so I hope and I pray that nothing happens to throw him off the course that we are on!

Tuesday - We had District Meeting! And then we did a tradeoff with Elder Peterson and Jackman... oh and by the way the food/lunch was the best!!!!!! Really it was so awesome, everyone just loved it!!!!!! It was super cool, thank you very, very, very, very much Father!!!!!!!!! Delicious!

District Meeting lunch! Looks delicious! Gotta love the Red Elephant!

So I went with Peterson to the 4th ward... and it was just a classic day of running around trying to see these less actives and not a single person home... in the evening we did teach this couple, that their son just got baptized down in Orlando... and so they are learning about the church... it was an awesome lesson with them...we talked about the classic reading/praying/ coming to church... and how we can receive answers to our prayers!! Elder Peterson is a really good missionary, so we are excited for him to be the District Leader in our zone!

Wednesday - We did some service in the morning with a member of the 4th ward... putting in this fence... using a big ole auger to drill out these posts. Then we traded back over lunch at Chipotle. Then Coop man and I went and we did some service for Sister Lopez.. it was some good yard work cutting down trees, then we met with Gonzalo again and we did some Family History with him, we think that is going to help him out a lot! So he is on FamilySearch, and we are beginning to get into the searching out! Then the Knudsen's fed us dinner and then we went with Bro Knudsen to a lesson, but we weren't able to teach..

Thursday - We met with Val at the church in the morning, it was Elder Rogers and I and a member from the campus ward.. because we were passing him over... so we gave him a church tour and we committed him to be baptized... and he kind of accepted... but not really! Then we ate lunch somewhere and then we tried to see our man Eddy Jones... but we couldn't track him down. And then we were set to do some Fam History, but our appointment canceled on us there... so we ate dinner at the Heir's, they are super awesome! Then we taught Eric Erikson in the evening... our main man is back... he is super awesome, he is out of that Christian housing, so we are going to begin to teach him and get him to church, he didn't come this sunday, because he is sick.... but I committed him to study the priesthood in PMG and in the scriptures and he came into the lesson fired UP!!! "You know what only this church has and nobody else? THE PRIESTHOOD!" It was awesome... so we talked to him about Mosiah 2, serving others and preparing to serve in the church!

Friday - We did a trade off with the FSU Elders... so I had Elder Rogers in the 1st ward for the day! Elder Rogers is the man!! There was an emergency transfer with the sister missionaries on campus so we had to go and help them load all kinds of bunk beds and take them apart and carry them to other apartments all morning.. and in the process I broke the sisters door knob, so it wouldn't lock...  and then we finally were able to see our man Eddy Jones... so we taught Eddy about Alma 32, Faith, one of my favorites and related it to the things that he needs to do, read, pray, church... and we taught him the commandment of sabbath day holy! Then we had to go back and do more sister's work to get all of their apartments ready to go!

Saturday - We taught Robert Delmonico in the morning, unable to teach at the Gray's, but it was a good lesson, he is growing and getting more sure everytime we meet.. we talked to him about the doctrine of family history, connected it to the plan of salvation and temples! And it was a really good lesson! We didn't get him at church either... but we will get him again soon!! Then this was just the beginning of our car dying! Our car is broken, something with the battery, so we have had to get jumped by someone at least like 9 times. Then we taught Gonzalo with Montana Carroll, and it was a good lesson again, we taught him about 1 Nephi 13. Then Dan Cosson called us up and asked us to help him with some service, so he fed us Jimmy Johns' and then we had to ride with him to pick up some furniture... so he mainly just wanted company is what he told us after we were in the car! Then on our way back.. the FSU Elders texted us and said, "WE JUST GOT PERMISSION TO GO TO THE FSU GAME!" So then I'm mad.... and then they text us and said, "Marra got you guys tickets, call president!' So Marra that girl Jorg and I found on campus, works in the athletic department got us tickets... so I call President and he was grilling me with questions, but after much anticipation... he allowed us to go.... so that was like an hour before kick off... so we hustled and go there right at kickoff and bought ourselves a good shirt! It was so much fun.... I loved it... not the best game... but it was incredible!

Elder Cooper & Elder Hintze at the FSU game.

Sunday - We had Gonzalo at church, he is the only one... but he is still just straight the man! It was a good Sunday! We taught the youth class, they basically love us! Then we were set to teach Arthur, but his mother in law got taken to the hospital...so we went and visited his wife, apparently she was freaking out, and then went and we spent some time with him at the hospital! Then we attended Cam's baptism, a investigator from the FSU Elders... so that was awesome. Then Ted & Kaityln invited us to attend their Catholic mass that evening, so we went and we attended the Catholic mass with them, and they had their Bishop there, which is the equivalent of an area authority... But then our car died in the parking lot... and we didn't have our dinner appointments phone number... so once we finally got the car, were able to find their number... we were an hour late... and so we missed it and then we went home and ate our dinner!!!

So kind of a harder week! But still good, we were literally running crazy all week! So all good in the hood! I miss you guys like crazy, did a lot this week!!! Can't tell you how thankful I am for all ya'll! Love ya!!!!

Some Pictures from Tallahassee

Friday, September 5, 2014

Elder Milne, Elder Thackeray, Elder Cooper, Elder Hintze at the compound!

Elder Milne (coming out of the door), Elder Thackeray & Elder Hintze. Their landlord put up the signage on the duplex. Elder Hintze's apartment is on the right side. Two more Elder's live in a apartment in the back of the duplex.

Elder Milne, Elder Thackeray, & Elder Hintze on the porch.

Elder Hintze & Elder Jorgensen at FSU? 

Elder Hintze outside FSU's football stadium? 

Elder Hintze & Elder Jorgensen

That's a good trip to Chipotle! Slow down Elder! Watch those portions! :)

Look what we found! 

Elder ?, Elder Cooper, & Elder Hintze 

"You know to tell you the truth, I haven't ever felt the need to, I haven't once doubted a single word that you guys have said!"

Monday, September 1, 2014

Hello Family!!

Can't tell you how great it is to hear from you all! Reporting to you live with real time updates from Elder Hintze!

Monday - Today for P-Day we went to this park called Tom Brown Park.. huge park it is awesome, all of the Elders met up and we played sand volleyball and football, super fun! Love all of these guys! It has been so hot here lately... and I got sun burned today.. So our evening kind of came crashing down, our dinner appointment had to cancel on us.. so we ate at home.. and Gonzalo canceled on us, he had to reschedule... so we were left out to dry, so we ate and then got out working the neighborhood, doing some finding, with no luck this time.. talked to a lot, but these people just don't get it.. if they only knew what they were rejecting. But we did meet with Ted & Kaityln.. that couple, it has been a little while, since they have been mentioned, they have been unable to meet, but the super awesome Catholic couple. We prepared to teach the Restoration lesson, and we studied super hard on the Apostasy, so we would know what to share... but all day I just felt so uneasy about our lesson, not nervous.. just an anxious feeling, so I knew something was up... so we met with them and really they are so nice, I love them so much! We got to share the Restoration, and they didn't agree with it entirely, they just don't see why the authority line ended and all of this, so we just went back and forth and they are so nice about it, but they just couldn't agree, and so we just told them, even if we set the gold plates of the Book of Mormon in your lap, you wouldn't know any better now than you did before of the truthfulness of what we speak of, all throughtout times, the Holy Ghost has taken the truth to the heart of man, we invite you to read from the Book of Mormon and pray about it! They are moving this weekend and we are going to help them move.. we have just layed a foundation for them.. because they love us, they have been telling people at the Catholic church about us and they said, the week after you came we met with the Jehovahs Witnesses and it was a complete 180 from when we meet with you guys... we just love you guys and you are so courteous and kind, we just want you to know that you are always welcome in our home! So we aren't going to convert them, and they are moving to another area.. but I don't know what will come of it, but we taught them doctrine and they are going to read, and they said that they will come to church with us and we are going to go with them one time! So it is all good, I want to remain friends with them.. even after I am home, some of the best people that I know! I just wish that we could do more with them, or get them to believe, ahhhh its all good! They have 2 kids and another on the way, we also went over the Family Proclamation with them, and they love that! So whoever they meet down the road that is Mormon, they are going to say, hey we met with 2 of your elders and they are so awesome! Today was also the first day of school here at FSU.. so Tallahassee is literally madness, traffic and people everywhere!

Tuesday - MLC day! We got up bright and early and headed over and we rode the van to Fort Walton, Florida. A good trek over there to see Elder & Sister Zwick.. and it was really pretty awesome.. Elder Zwick just started and he talked to us about Learning by Faith, advancing in faith. He talked a lot about being an Example and being Willing to Change, being Willing to Change is the theme of the whole meeting... It was awesome, the Spirit worked on me the whole time, I gotta be better and more receptive to the Spirit.. he said, "If you are willing to change, the Spirit will be with you!" He talked a lot about Simplifying and Intensifying in all that we do, keep our teaching simple.. make it easy and intensify it! Another huge thing he talked a lot about! Again some more about example...  also a lot about what we will become because of our missions "I will be a great missionary, but I will also be a fantastic son, father, brother, and husband." "There is a fine line between discouragement and success." He then took us on a journey through D&C 88:63 the qualifier to be a leader, then in 68 Sanctify yourselves, then 72 take care of your flocks, and then 73 I will hasten my work in its time! Sanctifying is Perfecting us on the Lord's time! Elder Zwick is so powerful..

MLC - Elder & Sister Zwick

The Spirit was tangible, he had a way of making me feel like I was the most important thing in the world! Then all of us ZLs and STLs shared all of the things that we have been doing in our areas and our zones... that have increased our productivity. Learned a lot from everyones ideas! We talked a lot about ward councils, how we can best work with them. He said, "I will always replace myself in my area." Meaning we need to find prospective elders, YM or YW, who are going to replace us! President Smith added in a little bit he based it on Follow Me --> And I will Make You! 3 Nephi 27:20-21 We must do!! "We cannot expect someone to do something we won't do ourselves!" "If I change, be the example!" Sister Smith talked to us about prayer, she killed it, it was a huge answer to my prayers. She based it in Enos verse 4 - to be Spiritually Hungry! Followed with 5 steps v. 4, v.9 pray for self and others, v 11 pray for hearts to be softened, v. 16 Pray for the FTM, and v. 17 & 18 our soul can rest! Sister Zwick talked to us about asking questions.. their oldest son has special needs, they talked a lot about him and told many stories of him..  They said he is always talking, always asking questions.. one day when they were traveling, he was particularly quiet for 20 minutes in the car... and after all of that he says "Mom and Dad do you know Jesus?" In Alma chapter 5 there is 41 questions asked! The question we need to ask ourselves is "What is it that the Savior wants me to learn?" Then Elder Zwick came in and finished it off with his agenda he just barely created... "When you receive help, in any form--> Give Thanks!" Talked a lot more about connecting us to the members and to the ward councils! He said, "Success is when you can kneel down and everyday say, "Heavenly Father wilt thou accept the very best I could do this day?" Family I can't describe to you how powerful this meeting was, and it only got better and better, tangible Spirit... the theme for me was I need to be willing to change, moldable, I need to purify myself and lead by example!! Can't leave anything behind! So after the meeting we drove back home and rolled right into the chapel in Tally and arrived a few minutes late for the broadcast all over the mission by Elder Zwick, all the ward councils were invited and he just told them we needed them, we needed their help, we needed them to help us find! Sister Zwick told of a missionary that arrived in their mission when they were Mission President and wife, a new missionary ran to her in the airport and shook her hand and said, "Sister Zwick, I can't tell you how long I've waited to meet you.. Sister Zwick, you can count on me!" Then she said, You can count on these missionaries! Elder Zwick told us of his mission in Argentina, he and 3 other missionaries opened up the work in Bolivia, not a single member in 4 cities.. he spent 17 months there, built a chapel and organized a branch. Just incredible people!

Wednesday - We had just another awesome day... the Lord really is richly blessing our work as of late. In the morning we had to run around and go do some building set up, we had to get the mission truck and cart a white board over to the other chapel. Then we taught Eddy Jones, he is the man.... we taught Eddy out of 2 Nephi 31.. so we talked to him about baptism, talked to him of the importance of it, and we committed him to begin to work toward his baptism, we then taught the Word of Wisdom! He drinks coffee and tea, but promised and committed to live the word of wisdom! "If God commands it I will do it." Then we taught Tim Morrison the returning guy... Then we taught Robert Delmonico in the Gray's home.. it was an absolute awesome lesson, we taught him the Plan of Salvation, the spirit was so strong. I keep saying that, but unlike ever before on my mission, ever lesson we have, the Spirit testifies so strongly! No problems, he loved the plan of salvation... the Grays were really great, they always bring the spirit! I asked him if he had prayed about the Book of Mormon or Joseph Smith.. He said, "You know to tell you the truth, I haven't ever felt the need to, I haven't once doubted a single word that you guys have said!" Then we had dinner at the Brock's home, super cool! Then we taught Gonzalo at the Knudsen's home, we talked quickly on the Holy Ghost and then we watched the Prophet of the Restoration. Super good, he liked it! Then we got home and all of the other missionaries from Dothan and Panama City, were there and so we had a houseful, it was a good sleepover!

Big party at the Compound! 10:30 bedtime boys! 

Thursday - Quite possibly the single greatest day of my mission.. for real though!! So incredible. We got up early and we got over to the other Tally Building for the Half Mission Conference, it was held in the chapel, we were all there very, very early and so we had a lot of time to see everybody and then to just sit and get into the zone of the Spirit.

Elder Zwick came in and he just got right to it, he is a constant teacher he said, "Reverance invites Revelation!" Also got this one for you: "If you ever need a helping hand, look at the end of your arm!" -Bryan B. Gardner eh? Any whom, he took us to D&C 107:34,35,38 talked about his job as a Seventy and how us and him are the exact same thing, we are here to preach and administer the Gospel. He told so many neat stories of the Apostles and Prophets, he spoke of Elder Eyring's first experience as an apostle assigning missionaries to their areas, he had Elder Richard G. Scott there with him and he watched as he did it for about an hour.. it was then Elder Eyring's turn and he said, "I can't do this, I just cannot do this." Elder Scott said sure you can and you will. Elder Eyring said the first young elder came up and as he sought for revelation, he saw that young man on a corner in Bucharest, Romania talking to someone with his companion, the next he said he saw that young man walking the streets of Mexico. Pretty fascinating how we are assigned our missions! I know more than ever this is where I'm to be! He also spoke of President & Sister Smith, he said they are consecrated and devoted.. he said, "I watch how they pray for you, I watch them late at night as they think of you." Then he went into a role play thing, where certain companionships went up and they said a principle, shared an experience and then doctrine, and then testify! Keep it so simple and keep it within about a minute or so.. from that he then critiqued each one and talked about it. I learned a whole lot from it, I was hoping we would be chosen! But we need to keep things simple, don't confuse people, he taught us how to use scriptures more powerfully! "Teach true principles the same way that you learn them!" He talked of Elder Holland when he gives his conference talks, he has watched and he has run a count on how many words he says a minute, he says he runs about 160 words per min, but then at times goes to 80 words per minute.. He slows down and he really grabs you! Then Sister Smith took over and she talked a little bit about marriage, told of President & her marriage. She said, "When we let ourselves learn, change, & strengthen we are preparing to serve as righteous companions." She showed us a picture of the 1st missionaries to the south, talked about the things we have that they did not. She referenced Alma 26:22 and said the things that we do have are Repentance, exercising Faith, Good Works, & Pray continually without ceasing. Just another one about changing ourselves! Throughout this whole experience the Spirit was tangible, it was nuts, I was brought to tears many times. President Smith went up next and I have never seen him emotional. And it was that way the whole time that he talked, when he spoke the Spirit was so strong. "He is turning us into what we must become." "The Lord expects us to do these hard things." "But, it is okay to not be okay." President just killed it, he talked a lot about Sister Smith and he told a story of an Elder McCallister, who does not have any legs, who is in a wheelchair, and who did absolutely fabulous things as a missionary, walking with his hands on the Arizona blacktop, ran the Boston Marathon he said, "My stub hurt a lot, my arms were exhausted, my lungs were shredded, but I had fun." President was my favorite! Sister Zwick came back at us and he talked about Prayer! She told of Clayton Christensen a story he told of his kids and him building this marvelous tree house, his kids would run home from school to help build, soon neighbors got involved, everyone was so excited for this tree house. Once it was completed, he watched day after day as no one came to use it... it wasn't about the tree house, it was about building the tree house! She also spoke of their first day in the mission as President and wife in Santiago Chile.. they received a phone call from a missionary who said, Hey President I am calling you from a phone booth and I am only wearing my companions trench coat, we were in the church building giving a baptismal interview, when 7 terrorists with maching guns came in and put them to our heads, they made me take off my clothes in front of the seminary students that were there and then they poured floor wax on my clothes and lit them on fire and now the church building is burning to the ground, what do you want us to do? .. Hahaha, how about that eh? She talked about her experiences and how she relied on prayer, referenced Enos and said, "Pray for things of Eternal Consequence." Then Elder Zwick came in and he finished us all off, just a straight KO with the Spirit throwing punches!!!! He told of some cool stories from the Apostles. One time they were in the room with the Twelve and they all stood just to stretch and Elder Nelson just said, "Yes, Brethren lets stand for something!" So he went off that. He told of being with President Hinckley at the Hill Cumorah. (Pres. Hinckley is my favorite!!!) And how he ran up the Hill Cumorah and then he stood there and he made the same pose as the angel Moroni statue... and Elder Zwick said he watched it all in the silhouetter of the sun, said he would never ever forget it! Told of when Elder Packer and him rode home on the plane, he called Elder Packer the "constant teacher." Elder Zwick had just spoken at the Palmyra temple dedication and Elder Packer said to him, "Ya know Craig you just did alright today, you could have done better and I will tell you how!" Then he drew on a plane napkin and told him that he told a story, shared doctrine, and then testified, and then he did that again, he said, "your talk would have been much more powerful if you would have stopped after the first time!" Pretty cool lesson there, of how to give a talk... experience/story, then doctrine, then testimony! We have 2 missionaries from Sierra Leone and he said it is not very often that the prophet prays for a mission by name.. but yours was in his prayer in the temple... are you kidding me, that just gives me chills thinking about that!!! The basis of his thing was sanctifiying ourselves and what are we willing to change, it was the best thing of my life for real though! Afterwards I was with Elder Uriquaga, and he said, "I think that I need to ask him a question." So I went up with him and he asked, 'How can I overcome pride?" Super awesome question. Elder Zwick said, "You need to do hard things. You need to raise your expectations. You need to force yourself to be humble. You need to rely on the Lord, then you can overcome it." Super awesome answer!!!! So I am going to work on doing that as well!!

Half Mission Conference - Elder & Sister Zwick

After the Half Mission, we did some family history with James and Veronica, brother and sister... they were referred to us, so a member who works here was helping them and so we were just in the back and I was praying the whole time... "please let them ask why we do family history!" And what do you know, he stops and he says, "why do you guys do family history?" So we just began to tell, the member kind of ran the show, which was awesome, and we just testified and we were on a spiritual high from Elder Zwick and Veronica was crying and James was pumped.. so we are going to do more with them and teach them in full why we do it!! We had to get the whiteboard back again, and when we were doing it, we thought that we saw President and Sister Smith pull in. We just talked with him and he gave us a drink, President was just so humble and it was so cool to talk to him, about what had just happened that day! So cool!!!!!!

Friday - We did our weekly planning in the morning! And then we got out and we visited with a woman named Sister Adams, part member family, she has a tesimony, but just does not come to church at all, so we are hoping we can begin to work with them. Then we went and we taught Gonzalo with Dean Delp. And the whole time we were in there, Gonzalo just didn't seem right, so we were reading in the Book of Mormon with him.. talking about Lehi's Dream and I just felt prompted to ask about the Word of Wisdom... and he had gone back on it.. he had drunk Wednesday night. And it turned out to be so good... once we began to talk about it... the Spirit entered the room in great force... we didn't get upset or anything, we just talked about Repentance, bore testimony of the Atonement. He said, he hated drinking again, and he felt sooo guilty as he did it, ever since then he had been praying for forgiveness! It was such a neat experience, when we left he felt so much better. As I spoke towards the end, he just stopped and he said, "I think I feel the Holy Ghost right now!" It was so neat.. so he is doing great!

Saturday - We helped Ted & Kaitlyn move in the morning... and it was the bomb! They are so awesome, turns out Ted plays tennis big time and he loves basketball, so we are going to go play tennis with him! They are really awesome. After that we taught Jimmy and Margie again, this time with the neighbor Bro Gentry. We are going to turn it over to the spanish elders here in the stake, since Margie speaks spanish as well! Then we taught Eddy Jones at the church with Bro Porter... we taught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and it was without a doubt the best lesson that I have taught on the Gospel. It was killer! And I keep saying the Spirit was strong, but more than ever before on my mission, the spirit is so strong!!! So we committed him to be baptized on Sep. 27th!! Then we taught Val.. a man that we just talked to on the street, he is so cool. We will be turning him over to the FSU Elders, because they teach YSA, darn it! But we taught him the Restoration and he understanded it really, really well, and after words he said, this whole time that you have been talking, I have felt nothing but peace! And then visited shortly with the Leidy's... but it is college football season, so FSU was playing and they were not about to turn it off, so we had to get out of there! :(

Sunday - We had Eddy at church, he came super late and he had to leave after Sacrement though! Then we had Gonzalo there, he is basically part of the ward he is so awesome! I have been feeling bad about him having to wait for baptism, he wants it so bad! Please pray for him. We also taught Gospel Principles. Then Val came to the 1 pm chuch, and so we didn't plan on staying for all of it with him, but we ended up staying the full 3 hours of the YSA Ward. Val is the man, for real, he was just roaming the building, checking it all out, he ended up in the high council room, hahahahaah, he is from Haiti! He has a awesome accent! Then we ate dinner at the Pope's.. and then the Knudsen's invited us over for cake and ice cream!!!! 

This morning for labor day we played ball with all of the 1st ward people.. we had Gonzalo there and Val there. Val couldn't play but was just there talking with everyone. Gonzalo is pretty dang good... Cooper, Gonzalo, and I were just out there having a blast. Gonzalo is just like our best friend and everyone in the ward knows him. I love Gonzalo a whole lot! Bishop gave me a bloody nose when we were playing! Family sure do love you to the moon and back!!!! 

Love,

Elder Hintze

"I can honestly say that this mission, is the best thing that has happened to me in my life!"

Monday, August 25, 2014

What's UP Family!!

I hope you are all well and happy, and know how much I love you! We had an awesome week this week, super busy transfer week, so we did not get to do as much proselyting as we would have liked, but I guess I am just going to have to live with that, that is the name of the game as a zone leader, it kills me to not be out and in the grind! Had some neat things happen this week. I can honestly say that this mission, is the best thing that has happened to me in my life! This last transfer here in Tallahassee, has been fantastic, I have grown so much! 

Monday - Last Monday, we went to the mall and I purchased my self from new slacks from H&M for only 15 dollars.. killer deal! After that we ate dinner with the Schraders, awesome people. After that we went with Bro Roberts and we taught Gonzalo Mendez, we were teaching him about Pres Monson and the commandment to Follow the Prophet, which as we started to explain and as he had done his own research on LDS.org, that we commited him to. He had no problems with it at all, and does believe that he is a prophet.. Gonzalo is awesome for real though, one of my favorite people I have taught, living Chastity, living Word of Wisdom for over a month, accepts everything, so honest and sincere, Gonzalo is the man!

Tuesday - Had our District Meeting today. After our District Meeting, we went bowling and that was a good time, even thought I hate bowling!

The District

Then we were on an exchange, so I went with Elder Hildebrandt and Cooper went with Elder Reyes. So we went and we contacted a man name John Burkes who was talked to on the street corner by a member about the church, and then right then and there the member called us and had us talk to the guy and get his information and all that... it was super cool. But we had not been able to contact him for a long time, so we finally were able to and we sat down and we began to talk and just learn his background, we taught him God is our Loving Heavenly Father, and the Book of Mormon. But later on this week, he called us and told us it wasn't for him... so we have got to go talk to him again! And then we went to our meeting with the Stake Presidency, ate dinner, we were fed by the Flores at the church.

Wednesday - We did our studies and then we traded back. And then the Stake President, President Burton took all of the ZLs in Tallahassee out to lunch, so that was cool. Then it was a crazy day of planning and everything.. Elder Zwick is arriving today.. so this week is going to be even more crazy. MLC this Tuesday with him, devotional that night.. then half mission conference Thursday with him... so we have missionaries coming from Panama City Zone and Dothan Zone and they are sleeping over at our place Wednesday night, so we have been coordinating who sleeps where and then coordinating transfers and all that jazz... so we have been crazy busy trying to coordinate everything with the work! So Wednesday night we picked up new missionaries and we got to take them out.  I took out Elder Harding, he is now in the Tally 1st Ward with us.. really good guy. We ate dinner with the Johnson's and then we saw Sister Lamb and then did some finding with him. Cooper and his man, saw Tim Morrison!

Thursday - Then it was transfer day.. so we we're at transfers bright and early, making sure that everyone knew where they were headed!

Transfer Day

Transfer Day

We took Elder Harding with us and got him all settled in and then he was with us until that night! And then we saw a recent convert named Sister Mobley, they are super awesome, they are struggling a little bit, but we are going to start to help them! Then we we're just knocking doors and we met this man named Eddie Jones, older gentleman, and he let us immediately in, so we just talked to him and did our HTBT and then introduced the Book of Mormon to him and just bore testimony of the Atonement and the Book of Mormon. At the end he said, oh ya I have read the Book of Mormon a bunch before and met with missionaries, so we were like WHAT? And honestly I didn't believe him or think much of it, just because we get stuff like that a lot, so we'll get back to him! But then we went to transfer spot again.. and I had to leave Cooper with another missionary, so Harding and I went back, got everyone situated again and got everyone on the right path!

Transfer Day

Friday - Service day, we did service with Sister Koutz and the Schrader's as well! We did some yard work and then we had to burn a lot of limbs and clean up for the Schrader's... after that we came home and had time for a tiny bit of weekly planning action. And then we went back and we taught Eddie Jones, and we taught him the restoration to him and his granddaughter Nancy who is like 12, and it was awesome, spirit was there. We said a kneeling prayer with him and it was super awesome, he said he knew these things were true!  Then we had a lesson with Arthur Harrelson, a investigator that we hadn't seen for a long time. We finally got back up with him and talked to him a little bit about the Doctrine of Christ.. so we are going to get back into the habit of teaching him now! Then we taught Gonzalo in the evening with Bro Bell... and it was awesome as always.. we finally got him settled down about his questions!

Saturday - In the morning we met with Gonzalo. We did some major weekly planning for our area. And then we got invited by the Stake Presidency to attend the leadership stake conference session, so we went to that and it was awesome! Then we grabbed a quick bite and then we had the evening stake conference.. and that was tremendous as well... I am growing so much more lately than I ever have, as far as feeling the spirit.. and Pres Smith told my story of Gloria and our first appointment in stake conference again.. he tells it at all the MLCs, he told it to the new missionaries, he tells it in stake conferences.. and this one got me... I was balling as he told about our first appointment with Gloria... it was really,  really neat! I have been thinking a lot about Gloria lately, ya'll should give her a call! Tell her that I am thinking about her!

Sunday - We had our stake conference again, and Pres and Sis Smith spoke and they just absolutely kill it every time it is the bomb! And guess who we had in there Eddie Jones, the dude showed up and he is awesome!!!!!! We are looking forward to teaching him this next week, he is so solid! So then we taught Jimmy and Margie Martinez, they made us lunch.. :) We began to teach them the Plan of Salvation... Jimmy can't understand us entirely and Margie is kind of looking to prove us wrong, but their neighbors are members, so we are looking to get them involved!

Family, sure can't get over how great you all are! I love you all and miss you dearly!

Love,

Elder Hintze

"His date is probably going to be changed to Aug 30th, Sep 6th is FSU's first home game, so everything shuts down."

Monday, August 18, 2014

Hello Family!!!!!!

How is everyone doing!? I don't know why I ask ya'll that, you can't respond, but hope your doing well! I am doing outstanding, we had a really good week this week and it was transfer news today, Cooper and I are staying... and there were a few changes made to our zone, which were awesome! Lets get to it this week!

Monday - For P-Day.. we went to the mall. So it was good! But it was fun, don't know what we are up to today at all... But in the evening we had dinner at the Miler's home, he is the stake patriarch, so they are spiritual giants, they are awesome, delicious food as well! Then Gonzalo had to cancel on us... so we went around and we used the area book and chased down a lot of potentials and then we made phone calls and then we went to Dairy Queen with the Knudsen's!!!!

Tuesday - We had to drive to Madison, Florida in the morning and we went to their District Meeting out there, with the Madison Elders and Sisters, they are the only ones out there, so we were there for the meeting, and then we went on a tradeoff, I stayed in Madison, we played football after the meeting for the district activity and then pizza hut for lunch, so then we traded off and I was with them for the day! Madison is super cool, tiny little place, the church there is so cool, it is on a hill and just a tiny little thing, it is beautiful. We ran around all day trying to see all kinds of different people and doing some tracting, we got to teach one man named King, he is super awesome, they teach him a lot, and we talked to him about the spirit and prayer, he said he had never received an answer to a prayer before, King and I hit it off really well, it was a phenomenal lesson, sadly I am not there to teach him, but he has a lot of potential up in the Madison! I was with Elder Butler and Elder Christensen, they are good guys! They taught Gonzalo while I was gone, and they taught him the law of Tithing, he is the man, and he accepted it with no problems, and has committed to live it! 

Wednesday - So then Wednesday morning, we did some finding and found a new investigator for them and then we had to do the exchange reports and then we traded back around lunch time! When we got back, we did service at the Gray's we mowed part of their lawn and then it rained on us.

Thursday - We did our weekly planning session. Then we served Sister Lippen, we helped her to do lots of yard work and then we went back and we finished mowing the Gray's lawn! Then we ate dinner at the Robert's home. And we did some finding around their home and we found 2 super awesome people that we just OYMed. One of them we have taught, but we will get there! We then saw Tim Morrison the less active guy, we have been seeing him a lot and every lesson with him, is so spiritual, he really has led and prepared up to this time, to come back! We taught him about Faith in Jesus Christ and he read Alma 32, he said his faith was weak!

Friday - We got a call and we had to run and help a sister's investigator to move, so we helped them move, it was a super easy move.. so we did that and we got a potential out of it, her brother, ohhh ya! Then after that we saw Bro Barber and we visited with him for a few minutes! We are trying super hard to do Fam History with them.. then we did a lot of finding, and then we had a lesson with Sis Lamb, a less active lady, her house is full of family, that isn't member, she is an older lady, who is super sweet, so we are going to start going back and teaching the whole family!  And then we taught Gonzalo with Dusty Brock, the majority of the lesson was on the Word of Wisdom and he is debating whether to have one last hooray with alcohol, and we hammered him, it was so awesome, in such a good way, the spirit was so strong, all throughout the lesson, and by the end he was converted to not do it, he has been clean for over a month now! He is doing so good... and we went over the baptismal question with him, and there was no problems, the only thing that we have to cover is President Monson, and his date is probably going to be changed to Aug 30th, Sep 6th is FSU's first home game, so everything shuts down, they close the church parking lot! 

Saturday - Okay I am just going to say the things that are important, we visited with Jimmy Martinez, one of the dudes we found on Friday, he is awesome, him and his wife, they are Pentecostal, he is from Mexico, she is not interested, but we are coming back to teach him, he is so nice, we are coming next Saturday and they are going to make us some good Mexican food, they are really so nice!!! I don't know how much potential they have, but they are awesome! Then we ate dinner at the Gray's home, and they invited Robert Delmonico over for dinner, and we didn't even know, it was super awesome... so we ate dinner and then we had a lesson with him, we have such a good relationship with our investigators, so we taught him the start of the plan of salvation, it got off a little bit, but it was awesome. Then during the day we visited with the Culligan's a young couple, the lady is just like Hadley, like they would be best friends. They are awesome!

Sunday - We had Gonzalo and Robert at church, great meetings! Mama K, got to show me the pictures of the new little shaver... talk about adorable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! When they asked about missionary moments from the week, Robert Delmonico tried to raise my hand to share about him, he is awesome! But the Gospel Principles class was on Word of Wisdom, so Gonzalo got it again hahahaha, it is so awesome! After church we taught Cecil Porter with Bro Jackson, we taught the Restoration lesson to him, he took it a little skeptical, but he is sincere about following Jesus Christ... so he is going to do his research, and Brother Jackson and him really kicked it off! And before that we ran into this guy named Ben Cao, and he is awesome, we got to go in and teach him for a few minutes and we are going back to teach him next week! And we visited Jonathon Leidy, and then we visited Tim Morrison in the evening!

We had a good week this week. We are definitely in a finding mode, and trying to see new less actives to see.. so we are trying to figure it out still! I am excited to another one with Elder Cooper, we have had some neat experiences and we really are striving for the Spirit and it is manifest in a lot of our lessons! So things are good, I am loving the mission right now! I used to hear people say at the beginning of my mission, "I don't want to go home!" And I used to think ya'll are a bunch of crazy fools.. but every day, I learn more and more how harder it will be to end the mish one day!! Sure do love ya'll!!!!

Love,

Elder Hintze

"Raised by members and she has a goal to be a member by the end of the year, pretty cool huh?"

Monday, August 11, 2014


Family!!! 

Hello, hope you are well and happy this week! I am doing outstanding as always, just another great day! We had a good week this week, starting to get things rolling this week! So lets get to it!!

Monday - We didn't do much for P-Day just hungout and went to Chipotle.. it is unhealthy, how much that I love Chipotle! :) This last Monday we had dinner at the Pope's home and we took Gonzalo with us, so we ate dinner with them and it was really, really awesome!! The Pope's are super cool, they were great! We had a lesson with him afterward and then we taught Gonzalo about the temple and family history and marriage and all that good stuff, it was really awesome! I love teaching the new lesson 5, they seem to fit in really nice! Gonzalo is so awesome! Afterwards, we visited a new less active guy named Tim Morrison, he said that he wants to get back and take the lessons!

Tuesday - After District Meeting, I went on a trade off with Elder Jorgensen on FSU.... so we just did contacting all day long.. all day long!!!!

The District??

And it was so fun, campus is pretty bare, but we set a goal to OYM 100 people.. we did not quite get that.. but we talked to 43 people... and a lot more we didn't really get to invite! But literally not a single person accepted or showed any bit of interest... but man it was the best day ever, we did work and had a blast, I love Elder Jorgensen! We ate dinner with the Bishop in the YSA Ward. They are super awesome as well, so it was a great day! But not much else.. Oh we ran into this girl named Mara on campus, she is super cool, she is from Virginia and she knows a little bit about the church. We had a super good contact with her, ... I don't really know why we met her, but it was super inspired that we ran into her, so we will see what happens!

Wednesday - We went to MLC all day long!! We left early in the morning and we drove the van with the Tally ZLs and the APs and so we went all the way to Crestview, Florida and then we had MLC which was like 5 hours... It is like a round table open discussion. But it was really, really good! I enjoyed it... I made a pretty big splash at my first MLC... Sister Smith said to me, "I can tell that MLC is going to be a lot more exciting with you around!" Because there have been a lot of cases of what happened to Elder Cooper... So the mission nurse was talking and at the end I raised my hand and I said, "I have a question and I am hesitant to ask, because it is a problem that is only happening with Elders, do you want me to wait until later or just go for it!?" And then President gave me the green light, so I just asked what has been causing it and if it is contagious.. and people laughed so hard, I asked if it was in the water? Or if it was in the air? Anyway but then we proceeded to talk about mission stuff and then we journeyed on home!

The Group - MLC

Thursday - We did some service with Sister Koutz in the morning, we did some yard work for her and got things straightened out for her and then we visited with her and we shared a message! And then I got to call Barbara Phillips from Dothan!!! It was the best... the Dothan sisters asked me to at MLC, apparently she always talks about me, she loves it when you guys send her stuff, absolutely loves it! It was so good to talk to her..  she just needed to hear my voice, I didn't say anything about it, and she said, because you called me I am going to give this coffee up, it was so neat to talk to her! I love her so much! Then we did our weekly planning, our mission is really bad at weekly planning. We ate dinner and then we had a lesson over the phone with Eric Erikson, he is living in a new situation, where he can't leave, it is a Christian place, so he has to go to church there for a month, then he is moving again! So we had a lesson with him, about family history, Eric is the man!

Friday - We did some service in the morning, we took a young man with us Dean Delp, who is hilarious, but we did service with Sister Flores and Sister Daniels... which ended up not going the best, Flores we replaced a toilet, but the wax ring was too big and we messed it up, so it didn't go over very well! But then we sprayed Sis Daniels house with bleach to get rid of mold. Then we got cleaned up and we taught Gonzalo at his house, and we ended up having to cover some word of wisdom issues, he is so awesome, but he is debating whether or not to have one last party with his alcohol and then be done, what the heck? I told him heck no, that is a terrible idea, so we had to do some back tracking, but things ended well. He is  a man of many questions, which is so awesome! Then we did some finding out and about! Then we had another phone call lesson with Eric about the Priesthood!

Saturday - We had to run to the church for a youth baptism, they called us 10 minutes before, so we could meet their non member friends, we did that! And then we taught Robert Delmonico in the Gray's home and all we did was we just stressed the Book of Mormon, he hasn't read it, so we taught the Book of Mormon and prayer and how to receive answers... and Brother Gray absolutely killed it! It was so awesome, the best member present ever! Then we had lunch with the Leity family a part member and Jonathon the member is less active super awesome family! We had a lesson and then shared a message... he knows what he needs to do and wants to get back, so we are going to focus hard on them! They are hilarious... so we hit it off really well with them! Then we tried a ton of part members, but couldn't get them at all... we met one lady Lisa B, who was raised by members and she has a goal to be a member by the end of the year, pretty cool huh? So we are going to start working with her! Then Gonzalo called us and had some questions about the plan of salvation, so we went over with Bishop Hargredt and we taught him the plan of salvation all the way through, cleared up all of that, and helped him to further make his decision that he should not drink again! He had been taught the plan of salvation before I got there!! The Spirit was really really strong in the lesson, good one!!

Sunday - Good church!!! We had Gonzalo there, he is so solid, he is getting baptized for sure, but if there is one thing that I have learned, you haven't got them til you have got them! :) He contributes to the lessons during classes, he is so killer! We ate lunch at the Knudsen's afterwards... it was the best thing ever, I love that family so much!!!!!! Then we did some finding, we had some appointments cancel.. then we went with Gonzalo to a baptism in YSA Ward, for the campus sisters... it was the best convert baptism ever, tons of member support and the spirit was so strong, it was awesome!!!! Then we ate dinner, did some more planning. And then we hit out and tried to do some contacting, met a part member, they grew up in Paxton Florida aka Defuniak Springs, so we bonded and are going to try and get them again!!!

Some exciting stuff happened.. we got 2 missionaries in our mission from Sierra Leone Africa, Ebola central... He is our neighbor, so he is super cool! Also, this morning me and my boy Elder Jorgensen aka Fresh, were working out at the track and I went to jump over this metal gate and on the other side... there was a hole, so I ate dirt pretty hard... like it really hurt, it was funny, so my foot is bruised and swollen keep posted for that adventure! Love you all family! Sure do think you are all the best! miss you like crazy!

Love,

Elder HIntze

"She called up a friend and invited her to learn more about the church, right while we were there, it was cool!"

Monday, August 4, 2014

Hello Family!!!!

How is everyone doing today!? I hope fantastic, I am outstanding as always! Sure do love you guys a whole lot.. there was a missionary in the mission, I don't know him, but we got a text this week that he had lost his family members in an accident, it was really sad! Just wanted you guys to know how much that I love you all and miss you!!! Please stay safe!! :) We had a pretty good week this week, we are slowly getting out and our able to do a little bit more... Lets get to it!

Monday - We played basketball with all of the homies! The APs came and they are both phenomenal at basketball, it is a requirement to be an AP! :) So we did that and then we had a lesson with Gonzalo in the evening at his place, we had a plan scheduled out and then when we got in there, we both felt that it was not what we needed to share at all... so we ended up teaching him the Word of Wisdom, he likes his beer and along with that, we committed him to baptism on Sep. 6th and he accepted! He really is so awesome, I love him, he is perfect and is so prepared! He asks so many questions, which is such a good thing, he is just trying to understand and soak it all in! Then we had dinner with the Schrader's, nice people!

Tuesday - We had our District Meeting in the morning and it was a good one.. it is weird to not be district leader after doing it for a while... then we ate at Dan's home again, he is a good guy! Really good to us! Then we had a trade off with the APs..... #APStatus... so I went with Elder Welch to their area and McPherson came with Cooper and they had to chill, because Cooper was not doing the best... but Welch and I went and we did service for Marvin Goldstein.. you know the piano guy, who does all kinds of mormon hymns and stuff.. it was cool! He gave us a bunch of CDs and stuff and he signed some stuff for us and then he played the piano for us... he didn't know any Supertramp, whats up with that!?!?!? We met with this less activeish family and they fed us birthday cake and wouldn't let us share a message and then we played some basketball with their little son and then back home! We are in the days of gnats here..... literally every single time you go outside, they are buzzing all around your face!

Wednesday - Then in the morning, we did our exchange report, and then some appointments canceled and then we did some map stuff, and then we looked at the numbers for our mission... .it is super cool to look at stuff like that! Then we went and visited a lady named Sister Hughes, she is a fairly recent convert, but she had a friend die, so we gave her a priesthood blessing and then just tried to counsel here and help here, so we shared a lot of the plan of salvation! Then we traded back.. and we had our President's interviews.. it is always the best thing in the whole world, President is the man!!!!!!! It was good, we got to talk a lot about the zone!
 

Thursday - We did our weekly planning  in the morning and then we had to chill during the middle of the day for Cooper to be able to rest... then we got a call, and Elder Thackery got emergency transferred to Brewton, Alabama, one of the FSU elders, so we helped him pack.. and then we helped him pack and then we had to take him to meet to the APs, he was gone with in an hour... it was nuts!

Friday - We taught Eric Erikson in the morning at the church with Bro Delp, he brought him there, and they had a lesson while I was gone.. and they shared PMG with him, so we gave him that and we went over it with him, and he is so pumped about it, he is way excited to learn how to share the gospel! Then we taught Gonzalo in the Pope's home, it was awesome.. We taught him about the Book of Mormon, we stressed it a lot, so he will read it daily and then we talked about the law of chastity and committed him to live it! He asks good questions, questions that I have never heard of before... but he is awesome, and he committed to live it!

Saturday - We did service with the Blime's in the morning, we cut down their trees and then we did some painting in the house... so I was up on the roof, doing my thing!  We had our correlation meeting! Then we ate dinner at the Blime's home, she called up a friend and invited her to learn more about the church, right while we were there, it was cool! But she said no...!

Sunday - Sunday was good one, fast sunday! We had Gonzalo there and he contributes, it is really good! We had to teach the youth class of 15 to 16 year olds oh and the 13 and 14 year olds, so we had a huge class and it was awesome, we taught them about covenants! Then we went to the YSA ward... because Eric was supposed to show up... but he didn't show up, so it was super disappointing! Then we had a awesome contact with a man named Cecil Porter... he has met with missionaries before and he wanted to bash the first time.. but then after this second visit, we set up a time to come by and teach him and the rest of his family! Then we chased a lot of people in the evening, but couldn't get anybody!

Things are good here! I am still loving it... Love you so much!!!!!!

Love,

Elder Hintze

"It was an awesome lesson, and it really answered a lot of his concerns that he had!"

Monday, July 28, 2014

Hello Family!!

How is everyone doing!? I hope everyone is well and happy, I am doing just outstanding! Elder Cooper is doing better, much better, but if we go out, it just about knocks him down... I have been able to go out with the FSU Elders and go do some work with them.. But lets get to the week:

Monday - P-Day.. I went to the mall with the other Zone Leaders in Tally, and it was cool! It was a huge mall. After that we taught Gonzalo at his house with Bro Roberts the ward mission leader... Cooper went in sweat pants and dress shoes and a belt it was awesome, and it about killed him! He read 2 Nephi 31 and was afraid about the verse that said if you do these things and then turn away from me, it would have been better that you had not known me! Because he is just afraid that he is going to fall away, he is afraid he won't be able to make it.. so we read Alma 32 with him and we just compared it to him, and letting these things grow inside of you, it isn't going to happen over night, but as we do these things, as we keep commitments and as we follow the commandments, it will grow into a sure foundation, a strong tree that produces fruit! It was an awesome lesson, and it really answered a lot of his concerns that he had!
 

Tuesday - We had District Meeting in the morning, we split up.. I went to the campus district and he went to the Tally district... just so we could see what they were like! Then I took Jorgensen with me and we went to Sister Wright's home a recent convert and we dedicated her home for her, it was really special! She is awesome, she had a place set at the table and food and a basin to wash feet, and a towel, and she said if the Holy Ghost was going to enter my home, I would prepare a place for him. She is so close to the Spirit! Then we did a little finding! Then we ate dinner with the Flore's. We had to take Elder Barlow to the mission home, we was a departing missionary.. so I got to say goodbye to the missionaries taking off... I saw Elder Rasmussen and Elder Simmons!!! Then we had correlation meeting at the church, then home!

Wednesday - The Knudsen's brought us pizza for lunch, they are the bomb!! Then the Stone's brought us dinner in the evening! Other than that we were inside all day... and then I went out with the FSU Elders for the afternoon and the evening.... we just did contacting on Campus... I have a lot of respect for the campus missionaries, that was some serious hard work... all of the students just have zero desire to learn and aren't religious, we met so many atheists, and everyone is just going to class and busy.. it is tough stuff!!! I understand a lot what they go through.... I just love the good campus lifestyle and all they do is just contact and I love that.... but it is hard! We found 2 super cool people, that they are teaching now!

Thursday  - Straight nothing all day.... I took Elder Milne an FSU elder and we went and we helped a member lay sod at their new house, it was tough work and it is killer hot! It is the bomb... when it is so hot outside! In the evening we got taking out to eat to Longhorn's a steakhouse place by the Grissett's man it had been a minute since I had a steak... they are so awesome, and it was so delicious! Then we taught Eric Erikson at Wendy's... and we had to cut it short, because Cooper was dieing, so we were able to teach him Tithing, and how to pay tithing and he agreed to start paying it before he even gets baptized! He is the man! 

Friday - Nothing all day, all day long!!!!!!! We just chilled. :)

Saturday - It was the campus Elders P-Day, so they hang with us all day. We went out and we tried to see Robert Delmonico. He was with two of his friends. So we talked with them shortly and we addressed his concern about polygamy! And then we talked with some of his friends and then we invited him to church, then we ate with the Gray's for dinner, most Christlike people that I know! Then we went with them and visited a sister and gave her a blessing!!

Sunday - We went to Sacrament Meeting with Cooper and after that he was dieing... so I ran him home and came back with Elder Milne for gospel principles.. and then had to leave after that... because their church was starting! We had Robert there and we had Gonzalo there, and they both really, really enjoyed it as well! Robert calls me Doctor Hintze, because I told him I want to be a doctor and he thinks I am smart! Hahaha. Gonzalo is the man, he is so awesome! But then we just chilled out the rest of the night...

Sure do love ya'll a whole lot!!!! Love, Elder Hintze

"If I knew that Joseph Smith was a prophet I would be a Mormon, nothing else would matter"... usually we are telling other people that!!!

Monday, July 21, 2014

FAMILY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How is everybody!?!?! I am doing so well, I really am loving my new stay here in Tallahassee, Elder Cooper is the man, I love him. I got to talk to the DeFuniak Elders... and Al is scheduled for next week and other than that things are going well! So we will get to it this week!!!!'

 Monday - I forgot to mention to ya'll Monday morning we taught Robert Delmonico in the Gray's home he is awesome, he is 58, he is from Italian descent, has a 4 year old daughter single father!! We taught him the Restoration and it went so well, the Spirit was there and he took it well, he had awesome questions.. he said that he truly feels that God intended for us to have one religion and to not be spread out! The Gray's were an awesome help as well! Then we emailed and we played ball here at the church! This is one of the only churches in the south with a wood court, it is pretty big too, so holla!!!!!!!! Then we taught Gonzalo Mendez with Brother Carroll at 6 at the church... we taught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Brother Carroll is the assistant ward mission leader, he brought the Spirit! Gonzalo really wants to change his life and get right with God. I have never seen anyone more humble or open with us... he was worried because he thinks that "church" things are sometimes boring... but he recognized feeling the Spirit in church!!  Then we went and we ate dinner at the Hare's.. they had a big get together with a lot of members.. Then we planned zone training, things really came together for us!!!! :)

Tuesday - We got up full of confidence, suited up, and getting fresh and departed for Zone Training!! We got the zone there and then it began!!! Overall it went really really well, we started out doing finding/teaching by the Spirit, what President is really focusing on right now, not more numbers, just the Spirit! Then we role played a bunch of different stuff.  We presented something called the 40 day fast... striving for the Spirit and purifying ourselves, give up 10 things we do that hinder the Spirit and then for 40 days fast for them, so as a zone this is what we are doing striving for the spirit!! It went well, the Spirit was strong!!!!! After that we had lunch and met with the District Leaders shortly! Then we did some finding, because our appointment fell through.. then we met with Stake President Campbell, we meet with him every Tuesday briefly, just to get a report. Then we had Correlation meeting in the evening!'

Wednesday - We had a good day Wednesday, we had a ton scheduled out, so some of it fell through... but we taught Topaz in the morning, we taught her the Restoration in her front yard and it was awesome.... the Spirit was so strong and she felt it.. we are going to pass her off to the sister's but it was such an awesome lesson, super spiritual and we invited her to be baptized when she comes to know that it is true and she accepted! So we will see, then we taught a man named Oscar Henriquez super cool dude, we taught him the Restoration and he accepted it skeptically, he looked up some stuff on the internet and talked to us about that, so he is skeptical, we are gong to go back and teach him again! AND then we met with Ted & Kaitlyn, the super awesome Catholic family that we found... so we talked about the Restoration briefly and then answered some questions, but then we taught the Plan of Salvation and presented that to them, they shared some of their views with us. So we gave them a Book of Mormon and committed them to read and pray... they are so awesome and so kind, super cool people some of the best I have ever met..... so they said we are always welcome and next time we are going to address the restoration more and the apostasy... they asked us a lot of questions.  She said, "If I knew that Joseph Smith was a prophet I would be a Mormon, nothing else would matter... usually we are telling other people that!!!

Thursday - A really slow day... we did our weekly planning and then we ate lunch with Dan Cosson our land lord, which you probably saw the pic on Facebook,

he is so awesome, he takes such good care of us! Then we were at the mission office forever, trying to figure out numbers and all of that stuff, the APs came and helped us figure it out... had to do some shopping for the surgery, got him some gauze and whitey tightey's. :) Then we taught Eric in the evening at the church, and he basically taught us, he has been studying so much, in the D&C and in the Book of Mormon, he believes that he needs to do so much more than just believe, he knows he needs to be baptized... he is so awesome, we taught him the Law of Chastity and the Ten Commandments and obedience!!

Friday - Sunday - So Friday we took him in for surgery... oh man so funny, he was so nervous, so so so so nervous, I had Elder Milne with me, since they are in a trio... and it was hilarious, the doctors gave him the stuff and he was so funny.. so I got to talk to the doctor and sign him out.. so while he was in surgery Milne and I just ate lunch and we had to run around for 2 hours finding his pain pills... I am Mama Hintze, then we got him Cold Stone Ice Cream.... and then since then, we have just been chilling inside! Then I took Elder Jorgensen with me to sacrament meeting... but we have just been chilling and I cleaned the apartment, been figuring out all of our zone leader number stuff! It has been good though, he has been in a lot of pain, so I have been giving him his pills and feeding him in bed, and bringing him otter pops.. it has been fun! So I have just been relaxing! But I am loving it here, the work, the missionaries, the members!!!!!!!!! I love you all so much as well, miss you like crazy!!!!

Love,

Elder Hintze

"It was hard to leave DeFuniak!"

Monday, July 14, 2014

Well if it isn't my Family,

Family, how is everyone!? I hope so well...  we have much to talk about! It was hard to leave DeFuniak, but it felt right! Hard, but it felt right! Lets get it on:

Monday - P-Day in DeFuniak... we didn't go to the beach, too much to do packing... but we ended P-Day early and we got up to the Crosby's and we taught Zac the Plan of Salvation... it was an awesome lesson, truly awesome! He is changing a lot and so it is pretty special to see. After that we ran over to the Mitchem's for dinner and that was the rest of the night!

Tuesday - The last District Meeting for me for awhile, it went really, really well! The last hooray for our District! We discussed Christlike attributes and becoming more like Him! It was pretty neat. Then we had our District Activity, we played some ultimate frisbee with the other Crestview District, it was a blast! We got to see Sis Habbard in the morning as well, before District Meeting, she almost passed away from a heart attack and her kidneys were failing, so she seemed to be improving, she is the sweetest woman ever, so I hope that she gets better! We did Fam History with Bro. Skayhan and we got to say goodbye to him, we were able to get a lot of his family on there for him to get ready to take them to the temple! Spent time with Brother Stripling, he is the man! Gonna miss that dude. Then we ate dinner at the Cobb's in the evening and said goodbye. 

Wednesday - Our last day, we were running around like crazy! In the morning we ate breakfast with Brother Stripling. Then after that we saw Mark Lassen and we had our last lesson and said goodbye to him, he is such a special man. I hope he can continue to progress and stay committed. Then we had to go down to Freeport, where we saw Bob and Pam Niedermeyer... said goodbye to them and had a last lesson! Then we worked with Bro Mitchem and we tore out the floor in Sister Hunt's trailer and we began to put down the new boards, we worked with Bro Diviney as well! Then we had to run all the way out to Mossy Head where we had our last lesson with JR Strange... he was super sad to see us go. Then we saw Elliott and said goodbye to him and Granny for just a tad, and Granny started to cry on us...! Then we ate dinner with the Griffiths in the evening, they are super super awesome!!! They invited me to come back and go through the temple with them, they are going to be going through the Nauvoo temple! Then we ran back to the church, where we got to see Zac, we were planning on teaching a lesson, but weren't able to... so we saw him and Bro Stripling, and Bro. Skayhan and many others in the ward! Lots of good people!

Thursday - We got all packed up and Bro Anderson took us down to Crestview, where we all gathered together at Transfer spot, we all got our Wendy's that they all order us. Chiled out for a while and then the first bus came and they loaded everyone up, Elder Larsen and I parted ways. And I got to see my son, Elder Smith. He is doing well, good kid! So everybody got loaded up and then we headed to the Crestview apartment and we just hungout with the Crestview Elders and the zone leaders. Then we headed back and we all loaded up again... and off we went to Tallahassee... so it was quite a ride! Tally sweet Tally!!!!!!! So we got there and got to see a bunch of people that I knew, a bunch of them headed home! So got to meet Elder Cooper, he is so awesome, me and him get along fantastic! He is from Idaho Falls, Idaho. So we live at a place called "The Compound".. Dan Cosson who has a home in DeFuniak, who is not a member owns the house we live in, and so he is always over hanging out, I convinced him to put up a basketball hoop already, and so he is going to buy us a hoop, we live next to 2 other companionships! So everynight we all get to hangout and talk, literally family! We ate dinner with the Porter's in the evening! Then they got me... I was assigned to speak in Sacrament meeting in the evening! So we live right next to the FSU Campus. We found a ton of people to go teach, we got 11 return appointments since I have been here so far! Oh this is hilarious on the front of our house it says, "God's Army LDS" Hahahahahahaahahahahahaaha Dan put that up!

Friday - It has been interesting these first few day, I have been stressed out, we have a lot going on, we have zone training tomorrow, so a lot of our time has been planning that out, 3 hours where we instruct the zone! I am super excited for it, we have a lot of awesome things planned for this zone, we can do way better than we are! I am excited for our area... we are going to do awesome things here I feel.... Tallahassee should be booming! So we have had to do a lot of administrative stuff, So we have been running around getting supplies and then we had to grab a bike. Then we visited with a guy named Bro Barber! And we are planning on doing some family history with him. Then we are just in finding mode. But we also visited a PM family, the husband has lost his voice box and has to talk with this little machine, it is really cool! We got to share a lot of the restoration with them.. and they invited us back Saturday and we are going to BBQ with them and teach the husband! Then we saw our investigator Eric, he is so solid!!! We are teaching him and his neighbor tonight! Then we ate dinner, and we did our weekly planning and our zone training plans!

Saturday - We taught Eric at the church with Bro Perez and we taught him Follow the Prophet, he is awesome. We watched some videos about Pres Monson and we shared with him conference talks, he is really wanting to know if he is a prophet. Then we had to do more weekly planning, we have just done a ton of getting things in order, it is the calm before the storm! :) Doing all of the planning and zone stuff and getting things in order! Then we had Dinner with the Atchley's, our meal calendar is full all month! :) Then we found all around their neighborhood and it was awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We found a family, 2 young kids, they are catholic and we had a super awesome conversation with them about the plan of salvation and they invited us back ,they literally have so much potential. And that happened with several others! Then we had an awesome discussion with Robert Delmonico, he is a neighbor of member the Grays... it was so awesome, we talked about restoration and apostasy, he is so cool!

Sunday - We went to church, I gave my talk, it went really really well I think!!!!! We had Eric there and we had Gonzolo Mendez there. Gonzolo is so awesome he is in his 20s he is from Brazil has been here since he is 11 and I have no doubt he will be baptized! Then we had ward council which lasted 2 hours.. and then tons of zone training planning! Then we ate dinner with the Crandall's, then we did some finding!!!!!

I love you guys a whole lot!!!! I am loving this new area... tons to be done!!!!!!! Love ya'll!!!

Elder Hintze