July 7, 2014

Hey! I can't wait to watch the Wimbledon final!!! ahhhh!!! I can't believe Fed lost it! I heard he was in the finals on Saturday and I was so stoked!! Fed - Djokovic match up is such a good one! Holy cow... I caught an update on the match in priesthood opening exercises right in the middle, with Fed and Nole tied 1-1 sets 3-3 in the third! ahhh!! I found out later that day that the Djoker won but no one here can really tell me about the quality of play, sounds like it was fantastic though!!! Oh man... thanks for the update! I'm a fan of the detailed report! haha Man... do you guys realize that this was the last time wimbledon will be played while I'm on my mission... Dang, the grass season is over... like, my mission is almost over... there are only two more grandslam events left... just two.. and a lot of good stuff in between but still time goes way to fast.. We are almost half way through July! Dang it! haha hang on... 

Brother Ashley is doing good. They were out of town for a family reunion this weekend but we are going to see them on Tuesday... tomorrow. haha We are stoked about his progress and for his baptism! Fun fact - so elder Ballard came into the mission and when he was speaking he told us that we needed to be talking to more people, because the more people we talk to, the more people we teach, and the more people we teach, the more people we will baptize. He set the standard that we need to talk to at least twenty people each day. So here is the fun fact - every companionship in the entire mission who has been talking to twenty people each day has an investigator on date to be baptized or has had a baptism. Jarom 1:9 and thus we see that the word of the Lord was verified which he spake unto our fathers saying inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments, ye shall prosper in the land. Obedience brings blessings, exact obedience brings miracles!!! Lesson learned- always follow the prophet! Our leaders in the church are mighty men in the faith of the Lord! They truly have the spirit of revelation and also prophecy! Our leaders are inspired and called of God. The prophet, the apostles, and so on down to mission presidents, stake presidents, and bishops! What do you know! Always follow the prophet! If we follow the Lord's guidance, which is given through his inspired servants we will reap the blessings that the Lord wishes us to have! That's true in the mission field, and it is true outside of the mission field, in all of your lives! That's pretty neat! Just saying... 

Hopefully, you guys had a great fourth of July! It was a pretty dead night for us. Everyone was either having a party at their house or they were at a party at someone else's house... and they were all in their back yards... No one was on the street that night, except for a few people, which we talked to and that yielded a couple return appointments for the sisters, which is good. But still...

You guys should totally have the elders there teach you all of the lessons! All the way through lesson five!! You guys would love it!! We do that with active members sometimes and it is always a good experience for the families! I love doing that! To me it is a sweet platform for the family members to share their testimonies of those basic fundamental truths. Those are what are important and it is always so powerful when the members of the family answer questions and share their experiences. I'm all about fundamentals.  haha So yeah, do that!!! The spirit will come into the house and you guys will love it! Do it! Do it! Do it! And keep their commitments! - just a tip. Exact obedience brings miracles!

Well, I've got to be off soon. I hope you guys have a great week this week! We sure are, I can tell you that! Thank you so much for all of your prayers! I really appreciate that, as does the Lord, I am sure. 

I love you guys!

elder Hinkle

June 17, 2014

Hey guys! It was good to read your letters today! Happy father's day to Dad and Grandpas! .. and the other fathers. Someone wished me a happy father's day on Sunday.... and then asked if I had kids.. flip! I'm too old!! I could not believe it.. haha Anyway, happy father's day! The family history focus at Scott's house sounds pretty sweet! That was a cool idea! Its neat as missionaries, we encounter some people who don't want anything to do with us but when we mention family history and the family history center nearby, some of them open right up and are really interested in that kind of stuff. We had stake conference this week, which was an awesome meeting, and a young man from our ward spoke on family history. He has truly caught the spirit of Elijah and has found over 200 names and is in the process of taking all of them to the temple for proxy baptisms. He did all of this recently. That's ligit! Talk about hastening the work of salvation! As he was speaking, you could tell that getting involved in that work has really brought the spirit into his life.  As he spoke about the blessings of temple work for us and for our ancestors the holy ghost truly did testify to me that family history is a great work! So for you guys getting involved at home good luck! It seems hard to me... don't know how to do any of it, but Scott taught you guys, so you can do it!! And God will help you. Oh, and its worth it, so you should do it. Especially for the kids that can drive, Utah is pretty great because there are temples everywhere. So they can find names and go to the temple. That would be a fantastic way to bring the spirit into your life during your high school years when there are so many other influences around you which are not so great... Just saying, if you do temple work God's grace will spill into other areas of your life and he will help you with everything else you are doing! 

But yeah, we had a great week this week! I was on exchanges from Tuesday to Thursday so I missed a little bit of the action in the Columbia second ward but a lot of good things happened. So I wasn't there. I was in Ellicott City. We had a fantastic exchange. The first day, we went over to a families house where the dad is active/recent convert. He converted because his wife got him into it. Now, his wife is less active and his son claims he does not believe in God. Ouch. But we went over and the elders there had previously set up teaching them the missionary lessons. So we went in to do just that. Initially, the wife wasn't too happy we were there - she was watching reruns of the French Open, so its understandable. but we got everyone together and we had a fantastic lesson. It was the first visit, so we set expectations for further visits and we talked a lot about how they could get the most out of our visits and talked a lot on how to recognize the holy ghost and how the holy ghost testifies of things which are true. And it went great. The spirit was there; everyone was included and participating. As we left, the wife commented that she was glad we came. She told us how she wasn't looking forward to it before we came but now, she was glad that we did come because of the peace she felt come into the home. Perfect! Then, we also had a great meeting with their newly called ward mission leader telling him all about his calling and what not. Updating him on the area and what's happening right now in the Ellicott City area of the mission field. That was fun too. The rest of this week, we have had  good days - brother Weiss prayed with us, brother Wight is back around and he is excited to introduce us to his wife and invite her to church - she is not a member. and he knows nothing about the church really.  But he loves us and we are going to try to bring him back and bring his wife into the fold with him. He is a funny guy. We have also been talking to a ton of people lately... like last week. So hopefully, some of these people we are meeting will turn into investigators. 

In other news, I am staying in Columbia for six more weeks!! Good news! And elder Christensen is staying with me. So, yeah. We are excited about that. Like I said, I could stay here for a while. I like Columbia. It has been very nice weather here lately. I don't feel like it has been too hot or humid yet. Its just been really nice. Rains a bit too often but that's Maryland. The other day, we were walking around looking for some people to talk to and there was just no one outside, because it was about to rain. So I was like hey, let's knock on this door. Some random door... the guy there comes out and just starts talking to us like friends. Turns out he is from Florida, vacationing in that house for two days and he has mormon friends back home and has met with missionaries before and he invited us in to talk with him. We talked with him for about half an hour and while we were in there, it rained hard. So we missed the big part of the storm but we left walking in the rain and on the way, we ran into Kevin, who had just gotten home. So we stopped in to talk with him. We were inviting him to church and he pauses us and asked us 

"Do you all shout at your church?" - Kevin

"No" - elder christensen

"Well I do." - Kevin

(elder Christensen tries to be diplomatic)

"So if I stand up in the middle of the church and start shoutin', would people be looking' at me all weird?" - Kevin

Haha It was pretty funny. He will come to church one day, but it wasn't this week. 

I hope you guys have a great week this next week! We will, that's for sure! The weeks are flying by, this is my tenth transfer... I've gotta run though! I will talk to you next week!! 

Also, good fathers day video to watch - earthly father, Heavenly Father. - mormon channel, mormon messages. Watch it! 

I love you guys,

elder hinkle

May 19, 2014

We have had an awesome week here in Columbia! It's been crazy. Crazy stories, crazy miracles. It baffles me that it's all happened in only a week... when you look back at things, you just feel like they happened forever ago because the days are so full... but then time goes really, really fast... and it doesn't seem that long ago that I left home... I don't know... it's weird, but it's fun! 

So we did not see the Miranda's on Monday night.... They canceled with us again.... but that's ok. We will get in with them and teach them about the restored gospel! haha That fell through and then another appointment for Friday fell through... but then we sent them a text inviting them to church! ... no answer... but they came to church!! All three hours too. haha It was great! And they loved it! But yeah... sister Miranda loved relief society. The sisters took care of her and it turns out relief society talked a lot about the book of mormon and she said it answered a lot of questions that she had. And Danny, their son, had a blast chilling with our ward mission leader's son in their class! And bro Miranda was participating in classes and super social with everyone. It was so cool! The bishop was stoked! Yesterday was just a good day. I'll start there... haha

We have continued to have good visits with John. We are doing our best to help him out... it is tricky though... it's just an interesting situation. We have been pretty straight forward with him. And he has told us this week, his goal is to find out if what we say is true. And if it isn't, then he will decide what to do from there. If it is true, then he will make plans to be baptized and he said there is a plan to follow. haha Pretty sweet.

This week, we encountered many many agnostic people. Their favorite phrases are "I don't care," "it doesn't matter," or ... "whatever"... haha It is just so interesting how pervasive the philosophy of "it doesn't matter" is in the world today. There are so many people that we meet who just don't care about God. It is so sad... and dumb. 

Oh! Brother Zhen's daughter got baptized! That was sweet and he baptized her! It was cool! So that was a great way to start our Saturday morning! Then, we went to the mission conference!!! That was awesome! Just a priceless experience! Elder Ballard is awesome! An apostle of the Lord, Jesus Christ! So cool! I'll pass on a few notes, but I'll have to be brief - 

Elder  Clayton spoke with him. He talked about the phrase "hear Him." This is my beloved son hear Him! And how we hear Him in our lives. We hear him in our lives when we follow the commandments of the Lord with exactness. We hear him when we serve others. We hear him when we are faithful home and visiting teachers. We hear him when we take time to read the scriptures and pray everyday. We hear him as we are are kind and cheerful in our homes. We hear him when we attend our church meetings and partake of the sacrament. And when we hear Him, we will be happy because we will have the spirit of the Lord with us. Our goal as missionaries, and members too, is to help others hear Him. They hear Him as they keep commitments and things like that. We must help them. 

I liked his message. Over the course of my mission, I have pondered the words which our Father in heaven spoke in the first vision. I have tried to imagine how exactly He spoke. I try to imagine what He emphasized and what kind of tone of voice he used. I can only imagine Heavenly Father speaking to Joseph Smith, pointing to his son, Jesus Christ and saying "this is my beloved son, hear Him!" in the most loving way possible. I imagine that when He says hear Him, He is pleading with people to listen. He testifies that Jesus is the Christ and that following Him is the only way to the celestial kingdom and then, He pleads with us to hear Him. He implores us to listen. He has given us the ability to chose for ourselves but he begs us to choose to follow Jesus Christ. He asks us to do that because He knows how much joy and peace is available if we do. Our best bet is to hear Him in all we do. 

Elder Ballard spoke for about an hour. He spoke about a lot of things that are directed to missionaries. But some applies to you as well. He told us that someone had recently asked him how he does it? How does he keep going? He responded, saying - 'I remember the Savior. I keep a picture of the Savior in my scriptures and whenever I am tired, I pull it out and look at it. I remember Him. There is a phrase in the book of mormon "look and live!" It goes so well with what he spoke about at that point. His picture of Christ was the pass along card of Jesus Christ coming out of the tomb. The one that is taped to the front of my planner at the moment. I love having pictures of the Savior around. I got one once in a Christmas card from the institute at SVU. I really loved that. I still have that picture. I remember taking great care to ensure that it would not be bent or damaged in any way until I got a frame for it. It is on my study desk right now and I look at it everyday. Elder Ballard's words on that topic were a powerful message from an apostle of where the real source of power lies. Elder Ballard relies on the Lord all of the time and we can and should as well. 

Hey I've gotta go! I hope you guys have a great week this week! Sadly, I am out of time... I wish I had more time to talk to you guys... And I will, on Monday. haha Until then, have a great week! 

I love you guys! 

elder hinkle 

May 5, 2014

Hey family!! 

It was great to hear from you guys today! Sorry, I am a little short on time today. Caleb shot me an email so we had to talk a bit. haha It was good to hear from him. Hearing that Coach Johnson is working with USU was sweet! That's awesome! He was the best coach ever. ahh!! That's crazy! I honestly can't wait to play again. I just need to keep myself in the best condition possible so I can jump right back in when I get home. When I get home, I pretty much just want to coach and play. That's the dream. Then, I will play for USU and still get to work with Coach Johnson! That's cool that Jenna is cheering with Ethan's sister. Now, we just need to get Jack playing tennis with Ethan's brother. Jack - I have had great anxiety over you and all of this baseball playing.... and now you are pitching...baseball is not easy on kids. I know you're super good at it but let's be real, you are super good at everything. I don't know... I'm just saying...but the plays dad told me about sounded pretty sick.  Whatever you do, do it well, right! haha Also, good to know that you guys named the dog. hahaha So, I did know that you replaced me with a dog, but I don't think you ever told me its name. haha Sorry. Elder Pail and I had a good laugh about that last Monday. haha I was like "who is that?" haha 

Are you ready for terrible news? ... Elder Pail is getting transferred... it's a bummer. We work pretty well together and there is a ton of good stuff happening here and we have a ton of fun. I don't know the new guy. Elder Christensen. I don't really know anything about him. Hopefully, he is cool too. I'll let you know on Sunday. Oh yeah, Skype Sunday!!! What's up!? I will give you guys a call sometime this week to set it up. Can't wait!!! That's going to be a party! Same drill as last time from what I understand. 1 hour on the dot. haha

Anyway... we have had a fanflippintastic week! Story after story, miracle after miracle! agh! I don't have the time for it all! I wish I could share more of my mission with you guys! It's like the perfect movie - very uplifting, lots of comedy (always clean), some adventure, a little bit of action, and absolutely no romance. Perfect. haha but yeah... 

So I guess I'll start withTuesday - you get the highlights...which are like the best of the best at this point... 

We had one of the best lessons that night! We were over at Sammy's house for the next visit with Rafael. (Sammy's Mom's boyfriend)  I told you about him, right? If not, sorry but I don't have time right now... haha So we taught him and we had a great visit. Long cool story short - last time he asked to learn more. This time we did some htbt (how to begin teaching) and taught about the Godhead and the holy ghost. The spirit was definitely there while we were teaching him. Great guy too. So we are going back tomorrow!!! We will teach the restoration. So yeah, when we taught him this week he made us tacos. They were delicious tacos. 

Wednesday was insane! I thought the earth was being flooded again. It rained all day long. It rained hard! So we were going about our day dreading each time we had to run from the car to a door and get drenched in ten seconds and we got a call from a member who's on vacation in Elder Pail's home town. haha Crazy, right? Before they left, they took a picture of us and then, when they were there, they just happened to meet his girlfriend and yeah...that was weird. But  anyway...they called us and they asked us to go in their house and see if there was any flooding. So they gave us the garage code and we went over. So we go in and we are going into the basement and elder Pail is in front. No lights on. He says, "Alright, I'll find a light switch and then we will look for water." Then, he stepped off the stars into the water. haha The basement was covered. Lots of water....so we helped out as much as we could... but we had an appointment with John so we didn't have too much time. Long story short - it all worked out and we helped. 

The lesson with John that night was interesting.  In answer to a lot of questions he had last week about death and suffering and stuff.  We decided that we needed to help John understand how to find these answers himself in the scriptures and from God. They don't mean as much when they come from two eighteen year olds...haha So we did, under the direction of our ward mission leader and hopefully the holy ghost, we set a plan. Bro Cintron asked us to give him an assignment that was pretty large. And we gave it to him. He said he would do it.  I know that the answers he needs can be found in the scriptures, I just hope that John is ready and he does get them. We meet with him tomorrow night. We told him that the next appointment he is going to just teach us what he learned. The assignment is pretty extensive, so if done properly, he will have learned a lot and tomorrow will be a great visit. The ward council fasted for him this week as well. 

So another highlight is that we are starting a sports night. This last week, we had a trial round. We invited people and it turned out that we had a ton of success. We actually bit off more than we could chew for this first time... haha It was awesome! We had one of our investigators there and he loved it! That was Ryshaun. Everyone calls him Smilie. That's his street name. Everyone really does call him that. haha So that was great! 

Saturday was the best day of the week!!! So we visited brother Zhen. Solid visit. Before that, we had coordination meeting so we needed to make up some study time and prepare a bit. We did that in a gazebo in a park. There was this guy who just finished playing tennis. I chased him down and we had a great street contact. His name is Steven. Hopefully, I talk about him in coming weeks. Then, we went over to the Miranda family. Awesome fam. They invited us over for dominican chicken. It was delicious. We played a game called ice breakers during dinner. Each person essentially gives a short intro for themselves. We laughed a lot and learned a lot about them. Then, we sat on their couch eating these ice cream cones they gave us-butter pecan. Elder Pail's favorite. haha As we sat there licking our ice cream cones, we couldn't believe what was happening. They loved us! Then, conversation turned to God and religion. They are looking for more purpose in life. They have tried many churches but don't feel like the one they currently attend is completely right for them. Both parents had past experience with missionaries. Roger, the dad, told us that he doesn't really know what it means to be a mormon, and he wants to learn. We were stoked! So we offered to teach them and they were excited about it! We will meet Friday! Danny, their son, is coming to mutual Thursday! They are coming to church this Sunday! Boom!! They are excited. We are excited! Our bishop is excited! haha You guys should be excited! hahaha It was a miracle! And this Friday will be awesome! They couldn't make it to church yesterday because their son was really sick. But they will come next week.

Then, yesterday was a blast. We found out elder Pail was leaving. I mean, we got the call, it's not like we didn't all see that coming... haha So we met with a lot of people. And set up even more appointments. He did good work here. The ward will miss him. And I will too... haha

So yeah... those were the highlights of our week! It was fantastic! Now, I get to talk to you guys today and then I will see you at the end of this week. Can it get better than that? Oh! yes it can! We have a mission conference with elder Ballard coming up on May 17th!!!! Whaaat!? I am stoked for that too!!! So we had a good week. A lot happened. 

I will talk to you later this week. I've gotta go.

Love you guys!

elder hinkle

March 31, 2014

Hey guys!! It was great to hear from you today! Sounds like you are all doing well. We had a great week this week!!! Finished strong in nap-town and Columbia is a blast! haha My comp, Elder Pail is cool. We have a ton of fun together. Elder Pail, pronounced Elder Pie-all , is from Austria. Super cool guy. So that’s been a lot of fun to work with him here. It’s a party. haha And we drive the mission truck. haha We drive a chevy silverado. haha It’s so nice! We share it with the sisters in our area though, so we still get to bike some. I’ll send a bunch of pictures this week, but I forgot to take one of the truck. Our zone is cool too. Elder Holt is here, Elder Day is our zone leader and Elder Dorsey is here too. So that’s fun.

We had a good last two days in Annapolis. We had pretty stacked days and stayed really busy. We had a great dinner visit with the Weurdeman’s last Monday. They were sad to see us go. Hopefully, the sisters can follow up with that and make some thing happen. The highlight of Tuesday was definitely the oreo party with Sister Kinsella. haha Pictures to follow. We showed up and she had a picnic basket and said we had to have a party! haha We love Sister Kinsella too... She is so cool... She was really not happy that we left... and she is not excited about sisters. She said they are all boring. haha But we tried to talk with her a bit. Mostly just listened though and reassured her that things would work out, and the ward really loves her and wants her to come. ... ugh…But I suppose it’s all in the Lord’s hands now. I trust that he will do all he can to help her. I am just disappointed that I don’t get to see the rest... 

We didn’t get to see Ryan before we left... that was a bummer. We saw Mindy and she was also sad to see us go... She is stoked to meet the sisters though and we set something up for them. So that miracle will continue for sure! haha

So then we got transferred.... haha Columbia second ward.. It’s been so much fun!! Haha Elder Pail has been here for all six months of his mission. So, he knows what’s up. Unfortunately, the odds of us spending more than this transfer together are kinda low... bummer. Training was a lot of fun but it’s so nice not to have so much extra study... plus, I don’t have to speak Portuguese any more... I have a bunch of stuff memorized in Portuguese, all of our recitations hahaha but we can speak English now! Plus, Elder Pail knows what’s up. Funny story... I trained Elder Holt and Elder Pail trained Elder Holt’s MTC comp and now Elder Pail and I are companions. haha We make missionary work fun, let me tell you. Anyway, we both are on the same page with a lot of stuff so it just makes it smoother. Plus, Elder Pail can out juggle me with the soccer ball... for now. But we call it futbol because he is from Austria. And it’s cooler.

We are working with a lot of cool people here in Columbia. Our foremost investigator is a guy named John. I use "John" so you will not be confused with the Jon in a story later on. haha John is a cool guy. A little awkward, computer engineer, but super cool. He isn’t quite sure if he believes there is a God. But, he has been to church like nine times and continues to read and learn. He has read all the way to Alma 5. Craziness. We have a great relationship with him and we are really excited for him. Unfortunately, he will not be in town for gen con (general conference) haha but we will watch a session with him later. Which may be cool because we can choose the session. Pause - general conference this week!!! haha Can’t wait! Five days! - Anyway, we are going over tonight and we are going to read Alma 30 with him. If you have read Alma thirty lately, you may have guessed that this could be a pivotal lesson. We will see how it goes. Hopefully, it goes well.

We had a sweet miracle this week. We were at a member’s house, the Morgan’s, and we had an appointment with another family who we are teaching the daughter who wants to get baptized. So dinner ends and we share the message and Brother Morgan insists that he walk us out to our car, well truck, excuse me. (it’s really nice) So he asks where we are going and then he just casually drops some info telling us who their new hometeachers are. We are like thanks, I guess... Then, our appointment called and said that the dad would not be home so we could not come over. This was literally as soon as we got into the truck, about two minutes after Bro Morgan told us who the hometeachers were. So, we looked at each other and we were like let’s call the hometeachers. haha And one of them came with us. And we had a great visit! hahha Miracle! 

We had another sweet visit with this 15-yr old kid named Sammy. We went over and talked about the restoration with him. Lots on prophets due to the upcoming conference. He is 15 and the only member of his family. He catches a ride to church and activities every week with an older lady member who actually introduced him to the wards scouting program. The youth group here is awesome!!!  There are like three hundred members in sacrament. It’s like a Utah ward. haha In Annapolis, we saw pretty much everyone in our area in a week. Here that is impossible. It’s so different. But I love it. The members here are great too! We get dinner every night! That’s unheard of for me. So that’s pretty cool. And the ward is very supportive of missionary work. Even on our bike days, we will generally just ride to appointments with other people. Awesome to see!

Anyway, I’ve gotta run! I’ll talk to you next week!!! Have a great general conference! Don’t forget to receive personal revelation!! I will talk to you next week! I want to hear your favorites! Have a great week!!

I love you guys,

elder hinkle

March 24, 2014

Hey guys!!! Great to hear from you today!

Transfers - I am being transferred to Columbia! Elder Holt is also being transferred to an area that is in my zone. So we will still see each other a bit. We are being replaced with sister missionaries. I think that will be a huge blessing for this area.  I'm not going to lie, I'm ready to leave here... It's been a tough area because we have had to change things around. Looking back on the area when I first got here and where it is now - It's like a totally different area. I feel like we have done a lot of really good work here in this ward. It's been challenging though because we have been forced to be pretty innovative in how we have made improvments in the area. We have torn it up, just shredded the area. Ah, so many miracles have happened while we have been here to change this area. There are miracles happening here, and when the sisters get here they will be able to capitalize on them way better than we  could have. It would have been tough to stay another transfer. It's tough to continue performing on the edge of your ability, you know? I feel like that's the situation we have been in here. I feel like Elder Holt and I have put in like all we had and the Lord has blessed the people through our efforts. It's cool to look back on the things that happened while we were here. I told Elder Holt yesterday as we were reminiscing - remember the first day you were here and I told you that you were brand new and I wasn't sure what I was doing and that many miracles were going to happen because the Lord uses the weak things of the world to bring about great things? Well, that happened. The entire feel of this area is different. The sisters coming in will have a totally different perception of the work that has previously gone on than I did when came to Annapolis. It is a testimony to me that the Lord will help us as we turn to him. It's just crazy... but anyway... we are excited for this area because miracles are going to continue to abound, let me tell you... 

We had some pretty sweet things happen this week. Monday night was St. Patricks day. We had an appointment to go and visit the Bruneman family that night so we were walking to their house. No bikes due to snow. On the way, Bro Bruneman stopped in front of us in his mini and asked if we would like a ride. Of course, we said yes, and therefore, we got there a little early. Early enough that they hadn't had dinner yet. So, they invited us to join them  for dinner. We had corned beef and cabbage on St. Patricks day! It was magically delicious! haha And we had a great visit with them. Then, he gave us a ride to our next appointment. haha So that was pretty sweet. 

Wednesday was crazy... It was planned to be a great day but everything fell through. Every single appointment or opportunity to do something. It was nuts... We rode past the Weurdeman's place and noticed that their wood pile was slightly diminished. Oh, minor detail... It was pouring rain that entire day before this.... The Weurdeman's burn wood to a lot and the wood stack that they pull from was soaked. So, we went and pulled some wood out from the big wood pile in the back. And we pulled it from the bottom so it was dryer and stacked that on top of their pile that they take into burn... I didn't explain that very well but it was nice of us. haha So last week, Sis Weurdeman told us we had to stop by if we were getting transferred, They invited us in and we had a great visit. They were sad to see  us go and they noticed that we had kept refilling their wood pile and they thanked us for that.... So, they are sad to see us go... From talking with them we learned that we were the first missionaries to come into the house in over eight years.... Now they are feeding us dinner tonight! Boom, miracle!!! They were very insistant that we come over tonight for dinner! They want the missionaries in their home! That's crazy!  Ah! I'm really excited about that miracle! So cool! 

Friday was interesting. It rained a lot that day.  We had a lot of great plans but then when we started to do stuff it looked like it was all going to fall apart but then it all worked out. haha It was a really busy day. We had six set appointments that were scattered all over the place. On bikes thats pretty tough... So we were very blessed to have it all work out the way it did. And we were lucky we followed some promptings from the spirit, otherwise, we would have been in trouble. 

So somehow, we ended up with a tennis ball in our apartment. Obviously, I had to play with it and it was pretty distracting, not going to lie. haha Anyway, I'm pretty focused on mission work... I'm not a huge fan of talking about things from home, especially tennis stuff with other missionaries, because it is a needless distraction...(not to say that tennis doesn't cross my mind every day, That would be impossible. I just don't talk about it much except as a tool to build some trust with people:) haha Anyway, Elder Holt was insistent that we keep the tennis ball. I had to get rid of it. haha So, we went out to visit a less active member and courts just happened to be on the way to her house... As we walked by I was like, "Hey, look at that" pointing the other direction, and as he looked I pulled it out of my coat pocket and threw it onto the courts.... haha  He looked back around trying to figure out what I just did and then he heard the ball hit the court haha and thus ended the tennis balls stay in our apartment. haha It was pretty funny.

We had a great visit with the Huffman's last night. Their daughter Alexis had her baptismal interview yesterday as well. We are so excited for that family. They are working hard to be ready to go to the temple and be sealed as a family! That is an amazing miracle. The progress that the Huffman family has made is just amazing. Bro Huffman has been working hard to be a better ward mission leader and he is improving a ton! It's just awesome! It was kinda sad though... We found out about transfers early Sunday morning. After her interview with the bishop, Alexis runs out and says, "I want you to come to my baptism! Are you coming?" haha We were like "Um.. we want too..." haha She is sad that we won't be there for it. But she wants to be a missionary and so we talked up the sisters a lot. They will be good for her. 

We had a cool visit with Sister Dembia the other night too... We stopped by and just knocked. She was the only one home so we just talked with her on the doorstep. She told us about how she wanted her family to respect her beliefs more and get on board. She talked a lot about how she wanted to live her religion better. It was cool and we were there to build her up, give some ways to start doing that and so forth... We hadn't planned on stopping by at all. This all just kinda happened. Then, at the end, we found ourselves inviting her to ask her boss to let he off work on Sunday morning so she can go to church. She says she will ask too. So that was pretty cool. Plus, we had just intended to stop by and set up an appt., as we were on our way to another set appt. We had a great visit with Sister Dembia that went pretty long. So we missed our set appointment but they called and left a voice mail saying they  couldn't make it either. So, when we heard that after we left the Dembia's, we felt better. It's nice to know that the Lord can fix our plans if they aren't what he wants to happen. haha

I rolled my ankle again this week... which is really not cool... I'm back in the brace again, just limping around.. so stupid. We were at a member's house yesterday and one of the kids wanted us to come outside and play around for a minute. So we go out and I just kinda slipped and rolled it.  So anyway... lots of ice baths... And, I'm back in the brace 24/7 for the next two weeks, I guess. Maybe my next area will be a car area and I will be able to give it a little more rest. We will see. 

A theme of my studies, as of late, has been studying the theme of "inasmuch as ye keep my commandments, ye shall prosper in the land" in the Book of Mormon. I have found a number of references to this phrase. My count is either 18 or nineteen of the phrase and a few more of the same idea in different words which puts it closer to 22 times in the Book of Mormon. I can't remember.. I have it written down somewhere... I've really gone nuts with this looking for different themes in the Book of Mormon. But, it has made for very profitable studies. I love it. But I wish I could apply what I learn more quickly. haha Like when the lord commands - do it. When we are prompted by the spirit - do it! Then, we will prosper in the land! It shouldn't be so hard... I hope I learn sooner rather than later. ugh... But I do love that theme of the Book of Mormon. It should be our top priority to keep the commandments of God, simply because we should all want to prosper in the land. haha Success is in the details..  It's all about the little things that we do. We just need to do what the Lord asks of us so that he can bless us. So simple. Like tithing. I love how the Lord says "prove me now herewith" and see if I will not bless you. I think it is like that with all of his commandments. He says "I'll tell you what. Just try me. Do what I say and just see if I will bless you. Just try me. Go for it. Any time. Just try it and see if I do not pour out a blessing upon you that there shall not be room enough to receive it." ....Early on in the Book of Mormon, when this is brought up, Lehi says, "I have obtained the promise of the Lord that if ye will keep his commandments, ye shall prosper in the land." We have the promise of the Lord. He has promised us. What a blessing. What an opportunity. It's like a standing offer. So simple. I love that about our Father in Heaven. He has promised us that is the way it works. That's pretty cool. 

It is crazy how fast time has gone... Mom pointed out the fun fact that I'm almost twenty.... That's messed up. I don't want to be twenty. I feel like a kid. I feel like there is no way I could possibly be turning twenty in a month. Anyway... I should be going now.  I will talk to you next week! Until then, have a great week! 

ps. Two more week til general conference!!! 

Love you guys,

elder hinkle

March 17, 2014

It may be hard to believe, especially coming from me, but we have had a great week here this week. We had a fantastic week! Many of our less actives that we work with were out of town or unavailable to meet this week but we were still able to meet with a ton of people. Plus, we had a day that was really warm right before the latest storm and that was pretty great! Riding around on the bike in short sleeves... ah, its been too long. But anyway.... so Ryan just returned from spring break. We haven’t heard anything from him yet.... so, sorry there is no update there. Mindy - also out of town. But, notwithstanding, we went over and did a bunch of yard work for her and we met her neighbor, Lisa. We got to know her a bit and we helped her with a couple things. We will probably see her again someday. When we were leaving Lisa was talking about how she was going to go over and introduce herself to Mindy so that will be cool. And that was on a warmer day so it was great to be outside.

Cool story- Marie was also out of town, in the best way possible. She went and visited Sister White, her member friend in N. Carolina. We got a text from Sister White yesterday telling us how Marie had joined her family in family scripture study. Boom! Marie loved it apparently and Sister White says that Marie expects us to give her a Book of Mormon. Sweet miracle!! So we are hoping to set up an appointment this week to see Marie.

This coming week we will meet with the Beck’s again. We had the set appointment so we did not see them this week but we are going over soon. The Barry’s were also out of town, in Iceland. But they want us to come over this week to show us all the pictures they took on their vacation! That will be sweet!

So, as you can see there are a lot of people not here that we normally work with. The list goes on and on... haha And all the mids were on spring break so we didn’t have institute or fhe. Therefore, we were forced to really find a lot more things to do and visit with different people than we normally struggle to see… and we were able to see them! It was like a miracle week! We had a lot of good visits.

It was fortunate that we had some extra time this week because we had a new member move into our ward, Sister Baker. We went over and had a great visit with her. She is an art teacher and, let me tell ya, she loves art. haha She is all about art! It’s pretty cool how much she loves it. She does all kinds of different stuff. She has just barely got into sculpting and she is pretty much pro. She has a sculpted head sitting on her desk, which is as impressive as it was eerie. She also carves pumpkins... but on a whole other level than our family does... haha She said that she is on instagram. Have Jordan look for a Nancy Baker and pumpkin carving stuff.... she had some sweet work! Anyway, we had a great visit with her and heard all about different art stuff... she is speaking at a national art convention and she is pretty stoked about that. I wasn’t really sure what she was talking about when she was talking about her art stuff but it sounds legit. Jenna would have loved to meet her and see her stuff. It was pretty cool. I am pretty sure most people feel like I did talking to Sister Baker when they talk with me about tennis. haha Well... not as much anymore... now its more like when we are playing Book of Mormon baseball. I love that game. haha I guess that’s what happens when your entire life is filled with the Book of Mormon. Not complaining about that side effect...

Ok, I can’t wait any longer.... can you believe that general conference is in like two weeks!?!?!?! What’s up!? I cannot wait! I’ve been reviewing some of the talks from last session. Elder Maynes is still my favorite. Hands down. Ah! So yeah, let the countdown begin!

Oh, ok... so here is a highlight for you. Remember how I said that there was nine instances in the Book of Mormnon where we see the phrase "the strength of the Lord"? Right, well, I stand corrected. I found another one! 3 Ne chapters 3-4. It’s like I found another testimony in the Book of Mormon that the Lord will strengthen those who run to him! Can’t have enough of those! I mean... there are a lot more but I like the phrase so it is especially cool. Each reference always seems to teach a different spin too... I love studying them and the associated patterns and the different things the authors point out. This one was cool because it really talked a lot about the preparation before hand. The Nephites prepared early for this battle by following the counsel from their prophet leaders Lachoneus and Gidgiddoni. So that was one. Then, when the robbers come to attack, the Nephites see their terrifying army and fall to the ground praying to God that he would deliver them. The robbers saw this and were shouted for joy because they supposed that the Nephites were sore afraid. But in this the robbers were disappointed. The Nephites were not afraid of the robbers, they just knew where their true strength lied...layed... lays…was. Anyway... so they turned to the Lord. Then, it says that they were prepared to meet the robbers and in the strength of the Lord they did receive them. I love that. The world really does see people turning to God and view it as weakness. But not so! haha The Nephites had prepared diligently and done everything the Lord’s way. They operated on the strength of the Lord and thus they were strengthened and delivered!! I love these references. "In the strength of the Lord" is probably one of my favorite themes of the Book of Mormon to study. Each story is a powerful testimony to me that if we operate under the direction of the Lord, then he will supplement our strength with his and we will win. To know it in theory is one thing, to know it in practice is another... I pray often that my faith will increase and that I may rely on the Savior in more than I do. Also, another thing I love about this theme is looking back on times on my life and recognizing when I have been able to go forth in the strength of the Lord, and when he has enabled and delivered me. And I love that these stories are in the Book of Mormon because at anytime I can refer to them, read them, and draw strength from the testimonies of these people. Heads up... I have another theme counting thing in progress that I am stoked about too… I just love the Book of Mormon! hahah

Oh, one more quick miracle! We visited Sister Kinsella this week and read the Book of Mormon with her. We read in Alma two about the Nephites vs. the Amlicites. Sis Kinsella hates war chapters. haha But in this visit we talked with her about how they relate to us and at the end her entire perception of the had changed. That was sweet!

Anyway... shout out to Great Grandma Erickson! I hope that you are doing great! 

I will let you know next week if I get transferred or not. We will see. This week is going to be sweet. Like I was saying before we have a ton of great stuff kind of lined up already... I just hope it all goes through.  That will give me plenty of things to write about next week.

Anyway, have a great week. 

I love you guys!

Elder Hinkle