Week 9 - Warner Robins, GA

Dear Family,

I had a good week.  We were able to do more this week work wise than we did last week, despite the rain.  The cold has been setting in down here, so biking has been a little more difficult than before.  A lot of our work this week has been focused on less active members.  Some of them are coming along and reading the scriptures.

I am looking forward to Thanksgiving on Thursday!  I am so thankful for a family like you all!  I thank you for all the love and support you have shown me through all the good times, and especially the hard.  I have had a lot of hard days out here on the mission, but on those days I would remember how thankful I was to have a loving family back home!  So just know that this Thanksgiving I will express to anyone that asks that I am thankful for my wonderful loving parents who mean the world to me, and I am thankful for my brother and my sisters for always being my friends!!  I love you all so much!

Love,

Elder Hinrichs

Week 8 - Warner Robins, GA

Dear Family,

I had a good week, even though there was a lot of change.  My new companion is Elder Oldham.  He has been out 21 months so it is nice to have someone that pretty much knows what to do for missionary work and doesn't need too much instruction, so we can go right to work.  Well I am a real short timer now.  There is less than a month left on my mission time and the days are going by quickly.  I am making every moment count in this area and I am going to make it great by the time I leave!  With the help of the Lord of course!!

We had an awesome P-day last week!  Since it was Elder Buckland's last P-day we went bowling.  Of course I won, like that was ever a question!  We played 3 rounds and added up our points, I won by 50 points!  I told all the missionaries that my mother taught me well! 
I am glad to hear you all are doing great!  I love y'all so much!  And you enjoy my accent when I get back!  Everyone says I have a southern accent!!

Love,

Elder Hinrichs

 Dinner with Bro. & Sister Hotmer and Elder Buckland

Bowling Fun!

 

Week 7 - Warner Robins, GA

Dear Family,

Looks like I am going to finish my mission here in Warner Robins!  Elder Buckland is getting transferred, so I will have to teach the new guy the area is five weeks.  So I hope he is a quick learner because he is going to have to learn everything quicker than I learned it!  This week was a good week we are still having a hard time getting our investigators progressing.  
We did have a cool experience this week with a less active lady.  She had stopped coming to church years ago because of her sleep disorder.  We went by and we spoke to her and Elder Buckland just started talking about prayer.  Turns out the lady never knew that you could pray for yourself, she always thought prayer was for others.  She explained how she has tried everything with doctors and medicine, but she had never turned to God for help with her sleep disorder.  It was amazing to see the simple truths that we take for granted are spectacular findings to those who don't know them.  So hopefully she will come back to church and all goes well with her. 
The time is going by too fast!  I love you all so much!

Love,

Elder Hinrichs

 Warner Robins

Week 6 - Warner Robins, GA

Dear Family,

I had a pretty good week with our trunk or treat and Halloween!  For our trunk or treat Elder Buckland and I were the judges of the chili cook off.  It was really interesting to see the concoctions that the members threw together.

Yesterday our investigator invited us over for a BBQ.  Oh my goodness those were the best pork steaks and dry rub ribs I have ever had in my entire life!  I don't know what seasonings he used, or how he cooked them, but they were amazing!  
We did a whole lot of biking this week, and the rain made it interesting. Transfers are next week and we are having our transfer call this Saturday.    I guess the best thing you can pray for is that Elder Buckland and I will have more success in this area.  I love you all so much!

Love,

Elder Hinrichs

 Halloween

Sis. Dietz, Sis. Burns, Elder Buckland, Elder Hinrichs

Week 5 - Warner Robins, GA

Dear Family,

I worked myself to my absolute physical limits this week.  We had a few days we did 16 miles on our bikes, 3 hours of splitting wood, and 5 hours of moving two families with some very heavy items that only we could lift.   We still haven't had much change in the area though despite our efforts.  Also while we were splitting wood I also seem to have split my pants!  I guess all this biking is making my leg muscles so big that they have gotten tighter. 

This week we are having our ward trunk or treat which should be tons of fun!  Right now we are trying to get more participation from the ward in this area.  We are working on starting up a Book of Mormon class so we can get some members to start working with the missionaries and fellowship our investigators.  But all is well in Warner Robins!  I hope your weeks are awesome!

Love,

Elder Hinrichs

My Split Pants!

 

A Pet Squirrel

Week 4 - Warner Robins, GA

Dear Family,

We had a week of super hard work.  We have been putting like at least 6-7 miles on our bike every day.  There was one day this week we had to bike 17 miles for 2 appointments.  So I am very thankful I ran track because I have put my legs through a whole lot of work out here doing missionary work!  We have been able to get a lot of work done and meet a lot of new people.  We still struggle to get investigators to church in this area. 

On Saturday we did a service project in Macon with the American Red Cross installing fire detectors in people's homes.  The first home we went into was INFESTED with cockroaches and spiders.  The family had 3 little little kids.  I couldn't understand how anyone could live like that, let alone let their kids live like that.

Yesterday we had missionaries from a different church come knock on our door right after we got home.  They showed us a video from their church that had clips from OUR church bible videos.  I realized that the Biblical prophecies about false Christs arising in the last days are coming true. Which gave me some fire to go and teach the people of Warner Robins the true gospel so they won’t be deceived.

Unfortunately, yesterday while riding bikes I biffed it and ate road in my suit pants.  Thankfully I have another pair, but the other ones are shredded.  I decided I'm not biking in suit pants anymore.  I love you all so much!

Love,

Elder Hinrichs

 Bro. Solum, Elder Hinrichs & Elder Carter

Elder Carter, Elder Hiatt & Elder Packard playing chess

Week 3 - Warner Robins, GA

Dear Family,

I had a good week this week!  The work in this area is slowly, but surely improving.  Yesterday I got to meet the ward here and they are a good ward!  I also was selected to sing in the ward choir since not too many males can sing in this ward.  I guess I am going to learn how to sing real fast, or be really good at making myself look like I'm singing!  It should be interesting!

My ward mission leader is from Isles of White in England.  He takes great care of us missionaries, and tries his best to help us out in every way.  I found out yesterday from a member who used to live in Vidalia, that my old ward mission leader, is now the bishop down there. Other than that not too much is new.  I love you all so much!  Have an awesome week!

Love,

Elder Hinrichs

The District and Bro. & Sis. Morris

 

Bro. Curtis, Elder Hinrichs & the Bishop

Week 2 - Warner Robins, GA

Dear Family,

Conference was amazing this year!  It is like Christmas to a missionary to be spiritually fed by our modern day prophets and apostles!  We watched all five session at our ward mission leader’s house.  He and his wife fed us super well. While I was watching conference some of the speakers would say something that I know how all of would have reacted had we been there as a family.  A lot of them were family jokes that we have, and I felt like I was back home watching conference a couple of time throughout some of the sessions.  I have gained a great new appreciation for being able to watch General Conference, and for our modern day prophets and apostles. 

Right now we are working with a few people, but no one that is too close to baptism.  It is kind of weird going into an area not being able to meet the ward for two weeks.  With conference, I will finally be able to go to church this upcoming weekend.  But I am loving all of what I have seen of Warner Robins so far!  As of today I only have 70 days left on my mission.  Time is flying by, so I have been working hard, which is only making it go faster.  I love you all so much!  Hope you enjoyed conference as much as I did!

Love,

Elder Hinrichs

Week 1 - Warner Robins, GA

Dear Family,

I got transferred to Warner Robins!  My new companion is Elder Buckland, he just finished training, and we get along really well!  Our apartment is really nice.  Our ward mission leader here is a hilarious guy from England, so he has some funny sayings and says it how it is!  This will most likely be my last area before I come home, and biking here shouldn't be too bad, there isn't too many hills.  The ward here is super enthusiastic about missionary work and they have had a lot of baptisms recently, so hopefully I can help the fire spread! 

Everyone in Augusta was surprised to hear that I was leaving so quickly because I was only there for a short amount of time.  On Saturday we got to teach this guy who has been going to Bible school for the past ten years.  It was an amazing lesson because by the end of it, he couldn't think of anything to argue against our doctrine, because it all made sense, and his wife agreed with everything we taught!  We then went next door and across the street and both people asked us to please come back because they really wanted to learn about what we taught.  So I am sad that I had to leave that success.

I don't know if you all have ever heard of disc golfing, but it is super fun.  It is basically golfing with unique Frisbees and trying to make it in these chain baskets.  We played it almost every P-Day in Augusta with the Bishop of the ward, and it was free.  I am excited for General Conference, it is almost as awesome as Christmas to me!  It has been interesting to see how much my perspective of what boring church meetings used to be to now being excited and preparing for church meetings.  Well I only have two transfers left, and I am going to work my hardest to help the Warner Robins area the best I can.  I love you all so much!

Love,

Elder Hinrichs

Week 5 - Augusta, GA

Dear Family,

I had a better week this week.  We found some pretty cool investigators that are really promising.  One thing I learned this week is that the field is white already to harvest... where the field is white.  We turned to where we felt we were needed.  We were able to find a young women who is truly prepared.  When we taught her the first lesson she picked it up quickly and it all made sense to her, because she was ready to receive it.  Then, at Stake Conference we had a member come up and introduce us to his girlfriend, that wasn't a member, and invited us to teach her after the meeting.  We had a wonderful lesson where the spirit was present and it was nice to see the gospel actually clicking with people.  It is like I always say to my companions “it isn't our work, it is the Lord's, and we are tools in his hands, and if we choose to be sharp he will use us for great things.  So stay sharp.”

These two years have changed my life forever, and I have seen the light of the gospel and all of its glorious truths.  I have come to know some of my purposes here on the earth.  I am so grateful to be serving a mission!  I love you all so much!

Love,

Elder Hinrichs