Vidalia - Week 11

Dear Family,

I will be staying in Vidalia for another transfer!!  Elder Young is leaving but he is becoming a Zone leader!  Elder Harris is becoming our new District Leader!  So it will be Elder Harris and I here in Vidalia.  This week I have had a really good week.  We were able to help out the Vallins with a project of theirs.  They were cleaning out their neighbor’s abandoned house and cleaning up the yard.  So we got to rake up pine straw and branches and burn them, which is always fun, and find cool things.  We found an abandoned Harley Davison in their garage!  Brother Vallin said that he was going to fix it up, and it was a pretty nice bike.  At the house we found some fishing poles!  So now I can really fish in the pond out back!

I also get to go bass fishing again today!  And we have quite a few investigators that actually want to get baptized!  I have been working really hard this week!  Also the Vallins are feeding us today as a thanks for helping them out!  And they came to church yesterday!  I can't wait for General Conference because it means so much more to me as a missionary than it ever has before.  I am glad you all got your letters and I am excited to get a package!

Yes, I have learned the importance of staying with your companion and avoiding drunk people. 

I love y'all so much,

Love,

Elder Hinrichs 

Elders & Sisters at the Fun Center

Vidalia - Week 10

Dear Family,

I had a good week this week.  The pollen here has been getting pretty thick.  Everything outside has a sprinkle of yellow dust on it.  So I have finally learned what allergies are like.  But they aren't too bad.  I just sneeze more and my eyes sting.  None of our investigators came to church.  Although the Vallins did come.  They are a younger couple that went less active but now they are coming back, and the husband said he wanted to go out on splits with us on Tuesday and feed us one day this week. So that was pretty exciting.

Fishing was pretty good.  It rained the whole time, but it didn't bother me.  I caught a 4 pound bass, which was pretty good sized.

My tendinitis is doing better, but I am still unable to run.  Love you all!

Love,

Elder Hinrichs

Elder Hinrichs & his 4 pound Bass

Vidalia - Week 9

Dear Family,

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!  I had a pretty good week this week.  The work is finally starting to pick up! We finally have a couple of investigators to work with and continue to find more.  Hopefully we will have a baptism soon.  And I am going fishing today, and I will remember my camera this time.  The member who is taking us, Randy, is also frying us some Bass, and I am having collard greens and hushpuppies.  So it should be pretty good!

This week none of the less actives showed up at church so that was pretty disappointing.  But we have been working with one family named the Vallins and they invited us over and fed us breakfast this week.  I have high hopes for them.  Also we have been working with another family named the Mixons.  The parents are Grady and Elizabeth Mixon and they are really active in the Church.  Their son and his wife and kids went less active, but we have been trying to get them back. 

In thinking back about our trip to New York, what I remember was the spirit there (the Sacred Grove in Palmyra).  It testified to me that what we are learning is true, and that the sacred event of Joseph Smith happened there.  I knew that we weren't in the exact spot that he was in, but I knew that it happened.  An absolute peace came over me while we prayed on the bench in the forest, and the spirit was very strong. 

Love y'all so much!!

Love,

Elder Hinrichs

Elder Young, Elder Hinrichs & Elder Harris

 

Spring in Vidalia 

 

Elder Hinrichs & Bro. James Gibson

 

Elder Hinrichs & Bro. Bradley Young

 

A Vidalia Farm

 

 

Vidalia - Week 8

Dear Family,

Thank you all for the love and support you provide.  It means so much to me.  Fishing last week was fantastic.  I caught one Large Mouth Bass and hooked two others.  It is a very different kind of fishing that requires some advanced fishing.  Good thing I am an expert fisherman.  I hooked the most fish out of everyone, and I had a blast doing it. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera so I don't have any pictures.  Although right before we left the pond that we were fishing in, it started raining sheets of water and I got pretty soaked.  So it was probably a good thing that I forgot my camera.  

Last week I was able to bless a very sweet older lady in our ward that had come down with the flu.  It was amazing to see how the next day when we called her, she was doing a lot better.  Also I was able to bless our Ward Mission Leader, Brother Guaysha.  He had allergies that were acting up and he was worried that he might not be able to work because of them.  Now he is completely healthy and doing great. 

This Sunday I was actually able to experience and see the results from hard work.  We had 14 less active members and an investigator come to sacrament meeting!  It was has been one of the biggest turn outs that the ward has seen in a long time.  It was amazing to see them all and how happy they were to be back in church. 

Here is a picture of Elder Sannar on the left, Me, and Elder Badger on the right.  They are the other Elders in our area.

So I had a pretty good week. I love y'all so much!!

Love,

Elder Hinrichs

Elder Sannar, Elder Hinrichs & Elder Badger

Vidalia - Week 7

Dear Family,

I am doing well this week. I was able to go on an exchange with our zone leaders this week and go to Hinesville.  It is a mostly a military post.  It was quite interesting and I learned a lot!  I have also been able to help a member build a house which has been fun.  Also, a member has invited us to go fishing today!!  He lives on a big pond and right now it is bass spawning season so I am pretty excited.  Our companionship is working out great, because now we can have two elders working while another one goes with a member.  I have been able to exercise my priesthood authority multiple times this week and it has been great to see that marvelous work. We do have one new investigator named Tavaris who has committed to be baptized and has been reading the Book of Mormon, so that was pretty exciting.  My tendinitis is pretty much healed in my right ankle... But now it has moved to my left ankle.  That is great to hear that you are taking such great care of the Elders up there!  I love you all so much I will have more pictures next week!

Love,

Elder Hinrichs