December 29, 2014

Happy New Year Elder Dayton

Only 11 months to go, and it makes Zach sad...

Christmas Dinner in Portugal

I am eternally grateful for the families around the world that feed, love and include our missionaries in their family traditions!!

Christmas Eve Dinner!!! there's this awesome guy in our ward here who invited a ton of people over to their house to eat dinner(he's the guy on the left with the antlers) and he's suuuuuper funny, well somehow him and I ended up getting into an eating contest of cookie-brownie sanwiches which I won.... and then afterward a cheese eating contest... which I also won hahaha, but it was such a fun night(:

this is us at that members home Christmas Eve playing the piano and singing, haha and we were wearing paper antler things, that with the flash look like photoshop, but they're real!!

 This is a decoration that we made and mailed to Zach to help him celebrate Christmas! I love that he actually hung it up!

and this is me and my comp doing dishes...... its how we pay for the food(; haha

Hey!!(:

haha, where the crud did 2014 go?! haha, i guess it all just blew by in a hurricane called Portugal haha, thats such a weird thought. and holy crud it was so good to see you guys!(: i cant believe how big the boys and all the cousins are getting! haha wanna know something weird, in 5 months we'll be talking on skype again, and then 6 months after that, we'll be talking in person.... thats too weird!! haha like i love you guys and miss you guys a ton, but man i dont think im quite ready to go home yet haha(: 

I JUST FOUND OUT THAT THE PORTUGAL MISSION IS SPLITTING!!! On July 1st our mission is splitting into the Lisbon and Porto missions!! holy crap haha im like freakin out a little bit! well..... haha

well i dont really dont know much of what to say haha, we talked a ton on Christmas(: but dang, that's awesome for Seth!! when does he report to the MTC?? and when does Max report to the MTC?! haha i gotta know when they're going!!(: 

haha thank you for so many pictures!! i love the one with dad in his hat, and Briggy in the background laughing haha, that one reminds of home a ton haha. and the one of the boys sitting on the stairs all together.... holy crap i seriously cannot believe how big they are getting!! 

well im super sorry that this letter is so short, i really dont know what else to say haha(: but i love you guys so much, and it was super good to see you guys! pretty please make sure that you guys are getting a ton of videos of stuff too so that i can see everything when i get home!(: but i love you guys so much! talk to you next week!(:

Zach Makes me Laugh so Hard!!

this is just a metro station..... for some reason they chose to decorate it with giant women statues haha..... portugal

 

December 22, 2014

Christmas Time!

so i was super bored waiting at the train station, and my comp got on the escalator the wrong way to use as a treadmill to keep warm (cuz its fricken cold here haha), so i thought well hey i could take a selfie haha....

Hey Momma!!

haha, i feel the exact same way!! sometimes i feel like i've been out here forever and i cant even remember what life was like before the mission, and then other times i look back at like Tomar or Beja, were i was for almost 6 months in each and how all of a sudden those are just gone haha, or especially Montijo haha, those were probably the fastest 4 weeks of my mission, i can barely remember them now haha. its just weird to think that now im on the "older half" of them mission haha, cuz i remember showing up here and thinking that all the guys with over a year were super old haha. 

probably my favorite day last week was thursday the 18th, because we had our Christmas Party for the mission. it wasnt the whole mission, but about half of us were all together and it was way fun. we had a big story thing that the mission did about the birth of Jesus that was super cool and had a strong spirit, we sang a ton of christmas hymns and had some sweet testimonies too. then we had an awesome lunch and all went outside the chapel to the parking lot and did a huge white elephant gift exchange which was really fun haha. I got to see my son Elder Roberts, and in the white elephant he got a freakin melon!!! hahaha, that was super funny(: but that was an awesome day, its always so sick to hang out with a ton of missionaries and old friends, and at the same time get blasted with the spirit, its soo cool(: and then yesterday in church, Hélio (the 22 year old from Angola) got the Aaronic priesthood! gosh dang i love participating in priesthood ordinances! the priesthood is seriously sooooo cool!!! 

and about my journal.... haha, every now and then i write in it when i have a really cool thing happen, but i should write in it more haha. but yea when awesome stuff happens or a really spiritually building expirience, i write it down(: 

and i got the package with the 4 bags of cheetos, and then the package with the 2 ties and socks!! aaaannndddd, sooooo um, we all know how good i am at waiting to open gifts...... but hey, those ties are super sick!! haha, sorry i couldnt wait to open them(: but thank you so much, there super sweet!! i didnt have time to go through the whole package cuz i just picked it up this morning, but gosh dang i love you guys so much(: haha and i probably wont get the box  thats in the office until next monday, so no worries ill wait(;

haha well dont be too sad about Christmas, its the last one like this haha(; just please please please take a ton of pictures!!! and i will do my best to take a ton here also(: and later in the day here we will be going to the house of the Markhams (missionary couple) to skype, so i dont know what time exactly, but for you guys probably sometime between 9 and 12am, but we always will be able to use email that day to better coordinate(: 

HOORAY FOR MAX!!!!!!!! HOLY CRAP THAT'S SICK!!!! hahahaha he's gonna need a heck of a warm coat hahaha! when does he report to the MTC?!?! 

i love you all so much, and i'll see all your faces in 3 days!!!(: love you guys!!

Zach is Zach and I LOVE it and miss my FUNNY BOY!!

oh you know, just me and my super sick rock climbing skills 

check this out!! there's a super market that has blacklights in its bathrooms!! hahahahahahahahahahaha(; i couldnt help but take another selfie, my shirt was glowing!! hahaha

hooray for p-day fun day(:

this member's name is Maria Silvia, and she is just basically super dope. i have never left her house once without eating like a fullblown meal haha, she just wont let us leave without eating. well the other day we passed by and it turned out that no one else was home, so we couldnt go in the house, so she just busts out some chairs and two trays, and we just sat down and ate in her doorway hahaha, she cooks soooo freakin good!! and i was messing around with the spoon and she just thought it was the funniest thing in the whole world haha

December 15, 2014

'Tis the Season

so as you can tell by the sweet photos, im pretty much a master chef now hahaha














Hey Momma!!

oh sweet, im stoked to get that christmas card! and yea i got the first package that came right to the house with the 4 bags of cheetos and other stuff hahaha, thank you so much!!(: and yea, i baptized Sofia, and the other guy is a member, he baptized Geovani, it was awesome(: and yes again, I was here when we found both Geovani and Sofia, so we tought them everything together haha, they're both sooooo awesome! and hey, quick question, how much exactly do i have on my bank account? ive been wondering that for a while but cant check it here haha. and im still not sure when i will be able to skype yet, but the Markhams (the missionary couple that knows the Dayton side) said that we can do it in their house with them, which is totally awesome!! so as soon as i know i will let you know(: 

and holy crap, that HEFY thing sounds pretty sick, i would totally love to do that after the mish! i really wanted to visit Brazil, and i guess theres no better way to do it than with service haha. make sure that Brig takes A TON of pictures haha, that'll be such a cool expirience for him!(: and sick, i really like the sound of having a new trampoline place so close to home, that'll be a sweet job for him too(: holy crud the boys are growing up sooooo fast.... is Brig going with anybody else that he knows?

haha sorry that i don't give a day to day account, i really can't remember everything, cuz all the days blur together, and all of a sudden im sitting here at the computer again haha. but today we went and did bowling again with 10 other missionaries, which was super super fun, i just forgot to bring my stinkin camera!! so i dont have any pictures of it this week, but im sure that we'll do it again soon haha. this transfer doesnt end until the 1st of February, so we've got a while here(: also this coming up Thursday is our mission Christmas doodah, so a few zones around the Lisbon area are all getting together to have like a... i dont even know what haha, its my first one.... and my last hahaha(: its super weird to think about the fact that im more than half way done already... it freaks me out.... haha. 

but i stink pretty bad, and i havent even sent the christmas package yet :( so im gonna do it tomorrow, or wednesday at latest, so im super sorry if it gets there a little late, but i still love you guys the same!! 

well i love you guys so much, and ill talk to you more next week... which is weird cuz it will be the last time talking to you before christmas haha, and then we'll get to skype!!(:

Love you all!!(:

so this is my new comp elder Da Veiga from Cape Verde! He's teaching me Creole haha

 and this is me and Geovani messing around with some sick shades i found in their house haha, we have robo-wars all the time haha

a few days ago we went to a mechanic shop with a member from Russia, and he doesnt speak portuguese, so he took me along to translate haha, cuz he only speaks english. anyways, while i was there i pretty much had some personal revelation that i wanna work with cars and machines when i get back from the rangers or something, cuz holy crap i miss the scrap yard haha

this is at a recent converts house, she was giving a TON fish (which was a little tough for me to put down haha) and i was messing around with someones glasses

here's a pretty sick view of one part of our area in Lisbon

its funny cuz Lisbon is the biggest city in Portugal, but still has a bunch of areas that's almost like trucking through the amazon haha

December 8, 2014

New Comp and 3 Baptisms!

This is the baptisms of Sofia and Geováni! hahaha Sofia is 32!! She's super cool and funny and always laughing. and Geováni is 10 and just a straight up boss haha, then our best friend Minerva in the middle haha

Hey Momma!!

I LOVE YOU!!! hahaha(: im super sorry, but im already running out of time, but dont worry im still in the same spot(: i have a new comp Elder Da Veiga from Cape Verde, and our house went from a 6 elder house to a 4 elder house, but its still way better than a 2 elder house for christmas haha(: but maybe could you start sending packages to the mission office instead? cuz im super close and its way easy to get them(: also, just as a note, when you put the list of things on the box of whats inside, dont put the price, cuz if its over a certain amount, then we have to pay to pick it up also haha, its really tricky! they make us double pay for it!

the baptisms went great!(: Hélio, Sofia, and Geováni were all baptized, and they're all super sweet(: and actually i already did all my christmas shopping earlier today haha so ill do my best to send it this week!!

im super sorry that i dont have tmore time! but im still in the same place and im doing great! i love you all so much!! ill do better next week!!

this is Hélio!! he's a 22 year old stud from Angola whose here studying for a few years. he's hilarious and awesome and baptized!! haha, and he's gonna try to get me a traditional african dress for men haha

this is Geováni! haha in this picture he wasnt even a member of the church yet, this was at our christmas party saturday night, and he was Santa Claus haha

my "now old" comp elder huntington, and a member named Minerva from Spain haha, she understands portugues but speaks spanish, so im learning some espanhol for when i come home haha

I found Isabel!! haha, my missionary mom from my first area in Tomar!! she was at church on sunday in our ward cuz she was in town, that was a sweet reunion haha

oh ya know, just chillin with my homies and singing our hearts out. this is Paulo Jorge from angola, he's a boss at basketball and its super fricken funny

And this is literally right now haha, this is my new comp Elder Da Veiga from Cape Verde! he doesn't speak english, like at all! haha, but he's teaching me Creole which is super sick and sounds like african clicks haha. this is us sittin here doing emails(: he's a thug

December 1, 2014

Working Hard!

this is Giovani!!!!! he's a little stud haha, he's 10 years old, and he and some other family members are gonna be baptized soon!! 

Hey Momma!! 

yea actually the sun has come out the past two days, which is sooooo nice haha(: its just colder than cold!! haha, which i guess isnt to bad, but this Arizona skin dont help me too much haha(; and yea, i cant believe how fast time is flying!! its freaks the crap out of me haha! yea, i believe that November 24th of 2015 is a tuesday, which is the day that i will be getting on a plane to fly home!! and i dont know why we lose a few weeks, i guess its just the way it works out!

Oh man that turkey looks sooo good haha, and man to see you guys in short sleeves tshirts and shorts haha, im like freezing my butt of here!! haha, but at least the sun has come out lately!(: and i was wondering, if you guys come and get me, ill miss thanksgiving with the family, so maybe we'll have to think a little bit about a trip! haha, its just now that i realized it, so ill have to put more thought into it later! and that's awesome!! ive been telling brandon to go visit forever! haha, im glad he finally went, he actually had been saying that he missed being at our house haha. but yea i talk with brandon every week about all kinds of different stuff, but yea mostly about what he's doing at asu and what im doing here, yea it seems like he's loving ASU. 

and no haha, Elder Eyring and Elder Perry went to the Vatican in Italy to give a big ol speech on marrige, its all over church news on lds.org so i didnt see them haha(: I saw Elder Cook the other week with their Stake President haha(: 

Thanksgiving was pretty sweet, we just had a big ol' lunch and stuff, which was suuuuuuuuper good cuz Elder Williams in our house cooks soo good, it was awesome haha(: and we were gonna wake up early and go play football, but then it was cold and we were to tired and lazy haha. but we play catch in the house all the time haha, i love being in a 6 elder house! and no, the portugues dont celebrate Thanksgiving at all, but yea there's already been Christmas stuff out for like a month in the stores haha(: 

That's sweet! haha i totally thought Ammon was 10 and gonna turn 11 hahahahahahahahaha|!!!!! thats what ive been telling people for like 2 months hahahahhahaha!!!!(: i just bought his b-day present today, so ill send it either today or tomorrow!! and im gonna start putting together a christmas package, its a little bit easier to do shopping here cuz im so close to the ginormous mall hahaha(: is there anything in specific that anyone wants from Portugal? haha(: 

well our week has been awesome, we're getting a ton of work done here, there are so many awesome people here! this coming up week, its looking like we're gonna have a few baptisms!! so keep us and them in your prayers so that it all goes well!!(: there are a ton of people here that are just super ready for the gospel! 

well i got to the computer this week and realized that i didnt have to many pictures, so ill try to take more during this week to send!(: oh and yea, the package came by the house, but i wasnt home, so im gonna go pick it up from the mail office soon!! thank you so much!!(: i love you all, talk to you next week!!(:

 HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!!!!!!!! well we didnt get turkey, but in our 6 elder house, one cooks suuuuuuper good, and he made duck, mashed potatoes, some other awesome kind of potatoes, and a ton of other stuff that i cant remember haha, but it was soooo good, its so awesome to be in a 6 elder house, cuz when we all eat its like a big family hahaha

this is Mwamba!! its the traditional Angolan dish haha, Paulo Jorge made it for us, it was very..... african hahaha, but it wasnt too bad haha(:


Zach is learning a lot about the African Culture!! 

this is at an investigators house named Paulo Jorge, he's from Angola (like deep south africa haha) and he's sooo funny, hes like 6'3" and speaks english perfectly, and is a HUGE basket ball stud and NBA fan, which is funny cuz the NBA basically doesnt exist here haha, but every time we go in his house he's watching basketball

so this is my area!! i literally live in the heart  of Lisbon, like 10 minutes on foot from the big international airport and the ginormous mall Colombo haha, its sweet


we went for a little adventure in the city haha, it was just weird to be walking along a dirt trail while being surrounded by huge buildings hahaha #citylife

November 24, 2014

Zach in the Big City

and this was just some random guy who happened to have a scottsdale shirt, but he had no idea where arizona was, it was just a shirt he bought from some gypsies hahaha 

Hey momma!!

first off to answer questions(:

the Markhams aren't like a missionary couple, but they work for the chruch's self reliance program or something... im not quite sure, but yea they are here until january when they go home(: and Elder Huntington goes home on Dec 7th, so in like 2 weeks haha. and it weirds him out a bunch, but he still works hard as ever. and most likely yea, i mean you never know for sure, but  most likely i will stay zone leader here, haha our area is right where the big international lisbon airport is, which is super weird, cuz i used to think of Lisbon as the big brain of the mission, and now all of a sudden im right in the middle of it haha. 

and yea, im starting to get into the groove of city life, but today is actually the first time ive seen sunshine since i got here haha, its just been raining nonstop, so it was so nice to walk in the sun for a bit today, i hope it continues haha(: but i cant wait for you guys to come back here to see all of this cuz its so cool here! 

haha and i have no idea what i want for a christmas(: i also have no idea how this whole ipad thing is gonna go down, but im pretty sure that the church will order them, and then we pay the church, and all i know is that they're gonna be ipad minis. but yea i would totally love a batman case haha(: but we wont get them until january, so it would have to be a late christmas present haha(: but as soon as i know more about that ill be sure to let you guys know haha(:

and no i dont work in the office haha, thankfully! all the office elders are just so stressed and always doing like business work on the computer, i hope that i never have to work in there haha, i love being outside too much(; and yea we have a ton of new investigators, and the people here are sweet, i'm in my first ward! haha, with an average of about 120 in sacrament every week, which is awesome! 

and i know that you're not gonna like this, but im not sure if we'll be able to skype on christmas, or if it will be limited to just phone calls:/ but we dont know anything for sure about it yet, so ill have to get back to you on that one too(; and im not sure if we're gonna do anything special on thanksgiving, im in a 6 elder house and all the elders here are super awesome, but my comp is like a nazi with the rules, so im not sure if he's gonna want to do anything at all, but i wanna at least go play catch with the football for a while haha. AND GUESS WHAT?! i realized a couple days ago that starting officially today i am on the COUNTDOWN CLOCK...... as in i have less than one year left on my mission..... which blows my mind haha. and i will get home the tuesday or wendesday before thanksgiving haha! just in time for the turkey bowl!! but seriously the fact that i already have less than a year left scares the crap out of me, cuz i feel like i just got here!

haha and we went bowling today!! we live right by this huge mall called Colombo, its the biggest mall in europe apparently haha, so all 6 of us in our house went bowling, ill send some pics in a sec!!

well i love you guys so much!! have a good thanksgiving and ill talk to you next week!!

this is Elder Cluff! we did a division a couple days ago, and found out that we live like 15 minutes from each other haha, its funny cuz he's the first kid from AZ that I've gotten to talk to in almost a year, so we had some funny stories and what not, cuz he knew all about saguaro lake and stuff. and he went to Mountain View!!! hahaha, but we united in the ASU cause haha(;

hahahaha this is our house! we're the only 6 elder house in the whole mission, and its a fetching party every night haha, and by the way, the batman onezy and the raccoon onezy in the front are both mine haha, i was just the only one with cool costumes so i had to share haha, but our house is a blast haha!

this morning i was in a hurry, and some how ended up knocking our window off its slide doodah or whatever and it fell like 30 feet...... and broke haha, so that's coming out of my paycheck... plus its gonna be freezing tonight without a window haha(:

so we went bowling today and got some dope shoes!!! and i bet you can't get guess who i was just by looking at that name list..... but just in case you need help, yes.... i'm batman

 haha, it was only 5 bucks for two goes, and dang son, check out that form(; hahaha..... i almost won once hahaha

November 17, 2014

Zach says goodbye to old Friends...

and hello to new ones

I LITERALLY JUST GOT DONE TALKING TO ELDER QUENTIN L COOK!!!!! he came and talked to our mission on friday and that was sweet! and while we were in our chapel doing emails he came by with a few others to see the chapel and we got to hang out with him for like 20 minutes!!! 

I GOT JUST TO HANG OUT WITH A LIVING APOSTLE!!!!!!!!!!! hahahahaha we got to see him and shake his hand on firday when he came to talk to our mission, but holy crud we just gave him a big ole tour of our chapel and hung out for a while! and they were totally asking about Barbara Dayton and stuff, and they were with some other guy, who i guess is Taylor and Molly's stake president, and also knows grandpa and grandma margaret hahaha, we weet took a bunch of pictures, so maybe start asking the utah daytons for some pictures haha(; 

and so yea, i got transfered out of Beja:( that seriously was one of the hardest goodbyes i have ever had to say, but i got to see Elder Roberts at the meeting with Elder Cook on friday, and he said that they are doing really well, which makes me soooo happy, and i cant wait to see them again(: so that's right where we're going when you guys come, because you guys have to meet them!!

and now im in LISBON haha, its just such a drastic change of the way of life haha. but im loving being here and i already love the people so much. And my new comps name is Elder Cedric Huntington, he's from Alaska hahahaha, so at night he has a fan pointed at him, and i have my onezy, like two blankets and a heater hahaha, but its awesome(: he's such and incredible missionary, and he goes home in three weeks. by the way TRANSFERS ARE ON THE 7TH OF DECEMBER becuase the church doesnt do any transportation two weeks before or after christmas cuz its so expensive, so this is a 4 week transfer, and the next one is an 8 week transfer haha. i almost certainly will be staying here, because Elder Huntington is going home, and so ill keep the area and i guess have to teach some one else how to be zone leader of
Lisbon haha, which by the way is gnarly and a ton of work haha. so if you could pretty please include me in your prayers so that somehow i can magnify my calling... i would greatly appreciate it hahahhaha(; 

my address is:

Rua Cidade de Moçamedes

Nº243 R/C DTO

1800 - 104 Lisboa

and you dont really wanna send packages to the mission home, but to the mission office, and the address for that is:

Rua Jorge Barradas

Nº14C

1500 - 370 Lisboa

and i've started a new personal study, im reading the whole Book of Mormon from the start, and im underlining every time there is a testification of Christ or Heavenly Father in blue..... there's already so much blue hahahaha. 

well i love you guys and ill write you again next week!!(: maybe check on lds.org and see if they put up any pictures of ELder Cook visiting portugal!! haha, im sitting in the front on the floor in one of the pictures if it is up there haha

this was me saying goodbye to our Branch President Ruberval Souza and his wife Sheila and sister Rose..... they gave me a really nice Brasil soccer jersey haha

this was me saying good bye to the Jeffers (a missionary couple from my last area) they got me a little batman thing haha

this was by far the hardest goodbye i've ever had to say..... haha i cried worse than Denis and Lucas, but i hear that they're doing great which is awesome. actually their mom had to go to the hospital after i left, because she had been crying so much and couldn't stop that she dehydrated herself and they had to put an IV in her haha...... Beja is the first place im going when i come back here

this is some from the neighborhood called Texas that came out to say goodbye the night i found out i was getting transfered

 now im in a 6 elder house (hahahahhaha its a nonstop party) and this is Elder williams, he goes home in a few weeks and he aint my comp, but we're in the same house which is way dope cuz we've been friends for a while in the mission, and now since im in Lisbon i ride the metro like a trillion times a day haha, its suuuuuuch a different lifestyle here haha but its sweet. this is us goinog down into the metro

and this is elder williams again, in our new chapel here in Lisbon.... it used to be an old mansion and they turned it into a church, so it kinda feels like you're in a disney land ride haha its sweet

so this is outside our chapel mansion haha, a big ole thing of Poseidon!! haha

and this is a missionary couple the Markhams, they know Grandpa Lynn Dayton! haha

 so these are two tiny Filipino's hahah (sorry i have no idea how to spell it in English, so there it is in português) the tiny one in yellow is 25!! haha, she just got baptized on saturday hahaha they're soooooo funny!









 and this is 4 of the 6 elders in our house, left to right goes Elder Williams and Bianucci (comps) then me and my compe elder Huntington, who by the way is super dope

and these are some sisters who are trying to flirt to convert people who are already converted hahaha and my new comp elder Huntington