July 28, 2014

Short but Sweet letter!

Hey fellas!!(:

im glad you guys all had a good time, holy crud the boys are getting big haha!! and i totally remember that lake!! no rafts this time?!(; 

and we've been working a lot lately with a less active member with daughter who hasn't been baptized yet. and its been some slow-rolling work, but we decided to stick with it even though it wasnt the most glorious missionary work, we just new it was the right thing to do. well now because of that member, we have one of her friends who is going to be baptized on the 9th of August, and a bunch of friends of the daughter who are progressing towards baptism too. it was really cool to see how after putting in a lot of work, the Lord was able to bring a lot of people to Him that we never anticipated in the beginning. 

i dont have too much to report though, the work here is just rolling on like normal haha. not too much is going on that im dying to tell you guys about haha sorry(: i did buy myself a jumprope and am fixing to get way in shape, but other than that life is good(: 

a few weeks ago i found an Institute Manual in our house (in English!!(: ) for D&C, and i've just been reading that book, cuz its so interesting and goes into super detail about a bunch of prophecies and stuff like that... the Second Coming BLOWS MY MIND haha. but the other day i was reading in the Bible, and Psalms 146:2 is a good one, short and sweet(:

and yes i did get the package(: thank you so much, and just so i dont forget, next time you're gonna send something, could you send some hot cheehtos pretty please??(: i don't need anything, its just a reminder for me(;

well i love you guys, and hey when does school start up again?? 

have a good week, love you guys!!(: 

 Check it out!!! im so mature that i bought myself a bunch of veggies to make sure i was getting my greens.... and yes that really is zucchini.... i had to take a picture to prove that i bought zucchini by my own will power hahaha(; but i still dont like it...

AMERICAN CAR!!!!!!!!!!! this is the first fricken Cadillac i've seen since ive been here haha, i couldnt stop myself from taking a picture!!! i just sat there staring at it for like 10 minutes hahaha, man its good to see some big ole American muscle again(;

this is nutmeg, my little bud haha. he was hopping around in the road and couldnt fly from a busted wing or something, so i heroically saved him, now we're buds for life 

and this is nutmeg taking a little bath and drinking some yummy sprinkler water haha

made another new friend... but he's a little colder, and i got sick of him just staring at me like a piece of meat, so i bailed... the whole situation was fishy from the start...

gosh dang im so funny(;

so the s'mores BBQ was a flippin success, and all the people loved the marshmallows cuz all the marshmallows here suck!! haha, they we're all like "holy crap these are so good!! i wanna go to America!!" haha

needless to say they were pretty impressed at my roastin skills haha, and they all just wanted me to roast them for them... lazy turds haha

aaahhhhhh.... its like seeing an old friend again(:

and here we see the natural past time of old português men, they gather in large herds, and while usually harmless, young women be warry, they're shameless when it comes to checking out girls, and ruthless when it comes to complaining about money.... and coming up next on animal planet.......

WE MISS OUR FUNNY ZACHY!!!!

July 21, 2014

Still young at Heart! Zach will never Grow Up!

i went fishing!! haha one of our friends can make balloon animals, so i grabbed a balloon and started making a fishing pole, and she made me a fish haha, but we were on the opposite side of the town, so i stuck in my back pocket and walked all the way home with a little yellow fish following me hahaha, sooo many people were laughing at me hahaha(:

Hi momma!(:

holy crud i forgot how pretty Utah is haha, we'll definitely have to go on some hikes when i get home haha, but dont worry ill still be in shape. my comp bought a jump rope last week, and im fixing to by myself one soon, cuz those things kick my butt haha. 

and the work is still going really good!! yes, we still have a lady who is wanting to be baptized this saturday! yesterday after church we sat down with her and her boyfriend (he's a member and the one who brought her to church) because both of them are smoking a ton (EVERYONE HERE SMOKES!!!!) but we want her boyfriend to baptize her cuz theyre talking about marrige, so it would be sweet. and it was probably one of the most powerful lessons ive had so far, but we talked a lot about sacrifice and how about when we put everything we have on the table, the Lord sees that we are doing all we can, and he picks up our slack. in the end we got them both to agree to quit smoking, and get working for this baptism haha, its gonna be so sick!! and really the only thing else that goes on here is the pool in the middle of the city haha. 

and sweet, thanks!! the package hasnt got here yet, but ill let you know after it does!(: and make sure to take a bunch of pictures of all the cousins pretty please!!i cant even imagine how big everyone is getting haha(: 

im sorry but i dont have too much time today, but this morning i was reading in the book of Isaiah, and if you guys get the chance read Isaiah 40:29-31 im pretty sure haha, its the last three verses in chapter 40, theyre really good(: well i love you guys a whole crud ton as you know(, haha, and i will talk to you guys next week(: thcau!! (:

This is Isaac!!!! that picture a little bit ago of a kid on my shoulders, this is him! this kid is a chunky little cannon ball haha, and for some reason he fricken loves me. i play the piano during sacrament meeting, and he always runs away from his mom to come sit with me haha, the kid is so fricken funny haha. his mom doesnt want me to leave cuz apparently when im not around he spends all day saying "Dayton!.....Dayton!" hahahaha

haha theres a super funky member here, but she's super awesome and gave a bunch of stuff to do facial masks hahaha, so we went a head and tried it out... we were just missing cucumbers(;

July 14, 2014

 Zach is getting settled in Beja!

Hey fellas!!!

haha dang i miss monsoon season!! its pretty warm here, probably about 90º - 100º, but its way humid haha, plus we're always in church clothes! but im atleast used to it, elder Boyd has been hurting a bit haha, Northern Ireland aint exactly a warm place haha(;  and thank you! and if you haven't already sent the package, could you throw in a big bag of marshmallows please?!?! haha, i know its a weird request, but they dont sell marshmallows here, and im dying for some s'mores hahaha. if you already sent it, its definitely not an emergency, but i was just wondering! haha(: 

and no i still haven't got through the Book of Mormon in portugues, we've been focusing a lot on a few investigators that are progressing incredibly. we had a lesson with an investigator on Saturday that was incredible. her name is Custodia, and she's about 40ish. she's dating a member here and he brought her to church, and she really liked it, so we've been working with her since then, and she's marked to be baptized on the 26th of July! she's never been baptized in any church and never really affiliated with any church because she's never felt that any of them were completely genuine. so it was a bit tricky to get her to want to be baptized and actually become a part of a church. but one thing i've been working on a lot is to really listen to the investigator and the spirit, and to try to not just teach lessons. and ive seen some gnarly improvements in the way the lessons go and the love i feel for the people, when we've got a lesson completely planned out, but as soon as it starts, we feel the impression to just toss it and go by the spirit, its so cool! the power that you can feel when you know that spirit is touching their hearts is just incredible and undeniable.

and thats awesome, i would've loved to hear Brents fairwell! and no, i haven't talked chandler in forever, but man that kid will be such a great missionary! and yea, im writing Holden and Brandon every week. Holden's doing great in Florida, i think he's gonna put up quite the fight when its time for that kid to come home haha, he's loving it out there! 

yea im still trucking along, and im loving this area. most likely ill be here for at least 11 more weeks, and im really looking forward to it. the members and investigators here are awesome. the only downside of this area is that there is a huge public pool in the middle of the city, and we walk past it all the time haha. i never thought i would miss swimming so much haha!! oh well, there's plenty of time for that after the mission haha(: 

oh and guess what?! yesterday i got to kick a door in, haha! a member here has been having problems with her lock on her door, so we walked home with her after church, and she couldnt get her door open, so she let me kick it in! haha, but i totally forgot to take a video of it haha, oh well(: and you guys might also get a kick out of the fact that im am the pianist here haha. so yes i do get to play the piano haha(:

dang luckies,  that'll be a way fun trip haha, make sure to take lots of pictures please!! and dang that lucky jerk haha! yea i would freakin love to go hunting haha!

i love you guys so much, and ill talk to you again next week!!(: have fun in utah and wyoming!!(:

This is my hood gang!!! haha, this is (left to right) Franklin a recent convert, Simão (Simon) our ward mission leader, and Romeo Tavárez a returned missionary. Romeo served here in portugal, and so he's gonna be living here for a while to visit family and work, but it rocks for us cuz he loves going out and working with us haha, bonus points!! 

Zach's new apartment has work out equipment, he's in heaven!

check out what i found!! one night i was sitting in the house all bored with nothing to do, so i went up to our roof, and there's fricken workout equipment up there!! hahaha, i was so stoked!! so i've definitely got myself a new workout program(:

the RoofGym even has a punching bag and a barbaque!! haha, its gonna be a nice stay here in Beja(:

 Some of the people Zach works with!!
the lady in the back sitting down is Maria João, and she's really wanting to get baptised here soon, so we've been working with he a lot lately, and this is just a bunch of friends and family all cramming into her little house haha, português houses are a wee bit smaller haha(;

This is our Branch President, Pres Ruberval, his wife Sheila, and their 1 year old son Miguel. They're brazilian, and this is the guy that reminds me of that old mexican cartoon character Speedy Gonzalez hahaha, this family is way cool, and Miguel is a tank and so fun to play with haha(:

July 7, 20

Zach spends his first 4th of July 

outside the USA

" 'MURICA!!!!!! "

hey momma(:

so we had transfers last night, but neither of us went anywhere(: Elder Boyd and i are still here in Beja(: and i'll be here for at least 6 more weeks, unless i get E.T.'ed again, apparently this area is know for E.T's (emergency transfers) but im pretty positive that i'll be here for a while, i think this place is gonna become a lot like Tomar was to me, i already love the branch and a lot of the members, and we're working with some really cool investigators who are progressing amazingly towards baptism, so im super stoked for this transfer(: 

and one scripture that i've been sharing with a few investigators lately is D&C 10:5, it talks about praying always that we may come off conquerers, and not fall into temptations of Satan. and its a way cool principle cuz its something so simple, but has so much power. Heavenly Father doesn't make it hard to follow him, he really wants the best for us, we just have to be willing to get on the right path(:

i love you guys so much, and im glad you guys had a killer 4th of July! its flippin awesome to see photos of the whole family!! and just a bit of a head's up, im like 95% sold on being an Army Ranger after the mish... ive been talking a lot with Brandon and i've been able to do a little bit of research, and i'm really starting to think the Rangers is the one for me. but that's all for after(: haha, ill talk to you guys soon!! love you guys!!(:

Not a long letter from Zachy on this 4th of July week, but a ton of photos!!

and this was our lovely lunch on the 4th of July, complete with Old Glory shades, '67 toy mustang, fat burgers, and my new addiction... this shweppes orange juice stuff haha, this day made me just a tiny bit homesick(; haha

chili dogs!!!!!!!! a store was having a mexican week and had cans of chili!!! so the night before July 4th i had my self some chilidogs!(:

 this is my new comp elder Boyd, he's a bit.... different haha, and this is at some brazilian guy's resturant. his name is Paulo, and he's a less active but he gives us lunch for free every wednesday cuz he loves the missionaries haha
so glad to spend this special day with the Boydman, this is the first peach he's ever eaten in his life hahahaha... he says he's just gonna stick to chocolate bars haha

somedays i love this kid, somedays its a trial by fire haha......

this is chicken jack, he's just a super creepy thingy or whatever outside a grilled chicken restaurant by where we live haha, he helps keep crime down(;

this is Elder Soutas, he just went home this last weekend :'( he was in the city right next to us when i got to Tomar, so i had district meetings with this guy every week for 3 months, and now in my new area he was in my zone, so at a meeting i got to see him right before he left!!

June 30, 2014

Zach Gets Transfered to Beja!!

This was me leaving Montijo! Elder André is the black guy, and my comp was the white guy elder Harris, we were running to the bus station haha

Hey Momma!!(:

i got some sad news... i was Emergency Transfered :/ i guess with the last big group of Elder's who left, there was kind of a shortage of missionaries in the mission, so a couple 4 elder houses were cut down to 2 elder houses so they could send more missionaries to other areas. so right now im in the city of Beja!(: but i left Montijo last Tuesday night, THE NIGHT BEFORE THE BULL RUNS!!!!! awww i was so bummed!!! hahaha oh well, i guess the Lord just didn't want me to die or something haha(; so i got here to my new area of Beja Wednesday night, and my new comps name is Elder Boyd, and he's from Ireland, and i kid you not, he is like the identical twin of Gru from Despicable Me hahahahaha(:

and now for the questions:

1.) the missionary work has already been going a lot better since i got here to Beja. the work in Montijo was really slow. our area was the rich part of the city, so a lot of people who really didn't care to much to talk about a Gospel that would help them, because they felt like they we're already doing just fine. And also because my comp Elder Harris goes home in 6 weeks now, and he was pretty dead and not the biggest worker, we kind of butted heads every now and then, but we're still good friends cuz we're pretty alike, he was just tired of being a missionary i guess, kind of just waiting to go home. but now im here in Beja with Elder Boyd who's only 9 months into the mission, which is awesome cuz i've been praying for a comp younger in the mission who still had some burn to work, and i definitely got it with this guy haha, we're working like dogs here, its pretty sick(: im really excited about this area, the Branch President is flippin awesome. he's from Brasil and kind of reminds me of a mix between Bro Gallego and Speedy Gonzales the little mexican mouse hahaha, he's so funny. earlier today we helped an investigator move, and him and i clicked today cuz he has this old flatbed type truck, and i was loving it cuz it reminds me of the scrap yard, and he was impressed cuz i was working hard, cuz my comp is more of a computer programmer and an X-Box player... if you know what i mean hahaha(; but we have one lady who is progressing amazingly and says she wants to be baptized, so during this week we're gonna mark a date with her, and there's a 12 year old daughter of a less active who is coming back to church, who says she wants to be baptized. and she's pretty shy so she's been bringing a friend to church, and both of them will be baptized here soon, and its gonna be sweet. im really excited for the work here(:

2.) the last time i felt the spirit was last night, i finally busted out my journal (its been a while haha) to write in it, and i ended up finding something that an elder from my district in the MTC wrote that i didnt know was there, and that was a pretty sweet surprise. but like two or three days ago we were teaching and investigator who was been investigating for a while and who wants to be baptized, she just needs to get married, and we sang a couple hymns together. in English the hymn is Lead Kindly Light, but in português the lyrics are a little different, and it always makes me cry, so i had to stop singing haha, i felt pretty gay haha, but it was nice it was really good to feel the spirit like that again(:

3.) There are about 25 to 30 people who come to chruch every sunday here, and yesterday was awesome, cuz i clicked really quickly with a lot of the members. i guess lately they've had a lot of more quiet and serious missionaries here, and so when i started rough housing with the kids they realized i guess that im not quiet haha, so im super stoked about this branch.

4.) I was close to a couple people in Montijo, but nowhere near as close as i was with the people in Tomar, im pretty sure my heart will forever be in Tomar, but with this new branch here in Beja, i can see this place become another home for me jsut like Tomar, the members here are awesome, plus i feel like im gonna be here for a while, so im sure i will get really close with these people(:

5.) the grossest thing i've eaten... haha it was in Tomar, and we were having dinner with this really old farmer couple, and this ancient lady brings out this funky looking cheese. apparently she had maid it from her goat that they kept out back haha. that just tasted like poopy sewer haha. i've had octupus but it wasnt bad, it just felt really weird haha. 

6.) and i have no idea what my favorite thing i've seen so far is haha, depends on what topic! like funniest or coolest or what?!

7.)and for laundry all i really do is throw it in a washing machine, then when it's done hang it up on lines to dry haha, the wrinkle free shirts are a life-saver! haha

8.) and yes haha, every house here has a ba-dae, but heck to the no i do not use it, and i dont plan on ever using it haha, those things are just too weird! ill take a picture this week and send it next week or something haha(:

well my week has been crazy, but its been pretty sweet too(: this coming up sunday we have transfers, but most likely both Elder Boyd and I are staying here, so we'll see! and im trying to get back into the habit of taking a lot of pictures ago, so hopefully ill be able to start sending a lot more!(: 

well i love you guys a lot and i'm glad that you guys are all having a killer summer!(: im sorry that i dont have any pictures or anything of a super sick bull run, trust me im more bummed than you guys(; haha, but dont worry, i still have a year and a half to get the chance to run again!(:

love you guys, talk to you all soon!(:

the chunky kid on my shoulders name is Isaac, and the little girl's name is laura, they're the kids of a recent convert here in Beja, and i guess i made a good first impression with Isaac cuz he really likes me, which is awesome cuz he's way funny, and pretty fat, haha

 Portugal has these random "exercise" machines in a lot of their parks all over, and some of them are just totally weird, so i decided to take this one for a test drive haha, i was really feeling the burn...

this is my buddy Mr. Gecko, i caught him and let him loose in our house (which totally freaked out my new comp haha) but i havent seen him in a couple days, so we'll see if he shows up(: