August 25, 2014

Zach's a Trainer Now!

THIS IS MY SON ELDER ROBERTS!!!!!!!!! this is when i picked him up from the office, in my spiffy new bday tie haha(:

This is also Zach's Mission President and his wife

Hey!!

my week has been crazy haha. so on sunday right after church i got a call saying that i was leaving to go spend the week in a city called Olhão with an elder named Elder Fossati until our greenys got to portugal. Elder Fossati is from Southern Cali and had a street bike before the mission, and so we were super friends right away haha, and it was a blast serving with him for a couple days in his area. then wednesday night him and i went up to Lisbon, and we spent the night there. then Thursday morning all the newbys arrived, and i met my son Elder Roberts!! Elder Roberts is from Beaver Utah. He grew up playing a bunch of sports and is really cool, he's just a little stressed haha. he actually reminds me a lot of Elder Arnold, my MTC comp. He's having a little bit of troubles with the language, which stresses him out a bit, but he's handling it really well. I cant help but think that i totally got called to be his trainer because so far it has been a lot like the MTC, only this time i know how to help my comp a little better haha. Im loving serving with him and we're already seeing a ton of miracles this week, so im super stoked for this transfer!

okay, and this is from last week.

3.) Denise is a friend of a woman named Mila. Mila was baptized when she was 13, but for the past 15 years or so she has seperated herself from the church. she never lost her beliefs or testimony, just stopped going. but before i got here in Beja, my last comp Elder Boyd and his comp were knocking doors, and they knocked the door of Denise's house. But whats funny is that Mila was there at the time, and Mila is the one who answered the door. so they started talking with Mila and found out that she's a member. Then the week after I showed up here, and we worked for a few weeks to reactivate Mila, and now she's fully reactivated(: And Mila and Denise are always together, and so we passed a lot and began to be friends with Denise too, But Denise didnt want too much to do with church. then we had a mini activity (the one with s'mores and we did a tour of our chapel) and when we showed them the Baptismal Font, we explained what you have to do to be baptized and why we're baptized, and Denise decided she wanted to be baptized too! so we started teaching her, and a week later she was baptized! And now what's happening is Mila (the member for a long time now) has a daughter named Joana. and Joana is best friends with Denise's niece Nadia. And this coming weekend, on August 30th, Joana and Nadia are going to be baptized together!! WE'RE GONNA COMPLETE A FAMILY!!!

and i still have not gotten the packages. I'm a little worried that they got lost somwhere in the mail system :/ Because you guys, grammy and grandad, and Holden all sent me packages, but i havent gotten any of them. i may get them during this coming week, but if not they probably got lost somewhere:/ but no worries :)

Yesterday we had a really cool expirience. Nadia (Denise's niece who wants to be baptized) needs her moms permission to be baptized because she's only 12. so yesterday she called her mom and asked her, but her mom said no. Nadia's stepdad is super catholic, and wouldn't allow her to get baptized. So Nadia started crying because she wants to be baptized super badly, but there wasn't anything we could do :( eventually we had to leave and go to other stuff, but while elder Roberts and i were walking, i got the impression to just stop and say a prayer. both of us were really bummed to see Nadia so sad, so we just sat down on a bench on an empty road, and i said a prayer in english (hahah like the first one in like six months) and we asked The Lord to touch the heart of the mother and change her mind. well we continued on with our day. at the end of the night when we returned home, while we were planning for our next day, we got a text from Denise saying that the mother had changed her mind, and Nadia could be baptized!!! the first thing we did was get down on our knees and we thanked the Lord for changing the mother's heart. it was just so incredible to get such a powerful response to our prayers(:

well i don't have much time left, i just got to say the I know God lives. and He does more than just live, He loves us. He's always there to help, we just need to take the leap of faith to ask Him(:

i love you guys so much, and i'll talk to you all again next week!!

Pictures from the BBQ/Zach's Birthday Celebration

i can't remember what was so funny, but i think our Branch Pres said something hilarious or was making fun of my comp or something hahahaha. this was while they were singing happy bday to me haha

I absolutly LOVE this picture of Zach!! It shows how much fun he is having as a missionary!!

 Here's my last comp Elder Boyd and I at our big branch BBQ/my birthday party... i was batman and he was spider man haha

the branch pres.'s family got me a cake(: "parabéns" means congragulations, but its how they say happy birthday haha

 so it goes Elder Mubai (from Mozambique), me (in my sweet pink tie that some members got me for my bday hahaha), my son Elder Roberts, and Elder Beckstrand (him and i were in the same district my first two transfers here in portugal) all 4 of us live in the same house now. cuz our area split to a 4 elder area, and now we party all day (when we're in the house haha)

and this is one more of me and my new son Elder Roberts... IM A DADDY!!!!!

August 18, 2014

Zach's Officially 19!!!!

IM SO OLD!!! hahaha

1. my birthday was pretty sweet(: i'll send pictures a little bit later today, and don't worry, i have a bunch haha(: ya we had a big ole BBQ, and initially it was just a branch activity, but they turned it into a birthday party at the end and brought cake and all sang and what not haha(: and no not yet. i got the birthday package from you guys, but i left my area sunday afternoon. right now im in a different area, but im only here until thursday. im down here cuz my comp elder Boyd got transfered away, and IM GONNA BE TRAINING!!!!! IM GONNA BE A DADDY!!!! hahaha, so on thursday i go to Lisbon to pick up my son, but until then im in a city called Olhão with another elder who's gonna be training, cuz we cant be alone. and so thursday we'll go to the mission office together, then thursday night i go back to Beja, so the package should be waiting for me there haha(: 

2. so im staying in Beja. it was a 2 elder house, but it's getting split into a 4 elder house, and im going to be training, and another missionary is going to be training also! and the other missionary is Elder Beckstrand!! he was in my district my first two transfers of the mish when i was in Tomar, and this guy is so sick!! he's the tall one who loves rough housing and messing around haha, im sooooo fricken excited for these next two tranfers!!! (cuz training is two transfers). so i still don't know what my son is like, i just know that his name is Elder Roberts. so next week i'll be able to send pictures(: 

im super sorry, but i don't have much time to write today cuz this week is kind of a funky situation haha. but next week i'll do my best to answer the rest of the questions! i love you guys all so much, and im praying for you guys every week!! dont be afraid to share your testimonies with those who need it!!(:

No Pics this week :(

Aug 11, 2014

decided to get myself a tatoo.... i thought it was an alien, 

but when i put it on i realized it was an upside mermaid hahaha, 

its been on for like 5 days now haha, 

they make heavy duty kid tats here haha

Zach's Gonna Turn 19!!

Birthday Boy on Saturday the 16th of August

HEY!!!(:

I DONT WANNA TURN 19 hahahahaha its too big of a number haha(: but this saturday we're having a big activity with our whole branch, and a huge BBQ in a park with a bunch of games and stuff, so im pretty stoked for that. and i got the package with the Hot Cheetohs and plane and cars haha, thank you!! 

and yea, this coming up sunday (the 17th) is transfer day, but most likely i will be staying here and getting a new comp, Elder Boyd has already been here for 3 transfers. so the next email that i write will be what's happening(:

So is Briggy driving everybody to school in the Jeep then? i gotta see some pictures of that haha(: and yes i got the link, thank you! and yea there are a lot of adults that live just together, and yea it does make the work a bit trickier haha.

So Denise was baptized on Saturday which was awesome. we're also hoping that a 14 year old kid named Renato can be baptized this saturday or sunday, but it'll be a push cuz he lives far away, but we're working hard and hoping it all goes well!(:

and this week I'm gonna start reading in depth the story of Ammon going over to the Lamanites. i was listening to John Bytheway, and he was talking about how Ammon was such a great missionary. When Ammon told King Lamoni that he wanted to be his servant, he wasn't just saying it to flatter the king, but because he was really there to serve. So im gonna put some thick study into trying to be a little bit more like Ammon. and also, if you haven't heard John Bytheway's talk "Five Scriptures" or something like that, give it a shot, cuz its really good(:

and one last bit of thought, dont throw away the drum set that Briggy has in the game room!! i totally wanna learn how to drum really well after the mission(: haha

love you guys, and hope you guys are having a good time getting back into the school groove! talk to you next week!(:

DENISE WAS BAPTIZED!!!!! she's 25 and she's gonna be a totally awesome member!!

and this is everybody that showed up for the baptism!(:

 hahaha the Portugal schools have the funniest field trips hahaha, they just put yellow hats on the little kids and take a walk around the block hahahaha, but the kids are always hilarious!














a missionaries two best friends(:

 sometimes it's hot and so we sit inside the supermarket and eat a box of ice cream... each hahaha(:












there's an awesome Brazilian named Paulo that has us over at his restaurant every wednesday to eat lunch for free.... holy crap its always so good!





Zach will always be a kid at heart-HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

 CHECK OUT THE COOLEST TOY IN THE WORLD!!!
TOTALLY WORKS AND EVERYTHING!!
just doing some work on the ole shelby....
my garage is growing!! 

Aug 4, 2014

Zach Can't Believe his Bros are Starting School Again

(and PS... he's usually responding to a comment or question I asked if it doesn't make much sense!)

i was thinking it had been a while since i took a nice little rest in the grass in the shade, so i just laid down haha, it was nice(:

holy crud thats this week!! its blowning my mind thinking of Mace at Red Mt, and especially Brig as a junior! haha. hahaha oh c'mon they cant be much worse than me haha(; and dont say sorry, you're the reason i flippin graduated haha(: so im saying thankyou for hassling me about grades(: haha and don't worry, we've got plenty of time to talk about the military, right now im a missionary(;

if you havent sent the package can you pretty pretty please send me a football?!?!?!?! haha we've got a ball pump here, so it doesnt need to be pumped up, but i just want a football, like a real one! some stores here have super crappy wannabe footballs, but they're totally not worth it haha. could you just throw in a good Wilson ball or something? ask the McBride boys, they'll know what football is the best(; haha but im thinking im gonna be in this area for a while, and the members and investigators here are so cool and they're already like family with me, and i wanna get some sweet football games going haha(: but okay, now im excited haha(:

and no no no no no no no no no 19 is too big of a number hahaha, I DONT LIKE IT!!!! and im definitely gonna have to do something about his whole "turning 20" thing.... thats just disgusting hahaha, but i guess we'll see how it goes!!

the investigators are all doing awesome! yes, the lady getting baptized on Saturday is named Denise, and she's awesome, we're super stoked for her. there's also an older couple who are living together but aren't married (its really common here cuz apparently the marrige paperwork is just to hard or whatever haha) but we've been talking with them for a while, and we're hoping that by the end of August they will be getting married, and then soon after getting baptized too! They're such nice and cool people and they love the church already, and yesterday they finally came to church and got along great with everyone which was so sweet, so we're stoked for them too(: we've got other people too, but ill report on them when they start getting a little but closer(:

and that picture of briggy doing yard work in a speedo made me laugh so hard!!!!!!!! hahahahahaha, im glad to see that im not the only one who has a socially unnacceptable side haha(: go briggy!!!!

well i love you guys a bunch and them some, and ill talk to you next week! hope you guys have a good first week of school! oh yea, who do the boys all have for teachers?? maybe they'll need to pass on some hellos for me! haha

love you guys!!(:

and boy have a got a scripture for you guys this week!(; hahaha. a few days ago i was flipping through the book of Mormon just looking for something to read, and i flipped open to Alma 7, which is Alma foretelling the coming of Christ. I thought to myself "oh i've already read a billion scriptures prophecying of him and i already know all about the coming of Christ and his mission and what not, i want to read something that i dont know." and i almost turned the pages, but then i thought to myself that there's really not anything in the scriptures more important that the Life of Christ and his mission, so i started to read. well turns out that at the same time i was listening to "I Believe In Christ" by MoTab, and the scripture turned to be one of the most powerful i've read in a long time. i spent a while going over the part where Alma is talking about all the things that Christ would suffer, and began to really think pretty hard about that, and the spirit just hit me like a punch in the face. the whole reason that any of us have any hope for this life and the next is because of what Jesus Christ did for us, and i definitely recommend giving Alma 7 some study time(:

 this is good ole Simon!!!! our fearless ward mission leader, haha i fricken love this guy so much. we were on the way to teach an investigator who lives like half an hour away by car, lucjy for us we have him instead of paying for the bus!

good ole Simon again... every thursday we have a meeting with him in his tiny little house, then he always feeds us. this week just happened to be like 3 kilos of rice and fish, and like a kilo salad haha

Zachary SCARES his mother!!

so one day we were walking and we found a huge abandoned grain silo plant, and climed aaaaalllllll the way to the top, 14 stories up(: and there was no railing on the top and it was bloody windy haha, it was way sick!

it was super sketch getting way close to the edge cuz it was so windy, but it was soooo cool, plus a sweet view of Beja(:

hahahahahaha this is one of my favorite pictures, elder boyd HATES hights hahaha, he caught a little queesy while i was running by the edge haha

been here for almost 8 months and im still trying to figure out what the heck is the point of these tiny cars... like smart cars can at least hit normal speeds. i kid you not, these things top out at like 20mph. we call them lawnmower cars cuz they're fricken loud and sound like they have lawnmower engines haha, they're about as fast too

ths is my comp Elder Boyd helping Lara (the daughter of a recent convert) with her homework haha

at little chunky Isaac loves giving kisses hahaha

this is Isaac again(: we were passing by one day and saw him and his family and another member chillin in this park with some fountains, so we spent a little time with them. he stuck his face down in front of the spout and wasnt to happy with what happened hahaha

all the missionaries here decorate their planners, and the other day i was reading the Liahona and saw a fricken picture of a saguaro with lightning in the background, so i couldn't pass up that opportunity! and i also had a coke bottle on my desk, so this is my Arizona planner(:

there's a member who's friend is getting baptized this saturday, and they went to the beach, and they really fricken like us, so the brought us back a little bit of the beach since we can't go haha

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME hahahahaha, these sweet suckers were on sale and ive been wanting some swanky shoes, so i treated myself to an early bday present haha, you likey? im gonna come home lookin so slick haha, if europe does one thing right its clothes... sometimes haha