November 16, 2015

One Week to GO!!!!

...we brought some little BBQs. we picked up some marshmallows from this American store by where we live and made s'mores for a last hoorah haha, its was super sick

Hey Momma(:

well, this Pday is pretty much over, and next Pday is just transfer day, which means i'll just be chilling at the mish office with my bags until its my turn for my final interview. then we'll all have dinner at the mission home with our Pres, then we're up bright and early and we're on the plane haha... its really starting to get weird! this next week is actually gonna be filled with us visiting a ton of members. Since i've collectively spent about 8 months of my mission here, i've gotten to know some of the people really well, and a bunch of people have invited us over for this next week for dinner and other stuff.

haha holy crap mason's hair is so long haha. way to go for finally getting that sucker done! (Eagle Project) does it look like the paper work will get done before i get home?? actually, there's really no point in me asking questions i guess haha, cuz im gonna see you guys next week... like by the time i get your response, i'll pretty much already be on the plane home haha.... nuts!!

no i havent bought a camera, and ok i wont(: 

hoooooly crap, holy holy crap i havent even thought about my homecoming talk... i dont know what the heck im gonna say?!?! what are you even supposed to say at them? and how long are talks in the states? like how long is mine gonna be?? hahaha, there i go again with pointless questions, its just so weird. and i cant imaging myself giving a talk in english haha, like every time i try to imagine myself talking its always in portuguese, english just seems so odd. but thats super awesome that jaxson is coming down! who is gonna be there? like who of our family is coming down to AZ?

well...... i really have no idea what else to put, seeing as how next week it's all gonna get said in person anyways haha.... but i guess now instead of saying "i'll talk to you next week", it changes to "i'll see you next week", which actually puts this gnarly little pit right in my gut haha. frick its all happening so fast haha, but hey, i'll tell you guys all about it next tuesday(: 

i love you guys!(:

 we played a GNARLY game of football today, we ended up having teams of 9 x 9. holy crap my body hurts haha. we play on this huge field right in the middle of this big tourist area, so every time we play we always have a TON of people who gather around to watch haha.

 these are just some of the pics from our game today. not too shabby for my last Pday haha

here are some more pics(: last week we went to this petting zoo thing by our house, it was pretty sweet.

then me with that dog is just the dog of some of our friends. he kept walking up behind me and sitting right between my legs haha.... his name was Dick hahaha, im not kidding at all 

November 8th and 9th, 2015

3 Emails-2 Weeks Left!!

We got a random Sunday email...

Nov 8th

hey momma(: so random quick email, i was wondering, do you think its a better idea for me to buy clothes here for back home, or just wait till i get back to buy clothes? a lot of missionaries just buy clothes here at the end of their missions cuz clothes are super cheap here, but i was wondering what you think i should do. and could you respond today, so that way i know what im gonna do tomorrow for Pday?(: 

love you momma, have a good day at church!!(:

Hi Cutie,
Oh my gosh I miss you so dang much, especially now that I know that you will be home in just over 2 weeks!!!!!
On buying clothes I kinda think you might wait. Maybe buy like one outfit. Not to offended, but you have been out of American style for like 2 years, so you may want to get home and get a feel for the style before you buy too much. Plus you are the same size as two of your bros and they will let you borrow. Also we have like 10 pairs of jeans for you to try on when you get home, I am sure one or two will work, so don’t buy jeans!! Also, a nice bonus is that Grammy says you’ve missed 2 years of birthday shopping so I am sure their is a shopping trip in the near future!

Bottom line- Don’t buy clothes ;)

Holy COW!! I can’t wait to see you!!!!!!!!!!
LOVE YOU ALWAYS
momma

Nov 9th

Hey Momma,

haha yea i didnt do any shopping yet, and okay i'll wait. clothes are just sooooo cheap here haha, plus the US is usually about 2 years behind Europe in style, so as i get home America should be just about catching up to what i've been used to for the past two years haha. like the clothes that i see in the pics from Brig and Mason and from other friends who send me pics, within the last 6 months or so has started to look a lot like the style here. especially the pants that chicks wear with the waistline that goes all the way above the bellybutton, i freakin hate those pants! but yea i'll wait to buy clothes, thats funny that you hid clothes from the boys haha, you're such a good momma(:

so far we havent really done anything today. out behind our chapel has some walls with stones and old buildings around it and stuff, so i just spent like 2 hours climbing all over it haha. i miss climbing and doing outdoorsy stuff... but i wont have to miss it for long! but i think that later today we may go to a big shopping mall to get some food and this really yummy ice cream haha. 

this past week we spent a ton of time organizing this list our bishopric gave us. we're going through every (and i mean EVERY) member registered in our ward thats not active, and we're passing by them and seeing if either us or family home teachers can start visiting them again, and if they'd like to come back to church. Our ward has a lot of difficulties with Family Home Teachers, so we're working a ton with the bishopric trying to kickstart the system. a loooooooot of people want nothing to do with us haha, but every now and then we find someone who really actually likes seeing us again and stuff. like yesterday we had a guy here at church, he served a mission a while ago, then went inactive for whatever reason, and now he's coming back, and he's a total stud. i'll have to try and get a picture with him. 

OH YEAH!!!! just to let you know, my camera broke like 3 weeks ago haha, it just pooped and wont turn on or anything. so im just mooching off one of the elders in my house and i keep using his camera, but i realized that im not gonna have a camera for the trip home, which totally sucks. i was thinking, if you guys are okay with it, i could buy a camera, like just a decent one, and then when i get home we'd just save it until Brig goes on his mish? 

but it was a pretty good week, an investigator got baptized yesterday which totally rocks. her name is Marisa, she's been dating a member for a while and the member started bringing her to church and she loved it, so we gave her a book of mormon, and she said that when she read it she cried a bunch, and she's like i've only been to church once, but i miss it and i feel this desire to go back. she's super sweet. and her boyfriend baptized her yesterday, but it sucks a little bit cuz she's moving to England on wednesday. but at least now she's moving there with the Gift of the Holy Ghost haha. and when she gets there we'll transfer her records, and she can have a ward or branch there waiting to greet her, which i think will be good for her, cuz she's really nervous. 

yea i like my comp, and he's totally fine now. im the one who's freaking out haha. it blows my mind being able to say that next week is my last week haha, like what the freak?!

and yea im in a 4 elder house, but like every Pday we hang out with other elders. plus since im using the camera of another elder to take pics, i only remember when we're doing something like at a big meeting or hanging out with others haha. 

and i really dont feel too sad about leaving, but i think thats because i know im coming back like a month later haha. but im sure that saying goodbye after that trip is just gonna suck super bad haha. it jsut really freaks me out that im gonna see you guys again and be back home again haha, like i just feel like im gonna get transfered to somewhere else. some elder asked me what it feels like to be going home, and i really dont feel like im going home. its like being in an area and knowing that on transfer day you're gonna leave, but it doesnt feel like you're going home. i feel like ive been here my whole life, so the thought of going home doesnt really register in my mind haha. 

And i dont know about UVU, i'd have to think about it. cuz like the whole reason i want to go to ASU is cuz its in Arizona. i would have no problem going to UVU or even BYU if it was in AZ. cuz honestly in my mind, i see college more as a thing to keep me busy while im getting ready for the Rangers. and so for about that year or so that im home before leaving for the Rangers, i'd actually like to spend it at home. if ASU is too expensive i can work for a while and just go a semester later, it really doesnt bother me. haha believe it or not, but im actually not dying to get back to school(; and maybe im looking at the wrong thing, but im gonna put below the links about the costs of ASU and UVU. and in the ASU one, you can break it up into costs of tuition per credit. if i only take like 3 hours a day, that takes tuition down to like 2grand per semester.

https://www.uvu.edu/financialaid/consumer/cost.html

https://students.asu.edu/tuition/results?acad_year=2016&residency=RES&acad_career=UGRD&campus=TEMPE&acad_prog=UGUC&admit_term=&admit_level=&honors=0&program_fee=

but yea i guess we've got time for that after i get home(:

and yea i got a big ole letter from colton, i'm expecting him to be there at the airport, and Brandon too haha. i dont really know about anyone else, but i wouldnt mind at all having anybody that wants to be there show up haha. 

well you're really only gonna get one more "normal" email from me, cuz the one after that is just a quick one saying that im getting on the plane haha, and honestly i dont even know if i'll send that haha, im gonna see you right after! haha 

i love you guys have a good week! and enjoy the peace and quite while it last, cuz you've only got 2 more weeks of it! cuz im just as loud as i've ever been, and i've had to restrain myself from being loud for 2 years, so its gonna be like opening a 2liter coke bottle after shaking it all up..... for 2 years! haha i love you guys!!!!!(: cant wait to see you again!!(:

November 2, 2015

Count Down- 4 Weeks to go!

Hey Momma(:

yea im starting to get pretty freaked out about the fact that im coming home haha, and i know a lot of people in this mish and so every time i run into some other missionaries they're always messing with me about going home haha. so don't worry about mentioning the countdown or not, cuz believe me you're not the only one talking about it haha(: 

holy crap holy crap holy crap i cant believe how big the boys are getting....... hahahaha hey what i just said reminded me of a movie quote, know which one? ... "Chief, are you thinking what i'm thinking?" ... "That depends, were you thinking 'holy shiz, holy shiz, a swordfish almost went through my head'... if so, then yes".... haha anyways, yea holy crap i cant believe how big the boys are, like what the crap, does everyone just share everything in the house now? like clothes and shoes and dirtbikes and whatnot?! hahahaha thats gonna be so weird!!!! aaaahhhhhh like living in a house with a bunch of other DUDES instead of living with LITTLE SIBLINGS hahahahaha what the freak?!?! Like everyone is my size or bigger now other than Ammon, but he's probably not that far off that punk!

my headaches are pretty much gone now, i think it may have had something to do with the weather, cuz it got really cold and really wet REALLY fast haha. and red bull is definitley not disgusting haha, the only thing thats disgusting about it is how much it fricken costs! 

its not really an "uplifting mission story", its just something cool i recognized that i never noticed before in the book of mormon. in moroni 8 moroni is just copying down a letter from his dad, and its something super small right in the beginning, Mormon says "i keep you always in my prayers". and i just thought that that was super cool, to see a little bit of the personal side of their relationship. like all either of them have ever known their whole lives was just war and wickedness, and someone as important as Mormon, the prophet of Christ's church as it's dying on the earth, and the top general of all the armies of the nephites, and in his personal prayers probably at night before going to bed, or before going to a battle, he never forgets to ask for the safety of his son. i dont know, i think its super cool to be able to see a more personal, day to day level of heroes like that. and then it made me think of how hard it must have been for Moroni, because right in the beginning of his book, he mentions how is dad was killed in combat. i mean most likely they were together when it happened, there were only 24 of them left, so i assume that they would stick together. holy crap could you imagine that? and even with all that, never once did moroni question whether or not all that he was sacrificing was worth it. his testimony was so strong, holy crap. and man, could you imagine how powerful they could have been with Mormon as they're leader if they had been a righteous people? freak that's what our country could use right now are some righteous leaders haha.

well i hope that rant works for you haha(: it was really cool to be able to read that last part of the book of mormon so quickly. i bet it was awesome to read it in 3 days, that must have just been like watching a movie or something. for me it made it a lot more realistic.

haha im really excited for like Pres Monson to get up at the podium one conference and say "well we've found the records of the tribes of whoever, and now we have the Russian version of the book of mormon" or the african version or something haha, cuz Jesus says in the book of mormon to Nephi in 3 Nephi that all the people on the earth that he visits he commands them to write, and in they're due time they'll come forth, so hopefully pretty soon we'll have whole new volumes of scriptures, like more prophets and stories and stuff... it'll be sweet.

im still trying to figure out what im gonna do as soon as i get home, and so far the prevailing idea is to just jump on the trampoline for like half an a hour haha, but there's still time to decide(:

i love you guys, have good week(: talk to you next week(:

 

some of the guys who played

yesterday for Pday we played football again, 

im just running a hand-off to the train as it flew by haha, i barely got the ball out of the way and the train operator didnt look too happy haha.

it had been raining a ton so the field was more mud than grass haha, we were just filthy by the time we finished haha.

some how i ended up as QB haha, but whatever cuz we won!

this was the crew, just a game of 5 on 5, but it was way fun. i hope you can see the mud haha. they wouldnt let us in McDonalds after because we were too dirty haha

October 26, 2015

One Month to Go!

Hey momma! 

haha about the whole month left thing im actually freakin out haha, like in 2 different directions. one side im super super suuuuper stoked to get home and see all you guys again, but on the other side im freaked out cuz ive been here for so long it feels like and my whole world right now is just MISSION haha, so its weird to think that i'll be doing normal stuff again haha. yea i'd think it be safe to say that im all of the above, but probably more than the rest im super excited to see all of you guys again(: SWEEEEEEEET holy crap im so freakin excited to go the dunes!!! like today we went bowling, and while it wasnt my turn, i fricken sat there just imagining myself back on my dirtbike haha, holy crap its gonna be sooo sick!! could you ask dad pretty please to send me pics of all the toys we're gonna be taking to do the dunes?? 

yea Elder Chantre is feeling better, but i've been having like chronic headaches for like 4 days now which is kinda weird, but a redbull usually fixes that haha. i think it might just have something to do with the change in the weather. man today we got dumped on!! me and Jimenez (the costa rican) went to go get some snacks, and it just started pouring haha we got soaked!! so who knows, maybe ill get the mental portuguese health sickenss haha. but hey speaking of sunny weather, i really wanna go wakeboarding when i get home. i know its gonna be cold, but i just really wanna get on a wakeboard, would michael or grandad let us go for a ride in their boat? and i was talking with Elder Riggs, he said he may go to the lake when he gets home too, we could go hang out, that would super cool! haha. 

im kinda behind in the reading, im in 3 Nephi lik 17 or 18, but man, i was getting super sucked into the story all throughout helaman, i didnt want to put it down haha. i hadnt read that part of the book of mormon in a long time, and i had forgotten how gnarly those stories are! man, Gidgadoni is such a boss!! and holy crap, Nephi (both the father and the son, but especially the father) are super bosses too haha, man i wish i could be a stud like them haha! ive gone back to reading in portugues, but yea i can completely understand spanish, its super sweet haha. speaking spanish is a little harder because i have to remember all the words, but when i hear it or read it i can understand it. 

we've honestly havent been teaching a ton of people, the work kinda slows down in the winter, especially with the rain. but we're working with a few references from members that are pretty cool. right now we're trying to help our ward a ton, cuz we just had a change in our Bishopric, and our last bishop was a little bit stubborn in his ways(which werent always the best haha) but he was a great guy. but now our bishop is one of my favorite members in this ward, and he's awesome. and so we're meeting with him a bunch and with some of the other members, and we're trying to create a new... i guess method you could say, of how this ward operates. just like reconstructing and whatnot, and im super excited for it cuz the ward really could use a make-over like this haha. 

i havent seen sister tavares again since that day that she said she would email you, but i gave her your email triciadayton@cox.net ... do you not use that one any more? what was the one you wanted me to have her use? i see her again on wednesday i think, so i'll give it to her then(: 

no im not a leader or anything in the mish right now, my technical title is "babysitter" haha, just kidding, but thats what we call in it the mission when our Pres puts us with someone to try and help that elder out. but no, i get to end my mish on a calmer note(: 

yea, i figured it would be a no... (to BYU Provo) oh darn(; and i was thinking about doing ASU and starting up right in january, today i got to hang out with Elder Riggs, and thats what he's doing, and me and him are both majoring in Mechanical Engineering, so if we start together we could end up being in some of the same classes, which would be super sick. and thats a bummer about HEFY, but hey, i bet they'd love to have me after i come home from the Rangers haha, they wouldn't have to worry about security at all haha. im not quite sure what im gonna do for a job yet though, but im gonna have to do something haha, i need moneys! haha

well i gotta run, but i love you guys!! have a good week, love you guys!!!(:

got to ride the train again.... like a gentleman

 

 us playing on stairs, we were sliding on the rails for like 10 minutes haha, just cuz we have ties doesn't me we're mature


















got to chill with Riggs today, the next time i see him will be in 30 days on an airplane headed state-side....

so earlier this week we were in main lisbon for an activity, and we got to ride the electric street cars, it was sweet

me in the street car, and some ginormous catholic church... they have those on like every corner here haha

October 19, 2015

Last Transfer

I think he drank a lot of caffeine and downed a ton of candy before writing this letter!!

Or he's just excited to come home!!

hey Momma!

first things first..... WHAT DUNES TRIP?!?!?!?! PLEEEEEEEAAAAAASE tell me thats its for AFTER im back home?!?! please oh please oh please!!! for real though, are you guys really planning a dunes trip?? and does that mean that like Brig and Mace and I are all sharing that 250?? oh my heck please say im invited to that trip!!! and man how is the RAZR?? is it like bad damaged? does it still run?? oh yea, and how is Briggy? he okay too? haha, he probably just wants to be as cool as his older brother, but hey, it takes a lot of skill to roll a car! 

okay, so off that hype, this week was pretty good, its been raining a ton, and my comp is sick. he's got like cold or a flu or something, just kinda under the weather. but yea transfers was last week and i stayed with Elder Chantre. once again i totally sucked at taking pictures this week, ive got a couple that im gonna send, maybe its i've just lost the drive to take pics cuz i feel like i've already taken pics of everything here haha, but i'll try and do better. Yea last week me and another elder in my house, we went over to Oeiras real quick to get some stuff, it was cool to go back. sweet, im totally gonna look that place up, hold on haha... man that hotel looks sick! and it'll be so sick cuz i totally know how to get around that place with a car haha, how fricken lucky is that that i served there with a car haha?!?! and hey, odd question, but do you know what kind of minivan it is?? i freakin hope its a manual haha(: 

i'm sure i'll find at least a couple people to speak portugues with! but yea, lately instead of reading the Book of Mormon in portugues, ive switched over to Spanish hahaha, i figure its a little more practical for back home haha. and yea, if you could do that about the HEFY i'd totally appreciate it! i think that'd be super cool! 

holy crap i cant believe that October is already more than half over, im honestly still wondering where summer went haha. and man, i cant believe how old the boys look. even freakin Brig has a some dang scruff!!! i can see it on his chin in one of those pics!! hahahahaha holy crap that was sooooo funny to me!! by the way, im totally growing a beard when i get home haha, and im contemplating shaving my head again.... but we'll see....

Things have been going pretty well over here. we got a new bishopric in our ward this past week, which totally rocks! now the bishop is like on of my favorite members here in this ward, he and his family are so cool and they have always done so much for this ward, it is awesome cuz now he's in a position to really make a difference, and right when the ward really needs it too. it has been raining quite a bit, but we're staying good... well i am at least, my comp is kinda sick haha, but i think its a mental thing. like Europeans and Africans are such sissy's when it comes to the rain. they're all like "holy crap! if you walk in the rain without 3 coats you're gonna get cancer!" hahahaha, not that bad, but sometimes its kinda annoying, cuz its still not really tooooo cold, so the other day it was raining and i was just in my white shirt and tie, and like everyone was looking at me like i was some rifle-toting baby seal murderer at a liberal "climate change" convention haha. but its whatever, cuz every one else psych's (haha how the frick do you spell that? its sounds like "sikes" but you know, its like when you mentally trick your self into something... ive been sitting here for like 2 minutes trying every different combination of how i can think to spell it, but none of them seem right, whatever) SIKES themselves into being sick, and i end up being the only healthy one haha.

haha i love you guys, and im really excited to see all of you(: have a gerd week!(:

oh ya know, just some of my best friends....

so i found this sick executive style chair in the road few weeks ago by a dumpster, but the chair is totally fine, so i carried it all the way home haha, now its like the comfiest thing in our house haha, i always fricken fall asleep in it, they tried taking a pic of me asleep, but i woke up right in time to pose for the pic haha
















and today for lunch we hit up like the only subway in portugal haha

October 12, 2015

October Break!

Hey Momma:)

holy crap i cant believe you guys are already on October break, i swear summer vacation just ended like a few weeks ago haha, why the heck does time seem to be going by at an exponential rate?? dang, that made me sound smart haha(;

well thats sweet, cuz i'd love to go to mexico someday haha(; those pictures looked totally awesome. im a bit nervous though about the trip here, just cuz it'll probably be cold and raining the whole time hahaha. its been raining non stop for about a week now, but i guess its supposed to clear up a bit on like thursday or something... we'll see! but im totally okay with it cuz im pretty used to it by now, you guys just better pack some rain coats haha. im gonna have to start thinking of things to do haha, i really am suuuuuuuuper excited to show you guys around here(: 

so y'all are totally gonna hate me for this, but i have taken 0 pictures this week haha, sorry! its been raining a ton, plus ive lost pretty much all my desire for taking pictures haha, cuz its like well here in a few weeks they can just see it with their own eyes! but i'll get back on my grind, i gotta get better at it... it would just be more fun if my camera didnt suck so bad!! 

haha i've kinda been thinking about what its gonna be like to be around a ton of people who dont understand portugues haha. today since it was transfers, we were in like the major train station of lisbon helping missionaries and whatnot, and there was this short older American lady who was totally lost and by herself haha. she was looking for a bus but had no idea what the heck was going on, so she saw us and realized we were mormons and spoke english, so she came and asked us for help, so me and another missionary in the house with me, we stayed with her for like half an hour getting her all her right tickets and telling her where to go, and she was just amazed at the fact that we could speak portuguese.... like i guess with so much time around missionaries i've just kinda forgotten how cool it is to realize that im actually fluent in another language. like portugues is so natural now. last night i had a dream that i was like in this zombie apocalypse (which by the way has been a really frequent topic in my dreams haha) and i was just killing zombies and trying to rally some human resistance for what felt like 4 or 5 hours, but the whole dream was in portuguese, and it felt totally normal to me. my thought process in my head is about 50% English and 50% portugues haha.... like i actually think in portugues without trying and its weird! im gonna have to find someone to speak portugues with, cuz i actually really enjoy speaking portugues with native speakers, especially brazilians, i like their accent a lot.

hey, so i talked with sister Tavares today, she said that she wanted to send you an email haha, i have no idea what she wanted to say to you, but she said that she's gonna send it in portugues, and you can just put it into google translator and it'll pop out in english haha. but when she writes you, could you forward what she sent to me pretty please? but forward the portuguese version pretty please haha(:

yippee.... Idaho...... weeeee.... hahaha i would say "screw that!", but im not gonna cuz thats not very nice...... hahahaha im so funny(; like yea, i guess its cool that i got accepted, but for me theres really mucho poco chance that i would ever to go to Idaho. i have been thinking a lot about college (in my free time of course(; haha) 

well lucky punks have fun in san diego! oh p.s. -- i really wanna go wake boarding when i get home haha, like i know its gonna be november, but i really wanna go, would uncle michael let us borrow his boat? haha(: okay i gotta run, i love you guys!! ill talk to you next week!! your only gonna get 5 more emails from me, then im coming home haha, how weird is that?!?!

No Pictures this week :(

October 5, 2015

General Conference

Zach sent me two emails separately and after I got the first I thought is was a bad joke...

Hey Momma!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Second email...

haha whoops, i didnt mean to just send that by its self haha, anyways...

first off happy birthday and i love you so much(: second off, holy crap i cant believe you lucky dogs down there in mexico! haha for real that place looks so pretty! tell Gavin to save me a piece of that corn! save me a piece of that corn for later! you know whats funny, you guys probably arent too far away from Bronson haha, he's in Mexico City.... thats a funny thought. 

yea conference was awesome! especially the sunday morning session, i thought all the talks were super good. but holy crap during Monson's talk Sunday Morning i thought he was gonna die at the podium! he was baring testimony at the end of his talk, and he starting having to support himself with his arms on the podium and starting sinking a little bit, then he kinda started slurring his words and repeating words, it was dang scary. I straight thought he was gonna say Amen, then just die right there. But he finished, then Uchtdorf stood up to help him back to his chair, it was nuts! I still havent seen the sunday afternoon session because of the time difference, so im gonna have to figure out a time when i can watch it, cuz i really wanna see it. 

Well i guess winter is getting here, its been raining like crazy all night last night and all day today haha, good thing i just love the cold, windy rain..... haha(; i hope the rain holds off for like another week and a bit, cuz i come home in 51 days, so if it waits and starts raining when i have 40 days left, then i hope it keeps raining until i leave with out stopping, then it would be like noah hahahaha, but instead of me finding dry ground after, i just fly back to az! that would be funny haha. 

Elder Holland gave a talk that i know will make you cry haha, but in a good way.... now that im thinking about it, i bet it will make dad cry even more haha, it was a really good talk. and the testimonies of the 3 new apostles were all awesome, i really really like the testimony of the 3rd... you'll have to check it out!(;

so we write an email to our mish pres every week, and he responds every week. well this week he wrote me a letter that im gonna share with you even though i dont want to, haha cuz i hate tooting my own horn, but i figure if i was a parent i would love to read this about my kid(; haha, he wrote it because right now im in a tri-panioship with 2 comps who both wanted to go home, but now both of them are doing great and neither want to go home which totally rocks. but anways here is what he wrote to me:

Grato a você Elder, quero ver como vou fazer para recuperar meus Missionários com problemas depois que você terminar a Missão. Realmente você tem um dom e sabe usá-lo, apenas não aja por impulso. Pode não acreditar, mas a Sister e eu sentiremos muito a tua falta.

haha i just copy and pasted his email in portugues then realized that im gonna have to translate it to english haha, hold on, this is what it says it english:

Thanks Elder, i need to figure out what im gonna do to fix my missionaries with problems after you end your mission. you truly have a gift and you know how to use it, just dont act soley on impulses. You may not believe it, but Sister (his wife) and i will greatly miss you. 

hahaha, that last part about impulses is funny, me and sister Tavares (my mish pres's wife) have a great relationship, she's super funny, but she treats me exactly like a mom cuz she says im still such a child inside, but she says it in a good way haha. the other day she smacked my head cuz i was taking selfies on her ipad hahahaha, but then she couldnt even grab the ipad after cuz she was laughing so hard hahaha. im so excited for you guys to get to meet them, they're so cool(: 

well i gotta run, but you guys better be living it up in freaking Mexico!! arriba!!! and happy happy birthday momma! i love you so much, im gonna be sending something in the mail soon!! its not huge cuz im poor haha, but be on the lookout for something!! love you!!(:

got to go back and visit my old area Oeiras, this is Elder Yancey, we're in the same house right now and he also served here, so we went back together, it was weird going back haha but it was cool

this is Elder Jiminez, one of my 2 companions right now, super sick guy from Costa Rica. we have such a riot together, hes trying to get my to go back and live with him in costa rica haha. and the others are some members from my old area Amadora, its awesome seeing old friends

September 28, 2015

Zach = Amazing Mission Comp

so here's my posterity! haha, my kid elder Cordon, and now his kid elder Lowry. freakin finally! i only have stinkin 8 weeks left, but i finally got a grandkid haha!

Hey momma,

gosh dang you punks, i cant believe you going to stinkin mexico!! haha thats so cool. well hey, now im in a Tripla (like a tri-companionship.... there's three of us) its me(duh), Elder Chantre (the ginormous african) and Elder Jiminez (from Costa Rica, we were really good friends back in amadora, and he's been having some problems in the mission lately, so Pres put him with me and chantre and now im doing double babysitting duty haha, but its going really well, both of the guys are really cool and we all get along great)... (i dont know why that was all in parenthesis haha).

haha i was hoping you would like those videos from Helio! haha, Helio is so excited to meet you guys haha. holy crap a ton of people are excited to meet you guys haha, i really am hoping that we're gonna have enough time to visit everyone! we're gonna have to go nonstop all week! i know that my Mish Pres's wife is dying to meet you guys, especially you momma haha, she talks all the time about how im crazy and its a good thing but sometimes i walk too close to the edge haha.... whatever!!! but anyways shes dying to meet you guys too haha. and i freakin hope that Helio serves a mission, ive been talking about it with him every sunday for a while now. hes definitely more open to it now than he was back in december when he was baptised, which is super sick, ive got 2 months to convince! haha pray for him, he'd be a great elder! 

haha sometimes i think about it, i think you guys will be surprised at how much i have NOT changed hahaha, like i feel kinda bad saying it, and like ive learned a ton more and have definitely improved in some aspects... but im still like the same spaz i was before haha, today i kinda hurt my ankle cuz we were going into the metro and i tried jumping down like 15 steps on a flight of stairs and totally ate crap at the bottom hahahaha. but my ankle is totally fine now haha. 

haha, that picture with ammon holding the letter from ASU is sweet haha. brandon was suuuuuper excited when i told him that i was accepted hahaha, when was the last time that you guys saw brandon anyways?? oh and hey guess what?? i went to Hard Rock Cafe today haha, they have one here in lisbon... oh my heck it was so expensive! haha it really wasnt worth it hahahaha, like it was suuuuuuuuuper delicious... but im definitely not doing it again haha. so thats why i took money out today. but im trying to cut down on spending haha, i really hate when i put my debit card into an atm and take money out hahaha

my book of mormon reading is going pretty good, im in like alma 50 something, i've fallen behind a little bit cuz i found some sweet books about like old testament deep doctrine crap that ive been reading lately, so i need to catch up on the BoM. but things are going pretty good here, our house is super fun and loud haha, we have 2 guitars, a ukulele, and a bongo drum haha, so we jam all the time.

and tell the bros that since you guys arent there to take pics that if they dont take pics im gonna give them all epic purple nurples when i get back! haha,

well i gotta run, but ill write you guys next week!(: love you guys, i think ive got a couple pics to send!

i ran into good ole McGraw in the office the other day, haha that guys is sick

pitstop at the only dangit mexican resturant in all of portugal haha, with elder Jimenez from Costa Rica, so now im comps with Jimenez and the giant african Chantre haha

this is President Nestor Corales, the district Pres from down south in portugal, he's the one who came and rescued me and McGraw when we rolled our car hahaha, it was cool to see him again, we had some good laughs haha

and today we went to the Hard Rock Cafe here in Lisbon, this was us trying to find it in like uptown major Lisbon haha. this is Sensen (elder Jensen) from the mtc

the Hard Rock Cafe was sooo good, but soooooooo expensive haha. it was the elders birthday who's on the far right, it was pretty fun to here some good american rock again haha, i asked if i could make a request for a song, and they let me make a whole playlist haha, it was sick

September 21, 2015

New Comp!

This is the type of picture that I love to get mid-week! They have big screens at the metro stations in Lisbon that email me pics of my cute missionary!!

hey Momma!

okay i lied haha, its not really getting cold here, it was just this weird cold front that came through haha, it rained for a bit, but now its warmer again haha. but i think this winter is gonna be pretty chilly, so we'll have to pack warm clothes haha. 

and yea things are going pretty well with our investigators, oh yea hey, ive got some news haha. so last night my Comp got emergency transfered, so now im with a new comp. he's from Cape Verde, and he's having trouble in the mish and wants to go home, so i guess im the babysitter here in the mish haha. he's a pretty cool guy, he just wants to go home for some reason, i dont really know haha, ive known the guy for like 15 hours. hes fricken huge! hes like 6ft 6in haha. but im excited to serve with him, he seems kinda depressed, so i'd at least like to try and cheer him up haha. so yea transfers are in 3 weeks, but depending on how the rest of this transfer goes may determine how my last goes haha. if Chantre (thats my comp, Elder Chantre) ends up leaving the mission, ill probaby stay one more and die here in Tejo, and if he ends up staying in the mish its like a 50/50 as to whether i stay or go, so i have no idea whats gonna happen, but i feel like im gonna end my mish here, which is sweet cuz i love this area and ward. Tejo has about 100 - 120 active people every week, with fluctuations of up to 20 people..... wow that sounded really intelligent haha. and yea its a ward, and im the fricken pianist haha, i play every fetching sunday haha. 

and dang you lucky dogs!! i wanna go to canun!! holy moly..... can you believe that maybe in a few years, i'll be invited to those "adult trips" with my wife?!?!....... ahhhhhhhhhh lets never think about that again haha, thats not for another few years haha, thats really funny though! you guys better take a ton of pics haha! and thats funny that its the same weekend of homecoming haha, i bet the boys are super stoked about that(; and why would peyton pile watch ammon, wouldnt she want to go to the dance too? i cant believe we're already almost into freakin October haha, where the dump has my life gone? haha well brig better shape up, cuz he's only got 9 weeks before i get home and i have a feeling im gonna be the babysitter when i get back cuz im gonna have nothing to do haha. 

oh and speaking of doing something, i saw that i got accepted to ASU, when am i gonna need to pick a major haha, or can i just do that once i get back home?? and when will we find out about BYU? is it bad if i secretly hope that i got rejected from BYU??? hahaha(; 

whoops sorry, i've gotta go, but i'll have more time next week. i love you guys!! ill have to do better at taking more pics too haha! tchau!!

this is Eduardo, Namy, and Namy's daughter Beatriz

 me and the coolest member ever Helio.... and that little kid in the corner of the pic is one of my best friends here haha, he reminds me of ammon sometimes and kinda looks like him

September 15, 2015

Another Week Down!

this is just some suuuuuper fluffy dog that always just hangs its head out the window and watches people go by like its some person haha, its really funny.

Hey Momma!!

sorry, yesterday was kinda crazy, we went to the zoo haha, but i've got a little bit of time right now(: I'm doing great, and the work is going well, its starting to pick up a little bit, which is really nice. the family is doing awesome, right now we're working with one of the older sons, and he's super sick. yea im really really excited to be able to sit in sacrament meeting and play with all the little cousins again, i fricken hate the no playing with kids rule haha!! 

our week was pretty generic too, but man its starting to get cold here! hahaha, so its funny to hear you talking about how hot it is, cuz im already wearing a sweater on certain days haha. actually right now its raining, so im gonna make some chicken noodle soup for lunch (which by the way i can make pretty dang well haha) ive actually learned to cook a few things! 

haha i started laughing when i read the part about dad being excited for Gavin about the elk, cuz i can totally see him just being soooo stoked haha, he better be that stoked when he sees me in the airport!! haha just kidding, but hey i've got some friends up in Utah who are inviting me to go up hunting with them sometime early next year, and dad would totally be invited if he wants! its Elder Horne, that elder who is fricken 6ft 8in haha, the ginormous one! he keeps send me pics of all the stuff he's been hunting, he actually just got an elk with his bow too, so thats really sick. i wanna see the pics of that camping trip and that elk that gavin got!! and HEY!!! i finally got myself an elevation mask!! haha, so im gonna start working out really hard when i get home, and since the boys are volleyball instead of lacrosse, they're gonna have to come work out with me! haha, im gonna buy a giant tire too and do tire workouts, i'll have the boys do them so that they dont get all scrawny up top! haha(; 

yea im pretty trunky haha, but there's a difference between "trunky" and "dead". trunky is just where you are like really excited to get back and see family and do fun stuff again, or in my case get distracted by EVERY SINGLE MOTORCYCLE THAT GOES BY haha, but thats been like that my whole mish haha. but im not dead! dead is when you dont work at all. screw that, those people are worthless!! haha, i still work hard.... im just really excited to go dirtbiking too (; haha.

I dont know about any inspiring words, but we had a cool lesson last night with a guy about faith and obedience, and the guy started talking about when he was young, he remembers that he heard some story about a prophet who only had 1 son, and was commanded to sacrifice that son, even though it was the most important thing in the world to him. we explained that that was Abraham and his son Isaac, and the faith that Abraham had to follow through with that. its was pretty cool, the man got a little teary eyed talking about how hard it must've been. im glad we dont do sacrifices anymore haha, cuz i dont know if i could do that!!

well i gotta run now, i'll try to send a couple pics from the zoo, love you guys!!!

IM A BUCK!!!!! haha, they had this big face-board thing at the zoo, and those are just some other missionaries that went with us. 

this one is at a cemetary. one of the members of our ward died of cancer last week. it totally sucks cuz i knew her really well, super awesome lady... that day wasnt too fun

so this is a giant music store that we went to on Pday, we spent like 2 hours just jamming on the electric guitars and drums, it was pretty fun.

so they opened a freakin Dominos right in our area! haha, soooooo awesome to finally have some American style pizza again haha

FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I FINALLY GOT MYSELF A TRAINING MASK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hahaha holy crap i've been waiting for-freakin-ever!!! but the thing is super sick, i was jumping rope with it this morning and it fricken kicked my butt haha!! and no im not a freak, its already really cold here haha, its a good thing i go home in november, cuz this winter is gonna be freezing!!

sometimes i swear im serving in africa haha, this is just a super cool part-member family

Sept 7, 2015

Labor Day!

2015

so Sofia taught me how to make clams the other night. holy crap i fricken love clams now, i ate that whole bucket by my self haha, they we're sooooo yummy!!

Hey Momma!

man, so its labor day, then your birthday, then Halloween...... then i come home!! haha holy crap, just three holidays away haha. im not like fat or nothing, i just am not in shape anymore haha, plus my gut sticks out farther than it used to haha, but i've already got a plan to fix that when i get home haha(: thats pretty sweet, is it a new gym? i dont remember that gym. im gonna want to just crossfit a bunch and get in really good shape haha. and i aint stressing out about working out or nothing, its just something that ive come to terms with that i need to fix! 

thank you so much for fasting for her, she's been doing a lot better, and she seems like she's even more determined now to quit, which is awesome. yea the Word of Wisdom has been the hardest battle to over come my whole mission, its just rampant here :/ but its really awesome to be able to help people overcome their problems! 

i got that video of Dad and Ammon wake surfing, that was fricken sweet! im a little bummed that im coming home in the winter cuz we wont be able to do anything at the lake or whatever, but who cares, its probably better, so that i can ease my self back into the blazing arizona summer haha(; and holy crap im super excited to be able to go to the boys' games and watch them play and be loud and the most annoying fan in the crowd haha, its gonna be sick! 

so i cant remember exaclty where i am in the book of mormon, i think im in like alma 40 somthing, but ive switched from portugues to spanish hahaha(: i figured im already fluent in portugues, so i wanna work on my spanish a bit haha, plus i personally like spanish more than portugues too(; but the reading is coming along great, im super stoked that im finally getting into the war chapters haha, they're always my favorite(; and man, im soooo excited to be able to go to the temple again! i really miss it pretty badly! plus im super stoked to go to the Phoenix and the Gilbert temples, cuz neither of those were even around when i left haha, ive been gone forever! 

haha yea Helio went to Germany for like 2 weeks or something just to visit, he's already back, he was at church yesterday. man he's soooo cool! next sunday ill do my best to try and remeber to take a pic with him to put on instagram so you can see haha(: and yea im pretty sure you'll get to all see him when we come! 

well lately we've been teaching a couple new people. apparently one of them is like a pretty famous painter or something haha, he's a little bit weird but he's really nice and pretty cool. theres a part member family that we've been working with too and we're trying to help baptize the sons and complete the family, they're a super cool family, you guys will get to meet them too(: i dont know haha, its like once i sit down to type i cant really think of much of what we've been doing throughout the week haha, but its been going good! i bought my self a new suit today because my old one was ripping and all the suits are on like super end of summer sale, so thats why i took a chunk out of my bank account haha, but the suits are super nice and a fricken dirt cheap here!! its awesome! dont buy any suits for the boys or anything, cuz we can get some sweet ones here for really cheap when we come haha(:

well i gotta go so that i can send some pics real quick!! i love you guys all so much, have a gerd week!!(;

 there's a little carnival thing that's right by our house for a few days, so we went and did the bumper cars haha, it was pretty fun, it totally got my butt whooped though haha, but at least i didnt roll it!














today we were going to this music store for this elder in the pic (elder Yancey) to get a guitar, and we found this sick statue thing in this park. it had like stairs and stuff and was made out of concrete, but it was way high up, so we climbed up and we're playing on it forever haha, it was sweet