Inspirational Stories
I asked Zach a few questions...
hey momma!
okay to answer your questions.
1. no i did not get the package yet, but its here in portugal. i talked with someone from the office today, the package is being held hostage in the post office because of what is written on the box, so the office has to go down to the place and pay a tax on it. but hopefully they will let the office have it, cuz one lady (an american missionary couple lady) said that she had her family send her some Benedryl, and the Portugues wouldnt let her have it cause it was medicine, so they sent it back to america. when you go to put whats on the box, just put like socks or something haha. and they say dont ever put "shoes", "food", or "electronic items" or "ipods" or anything like that, cuz it will for sure get taxed, and the food and medicine may get sent back. so hopefully here in a couple days i will be able to get it! haha
2. The 10 year old son was baptised on Friday, and so hopefully the rest of the family will follow his example, we're still working with all of them. but the baptism was awesome cuz they have a ton of family here and most of them are members, so his uncle baptised him, and he was totally smiling ear to ear when he came out of the water. and then as we were ending the baptismal service, after the closing prayer he went and gave his mom a big hug and they both started crying, it was so awesome! then we went to their house after for a party, but i have a ton of pictures so i'll send those!
3. Elder Bednar was awesome! so Saturday night they had a conference thingy in our chapel with all the youth in three different stakes, and Bednar did like a question and answer with them, it was super sick. he had some cool stuff to say about success that i took notes on, he said "True success is when we are going through difficult times, and we keep going. Success is not measured by the material things around a person, but on what is inside the person. And the key to understanding success is understanding our dependence on the Atonement. the source of power does not come from within us, but from our dependence on the Atonement."
And then someone asked what he thought were some of the most important things in the eyes of Jesus, and how do we fulfill the measure of our creation, and he ansered it way cool, he said "well lets look at the scriptures..." and then went on to explain how in the Bible, when Jesus says to His disciples "My time is at hand", from that point until his crucifiction is when he taught the most crucial things, because he had little time and it was the last thing he would teach them. and the first thing that Jesus does is institute the Sacrament, Bednar explained that the importance of this is the ordinance. then he said "In the ordinances of the Priesthood, Godliness is made manifest to men and women in the flesh; and without ordinances Godliness is NOT made manifest to men and women in the flesh." then in the Book of Mormon, when Jesus visits, Bednar again explained how He knew that He had very little time, so obviously He would teach the most important things. the first thing He does is give the Priesthood, and the second thing He does is institute the right way of baptism(AN ORDINANCE!). Elder Bednar explain to us that ordinances are soooo important because without ordinances we dont have access to blessings, ordinances are the key. and then he answered how do we fulfill the measure of our creation(kind of a big question), he said "We fulfill the measure of our creation when we RECIEVE ordinances, REMEMBER them, and HONOR them. We dont have to be perfect, but we have to keep pressing forward." it was just super awesome to hear how deep of an understanding he has of the gospel! and he gave tips on how to study, he said what he does after every general Conference, is he takes the talks of all 15 of the prophets, seers, and revelators (the 1st Presidency and the Quorum of the 12) and takes a sheet of paper for each and makes the three following columns:
1. What doctrine or principles are taught in this message?
2. What are we invited to do?
3. What blessings will come if we do those things?
and thats how he studies, i thought that was sweet, but a ton of work! haha
4. today is supposed to be 2 Nephi chapter 1, but im on verse 20 too haha, cuz our weekend has been crazy, but im gonna catch up!
**this is about the man in the picture above:)
i also wanted to share something about another man who was finally baptised, his name is António José and he's 57, and his story is just awesome. about 4 years ago he started investigating the church. he was married (for the second time) to a brazilian who was already a member. well he was really liking the church and almost got to the point of getting baptised, but then one night him and his wife were out driving and it was raining really badly. He lost control of the car and they got into a wreck, and his wife died in the crash. he was badly injured, and now his right arm doesnt not function at all, its just stuck at his side, and his right leg hardly moves at all either. his brain was badly damaged too and is still is. he can talk just fine and can have conversations with people like normal, but he cant write and has difficulty reading, and remembering things is hard for him. but after the crash he lost contact with the church and everyone that was helping him to progress. then about 2 months ago we had stake conference, and a member(an old chinese lady) told us that she has a neighbor who sits in his home all day and is semi-paralyzed, who lost his wife, and he needs to hear the gospel and she invited him to come to the conference and he said yes. so we thought awesome! haha, and he came and really liked it, and so we started to teach him. he came also the following week to church, and a member walked up and told us pretty much the whole story of this man, and how 4 years ago they had been pretty good friends in the church, and then one day all of a sudden he stopped coming. so this member helped us a ton to teach and prepare this man. Finally yesterday, Antonio was baptised by his friend the member who had been helping us, and it was just incredible. my comp got in the water too to help because he's really disabled, and so we put a little chair in the water for him to sit in, the member said the prayer, and they both gently lowered him into the water. well he hadnt even finished coming up out of the water and he just started saying how happy he felt and how incredible it was and what a beautiful day it was and how much he loved us, and i just started crying haha, it was so awesome to see him so happy. well his brain works a little bit more simply, and so a lot of the time he just says what hes thinking, and after when we were sitting down to finish the baptismal service, he turned to his friend that baptised him and said "i feel as if i were a child, and i feel as if you were my father", and we explained to him that he feels that way because he was completey pure and innocent, just like a child, and his face just lit up. Antonio is an awesome example to me, he has had a horrible trial in his life, but he hasnt let it make him bitter, it has really humbled him, and he is so grateful for every little thing in his life. so that was pretty much the biggest highlight of the last few weeks or so for me haha(:
well i hope i answered all your questions! haha, i love you guys so much, and ill write you again next week!(:
and here's everyone who showed up to his baptism, small group, but more people showed up later, we ended up with about 30 people by the time we had to leave, it was way sick
this is António José(the taller one with the cane) he was baptised yesterday by his really good friend! it was super awesome!
**Zach catches up with friends from around his mission while at the Conference with Elder Bednar
and i even saw Simon! my crazy old ward mission leader from Beja! haha
another good friend from Tejo, who when i went to take a picture like a normal person, he said "no no no, we have to do the pose-thingy you always do" haha, so thats what we did
we had a huge conference on sunday with Elder Bednar, and so i got to see a ton of old friends from all over portugal! this guy is from a few areas ago, and this is Isabel, my mission mom from Tomar! haha
Zach was one of the missionaries that taught and baptized Helio last November!!
once again, my main dawg Fossati, always keeping it cool and serious together, never once gettin yelled at for being too loud.... 
some more of the people. they are all super cool and funny, but they dont speak portugues, just spanish. buts its okay cuz portugues and spanish are the same fricken thing, so we can understand everything that the other one says haha
after the baptism we went to a party back at their house, and in Ecuador the tradition is when some is baptized, the family of the person baptized gives a crapton of fruit to the person who has baptized him haha, there was soooooo much fruit! here's me and my comp at this sick chapel in a city called Cascais, the chapel is an old mansion that the church bought, and its sick!
Here is my AMAZING missionary!! I can't wait for Mother's Day!!
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