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

August 31, 2015

Keeping it Real in Tejo :)

Hi Momma!

Im doing pretty good! we had transfers, but me and my comp are both staying, which is pretty sweet cuz he's a really good guy and i love this area. If the person who sent you those pics is named something Tavares, its my mish pres's wife haha. Could you forward those pics to me pretty please, i havent seen them! And of course, a true jedi never leaves home without his lightsaber haha. and i had just taken my jacket off, so the last thing i wanted to do was put it back on haha. but im now in my fricken 15th transfer..... next transfer is my last haha, i only have 12 weeks left!! what the dump?!?! and i swear, when im older and married and have kids, if my kids are acting up and need a good smacking, they're getting smacked with a light saber... or a nerf sword haha those things are sick.

holy crap, that really kinda makes it seem close, the fact that you know im getting home right at 6:20pm haha, thats weird!! it really freaks me out! like im super super excited to see you guys, but its one of those days that you never really think is gonna happen haha. what was it like for dad as he was getting close to the end of his mish?? 

and sweet, how long will it take for the colleges to all respond? im actually kinda anxious about the responses haha! 

so with transfers me and my comp both stayed. just one elder left, and another elder came in who's pretty cool, so this house will be fun. im really gonna try to get in shape before coming home haha! 

Namy's doing better. we're gonna do a fast together with them and another member who has been helping us with them from tuesday to wednesday (we fast from lunch one day to lunch the next day, cuz lunch is the main meal here haha). and she's gonna do it too, so we're excited for that! 

and i got that other package today! thank you so much, have i ever told you how much i love you?!?!?!(: you lucky punks going to cali so much haha, i know it sounds weird, but im actually really excited to spend another week or summer or whatever in that condo all packed in like gyspies haha, i miss all the little cousins! well i miss everybody, but i really miss being able to play with kids haha. i know haha, Grandad is such a boss, i tell everyone that i wanna be like him cuz of how hard he works, and how hard he plays! haha, i just love our family(: and you hadn't told me that about Holden, but thats pretty cool haha. its kinda humbling haha, but im really glad that he went, i thought for a little bit he wouldnt, but he came through like he always does, that fricken retard haha(: i cant wait to see him again, its gonna be sooooooo loud in the airport when he comes home haha. im probably gonna knock over his mom so that i can be the first to hug him hahaha. 

i love you guys so much, i've got a couple more pics that im gonna send right now, but i'll talk to you guys more next week!! 

oh and p.s. -- im on Alma like 34 or 35. i know im behind, but im reading about 2 or 3 a day, so i'll probably finish a little early maybe haha. 

love you guys!!(:

its was my turn to cook at Sofia's house haha, i made spicy chili. holy crap, 3 more months till real Mexican food!!

this is Elder Gjika, he's from Albania and he came into the mish with us. super sick guy, and i taught him how to do the Pitchfork hahaha, he's fricken cool dude

this is elder Jensen that was also in the MTC with us, and a really sick member from Amadora named Arivelton... haha i taught him how to do the PItchfork too!! hahahaha

hahaha i found Manzanita berries! they are those funky little berries that we at on that Last Nephite super-activity for young mens we did a few summers ago haha, they grow in my area and i totally snack on them every time we go by hahaha.... they're still just as gross in europe