June 30, 2014

Zach Gets Transfered to Beja!!

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

Hey Momma!!(:

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

and now for the questions:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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