November 17, 2014

Zach says goodbye to old Friends...

and hello to new ones

I LITERALLY JUST GOT DONE TALKING TO ELDER QUENTIN L COOK!!!!! he came and talked to our mission on friday and that was sweet! and while we were in our chapel doing emails he came by with a few others to see the chapel and we got to hang out with him for like 20 minutes!!! 

I GOT JUST TO HANG OUT WITH A LIVING APOSTLE!!!!!!!!!!! hahahahaha we got to see him and shake his hand on firday when he came to talk to our mission, but holy crud we just gave him a big ole tour of our chapel and hung out for a while! and they were totally asking about Barbara Dayton and stuff, and they were with some other guy, who i guess is Taylor and Molly's stake president, and also knows grandpa and grandma margaret hahaha, we weet took a bunch of pictures, so maybe start asking the utah daytons for some pictures haha(; 

and so yea, i got transfered out of Beja:( that seriously was one of the hardest goodbyes i have ever had to say, but i got to see Elder Roberts at the meeting with Elder Cook on friday, and he said that they are doing really well, which makes me soooo happy, and i cant wait to see them again(: so that's right where we're going when you guys come, because you guys have to meet them!!

and now im in LISBON haha, its just such a drastic change of the way of life haha. but im loving being here and i already love the people so much. And my new comps name is Elder Cedric Huntington, he's from Alaska hahahaha, so at night he has a fan pointed at him, and i have my onezy, like two blankets and a heater hahaha, but its awesome(: he's such and incredible missionary, and he goes home in three weeks. by the way TRANSFERS ARE ON THE 7TH OF DECEMBER becuase the church doesnt do any transportation two weeks before or after christmas cuz its so expensive, so this is a 4 week transfer, and the next one is an 8 week transfer haha. i almost certainly will be staying here, because Elder Huntington is going home, and so ill keep the area and i guess have to teach some one else how to be zone leader of
Lisbon haha, which by the way is gnarly and a ton of work haha. so if you could pretty please include me in your prayers so that somehow i can magnify my calling... i would greatly appreciate it hahahhaha(; 

my address is:

Rua Cidade de Moçamedes

Nº243 R/C DTO

1800 - 104 Lisboa

and you dont really wanna send packages to the mission home, but to the mission office, and the address for that is:

Rua Jorge Barradas

Nº14C

1500 - 370 Lisboa

and i've started a new personal study, im reading the whole Book of Mormon from the start, and im underlining every time there is a testification of Christ or Heavenly Father in blue..... there's already so much blue hahahaha. 

well i love you guys and ill write you again next week!!(: maybe check on lds.org and see if they put up any pictures of ELder Cook visiting portugal!! haha, im sitting in the front on the floor in one of the pictures if it is up there haha

this was me saying goodbye to our Branch President Ruberval Souza and his wife Sheila and sister Rose..... they gave me a really nice Brasil soccer jersey haha

this was me saying good bye to the Jeffers (a missionary couple from my last area) they got me a little batman thing haha

this was by far the hardest goodbye i've ever had to say..... haha i cried worse than Denis and Lucas, but i hear that they're doing great which is awesome. actually their mom had to go to the hospital after i left, because she had been crying so much and couldn't stop that she dehydrated herself and they had to put an IV in her haha...... Beja is the first place im going when i come back here

this is some from the neighborhood called Texas that came out to say goodbye the night i found out i was getting transfered

 now im in a 6 elder house (hahahahhaha its a nonstop party) and this is Elder williams, he goes home in a few weeks and he aint my comp, but we're in the same house which is way dope cuz we've been friends for a while in the mission, and now since im in Lisbon i ride the metro like a trillion times a day haha, its suuuuuuch a different lifestyle here haha but its sweet. this is us goinog down into the metro

and this is elder williams again, in our new chapel here in Lisbon.... it used to be an old mansion and they turned it into a church, so it kinda feels like you're in a disney land ride haha its sweet

so this is outside our chapel mansion haha, a big ole thing of Poseidon!! haha

and this is a missionary couple the Markhams, they know Grandpa Lynn Dayton! haha

 so these are two tiny Filipino's hahah (sorry i have no idea how to spell it in English, so there it is in português) the tiny one in yellow is 25!! haha, she just got baptized on saturday hahaha they're soooooo funny!









 and this is 4 of the 6 elders in our house, left to right goes Elder Williams and Bianucci (comps) then me and my compe elder Huntington, who by the way is super dope

and these are some sisters who are trying to flirt to convert people who are already converted hahaha and my new comp elder Huntington

November 10, 2014

Transfer for Zach

Zach has mixed emotions about being transferred. He was rushed with all the changes, and so his letter(s) is short and sweet. No pictures this week :(

Hey momma!! well yea i got transfered, and now im in a place called Tejo, it's right inside Lisbon haha, this is a huuuuge change, now in a big city!! Well today has been crazy, so I'm super sorry but I have like no time to email today, but I love you guys and I'll write you next week!! But I'm safe and doing great(: I'll be able to right next week!!

An hour later Zach found a little more time :)

Hey momma, I've got a little bit more time(: but I'm in the mission office right now, so I can't send pictures this week, but I'll send them next week. I still dont know what my new address is, but could you maybe send a package with all the good stuff? You could send it to the mission office, cuz my new area is right by the mission office, and I'm a zone leader now hahahaha, which I think is proof that president lost his mind, but it'll be a great learning opportunity haha, dad can explain what a zone leader is(: But ya, saying good bye to Beja was by far the hardest goodbye yet. I'm not gonna lie, saying good bye to Denis was so hard, because he didn't fully understand why I had to leave, so when we come back to visit, we have to spend at least a whole day in Beja, because I already miss that place so much haha. But I'm just so grateful for the opportunity I had to serve there, because those people will always have such special place in my heart. But I'm excited for this up coming transfer and what it's got in store for me(: And this coming Friday we have a big ole meeting here in Lisbon, and Elder Quitin L Cook is coming to talk to us, so I'll get to see Elder Roberts again!!(: but now i gotta bounce, so I"ll write more next week!! I love you guys!!(:

LOVE THIS BOY!!

November 3, 2014

Halloween in Portugal

 Zach's Branch Celebrates!

Hey momma!!(:

ill definitely have to check out that talk, i love Pres. Uchtdorf haha. and holy crud, i know i say this about every week, but i cant believe how big the boys are getting!! and man, i feel like its been FOREVER since ive seen that backyard haha.

well this week has been pretty uneventful for me and elder Roberts, mostly cuz we spent a ton of time down in a different city called Faro. we had a zone meeting on wednesday, which means we have to go town tuesday and spend the night cuz we live so far away. so at 6:00pm tuesday we took a 3 hour bus ride down to faro, then the next day at 4:30 a 3 hour bus ride back to Beja to arrive at almost 8pm wednesday night. and wednesday elder Roberts stayed in faro with another elder, and i came back with an Elder Andrade from Cape Verde for divisions. then thursday morning at 10:00am andrade and i caught another 3 hour bus ride back to faro to pick up Elder roberts... then finally elder roberts and i caught one last bus ride back to beja at 4:30 again, to get back to beja around 8:00pm thursday night haha... it was just so much fun.....

but then on friday we had our sweet halloween party, and im gonna have Sheila (our branch pres's wife) accept you guys on facebook for me so that you can see all the stuff that she tags me in, cuz i forgot to take pictures at the party haha sorry. its gonna be hard to eventually leave this place. speaking of which, this coming up sunday is transfers, so this is the last pday of this transfer, so next monday im not positive if im staying here or not, so i guess you'll find out next monday!! but im getting pretty anxious cuz im most likely to be leaving this area and i have no idea whats happening!! haha

And earlier this week i had kind of a cool expirience. i dont remember what i was doing at the time, but i just remember getting distracting by something and my mind starting to wander off, then i swear i heard a voice saying "I need you today" and right away i got back to what i should have been doing. and it was just really cool to have a little help like that, cuz i definitley need it haha!(; its just so cool to be able to be in an enviroment where i can truly get just even a glimpse at how much Heavenly Father does for all of us. theres also a little thing i was thinking of today talking about Heavenly Father, it goes like this. "Of all the titles of respect, honor, praise, and worship associated with Diety, He chose to have us call Him Father." tell me that's not the coolest thing you've every heard! haha, I just am so grateful for the apportunity to serve a mission, and gosh dang i love my Heavenly Father so much(: 

and dont worry, i love you guys so much too(; haha, but now i gotta run, so ill write you guys again next week!! love you all!!

some pictures of our Halloween Party!! that's our Branch Pres and his little son as dracula hahaha

Zach is photo bombing!

so i kept putting the cat on top of the ghost, but apparently thats not where our branch pres's wife wanted it cuz she kept moving it.... but i kept moving it back haha!!

 and this was at a baptism of the other elders on saturday!!

biggest thugs in the mish....... dont mess

this is Bea..... i think that she forgot about this missionary bubble...

I love how uncomfortable Zach looks, hahaha

this was after a meeting down in a city called Faro. its on the southern coast of Portugal and is against the ocean, so we went to take a peak..... i can now say that i got in the ocean on my mish!

AND A BENTLY!!!!! im fetching buying one of these when i get home haha. and this is my new dope headband that i wear when we play basket ball and a pair of fake RayBands i got for 3 bucks haha(:

October 27, 2014

Zach will always be Zach!!

Boy I LOVE HIM!!

Hey Momma!!(:

My week has been pretty sweet! I love being here in Beja so much, Me and the guys in this house have just gotten so close, it'll be tough when the time comes to leave. Transfers are the 9th of November, and im probably going to be leaving Beja, but until then Im still here with Elder Roberts(: Our day to day has been awesome, this last week we just got down and hit the dirt so hard, we worked like dogs this week, and it was honestly so much fun. i can't believe how fast the last two weeks have flown by! like holy crap we're already about into November! what the dump!? im creeping up on a year..... that's just not right haha, it freaks me out if i think too much about it, kind of like trying to comprehend eternity.... so i just kinda shove it off and try not to think about it haha(:

Our ZOne Conference was awesome. Pres talked a bunch on focusing on the Book of Mormon in the conversion of an investigator, because the Book of Mormon is what the Church of Christ is built on, and it's what makes us different from any other Church. Joseph Smith himself said "it is the corner stone of our religion". 

hmm ive never heard of an Elder Yarbrollo haha (dont tell him that!!) but you'll have to ask him where he served and who he served with!! haha, and i guess that's a good thing that he only had good stuff to say haha(:

And has anyone else from our ward or stake gotten their mission calls lately!? what about the mcbride boys?! im dying to hear about them haha(:

haha and dont feel like you failed me!! im honestly stoked cuz you sent me my two favorite ones haha(; 

and i dont really need anything else right now, but maybe in the next package could you send some more face wash and stuff, that stuff you sent last time works really well(: AND HOT CHEETOS!! haha

well i gotta run, but i love you guys so much!! if you're looking for a good scripture check out Mosiah 3 and 4, its King Benjamin talking about the Atonement of Christ, and 2 Nephi 4 is super awesome too, its one of my favorties(:

 So it was like Veterans Day or whatever here in portugal and they had a sweet big ole military thing with a bunch of guns and machines and whatnot... i was just in heaven haha

 I GOT TO GO FOR A RIDE IN A STRYKER!!!!!!!!! (the big tank with 4 wheels on each side) it was sooooooo sick!!!! but it was a ton of little kids who were riding, so i probably looked pretty funny waiting in line hahaha i was like the only one over 10 years old haha. but who cares it was so dope! i got a sick video too, but i cant send that:(

and they had a ton of vehicles that they let us climb all over. and it was funny cuz none of the slides on the guns were blocked, probably cuz no one in portugal has any idea how to work a gun so they didnt think anyone would play with it, but as soon as i got up to the big .50cal i pulled the big slide back and dry fired hahaha and EVERYONE freaked out cuz it was super loud haha. them darn Americans actually know how to work guns.......

 there's soooooooo many pigeons here, so one day we sat down and as one walked through my feet i got that sucker!! haha

Here's me and my son in front of the castle in Beja.... this is where we are planning to go if the Zombie Apocalypse hits while we're here haha

October 20, 2014

Short and Sweet

Hey!!!(:

I honestly have no idea what the single biggest faith building thing has been..... i would say being able to see an honest change in people as they come to realize that the Gospel is true, it's awesome to see what some people will do to finally find and have the truth in their lives.

and im super sorry but i have like no time this week!!:/ but thats awsome to hear the the boys are getting in to some work! im so thankful for all the little odd jobs that i did haha, maybe call up Bro Gallego and see if he still has that pool cleaning business haha(; or maybe they'll take a liking to the scrap yard! i loved working there haha!(: but i love you guys and ill do my best to write more next week and take more pictures to send!! i love you guys!! THE CHURCH IS TRUE!!!!

This was a zone meeting last friday!! sorry, these are the only pictures i have to send!!

Must have been a busy week for Elder Dayton- only one pic and a few words of wisdom!

LOVE MY MISSIONARY!!!

October 13, 2014

Ten Months Out!!

so we had to make a trip down to a coastal town called Portimão like 5 times cuz my son Elder Roberts had to get a root canal.... haha. but anyways it's always weird to see boats and water after spending so much time in Beja where it's all just farmlands and tractors haha

Zach sent home some fun gifts for my birthday!!

Hey!!(:

haha i have no idea, you can probably put whatever you want in the rooster haha! i just figured it was something that i could see on your desk back home haha(: and im glad you guys got the pin drive! and no way!! i'll never grow up! when im married with kids, my kids will be telling me to grow up! haha(: and in that picture i wasn't flippin the bird!! haha, i did the peace sign, but my other finger got cut off!! haha. and hey just for the record, I've never lost a wrestling match on the mission! and we don't wrestle too much... but we do love to goof around together. i think it would be so funny if the whole world could see what goes on behind the scenes of a missionary's life, cuz holy crud i used to think that missionaries were all serious and calm churchy folk.... but we're all just a bunch of goons in the right place at the right time trying to do the right thing hahaha, honestly being a missionary is the funnest thing that i have ever done(: 

and yea its been getting freezing here!! but nah, there's nothing i need(: i've been buying my self a sweet wardrobe slowly over time, and i think that im just about perfect right now. just last week i bought myself a new rainproof and windproof jacket for 13 bucks, and a sweet sweater for 7 bucks(: haha im gonna be rich after the mission just cuz i love buying cheap stuff haha. like the stuff i got is really nice, but its so awesome to not buy super expensive stuff(: haha. 

and yea i got the package, thank you so much!! but i have one more question for you, could you try and send me the Les Miserables sound track over email? i think you should be able to send them just right in the email. and i want the ones from your computer, the soundtrack from the movie.... i appreciate the old broadway ones.. but they're not the same haha(; 

and yea i write holden and brandon every week(: haha, i miss those losers!

well i have to run, but i love you guys so much!! ill talk to you again next week!! Love you guys!!!!(:

this picture doesnt do it justice, but im like 6 feet out and like almost 30 feet high over the water....

I was trying to do the karate kid pose but i almost fell haha, and my son took the pic while i was flopping around hahaha

this one is a little better haha

my son is getting so big..my son is probably my favorite comp so far, its a wonder we get anything done haha

my son being champ while getting his root canal!!

Zone Meetings!!

 so its been raining a lot here... this is what happens when you let your son lead the way at night...... good thing these combat boots aint sissy!!















aaahhhhh...... i just wish this country sold these bad boys

this is Miguel, the 1 year old son of our branch president. His parents bought him a tiny little suit!! hahaha he wore it to church that day, and just looks like a little boss! 

 my big bugaloo buddy Elder Horne!! saw my onezy and could turn one down for himself, if i dont serve with this guy before he goes home im gonna cry




welcome to our house..... My son (Elder Roberts) is asleep on the couch in his Raccoon Onezy, and this is Elder Rusnell in the Blue Dragon Onezy. he's in his first transfer, and his dad (or trainer) is currently doing his laundry in the other room in his Raccoon Onezy..... and i took the picture while i was in my Batman Onezy..... we don't mess around

October 6, 2014

While we were in San Diego...

Hey!!(:

Aw man Cali looks awesome!! thats like my favorite weather at the beach you lucky punks!! just yesterday the temperature dropped a bunch here! its like 3 in the afternoon right now and its almost chilly!! haha, its gonna be a cold winter! haha. yea we got to watch just about all of conference, and in English, which rocked! haha. and yea, that brazilian guy we just turned off the translation to english and listened in portugues, cuz its way better without a translation, you get all the emotion in the voice, so it was super cool to be able to switch like that. and also that guy who spoke in spanish, portugues and spanish are so close that we could just listen to him and know what he was talking about almost perfectly, which was sweet too! 

yea im gonna cry a bunch too when i have to leave this place, the people here have all become my family, and it will be so weird to have to say goodbye to them:/ and Elder and Sister Jeffers are a missionary Couple that just got assigned to our city of Beja with us, which totally rocks cuz they are sooooooooo funny and so nice and just all around awesome, ill be sure to take a bunch more pictures during this coming week!! And elder roberts and i are getting along great! i think he is my favorite comp yet, he's really loosened up and isnt too stressed, and we just get along like best buds, it makes the work so much better. and it makes living with him so much easier haha(; 

I think Elder Holland's talk and Elder Richard G Scott's talk were my favorites. I took so many notes on the talk by Scott, i love when they talk about families and what we can do to make ours the best it can be. Cuz my patriarchal blessing talks about my future family, and... well you guys know what it says, i just want to make sure that my kids have the best defense possible for all the crud that they are going to go through. but i've still got quite a while before that(; haha

well i gotta run, but i love you guys so much, and i miss you guys all, but time is flying and i'll be home before we even know what the heck is going on haha(: LOVE YOU GUYS!!

 best 20 bucks i ever spent!! That's what I'm talking about!!

my main boys... elder Roberts (my son (on the left) ) and elder Beckstrand (on the right) repping the onezys like nobodies biddness...