May 4, 2015

One Week Till Mother's Day!!!

yesterday we had lunch at a members house, and the little boys had some other boys from the ward over. so after lunch the member was giving us a ride home and we we're all crammed in the back haha

Hey Momma!!(: so we cannot do skype this year :( ......... hahahah just kidding(; we'll be doing skype at a members house on sunday. if i do skype at like 4:30 or 5:00pm here, it'll be like 9:30 or 10:00am in AZ, does that work for you guys? and what is your skype address? on sunday i'll be able to email freely, so we can coordinate better(: but yea im super excited too, its really weird to think that it'll be the last time haha!

i still do not have the package. the office hasnt been able to go get it because the post office (and all the government buildings) have been on holidays, so today is the first day that its been open in a while, so hopefully later today the office will get it and i'll be able to get it tomorrow or something haha. and you wont owe the mission anything, they just take it out of my monthly account, so dont worry(:

and yes, im very excited to be staying in oeiras! haha, its pronounced "oh - way - ruz" but you kinda roll the "R". Phillips and I get along great, we have a ton of fun together and get good work done too, i think thats why Pres kept us together haha. but its my stinkin 5th in a row as ZL, and we have interviews with Pres on the 19th, so im gonna ask him to train next transfer. and its going good with the Ecuador family, they come to church every week, and we're gonna go visit them tomorrow, and hopefully mark a day for all of them to be baptised this month, so we're pretty stoked for that! 

okay sick! and while you guys are planning, can we come for at least a week please?! cuz right now im in my 6th area, and i will most likely have one more (and it'll probably be my last area, yikes! haha) and so if i end with 7 areas and we come for 7 days, that gives us a day to spend in each of the areas, to see the people and the sights and stuff! so maybe like 8 or 9 days if its possibly to have a day or two to just chill, or go do somthing cool? 

and thats suuuuuuuuuper weird to see brig all dressed up for a dance with a smokin' date haha, he's getting way to fricken old! but that picture where brig is folding his arms and Brittany is laughing is wwaaaayyy funny cuz even though brig is huge now, i can still see him folding his arms and doing that little head flick thingy that he's done since he was tiny hahaha. and yea, at least they look HAPPY!! haha, thats probably the biggest difference hahahahaha, i love making fun of my past haha. 

we had our zone meeting this past week, and theres a really cool video that we used about Wilford Woodruff's conversions story called "A Search For Truth". its a super cool story. other than that i've been asked to be the ward pianist... again haha. we didnt have anyone to play yesterday so i played (which was a mistake haha) and i guess they like it, so now im stuck! haha, make sure the boys are comfortable with playing the hymns! haha

well im super excited to see you guys on sunday! i love you so much, see y'all soon!!(:

a couple of days ago we were out walking, and someone had just left this perfectly good greek-style pillar by a dumpster haha, so i just had to take it home. haha, its made out of stone and is pretty heavy, i was getting some super funny looks from people on the train and stuff haha

the picture of us eating at the table is with a member named Rafael, he's like one of the sickest members ever. first off he's huge, and he does MMA, he's like a wizard on the piano and saxaphone, and he fricken has a motorcycle!! him and i always get distracted at church talking about bikes haha.

and then this old couple is just one of the funniest old couples ever. the old guy in the wheelchair can barely walk, but its super slow, so someone always gets him in the wheelchair, well now he always asks for me to push him cuz when i push him i make engine noises like its a sports car haha, and his wife can kinda speak english... kinda... and she tells me all the time "if you crash, i punch your face, i kill you!" haha but she's super nice, i have no idea what their names are though hahaha

 so last week we had our zone meeting, and then after we had some elders over at our house for lunch. i can make some pretty mean chili, and we have a mexican elder in our zone haha, so i told him i would make him some, then some other elders overheard us and wanted in, so we all went back to our place and had a fricken fiesta haha. we even found some tortillas, and then got some lime and everything haha

and this was my breakfst this morning, a mango, some hot chili peppers, and a coca cola haha, breakfast of champs! 

 so me and my comp got some hamsters!! haha, they were only 5 bucks at the pet store haha. the lighter grey one in the corner is mine, his name is Butthole cuz he bites a ton, and the darker grey one is my comps, and its name is Wolf cuz my comp is gay... hahaha just kidding, but its name really is wolf though

and here's their sick house that we made for them out of some cardboard boxes haha. they have this like space tunnel thing that connects the two boxes, a wheel for running, and some ramp thingy to climb. plus some very nice interior decorating haha. we're gonna give them Redbull this week and see how fast they can run on the wheel haha

I Love this Crazy Missionary of Mine!!

April 27, 2015

Short and Sweet

and no Pics this week :(

Hey Momma!

well is still dont have the package, but thats just because the office hasnt had time to go get it, they said that now they have everything they need to get it! so thank you very much!(: 

haha, and im in the same situation as you in Nephi! haha, its really tricky in portuguese too cuz it aint even my first language haha, but its good. one thing i tried doing though is opening the bible and reading with it, because Nephi isnt just talking like Isaiah, he's actually quoting Isaiah, he's reading off the brass plates to his brothers trying to use the scriptures to help correct and teach them. i read a talk once that pointed out a few differences between Isaiah from the bible we have, and Isaiah that Nephi is quoting, and he said that these differences come because the bible was altered a lot by men over the years, but the account in Nephi is more accurate, because it was a direct quote in the same language, then when the Book of Mormon was translated to English, it was done by the power of God, not the knowledge of men, so the "plain and precious parts" werent lost in the translation.  but even with those parts, its still really hard to understand haha!

well transfers were this past weekend, but me and Elder Phillips are staying together here in Oeiras and we're staying as Zone Leaders, so nothing really changed haha. its the first time im staying 2 transfers with a comp outside of training (like other than when i was being trained or when i was training). but im stoked cuz now we can both continue to work with the rest of the family from Ecuador. i seriously cant wait to show all you guys everyone here! i was thinking the other day, its funny how some of these people become so close to you, who otherwise would have no effect whatsoever in your life. like if i never came to portugal i would have never know these people, but these people are some of my closest friends haha. have you guys thought at all about when we will all come back as a family? like maybe in December after the boys get out of school? cuz its getting to the point where people are starting to ask me when im gonna come back to visit haha.

well i might get back on email later today, cuz i realized i havent taken any pictures this week haha, so later today if we do something cool and i take some pics, ill get back on real fast and send them haha(: but i love you guys!! have a good week!

April 20, 2015

 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

this is Hélio from Tejo!!! it was so good to see him again! we goofed around so much together haha until some official looking people had to come tell us to calm down 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.... 

 the baptism of this awesome 10 year old kid from Ecuador, and his huge Ecuadorian family haha. they're all so tiny!! im down there on one knee and im almost as tall as them!

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!!

April 13, 2015

Time Flies When Your Having Fun

Zach visits the Zoo

Hey Momma!!

haha, i feel like this week flew by!! i cant believe its already monday again!

President Fluckiger can give an Ecclesiastical Endorsment whenever, but first the other stuff needs to be done, then you just send it to him. and he's always making a big deal to make sure that you send it to the Lisbon Portugal Mission, not the Lisbon Portugal Stake. and i cant believe how fast time is flying by! Fluckiger takes off in like a month and a half! 

I've seen Elder Arnold three times since i've been in portugal haha, but the last two were more recent. i saw him last week cuz we had to do our residency to be legal here, so we got to spend a couple hours together, it was so fun! i miss him so much haha, he's so flippin funny, him and i are just hoping to stay in the same mission when the mish splits, but right now im in the south and he's in the north, so we'll see how it goes!

and i did not get the package yet, but i will keep an eye out for it this week! thank you so much! and not to keep buggin you, but can you please please send me an altitude mask! i want one super super bad!!

and yes, this coming up weekend is the weekend that Elder Bednar comes, and yes i'll take my journal haha. 

unfortunately the family from Ecuador was not baptised, they're gonna get baptised on friday, but right now its looking more like just the younger son and the mom are gonna get baptised, and hopefully the father and older son will ge baptised soon after! 

so our transfer ends not this week but next week, and im hoping that im gonna be free of being zone leader haha, i had a dream a few days ago that im gonna train again, so hopefully that dream will come true! but i want to stay here in Oeiras for a long time cuz this area is super sick. 

well im running out of time, but if this next week flies by as fast as last week did, i'll be writing you again here real soon!! i love you all(:

we went to the ZOO today for Pday!! haha, the reception was so warm-hearted and smiley

haha there were peacocks all over the zoo, so we kept feeding them chips. i played with this one for like 10 minutes, i kept making it jump for the chip and it couldnt jump at all hahahah it was so funny.

 and i brought a bag of carrots with me to the zoo to feed the animals, and when we passed the baboons they went fricken nuts for the carrots haha!! i have a couple videos but i cant send them over email. i would play tug of war with the baboons haha, they're strong little suckers!! 

the zoo has super crappy surveilance, so you can pretty much pick up or play with any animal haha, i mean c'mon, they put the turtles like 6 inches away from the little fence thingy, its just begging to be picked up haha

 SHE TURNED ME INTO A NEWT!! well actually a turtle... BUT I GOT BETTAH!!

Zach quoting Monty Python!! He's so Jared's kid!!

they had this sick cart thingy that took you over the whole zoo to see everything. well its on a giant metal cable that was really really bouncy haha, so we got yelled at a  couple times for bouncing haha

haha, i was the captain of our ship (obviously) with my trusty swashbuckling, poop-deck shining Elder Cervantes riding shotgun!

this is our new pet, his name is Tyrannous and we let him go in our house to eat the bugs haha, my comp was not too happy about it, he kept freaking out all last night thinking that it was in his bed hahahaha

April 7, 2015

Happy Easter!!

My boy makes me LAUGH!!

in this mall by our house there was this huge easter bunny with such a nice smile, and he was so friendly still he started munchin' on my arm 







Hey Momma!!

so first off i'm very sorry, but once again i will have to send pictures later haha, our pdays have been kinda of hectic, so when i finally get a chance to send the pics to you, i have A TON to send haha. 

(He's referring to a college ecclesiastical endorsement)

I talked to Pres Fluckiger about it. he said that its something you have to do, then when its ready you send it to him and then he gives the endorsment?? haha, he didnt know that process very well, but he said to ask our Stake President cuz he should know. Is Pres Whimpey still the pres?? or is everything still the same? haha, and actually of my best buds, 3 of them are from AZ and are going to ASU, 1 of them was the elder that i ran into that wednesday morning in the airport on the way up to the MTC, his name is Elder Riggs and he's from Grand Canyon or something like hahahaha i cant remember what the city is called, hes not from the Grand Canyon, but the name of the city is something like that haha. 

And i still know nothing about skype, im sure that we're gonna do it, but where im gonna do it depends on next transfer, which is the last weekend of April. and yes, you can send it to the mission office, that address will never change(: unless i get transfered this next transfer and go to the north for the mission split... but dont jinx me haha, i wanna stay in the south. 

The family from Ecuador didnt get baptised because they had some family things come up, but we're gonna visit them tomorrow and they're gonna get baptised this coming up weekend!!(:

hahaha, i got on a members phone to add you on facebook so that you can see more pictures (she takes a lot of pictures for the ward and takes pictures of me and my comp alot, her named is Cristina, add here cuz she has a ton of pics haha) and on your front page i saw a video of aunt Delayne dancing, hahahahahaha holy crap i forgot how awesome our family is hahaha, i was laughing so hard. you guys are so lucky to have them all down for the week, im so excited to see everyone again, i cant believe how big everyone looks in the pictures haha. 

and Devin wrote me about her papers, i told her 10 bucks says i bet you come to portugal! haha, but then i thought it would be waaaaaay to weird to have to call her Sister Dayton hahahahaha, its weird enough to call Joseph "Elder Leung" haha, oh and by the way, we did Bowling again today, and out of the missionaries who went Joseph went! it was super fun, and its way funny cuz i kept calling him Joseph haha, i just cant get it into my thick skull that now he's Elder Leung haha. 

and dang holy crap..... that's super weird to think about Jack and Jared going on missions hahaha, but thats so awesome! im probably gonna have like nobody from our priest's quorum home when i get back haha! that sucks! oh well haha, itll be sick. im really gonna have to step it up at the Turkey Bowl on Thanksgiving haha. 

please be sure to take a ton of pictures with the cousins! im taking pictures too i promise, i just cant send them right now haha, but i will soon!

and when you send the tie could you send some more face wash?? i dont really use the other two bottles of whatever creme they are, but i use the face wash every day in the shower and im running low. and could you please please PLEASE send an altitude mask??? its not gonna distract from the work at all, our mission gets up at 7:00am, but i get up at about 6:45 every morning to about an hour to jump rope and work out before studies, and i would really appreciate having an altitude mask!! i need to get in shape!(:

well i love you all so much and im a little jealous of the cousin love you guys are all getting this week, but dont worry, cuz there will be plenty of time for goofing off with the cousins for the rest of my life after haha(; LOVE YOU GUYS!!(:

service project! we painted this guys house cuz he was to short to reach all the way to the top of his wall hahaha, plus he's pretty old but he's super cool

this is the wife of the dude's house we painted, she's super funny haha, and super buff!!

haha, they have a little grandson staying with them, so i kept playing with him... remind ya of anyone??(;

 even though im in portugal, i've still got the Arizona habit of parking in the shade haha
















BOWLING AGAIN!! haha, its funny cuz im actually getting pretty good now cuz we go so much, i kicked everyone's but yesterday!

then after bowling a member picked us up and took us out to lunch. they're from India, but lived in Utah for like 10 years so they speak english perfectly, and now they've been living here in portugal for like a year or so. this is the 17 year old son Alex, he's super cool and is actually gonna end up going to BYU and rooming with my comp haha. they're a super sick family 

 this is last Pday, we went to the other side of the river out to the beach called Costa da Caparica cuz there was a big surf competition going on so we went to check it out with some other missionaries. well they had a hummer there! its like the first one i've seen since ive been here haha, then we chilled for a while in some cool beanbag chair things just shooting the breeze and reminiscing about Cali hahaha

then we got our 'MuricaLand on and played some football for a few hours, but this time i didnt bust my lip open haha

then to get back to the other side of the river we took this ferry that was pretty sick. its the first time ive been on a boat since i left haha 

so i was doing this salute pose, and his random guy saw me doing it, so he was like "here take this hat, it makes it way better" haha, so he gave me his hat for the picture, and he was right.... the hat makes it so much better(; haha