8 Months


12/20/10 .....Hello Family,

Time is flying by. Tomorrow will be my eight month mark. It's hard to believe I've been gone for that long. Last week was okay. The work was slow last week. We did have our Mission Christmas Conference on Thursday. It was wonderful! I felt so great. The Spirit was there in great abundance. It was really powerful. It took all day. We left the apartment at 6:30AM and got back home at 9:30PM. It was a really fantastic day. I was able to see most of the Elders I have had the privilege of serving around. I'm happy to say that they all are doing well. During the morning and afternoon portion we got a lot of instruction on how we can improve our finding. Then that evening we had a Christmas devotional. The really important thing for me to do now is to make sure it's not just a great moment in my life. I need to learn and grow from the experience. To become a better disciple of Jesus Christ.

Misa was confirmed yesterday. I could tell she was a little nervous before, but afterwards she was much happier. Damon is doing great! He is incredible. We met with him a few times last week and his testimony is growing quickly. He has a lot of faith and is very humble. He currently isn't employed, but is looking for a job. He's been having a hard time finding one. Every time we talk to him he bears testimony that he knows that the Lord will provide and take care of him as long as he is living righteously. I know this is true too. The better we follow the Lord and obey His commandments the more blessings and joy we can have in our lives. We can truly weather any storm that comes our way. Over the last few weeks I was wondering if I would feel the same way about Damon as I do with the other people I've been able to help convert. I was unsure about it because he had been taught a lot and was all ready for baptism when I got him as an investigator. Elder Bagley and Elder Camp did a lot of work with him. I can honestly say that I do love him as much as I love the others. They're all a part of me now. I truly feel that they are my brothers and sisters. It's incredible how quickly and powerfully we can love one another when we are firmly fixed in the gospel.

Being District Leader is going well. Last night I did weekly calls again and I feel like I did a much better job with it. I felt like the Spirit was there more than last week...maybe I just did a better job of recognizing it. I had my first District Meeting. It was pretty intense. I spent a lot of time preparing. I was really nervous when I first started, but then the Holy Ghost took over and it went really well. I'm hoping that I will be able to build off it this week.

That's all I can think of for now. I'll talk to you on Saturday...I'll email Mom the details.

Love Always, Zach

Elders Allen, Day, Huntsman, Drake, Carney, Camp, Morris, & Snow.
http://floridajacksonvillemissionnews.blogspot.com/

blah...

12/13/10... Hey Family,

Well, another week down. It was a busy one too! We had transfers on Tuesday and that was a good time. It was a little hard too. Elder Brandon went home...he's the missionary that trained me. It was hard to see him leave. I learned a lot from him and really grew to love him. Elder Bagley and Elder Camp went to their new areas. I really enjoyed serving around Elder Bagley and Elder Camp. They are really great missionaries. We all became good friends during our time together. I was also nervous about being District Leader and taking over their investigators and everything. I did feel pretty overwhelmed during the first few days. Especially because one of the investigators they had was set to get baptized on Saturday. I had to set it all up with only a few days notice. Everything worked out though. The baptism was really great and he got confirmed yesterday. His name is Damon Rice. It's a little strange to baptize someone who I barely know. A member from another ward came and did the actual baptism. Damon was really happy. I am happy for him. He's taken a big step and will be a great addition. I look forward to helping adjust to his new found religion.
We had a hard time with Misa last week. We were only able to see her briefly on Monday night. Other than that we weren't even able to talk to her. We tried everyday, more than once on most days, but she was never there. She didn't return our calls either. We were really worried about her. I'm happy to say that she showed up for church yesterday. We are going to see her a few times this week then confirm her next Sunday.
Being District Leader has been pretty good so far. Not much to really write about. I did have to make calls last night and get the numbers from the missionaries in my district. It was a little awkward. Especially because one of the companionships in my district is a set of Sister missionaries. I'll get more comfortable with it as time goes by. Tomorrow is going to be a big day. I will be holding my very first District Meeting! I'm pretty excited/nervous for it. I know what I want to teach, I just hope that I will be able to teach it well. I really want to help all the missionaries in my district learn and grow. I want to help them further their conversion and find success. I can tell you one thing, I have been doing a lot of praying lately. I'm on my knees asking Heavenly Father for guidance a lot. I just want to do what He would have me do.
On Saturday night our ward had their Christmas party. I had a good time. The ward here is really great! I enjoy the members a lot. They are really nice people. They gave us a bunch of left over food. It's so nice to have extra food.
Elder Morris and I got some new roommates. The Zone Leaders moved in with us. I was disappointed when I found out they would be living there. I was really looking forward to having an apartment with just me and Elder Morris in it. It's got two bedrooms, but only one bathroom. It's a little hard for all four of us to get ready in the morning. The Zone Leaders are Elder Toney and Elder Perez. They're pretty cool. I served around Elder Toney in Ocala. He was my District Leader at the time. Elder Perez was an Assistant to the President before he came here. Assistant to the President is the highest leadership position you can get as a missionary. So, he knows his stuff, and now he's my new roommate. When they came to the apartment we changed it around. We all moved our beds into the living room and sleep out there. The bedrooms are now used for studying. I actually like the change. Elder Morris and I were also able to get a huge whiteboard to use for planning. We haven't done anything on it yet, but I've got a lot of ideas for it. We really haven't had time to do much with it.
My studies are going well. I have started reading the New Testament. It's fantastic. I wish I had the time to just sit down and read. Today I studied about families, and the importance of family history. Before my mission I thought genealogy work was something I would never do. Now I want to do it. I can only imagine how wonderful it will be to go to the temple and do work for one of our deceased relatives. It will be fantastic!
That's all for now.


Love Always, Zach

Another Calling...

 Dec 6, 2010 ...Hey My Wonderful Family,


All is well here in Gaines-ville. Last week was a very interesting week. Elder Morris and I really focused on making sure Misa was prepared for baptism, and she was. We had a really great lesson with her last Monday night. She said she was feeling scared and was worried that she wasn't ready for baptism. We talked for a little longer, and then I shared that I felt the same way before I came on my mission. That I felt scared and wasn't sure if I was ready. However, I did know that the church is true, that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, that the Book of Mormon is true. Therefore I knew that serving a mission was the right thing to do. We told her that if she knew those same three things that she would know that baptism was the right thing to do. She sat for a moment thinking and then it's like a light when on in her head. She simply said that she was okay and knew it was right. It was incredible! It was a really great moment. I had the privilege of baptizing her on Saturday. It was a great baptism. I was happy with it. Unfortunately she wasn't able to be confirmed yesterday, but will be next week. Yesterday she was going to be confirmed, but to make a long story short she ended up passing out in the foyer. It was pretty scary. We had the paramedics come and they didn't find anything wrong with her. We gave her a blessing then she went home to sleep. We're going to go see her tonight and give her a cake or something like that. All in all I feel like everything is going to be okay. I know she has a testimony and wants to do what is right.


The rest of the week was okay. Not too much else happened. We did find some new investigators! It had been quite awhile since we had found anyone. It's nice to have someone new to teach. Especially now that Misa has been baptized. Our new investigators are actually a family. On Saturday we taught the Dad and his three kids. Two of them are over 8. The mom wasn't able to be at the lesson, but she's actually the person we originally talked to and who wanted us to come back.


Transfer calls came on Saturday night. Elder Morris and I are both staying here. Elder Bagley and Elder Camp are both being transferred. We were all really surprised when we heard this. We figured that one of them would be transferred, but not both. I'm sad that they're leaving. I have really enjoyed serving around them. They're both really great missionaries. I have learned a lot from each of them. I'm happy that I get to serve with Elder Morris for at least another transfer. This upcoming transfer is going to be challenging and a lot of fun. Which leads me to the reason I titled this email "Another Calling." I have been called to be a District Leader. Elder Bagley was the District Leader, but now I have the privilege of serving the Lord in that capacity. I'm nervous. Luckily our district isn't very big. I think there are only going to be six missionaries including Elder Morris and myself. Getting any calling is such a humbling experience. It really makes me realize how important it is to be worthy of the companionship of the Holy Ghost. I know I can't do this without the Lord's guidance. Also Elder Morris and I are going to be the only missionaries in our ward. If you remember, Elder Bagley and Elder Camp split the ward with us. Now that they're leaving it's all our responsibility. This week is going to be pretty busy with all the changes. We have a lot of things to get in order.


My studies last week went pretty well. I studied the doctrine of Christ. Which is, faith in Christ, repentance, baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. I learned a lot. It's especially important to know that this is an ongoing process. It's not a one time thing. We must always build our faith in Christ. Which leads us to repenting. That leads us to either being baptized, or renewing our baptismal covenants through worthily receiving the Sacrament. That makes us worthy to have the companionship of the Holy Ghost, and then enduring means continuing to do these things. Like I said, I learned a lot. One thing that I really enjoyed was in 3 NE 11:39 it says "Verily, verily, I say unto you, that this is my doctrine, and whoso buildeth upon this buildeth upon my rock, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against them." At the moment I read this I realized it goes perfectly with Helaman 5:12 and how we need to build our foundation on Christ. I realized that the way we build our foundation on Christ is by living the doctrine of Christ. It's something that just hadn't clicked before. It was a great moment. I really felt the Spirit. It made me happy.


That's all for now. I will email you all next week and let you know if I'm still sane....hahaha just kidding, I know things will work out.

 Love Always, Zach

Braxtyn turns one...

Happy Birthday to our youngest grand baby.

Braxtyn and Brady. Braxtyn is 18 months here but I LOVE this picture! Christy did a great job.

Thanksgiving Goodness

 Nov 29, 2010 ....My Family,

Thanksgiving was really good. I actually had Thanksgiving dinner twice. We had one on Thursday and then another last night. They were both really great! Each of them had sweet potatoes, and they were so delicious. I have to say my favorite part was pumpkin pie. I love pumpkin pie. I did miss having the craziness of being at home. For the most part there weren't very many people at each dinner. At least not what I'm used to. How was Thanksgiving for all of you?


The rest of the week was rough. We didn't find any new investigators again. We actually only found one potential investigator. That's pretty bad. People just didn't want to listen to us. We also had just about all of our teaching appointments fall through. Either people were sick, or had something else come up at the last minute. Elder Morris and I could also have done better on our part. We didn't do a very good job of following the plans we had made, and I got a little distracted with Thanksgiving. The blame falls on my shoulders really. I need to be a better example and make sure we're doing what we need to. I still feel good though. I feel like I've realized where I made my mistakes and now I am ready to go out and do better. Also, I know there were many good things that happened last week. I did start writing in my journal again. I hadn't been very good about writing every night over the last month and a half. I've written the last four nights in a row now. It's really great. I love writing in my journal. In my first three months I filled a journal. Now I am not even half way through my current journal. Another great thing that happened, and probably the best thing all week, was that Misa got herself to church. We didn't have to call and remind her or anything like that. She made the necessary call and found a ride to church and home from church. That's a really good indicator of how much progress she has made. Speaking of Misa, she is getting baptized this Saturday. We still have a lot to go over with her. This week is going to be pretty crazy. I will be very happy once it all works out.


Last week I was preparing a lesson for our Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday and I ended up using President Monson's talk from last conference that is in this months Ensign. It's a really great talk about being grateful and how it can bless our lives. I highly encourage each of you to find it and read it. You could get some really great quotes from it.


Mom, I have a favor to ask. Could you, or Emma email some pictures from my mission to President Barry for me? He wants 3 or 4 for our Christmas Zone Conference. So if you would send them to him I would really appreciate it. They need to be sent today! Make sure they're good pictures...nothing crazy. The email address is .com. You'll want to let him know that they are my pictures...I think that should be it.


I'm trying to think if there is anything else I can write, but last week was really uneventful. It's strange. I really can't think of anything. Well, I guess I'll talk to you all next week. I won't be writing on Monday because P-day is going to be on Tuesday because it's transfers. I don't think I'm going anywhere.






Love Always, Zach

Thanksgiving day

The holidays are filled with lots of work.. especially when you have 11 children, 4 children-in-laws, and 7 grand kids. I must admit that I love every minute of it! When everyone is here the house is filled with screams a hum of activity. It's lively and busy. Almost everyone made it this year, we missed Zach's smiling face, Keaton, who was with his mother, and Heather, Ryan and Brooklyn. We look forward to next year when Zach will be home and hopefully the others will be able to join us. 



Not sure what Nate is doing.  Maybe he's checking to see if he belongs to the "clean plate" club.



The clean-up crew.

Grandma & Braxtyn.

Giving Thanks...

11/22/10...Dear Family,

How is life back home and in Texas? It's good here. I'm finally feeling normal. I don't think I really ever mentioned it, but I've been sick the entire time I've been here in Gainesville. When Elder Morris came from the MTC he was sick, and I caught whatever it was that he had. I had that for awhile. Then it seemed like it was one thing after another. The last few days I've finally started to feel normal. It's really nice. I was even feeling well enough to finally exercise this morning! I've been bummed that I haven't had the energy to exercise. I'm hoping I can stay healthy for awhile.
The weather here has been really great. It's been in the 70's and 80's the last week or two. A few weeks ago it got pretty chilly, but now it's fantastic! We don't have to worry about jackets or anything like that right now. I also don't have to worry about getting all sweaty. I heard it's been snowing more back home. I miss the snow. It just doesn't feel like fall out here. I actually miss sitting inside drinking hot chocolate while it's snowing outside. Surprisingly I've made hot chocolate a few times out here. I really didn't think I ever would. It was tasty.
The work is going well. It's going better with the members than it is with investigators. Misa is still moving along nicely. On Saturday she went to a kids baptism. I'm happy she was there. She's been worried about the water being too deep, but now she's doing a little better. He fiance was at the baptism too. We had a lesson with a few members afterward, and it helped both of them. Her fiance is slowly warming up to the idea of taking lessons. The rest of our investigators are hanging in there by a thread. We haven't been able to find any good investigators lately either. I don't know what's going on. Hopefully the members will start giving us referrals soon.
Elder Morris and I have had some funny experiences. We have one investigator who says weird things. A few weeks ago we were teaching him about prayer, and he said that when he prays he imagines God looking like Gandalf from Lord of the Rings. It was really bizarre. Then a week or two after that we gave his wife a blessing because she had hurt her eye. Well, on the way out he said that if the blessing didn't work he could just go find a shaman. He then continued to explain that's it's "just a witch doctor." He's usually good for a laugh or two. He's been progressing very slowly. He is an investigator that the last Elders in this area were working with. Last week we were tracting before an appointment and we tracted into this old lady. When she answered the door we asked how she was doing, and she said," I'm moving....I'm still moving," and while she said this she started dancing. It was hilarious! Not to mention that it took her about a minute to figure out how to unlock the front door of her house. We could hear her turning the lock and messing with it. It was just a funny experience.
I'm really excited for Thanksgiving. I am going to eat so much! I hope I get to have some pumpkin pie. That's one of my favorite things about this time of year. Speaking of Thanksgiving I've been thinking about all the wonderful blessing in my life and the things that I am thankful for. There is so much! I have decided that I will list a few...they are in no particular order.
1.Clean drinking water.
2.Clothing that fits and is clean.
3.My health.
4.That I was able to fix my shoes.
5.Religious freedom.
6.Time to write you guys every week.
7.MY AWESOME FAMILY!!
8.Everything people have given up so I can be out here.
9.Your support and love.
10.Your emails and letters.
11.My bike.
12.A car to drive.
13.All the things I have learned while out here.
14.The spiritual growth I've had while out here.
15.The constant companionship and guidance of the Holy Ghost.
16.The scriptures.
17.A place to rest my head at night.
18.That I can talk to my Father in Heaven through prayer.
19.That He loves me enough to answer those prayers.
20.The Plan of Salvation, and that I can be with all of you again for eternity!
21.Jesus Christ and His infinite sacrifice.
22.Patience.
23.Forgiveness.
24.The people who have worked so hard and helped me through the good times and the bad.
25.Technology that makes it possible to communicate with loved ones across the nation.
That's it for now. Speaking of communicating with people across the nation, in a little over a month I'll be able to call you guys! It's crazy to think about. I hadn't even thought about it until just now. Also, yesterday was my seven month mark. Time is flying by. I see Elder Morris and Elder Camp, who came out last transfer, and I try remember what it was like to be in their shoes. It seems like so long ago.
My time is up. I'll write you guys next week.

Love Always, Zach

Get your pens and paper ready...

11/15/10...Dear People I Love,


How are things going? I'm doing really well. Last week was a great week! Monday was normal. On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday I got to go to Jacksonville for a leadership meeting. It was wonderful! I learned so much. It was great being with all the other leaders and being able to get training and guidance directly from President Barry. He is a really wonderful man. Sister Barry is great too. I stayed in Jacksonville for all three days. While I was gone Elder Morris went and worked with another Elder in a different area.It wasn't only great to get the training we did, but also to see another area for a few days. My temporary companion was Elder Huntsman. He used to be my Zone Leader, but now he's training too. He's a really great missionary. I learned a lot from him too. It was a pretty amazing three days. The Spirit was really intense during the meetings. On Tuesday the meeting started at 9am and ended at 4pm. Then for Wednesday and Thursday we had to be there at 8am and it went to 4pm. We had a few short breaks. They were long days. There was, and still is, so much information to process. I also get to teach the things I learned to Elder Morris. We've already started going over a lot of it, and I'm happy to say he's learning quickly. When we got back to our area we picked up right where we left off.

As far as investigators go, Misa is still incredible. We set a for sure baptism date of December 4th. We were originally going to have it on the 20th of this month, but we all felt that it would be better for her to move it to the 4th. She is really excited and so am I. She is making a lot of progress. I'm hoping she'll ask Elder Morris to baptize her. It would be so great for him. It would make me so happy, and I know it would be special to him too. Helping people get baptized is always really great, but being the person who performs the actual ordinance is very special. Either way I know it will be wonderful, especially for Misa.


Well, it finally happened. I crashed on my bike. I was turning and my back tire hit a small patch of sand. Next thing I know my bike was falling over and it was sliding down the road while I was almost standing on top of it. Luckily I was okay. More importantly my bike is fine! I was really worried that something might have happened to it. Pretty much everything was fine...except my left shoe. When I fell most of my weight was on my left foot and my toe ended up dragging along the road. So, the toe of my left shoe is just about destroyed. I was able to lather on the shoe polish and get it looking decent, but it still has two big tears along the front. Today I'm going to try to figure out a way to fix it. The tears don't go all the way through so I think I'll try sanding them down and then putting a ton of shoe polish on it. I really hope it works. If not I'm going to have to go and find a cheap pair of shoes the will hopefully last. Wish me luck! 

Well, now is the time for me to explain the title of this email. A few weeks ago President Barry gave all of us a binder with important papers in it. Well, I was looking through it and discovered there are some new email rules for our mission. To put it plainly I will no longer be sending my emails to the majority of you. The rule says I am only supposed to email immediate family members. I am only supposed to email the following people: Grandparents, parents, brothers, and sisters. So, those are the people who will be receiving my emails. I know that by following this rule I will be able to focus more and help more people. There is a quote that keeps coming to my mind. Elder Bruce R. McConkie once said,"Faith is a gift of God bestowed as a reward for personal righteousness. It is always given when righteousness is present, and the greater the measure of obedience to God's laws, the greater will be the endowment of faith." I know this to be true, and I need to be obedient to even the small things. This is really the only time in my life where I can dedicate myself completely so serving the Lord. So, I want to do it the right way. However, this doesn't mean that you won't be able to hear from me at all. You can always go and check out my facebook page. I know Emma is still doing a great job of updating it. Also, you might be able to have my emails forwarded to you from someone who gets them. Either way is fine, and it will definitely help me focus. There is one other option, and it's my favorite. YOU CAN WRITE ME A LETTER!! I can't tell you how wonderful it is to get a letter in the mail. So for now you can send them to my current address, but it would be better if you sent them to the mission office. That way when I get transferred there isn't the chance of me never getting it. So, send your letters to the following address.


8663 Baypine Rd. STE 102
Jacksonville, FL 32256


Send them here and I will write you back as soon as I can. You'll need to be patient because I'm not going to get that mail super often, but I would love to hear from all of you! You all mean the world to me, and I appreciate everything you have done to help me be the person I am today. I look forward to your letters.


Love Always, Zach



Leadership Training

             http://floridajacksonvillemissionnews.blogspot.com/

It's a special day...

There are two birthday boys today!
Taylor, who is turning 8 and Randy.
      Happy Birthday!
I'm so excited that Taylor is 8. I've been looking forward to this day. We are going to carry on Grandma and Grandpa Snows tradition of taking the grandkids to pizza on their 8th birthday.
So get ready Taylor, you get to be the first!

gators...

11/8/10...Hey Everyone,

The last week went by pretty quickly. They all seem like they go by quickly. Elder Morris and I are doing well. We are still bonding and getting to know each other better every day. We do really well together. He is learning quickly and starting to get more comfortable in lessons. He's definitely going to be a great missionary. I've seen quite a bit of change in him the last few weeks. I've also noticed that I've changed as well. A few weeks ago when I found out I was going to be training one of my leaders told me, "Training is an opportunity to get really good really fast." I knew he was right when he told me that, but now I know with even more assurance that it's true. There are barriers that used to really hold me back and now they aren't much of a problem at all. I still have A LOT to learn and do, but I am making good progress and I'm happy.

I'm happy to say that the apartment feels like home now. The only problem is that I'm convinced the heater doesn't work properly. It's been cold the last few days, and in the mornings its not pleasant walking around in a cold apartment. We do a pretty good job of keeping it clean. At times the kitchen sink gets filled with other people's dishes, but they eventually clean it up. We also have a washer and dryer in our apartment. That means no more having to pay four bucks a week to do laundry!

Misa is progressing quickly. She has such a great desire to learn the gospel and live righteously. We had a really cool experience with her last week. During our very first lesson a few weeks ago we briefly mention the Word of Wisdom and what it entails. We told her we would teach about it later. Well, last week we decided it was time to really teach it in detail and commit her to living it. We got about halfway through the lesson and she got up and went to grab something from the fridge. She showed it to us and it was a jug of tea. She said she had drank some earlier that day on accident. She told us she didn't mean to and felt bad about it. It made Elder Morris and I smile because we hadn't even finished teaching her about the Word of Wisdom or committed her to living it. She was already trying to live it. She is really wonderful.

We found a few new investigators. They are all wonderful people. Some of them are going to take quite a bit of time, but I look forward to helping them come closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. We had a pretty cool experience during a lesson. We went to teach a new investigator named Iva, and when we got there her older brother was there. We introduced ourselves and he was pretty cold towards us. I could see the disdain in his eyes. We started the lesson and he decided to join us. I know he only did it because he was looking for a reason to argue with us. As we progressed through the lesson he started participating more and more. We got to a point where we talked about Joseph Smith and the First Vision. Iva said she had a hard time believing it. Before Elder Morris or I could say anything her brother was explaining to her that it was possible. His heart had been softened by the Spirit. It was such a wonderful moment. We also read from Moroni 10:3-5 and he sat next to Iva, she had the Book of Mormon, so he could read it. At the end of the lesson he apologized for being rude when we first got there. He also asked for a copy of the Book of Mormon. It was really special. He said he'd read from it, but didn't want to set up any kind of return appointment. A seed was planted in his heart and hopefully someday a missionary will be there to help him prepare to be baptized.

That's all for now....next week there are going to be some changes with my emails...

Love Always, Zach

Waiting for mommy to get back...

Yesterday Aliyah stayed home with her grandma (me) while mommy and daddy went to work. She wasn't too happy to be left behind. Shortly after Sarah left I noticed that she had left my room and it was extraordinarily quite. I went into the family room and found her asleep on the floor in front of the french doors, I guess she was waiting for her mommy to get back. How cute is the little tear in her eye!?!

Trial by fire...

11/1/10...Hello,

Well, this last week has been pretty nuts! I named this email "Trial by fire..." because that's what I feel like this is. I've been put into an area that I don't know anything about with a companion who is looking to me for guidance and council yet at times I feel like I have no clue. Being whitewashed into and area and training at the same time is not something I thought I would be doing on my mission. Oh, being "whitewashed" is when they move both missionaries out of an area and put in different missionaries...sorry if that's unclear. Anyway, I've been busy trying to get things organized and helping Elder Morris learn all that I can. I'm happy to say that things are moving along nicely now. I've definitely been praying with extra fervor the last week or so, and Heavenly Father has been blessing me.
Those first few days were pretty strange. I felt so out of place. Funny story...I sleep on a full sized bed. So, throughout the night I move a lot and get all turned around. Haha there have been a few times where I'll go to get up in the morning and the room is so dark that I don't know which way I should go to get out of bed. I would keep sticking my feet out and bumping them on things. I'm happy to say that I finally figured it out, and I'm not having that problem as much anymore.
At times I catch myself thinking about Ocala. I wonder how the new are Elders doing. I really hope they are taking good care of things. I did my best to make it a smooth transition for them and to make sure things were organized. I hope it worked out. I definitely miss the people down there.
Elder Morris and I get along really well. He has a great attitude and is very smart. He's been learning quickly. We've been able to find a few new investigators and they are pretty neat. One of them is named Misa. It's like Lisa, but with an M. It's a miracle we found her. We went to see a potential investigator that the last Elders had left for us. When we were walking up to her door a little girl was walking up at the same time. As we waited for the potential investigator to answer the door we asked the little girl if her parents would be interested in hearing a message about Jesus Christ. She said that her parents wouldn't, but her grandma might want to. The potential investigator didn't answer so we went to this little girls house and talked to her grandmother. Her grandmother wasn't interested, but her older sister was. Misa is the little girl's older sister. She came to church yesterday and enjoyed it. Things are going well with her.
Elder Morris and I have had some fun experiences. They're things that I've gotten used to, but are a real eye opener for him. I'm not really going to go into detail, but I will say that the ghetto part of town is very different haha...
The apartment we live in is pretty small. It's got two bedrooms and one bathroom. The bedrooms are...cozy. We share with two other Elders. They are Elder Bagley and Elder Camp. They're great. We have a lot of fun. There is a park across the street from our apartment and last night while we were leaving to go to dinner there were people LARPing there. LARPing is Live Action Role Playing. If that doesn't clear it up, LARPing is essentially when people dress up like knights and go fight each other with big foam swords. I never expected to see anything like that out here. I got a good chuckle out of it.
The ward here is great. The members are all young. I would say the majority of them are in their mid-twenties to mid-thirties. Yesterday when I went to our meeting before church I was shocked. Most of the leaders couldn't have been more than a few years older than me. They're very friendly people.

Love Always, Zach

No more Ocala

10/26/10...Dear Family and Friends,

I only have five minutes to write.

We received transfer calls on Saturday night and I am no longer in Ocala. I have been transferred to Gainesville, FL. Also, I received a phone call from President Barry on Sunday night, and I am training!! It's pretty crazy. I met my new Elder today. His name is Elder Morris and he's from Indio, CA. He seems like a great young man. I wasn't really too shocked when President Barry called me. I've had the feeling that I was going to train or get some kind of leadership calling for the last few weeks. I'm really excited and nervous. I know I won't be able to do this without the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost.

With that being said, we have our work cut out for us. Especially this next week or two. We have to learn a brand new area together. I'm excited.


That's all for now. I will write more next week.

Love Always, Zach

Autum leaves and snow...

It snowed again last night. The weight of the snow is causing several of the trees and bushes to hang low under the heaviness. It wouldn't be so bad if more of the leaves had time to fall, but because it's been so warm there are alot of leaves left on the trees. We haven't even had to rake yet! It makes for a pretty color combination though.

tick...tick...tick...

10/18/10...My Dearest Peeps,

I am well. Time here is passing quickly. Believe it or not I have been gone for nearly six months. It will officially be six months on Thursday. I can't believe I'm already a quarter of the way done with my mission. I've been thinking about it more lately. Mostly because Elder Fasan is going home next Tuesday, and he seems to be having a hard time. I can definitely tell he has mixed emotions. Anyway, he talks about the stuff he's going to do when he gets home, and it makes me think of home. I don't particularly like it. It's distracting.

Also, I've been having the feeling lately that my time here in Ocala is coming to an end very rapidly. That's really the reason for the title of this email. I'll find out what my fate is this Saturday. Either way, I will gladly accept whatever happens.

The past week has been good. We got a few new investigators and I feel good about the progress Elder Frampton and I have made. I also feel good about my own personal progress. I have learned much and my studies have been more focused. I have been developing my ability to hear and follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost. It's been going really well. I notice those subtle promptings more often than I used to.

We did find two new investigators last week. One of them is a referral from Tommy! He has really been a blessing to the ward. The investigator is his friend named Rhonda. We were able to teach her once last week, and it went well. When we first started teaching she was very shy and reserved, but by the end of the lesson she had opened up a lot. She was talking with us more, and was very excited to read the Book of Mormon and learn more. The other new investigator is a media referral named Grace. We have taught her twice and she is doing great. She has been reading and praying a lot. She enjoys our lessons. She has a lot of questions. I actually really like it when people ask questions. We taught her the Plan of Salvation on Saturday. She was really interested in the three kingdoms of glory. I have high hopes for her. Unfortunately she isn't going to be able to make it to church for a few weeks. She has a bad back injury so it's very hard and painful for her to leave her home. She's actually having surgery on it this Friday. She did say she will absolutely attend once she is healed enough. She is also married. Her husband doesn't want to sit in on the lessons right now. However, if things go well with her he might soften up and be open to learning.
Tovah and Christopher are doing okay. The lessons usually go well, but they aren't keeping the commitments they have made. I'm always praying that they will make the necessary changes.
Hartley, is doing well. We had a little setback last week, but are now back on track. The ward has really welcomed him. It's wonderful. Yesterday one of the members gave him a hug after church. It made me chuckle. His reading ability is coming along well. He called the number for the free classes from the county and already took the assessment. Now he's waiting to hear back from them. I'm really excited for him! Once he learns to read so many new opportunities will be opened up to him.

That's all I can think of for now.
Love, Zach

Summer letter's...

As mentioned in the "What did you do in the summertime?" post, it surley wasn't keeping things current on the blog! So now you'll get all of Zachery's summertime letters at once. Promise to do better better job from here on out.

Golden...

10/12/10...Dear Peeps,


How is life? Out here it is good. Things are moving along nicely. Elder Frampton and I have been working hard and making progress. It's slower than I would like, but it all comes in the Lord's time. Patience definitely is a virtue I've had to work on the last few months. However, I know that compared to a few weeks ago things are MUCH better. This transfer is flying by. We're already in week 4. Oh, before I forget, I didn't write yesterday because it was Columbus Day and the library wasn't open. We got permission from President Barry to write today.
We are starting to really build our investigator pool back up. We've been teaching a young lady named Donna. She is really...interesting. We will have amazing lessons with her and commit her to stuff, but then when we follow up with her she hasn't done what she committed to. She's still a work in progress, but in reality we all are. We have been able to get back in contact with Christopher and Tovah. In case you've forgotten Christopher is a 9 year old boy and Tovah is his mom and she is a less-active member. He was supposed to get baptized awhile back, but there were some...misunderstandings. We have taught them a couple of times now, and they're doing well. I would love to be able to say they're doing great, I just can't though. They both know what they need to do for Christopher to get baptized. They just don't do it. It's always sad when people are like that. Unfortunately I see it more often than not. I am happy that we've been able to start teaching them again. I think they will start to do better here really soon. We have a few more potential investigators, but nothing really worth mentioning. However, the reason I titled this email "Golden" is because of Hartley. He is incredible. We taught him a lot last week. We've broken our lessons up. We'll teach him how to read for about 30 minutes, then we'll teach him more of the gospel for 30 minutes. Both parts are going really well. Last week we asked him how he felt about Joseph Smith and The Book of Mormon, and he bore such a wonderfully beautiful testimony. He also said the opening prayer to one of our lessons, and it was awesome! There was so much feeling in it. He is truly amazing. He has so much desire to improve his life, and most importantly he's acting on it! We also were able to find some free literacy classes offered by the county. He actually is going to take an assessment tomorrow to see how much help he needs. Then I guess he'll start classes. I'm really excited for him. Our little reading lessons are going well, but now he can get some legitimate lessons.


Other than that I can't think of anything really important. My studies are going really well. I have learned so much over the last few months. Apparently some of my leaders have been saying good things about me. I don't know if it really means much, but it's nice to hear.


I guess that's it for now.


Love Always, Zach

Gratitude...

10/4/10...Hi,


How is everyone? I'm good. It's been a good week. Elder Frampton and I have been working hard and seeing miracles. Last Wednesday we rode our bikes out to teach a lesson to a member family, and on the way back we found a new investigator. His name is Hartley. We were riding and saw him walking down the street. When we stopped and talked to him he was really interested and we set up a return appointment. We've taught him a few times since then and it's going really well. There are some unique challenges with him. He can only read at about a 1st or 2nd grade level. So reading the Book of Mormon is going to be difficult for him. We have talked to him about reading and he has committed to reading a verse a night (which will take him about 15 minutes) then the next time we see him we'll reread the verse to check his understanding and expound on it. Last week when we did this it went well. We also were able to get him a copy of the Book of Mormon Reader. I think that will help him a lot too. He came and watched the morning session of General Conference on Saturday. He enjoyed it and we had a short lesson with him.
Speaking of which, I really enjoyed General Conference. It was incredible. I feel so spiritually enlightened and full of joy. I now realize how important and wonderful General Conference is. There is so much important information regarding our spiritual well being. On Saturday we went to the ward house and watched it in the Chapel. There were not very many people there for the morning session. Only the missionaries, six of us in total, Tommy, a recent convert, and Hartley. The afternoon session had a few more people, but they didn't stay the whole time. Priesthood Meeting was incredible! I really loved it. Elder Nelson's talk was just what we needed. He talked a lot about the importance of members sharing the gospel with people they know. I'm praying that the priesthood holders will take it to heart and be more mindful of missionary experiences.
One thing I've been working on while out here is being more grateful. It doesn't matter what struggles we may be going through if we open our eyes and look around we will see a multitude of ways the Lord is blessing us. So, in these emails I'm going to include five things I'm grateful for.
1.My amazing family and friends. I'm grateful for your love and support. For you kind words of encouragement, and prayers.
2. My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I will be eternally grateful and can't adequately express my love for Him.
3. My struggles, and trials. As strange as it may sound I am grateful for these things. I know that I can always come out of them a better person as long as I rely on the Lord. Also that no matter how bleak the situation may seem and how alone I may feel, I know my Heavenly Father is right there with me.
4. My opportunity to be here on a mission. I nearly missed this chance, and I would have forever regretted it. I'm so happy to be here.
5. The words of the living prophet and apostles. After watching General Conference I know what a great blessing it is to have a prophet leading and guiding us through revelation.


Well, that's all for this week. Sorry if any of this doesn't make sense.


Love Always, Zach

Due to a lack of creativity, I'm going to title this email...Zanabar

9/27/10...Hello My Friends and Family,


Well, there's not much to say right now. Last week was okay. We went and saw a lot of members. That was nice. I still feel like it wasn't as good as it should have been. I had a lot of junk on my mind. I'm feeling really good now though. Yesterday President Barry and Sister Barry came down to Ocala and talked in Second Ward. They both did a really great job. I really enjoyed listening to each of them. I was also able to have my interview with President Barry. It was a great interview. President Barry is most definitely a man of God. He is really nice and wonderful. The rest of church went well too.
Last Tuesday was interesting. Elder Toney, my District Leader, wanted to go on a full 24 hour trade off Monday night. So around 9:30 he came to my apartment and picked me up. His companion, Elder Carty, stayed with my companion, Elder Frampton, while I went with Elder Toney. I was with him all day Tuesday until about 9:30 that night. I really enjoyed it, but he's a Spanish speaking elder. So just about everyone we went to teach only spoke Spanish. Surprisingly I was able to follow the conversations better than I thought I would be able to. We did get a chance to teach a lesson to teach a few lessons. I did learn a lot though. Now i just need to start implementing the things I learned.
On Thursday the Spanish elders, Elder Toney and Elder Carty, had a baptism! They baptized a young lady named Crystal. She is actually one of the people I got a chance to teach on Tuesday. She's really nice. Elder Toney wanted us to come to the baptism. So, Elder Frampton and I went. Elder Fasan and Elder Harper, Elder Fasan's new companion, weren't able to make it. Leslie and Katie were there too. It was a great baptism. It was almost entirely in Spanish. Leslie and Katie were asked to bear their testimonies by the branch president. When they did the Spirit filled the room even more. It was incredible. It was also the first time I've ever heard Leslie bear her testimony. Those two girls are going to do a lot of great things. They're both wonderful. It was a great way to end the night.
Friday and Saturday were pretty good too. On Fridays we do our weekly planning and it took 4 hours this week. Usually it takes about two hours, but we went into much more detail and planned better this last time. I think it will help with this week.
So, now looking back it was a good week. We didn't have the success I was praying for, but we did make a lot of progress. Now we need to keep working hard and continue to improve. I have high aspirations for this week.


Love Always, Zach

No Time

9/20/10...Hey my friends and family,


I don't have any time to write today. I'm really sorry. Last week was lousy. We worked hard, but we just haven't been able to find anyone who is actually interested in hearing about the gospel. Keep me in your prayers. Things are going to pick up soon. I know they are. I just need to be patient. I love and miss all of you.


Love Always, Zach

Ocala = Home

9/13/10...Hey Everybody,


What a week. We were pretty busy...busy tracting. We knocked on so many doors last week. Most people didn't want to even talk to us, or give us a chance to say more than two words. Either that or they weren't home...or hiding from us haha. It's pretty funny when we walk up to a door and can see someone watching TV. Then when we knock they turn off the TV and pretend they aren't there. We were able to find a few new investigators. We worked out butts off, but for the most part didn't have much luck tracting. However, the Lord did bless us for our efforts. On Sunday a few people showed up at church that were interested in meeting with us.


We have a family we're working with right now. Actually it's more of the father of the family that we're working with. Anyway, it's a slow process with him. We'll have a really great lesson where the Spirit is there and everything goes well. Then we will go to see him for our next appointment and nobody will be home. Last Wednesday we just stopped by to see how he was doing and we ended up teaching him for about 45 minutes. We set up an appointment for Saturday morning at the end of the lesson. When Saturday came around we rode our bikes out there and he wasn't home at first. We decided to wait around for a few minutes and he actually showed up. We went inside to have a lesson and to read from the Book of Mormon with him, but just about as we were going to say the opening prayer some other people showed up to put phone lines throughout his house. We ended up leaving because he was distracted and it wasn't the appropriate environment. Elder Frampton and I were really disappointed. We had planned out a really great lesson to help address his needs, but didn't get a chance to talk to him much. On the bright side he had read a little of the Book of Mormon.


Speaking of Saturday, we rode about 30 miles that day! It's funny because on Friday we drove 28 miles. We also got transfer calls on Saturday. Elder Day is the only one getting transferred. I'm sad that he's leaving. We've been able to build a great friendship over the last three months. It's going to be strange without him here. We would relate to one another really well. I had some mixed emotions when I found out I was staying. I really thought I would be leaving Ocala, so I had been preparing myself all week. When I found out I was staying I didn't know what to say. This transfer has been much harder than the first two. I've felt so lost and confused at times. Especially during those first few weeks. I felt like I had no idea what I was doing. I was really discouraged. Then that would just discourage me more because I know being discouraged wasn't going to help anything (sorry if that's confusing). I would just pray and beg Heavenly Father to help me turn things around. I would, and still do, ask what I needed to change so that I could help bring people to Him. Well, I'm happy to say that He still does answer prayers. I'm working on being more humble, and working even harder. I don't let little things worry me, and get in the way of being productive. Slowly, but surely things have been getting better. I still have much work to do, especially here in Ocala. I now look forward this upcoming transfer.


Love Always, Zach

Short and Sweet.

9/6/10...Hello,


Well, as the title says, this is week going to be short and sweet. Last week was so-so. We had a few really good days, and some other days weren't so good. Saturday I was sick and it was lousy for the most part. That night I was feeling a little better, and we went to a wedding. Michael and Katelin finally got married. They're a younger couple that Elder Day and Elder Fasan have been working with. Actually Elder Porter and Elder Blair are the ones that tracted into them. So they've been seeing the missionaries for about three months. Michael and Katelin then got baptized on Sunday. Elder Day was so happy. It was his first baptism. I'm really happy for him. That was basically the highlight of the week. Elder Frampton and I tracted into a few new investigators. They were really great when we first met them, but when we talk to them later they just don't seem to care anymore. Things are going well with the members. Some of them are really excited about sharing the gospel.
We get transfer calls this Saturday. Out of all the missionaries in Ocala I've been here the longest so some of them are thinking I will be transferred. I don't know how I feel about it. If I do get transferred I would really hope I get switched to Spanish speaking, but I'll be happy with whatever the Lord does.


Love Always, Zach

Here it is

9/6/10...Hey Mom,


So I decided I would email you this week instead of writing. That sucks Emma got into a little accident. That's never any fun. Has anything been resolved with that?


I'm not sure how Leslie and Katie's dad died. I think it was a heart attack. Yes, Katie is Leslie's little sister. I think Emma actually talks to them on Facebook.


We haven't had a chance to talk to Chad since we met him. We've called, but he doesn't answer the phone. We haven't had a chance to stop by his house.


I still haven't gotten the whole bike situation figured out yet. I think I might be able to get a good one for pretty cheap. Actually I'm almost positive I will. Some past missionaries left their bikes here when they left, and we've been able to fix one of them up enough that I should be able to use it. There was just one part we couldn't fix, so it's at the bike shop right now. We're hoping they can get it fixed for cheap.


Things here are okay. Last week wasn't so grand. I was sick on Saturday, and on Friday we spent quite a bit of time trying to call a bunch of less active people, but only like two out of the thirty we called answered. It was disappointing. Oh well. I guess we'll just have to try to figure out another way to get in contact with them.


Thank you for sending the stuff! It was great to get the package. Haha, I got it Saturday and it definitely helped brighten up the day. Elder Day and I made one package of the muffins that night. He was happy and so was I.


I've gotta go now. Give everyone my love.


Love Always, Zach

Not much here

8/30/10...Well Hello Everyone,


I guess I don't have to worry about running out of time this week. Last Monday my time went by super fast. Unfortunately I don't feel like I have a whole lot to write about this week. Hopefully more things will come to me as I get writing.


Last week started off pretty well. Monday night we went to Katie and Leslie's house and had dinner with their family. It was a good time. Elder Day and Elder Fasan went too, I realized that I was spelling Elder Fasan's name wrong. We had pizza, which was pretty good. We also taught them the Plan Of Salvation again. Leslie has heard it probably something like four times. It was a great lesson. I know the Plan Of Salvation can really help them because their dad died about four years ago, and it helped me when Dad died. The Spirit was there in abundance. It was awesome!


The rest of the week was okay. We did more tracting than I've done in a long time. I didn't mind though. It think it was a pretty good use of time because we couldn't seem to get any appointments with members. We had a few potential investigators, but none of them panned out. We did meet one guy named Chad on Saturday. He seems like he is actually interested. I'm definitely praying that he is. We did get a chance to go see a few families and help them set up their family missionary plan. We had mixed results. Last Thursday we went and saw the Heintzelman family. They're an awesome family. Brother and Sister Heintzelman are pretty young. She's 29 and he's in his early 30's. They have four daughters. Their ages are 7, 5, 3, and 1. It was a lot of fun going over there. Sister Heintzelman is actually related to us. She's a descendant of Erastus Snow. Anyway, we had dinner with them then helped them with their family missionary plan. Basically we have them pray to know who they can share the gospel with. Then we write that person's name down, a little information about them, a plan of action, and when it will be completed. For the plan of action we have a small list of things they can do. They range from inviting their friends to check out mormon.org to inviting them to be baptized. They can also invite them to church, give them a Book of Mormon, invite them to a missionary lesson, and stuff like that. The whole family got involved. The seven and five year old are each going to invite one of their friends to church, while Brother Heintzelman is going to invite a coworker of his to come to the Tuesday night class. After we get that stuff established we role play with them. One of us, Elder Frampton or myself, acts like their friend while they execute their plan of action. In the case of the seven year old girl, Kiya, Elder Frampton pretended to be her friend then Kiya invited him to church. It was a really fun time! The girls are really excited to invite their friends. We're going to call them tonight to see how it went. I'm excited to find out. That was a really great way to end the night. The other families we visited were okay. Like I said, we had mixed results. Some of the families don't seem to care at all, and just don't want to cooperate. While others are all excited and really looking forward to sharing the gospel with their friends. It's still a work in progress. I know as we do it more often we'll be able to find more effective ways of inviting the Spirit and getting families excited.


That's my week in a nutshell. Elder Frampton and I are getting along well. We are building a pretty good little friendship. I actually get along with all the Elders in my district. They're a good group. Elder Day and I are becoming good friends. We talk about stuff all the time. We can relate to each other really well. I'm pretty sure a lot of it has to do with the fact that we're both pretty new. He's a really great friend. My studies are going well. It's actually one of my favorite things to do. I wish I had more time to do personal study. An hour seems like a lot, but it goes by so quickly.


Well, it looks like I found a little more to write about than I had anticipated. I probably won't be able to write next week because of Labor Day. I hope you all have a safe and wonderful Labor Day weekend!


Love Always, Zach

Blah...

8/23/10...Hey My Peeps,


My time is short.


This last week was okay. It had it's good times and bad times. On a good note it was better than the last few weeks have been, but it wasn't good enough. I'm starting to get a better handle on member work...boy, you're probably sick of hearing about that haha. However, we were able to visit a few families and help them set up their missionary plans.


We had to drop a few investigators. They just aren't ready right now. It's never something I want to do. We even have to stop working with some less actives because they're not making changes either. Brenda Best is one of them. She's hot and cold..if that makes sense.


We did get one new investigator that I think will go far. Her name is Karen. She's in her 50's and really nice.


I only had to ride a bike one day last week. I actually enjoyed it. I am using Elder Brandon's bike for now. Hopefully I'll be able to get my own bike soon.


Well, I only have 30 seconds left. Sorry this is so short.


Love Always, Zach

Changes...

8/16/10...Hello,


Last week was pretty busy and good. Monday was pretty normal. We actually talked to President Barry and he made it so Elderr Frampton and I are only going to be working in Second Ward now. I'm pretty excited, but a little sad too. I really enjoyed being in First Ward. I'm mostly going to miss the people we baptized in that ward. I'll still see them every now and then, but not as much as I used to. On the bright side I now get to focus my efforts on Second Ward only. It's going to be really great. We told the leaders in Second Ward that we're only in their ward and they all are really happy. It means a lot more to the members than I thought it would. We're also going to be working with members much more than we have been in the past. I've probably said this before, but this mission used to focus primarily on tracting. Now we're going to try to get referrals from members and work that way. We'll still tract here and there. Just not as much as we used to.


Elder Frampton and I got other news on Saturday too. We're now going to be sharing the car with the First Ward missionaries. So we'll have to ride bikes every other day. Which means I'm going to have to get a bike. I'm hoping I can find a decent bike. Elder Day bought a bike when her first got here for about $275 and it's not holding up very well. Elder Faisin and Elder Frampton said that a bike like that usually don't last too long. So, I've gotta figure something out. Luckily for me Elder Brandon didn't take his bike with him when he left. So he said I could use his for now. Elder Barrionuevo left his too, and said the same thing. There are also some other bikes that were left by past missionaries. They've been picked apart though, and are getting really rusty. Elder Faisin and Elder Frampton said they could build me a bike using one of the old bike frames at the apartment. Maybe I'll give that a shot. Regardless of what I do this is going to add a unique challenge to working with members. I'm actually looking forward to figuring it out. I know it will only make me better.


Back to last week. Other than those two changes things have been pretty normal. We had a Zone Meeting on Thursday. I enjoyed it. They gave us some more insight on how to work with the members for referrals. I'm really looking forward to getting to know Second Ward better. There are a lot of really great people in it. We've already begun meeting with some of the members. For now we're going through the ward list and seeing all the members we can. Most of them are less active. A lot of the members we have seen have no real reason to be less active...actually nobody ever has a good reason. It's all about being humble. If you're prideful you'll find any stupid reason to stop attending church.


Sean Holt is trying to quit smoking again. I think this time it will work. He seems more determined, and we bought him a bunch of cinnamon flavored stuff. I guess that's supposed to help. For one, it keeps the mouth busy, and apparently it makes cigarettes taste even worse. He quit smoking on Saturday and is still smoke free. I'm really happy for him.


Holy cow!! We had a breakthrough! I don't know if I've mentioned Brenda Best very much. She's a less active we've been working with for quite awhile. In the past we would go over and see her and she wouldn't want to talk about anything religious. So we would just stop by and see if there was anything we could do for her. Well, to make a long story short, she ended up needing our help moving because she had some problems arise. We helped her and ever since then she's been much happier and has been interested in going back to church. Well, she was at Sacrament yesterday! It was awesome! I'm really happy for her. We're going to have to be really patient and not rush her. I'm really praying that she can become completely active and strong in the church. She already is so much happier than she used to be.


Elder Frampton and I are getting along really well. Elder Day is getting along with Elder Faisin pretty well too. Elder Frampton is still trying to adjust to Ocala and get to know the people. He's doing really well so far. It's going to be awesome when he does know them.


Ugh...on Saturday we were going to go to the temple because the stake had a Priest and Laurel temple trip. All of us were really excited. Elder Day and Elder Faisin talked to Bishop Larsen and he said all we have to do is be at the ward house at 8:30 Saturday morning and we could go. We got there and come to find out that we won't be able to go. They had too many people. Saturday turned out to be a good day though.


Gotta go.


Love Always, Zach

The New Elders...

8/9/10...Greetings Everyone,


Elder Brandon, Elder Blair, Elder Trott, and Elder Barrionuevo are all out of Ocala now. Their last few days here were pretty busy. At least for Elder Brandon and I. For the most part we went around and visited our recent converts, and said goodbye to members he had gotten close to. It was nice. I enjoyed it for the most part. However we ate WAY too much! Sunday night we had dinner with one family and then dessert with another. Monday we actually only had dinner with Katie and Leslie's family. That was nice, but their mom fed us a lot of food. Way more than I wanted.Tuesday one of the youth from Second Ward took us out to breakfast. Then we had lunch with our Ward Mission Leader from First Ward. Then about an hour later Brother and Sister Waters took us to get lunch too. To finish the night off we had dinner with Amy...ugh I didn't want to eat ever again. I also had to teach our Tuesday night class. It went pretty well, but I didn't really have any time to prepare because we were so busy. I taught about faith, and how we have to show faith before we see miracles. We also talked about how miracles are happening in our lives all the time, we just have to recognize them. There are a lot of great scriptures on faith. Two are Ether 12:6 & 12. Wednesday we didn't eat with as many people, but it was an insane day. A family from Second Ward took us out to lunch and then Elder Brandon got a haircut. On the way back to the apartment Elder Blair called and said he had crashed his bike and that he was hurt. We rushed to pick him up. When we got there I grabbed his bike and was going to ride it home while Elder Brandon took Elder Blair home in the car. Just before they drove off Elder Brandon rolled down his window and said he needed to take Elder Blair to the ER because his collar bone was broken. Apparently when Elder Blair got in the car he noticed his shoulder hurt really bad. So he felt it and could feel a big bump on top of his shoulder. Then Elder Brandon felt it and said it felt like someones knuckle was sticking up. Elder Brandon used to ride in an ambulance, so he knows what a broken collar bone feels like. They took him to the hospital while Elder Day and I rode the bikes home. We got there and Ethan showed up and took us to the hospital. When we got to the hospital Elder Blair was sitting in a wheelchair and he was really pale and had beads of sweat all over his face. We're pretty sure he was in shock. Elder Trott and Elder Barrionuevo were already there too. I asked Elder Brandon if they had given him a blessing and they had already done that. From there we sat in the waiting room for a really long time. They took Elder Blair back for x-rays and other stuff. I guess at one point one of the nurses felt his shoulder and felt the huge bump too. So after they had looked at the x-rays they took Elder Blair back to tell him what was wrong Elder Trott and Elder Brandon went back too. They were back there for about 40 minutes so I was thinking it might be pretty bad. Then Elder Trott came out with a big smile and said that Elder Blair just had a bruised shoulder. I was shocked, but I knew it was true. I felt so happy! He just had to wear a sling for a day. The blessing had healed him. I'm sure of it! I guess that when they told Elder Blair that he just had a bruised shoulder he asked them what about the big bump and when he went to feel it it was gone. Then Elder Brandon reminded Elder Blair that he has received a blessing. Then Elder Blair smiled and said, "Oh yeah." The nurse that had felt the bump couldn't explain it. It was such a cool miracle. All in all we were at the hospital for about 3 hours. It was pretty ridiculous. The rest of Wednesday we just said goodbye to other people. Then Thursday...well, the four Elders that were getting transferred all packed up their stuff into a truck and left around 7:30am. That meant Elder Day and I were the only two missionaries in all of Ocala. We spent just about all morning and early afternoon cleaning the apartment. It was pretty bad. I also rearranged my bedroom. I've got the good bed now too. It vibrates, and I can raise/lower the head area and foot area. It's pretty sweet! Around 4 the new Elders showed up. I was nervous.


My new companion is Elder Frampton. He's from Pleasant Grove, UT. He's really nice and seems to be happy most of the time. Elder Day's new companion is Elder Fasan. He's from Indiana. The two new Spanish Elders are Elder Toney, from Texas, and Elder Carty, from Colorado...I think. So now I get to know a bunch of new missionaries. Thursday when they got here we pretty much just unpacked and got them settled in. Friday was a really hard day, and so was Saturday.On Friday we actually had to take the car in because there was a recall on the gas pedal. We sat at the dealership for hours. Saturday we helped a family in Second Ward move. I really enjoyed that. After we helped the family move we were headed to an appointment with a new investigator. On the way we got a flat tire. It didn't take long to change it, but by time we had it was almost time for our next appointment. So we had to cancel. I was so discouraged. I was really looking forward to our appointment. For those first few days I felt really out of place. It's like my world just got turned upside down. I was really anxious and nervous. Even though I was surrounded by people, I felt really lonely. Luckily Elder Day was here so I could talk to him. He was having a hard time too. I was pretty much constantly praying for comfort. Things are much better now and still getting better.


I've gotta go now. My time is up. Sorry if this doesn't make sense.


Love Always, Zach