Letter to Mom

5/17/10...Hi. Just thought I would write to tell you I love you and everyone. I'm really happy I was able to talk to you and Emma last week. It was nice hearing from both of you. The apartment here is messy! I spent most of this morning just cleaning the kitchen. It's looking better, but still not up to my standards...unfortunately I think that's something I'm going to have to get used to while out here. We'll see though. My companion and I get to use a car in our area, which is really nice! If we didn't have it I would have to buy a bike, and that will be really expensive. So I'll keep praying for a car...haha. Give my love to everyone. Is Kaleb still going to church? How about Elijah? It's weird. Out here I see people who think they are happy and have good lives, and some are doing pretty well, but at the same time I know something is missing from their lives. It's something I didn't notice a whole lot while at home. There are people who have so much, but are missing out on so much more...they're missing the gospel. I want to help them so much. I'm adjusting to missionary life pretty well I think. I'm hoping that over the next few days I'll be able to be more assertive, and help my companion and I make better use of our time. Sometimes it feels like we could be doing so much more good if we just planned our days better. Although things have been going well so far, and I'm still trying to figure this all out. I'm happy I'm finally out here. It's a lot different from Utah. It's hot, and pretty humid. The humidity isn't as bad as I thought it would be though. I hear that in July and August it's bad. On Saturday we did some service projects. The first one we did was for a less active member in the 1st ward. We went to his house and cleaned up his yard. It was like a jungle! I'm not even exaggerating, it was really overgrown. We cut down a bunch of stuff, and cleaned it up some, but he didn't want us to do too much. It's still pretty overgrown, but that's how he wanted it. Afterwards we went to a ward bbq. It was nice, and gave me a chance to meet some of the members. Then we went back to the apartment to get changed into our missionary clothes. As soon as we had done that we got a call from a less active sister in the 2nd ward. They had been digging a hole for a pool when the backhoe they were using broke. So we got shovels and went to help finish digging it out. There wasn't much left, but it was still a lot of work. I was sweating so much! I don't know if I've ever sweat that much before. It was good to help her though. After finishing that we went out to visit some investigators we had found on Friday. Most of them weren't home though. There was one young girl named Johnisha, she's 13, and she seemed interested in being baptized. However, as soon as her mom found out we had been talking to her she told us to stop talking to her daughter. I was bummed, but understand where she was coming from. Normally I wouldn't even talk to kids like that, but my comp said we should. It's weird, but if a 13 year old kid has been prepared by the Lord we need to find them. Sorry I haven't been able to send any pictures home. I don't have a whole lot. I'm just not a big picture taker. I'll work on getting the ones I do have developed and sent home hopefully within the next week or two. Yesterday I was sitting in church and they announced the date...I hadn't realized it was the 16th. I didn't get upset or anything, but at that point I realized it was 11 years ago that Dad died. It feels like he died so long ago, but at the same time it feels like it could have happened not that long ago. It's a weird feeling. On a happier note...HAPPY BIRTHDAY...tomorrow. I hope it goes really well. Tell Kurt I say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to him too, and of course Rachel as well on Friday. Last night we were visiting a less active family, and they live in a trailer. It looked a little beat up outside, but when I got inside I was surprised. They had plywood floors and you could see the ground between the boards. They're trailer was...I don't even know what to call it. It was a very humbling experience. They are a really nice little family. We're going to eat dinner with them on Thursday, and teach them a lesson. I'm actually looking forward to it.

Out here in Ocala it's pretty nice. Like I said in the other email, it's really green. Trees are everywhere. Our apartment complex almost feels like it's in a forest. I like it, but it feels a little too closed in at times. I miss being able to see for miles like you can in Utah...especially if you get on a good hill. They have a lot of little hills out here, but you still can't see much. We were driving to a families house the other day and we were out more in the country. There were some ranches that raise horses and it's really pretty out there. They have these huge fields of grass, and then where the fields end it thick forest. It's really cool. Anyway, that's about it for now. I love you and everyone else!

Love, Zach