Heya

7/26/10/......Hey everyone,Another week come and gone. They go by so fast. Last week was different than other weeks. We're trying to do more member work so during time when appointments fell through instead of tracting we would call members and see if we could meet with them. It's going slow right now. The members aren't used to the missionaries being around so much. Before President Barry got here the mission relied a lot on tracting. So, we're all learning how to do member work. I'm lucky because Elder Brandon did a lot of member work when he was serving his mission in Houston. I don't know if I mentioned that before. Elder Brandon was originally called to the Houston East Mission, or something like that. He then got really sick and was sent home. When he was better they sent him out right away and he came here to the FJM. He got here last October I believe.

So, just to clear some things up I'm going to go over some of the basics. I'm in Ocala Florida still. It's nice here. It's not a real big town, but now real small either. It's inbetween. It's hot and humid down here. I think it's been in the 90's lately and really humid. We've been playing soccer on p-days with the youth, and by time we're done I'm soaked in sweat. It's really gross, but whatever. I never sweat that bad back home. I'm lucky though. Elder Brandon and I have a car. So we don't have to worry about biking anywhere and being sweaty. We are in two wards. We serve the Ocala 1st Ward and Ocala 2nd Ward. It's a lot of fun, but at the same time a lot of hard work. Sundays are really long. We live in an apartment with two other Elders. They are Elder Day and Elder Blair. Elder Brandon grew up in Murray, but his family now lives in St. George. He goes home in December. Elder Blair is from Grantsville. He has a little less than a year left. Elder Day is from Syracuse. He's been out for about two months. Ocala is the southern most part of the mission. We're about as far from the Mission Home as we could get. I know I've probably said most of this before, but I wanted to clear things up as much as possible. If there are more questions just let me know.

Back to last week. It was pretty good. We didn't have any baptisms, but we were finally able to set another baptism date with Christopher. It's been a slow process. He's going to be getting baptized on August 2nd if everything goes according to plan. We just need his mom to talk to the bishop.

All of our recent converts are doing well. Both wards have shown a lot of support and love for them. Leslie and Katie are also doing really well. They are both really excited for their baptisms on Wednesday. It's going to be a really great time. There should be quite a few people there. I'm really looking forward to it.

I had a couple of pretty cool experiences last week. First is that Katie and Leslie went to youth conference, and after it ended we had dinner and a lesson at a members house with them. They were talking about how much they loved youth conference. Katie even bore her testimony! Then during the lesson they were both talking about how much they want to follow Christ and be happier. It made me really happy to see how far they've come. Then yesterday during 2nd Ward Tommy was able to help bless the Sacrament. I was so happy for him! In the past I've heard people say that those people we baptize should be like our children, and I really felt that way last week. When Katie and Leslie were talking, and when Tommy was helping with the Sacrament I felt so much love for all of them. As weird as it may sound, I feel like in a way they are my children. When they are successful I am filled with joy, and when they have struggles I want to be right there with them helping them. I feel that way for Ethan, Amy, and Sam too. I love all of them so much! We also have been teaching a recent convert named Sean. He's was baptized on May 12th. The day before I got to Ocala. He's changed so much while I've been here. He's gotten so much happier. His life as been turned around. I feel the same way about him too. They're all so wonderful.

That was my week. Trying to figure out member work, and enjoying seeing our recent converts, and investigators, progress. Well, this Saturday we get our transfer calls. So, next Monday I'll be letting you know if I'm staying or going. I guess that's it for now.

Love Always, Zach

Seven Minutes....‏

7/19/10......As the title says, I only have seven more minutes to write. So this will be brief. The beginning of last week was pretty normal. Not much to talk about there. However, on Tuesday night Elder Day and I went on a trade-off and went to have dinner at Leslie and Katie's house with their family. It was a great time. We're all going to go out there for dinner this Saturday. I'm really looking forward to it. I'm especially hoping that their mom will start to gain more interest in what we're teaching, and have the desire to find out if it's true. That's one of the things I've been praying for.
Wednesday was a terrible day. We'll just leave it at that.
Thursday we had our first Zone Conference with President Barry. I really enjoyed it. We're going to be working with members more often. In the past this mission has relied a lot on tracting. We'll still tract, but our main focus will be member work. Which is cool because now we can have two meals with members per week, and there doesn't have to be an investigator there. Of course we'll try to get referrals from the families. In the past we could only have dinner with members if there was an investigator there. So that's one rule that changed. Nothing else real major changed. President Barry is a really nice guy.
On Saturday we baptized Tommy. His older brother flew out from Tacoma, Washington do perform the baptism and confirmation. It was a really special baptism.
Times up!


Love Always, Zach




"Meet The President" conference July 21, 2010

          http://floridajacksonvillemissionnews.blogspot.com/

BAP! BAP! BAP!‏

7/12/10......Hola, Well this last week was rather good. The best news of all is that we baptized Amy on Saturday, and I was the one who baptized her! It was really cool! She's the first person I've ever actually baptized. It was a great time. We then confirmed her on Sunday. So, that's the 3rd person we've baptized...hence the subject of my email haha.

Monday was pretty good. It was a normal Pday, and we were able to go the Blackmon's for FHE again. We also got another investigator out of it. William, the Blackmon boy, had his friend over and we taught him. His situation is a little complicated so I'm not really going to go into all the details, but we're hoping to baptize him on the 24th of this month.

This email will probably be short because my time is short, and the library is packed today.

Anyway...ugh my mind just went blank. Oh yeah! Elder Brandon and I both gave talks during Sacrament in 2nd Ward yesterday. I talked about how we can go about doing good like Christ. I think it went pretty well. I was supposed to talk for 10-15 minutes, but the youth speaker only talked for like two minutes. So, between Elder Brandon and I we had to fill about 50 minutes. Elder Brandon also asked me if I would try to make my talk longer because he didn't have a whole lot prepared. I ended up talking for 24 minutes! It was sweet! After I gave my talk I sat down and wasn't sure if it all made sense....I was worried that I had said the same things over and over again. Everyone else said I did really well, but people always said that. However, I bought a little digital recorder the other day, and I recorded my talk. I wanted to record it so I could send it home and everyone can hear it. Unfortunately it's a little hard to hear, but I think it'll be okay. It's too bad I hadn't thought of buying a recorder before the last time I gave a talk. I've found that I enjoy giving talks. Especially giving them without writing it down word for word. I just write down a few bullet points to keep me on track and then I talk. It's an amazing feeling to stand up there and have the Holy Ghost bring things I've studied to my remembrance. Some of the things I said in my talk I hadn't even thought about bringing up, but then it would just be there. AMAZING!! Elder Brandon's talk was great too. He's great at giving talks. I think it was good for 2nd Ward to hear us give talks and to see us up there. In the past the missionaries and 2nd Ward had a falling out. There were some problems with and the relationship between 2nd Ward and the missionaries was really bad. Elder Brandon and I have been working really hard to mend that relationship. I think it's really starting to work. The members are warming up to us, and our next three baptisms are all for 2nd Ward.

So, last night 1st Ward had an ice cream social. It was a really good time. Amy even brought one of her friends who is interested in learning more. We taught her a little bit, but didn't have much time. Maybe things will work out. I had a wonderful time at it. We had strawberry short cake, kinda weird considering it was an ice cream social, and then watched some talks from past General Conferences. Later that night I was thinking I realized how much I love the people here. They're really wonderful. It also made me realize how much I had missed out on by not being more involved with church before I left.

We have another really busy week coming up. We're baptizing Tommy on Saturday, and have a lot of other work to do. I'm really looking forward to this week. Tommy's baptism should be good. His brother is flying in from Washing to baptize him. It'll be very special.

I'm getting along great with the other Elders. I've been able to get to know them really well, and make some great friendships.

Well, that's all I can think of for now.

Love Always, Zach

Good Week :)

7/3/10......Hello, Last week was a good week...which should have been obvious due to the title of this email...haha. It started off really well. Last Monday was a good pday and later that night we went and did family home evening with a less active family. It was so much fun! We played Apples to Apples, which I rock at, and then had a spiritual lesson.There is a young man in the family named William. He's a little weird, but in a really funny way. He'll do these little strange dances and say strange stuff. It's super cool. Tuesday and Wednesday were good days too, but nothing too epic happened. Same with Thursday. Friday and Saturday were great!

Friday morning Elder Brandon and I, along with a few ward members, went and did a service project for a recent convert in 2nd Ward. We cleaned inside his house and also did a ton of yard work. It was so nasty. Inside he had piles of Coke boxes and pizza boxes stacked up along with a bunch of other clutter. I remember whenever I would pick up some boxes a bunch of cockroaches would scurry in every direction. Luckily I had gloves on so I didn't worry about it too much. It was gross...cockroaches were everywhere. We filled about 10 big black garbage bags just in his kitchen and living room. There was garbage everywhere. I then went outside to help with the yard work. His yard was so overgrown. You could barely see his house from the front. His lawn was so long that we had to use a commercial lawn mower to get it done. We also trimmed his bushes so that when we left we could finally see the house. It looks so much better. I know it will definitely help him be happier. While I was there I also got bit by a bug on my left pinky. That is another story in itself. After the service project we went to Gainsville to meet our new mission president, President Barry. We were there for a few hours, and it went really well. He's going to do a lot of great things. After that we went to dinner with the Cruz family. I think I've mentioned them before. They're a wonderful little family with a lot of love. We've been trying to help them start studying the scriptures as a family every day. They're still having a hard time keeping it going. They are making progress though. While we only did three things all day Friday, I feel like we did a lot of good.

Saturday was fantastic! That morning we started off with teaching Tommy. Brother Byrd, the 1st Counselor in 2nd Ward, came with us. He actually drove us because it's super far from our house. Our area is huge!! Anyway, the lesson with Tommy was so amazing! We taught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ which is: Faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. We also went over the Word of Wisdom again with him. That's where things got really great. Tommy has been trying to quite smoking and drinking tea, but was having a hard time. On Saturday we were planning on trading some herbal tea for the tea he had been drinking. So we started the lesson with that and by the end of the lesson he had given us all his tea, cigarettes, and coffee. He also gave us all his ash trays and lighters. It was so cool watching him dig out all his stuff so he could give it to us. Brother Byrd helped so much. He bore his testimony of how much the gospel has changed his life and helped him conquer his addictions. His testimony was SO powerful! It made me tear up a little. The Spirit was amazing in that house! Tommy committed to completely obeying the Word of Wisdom from that day on. Also, he committed to being baptized on July 17th. His baptism is going to be really special. His brother is going to fly in from Washington and will baptize him. Later that day we went to the church to set up for Sam's baptism. While we were there the Spanish Branch had a baby shower, and we got to go enjoy some of their food. It was delicious. Things got really interesting after that. Remember when I mentioned the bug bite on my left pinky? Well, by that time my hand had really swollen. My whole hand was all swollen and huge. It looked really nasty. A sister in the Spanish Branch had seen it, and wanted to help me. She explained that she would pop the bite and squeeze out the poison. Then she was going to rub garlic on it. I guess it's an old Hispanic remedy. She went home to grab the garlic, and during that time Leslie and Katie showed up. Katie is Leslie's little sister..just in case I haven't mentioned her. Well, when the sister got back she was ready to do it. So she said a cute little prayer, she said it in English and speaks very little English, and then it was time to start. She grabbed my hand and was looking at it for a minute. Then all of a sudden she BITES MY PINKY!! She bit it really hard and was trying to suck out the poison! It freaked me out, but was SUPER funny too. I was doing everything I could to keep from laughing, and I still couldn't help it. So she's biting and sucking on my pinky then spits in the sink, looks up at me and says, "Sorry" then bites it again! It looked like she was trying to eat my pinky like someone eats a chicken wing. She did it a bunch of times. Then she grabbed the garlic and was rubbing it super hard on the spot she had just bit. It hurt really bad. She kept doing this cycle for about five minutes. Afterwards she grabbed another piece of garlic, put where she had bitten, and then wrapped my pinky in a paper towel. Then she gave me a big piece of garlic and had me eat it. I just swallowed it and drank some water. It was totally nuts. After that we had Sam's baptism. It was wonderful. I'm so happy for her. Before I came out here I didn't realize how much the gospel changes our lives for the better. I'm so thankful I have it in my life.

On Sunday we confirmed Sam and then church was the same as usual. I didn't really do much for the 4th. Elder Blair and I went to Brother and Sister Waters, members in 2nd Ward, house with Leslie and Katie and had dinner. When we got home we lit off a few bottle rockets then went to bed. So the 4th of July was like most other days...nothing special, but I did enjoy it.

Oh, my hand is looking much better. It's actually just about back to normal.

Last week we found out that Elder Day is scared of frogs. One night we were back at the apartment getting ready for bed and it was raining really hard. Elder Brandon still needed to do his laundry and when we went to put it in we found a frog. First thing Elder Brandon did was pick up the frog and throw it at Elder Day. Elder Day freaked out and ran back to the apartment screaming. So we caught another one and took it back with us. Long story short we spent quite awhile trying to get Elder Day to hold the frog. He was so freaked out! He ended up locking himself in the bathroom. When he did that we proceeded to throw frogs under the bathroom door. There were six in there. When we finally got the door opened he was standing on the toilet hiding behind a towel. It was a good time.

Anyway, that's about it for now.

Love Always, Zach

I talked with Zach, sort of...

July 1, 2010... Monday morning I was sitting in bed feeling pretty bad because I didn't send a letter to Zachery the week before. The days seemed to fly by and before I knew it a new week had begun. I didn't want him to think that I forgot about him so I decided to pull myself out of bed and quickly send him an email. My hope was that he hadn't sent his email already. I sent him a very short message and decided to delete some mail while I was on the computer. Much to my joy I almost immediately received an email back from Zach! (Now I don't know about your email provider,but sometimes it take quite a while for mine to get his letter's to me, so I was amazed by this phenomenon.) It was nice to have that little bit of instantaneous interaction with him. I was a very happy mom!

June 28, 2010

Yup...

Mom, Pday is prep day...and personal day...and play day. It's really so we can prepare for the upcoming week, but it doesn't take long to write emails, do laundry, and go shopping. That's really all we have to do. Then we can do other things. Like today we're going to play soccer with the youth. They all know that I played for SLCC so they're expecting great things, but I haven't played in so long. I'm definitely going to be rusty.

Again, it's ok that you didn't get a chance to write me last week. I know you've got you hands full with work, Rachel, and keeping the house so clean....I miss a clean house haha. Actually the apartment is much cleaner than it used to be. I've kinda trained the other Elders haha. Did I ever mention they call me Momma Snow because I tell them to clean up after themselves. Usually it's just the dishes that I tell them to clean up.

We're still being fed a lot out here...actually I feel like I'm eating too much. I'm going to have to start watching what I eat more carefully. I've actually been able to save a pretty good amount of money this month. Which means it will carry over and I'll have more next month. I don't really need more, but it'll be nice just in case something comes up. How is everyone doing? I got an email from Brady and a letter from Jess, but what about everyone else?

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

Love Always, Zach