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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