2012…

January 2, 2012...Dear Family,

Wow!! It's already 2012!
2011 flew by. I have been able to learn so much and have seen a lot of growth within myself.

The last week of 2011 went well. On Wednesday I was in Jacksonville for another Zone Leader Council. It was really wonderful. It was different than in the past, but enjoyable. Whenever there are Zone Leader Councils the day goes by quickly. We were at that meeting most of the day. When we got home we were able to work for a few hours, but then had some other meetings at the church.

This last week we were also able to get things back to a more regular schedule. It has been rough getting appointments with people the last few weeks because of the holidays. However, things should now return to normal.

This has nothing to do with anything I'm writing, but we were watching this video on lds.org and I like it http://lds.org/pages/we-can-live-with-god-again?lang=eng

As the year came to an end I was thinking about any goals that I could set for the upcoming year. I couldn't think of anything in particular. Then on Saturday morning I was studying and had to go to the Topical Guide to look for some scriptures I could share. While there I remembered that in the Topical Guide there are 52 different topics referring to Jesus Christ that have scriptures that go with them. At that moment I knew what I could set as a goal. There are 52 weeks in the year and I'm going to study a different topic referring to Jesus Christ each week. I started yesterday and am enjoying it so far. I know that studying more about Jesus Christ will help me in all aspects of my life. I'm excited to learn and grow!

The other day Elder Mecham and I stopped at CVS to go to the bathroom. It was a one person bathroom so I waited while he was in there. While I was waiting a lady walked by on her way to the women's restroom I said, "Hi." She looked really upset and quietly said, "hi" back. Elder Mecham soon departed from the bathroom and I proceeded to enter. On my way in the lady yelled out of the women's room, " Sorry there is a disgruntled ___ in here." I was caught off guard. I didn't say anything. I felt really bad for her. She was so unhappy. I was trying to think of something I could do to cheer her up and help her find happiness. I was hoping I would see her on the way out, but didn't. Instead I wrote a little note on a mormon.org card and left it by the door on the way out. I really hope she found it. If not, maybe someone else will and it can help them. Either way, there are so many little opportunities to help other people out and share the gospel everyday.

Last night we had a funny experience. We were tracting in a trailer park at the end of the night. We stopped to talk to a couple guys and quickly realized they were drunk. To make a long story short I am now an official "prayer warrior." I'm not sure exactly what that means, but I am happy with it and thankful to all those people who made it possible for me to obtain that title. Basically the guy asked us if we were "prayer warriors" and we said, "Yes." We then stood in a circle, held hands, and said a prayer for them. It was one of those experiences that only happen on a mission.

 

Love Always, Zach
@hotmail.com


Back: President Barry, Elder Grant, Elder Tenney, Elder Neville, Elder Graham, Elder Craig, Elder Maxfield, Elder Crosby, Elder Bushman, Elder Allred, Elder Reid

Front: Elder Barnes, Elder Rowley, Elder DiCristofano, Elder Marquez, Elder Snow, Elder Mecham.
 
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