Monday, December 23, 2013

Merry Christmas! This week will be a cool week!  I'm excited to celebrate Christmas here in Uruguay.  What a blessing!  This last week has been crazy!  It's been a lot different here in the mission house.  I've been exhausted!  We have been running all over the place.  I had to help take all the missionaries that were leaving to the airport.  I got a little taste of what is going to happen to me and Elder Hicks.  It was a sad but cool experience at the same time!  Me and Elder Hatch (the other assistant) traveled to go work with some other zone leaders in "Durazno" and in "Florida."  We also had a very cool Christmas activity at the temple on Saturday and Sunday night. We had a choir of missionaries sing Christmas songs on the temple grounds.  We had about 300 members and other interested people come and listen!  It was awesome!

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Hola! It was great to hear from you. I can't believe how cold it is for you and that you were in the negatives! That is so crazy!  Over here I'm dying from the heat. It has been so hot and humid. I feel like I've been sweating all day every day for the last month!  I´m going to have the worst tan line ever when I get back.  You guys are going to make fun of me like crazy.  I know Dad will show no mercy!

Well, yesterday we found out about changes and I got a very interesting phone call from my amigo fiel Elder Barlow (he´s the assistant to President Newsome).  He told me that Elder Hicks and I will come to the mission offices and work with the assistants for our last two weeks.  Elder Barlow was

Thursday, December 12, 2013

Sorry I didn´t give you a warning about not writing you until today (Thursday).  I'm up here in Minas to visit some old friends. I just got here and don´t have any photos quite yet.  I´ll send them this coming Tuesday (which will be my P-day next week)! 

This last week has been CRAZY!  We have been flying all over the place in our zone and in our area. We've had several conferences, ward activities, as well as taking care of sick missionaries. We also found out that we have to plan a lunch for 50 missionaries this Friday. We've been pretty stressed.  But we've now got everything under control, so we're good to go!

Monday, December 9, 2013

[Zach's dad:  No email from Zach today.  His P-day will be on Thursday (12/12) this week.]

Monday, December 2, 2013

I loved hearing about all the cool stuff you did this last week in Arizona.  It sounded like a lot of fun! To be honest, I forgot it was even Thanksgiving until you told me last week.  We didn´t have anything planned - it was just a normal day in the mission.  Our mission president is planning a fun Christmas dinner for all of us on the 18th of this month.  It should be really nice and fun to see all the missionaries together. Also, I should be able to Skype on Christmas, but I'll need to get back to you about that.

Well, this last week Elder Arnett and I went to a home and helped do some service!  We painted their house! It was a lot of fun. I'll send a photo.

Monday, November 25, 2013

It was awesome to hear from you!  I got the email from Cade. It sounds like he´s plugging away with everything and staying really busy. I loved the photos. He looks like a pro basketball player! Way to represent Cado-Potato!  Well Tyler, it's on!  [Zach's dad: This is Zach's response when Tyler mentioned that he is taller than Zach as well as four pounds heavier and that he plans on a big wrestling match when Zach gets home.]  You may be bigger than me and you may be taller than me; but I will always be your older "big" brother!  I´ll take you down and I´ll be talking trash in Spanish while I'm doing it.  I'll be playing "mind games" with you! ¡Te mostraré quien es el capo de los Gardanier!

Monday, November 18, 2013

It was cool to hear from you guys and see how big Cade is getting.  It's super weird!  I remember that bike ride up to Mapleton to see if I made the 9th grade basketball team.  I was so nervous.  Cade, who are your 9th grade coaches at Mapleton?  I had Coach Jex and Coach Rowley.  I think your new basketball shoes are pretty sick! 

Well, as you guys know I'm trying to gain weight!  I´ve been eating a lot more and have been exercising a ton, but I haven´t gained a thing.  I weighed myself the other day and weighed 149 pounds! I´ve been getting up at 6:00 every morning and doing workouts for awhile now, and I can't even tell a difference!  One of my goals when I get back will be to go to the gym EVERYDAY!  I also want to get my right shoulder stronger.  I don´t know what happened but it's kind of bugging me a little bit where I had the surgery.

Monday, November 11, 2013

It sounds like you guys had a fun week!  I'm bummed that I missed out on the ASU v. Utah game.  It sounds like a lot of fun!  I'm glad that ASU took it to them.  I live in a house of four Elders.  Two of them like Utah and then my companion and I like ASU!  Vamo arriba! 

Well, this last week was a lot of fun!  Elder Arnett and I went to a special meeting with all the zone leaders in our mission.  We didn't get to go to the temple this time, but it was still pretty fun and cool.  Elder Barlow, Elder Hicks, and I are now considered to be super old in the mission.  It's really weird.  A lot of the younger missionaries in the mission consider us "old and grumpy" missionaries which I don't understand because all three of us smile all the time. 

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

I had a really cool birthday this last Halloween!  My zone did a surprise party for me.  I don't have a photo of it but my companion and I got up at 6:00 in the morning to go clean out our "old" house.  We had a couple of things we needed to do for the owner of the house before we gave him the key back.  Anyway, when we got to the old house, my whole zone was there with a birthday cake and they sang "Happy Birthday" to me. It was really cool and they totally got me! I jumped pretty high when I walked into the house!  I was really impressed to see the whole zone get up super early just for my birthday. I have the best zone!

Monday, October 28, 2013

It sounds like you guys are doing great!  I can't believe that Tyler had his "senior football game."  Time flies so fast.  I wish I was there to see him play.  I'm bummed out that I missed his senior year.  I´ll just have to watch his film when I get back!  Tyler and Cade have had quite the fun football seasons.  It's pretty fun when you are winning.

Well, this last week has been crazy.  With our move, one of the things we have been doing is cleaning the house and organizing everything. The house looks great!  We are definitely spoiled out here in Maldonado!

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Sorry I´m so late with this letter! Yesterday we moved into our new house and it took all day to do it.  Our new house is LEGIT!  It's officially the nicest house in the mission!  I´ll have to send you some photos next time.  I don't have any today and my time today is really short.  I´m living in this house with two other missionaries. 

We had our baptisms this last Saturday and it was amazing!  We baptized Farid (14 years old) and Gianna (11 years old).  It was great and the Spirit was super strong.  The mom was already a member, but she stopped coming to church after husband left her ten years ago.  Recently, her kids started asking her more about God and religion and that made her realize that she wanted to come back to church and raise her kids in the gospel.  One day, out of the blue, she showed up to church

Monday, October 14, 2013

Well, this last week was awesome!  We had a lot of fun and cool experiences. Yesterday we did an open house at one of the churches here in Maldonado with our zone and the ward from the church. We started at 4:00 in the afternoon and didn't end until about 9:00 pm!  The senior couple missionaries were in charge of this activity and they went full out and had the church look amazing with a lot of little activities and food.  We had 42 random people come inside the church and take a tour.  It was the coolest thing ever!  The church is trying out new finding techniques and this is one of them -- a church open house!  The idea was that the members of the ward would invite friends and people that are on the streets to come in and take a little tour of the church.  As the people come in we break them up in groups and show them the different rooms of the church and explain what we believe.  I and another elder were assigned to be in the room with the baptismal font and talk about baptism.  It was legit!  We dressed up in white and many people called us "angels"!  It was a lot of fun. I'll make sure to send some photos.

Monday, October 7, 2013

Mom, I just want to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY!  I was thinking about you on Saturday! 

Dad, you asked for a list of where I've served on my mission.  Here's the list:

1. Noblia, Melo (3 changes)

2. San Francisco, Las Piedras (1.5 Changes)
3. Canelones, Canelones (4.5 Changes)
4. Minas, Lavalleja (2 Changes)
5. Camino Carrasco, Montevideo (2 changes)
6. Maldonado, Maldonado (currently here in my first change!)
 
I have loved all my areas and hope I will get the chance to visit Noblia again before I go home!
 

Monday, September 30, 2013

I loved the photo of Tyler's football game.  It looks like it's starting to get pretty cold up there.  It's been getting pretty warm down here in Uruguay! Finally!

Well, let me tell you about a beautiful place called Maldonado ... I feel like I'm in heaven!  I love this area so much! As the zone leaders here in Maldonado we have the area of Punta del Este, La Brava, José Ignacio, and a lot of other areas that are really pretty here.  The people here are super cool and really want to talk to us.  We work off of a lot of referrals here, so that's nice.  Our ward is small; we have about 40 people in church every week and no one can place the piano.  However, Elder Farsworth and I are pumped to go at it and baptize!  This last week we went to an area called José Ignacio which is really pretty and is right on the beach.  It's about an hour away from the church, but

Monday, September 23, 2013

Well, this last week was another great week!  I had a blast in our ward and with the members.  I also had a lot of fun teaching our investigators and helping them come unto Christ.  It's been kind of tough here in Camino Carrasco.  But it's been great at the same time!  I've learned a lot about "patience," an attribute of Christ that I'm trying to learn (I personally think it's one of the hardest attributes to learn!).

Our ward mission leader is a huge STUD!  I´ve learned so much from him and he's been a father figure for me in the mission.  Tonight we are going to go visit him and his family and talk about some plans for the ward.  It should be great and help the missionary work progress!

Monday, September 16, 2013

Well, these last couple days we got hit by the Santa Rosa!  Every year there's a storm that comes in for a couple days and it just rains, and rains, and rains all day for two or three days.  It's the best!  Elder Teran and I are soaked, but it's been fun.  We laugh about it in the streets and with the members.  The members joke with us that we need to go proselyte with a canoe!
 
This last week we had a sweet zone conference meeting at the mission home! It was the best experience ever!  I got to chill with Elder Hicks and Elder Barlow all day for two days. We had each other laughing as we talked about the good ol' MTC days.  We say that we are "brothers from another mother!"  Anyway, we got to go to the temple and it was AWESOME!  It was interesting because it's been about a year since the last time I went and this time I understood everything in Spanish.  I love

Monday, September 9, 2013

Elder Teran and I got up at 5:00 this morning so that we could go play basketball with some of the guys in the zone and with the assistants.  It was a ton of fun! We had each other laughing and showing off our nice "streetball" moves.  It's pretty tough getting up at 5:00, but in the end it's totally worth it.  It helps us relieve a little bit of stress!

Well, this last week we had a conference with Elder Zeballos of the Seventy, along with several of the other zones here in Uruguay.  It was a lot of fun and we learned a lot from him, including the importance of finding families to teach. When we teach one or two people in a family, it may often mean the whole family is ready to hear the gospel. He taught us that we need to make sure that we try

Monday, September 2, 2013

So the conference that we had with our mission president turned out great! To be honest, Elder Teran and I didn´t do much. We helped out with the food, which was homemade by the Hill Family and the Pugmire Family. We made sloppy joes (mmmmm)!  We also helped President Newsome set up a room to do interviews. That´s all we did.  It was a great time and it was nice to talk to President Newsome. He was super busy and so we ended up doing interviews as a companionship. He knows I'll be leaving a little early to get back for school. I also saw Hermana Elmont at the conference. We talked about everyone that we knew that was on a mission right now from Springville and Mapleton.  It's crazy to hear how many girls have left on missions.

Monday, August 26, 2013

This last week was a great week! Our zone here in Montevideo is doing awesome! We are super happy with the efforts that we are seeing by the missionaries and the miracles that we see and hear about each and every day.

Elder Teran and I had a blast this past p-day.  We played catch with the football for over an hour in front of our apartment complex.  Elder Teran actually throws the ball really well.  I was impressed.  I ran routes and we had a blast.  As we played, a ton of people started watching us.  Kind of awkward, but it was fun!  And yes, Dad, in answer to your question, I do understand him.  He has a different accent being from Mexico, but it's all the same to me.  He does use some words that I don´t understand, but I´m learning.  It's interesting because some of the people here in Uruguay don´t understand his words either, so that makes me feel better about my Spanish.

Monday, August 19, 2013

Well, my new companion, Elder Teran, is a stud! He´s super tall and is from Mexico. He loves sports and actually played American football in high school as a quarterback. Crazy stuff!  We get along great and we both really miss Mexican food, or better said "spicy things!" We´re going to make some Mexican food here one day, and he´s going to teach me.  This morning at 5 a.m. we got up early to play against the elders in the offices in a basketball game at the church.  It was loads of fun!  We were all talking trash (in English and in Spanish!) the whole time. We had a blast and it was definitely worth getting up early. I haven´t played basketball since the MTC days. That was like 19 months ago!  I played horrible! 

Monday, August 12, 2013

Well, this week I got to meet our new mission president, President Newsome, along with his wife and son! It was a lot of fun to meet him in person and get to know him better.  President Newsome is awesome and is really chill.  It will be interesting to see what happens in the following months in the mission.  As of right now, he is not making any changes with the mission.  The mission is doing AWESOME!  We have had a lot of baptisms and are seeing a lot of miracles. Vamo arriba!

I got to talk to Elder Barlow and Elder Hicks for a long time this past week.  Every time we talk to each other we´re always laughing and sharing stories. 

Monday, August 5, 2013

Today has been a lot of fun because Elder Briones and I played fútbol with the missionaries from our zone at the church.  We had a blast!  However, right now I'm super sore.  I also threw the football around with Elder Lacey.  He plays football at BYU and plays wide receiver.  It was a lot of fun. He's from New Mexico and is a super nice and humble kid.  We get along great and we actually will be doing an interchange tomorrow so that will be fun.

It's been a great week! Elder Briones and I have seen the hand of the Lord everyday this last week! A cool story from three days ago is we got a referral from the Minas missionaries (Vamo arriba Minas, it's my old area!).  They gave us a referral of a man that lives in our area.  He´s been going to the

Monday, July 29, 2013

I loved getting your last emails! Thanks, Cade, for taking the time to write me.  It sounds like everything is going good with football and NCAA 14!  Dad, I loved the photos you sent me of your mission! They made me laugh a ton and I loved the glasses that your companion was wearing.  Good times! 

You asked for the address of our church and our apartment.  The church where I go to is on the streets of Camino Carrasco and Cambay.  It's a new church and is really pretty.  Our apartment is located on Camino Carrasco and Yrigoyen!

Monday, July 22, 2013

It was great to hear from you guys! Its sounds like the beach was awesome and a lot of fun. I´m super excited to go to the beach with you guys next year. It's going to be a lot of fun! It feels like I haven´t been there for a long, long time.  I´m also excited to start hearing about football!  I love this time of year and can't wait to hear how everyone is playing.  Keep me posted!

Well Mom, in answer to some of your questions, we have two couple missionaries in our mission. They are both in their 70´s, I believe. One of the spouses speaks Spanish but the other three don´t speak any Spanish!.  It's super interesting because even though they don´t speak any Spanish they get around just fine and it's obvious that the Lord is blessing them and taking good care of them. They

Monday, July 15, 2013

Elder Briones and I had a great last week! It's been super fun being here in Camino Carrasco! I absolutely love it! This last week all the zone leaders had a meeting with President Armstrong and the assistants. It was awesome! Two missionary couples made us breakfast and lunch and it tasted amazing! I haven´t had a good, homemade American meal in a long time! We had biscuits and gravy and a lot of salad and fruit! At the meeting we also got to talk to our incoming president, President Newsome, and his wife through Skype! It was really cool to see him and hear his voice. He´s super excited to come here and will get here August 7.  At the meeting we also talked about our zones and how we are all doing and some goals that we each have.  After the meeting we went outside and got a photo of the temple. I´ll make sure to send it.  Anyway, it was a lot of fun!

Monday, July 8, 2013

Well, my new area is AWESOME! I absolutely love it!  And yes, Mom, I have McDonalds in my area! I feel like I'm in the United States - it's super weird!  Our area is really, really big and sometimes overwhelming because it's hard to even know where to begin, but it's been great!  There is a ton of traffic and people in the streets.  This is a whole new lifestyle for this country elder from Noblia!  My zone is awesome and I have a bunch of cool elders that I get to work with, so it's been fun. 

It's been kind of weird being a zone leader because we´ve been doing stuff that I'm not used to doing. For example, our area is right next to the mission home so we work with the assistants to the mission

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

We had a great week here in Minas! It's been loads of fun with Elder Ipson.  He has me laughing all the time.  We also had a blast teaching this last week. 

Laura came to church on Sunday, but not her husband.  We love him to death, but he just wants to do the things we leave with him at his house to do.  Some of the members of the branch are going to stop by and visit him.  Also, Camilo and his wife came to church again!  They are awesome and have come to church like seven weeks in a row!  I love Camilo to death!  I got a photo and will try and send it.  However, right now the computer that I'm using is super old school and for some reason it can't read my camera.  I´ll try to figure it out!

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

We received a memory card in the mail from Zach.  Here are a couple of random videos:

Destroying a brick wall:

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

These are the other pictures that Zach mentioned in his email yesterday:

Monday, June 24, 2013

Thanks for all the letters and emails!  I love hearing from each one of you.  It's good to know that you are all safe and sound and enjoying life! 

Well this last week has been crazy!  I honestly don´t know where to begin.  We had some great moments and some sad moments, but it's all good.  Life goes on!

We had a mission conference with President Armstrong and his family. It was basically them telling us thanks for everything and letting us know they are going to miss us tons.  It was kind of sad.  President Armstrong had a great message about how we need to keep moving on and working hard!  I saw Elder Hicks at the conference and got a photo with him.  I also got a photo with a missionary

Monday, June 17, 2013

Dad, ¡FELIZ DIA DEL PADRE! I hope you had a great Father´s Day! It's crazy to think that I´ll be with you next Father´s Day.  The time is flying by!  I´m definitely trying to take advantage of every second here in the mission.  It's been a great experience and something that I'll never forget.

We are actually going to do Laura´s baptism this Saturday!  Laura had some emergency work that she had to do and coudn´t get out of so we are going to do the baptism this Saturday!  We are super excited and she is too!  She gets along great with the branch and really wants to do all she can to follow Christ.

Monday, June 10, 2013

It was awesome getting your emails and to hear how everyone is doing.  Alex Farina is getting huge! That´s awesome that he´s playing baseball for the Dodgers' scout team.  He's a baller!  

I believe I fixed my camera.  I'm going to try and send some photos today that I´ve been trying to send.  They include one of me with the statue of Artigas, one with me, Hermana Elmont, and Hermana Asbell (we all went to Springville High School together), one of me raking some leaves with some members, and a photo of "La Mano" (I got a photo at the beach!)

This last week has been a great week, like always! We´re teaching some awesome families! I love Alicia and Camilo like none other and am having a blast watching them change their lives as they

Monday, June 3, 2013

Today was crazy! I had to go to Tres Cruces with Elder Ipson today.  It's been a long day, but I got to eat at McDonalds so it's all good!  I also had fun chillin' with some of the other elders that were there.

Hey, just to let you guys know, something something weird is going on with my camera.  It's not working all that well.  Give me this week to figure out what's going on and I'll tell you next week.  Sorry that I don't have any photos again.

It sounded like the wedding with Alyssa and Jordan went great!  I was glad to see some photos.  I also got an email from Michael Arredondo.  I sent him a quick email.  I'm going to send him a better email next week.  It was great to hear from him.  I loved his football photos.  Speaking of football,

Monday, May 27, 2013

I hope that Jordan and Alyssa have a great wedding on Friday.  I wish I was there to see it.  You'll have to tell them hi for me!

Me and Elder Ipson are getting along great!  He´s a great kid and really random.  He has me laughing all day.  His Spanish is getting really good!  We had a great last week and I had him talk a lot more than he was used to, but he did great and I think he learned a lot!  We have a great relationship and are having fun here in Minas!

We are teaching three families!  We are super excited and are seeing a ton of miracles here in Minas! One of the families that we are teaching is Camilo, Alicia, and their two kids.  Alicia had the two kids f

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

This last week has been a busy week, but loads of fun! A family that we found a week ago came to church again and they are doing awesome!  The husband is already a member.  He's living with this lady and they're not married, but we're going to help them get it figured out.  They´ve told us several times that they want to get married and keep going to church. They love the atmosphere and the things they have heard about families.  The lady really wants to get baptized!  We´re stoked!

My companion got a call last Saturday from the mission president and told he was going to be the new financier for the mission.  It's a great opportunity for him to serve and work in the mission home.  Elder Reay was super excited and caught a bus to the mission home after church on Sunday. 

Monday, May 6, 2013

I´m super excited for this Mother´s Day! I can´t believe we get to talk again through Skype! It feels like yesterday it was Christmas and we were talking.  So the plans for this Sunday is that I´ll be calling you at 7:00 P.M. here in Uruguay time. I think you guys are four hours behind me so it will be at 3:00 P.M. for you.  I´ll be calling you from the computadora using Skype from the house of our branch president. He has a nice set up so it should be a sweet experience.  We get 40 minutes to talk.  I wish we could talk longer, but 40 minutes is still an awesome amount of time!  As of right now those are the plans.  I can´t wait to see you guys and see how big Tyler and Cade have grown.

As I'm typing this at the computer cafe, it is funny because I´m sitting right next to Elder Wilkey (he´s from England) and he goes home the 22nd of this month.  He´s super excited to go home and is giggling like a little girl with every thing his family is telling him. It's getting really annoying.  :-)

Monday, April 29, 2013

Well, I can´t believe that the school year is about to end again for you guys.  It feels like it just began!  I also can´t believe that you guys are about to start up football again. I love this time of the year!

Well, here in Minas it's still really nice.  It's starting to get a little chilly, though.  Be ready for photos of me in my nice jacket!

Everything is going great here in Minas! We are working hard and building up a pool of investigators to teach. We have a couple of promising investigators, but one in particular is Cristina. She is awesome and came to church yesterday. We´re trying to help her with her addiction to smoking. She´s awesome!

Monday, April 22, 2013

It was great to hear from you! I had no idea about the terrorist attack in Boston. That is super sad, but I'm glad they caught the two guys.  Usually when something big happens in the United States we hear all about it, but to be honest I had no clue.  I hope everything is ok and that the people in Boston will know that everything will be ok and that they have a Father in Heaven that loves them very much.

Tyler looked really good in his tux.  [We sent Zach a picture of Tyler dressed up for Saturday's Prom.]  I can't believe he's going on these dates now.  He looks so much older in the photos.  The same with Cade.  He looks huge!  I also really like his red Springville sweatshirt.  Pretty sweet stuff!

Monday, April 15, 2013

This last week has been crazy busy!  I'm in my new town Minas and I love it!  It's super beautiful!  There are mountains (really they're hills when compared to Utah moutains) and a lot of little hills.  I feel like I'm in a different country because in all of the areas I've been, I've never seen any mountains!  My new companion is awesome and we get along great! His name is Elder Reay and he's from Cottonwood, Arizona. I live in a 4 elder house here in Minas. The other missionaries are Elder Wilkey (he's from England!) and Elder Ipson (he's from Mesa, Arizona).  They are both studs! We are having a blast living together and we are always laughing.

This past week Elder Reay has been showing me the area and having us meet with members and investigators. There is a lot of work to do here, so I'm looking forward to

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Well, this last weekend was AWESOME! General Conference was amazing!  Elder Pointer and I went to Las Piedras to watch conference with our zone. We watched every session live.  There were members that were there too, so we had a TV in the chapel in Español and then a TV in a special room for all the Gringos in English.  Elder Pointer and I watched all the sessions in English except the Sunday morning session.  We had two investigators that came to watch it, so we watched it with them in Spanish. Super awesome! Canelones is about an hour away from Las Piedras by bus, so it was super sweet to have our investigators come from Canelones to watch it.  One of them is going to be baptized this coming Saturday!  One of my favorite talks this conference was by Elder Cardon and his talk was about repentance.  It really hit me hard just how much Jesus Christ WANTS to forgive us.

Monday, April 1, 2013

It was great to hear from you!  It sounds like Cade's balling it up in his Bantam league and Tyler is running fast in the 800m and 400m races in track.  I honestly can't believe he says he loves it.  I would have to say my favorite thing in track was the long jump because you really didn't have to run that much!  Kind of beats the purpose of track, huh?  I´m super excited for Alyssa and Jordan!  That's cool that they are getting married.  I wish I could be there.  You'll have to say hola for me!  Dad, that´s sweet that you went to the BYU spring football scrimmage.  I can't believe football is about to start again.  ¡Vamo ariba!

Well, Mom said she would like to know what my days are like here in Canelones, so I thought I would give you a little schedule.  Here we go:

Monday, March 25, 2013

It was great to hear from you! I loved the updates about March Madness.  It sounds like you guys had a blast at the games!  As for Tyler and Cade, I remember those days sleeping in your bed and enjoying a nice Mountain Dew from Brookside.  It's crazy to hear how much Tyler and Cade are growing up and doing more stuff on their own. They're going to be all grown up by the time I get home.

Also, I want to say Happy 24th Anniversary!  I love you guys tons and am super grateful for the example you have set for me, Tyler, and Cade.  I want to have a successful family just like you!

The people are going crazy in Uruguay about the new pope from Argentina.  He's the first Latino pope, so they are all pumped.  Here's a funny story.  Hermano Lee in my ward (he's the first

Monday, March 18, 2013

It was awesome to hear from you!  It's official that as of now I can email who ever I want.  I´m super pumped because there are quite a few people that I want to send emails to.  I´ll have to send one to the Ruckus Crew!  We now have an hour to email.

I´m sure Dad is thrilled for March Madness to officially start.  I hope you are too, Mom!  It should be a lot of fun for you to watch all the games and fill out the brackets.  I´ll have to do it next year!

This last week has been crazy busy! We´ve been having a lot of success with the less active members. There have been quite a few that have come to church the last couple weeks so Elder Pointer and I

Monday, March 11, 2013

¡Tyler, FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS!  I love you to death bro and miss you tons! Keep working hard in school, it all pays off!  Dad, I´m going to say happy birthday too, because I won´t be able to say happy birthday on your birthday so... ¡FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS!  You're the best dad in the world and I miss you tons!  Keep doing your thing and working hard. The March Madness tournament will be a great break for you!

It's starting to cool down here in Uruguay. I would say it's the perfect temperature right now; not too hot and not too cold.  I got the "Ruckus Crew" newsletter from Stacy. I loved it and have it hanging up above my desk. It's cool to see how everyone is doing and how we´re in different parts of the world. I didn´t know Alex is in North Carolina.  [Zach's dad:  Alex is a friend of Zach's who was

Monday, March 4, 2013

Sorry for last week! I honestly forgot to say anything. [Zach's dad:  Zach didn't tell us that his p-day was switching to Tuesday last week.  It caused us, to say the least, a bit of concern when Monday came and went without hearing from Zach.  We were sure he was captured and thrown into a dark pit by Uruguayan drug runners!].  I don´t want you guys to worry about me!  I´m doing great and loving the mission. Uruguay is really safe and chill.  Nothing bad ever happens here so you guys can take a chill pill! Anyway, it was another great week with Elder Pointer!

Sunday was a super awesome day! Elder Pointer and I have been helping the ward by teaching and bringing back less active members.  This Sunday we had 4 adult men that came back to church

Thursday, February 28, 2013

Picture of the Uruguay Montevideo missionaries.  Where's Waldo, I mean Zach ...

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

We just received in the mail a memory card from Zach's camera.  It included several videos and pictures.

A beautiful summer day in Uruguay (December 2012).

 

 

 

 

In this video, Zach is stumbling a bit with his English.  I think he is "excited" and "pumped."  What do you think?

 

 

 

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

I found out two days ago that we had p-day today (Tuesday) instead of Monday.  Sorry I wasn´t able to let you know!  I want you to know that everything is good and me and Elder Pointer are healthy and safe!

This week flew by really fast!  Elder Pointer and I have been going to work each and every day and the week seems to go by so fast.  The time is flying by and it's a little scary.  We got change calls yesterday and found out that Elder Pointer and I will be together for another change here in Canelones. We're both excited to be together for another change.  We get along great and we´ve found some awesome investigators!

Monday, February 18, 2013

It was awesome to hear from you and to hear that everyone is doing great!  I can´t believe we have 22 missionaries out from our ward serving - that´s awesome!  I´m so excited for Michael Gardanier to get to his area.  He´s going to love it! He´s going to learn so much and grow a ton. I was just thinking the other day about my first day here in the mission and the things that I've learned. I feel like I´m the same person, but at the same time I feel like I've changed a lot for the better. I´m loving the mission and am having great experiences here with Elder Pointer. We are working hard here and honestly talking to everyone that we can. We´ve found some good investigators but we´re also still looking for more.  There is always someone ready to hear the gospel!

Monday, February 11, 2013

It was awesome to hear from you guys! I can´t believe the Ruckus Crew has officially left!  It's so cool and I can´t wait to send them all letters.  

The time is flying by so fast and I honestly can´t believe it. It's actually really scary.  I'm trying to take advantage of every second and just enjoy the mission one day at a time.  I love it here in Uruguay. The people are awesome and I love them all to death.

The other day we had a zone conference and President Armstrong came and talked to us and shared some awesome scriptures to help motivate us.  He is an amazing man and is really nice.  After he shared his things he than called me up to share my testimony with the zone.  He didn't give me any

Monday, February 4, 2013

It was awesome to hear from you.  I can´t believe Murph is in the MTC!  I´m excited to send him a letter and ask how things are going.  I know Erin Elmont, so I'll be looking out for her.  That's cool that we´re going to be in the same mission.  I loved hearing that the 49ers lost because my companion, Elder Pointer, loves them.  I told him that the 49ers just couldn´t handle Dennis "The Menace" Pitta! 

This week was a great week with Elder Pointer!  We get along great and we have been laughing a ton.  He is really sarcastic and has a dry sense of humor, so he really makes me laugh.  He also told me the other day that he doesn´t know how I smile all the time and asks me frequently if the muscles on my face hurt because I smile so much.  Good ole Elder Pointer!  Anyway, we are honestly having

Monday, January 29, 2013

This week has been crazy!  I got my new "greenie" companion.  His name is Elder Pointer and he's from Sacramento, California!  He's a stud and I've been learning a ton from him!  I feel like he's my trainer.  He loves sports and played rugby at a junior college in California.  His dream is to play rugby for BYU after the mission. His Spanish is really good actually and he has the desire to talk to everyone about the Gospel. We are here in Canelones and with much prayer we've decided to begin with a fresh start here.  We are looking for new investigators to teach and have been talking to many, many people.  At first, I thought that since I got a gringo companion I would have to do everything, but he's actually been helping me a ton and willing to do the work.  At times I make him do things by himself to see how much he actually knows and to see if he understands the people without me and

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

It was awesome to hear from you guys! Your emails had me laughing.  I got the picture of the "Ruckus Crew" moms.  I think it's a super cool thing!  I tell my companions all the time about the "Ruckus Crew" and they always tell me how jealous they are of the friends that I've been blessed with.  I´ll have to write a letter to all of them when they enter the MTC.  Also, I am pumped for Michael and Jordan and their missions.

This week has been crazy! We´ve been teaching a lot and working hard! This week was beautiful! About 70 degrees the whole week!  ¡Vamo Arriba!  Also, we had change calls yesterday and we found out that Elder Aguirre will be transferred tomorrow and that I need to go to the mission home

Monday, January 14, 2013

So it sounds like it's really cold up there in Utah, and snowing a lot. Down here it's really, really hot and humid! I haven´t felt this type of humidity and heat in a long time!  Dad, I feel like it's the same weather when we went to Boston and New York that one summer for those football camps.  But, it's all good; I'm loving it! I´m super, super sad that my Fighting Irish lost.  Last Monday night I wore the Notre Dame shirt that you sent me as I went to bed hoping it would bring some good luck. I guess not!  Next year they´ll take the championship! 

It's crazy that Alex will be reporting to the Argentina MTC this Wednesday!  You need to send me his address so I can write him a letter.  And tell him not to worry about the cold.  I've heard it's been really hot in Argentina.  Anyway, it's crazy that the whole "Ruckus Crew" is splitting up! 

Monday, January 7, 2013

It was great to hear from you! I can´t believe it's super cold in Utah right now!  Just the other day it was about 110 degrees here in Uruguay!  I´m always sweating here, even if it's not that hot.  The humidity is ridiculous, so I end up sweating a ton anyway!  I´ve been drinking a ton of water.

But anyway, it has been another great week here in Canelones.  On New Year's Eve the people lit off a bunch of fireworks.  At midnight I woke up to the sound of the explosions, but I was so tired that I went back to bed and slept through all of it. 

Today I got a letter from Perry. It was awesome to hear from him and hear how he's doing.  He sounds like he´s doing great and he told me many times that he loves the mission!  Tell Murphy and Alex that I love them and miss them. They´re going to be great missionaries!