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
super excited. He told me it was going to be just like the MTC days again. [Zach's dad:  Zach, Elder Hicks, and Elder Barlow were companions together at the Provo MTC, and now they will finish off their last two weeks in the mission field together. Pretty cool.]  I have mixed feelings.  I´m super excited to be back with Elder Hicks and Elder Barlow, but I was also hoping to stay here in Maldonado these last two weeks.  However, it's going to be cool to have Christmas in the mission home with the president.  I can´t complain about that. 

I´m not exactly sure what time I´ll Skype you, but it will be Christmas day. I´ll send you an email next week and let you know the time.  Also, this year we get one hour to Skype! In the past it has been 40-45 minutes, so that´s some cool news. 

This last week was pretty sweet.  It was stressful, but it was good!  It kept my mind focused on the work and what I have to do in our area.

Our visit to Minas was awesome!  On Thursday my companion and I went and visited some members and I got a photo with José and Laura!  They gave me and my companion lunch.  It was a cool experience and I´m super excited for Laura because she is going strong in the church and has already gone to the temple a couple of times!  Vamo arriba!  I also got to visit Elder Pointer for a bit. He´s the zone leader in Minas.  We had a good chat and talked about the good times when he was a new missionary and we were companions.  I can´t believe that was about a year ago.  Time has surely flown by.

Tomorrow will be are huge Christmas mission conference. We are going to have a big lunch and have a two hour conference.  It will be fun to see everyone and a good time to take some photos.

I´ve been thinking a lot of the mission and am really grateful for the time that I´ve had here in Uruguay.  I´ve learned so much and I feel as if my eyes have been opened. I know what my purpose is in this life and the importance of being obedient to Heavenly Father´s plan. I know that as we obey His commandments we will be the happiest in our lives.  I love you guys so much and can´t wait to see you next week on Skype!