[Zach's dad: For Mother's Day we were able to talk to Zach by Skype for over thirty minutes. Technology in this day and age is amazing. Although half a world away, Zach sounded and felt like he was in the room next door. His enthusiasm about life and missionary work is contagious. Zach followed up yesterday's call with an email today. Here are some excerpts.]
It was the best thing ever to talk to and see you guys
yesterday! I love Skype and I thought it worked great! I could hear and see you
guys perfect! I'm sorry it was so short. Another missionary had just got to the
house we were at. He was supposed to talk to his family an hour before, but I guess Skype wasn't working at the house where he was. So he came to the house we were at to jump on and quickly talk to his family. It was super hard to say goodbye, but I was glad we were able to talk. I
Monday, May 7, 2012
All is well here in Uruguay! It's been a crazy week but I'm starting to get used to it. I'm pretty sure every week is gonna be crazy for the
next two years.
For Mother's Day, I have awesome news! We are going to go to Melo on Sunday night and do Skype from a member's home! I'm super excited to do it! I will get on the computer and talk to you at 6:30 p.m. Uruguay time (3:30 p.m. Utah time).
I haven't received any of the other packages besides the one you sent me for Easter. I have gotten some letters and I'm trying to write back. It's just super hard as we are constantly busy! It's crazy!
For Mother's Day, I have awesome news! We are going to go to Melo on Sunday night and do Skype from a member's home! I'm super excited to do it! I will get on the computer and talk to you at 6:30 p.m. Uruguay time (3:30 p.m. Utah time).
I haven't received any of the other packages besides the one you sent me for Easter. I have gotten some letters and I'm trying to write back. It's just super hard as we are constantly busy! It's crazy!
Monday, April 30, 2012
It was another great and exciting week! Uruguay is
awesome! It was nice to hear from all of you. I love hearing what's going on
and what everyone is up to. I got mail this past week from Shelly, Cole, Jordan, and Grandma Gardanier. I also received the Easter package. Thank you so much! It hit the spot!
Mom, in answer to your questions, when we buy food here in Noblia we typically buy from
this little store on the main road. A member of the church works there so she usually hooks
us up! That is where we buy pretty much everything. They have told us a little bit
about Mother's Day and they even said we could Skype. However, we are out in the freakin' boonies so we won't be
able to do that. But I will be able to call! They'll tell us more this
week and then I'll let you know what the plan is.
Monday, April 23, 2012
So it's been another amazing week! I love the mission! I'm meeting a ton of cool and amazing people everyday!
So today for P-day me and Elder Jackson (who is from
Ogden, Utah) helped some missionaries move out of their house to an apartment. After that we went and looked for some supplies for our house.
Just this last week we got an oven, washing machine, and a
whiteboard for our house. Our house is brand-new so it didn't have anything in
it. We've been slowly buying things for the last couple of weeks. It's been a
pain, but it's all good! One of the pictures I'm sending is how we got the
washer, oven and whiteboard to the house. It's pretty funny, I thought. Good ol' Jorge and his bike! He's a
Monday, April 16, 2012
I had another
amazing week! I'm learning a ton from Elder Jackson. In answer to your question, I haven't received any packages or mail yet. Our mission president says it typically takes about a
month to receive packages and about a week or two for mail. It's interesting how
they do mail here. We give our mail to our district leader who then sends it to
the Mission President who then sends it through the mail to the U.S. I don´t quite
understand how it works, but anyway, I think you guys will receive my letters
faster than I will receive yours. I hear the mail here more reliable
than other places in South America, but I'm still kinda hesitant.
We eat a lot of meat down here! A lot of noodles and meat,
or sandwiches. Yesterday I ate a dog (I'm pretty sure I'm not joking). I was trying not to think about it while I was eating! It tasted alright.
Monday, April 9, 2012
I´m doing great! This week has been absolutely crazy and
I don´t even know where to begin. Monday was the longest day of my life. When I got to Uruguay (on Tuesday) we went to the mission home for two hours and then I found
out I had to drive another 7 hours to get to Melo, spend the night, and then
drive another hour the next day to get to Noblia. It was the longest day ever - but it's all good. Noblia is absolutely tiny and
the people are super poor. It's been a really humbling experience and I am super blessed to have the things I have in my life. We live in a
tiny, tiny house and have hot water for our showers but everything else is cold. Elder Jackson is an absolute stud and has been showing me the ropes. He
works hard but he's been impressed with my attitude because I always want to
work. He's also impressed with my boldness.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
I´ve made it to Uruguay safely! This is a short
email but I´ll be able to write more on Monday. Monday is our P-day. My
new companion is Elder Jackson. He's a cool guy and has been showing me around. It's a lot different here, but it's awesome. I´m living in Noblía and me and Elder
Jackson are the only ones living in the house. Noblía is close to the border of
Brazil. My zone leader is Elder Griffin and he is actually in my district. He's
a really awesome kid and it was nice seeing a familiar face. [Zach's Dad: Elder Griffin is from Mapleton, Utah and we've known their family for many years]. I'm
healthy and doing great! It's a crazy world here! Oh, and my
Spanish is horrible; but it's all good. I love you guys! I´ll talk to you
on Monday!
Zach's dad: Click here for a link to Zach's new city (or town, rather)
Zach's dad: Click here for a link to Zach's new city (or town, rather)
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Zach leaves for Uruguay tomorrow. A couple of random videos from the MTC before he leaves:
Thursday, March 29, 2012
I can't believe I'm basically done here in the MTC! It flew
by so fast! I had my last class today with my teachers and it was really sad. They were honestly the best teachers I could have had and I was so blessed to
have them. I got a few pictures with them so I'll make sure to send some photos
before I leave for Uruguay.
Life has been really crazy this last week! It is really busy because of General Conference and other meetings we will attend since we're leaving this Monday. I'm super nervous to leave for Uruguay but am also really excited. I've learned a ton of Spanish but I still feel like I don't know anything. The Lord is gonna have to help me quite a bit with the language down in Uruguay!
Life has been really crazy this last week! It is really busy because of General Conference and other meetings we will attend since we're leaving this Monday. I'm super nervous to leave for Uruguay but am also really excited. I've learned a ton of Spanish but I still feel like I don't know anything. The Lord is gonna have to help me quite a bit with the language down in Uruguay!
Monday, March 26, 2012
A couple of pictures we recently received:
Zach with a couple of missionaries from his district.
Friday, March 23, 2012
Today we should be getting our flight plans. My whole district is super excited but the five missionaries that are supposed to go to Argentina don't have their visas yet and we heard they might be reassigned ... they are kinda bummed. I'll let you know what my flight plans are. I will try and send another email tonight and let you know what's going on.
Elder Oaks and his wife came and spoke to us on Tuesday. He is an amazing man, but I was really impressed by his wife. She just had surgery on her foot but she still wanted to come speak to the missionaries. She told us how much she loves the missionaries and said she wouldn't miss coming and speaking to us for the world. She was really kind and spoke to us like a mother. I felt like I was sitting in her living room and she was just giving me motherly advice. She was awesome! Elder Oaks
Elder Oaks and his wife came and spoke to us on Tuesday. He is an amazing man, but I was really impressed by his wife. She just had surgery on her foot but she still wanted to come speak to the missionaries. She told us how much she loves the missionaries and said she wouldn't miss coming and speaking to us for the world. She was really kind and spoke to us like a mother. I felt like I was sitting in her living room and she was just giving me motherly advice. She was awesome! Elder Oaks
Friday, March 16, 2012
It was another great week! There were some frustrating moments with Spanish,
but I learned a lot from my teachers and my fellow missionaries, so it is all
good! I'm learning!
I sent my picks for March Madness. I totally guessed on everything (and received some divine revelation). You'll have to keep me posted on how my picks are doing. I heard BYU lost to Marquette but had an amazing play-in game. We try to get as much information out of the teachers here as possible or ask new missionaries what the latest news is. It's pretty funny to see all the missionaries that have been in the MTC for awhile crowd around the missionaries that have only been here for a day or less and try to get as much information out of them as possible.
I sent my picks for March Madness. I totally guessed on everything (and received some divine revelation). You'll have to keep me posted on how my picks are doing. I heard BYU lost to Marquette but had an amazing play-in game. We try to get as much information out of the teachers here as possible or ask new missionaries what the latest news is. It's pretty funny to see all the missionaries that have been in the MTC for awhile crowd around the missionaries that have only been here for a day or less and try to get as much information out of them as possible.
Friday, March 9, 2012
I had another awesome week! It was my first week of being a zone
leader and it went awesome. Me and Elder Hicks have to set up our Sunday sacrament meetings and
assign who is doing what. We
attend many meetings every night. They are basically about our district and
making sure everyone is doing alright. It's been a good experience.
The Spanish is coming along. My teachers have told me they are impressed with how much better
I've been sleeping great! Each night I crash at 10:30. I honestly can't wait to
go to bed each night. It's the best thing ever! My roomates, however, are not
as good. They complain about my snoring. They even wear earplugs. However, I guess I'm still pretty loud. But they'll live.
The Spanish is coming along. My teachers have told me they are impressed with how much better
Friday, March 2, 2012
Today I had one of the most amazing P-days! We went to the temple. After we were changing we discovered the temple cafeteria. The food was
absolutely amazing! (Just because I think we were all used to the MTC
food. Not even comparable to your cooking, momma!). Anyway, we all were in
heaven and left with full stomachs. Our district is gonna do it every week now!
My companion Elder Hicks is a great example to me and I look up to
him. He's really active and loves the outdoors. He rock climbs, hikes, skydives, and does ice climbing. He basically does it all. I can't remember if I took a
picture of one of the pictures he has here in our room, but anyway he had the
longest hair in high school! Its hilarious! He looks like a chick and I remind
him of that every day. Anyway, he's a stud.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
We received some pictures from Zach today. Here are a couple:
The "classic" photo pointing to your mission on the MTC world map.
Friday, February 24, 2012
Thanks for the
letters. It is awesome to hear from you guys. I'm going to send a
letter this week with the memory card from my camera so you can see some of my pictures
and videos.
So, just to let you know, everything
is going well. The language is getting frustrating and I feel like a lot of my
district is getting it down faster than me, but it's ok. I know with time it will
come.
I realized I haven't told you that I'm in the MTC
choir! I've been in it since I got here but somehow it slipped my mind to tell
you. I can't sing a note to save my life. However, it's way nice to go to
choir and get away from the language for a bit. It's also nice to hear some
music since they don't let you listen to your own music here at the MTC. So anyway, I'm in the choir and rock'n it!
Friday, February 17, 2012
The week has been awesome! My Spanish has been getting progressively better and
I can see the Lord's hand in that daily. It's weird to think that I'm
learning to speak and understand another language. It's been an awesome
experience! Elder Hicks, my companion, is a pro with the language. He helps me
out a ton and whenever I don't know how to say something he always has my
back. We have an awesome companionship.
During this week I was able to watch a fireside by Elder Bednar that he gave during Christmas time to the elders here in the MTC. It was an amazing talk. He talked on the character of Christ. He went through Matthew Chapter 4 and broke it down. It's amazing how much Christ loves us and how charitable He is. He also told a story about how a mother lost her daughter in a car accident but was
During this week I was able to watch a fireside by Elder Bednar that he gave during Christmas time to the elders here in the MTC. It was an amazing talk. He talked on the character of Christ. He went through Matthew Chapter 4 and broke it down. It's amazing how much Christ loves us and how charitable He is. He also told a story about how a mother lost her daughter in a car accident but was
Friday, February 10, 2012
It has been a long week but I made it! The days are
going by a lot faster now. I get a lot of the days mixed up together. They
keep us very busy. Every minute there is something planned. We go from breakfast, to class, to lunch, to class, then to dinner, and
then end with gym. It's pretty much that everyday. We wake up at 6:30
every morning.
Fast Sunday was really cool. We had a mission conference
for 2 hours and then went to sacrament meeting right after. My district is
combined with an Italian district so it's really interesting. I can understand a
little bit of what they say. The Italian district is awesome! They totally took
our Spanish district under their wing. They have been here for 7 weeks so
they only have 2 weeks left with us before they go to Italy. There are 10 of them
and there are 10 from my district, so a total of 20 plus
Saturday, February 4, 2012
It's been crazy here at the MTC! It's been a lot of hard work
but that's good - it keeps my mind off things. I have an awesome companion and his
name is Elder Hicks. We work great with each other and feed off each other's
hard work. We're both really stressed about learning Spanish, but in time we'll
get it. They already have us teaching lessons in Spanish to fake
investigators - it's pretty intense. He and I have no idea what we are saying
but somehow the investigator is getting it because she seems to nod at things
we say so let's hope she does understand. The food here is just like the Cannon Center
at BYU so the food is pretty good! My zone leaders are two elders going to
Italy and they are awesome! Elder Money is from Spanish Fork and is hilarious!
And Elder Treadway is from Nevada and loves baseball, so we have a
connection also. He too is funny. So all in all my zone leaders are really
tight. The MTC put our district (me, Elder Hicks, Elder Barlow, Elder Tippets,
Elder Benning, Elder Thomas, Elder
