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!

Monday, December 31, 2012

Christmas was awesome!  It was super hot, but it rained a ton so it felt a lot better. On Christmas day we had a district meeting in San Jose (1 hour away).  Because it rained so much in the morning the bridge back to our city was flooded and the buses couldn´t pass.  So, we ended up doing a lot of contacting in San Jose and also helped the missionaries there with their lessons that they had to do. Finally, the flood passed and we were able to catch a bus back to Canelones.  From there we went straight to a member's house (Hermana Amparo) to use her computer to talk to you guys by Skype! That was my Christmas day! It was crazy and definitely a Christmas I won't forget.

Monday, December 24, 2012

¡Feliz Navidad! I´m super excited to talk to you guys tomorrow! It's going to be awesome.  This evening Elder Aguirre and I are going to an investigator's house for a little dinner and to share a message.  After that, there are two member families that have invited us to their houses for Christmas Eve, so we´re going to visit them and then head back home for bed!  I'm excited to spend some time with the members. It won´t be the same without you guys, but I know what I´m doing is right and that Heavenly Father will look after you.  Tomorrow you will have to let me know how Outback Steakhouse was!

This last Friday we had a Christmas Devotional for all the missionaries here in my mission.  It was AWESOME!  Each zone sang a Christmas song and then we got to hear from President Armstrong. 

Monday, December 17, 2012

I love hearing about all the things that are going on with you guys and, of course, hearing about the sports.  It sounds like all is well back at home with a lot of laughs.  It sounds like all is the same!  It was also interesting to hear about all the mission dates getting moved back.  I know that the missionaries here in Uruguay that go home in January leave a week or two earlier than planned because of all the new missionaries that are coming in.

Anyway, this week was a good week!  I gave a talk yesterday in church about setting goals for the next year. It was awesome and I had people laughing!  I don't think I've really explained much about the people of Uruguay to you guys.  I honestly think they are the laziest people I've ever met!  They are awesome and I love them to death, but I think if Dad was here he would go crazy!  People don't

Monday, December 10, 2012

Well we found out a little bit more about Christmas this year.  Christmas is on a Tuesday, so we´ll have our normal P-Day on Monday and I'll be able to write you that you day.  Then the next day (Christmas), I'll be able to use Skype and talk to you!  I'm super excited to talk to you guys (talking in English is going to be really weird) and see you!  As of right now we're not really sure what time we will have access to Skype.  We need to plan it with the family in the ward who has a computer.  I'll let you know this next P-Day what's going to happen.

We received change calls yesterday and found out that Elder Aguirre and I are going to stay here in Canelones together for another change. We´re super excited and can´t wait to keep working here in Canelones.  The ward here is AWESOME and the members are always helping us with the work.

Monday, December 3, 2012

I received the photo of Perry [good friend serving a mission in Tallahasse, Florida] and thought it was awesome.  I think it would be cool if you sent him my emails.  I would love to hear from him.  I sent him a letter a couple of weeks ago.  I hope he got it.  It's also good to hear Tanner [good friend at the MTC and serving a mission to Korea] is doing great.  I sent him a letter, too.  I can´t believe Michael [Zach's cousin] got his mission call [Roseville, California]!  I´m pumped for him.  Tell him he´s going to be a great missionary. We´re offically going to have 2 Elder Gardaniers in the mission field.  Vamo Arriba Gardanier family!

Well, the ward is awesome.  The branch president is now the bishop with the same couselors and all the other callings are basically the same.  The ward had its first ward baptism this last Thursday with

Monday, November 26, 2012

My Thanksgiving was a good day here in Uruguay!  We found many people to teach and taught many lessons. We ended up not eating any chicken (let alone turkey), but it's all good. 

Our baptism for Silvana is this coming Thursday! This last week was crazy in the branch because we officially became a ward yesterday! There were a lot of parties and meetings this last week with the ward, so we didn´t have much time to do a baptism. The bishop told us this Thursday would be best, so that´s when we are going to do it.