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!

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.