Wow, has a mission ever aged Zach.Just kidding, it was a Halloween costume.
Portland Temple, 12/2/09Thursday, December 3, 2009
Latest Picutres from Zach
Wow, has a mission ever aged Zach.Just kidding, it was a Halloween costume.
Portland Temple, 12/2/09
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Update by Dave 10/9/09
It’s time once again for an update on Zach and we actually have some interesting things to share.
First, he is still in Salem just south of Portland but Elder Jarvis from Arizona got moved to Grants Pass just south of Zach’s last area of Winston. That’s that important for you to know so keep that in mind as we go along. His current companion is Elder Carlson from Colorado. Zach says, “He's allergic to the sun. That presents its challenges for sure... But we're working through that as well as we can. We're not exactly cut out of the same cloth but we're gonna do well together.”
Here are some of his recent emails with some interesting events:
Oh... and I put myself in urgent care on Friday... ugh. Maybe I shouldn’t tell you that. I was being rather imprudent in my use of a knife. Elder Webster, our new district leader, said "That’s a cool knife, ever cut yourself with it?" I said "No, but I just sharpened it on Sunday. So its pretty sharp, check it out." On the third demonstration... the hardest and fastest swing of the knife... I missed. And hit my finger and thumb. I knew I had just done something incredibly STUPID so I had to take it like a man. Cuz if you cut yourself doing something stupid and you cry and carry on then you just look even dumber. So I was like "Well... I just hit my finger" and the district didn't believe me cuz I was so calm, then they saw the fillet hanging off of my finger. (no joke, it was bad) Then it started bleeding so fast that it was almost a steady stream. But I lost enough blood that I was woozy, all nauseated and pale, and getting cold sweats. Everything is okay now, but my blood puddle is still in the parking lot. How did I make it all through boy scouts and never get a knife wound... I taught at a scout camp and never had to fix up a knife wound. Here I am 20 years old.... dang near cut my finger off... Good grief!
OH GOSH! So yesterday we get a phone call from some guy, he left a message saying "Is this the missionaries? I think I really want to talk to you guys." So Elder Carlson called him back and the guy asked for me and wouldn’t tell Carlson who he was. I was like "Oh man, this never turns out good." I pick up the phone and the guy is like "I just moved to Oregon and I wanted to talk to some missionaries." I was like "Right on. Where did you just move to?" and he said "Grants Pass". I was about to put him in touch with the missionaries down there, so I started to get his information for a referral. I asked for his name and he said "My name is Val Steiner." I was like "NO WAY!!!" Man it was crazy. Elder Jarvis just transferred into HIS ward down in Grants Pass. What are the odds of that? (Val was the Scoutmaster in our Minnesota Branch and then a counselor in the Branch Presidency. They just moved to Oregon the end of August and have been looking for the opportunity to surprise Zach)
Thank goodness for the conference report. I can totally hear [Elder Holland's] voice when I read his talks so it'll be just as well. Elder Holland is like our modern Paul I think, except he was never a persecutor, but still the same brand of wow. I LOVED his talk "None Were With Him" It was SO MOVING. And then the conference before that, Ministry Angels-- I'm still sharing that in dinner messages. It goes well with my conversion story. Cuz Alma's angel descended from heaven and spoke with a voice that shook the earth... my angel was just a 14 year old girl in pioneer clothing. So I add my testimony to his, that angels are among us, both the heavenly kind and the mortal kind.
Somebody asked me yesterday "How many general conferences do you have left on your mission?" I said "I'll still be here for April conference next year, but I'll probably sit in my suitcase to watch it." Can you believe how fast my mission has gone??? Good-ness!
The work is starting to pick up here. Its nice, although very strange in some senses. There is one example that I will not share with you yet, but at a more appropriate time I will. But suffice to say that your prayers and mine are being heard and answered. And once again, the Lord has sent me down a road so narrow and strange that only my feet seem to fit. (This is an interesting way of putting things but it is so true for Zach.)
We think he will have one more transfer before the end of his mission and hopefully another chance to train again. We appreciate so much everyone’s love and support for Zach. He has greatly appreciated the care packages and has promised to send out some thank you cards. It is still amazing to me that we can’t remember a single week that has been a struggle for Zach or that he hasn’t been completely happy in what he is doing. It is also amazing to me that he loves and gets along so well with every companion he has. It is much to Zach’s credit.
First, he is still in Salem just south of Portland but Elder Jarvis from Arizona got moved to Grants Pass just south of Zach’s last area of Winston. That’s that important for you to know so keep that in mind as we go along. His current companion is Elder Carlson from Colorado. Zach says, “He's allergic to the sun. That presents its challenges for sure... But we're working through that as well as we can. We're not exactly cut out of the same cloth but we're gonna do well together.”
Here are some of his recent emails with some interesting events:
Oh... and I put myself in urgent care on Friday... ugh. Maybe I shouldn’t tell you that. I was being rather imprudent in my use of a knife. Elder Webster, our new district leader, said "That’s a cool knife, ever cut yourself with it?" I said "No, but I just sharpened it on Sunday. So its pretty sharp, check it out." On the third demonstration... the hardest and fastest swing of the knife... I missed. And hit my finger and thumb. I knew I had just done something incredibly STUPID so I had to take it like a man. Cuz if you cut yourself doing something stupid and you cry and carry on then you just look even dumber. So I was like "Well... I just hit my finger" and the district didn't believe me cuz I was so calm, then they saw the fillet hanging off of my finger. (no joke, it was bad) Then it started bleeding so fast that it was almost a steady stream. But I lost enough blood that I was woozy, all nauseated and pale, and getting cold sweats. Everything is okay now, but my blood puddle is still in the parking lot. How did I make it all through boy scouts and never get a knife wound... I taught at a scout camp and never had to fix up a knife wound. Here I am 20 years old.... dang near cut my finger off... Good grief!
OH GOSH! So yesterday we get a phone call from some guy, he left a message saying "Is this the missionaries? I think I really want to talk to you guys." So Elder Carlson called him back and the guy asked for me and wouldn’t tell Carlson who he was. I was like "Oh man, this never turns out good." I pick up the phone and the guy is like "I just moved to Oregon and I wanted to talk to some missionaries." I was like "Right on. Where did you just move to?" and he said "Grants Pass". I was about to put him in touch with the missionaries down there, so I started to get his information for a referral. I asked for his name and he said "My name is Val Steiner." I was like "NO WAY!!!" Man it was crazy. Elder Jarvis just transferred into HIS ward down in Grants Pass. What are the odds of that? (Val was the Scoutmaster in our Minnesota Branch and then a counselor in the Branch Presidency. They just moved to Oregon the end of August and have been looking for the opportunity to surprise Zach)
Thank goodness for the conference report. I can totally hear [Elder Holland's] voice when I read his talks so it'll be just as well. Elder Holland is like our modern Paul I think, except he was never a persecutor, but still the same brand of wow. I LOVED his talk "None Were With Him" It was SO MOVING. And then the conference before that, Ministry Angels-- I'm still sharing that in dinner messages. It goes well with my conversion story. Cuz Alma's angel descended from heaven and spoke with a voice that shook the earth... my angel was just a 14 year old girl in pioneer clothing. So I add my testimony to his, that angels are among us, both the heavenly kind and the mortal kind.
Somebody asked me yesterday "How many general conferences do you have left on your mission?" I said "I'll still be here for April conference next year, but I'll probably sit in my suitcase to watch it." Can you believe how fast my mission has gone??? Good-ness!
The work is starting to pick up here. Its nice, although very strange in some senses. There is one example that I will not share with you yet, but at a more appropriate time I will. But suffice to say that your prayers and mine are being heard and answered. And once again, the Lord has sent me down a road so narrow and strange that only my feet seem to fit. (This is an interesting way of putting things but it is so true for Zach.)
We think he will have one more transfer before the end of his mission and hopefully another chance to train again. We appreciate so much everyone’s love and support for Zach. He has greatly appreciated the care packages and has promised to send out some thank you cards. It is still amazing to me that we can’t remember a single week that has been a struggle for Zach or that he hasn’t been completely happy in what he is doing. It is also amazing to me that he loves and gets along so well with every companion he has. It is much to Zach’s credit.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
New Pictures of Zach
Elia was baptized in June, this is what Zach said about it:
"Elia's baptism was such an amazing moment for all of us. Just like the church films, she came out of the water crying and hugged Elder Curtis. Sure it was a little awkward for him, but totally moving for the rest of us. She came to her baptismal service already in white and she didn't need to change. It was very appropriate for our entire experience with her. She came prepared. She didn't need to change. She was prepared by the Lord through the years to enter into the waters of baptism. For the first time I've taught the first lesson to an investigator, and I got to be there through the whole teaching process, even until I laid my own hands on her head to give her the gift of the Holy Ghost. What a sweet and sublime experience for all of us."
This is what he said about Ron's baptism (this month):
"Rons baptism was totally amazing. It was a rather huge event. Like, fifty plus people showed up. It was really cool. He was baptized by his father-in-law, we witnessed. It was awesome. While Ron was getting changed we showed the video clip "Man Without Eloquence". Its about Brigham Youngs conversion. In the video Brigham is preaching and he starts off saying "As there is time yet to be improved this morning..." Ron and Roger weren't back by the end of the movie (its pretty short) so Ron told me to bear my testimony after the clip. So we put the TV aside and I was like "Well... As there is time yet to be improved this evening... I should like to bear my testimony." I thought it was pretty funny."
Zone Conference:
Hiking:
"Elia's baptism was such an amazing moment for all of us. Just like the church films, she came out of the water crying and hugged Elder Curtis. Sure it was a little awkward for him, but totally moving for the rest of us. She came to her baptismal service already in white and she didn't need to change. It was very appropriate for our entire experience with her. She came prepared. She didn't need to change. She was prepared by the Lord through the years to enter into the waters of baptism. For the first time I've taught the first lesson to an investigator, and I got to be there through the whole teaching process, even until I laid my own hands on her head to give her the gift of the Holy Ghost. What a sweet and sublime experience for all of us."This is what he said about Ron's baptism (this month):
"Rons baptism was totally amazing. It was a rather huge event. Like, fifty plus people showed up. It was really cool. He was baptized by his father-in-law, we witnessed. It was awesome. While Ron was getting changed we showed the video clip "Man Without Eloquence". Its about Brigham Youngs conversion. In the video Brigham is preaching and he starts off saying "As there is time yet to be improved this morning..." Ron and Roger weren't back by the end of the movie (its pretty short) so Ron told me to bear my testimony after the clip. So we put the TV aside and I was like "Well... As there is time yet to be improved this evening... I should like to bear my testimony." I thought it was pretty funny."Zone Conference:
Hiking:
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
April Letters From Zach
April 27th
On Saturday I had the privilege of baptizing Nic Bune. That was pretty awesome. We've been pushing his baptismal date back for weeks now for various reasons, and he got sick of his family delaying him and just nailed down a date. It was a major challenge because of the Saturday stake conference related events (priesthood leadership meetings, adult session, etc) But we muscled our way into the stake center to get it done. It was pretty great. We also set a baptismal date with our investigator with severe anxiety, John Jones. We're pretty stoked about that.
April 20th
It's been an extremely busy week. We taught 11 lessons to investigators with a member present, which was about a third of the districts total for that statistic. So we're tearing it up out here! Man, and I gave a kid a blessing the other day cuz he had a tooth ache that was just murdering him. His mom called later and said that he had an abscess and it broke just a while after the blessing. So that was cool.
Anywho... we're having a lot of success. Our prospective baptism for Saturday fell through, but he's scheduled for this weekend. We need to get it done! And we're making some major progress with our other investigators. Elder Van Leeuwen was exactly the companion I needed!
April 13th
So transfers took place this last week. I got a new companion, Elder Van Leeuwen. We hit the ground running. You might remember my mention of him as a zone leader in Corvallis. He and I were on the transfer van together on the way down to Medford. He's also the cousin of a missionary by the same name who was serving in Minneapolis when I received my call. So this is pretty cool.
We've been working hard and really unleashing the potential of this area. We have baptismal dates for a couple people, a tentative baptism this weekend with somebody we've been working with for quite some time. We've made a lot of progress.
We've had a lot of success working with part-member families and families with unbaptized children in this mission and in the area. We've been doing really well and I'm excited to see how the rest of the transfer goes.
April 6th
It's been a pretty good week. We've tracted out some pretty interesting people. Always a pleasure. Transfers are this coming week. I'm staying, obviously. Elder Kauvaka gets the axe. So tomorrow night I'm getting a new companion and I'm the senior in the area. Kinda scary cuz I'm still trying to learn the people and places. But I'll survive. I got the letter/package that you sent! I really liked the power point. Heida gives me rave reviews on your lessons, so I hope you hold the calling for me to come home and enjoy at least one lesson in your class. And it was kinda nice and kinda made me trunky to read the Alumni Calendar. Man I miss camp. But I was glad to see it, trunkiness set aside.
March 23rd
So my big news this week is that we moved. Mom has more details on why. (a girl in the apartment building kept flashing the elders) But we're temporarily staying in a house that the mission is renting from a member family. We have the whole place to ourselves. Since its been recently remodeled we've been asked to take extra good care of it. Same deal with our new apartment. We're in the house till the remodel on the apartment is done. But we had to go out and buy things like towels, rugs, soap, cleaning stuff, etc. I'm. We did what we could at the dollar store to save money.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Update on Zach
Here are some bits of news from Zach over the last month or so:
March 23rd
So my big news this week is that we moved. Mom has more details on why. (a girl in the apartment building kept flashing the elders) But we're temporarily staying in a house that the mission is renting from a member family. We have the whole place to ourselves. Since its been recently remodeled we've been asked to take extra good care of it. Same deal with our new apartment. We're in the house till the remodel on the apartment is done. But we had to go out and buy things like towels, rugs, soap, cleaning stuff, etc. I'm. We did what we could at the dollar store to save money.
April 6th
It's been a pretty good week. We've tracted out some pretty interesting people. Always a pleasure. Transfers are this coming week. I'm staying, obviously. Elder Kauvaka gets the axe. So tomorrow night I'm getting a new companion and I'm the senior in the area. Kinda scary cuz I'm still trying to learn the people and places. But I'll survive. I got the letter/package that you sent! I really liked the power point. Heida gives me rave reviews on your lessons, so I hope you hold the calling for me to come home and enjoy at least one lesson in your class. And it was kinda nice and kinda made me trunky to read the Alumni Calendar. Man I miss camp. But I was glad to see it, trunkiness set aside.
April 13th
So transfers took place this last week. I got a new companion, Elder Van Leeuwen. We hit the ground running. You might remember my mention of him as a zone leader in Corvallis. He and I were on the transfer van together on the way down to Medford. He's also the cousin of a missionary by the same name who was serving in Minneapolis when I received my call. So this is pretty cool.
We've been working hard and really unleashing the potential of this area. We have baptismal dates for a couple people, a tentative baptism this weekend with somebody we've been working with for quite some time. We've made a lot of progress.
April 20th
It's been an extremely busy week. We taught 11 lessons to investigators with a member present, which was about a third of the districts total for that statistic. So we're tearing it up out here! Man, and I gave a kid a blessing the other day cuz he had a tooth ache that was just murdering him. His mom called later and said that he had an abscess and it broke just a while after the blessing. So that was cool.
Anywho... we're having a lot of success. Our prospective baptism for Saturday fell through, but he's scheduled for this weekend. We need to get it done! And we're making some major progress with our other investigators. Elder Van Leeuwen was exactly the companion I needed!
We've had a lot of success working with part-member families and families with unbaptized children in this mission and in the area. We've been doing really well and I'm excited to see how the rest of the transfer goes.
April 27th
On Saturday I had the privilege of baptizing Nic Bune. That was pretty awesome. We've been pushing his baptismal date back for weeks now for various reasons, and he got sick of his family delaying him and just nailed down a date. It was a major challenge because of the Saturday stake conference related events (priesthood leadership meetings, adult session, etc) But we muscled our way into the stake center to get it done. It was pretty great. We also set a baptismal date with our investigator with severe anxiety, John Jones. We're pretty stoked about that.
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