August 24, 2009 excerpt from Zack's email entitled "Healing the Blind" . .
This week we had the baptism of Marlene, who is about 50 and is blind. No, she was not healed literally, but spiritually. It was a great experience because though she always accepted us, she never wanted to be baptized and was really closed. Then, all of a sudden, she prayed and knew that she needed to be baptized. It was so special to see her be baptized by her son and receive the Spirit. This next week we have 4 dates marked - Fatima, 55, Mateus, 13, João, 11, and Vitória, 8. The three kids are Jamile's brothers and Fatima is the most elect person ever. We found her two weeks ago and she wanted more than anything to be baptized. Awesome! This week Marcelo also received the priesthood which was awesome; so, all in all, this week was great! And next week will be too...
I asked Zack some questions, below are his responses:
1) How do you wash your clothing? I wash them in a little tank machine thing that wets them and gets them clean; then, I rinse and dry by hand; simple.
2) What are your responsibilities other than proselyting? My responsibilities are to give trainings and direct district meetings, accompany the other missionaries in their work with their investigators, report the numbers of the district to the Zone Leaders, and do the baptismal interviews.
August 17, 2009 excerpt from Zack's email entitled "Hot, Hot Heat" :
This week was great! It was hot again, woohoo! The heat it good after the cold, but really the cold is way better than the heat and the sweat. It is strange how quickly the weather has been changing here lately, because today was a downpour. Someone said that it is because El Nino is back on the way, uh-oh!
Anyway, last week was great because, though we didn't have a baptism, we met or passed all of our weekly goals and it was the best week, according to the numbers, that I have had in my mission. Lots of people went to Church, and we marked 5 dates (baptism dates) for the next two weeks. One is a woman named Marlene, who is the mom of a member and is blind. She has been going to Church for a long time and now she is taking the step of baptism. She was always in doubt when we taught her, but now she is firm in her decision. We also are teaching and will baptize 4 of Jamile's (the woman we married) brothers and sisters either this week or next week. The coolest part is that, if it happens next week, Marcelo, who will receive the Priesthood this Sunday, will be able to baptize them!
August 10, 2009 excerpt from Zack's email entitled "Rain and Love":
This week was great and hard. This week was full of rain, all day, every day. We had a ton to do this week because of the wedding, too, which meant that we were in the rain more than we were out of it. But, it was a great week even with the rain because of the baptism and marriage of Marcelo. Marcelo is 24, the best friend of Alessandro, our Ward's first counselor, who is 24 also and the man. He has 2 kids (both men have two kids, actually). He first married legally on Friday, which was fast and uneventful. Then on Saturday he was baptized by Alessandro. It was awesome because he is so dedicated and fulfilled all of the commitments we gave him. He was so excited to get baptized, and he will be a leader in the Church with out doubt. Then after the baptism was the wedding. There were not many people there, but it was a beautiful service. We set up all the decorations, and I also played the piano. It was very cool and the Spirit was very strong. It was cool because it was the first wedding of the mission. Now, I have another one in one month also. Because of the service we are now teaching Jamile's family (the bride) and they are all great and progressing a lot. So, while the rain made it hard, in the end it was a great week.
I also asked Zack some questions. Below are his answers:
1. How many investigators do you have right now? That is hard - something like 30 or more.
2. How many lessons do you teach per week? We had a tough week because of the wedding, so we only taught 32 lessons -- the mission goal is 35 per week.
3. How many baptisms do you have upcoming? In the works are 6, for the next 3 weeks. Our goal for August is 5 and we only have 1, so we need to step it up.
4. How do you wash your laundry? Our machine is broken so a Sister in the Ward washes, and we wash our underclothes by hand. We hang them up to dry. They take a couple of days to dry because of the humidity here and especially recently because it has been raining like no other.
5. I know the members feed you lunch, what do you eat for dinner? Dinner=ramen - rarely do we eat anything else at night because we have no time.
6. Do you burn clothing to mark specific points of the mission? Yeah, it is a tie at 6 months, a shirt at a year, and pants at a year and six months. I burned a tie, or tried, at 6 months, but I did nothing for 1 year...
August 3, 2009 excerpt from Zack's email entitled "Hump Day" . . .
[Editor's Note: "Hump Day" is when a missionary reaches the half-way point in his missionary service. Zack's actual "hump day" is August 6, 2009
The time flies like a passing breeze. Thank goodness the breeze here will last a little bit longer. Yes, it is still cold here, Lin, and I cannot believe how hot it is in Seattle; that's global warming for you, dad...
All is well here in Tall Cross (Cruz Alta). Elder Tebatini and I are getting along well and working hard. The last week went good and we are excited for this week because this is the week of Marcelo's wedding and baptism. The month we had to wait passed really fast and now the time has finally come. He is the man and will be a great help here in this Ward. This will be my first wedding, so that will be awesome...
July 27, 2009 excerpt from Zack's email entitled "Marriages . . ."
[Editor's Note: I received an email from the Santa Maria Mission, hence Zack's first paragraph.]
I'm sorry that you had another "heart attack." If something happens, it will be a direct phone call from me.
This week was good. Elder Tebatini is a really good kid. He is from São Paulo and this is his second area on the mission. He is very humble and willing to learn, and we are having a good time together. Everyone is gearing up in our mission for this month of 200 baptisms, and I think that we will do it. We have some good people here and are actually full of families that we are teaching. Though usually the process takes a little longer with them. But this month we are going to have a second wedding also, adding to the wedding of Marcelo and Jamile, about which I already spoke, and who will be married next Saturday. The other wedding is of Alexandre and Rosangela. Alexandre is the son of the Bishop here and was inactive for many years, but has been active for a long time again, just not in full fellowship because he is not married. Rosangela is his "wife" and is not a member, but has also been going to Church and wanted to be baptized for a long time, just that there was a problem in her divorce papers from a previous marriage. Now, that is cleared up and they are going to get married soon here. These two baptisms, these families in whole, will help this Ward so much and we are very excited. We have others as well who could be baptized this month...
July 20, 2009 excerpt from Zack's email:
[Editor's note: I received a call this week from Brazil. Alivia took the call while I was at a meeting stating the caller would call back in an hour. I left the meeting and raced home wondering why the mission would be calling. Having lived all these years with Jeff, and watching him walk into another room whenever a Mission Office calls, I knew that it probably was a blown ankle or broken arm, or something! I remained calm, yeah right, and insisted that I would call the Mission Office to see what was happening. I did not call. Rather, the call came through from Brasil and it had absolutely nothing to do with Zack. It was some friends who moved to Brasil. Their son is serving in Argentina. He will soon be home and they simply needed info from Jeff.]
That is pretty crazy about the phone call. Don't worry, I am fine. Healthy and, well, not exactly strong, but at least heathly, right?
This week had it's ups and downs. We had many people who could have been baptized this last week, but for one reason or another, fell. But, we still had one baptism of a girl named Fabiane. She is the daughter of a woman who we reactivated here, and the mom just received a calling to work in the Primary [Primary = Sunday classes for ages 3 - 12]. It was awesome to see the Mom regain her testimony and then bear it at the confirmnation of her daughter. Truly it was very special.
Today is transfers. I will be staying here in Cruz Alta and Elder Frei is leaving our area to be the new Zone Leader. He will stay here in Cruz Alta, though, to finish his last transfer which is great. My new companion's name is Elder Tebatini. He is pretty new, arriving when I was in the office. He seems like a cool guy. We are teaching some amazing families right now, so I am excited for the next month, which is the month when we will reach our goal of 200 baptisms and confirmations in one month!
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