Ta Louca & Firsts . . .

Here are excerpts from Zack's last two emails entitled "Ta Louco" and "Firsts", January 9th and 16th, respectively:


Ta Louco . . .

"Well, what can I say? There is so much in my mind that it makes it difficult to put it on paper (or a computer). One more transfer down, so few to go that I am freaking out, and once again I am in Santa Maria. I was shocked and am unprepared, but excited. I am in the Santa Maria Ward, which is one of the strongest (if not the strongest) in the mission. I have two companions: Elder Bryson, from Provo; he is really cool and a great Elder; and Elder de Araújo, from São Paulo. He is new on the mission and was actually trained by Elder Christensen. He is the man. The other person in our quartet is my old companion, Elder Tebatini, which is great!"


Firsts . . .

"Well, as the title suggests, this was a week of firsts - starting with my first baptism in this ward. After church on Sunday, we had the baptism of Ricardo, an 18 year-old who is just awesome. All he talks about now is how much he wants to serve a mission. The week before I got here his younger sister was baptized, and yesterday we marked the date of his mom, Analia, for next Saturday to complete the family. It is so great to see the wonderful change that the gospel can bring to a family who embraces it.

This was a family full of problems. The father is an alcoholic who would get in rages and beat the family; the son had problems with friends and alcohol; the daughter, who is only 12, had serious problems, especially for her age; and, the mom just lived in a sense of constant despair. Now, after knowing them for about a month, everything has changed.

The father was kicked out of the house and jailed for various things; the children were baptized and made life-changing changes; and, the mother cries with joy at the thought of a united family here and forever. It was a great baptism and will be even better as they takes more steps in the gospel.

Other than that, I had my first council and Zone Conference. It was very different, but they were good experiences. We talked in the council about how to give trainings and district meetings and in Zone Conference about the Book of Mormon and its role in our work, and also about the investigator pool. It is actually fun and interesting to be on the other side of these things and see the process of it all.

Com Amor,
Elder Burnham"