December 19, 2012

I am staying here! transfers are today, but we got the call on sunday to know where we're going or if we're staying. I'll be here speaking portuguese for another 6 weeks. our zone leader is going down to the bronx, and we are getting a new one from sleepy hollow. His name is Elder Bean haha so yeah, i still get to skype you guys! and the family whose house we're going to hasn't told us how many computers we're going to be able to use, so i still don't know what time for sure.. either 2 or 4 for me. which is 12 or 2 for you... soo just be ready at both times, because i don't know what time it will be yet. I think i will just call you guys on the phone really quick right before it's my turn so you guys can log on! i'm sorry that's the best i can do for the times.. forgive me! and haley does know, but can one of you guys call her and let her know what's gong on? i told her in a letter, but if you guys could let her know just to be sure..

Things are going okay out here. The Newtown shooting has really been the talk of the town and i don't think it will die out soon. The school where the shooting happened is actually in my area.. In my building there are three wards.. Danbury 1st, Danbury 2nd, and Newtown ward. One of the families in newtown ward actually lost their daughter/sister in the shooting.. Emilie Parker. On saturday we had our ward christmas party and while we were there a lot of news teams came to the church building and interviewed Robbie Parker (her dad) so i actually got to meet her two little sisters.. it was so sad. then on sunday during church CNN came to our church building to do another interview. It's been crazy to be so close to where it happened.. On monday me and Elder potter drove down to the school and there was a ton of people there leaving stuff in memory of all the kids.. i have some pictures, i'll send them as soon as i get my other memory card back.. but it's been pretty unreal. Proselyting hasn't really been all that different.. but it is weird because we all have the thought of what happened in the back of our minds.. hopefully people can return to their normal lives as quickly as possible!

That's all for now, we can talk about everything else on tuesday :) sorry again about not knowing what time for sure, if i find out anything i will try to get word to you guys somehow!  I miss you all so much and i'm so excited to see you and talk to you! remember, if you have any questions or anything you want to tell me write it down so you don't forget! I Love you, talk to you soon :) Falo!

One more week in CT

Oi!!

Poppa Bear

I can't believe Joey is in 5 degree weather on a bike.. i would die.. it hasn't really that cold here and everyone says its super weird.. i suppose it is because usually we have snow here by now but there is none.. just a lot of fog! but i'm grateful that it's not too cold.. i'm one to favor the heat ya know! Your mission sounds legit! and HUGE! i vote we go there someday yeah? that would be cool.. i can bring you back to my mission, and you can take me back to yours! can you really notice a change in me? i don't feel like i've changed much.. sometimes i see other missionaries and i wonder why i'm not like them.. then i remember we're not supposed to compare ourselves with others.. so i let it go! at times though i just feel like i don't really know enough to be out here. it's a weird feeling! but i know i've learned a lot since i've left and that i havent been out for too long, so there is a lot more for me to experience and learn before i really can fulfill my potential.. and yes, everyone saw my christmas card and copied it, so i'm proud of my efforts haha the car in the photo is mine and elder potters. it's a 2010 Toyota Corolla. we hate it because it's a girl car. so yeah. it's dumb haha but i suppose it's better than a bike.. and yeah, sadly we didn't have a star for our tree, but the squirrel does just fine. it makes sense since we basically live in the forest..

as for the mold in queens, we did see a little bit of mold, but not too much.. and we're for sure not allowed to go anymore, so we don't have to worry about that. luckily none of us are sick, so i don't think there was too much stuff in the air while we were cleaning! and just to let you know, i AM proud of you for inviting that family to join you guys at the missionary activity at the park. we always invite our members to look for missionary opportunities because we know it doesn't just bless the other people, but it blesses you as well.. and it makes me happy that you did that! and it's ironic that the guy's son's name was junior haha tryna be like us! nonsense.. but yeah you never know, it might not seem like much now, but i guarantee that they'll remember the time that guy invited them over for some hot chocolate.. the seed is there, who knows, maybe it will grow soon!

 

Momma Bear

Estou bem! Tudo a passado muito bom esta ultima semana! I'm glad you guys liked the Christmas card, and i'm glad you guys still think i'm pretty haha but yeah, the missionaries in the picture are the ones who live with me! and they are all awesome and we get along really well, so we have a lot of fun together. Plus the other two are zone leaders, so we get to know everything before everyone else in the zone, it's nice! i'm glad karla and aaron go over every other week to eat.. i'm jealous! haha i miss your food. and actually no, i don't know if you'll believe this- but i haven't eaten a tortilla since i left home. besides the cheap ones we used to buy to make quesadillas.. but no homemade ones. weird right? but yes! i got the package and it was so wonderful haha i knew it was on its way, so everyday i would stare out the window until the mailman showed up to see if it came.. it got here on saturday and it made me so happy! and the cd came in good shape, nothing is broken and it IS the right one haha thank you so much mom! and Elder Potter also says thank you for everything you got him. i don't have any mexican candy... but i would love some more, it's been a long time since i've had one!! so that would be lovely.. you gave your hair away? you should've gave it to one of the elders who lives with me cuz he's losing his! hahaha i'm glad to hear Alexia's doing good.. that's always good to hear! shoot, by the sounds of it, beto's gonna be huge by the time i get home! he's gonna show me up haha can't wait..

 

alrighty now for the other stuff.

Skype. I have a skype account! my username is air.force.juan         add me! but yeah it's so nice that we have everything set up! we don't remember if the family has one or two computers.. so we have two possibilities of a time.. if they have one computer, i will be making the call at around 4 pm connecticut time.. which i believe is 2 pm for you guys? but if they have 2 computers i will be making the call at around 2 pm here, so i think that's 12 pm for you.. we're going to try to find out how many computers they have so we can have a set time, so i will let you know in my next email for sure! we get to skype for an hour, so we were advised to use it wisely! if you guys have any questions or anything you want to tell me i suggest you write it down so you don't forget and so we can talk about everything! so i'm gonna be on the projector? jeez.. i gotta make sure i look good then haha and remember that Haley will be there too.. I'm a little scared though.. transfers are a week before christmas.. so i just hope i don't get transferred and end up going somewhere where i can't skype! so pray for me that i won't get transferred haha please!

we're having some rule changes in the mission. we now have to wear our suits everyday.. BOO! i don't like it. but president knows better than us haha so i think the next thing i'll have to buy is a suit because i only have one.. one of the elders i live with says he knows where we can get one for like 100 bucks, so i hope he's right because the one i have was like 300..

another thing we're doing is starting now, we have to choose a day where we don't use our car.. with the missionary age going down, we are getting a TON of new missionaries really soon, and the mission cant buy a lot more cars.. so we think that the car rule is in effect to prepare us to have bikes... we think. so i don't know, we might have to buy bikes soon! crazy..

tell karla she's slackin for forgetting the pictures! haha just kidding. but i hope you guys get it soon so you can send my memory card back because i have more pictures to send home and i want to send them home before christmas, but i cant send them home if i don't have my other memory card!

but yeah.. everything is going well. portuguese is still a struggle, but i guess i can give you guys a sample when we skype if you want! ha it's so close to spanish you'll probably think i'm just making it up.. today we are going to the party barn. i won't explain because i'm gonna make a video of it to send home so you can see how magical it is. hopefully you'll see it before christmas. I have to go, but I love you guys soooo much. and i CANT WAIT to talk to you on christmas! it's so close.. ahhhh! haha i miss you all and love you all. be safe, have fun, and always remember who you are. Zazzy out!

Random things

... not a whole lot has happened this week.. we did get to go down to queens again to help, but this time we didn't do any of the heavy stuff. we helped a lady who was a hoarder.. she had SO MUCH STUFF and like 20 cats and it was just unbelievable.. we emptied out her garage and there was a HUGE pile of stuff and as we emptied it out and took stuff from the pile we found out there was a CAR under all of the stuff.. it was crazy! but it was fun.. she was very nice and very grateful for our service.. we had interviews this week in our zone, but since i had mine right before i got transferred i didn't get to have another one. but after all the interviews were done we were going to end and eat lunch, and one of the AP's asked me to do the prayer, and then President Morgan told me i had to do it in portuguese.. i'd never been so nervous in my life haha but i did it and he was super impressed, even though i slipped some spanish into it- i don't think he noticed. but yeah, life is good, and the language is coming along. We were going to skype at brother whitmore's house on christmas- he is super rich, he's the CEO of IBM and he's our ward mission leader..- but it turns out we can't. so i think we're going to end up skyping at the Eberhards. and i think we're gonna have a limit of 45 minutes.. lame, that's not long enough! but i hope you guys have some cool stories for me haha i can't wait to see and talk to everyone! and yes, i still try super hard to not get fat. i think i'm getting a little stronger because i do pull ups and push ups all the time.. literally if i have a minute to spare anywhere in the day i get down and do push ups haha i think its working. but yeah everything is good here, i love my companion and we get along so good! his mom sent me a tie for christmas, so mom if you can just get him a little something too, that would be great! I love you guys so much and i miss you. Remember to say your prayers and to look for missionary opportunities throughout your day. I promise that you will be blessed! take care, be safe, look both ways before you cross to make sure you don't hit any deer, and wait for your hot chocolate to cool down so you don't burn your turn. Eu amo a voces, ciao!

Portugues is coming ....

... a little slow. it's frustrating when i don't speak the language because there are so many things i want to say but i don't know how to say them.. and i don't really feel like a missionary because my purpose is to teach and invite, but since i don't speak the language very well, i feel like i cant fulfill my purpose, and that's really frustrating! so hopefully soon i can pick it up so that my companion doesn't have to do everything by himself. Dad, we haven't found out who we're gonna go to to skype, but we have a few people in mind, so dont worry, i'm pretty sure we will figure it out! and i have a crazy story to tell you guys, but it'll be lame if i write it out, so remind me when we skype to tell you guys so i can tell it.. you will laugh! anyway what else.. uhmm I don't know if i told you this last time, but i live with my companion and 2 other elders who are our zone leaders. so it's Me, Elder Potter- from idaho, elder bartleson- from utah, and elder Irizarry- from puerto rico! and we actually all get along really well, so we have a lot of fun in the apartment. since i haven't been able to run, i've put a little bit more focused on working out.. so instead of burning all the calories and running the fat off, i'm gonna try to turn all the stuff we eat into muscle. hopefully it works out, i just don't wanna be fat! haha

OH. so this past weekend our stake organized a service event which was so awesome. we took a bus from our church and all went down to long island to help the people who were affected by the storm. we went to queens and everyone split off from there. on saturday, me and my companion tore out the floor boards from some guys house.. it took us like 4 hours! it was so hard, he had just done the floor and remodeled his kitchen and everything when the storm hit. he told us his basement was completely under water and that the first floor (which was 4 ft above ground) was about 8 inches underwater.. but yeah, i was so sore from that and got some nasty blisters on my hands, but to be able to help this man and talk to him made it completely worth it. then on sunday we had church at 8:30 and it lasted 30 minutes, then we all took another bus back to queens to help clean up again. sunday me and my companion went and helped a lady whose house was 6 feet underwater.. 6 FEET! could you imagine seeing the whole neighborhood under 6 feet of water? all of the sheetrock from her walls had been completely destroyed and fallen down, so when we walked into her house all of the sheetrock was on the ground and you could see the wooden boards (the frame of the house) where the wall was supposed to be. so we cleaned the sheet rock from her house and afterward helped some guy do the exact same thing in an apartment complex around the corner. i'm not kidding when i say that me and my companion and one other guy literally cleaned up thousands of pounds worth of this stuff. it was so hard! but so worth it. it really was unbelievable to see the damage the storm caused and to see everything that these people have to go through. it was definitely a very humbling experience and i'm grateful that nothing happened to me and that you guys aren't in danger of anything like that happening to you guys. So please in your prayers include all of the people that were hurt by the storm and all of the missionaries and other people who are dedicating their time to help all of those who are in need, they need the blessings more than we do! I hope we get to go again soon, the missionaries in the New york new york south mission have been cleaning nonstop since the storm hit, and there is still a ton of stuff to do. Please be careful and take care of yourselves. and let the family know that i love everyone! Eu amo a todos voces!

Happy Thanksgiving :)

Oi !

Como estao voces? Eu esto muito bem, o idioma e poco difizil, mas esto apredendo muito!

I'll answer the questions first.

Dad i got to bethel on wednesday! and no i didn't travel by myself, my companion picked me up and drove me back up here. my address is

Elder Zazueta

67 Hoyts Hill Road

Bethel, CT 06801

 

and no we don't need to buy a bike, we drive cars here!

 

Alright now for my life. things are completely different up here. My apartment is way smaller than the last one i used to live in. and CT is so different. so quiet compared to the bronx.. My companion is way cool tho, we get along a lot better than i did with my old companion. this one actually talks to me! haha the work is a lot different too.. we drive around, pick a neighborhood, and then start knocking doors. people are a lot nicer up here, but still not interested. and it sucks because the sun sets at like 5, so when we knock doors around 5:30, people get mad and say "shouldn't you guys be doing this during the day time!?" or something along those lines..  I had to give a talk on sunday.. it was weird because it felt like the chapel was empty. we are a branch.. and at church were about 40 people..  and my ward technically is only like 5 people, because we only have a few people that speak portuguese, everyone else speaks spanish. so when we sing hymns, we sing portuguese and spanish at the same time and that makes things interesting. Portuguese is so similar to spanish! it's so similar that it makes it hard to learn.. because it's hard to break habits that i'm used to when i'm speaking spanish.. and some things are pronounced differently. i can understand a lot of it, but i can hardly speak it.. and its frustrating because i can never say what i want to say.. i just have to sit there and hope that my companion has things to say. we're learning together. hopefully i can catch on a lot faster so that he isn't the only one that teaches .. i feel bad because i feel like i'm learning slow. i know i've only been here a week, but going from being the guy who people ask for help in the language (spanish) to the guy who always asks for help is frustrating. i hate not being able to teach and fully understand what people are saying. especially being a missionary because it's our job to listen to people and clear up their concerns.. so its just super frustrating that as of right now, i can't really fulfill my calling as a missionary. and it's a struggle because i used to be able to just focus on learning the scriptures since i already spoke the language.. now that i'm trying to learn a new one, i have to focus more on learning the language and less on learning the scriptures and doctrine. it's just hard. hopefully i can figure it out soon so that i can start being an effective missionary again. and i'm totally gonna get fat up here. we drive, so that takes a lot of walking out of the picture, and then nobody in my apartment wants to run with me.. so i do what i can in the morning, but i don't think it's enough to keep me in shape.. and we eat a lot more up here too. its just not looking good for my figure in the near future haha man.. life is so different right now. and i hope the mail isn't always that slow. just gotta stay positive! oh, in case you were wondering. when i first got here, me and my companion drove a 2011 ford fusion, but they just traded us cars to fix the bumper on ours.. now we drive a 2010 toyota corolla.. hopefully we get the ford fusion back soon because we don't like the car they gave us haha but yeah.. things are a little hard right now, but i know if i dedicate myself to learn and get better, then everything will fall into place. the church is still true in portuguese. I Love you guys so much, and miss you guys too.. especially now! i hope everything is going well, let me know if there's anything i can do for you okay? be safe, and love one another.

 

-Elder Zazueta

First Transfer

HEY!

Dad

I wasn't getting revenge by not sending you a letter haha i just had nothing to write back to! We actually haven't had the opportunity to help with recovering for the storm. but those efforts will begin soon and some of the missionaries in our mission will have the opportunity to go to long island to help clean up and stuff! I have not bought anything yet! but i probably will be soon, seeing as how it's snowing right now! crazy right? wait so how did you fall?? i hope you're okay, remember to ice! and our building actually never lost power during the storm, we were very blessed, just very bored because we weren't allowed out of our apartment for two days haha

Mom

I'm not dying from the cold! i'm actually doing pretty okay! and the storm is happening right now, there's snow everywhere! that makes me happy that you get to go to sleep early haha but i'm sorry that it's so differen't with the house being so empty.. you guys will get used to it tho..

Alright now for how things are going. well. everything is okay. and wayyyy different. my companion went home today! well tomorrow, but his mission is officially over today. crazy right? so we were waiting on sunday night for our zone leaders to call us to let us know what was going to happen at transfers... i was especially anxious/nervous because i knew i was gonna get a new companion for sure! so sunday night we finally get the call. and we found out that instead of just four elders living in our apartment, they were going to bring two more to make it a total of six. They told everyone who their companion was going to be, and then they told me that my area was going to be split in half, and then going to be taken over by 2 sister companionships.. meaning that i was leaving. What the heck! at my interview president morgan told me that i was definitely going to be staying in the area, so i thought they were just going to bring my new companion in. but nope. i got transferred! any guesses where? i'll just tell you. I am sitting in a library in bethel, Connecticut. but my area is "danbury" ahhhhh seriously?! haha when i found out i was leaving new york city to come to connecticut i freaked out and was soooo mad.. no more new york, no more NY pizza, no more manhattan, central park, times square.. nothing! and i love the people in my zone, i made some really good friends and i was so upset that i had to leave. but after lots of thought and sleep and reasoning, i realized that i'm here for a reason.. the Lord needs me here, so i need to keep a good attitude and work hard while i'm here. but wait, there's a little twist. after i found out i was coming to connecticut, and after i found out i was going to be companions with elder potter, who was in the mtc at the same time i was.. well.. they told me that i will be speaking portuguese. PORTUGUESE. so as of right now i'm a portuguese elder haha CRAZY! i have to learn so fast because i have no previous training.. but it's crazy right? i know you guys probably like that. but it still hasn't really sunk in. i guess if i can do this right, i'll end up being trilingual.  can't complain there! so yeah.. other than that, nothing has really happened.

my interview with president was really good, but really short. we didn't get to talk a whole lot, we just talked about how i was doing and how i was getting along with my companion. and i also found out that we WILL be able to skype for christmas, that is if we can find somewhere to skype! so that will be awesome, i can't wait!

but yeah mom it's good you haven't sent the package, because i don't live at the same apartment anymore. here is my new address, please get this out asap so that people can mail to my new address and not the old one so i can actually get the mail!

Elder Zazueta

67 hoyts hill road

bethel, connecticut 06801

I'm so glad Karla's wedding went well. send me some food! haha i hope she has a kid by the time i get back.. that'd be wayyyy cool! ahh man i don't know what else to write.. this past week has just been full of surprises. the storm, the new storm, connecticut, and portuguese. i'm so nervous, we have an appointment tonight with someone who only speaks portuguese.. i'm not going to understand anything at all. things just got real haha I Love you guys and miss you all so much.. i can't wait to talk to you guys on christmas. Please take care, and pray that i'll be able to learn the language fast so that i can actually do missionary work haha Los quiero mucho!
  Ciao!

-Elder Zazueta

Malo e Lelei !

Dad

Has it really already been 91 days? thats crazy.. time is flying by. That's cool that you downloaded a scripture mastery app onto your phone! you will probably be better than me when i get home! It's been hard to memorize a scripture each day.. we knock doors all day, and between knocking doors and going to appointments, i don't really have time to memorize anything! I would do it during my personal study, but i'm trying to learn about things that i don't really know about, and i study to answer questions that people have asked me and that i have no idea how to answer.. so the memorizing is going kind of slow, but it will come! Wait so you finished translating that book finally? good work! are they paying you a lot for it? i'll be waiting for the money! haha and to let you know, yes we are allowed to wear beanies and earmuffs and scarfs and all that.. we gotta stay warm! the weather is actually really nice over here still.. in the 60's for the most part. i still haven't had to use a sweater or anything. but it will get cold soon, so i will need to start buying my winter gear in the next few weeks. That is awesome what Karla and Aaron are doing at the temple! that's a good idea for when I get married haha i'm happy for them.. It sounds like it's gonna be a full house! where are you guys gonna put everyone?! is everyone gonna fit..?

Mother Dear

I'm doing great! and yes, thanks again for my sweat pants, i didn't feel right without them.. Don't worry about sending the other ones soon, i know you are really busy with everything, so do everything you need to do over there, and when it's all done, then you can worry about me! Don't stress! I can't believe Karla is thinking about switching jobs! i thought she had a contract..? where does she want to go? i'm glad beto and alexia are getting along better now.. they need to! especially since they'll be the only ones living there soon.. haha you LIKE cooking for more people?? you should be happy that soon enough you'll only have to worry about 4 people instead of 6.. that will make it a lot easier on you! you're right, Siri has nothing on you! you are definitely way better.. and i do have some picture of all of the cool things in manhattan, but i don't have a whole lot.. there is just so much cool stuff that i don't really know what to take pictures of haha and as missionaries we're not supposed to look like tourists, which is hard not to sometimes ! I can't believe i have friends that are already back from their missions.. the other day i actually had a dream that they were home because Haley told me in a letter ha it was weird! 

Other matters.. things are going good. I DID talk to my companion haha and it worked. he's been moving faster since i talked to him about how i felt, and if he slows down, i move faster so that he'll have to catch up. gotta do what you gotta do! and i'm glad you guys aren't disappointed you can't come pick me up, it will be better when we just go after i'm officially released as a missionary so that i can go dressed like a normal person and do normal person things haha it will be great, and i'll show you guys around as best as i can! Sooo we had the coolest thing ever happen. On saturday the entire mission went to the church in scarsdale where we got to listen to elder D Todd Christofferson. he is officially one of my favorite apostles! he is so smart and spiritual and it was just such a great experience to be able to meet him and shake his hand and listen to him and ask him questions.. and he was funny too! but wow it was amazing to have all the missionaries in our mission there in the same place listening to an apostle.. I'm so grateful! last week our ward had 8 baptisms!!! we are killin it haha not me and my companion, but the other missionaries in our ward. we are all working hard to fulfill our purpose and calling as missionaries. I always thought i knew the gospel pretty well before i got here, even though i didn't have a lot of knowledge of the scriptures.. but coming out here was a reality check. i don't know a whole lot right now, but i can tell you that it's a lot more than i knew 3 months ago! i think we are blessed as missionaries when it comes to gaining knowledge.. we must be! OH. do you guys remember when you wrote down the blessing president burnham gave me?? is there any way you can send that to me? i want to read it.. nothing else is really going on with me.. Today we are going to the world trade center memorial and wall street and to see the big golden bull that's in the movie hitch.. i'm super excited. and i think next week i get to play basketball . WOOHOOO. its been forever. oh, and i'm trying to learn tongan. haha why not, right?! well, time for me to go, they're kicking me off the computer. I Love you guys and please take care of yourselves. and be expecting my letters in the mail sometime this week! hopefully i have time to write you all back. no' vemo'  !

-Elder ZAZueta.

I'm not homesick ... yet!

I really hope you all got to watch conference.. it was SOOO good! It's weird watching conference as a missionary. it kinda makes us look at things in a different way. that was the most attention i've ever paid, and i think that's the first time i've ever watched every single session haha but i loved it. Elder Nelson really put the pressure on us.. "If you need help- ask the missionaries. They can help you!" Missionary work is especially slow right now.. for one reason or another, and some days its really frustrating because we won't teach a single lesson. but conference re-motivated me and hopefully everyone else in our mission to step it up. We've really been struggling with out investigators and we've especially been struggling with finding new ones.. I don't know what to do other than to keep on keeping on. hopefully it will pay off soon, because we're not seeing a whole lot of success! In our zone meeting on monday we were told to keep working hard and to not get discouraged because even though we aren't really getting new investigators, we might only be here to plant the seed, and when some other missionary comes they will be the ones who can help certain people actually make that "seed" grow. as for the age .. I don't know what to think of it! 18 year olds and 19 year old sisters?! thats crazy! all of the missionaries were freaking out when that was announced. it made a lot of us reflect on what that would have been like if we were able to go when we were 18.. and then i thought about Beto. What's the plan my dude? Are you gonna go right after you graduate or what? you're so lucky! 

Today we are going to manhattan to see times square and then we're gonna go visit central park! I'm super excited! But it IS really cloudy and was raining earlier this morning so i hope that doesn't mess anything up. I also wanted to play basketball today but nobody else wanted to. 3 against 1.. i'm not winning that battle. and i just want to play basketball all the time, but i never have the chance to. SO i made a basketball hoop! i used cardboard for the backboard and melted the bottom of a bucket off and used the top for the rim. and for the net i cut the sleeve off of an old shirt and cut holes in it so it would look legit. and i hung it up in our apartment. Success? HECK YEAH. we play basketball every night now before we go to bed haha it is so funny and looks really dumb but i actually think its genius, naturally. 

I'm not homesick, but lately i've been missing you guys a lot more! I just want to let you guys know that i'm always thinking of you and hope you are all doing okay. i can imagine things might be a little crazy around the house with karla's wedding coming up so soon! i still expect to see a cut out of me there! Los quiero mucho a todos y espero que todo les va muy bien! Y 'apa, I hope you have the best birthday! tell mom to take you somewhere nice haha i would give you a hug, but i can't reach all the way over there.. Don't worry, i'll be making a chocolate cake and sharing it with my roommates in honor of your coming into the world a long time ago ha I love you Dad. and Mom. and Karla, and Beto, and Alexia. please take care and be wise. and if you didn't get to watch conference.. WATCH IT. 

Con mucho amor,

- Elder Zazueta

Another week come and go

Last week was good. our investigators are still struggling. not with commandents specifically, but more so just accepting the gospel. the hardest part is getting them to church! people just don't wanna go. if they only knew! i also had to speak in church because my companion didn't want to.. so the three new missionaries ended up speaking. i went last, but i only had like 5 minutes to talk, which i was actually sad about. i had to cut my talk in half! but afterwards the bishop apologized and said he wished he didn't have to cut me off and that he wanted to hear more.. so i guess that's a good thing! i felt really comfortable up there speaking in spanish which is definitely a first. i'm getting a lot more comfortable with spanish, but i still forget some words sometimes.. but the other day was the first time i forgot how to say a word in english. what word? i forgot the word "bottle" haha i could only say it in spanish and my companion had to tell me what it is.. unbelievable! we've been knocking a lot of doors lately.. and we've run into some REALLY interesting people.. mostly just crazy people. they have the craziest theories and blahh blahh blahh its just unreal how many different beliefs are out there. and yesterday was the first time we got kicked out of a building! every apartment building around where we live is usually 6 floors.. so if we manage to get in, we start at the top and work our way down so that we know the superintendent's door last, in case they kick us out we didn't miss anything. but yesterday the superintendent just happened to be on the top floor and we knocked 2 or 3 doors when he came up to us and told us we can't knock his building.. and we ended up teaching him haha he wasn't interested, but after we shared our message with him he was a lot nicer about it.. still kicked us out tho! Mom, i miss your cooking. i still don't even know what to buy when i go shopping haha but i'm surviving. well, it's time for me to go, but i want you guys to know that i love you, and that i worry about all of you! don't worry about me, the big man upstairs has my back! i hope everything is going well :)

Elder Zazueta

September 26, 2012

 

 

Mom, Dad, Everyone,

 

I'm sorry but this email is going to be short. Let me tell you about my day. We woke up, me and Elder Pawlowski Ran, and did the jump work out. My legs are so sore. then we went shopping. afterwards, we had to head to the transfer meeting! it's weird not being "the new guy" anymore. it's so funny to see the new missionaries' faces because i know that's what i looked like six weeks ago. after the meeting (which ended at twelve) everyone stayed at the church and said bye to the missonaries that are going home, and those who were getting transferred said goobye to their companions and their zones. in our zone, we got a new zone leader, two sisters got transferred out, and one of the elders from the trio went home, so now there's only two. after the meeting and everyone's goodbye's a lot of us stayed and played basketball. it was so fun! we got to play full court.. i haven't played full court basketball in FOREVER. it felt so good! even tho the court was small.. we played until three, and then we left and dropped our stuff off at home. then we went to the barber and it took the guy forever to cut my hair.. (i had to take money out of my account to pay for my haircut) so we hurried to the library which closes in like 10  minutes. so i'm writing this super fast! P-day's are supposed to be our " chill " day but it seems like they are the ones where we don't have enough time to do what we need! its nonsense! so yeah. things are going really good, and i've actually not been very cold. It feels so good! weather reports say its been around fifty but really i think it hasn't gone below 60.. so i don't think i'll need to start buying any of my winter stuff for a couple of weeks! no worries! i'm sorry this is so short but my time is out, i promise next week i will write back to this weeks email and next weeks! forgive me. I love you guys. THE CHURCH IS TRUE.

 

- ZAZ

2 weeks worth!

Familia!

 

K' lo K' ! aqui 'toy di'frutando el dia preparacion, tu sabe!

 

Ha Dad, just to let you know, we're not required to memorize section 4 of D&C, so i'm not gonna lie, i haven't even looked at it. I've been studying the book of Mormon, and i think i'll finish it within the next day or two. I love it so much! Before i got here it was really hard for me to get into it.. and to even read for more than 2 days in a row.. but since i got to New York i don't wanna put it down! no lie.. And yes we have district meeting every monday, and then we go out to eat as a zone afterwards! It was weird to think about how i was in New York for 9/11.. but nothing out of the Norm happened here in the Bronx. people had the flags out on their lawn, but that's everywhere in the US. but we're going over to manhattan right after we leave the library so maybe they will still have things up from yesterday, we will see! and since we can see manhattan from our window, last night when we looked out towards the city we could see the light beam that shines in place of where the towers used to be.. our investigators are doing good, our baptism is definitely still on for saturday, Marta is so excited! the rest of them are still having their struggles.. but we're seeing some improvement! but the last 2 days we've found THREE new investigators.. that's more than we've found the whole time that i've been here! it made me so happy! I don't get offended when people say they don't want to hear the message. Lately when they say no i've been quick to reply "are you sure?!" and we've actually taught some lessons at the door because of that. so i'm gonna keep saying it! and don't worry about sending me letters, your emails make me very happy and as long as you keep in contact i'll be fine! so no worries. i'm also happy to hear that you will soon be getting the iphone 5.. you've been talking about it FoReVeR haha its about time you upgrade!

Mom, it's still weird not being able to play basketball.. my companion laughs at me because i swear i can hear a basketball bouncing from 100 yards away.. and when i do i can't help but stare.. he told me it will be easier to not wanna play as the time passes, but it's only getting harder.. haha i guess i can't complain about you sending me both pairs of shoes! its better to have more than to not have enough.. and i also cant complain about candy. I love it. I've eaten so much candy since i've been here. And its funny how you sent me the nachos because i was just telling everyone in my apartment how i would ask you for that whenever you would go to the grocery store! Stalker!!!! haha you WOULD find out where my church is, and how i get there haha but yes, its the two-story brick building with the white fence around it.. its really small, but it's kind of cool! and thank you for the newsletter! i will be writing you a letter soon.. so expect that to come within the next week or so.

 

Time is going by so fast! our first transfer is almost here! i can't believe i've already been away from home for so long. it doesn't feel like i've been gone for that long, but at the same time it feels like i've been a missionary for ever! ha it's hard to explain.. Today we're gong to the city, as in Manhattan. we're gonna go see China-town, maybe little italy, the brookelyn bridge, and maybe times square. but i might ditch the times square to go play basketball at the manhattan church building.. which is also the temple.. how many people can say they've played basketball in the manhattan temple?! i just really want to play basketball.. and i have plenty of time to see times square, it's not going anywhere. at least i hope it doesn't disappear. but today should be a good day! the past couple of days have been awesome, we've taught more people than usual, so hopefully we can keep that up, because that will lead to more investigators! the only problem is that we have a hard time finding people that speak spanish, so most of our lessons are in english, and then we have to hand them over to the english missionaries.. it's kind of lame! i don't speak as much spanish as i did in the mtc.. i need to try and speak more! but i'm proud to tell you that i HaVe received a lot of compliments on my spanish from the people in our ward.. and some random people. they tell me i have a "beautiful accent.. like mexican with spanish.." (as in from spain) so that makes me feel good haha but i have to go, i'm out of time! I love you guys so much, and miss you all very much.. I will keep you in my prayers, i know the Lord is protecting you!

 

Love,

 

Elder ZAZ.

BEFORE THAT

Hola Hola!

 

Mom,

I was planning on trying to send pictures in the email, but i forgot my usb cable and we do our emails in the public library which is kind of far from the apartment so i can't go back.. sorry, next time i will make sure i bring it so you guys can get a sneak peek at what i've seen and done! But no when we go go places on p-day we go as an apartment, so it's me and my companion and the other two missionaries that live with us! today i think we're going to the bronx zoo after we get done here! my companion is going to see the statue of liberty with another elder that is leaving, so i'm gonna be the third wheel in another companionship for the rest of the day. there were some members from puerto rico i was talking to the other day and they told me they also used to have church at a house.. that had huge lizards in it! i guess that's normal over there.. and yes, my foot is completely healed so you can relax now :)

 

Dad,

I DID get to play basketball, finally. and the kids we played against at the park were okay.. like any other people that play at the parks, they thought they were way better than they actually were haha but hey, we didn't tell them they sucked- we just beat them. i was surprised, some of the missionaries in my apartment are actually pretty good! and the park that we played at.. well. the rims are low. that was fun :) and yes, the T-rex skeleton was at the museum! they had TONS of dinosaur bones and things like that, it was unreal.. and intimidating! our ward is named "Olmstead 1st" ward. the english ward is "Olmstead 2nd" ward. This being because the street the church was built on is named olmstead. but our stake is big, we have 11 wards! possibly 12.. i don't even know. i've been told that stake conference is held in two different locations because our stake is so big geographically and demographically.. imagine fitting 12 wards into one building! zone conference was really good, it was nice seeing the other missionaries that are in other areas close by. i got to see Elder Ochoa, my companion at the mtc, and that was cool, he's doing really well! But zone conference wasn't in manhattan, it was in the bronx! it's weird.. new york city is huge. broken down into 5 buroughs, and within each burrough there are different areas/communities. so it's like a city within a city within a city. so zone conference was in kingsbridge, which is in the bronx, but a different area than the one i am serving in, which is called olmstead. We only went to manhattan because we wanted to! we will probably go next week and go see times square, it should be fun! and yes, sadly we don't get fed very much, so i really haven't eaten anything i haven't had before.. it just makes me miss mom's cooking so much more!

 

I'm sure you guys are wondering how the work is going.. well things are slowly getting better, i think. We have a baptism next saturday, i'm so excited! on sunday we had 6 investigators at church. and three of the ones who usually go weren't there. so hopefully this sunday we will have 9 ! i've met some amazing people. everyone has a different background and story, and it's so cool when people open up to us and tell us the things they've been through and have had to overcome up to this point in their lives. That's just something else that makes me that much more grateful for all of the blessings i've had until now. i know i've only been gone a little over a month, but i feel like it's been a lot longer. I think mainly because i've been experiencing things that i never have before. it's helped me realize that i really am blessed.. everyone who has the gospel is blessed. so many people out here don't have it, don't want it, and they don't realize what they're missing! it doesn't bring my spirits down, we keep on moving, but i just wish they would listen for THEIR sake. its kind of sad, really!  but hopefully we can keep on adding to the list of investigators and eventually the list of newly baptized and confirmed members. 

 

SO whats the status with Karla's wedding? when i do i get my wedding announcement!? i wanna be there. so karla, it's your job to make a cut out of me. handle it. cool.  and family, thank you so much for the package, it made me so happy! i'm not craving anything specific, so just keep sending the random stuff :)

OH and mom, is there any way you can send me my old white with black basketball shoes? when we played basketball at the park i played in my running shoes because i didn't wanna ruin my indoor ones.. and i'm afraid i'll break my ankle if i keep playing in my running shoes.. Please and thank you! and mom, i hope you don't mind me using some of the money on my card to buy random things.. like candy.

 

Los extrano mucho! cada ratito pasa algo que me recuerda de lo que veia y decia en la casa.. y todos mis companeros/amigos que tengo aqui saben de ustedes porque siempre les cuento de ustedes. cada noche estan en mis oraciones, yo se que el senor los esta cuidande como me esta cuidando a mi. Recuerden que dios nos da desafios en la vida para ser probados, a fin de que podamos superarlos y crecer mas cerca a el. Los quiero mucho.

 

                                                                                        Love,

                                                                                      Elder Zazueta

NEW LETTER!

Sorry i have to write on one email again to save time!

Mom, thank you so much for the newsletter! i hadn't received any mail yet and when i got your letter it made me so happy! and thank you for the m&m's, they're my favorite! i'm definitely gonna eat them, except i'm gonna save one bag so i can remember and also because they are just plain awesome! and don't worry about my food, we get like 150 dollars a month for groceries, so every P day (wednesday) we go shopping for food! which the first week was a fail, i have no idea what to buy... i ended up eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for saturday and sunday, but it's all good, food is food! at least i'm not starving.. so don't worry about money for food! but i WOULD like some recipes, because as of right now, all i have to my name is some microwavable burritos, pb&j, and quesadillas.. i'm livin it up!

i don't need to buy winter clothes yet, it's actually still pretty warm out here! cloudy, but warm. and humid. i sweat a lot with my backpack! so i'm good for now.

Dad, thank you for your email! it means so much when i see that you guys have taken the time to write me, i just want to know everything! and i feel like email isn't enough because there is so much to say but not enough time to write everything. I actually HAVE had the opportunity to knock doors.. lots, in fact. me and my companion elder fairbourn probably knock 100 doors a day, but the work is slow.. we're lucky if we get 5 people to open the door. we're even luckier if they don't close it within 10 seconds. it seems like those who open it are happy, until they see that it's the missionaries, then they're instantly annoyed and tell us to go away. it's kind of funny, but i don't want to laugh in front of them! We still use an area book and actually have been using it a lot this past week because we've hardly had any appointments, so we're going through the area book and updating it because there are a lot of families that haven't been visited in a long time! even with the area book, we haven't had a lot of success.

Last wednesday night, we had an appointment with a man named Rene, he is such a good investigator! he reads the book of mormon, definitely believes in God, he wants to make a change in his life and is looking for peace... when i found all of this out i was so surprised, it was like an investigator that they gave us at the MTC to make it easier to teach.. he even showed up to church on sunday and said he liked it! so hopefully we can keep moving forward. we also taught Maria and Marta last night. Marta is the mom (probably like 60's in age) and Maria is the daughter (probably in her 30's or 40's) and they both really love the church, and have been taking the discussions for a while! like 9 weeks i think.. so we taught them last night and it went soooo good, the mom commited to baptism! I was so happy, and i'm so excited for her! just thought i'd share the good news.. other than that, the work is really slow, but hey, can't baptize everyone at the same time! better one than none..

we walk a ton. and ride the bus a ton. and ride the train a ton. it's really hard to say what we do the most.. some times we walk to a bus stop that takes us to a train station so we can ride the train to another part of town so we can walk to the area we want to go to.. and i never know where i am, this city is so confusing! but hopefully with time i'll get it down.

alright, story time. before i say anything, mom, don't freak out. everything is okay, i promise :) 

okay sooo, i got here, to the bronx, on wednesday. so we go about our day or whatever and i get introduced to the apartment and everything is fine.. so we go to sleep, and i wake up thursday and my foot was realllllyy itchy, so i didn't know if i got bit by something or if i picked up athletes foot from someone in the apartment or what , but it wasn't too serious, so i didn't mention it to anyone or make a big deal about it. by the end of the night, my foot kind of hurt, and i got a gross blister on the bottom of my toe, but i figured it was only because i walked a lot. so i go to bed and wake up friday and my foot is red, and there are two little dots close to my toes- it kind of looked like i got bit by a snake. but there's no way that happened, so i just assumed that i got bit by the same bug twice. as the day went on, my foot hurt more and more and started to burn kind of. so when we got home, i looked at it and the bite marks had started to turn black, which kind of worried me, and my foot was started to get SUPER red.. i went to bed, woke up at 3, and didn't fall back to sleep till about 4 because the pain in my foot was horrible.. so i finally fall asleep and wake up in the morning, and my foot is throbbing.. its a little swollen, but i still tried to brush it off and not make a big deal out of it because i didn't want to make it seem like i was just complaining.. so we do our morning studies and all that and then eat lunch, and i was playing with some bouncy ball and it fell by my foot- so when i bent down to pick it up, i looked at my foot and it was HUGE! soooo fat, sooo swollen, sooo ugly. so i showed my companion and the other two elders that lived with us and everyone freaked out. we called the zone leaders, then called the mission presidents wife, and then called the mission president and told all of them what happened.. so President morgan told us to go to the hospital. Yup, four days into my mission, and i had to go to the hospital. we had to cancel all of our appointments that day, it was terrible! so we went to the hospital and they told me that it's probably a bug bite, and i probably scratched it too hard and broke skin, and i probably had bacteria on my hands because i live in the bronx, so i got an infection and that's why my foot was so big. but they gave me antibiotics and sent me on my way! i'm still taking them, but my foot is now back to it's normal size and color, i just still have the two spots that look like a snake bite..but i'm in no pain, so it's all good ! 

I just want to let you guys know that everything is going great, i'm happy here, and even though the work is slow, work is work, and we're trying our hardest to spread the word and teach the gospel to others! 

also, mom, dad, and whoever else is reading this email, can you guys send me music? please? stuff that's church appropriate obviously.. but mix it up! and just to let you guys know, we ARE allowed to listen to disney music! please and thank you :) Los quiero mucho, espero que me siguen mandando cartas, es dificil para mi para encontrar tiempo para escribir, pero estoy tratando! los extrano mucho, cuidense!!! 

Love,

Elder Juan Zazueta

Native New Yorker

Hey everyone! Juan has officially arrived in New York! We have some pictures for y'all!

(that may or may not be real)

 arriving.

flying above the city

out on the town with the comp on P-Day

and here's Juan's letter/new address upon arriving!

Mom and Dad

Well, i'm here in New York! let me go through the past couple days for you guys. Last days at the mtc were kinda weird because we knew we were leaving. Most of our district left monday before the sun came out, so by the time we had class, there was four of us instead of ten. it was me and ochoa along with two sisters in our district. as you know we flew to detroit first ( long flight ) and then from detroit we flew to westchester! ( short flight, tiny plane.. ) but once we arrived, President and Sister Morgan were there waiting for us along with the assistants to the president, they were all so nice! they knew us all by name and seemed so excited that we were there. the mission home is about 20-25 minutes from the airport, so we all piled into a few cars/vans and headed that way. Westchester County is SOOO GREEN. there are trees everywhere! and grass. and moss. and whatever else you can think of that is green. The mission home is huge, it has four floors... we all got to choose our bed and we waited for dinner. it was like thanksgiving. Sister morgan made two 20 lb turkeys.. we had a ton of mashed potatoes, and rolls, and vegetables, and salad. it was so good. and for dessert we had cheesecake with strawberries! not strawberry cheesecake.. then i had an inteview with president morgan.. he is so kind and said a lot of good things about me, and that he has high expectations, hopefully i don't let him or anyone else down! so we had our transfer meeting which is where we got to meet our companions. My companion is Elder Fairbourn, from Sandy Utah. He goes home in November! He's really nice, and prior to meeting him everyone said he is a great missionary and very hardworking, so i'm glad for that! i don't think we'll be playing a lot of basketball though :(  he doesn't seem like the athletic type.. everyone else plays ball on p-days, but when i asked him what he does he said he likes to go places.. which is fine, but i'm tryna hoop ya kno wat i mean !!!! haha and now to let you know where i am. Well i am in the FINE city of Bronx, New York. What up tho. we've walked around some and there are people EVERYWHERE. how many white people have i seen here? (aside from my three roomates ) a grand total of like 8. 8 white people. they're all blacks and dominicans. but that ain't no problem, i think it's awesome! this place is so ghetto though, i'm really in the hood, i think i'm finally at home in regards to how i talk..  our apartment isnt too bad. the only bad thing is that our kitchen sink gets no cold water, the floor in our kitchen is peeling, people pee in the elevator, we have a nice collection of cockroaches,  we also have a decent spider exhibit in the top right corner of the bed room- for all those who like to see spiders.. the list goes on.but then i come to find out that we're in the richest part of the bronx but i'm not complaining! there are some really cool things about the apartment.. we live on the 6th floor, which is the top of our building. all the locks are magnetic, and there are a billion pigeons that chill outside our kitchen window. But if i look out of my bedroom window we can see the empire state building and all that good stuff! it's pretty far though, so i can see it, but it's to far to show up in my camera.. haha I'm not lying when i say this, but I really Love this place! i'm so excited to do the work. to learn.. to invite others to come unto christ.. to have a cool dominican accent.. its all good! also, nobody in our mission rides bikes. upstate missionaries drive, and all the missionaries in the city ride the subway or the bus. and walk. a lot. so i guess i won't be getting fat! especially since the members don't feed us.. i just wanted to let you know that i love you and i miss you! and that i'm doing so good :) also, here is my mailing address for the next 3 months! if you could get this to everyone i appreciate it.. if you send mail to the mission home it will probably take a week for me to get it once it gets there, so the sooner this address gets out, the better! gracias, los quiero mucho y los extrano! cuidense por favor!!

Elder Juan Zazueta

2180 Bronx Park East #6E

Bronx, NY 10462

2nd letter

Here's the second email, folks! Dear Elder him and wish him luck, because we really don't want him  to fail his goal. Just read:

"This is my last P-day at the mtc, so i think after this i'll be able to able for a lot longer and have more time to write! plus we figured out a way to stop the timer so we have the full 30 minutes to type instead of using half of it to read :P But i'm just going to write to one that way i don't have to waste time going back and forth between email addresses.. i feel like this way is more efficient! plus i know there are people who want to read the emails so i don't want to leave them out either.

So the mtc has treated me quite well, i can't believe i've already been here 2 and a half weeks, it went by so fast! We teach so much, i'm getting better and better at it! At least i think so.. We do these things called "TRC" appointments where actors come in (we don't know if they're members or not) and they have a situation and we have to teach them! So me and Elder Ochoa, my companion, were assigned to teach Jose Meza, a very wise middle aged man who had a lot to say. We taught him the first lesson and left him the book of mormon, everything seemed to be going great! so we came back for our second visit two days later, but this time he had a friend with him. at first everything seemed to be going good, we were all laughing and joking around so we had a pretty good feeling that we were going to be able to teach both of them pretty easily. WRONG. Once we started teaching it was a battle. Jose's friend, Jorge, had something to say/criticize about EVERYTHING we tried to teach. his comments included "joseph smith was dumb, there's no way he could've translated a book written in an ancient language- Joseph smith was high when he wrote the B.O.M. - you guys have nothing to base your faith on - the book of mormon sounds like a soap opera - why do you believe god loves us if he lets people suffer - Jesus Christ and God and the Holy Spirit are the same person - "

It was ridiculous. that's only half the stuff he threw at us. and we answered everything for him and backed it all up with scripture even, but he still told us that we were crazy and that our faith was nothing. me and elder ochoa were just waiting for somebody to ring the bell so we could start throwin' blows at this dude! haha joke. but seriously, it was so frustrating. but i guess it was good preparation because i know there will be people out there who are going to invite us in just to have an arguement or whatever. so we ended up leaving . then we came back for our third visit a week later and his friend was there again! but we were prepared with scriptures and things because we thought it was going to be the same thing so we knew we had to be ready. So we walked in and sat down and Jorge told us he had to go. i think me and Elder Ochoa both can say that it was a huge relief. So we taught Jose and it went sooo good! he wanted to be baptized! of course, this is all fake, but it was still a really good feeling. haha

 

So here at the mtc they have a bunch of records on the wall of things people did, like highest vertical, most free throws in a row, most 3 pointers in a row, long jump, mile, push ups, etc.. so i wanted to be on this wall soooo bad! but the only thing i think i can beat is the free throws and the long jump. i can't try the freethrows because every court is taken during gym time and i would need a basket all to myself. so i've been trying the standing long jump record. The record is 10'4. what do i jump? 10'4. i cant jump that extra inch, its so frustrating! so in our hallway by our dorm we measured out 10 feet 4 inches and put a piece of tape down so i could practice. and still. my very best jump i'm doing 10'4... blahh so i asked the guy if i could still get my name up there because technically i have the record too since i tied it, but he said no i have to jump 10'5 to get my name up there. it's impossible haha that extra inch is killin' me. just thought i'd let you know that i've failed my first goal on my mission haha it's all
good though.. i'll get over it someday.

 

I'm leaving the mtc on tuesday, the 14th! I report to the travel office at 4 am, then we head to the airport. our first flight is 5 hours from salt lake to Detroit, Michigan. Then we have a two hour wait in the air port. then we fly from detroit to NY which is another two hours.. thats a 7 hour trip! blahhh. but i'm excited, this is the real thing! i'm pretty sure i get to call home from the airport! so mom and dad be expecting a call in the morning! if you guys arent together when i call then i will just call both, no worries! i had to let you guys know so you can be ready. so if you guys get a call from an unknown number on tuesday, ANSWER IT. thanks :)

 

I miss you guys! I wish i could just talk to you because i have plenty of stories and cool things to say to you guys but i can't fit it all into an email with the time limit i have!

You guys are in my thoughts and definitely in my prayers. Los quiero mucho cuidense por favor! Mama y papa, no se preocupen por no mandarme dulces y cartas, estoy bien con que me escriben en mi email! espero que todo va bien con el trabajo y la escuela para mis hermanos! Los extrano mucho, adios!!!"

Doesn't he sound great? We'll be back shortly for some entertainment:)

FIRST WE HEARD!!!

Hola!! Wow, the MTC is crazy! I love it here. It was so hard for me to leave because I was leaving loved ones behind. But once i got here, i was overcome by a sense of peace that i can truly say i've never felt before. the new missionaries wear red dots on their name tags so the first two days i was here i wore the dot and EVERYONE greeted me, it was awesome. The spirit here is different. Wherever i go, the spirit is there. I love it so much. I am in a room with 3 other elders. first is my companion, Elder Ochoa. He was born in LA but he lives Durango,  Mexico. He is going to the same mission as me so we are leaving together! Next is Elder Fernandez, he's from Houston, Lives in Utah and is head to the Mexico, Leon Mission. And finally is Elder Arana, From Florida- headed to the Mexico, Torreon Mission. and the Coolest thing is that todos ya hablamos espanol! Creo que en estos ultimos 3 dias aqui a hablado mas espanol que e hablado en el ultimo ano entero. Pero enserio! Me encanta hablar espanol con mis companeros y los otros misioneros de nuestro distrito. Aun que suene raro, creo que el espanol ya me esta mejorando! Hicimos una regla en nuestro cuarto que el que hable ingles adentro del cuarto tiene que dormir en el piso jaja pero hasta ahorita nadie lo a hecho. Mi cama es muy chiquita, es muy dificil dormirme, pero no nomas porque la cama esta chiquita. Estoy acostumbrado a dormirme a las 2 o 3 de la manana, y aqui nos tenemos que dormir a las 10:30. Y tambien ya soy buen amigode mis companeros del cuarto, asi que is muy facil quedarnos despiertos hablando de la vida.

There's 10 missionaries in my district. 7 elders and 3 sisters. We all came in the same day as advanced spanish speakers, so we are all going to leave the MTC on the same day. And it's awesome because even though we're new, we're assigned to help the other missionaries who have already been here a couple of weeks so they can learn spanish better. Plus, our district is easily the loudest, most animated group here. Siempre nos estamos riendo y hablando y saludando a los otros misioneros y misioneras. Its so fun.

Yesterday we taught a lesson to an "investigator." Aun que nomas ere nuestra maestra, todavia me llegaban los niervos. pero yo y el elder Ochoa tocamos la puerta y hicimos lo mejor que pudiamos. Creo que nos fue bien! It was so hard for me to leave home, but teaching and sharing my testimony and listening to other elders' testimonies... I can say it's already changed my life. and i can honestly say that right now there's nowhere else i'd rather be. The missionaries in my room have had really rough lives. Elder Ochoa (mi compa) lived in durango, and he said it's really dangerous there. he has always been a member, but he used to drink and smoke and go to the club and party and whatever else.. but he told us how his friend was killed and how that opened his eyes and so he went back to the church.. and now he's here to better himself. and his testimony is strong. Elder fernandez used to be in a gang. he has some southside tattoos. his older brother used to be the leader of the "clique" he rolled with. He would also drink and smoke and party and fight. But he told us how one day he had a fun pointed to his head and how he told the guy that if he was going to kill him to just do it already. but the other guy let him go. So elder fernandez realized that he didn't want to live that life anymore, especially because he had a baby brother he needed to take care of. so he returned to the church, so he's here to be the best example he can be to his little brother. Elder arana has had the hardest life. his dad made them live in a shack, move to mexico, to utah, to arizona, back to mexico, to utah. they've lived on a dirt floor. his aunts practiced witchcraft. then his dad left their family when he was 15. 2 years later, his mom left him. so he moved to florida by himself. he hasnt seen his parents in years. yet through all that, his faith never faltered. he has a strong testimony and knows the scriptures very well.

All of that just made me so much more grateful that i have the life that i do. my life was so easy compared to theirs, but they're still here.

well my time is out, so i have to go, but email or write me back!

Los quiero mucho a todos! cuidense mucho,

Love,

Elder Zazueta.

He's doing great, folks!

Outie 5000

With his family

 no comment

last hugs