July 16th, 2014.

Hey! 

Padre. 

First, can I say I don't really wanna talk about family history? I have no experience with that haha  can I just talk about missionary work? That's totally related to vicarious work.. That'll be funny if we bust out the headsets haha are you gonna translate for me? Or one of my friends who learned spanish on their mission?  

It sounds like the dog is enjoying you guys and is also being enjoyed.. I'm so excited to go play with it! 

Madre.

That's right, I'm doing good! Haha yeah that lady that was talking to you added me on Facebook and has been liking all of my stuff.. Tell her that her son is going to the best mission in the world! 

What's the plan with pelusa? Are we just gonna keep her until she dies or what? I don't care what car comes to pick me up, as long as I get home tu sabe! 

I actually haven't spoken with anyone about going to the wedding. I'm totally down to go to native New Yorker! I talked to Edgar and Rathen on Facebook and already invited them.. So yeah, let's still go (: I don't know if I'm gonna go to the wedding, I don't think I'll end up going.. Also, mom. I've worn out a lot of the clothes I came out with.. Do you care if I throw most of it away? My shirts are super old and my pants have holes in them and all that other good stuff. Is there anything you want me to bring home or are you okay with me just throwin stuff away? Please let me know before next Wednesday! 

Stuff.

This past week has been weird. We moved apartments! The last apartment I lived in was really bad.. Missionaries have lived there for the past 8 years. We finally moved out! The last 4 days we have spent cleaning, packing, moving, and more cleaning.. It's been hectic! The new apartment we live in is really really nice, at least for an apartment in the city. I love it, too bad I only will live there for a week haha 

Today we went through the temple! All of the missionaries that go home with me went today, with our mission president and his wife too! It was awesome! And full. There was 33 of us in there. As I'm writing this I'm sitting in a little diner called big nicks. President is buying us all lunch haha what up! This next week will be weird. I'll be spending a lot of time saying bye to people, and taking pictures.. And trying to figure out what else I need to do before I leave the big city. I'm excited to see all of you! I probably won't write next week, but I would still like for you guys to write at least to let me know of anything I need to plan for.. Or write me on Facebook if there's anything I need to know before I go.. I love you. I'll see you next week! PEACE!

July 9th, 2014.

Hello!

Dad. 

Thank you for being willing to find out all that stuff for me haha It would be good to know by next Wednesday what they want me to speak on or if they want me to choose.. Aww man haha poor Kaiser. Is he well behaved? I think it'd be cool to have him inside.. But is the plan to just keep him out more often than have him in? Does he shed hair? Haha the reason you didn't watch all of it before cracks me up.. 

As for school, I don't think you guys need to do anything.. I think I'm just gonna go and figure it all I when I get there! I think that will be easiest. 

Mom. 

So, the way that it works the day we come home is that the APs and the mission president and his wife will drive us all down to the airport in Brooklyn or Queens wherever it is and that's basically it haha they drop us off and then we leave! That's so cool that Karla starts her job next week! Is she nervous at all? And I'm happy that beto will be getting paid after all, even if it's just a little bit. It makes me happy that beto and Alexia are both involved in things that are helping them develop their talents and abilities.. I can't wait to see how much they've grown! 

 Wait what? Our dog has a microchip? How does that work? How many members go to the ward now? Is it a lot less than the amount that went when I was home? 

Sorry I'm so late getting this off. It's been a crazy day! Our week was good. Time has been flying by! I don't really have too much time right now, but I want you to know that things are going really well. And today we went to wicked. It was AMAZING! I would say that it's in the running for my favorite p day on my mission. It was SO DANG GOOD. I think I'm in love with the wicked witch. Actually I know I am. She was so great. 

Haha today I saw a kid from one of my wards back in the Bronx.. Last time I saw him, which was about a year ago, he didn't have plans to go on a mission. Today I saw him and he says "ZAZU!! Guess what man, I'm almost done with my mission papers!" It was so awesome! It's crazy to think that I'm almost done with this journey, and there are other people just starting it. He has no idea about all of the things he is going to experience and learn. It makes me excited when I find out people are going on missions. Maybe because I am one? I don't know. I guess as missionaries we feel a natural connection with anyone who has served, is serving, or will serve. I like it. I hope you all have a great week! Idk how much time I'll have next week, I'll be going through the temple with the mission president and all of the dying missionaries. If I don't write next week, don't freak, I'll be seeing you soon :) I love you all!

July 2, 2014

I'm good! Today we are at Yankee stadium for the Yankees game! There's a lot of missionaries here.. I got the package! You don't need to send me another package.. But if you do, there's nothing that I really want/need.. Rucker park is super dope! During most of the year it's just like any other park but for 8 weeks in the summer they have a league there so they lay down a hardwood floor so people can go play and then once or twice a week an NBA player will come and play with the guys that play there, it's super cool! Uhmm I think it would be cool if we could go to native New Yorker when I get back (: but if that will be an issue I'd be okay with just eating something at home, I really don't mind!  And I think if the family went I would be just fine. I know there's gonna be a wedding reception the day I get back so I don't want to take people away from that! Or make people have to choose. Maybe I'll invite a few people but I think for now it would be fine if just family goes. 

Other.

Life is pretty good. Just to answer your questions about the tv show thing.. It's for a show called black ink, and it won't air until the fall, so i will be home when it comes out ha I will have to keep an eye out for it. I know it won't be anything close to significant, or if I'll even be in the video clip(s) that they choose, but it was still a cool experience! To be honest I'm not really sure what scene the arch way shows up in I am legend, but I know it's in there. I'll send a picture.  I had my exit interview with my mission president yesterday, he is awesome! He just counseled me in terms of how I should go about looking for a job, and how I should go about looking for my eternal companion. Nothing really too specific, but definitely things I should apply as they come. It was weird though, knowing that was my last interview with him! 

The work here is picking up a little bit, we mostly work with less actives right now. It's been really good. I'm having a lot of fun still, and I'm still working haha don't worry. Last week we did a super cool activity where we shined people's shoes for free and gave them lemonade haha it was dope! It was an awesome way to be able to serve people without them feeling intimidated. I love this mission! 

I love you all, let me know if there's anything I can do for you! Have a good week, love each other (:

June 25th, 2014.

Hola!

Pa.

I know.. It's crazy! I am definitely trying to do things in such a way that I won't regret too much once I go home.. I know that regardless of what I do, there will probably always be something that I feel like I could've done better, but don't worry. We are working hard! I got the pictures of the dog! I'm so excited! at first when you told me we were getting a German shepherd I was pretty indifferent.. But now that I see the pictures and know that it's ours I'm pretty excited to have it! 

I've actually seen those dogs you are talking about. They are massive! Hopefully we can have better control of this dog than we did with Kiara.. She was crazy! Haha so you finish summer school tomorrow? Or you already finished last Thursday? Either way, that's exciting, I'm sure you're happy you get to relax! Como te va en el trabajo de AT&T? 

Ma..

I'm doing good! How are you ? Statue of Liberty was awesome haha it was a good opportunity! I haven't gone to wicked yet! I go to the broadway play on July 9th.. So it's in two weeks! Next week we are going to the Yankee game! That's cool that Joey brought me up in his talk! I love that kid. The jump drive you sent me is perfect, it's definitely useful! Thank you (: that's a good idea tho, it'd be good to have actually photos to put into an album as well as digital copies! Yeah, I'm not too worried about getting a baptism. We are definitely working for it, but if it doesn't happen then I won't be too disappointed. I know our efforts will be worth it in the long run! Aww man haha I'm so excited for a new bed! I'm gonna be sleeping a lot more than I had originally planned haha

Yeah I think I'll still be down when I get home! I figure it won't be too hard to make time to walk the dog. It'll be enjoyable! YESSS I'm always down for some Mexican candy! I don't need anything else.. Don't worry about sending me things, I'm covered pretty good (: 

Today we've been at Rucker park all day. I've been here since ten in the morning and right now it's 1:30.. I'm writing this email on the train headed downtown.. I think we're gonna go check out a spot that was in the movie I am legend! If we can find it.. 

The work has been pretty good. We aren't having too much luck with finding new investigators, but we are having more success finding less active members and getting io their homes. Things are still a little slow since both elder Durham and I are still trying to get to know all of the members.. But it's good. We are confident the area will be ready for some harvesting once I go home! I've been having a lot of fun. I don't feel like I'm that close to going home, nothing has really changed . Idk if that makes sense? Anyway, just know that I'm doing good, and we are working hard. I hope you all have the best week (: 

June 18th, 2014.

Guys! I'm really sorry! I don't have too much more time, it's been a long day. We left our apartment at 8:45 and we are still in lower manhattan.. At the temple/chapel right now. We went to the statue! It was pretty fun! We had a big group of missionaries with us, it was a party! 

Things have been crazy in our area. We had another emergency transfer in our apartment. A companionship in the Bronx wasn't getting along so one of the guys there switched with one of our guys here. 

I love my companion! He is legit. I couldn't have asked for a better person. I didn't get elder Kerr, but he's still in my same zone so we kick it all the time. It's been really good. Me and Durham have been trying to find like crazy.. We haven't taught anyone new, but we have some people who said that we could come back this week. We are hoping it can turn into something good! It would be cool to have a baptism my last cycle, but right now I'm thinking I will only be planting seeds here haha but I'm okay with that. We are trying to do work!

You guys talk about my bed.. Did I get a new bed? Or is it the same one I had before? I'm fine with either one! Haha it's weird to think about that. That's sweet that the dog is official! I'm pumped to have a German shepherd (: that will be sweet! I hope I won't regret saying this, but I volunteer to take it on daily walks. People walk their dogs ALL the time here. I see at least 20-30 dogs a day. 

I'm sorry I don't have any cool stories, or too much to say. I also don't have too much time. But here are some pictures we took today (: 

June 10th, 2014

Dad. So the dog is official! That's crazy! Cuanto costo? Are you planning on taking it to a school? Or just training it at home? Hopefully you guys can go pick it up soon so it doesn't get to used to your parents.. What class are you teaching for summer school? Fathers and sons! Wow I don't remember the last time I went to one of those.. It sounds like it's gonna be a lot of fun! Don't drown haha i think what we do on the last day is we go to the mission home and we just hang out and watch a movie and talk and idk what else.. I have my itinerary.. It's super weird that I'm flying to salt lake and then to Arizona. Idk why it ended up that way? 
Mom.Time is definitely passing by really fast! I haven't been able to see the mission blog, our iPads don't allow it and we hardly ever get on the computers.. 
I can't believe Tim comes home! Tell him I say hello please! Elder Cruz is awesome. I love that kid. We had a lot of fun together. I was on Facebook and saw that elder benson got married here. Like 90 blocks away from where I'm at!  It's super weird hearing you guys are getting my room ready. It's weird to think I'll have my own room.. Without a bunk bed. Elder Critchfield will probly have to spend more time at home than originally expected but I've been in contact with him and I think he's still planning on coming back out! 
Other things!So, I'm getting a new companion! Sorry that this email is so scatter brained.. It's been a crazy week for me! Elder Cruz got transferred up to Danbury Connecticut. I'm getting Elder Durham. I know him, he's served in two of my zones before and he is actually really cool. I'm excited! We are basically white washing here. The work is basically absent because nothing was done when Critchfield was sick..so we have nothing. Starting from scratch! It will be hard, but it will be good. Today was weird, a lot of my friends are going home. It's definitely a weird feeling! Right now I'm just waiting for my companion to get her from upstate. It'll probly be another couple hours. That stinks that the car already has problems! I hope it doesn't give you guys any more trouble, at least not for a while! Also, I sent two boxes home! One should be getting there today, and the other one on Monday! Pleaseeee don't open them. I'd like to open them and organize everything once I get home. I would really appreciate that (: Also, what time is our church back home? Do we know if I'll be able to speak the first Sunday I get back?

Here is a picture of me.. I just got hit in the eye.

June 4th, 2014

Hey guys!

Dad.

Being Zone is Leader is Good. Not too much has changed. Our zone is tiny tho. We have a total of 14 missionaries, including the AP's- they're not around very much so we basically have 12 missionaries in the zone. It's kinda weird Haha but it's good. We don't drive tho! All city missionaries just ride the trains and buses, zone leader or not! I am planning on sending a bunch of stuff home pretty soon! Our apartment is small and I have nowhere to put my stuff.. 

Mom.

I'm doing good, as usual!  I got the package yesterday! Thank you so much (: it came at a good time..  

When are you going in for the X ray for your knee? If it's the same thing as before, shouldn't they be doing an MRI instead ? That's a bummer that dad couldn't get contacts.. Has he considered laser...? 

Did you get Kevin's face in the cake ? 

Karla is going to chile!!! What!! That's crazy.. I assume they're going to visit Aaron's mission? That's so cool. When are they going? I hope to be able to come back to my mission soon.. And frequently. New York is amazing. 

Life.

Life is good. This week was actually a little bit stressful for me trying to adjust to everything. I'm trying to learn everything about the area as fast as I can because there's a chance elder Cruz could leave even though I'll only be here for two weeks! Transfers are next week.. My next email could be from somewhere else haha my first Sunday here was good. Lots and lots of Dominicans in the ward. I love it! I hope to be talking like them by the time I go home so I can give my homecoming talk in Dominican. This past Thursday we had a mission conference with Elder Snow from the first quorum of the 70. 

The apartment I live in here is really small. And really old, and missionaries haven't been very nice to it in the past. So it's in bad shape. We have a few cockroaches here and there and my roommates say every once in a while we have a mouse that runs from one side of our tiny kitchen to the other.  I live with elder Hurst and Elder Hofheins. I already know both of them because I was their zone leader back when I was in New Rochelle. They're good guys! Our apartment is really small though. The smallest one I've lived in so far.. I think our address is 

599 w 176th st

New York, NY.. I don't know the zip code haha 

Just in case you guys wanna look it up. It's right on the corner of 176 and St. Nicholas

Random but that's cool that you guys bought a car! So mom and dad just drive the van or what? What year is the car we just got? And color? I hope you guys don't judge the way I drive when I get home.. I drive like a New Yorker. 

Today a lot of my friends in the mission are going through the temple for the last time because they will be going home next week.. Crazy! I got my travel plans yesterday in the mail telling me about my flight and all that. It's super weird that I have a lay over in salt lake. Do you remember elder Berryman? The elder that we saw in the airport the day I left that also came to New York? Well he goes home the same day as me, but his flight goes straight from NY to AZ and he gets there a little bit before 1 pm.. And I have to fly on two different planes and won't get back to AZ until a little before 4.. I called the mission office and they said there's no way to change it. It's just a little weird. But whatever haha as long as I get there, right? Today we are gonna just hang out at the chapel and hang out with the zone.  It should be good (: thanks for the emails this week! And the package. I love you guys, have a good week!!

May 28, 2014.

Hey!!

So I'm gonna write it all together this week.
First of all, you guys went to Disneyland!! I haven't been there in
sooooo long.. Like 6 years. That's awesome that you guys were able to
go how you did (: I'm glad you enjoyed your weekend!!!
So, last Saturday we had a baptism. It was awesome! We baptized
Manuel, and another set of missionaries baptized a family, so we had 4
baptisms as a district. It was awesome! The baptism went really well,
Manuel's kids came and his little 8 year old son told us he wants to
be baptized now.. So he'll probly be baptized in 2 or 3 weeks! Cool
right? Sunday we had a fireside with our mission president. He is
awesome, I always learn so much from him! I also sang a duet with
another missionary for the musical number.. I think it went well?
Since Sunday things have Been a little crazy.. Before we started the
fireside President Morgan Pulled me aside and told me that another
missionary was sick in the city and was most likely gonna have to go
home on Tuesday (yesterday) and he asked me if I would be willing to
go take his place if he ended up going home.. I said yes. So I got a
call around noon yesterday from the assistants telling me I had like
three hours to pack and then I had to meet them at the mission home..
I only had time to say bye to one family /:  Do you remember Elder
Critchfield? My "son" .. Well, he has a bad case of mononucleosis and
was bed-ridden for the last two weeks. He went home yesterday, and I
came to north Manhattan to take his place. I'm really sad he is home
/: the assistants brought me here yesterday and I got to see elder
Critchfield before they took him to the airport.. That was really
nice- he is supposed to come back to the mission field within two or
three months- I really hope that's true!
I'm pretty sad I had to leave Stamford. I love that place! But I know
I'm needed elsewhere! My zona right now is north manhattan. Otherwise
known as Inwood. Or Washington Heights aka Dominican Heights. EVERYONE
is Dominican here haha my specific area is from 155th st. to 170th st.
From river to river. Remember Rucker park, the place I played ball at
last week? Well, that's in my area haha pretty cool right (: my
companion's name is Elder Cruz! From Tijuana!! Holla haha team bean! I
actually lived with him a year ago when I was in the Bronx, so we
already know each other which is good! Another weird thing is that I'm
Zone Leader again. Definitely did not expect for that to happen! So
yeah. Things are really crazy right now. Transfers are two weeks from
tomorrow, so who knows, I might just be here for two weeks to fill the
gap and then get transferred again. It wouldn't surprise me, I've been
all over the place! Or I could just finish my mission here. We will
just have to wait and see.
I'm not sure what we are doing today. We might go play basketball, but
the assistants invited me to go to the natural history museum with
them. And elder Cruz knows somebody who works there so we could go
into the extra exhibits for free, so we might go do that, I'm not
sure! I still feel pretty weird, I didn't expect to be where I am haha
I am trying to just stay positive and enjoy the journey. I know The
Lord Has a plan and he wouldn't put me here if there wasn't a purpose
for it. I love you guys, thank you for your prayers and your support!
Cuídense!

May 21, 2014.

 Show message history

Pops.

What's up! What did President Burnham tell you we had to do? Aww man, today was your last day of school! That's awesome (: and weird.. School out here doesn't get out until the middle of June.. How do you feel about teaching summer school? It's crazy how events mark check points like that.. It makes time pass a little bit faster! Haha that's so awesome that you are getting perfect scores for your "grades" at AT&T.. It doesn't surprise me at all! 

I'm doing great! Transfer are June 11th.. So three weeks from today? In regards to travel, we like to take the bikes as much as we can, but sometimes we are so packed that if we take the bikes we won't make it to all of our appointments on time, so we need to take the car just to save travel time. It's nice having the option of either bike or car.. Especially when it rains, we never have to get wet! Dile a abeto y Maricruz que también los extraño y les mando mucho amor! 

Madre.

Estoy muy bien!! Y tu? Have you been to the doctor to have your knee checked? Or are you just assuming that you will have to get surgery? That's rough :/ is it the same knee? I'm sure you've told me but I can't remember if it is.. Wait so is dad's work gonna provide the tablets for them? That's really cool! Haha tablets are taking over.. 

Jason is graduating?! That's crazy to me too! Everyone is so grown up.. Also, yes, I've seen pictures of Karla's graduation! And the dinner! Or at least I'll try not to haha! 

Stuff!

We were crazy busy last week. We taught 31 lessons again. Things are going really well for us! We are actually going to have a baptism on Saturday (: I'm pretty excited, it's been almost a year since I've been a part of one.. The guy getting baptized is named Manuel Contreras. He is soooo ready! He is really committed and willing to live the gospel.. When we were at his house on Saturday he told us he was originally planning on getting baptized in September, but when he thought about it he realized he doesn't need to wait that long. So he asked us if he could be baptized on the 24th. We had already taught him everything, so in Sunday he had his baptismal interview and he is good to go (: we have a few other investigators who are sooo close! We may or may not be having another baptism on the 31st.. Una dominicana! We are definitely seeing the fruits of our labors here and I'm so glad. Being in this area/ward and having awesome companions is really helping me stay more focused than I think I would be if I were to be serving anywhere else. 

This weekend we are having a fireside with our mission president, and I think I might be singing a solo for a musical number. It's not for sure, but if I do me and Alexia will be doing the same thing haha kinda cool. 

Today we are going down to Harlem! Gonna go meet some other missionaries at Rucker park to play some basketball (: I'm excited! It should be fun. Then later today we are going to a members home because her son is coming home from his mission and arrives today! And he needs companions until tomorrow when he gets released. But yeah. It's crazy. Life is good, I'm enjoying the work, I'm happy. We aren't hungry, the people here are amazing, we have people to teach.. I really have no complaints! I hope all is well with all of you. One love!! 

Look what I learned how to do! 

May 14, 2014.

I'm doing good! I can't believe Karla is graduated from college....... That's insane! I'm glad you and dad were able to take the day off so that you could go and be with Karla. He is a busy man.. Mom you are awesome, don't let anybody tell you otherwise. Thanks for everything you do!

Aww man, spring sing! I wish I could've been there. It sounds like Beto is just getting better and better at singing.. Alexia too!  I hope high school is everything she expects it to be.. I miss high school haha those were the days..

I don't think I need too much help with school.. I'm not really sure how to go about doing things, I might even need to wait until I get home to figure all of that out even though it will be really rushed! I don't think I need scholarships yet because it's community college.. Those will come in handy when I transfer to a university in a year.. I think I'm gonna start looking into all that soon. 

Things are going well with our area. We are still really busy and teaching a lot. There's a few people we think can be baptized before the end of the cycle.. We just have to help them realize it! The past couple of weeks have been awesome because with the combining of the areas I now get to meet and interact with all of the members I didn't get to be with before and it's been so fun! The members here are awesome and love us so much, and getting to know them means more trust ... Which is what we need with everyone! I don't have much else to say since we talked on Sunday.  But I love you guys! I hope you have a good week (:

May 7, 2014.

Hey everyone!

I'm writing a short email today since we're gonna chat soon.

Yeah. It's all good, my hair will grow back! That's awesome that Alexia had a solo! Haha that'll be cool to go home and be able to sing a song with full parts as siblings..  ? I'm so excited to watch beto play volleyball. I be he's grown so much since I left.. 

What else did you do for your birthday?

We had such an amazing week, but I won't spend too much time tellingly about it because I'm gonna see you guys on Sunday! So just ask me about it then haha but here are some pictures so you can see what we've been up to here in Stamford. 

Also, I'm gonna call around 8 o clock here.. Which is 5 over there! I hope that works? And I hope that's not inconvenient for the missionaries over there.. Tell them I'm sorry!

April 30, 2014.

Hey guys! 

Sorry, today is transfers and that's always a little crazy, so I'm just writing a general email! 

So, I'm staying in Stamford. My companion elder Stephens left to the Bronx! But they didn't send a replacement.. Haha so what's happening is they're combining our area with our roommates' area so I am now in a trio with Elders Gamble and Bailey! We're already all good friends so I know we are gonna have fun! We are gonna be suuuuppeerrr busy. So far in the past two days we've taught 13 lessons because we are doing the work for two companionships as one unit.. 13 lessons in two days is a lot! My guess is we'll be averaging about 25 lessons a week if we can keep up with all the work there is to do. Which hopefully means we'll have a few baptisms this cycle- I'll be keeping you guys posted!

It's been a good week, things are really looking up. 

So yesterday I went to the barbershop to get my hair trimmed up cuz it was getting a little long.. But the barber messed up BAD so I had to tell him to just cut it all off.. So now I'm back to my short hair again. Except this time I didn't want it.. But it's whatever! Just gonna grow it out again.. As for Mother's Day, we still aren't sure what time we are gonna be calling.. I can call after 2:30 Arizona time right? That's 5:30 here.. I just want to make sure. 

Today a few of my really good friends in the mission ended their missions.. It's so crazy to see them go! It's hard to wrap my mind around the fact that missions end.. This is our whole life and then when the time is up we have no option but to give it up... Soon that will be me! 

I'm sorry you guys get a lame email today, time is on the short end for sure. We have a lot to do today! I hope all is well, I love you all so much. Thank you for your prayers and your support (: have a good week!

April 23, 2014.

I'm not sure what the plan is for Mother's Day. It's after transfers so the plans are gonna depend on what happens during transfer next week! If I stay in Stamford I'll be able to skype from my apartment haha we have church till about 1:30.. So I'd probly be able to skype anytime in the afternoon or evening? What times work better for all of you? My pull ups have not improved at all since last week. I think it's actually gotten worse.. So I think the update will have to wait until I can do more than I did that one day haha 

Last p day was sick. We rode like 20 ish miles on the bikes.. I loved it! Definitely an opportunity I will likely never have again. Today we went to the skatepark for a little bit and I rode a skateboard in there.. It's been so long! But it was fun. There's an elder here that is really good! But he actually ended up tweaking the skateboard haha it was really funny. In a little bit we are going to new Canaan to go hang out at some member's house.. They have a tennis court and basketball court and a trampoline and soooo we're just gonna go kick it for a little while! Should be good.

This week was pretty good and weird. A few days ago my coach at MCC emailed me again and just told me to get my hands on a basketball if I can.. And we play every morning so I figured I could always do more.. So Monday and Tuesday I convinced one of the elders I live with to wake up at 5:30 with me and go to the church before everyone gets there to be able to do some shooting drills.. We'll probly be waking up that early 4 days a week cuz I really want to play basketball when I come home! I don't want to pass up any opportunities.. 

 On Monday we had a training on faith given by our mission president. It was so good! It was really refreshing because lately all we've been hearing about has been Facebook and online stuff and honestly the online stuff is still not my favorite. So receiving an actual training was really good. We talked about having true faith as missionaries and having sufficient confidence in God to call down the powers of Heaven. It really made all of us think and ask ourselves if we really have that confidence in God to pray for things and actually expect to receive what we are asking for. We set a goal as a mission to have 100 baptisms between now and the end of May... Which in this mission is a TON... But I think we can do it. I'm hoping to be able to contribute.. It's been a little while since I've had a baptism. But regardless, I'm happy. I know I'm successful in other ways! 

We haven't been able to meet with Carlos since last time I wrote. We actually just found some things out from his wife which I don't feel like I can share over email but it doesn't look like Carlos will be ready by May 3rd or anytime soon. But we are trying to have faith and help them overcome this obstacle.. Tonight we are gonna meet with a family of 5 who seem pretty promising! They came to the primary Easter egg hunt activity and were really eager to meet with us. We are teaching them at another members house so hopefully we can get them going! 

Me and my companion are getting along really well. Even though I want to go to the city, I also want to stay with elder Stephens haha he is awesome and we have a lot of fun together. Next week you guys will know if there's any changes or not! I hope you all have a good week! 

April 16, 2014.

My week. And stuff.

Sorry you haven't received any pictures lately. I actually haven't sent any home at all for a long time. The reason is cuz now almost every picture and video gets taken on our iPads.. And I can't send that home haha but I'll see what I can do about sending some home soon. 

So we bought our broadway tickets this week! We bought tickets to watch wicked on July 9th ! I'm pumped :) a lot of my friends out here are going with us so I know that will be an awesome experience! 

This week was pretty good! We met with Carlos and his wife. They are awesome! We taught him about baptism and the Holy Ghost.. He is right now praying about whether or not he wants to be baptized on May 3rd. He is doing so good! At the end of our lesson he said that eventually he would like to be sealed to his family!! Haha so even tho he hasn't officially decided to be baptized yet, we know he has a long term goal of living the gospel with his family. We are super excited for him. Hopefully he gets an answer to his prayers soon! Riding the bikes has been so fun. We're able to talk to a lot more people and lately we've been stopping by some parks and asking if we can play ball with people. We haven't taught any lessons out of it, but we are definitely introducing ourselves to a lot of the youth in our area. Some of them even want to exchange numbers after we play so that they can call us to come play again.. I love it! Hopefully we can turn all of that into something even more positive. 

Today we are going down to manhattan with out bikes.. We're gonna tour the island! We're gonna ride from Harlem down to battery park and probably the Brooklyn bridge and then back up. And on the way back up we are gonna eat lunch up by Times Square kinda. I'm really excited, it should be really fun! We are actually on the train right now from Stamford to the city and I'll just send this email off whenever I have wifi. So yeah. Those are the plans today. I hope all of you have a good week! I love you. Church is true!

April 9, 2014.

things with carlos are going well. he is really awesome. he came to a few sessions of conference with his wife. he seemed pretty tired after, i think he might've fallen asleep haha but we will be seeing him later this week. we think it won't be long before he gets baptized, but there are still some things we have to teach him before that can happen. 

conference was awesome! its awesome watching conference as a missionary.. it gives the meetings a completely different feel. its weird to think that this one was my last one. but i loved it. my top five in no particular order were Elder Holland saturday morning, elder anderson saturday morning, elder eyring saturday morning, elder nelson saturday morning,elder oaks priesthood, President Monson sunday morning, Elder Bednar Sunday morning.... i realize that thats more than five haha but they gave really good talks! mom i hope you find time to watch the saturday sessions cuz they were really good! 

last p day was good, but it was super rushed. its always a little crazy when we go down to the city. today we're gonna be going to a park by a beach and we're gonna play basketball and volleyball. it should be fun! its 60 degrees today which is SOOO NICE. i think back home that would be a little chilly but to us right now the weather is perfect for playing outside. its wonderful. 

i had an interview with president yesterday. it went really well! he is awesome. we talked a lot about how i can finish my mission strong and how i can still be a good example to others, especially at this point of my mission. out here we have these things called "dying wishes"... some say its a myth.. but its real haha basically its just a name we give to requests missionaries have for the mission president in regards to where they want to serve at the end of their missions and with who. soo i asked him if he could pray about me serving down in harlem before i go home! with elder Kerr. he's also from mesa and we've been wanting to serve together for a long time. he's the AP right now, so i think he's going to ask for the same thing.. so i think there's a decent chance of that happening! but we'll see. i'd be fine to die where i am right now, but i would also be pumped if i could go die in the hood with my friend. so cross your fingers for me. 

thats basically all the news. i'm loving life. things are going well! i hope you all took something from conference this week and are applying it, i know i am! Peace and Love,

Elder Zazueta!

April 2, 2014.

Things are still going well here in Stamford. I love being on a bike! It's actually a lot of fun, and it helps keep me in shape ha it's nice to have a little bit of exercise in between appointments! The work here is so different than my last area.. There's actually work to do! We are teaching a variety of people, so we stay pretty busy! Our most promising investigator right now is named Carlos. I think he's from Guatemala? He's married to Ruth, who is Mexican. She's a less active member.. Well, now she is reactivated, but yeah. We are working with him! He seems really happy when we teach him. On Sunday we had a fireside in which one of the sealers in the temple came to speak and it was awesome. He talked to Carlos afterwards and I heard Carlos tell him that he was planning on becoming a member soon! Haha sooo yeah. We are almost there with him. There are a few other people who are showing good signs as well, so we have a lot of good things on our plate. Yesterday was my companions birthday. It was a good day, although I was on a split so I didn't really get to see him too much. Me and him are the oldest missionaries in our zone physically andddd mission age as well. It's really weird looking at the mission and being one of the oldest.. There's like 10 missionaries that go home this transfer, 8 that go home the next transfer, and then 25 that go home when I do. 

Me and Stephens are going down to the Bronx today! He served in Yankee stadium not too Long after I left that area so we are gonna go visit one of the families that we both love and then we are gonna go play basketball in the projects haha my favorite.. 

I hope you all have had a wonderful week. I'm excited for conference! Wondering if any big things will be announced! It's always nice to have the big guys instruct us on how to become better. Be kind, love one another. Talk to you next week! Adiossss (:

March 26, 2014.

Stamford is pretty awesome. Everyone who serves here says this is the best spanish area in the mission and so far I can easily see why. Our chapel is FULL during sacrament meeting.. All the missionaries stand until right before we start because members need their spots and then before the opening hymn we have to find a place where we can fit.. There are a ton of members here.. And we have 10 missionaries in the ward! It was so funny, my first day here (last Wednesday) we had correlation and it was raining so we ran inside the church and when we walked into the room one of the members asked "elderes como están? " and i responded " estamos bien, pero un poco mojados" .. So The ward Mission leader answers " no se preocupen elderes, todos aquí somos mojados! " hahahaha i laughed so hard it was really funny.. The ward members here are awesome, they help a lot with the missionary work. Most of the people I have met so far have been from Guatemala and Peru, not too many Mexicans here.. But it's been good! My companion is elder Stephens, from Utah. He rode bulls before his mission! Cool right? Me and him both go home at the same time, so neither of us are really the senior companion. But we get along really well, I already knew him from before so I was excited when I found out we were gonna be companions. We also ride bikes here! We share a car with our roommates, so one day we ride bikes, the other we drive. The car we have is a 2014 ford fusion. I love it. It's dope! But yeah it's been really fun so far. It's a lot different than Monticello haha we have a pretty nice apartment too.. The only bad thing is we don't go to a gym.. I feel fatter already! We need to find one that doesn't cost a million dollars.. I am having a good time, we have a lot of work to do in this area so we have stayed pretty busy! I don't think I need anything.. But the end of my mission is coming up soon and that is when we get to go to a broadway play.. Sooooo I'll be needing to save up some money for that! And if I want to go to the Statue of Liberty and a couple of other things that cost money.. So yeah. That's what's new with me! I hope everything is going well back home! Love you all! 

March 19, 2014.

Hey! 

Sorry so late, and so short! Today has been a little crazy.. I promise a longer email next week! But just so you all know, I got transferred to Stamford Connecticut! I'm with Elder Stephens! He's dope. I'll tell you more about him next week! I hope all is well. I love you all!

I got a haircut!

March 12, 2014.

Life is good. We had a pretty crazy week! Last Thursday was my birthday.. So that was cool. Friday our roommates went down to manhattan cuz one of them had to see a doctor.. When we came home at night we talked to them and it turned out that elder Sullivan, our roommate, was probably gonna have to go home because of some problems he has been having with his shoulder.. Pap patently it's cheaper to fly missionaries home, get an MRI in Utah, and fly them back than it it is to get an MRI in NY.. So we found that out Friday. Saturday was a bit of a normal day. Sunday I gave a talk in church! About member missionary work.. It was probably the most comfortable I've ever felt giving a talk. So I'd say it went pretty well. Then me and Elder Sullivan sang after I spoke. We sang a medley of Nearer my God to Thee, Be Still my Soul, and I Need Thee Every Hour. It went okay I suppose! Elder Sullivan is really good at singing. So that was Sunday. Monday during our district lunch We got a call saying elder Sullivan needed to be at the mission home by 4.. And it's an hour and a half away from here. So we were super rushed and we left.. So we dropped him off and said goodbye., it was really sad! It's always a weird feeling when a missionary goes home.. I really hope people don't give him grief about going home early, I hate when people do that!! So now that he's gone, I'm in a trio with Elder Encarnacion and Elder Rydalch, our other roommate. This is the second time I've been put in a trio because of someone going home! So yeah while we were down by the mission home we stopped by a members house who was in my last ward and it was so awesome to see that family- the Aguilar's! Mom, I think you and Hermana Aguilar would be good friends, I would always tell her that and I always wanted her to talk to you haha I was going to give her your number but I forgot to get it for her before I left her house.. Then Saturday we got to go down to the temple to do baptisms for the dead with out ward. It was nice to take a little break from the forest and feel the city again. 

So yeah. Crazy week. And we found out that elder Rydalch is leaving Monticello next week during transfers. Meaning that they will be bringing two new elders here just like they did with me and Encarnacion.. Haha there's just a lot going on. As for the work, things are still a little slow. Still trying to get things going. The people here really just struggle with a lot of things.. It's hard. But we are trying.

On a light note, it was 55 degrees yesterday! It was soooo nice, I had my sleeves rolled up, we were driving with the windows down, I was pumped! 

March 5, 2014.

This past week was pretty good. We are still just trying to find people to teach. We now have an investigator named Lisa! She's awesome. She's bilingual.. And probly one of the most normal people we've met here in Monticello haha she's been to church once.. Initially when we started teaching her she said she didn't know if she believed in God and all of this other stuff, but we've visited with her a few times and we've helped her realize she does Believe and that she does have faith.. She just has a lot of doubts as well! She's awesome tho, we love her. We are going to go see her today. I'm definitely pretty used to being here. Me and my companion still get along well. No problems! Everybody here is asking me if I think I'm going to finish my mission here. If I do, then.. There's nothing I can really do about it and I would be fine I suppose. But honestly I don't want to "die" here.. It's a decent place, but I feel like I belong in the city haha I want to serve in Harlem before I go home. Either that, or go back to Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. I loved that area so much! A lot of people have asked president if they can go somewhere for their last transfer or two and some get their wish and others don't.. Some time next cycle I'm going to ask him if he can think about placing me in Harlem or maybe back in the Bronx. But we'll see. It could really go either way. 

On Facebook I've been see a few posts about MCC and how they're doing really good in basketball! I wish I could be there to witness it all. I think soon they're playing salt lake community college and if they beat them then they go to nationals.. Isn't that crazy?! It just makes me think of what I'm going to do.. I need to start figuring school out. I think I'm going to email my coach either today or next week and start talking to him about what the possibilities are for me to come back and play next year.. I really want to! But yeah I know MCC has already started enrolling, so I need to get on that fast! 

Also, do you guys remember Critchfield? Well, he's up in my zone.. So we worked it out to be able to go on a split! So we were on a split from Monday to Tuesday, it was dope! I love that kid. 

I'm doing well guys. Time is flying by as usual. I miss you all a lot, thank you for the birthday wishes. I hope you have a good week! One love! ❤️

Feb. 27, 2014.

Well. Not too much has happened this week. I'm getting pretty used to where I am. The work is starting to progress! We are definitely starting to see the fruits of our labors! I'm sorry I don't have too much time today.. We are going to a kickboxing gym today cuz one of the members in Middletown is a trainer.. So we get a free session today! Pretty cool right? Haha It should be fun. But thank you so much for your emails. They definitely help me out. You guys are awesome!! Have a good week :) 

Feb. 19 2014

things are going good. The weather here is the worst! We were snowed in three days last week. The roads have all been plowed so the sidewalks are all covered in snow. About four feet of it. So people just walk in the street because literally all the sidewalks are covered. And just a fun fact haha I haven't seen the pavement/asphalt of the church parking lot yet.. It's been covered in snow since I've been here. Isn't that messed up? Haha we were checking the weather from around the United States the other day, and Monticello was the coldest place we could find.. And Mesa was the hottest we found. So we are living in opposite weather. I hope you are all enjoying it! The ward is really warming up to us. Everyone is nice. The sad thing is still, we don't have any spanish members. But we have high hopes. We've been able to find quite a few people who speak spanish and who are willing to have us come back over, but the problem is that almost nobody out here has a car. At least out of the people that we have found.. So they have no way to get to church. A little discouraging, but we know if they want to come, they'll find a way. I'm glad you guys liked my Facebook post.. Being here I've really had some time to reflect and think about a lot of things. I'm still learning a lot of things.. I know I always will be. But we are trying really hard to maintain a positive attitude, and so far we are doing a pretty good job. It's definitely a hard place to be with our situation, but we are making the most out of it. Life is good. I love you all. We will be playing some basketball today, if you were wondering 🏀❤️🏀❤️🏀❤️🏀❤️🏀

Have a good week!

We gave our car a snowhawk

Monticello, NY Feb. 12, 2014.

I don't have TOO much time today, so I'm just gonna write one big email. I'll have people keep their eyes out for a package with my name on it.. Idk how long it takes for mail to get up here from the office.

So yeah. Monticello. I met up with my companion Elder Encarnacion last Thursday at Ossining and they gave us our phone and our car keys and sent us off haha we drive a 2013 Chevy cruze. White. It looks really dirty right now.  But things have been really good. We live in Monticello, which is a tiny town. But our area is HUGE because we cover all of the surrounding towns.. Me and my companion get along super good. He's been out on his mission for about 8 months, so I'm the senior companion. Since he's from the DR, we speak a lot of spanish together! It's good for me haha a lot of people told us Monticello was gonna be horrible but we've actually been having a really good time. Encarnacion loves to dance, and he's actually really good. And he is super good on the piano too. And he likes to rap, so we like to freestyle in the car on our way to stuff.. Even tho we are both really bad haha it's so weird for me to not be a zone leader. I feel different, but it's good. The only thing I don't really like is that we are so far away from everyone. 

Our branch is... Interesting. Haha there was about 30 people at church on Sunday. They say we usually get about 50. And church is in English. There is one spanish convert, who is moving to Florida at the end of the month, and one other lady who is from panama, who prefers English.. Other than that, me and my companion are the only ones who speak spanish. We have translating equipment, the kind we have at home to translate stake conference, and we have to translate sacrament meeting. Since nobody in the congregation needs a headset, elder Encarnacion and I just translated to each other haha it was really funny. We are hoping that soon we can have people in sacrament who will need a headset cuz that would mean we have investigators at church!! 

We live in a decent sized apartment. It's not bad, but I'm used to the one I used to live in. There I had my own bathroom. Here there are four of us to just one. We live with elders Sullivan and Rydalch. Both English. They are crazy! We are always laughing at them.. But they are good guys. Also, Monticello is the coldest part of the mission.. This morning when we left to go to the gym, it was 1 degree outside. It's horrible. We have two sisters who are in our district/ward. We kinda all work together and help with each other's investigators. It's pretty cool. Like if we find a new investigator, we talk about them and then all together decide who the best companionship would be to teach them. Unless they speak spanish, then we automatically get them. Which we will need, because we are opening the spanish area, so when we got here there was no investigators or anything, so we are starting from scratch. But it's going good. Life is good. Sorry if I missed anything. Ask if I didn't cover something!

I live at

661 W. Broadway #7

Monticello, NY 12701

But it's better to send mail to the office. So yeah. Hope you all have a good, warm week. I love you guys!

I got transferred! February 5th, 2014.

Okayyyy guys 

You're probly wondering what's going down with transfers. Well. I was super surprised. I am getting transferred! I am getting released as a zone leader, I am leaving New Roc and am heading to a little town called Monticello.. Population is like 7 thousand haha it's supperrr far. Like a two hour drive from where I am right now.. I am going to be "white washing" which is what we say when we start a new area.. As in, the missionaries in the area right now are both leaving, and then me and my new companion will be replacing them.. So neither one of us will know the area at all. But from what I hear, there's nobody out there ha I will be serving in a branch up there.. I will be companions with elder Encarnacion, he's from the Dominican Republic, so I'm excited about that haha gotta get that Dominican accent back.. I'm really sad to leave tho. I love this area and this zone, and I thought for sure I was going to stay because elder mceachern was here before me, but President felt it was better to transfer me and leave him here. So yeah. It's rough. But we will see what the new area has to bring. We are supposed to have transfers today, but the weather is terrible right now and the roads are really dangerous so transfers were postponed until tomorrow. So yeah. That's what's going down with me ha other than that, I have no other news.. Things are going well tho. We all face challenges. Nike has the best advice ever.. Just do it! I am going to make my time up in Monticello a good one. It's literally the place in the mission where nobody wants to go, but I'm hoping to be able to change that. And I've been inspired to create a t shirt.. It's going to say JUANTICELLO.  But I might need some money for that haha maybe as a birthday present you can donate to the t shirt fund? And I'll have somebody create it out here online for me.. But yeah. Thank you all for the support and the love I feel from you. I miss you. I love you.

Oh and Sister Dalley, idk if you remember her from Christmas, says hi haha have a good week :)

Anddddd we made a huge snowman the other day.

January 29, 2014.

Ayeeee.

Dad.

Yeah. Weather is terrible. Haha but we are not confined right now.. It's just freezing outside! Like 15 degrees right now. I didn't know you had gotten that sick while you were on your mission! That sounds terrible.. I feel so blessed because I haven't even had one day where I didn't feel well enough to go out. I bet that was a Pretty big trial.. I've heard so many good things about the Gilbert temple! A lot of pictures on Facebook. I would like to see it haha it looks amazing. Haha yeah Alex boye was a totally random thing but it was super cool! Que es la comisión de Sonora-Arizona? Is that for isagenix? You should totttaallllyyyyy grab some candy on the way back.... Just an idea. A new counselor! Who do you think it will be? Aww Mann. No more juice box :( I loved that car. I still feel super bad for crashing it.. I remember you were really looking forward to be able to drive it.. Sorry again.. I'm not worried about the car situation, I have a longboard so if anything I can use that to get around! 

Madre.

I'm doing a lot better! I'm not coughing anymore. I'm sorry you are still sick! Have you gone to the doctor? You should. I know you would tell me to do that if I said I was sick. I can't believe the temple has 4 floors! The one here is 5, but only two of them are the temple.. El obispo garnica cuanto tiempo tiene como obispo? Crees qué lo van a relevar pronto? Yeahhh. Dad told me about the car. I'm  not upset. How much were you able to get for it? Haha I was wondering why I never got your card! I thought it might have been lost or something.. I'm glad you have it! 

The rest.

This week has gone by so fast! We didn't do a whole lot.. We had interviews this past Thursday. Mine was interesting. It's always good to talk to president, he always knows how to help and how to make us better! 

The work has been a little slow. A few weeks ago we talked with our bishopric about how we need to get our members more involved with our online stuff, so they told us that on the 26th they would give us (the missionaries) the entire third hour of church to teach the members about what we do on Facebook and how they could help us. So then this Sunday we were all ready with our training and everything and we were excited to get this stuff going.. But the bishopric forgot to tell everyone in the ward and in the auxiliaries soooo we didn't get to do it. And now we don't know when we will be able to. Super lame. Our ward struggles a little bit with stuff like that. 

I can't believe I officially have less than 6 months left. It's unreal. My 18 month mark was actually on the same day as one of our sister missionaries, so we kinda celebrated together. We went to the Aguilar's (whom I love more than anyone out here)  house for dinner. She made posole :) it was pretty good! But it sucks cuz I just compare everyone's food to mom's and in my head I always think.. Mom's is better... But I still enjoyed it haha and also I officially started what the missionaries out here call 6 months to sexy.. Meaning the last 6 months is the time we work out super hard so that by the time we get home we are looking prime !  

Transfers are also next week. Either one of us could go, but elder mceachern will probably leave. We know for sure we won't be together, so this time next week I will have a new companion! I'm a little nervous, but I'm sure it will be fine. It's crazy to think that after next week I will only have four transfers left... It's that time! But anyway, today is the birthday of one of the sisters in our zone, so we are kinda throwing her a party today! It should be fun! I love you guys. Mom, get better please. And everyone else- take care of her. :)  have a good week!

I don't know if you guys have seen the original picture, but one of the sisters here drew me this version. It's my three favorite things. Me as a missionary, me as a basketball player, and me eating chicken wings.