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. 

January 22, 2014.

Bom dia! 

Dad.

Yes. A vortex. It's actually pretty cold right now. We were grounded all day yesterday cuz the roads are horrible so missionaries weren't allowed to drive. It snowed for like 21 hours straight yesterday/today. And the roads are still horrible and it's windy and cold.. So cold that if the wind hit my teeth it would hurt no lie! But even tho we are grounded today too, we live really close to the church so we just walked here. Hahaha that would be crazy.. We'd have to sacrifice a lot of sisters In Our zone.. Wait you had typhoid in your mission? What's salmonellosis ...? My cough is kinda gone. I'm doing a lot better, but it's still present.. I don't like it. Yeah haha time is going by ridiculously fast.. Here the elders that work in the office don't do office stuff. They basically deliver the mail to everyone around the mission and they help move people in and out of apartments.. Andddd I don't think I will be an assistant. I think it would be cool, but with the given circumstances I don't think I will be.

Mom.

I'm doing good :) a lot better, don't worry. I can't stop playing in the snow. Even though I hate it, whenever I see a big pile of snow I have to jump in it. It's a rule. I'm sorry you don't feel well :/ I hope your day off helps you recover quickly! Aww man the Gilbert temple looks awesome! I wanna go... No me llegaron tus cartas ! I got dads, but I didn't get the one from you..? Shhhh you don't have to buy me a new camera, that would be a lot of money. It'd be better to use it on something else. Seriously! I answered Kevin, don't worry :) let him know so he can check his email! 

You don't need to thank me for anything.. I have all the thanking to do- for everything you guys do for me and have done for me. I don't need to be thanked!

Elder Zazueta with Alex Boye

Other things. 

Well, like i said. It's freezing. I don't like it. We're grounded all day. When we got to the church, there was water everywhere. One of the drinking fountains broke and was leaking water.. There was so much! We are just hanging out at the church! Probably gonna play some basketball soon! This week was pretty uneventful. EXCEPT for Sunday was way cool. I was sitting in the chapel waiting for sacrament meeting to start, and I was saving a seat for one of our families we teach.. As people pass by I greet them and out of nowhere Alex Boyé walks in.. So naturally I reach out my hand and say "brother Boye, nice to have you here!" Long story short, I invited him to sit next to me and he did.. And our sacrament meeting is in spanish which he doesn't speak.. So I offered to translate and he said it would be great. So for the next hour I translated all the talks, and shared my iPad to read the hymns wih Alex boye haha it was a really cool experience. Definitely the highlight of this past week. Well. Love you guys. Hope you have a wonderful day!

Buenos Días!

Buenos Dias!

Faja.

Hahaha yeah. I would look weird.. The gloves are awesome! They are very handy, thank you. I actually had a dream last night that I lost them. But I checked this morning and I still have both of them! Okay I think I get it.. So your school doesn't hire substitute teachers.. They just have teachers that already work there cover for the person who is gone? Right? Do they get paid more for doing that..? 

Wow the mission has changed a lot since you have been one- they don't make us sacrifice sister missionaries any more..  Annnddd wait, so you know for sure that there is a pyramid where that hill is? Or are you saying there might be.. I'm a little confused haha but regardless, that's way cool. Is that your entire zone? Also, you look exactly the same.. You can totally tell that's you in the picture! You were soooooo skinny. Almost too skinny. I haven't received your card yet, but I'm sure I will before the end of the week. Thank you! I'll keep my head up and try to just do what I'm supposed to..

Mudda.

Como estas?? I'm doing good! Butt yeah today we aren't going site seeing.. We are gonna play basketball today :) but today is special cuz we are going to meet up with missionaries in another zone and that usually doesn't happen.. So I'm excited! Transfers are 3 weeks from today.. I haven't received the cards yet, but I'm sure they're in the mission office by now..I'm excited to read about that rock! Also, what does fidedigna mean? Uhh I don't need any clothes or anything I think I am fine. Except for my camera is kinda broken ?

Got a Haircut!

Otras cosas.

Things are going well. This last week went by pretty quick. It was a little stressful because we had A LOT going on but it has calmed down since then so things are better.. Elder Mceachern was sick for a few days, and naturally being his companion he passed it to me. He was really sick,but luckily I only have a coughs which won't be fun to play basketball with, but I think I will be fine. The good thing is elder mceachern is almost healthy now haha for the past three or four weeks I've been having minor stomach problems.. It doesn't seem like something serious, but it also doesn't really seem normal.. Hopefully I get better soon!

I got a haircut. The long hair is gone... I don't know why but I really just wanted to cut it off, so I did. Even though everybody told me not to. I think I'm gonna grow it out again tho. But we will see.

The work is still improving. We got a new investigator this Sunday. Jose Juan. He's pretty cool! He's the son of a less active in our ward. He works a lot so it will be hard to meet with him, but he seems ready to learn so we are hopeful. Kevin still hasn't been able to change his schedule, so we haven't been able to meet with him.. We have been seeing progress in other areas tho. There are a few less active families we have been working with that are showing signs of growth so we are pretty happy about that! 

As I'm sure you've noticed, I've been posting more on Facebook and I will continue to do so.. You guys are doing awesome at liking and sharing it- please continue to do so! I think I'm gonna start posting in spanish sometimes, so if you guys could talk to the members in the Liahona ward about adding me on Facebook and then asking if they could share and participate with that stuff as well I would really appreciate! We are allowed to contact friends and family from home who need help with the gospel or simply want to learn about it, so if there's anyone you know that might be open to being taught on Facebook, let me know! Or let them know about me... Ha but yeah. I think that's it. I hope you all have a wonderful week!! One love!

Grrrr ... is cold out here!

Hey!

Playing in the snow!

Dad.

Man. The weather is horrible haha it's been soooo cold. Luckily I have stuff to keep me warm. Yesterday it was 5 degrees but with the wind chill it was -13 !! Not exactly the kind of thing I look forward to. We haven't had to stay in the apartment because it's too cool, but we HAVE had to stay in because of snow. Last week on Friday we got like 8 inches of snow so all of the upstate missionaries had to stay in. Poor at least we weren't allowed to drive. Soooo we walked to the church and I actually played in the snow for a good while. It was pretty cold haha but yeah. It's getting cold here. You are really enjoying that ukulele! That's so good! I remember when I first got my Uke I was basically obsessed with that thing haha so I probably know how you feel! People celebrate el dia de Los Reyes magos or whatever it's called haha we actually went to two different houses in one day that we're doing it. Luckily I didn't find any babies in my bread :) so, when teachers are missing, what so you do? Are you in charge of finding substitutes for them? Or does administration do that for you? Sounds pretty Hectic! Also, i have a question. I remember you once telling me about a rock that had lehi's dream carved into it.. But you could only see it if you put water on it..? Or am I making that up? If you remember, could you refresh my memory?

Mom.

I'm doing good :) ha yeah. It's really cold. But cold itself doesn't mean we have to stay in. We just have to wear a lot of clothes! I got the mail yesterday, thank you so much :) and for the newsletter too! We started the jump program on Monday. My legs are sore haha I really want to be able to jump how I used to. Or maybe even better. I haven't sent pictures in a little while. I haven't really been taking a lot, but I think I'm gonna send some home soon, sorry it's taken me so long! I got Kevin's package. It was the greatest haha he sent me some batman socks! I wore them the very next day while we played basketball haha I need to write him a thank you card. But if you see him, tell him he's awesome and that I say muchas gracias. I remember Connie. That's so cool that she is going on a Mission! And Weston is back. Haha I can't wait to hear him speak spanish, you know Joey Mattison comes home in like 4 weeks right? He's really close too!  I'm sorry you are back at work ha I can't imagine it's easy. Are you getting enough sleep? Or do you think it could be something else? 

Things.

Life is good. It's really cold, but it's good. The work is picking up a little bit. We've been talking a lot about what we could do to improve our work. And as a district we have some ideas that we think will help us improve everything around us. The hard part is going to be actually doing it. But yeah. Things are going well. I don't know why, but lately I've been having a struggle with thinking about home. Not in the sense that I want to come home now, or early. But I can't help but think about the things I need to get done when that time comes. There is so much on my mind, so many things I feel like I'm going to need to do. And a lot of things I'm not sure about. Is that normal? Dad, any advice? I mean, I'm not depressed or sad or trunk your anything, I'm just a little nervous  for the things to come. I don't know if that makes sense? Haha I'm hoping this is just a normal thing that we all go through. I will live tho, I'm enjoying the blessings I have right now. I guess I'll just have to take things as they come! Thank you guys so much for all that you do. I'm grateful, seriously- so much! Have a good week :)

Christmas Skype call

Christmas call (Skype)!!

Happy new year!

Dad.

I'm glad I was able to talk to you guys too! It was awesome! Thank you for your song haha I really enjoyed it. I have a few goals in mind that I think will help me. Nothing too major, or difficult. Just so,e things that I know I can improve. Haha you stayed up all by yourself ? Sounds like a party. What did you do on the other New Year's Eve? I got the gloves! Thank you so much, they are legit! It's about to get really cold around here so they came just in time. Are you share you don't need them? I won't lose them I promise!

Mom.

I got the package! It came so fast.. Thank you! Haha I am definitely having a good time with all of my friends here. I'm super grateful for being able to meet them and work with them. It's really good for me. Don't worry I'll make sure the sisters get the card! Hermana Richardson got transferred but I will make sure sorensen gets it. Sorensen is now with sister Dalley, the one that I told you wants to learn how to cook Mexican food. Ahh man that's true! I'll be back for the holidays next year. Well this year. No more skype! That's so cool that you guys went to play volleyball. I'm super excited to come back and watch beto play his senior year! We are gonna play some basketball and volleyball today. We do that a lot here, I like it. But I wish I could play more.. Also mom. Do you think you could send me the air alert thing (the jump workout) again? If you want you can just take pictures  and email them to me. I would greatly appreciate it!

Me.

Things are going well. I can't believe it's 2014. Really, it's so weird to me that 2013 is already gone. Is it going by fast for you guys too? Last night elder mceachern and I went to bed at the normal time, but we woke up at 11:50 to see if we could see any fireworks. We saw a ton! It was pretty cool. Then we went back to sleep haha it was a chill New Years. Funny thing is that last year on New Years elder mceachern was in a split at our apartment, so I spent both of my New Years with him! Pretty cool right? Last night we had our ward New Year's Eve party. It was okay I guess ha people were doing karaoke and stuff so that was funny. We basically just hung out all day with the missionaries in our little city. It was a good time! Every time we have a party I just think back to the ward parties we have back home where we get a dj and the stage all set up haha it's a little different out here. The gyms are all so small! Which makes for squeezed parties. And even worse, squeezed basketball. Lame! 

I'm excited for the new year. And slightly nervous for the second half of it. The holiday season really slowed things down in regards to missionary work, so we are excited and hopeful that things will calm down and we will be able to start teaching more since people won't be as busy. It's about to get really cold from what I hear. I think the low tomorrow is gonna be 7 .. And the high like 19. Not exactly my preference haha but I guess I have no choice. 

How was the family party? Did you guys eat and dance a lot? Tell everyone I say hello. I miss all of you. And my long board. And the basketball court at our chapel. Ha love you guys, have a good week :)

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