Hey there! Happy New Year! This week's been a pretty good one! As far as what we did on New Year's Eve... nothing. Mission rules never change so we were in bed at 10:30 and slept right through the New Year. Super exciting, right? Also all the snow was melted on Christmas but I did get a White New Years! That's a thing, right?
Speaking of snow, the weather here's been crazy! It got so cold yesterday (-16 but with wind chill -50) that they cancelled church! I'd never even heard of that happening! It's crazy out here in Iowa but its great! Plus my body is used to the cold now. When its above 0, it feels like a great day outside :)
What's really crazy is that I've already finished my first transfer (6weeks) in the field! The time is flying!
We've had a few great experiences this week that I'd love to share with you!
First off, Walter: Elder Juan's back's been feeling a lot better so we've been back to work this week, and one day, we both felt like we should go and visit a Past Investigator and see if they might be interested in talking to us again. So we go there, knock on the door... no answer. We were a little confused. We both felt like we should go visit her but she wasn't even there. Then something President Weston said came into my mind. He said, "Sometimes you'll receive promptings to go visit someone and they won't be there. Maybe that means really you should talk to the guy you pass on the street getting there or to one of their neighbors. There's someone everywhere who's been prepared by God for His message." I knew this was the case this time. I could feel it so strongly. And while Elder Juan just wanted to go back to the car to try someone else, I knew we had to knock on one house, and especially the house in front of our car. So we did. And guess what! No one was home there either.... but we could hear a hispanic man talking to his baby in the apartment next door! So we knocked it and the guy let us in and sat down and talked to us! His name is Walter. He really likes how the Gospel is centered on Families, especially since he's got a 2 year old and a 10 month old daughters. He said he'd start reading the Book of Mormon right away and talk with us again tomorrow! We're pretty excited to go see him.
Second Experience, Martha! She didn't have a whole lot of time when we went to go visit her again but it was still such a great visit! She's so great! She said since we last saw her, she and her son have both been reading the Book of Mormon and praying! It was soo great! Then she started telling us about all the service she does because she knows that God likes it when we show love to His children. She's so great. I walked out of that house with the biggest smile on my face just because of how prepared she is for the Gospel :)
Last experience is named Luiz Nefi. Our branch President suggested us to go visit him. He served a mission in Pocatello Idaho a few years ago but since then, they haven't really seen him at church. We went and visited him and talked to him about his mission and what he learned. He acts like his mission was just a good mentally challenging learning experience. How in the world is that possible?! While, yes, that is true, I've only been out for two, almost three months and my testimony gets stronger every day! I've already been changed by my mission and I can't even imagine how I'll be after 21 more months! Talking with him really helped me to see the difference between an Ex-missionary and a Return Missionary. I plan to be the latter.
Anyways, besides the freezing cold, and cancelled church, this week's been a great one! I really love it out here. Thank you for all your love and support! Until next week,
Lots of love,
Elder Zack
PS I'm 95% sure I've grown since I left home. I can easily grab the rim with one hand on a 10' basketball hoop now :)
PPS I'm sorry I've got no pictures this time... I'll try to do better this week! For now, here's the sunset from the other night!
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