Back To Redlands! E-mail - Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Happy Day!!!!!

The long 6 months in the desert is finally over.   I'm now back in the Redlands Zone in Highlands on bike.  That will be interesting, my third huge hill area :) !!!  I'm  no longer a district leader which is kinda weird, but I enjoy it. My new comp Elder Williams is the DL and what's strange is it's a district of Sisters!!!! Meaghan would love it!!! There are 4 sisters, a senior couple, then us... they call it the banished area, but we are going to make the best of it. I'm also the oldest missionary in the zone... they call me Patriarch Daniel isn't that sweet.

 

Well, my last few weeks in the desert were horrible.  I just wanted out and I'm glad to be away from that awful place, but I feel as if I may have learned the greatest life lesson that I could have. Although I felt super alone in the desert;  I do know that I was never truly alone.  Heavenly Father was there helping me along the way. My testimony of the gospel has quadrupled (I know John spelling) I have learned not just that God lives, but how He works. How that he takes us and uses us for what He needs, not what we want!  That's the learning experience that I had. Maybe I didn't want to be with my last companion, but I needed it and so did he and it wasn't until I saw that and finally took the time and acted on it.

 

President Smart calls the mission the University of Life and now that I have gone through those recent experiences,   I truly see why it is the University of Life. I have grown so much in the last 17 and a half months.  I can't wait for the next 6 and a half to see what else I can learn.

 

I know that Joseph Smith was a Prophet. That he was lead by Christ who is the center of this Church and the Savior and Redeemer of the world.
--
Elder Zachary David Daniel

The Three Scrooges‏ E-Mail Monday, December 19, 2011

Hello!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had a very interesting week.  We received a mini missionary for a week, his name is Malakai from Mo Val  he is Tongan.   It's been a crazy fun time and very interesting. I haven't laughed that hard in a while, but lately I have been. He is preparing for his mission but he feels as if he really doesn't have a testimony. We stayed up late last night talking about it. It's strange because I kinda feel like I was in the same predicament as him. I wanted to go on a mission but I wasn't sure of how strong my testimony was.   It is real crazy to see that my testimony now is totally strong! There are many occurrences where I feel that my testimony is the only thing that kept me going.

 

Last night we had a Christmas party  at our Bishops house. It is a mansion. Like I'm serious; like  I was afraid to touch anything.  He had statues and stuff. Mo Val is real ghetto so our mini was "trippin" when he saw the place.  It was strange because he let out a huge whistle and said "d*** this place is fine!!" I laughed so hard as Elder Christensen began to rebuke him for his choice of words.

 

 Well................................. But I would have to say it taught me how the most important thing isn't giving people gifts; but in actuality the gift Christ gave us.

 

Well,  I'm going to get going I love you all and wish you a Merry Christmas and hope you have a white one...I won't!!!!   lol !!

--
Elder Zachary David Daniel

P.S. I cant believe you thought I didn't remember your birthday, ha!!! I actually ate dinner that night with my favorite family and we sang you happy birthday over a piece of cake!!! ha!!!

A Week Behind! E-mail December 12, 2011

So, I think I'm a week behind you guys cause the cruise is over (is it Scott) Meaghan has been out for 4 weeks and I'm still in the flippin desert!!!!

 

Well, it's not hot so that's a plus now! When I just got used to the heat it decides to become cold... California is a cruel place!!!  All the Elders here are leaving early for school and Christmas. there are going to be a few ETS (emergency transfers) that just means you leave an area earlier than a regular exchange.  It may happen for a few reasons. I have my fingers crossed. Also we are getting a ton of mini missionaries. So it will be an interesting last two weeks of the transfer.

 

Well this month will mark me being old, I have finished my black hole year! It started kind of crazy, hopefully it won't end that way. I really enjoyed Meaghan's email, so I will do the same... I will take you through one of my Tuesday's.

 

The alarm goes off at 6:30 and we pray; then exercise till 7; then it's shower time.  We have a tiny water heater so only one person gets hot water and only for 5 minutes so its a quick one. Then we make breakfast and start studies at 8. Then at 9 we have a comp study, we planned the night before so we go over our plans and read through the white handbook and practice our lessons. Then off we go to District Development Meeting (DDM) which I preside over.  We go through practice sessions and other things. I give a training.  Then we hit the streets, talk to people, set up appointments, teach all that fun jazz. Well my comp is telling me we have to go, so I  will sadly end my email here!

 

 Love You

--
Elder Zachary David Daniel

It Hurts To Type!!!!! E-mail - Monday, December 5, 2011

Alright, so as my subject says it hurts to type, but I'm gonna make it through this email!

 

So, Mr. Wells thinks I'm not "in depth" and have bad grammar! Well, all I have to say to that is... your right!! lol !!  I am going to be more "in depth",  I don't know if I can fix the grammar thing. So, this was one horrible week! But awesome at the same time! Last Monday I got super sick and was out of commission for two days. It was horrible I was so bored!!!! Then we had multi-zones. That's were we have two zones meet together and President and the APs give us training on how to be better.

 

We mostly talked about talking to people and planning better. It's weird even though I have been out almost 17 months I'm still scared to talk to people.  You would think that this is something that goes away, but even Elders who have been out like 20 months have that problem. We had a little leadership meeting beforehand and Pres Smart so put me on the spot. Someone asked the question about bad companions and Pres stood there and thought for a second and then called on me to answer the question. I was totally awkward but as I stood there I knew that Pres Smart had received the revelation that I  needed to answer the question; not just for that Elder, but also for myself. It's always crazy to see how one man can be lead by the spirit so much.

 

Well mom asked about the crazy winds and mom, it's always windy here!  It's why there is all those windmills, but as we were driving home from where multi-zones were it was getting almost to windy to drive, but we made it safe and sound.

 

So you may be wondering why my fingers hurt ... we went golfing today. I did horrible!!!  Fourth place out of five!!! We played the back nine and I hit an 81!!  I  know I'm horrible!! The first time I played it wasn't that hard; this time though I sucked it up . It was pretty weird cuz you might have actually played here before John; it is called Indian Springs, it was pretty nice.  I even had a caddy.

 

 Meaghan did you get his letter in the package??? His name is Alfredo.  He is gonna put his papers in next month and he just moved in with the Lewis family.  I  have known him for like 8 months, sweet guy!!!

 

I hope that was more in-depth!   If not, well I tried. I want you to know that I love you all and I know that the Church is true.  Joseph Smith was a Prophet and that Jesus is the Christ.

 

Love you!!!!!!!!!!!!

--
Elder Zachary David Daniel