Here's the skinny!

I decided on my birthday that I would not be this weight on my birthday next year, so I have been exercising more and eating less. So far I have lost 9 lbs! So when I say I'm a loser, I'm not putting myself down, I'm celebrating! Yeah!

Hey Mom!

Hey mom!

So sorry about not emailing you last week. For some reason I thought John was you and I didn't even give it a second thought. It wasn't until after we had finished doing emails that I realized that I forgot to email you. I thought, "uh-oh. Mom's gonna punch me..." I wanted to write you a snail mail, but I had even less time to do that than normal. I'll try to make up for it some how this week. Elder Quatel is from Sao Palo(sp?) I think. in the south part of Brazil.

As you may know, (or soon will) I am now the senior companion. My new companion is Elder Draper. No he's not from Draper. He's from West Valley. He's pretty cool. He has a guitar and sometimes lets me play on it when he's not. He's been out for 3 transfers(4 1/2 months. This transfer is his 4th (soon to be six months). I'm hoping that this will be a good transfer. I was kind of nervous to be the senior companion. Everyone seemed to make a big deal out of it which created some pressure. It was kind of difficult at first, but now I don't find it that hard. Elder Quatel tried to sell his bike WITH a GPS to Elder Draper for $200 dollars. Elder Draper soon found out that it was not worth $200. The gears kept skipping and the breaks weren't that great. so he has decided to borrow a bike from another elder who isn't using his. My bike still works. Nothing is really broken/not working.
My pants seem to have shrunk or something. They're not as long as they used to be and its a little more snug around the waist. I'm thinking of going to Walmart and buying a new pair or 2. or maybe I'll just ask for that for my B-day. I think I'll do the latter. Mom, will you send me some slacks for my birthday?

I was challenged last week. President Winegar challenged everyone to read the Book of Mormon this transfer. He said it wasn't mandatory, but I decided to take him up on it. If I read 13 pages a day I can do it. So far I'm doing pretty well. As I read, I am kind of hoping that we can have a day to just study all day. Reading the BofM is kind of addicting.

It sounds like your trip was pretty fun except for the one mishap. Hopefully Dad and Brothers can fix it. I hope the 4 wheelers don't break until I get a chance to use them. That would be kind of disappointing.
Tell Jake and John Happy Birthday! I will send them a late birthday something something this week.
Also, congratulations on winning at racket ball today.
I would rather have someone else cut my hair than have myself cut my hair. I'm no barber. That's for sure. But I don't know anyone that can do it. I don't know where any barbershops are either. And I don't have very much money left on my card this month because we bought food to fill the refrigerator. And I don't need a haircut yet.

I couldn't find any skillet meals in a bag, but I did find those Banquet tv dinners for 88 cents. We usually go to Aldies to buy our food. It's a really cheep grocery store right outside of Camden.

Well thats pretty much everything that was note worthy this week.
I need to finish quickly so my companion can do his emails.

Love,
Zack

Regular or Extra Krispy?

I marinated some chicken for dinner, lit the BBQ and put it on to cook on medium. I turned the timer on for 4 minutes and when it went off, I looked outside and smoke and flames were billowing from the BBQ.

Cool thing happened at the temple, I got to visit with Hillary Weeks! Apparently she goes to the temple the same day I do. This is the first time I have seen her there.

The sun is out! Awesome!

So nice to be able to open the doors and let the fresh air in! I came home from 2 hours of racquetball and my dog is not able to walk on her back leg. Have no idea why. Racquetball was fun! I played (beat) two new guys and they thought I was 35! That made my day!

Spring Break Broken! Happy B-day Jake and John!

This was our Thursday snow. We were packing for our trip and had to dig the trailer out of the snow.

We couldn't find our group on Friday to go 4 wheeling, so we found our own trails to scout.

Then we found our group, just a mile past the mark that Dave stopped looking. This is Jake and Scott Larson.

Then we were invaded by aliens!

Saturday, we went riding in the hills by Santa Clara. If you zoom in on this picture, you can see that the 4 wheeler broke completely in half. (So bummed about that!) Dave thinks he can fix it, so here's hoping!

Jake and John had their 18th Birthday today! Jake got a "Whine bottle" So he is whining into this bottle! lol Their request for dinner was filet Mignon, mashed potatoes and homemade gravy, corn and mac & cheese with hamburger in it (interesting). Then chocolate cake with yummy fudge frosting!

B-day cake, duh!

Awe, the good life!
Happy birthday guys!

Has anyone see Spring?

I like this pic!

Happy Easter!

To all those who love Easter for the eggs, bunnies, food, candy and visit with freinds and family, I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

To all those who love Easter because they want to honor the Savior for his sacrifice for us, I wish you peace and a grateful heart and a renewed conviction to your beliefs in our Lord Jesus!

Zackerdoodle!

Hey mom!


I realized that I had foolishly forgotten to tell you Happy Birthday before I finished my emails last week. Luckily Elder Quatel still had to finish some of his emails so I got to finish mine as well. I decided to put your birthday gift on a flash drive. I will buy a small envelope today and mail it off. I also put on almost all the pictures I've taken this year just to be sure you've got them all.

What brand are the skillet dinners? or what does it say on the package? I desire to purchase an item such as this.

I got your Easter-package today just before we left to come to the library to come and type up our emails. Thank you! Elder Quatel also appreciates the goodies you sent. Thank you! X 10.
We don't get lots of dinner appointments like we did in Woodstown. One reason is that there aren't very many members that reside in the boundaries of our assigned area. Another reason is that we're on bikes and it is not a very effective use of time to have to bike 5 miles out of our area just so we can eat dinner. Sometimes the other Elders serving in the same ward will give us a ride to a dinner appointment that we all are invited to. A third reason is that the mission has pushed for the discontinued use of meal-sign-up-calenders. Its not so bad though. We get fed every Sunday by the Hands' family so that's where we'll probably have Easter dinner. They always have something I like and we never leave hungry. We actually get fed 1-3 times a week, so I can't complain.
In Haddon Heights there is little or no farm land. There are buildings/houses and then there might be some trees with some more buildings. We can actually see Philadelphia from our area across the Delaware River.
We don't have anyone like Sis. Carter in our area. She is one of a kind. I kinda miss her one-of-a-kindness.
We got to do emails on Thursday because we spent most of the day with the zone leaders. They said that there were computers in their apartment complex that we could use, but apparently management there had implemented a new security policy there which made it so you have to have an ID card to use the computers so we were unable to do much emailing because we didn't have very much time.

I liked all of the conference talks. Especially the 2nd to last one by Elder Perry. I hope we can use that to inspire the members here to help move the missionary work along. One of the tasks of a full-time missionary is to inspire and teach members how to do missionary work and to provide referrals for us to teach.
Speaking of referrals...We met a man at general conference who was not a member who referred himself to us. He is a former federal judge and lawyer. We call him Judge Coggins. He said that he wants to move out to Provo, UT. He has established many relationships with families there. He is good friends with Elder Holland's son.

I miss you too mom. But don't worry. I know you'll pull through. This is "but a small moment and is for [our] experience." Plus you have John. If you read the email he sent me, you'll see that he's almost as awesome as me, but not quite... But he's still awesome. Granted he has some big shoes to fill, literally. lol. He'll grow into them....maybe... Plus Mother's Day is coming up so I'll get to talk to you soon.

I'm glad to hear that my family is following the counsel of the prophets. You guys (and girl) make me proud! Some times I worry that we as members get too comfortable and we think that we don't need to do what the Lord tells us. Maybe its just because I've seen many people who don't follow the words of the prophet or who don't feel a need for a prophet. It's comforting to know that my family is doing well!

Well I gotta go. Time is running out... :/

Love,
Zack

I've Had a Birthday Shout Hooray!

Thanks to all those who remembered my birthday and made it an awesome week for me!
I feel blessed!

Early Birthday Present!

Jake and John made me a birthday video this year! I love their creativity! The song at the end is currently Jake's favorite. Thanks guys! You're awesome!

I love my birthdays! I get to celebrate all week long! I have never had to go to church on my birthday because if it's Sunday, it's conference. One of my racquetball friends, Julie, made me a birthday breakfast yesterday, some of my dearest friends are taking me out to lunch today and tomorrow, my friend, Wendy is making me breakfast! My dad and Uncle sent me birthday cards already and they were both blue and had butterflies on them...very cool!
I have awesome friends!

Aunt Belva and I got to go to the Draper Temple in the big snow storm! I can't believe we made the session because the traffic was horrendous on the freeway and visibility was about 1 block, I didn't know how to get there and it was snowing and we left a little late. Still...it is a beautiful temple and we were both glad we got to go.