..and some more Zackness!

From Mom...

The part of the visit you will appreciate more was the first leg of my flight home:

I always sat in the front row so I could have leg room. My first flight was to BWI (Baltimore). It’s only an hour flight. A man not too much older than I, was sitting in the front with his elderly mother, who board the plane in a wheelchair. I was tired, so I laid my head back and closed my eyes. The spirit told me to talk to him (and you know how difficult that would be for me from my extreme shyness! lol), so I asked him where they were going. He said he was taking his mom to his sister’s to visit. I don’t remember how the conversation got into Mormonism, but he asked if I was Mormon. We started out talking about temples and why only members who live high standards could go inside. I told him how happy my life was because I choose to be good and how unhappy my life would be if I made bad choices. We talked for a long time about the Plan of Salvation and what it means to be resurrected. I explained to him how families were so important to us. We also talked about being married not just for time, but for eternity and why choosing the right person to be with forever was important. He wondered about polygamy and if our way of life was similar to the Amish people. It was amazing to me how clear and simple the answers popped into my head as he asked each question. I had confidence to answer every question and could feel my testimony strengthen as I explained each principle of the gospel to him. As I left, I thought, “No wonder Zack loves being a missionary!” Dad laughed when I told him it was fun sharing the gospel! I guess he never thought of it as fun.

Dear Mom,

I thought you might appreciate that I gave you 2 emails. I was trying to make up for that time when I wasn't able to send you just one.

I got transferred to the other side of the ward. I'm in Mantua now with Elder Thielen. The Mantua apartment is nice because it has a washer and dryer and dishwasher. It's got the works. The only bad part about it is that it's very...used, so we may need to do some handy work.

We cover the whole ward for another week and then the Sisters move in. So this week Elder Thielen and I are going to live like kings. We have 2 cars, 2 apartments, and pretty much endless miles. But just for a week. Then we must humbly resign even half of our kingdom to the sisters.

Sister Largo and Sister Fernelius are going to share the ward with us. I learned that I may or may not go to the Princeton area at the end of the month. When President Winegar called to tell me where I was going, he told me that the lease for the Mantua apartment would be up at the end of October so they were going to move both me and Elder Thielen to Princeton for the last two weeks of the transfer. Today President said that he wasn't sure who was going up there any more. So this transfer is going to be an interesting one.

I'm glad you enjoyed your visit to New York! I hope you got everything completed that you wanted to.
That is so cool that you got to talk to that gentleman on the plane! I LOVE it when people ask questions! It makes me sooooooo happy when people ask questions! Because it doesn't happen very often. Did you use the commitment pattern as described in the 11th Chapter of Preach My Gospel?

Good luck with your projects. I hope you're able to finish them before I get home. Maybe you could commit Jake and/or John to help you? Or maybe Mike?

My Book of Mormon study is going well. I just started over so I'm in 1st Nephi. I just pasted Nephi's vision. Nephi is very smart and obedient. And he's such a good example, not just to his older brothers, but to me as well(not that I'm as bad as Laman and Lamuel).

This transfer President wants us to read all of PMG and pay attention to CH 11. Also this transfer he wants us to be perfect. No guarantees, but I will definitely give it my best shot.

So that's basically my report. Hopefully you get my snail-mail within a short time.

Love,
Zack