Week 74 Zach moves into a trailer

We didn't get an email from Zach today. He told us he will not be emailing on a consistant basis anymore. With his new assignment he really doesn't have a p-day and will send us information when he can.

This is what we do know. He will be living in a trailer in the parking lot of the tabernacle. He is back in a Tongan ward again and loves that. He gets to drive a truck now which he is so excited about. Squeezing into a Corolla was a bit difficult. His new companion is Elder Medeiros. Zach thinks they will be together for quite a while. Zach has been referring to the AP's as his buddies since he served in Honolulu. So he is excited to be comps with Elder Medeiros now. He was called on Saturday, but the rest of the mission won't find out until Tuesday. So they are keeping him in hiding. He said he isn't to easy to hide though being as big as he is. He is really looking forward to working with President Peterson and the other senior couples. He is also excited to meet with the missionaries throughout the mission. He said that because of the schedule they keep that many of the standard mission rules are a bit flexible for him. He still will have to be a good example and serve with love and dedication.

An Important Phone Call at Rite Aide

It was 11:57 a.m.,we were picking up some medication at Rite Aide when my phone rang. I looked at caller ID and it read Pres. Peterson. I knew it was a call from Hawaii. President Peterson called to tell us he had called Zach to be his assistant. He will be working closely with President Peterson and the office staff much like a couselor to a bishop. He will be helping with the transition of new mission presidents in July. I think his companion will be Elder Nalu Medeiros. Zach has a lot of respect for Elder Medeiros. With his new call he will be required to fly to all of the islands to facilitate zone conferences. Can you say "Big Guy in a little plane?" He has not been to the Big Island yet,but it will be a new adventure for him. We are very proud of his service so far. He has shown great humility in serving and has really grown to love the people of Hawaii. Well now he's on to a whole new set of challenges and blessings.

Saying Good-bye to a Good Friend

Tribute to Greta Adamson

Most of you won't know this good lady but she had a great impact on my boys. Greta would have my boys help her clean her porch in the summer. It seemed like such a small thing but it meant a lot to my boys. Talking to elderly adults can be a bit scary for young boys but Greta made it enjoyable. She would always ask them about what they were interested in and what they had done for excitement in their lives. She always had chocolate for the boys to finish off their visit. It was the expensive stuff too. I am so glad my boys had the opportunity to meet Greta and do a little service for her. The world will miss this cheerful little lady. Good-bye Greta. You will be missed.

Week 73 Waipahu is Progressing

Well this week was pretty uneventful but I will give a brief report and then try to answer some of your questions. This week was a little bit slow for our area but really good for our zone. We have 24 people with a date right now so that is good. Elder Malan and I have 3 of them so we are trying to do our part even in a really slow area. We committed those 3 this week and they are scheduled to get baptized on the 20 of March so we will see what happens. It has been really windy this past week and kind of rainy which is weird for Ewa Beach. Usually it is really dry and hot but it has been a nice change. My comp says he is freezing which I just can't understand because it is still like 85 degrees and at night like 70. I lay in bed and sweat and he is in a hoodie and sweatpants bundled under a blanket. I still think its bloody hot but that's just me. We are looking forward to this coming week though. We are having zone conference and I always look forward to zone conference. It is such an amazing experience and I learn so much everytime we get to go. It is also good to see my buddies the assistants and president. I love seeing them and feeling of their spirit while they are here. Other than that things have been pretty typical. Just still at the grind stone doing my very best to build up this zone and this area.
To answer a few of your questions yes I have eatin at Hukilau and it is really good. The missonaries always eat free there. I haven't had poi in a while but I do love tarrow which poi is made out of. Actually I like tongan tarrow the best. I did meet one of grandpa's friends President Wantanabe and he took me to see grandpa's old neighborhood and house. It was kind of funny to be at his old house and to think that a lot of the family had been there. It is an amazing view from where he lived it overlooked Pearl Harbor. Really neat. I also found out which chapel he went to and stuff so it was pretty cool to see it. I think that is everything for this week I am going to try and send some more pictures home soon. I need to take more so that is one of my goals to take more pictures. Well I love you all so much and hope that you have a good week.

Ofa atu

Zig

Week 72 Tsunami Update

Well hello there family,

Well it was a pretty eventful week. We had the big tsunami that turned out to be nothing. It was a crazy day though. I got the first phone call at 3 in the morning from some missionaries who were scared and so I called the assistants and got a call back from them that pres was having a phone conference in half an hour. So at about 4 in the morning we were all on the phone with pres, well at least all the zone leaders. It was crazy. He told us that we need to get our missionaries moving to a safe place so we started packing things and getting the missionaries informed so they could get moving as well. We really had to get moving in the morning so it was like a hurry up and wait because the thing wasn't even going to come until like 11 in the morning. So we got the missionaries safe, did some studies and other activities with them and kept them occupied. We were finally able to leave at like 3 in the afternoon which pretty much shot our whole day. I was so exhausted that I went back to our pad and slept for a little while so that I could at least function. All in all it was a pretty crazy day.

Well yesterday we had Zone Leadership Conference and it was really good. We talked about the needs of the mission and a few other things. It lasted all day but it was good to see so many of my mission friends. We also had the pres of BYU Hawaii come and speak to us so it was really good. He talked about the liahona and how all blessing are predicated on faith, obedience, and dedication. So it was really good. That's about it for zlc though. If I told you the rest it would just bore you. Oh well pres did have me sit next to him which I thought was kind of funny. I love that man though so I didn't really mind. He talked about the new pres a little bit and how he wants to get things all set up for him so that when he comes things are all ready to go.

My comp and I are still doing pretty well and are still trying to get things going in our area. It is a little bit difficult because things have been really slow but I don't get discouraged I just keep going. I am pretty sure I know why I am here now. There are some of missionaries that are struggling and I feel like I can help them out. I just work my hardest all the time and help out where I can. I think I can really help this zone. I still don't know how long I will be here though. We will see though it will be interesting. Well I think that is all for this week. I love you all so much and hope that you have a good week and I will write again on Monday.

Ofa atu,

Zig