Zack's latest letter

sounds like it was a good week. with some good excitement going on. i too had a really good week.with some good fun, and interesting things happened. but first off, to answer some questions quick. my toe is doing better. it does not hurt on that side of it anymore. but it rains alot here in san luis and floods the dirt roads and makes them rivers. and it is infected, but on the side i didnt cut. it is really strange, but it kills and i cant have it touch anything without it just killing in pain. but i will talk to the doctor next week when i go to mendoza again for zone leader consejo. everything is good there. i still have not go the debit card. but i did get some mail from the shurtz family and from grandma johnson and kevan and maralee. thanks. and i got beccys package i loved it all thankyou. i love the letters and hearing all about everyone and the support and stuff thanks.

well we had another great zone conference this week in mendoza and i loved it. it always is so good to hear from president and his wife and learn things all together. but its really weird now i am with my comp and elder harvey and elder ruiz the oldest zone leaders... and that was made known and me and my comp were used for alot of examples and had to teach alot of things. it was cool and interesting how much i have learned and know now on my mission. it really is so much and i know i can apply it in so many areas of my life for the rest of my life. then the hermana lindahl gave a talk to all of us and they always are great talks, this time though it was really weird cause it was a strange topic... she talked about marriage! wow that got me thinking alot more and got me even more scared! but then actually calmed me down by the end and made me feel really comfortable and understand it more and the need for it. but as you can imagine that got me a little unfocussed for a second there. but it was really good. (it will be interesting to see what happens after the mission... could happen fast or take a long time... but people here seem to always tell me i will be the first married... who know...) president talked about connecting with people by using inspired questions and real live experiences. he had me to the example and to my comp... me and him are best of friends and talk all day but at this time i had to relate to him spiritually and get him to commit to an appointment with me later... and president had me use the question if he has ever thought if there is life after this one... and hinted to me to use experiences and the one that he was thinking about. so i used my mom and before the misson stuff. it was really spiritual and we conected and there were tears and it was really good. president really knows how to get the spirit and how to use what he has. such a great man!! we then saw a movie on the baptisms we have had in the mission to get our 1000+ we had. that was great. it was probably one of the best most spiritual zone conferences i have been to in my mission i loved it.

then we had some great lessons this week. and on saturday we are going to have three baptisms in my area i am excited it will be really good and a fun baptism for us. so much has happened with these families i have seen alot of progress and sadness in there lives with all the happiness that has come with trying to come back to church and in helping them to get there children baptized. it has all been good for them and helped them to see the blessing that there are for them.

attached is my area. all of it is in my area and places that we work and today we went up to this waterfall for p day with the zone. it was fun and way hard not to jump in from up high right where the water was falling. i wont lie i was tempted to fall in on the climb up and down. i almost did. it is way tough. but it was alot of fun. everyone liked it.

also with the pictured is a couple journal pages in my journal. so if you could send those type to me that would be ideal. other things i need in my package would be...some stuff from utah for me to be able to give away to people to remember me and remember utah. some peanut butter mms, and that should be about it. i dont really have the need for anything right now. just whatever comes to your head i will be way happy. maybe some letters.... i would really like that.

well have a good one. i love you all i miss you and hope everything is going good. keep strong and stay happy!!

con amor

tu mendocino

elder bigelow

semana tranquila

well this week was a good week all went really well. we had alot of success. the zone is really struggling. we have sisters in the zone that dont want to be here just to shop and sleep. and they say they always are sick. of four days in the transfer week they worked two hours.... it is tough but we have a great zone meeting planned out for the zone to get everyone back on track and working hard again and wanting to give there best.

we went to this place called poltrero. it is gorgeous its in the mountains and is in our area. just like a town surrounding a lake in the middle of the green mountains here in san luis. it was not a very success full 45 minute bus ride and like two hours of work but it was way cool. the street there is a formula 1 race track. and so when no races are taking place that is the main road in the town. it was alot of fun i liked it alot.

we have three baptisms planned for the 5th of feb. and all is good there. it is tough cause our investigators commit to coming to church but then dont show up and dont even have very good excuses for why they didnt go or anything. so it is tough but we are helping them to realize the importance and have some really good lesson plans to go teahc with this week to help them to realize the importance of the things.

as for school. i will be going to UVU yes and planning on living in provo. my companion his sister and stuff is looking at places to live and we are working that out. i will not be able register in august no. i will need to be registered and have my classes before i get home. and that will need to be getting done asap so that the classes dont get all filled up and stuff. i would really like to have austin, who went to school there to get the shedule and things taken care of for me, with the help of ben cause they know alot more about this kind of stuff and can be a HUGE help to me and getting me in the right places with the right hook ups and doing it all the right way. so work with and talk to them please. but it needs to get going and into the process asap.

but all is good. i am loving it here. this place is gorgeous and the people here never cease to amaze me and make me laugh. no real big news on any of our investigators because no one is really progressing. but all is going really well and i am having alot of fun. thanks for all your prayers and thoughts and support it is felt and needed. i love you and miss you.

con amor

elder bigelow

milagros....

well this week was amazing!!! we had a great time in mendoza and amazing meetings with president and the assistants. again i was involved alot and asked alot about things and how i felt and what i would do. the assistants have alot of confidence in me and elder fowler and really want to know what we would do. now we both are some of the oldest zone leaders. almost everyone is new, and i would assume i will be dropping here in the next few months. but it is alot of fun. president lindahl gave a talk i will never forget in his closing remarks of the meeting and it was absolutly amazing. i was brought to tears and felt the spirit so strong!! he started off telling us all that we had to repent and ask god for forgiveness!!! he continued and explained that we have the power of god and have more power right now then what we ever will again in our lives! and told us stories about his mission when he felt so strong the priesthood power he knew if needed he could raise the dead. and some blessings he had given and the spiritual experiences he had. and i really related well, because i have had some of the most amazing moments in blessings of people here, that i know it was the power of god acting through me his servant. he continued and said we only can have that power through repentance, we need to be worthy for it. and told us how after the mission, life will get in the way and we will not have this same feeling of power. but that we need to, and by so doing is through repentance. that he gave his daughter a blessing when she was just a few months and said for her to be healed but it did not happen and he felt powerless he repented and did the blessing again and again nothing happened. three times repeating this process he finally was able to feel that power again and his daughter was healed and every word he said in the prayer 30 years ago has come to pass and she has not had those problems again like he promised. it was amazing. then he asked me to say the closing prayer. and it was very spiritual!! i trully felt the spirit and now that what he said is true, and that we have to power of god....

then in the week we worked and taught this lady and had a very spiritual lesson about how her daughter will be ok and made perfect at the resurrection. she has some mental problems and things and it was a great lesson. her son was investigating but wrongly accused of rape and sent to jail. in argentina it is you are guilty until proven innocent... so he went to jail and was expected to come back home in may or june around there. but on sunday we were in church and i had been praying for a miracle to happen for us cause we needed the help. and opening hymn, him and his whole family comes walking in with huge smiles on there faces and he started to cry. they sat down and he was so happy and felt so good. he cried and was so happy to be back. he was proven innocent saturday morning and released saturday night and the first thing he said was that the family was going to go to church. and they all came and stayed all three hours and he shared powerful testimony of prayer and scripture study he had in jail and cant wait to be baptized. that will be happening this month. he is awesome and dad you are right there still are more people for me to find and i know he is one of them and his family!

this weekend we also will be having 4 baptisms and we are very excited about that and the whole ward is happy and willing to help out. i am in such a great ward right now and everyone is doing such a great job in the missionary work it is awesome. i really do love it here in san luis. and am pretty sure next week at transfers i will stay here another and am hoping i will be here again with elder fowler. he is awesome and we are becoming best of friends.

along with the investigators we went to visit some of the recent converts and in actives to try to bring them back and help them. and i dunno what it was that day but everyone just decided to repent to us and confess to us about there sins in the law of chastity. it was wierd and rough to hear. but we were able to help alot of people and have some really spiritual lessons. it was tough to hear some of the problems that there were and just strengthened my testimony of the importance of church assistance and prayer. majority of the people fell for that reason they were not strong in those things. and now are cheating on spouses or with someone who has a family and stuff or have kids with multiple people and no one knows... it was crazy and i never will have any of that happen to me or in my family. i hope and pray atleast never to have that type of thing go on. it hurts just to see it and hear about it.

all in all it was a really good weekend and i was able to work with elder harvey and elder davis who were my mtc comps and are both ZL´s that was alot of fun. and it appears as though my whole group i came with will be going home early to get started on school. and i talked to president lindahl a little more and he really laid it on the line for me and explained things well for me and i am pretty sure i will be coming home a tad bit early now and get started on school at UVU and will be living in BYU housing with some guys from the mission. so unless anything changes in my prayers and such just plan on that and know that... i know you all support me in whatever and i am very grateful for that. i will need your help in this stuff to. it is still a ways off, but i will be starting to get things ready now.

i hope all is good i love you and miss you very much and hope you all have a great week. tell everyone hi for me. and dad si o si you need to get on sean about his homework. he cant just drop off like i did. keep on him and tell him that i am disappointed i expect more, and want more. haha have a good one. love you all

con amor
elder bigelow

my p day today, on top of the world

thanks for everything. all is going well and it was a good time. we watched fireworks then came in and stayed up and talked like all night. it was alot of fun and greaat stories and laughs from everyone. then new years just played ball all day.

today we went to acancagua to celebrate 1000 baptisms. it was great. highest peak outside the himalayas. it was awesome

it was alot of fun and super cool areas to see and stuff. i loved it

the picture that ruiz and i got when we won the cup in san juan. in the month of november with our 27 baptisms. it was super sweet. something i will always remember. and was a part of the 1000 baptisms we had this year. i have had some killer months in my zones and lots of success. and today was a great reward for the work we put into it all.

feliz navidad y año nuevo

it was good to talk to all of you also. always is wierd and stuff to talk to the family. but it was fun. sounds like sean has changed alot!!! haha but life is good. i look forward to talking to everyone on wednesday. 4 my time is great for me. i dont really have any questions. i want to hear questions and stuff. christams was great. i cooked all morning. and then at night as well. and today i cooked again all pday for the zone. i am dead!!! but it was good and has been fun. i look forward to hearing from everyone on wednesday.

con amor

elder bigelow

ps i forgot to tell you.... but my camera broke last tuesday. and i will be looking for a place to get it fixed if they can. but i need a new screen. it broke and is a spider web now. or you could send me a new one, or a little more money and i can buy a new one here. so i dunno just whatever you think. sorry, it was an accident. i got pushed and fell over a chair and had it in my pocket and it broke my fall kinda...