Sunny and 75? Naw!!

​Hey ya’ll, another week down in good ole Cali.  It’s been a crazy fast week here and I love it! It’s been like 105 degrees all week though!  Last week after I emailed we went to Laguna Beach, it was awesome! We couldn't get out of the car but we drove by and it was so pretty! I love the ocean, it’s sweet! My comp got sick this week so things have been pretty slow, and I’ve had a lot of time to study and read! I don't think I’ve ever read so much in one week ever!

One thing that I have to do here all the time that I never had to do before is shave.... I feel like I’m always doing it, sometimes I even have to shave twice a day, so that’s a struggle. I miss the beard...it’s awful!

Funny story, we went to an elderly couple’s house for dinner this week, and you could definitely tell cause on their table was the book, “How to use Smartphones for dummies!” I was laughin’ pretty hard! After that we had dinner and it was good, all until I got to the green Jello....it was weird! It had like pears and these weird balls of white things in them and the texture was off, so I had like 1 or 2 bites then put it down and was like, no more of that!! Then my comp says, ‘Come on eat it’, under his breath, and I mumble back ‘Nah I cant!’ and then he forced me to, cause that’s the polite thing to do! So I did, and I thought I was going to die. I shoveled it down and then I stood up and walked to the bathroom in a dignified manner, closed the door and then hurled it all up in the toilet! NASTY!!! It was quite an event.

We also had the chance to go teach a recent convert that my comp baptized last transfer! She is awesome and has an awesome testimony of the church! The work is slow but sure here and I love it! 

Elder Crump

Here are answers to a few of the questions I asked Zach:

•   Do you have a car? Yes for half of the week.  My comp is the designated driver so I don’t ever drive.
•   What do you do for exercise?  I do P90x and we play basketball on Mondays and Fridays with members.
•    Do you do much service? Yeah, last week we helped someone move and also helped hang some shelves in a guy’s garage.  We usually do some every week.

With his companion Elder Robinson
on the first day in Irvine.

With Elder Blue and Elder Gardner (MTC comps)
at the New Missionary Dinner.

All the new missionaries at the Mission Home.

Another picture with Elder Blue and Elder Gardner.

On transfer day - his first day.

At the gas station with Elder Robinson.

The struggle is real!

Cali

​Hey ya'll,

First week down, haha. Just a ton more weeks to go! The first couple days here were hard, but everyday they just keep getting better and better. My comp is awesome and he’s from Texas, so he loves Merica! Every Thursday we go over to a member’s house who is about 86 years old and read the Book of Mormon with him for about an hour, then he takes us to lunch. That is way fun. He’s a real sweet man. We had a Zone meeting and we got together and made goals and what not, but it was good to see all the other missionaries. Last night we had an awesome experience of going to a member’s house of a family that was going through a divorce and give them each blessings. I gave three blessings and it was sweet. I was so nervous and I had no idea what I was going to say, but right as I put my hands of their heads my nerves went away. I was calm and I was able to give them the blessing that Heavenly Father had in store for them. It was such an amazing experience. The ward here is awesome. We have members feed us dinner every night and they love the Elders. The ward (Mission Viejo) is also really big and there were about 250 members there on Sunday. The church is strong down here. I’ll have more for ya’ll next week but for now that’s all. Have a great week. The Church is true! 

Elder Crump

With President & Sister Orgill last Tuesday.

The 18 new missionaries at the John Wayne Airport.

In front of the mission home.

Placing a Riverton, Utah pin on the map.

Elder Robinson

The look.

MTC - Week 2

•    My classes are good.  I’m way tired and sometimes I fall asleep.  But it’s good.  The night feels more like little naps and the days are long.

•   My comp is going to Irvine too.  So are two other missionaries in our district.  They are all way cool and awesome.  The other half is going to San Diego. Which kinda stinks cause they are awesome.

•   I went to the temple this morning.  It was awesome.

•   I leave on Tuesday morning at 3:30 from the MTC and I will call.  My flight leaves at 8:30.

•   I went to a devotional called The Character of Christ by Elder Bednar.  It was fantastic.  I loved it.

•  I talked to my Mission President on Thursday last week and then on Sunday we did it! (He decided he was finally ready to receive his Patriarchal Blessing.)  My comp got to be there so that was way cool. 

With his companion, Elder Gardner on the left.
Elder Blue and Elder Starr.  They are all going to the Irvine Mission.

MTC - I love it!

7 Aug 2015

Here is what I gather from Zachary’s first email home from the MTC:

· My companion is Elder Gardener from Kansas.  There is an elder from Bingham High that knows Dad and there are 6 elders that share my room.

· My comp is awesome.  My district is awesome. There are four sets of elders in my district and one set of sisters.

· My schedule is classes in the morning, then other stuff like interactives in the afternoon. 

· My teachers are way cool.

· It’s great. I love it. I read a ton. And I like my room mates.

· The MTC is good. I’m good.

· We work all the time and it’s good so I don’t think of home.  Food is good.  My stomach grumbles a lot and I feel sluggish.

  

Here is a picture that a friend of ours sent on Friday.
Lauren works at the MTC and ran into Zach heading to PE.