A Future Cosmotologist

 Oh Loni...How could you cut your curly locks off? 

It appears that Loni smuggled scissors in her room to wrap birthday presents for herself during quiet time. At some point she also decided that she didn't like long hair (her words not mine) and cut it. It took me a few minutes to realize what she had done. I searched the floor of her room for the fallen hair, but found nothing. Then she revealed her hiding spot. Sigh...Well, at least she was clean about it. Plus it could've been a lot worse. I put Loni in the bath and evened out her hair as best I could. Her new hair-do looks cute, however the curls are gone. 

And I'm sad.  

Warm Rain

 RAIN! Even though it's been a long time since we last saw you, we recognized you at once. Thank you for coming from the south and not the north. 

NaNa's Home!

Justin's HOME! He came to see his birthday girl turn four years old this weekend. There's a new energy in our home now that had been missing. Love having him home.

Lookin up

Heeeeey!

I hope everyone is ready for Halloween! Out here, they have something called "Beggars Night" which is the day before Halloween. That is when the children do their trick or treating instead of on Halloween.

We had a really good week in terms of finding! We were able to find eight new investigators this week which was a huge improvement over last week! We are teaching a lady named Michelle and her sixteen year old daughter Victoria! We had an awesome lesson with them this last week on the Gospel of Jesus Christ and church attendance! They couldn't come yesterday, but they promised to this Sunday! We found a couple named Rodney and Tammy who are looking for a church to raise their family in! AND, none of them have been baptized before! So that's one less concern to overcome! Hopefully we can help them start progressing as well!

This week I got to go on exchanges with Elder MacCabe! It was awesome being able to be his companion for the day! It's been a long time since our MTC days!

You guys! It is getting cold here! Noooooooooooooooo! It snowed for the first time this week. Nothing stuck, but it was still scary! The cold weather and wind is back :(! Oh well, at lease I only have to endure a couple more months of it!

I hope you all have a rocking Halloween! I love you all!

ELDER ZINN

The Osceola District!

Transfer Week and Miracles

We had transfers yesterday night. Nothing changed in my district, so no new news. I get to terminate training my comp, woohoo!!

My companion and I are working REALLY hard using our new technique of finding. While applying this last week, I decided I would start praying for miracles in finding. I never thought to pray for miracles in finding. I had always prayed for miracles with the investigators we have now. Then I remembered the promise that every righteous thing we ask for will be given us. We just need to do our part. So, I decided to align my will with the Father's and pleaded for miracles in our finding efforts. 

I thought that maybe it would retard (demorar is the word in portuguese, no Idea how to express this in english) a few days; however, after that same night, we recieved miracles! We have over 10 first lessons planned for this week and established 3 baptism dates in this last week alone. The Lord has seen our efforts and our true desire to do His will and His work and has guided us to find His children that are waiting for this glorious message of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And these miracles continue to occur. Our area is considered "difficult" in my mission because the people are less receptive, but nobody can deny the Spirit when the right words are said to touch their hearts. I have never loved a people more than I love these people now. Never have I felt so strong a desire to spread this message of the Restoration.

On saturday, a beloved investigator decided to drop us... She told us that she no longer wanted to be baptized but I felt it had much more to do with her parents (whom are very catholic) because the day previous she was excited for the baptism and was loving the Book of Mormon and the Church. She "changed" her mind and her attitude in less than one day. After a night of sorrow and tears, we tucked her Relatorio de Progresso (Progress Paper thing to keep track of the lessons taught) into the Area Book for future missionaries to visit her.

God is not dead. He is our Father and is working miracles before our very eyes. The very earth trembles in humble submission to His will. We are not to align His will to ours but ours to His. After all this, we will see the miracles blossom in our lives and multiply our joy knowing that we have a Father who loves and cares for each one of us. We are literally His children. He cries when we cry, He laughs with our joyous laugh, and He is happy when we find His Eternal Gospel and when making the right choices.

I love you guys!!

Elder Zinn.

The Mayor of Melwood is Dead

Wednesday, I received a call from Maureen telling me that Lucy was in the hospital barely holding on. She had gotten a bad flu which was giving her respiratory problems. The next day, I walked into room 366 wearing a required mask, gown, and gloves to visit my adopted mom/grandma. Lucy was sleeping amidst the noticeable struggle to breathe. I just sat beside her bedside, not wanting to wake her. Soon, her granddaughter joined me and Lucy opened her eyes. She smiled in recognition of us and conversed in between coughs and dosing off and on. Before I left, I was able to update her on all of the kids as she smiled like a proud grandma would. That was the last time I would get to talk to Lucy. The next day, she slipped into unconsciousness, returning home to God this morning. She will be missed. 

Homeschooling a Junior

My favorite time of day is the evening. Homeschooling a high school junior has been difficult. I honestly don't know how I'm going to get Kirsten to graduation day. Completing all of her required subjects is taking all day. At this phase in the older boys' education, they had graduated early and were taking courses at West Valley. So, this is a new adventure for me.  By evening, both Kirsten and I are spent. It's refreshing to sit outside and enjoy some downtime. Here's to quiet evenings!