Elder Zach Warren: Week 5

Hey Everyone!

First off, Hello Uncle Richard!! It's good to hear that you still got that loud laugh! Also thank you so much for the Krispy Kremes mom and the box of candy bars. You have no idea how many snacks my district has gone through in the past 5ish weeks! My goal is to actually put on a little bit of a stomach while I am in the MTC but so far I have made little progress. The weeks are coming to a close, where I will still be in the United States. I am super excited to go to the Philippines, but I am also realizing that I am not even close to being functional in Tagalog!!! It was hard to see this past group of missionaries leave us on Wednesday. They were super funny and we had all gotten really close. Thankfully, I was awarded an MTC water bottle by one of the Elders because of my Energy and Spirit. I will have to send a picture of it in a little bit. I forgot my camera this morning, so I need to take some pictures of the campus. I know they will go on to do amazing things in the field. As I am sure Dad will be glad to hear, I have taken an attraction to the game of volleyball. For some odd reason I seem to have a natural gift for the sport. Now that I have been playing it everyday, 5 days a week, for 5 weeks, my skills have really picked up. Maybe when I come back, I will go pro.

The MTC is starting to get a little too repetitive around here. Although it is super fun, I am definitely ready for a change of scenery! I did get my travel itinerary. We will be leaving on Wednesday, August 20, 2015 Morning and flying from Salt Lake to Tokyo, Japan. From there we will fly to Manila, Philippines and stay at the Manila MTC for 5 days. After that our 15 hour bus voyage begins. The plane ride from Salt Lake to Tokyo says it will start at 11:00 am Aug 20 and we will land at 4:00 pm Aug. 21, Salt Lake time. I'm sure you can do the math for how long of a plane ride that will be. Anyways it is only 11 days out! Also I heard that at certain airports I will be able to call home so be looking out for my call!! Anyways things are pretty good here. I am now the Zone leader as of Sunday morning along with 3 other Elders since we now have 2 zones. My Zone is pretty awesome. The new Elders are all really cool and I can already tell we will get close in these next 2ish weeks. The story of how I became Zone leader is as follows, I was prepping sacrament, and when I went to go to say the sacrament prayer, President Howard came up, shook my hand, and said Hey, you are the new Zone Leader. Wow. Alrighty then. It's a huge responsibility, but I know it is the right one for me. I am super jealous that you guys got to go to the beach this week. But sand volleyball is kind of like going to the beach everyday so I will be fine. Today, I got my first haircut at the MTC. I just wanted a 5/8" buzz, but the woman said they don't do buzzes here. The closest they could do was buzz the sides and back and then do finger tip length with my top. I don't think it looks too bad, but I will let you be the judge of that. I continue to do push ups and pull ups everyday so Jake has some catching up to do before he can be 2nd man of the house. I guess you could say I have gotten more defined while I have been here at the MTC. On my planner in the to do list, I always write down that I have to do at least 120 push ups and 30 pull ups. The planners really help me to push myself to accomplish my goals. I have even memorized three scriptures. Here is my purpose: Imbitahin ang iba na lumapit kay Cristo so pagtulong sa kanila na matanggap ang ibinalik no ebanghelyo sa pamamagitan ng pananampalataya kay JesuCristo at sa Kanyang pagbabayad sala pagsisis binyag pagtanggap ng kaloob na Espiritu Santo at pagtitiis hanggang wakas. I hope all is going well back in Cali! Thank you for everything. Salamat para sa lahat ng bagay. Kita po Tayo sa dalawang years!

Mahal ko kayo,

Elder Warren