Ui, Chavoso!

Oi! Todo bem!

Everything here is going great. The days are long but the weeks are getting faster. Some interesting news, the Americans here are dropping like flies. Elder Kotter, Saunders, and Sister Barry all have fallen due to bodily affliction. Elder Saunders is in a wheelchair because he fell down the stairs (everyone thought I'd be the first to fall because I am clumsy). Elder Kotter REALLY badly rolled his ankle while playing Basketball. Sister Barry has some kind of unidentified illness that is causing a bunch of mumps to appear. She has been quarantined.

Other news, my portugues is improving immesnely, I can actually understand a brazilian when they talk at normal speed (mostly). I tried listening to a devotional without an english ranslator and was succesfully able to actually understand most of it. I am have been very blessed by the Lord because of my diligence.

We went proselyting for the first time this last Saturday. It was pretty awesome! My companheiros were not comfortable walking up to people and handing out Book of Mormons so I was the lead for the whole time. An awesome experience happened, We were wandering around, stopping everyone we could to share the Book of Mormon, when I had the impression to cross the street. So we did. I decided I would continue following the prompting, until, it took us into a little park where I saw a man, sitting on a bench, with his headphones in. I felt the Spirit whisper to me that he was prepared for us. I convinced my companions to follow me. We walked over and all of a sudden, I introduced us this way: "Nós somos discipulos de Jesus Cristo, o Filho de Deus. E nós temos um livro chamado o Livro de Mormon para você que vai ajudar você ser mais perto para Jesus Cristo." (We are disciples of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and we have a book called the Book of Mormon for you that will help you be closer to Jesus Christ.) Never had I rehearsed this in my head. The whole tiome I hade been introducing us as missionaries with a quick message. But as I said these words, I saw the man was touched and listened to us. As we left, I turned around to see him already reading the Book of Mormon.

My testimony in the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon has grown immensely as well as the Gift of Tongues. As we study this sacred book, we become closer to our Savior and can feel the influence of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Oh!! Before I forget, the title of this is a slang song sister missionaries taught me and my companions before they left.

Até mais!

Elder Zinn.

_______________________________________________________________________

Oi! Boa Tarde de São Paulo!

Happy birthday to Dave-o! Glad to hear he had an awesome Birthday! Tell him I say happy birthday please!

Our brazilian roomates left this week. Pretty sad, they were AWESOME! Elder Cruz (one of the roomates) one time put on my sunglasses and started humming the mission impossible theme song while rolling around the dorm room until he ran into the bed. To which, we all fell on the floor laughing. It was quite the sight.

Yeah, seems I fit in pretty nice over here. I love the Brazilians! They are so humble, kind, quirky, and ready to hear the message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

My companions are doing great. Elder Kotter is having a hard time walking due to his ankle, but we're hanging in there.

I know enough protugues to be thrown into the field, but I definetly need the last couple weeks here. The lessons with our investigators have been going a LOT better. We have moved past the pre-written lessons to being able to teach the investigator rather than the lesson. It has been exciting to watch our improvement!

I am bummed out a little right now, because I can't play the violin here because another Elder has been hogging it this whole time. Once he leaves, I will only have a week to play it... I am not sure if I ever will get the chance at this point.

Mother and father: Any news on whether I got into BYU Provo? Also, could you please apply me to Utah State, just in case? I prayed about it, and for some reason that school has been sticking out in my mind. I want to follow the prompting. I have a feeling I maybe won't get into BYU Provo.

My new names of the week, Elder Estranho and Elder Chavoso (inside joke that I am not allowed to share). 

Boa Sorte!

Elder Zinn (Estranho, and Chavoso).

A Friendly Neighborhood

(Daveo, Josh, Leeah, Offar, Emma, Magda, Lotti)

 These neighborhood kids remind me of how childhood should be instead of what it's become. Almost every afternoon, you can find them all playing outside, making up silly games. I have never heard any of them utter the words "I'm bored". The girls fix each other's hair. They make bracelets out of small colorful rubber bands to sell. They set up their own lemonade stand, minus parents' help (except for borrowing ingredients) and minus a Pinterest looking stand. They all get along so well and when conflicts do arise, as they naturally would, the group works it out on their own. I am so grateful that Daveo has friends like them. 

Sacrifice

 "You will never know how much it has cost my generation to preserve you freedom. I hope you make good use of it." John Quincy Adams

In keeping with tradition, we drove to Colma to visit Grandma and Grandpa Weller's grave and pay respect to the military graves scattered around the same area. It was a cold morning, foggy, windy, and drizzly, so we didn't stay too long. Before driving home, we had lunch in the food court of the Serramonte Mall. The rest of the day was spent chilling and BBQing a delicious steak dinner. 

I treasure these opportunities to be reminded and teach my children the cost of freedom and our responsibility to defend it. 

Happy Memorial Day

We're Catholic!

Happy Memorial Day Everyone! 

I am able to email today because the family history center doesn't close for holidays!

I hope everyone has had a great long weekend so far! We have enjoyed it. Our ward had a total attendance of +850 people yesterday! We had to set up chairs all the way back to the stage! 

As far as missionary work goes, we had a decent week. We committed Jonathon to stop smoking. He has been out of town all weekend so we haven't been able to follow up on that yet. We found a new investigator, Angela. She lives in Nauvoo and is neighbors with several members. The Ward council told us to knock on her door and see what happens. That was kind of sketchy because we aren't allowed to go proselyte in Nauvoo. Luckily she let us in and wants to learn more. Angela told us that she was already a Catholic, but that she wants her two daughters baptized. Hopefully there is some potential there. We received a referral from the Nauvoo visitor center for someone living in our area. Apparently they had a three hour conversation with this guy and he requested to be taught! We called him and have an appointment to teach him on Wednesday.

The weather was once again crazy. I never know what to expect on a day to day basis here. Even the locals will tell you to not put much stock in the weather forecast. I am literally dying from allergies! I take medicine every day but it does nothing! There are soooo many things blooming out here.

School is out over here. It is crazy to think that it is already summer again!

That is pretty much all! I hope everyone has an amazing week and stay rooted in Christ! Love you guys! -Elder Zinn!

 The water is deceivingly blue.

A long story...

Wrap Skirt

 Kirsten's final project for the school year is this adorable wrap skirt. We found the fabric during our stay in Twain Heart back in March. Sascha had recommended us checking out an old fashioned Pharmacy store there in town. The fabric selection was overwhelming. I wanted to buy it all, but Kirsten and I only ended up buying two different kinds. Why didn't I get more? We'll have to take another trip up there. I love this wrap skirt! I want one for myself. Kirsten looks beautiful in it.

End of the School Year

 School is officially out for us. Kirsten has been super busy completing final projects for three subjects. One that she had the most fun was designing and building a playground for Geometry. She measured all of the shapes in the playground and wrote a report about the theorems used and how she solved them. After showing it to our ES, she unselfishly gave it to Loni, who is beyond thrilled to have a place for her toys to play on.

An Eight Year Old

The cutest thing happened after sacrament meeting. Matt Sundstrom, James' friend, came up to me and said he had heard that Daveo is missing his brothers and is having a hard time. Then he asked if it would be okay if he came over sometime during week the to hang out with Daveo. He kept his promise and came over today for Daveo's birthday and played games with him. Then, Daveo's friend Jacob along with neighborhood kids came over to jump on the trampoline. For dinner, Daveo requested chicken primavera with salad. I made a Frasier Torte (A French version of strawberry shortcake) for his cake.This boy has sophisticated taste! 

Happy birthday Daveo! I love you!

Hold On

A snail dangling from a tall blade of grass caught my eye on my morning run. I was amazed at its ability to hold on to something with very little surface area. How did it continue to hold on with the strong breeze swinging it to and fro? There have been times in my life when I have felt like this snail; trying with all my might to hold on while the winds and storms of life tried to knock me down. 

"To any who may be struggling to see that light and find that hope, I say: Hold on. Keep trying. God loves you. Things will improve." - Jeffrey R. Holland

Well, that was fast...

Whats up yall!

This email will (hopefully) be a bit more not all over the place.

Sleep is hard to come by here in the CTM. My companheiros and I eat our meals fast so we can quickly run to our room and sleep for like 15 mins. Nonetheless, the CTM is great. We are teaching 2 lessons a day in only português  to a couple roll play investigators. Generally we are prepared, but they screwed up our schedule by accident one day, giving us no time to plan any lessons. So, we wung it. Went surprisingly ok.

Last P-day we were sent into the *wild* (the city) around the CTM to do whatever we wanted to do (except proselyte). Turns out, there´s not a whole lot to do when youre out of the CTM while being a missionary. We walked around and went to a couple stores, bought a couple cookies from a shop that bgives missionaries a discount, and just chilled.

The weeks are getting faster. I can´t believe its already P-Day today! It was a pleasant surprise when I found that out yesterday! The classes are becoming more intesensive and language a little bit easier. We are working hard.

The brazilians are awesome people. I got to film a brazilian missionary imitating jack sparrow running in our dorm room and witnessed, again, a brazilian missionary, put on sun glasses and start humming the mission impossible theme song while rolling arund the floor before bed. Lot´s of fun., but I am ready to leave the CTM. Just four more weeks...

On other news, I told the brazilians my last name meant tin in english, so now, I am elder estanho, osh, brazileiro, and zinn. Good times!

Thanks everyone! Boa Tarde!

Elder Zinn (Estanho).

         ___________________________________________________________________________________

Sup bru (quote from my instrutor)!

My comanheiros are awesome! Both are being patient with me and are fun to be around. I can´t send any pictures or take pictures outside of the CTM. Only when I leave the CTM for good am I allowed to take pictures outside of it.

My português is getting a lot better. I can have better conversations now and explain church doctrine fairly well.

Father, mother, did we know a family in Houston with the last name Hill and/or Bangeter?

P-Day really isn´t all that it is hyped to be in the CTM. We are constrained to a fairly small boundary outside the CTm and there are not many shops to go to. Nonetheless, it is nice to rest from language classes for a day.

Our instrutor (Irmão Oliveira) is hilarious. He tries saying slang in Ingles such as: *gotcha bru, sup bru, cool beans*... We fall on the floor laughing every time! He came into class one time and said good day in some philipian language that sounds EXACTLY like *my booty*. EASILY that funnist thing to happen inside of ou class room! He was so confused as to why we were LITERALLY on the foor, curled in a ball, laughing. He said it so casually! Once we explained the humor for us he joined in our laughing.

That brazilians love my humor. I will start singing in português about whatever comes to my head and they eat it up. Today I sand about not being able to feel my fingers: Eu não sento o meo dedo e meo dedo tem um brato por mim! They loved it. My companheiros think I am so weird.

Anyways, my time is up in a few mins. Congrats to Dave-o! I am so excited for him! Make sure your teach him to say Susse (Means sweet in german). The brazilians love when I use german slang, they try saying it and it is really funny to listen to them! Good times, good times. Love the people, love the Lord, love the work.

Boa Tarde!

Elder Zinn (Estanho).

Balloon Tennis

While living in Texas, I served as a den leader for about 5 years. Justin, James, and Steven all went through me before becoming a Webelos. As a cub scout den leader, you have to have lots of creative activities to keep those 8-9 year old boys busy. One such game that the boys loved was balloon tennis. The rackets are easily made using metal coat hangers, nylons, and duck tape. This week I resurrected this game and taught it to Daveo and Loni, the next generation. They loved it as is evident on their faces.

Live It

Hello Everybody!

We had a good long week here in Hamtown!

We spent most of the week finding. Since our car is still in the auto shop, we were on foot allll week. That was kind of a pain. We made it a goal to take advantage of our new area in Keokuk to proselyte in. The only lame thing is that Keokuk is a good hour walk from Hamilton. Despite the annoying amount of walking time, we were able to spend quite a bit of time in Keokuk! Our area looks very promising! There are a lot of humble people here. Out of the three new investigators that we found last week, we have had to drop two of them. Their parents weren't very happy with us meeting with them. All that remains is Jonathon. We were able to meet with him and extend a baptismal date for July 1st! He told us that he wants to come to church and be baptized. We will have to work through a few word of wisdom/law of chastity issues in order to get him there.

The weather this week has been very bipolar. It has made planning for the day incredibly difficult. One day we will be under Tornado warnings and the next it will be sunny and hot. The past couple of days have dropped down into the 50s. We gave up trying to guess what the weather is going to be like. Some days we just had to accept that we were going to get soaked.

We taught a lady named Jenny this week. She turned out to just be another basher. Luckily we had a member with us who was able to help us hit her over the head with the truth.

Here is a bomb scripture that I found in my personal studies! Live it!

Jacob4:10 Wherefore, brethren, seek not to counsel the Lord, but to take counsel from his hand. For behold, ye yourselves know that he counseleth in wisdom, and in justice, and in great mercy, over all his works.

I love all of you! 

Elder Zinn -The superior one

Overcast Pacifica

 This wave baby blanket was so fun to make. Pacifica was my inspiration for the colors. I was drawn to the moody shades of blue because they reminded me of the ocean on an overcast day. 

Biology Lab

Today is Kirsten's last Biology Lab. Honestly, I was dreading her taking this class because it is all the way in Morgan Hill. However, Daveo, Loni, and I have had fun exploring for the two hours she is at her class. We typically go to a grocery store first to get some snacks (usually Pepperidge Farm cookies) and then hang out at a park. Kirsten has loved the class. She has no problem dissecting squid, frogs, grasshoppers, a pig fetus, etc. I will miss our Wednesday routine.

Primeira Semana! (Death Week)

What up everyone!

Before I start, I am going to do my best to go through my frist week in  chronological order but it may not be entirely in the correct order due to the fact this first week felt like a whole month. Everything is kind of blurred together. Vamos!

First day at the MTC I was placed in a trio companionship and we did nothing the whole day (except eat rice and beans - an sleep). It was pretty calm, we were heavily welcomed with BEM-VINDOs which translates to WELCOMEs. The brazillians are the nicest and goofiest people I know, it is awesome! The next day was followed by heavy orientation training and language studies. That day was the single longest day of my life... No joke. I am pretty sure I died inside a little. It was SUPER fun and exciting, but it was crazy. The rest of the days leading up to this point I can not remember. I just recall some cool experiences. So, here we go!

My district is really small, we only have 3 members in our district (those three members being me and my companions). We started with a sister missionary (Sister Hill) but she was switched to a different district since she didn´t have a companion. I was made guia de distrito (district leader) on either thursday or friday. Already my english has started to fail me as I have immersed my self in the Brazilian Português language.

The rice and beans every meal is getting to me. I have been farting quite a bit, which has been fun. I can say a prayer, bear my testimony, and even teach lessons in Português. Having everyday conversations is hard, but doable. OH! The brazilians LOVE my name. Whenever they see me they always exclaim *ZZZZZEEEEEEEEENNNG* (That´s how they pronounce it). So funny, I am starting to introduce myself as that now.

Other than the rice and beans, this CTM is AWESOME! I bear my testimony now. Sorry for spractic messige. My thoughts are everywhere.

Eu sei que Jesus Cristo vive. Ele é o nosso Salvador. Quando nós acreditemos em Jesus Cristo, nós podemos ter a paz.

Até mais!

Edler Zinn

_____________________________________________________________________________

What up fam!!

Bom Dia!

I am writing this email assuming you have read my todos email. So, I will not be going over the same thing I wrote about last (Is there a shorter way to say that?).

I just want to let you know that I am doing awesome. I have not gotten home sick at all. My testimony has definetly been strengthened and my ability to speak in my favorite language has increased due to my seeking out the Dom de Linguas (the Gift of Tongues). The week felt like an eternity, the most tiring part is not being able to go outside. We stay inside all day learning the language.

I cannot remember if I talked about this, so I will talk about it now. On both my flights to the CTM I had missionary experience. The first one, I discussed what the Book of Mormon was and why it is important to us now. I invited the man I discussed this with to read a Boom of Mormon he had recieved earilier and shared some scriptures inside of it. The next flight to São Paulo, I was sitting next to a lady who only spoke Português. I introduced myself as a missionary in very broken português and gave her a Book of Mormon and wrote instructions (in português) on how to get one in Português. She said she would read it, so, I am excited!

Learning the language has been a really miraculous experience. I have been blessed with an ability by the Lord to quickly learn and recognize ´patterns and have been able to apply this while learning. It has made me learn a lot faster than I would have been able to.

Today I went to the São Paulo templo. It is awesome! Very beautiful and small. I did an entire endowment session in português. I didn´t understand a lot but it was fun. I met a worker there who was german and spoke with him a little in german. It was pretty fun to speak two languages I love.

Nice to hear Bayern beat Leipzig and warriors beat the spurs!

As for Elder Zinn...

Elder, você é muito gordo. Eu sou o melhor!!

Até Mais, a minha familia!

Elder Zinn o melhor.

9-Patch

Each month, I learn something fun and new at the Fabric Arts Class. Not to mention the ladies that attend are amazing! Rose (standing next to me) lets us meet at her house and provides us with everything we need to complete the project. Tonight we each made six 9-patch squares to be put together into one quilt. 

I promise I will have a good email next week

Hello everyone!

I hope you all had an amazing Mother's Day! I had a really good one out here!

We went over to some of our favorite members yesterday, the Skogs, right after church! They fed us a great pancake dinner and then I skyped home. It was great to be able to have that re-energizing boost! 

To be honest, I don't have that much motivation to email today since I saw a lot of you guys yesterday...

This week was transfer week! That didn't mean to much for Elder Perez and I because both of us are staying together. One major change that did happen was that our proselyting boundaries got changed! We now cover half of a bigger city across the river from us named Keokuk! That will be nice to have some fresh doors to knock on!

This week we were able to find three new investigators, Anna, Jonathon, and Tara! They are all teenagers with friends who are members. hopefully we will be able to get them to church next week!

This week was a warmer one. Summer is on its way! The May Flies are out in full force right now. They are annoying little suckers.

I love you guys! Stay Safe!

Elder Zinn

 Me and my bro

 I caught a Frog!

 The HamiLIT district

The Nauvoo Zone

My Heart is Full of Joy

Breakfast in bed, cards, a new purse, and flowers were wonderful gifts, but the highlight was talking to my three boys who are away from home. Steven was scheduled to talk to us at 12:10, which was right in the middle of sacrament meeting. So, after taking the sacrament, we left church early. On our way home, he called on my cell phone and we got half an hour to talk to him. Steven was full of excitement and had so much to say. He compared learning the language to drinking out of a fire hydrant; so much information at once. The first Portuguese phrase he was taught was "I'm excited", which I thought was so neat. He and his companions enjoy spitting out of there bedroom window as it makes an echo sound when it splats on the pavement below. Steven feels he fits right in with the  Brazilian Elders as they are goofy. He even got one of them to call him Superman, which he is proud of.  One day, he said that their schedules got mixed up and his companionship found out they had to teach a discussion in 5 minutes with no preparation.The Spirit helped him through the gift of tongues and he was able to speak words h didn't know he knew and was even able to testify in Portuguese. Overall, Steven is loving his experience, even if each day feels like an entire week. 

Our next conversation was a three-way Skype call from James and Justin. It was so much fun talking to them. Loni, at times, made conversing difficult, but I think it was fun for James to see the "Lonster" side of her personality. James is doing well. He's happy that another area has been added for him to proselyte in as his current area is dead. He loves his mission, but is anxious to get away from the Mississippi River, as most of his mission has been spent there. 

Great Mother's Day!

Baking Cheesecake

 (Sister Zeng, Sis. Maka, Sis. Larsen, and Kirsten)

 So grateful for these amazing Sister Missionaries' help with baking cheesecake for Mother's Day. They helped with the chocolate chip cookie dough cake. In all, there were 6 cheesecakes and one Andes Mint Cake made for the ladies in the Branham Ward. 

Your Missionary's Arrival

Dear Parents,

Sister Grahl and I are very happy to let you know that your missionary has arrived safely at the Brazil Missionary Training Center.  What a great joy and privilege it is to greet each missionary as they begin their missionary experiences with us! We will surely take good care of your missionary.                                                                                                     

The missionaries now have companions and are settled into their rooms.  They are assigned to a district with capable and caring instructors for language and lesson study.  Their branch presidents and wives will meet them this Sunday.  These wonderful couples are richly blessed as they work with, motivate, and interview the missionaries assigned to their branch.

The MTC has a physician to care for their health needs. We are also happy to report that the MTC food is plentiful, healthy and very good.

Your missionary will be able to e-mail home on Preparation Day after a morning at the Temple.  This will be either Wednesday or Friday, depending on individual assignments.

Your missionary is about to make an eternal difference in the lives of many others. President Lorenzo Snow said: “There is no mortal man that is as interested in the success of an elder when he is preaching the Gospel as is the Lord who sent him to preach to the people who are the Lord's children".  We love these missionaries as if they were our own.  We will watch over them carefully to ensure they are ready for a wonderful missionary experience after the rewarding time they will have in the MTC.

We thank you for preparing such a wonderful representative of the Lord.

Pres. Paulo R. Grahl and Sister Zuleika M. Grahl