CHILE!

All, Welp, if you haven't heard... I'm heading to Chile on Friday! Haha... I'll be serving in the Chile, Vina del Mar mission. They say it is kind of like San Francisco geographically. Pretty mountainous and yet close to the coast as Chile is such a skinny country. You can research a bit if you want by looking up Vina del Mar or Valparaiso. Anyways, I'm super excited! Haha- I never thought I would go out of the country again, but the Lord surprised me. Haha. Even better is that my Mission President is from Buenos Aires. Not going to lie, I am a bit trunky- but it isn't bad to be trunky to go to your mission, right? haha. Anyways, I spent a good week with the Zone Leaders in the Mission Zone (Alton, Tx). We had 10 people at church and helped 2 people accept a baptismal date for this Sunday (they've already been learning and attending)! Pretty exciting stuff. I don't have much to say... I'm sure I'll have plenty to say next week! Haha. Someone send me another good list of questions and I'll respond. That seems to work best. I love you all and appreciate your support. Keep me in your prayers and I'll see you sometime next year! :) Oh- also, I won't be using this email anymore. Please write to the following email or the following address will be the mission office address. zachary.trayner@myldsmail.net Elder Zachary John Trayner Chile Viña del Mar Mission 4 Norte 1112 Casilla 631 Viña del Mar Valparaiso Chile

Another Transfer of E Trayner

To All, Well I just got transferred again. It was a long morning of riding in a truck, but I made it in one piece back down to McAllen. I'm in the Mission zone now with the Mission Zone Leaders, Elder Maldonado and Elder Sanchez. I'm excited to work here, but I'm getting antsy for the reassignment news. I suppose it should come soon, but as we know there never really are time expectations for Zach Trayner. Haha. Well the baptism for our friend Jillian went well yesterday. Her family was sad to hear I was leaving, but that's just how the mission is. I would send pictures, but these library computers aren't letting me :( Anyways, I heard about the BYU vs UofU game... Lame! I guess they're just saving it all until I get back next year. Everyone should send in their guesses on the reassignment! I already have a couple to Florida and California, and some random guesses like New York, Montana, and the Carolinas. Haha. Anyways, I love you all! If you want to mail me something it is probably best sent to the mission offices at 200 w La Vista Ave, McAllen Tx 78501, Have a great week, until next week!

The Big News

A Todos, Hello everyone. This week was pretty decent. We taught a new investigator whose wallet was still wet, love it! He went to church with his brother who is a permigator (an investigator forever). Other than that our good friend Jilly (she is a 9 year old in a part member family that we've helped reactivate) passed her interview and will be baptized next Sunday! The big news, however, is that we got news from the Missionary Department!!!! But the news isn't my visa. haha- they just said I could choose if I wanted to count some of this time I have served here in McAllen, and also if I wanted to get reassigned or what. So after much prayer and fasting I decided that I would like to be reassigned now while still waiting for the visa and that I want to finish in mid May/early June. Sooo they should be reassigning me shortly to somewhere until my visa comes. I think it will be the best because if I end up not having much time left before May then they won't send me to Argentina, so I figure it's better to reasssign now rather than later and just doing a couple months. I love the Texas McAllen Mission, but I think it's best that I get a little further away from home haha- plus I don't think the General Authorities will reassign me to somewhere where I'm not supposed be. Haha, so I'm excited. It's also good to have a end of service date, I think it will help motivate me a little bit more. Anyways, this past week I finished the Book of Mormon again! I love it! It's always a great feeling to finish it and realize how much stronger your testimony grows each time. I know it was written by ancient prophets of God and that Joseph Smith was the Lord's instrument in bringing it forth and translating it. I know that whoever will take the time to read it, ponder it's teachings, and pray with an honest desire to know will come to know of it's truth and validity by the power of the Holy Ghost. I am so grateful for having been into such a supportive family that has taught me priniciples of light and truth. I am grateful for opportunity to be a missionary and for the desire God has wrought in me to be better than I have been before. I have learned that if we put God first, everything else will turn out, and that in the process of passing through trials the Lord is able to refine us if we turn to Him. The mission has been a refining and defining experience up to this point and I know the Lord only has greater things in store for me ahead. I pray for you all every night! Thank you so much for your support and love! You all are part of why I am here and why I am who I am. Thank you for your examples that have spoken much louder than your words and I hope I can emulate your example and continue to bring more people to the truth! I love you all! Until next week.

Laredooo

Yo, This week was a pretty good one. We're working with a couple part member families who have a child each that need to be baptized that are progressing well. We dropped a few investigators this past week and so we'll be looking to find more new investigators and families this week. I keep waiting for the visa, though I've been praying and thinking about it and I might have a change of plans soon, but we'll see. Hopefully the visa will just show up this week :) haha. Anyways, I don't have too much to say! The mission is great! It's always sad getting transferred because you come to love the people so much, but I've learned that no matter what happens there are always great people that you can come to love if you serve them. The mission is so great to prepare you for life. I feel extremely grateful for the opportunity the Lord has given me to be a missionary and to serve Him at this time. I know I'm here for a reason, so I'll keep working as hard as I can to help Him bring to pass His work. Love you all! Until next week!

Laredo-Nye City

Hello all, This past week I was transferred to Laredo to a place called (for some reason...) Nye City. I am with Elder Quezada, who is originally from California, then somewhere in UT, then he was studying at UT State. Haha. He's a pretty cool guy. To start off I will be answering questions from Josh. How is the new area? Good! There is a lot of potential, I feel like the people here are really receptive and humble. We have some good things already going, but we'll get more going :) Are you serving in a branch or ward? Spanish or English speaking? 2 Branches- 1 english 1spanish, they are all branches here because it is a District here in Laredo. The whole mission is just "Tex Mex" speaking. What size is the congregation? How many actually attend? Good question, I'm sure dad could tell you. haha, but they are both decently sized with like 6ish missionaries in each branch. What are some interesting stories from this week? I got really sick and my tonsils got all huge. I suppose that's interesting. Oh- I suppose it is interesting that in a large portion of my area you can see Mexico and even the river! haha, pretty cool. Do you eat with the members? My companion said we do, but I don't think we really do. I'll be fixing it shortly and making a schedule with the members so we can work more consistently with them. Are you still engordando? Not this week. I just ate fruit blends that I made (licuados). We'll see what happens in this regard in the following weeks as my throat heals. Why do you always send pictures of you with funny faces eating cereal? lol. That last one is funny. I send them for my nephews and nieces so they don't get too bored and because I know you all love my face. What was the hardest thing about this week? We have been working with a large family whose mother disappeared after bringing them over from mexico, and we had a really good lesson about church, but they failed to attend once again. We'll most likely be dropping them this week. :/ What was the funnest thing you did all week? Funnest thing... We taught a couple good lessons to little kids and we were also asked to help teach primary... haha.... so I suppose you can imagine what kind of fun was to be had there. My comp kinda looks and acts like a darker pee wee herman. hahahahaha. Anyways, those were his questions. Haha, hope you enjoyed them. But the area here is good. The apartment and car were TERRIBLE when I arrived, but today we did a pretty good job cleaning and I'm sure it will be a battle and process to get them to where I want to be especially when my roommates aren't so inclined to cleaning... but yeah, should be fun. Hopefully I'll be able to get some pictures sent soon, I don't know if we can send them at this library, but this area is pretty humble, poor, and dirty- which is great! Makes me feel right at home, except a little (a lot) hotter. Anyways, I think my visa will come next week. We'll see what happens. Love you all! Here is my new address- 310 e San Pedro #4 Laredo, Tx 78041 Love!

Transferred!

Dear all, Time is short, but all you really need to know is that I'm getting transferred! I'll be heading out west about 4 hours to Laredo! Apparently I'll be right next to the Mexican border there as well (we have the bridge here in Hidalgo to go to Reynosa). I'll definitely miss all the people here in Hidalgo, but that's how the mission goes. Hopefully I'll find my way back down here to the valley to visit all of my friends after the mish (if it ever ends... haha). I'll put some farewell pictures in the email. Other that that I don't have any funny stories or anything (sorry!). Anywho, I'm sure I'll have plenty to say next week, try and ask me some questions about the place so I can answer them! I'm not very good at describing things. haha. Love you all! Keep up on your scripture reading!

Waiting in South Texas

Dear everyone, Another week has gone by of waiting in South Texas! At the end of this week it will make 5 months of waiting as a missionary! This week I have attached a few photos. I did win the game of bowling and that is my score at the top. That is our buddy Mack who was baptized by Bro. Bentley. He described it as one of the best moments of his life and he couldn't stop talking about how he liked it. Elder Fullmer appears at the end modeling a Jorongo or Zarape according to our Norteño friends (people from the north of mexico). Anyways, hope you enjoy them. I don't have too much to say this week- Mack was confirmed and we're helping him to continue progressing- hopefully we can get the ward a little more on board. Haha, they're doing alright. Anyways, I'm out of time today! Sorry! I'll try and be more entertaining some letter soon. love!