Saturday, September 8, 2012

so sorry!

i realize i haven't updated this blog since june. sorry! i probably won't be posting letters from cameron anymore as he doesn't really email the family. let's just say writing letters isn't his best feature. (as is mine - since i haven't sent him a letter in forever!) 

i will post pictures here if he sends us any. and once he gets home i will do a few follow-up posts - probably with pictures from his homecoming and some that he took while on his mission.

cameron will be home in exactly 2 short months! crazy!!!

Monday, June 18, 2012

Letter from Elder Z. - June 18th

Hey all!

This week has been really different but equally good. So we don't have that many people to teach. So we have been finding finding finding finding. All the time. I actually have really grown to love it. I love talking to people about their lives and where they have been. Asking about their families and then offering the best gift that I know of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I hope people don't just like to talk to me because of the missionary mantle I got. I'm hoping this is something I can keep in the future.

Love you lots family!

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Letter from Elder Z. - June 11th


Well well well
 
I feel like I ran out of interesting ways to start these emails. Anyone who reads this must be fed up with everything I write cuz I don't really say anything new. Sorry Ben. :) So this last week has been amazing. Our Zone has really started emphasizing inviting people to be baptized in every lesson with a specific date and guess what happened?!?! In our zone alone in the last two weeks I'm guess somewhere around 30+ people committed to be baptized on a certain date. On the condition of course that they get an answer that the Book of Mormon is true and this is Christ's true church. It is simply amazing. I know that the promise in Moroni 10 is real. That if we ask God with faith and real intent in the name of Christ he will manifest the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon by the Power of the Holy Ghost. I wish I would have caught hold of this key Doctrine earlier on in my mission. It has completely changed the way I do everything. Really our message is that simple. It all weighs upon the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and all I have been called out here to do is bear testimony of that truth and invite others to find out the same way. It is truly remarkable.
 
We met a few awesome people this last week. All through tracting. It is so awesome to meet people that have a desire to come closer to their Father in Heaven. What a privilege it is to be a guide to help people achieve that goal.
 
I love being a missionary. I will be super sad when I have to leave. I had a unique experience yesterday. An Elder that served his mission here about 2 years ago came and visited our ward and we were able to talk with him for quite awhile. Just hearing him talk about the mission that he loved really changed the way I thought about a lot of things. This time really is so short and precious. I hope to be like that missionary. To be able to look back with fondness of every second I spent out here serving the Lord and his children.
 
I love you all have a great week!

Monday, May 21, 2012

Letter from Elder Z. - May 21st

HEY!

So I figured I would skip email last week cause I just talked to y'all the night b4. So ya....

I had a really great week! A guy we met a few weeks ago committed to be baptized soon! That is really exciting. Today I played frisbee golf. All 18 holes a couple times. I'm not that great, but I will probably get better. Transfers is coming up this Thursday so I will let you know what happens with all of that.

I feel like I'm gonna pass out so that will be all.....sorry

Love ya

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Letter from Elder Z. - May 7th

Hello!

I had a wonderful Birthday thank you for supporting me and having me in your prayers. I really feel myself strengthened every day. I think that is one of the perks of being a missionary. You have millions of people praying for every day. I know this work would be nearly impossible with out all the support we are given.

We had a tremendous opportunity this last Saturday. Elder Bednar came to speak to our mission. The DC north mission and....I forget the name, but it is the mission above DC north. It was such an amazing experience. He didn't just speak to us he let us speak to him and ask questions. I bear my testimony that I know that man is an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. He spoke with power and authority. His testimony of the Savior was very powerful. I know especially when he spoke of the God head being God the Father and his son Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost being three distinct entity's with one purpose that he was speaking complete truth. I felt it. God the Father and Jesus Christ do have bodies of flesh and bone and they do care about us more than anything. They want us to have joy for eternity and it was made possible through the Saviors atonement. That was an experience I will treasure forever.

At this Conference I was able to run into an old friend. Elder Andy Pierucci :). He is doing so great he looks completely different! I had no clue what to say to him we didn't have a lot of time, but I was so happy to see him and to see how much he has changed. I have been looking for him my whole mission and I was finally able to run into him :)

We had a really great week. I have another companion now ( I have 2 companions) Elder Lara from Arizona is waiting for his visa here in our mission. He is a great missionary we are having a lot of fun working together.

We were able to meet two really amazing people this week! They are so awesome. I can't wait to back and teach them about the restored gospel.

Love you guys

Monday, April 23, 2012

Letter from Elder Z - April 23rd

Hey!

Another week has gone by already! It is crazy how fast time flies. Let me see what is something I can share....Well I think I told you that we cover the YSA ward out here the Colonial 1. This ward is full of singles that have their careers or are working in an internship. So these are like the Creme of the Crop singles at least in a career sense. Very intelligent (at leas they seem that way to me) and ya a little bit intimidating to be honest. But I am excited to work with them. That ward has to be completely referral generated since the Sisters still cover the small area the ward is in. It was funny Elder Mooso's Sisters best friend goes to that ward so she was all excited to talk to him and wanted a picture and everything. haha. I wouldn't be surprised if I ran into someone I know out here.

Good news! We got an Indian visa waiter! Brand new missionary who is waiting for his visa. Elder Mooso just answered the call. i guess we gotta go pick him up tomorrow at 7. haha! It will be fun to have a new missionary with us. They got so much faith it always helps an area!

Well much love!

Monday, April 9, 2012

Letter From Elder Z. - April 9th

Hello! So how is everything going? Good good good. I am glad. Hey you know what I realized....I think people just read this and are like well I already know how he is doing. So I don't need to write him a letter. If this be you come on now! I could use some lovin thanks. Just saying! Anyway this week was alright. It was spring break over here for kids up to high school. So that is always fun. There are always lots of families home. But for whatever reason it was like impossible to meet with our investigators! It bugs big time! I just wanna teach some lessons you know? That is like the funnest part of missionary work. Don't get me wrong I like being out there knocking to my hearts content, but you really get to experience the power of the spirit testifying to people though when you teach them the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. People may not even realize that this is something that they need, but they do, all people of the earth need this message and will realize it in time. So transfers is coming up again. I wonder what is happenin to me this time. I don't know....I will let you know next week. Sorry for the short letter. I just can't really write anything personal on here including peoples names. They have asked me not to. I know that I will have a lot of stories for you when I come back! Maybe I"ll start writing miracles to you guys in letter form. It is a lot of work....I dunno I'll think about it. Much Love!

Elder Cameron Zabriskie

Monday, April 2, 2012

Letter from Elder Z. - April 2nd

Hello Hello

I don't have a whole lot to say conference was awesome it always is. I got to watch it right up by Mt. Vernon (George Washington's house) their is a chapel right up there that is awesome! It is right off the Potomac river! They got a ton of pictures of Washington and other patriotic stuff in the chapel. It is probably the coolest chapel I have ever been in. The location is sweet!
I learned something today. Robert E. Lee was married to one of Washington's daughters crazy eh? I wish I could double check to see if that was true, but I can't really maybe someone can confirm me on that.

Let me see got a sweet new investigator from Seara Leon. She does peoples hair. So whenever we go over she is braiding and stuff. All the people here make me wanna try locking up my hair and growing some dreads or something. It is sweet! What do you think Mom? hahaha

So we just got done with a BBQ with the entire zone. It was awesome. Played some soccer on a turf field. I wish I would have got into soccer earlier. It is way fun. I'll have to play some more sometime. There are a bunch of different things I would like to try more of.

Anyway short I know love ya later

Monday, March 26, 2012

Letter from Elder Z. - March 26th

Hello!

I just read through this talk Elder Holland gave at Harvard University and man is it good. I love Elder Holland he has a way of speaking with such power and authority. I guess that would be the Spirit wouldn't it? Hahaha http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/harvard-elder-holland-mormonism-remarks

Anyway this week was really good. I wanted to make a goal to find as many people as we possibly could this week. Not only new investigators, but those "lost sheep" who were out there. We had a lot of success! We knocked doors into this lady from Sierra Leon who had been baptized in the church years before and moved from Old Town Alexandria to where she is not in Springfield. So that was pretty cool. Really hoping that we may teach her family :).

We also met this amazing couple that the Sisters found for us! They are so awesome. I felt the Spirit very strongly when I was over at their house. I will let you know how that is going and Also another family that we were able to give a blessing to their daughter. That was really cool! So we had just an amazing week! I feel so blessed to be a servant of the Lord here in Virginia.

We went out on exchanges with a guy who just returned from how mission a few days ago and I must admit it made me a little discouraged when he talked about how much success they had and the miracles they saw. How they didn't have to knock doors to much. So that entire day I was just a little down trodden. But, when checking up on a referral that a member gave us I got the opportunity to feel the Spirit testify to that man through me that God lives! He still communicates with us in these days through prophets and apostles! and that we have evidence of this in the Book of Mormon that can bring us closer to God as Joseph Smith said "than any other book on earth." I remembered what my purpose was and why I was out here. As Elder Eyering said a Successful missionary is a missionary who has the companionship of the Spirit. Don't you ever forget it.

Love you all talk to you soon. Enjoy general conference! I am so excited. Did you read the Ensign article on how to prepare for general conference? Basically it says study through the past messages of general conference.

Monday, March 19, 2012

Letter from Elder Z. - March 12th


Hey guys!
 
Mt. Vernon is sweeet! Really diverse I have met people from literally all over and I have only been here for a few days. We had a baptism yesterday. It was actually really cool not only because of how spiritual it was and how many people were there to support this young lady, but The drain wasn't working in the font and we ended up having to dump water in from the janitors closet to the font to make sure there was enough water in time. Hahaha. It was actually a lot of fun. I definitely will never forget that. It makes me appreciate how much we have in this country. I'm sure missionaries in some places do that a lot of the time.
 
Going golfing today. We found this thing where we can get pretty much everything for free. So we though we would go. Just playing 9 holes. Gotta go though T-time is at 11:30.
 
LOVE YA!

Letter from Elder Z. - March 19th

Well Hello Fam!

How are my favorite people doing? Has the week been good? Happy St. Patty's day! We actually found a guy on Saturday. He was really cool. We had a pretty spiritual lesson where we talked about Jesus Christ and what our purpose is here to help him find what God would like him to do, and then he was like well thanks Elders I'm gonna go out and party now it is St. Patty's day.....hahaha man. Oh well it is a step by step process.

One of my investigators got baptized in the Warrenton ward on Saturday! It was super awesome to go down there and witness the ordinance being done. I love this lady she is super amazing and has so much faith and is willing to do what the Lord asks of her. Hopefully her family will eventually be blessed in receiving the fullness of the everlasting gospel. I was also able to give a lady a baptismal interview on Friday. I was super nervous about that at first because I wasn't sure how I would know if she was ready and truly had repented of her sins. But, I was able to feel the Spirit the entire time we talked and I knew by the confirming witness of God that he knew she was ready to enter into this covenant. It was a really cool experience. I wouldn't mind doing more in the future not one bit.

I really wanna find here! I need to try even harder to do everything I can to move the work forward in this ward. I know that people out here are ready to receive this message. I am so ready! I don't got a whole lot of time left so I gotta make it count right? It is really scaring me how fast time is going out here...So ya gotta make the most out of every opportunity I have. I hope I will always be able to do that.

Love you much later

Monday, March 5, 2012

Letter from Elder Z. - March 5th


Howdy Ho!
 
Hey! I betcha y'all are wondering what happened to me in transfers and do I got news for you...I have been sent up to the Franconia ward in the Mt. Vernon Stake! The city I live in is in Alexandria and it is way cool up here. This is more of a melting pot. You know I don't really like that phrase. It's like we are melting all the uniqueness off of everyone and making them strictly Americans. It ain't really right ya know? It is like really diverse up here though. I have in just the last few days met someone from Nepal, Gambia, several from Ghana, Puerto Rico, Mexico, man pretty much everywhere. It's a pretty amazing thing that all of these people from around the world live in such a close proximity.
 
My new Companions name is Elder Mooso. He is from somewhere in Idaho I forget where. It is all the same to me. He went on up to BYU-I for a little whiles. Which is cool I guess...I still got a little bit of a angst against that school. Who knows though I might end up going there.
 
We live in an apartment which is far superior in "niceness" then my last apartment. We actually have carpet and a dishwasher! It is super nice! The Mt. Vernon Zone has actually the most missionaries in it than any other in our mission. Because their are so many people here that are willing to talk to us. It is our monthly goal in Mt. Vernon to Baptize like 9 a month on average. That may not seem like a whole lot for people serving in South America, but that is pretty huge for the North East. Our missions pretty sweet! Not meaning to brag or anything, but we had the highest baptizing mission in the North East in December. Ya in DC South Mission we baptize. Speaking about the mission in general. We have a new mission President coming in sometime in June he's actually pretty young like 45 or something like that and has 4 kids in school. So that guy and his wife are going to be super busy. It is super crazy to think of a different guy coming in. I have come to love President and Sister Albright and will miss them a lot. They have done a whole lot for me. At the close of this transfer actually the Sister Missionaries that I came out with will be going home....that is kinda freaky. I feel like I just got out here, but I'm one of the older guys now. I don't feel like it I swear I'm still like the least of these out here.
 
Any who, I said goodbye to all of my friends in Warrenton earlier on in the week. I'm going to miss them a whole lot, but it will be ok. They got good missionaries taking care of em. I will be going back next week for a baptism :). I'm super excited about that.
 
Anyway love you all have a great week!

Monday, February 27, 2012

Letter from Elder Z. - February 27th

Hey Hey!

How is everyone doing today? Good....good....glad to hear it. So yesterday their was an area conference where they broad casted from Salt Lake. It was way good. Elder Scott gave a really good talk as well as the Presiding Bishop. Bishop Burton. He got me way pumped for conference. I am excited for it. I never really cared for it before, but it is like da bomb. Who better to tell you what to work on than the Lord's anointed? :)

So this last week was sweet. As always. Lots of cool things went down all of which I can't really remember. So sorry about that. Transfers is coming up this Thursday I don't know whats gonna happen. So hold your breath and cross your fingers. Yup Yup

Um............Lots of my investigators have been getting sick like all at once it really blows. Like it seems like they have all been in and out of the hospital or have some family crisis. It bugs big time. But, I think we are all over it now. Hopefully...you never know what will happen you gotta just keep enduring and know that it will all work out.

Love ya

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Letter from Elder Z. - Feb. 21st

Hey hey!
Just got back from District meetings! It was fun! Let me see.....this last week was good. One of our investigators set herself on date for March 3! It was awesome. I am super excited. We will do all we can to help her make that day. We also did a bunch of other cool things. I don't really remember much though....We street contacted 2 guys that live across the street from each other and they are now both investigating the church! That was pretty cool. We will go on over in a day or two and see how they are doing. umm.............yup that is really all I can think of right now. Trust me lots more went down, but I don't remember any of it. That happens I guess. I hope y'all are doing good and hope you had a good valentines day. Thanks for the snacks. Those recess hearts are always super good!
Much love.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Letter from Elder Z. - Feb. 13th

Hey!

So this morning this awesome kid who is going on his mission to Nevada in April from our ward. Came over in the morning to work out with us P-90X style. I wanted to vomit. I don't think I've worked out that hard in a long time. But, I feel really good right now. It wore off after a little while. Working out makes your body feel good imagine that. It helps you physically emotionally and everything else. I gotta get back into working out. It might stink in the process, but it is awesome the rest of the day. Plus you get to look ripped and that always makes us happy right?

So A lot of crap has happened this week. One of our investigators says she felt like she got an answer to her prayers and that answer is to not embrace the restored gospel. This made me pretty sad. I love all the people I teach. However, we are going to meet up again. We thought a lot about it and it all comes down the the Book of Mormon. They tell us that in Preach my Gospel over and over again. If you want to dismiss this church and the claims that Joseph Smith and other men who were called of God made you have to go through the Book of Mormon. It is called the keystone of our religion for a reason. It contains everything within it. Our faith in Christ, the Priesthood everything. So until she has a answer that the Book of Mormon is true or it isn't well guess what our job isn't over. Elder Holland gave a talk in 2009 November General Conference that is so inspiring. I love Elder Holland! He speaks with such passion. I don't know how anybody after hearing his testimony of the divinity of the Book of Mormon could deny it. It is true there is no doubt in my mind. It is the word of God and that is evidence of the truth that Joseph Smith was called as a prophet of God. I have been reading in D&C 20 this morning and man it is so cool. Also 2 Nephi 28 and 29 all on this latter day work.

Just like Elder Holland I want it to be perfectly clear when I sit before the Judgment seat that I proclaim that the Book of Mormon true. There is no doubt in my mind and the abundance of the Spirit I feel while reading and pondering it's pages is overwhelming. No evil man could write such a book for it invites us to come unto the Master Jesus Christ. "If you believe in Christ you will believe in these things and if you do not believe in these things believe in Christ." It is that simple

I love you all have a fantastic week happy valentines day!

Monday, February 6, 2012

Letter from Elder Z. - February 6th

Hey family!

Today has been another wonderful week. Except for the fact that I'm wearing no show socks with my suit pants everything is hunky dorey (Spelling?). Anyway I had a few pretty cool experiences I would like to share! Elder Flaherty and I tracted a lot more this week than usual. Our investigator pool is slowing up so we decided we gotta find more. Like a lot more! We shooting for like a billion this week, but I forgot how much I love knocking on peoples doors. It is oh so much fun and really funny at the same time. We have the best adventures when we are out and about. It was pouring the other day and we were having a good time at it. If we gonna be out why not have a good time? So ya we met some really nice folks hopefully we can get in contact with a few of them and teach them about the restored Gospel! A few of the recent converts that I know received the aaronic priesthood over the last few weeks and it is really neat to see them take on this responsibility. One guy got like 3 books on the aaronic priesthood and its roles and was telling us how we gotta be out at food shelters and doing so much more! God has given us a big responsibility and we have to honor it! It is really neat! Well much love!

Saturday, February 4, 2012

WAHOO PICTURES!

Wow, these were such a pain to upload. Technology gets me sometimes, but they're finally up! Cameron sent these at the end of January, so I've had them for about a week now. Enjoy!