Now just a week till the brother gets home!

I am so excited to have Zack back home and able to be in contact with him often. I have been this same way when Nick, Adam, and Eric all came home too. With this, I thought maybe instead of just saying how awesome this time is or how amazing my brother is (both of which are true and I could go on and on about...) I thought I would explain a little bit what my brother has been doing.

Zack and his companion at church.

Zachary decided long ago that he wanted to serve a mission for our church. There are dozens of scriptures between the Bible, Book of Mormon, and the Doctrine and Covenants that say we are to serve missions or that we are to spread the gospel. There are also scriptures that tell us worthy young men that are righteous priesthood holders are to go. It is their priesthood responsibility. Zachary started earning money at a young age, balancing high school, early morning seminary (a class that started at 6:00 am during the school year), work, and after school activities to earn enough money. He also made the decision to delay college in order to have a final, hard push to get all in order. It's not cheap, costing approximately $10,000. That does not include all the other expenses prior to a mission are considered, like physicals, shots, passports, etc. Mormon missions are different from other churches missions as they last longer than a typical mission trip (18 months for women and 24 months for men) and they do not earn any money while on their missions. The day is pretty well scheduled for a missionary. A typical day is:

6:30 am - rise, exercise
7:30 am - breakfast
8:00 am - personal scripture study - this is from the standard cannon of scriptures
for example the Book of Mormon and Bible, the Missionary lessons, and Preach My Gospel
9:00 am - companion study - missionaries are assigned to be with at least 1 other person at all times
while they are on their mission. They use this time to study with their companion what
they have learned. There is a reason why learning at school in a group is very effective.
They use that same philosophy here.
10:00 am - start to proselyting, unless you are like Zack learning a new language and there is another
30-60 minutes scheduled for language study.
**There is another hour given for lunch and an hour given in the evening for dinner. These are
allowed to be fit in that best work with the proselyting schedule. Typically dinners are done
around 6:00 pm.
9:00 pm - the missionaries return home, unless they are in the middle of a lesson. Missionaries get
back no later than 9:30 pm. This gives them time to plan out the next day's activities
and/or writing on a journal, and prepare for bed.
10:30 pm - missionaries are in bed.

Eric teaching an English class in Brazil.

It is a busy day. In with the proselyting is a requirement for service as well. Last I heard there was a minimum amount of service required per week of the missionaries. I think it depends upon the individual mission (geographical region designated and run by a mission president, appointed by the church to serve typically for around 3 years with his wife).

Missionaries are given 1 day "off" a week. These days do vary from mission to mission. This day is called "Preparation Day" or "P-day" if you are wanting to say it colloquially. This is the day that normal life items need to be done. This can be things like cleaning the apartment, laundry, shopping. P-day also gives the missionaries to tour the areas that they are serving in. I personally love P-days because this is the day that the missionaries are allowed to write home. They are given 1 hour on a computer and they can then read e-mails from family and send an e-mail back. I honestly think my brothers have become insanely fast typers as they read an e-mail from all of us and write a (normally) meaningful e-mail in return.

Can you believe Adam actually got tired of castles in Spain?

I am amazed and applaud the 83,035 missionaries that were serving last year in the 405 missions in the church. It is something that I wanted to do as a young woman that ended up not being right for me when the time arrived. It is a difficult task. It is hard to put your life on pause, completely, for 18 - 24 months.

Nick in Australia where the Man from Snowy River was filmed.

Zack, as well as Nick, Adam, and Eric, are prime examples of some of the best of our worthy young men who go out to make a difference and to preach. They have set the bar high for the younger two, Jacob and Sam. They have place sure foot prints that the others are walking in, but still allow them to make their own choices and be who they are. The missions allow my brother, who are good young men, to come home as strong, confident men.

And, in 5 days, we'll get to see another return home with honor. We'll get to hear some of his stories he did not get a chance to tell us on his e-mails or on his twice a year call. It'll nice to all be "back" and enjoy just being together again.

Zack, see/talk to you soon bud! And to the rest of the 83,034 missionaries out there, I'm praying for you and your families as you continue on in this great work.