Dear Family,
This week I've made the decision to give it all I've got before I leave Santo Ângelo. I've have been here for 6 months and boy am I ready for a change! I have a lot of memories and friends here but, the work here is nothing but easy!
I know that where fear is, faith can't be. But, to tell you the truth I think that this week won't be just a walk in the park. Pray for us!
Well, I'm not going to lie; this past week hasn't been all that easy. Elder Borlot is ready to go home and my spirits haven't been at 100% but, the fight continues. I'm convinced that all of these experiences that I'm passing will serve for my knowledge and good.
Gustavo and Jose are doing awesome. Now we have three young couples in the new members class and they're all learning together.
Marcio and Geleane are doing great too. Except for the fact that I will have to leave here in a week. They have really been a tender mercy of the Lord for me and a confirmation when Mom told me that there are people waiting for me here in the mission. They will come along just fine and be firm members of the church.
Last night we did a fireside and it was really a success. It was about missionary work and the spirit was really strong! Now the members know their role and responsibility in the work and are excited. I think the next missionaries that come out here will have a lot more help.
This week has been rough but thanks to your prayers, examples, support I haven't given up and don't expect it. The prayer list will be the same this week.
I hope and pray that you all have a great week! Thanks for everything you do!
Don't forget to pray for: Elder Borlot, Gustavo, Jose, Marcio, Geleane, Michel, Adriana, Adriel, Angela.
Until next week...
Elder Zimbelman
Monday, March 16, 2009
Monday, March 9, 2009
This Week
Dear Family,
This week has been a roller coaster! We have had a lot of ups and downs this week but, I'm cruising along just fine.
Gustavo and Jose got married and baptized on Saturday just like we planned. It was a great baptism with about 50 people and great talks. Marcio and Geleane were there too and enjoyed the baptism. But, they are wanting to wait a bit longer for their baptism.
We have only taught them for two weeks and so that is completely normal; But, now we will have to take care of them from doubts and distractions that Satan will put in their paths. Pray for them!
Once again we are having a rough time finding new investigators that are married and will go to church; pray for us!
Also, Elder Borlot has told me that even with all of the spiritual experiences that we are having he has decided he will only stay on the mission until the end of this transfer. So, I'm feeling a lot of responsibility. Pray for him to have a change of heart!
That is about it for this week. We built a counter and sink in our apartment and worked a lot with Gustavo, Jose and, Marcio and Geleane. They are really prepared to be baptized.
Please pray for these people: Gustavo, Jose, Marcio, Geleane, Michel, Adriana, Adriel and, Angela.
Thank you all for your Love, Support and, Emails! They mean a lot to me!
Until Next week!
Love, Elder Z
This week has been a roller coaster! We have had a lot of ups and downs this week but, I'm cruising along just fine.
Gustavo and Jose got married and baptized on Saturday just like we planned. It was a great baptism with about 50 people and great talks. Marcio and Geleane were there too and enjoyed the baptism. But, they are wanting to wait a bit longer for their baptism.
We have only taught them for two weeks and so that is completely normal; But, now we will have to take care of them from doubts and distractions that Satan will put in their paths. Pray for them!
Once again we are having a rough time finding new investigators that are married and will go to church; pray for us!
Also, Elder Borlot has told me that even with all of the spiritual experiences that we are having he has decided he will only stay on the mission until the end of this transfer. So, I'm feeling a lot of responsibility. Pray for him to have a change of heart!
That is about it for this week. We built a counter and sink in our apartment and worked a lot with Gustavo, Jose and, Marcio and Geleane. They are really prepared to be baptized.
Please pray for these people: Gustavo, Jose, Marcio, Geleane, Michel, Adriana, Adriel and, Angela.
Thank you all for your Love, Support and, Emails! They mean a lot to me!
Until Next week!
Love, Elder Z
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Count your Blessings AND Pray for those serving our Country
Another letter from Mark's teammate Steve - currently serving in Afghanistan:
Guys,
It’s down to a couple of months left at the end of this next week, if you can imagine. While I am excited about that aspect of things, any excitement is being marred by significant events on this end. Sorry in advance for any typos.
I am continually amazed by the greatness of America and what it stands for.
Last week I went in to volunteer at the Egyptian Hospital. We also have a hospital run by the Koreans. Both exist on this base to provide health care to the local populace and they let the people----women, children, or anyone who needs medical help, into the installation to provide care. The amazing thing is that it is not the Egyptians or the Koreans that fund their operations. It is America. We pay for their doctors to come here and provide millions of dollars in assistance in medical supplies and so on. I had expected to see a modern facility where modern medicine was being practiced. Instead, the Egyptian Hospital is in a wooden hut reminiscent of some episode (if not worse) of MASH. My basement was more sterile than the operating room. When I walked in, the carnage was startling. The gurneys had women, children and the elderly on them, some of the kids with parents assisting them.
Three times a week, our Battalion Guard Force take bags of items to these people to increase their morale. Bags that include some personal hygiene items, small fleece blankets, crayons or coloring books etc. These are items people of AMERICA have donated and we bag them each week and sort according to need, sex etc. I wish I could adequately describe the look on a young boys face when he received something as basic as a coloring book and crayons. He didn’t even know what a crayon was until I took it out of the box and showed him the magic of color on a cartoon figure in the coloring book. He looked at his dad with amazement. When I went to place the crayon in his right hand, his father touched me on the arm shaking his head, “no.” Just as quickly, he pulled up his son’s sleeve to expose what appeared to be an old, improperly set compound fracture of his right wrist, rendering it useless. I acknowledged understanding and put it in his left hand.
The tragic thing about it is that the vast majority of patients in the hospital were victims of land mines. Kids, women, and the elderly with missing limbs. The kids are the hardest. I visited an older man who had his left leg blown off just below the knee. He had shrapnel so bad in his good leg from the explosion that it got infected and he was at risk for losing this leg as well. The damage done by the infection was unreal. Two big metal rods were sticking out laterally in an attempt to stabilize his leg. He was so emaciated that he looked like a skeleton with skin stretched over him. He was looking at me with eyes of “what can you do to help me?” as the physician described his wounds. The only thing I could do was to extend my hands. He grabbed them with both his and they felt like pieces of worn leather, deeply cracked and calloused. To this day, I haven’t felt anything like it. I felt helpless to do anything other than express some element of care.
The best part was bringing out the soccer balls. These people love playing soccer and when we bring the balls out, you can see a few of them hiding their morale bags underneath the bed sheets so they will also get a soccer ball. We give them to the children first, and then the young teenagers. I gave one to this 8-9 year old boy, but it was explained to me that he couldn’t see well, but nonetheless, through the sensitivity of his touch he could tell what it was and it brought a broad smile. There were young girls with diabetes, children asleep outside on wooden benches waiting for care, and the elderly, some adorned in polyester jackets that wouldn’t even be acceptable to the worse second hand stores. Shoes---you would think that we had given them gold bars and it doesn’t matter if they are dazzling colors or anything else, because they wear them as if they were a perfect match with their clothing. Needless to say I left sobered. No---guilty.
Early this last week our Entry Control Point was attacked by two suicide bombers. One with a vehicle-born IED, and the other with a suicide vest IED. When they approached the ECP, the driver got out of the vehicle and ran, after which his vehicle exploded. The insurgent with the suicide vest was to provide a secondary explosion when rescue personnel came to the scene, at which time he would detonate himself and maximize the number of people he could take with him. He successfully blew himself up, but by some miracle nobody was killed though we did take some injuries to civilian contract personnel. It was coordinated, but they couldn’t bind their anxiety to carry it out the way it was planned. We were all a bit nervous.
Two nights later would take things to a new level. At night we took four, 107mm rockets fired from the south. One struck near a guard tower about 200 meters from my hut, rocking my world. Another fell near a different tower on the base. The other two delivered direct hits on the facility where I work, blowing a hole in the concrete structure. It is miraculous that nobody was killed. Had the rocket hit in my hut complex we would have taken substantial casualties. Also, had it not been for it being late evening, there would have been more people in the facility, also increasing the chances of casualties. The Taliban spring offensive has begun!
Regardless of whether it’s a “spring offensive” or just weather that is allowing better movement etc, all of it is unnerving. These are terror weapons that keep you scared all the time since you never know where or when they will come. After a while, you have to make a decision of either going nuts worrying about getting hit, or you drive on and rationalize it away by thinking, “if it’s my turn to go, then that’s it.” I refuse to live in fear. Pilots call the air equivalent, “the golden BB”---being taken out of the air by a small projectile that just happens to take you down. People win the lottery when the odds against them are astronomical. We play the odds here too, but always assume it will be someone else.
We did a 5K run recently in honor of a young Army troop who responded to the call of duty. The Battalion needed a person to augment a team that would be at extreme risk and put the word out for volunteers. In no time, Private First Class Brandon J. Wadman was standing at Headquarters, duffle bags packed, ready for the job at hand. He answered the call but was tragically killed as a result, receiving the Bronze Star Medal posthumously. There are hundreds of young men just like him---ready to deliver when asked. Hard core.
America is truly great. I have seen it with my own eyes. However, the challenges ahead are going to be rough.
-Steve
Guys,
It’s down to a couple of months left at the end of this next week, if you can imagine. While I am excited about that aspect of things, any excitement is being marred by significant events on this end. Sorry in advance for any typos.
I am continually amazed by the greatness of America and what it stands for.
Last week I went in to volunteer at the Egyptian Hospital. We also have a hospital run by the Koreans. Both exist on this base to provide health care to the local populace and they let the people----women, children, or anyone who needs medical help, into the installation to provide care. The amazing thing is that it is not the Egyptians or the Koreans that fund their operations. It is America. We pay for their doctors to come here and provide millions of dollars in assistance in medical supplies and so on. I had expected to see a modern facility where modern medicine was being practiced. Instead, the Egyptian Hospital is in a wooden hut reminiscent of some episode (if not worse) of MASH. My basement was more sterile than the operating room. When I walked in, the carnage was startling. The gurneys had women, children and the elderly on them, some of the kids with parents assisting them.
Three times a week, our Battalion Guard Force take bags of items to these people to increase their morale. Bags that include some personal hygiene items, small fleece blankets, crayons or coloring books etc. These are items people of AMERICA have donated and we bag them each week and sort according to need, sex etc. I wish I could adequately describe the look on a young boys face when he received something as basic as a coloring book and crayons. He didn’t even know what a crayon was until I took it out of the box and showed him the magic of color on a cartoon figure in the coloring book. He looked at his dad with amazement. When I went to place the crayon in his right hand, his father touched me on the arm shaking his head, “no.” Just as quickly, he pulled up his son’s sleeve to expose what appeared to be an old, improperly set compound fracture of his right wrist, rendering it useless. I acknowledged understanding and put it in his left hand.
The tragic thing about it is that the vast majority of patients in the hospital were victims of land mines. Kids, women, and the elderly with missing limbs. The kids are the hardest. I visited an older man who had his left leg blown off just below the knee. He had shrapnel so bad in his good leg from the explosion that it got infected and he was at risk for losing this leg as well. The damage done by the infection was unreal. Two big metal rods were sticking out laterally in an attempt to stabilize his leg. He was so emaciated that he looked like a skeleton with skin stretched over him. He was looking at me with eyes of “what can you do to help me?” as the physician described his wounds. The only thing I could do was to extend my hands. He grabbed them with both his and they felt like pieces of worn leather, deeply cracked and calloused. To this day, I haven’t felt anything like it. I felt helpless to do anything other than express some element of care.
The best part was bringing out the soccer balls. These people love playing soccer and when we bring the balls out, you can see a few of them hiding their morale bags underneath the bed sheets so they will also get a soccer ball. We give them to the children first, and then the young teenagers. I gave one to this 8-9 year old boy, but it was explained to me that he couldn’t see well, but nonetheless, through the sensitivity of his touch he could tell what it was and it brought a broad smile. There were young girls with diabetes, children asleep outside on wooden benches waiting for care, and the elderly, some adorned in polyester jackets that wouldn’t even be acceptable to the worse second hand stores. Shoes---you would think that we had given them gold bars and it doesn’t matter if they are dazzling colors or anything else, because they wear them as if they were a perfect match with their clothing. Needless to say I left sobered. No---guilty.
Early this last week our Entry Control Point was attacked by two suicide bombers. One with a vehicle-born IED, and the other with a suicide vest IED. When they approached the ECP, the driver got out of the vehicle and ran, after which his vehicle exploded. The insurgent with the suicide vest was to provide a secondary explosion when rescue personnel came to the scene, at which time he would detonate himself and maximize the number of people he could take with him. He successfully blew himself up, but by some miracle nobody was killed though we did take some injuries to civilian contract personnel. It was coordinated, but they couldn’t bind their anxiety to carry it out the way it was planned. We were all a bit nervous.
Two nights later would take things to a new level. At night we took four, 107mm rockets fired from the south. One struck near a guard tower about 200 meters from my hut, rocking my world. Another fell near a different tower on the base. The other two delivered direct hits on the facility where I work, blowing a hole in the concrete structure. It is miraculous that nobody was killed. Had the rocket hit in my hut complex we would have taken substantial casualties. Also, had it not been for it being late evening, there would have been more people in the facility, also increasing the chances of casualties. The Taliban spring offensive has begun!
Regardless of whether it’s a “spring offensive” or just weather that is allowing better movement etc, all of it is unnerving. These are terror weapons that keep you scared all the time since you never know where or when they will come. After a while, you have to make a decision of either going nuts worrying about getting hit, or you drive on and rationalize it away by thinking, “if it’s my turn to go, then that’s it.” I refuse to live in fear. Pilots call the air equivalent, “the golden BB”---being taken out of the air by a small projectile that just happens to take you down. People win the lottery when the odds against them are astronomical. We play the odds here too, but always assume it will be someone else.
We did a 5K run recently in honor of a young Army troop who responded to the call of duty. The Battalion needed a person to augment a team that would be at extreme risk and put the word out for volunteers. In no time, Private First Class Brandon J. Wadman was standing at Headquarters, duffle bags packed, ready for the job at hand. He answered the call but was tragically killed as a result, receiving the Bronze Star Medal posthumously. There are hundreds of young men just like him---ready to deliver when asked. Hard core.
America is truly great. I have seen it with my own eyes. However, the challenges ahead are going to be rough.
-Steve
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Flash Back Friday: Hopscotch
The girls in our neighborhood decided to set the record for the longest hopscotch ever (which currently stands at just over 10,001 squares). They got over 2500 and last night it rained...I hope they try again... I love hopscotch.
It was my game of choice in elementary school.
Critical to a good hopscotch game is a good marker.
While many would search for small stones just the right shape, size and weight I was blessed by my good mother to always have the perfect thing.
While many would search for small stones just the right shape, size and weight I was blessed by my good mother to always have the perfect thing.
Bobby pins.
In the morning my mom would part my unruly, fine hair on the side and put in two bobby pins to keep it out of my eyes. She always crossed them to keep them in place...
until recess anyway.
Two bobby pins hooked together had the perfect weight
...and it would stay right where you threw it,
or if you did it just right
it would slide in the square causing a competitors marker to roll
on the line or out of the square.
Life was good.
I remember many days coming home from school and my mom would comment that I looked like a rag-a-muffin. I guess I didn't put them back in the way she did...
and then... well, if they are not crossed right they fall out and get lost or become a pain. I think many times they came home in my pocket rather than in my hair... if they came home at all.
Function over form right?!
I'm sure if my mother had known she gave me the key to being the hopscotch queen she wouldn't have minded spending a small fortune on bobby pins.
(No wonder she didn't use barrettes)
until recess anyway.
Two bobby pins hooked together had the perfect weight
...and it would stay right where you threw it,
or if you did it just right
it would slide in the square causing a competitors marker to roll
on the line or out of the square.
Life was good.
I remember many days coming home from school and my mom would comment that I looked like a rag-a-muffin. I guess I didn't put them back in the way she did...
and then... well, if they are not crossed right they fall out and get lost or become a pain. I think many times they came home in my pocket rather than in my hair... if they came home at all.
Function over form right?!
I'm sure if my mother had known she gave me the key to being the hopscotch queen she wouldn't have minded spending a small fortune on bobby pins.
(No wonder she didn't use barrettes)
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Mortar what?
Is it March already?
Must be... I just took my second Stats exam out of four.
Wow half way there.
Another sign spring is on its way?
I just ordered my cap and gown.
Aaron, Jordan and I will be all decked out come April 24th.
We even get to sit together and our names will be announced in rapid succession
and then our families will have three times the challenge
of not cheering wildly until all the names of the graduates are read...
of course we are near the end so they won't have to wait too long.
While it's been quite a while since I've worn
a mortar board on my head
(like more than a quarter of a century)
(wow I really am old)
I must admit that I have a few questions.
Who came up with that name anyway?
How come masters students have to pay more for their apparel?
How come masters students are asked for their head size and
Bachelors students get one-size-fits-all?
Does finishing a masters program make your head larger so they need more specifics?
(I am referring to brain size not ego)
These are questions I would research and find the answers for
...if I wasn't busy figuring out confidence intervals,
probabilities and p values.
Must be... I just took my second Stats exam out of four.
Wow half way there.
Another sign spring is on its way?
I just ordered my cap and gown.
Aaron, Jordan and I will be all decked out come April 24th.
We even get to sit together and our names will be announced in rapid succession
and then our families will have three times the challenge
of not cheering wildly until all the names of the graduates are read...
of course we are near the end so they won't have to wait too long.
While it's been quite a while since I've worn
a mortar board on my head
(like more than a quarter of a century)
(wow I really am old)
I must admit that I have a few questions.
Who came up with that name anyway?
How come masters students have to pay more for their apparel?
How come masters students are asked for their head size and
Bachelors students get one-size-fits-all?
Does finishing a masters program make your head larger so they need more specifics?
(I am referring to brain size not ego)
These are questions I would research and find the answers for
...if I wasn't busy figuring out confidence intervals,
probabilities and p values.
Monday, March 2, 2009
To the Ward
Dear Edgemont 19th Ward,
It's amazing how fast time passes on the mission. I can remember you all so perfectly and I know that all you have done for me has made my mission the best time of my life! I'm not sure I would be here without your powerful examples of living Christlike lives. I'm convinced of the perfect plan of our loving Heavenly Father and the difference it makes in the lives of those who diligently seek Him. I have also gained quite a testimony that missionary work shouldn't begin on the mission and should be a great part of our lives forever. I took for granted how blessed we are to live in "Zion!" The gospel is true and it blesses and changes our lives every day. That is why we need to share it.
We need to let the light of Christ shine in our eyes so that those who are searching the truth will be able to find it in our examples. It has been such a blessing in my life to get to know such people like you! We are sons and daughters of a God who knows us by name and loves each and every one of His children! To the extent that He rejoices with us when we are happy and weeps for us when we are sad. Miracles are real and happen when we align our will completely with the will of the Father. He wants to give us everything but He can't take away our agency. It's our choice to accept His mercy and the blessings of all He has. Or, the opposite.
Let us chose daily to serve our Heavenly Father and the blessings will come in the time and way that God sees fit. I love you all and I'm grateful for your loving examples in my life!
Thank you!
Love,
Elder Zimbelman
It's amazing how fast time passes on the mission. I can remember you all so perfectly and I know that all you have done for me has made my mission the best time of my life! I'm not sure I would be here without your powerful examples of living Christlike lives. I'm convinced of the perfect plan of our loving Heavenly Father and the difference it makes in the lives of those who diligently seek Him. I have also gained quite a testimony that missionary work shouldn't begin on the mission and should be a great part of our lives forever. I took for granted how blessed we are to live in "Zion!" The gospel is true and it blesses and changes our lives every day. That is why we need to share it.
We need to let the light of Christ shine in our eyes so that those who are searching the truth will be able to find it in our examples. It has been such a blessing in my life to get to know such people like you! We are sons and daughters of a God who knows us by name and loves each and every one of His children! To the extent that He rejoices with us when we are happy and weeps for us when we are sad. Miracles are real and happen when we align our will completely with the will of the Father. He wants to give us everything but He can't take away our agency. It's our choice to accept His mercy and the blessings of all He has. Or, the opposite.
Let us chose daily to serve our Heavenly Father and the blessings will come in the time and way that God sees fit. I love you all and I'm grateful for your loving examples in my life!
Thank you!
Love,
Elder Zimbelman
Busy Busy
Dear Family,
This week has been amazing! It truly is through our difficulties and problems that we become stronger.
This week has been a powerful testimony builder for me. Elder Borlot's problems haven't passed fully but, I'm putting him to work and we have seen a lot of miracles!
A week ago Sunday, we met Marcio and Geliane. The second time we taught them we already marked there baptism to be the same Saturday as Gustavo and Jose! We taught them with a young couple that will soon get married in the temple and the spirit was so strong that they cried during the first vision! They went to church Yesterday and Marcio prayed in the New members class! During his prayer he said that he would always be at church Sunday! We have visited them every day of this week and it has been very amazing the way that they have been prepared by the Lord!
This week will be very full and rushed! But, it will be very special! Pray for these four and we will take care of them; Gustavo, Jose, Marcio and Geliane!
I'm sorry, we are running a little late and we've gotta jet.
Love you guys!
Elder Rob
This week has been amazing! It truly is through our difficulties and problems that we become stronger.
This week has been a powerful testimony builder for me. Elder Borlot's problems haven't passed fully but, I'm putting him to work and we have seen a lot of miracles!
A week ago Sunday, we met Marcio and Geliane. The second time we taught them we already marked there baptism to be the same Saturday as Gustavo and Jose! We taught them with a young couple that will soon get married in the temple and the spirit was so strong that they cried during the first vision! They went to church Yesterday and Marcio prayed in the New members class! During his prayer he said that he would always be at church Sunday! We have visited them every day of this week and it has been very amazing the way that they have been prepared by the Lord!
This week will be very full and rushed! But, it will be very special! Pray for these four and we will take care of them; Gustavo, Jose, Marcio and Geliane!
I'm sorry, we are running a little late and we've gotta jet.
Love you guys!
Elder Rob
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