Week 85 in LA--Early Birthday Present, 2 Easter Dinners & a Great Week

Zach called again this week (yay for me!!). He is doing really well and sounds amazing but tired. He is still having trouble sleeping so that's a worry. He and his companion get along great (which is a relief to me) and he lives in an apartment with 2 other missionaries. He is still a Zone Leader so that means a lot of meetings and helping other missionaries but he really enjoys it.

Their investigator, Ted, is progressing along nicely. They are meeting with him again today so that's great. Zach think's he will be baptized soon--which is awesome!! They don't really have any other prospects but they keep plugging along and are valiantly trying to find more people to teach.

His feet are getting a little better. The gel helps but it's hard because he has to wear his shoes all day and his feet sweat so........he tried to take them off when he can but that's usually only at meal times. 

He loves LA and the people out there. He said that generally, they are all really nice but of course there are some that are mean and rude. He loves his mission and he is sad that it is almost over. 

Zach and his companion were invited to 2 Easter dinners, one at the Bishop's house and one at the Elder's Quorum President's house. They accepted both invitations, thinking that they were spaced far enough apart that they should be fine. Well..........turns out that wasn't the case and he WAY over ate but did sleep good that night 😂😂. At the Bishop's house they were served lamb and tri-tip and he said it was delicious. Then at the other house they served tri-tip as well. And funny side note, the Elder's Quorum President lives in Kanye West's neighborhood. He said they didn't see Kanye or Kim sadly. He has only really seen one celebrity and that was Kevin Hart and he said that he is really short. 😂😂

Zach went to the swap meet yesterday because he really wanted a pair of Huraches for his birthday. He wanted a specific kind (dressy) so I told him he'd have to find and buy them since I had no idea if they would fit or what exactly he was looking for. So he found them yesterday and the best part, the man sold them to him for only $30!! The only picture he sent me was of the shoes so enjoy!! 

Week 84 in LA--Transfers and No Weddings but 2 Funerals

Zach called home yesterday. He sounds great!! He was able to see his counselor, Garrett which was very helpful for him. A lot of Zach's issues are stemming from an inconsistent sleep pattern. He is not getting the amount of sleep he needs so it is triggering the depression/anxiety/PTSD. I told him to buy some Melatonin, which he did yesterday so we'll see if that helps. 

He said that they had to drop some of their investigators because they just weren't progressing. But they are teaching a man, I believe his name is Ted (but my memory is garbage), and he came out to SLC and went to General Conference in the conference center and he was very moved, especially by the prophet. Zach thinks he will be baptized very soon. They are meeting him for lunch today so hopefully things go well. 

Transfer calls came in and.........................surprise, surprise, Zach is staying in the Woodland Hills area another transfer and will still have Elder Reid as his companion, which is great because Zach really likes him and they get along really well. 

Zach said that 2 people in the ward he is serving in passed away on the same day so they went to 2 funerals this week. One on Friday and one yesterday. He knew the one sister pretty well. She had Alzheimer's and her husband quit his job 5 years ago and took care of her. Zach said he never left her side in all that time and that he is a great example of pure love. So sweet!!

Zach's birthday is coming up so we talked a lot about what he'd like. He wants a pair of Huraches that he will get in LA, Gold Toe socks and then he asked for pantry items to make meals. He said that the end of the months are struggles for them money wise so staples that can be made into quick and easy meals would be helpful. He also told my mom that gift cards are good too (like to In and Out and other food places). 😂😂

I sure love Zach!! He has grown so much in the almost 2 years he's been gone. He is stronger and braver than most people his age and I am so proud of him!!

Here are some pictures that I took from an Elder in his Zone. Bowling and lunch.

Week 83 in LA--A Weekly Long Awaited For

Hey Everybody sorry emailing is not my forte but I'm sending one this week.

So on Monday we went to Burbank and saw some cool things.

Tuesday we went on exchanges with some elders in the zone and I had a lot of fun walking and riding the bus.

Wednesday we had zone conference a giant meeting with half the mission. President Haynie asked me to conduct the meeting so it was super cool.

Thursday we had ZLC and then a ton of other appointments.

Friday we got stuck in a crazy situation that was pretty intense but then we went to district council and Elder Seipel surprise cleaned our apartment by re arranging our extra stuff. It was a tender moment after a long day. 

 **The crazy situation was more than just crazy. As Zone Leaders, Zach and his companion, Elder Reid, were called by some sister missionaries and asked to come immediately to their apartment. No other explanation except to come and to come quickly. The drove over to the apartment and were let in. There was a man outside their door trying to get into the sister's apartment. He uses a ruse over the call system telling them that he lived in the building and had locked himself out so they kindly (so they thought) buzzed him in. He came to their door demanding to be let in because there were men after him trying to kill him. Zach and his companion were able to get the sister's out, but remained until the police could get there. The man kept telling them that 3 men were outside and were trying to kill him. Zach and his companion indeed saw 3 scary men across the street. It took the police an hour to respond and when they got there, they noticed fresh track marks on the man's arm. They asked if he had shot up and he told them yes, heroine. The police then handled the situation and the three men took off when they saw the police. The police are pretty sure it was a drug deal gone bad or something like that but for sure drug related. This triggered Zach's PTSD (from a previous mission related incident) and he went home and had a breakdown. He will be seeing his counselor, Garrett this week to try and get back on track. He is also not sleeping well so that is a big problem too.**

Saturday we had a great time watching conference and got some burgers from the Stake for dinner after the priesthood session and I learned some ASL.

Sunday we had a great meal with a member and enjoyed conference again.

Have a great week.


Elder Cox

District pictures

We made a banner for our zone out of pvc pipe 

Week 82 in LA--Pitted Keratolysis, Lunch Date & Kindness Beyond Measure

We got a phone call again this week. Well, let's make that 6 phone calls. Zach has been having some issues with his feet. He thought he might have had athlete's foot but after Skyping with a Podiatrist, it turns out he has Pitted Keratolysis, which is a bacterial infection that is caused by a lot of walking and sweating of the feet. Sounds like something right up a missionaries alley. 😂😂 So the doctor called him in a prescription for Erythromycin in gel form to put on his feet twice a day. CVS Pharmacy was great in helping us pay for it since he didn't have the HSA card with him we were able to get him the card number and information and they made some calls and figured out how to do it so that was very helpful and we are very grateful for that!! He also bought a new pair of shoes yesterday because his were barely hanging on by a thread (I've been telling him for a few months to buy a pair but..........) He said that at times it is painful and hurts to walk so he's hopeful that the medication will help with that as well.

On Saturday, Julie, Olivia and Kyle (they are from the Wilshire area where Zach served for 6 months. Olivia was baptized while he was there)  went to his area and took him and his companion to lunch. They also brought him a TON of groceries (his words) and we are all so grateful for their kindness. I was able to video chat with them on their way back from seeing Zach. They told me that he looks so, so good and that he is doing great! What a blessing they are in all of our lives. They will be lifelong friends for sure!! We love them so much!!

Zach said they are teaching a few people but they just aren't progressing. They are still going to keep trying though. He stays super busy being a Zone Leader. He has a lot of meetings, is over about 20 other missionaries and their needs and still has his ward to cover. He loves it though! He said that he maybe needs to be a little more stern but he has a really hard time doing that. 

He said it's really hard to think about coming home because he loves his mission so much but I'm sure once he's back, he will get back into the swing of things and be fine (I hope). He appreciates all of the love, prayers and support from everyone. 

Julie sent me the first picture, Zach sent me a few pictures and then I stole a few from Elder Seipel's Facebook post the other day (they are old ones but ones I had never seen).

1 Zach and Elder Reid at lunch
2 Zach somewhere
3-4 Zach's infected feet
5-6 Picture's from Elder Seipel