I turned 20 today!!

Hey mom, 

Thanks for sending me all the emails and sorry I didnt respond until today. I was with my district on Monday at the beach taking pictures and trying to build unity and by the time that we got back to Sunderland it was just a little too late to email because we had a lesson and then yesterday we were in Leeds all day with a wonderful Zone Conference so now I am 20 and emailing you. yup. I'm 20 now! Is that weird for you? Its just a little for me. I think that I have changed a lot since I have come out. My heart is still the same, maybe even bigger now and its just my personality that has grown. I got more of a back bone now :) Lol hope thats good :) Sounds like the boys enjoyed their camps, especially Josh! I was so happy to hear from my little brother. I do miss Ben and Josh quite a bit....there is noone to beat on here :( ....just kidding lol I actually miss hanging out with them. When I get home I want to hangout with them and Dad more so that we can spend some quality bonding time together. Its just something that I have realized whilst I have been out here....9 months now! Time is FLYING by so fast! It feels like just a few months ago that Emma had said the prayer, I gave you all hugs and was on the plane. It's weird how the time just speeds up the longer that I am in the service of God. I do enjoy the work a lot, it is hard some days and sometimes I dunno what to do but I know that if I trust in God that he will help me :) I am grateful for the church in my life and what it means to me. I just sent a email to Josh about the area and how I have recognized the gospel blessings in my life and it is truly amazing to reconize the blessings that God gives us for obeying him. He loves us and desires to bless us and so it is our opportunity to set ourselves in line with Gods will so that we can come closer to him. I have learned so much in this past week. Yesterday we had a Zone conference in which we learned about exact obedience and about not going back to the past. Live for today remember the past and dream, work & have faith for the future! These lessons that I learned yesterday have truly shook me to my core and as of now I have a new resolve to be better than I was and to work towards what I can become. All of us can become our true potential, we just have to work for it. There is a difference in I know I can and I know I will! We must be those people to work hard, to acheive goals and witness miracles! This past week has taught me that miracles are everywhere around us and that we just have to look for them! The wonderful things of this world are just waiting at our finger tips to be taken and to be used. There is the beauty of the world around us and every moment I thank God for giving me the chance to come to this earth to experience the good and the bad and to see the beautiful wonders of the day! I love my life and I love serving my Heavenly Father. Through serving his children and helping them come home to him. We have two baptisms coming up in March and they will be a wonderful step for these young men to get on the path to return to their Father in Heaven who is waiting with open arms. He is waiting for all of us, we just have to go to him. He loves us and will never EVER be far away. The farthest distance that he ever is away from us is your knees to the floor :)

I must run now! Thank you all for the birthday wishes and gifts! 

Have a wonderful week

Elder Zachary Lee Dotschkat

Creating unity as a district

Selfie at the beach

Love this shot of him!

Mission lineage (Back L-R) Elder Mielacher (companion) Elder Richards (trainor), Elder Dotschkat
(Front L-R) Elder Labero (companion) and Elder Ivins (companion)

Here is some pictures of my birthday so far!

I woke up this morning and Elder Li had prepared a breakfast of pancakes, bacon and eggs for us :) oh an we had maple syrup!!!!! wohoooo! it was delicious! I will take more pics during the day and send them Monday :) Love you mom and thank you for the birthday wish and everything that you do for me! Love you!

Your 20 YEAR OLD SON

Elder Zachary Lee Dotschkat!!!

Birthday pancakes with maple syrup

A week full of miracles!

Hello everyone! This week has been a great week full of miracles! 

So on monday it was just a wonderful day. Elder Li and I spent the pday at Newcastle just hanging out with other missionaries playing sports and watching a movie . After p-day we went to a members home and taught her fiancé Alex! He is our newest scheduled investigator! He is scheduled for baptism for the 8th of March! Its so good to finally have an investigator that is wanting to meet with us and that wants to learn more :) 

The biggest thing that I learned is that we need to communicate with those people around us. Those people that knew me before my mission know that I can communicate, I just need to make the conscious effort to do it :P I also learned that Heavenly Father blesses us in enormous ways, especially when we feel that we don't deserve it. I know that it was only through Heavenly Fathers blessing that we are now able to teach Alex.  A lot of the time we say as members that God will answer prayers but while teaching Alex the thought came to mind to ask if we truly understand what that means? Do we truly understand the position and powers that prayers can hold? Heavenly Father wants to bless us with miracles and wants us to have ALL the blessings that he has in store for us but sometimes we need to be the ones to ask for them. Heavenly Father wants us to come here and have happiness in this life so why would he hold anything back from us. The fact is that God will give us all the blessings that we need and that we ask for. They may not come in the way or the time that we want, but they will come! 

"I the lord am bound when ye do what I say, but when ye do not what I say, Ye have NO PROMISE"

God will bless you!

Another thing that I have learned is that life is too short so we need to make the most of every minute that we have! This life is too precious to waste it on things that don't matter so we always need to be doing things that do matter. I have realized this especially in missionary work with how fast time is going and how little time is left. My Zone Leader said to my district in the meeting yesterday that we should not let a day pass us by and I stand by that!

Have a good week

Elder Dotschkat

The beach, a castle, some swans & a Canadian goose

Hello everyone :)

So this week was pretty good :)

Monday - we went to Newcastle and got there an hour before the other people so we had to wait in the cold to have people open the chapel doors :P It ended up being the senior couple and so we played Phase 10 with them.

After that I went on exchange to South Sheilds again with Elder Koojiman and worked at this less active's home that night. She is from Zibabwei I think and so she fed us fufu and curry and rice and it was just all so good!

Tuesday - Elder Koojiman and I went finding around South Shield and it was beautiful. We went and saw the beach, a castle, some swans and a Canadian goose! :D it was great to be able to see all of these thing especially because I took pictures! I took 47 pictures that one day and for a missionary, that is A LOT!

Wednesday - We had district meeting again and it went well. I feel that they are becoming a lot better over time only because people are participating in it a lot more. Then the rest of the day was pretty crazy and stressful but let it suffice to say that I was upset at many things going wrong all at once :P So because so many things were happening all at once we had to get a member to deliver tea to us. I am so happy that she understood the emergency.

Thursday - Went finding all day :P Then in the evening we had tea at a members home and they ordered Chinese food for Elder Li and made pancakes with maple syrup for me !!!! :D I never really like maple syrup until my mission :P OH! and it was the real stuff from home :P lol

Friday - Friday we went finding all day and found some places with really nice graffiti, if you can say its nice. More of a talent than a nuisance in my eyes sometimes :) The most exciting thing about Friday was during the sport night. There is a member of the ward that brought her non member fiance and he agreed to let us teach him!!!! :D WOOT!!! soooooo excited!

Saturday - Went up to Newcastle for DLST and took some pictures with Elder P because he is going home next week. It is amazing to me how fast time is flying by! At this rate before I know it....ugh....I don't want to think about it lol I love this work, I don't think that I have ever laughed so much and so consistently in my life. There is always something to laugh about, whether it is something stupid that I have done or not :P

Sunday was Sunday. Twas a busy busy BUSY day in which we visited members and once again gave the sacrament to Bill. Also the other team in Sunderland has an investigator that passed her interview (done by yours truly lol) and is getting baptised next weekend. Please pray that it will all go well because she has asked me to give a talk and she has MANY friends invited to attend!

I must run now but until next week take care of yourselves!

Love you all !

Elder Dotschkat

Pancakes with maple syrup

The Canadian Super Hero

Hey everybody!

So this week started with an exchange to south Sheilds! I was there with Elder Saolatoga. (Austrailia) and Elder Koojiman (Holland) and it was so fun!  Monday night we went and had FHE with this less active family and the kids were so crazy quiet! Like dead silent! I am not used to that!  The one wants to get baptised so that is great and the mother promised to cook me some African meals when I go over next which is either tonight or tommorow! Then back at the flat we played Phase 10 :)

Tuesday - the best part of the day was seeing a less active named David. He is a great guy and LOVES comics!!!!  GUESS WHAT! GUESS WHAT! GUESS WHAT EVERYBODY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THERE IS A CANADIAN SUPER HERO OTHER THAN WOLVERINE!!!! (yes! Wolverine is Canadian!) I got pictures of the comics and it was just so great to have fun looking at the North Guard! Apparently there is a great lakes team of Avengers and a Captain Canuck as well! hahahahahahaha SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wednesday was district meeting and I think that it has been the best one so far because of the missionary's reactions and participation in it!  Then in the evening I took my FIRST AND LAST UK driving lesson! BOY DOES IT EVER FEEL GOOD TO BE BACK BEHIND THE WHEEL!  I like the roundabouts as well! It really is great once you get the hang of it. 

Thursday the best part of the day was doing service for this house of students that needed their yard tidied up but just didn't have the time. We have been in contact with the students and they say that they will be coming to the church soon to the sport night and to have a look around!  I am pretty excited about that because it is going SOOOOO WELL!  

Friday was SO crazy! So the main crazy things were Elder M is gone! He got transferred to south Sheilds and Elder Soalatoga to somewhere else in the mission. I nearly had a heart attack because the assistants called and paused after they had asked if President had called me yet......one word....frightening...haha not really but yes. So when that happened we had to leave the house of the less active that we just arrived at to let Elder M practice his drum performance for the talent show that night at the chapel. We got home, ordered pizza, packed Elder M and then said goodbye. The ZL's picked him up and we went to the chapel for the talent show. It was so fun!  Apprently it is on youtube....if you find it....please just remember, I am still silly old me :P

Saturdays most exciting activities happened in the morning when we got a call from our Chinese member saying that he had found a friend that we could teach at the Newcastle chapel and that would come to the baptism and Chinese New Year celebration! Elder Li was so happy!  He was like a kid at Christmas because that is what Chinese new year is to him. btw it is the year of the horse! So while we were there he taught her completely in Chinese because she cant speak English that well. I felt like the penguins off of Madagascar, "Just smile and wave boys, Just smile and wave..." . Haha. It was great anyways though :) 

We had an authentic Chinese Hot Pot!  Sorry, I feel so bad because I forgot to take pics. I will repent mom. But anyways, it was delicious!!!! After we were done the metro ride home was crazy because Newcastle and Sunderland football teams played and we were honeslty worried that we would get mugged or beaten up hahahahahaha......then I fell asleep. :P I woke up with a 2 drunk guys sitting beside us trying to hit on this girl from London and completely burning out ! hahahahahhahahahhahaahh!!!! SO funny! She was really nice and would like to meet US soon though :P

Sunday - Probably best Sunday that I have enjoyed here. All in all it was a good day. I bore my testimony and listened to many wonderful ones. After we had a huge lunch appointment with the stake patriarch and that was great!  Talked about how rugby is the best sport on earth (kind of biased) and then we went to Roker to give Bill (72 year old man) the sacrament. When we were coming home I saw a mustang and HAD to talk to the guy and compliment his car. There are not many over here so he appreciated it and wants to talk to us and learn more :) Then we went to Mavis, had gammon steak with pineapple and then got dumplings from our chineese member. Then played phase 10 at the flat oh and twister! hahahahahaha it was just great !

Well now I am off to Newcastle to watch the super bowl!!!! 

Have a great week! 

Your are in my prayers

Elder Dotschkat

The Canadian Super Hero