A sore foot and a visit from an old friend

Hey Everybody!

So this week was a pretty great learning experience! Well at least for the time we were outside the flat because my companion hurt his foot and could not walk. YIKIES!! So Monday we had a great day with a family just spending time with them. As we were with them I taught myself the song called All of Me on the guitar. Still got it, I was a little rusty but in the end my fingers were able to pluck them cords like no time has gone past haha.

Then on Tuesday the best part of that day was the meeting that we had with our mission president. We discussed the importance of our own personal conversion and having faith in the work that we are a part of. It made me think of the story of the prophet and how he shows that the hosts of heaven are with him. I know that the hosts of Heaven are with us in this great work.

So on Wednesday my companion's foot was really hurting him so we ended up staying in the flat. In all honest, I took this as an opportunity to sleep and clean the flat.  That didn't last long though ... some of the missionaries that I live with don't clean up after themselves. I guess I know how my parents felt cleaning up after me.

Thursday was pretty good. We went out and worked for a few hours and we made sure that we were able to go out. We iced my companions foot the entire previous night and then it might have been a little numb but at least we were able to work. The best part of the day was the tea appointment that we had with his brother. He asked us on Sunday how hot we wanted our food and we told him he could make it as hot as he would be able to handle ........ Lets just say that it was so hot that my eyes were watering. That was great!

Friday we had to stay in the flat again because Elder Vogli's foot was acting up again and this time I just slept and we ordered food in because I didn't want the dishes (lol) Laziness FTW!

Saturday we had a great time with Lynn.  She is my recent convert in Dewsbury and we were able to spend time with her and see how she is doing. Life for her lately keeps dealing her an unfair hand of cards but she is such a strong lady and just keeps moving on no matter what comes her way. She never give up and motivates those around her to keep going even though life may be tough. I am eternally grateful for the time that I was able to serve in Dewsbury because it truly changed me forever and helped me to become the better man that God sees fit to create me into. I am so grateful for the example of Lynn and her encouragement because now I am able to make decisions and stand by them without needing anyone's approval. As long as I have God on my side, I know that I am doing the right thing.

Sunday was Sunday ... Nothing exciting except we were in town this lady thought I was Jay Osmond ... hahahahahahaha .. I don't know if thats good but I know that he sings good so thats probably a pretty good thing.

Anyways, got to go.
Love you all!
Take care and be safe!
Til next week
Elder Zachary Lee Dotschkat

Tackled at Church

Hey everyone!
So big things this week:
1.  new companion
2.  the size of my new companion
3.  the fun that we're having!

The mission life is pretty great right now! I don't know what to tell you guys other than I am well and having a great time going to the edges of our area to find people! We are going where no missionary has bone before hahahaha!

Wednesday was probably the best day this week because I was able to go to Leeds and work and see some of the missionaries that I have served around in the past. Its pretty weird seeing missionaries that I known well go home and to know that I don't have much longer than them left! The last six months of my mission has completely flown by and I must say that I don't think (or at least have been told) that it will just speed up from here!

On Friday we were working out in one of our areas and we had a car pull up right beside us. Turned out to be some great members who offered to cook for us and we had a great time with them! Because Elder Viviers can speak Africanas and I play guitar we have been invited back to spend today (p-day) with them! We are very excited and I can't wait to strum those beautiful strings again :) I miss my music!

Then on Saturday we were invited to go to a members home who played rugby and have tea with them! It was just great to talk about rugby for one hour with someone who has a clue what I'm talking about. Then on Sunday two big things happened! I had a prank pulled on me by the rugby brother. As I was saying goodbye to several members he came back and tackled me into the bush in front of the church! (see photo below)  Then my companion lifted him and threw him in!  Great stuff!!!

Because we want to experience the culture of Bradford we went to a Sikh temple and they let us look around and fed us some delicious food. Sihk people are very nice and hospitable and REALLY good cooks!

Well I am off now, I love and miss you guys and hope that you are doing ok :)
Sincerely,
Elder Zachary Lee Dotschkat

Staying in Dudley Hill with a South African companion

Hello everyone! 

So this week has been good! 

Monday we went to the Royal Armoury which has loads of guns and knives and swords from all eras of history!   It's pretty cool but my companion was determined to find something that we found out in the end was not even there ...… great.  Anyways thought that was the best part of Monday! 

Tuesday we finally met with some of our people that we had been trying to meet up with for a while! Not too many exciting things happened that day. Just growing to understand who I am a little more and trying to internalize the things that I am learning lately. One of the things that stand out is the fact that knowledge is useless if we do not act on it! 

Wednesday was good. We went to our ward mission leader's house and we had great fun there with him making him laugh. He recently go out of the hospital from surgery so we are visiting him to help him enjoy life a little more :) 

Thursday we went finding all day and it was pretty good! We met one of our members to go on exchange. He is a former Mission President and is really funny......or at least his reactions are quite funny.  Elder V went with him I went with the other elders and taught a investigator of theirs.  It was a really solid lesson and they are seeing him again quite soon! Then in the evening we had tea at a members home that used to play rugby. The family is quite athletic and enjoy the outdoors quite a bit! It was great to have such a good laugh with them and now I have a theme song because of the dad there.  Watch it! Hahaha - I felt quite flattered with all their praises: hahahahahaha https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykRZbOb1c5c 

So Friday the most exciting thing that day was going on exchange with their priests in the ward. We had loads of fun teaching them about missionary work and moving them in the direction of possible mission service. Then in the evening we had tea with a family that has five kids under 10 and one on the way, a new puppy and a cat!  Boy was it ever crazy and fun there! hahahahhaha They made a huge dog pile and I was drowning in all the children! It was so fun! 

Saturday we had DSLT in which we went to Leeds and then there was a huge suprise for me when I came home! A family from my last area somehow got my number and contacted me! They asked if they could come visit and drop off some food parcels that my recent convert Lynn had for me. I was very happy and ready to agree too.  We met them at our flat and then we went somewhere to sit and talk! It was great times to be with them and to catch up on how their lives are going. Apparently the ward is really wanting me to back there and to be with all of them again. Seems like I did something right somewhere at least :) 

Then in the evening there were transfer calls and I am staying in Dudley Hill with a South African companion! 

Sunday morning we promised some members that we would make them a meal so I was crying!!!!!!! We cut sooooooooo many onions and my eyes were BURNING!  Then we cut some fish and put them on top! Then when it was all done, we all smelled like onions at church hahahahahhahaha it was hilarious!

Anyways, thats my week! 

Love you loads! 

Excited to hear from you guys! 

Elder Dotschkat

Me with my food parcel from the sweet sister in Dewsbury. Was lucky enough to have it hand delivered by the RE family and we had a great visit.  I'm really blessed with the great people I've met on my mission!

All the onions that we cut!

Me with Mr. Fishie

Soaked to the Bone

So here's the deal … Life is great and I am alive!
Not too much exciting things but just to tell you that the biggest thing that I have learned this week is to not underestimate ourselves and the capabilities that we have. I went into K this week desiring to learn more of myself and the relations that I have with God and others and I have sent that even though I may think I am less than what I am, the truth is that I am so much more and have the chance to become whatever I desire.

I desired courage, I found that I have it in the face of adversity.
I desired confidence, I found it when the devil tempted me.
I desired love, not from others but from God to me.
And with all of this, I found that I can be anything I want to be.

Just a little poem I wrote this week.
I hope that you are all doing well and that life will be full of joyous surprises for each of you!
Love always
Elder Zachary Lee Dotschkat

PS - IT'S RAINED TONNES OF BUCKETS LATELY SO I AM SOAKED OT THE BONE!
I LOVE LIVE, I LOVE MY MISSION, I LOVE GOD!

Congratulations Uncle Darin

Hey everyone!

Sorry for the delyed message, everything was closed yesterday.

So let me just tell you that I am alive and kicking! Hahaha 

So this past week was kind of a blur but I will tell you the biggest things that went on because I don't have too much time left unfortunately. 

First of all I just wanted to tell you guys that I love each of you and that you are in my prayers. I have a greater desire day by day to let my Father in Heaven more into my life and to be on the same page with him so that I can feel his love and help others to feel that love through me. 

So this past week we had Elder Rockne move in with us to break up our 3 musketeers :( thats okay though! He is a great lad and I have learned through this experience that we can truly "create your own weather " and make our futures as bright as we desire them. Life sometimes tries to throw us curve balls but we just got to be ready to take them on and go for that home run! So now with that attitude I am working to overcome some of the fears I might have and just JUMP into the unknown having faith that the Lord will catch me :)

Then the next big thing that has happened lately is the difference that I have feeling when I am working to pray to Heavenly Father. The biggest thing that I have learned is that not only do we have to be worthy to ask for the blessings that we so desire but that they have to be worth something enough to us that we are going to do our best and then have faith enough that God will answer our prayers. Just lately its felt like life is trying to teach me that I just need to trust in God and His love for me that he will answer me and the prayers of my heart. I have been asking for a few things lately, haven't gotten them yet or have been able to see that I have got them yet but I know that the things that are worth the most in life are hard to get and take time, efforts and pressures from all around to achieve the goals that we so desire. 

Time is up so I hope what I wrote today makes sense if not then just have to wait till next week!

Love you ALL

Congrats Uncle on your Wedding Day!

Sincerely

Elder Zachary Lee Dotschkat

Hit with the Eternal Marriage Bus

Well hello everyone! This week has definitely been one of great change! There are some good changes, some better changes and some best changes because things are only negative as you make them. WE CREATE OUR OWN WEATHER! So I'm here standing in my ranks fighting the battle of God for the souls of men with my valiant brothers and sisters in Christ.

So Monday was pretty good! We went to the Leeds Institute building to play pool, football, write letters and watch the Lego Movie again. Its so awesome!!!!!  Probably my favourite movie I've seen on my mission in second to the Croods! Anyways after that we came home and did some knocking. YIKES! Not really anyone wanted to talk to us but we kept our chins up and sights on saving the souls of the children of God.

Tuesday - not too bad either. The best part of Tuesday was having Elder Vogli teach me to enjoy knocking ... seriously there is not too much else that we do here. We have found seven new investigators this week and I forget who we found each day but we did find one lost sheep that day. The biggest thing that happened to me that day was the shocking report of Robin Williams sudden death. Even though I did not know the man personally he made millions of lives brighter with his movies and his humour. RIP the Great Robin Williams, you will be remembered in our thoughts, our hearts and each sound of a child's laughter.

Wednesday - same ... knocking. I really gotta tell you that the doors are of solid wood. Uh, I don't know what to say, there really isn't anything that sticks out to me about knocking just that laughs that I have with Elder Vogli. Aparently he was a little mischievous before the mission so it makes for great talks. He has seen Egypt, Italy, Monaco and many other places and the stories that he has of these places are great. This made me have a great desire to fill in my journal so that night I got caught up on three days in my journal. I have many more to get caught up on!

Thursday we had DDM and then you guessed it ... MORE KNOCKING!  I'm not losing my mind just yet with knocking on doors, I'm actually trying to learn to enjoy it so that I can be able to use it as a first resort rather than a last.

Friday we weekly planned and this was where life got a little crazy. This was the day that I learned that sometimes we may think that our ideas are good and our ideas are best but we must sometimes listen to our leaders, even if we don't want to. Needless to say, it caused some tension which you could cut with a knife (just to let you know the tension is over and I'm all better now). So Friday we had a pretty good day because we had a wonderful tea at a members home and she made us some dumplings and some great stew. YUM! So nice because it rained for the past few days and we were SOAKED to the bone! A nice warm meal was perfect to lighten our spirits!

Saturday was a great day for Elder Vogli. His recent converts came up for a few hours and visited with us. They are great people and have quite nearly adopted Elder Vogli as their own son. They came all the way from Sheffield to see him. We went around the town centre in the classic car show (not too much nice stuff just a corvette, ferrari and the Knight Rider car) and then they took us for lunch! I had a nice roast beef and it was great warmth in my stomach. I'm kinda scared right now because I think my body might have gotten used to English weather and the cold back home is far worse than here.  I might die at home. In that case I might never want to come home, just live my life here as a missionary forever. Just immediately become a senior missionary after I'm 27. Hahaha I'm betting though that the mission will send me home before I'm allowed to do that so guess that isn't happening. So much for those dreams lol. Anyways in the evening, we went to the Leeds Hospital to visit an elder who is suffering from a disease which paralyzes the nerves in his body and if it reaches his lungs he will die. So we went there and made him laugh for a little. Well Elder Vogli did that. I just talked with him about American muscle cars and stuff like that. Needless to say, this elder in the hospital is a great young lad because he has only been out two weeks and says that this wouldn't make him go home. Yup, pretty strong man. Now for the most interesting part of the day. I stood in the middle of two guys that were trying to fight each other and broke up the fight. I don't know what enticed me to do so, but I did it and man, was that ever a huge adrenaline rush.  Don't worry though, I'm not hurt. I used what I learned in rugby and wrestling and just got the two guys away from each other.

Sunday - Not many exciting things. We have this Gospel Principles teacher that is really funny because no matter what lesson we are on, you can bet that she is going to talk about eternal marriage. The past week we were closing the lesson and because of this I thought that we were on the home stretch without her mentioning it but we just took the last leap and she hit us with the marriage bus!  Hahahahaha it was hilarious. I nearly broke out laughing.  Anyways in the evening there was an emergency in the mission so now I am a trio with Elder Johnson (the elder from Calgary), Elder Vogli and myself and Elder Nukhmoa has gone to fill in the spot of another missionary in the mission.

Thats my week. Have a great week to everyone.
Love you guys
Elder Zachary Lee Dotschkat

Exchange with another Calgarian!

Hey everyone!
Sorry for the delayed message! Life has been crazy trying to figure out where I am, where I was and where I am going. Not only in a physical sense but a gospel sense as well and let me just say that the biggest thing that I have learned is that if you rely on the Lord and go towards him you cannot go wrong. There have been people that have really tried to question who I am and what I am doing exactly and it makes me truly contemplate whats going on in my life. Not a bad thing, just testimony building and reassuring that I am serving my mission for the right reasons. Yes, there was a lto of encouragement to come here but I listened and desire to stay here. I don't know if I wrote this last week but honestly in our transfer meeting our president had told the entire group of missionaries that were there that within 48 hours we could go home if we truly desired so. I look at it this way, yeah, if I wanted I could but I would rather experience this joy and peace in what I am doing for as long as I can. There is a temptation to extend the mission but I know that its impossible because my visa runs out. I know it sounds silly but I am not ready to grow up and get into life just yet! I would want to serve God for as long as I can because no matter what, at the end of the hardest days I go to sleep and feel an overwhelming peace in the morning that pushes me into another great day in the service of God! Anyways, probs gonna wanna know the best parts of last week so here I go!

Monday P-day was great emailing time hearing how all of your lives are going. Because I have left part of my "family" in the Dewsbury ward, I once again am on my own and am having to rely on God everyday and the emails to feel close to people. Don't get me wrong but there is only so close that you can get with a total stranger in a matter of days. I know that in time I will look at my District as I do my own brothers (just have that protective instinct within me :)  So we played chair football in the chapel and then went finding in the evening and guess what!? I'm actually knocking doors now hahahaha. Honestly tried to avoid it because its more effective for loving the members and LARCs that come your way and receive their friends in the Gospel! But now I am starting to enjoy knocking again!

Then Tuesday and Wednesday I was on exchange with an elder from CALGARY!!! :D  His name is Elder Johnson, he is from the Calgary stake and we had so much fun chit chatting about those great things and people at home and all of the plans that we have. It was a great time to sum it up!

Thursday and Friday was knocking all day with my Albanian companion. Just the usual ... not really anybody sticking out in my mind. Just door after door and person after person, we are always talking to those people who have really nice cars though. I have seen everything from Porsche to Audi R8 to Lamborghini and even one time a covert Stingray! Awesome!!

Oh just to tell you all .... its raining loads now! I thought I was going to be able to dodge it! hahahaha

Well got to go!
Sorry for the quick notes but busy busy busy BUSY!
No rest for the wicked right ;)
Have a great week!
Love
Elder Dotschkat

Me with my chainmail tie

The tie collection