The Zachtastic Movie Blog

After returning from my two-year mission to the states of Iowa, Illinois and Missouri, I am ready to get back into the swing of things. One of those things I am getting adjusted to is the matter of seeing and reviewing movies once again. For me, being a Star Wars fan since my earliest memories, what better film is there for me to exercise my weakened critiquing muscles with than Star Wars: The Force Awakens ? With that being said, for the past three years everyone (myself included) has been waiting in feverish anticipation for Disney’s resurrection of one of the most popular film franchises of all-time. With J. J. Abrams at the helm, one would expect that he would do his best to breathe new life into this classic sci-fi franchise, and now that the massively hyped film is here, let us see if this is the Star Wars film you are looking for. 30 years have passed since the Rebellion had crushed the Empire at The Battle of Endor, and now the Republic has been reorganized. In t...

Me with the Shelleys, a mission office couple that just barely went home this past weekend. I will miss these wonderful servants of the Lord! I'm not going to lie... this final week of my mission was quite fantastic. In many ways it was one of the most special weeks of my entire two year period of service. The first reason why is because we were visited by a General Authority! Elder James B. Martino of the 2nd Quorum of the Seventy (he gave   this talk   in General Conference two months ago) came to tour our mission, and his messages were powerful.  Elder James B. Martino and I! What a great man! Sure, it would have been cool for Elder Renlund to have come even after his call to the Twelve, but Elder Martino definitely offered much advice that will positively affect our mission's success. I expected a rebuke first off, but thankfully he told all of us that we are the most obedient and diligent mission he has ever toured. His praise also went towards our conce...

I had a lot of interesting thoughts from this past week, both about the prospect of returning home and then everything else related to the work we are still doing in our area. The first and primary reason why such thoughts have been flying through my brain is because of the Departing Temple Trip which my MTC group went on this past   Tuesday , with both the Jensens and the Assistants.  I won't go into a lot of details since these things were quite personal, but to be short of words, President Jensen greeted me at the end of the endowment session and congratulated me for completing my mission honorably. Yes, I still have a little bit left on my mission; it was still quite a profound moment.  Me with President and Sister Jensen after the Departing Temple Trip! Our entire group (just the elders though). From the beginning the two years of service to Father in Heaven seemed quite daunting and long, which it ended up being that way; however, throughout my...