Week 11

I feel very safe as I walk around and talk to people and I am never nervous because I know the Lord is always protecting me!  And yes being obedient is always something that will help in every situation!

Yeah it is prettty funny story about the throwing up!  I was laughing too!  Well maybe not while throwing up but after! And yeah I still just eat whatever they put infront of me because I am always starving by that time and I don't care what it is!  I just have to trust the Lord to take care of me!  Thanks for the video!  I loved all the videos this week!  The videos with Abby were so cute and funny and the happy birthday song was so funny with the matching clothes and Shannon popping in at the end!

We are going to an awesome families house for my birthday and the food is always so good there!  My favorite food here is the fruit with chile powder!  Ohh it is so good!  I'll have to bring back the chili powder! You are all missing out!

I'll let you know the next pday what we are going to do for skype!  

I am progressing with the Spanish!  It is hard to see the progress because it is line upon line but as I look back 6 weeks ago I can tell I have improved so much!  The work is going well!  The best part is seeing people come to know the book of mormon is true..it is so great because as they gain a testimony of this divine book the gain a testimony of the restored gospel and come to know that Christ is their Savior!  It is the same with us as members! As we read and pray about the book of mormon our testimonies can be strengthened  and we WILL come closer to Christ!

We have a new investigator that is named Maria Luisa Alverez!  She is great and she is progressing very fast!  We see how much faster the people come unto Christ as the keep commitments and read and pray about the book of mormon!  

There are so many funny things that happen here with the investigators and everything!  One of the investigators was so happy after one of the lessons that he went and bought a cake to eat from the small store on the corner! hahah He just  wanted to celebrate!  Sometime the Holy Ghost is just so powerful it tells us to go buy a cake!  hahaahah!  

I am loving it here and not feeling any more comfortable because the mission is not supposed to be comfortable -like Clark Livingston once told me!  It is great not being comfortable because you know you are growing and doing what the Lord wants you to you!  Serving the Lord is not easy but it is so rewarding!  Love you all!

Mom- I'm doing great today!  Pday is all work!  ahhah!  Well not really but it seems like there is no time to do everything! haha nice meme!   I feel very safe and I love that quote you sent that says we need to embrace and shape the future! That is so perfect!  I miss Abby and can't wait to talk!   Oh by the way we will be able to talk in like 12 days so be ready for my bad Spanish!  Seems like just yesterday that we talk to Shelby on Christmas! hahah  Love you so much mom!  You are the best and always know how to make your son happy!   

ALLEEEXXX!!!  write me two sentences bro! hhahah   love you so much!  Keep up being a good big brother!  

Love ELder Quist

Week10

I love hearing the stories about San Diego!  Sounds like so much fun and I especially like to hear that Abby is such a good girl!  Is that alex skating?  And whos back is that?  You all look sooooo white!  It is funny!  I mean I guess I am the same color under my white shirt but my arms and face are way tan!  It is going to be great going back to byui with this tan...if I don't lose it in the 2 months before school!  

Alright so I don't think I have told you where I live yet!  I live in Apodaca which I think is north of Monterrey but really I don't  know which direction it is right now!  There are so many people here and people live so close together!  There is usually 10 people that live is a tiny house and the houses literally have no space in between them.  The best part is that everyone is always outside on their porches so we can talk to them.  Oh and there is always a soccer game happening in the middle of the street with about 15 kids playing!  It is dangerous but everyone is more aware here and more capable of not getting hit by cars...except one guy...We were walking by this one street and looked down the street and saw this big ford truck nail a 60 year old man!  He got ran over by the tires and all!  It was hard to watch! The people got out and helped him up and he walked away!!!!!! I have no idea how he wasn't seriously hurt!  It was a miracle!  We wanted to help but he was just fine so he didn't  need our help.  

It made me nervous about cars because there are not any cross walk here! We just cross the street when there is a gap in car, but don't worry mom I am being careful! And the Lord is always watching out for his missionaries!  

SO last night we had a lesson with our investigators Rymundo y Diana!  They are a great family!  We have only taught them once before last night.  So last night we went to teach them for the second time and Rymundo shared with us that 4 times this week people---friends, coworkers ect.---had given him advice to seek to come closer to God through prayer and by asking God what to do because he has been struggling and needing help!  He was talking to his wife about this when we knocked on the door last night.  I know the Lord was preparing him all week to hear our lesson last night.  It is amazing how the Lord works to help others come unto Him!  

So on Friday we went to a members house to get the food for the day because they weren't going to be in their house during dinner time- so we took it to go!  We got back to our house and opened the food and it was this nasty meat cake!  I ate it because I have learn to just eat and not think..hahah....So we ate it at about 12:00 and went to work for the day.  At about 4 oclock I started feeling bad but wanted to keep working so we kept working until 5 when I started to feel like I needed to throw up. So we headed home so I could lay down for a bit!  On the way home I threw up on the side of the road..luckly no one saw.  Then we got to our house and l layed down for 10 mintures and threw up a bunch more! But after that I felt alot better and wanted to get back to work so we headed out to our next appointment and on the way there I started to feel really bad again but didnt want to give up and go home because I knew the Lord needed us to teach this family that night so we got to the house and right when I stepped in, I turned right back around and threw up in the street! haha.  Then I felt better and went in to teach!  We taught lesson 1 and I couldn't focus because I felt so bad.  Then during the closing prayer,  I stood up and went outside and threw up again! hahahahha!  Pretty crazy but worth it!  I threw up all night, but I'm all good now!  }

Don't worry about me!  I love it and it will be a good story to tell!  haha.   I have got to go now but I love you all!  

Love you

ELder Quist

Week 9

I loved the video of the camp fire! All of those people are some my favorite people! They are so cool! Tell them I miss them and wish that I could be there surfing with them!  

UUUUUUUCON!!!  That is so sweet!  I am sad that I missed it!  Maybe you can keep all the recordings of the championship games for all sports on DVR for me to watch later! hahah!  How did Jabari do this season!  I loved how President Monson talked about him in his talk!  Let me know when the draft happens!

Yeah it is all futbol aqui! There are 2 team here in Monterrey and people go crazy over them... at least 50 percent of the people that we contact in the streets are wearing one of these two jerseys!  And we have an investigator that has a baptismal date but all our inverstigators need 5 times at the church to be baptized and he only has 2 because he is addicted to watching futbol on Sundays!  hahah!  It is ridiculous!  And there is not a guide on how to help someone overcome this addiction in the addiction recovery program of the church..hahah!  Well I guess the same principles apply.  We have 9 people with baptism days for the 31 of may and it is hard becasue when I arived there was only 1!  There are so many great families here and I feel the responsiblity that I have here!  There is so much put on the shoulders of the missionaries! I did not expect this much but it is awesome to know that we are not working alone! The Lord is working side by side with us!  WE have 2 investigator families coming to a members house tonight to have a noche de hogar--family home evening---and my companion and I are going to teach the restoration and we made an awesome game ofjeopardy to go along with it!  It is going to be sweet!  I'm excited!  The hardest thing with our investigators is getting them to go to church because our church building is being restored and we are going to the west mission every Sunday to church and it is hard for the menos activos and investigators to come because taxis cost alot.  Only rich people have cars here.  But once our church building is restored here we are going to have alot more success getting investigators to attend!  All of our investigators are within 15 min walking distance of this building!  And the one that we go to now is a 15 drive!  

I feel so blessed to be here in Mexico, in this ward with my companion! I am learning so much and being humbled every day!  I have a testimony that my Savior lives!  The atonement of Jesus Christ is real!  It happen and through it we can become perfected!  I have felt the love of the Lord for me so much this week!  Imagine the kind of love our Father has for us that He was willing to send his son Jesus Christ-- the person who did not have to experience the hardship of life, pain, sin, guilt, weakness, shame, rejection-- to suffer all these things for everyone of us.  I can not imagine how incredibly hard this must have been for Heavenly Father to see his only perfect son go through the indescribable pain of the atonement but I know that this is a testimony of the immense love God has for everyone of his children!  I am so very grateful to be able to feel of this love whenever I partake of the blessings of the atonement!  

I know my Savior lives!

ELder Quist

Week 8

Mom you are so awesome!  Thank you so much for that quote!  I am going to try to do this for sure!  Just what I needed to here!  Conference was awesome!  We listened to all the sessions in English except for the first one with my two favorite speakers!  hahah. Holland and  Eyring!  I was so uplifted by this conference and I learned so much that I need to put into practice. As I was watching conference looking into the congregation thinking of the amazing time I have had in that building!  Conference weekends are literally the best memories of my life!  What could be better then spending time with family and cousins, eating good food and listening to the word of God through the prophets.  

I witness so many miracles every day!  Not huge miracles but miracles do not need to be huge to be amazing and inspiring!  The Lord works in small ways to bring to pass great works.  Just one example is this week I needed to use the bathroom bad while we were tracting     and my companion and I decided to go down a street to find a bathroom.  We found a members house and I went and then we came out of the house and started walking down the street to our next appointment.  Then we saw a man look at us at start calling for us! He said " I have been looking for a church and I want to come to yours"  His name is Luis!  he got deported from the states and lives here now, but yeah he actually said that in English which suprised me!  It is amazing how the Lord works in small ways to bring the gospel to his children!  I see the hand of the Lord in missionary work every hour that I am working and I couldn't  ask for a greater blessing because it brings me so much joy and so much closer to the Lord!  I want to share so much with you all but things keep coming up on pday. But I promise next pday I will write alot more!  send picture and share details.  My compañero se llama elder Astacio!  He is a very good trainer and I know that I am learning more with him then I could with any other companion!  The Lord is watching out for me don't worry!  I have crazy watch tan lines already!  It is awesome!  I love the picture of grandma and grandpa in the mtc because I was literally standing there 3 weeks ago!  I feel so far but so close to everyone!  

Oh by the way, Spanish is up and down! Some days I feel like a master(when I say master I mean I can kind of talk okay spanish..hahah)  and other days I feel terrible, but it is all good! It will come!  Oh and keep sending me great qoutes! and maybe a paper with a bunch of Elder Holland qoutes on it.  But I don't know, only if you have time!  Also I dont know if there is a way to send me the general conference talks so I can listen to them!  I love listening to the conference talks in English at night in mi casa!  

We walk everywhere besides church.  I think we walk 10 miles a day or more but I am going to check tomorrow with my ipod!  I miss basketball and I will for sure watch the Uconn game tonight!hahahah just kidding!  Tell Alex and Cameron I love them and of course Abby!  

I love you all I promise I will write more next week!

This is our street!  Don't get the wrong impression- our house is not as nice as these ones! hahah-  these are the nicest! 

Week 7

WOW it has already been 2 weeks and I have so much to tell you, but so little time!  SO SAD.. hahah

Okay one story.......  It was 8:57 and we were passing by our house and about to go in when I remembered Shelby and Carter telling about the 8:59 miracle.  We had already contacted 30 people that day, but I wanted to get just one more.  So we started walking down a different street through the crazy market and I saw two women....well actually they were teanage girls, but I didn't know that at first....jajaj  but yeah we contacted them and I was like "We are missionaries ....ect..."  and I asked " Can we come by and share this message with you at your house"    And one of the girls just stared at me and did not answer....I was like WHAT?  My Spanish was so good this time!"  But then she said " I'm sorry, what did you say ? I did not catch it....YOUR EYES are so bonita".  I guess that they are not used to blue eyes here! hahah..... so that is my story about the 8:59 miracle!  Not as inspiring as Carter and Shelby, but I am sure I will have an experience like theirs another day!

SO life is good in Mexico!  It is so layed back here and easy going, except for the roads!  But it is hard being a missionary in a layed back country because most of our appointments fall through and it is rough!  But I know everything is in the hands of the Lord and He is watching out for me!  Pray to be able to see the hand of the Lord in your life everyday and you will grow to love Him more then ever.  I have come so much closer to the Lord and I am trying to focus on doing everything to please Him.

Our house is crap, but I like it as long as it is clean!  hahah..  I have been working on getting rid of the mold.  I eat nutella and peanutbetter and bannana every morning and night for breakfast and dinner and of course lots of cucumbers! hahaha.  I am learning to love the food here.  At first it was hard but now I eat sooo much at the members houses.  I don't think that I have had a meal without tortillas! 

SO the Spanish is good and coming along!  I try to speak so much in the lessons and with everyone I meet to practice, but most of the time my companion has to translate what I was trying to say...he understands my terrible spanish better then others..I say some ridiculous things some times!  One time I said that God is not an orange god!  I was trying to say God is not an angry God! haha  I love it!

It is ridiculous how nice the states are!  We have it sooooo good!  I never realized it...it is very humbling.  I wouldn't trade these difficult times for anything!  Well maybe a rootbeer but nothing else..they don't have rootbeer here and it is sad.  

This gospel is amazing and I am so greatful for every blessing in my life  especially my Savior Jesus Christ.  I know that He lives.  He can help us with every problem we have.  He is my brother and I love him.  I can't believe how much I don't know about this gospel and I am loving learning more every day.  

Missionary work will not move forward without charity!  Pray for charity every day because it is a gift that GOd will give us.  We can not have the spirit with us if we do not love the people we teach!  If nothing else I am learning to have charity.  

I thought MTC life was hard! But really that is the life!  Also life in the field is the life!  but alot harder life.  

I went to the doctor because of an ingrown toenail today!  He squeezed 3 shots into me toes and my toes tripled in size.  It was hard to watch and then he ripped out half mynail!  But it is all good now.  It just hurt to walk and that is a little bit of a problem because we walk many miles a day! But it is all good "missionary work is not easy because salvation is not a cheap experience!"  

I am so happy here because I am doing the work of the Lord.  

ELder Quist

PS it is beautiful here from afar but not up close!  like shelby said!

Week 5 & 6

Family and friends!  I'm in Mexico right now and I am going to be here for 2 years! I love it so much. It is so crazy and hard and difficult and awesome and Mexico it definitely a different country!  Sorry I haven't sent a real email in like 2 weeks!  We went to the temple today so we switched our pday for this week!  So I will write on Monday in 4 days!  This week has been so awesome!  SO hard but so awesome because I am changing and growing and having new amazing experiences!  First week went well!  It was so great to get to talk to you in the airport mom, dad and alex and abby!  You are such an amazing family!  I am so blessed to have you to strengthen me!  Saturday we went to a stake center to listen to a prophet of the Lord!  ELder Quinten L Cook came to our mission on the 5th day in the field!  It was amazing!  He speaks english, so that was very conforting!  I love hearing from him!  He talked about how this is absolutely the best place for me to be!  The spirit was so strong and I know this is where I am supposed to be, even though it is a struggle!  He gave us a sneak preview about what he will be talking about during conference! hahahha It was awesome!  ELder Tad R Callister of the presidency of the Seventy came to the mission to and talk at the same meeting!  He talked about the atonement and how we can apply it in our lives!  It was so powerful and he is one of the best speakers on earth, besides Elder Holland!  HE said "What ever we are stuggling with in life, the Lord has the perfect plan for us and He knows exactly how to help us!"  The Atonement of Jesus Christ is real!  I know it and I am learning to trust  the Lord!  It is hard because the natural man is so stubborn!  I Know that Christ lives!  He is my Savior and I am coming to love him even more !

Okay so details!  Sorry I don't have much time because I want to get to work in the streets!

1.  My companion speaks little to no English.  He is from the Dominican Republic.  He is very hard working and wants to be obedient and that makes me so happy!  The first few days were hard with him becuase I didn't know that!  We drove 40 mintues to our first area in a taxi on the crazy roads of Mexico!  We got to our house and opened the door to a crappy apartment!  It was hard to see but now I am grateful for it because after being in so many humble homes I would not want to live in anything better then I live!  It is very humbling here!  The first thing my companion did was put on a goo goo dolls song in english!  My heart sank!  I thought to myself, if he is going to listen to this as the first song...oh man we are going to have problem/////don't get me wrong, I love the goo goo dolls, but not on my mission! hahahah//////  I asked him to turn it off and then I realized he thought it was a church song because he doesn't know English and he thought it was a church song! haha  He got the music from other missionaries!  

I have got to go now!  I know it must be hard for you not to hear much from me but I will write alot more on monday!  Love you so much mom and dad and alex and cameron and abby and shelba!   Peace out!   I am doing so well and loving so much of the experience!   

Love ELder Quist!

Week 4

 Life is going great!  I don't feel like writing a long email today because I don't have time!  Tell Davis and Chancey that I am excited for them!   William is getting married! haahah!   I am so excited. but so sad also because I am not going to be able to be there!   I love Alex's  hair cut!  Keep it bro!  It is so exciting to hear about all the misison calls !  It is amazing!  Already I know that serving a misison is going to be the best experience  of my life!   It is so uplifting and it is so hard!  Learing a new language is ridiculous I have decided!  But spanish is seriously so much better then english!  We try to speak in all spanish all day 100% of the time and I love it but it is so hard to communicate sometimes. However it is getting easier and easier every day!   SO last week on Tuesday I got called as the district leader and served faithfully for 5 days!  It was a great experience and I learned so much.  I love being a leader!  It is awesome to try to help other missionaries to the best of my ablilities!  Being district leader was good while it lasted! hahah.   Basically I was in charge of making sure the district was progressing and the purpose of a district leader is to invite other missionaries to come unto christ and help by being an example!  I got to have interviews with the missionaries so I could report in all the meetings and I am in charge of helping elders who are struggling in the district!  It is a fun job I learned a lot but now I am on to bigger and better things! hhahah Just kidding.On sunday morning they called me for an interview and my companion and I sat in the interview and they told me that I would be released as the district leader! I thought "DId I do something  wrong!!   I guess they only needed me for 5 days!"  hahah but then they told us that my companion and I would be the next zone leaders! I did not see that coming, but I am glad I am being given these opportunities to learn and grown! It is great. I love all the people in the zone and it is so great to be here in the MTC and learn so much from all these amazing people!   I think that they were just testing me for 5 days as a district leader to see if I could handle being a zone leader!  

Life is going great!  It is going so fast! It us crazy. I have so much to learn but that is so exciting to me!  I am improving  so much with spanish but I am so terrible still!  

Last Thursday I saw Zac at the temple as I was leaving!  We didn't talk but be said hi and it was great to see him!  I guess he works with my branch president in the technology department at the MTC because last week when I sent my report  to the branch president I got a message back and he said "do you have any smoothy recipes you want to give me? and by the way how is Gail!"  I was so confused!  I had no idea how he know a these things!  I was wonding if he facebook stocked me or something!  hahah   But no I guess he got some inside info form Zac!  hahaha It was hilarious!  My branch president is my favorite person!  He is soo funny!  I bet Zac could tell you some stories but yeah he is so chill and it seems like he is sleeping 24/7.  Right after I saw Zac at the temple I saw Haley Charles!  hahah! Ihave  literally seen 15 people I knew either at the mtc or at the temple!  Tell Haley I say hi! 

We have so many good times as a district and we are leaening so much and feeling the spirit so much!  I need to learn to rely on the Lord more but I love Him so much!  Tell Onna thank you for me for the cookies! They were amazxing!  She always sends me things just when I need it!  I love playing basketball ever day!  There are some many good players and we play with elders and sisters that play division 1 basketball in college!  They are amazing and I love it!

We had something called TRC skpye and my companion and I taught a lesson to a memeber over skype in Ecuador! He was so cool and it was the best experience this week! The spirit was so strong!  Feeling the spirit is the best gift that we are given on the earth. I am a seeking to have the guidance in my life 24/7 !   I love this gospel and I love you all! 

Love you mom,dad, alex, Abby, cameron and shelby!  you are the best family any one could ask for!  I miss you all!  You are such a strength to me! Keep up the reading ALex you are amazing!   

The Book of Mormon has brought me so much closer to Christ and I love it!  The MTC is the best place and I am going to be sad to leave, but I am so excited for leaving soon!

Count down begins 12 day!  Peace out family!

Love ELder Quist!