Week 24 - Champions!

Hey everyone!

At this point, I don't know what to talk about. Mexico is good. I'm loving the mission! If you are wondering what a mission is like, or if you forgot, well, it's good. Like 80% of the time, things don't go as planned and you get frustrated and the other 20%, things don't go as planned and you have a really cool experience.

Monday: This day was the bomb. In the mission every 6 months, we have a Sports Day. With team (Zone) jerseys and all. We play basketball, soccer, and volleyball as a zone against every other zone. Our zone, Helaman, won! It was so fun to see the whole mission, all my homies, in other zones. Good day!

Helaman Zone

 Bus ride to sports day

 Elders Peterson, Rowberry, Crockett and Quist

 Zone Trophy cause we are the best

 My dad - Elder McDowell

 with Elder Braithwaite, my homie 

Tuesday: There really wasn't anything super interesting about this day besides having a district meeting and a super interesting lesson. So we taught a lesson about the Gospel of Jesus Christ to about 20 people... it was an Alcoholics Anonymous group. Haha. It actually went really well. 

This cycle has ben hard, not gonna lie. But I found these scriptures: Mosiah 23:21-22 - "Nevertheless the Lord seeth fit to chasten His people; Yea, He trieth their patience and their faith. Nevertheless--whosoever putteth his trust in Him the same shall be lifted up at the last day. Yea, and thus it was with this people." I've come to realize a lot more clearly that I'm on the Lord's mission, not my mission.

Wednesday: We had a zone activity today in area Zapata and I went with Elder Oehler, my homie. We contacted 6 or 7 people and they all accepted soooo we killed it. We walked a lot today. They said I would gain weight on my mission, but I honestly don't see how that's possible. haha! We never.stop.walking.

Thursday: We set 3 baptismal dates today! Ana Maria, Wendy, and Jade. They all seem really interested so I hope it works out next cycle. 

Friday: Another zone activity, but this time it was in our area! 20 elders walking around contacting for 2 hours. I was with Elder Barcenas, super fun morning! Then we had lunch with the Garcia's. We had some tacos dorados ( like taquitos in the US, but better). They were the best, as usual. 

Saturday: This morning we helped this cool member, Sergio (he has a glass eye). We moved a giant metal staircase. It was huge, good service though!

Sunday: Just a normal Sunday. No one came to church. It's transfers this week and I found out that I'm moving down to Amecameca! 4 1/2 months here in Valle de Chalco has been so awesome! But I guess it's time to go. I'm excited though! I'll be closer to the volcanoes. :)

Have a good week! I miss y'all!

- Elder Quist

Week 23 - "...being an instrument in the hands of God"

Hello! How is everyone doing? You know, the longer I do this whole mass email thing, the harder it gets. Like, how many people actually read this?? Anyway, If you read this, send me a quick email. I'd like to know. ;) 

Last Monday was p-day. Super relaxed. Didn't do a ton. We had a FHE with the Garcia's and I taught. The lesson wasn't perfect and neither was my spanish, but the spirit testified so strongly, which was super, super cool! 2 Nephi 3:24 "...being an instrument in the hands of God." It's a cool feeling. I've been praying a lot lately for, well, help. I'm on a mission, but this past week or so, I haven't felt like I'm doing much. This lesson helped me understand a little better that I'm here doing God's work. Literally. Not what I think is God's work. Does that even make sense?

Tuesday: Has anyone read the book of Job? I read about it in the Bible Dictionary - pretty cool. "The Book of Job suggests that affliction, if not for punishment, may be for experience, discipline and instruction." God doesn't give us trials to punish us (well, sometimes). He gives them to us to make us better people. 

Wednesday: Today was a party. I went on divisions with Elder Parker in his area for the day. There is this area call "Las Tablas" and it is super sketch. Elder Parker said they never go there after 6. 'Cause you'll die. Anyway, it is always fun to do divisions. And it was fun to be with someone from the US. Good day.

Thursday: We had a zone meeting this morning and 'twas a good time. This zone is da bomb because it is only elders. There aren't any sisters, so we are super tight. Just a heads up: If you tell a latina that you really don't want food, they will still make you food. We visited a recent convert/less active member and talked with them for awhile. He asked me to say a prayer. That was a pretty inspired prayer as he said it was exactly what he needed and they are really going to try to come to church again. 

Friday: HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!! The big 5-0! 

Saturday: We had a zone activity this morning contacting people in another area. I was with Elder Martinez from Nicaragua. He's super cool. Hey if y'all have time, go read and seriously ponder Alma 5:14-15.  It's kind of like a member self quiz. 

Sunday: Church en la manãna, fue bueno, estuve muy cansado. Tuvimos Almuerzo con la familia Hinojosa Herrera y tuvimos helados de fruta. Sinceramente es mi segunda comida favorita, despues el pay de limon de Angeles. Tuvimos una junta en la tarde por pocos Horas, entonces tuvimos tiempo a descansar. Buen dia. Que Tengan una buena semana!  (Church in the morning, it was good, I was very tired. We had lunch with the Hinojosa Herrera family and we had fruit ice cream. Honestly it's my second favorite meal, then Angeles' lemon pie. We had a meeting in the afternoon for a few hours, then we had time to rest. Good day. Have a good week!)

Elder Quist

a view from our area  

Week 22 - 20%!

Hey all! 

I just finished about 20% of the mission and hit the 5-month mark. Super exciting stuff! This week was really slow. Probably one of the more difficult weeks so far. But then I found a scripture that really helped. 1 Nephi 20:10, "For behold, I have refined thee, I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction." Sometimes God gives us trials in life to test us or to learn something because he has chosen us to do something important and wants us to be ready. If we put our trust in God, He will help us!

Monday was super busy. We packed up our house for a few hours, then played basketball and soccer at the church for awhile. I got a haircut too. It's fresh. After a quick lunch, we moved all of our stuff to our new house! This house is the bomb.

Tuesday we only had one lesson, but it was probably one of the best! It was with Mariana and her niece, Angeles. We committed Angeles to baptism, so that was cool.

Wednesday we had interviews with President. They lasted quite a while. We missed 2 appointments. We try to call when we miss an appointment, but half the time this is what happens: we say "Hey sorry about yesterday. We called, but the number doesn't work." Them: "Oh yeah, I don't pay my phone bill, but I have a number. Just call if you're not going to come, alright?" HUH??? Some people...

Not much on Thursday to report.

Friday we walked so much. We had do something on the computers and while we were on, I watched Jeffrey R. Holland's talk about Peter when he says "Feed my sheep." Cool video!

So this member we ate with on Saturday mentioned like 4 times that I need to visit after my mission and marry his daughter. hahaha Ohhhh Mexico....

Sunday was Sunday. Anyway, that was my week. Super exciting! Y'all need to write me. I'm a lot funnier in personal emails.... :) 

Love and miss you all! 
Elder DQ

My new desk arrangement

(he promises more pics next week!)

Week 21 - Still Haven't Been Robbed (Part 15)

I'm doing great, fam! Still a little sick, but it's ok. I'm livin'. Valle de Chalco is fun! Lots of nice drunk people. I actually saw some guy just fall over in the road because he was so drunk. Good times. OH!... And there was an earthquake last week. It wasn't too near, but we felt it. Still alive though. 

Monday: We played soccer as a zone today and I killed it (just kidding, it was so fun though). We had some really good quesadillas later. Kind of sketchy, but what isn't here? 

Tuesday: Our district meeting was good. Elder Parker taught about having patience. 'Twas a good lesson. Sidenote - Sorry I say "good" a lot in these emails. My english vocabulary has drastically reduced.

Wednesday: We had a multi-zone meeting in Chalco with Elder Pieper, an Area Authority. He said a lot of helpful things, but what I liked the most was, "Revelation is not an explanation. It is a declaration." Lots of good stuff. Super long meeting like 5 hours. 

Thursday: I really like these scriptures. I read during my study time: Mosiah 2:22-24 and 2 Nephi 1:20. The rest of the day was not too fun.

Friday: SUPER exciting day. So we were walking around, contacting people when a guy was like "Hey, where are you from?" And it is usually fun to talk to people that speak english so we talked with him awhile. This guy has LIVED. He knows like 6 languages, has lived/travelled all over the world, super funny guy. Ok dad, here's the best part: He lived in Elko for 10 years. For those of you who don't know what/where that is. It's a town like 3 hours west of Salt Lake in Nevada. Lots of mining. And this guy worked in one. "You know, I really like Americans. Hard workers, even the women. One time I was assigned to work with Matilda. And that's a girl's name, so I was pretty excited. Maybe she was cute? When all the other workers found out, they said, 'You're dancing' with Matilda tonight!' Turns out, Matilda was the name of a jack hammer. I don't like Matilda anymore." Haha!! This guy is hilarious. Anyway, later in the day there was a BIG earthquake in Oaxaca (Wuh-hawk-uh) and we felt it. Our electricity was our for 2 hours. Fun stuff.

Saturday: From study - "If you treat an individual as he is, he will stay as he is. If you treat him as if he were what he could be and ought to be, he will become what he ought to be." Sorry, I don't talk about investigators a lot. We currently have like 30, but none of them have come to church (literally zero).

Sunday: Ward Conference today! We had 145 people come. A new high! Afterwards we negotiated for a new house (it's sick, I love it). We'll be moving tomorrow! We had a zone meeting in the evening. 

Busy week! 2 to 3 lessons every day. I love y'all. Hope life is treatin' you well! Email me! :)

- Elder Quist

(no pics from our boy this week, but grateful to the Garcia family for sending some!)

Moving Day - The Elder's previous apartment wasn't in their area (10 minute walk to their area). So they found and negotiated a new one in their area. Thanks to the Garcia family who helped them move! 

 Transfer day for Elder McDowell

Week 20 - 13 Baptismal Commitments!

Hey All! Still alive and Mexico is great! Getting a lot of work done. This week was awesome, but ended not so great. (not too bad though - don't worry) 

Monday: We had a zone meeting in Chalco and then played soccer and volleyball with a bunch of other zones. Good stuff.

Tuesday: Incredible day! We went to the temple today with several zones. Super cool. The temple is awesome! Later we had a lesson with a contact and 2 of her daughters. Not the best lesson, but they all committed to baptism! 

Wednesday: Really good study day. I read from Jesus the Christ, New Testament, Book of Mormon, and Preach My Gospel. It was nice. For lunch, we ate with Hermano Beto. Probably my favorite person here after the Garcia's. It was super chill. Later, as we were about to go home, I felt like we should visit this one contact nearby. We taught about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and committed 3 of them to baptism! 

Thursday: Long day. Nothing too exciting, but studies were good though. I like studying.

Friday: Cool day. We met this guy in the street named Pedro. He has been to church before, but it's been 15 years. We taught him a lesson and committed him to a baptismal date! Super cool guy. And his name is Pedro, so that's pretty rad.

Sábado (Saturday): I would give today a 10/10, 5 stars, super cool day! In the morning, we did some service for a ward member that's sick. It was fun! Then we had a lesson and committed 3 people to baptism! Later we helped the other Elders with a baptism. After the baptism, we had another lesson with a contact from almost 3 months ago and committed 3 more people to baptism! 6 in one day!! Really cool day!

Sunday: Not as fun. We had 13 people committed to baptism and 0 came. :( Very sad. I gave another talk in church. It was pretty bomb, not gonna lie. Also, we negotiated for a new house. I got them business skills and them spanish skills. We visited with some other contacts and talked about a lot of things. We committed them to baptism though, so that rocks!

Good week, as you can see. It felt nice to see a bunch of work turn into something. I'll need your prayers though. These peeps gotta get to church.  Love y'all!

- Elder Quist

Week 19 - "Don't Skip your Prayers"

First week out of training! Pretty good week! Worked hard. Half the week was super cold and half was pretty hot.

Monday: Last day with Elder McDowell. We made pancakes with the Garcia's again and then back again that evening we had dinner with them. Fun day!

Tuesday: We woke up early and drove to Amecameca for changes. My new companion is Elder Marin (pronounced Marine). He has been out 13 months and is from Honduras. Cool guy. We taught 3 lessons today. Pretty good day.

Wednesday:  We visited a lot of people today, but didn't teach a lot. We street contacted a bunch though! Busy day.

Thursday: Elder Marin really likes to play chess, so a few times when we were waiting for stuff, we played... He is pro. He beat me in like 10 moves. We chose a companionship scripture which is Hebrews 13:1, "Let brotherly love continue." We contacted a lot today and found some cool people.

Friday: We taught a neighbor of the Garcia's today. Also named the Garcia's (that happens a lot here, literally every other person is a Garcia). Good lesson! I hope they get baptized.

Sunday: No investigators came to church :( , but it was good. I forgot to say my prayers before bed and I woke up a little sick... Don't skip your prayers!! We had a family night with the Garcia's and their neighbor, Sylvia. It was good! Hopefully we can baptize her.

A pretty good week though! Hope all is well!

- Elder Quist

 My new super OCD satisfying desk arrangement

 McDowell and I were pretty sad he was leaving...

 He was more sad than I haha

 My buddy Elder Petersen from Saratoga Springs

 Istlausihautl (it's a volcano, idk how to spell it)

 Goodbye to Elder McDowell

 Me and Elder Marin

 Street Paso de Cortes

Cool panorama

Week 18 - A Temple Trip and Transfers!

Hey Everyone! I hope everyone is doing well - that the snow isn't too bad. Let me tell ya, this 75 degree weather killer... This week was the last of this transfer AND the last week of my training!

Monday: Good day! We went to the store in the morning, then to the Garcia's where I made everyone cheese pancakes. (pics last week) They were bomb.

Tuesday: Just an awesome day! I taught a lesson in district meeting that was fire. Our day was full of appointments and almost everyone was home. So we were able to teach a lot. Super blessed.

Wednesday: Recently, I started reading "Jesus the Christ." It's super interesting and I would highly recommend reading it! We were rained out in the evening so I just read "Jesus the Christ" for awhile.

Thursday: We some good studying done in the morning, then later went to Chalco to the mission office to pick up some stuff.  Yolanda decided recently that she doesn't want to be baptized because she likes her saints too much. We have been a bit stumped as to what to teach her. If y'all have any ideas, let me know!

Friday: BEST day of the mission yet! So first of all, 4 months complete! Second, recently we have been preparing the Garcia's to go to the temple to do baptisms for the dead. Two weeks ago we got permission to take them and watch. They got their recommends on Thursday and today we went! It gets better though. When we got to the temple, we found only 3 workers in the baptistry. So they asked US if we could help be witnesses AND baptize! I got to witness for Christopher and baptize Angeles. SO INCREDIBLE! The temple is such a cool place guys. Go often!

Saturday: Visited Irma the prophetess and she accepted a baptismal date! Pray we can get her in there.

Sunday: After church, the Garcia's invited us to their home to eat some pretty dang good Jello. Totally worth it. We met with some peeps we contacted, Gabriel and Daniella. Only talked for a few minutes, but they seem promising. Then - We went to the Stake Center and learned of our changes. I'm staying here and I'll most likely have a latino comp and Elder McDowell is going to Cuatla! It's been awesome being with him. I love that guy.

Well that's the news for this week. I hope y'all stay safe! I love and miss you all! God loves you!

-Elder Quist

 All the scrips McDowell has

This pic describes the Garcias perfectly - great family!

Week 17 - HOT WATER!

Hola All!

Last Monday, we had a zone party at our church. (I think I sent pics last week). It was sick. I love our zone. We are killing it with baptisms too! The rest of the day was chill.

Tuesday: We got to watch the press conference with our zone. President Russell M. Nelson: "Alright, well..." Rude reporter: "What about the women?" President Nelson: "We love 'em!" Guys, President Nelson is so cool! Read his talks. Listen to him. He has so many great ones!

Wednesday: Visited this super crazy, near blind guy... He is very interesting. I don't think we are going back. My comp needs to go renew his visa tomorrow, so he stayed in Chalco. I went on divisions for the night with Elder Oehler. It was super chill. He's a cool guy.

Thursday: Probably my best morning  of study since getting out into the field. After studies, we went on divisions with the zone leaders. I was with Elder Hatfield and now we're best friends.. Haha. We tight. Turns out we took spanish together when I was in 8th grade and he was in 9th. We flipped out because, I mean, what are the odds?? Then we finished divisions.

Friday: We were contacted by this lady that thinks she is a woman prophet and has been receiving revelations and visions from God since she came out of the womb. Her name is Irma. She is crazy.

Saturday: We had a few lessons that went pretty well. Then. The Garcia's helped us obtain a tank of gas so now we have HOT WATER!! One week left before we probably leave this area. :( We took the Prophetess to a baptism of the elders in the other ward. She claimed to have a vision during it, but besides that it was good!

Sunday: Church was good. Nothing exciting. After church, we had carnitas for lunch with a member. It was soooo good. We visited some people and set some new appointments. I contacted this really cool guy all by myself! Good day.

Good week! Lots of work done. My spanish is improving and I'm getting better at teaching. This is probably my last week in this area (we'll see??) and my LAST week of training! That'll be cool to finish training. Anyway, I miss y'all! Write me!

Have a great week!
Elder Quist

Our chapel

 cheese pancakes

Week 16 - Volcanoes and Baptisms: A Great Week!

Monday: The Garcia's took us to an ancient volcanic crater and made us dinner. Angeles taught us how to make a Lemon Pie. A good day.

Tuesday: We had interviews in Chalco with the President. It was good. President Zapata is a cool guy! Later, we went back to Chalco to a multi-zone meeting. 

Wednesday: Giovana took us to some friends she knows and we met this girl named Astrid. We taught her the Plan of Salvation... All the while her aunt was just breastfeeding her baby and it just got super awkward. haha. But she (Astrid) accepted a baptismal date!

Thursday: We had to go to Chalco to pick up some baptismal clothes. While we were there, I bought some new shoes. They are dope. Later, we had the baptismal interviews for Brenda and Ingrid and they both passed! I'm going to baptize Ingrid and my comp will baptize Brenda. It's going to be so cool! 

Friday: CONGRATS TO MAREN AND CODY! I LOVE YOU GUYS! Now don't have a baby until I get home. Please. Thank you. Also, we met this crazy lady named Susanna. More on her if she progresses.

Saturday: Brenda and Ingrid are baptized! So cool! When Ingrid was going in the water, she said it was cold, but after I asked how she felt. She said she isn't cold anymore, just super happy! Soooo cool. So blessed to be somewhere I can see 4 people be baptized within 40 days. 

Sunday: So there is this guy, Hermano Beto, in our ward who is super cool. So funny. He is a return missionary, like 30 years old. Just a super nice guy. We talked to him for an hour-is today. That was the daily highlight.

Long week, but a good week. 2 spiritual thoughts I want to share. 1, At funerals, the pallbearers are the people who were closest to the deceased. Those that carry the sacrament are literally pallbearers for the body of Christ. So to pass the sacrament, we must be close to Christ. And 2, Less of a spiritual thought, but the Articles of Faith are incredible. I highly suggest reading them again if you haven't in awhile! Anyway, this cycle ends the 29th and I'll be done training! I hope to stay in this area. It's super fun here. I really like working here. I miss y'all! 

Love ya! Write me!
E Quist

Week 15 - HAPPY NEW YEAR!

It was a good week. Super long though. I'm exhausted. I don't remember if I mentioned last week, but when we had a zone meeting, we changed our companionship goal from 5 baptisms this cycle to 10 baptisms. So we could use your prayers! Gracias. Anyway, my week...

Monday: Happy New Year! I'm spending all of 2018 in Mexico. Everyone go drunk so there was absolutely nothing open. We just sat in our house and literally just played UNO for a few hours. Our family night with the Garcia's was bomb, as always.

Tuesday: We taught this super stubborn catholic named Julio and we finally made progress. He asked why are there so many churches. We explained the difference between good and correct. It was a good lesson. After some other less successful appointments, we got some references from the Garcia's, we convinced them to eventually have another kid because we need more of them. haha!

Wednesday: Nothing happened. Sorry.

Thursday: Our lesson with the Jimenez fam was good. Their new baptismal date is January 13th. Pray for them, peeps. Gracias. Our lesson with Epigmenio was confusing... my spanish was bomb though. We watched "Ole!" about Ferdinand the Bull for Noche de Cine. Super funny actually. Then... TACOS!

Friday: So we were walking to lunch today and we saw this guy run out of his car with like a 2-liter beer bottle yelling about how his car was on fire. We then sat there and watched his car almost completely catch on fire. Mexico is wild!

Saturday: Our appointment fell through so we were walking back to our house when we saw this guy we know breaking up a sidewalk. So we stopped and helped him for 45 minutes. We broke up about 35 feet of concrete with sledgehammers. Pretty legit. Today, January 6th, is Dia de Los Reyes in Mexico, which is a bigger holiday than Christmas (and more comparable to Christmas in America). They have a tradition of eating Rosca de Reyes. When they bake it, they put a baby Jesus figurine in it. So when you eat it, whoever has the baby Jesus has to buy everyone tamales. I had the baby Jesus in my piece, of course. 

Sunday: Our first day with church starting at 8:30 am. The rest of the day was just visiting people and asking why they didn't come to church. haha. No one came to church. 

All in all, a good week. Thanks for your support and prayers.

Elder Quist

View from part of our area

Walking pic, just a street

  A bow and flower lucy gave me

chillin with Lucia

Week 14 - Still Haven't Been Robbed (Part 7)

Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!! Christmas was great! Just hung out with the Garcia's and called the fam (love you guys!), and got some good presents!

Tuesday: We had a zone meeting today. It was pretty good. We changed our companionship goal to 10 (it was 5) baptisms this cycle. Later we met the Cruz Dueña Familia. We didn't get them to commit baptism, but hopefully soon.

Wednesday: We did splits today with Elder Santiz and Petersen. I was with Petersen. He's super chill. Almost at his 6 month mark, from Saratoga Springs. We walked soooo much today.

Thursday: Super busy day. So we have been trying to meet with this one lady for weeks and today finally worked out! Turns out she has been/is a missionary for the Catholic church for 33 years. hahaha. She was like, "Yeah, just so it's clear, I'm not interested at all." Then she talked for an hour about how all churches lead to Christ... no baptismal date for her, but she actually gave us a good reference!

Friday: Second lesson with Cruz Dueñas, better than the first. Still no baptismal date, but they are progressing. We committed this 80 year old, Epigmemo, to baptism! He live along and like to walk around the park and talk to people. He believes that the Book of Mormon is another Bible, but that'll be easy to fix!

Saturday: Alright so I started the day with donuts and ended with tacos, so I'm living it up down here in Mexico City. A lot of appointments, but not too much success. Not a horrible day though!

Sunday: Happy New Year Eve!! We had 40 people at church today which was kind of sad, but was bueno. We went to a zone party in Chalco for the night, it was sick. This member made us tacos and we just chilled and then broke some piñatas - don't worry, I killed it. That piñata had no chance when I got in there.

Really good week in all honesty. We got money for the next month so my taco obsession/problem is back alive. We found 4 new investigators and whole bunch more contacts (yikes, that grammar is bad), so this next week should be exciting! I realized on Sunday that I really miss church in America. Like, having only priests bless the sacrament, lots of youth, people care about their callings (only the bishop is there on time - his counselors show up 10 minutes late), and people actually coming to church. Sidenote, the Relief Society President has a baby chihuahua and it was just walking around the whole time. It was easily the highlight of my day. I love you all!!

-Elder DQ

Happy New Year from México!!