Week 12 - Ilumina el Mundo!

Still haven't been robbed (Part 5) -

Lunes: Happy Birthday Millie! I love you! Today was p-day - we did the usual. Then we went boxing. Well, I didn't because I didn't want to die. 

Martes: We taught the lesson today with the Garcia's! It went really well, mostly because they already know everything. We taught them about the Priesthood and ended up explaining the Abrahamic Covenant. They completely understood, so that was cool! Then we taught the lesson to Susanna too. 

Miércoles: Long day. We tried to find someone's house for a long time, but I think they gave us a fake address. Lunch was bomb. We had some again.

Jueves: The Garcia Family literally invited us to the other side of the state of Mexico for a New Year's Eve party with their family. Haha! Love them. We watched "Polar Express" for Noche de Cine. Tom Hanks is a legend.

Viernes: Studied a lot this morning and I finally finished the Book of Mormon in English again! I started 9 weeks ago. We had 2 lunch appointments. I gained 10 lbs. from that....

Sábado: So we taught La Familia Garcia again. Note: They buy us sweet bread overtime we come over. We had our "Ilumina el Mundo" (Light the World) activity tonight. Our entire zone did it together which was sick - We have an awesome zone! I love them. We set up a ton of tables in the palacio (like a town square) for people to bring clothes to donate and we had ponche and stole (apple cider-isa and hot chocolate-ish) for free. We also had Christmas videos playing. We even had an elder dress up as Santa - we went the whole 9 yards. Between 6:30 and 9 pm, we had about 600 people come. We got enough clothes to fill 2 pickup trucks. Super cool! BTW! So we showed up to the church after lunch and this girl, about 16, was there. Felt like she should go to the church right then and we showed up 5 minutes later.... no such things as coincidences!

Domingo: Christopher received the Aaronic Priesthood today! Only 2 weeks after baptism... insane stuff. Not much other than that to report!

I've seen a few miracles this week. Really awesome, testimony building week! I highly recommend living in the ghetto part of a super ghetto city. Super fun stuff. I love y'all! I pray for you guys every day! Let me know how it's going! I miss you all (even if you don't write me... ;)) Peace.

- Davis

The Garcias gave each of us blankets and two scarfs.

 They also made us a wreath.

 Comps - me and Elder McDowell

 With Elder Santiz

Elder Freitas' last Sunday!

Week 11 - Happy in Valle de Chalco!

Hey all! It's been a good week! 

Last p-day we took a combi to Chalco, but got out too early and ended up walking for an hour to a stake center. We played football again with a couple of other zones. It was fun. Afterwards, we went to an incredible restaurant. Soooo good! Later that evening, we had FHE with  Giovanna and these 2 girls (her neighbors), Fatima who is 9 and Melanie who is 11. Both girls have been to church a bunch, but their parents haven't let them be taught.... until now! So that is awesome! 2 new investigators.

Tuesday: We went to Amecameca for a meeting for everyone who is in their 1st cycle. So I got to see Elder Peterson (my MTC comp) again! Fun times. Except... well... let's just say I go t Montezuma's Curse... So that was not so fun. After we got back, we taught the Jimenez family. It was so good! We watched a shortened version of a video about the Restoration. Also, we found out that on the corner by their house, someone died last night. There was a small gang fight or something like that... so that's sick. But no worries. It was like 2 am so we are safe. :)

Wednesday: I taught 2 lessons today! So that's exciting. We spent the morning prepping for the lessons. I taught the Garcia's about family history and temple work. Turns out they mad a family tree account last week and already have made a family tree. So basically they are amazing! I love them. Later, I lead an FHE which went well too!

Thursday: A normal day, nothing much to report. We watched "Coco" for the kids movie night. First Pixar movie originally made in spanish, so that's cool!

Friday: So basically we baptized the coolest people! My comp is a little allergic to cats and the Garcia's have cats. So they deep clean their home before we come. They know I like sweet bread so they get us some every lesson. And many other things make them the best! 

Saturday: We did some service for one of our neighbor's who is a member. Easy stuff for a strapping young man like myself! haha We went to the temple again today. Our zone rented a bus and we took investigators and recent converts. We brought Giovanna, Fatima and Melanie. There wasn't any room for us missionaries to sit so we just stood in the aisle for the 1 1/2 hour bus ride. But the temple was amazing! A little chilly, but it was nice. Reminded me of Temple Square. We had tacos after. I love them so much!

Sunday: Learned a lot in church today, but not many investigators came though. Lunch was bomb. A funny experience at church... So Christopher said the closing prayer and he started by saying, "Buenas Tardes Padre Celestial..." which is like saying "Good afternoon Heavenly Father." He's  awesome! 

I'm still loving life here! Interesting facts about living here in the ghetto: I shower out of a bucket that I warm up with a resistencia; the lights dim when we plug too many things into the outlets (which happens a lot); literally no one has carpet here; I'm 99% sure there is not a single pure bread dog in this city; Christmas isn't huge here - they celebrate King's Day in January. Anyway, more Mexico facts coming soon. Love y'all! Praying for ya!

-Elder Quist

1st Cycle Meeting

a pic of the city

 Personal Study Time

 And more Kool-aid. It matches our walls!

Week 10 - A Taco Problem and the First Baptism!

Hey All! 

It's been a good week! Here's a run down:

Monday: Good p-day. We went to the Soriana for groceries. Soriana is kind of like the mexican Walmart. Here, Walmart is where the wealthy people go. haha! Just a chill p-day, washed clothes, emailed, went to a panaderia (pretty much a bakery with super good bread). After p-day ended (6:00 pm), we watched a gospel movie with Giovanna and after... it got freaky. So her house is almost 100% haunted. She told us some freaky stories and Elder Freitas (he is leaving in 2 weeks and has been in plenty of haunted houses) said as soon as we entered the house, it felt, even smelled, evil. So that was weird.

Tuesday: Slow day. District Meeting in the morning. And walked A LOT today. We had Noche de Hogar (Family Home Evening) and that was lots of fun! After, Elders Freitas, Santiz, McDowell and I went for tacos.... Soooo, so good!

Wednesday: Had another lesson with the Garcia family! They are awesome. Elder Santiz came to interview them for baptism. (they both passed. Yay!) They are thee happiest, nicest, most generous people in the world. Later that afternoon, we met with the Jimenez family. Our lessons are interesting.... Good, but they just go a completely different direction. Then we got more tacos.

Thursday: Met with the Jimenez family again. Good lesson about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Later, we met with Julio Llevada (yay-vah-duh), a guy we contacted inside an Elektra store. He worships Judas Tadeo, but has doubts. He really likes us and loved hearing about the Restoration! Fingers crossed. Noche de Cine tonight for the local kids. Then we got tacos again. haha. Oh I forgot to add: we forgot our keys in the apartment so we climbed onto the roof of our neighbors apartment and climbed onto our roof then down the stairs. Then we broke into our apartment. 

Friday: Killed at the gym, got some good cereal and cleaned the font at the church. Good morning! We (all 4 of us Elders) had lunch with the Garcia's. After lunch, we picked up a few more people, and  went to the temple! It was super cool to walk through the Visitor's Center and see all the lights. We got tacos afterwards... I have a taco problem.

Saturday: Amazing day! We got to the church about 10 am and started prepping for the baptism! I had the opportunity to baptize Christopher. Such a cool experience! First try too which almost surprised me. Remembering the name, the prayer, and to not drown him wasn't easy. My companion baptized Angeles. SUCH A COOL THING! 

Sunday: So I was invited to confirm Christopher today in sacrament meeting, but I felt my spanish isn't good enough. But I did help my companion do both which was cool. We had 3 people come to church who want us to teach them, which is crazy. Two of them want to be baptized too! We could have 4-5 baptisms next Saturday. So pray for us! Later that night we watched the Christmas Devotional with Giovanna.

As far as I am concerned, I am doing great! I'm always tired, but that's pretty normal. I miss the fam and friends too. Anyway, I'm praying for y'all! Email me! Love ya!

Elder Quist

Elders Quist, McDowell, Freitas, Santiz

Baptism!