Week 57 - A Day in the Life of a Missionary

Hi All!

I will just straight up quote the email of my good friend, Elder Crockett, from a few weeks ago because it perfectly relates to this week. 

Honestly I can't think of anything special that happened this week.  

It was a super long week.

Full of the normal missionary life.

Each day we get up early and go study our brains out. Still super tired and nodding off sometimes.

After that, we go out into the day and no one is home before lunch. 

It's super hot outside and I get sunburned at least every day hahaha.

Then we go eat lunch with a member who is kind enough to feed two hungry missionaries and give them something to drink.

And they don't stop feeding us...

Then we go back out with full stomachs looking for willing people who are looking for the gospel in their lives.

There are always drunks that yell at us and angry people as well.

And then there are the people that yell "May god bless you" as we go on our way.

Sometimes we will have appointments. Most often these appointments fall through. We go to their house and they say they are sleeping or don't have time.

We walk through the dirt streets of Mexico seeing hundreds of dogs in the streets each day.

Sometimes we will go to an appointment and they let us in for some strange reason. Sometimes we are able to share a message that reaches their hearts. Sometimes they begin crying. Sometimes they feel the spirit so strongly. And their heart starts burning inside. And they are grateful to have a God that is their loving Heavenly Father. 

Each day we see many things that are wrong with the world. 

Each day we see tiny little miracles that make us smile.

Then we go home at the end of a long day. Super tired and just ready to sleep. The day starts over and over again.

There are 730 of those days as a missionary.

There are good days and bad days.

But the good days are so good.

And the bad days are so bad.

But at the end of each day, we have made a difference in some peoples lives. The spirit has testified to them. And their lives are changed forever.

And it's worth it.

I love y'all! Enjoy your Halloween!

Elder Quist

Week 56 - Happiness is a Choice

Hey everyone! 

A lot happened (and didn't happen) this week. 

The Salas family: Ok y'all buckle up. SO. The Salas fam is the bomb. We met them my very first day here and they have been preparing for baptism since then and actually they are very prepared and excited to be baptized. The thing is they are not divorced and the divorce is ALMOST done, but something keeps delaying it. So every week in my emails I say "this week is gonna be awesome", but then something always happens. :/ BUT hopefully this week gets LOcO and they finally get wet. haha

Niños: We are going to baptize a couple kids soon (I think), the 30th. They are my homies.

Andrea: Also my homie. She met with the missionaries 3 years ago and wanted to get baptized, but she was living with her boyfriend so she couldn't. NOW she isn't! We have been meeting with her for awhile and teaching her but she never has been able to go to church (she works on sundays and her boss is a jerk and didn´t give her a break). BUT she finally changed jobs and this week she finally went to church!! It was sick. I was pumped. I was also freaking out because of a soon to be revealed "problem".

The Reyes family: We made a list of less active members to visit and came across this sweet fam. We visited them and we have had an enjoyable time getting to know them haha. The dad is crazy, looks like Einstien a lil bit, and is very confusing sometimes but super cool. And his wife is the bomb. She is super nice. They have a teenage daughter who is a genius. She is planning on working for NASA in a few years sooooo yeah. She told me her hobby is studying math #props. Also we are going to baptize their daughter and son, 10 and 8 years old.

Our "problem" was that there were only two Elders at church (well, that is normal) and THIRTEEN investigators came!!!! That is insane. It blew my mind. That was one of thee most hectic days I have had in a while.

I was listening to a Holland talk and this thought came into my mind: Happiness is just as much of a choice as discouragement. We wake up everyday and work and we can make the choice to be happy or sad. Always choose to be happy :)

Elder Quist

Companions - Elders Strunk and Quist

 Fellow LP Knights - Elders Quist and Rowberry

Week 55 - Another Week in Cuatro Vientos

Hey y'all! 

Here I am again, same area - Cuatro Vientos - and I am doing the same thing: training! My second son is named Elder Strunk. He is from Taylorsville, Utah and is going to SUU after the mish to study to become a pilot. He loves comedy and entertains me at night in the house with comedy routines haha. 

We had a semi stressful week. I can't explain it right now causeeeeee it is a crazy long story and I am lazy when it comes to writing today. BUT I will have quite the story next week so don't worry and stay tuned for the next part of this adventure.

I WILL say I will probably throw a swimming pool party this week. It will be crowded, but it will be sick. So keep them in your prayers!

I have to go, but I love you. I can't wait to see ya. Have a fantastic week!

Go read Elder Hollands talk about forgiveness!

Elder Quist

Week 54 - Conference & Training Again!

Hello everyone! 

So this week was General Conference! Duh. Haha It was awesome! I watched it in ENGLISH at the mission offices with the assistants. It was so great! 

I don't feel like summarizing a conference talk or telling you my favorite quote. I just want to tell you that I know without a doubt that President Nelson is a prophet of God. I know that Jesus Christ directs this incredible work through him, and I know that if we listen to the prophet and apostles, we can really come to know the will of our Father in Heaven and become more devoted followers of Christ. I do not know this because I read it in a book or because someone told me. I know these things because I have prayed and asked and I have received this knowledge from God. I invite all of you to make an extra effort this week to read one conference talk, pray to God, and then go and do the things that you need to do to become closer to the person you want to be.

Other update: Elder Speirs will no longer be my companion, just one week together. Starting tomorrow, I will start training my SECOND son. This one will be a white guy. My first son has a brother from another mother. I'm excited! I will be staying here in Cuatro Vientos. 

I love y'all! I miss ya! Have a good week!

Elder Quist 

Week 53 - The Work Must Go On!

Ok so this week was crazy! And very sad. I am still very sad. Let me explain. 

At the beginning of the training of Elder Solorzano, he said his ear kinda hurt, but it wasn't too bad. So he dealt with it and the pain kind of went away. A couple of weeks ago it got worse and it was hurting him all day every day. I gave him a blessing and we went to the doctor, but nothing helped. This last week he has been getting super nauseous and sick and threw up almost everything he ate, 3 or 4 times a day. SO we went to the doctor again, a better one, and he told us that the problem is not his ears, it is his nose. As long as Solorzano can remember he cannot breathe through his nose and that makes his ears hurt (?) which shouldn't make sense, but it did when he explained it. So we told President Zapata and he called the family of Elder Solorzano and the General Authorities. Everyone decided that he needs to get surgery. Now, the rule is that if you need surgery and it'll take more than 2 weeks to recover, you have to go home to do it :( THEREFORE on Friday in the morning I went with Elder Solorzano and the AP's to the airport to drop my lil child off so he can go home to Guatemala. Tears were shed, pictures were taken, we also ate donuts, but that is beside the point... My son will be in Guatemala for about a month and a half and then he will come back :) My son was and is one of my best friends. But the work must go on. 

Until this cycle ends (next week), I will be with Elder Spiers. He is super cool, I love him. Right now he is learning how to be secretary because the secretaries of the mission are going home soon. I am still in Cuatro Vientos for now. All those baptisms I talked about last week fell through :( I am also very sad because of that. 

The other day, I don't remember which one cause there have been so many, I was reading in Helaman chapter 5. It is a very good chapter. I never have realized how good it is actually! Go read it :)) 

That was the major news of this week. Please keep Elder Solorzano in your prayers so that his surgery goes well.

I love you ALL. God loves you more. If you love God (and me) you will all remember to watch General Conference this weekend! There will be a bunch of cool announcements, (so they say). One of them will include China (just a guess though, haha). ;) 

Have a great week! Love you all!

Elder Quist :)

My birthday celebration 

Sending off my son

 Me and my new comp