Week 29 - Hakuna Matata

Hi All!

This week was good so let's get to it...

Last Monday, we went to Chalco to get more Book of Mormons and pamphlets (cause we are teaching machines - no big deal). Then we went to Ixtapaluca and bought some brownies at Sam's Club, aka, missionary heaven.

 Harmless entertainment at Sam's Club

Tuesday: Everyone go read "The Donaldson Papers." Even if you aren't a missionary, it'll help you understand the gospel better. It's fuego.

Wednesday: MIRACLES. We have been trying to find this chick, Cecilia, in Ecatzingo, for about a month and today we just ran into her and talked for awhile. THEN, we were trying to find a house, but we both felt like we weren't close. So we knelt down and said a prayer and found the house like 5 minutes later. THEN! So background: Ecatzingo is about 40 minutes away driving, or 2 hours walking. The combi's from there to our house end around 7 pm. Ok so we finished a lesson at 6:50... and we LITERALLY SPRINTED to the road where they pass by. There weren't any around. Like 10 minutes later, a combi passed by that wasn't officially working and asked if we needed a ride. Miracles.

Thursday: Just the usual.

Friday: Got some carnitas today. Then I went with Elder Britez to Cuijingo and contacted for a bit. We put a baptismal date for Erik and Yamileth, super cool people.

Saturday: I really like this scripture I found while reading: 2 Nephi 1:21, "Arise from the dust, my sons, and be men..." Besides finding that scripture, we just walked around a ton.

Sunday: Church was good. No investigators came, but it was still good. We went to Tepecoculco today. Good time. 

Good week this week! Sorry it's so short. I love y'all. You are in my prayers!

- Elder Quist

 a cool painting in Ecatzingo

 and a cool sunset

 and a cool cave outing

Week 28 - Keeping Busy in México!

Hey all!

A week ago p-day, we went to a place called Paso De Cortez and then to this cool waterfall! Also, General Conference was the bomb. It is such a blessing to have a living prophet on the earth to lead and guide us. He is the only person that can receive revelation for the whole church. I hope we all remember to listen to him, the apostles and the other leaders of the church.

This last week was awesome! Lots of work! Elder Gastelum and I are honestly too busy to study a lot some days. Blessing and a curse. 

Monday: Elder Gastelum stayed with the assistants in Chalco for the night and I stayed with the Zone Leaders because he needed to go to Mexico City to renew his visa and I couldn't go. We went to some cool waterfalls in the morning and then played pool as a zone. I had some Chinese food for the first time since September. Chill day.

Tuesday: Temple trip!! So last week we met some cool people in Ecatzingo... Fidelia and her daughter, Kenya. They are planning on getting baptized April 21st! They came to one session of Conference and today we are going to the temple with them! They brought their cousins too (and we committed them to baptism later this week too!). So all in all, we had 5 investigators go to the temple. It was the bomb!

Wednesday: Lots of walking.

Thursday: Interviews with President Zapata. It was good. President is a super cool guy. I wish you all could meet him. 

Friday: Today I did divisions with Elder Britez. He's cool. This is his first cycle in the mission, so he is still pretty new. We practiced how to teach and contact. 

Saturday: We taught Fidelia and Kenya as well as Denis, Alexis and Carla today. Literally their only doubt about the church why there are oxen under the font in the temple. haha! We explained that so now we're good. I also ate the feet of a chicken today. So that was fun.

Sunday: We had 5 investigators come to church! It was awesome. They are good people!

It was a busy week! Lots of work here in Ozumba. It makes the time fly by. I miss y'all! Que tengan buena semana!

- Elder Quist

 The volcano with new snow in April!

Week 27 - That One Soul

Hey everyone! 

This week will be a little shorter. I'll fill you in with all the weekly details next week, but today I just wanted to share my testimony.

Being here on a mission has given me a lot of time to think. I am serving a mission. I am not "on my mission." I am on God's mission. In Doctrine and Covenants 18:15-16 it says:  

  

15 And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!

16 And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!

I have realized that the "one soul" is mine. The purpose of serving this mission is to bring souls unto Christ. BUT how great shall be my joy if that soul is mine. I certainly did not come here to Mexico completely converted. I should say, I did have amazing experiences spiritually and I know the church is true, but converted? Honestly, no. Did I pray every day? No. Read the scriptures? Really only in seminary. Know what it was like to follow the spirit? Not really. The biggest and best convert on this mission of God is and will be myself. The amount of miracles I have seen and the amazing experiences I have had teaching others has literally changed my life. I forget at the moment who said it but someone in Conference said, "Things that don't change remain the same." I don't want to go on a 2 year "fun time teaching people, we baptized a few times" experience. I want to go on a mission. And I want to come back changed and converted. I know I am doing the Lord's work for 2 years of my life, and I am doing it because I love Him. I know that the Book Of Mormon is the most correct of any book on the planet and it contains the fulness of the Gospel, and that by and through that book any person can gain a testimony through diligent scripture study and prayer. I have seen the changes people have made in their lives to have the message that this Gospel brings. I know that God will give us trials and afflictions to test our patience and faith and that by enduring those hard times we can gain a new and special witness for ourselves that this is the Church of Jesus Christ. He is at the head of this church and directs the work of salvation through his living prophet Russell M. Nelson, and through the apostles. I know that if we put every ounce of our faith in Him, we will never be led down the wrong path and that we can withstand the temptations of everyday life. 

I hope everyone felt spiritually uplifted and had an amazing conference weekend! This regularly scheduled program will continue next week...

Love you all!

Elder Davis Quist

Week 26 - Hiking Popcatépetl

Hi All! A run down of my week --

Monday: Last week for p-day, we hiked/drove up Popocatépetl, an active volcano nearby. It was pretty awesome! Don't be jealous.

a view of the active volcano from our area

 hiking with the district

Tuesday: We had a multi-zone meeting in Chalco. We left our house at 7:30 am and didn't get home until about 4 pm. Long meeting. We were so tired. Walking up a volcano the day before is not too easy on the legs.

Wednesday: We have been looking through our area books (we have a ton) to find people to teach again. We visited one this morning. She wasn't there, but we talked with her a little bit and she is really interested! We left her a Book of Mormon and she really wants to read it.  Later we went to Ecatzingo (a town in our area). We have to use a combi or a bus to get there because it's so far. Without traffic, it's 30 minutes by bus. But. It's probably my favorite place to visit so far in the mission. 

Thursday: We went on splits with the Zone Leaders in Ecatzingo. We were there all day. There is not a flat road in this place. It is pure hills. One road is literally more than a 45 degree incline.

Friday: I don't think y'all knew this, but no one in Mexico has toasters. I have not seen one yet. I really miss them. And bagels. I miss bagels. I thought about American food a lot today.

Saturday: We traveled a ton today! When I go to this area, we received a branch. The other Elders never worked there, so President Zapata gave the area to us. It's called Tepecoculco, and it's also quite far in a combi (30 minutes) and about 120 pesos. That's a lot... we had a really good lesson in Ecatzingo in the morning. Then we met with the Tepecoculco Branch President in the afternoon and visited some less active families. Long, good day.

Sunday: We had a really cool lesson in the afternoon. I felt the spirit during the opening prayer and this lady we taught was like, "whoa, I've never felt the spirit like that before." Great lesson. At the end, I felt impressed to promise her that if she prays, she will feel the spirit strongly. She prayed and the spirit was definitely there. She felt it too. Super cool!

Overall this week was awesome! We got 12 new investigators and worked SUPER hard. I really miss bagels, but besides that things are great! I love you all! You're in my prayers!

- Elder Quist

 the pig (aka, the carnitas) from last week

Week 25 - Carnitas, Carnitas, Carnitas

Hey there! This email will be shorter. Sorry. My new area is the Ozumba 1st Ward and a branch in Tepecoculco. Just know these names aren't too easy for me either. ;) My new companion is Elder Gastelum. He has 11 months on the mission and is from Chicago, but his parents are from Mexico. 

Monday: We played soccer as a zone in the park close to the church. It was hot, but fun! Later, I packed up my things. Oh, we had cake with the Jimenez Familia, Brenda y Ingrid. Good times. Later that evening we had Lime Pie with the Garcia's. It was the best! Good last night.

Tuesday: Changes. We had carnitas as a district. Carnitas, are, well, THE BEST THING TO EVER HAPPEN TO ME (so far) in this new area! haha! Later for lunch we had quesadillas and gorditas. Then visited some contacts.

Wednesday: Our area, geographically, is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, in the mission. Some names of cities in our area - Loma Verde, Atlautla, Tepecoculco, Tecomaxusco, Ecatzingo, Mamalhuazuca, Tlalamac, Ozumba, and Tlacotompa. Have fun trying to pronounce those! We are trying to establish a house of prayer in Ecatzingo, so we checked it our today. It's super pretty, small and ONLY hills... my legs are gonna look gooood when I leave this area! In the evening, we committed Teresa and Paulina to a baptismal date! Pray for them.

Thursday: Nothing too special. Just walked a lot. Checked out the area.

Friday: I forgot to mention - on Wednesday, we helped Hermano Victor kill a pig (he makes carnitas - super good carnitas). This morning we had carnitas from the pig we killed.... We spent the whole day in Ecatzingo (only like 5 hours) just getting to know the place and we got 12 accepted contacts! This place is far away so missionaries never work there. This cycle will be fun over there!

Saturday: We met with a less active family in Ecatzingo. We helped them make carnitas. haha! We had carnitas 3 out of 5 day this week.

Sunday: Teresa and Paulin came to church! The ward here is one of the oldest and best organized wards in Mexico. Just trust me.

This was an awesome week! Love you guys!

- Elder Quist

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