Hey everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, and were able to enjoy this wonderful Holiday Season. Christmas was really something different here, not in the holiday, but in how I was able to experience it. But over all, this week has been pretty good, and fairly quick as well.

I wish I could be there to shovel the whole neighborhood haha! I’m glad that Christmas was good for you guys. Our Christmas was pretty good. We had a good lunch with some members. It’s called pozole, but all the google images look a little too perfect. None really show what it looks like haha; its giant corn kernels, meat, and lettuce in some kind of soup. Not too bad :)

Leading up to Christmas, we received the assignment from our Branch president to visit about 20 different families in the branch, and wish them a Merry Christmas, as well as give them a small goody-bag the branch members prepared. So we spend all week trying to contact as many as we could. Most were really short visits because they were busy with Christmas activities, but a few we were able to have nice lessons with. We gave out our last gift the night of Christmas. Well, that is the last gift that hadn't gone bad. The bags had mandarins and a few didn't last very long... There are green oranges, but these weren't supposed to be like that. But it was still really good, and kept us very busy walking from one end of Ocotlan to the other trying to contact everyone.

Elder Cuessi and I talked to our families Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. That was soo awesome! It’s soo great to actually hear their voices. That alone made the day pretty great. We also had a few gifts from home and members, so it was actually pretty great.

We were invited to have lunch with a family, but we found ourselves almost exactly on the opposite end of Ocotlan, and with very short time. So we gave them a call saying we were going to be late. And a few minutes later, Elder Cuessi decided to go for a swim, so we were definitely going to be late. We were walking past a small landscaping pond when we saw two dogs splashing around in the water. Then we realized that they were not playing, but trying to escape from the steep, slippery bank of the pond. We decided to go to the rescue of these two dogs. Elder Cuessi got a little too excited and I ended up pulling all three of them from the nasty stagnant water. It was a pretty exciting adventure filled with much laughter on my part.

Christmas was very great, and we were able to spend some time with of few of the incredible families here. And feeling the Christmas Spirit in their homes was great. Having the opportunity to bring messages of love, hope, and happiness, especially about Christmas, is so amazing. Christmas was very different from the past years, but it was still incredible.

This week I'll be ponderizing D&C 67:10 "And again, verily I say unto you that it is your privilege, and a promise I give unto you that have been ordained unto this ministry, that inasmuch as you strip yourselves from jealousies and fears, and humble yourselves before me, for ye are not sufficiently humble, the veil shall be rent and you shall see me and know that I am—not with the carnal neither natural mind, but with the spiritual." 

I hope you all have a great week, and Happy New Years!! Love you all, and thank you for your support in the Lord's work. Until next week!

Love,

Elder Quinn

Us with the Becerra Family

 Our Christmas!

The City plaza.

December 22, 2015

Merry Christmas!!!!

Man, this week has been so fast. It feels like it’s only been 3 days since the last time I wrote. This week has been full of Christmas.

The Church put out a few videos for Christmas this year. If you haven't seen them, they are at christmas.mormon.org. They are awesome. We've been sharing the message of Christmas with everyone this week. Basically every lesson is about Christmas and it has been really awesome. 

We also had our Branch Christmas Party here in Ocotlan. It was pretty good. At first we only had like 15 people. But true to Mexican fashion, we had about 60 people about two hours after it started. There was a great message, and we sang a few Christmas hymns. A few of the members made tamales, so we ate pretty well.

Another one of our highlights this week was yesterday. We had our Christmas dinner with President and Hermana Egginton, and afterwards an awesome Christmas program. There are pictures on Facebook of many of the happenings. Hermana Egginton spent the whole time taking photos the whole time haha. The whole activity was awesome. And the program was soo great. It finally felt like the Christmas season, without snow of course.

We had one experience that I want to share. We were talking about Christmas with one family, and very quickly we found out that the mother of the family did not enjoy Christmas, and she only celebrated for her children. Her brother past away Christmas day some few odd years back. At first I was wondering how we could manipulate the message of Christmas to fit her needs; to bring joy when she only thought of sorrow and loss. And then I realized that this is the exact reason why we are sharing this message. We have a Savior. We have a way to heal from our pains, from our trials, from our sins. And I don't know; it just made a little more sense this year. We continued with the lesson, sharing the same thoughts, but it was just a little bit more real. And the Spirit was definitely a lot stronger. Yeah, and from that lesson, I've just been feeling a little bit better. This Christmas Season is a wonderful time, and it’s a time that we should sincerely rejoice! Because truly, unto US, a Savior is born.

I hope you all have an amazing Christmas week. May you all have joy with family and friends, wherever you are. And always remember that we have a Savior, who is Jesus Christ.  I love you all, and I wish you all a Merry Christmas!! Until next week.

Love,

Elder Quinn

Pres and Sister Egginton



Our branch Christmas party

Wow... this week has been one of the longest yet shortest weeks ever. We had a baptism, I sent Elder Taveras home, and got another one! It’s been a pretty busy week.

On Thursday, we had the baptism of Federico. It went really well. He was super ready to be baptized, as of basically the first week. It was a great night. After the baptism, Elder Taveras made a weird dessert from the Dominican Republic. To say enough, it was literally called Frijoles Dulces, or "sweet beans" haha.

Thursday was basically Elder Taveras' last day as a missionary. We took him to the mission offices on Friday and he leaves for home tomorrow morning. So for the rest of the weekend I was with the Zone Leaders. We had an awesome time! They are some great guys. My Zone is super small, but with that, we have become pretty good friends. It’s really weird not having Elder Taveras here. And it’s definitely going to be different these coming weeks because I'm not longer a junior companion. But I'm really excited for this transfer, and I’m super excited to work with my new companion.

Elder Cuessi is from Huatulco, Oaxaca, Mexico. That’s a tongue twister if you want one haha! He’s super awesome and super energetic about being here. I've heard only good about him, so I’m super stoked to get going! He has about 17 months on the mission and he's been a Zone Leader for about the past 9 months. It’s going to be great.

This week I'm going to ponderize Isaiah 9:6 " For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God,The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." As we're getting close to Christmas, we are sharing the story of Christ with everyone we can. It really is a great message. We have a Savior; literally someone who came to save us. What an amazing gift of love. And in this season; it’s the perfect time to celebrate, especially with family and friends. I hope you're all enjoying the Holidays and I wish you an amazing week! I love you all, and I'm so grateful for all your support! Until next week!!

Love, 

Elder Quinn

Federico was baptized by his son, Federico.

Elder Cuessi and I. It’s pronounced like Quest, without the T and with "ee" at the end.

Panoramic from the roof of the Zone Leaders’ house. Chapala and the lake.

Hey everyone, another week down. This week was a little hectic. We've been trying to prepare for baptisms, contacting less-actives, and a slew of other meetings. But it’s still been very good.

We had the baptism of Hermana Guadalupe this last Saturday. We've been visiting her every day this last week to try to get her ready. It went pretty smoothly, and was actually really great. Right after, we had the Young Women in Excellence thing, so it worked out perfect. She was baptized, and then everyone just shifted rooms for the next activity. But it was a great night with some great treats!

We had one of our lowest attendance weeks this last Sunday. I'm not sure if it's just the season, but a lot of the families didn't come. We'll see how these next couple weeks leading up to Christmas turn out.

Elder Taveres leaves for home this next Monday, but he leaves Ocotlan on Friday. I'll be spending the weekend with the Zone Leaders and probably receive my new companion next Monday. Man, it’s gone by crazy fast. And it’s scary that I'll soon be without a trainer to pull me out of all the wholes I dig myself. But I have high hopes, and I know that all will be well. We also had another missionary from our district head home this last week too. We had a nice party with tres leches and it was oh so good!

This week I chose to study Matthew 25:21 "His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord." I think I'm still inside the time to choose what kind of missionary I will become. And I want to make it the most satisfying two years of my life. I know that this Gospel is true, and I want to truly exemplify this time.

I hope you've all had a great time this last week, and I hope that this coming week with be a real treat for you all. I'm always wishing the best for all of you! Love you all!! Thanks for all the support!!

Elder Kaden Quinn

The Christmas decorations that I got from my parents!

 The baptism.

Also, I think I'm starting to go bald... I got a haircut a few weeks ago, and the member that does it asked me if you guys have less hair on top. Also, this morning I was brushing my hand through my hair and then I realized that the table was covered in hair.... what do I do?????

Hey everyone! This week has been really great! We've refocused our efforts here in Ocotlan back on the less-active members. And it has shown great results. Mexico has a huge problem. Nearly 70% of the members are inactive. Our Branch President is making a huge effort to bring everyone back, and it is showing a lot of fruit. We had the largest attendance at church yesterday that we've had here for about 2 years.

President Navarro gives us about 3 families at a time to focus on, and when they either show progress or disinterest, he gives us a few more. We're starting to see another large family here starting to reactivate, a few more people each week. These families are huge. It’s basically a whole block is one family, and each door is just another brother or sister. It’s great! 

We've also been having a lot of success finding new investigators through the members, especially those less-active members that are starting to come back. We are now teaching two investigators that are spouses to less-active members. How great it will be if we can get these families to the temple! They have so much potential, and there is so much more to be found!

We have three investigators with baptismal dates. Federico is still progressing very well, and is well on his way to be baptized December 10th. We just set a date with Jaime. He is living here is Mexico by himself, without family, and without many friends. The church, and especially the friendship of the members will help him so much! His date is January 9th. The last one is a little different. Hermana Guadalupe has been a member for about 7 years, but her baptismal records were lost, so we get to rebaptize her. It is this weekend. I'll try to remember to bring my camera!

My time is almost up as a trainee. Elder Taveras heads home December 14, one week early, because of the holiday airport confusion. It's crazy. Soon I'll be leading this area... and the scariest part now is talking on the telephone. It’s almost impossible to tell what people are saying when it’s through that little chunk of plastic. But it'll be good.

My scripture this week is 2 Nephi 33:4 "And I know that the Lord God will consecrate my prayers for the gain of my people. And the words which I have written in weakness will be made strong unto them; for it persuadeth them to do good; it maketh known unto them of their fathers; and it speaketh of Jesus, and persuadeth them to believe in him, and to endure to the end, which is life eternal."

This week has been very good. Thank you all for your support in the missionary effort. I love you all, and I can't wait to talk to you all next week. If I can extend an invitation to you all, I ask you to look out for one of your neighbors or friends this week, and tell them that you love them. But don't only tell them, mean it. I hope you all have a great week. Until next time!

Love, 

Elder Quinn

This was my Thanksgiving feast; the ever present pasta, chicken nuggets, sweet bread, and 7-up. Pretty grand!!!  It was a little less exciting here. E Taveras and I didn't do anything. 

But I made some food for me, and he went to bed early haha.

Wow... week 15. It feels like I've been here for much less than that. People say that time flies when you’re on the mission, and I'm sure that I don't truly understand it yet, but I can definitely feel it. This week has definitely been a step up from last week. I feel like we've been in a hole as for as work effort these past two weeks. And this past week we've been climbing ourselves back out. Still not quite back to full speed, but getting there.

This week has been a little wild with our investigators. We've had to move a few of them into "old investigators", because they won't progress or come to church. It's really a sad moment, but there is a point when we have to refocus our efforts and time on those that are progressing. And also our most progressed investigator, Francisco, just dropped his baptismal date. At the beginning of the week he was showing super great signs of faith and progression, but when Sunday came, he almost cut it off with us. But we had a real nice prayer with him in the chapel and he decided to keep thinking about it. It’s been a rollercoaster with him this week. We have an appointment with him today, and we'll see exactly where he stands.

We have another investigator, Federico, who is really showing great commitment. His only problem is that he likes to spend the lessons telling us stories of his insane childhood. This guy has had some crazy experiences! But he is basically ready, and I can already see his conversion taking form. "I can see him standing in the water." He has only missed one Sunday, and it was because he lives in a distant town and had no way to get to the church.

We're going to be focusing this week on a few of these investigators, but mostly on reactivating less-active members. The ward leaders here are awesome, and are really taking the initiative of "rescuing one more friend", based off "the lost sheep" parable. It’s really great.

We had a great lesson with a part member family. The parents aren't married because a previous divorce hasn't happened yet, but their daughter has been baptized. We taught them about the temple, and how families could be together forever, and that this is really what we as missionaries want for every person we come in contact with. We took a cereal box, turned it inside out, and glued a picture of the SLC temple to it. We placed it above their TV so that they would never lose sight of the temple, and always remember what their goal was. That was a great lesson. 

We also had a great experience yesterday. And it helped me understand what peace the gospel can bring. We have an investigator named Jaime, or Jimmy. He lost basically his whole life in the States, his job, his home, and his wife and kids. He now lives by himself in a one room brick apartment, about the same size as the girl’s room. We happened to pass by, and we didn’t have an appointment or even a plan, but we knocked anyways. He answered in a slurred voice and let us in. It then became very apparent what was going on, due to the half empty beer bottle by his bed. We asked how his day was, and he told us that he was doing fine. But I can feel, every time we've entered his home, that it is a lonely place. His only family lives in the states. The only people we've seen him associate with are our ward mission leader, his boss, and another teenage kid, who I wouldn't be surprised is just his drug dealer. We had a short lesson, and we basically told him of the peace and love he could attain through the gospel, but particularly in church attendance and that there are other people that are trying too. I just want to be his friend, or to get some member to be his friend, so that he has someone to rely on. I finished the lesson with a prayer and he was crying before I finished. I’m not sure if drunk people can feel the Spirit, but I think he felt something. His loneliness and sadness was almost palpable. 

If you could pray for Francisco, Federico, and Jaime. I think they are the ones that need the most blessings right now.

Mission life is great. I feel like I'm really starting to get a hang of it. And it definitely helps that I'm actually starting to understand most everyone. The Spanish is really coming along, and I have never been more thankful for the Gift of the Spirit. I know that the Gift of Tongues is really strengthening me here.

Last thing: This week I found the General Conference edition of the Liahona from this spring. The missionary homes are full of Liahonas. It’s great! I've loved reading and studying the inspired words. We are so blessed to have Prophets and leaders to guide us in these days. And their words are truly to help build us up, especially as families. This has led me to choose this scripture to ponderize this week. D&C 1:38 "What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same." The words of the Lord are still being spoken today, and it is great council for us, to guide us through the problems and confusions of the modern days.

This really has been a great week, and I'm so thankful for the work that I am a part of. I wish you all a great week, and eat as much as you can for me during Thanksgiving! I'm grateful for all your support in me and all the other missionaries around the world. Thank you, and I'll talk to you all next week!

Love, 

Elder Kaden Quinn

November 16, 2015

Hey everyone! Another P-Day. Man, this week has seemed unusually long. And it was probably because it was one of our weakest weeks yet, as far as numbers go. We had a few days this week that were really slow. But it was still a pretty fine week.

We had our most impressive Sunday showing yet. We had about 10 investigators we thought were going to come. But only 6 came. But still, 6 are way more than our previous high of 2. And we had 74 people at Sacrament. A few of the active families didn't come, but we had quite a few less-active members show up. It was really great. There is one family that was been inactive for a while now, but they are starting to come back more and more. Every week they seem to bring another one of their sons and his family. Their family is about 1/4 of our ward haha, and they still have more to bring. They are great.

We now have two investigators with baptismal dates! Francicso is in two weeks on November 28, and Federico is December 10th. I'm 99.9999% sure with Francisco. He's really great, and shows a lot of faith for all the effort he puts into listening to us and attending church. Federico is also really promising, but we haven’t had many lessons with him yet. 

We have a few new investigators and have been working with an eternal investigator family. Angelica and Jimmy both work for Hmo. Victor, our Branch Mission Leader. We met them when we met up with Victor to accompany us. Angelica is actually an old investigator of the area, but she accepted our visits too. She is really smart, and very accepting of the Gospel. She knows that it is something good, and I really hope that we can progress with her. Jimmy is a great, noble guy. He lost basically his whole life in the States, and now lives here all by himself. I really think that the Church can be a new family for him, that he can rely on. One of our Branch Presidency really wants to get to know him, become friends, and get bring him in. The Gospel is going to bring a lot of comfort into his life, I'm sure.

Ok, last thing. We had the opportunity this last Saturday to go to the Temple in Guadalajara. It was sooo great! Man, the feeling of the temple is like nothing else. It isn’t a lie that it is a part of heaven on earth. What an amazing blessing we have to be able to attend the temple. And the blessings that we receive in the temple give so much hope. It’s great to remember that our ultimate goal as missionaries is to help these people and these families become families for eternity. What an incredible message of happiness!

My scripture this week is Alma 19:6 " Now, this was what Ammon desired, for he knew that King Lamoni was under the power of God; he knew that the dark veil of unbelief was being cast away from his mind, and the light which did light up his mind, which was the light of the glory of God, which was a marvelous light of his goodness—yea, this light had infused such joy into his soul, the cloud of darkness having been dispelled, and that the light of everlasting life was lit up in his soul, yea, he knew that this had overcome his natural frame, and he was carried away in God—"

The language is coming much better. It isn’t nearly as big as a challenge now, but it’s still a little hard. I don’t have a very huge vocabulary, but I can usually follow most conversations.

I love you all! Thank you for all your support in me and all the other missionaries in the work. Have an amazing week, and I'll talk with you guys next week!

Love,

Elder Quinn

The Guadalajara Temple, small but beautiful!

And I made peanut butter french toast and eggs one day. It was a nice change from cereal.

November 9, 2015

Hey everyone. This week has been long. But not all that much happened. I think this was the first week that I haven't seen President Egginton haha! But overall, it’s been alright. We didn’t have very impressive numbers this week, nor did it feel like we did, that’s why it felt long. And we walked a lot. 

 

We found a few new investigators this week through referrals from members. We don't have much success from contacting here. Most everyone we talk to is willing to talk about Christ and the Gospel, but as soon as we ask if we can teach a lesson, they just close off to us, because "I have no time to talk to you" or "I'm Catholic". But most of our referrals have been pretty rewarding. We talked to the father of one of the Stake Counselors, and he wants to meet with us. He's actually been reading the Book of Mormon on his own! Not only that, but he studies the Bible and the BoM for two hours every day. I'm excited to talk to him again.

 

We've had a bit of a struggle with a few of our investigators. We haven't been able to catch one of them for about 2 and a half weeks. And another is interested in the BoM and likes to learn about the church, but doesn't want to pray, doesn't want to see how church is, nothing. It’s a little frustrating. We actually have many people who just don't want to do anything. They’re fine with us coming and talking with them, but in between visits, us nor our message exists. 

 

But overall, it’s been a fine week. We had the highest church attendance this Sunday yet since we've been here. One inactive family that we've been working with brought 15 people! And we have 3 investigators come as well. Hermano Francisco Fuentes is still on track to being baptized on the 28th of this month. That will be awesome!

 

It’s still really hot here in Ocotlan, but every once in a while, we get cool days that actually feel a little bit like Utah fall days. It’s good here. Elder Taveras and I are still working hard. I'm had many people ask me if he's died yet, but he still goes 110%. We’re doing good. Also, my scripture this week is Enos 1:4 "And my soul hungered; and I kneeled down before my Maker, and I cried unto him in mighty prayer and supplication for mine own soul; and all the day long did I cry untbyo him; yea, and when the night came I did still raise my voice high that it reached the heavens." I've been thinking a lot about the power of prayer this week.

 

Everyone, I love you all. And I love hearing from you. Thank you for all the support and prayers. Have an amazing week!! Tomorrow

 

Love,

Elder Kaden Quinn