Week 9, wow. Man, so much has happened! We just barely finished contacting all our references from the Church Headquarters and from other people. We've been running all over Ocotlàn and every colony around it. Our area isn't huge, but we have members and investigators in the farthest outskirts of the colonies. And the public transportation here only covers the Centro where we live, but there are only like 3 members here. The first couple days here, we made the mistake of not organizing our contacts, so we basically walked from one end of our zone to the next. We're very particular of scheduling visits by colony now haha!

But overall, to be honest, this week has been rough. I hadn't been feeling like my Spanish had progressed at all. Almost every lesson, I would sit there until Elder Taveras needed a testimony of something. And especially yesterday, after church, we had our comp study for the day, and we were studying how to begin a first lesson with someone. Elder Taveras expressed that he wanted me to do all the talking in this part for our lessons, and I very strongly expressed to him that I could not, because I could not understand people. He then told me how I was supposed to be here, and that the things we teach are spiritually inspired. That we teach with the power of God, and that I needed to have more faith and confidence in the Lord. He promised that if I had the faith to talk, I would understand. Let it suffice to say that I left that evening feeling even worse and that I was totally going to fail. But of course, God works in ways that man cannot understand. I'll continue in a little bit.

This week we found two new golden investigators. They were prepared for the Word. The first was Hma. Eliza. She was a reference, but when we got to her house she didn't want to hear our message. Her reason was that her son had died 6 years prior. I'm not sure how that was a reason, and I'm definitely sure I didn’t understand it all. Anyways, Elder Taveras started telling her about the Plan of Salvation, really brief. And 30 seconds later, with tears in her eyes, she let us in. We ended up teaching her whole family. It was awesome!

Our second investigator was Hmo. Francisco. We were walking down the street, when we heard someone yell, "Brothers!" He and his girlfriend had just been talking about his previous work in the US in Vegas. He worked for a company that happened to employ many LDS members. He called us over to his truck, and we set up an appointment to meet him Sunday night. This is where the previous story ties in. We get to his house, and he meets us at his door before we even knock. Since he was from Vegas, he knew a lot of English, but wasn't quite fluent. We started talking. He was practicing his English with me, and my Spanish with him. And the first sentence I said, I messed up, but he quickly corrected me. He told me not to worry, because that was how he learned English, by being corrected. And from the moment, I totally forgot my worry about not being able to speak. No, I didn’t understand it all, but we had one of the best lessons we've ever taught with him. And I actually said stuff!! It wasn't until that night that I realized that my companions promise was true. I was able to have one of the greatest lessons ever, in Spanish, and I know it was because the Lord knew what he was doing. It just so happened to be with a man that knew English, but I know that it was much more than just coincidence. Faith - what an amazing principle of work and reward. The Lord truly blesses faith.

Ok, in reality, this week has been great. I just made it hard for myself. I've had a lot of great experiences here. Not only is the church true here, but so is baseball. While my companion was on the phone, I was able to watch a few runs. Also, I had the most amazing churros of my life. Maybe I was just hungry, but they were fantastic. 

I want to finish with Scripture of the week. Last week, I ponderized Matthew 6:21. It made me readjust somethings in my mind this week. This week, I will be ponderizing Alma 32:41, all about faith.

Well, everybody, thank you all so much for your support. I love you all, and am so thankful for this opportunity to be out here. I love you all, and I'll talk to you guys next week!!

Love,

Elder Quinn

Additional comments:

 I think the problem is that I actually have a pretty good comprehension of the language, and He's wanting to push me. But I don’t want to. I want it to take 3 months to learn. But I need to have more faith and trust in the Lord, as well as being practical and patient with myself.

I almost forgot, but I had the wonderful opportunity to wash my clothes by hand today. Last week we took our stuff to a laundry mat, but they came back just like we had given it to them, just with a slightly less worse smell. I’m not sure if I'm doing it right. haha!!