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.