Week 11

First Full Week In Washington
So I completed my first full week in the mission field! It was weird, and I don't know if it was what I was expecting or not... It's kind of like an emotional roller coaster... sometimes you are just walking the CONSTANTLY wet streets of Washington, and people just keep rejecting you, or you are teaching an investigator or a less active and all of a sudden everything is worth it. It's weird but I like it. I'm glad I got the opportunity to try it first in English, because I think the whole culture shock with the missionary shock would have been pretty rough. Now at least when I go to Taiwan I will at least be used to the missionary life. 

Speaking of which, still no news on visas. It's okay though, because the people here are really nice and I am really enjoying my experiences here. I am pretty excited for Taiwan though, because every time I talk to someone who has gone to Taiwan, they tell me about all the awesome things I will get to experience there. 

This week was a really nice week. Since it was Christmas week, we were able to eat with families on both Christmas eve and Christmas. Both of the meals we ate were so good; a bunch of turkey and ham  and other delicious things. And I even got to Skype the family home on Christmas. That was really nice, although nothing had really changed because it had only been a couple of months since I saw them.. It might be a little different in 6 months when I call home for mothers day.

It is so beautiful up here. Every once in a while I am like "I could live here one day" but at the same time it is kind of hard, because it is always wet outside, even when it isn't raining. 

Our new investigator I told you about last week, Teonie, got the flu this week, so we weren't able to meet with her. We are going to try to meet with her today, but if she's still sick there isn't much else we can do. 

I don't know what else to write about.. My companions are both really great. Elder Grant is such a good missionary, and he helps me understand what I should be doing. He is about to go home so he knows all the mission secrets. Elder Nelson is almost as new as me, so it really helps me feel like I wasn't just thrown into it, we are both learning together.

Thank you all for your support and love, things are good up here in Washington. Still pray for my visa! Let's hope I get it soon! I love you all, Merry Christmas and Happy New year!

Love,

Elder Quist

Week 10

I am in WASHINGTON!
Wow! I am in Washington State! Pretty weird, especially since I was just in the MTC last Saturday! So this is how it all happened: 
We asked the travel office on Monday what the plan was for us Mandarin speakers, and they told us that if we didn't leave by Friday we would stay here till Christmas, because from Friday to this Friday was supposed to be a black out week, which basically meant no church travel between that time. So Monday left.. no news. Then Tuesday, and even Wednesday. By Thursday people were pretty convinced that we had no more chance. I was pretty discouraged, I just wish we could've gotten an answer. So I prayed and just asked to find out that Thursday whether or not I would be in the MTC on Christmas, all I need is a sign!  

 

After I said that prayer I went to class, and within the first 30 minutes the boss over Asian speakers came in and said we would all be leaving before Christmas, and that we would be reassigned for a couple of weeks till our visas come! It was so crazy, we were all so excited and ready to leave the MTC. So that night we got our reassignments, and everyone in my mission were called to Washington, all the Elders to Washington Federal Way and all the Sisters to Spokane! The Sisters left Friday morning at 6:30, so they had about 12 hours notice, and we left Saturday at 3:30. Pretty crazy! And the craziest part is that a few weeks ago, when I first thought I was going to be reassigned, I prayed and asked to know a little more about what my plan was. That night I had a dream I got reassigned to Washington! I didn't even think about it until I got my call though! Man I know prayer is so real! 

 

Now I am in Washington, and I am companions with an Elder Grant, who has been here for 22 months, and is my trainer, and an Elder Nelson, who has only been here for 2 weeks. It's actually kind of funny, because Elder Nelson actually came to the MTC a month after me, but just stayed there for 3 weeks. They are both really awesome. 

 

Washington State is pretty rainy, it rains all the time,  and when I see the sun I am really surprised (and it usually only lasts a few minutes at a time), but it is so beautiful up here. It is not as cold as I thought it would be! Everyone told me it was way colder than Utah, but they didn't know what they were talking about. 

 

So the Saturday I got here was kind of hectic. They weren't super ready for us to come (because they had a 2 day notice) so we kind of just quickly met with the Mission President, President Eaton (who is really awesome by the way) and then met our companions and left. That Saturday we tried to set up a bunk bed for me in the apartment, and eventually figured it out. After that, we had Little Caesers, because that's what a member gave us to eat. Then that night I got to speak mandarin with a ward member! My companions were all really impressed, and now they think I can actually speak Mandarin super well (little do they know). Then we went and we got to go meet the Bishop.

 

Sunday was a little faster. We went to ward council for the Lakeholm ward, and then to the rest of church there. It was nice to just settle down and have Sacrament. After church we went around the ward giving secret santa gifts away from someone in the ward, and we got to meet and talk to the members we helped. Then that night we had dinner at a really nice member's house! The food was so good, and for dessert we had berry cobbler.  After that we had a lesson with a new potential investigator. Her name is Teonie Heck and she was alone with one of her kids. She was really nice and sweet. We taught her about the Restoration and she kept saying stuff like, this is what I really need in my life. Then, when the spirit felt right, Elder Nelson asked her if, after we taught her, she would be willing to accept baptism. She immediately said yes! It was so amazing. The spirit was so strong! When we actually gave her a date, she was a little nervous, but said she would try to make that date. We are going back on Wednesday to teach her again.

 

Thank you all so much for your emails! Thank you Taylor and Nate for your emails. Taylor happy birthday yesterday! Sorry I don't know your email so I couldn't send you an email! But I love you and Happy Birthday, see you Thursday!

 

Thank you Onna for the letter, it was nice and bought me breakfast at the airport!

 

It's going good here! It's beautiful and nice! I don't know when I am going to Taiwan, anywhere from 1 to 5 weeks... so wish me luck on that and I will keep you all updated!

 

I love you all,

Elder Quist

Week 9

SO I WILL GO TO TAIWAN... EVENTUALLY
Unfortunately, I have some bad news. As of right now, I have no visa, so I do not know when I will make it to Taiwan. Right now they have just decided to keep us at the MTC, because they think we will get our visas soon, but they aren't sure. So we could be here for a few more weeks, or we could go to Taiwan or get reassigned this week, we don't know. It's kind of sad, but I know the Lord knows what he is doing. 

Last night I watched "Character of Christ", which is a video of a talk given by Elder Bednar during a Christmas Devotional. In the talk, he talks about what the Character of Christ is, and the Character of Christ is turning out towards others when the natural man would turn inward and be selfish. It's a great talk about not focusing on ourselves, and becoming more and more like Jesus Christ. It really helped me this week, because sometimes I want to be disappointed, or ask for the pity of others, because I feel like I should be leaving the MTC, but this talk taught me to reach out to others when I felt like I needed someone to reach out to me. I am comforted, and I know that whatever happens is the Lord's will. But I am still praying so hard to make it to Taiwan as soon as possible! 

This week was nice though, because I got to see Hannah and the rest of the family when they dropped Hannah off at the MTC. I didn't think I could host, but it turned out that I had time, so I did it, and I was walking up towards the road from the MTC, I saw the Oliver's truck pulling into the MTC! I knew it was them, because I saw about 8 people packed into that truck. So I waited by the spot I thought they would stop, and when they stopped I went over and said hi to all of them! Unfortunately, Elders aren't supposed to host sisters, so I just got to say hi and go. But it was really nice to see all of you! And then Onna sent me a nice package the next day with some delicious food! Thanks for that, it actually happen to be about the same time I found out I wouldn't get my visa, so it was nice to have some caramels to eat while I contemplated the woes of my mission life.  Then I got to see Hannah again at the Sunday night devotional. We both watched Character of Christ, and we talked for a bit after it. She told me she wasn't going to be able to email until Wednesday, because that's her PDAY, so I was supposed to pass along the word that she is happy and doing well. 

I hear that Chrissy is moving back to Utah. That's exciting! Except I don't really concern myself with people in the family who don't email me.. Just kidding Chrissy! Good luck wherever you are.

 

I hear Nate and Jan are heading out to Utah soon. Good luck you guys! Don't forget about me while you guys spend Christmas together, and I may only get to call for 30 minutes, if I am still at the MTC.. But I guess I will see what happens.

Happy Birthday Dad! I hope everything is going well for you! I hope work is slowing down, and you can spend a lot of time with Elin over these next few weeks.

Thanks everyone for your letters and packages, they all really help! Keep praying for me, and I will keep praying for all of you. Hopefully next time I send this weekly email I will be out of Utah, but who knows? 

Love you all,

Elder Quist

Week 8

I'M GOING TO TAIWAN!!! Maybe...
I was pretty convinced I would get reassigned last week, but I prayed everyday about making it to Taiwan. Lo and behold, last Thursday night we opened our mailbox and I had my travel plans to Taiwan! We all celebrated so much! Then we went to the travel office to make sure it was a for sure thing... Sadly they said they are really hopeful we will get it, not 100 percent sure. But I am supposed to leave next Tuesday from Salt Lake at 8:45 am. From there I go to Seattle, (I get there like at 9:45 am). After Seattle we fly to Tokyo, we get there 3:30 pm Tokyo time.. the next day. Tokyo is 16 hours ahead of us.. So that means we get there like at 11:30 pm our time... Long flight. After that we go from Tokyo like at 6:00 pm or 6:30 and leave to Taiwan. We get there 8:45 or so, and I think Tokyo is an hour ahead of Taiwan, so it's like a 3 hour flight. So finally, at about 5:00 am our time, I arrive in Taiwan. I might be a couple of hours off on some of those things, because I left my plans in the residence, but that's what I believe. Hopefully, pray for me. But we have a sister going with us who told us her mom is really invested in our visa process, and she told the sister that our visas were approved and in America. But I we are still not 100 percent. I think we are going, and that's just such a powerful testament to prayer, because they told us they were certain we would not get our visas. I know prayer works! But whatever still happens happens for a reason.

Besides that the week was pretty boring. The devotional on Tuesday was really good, it was Elder Evans, and he talked about sharing the gift (in reference to the LDS video). I am supposed to challenge you all to share the gift this Christmas with someone who doesn't have it, so there you are, you have been challenged. www.mormon.org/christmas . 

 

Hannah,you only have two more days! The next two days will go by so fast, and then the 4 days after that are the slowest days of your life, so be ready for that. But after the first week time just flies here, I can't believe I only have a week left! I am going to try and host, but I don't know if I will be able to.. especially since I will probably dry clean my suit on Wednesday. But I will make sure to look for this Sunday at the devotional. Everyone goes to the same movie (The Character of Christ) their first week at the MTC and their last week at the MTC, so if you go to that movie I will see you there! 

 

The spirit here is amazing, I know this church is true. The video of "The Gift" is a very special video, and if you haven't seen it yet watch it today. I love you all! Still pray for me!

Elder Quist 

 

Week 7

THANKSGIVING WEEK IN THE MTC
First things first, I thought I would tell you my visa news as of right now. We asked today, and the travel office told us we will likely be reassigned.. I am a little disappointed, because my Mandarin may go bad, and I won't be able to go with my district to Taiwan. But it's okay, because I know it's the Lord's choice, and whatever happens is His will. However, that doesn't mean you can't all still pray that everything still works out, because I know I will be praying as hard as I can. 

Besides the news I mentioned in the previous paragraph, this last week was really good! Last Monday we Skyped people in Taiwan for the first time. It was really fun, and the guy we skyped was really awesome. He joined the church last year, even though his parents weren't members. He would sneak to church every Sunday, and finally his mom (who had known all along.. I think.. remember he said most of this is Mandarin) asked him where he went every Sunday. He said he was going to church, and that he really believed it was true. She wasn't mad, and told him it was alright. He really wants to go on a mission, and he might after he is done with school. He was so cool, and asked for our emails so he could email us. 

Then on Tuesday Elder Oaks came and talked to us! It was really amazing to get to listen to an apostle, he was so good.  And then on Thanksgiving we had another apostle come! Elder Bednar came in the morning and talked to us. But he didn't even give a talk; rather, he sent out about 50 or so cell phones into the audience, and asked each of us to text a certain number any questions we had for him. The rest of the meeting was just questions and answer, and it was so great! 

After Elder Bednar we had lunch, which wasn't so bad.. not as bad as it could be. I got to eat pie and stuffing and turkey, so that was good. After that we got to go to a humanitarian program, and learn about all the things we do in the church for others. Then we did a service project, where we filled baggies with food, I don't know how much we made, but I think we made hundreds of thousands of little food baggies. Following the service project we ate dinner as a district in our class room, they were just sack dinners but it's okay because we all brought food from our residence and had a lot of food. 

We then got to watch a special missionary Thanksgiving program, where missionaries performed and we did a little Thanksgiving program, it was really fun, but after that we got to watch Meet the Mormons! We were all so excited, and I thought it was so good! I hope it helps with bringing people to the gospel. And as a finale to our whole day the MTC presidency put up the Christmas lights in the MTC! It was one of my favorite Thanksgivings ever!!! 

Finally on Sunday we had vocal come for our devotional. I almost liked it more than any other devotional, because the spirit they brought with the music was amazing, and I really miss music. 

A special experience I had this week that I wanted to share- In our Mandarin class once a week someone will pick a chapter of the Book of Mormon we can read and discuss as a class. I went this week and chose 1 Nephi 21. It talks all about the atonement and missionary work. We discussed why we do missionary work, and it's because the Lord has made a promise that He will reach out to everyone, and we, as missionaries, are the tools he uses to do that. People are looking for Christ, and Christ wants to show them that He does remember them. However, a lot of times He needs us to reach out for Him. He needs us to extend the hand that He so wishes He could extend Himself. When we say we are representatives of the Savior, we really mean it. We are representing the Savior in reaching out to the lost sheep. I also shared a quote I had in my scriptures-

 I testify that the Savior’s Atonement lifts from us not only the burden of our sins but also the burden of our disappointments and sorrows, our heartaches and our despair.¹⁴ From the beginning, trust in such help was to give us both a reason and a way to improve, an incentive to lay down our burdens and take up our salvation. There can and will be plenty of difficulties in life. Nevertheless, the soul that comes unto Christ, who knows His voice and strives to do as He did, finds a strength, as the hymn says, “beyond [his] own.”¹⁵ The Savior reminds us that He has “graven [us] upon the palms of [His] hands.”¹⁶ Considering the incomprehensible cost of the Crucifixion and Atonement, I promise you He is not going to turn His back on us now. When He says to the poor in spirit, “Come unto me,” He means He knows the way out and He knows the way up. He knows it because He has walked it. He knows the way because He is the way.Brothers and sisters, whatever your distress, please don’t give up and please don’t yield to fear. (That's from Elder Hollands 2006 talk Broken things to Mend)

Things are going really well here. I only have 2 weeks left! Even if I get reassigned I will be okay. Thank you all for your emails and packages, I love all of you. PRAY FOR MY VISA. Thank you 

Love,

Elder Quist 

Week 6

This week has been especially tiring. It was really chill at the beginning, like the devotional was really good. We had the Relief Society General President, Sister Burton. She did really well! I was not disappointed, but I am especially excited for this week, because we have another Tuesday devotional, then we have a devotional on Thanksgiving. The choir director (not because I am in choir but because I heard from someone else) said we would not be disappointed by the devotional, so I am excited!

Last Wednesday our district was selected to do traffic control, which are the missionaries that are at the MTC the day we get new missionaries, and they guide the cars through the MTC. But when we got there, they already had like 3 sisters so they didn't need me. So while my entire district did traffic control, I did hosting again. It was weird to be away from my companion so much, because it's allowed when you are hosting. I got to host 3 new missionaries that day, because there were 700 missionaries coming in that day! There were so many because we aren't getting any this week, because of Thanksgiving. But since we have 700 missionaries, and no missionaries are leaving this week, the MTC is so crowded. We have so many new missionaries by our residence!

This morning we got up at 6:25 to get to the showers, so we could get to the temple on time, but there was already a huge line at the showers when we got there! We usually don't have to worry about that though, because our zone has gym in the morning, so we don't shower till like 830, and all the other missionaries are gone by then. But on PDAYS and Sundays we just can't shower, the lines are soo long. I guess I can shower before dinner tonight. 

Anyway, on Thursdays we do service.. but last Thursday we had inspection in the building we do service (the building we clean on service day) so we worked so hard to make sure that building was spotless. I was exhausted after that. 

And, on Friday we had a special teaching session, where a really good teacher taught our district in English in front of a bunch of new teachers. So on Friday we had 7 and a half hours of class time.

And to top all those days off, my teachers started to teach us Chinese. What I mean is that, for the 5 weeks previous, we learned something that can't even be considered Chinese, because it was so simple and the grammar was so simple. But last week our teachers started teaching us how Mandarin really works. It was a really difficult week of language, so pray for me to learn this language! Sometimes it's really hard. 

So by Sunday I was exhausted.. so it was nice to have a nice day to relax. But I still love the MTC, because it is really fun. The weeks have taken a toll on me, and my clothes, but I am moving forward and it is getting easier and easier. And don't worry about my clothes mom, we have a sister in our district we call "Mama Kwong", because she helps us with stains and other problems we have. 

Things are going well, I can't believe I only have 3 weeks left till Taiwan. Oh, and about visas: the district above us going to Taiwan, they are going to get their visas in the next week, maybe a day or two longer, and we sent in our papers in a few days after them. So they told us we would probably get our visas on time! But still pray for us! Pray that I can leave the 16th! 

I love you guys, thanks for the letters and the packages! Thank you especially Onna and Lilon for the cookies!! They were great! My companion who is lactose intolerant ate a bunch because they were so good, even though he knew he had to face the consequences. Keep it all coming! It's so great! 

Love, Elder Quist

Week 5

I am already half way done with the MTC.... that's crazy. But it's okay, because I am really excited for Taiwan! It might be a little rough if the first week in the field is Christmas, but it's okay, I'll get through it. 

Every week here goes by faster and faster. This last week my district got to host. IT was pretty awesome, we got to be the missionaries that picked up the new missionaries. I got to host 2 missionaries, both going English speaking. I felt bad for them, because they both seemed so out of it. I guess I probably was like that too when I first got here. But it just so happens that both these new missionaries have my same PDAY, so I saw them both at the temple today. We didn't talk.

Then it snowed! My whole district celebrated when it snowed. It was actually the first time Elder Marcelo had ever seen snow, so it was a cool experience. But then all the snow melted... and only the cold remained. It's so cold... I am ready for Taiwan's weather.. 

It's exciting that Shelby is coming home soon! I feel like she just left. Tell her I love her when you guys see her.

Hannah your time is coming! These last few weeks go by so fast. I will make sure to look out for you your first week. I will be an 8 week pro by then... so I can help you out.

I don't know what else to say for this week. Things are pretty basic around here. The Dear Elders aren't working right now so if you sent me a Dear Elder and I didn't respond it's because I haven't got it yet. But I did get Taylor and Jason's. I am sorry Jason, I saw Zac  the other day and he told me he already took the xbox.. so you will have to take it up with him. 

They put up the Christmas lights around here today, which is cool. And tomorrow I feel someone special for the devotional, so I will tell you what happens with that. I bet Hannah will see so many apostles because the time of year shes coming in at, so look forward to that Hannah, because the devotionals are awesome.

Keep the love coming. Keep the prayers coming, especially about visas. And I am going to keep going. 

Love Elder Quist

Week 4

I CAN'T BELIEVE JOSH AND ALLIE ARE HAVING A BABY. Of course you waited till 4 weeks after I left on my mission. That's okay though, you'll have to send me some pics of it. And tell me when you know if it's a boy or a girl, although with the spirituality I feel here I am inspired to say it's a boy. I was also inspired that his name should be Noah. Just keep that in mind.. you might not want to go against a missionaries inspiration..

Things are going well here. Time flies by, my Chinese is slowly getting better. It's fun to learn a language so fast, but I am pretty sure I pronounce everything wrong here. I can't wait for Taiwan! Today when I was leaving the temple I came across my Mission President's mother-in-law and brother-in-law! They took a picture of us and are going to send it to the Mission President. The brother-in-law also said that he heard all the missionaries going to Taiwan in December are going to get their visas accepted on time! I hope he's right, because I really want to be in Taiwan by Chinese New Year. So everyone pray that I get my visa on time! 

I went to the BYU devotional, and I didn't see any of the family members there.. but I did see my old MTC teacher and Ciera. I waved to Ciera and made her stand up so all my district could see her. 

I got my Chinese nametag this week. The characters I originally sent were wrong, because I guess Brother Autumn is a weird name there.. So I am going to send a picture of the right characters. 

Yesterday we had Elder Cabie speak to us. He was really funny and he talked all about always being ready to teach, and about the power of the Book of Mormon, it was a really good talk. 

This morning I did some more sealings. The guy who was performing the sealings asked me where I was from and I said, "Santaquin, but you probably know it as Payson", because every time someone asks me where I live I tell them I am from Santaquin, then they always say they have no idea where that is, until I tell them it's basically Payson, then they're like "Oh!". But the brother performing the sealings said he was from Santaquin, so he knew where it was. His name was like Brother Scollfield or something.  It really is a small world. 

Thank you Lilon for the letter, it was really nice to get during the week! Letters and packages are great everyone.. so follow Lilon's example! Oh and thanks dad for the package, but I sent you an email thanking you. Every letter is so great. 

Hannah get ready for the MTC. I will definitely see you at least once before I leave. You are going to see so many General Authorities during Christmas time. 

Love you all, pray for my visa. And don't get mono Zac, I heard that's rough. 

Love,

Elder Quist

Week 3

So today was a really good week. I am really started to get comfortable here. The devotionals are all so great! Last night Sister Nelson came, Elder Nelson's wife. She said he couldn't make it, but it was okay because she did so good! She said we can pray for angels by name, and she also said it's good to pray for inspiration through dreams. It was just a really good talk! At the end of meeting she had us sing "Lord Make Us a Holy People", which is a new hymn! So when you hear it in the near future just know that I sang it first.

On Wednesday this week I lost one of my companions. He had to take care of some stuff at home, but he will be back in a few months! So now it's just me and Elder Millat, with Elder Chan and Elder Marcelo of course. And we are not losing Elder Marcelo! He is staying with us until we leave, because they realized he didn't know any Mandarin. 

It's getting really cold outside? When is it going to snow? I am ready for the snow, because I realized it's the last time I will see snow for 2 years! Not to mention that MTC is awesome during the holidays! Last night in the devotional one of the MTC leaders taught us how to treat General Authorities, because apparently this is the time of year they come.  

Halloween was a good time. We all wore our orange ties, and Sister Kuang and Sister Hancock both dressed up (as much as you can at the MTC). Sister Kuang was dressed in all black, I should've taken a picture, and Sister Hancock apparently wore a bunch of conflicting patterns.. I didn't really notice but she assured me something was different about her outfit. Then we went back to the residence and ate so much candy and played basketball with our new nerf hoop. It was a good time, we played zhu (I think 2nd tone), which means pig. Don't get it confused with zhu (3rd tone), because that's Lord.

I also did sealings for the first time last Monday, and that was really cool. Today we did more endowments, and it's really nice to get to got to the Temple every day.

This last weekend we said goodbye to Wu Dixiang and Sun Laoshi, our teachers. It was really sad, because we had Wu Dixiang from the beginning, and he spoke like 4 lines in english to us on Saturday because he really wanted to share his testimony with us. And Sun Laoshi was great too, she started crying when she was saying goodbye, and so did most of the Jiemei (sisters) in the room. But not we start with Ge Laoshi, who is really cool, and Ke Laoshi, who is Zac's friend, and we all really like her a lot. So in the end it's all good.

Things are going really good here, the MTC is fun. I am really excited for Taiwan though, because a lot of my teachers went to Taizhong and they talk about how great it is. I hope the visa thing works out, we haven't heard anything about it, although they said if anything was wrong we would hear about it, rather than hear nothing. So let's hope for the best. Thanks for all the support, and know I am praying for you! Keep all the great Dear Elder and Letters coming! 

Love,

Elder Quist

Week 2

This last week has really gone by fast. I am really starting to get the hang of things. Me and my district have a lot of fun, which helps the time go by. The devotionals are great, and the spirit here is just really amazing. It's like the spirit is intensified in everything you do. For example, I watching the Joseph Smith Movie last night and it was really powerful.. even though I have watching it before tonight. The devotional last night was really good, all about repentance. The speaker shared Abide With Me, Tis Eventide, which is a great song with a great message.

The Chinese is getting better, it's pretty crazy how fast you can learn here. I am now teaching two investigators, one a day, and it's a lot of work to prepare for them. My teacher asked we don't use Chinese Scripts anymore, which are basically scripts of the first lesson in Chinese, so I have to try to teach by memory, which is really hard. My teacher still hasn't ever spoken English to us, but he's getting easier to understand. We have a new teacher too, Sun Laoshi, she is a native from Sheng Hai and she is really funny. My companion was talking to her one day and tried to say to her in Chinese "Everyone should love everyone" but ended up saying "Everyone should love Americans", since she is native Chinese, she laughed so hard. 

So Zac and Karriann went on a trip (with Denver) this weekend... Wow I may just miss a wedding. I can say whatever I want, by the way, because I am a missionary and can do no wrong. That's kind of weird to say right now though, because Zac is literally 5 feet from me right now. He is helping people in the computer lab. I'm pretty sure everyone thinks he's a missionary though, because they keep saying things like "Oh do you have the time to help me?", it's pretty funny, but it's weird to see him.

Thanks Josh and Allie for the cupcakes, they were really good! And thanks everyone for the Dear Elders, those are really fun to get so you should all send some. Everything is going good though! I really am having the time of my life here, me and my district really have fun! It's sad though because Elder Marcelo is leaving next week, we don't know why but he was fast tracked and got his travel plans last week. Crazy, because that will be me in no time. Love you all and keep the emails/letters coming (letters especially)

Love,

Elder Quist

Week 1

Well I have been here for almost a week, which is crazy because I feel like I just got here, but at the same time I feel like last Wednesday was a lifetime ago, kind of hard to explain that part. Everything is good around here, I am in a threesome companionship with Elder Millat (From St. George) and Elder Hendricks from Springville. All three of us are going to the Taiwan, Taizhong mission. Then I have 2 other Elders in my district, Elder Chan (From Dallas, Texas) and Elder Marcelo (From the Philippines), both are going to California Chinese speaking missions. Then we have 4 sisters who are also in our district Sister Hancock, Sister Nimraw, Sister Prophet, and Sister Kuan (I may have misspelled all those Sister names). I feel like me and my district are pretty tight, especially since all 5 Elders are in the room with me. (BTW Elder Chan is our district leader, and he is awesome).

The week was packed with all sorts of things, mostly meetings, but also some interesting times. We went to the temple yesterday for a temple walk where we just walked around and hung out, which was cool. Sundays are pretty chill, and the devotional last night was awesome. The speaker was Chad Lewis (from the NFL) and he went to the Taiwan, Taizhong mission. He gave a great talk and it really lifted all of our spirits. And at that devotional I even got to see and talk to Elder (Gavin) West, which was awesome. 

Chinese though. It's crazy. My teacher hasn't spoken English to us yet, but we get through the lessons. I've even already taught my first investigator twice, and both times in Chinese. The first time was practically just us reading from a paper and her answering in a way we didn't understand, but I felt the second time was a lot better. I can already pray in Chinese, and bare testimony of some things in Chinese. We are all learning really fast, but the Sisters are all so much better than us. I think it's because they all took some college classes in Chinese before they got here, so they got a head start. But it's coming, and I know we will be better by the end of these 9 weeks.

Times in the residence are really fun. All the Elders in our zone and building really have fun, and they are all really welcoming to us new guys. I feel like all the Elders going before me are so much older than me, but it turns out that I am older than a lot of them, it's kind of weird how that works. But on the second day Elder Hendricks got sick. We got back from dinner (where he didn't eat anything) and he was feeling really bad. So we went to the medical center, which was closed, so we went to the front desk. There he called up and doctor who talked to him over the phone. The doctor prescribed some ibuprofen and we went back to the room. Next thing you know Elder Hendricks is in the bathroom throwing up. By this time the rest of the district was gone, and me and Elder Millat were just chilling in the room. Then another set of missionaries from our zone came in and told us that me and Elder Millat were supposed to go to meet with the Branch Presidency, and they stayed with Elder Hendricks. 

So we met the Branch Presidency, and they are all really cool. My Branch President is Brother Woodfield, and he seems like a cool guy. However, the first counselor (I think he's the first) is Elder Averatte (I don't know how to spell it), and he has lived in Mapelton for quite some time. He said he remembers our family from when we lived there, and he recognized my last name. He said he remembers me running around the block as a little 4 year old. So I guess it's a small world. 

Today is my Preparation (P-DAY) day as you might have guessed, and I started this morning with a great temple session. I will admit though, it was at 8 this morning, so I did struggle staying awake the whole time (but I did stay awake!). 

Yeah, sleep is one of the hardest things for me here. I probably will get better, and some nights are fine, but if you want to pray, pray that I can sleep better. It usually takes me a little while to fall asleep, because I have always been a bad sleeper. I got a few snorers, but they are very off and on, so I don't usually have to worry about that. The thing that has taken me the longest time to get used to is my dear friend Elder Marcelo, because he tends to russel (I tried, I could not spell that) in his sheets in his sleep.. and he sleeps right next to me. What I mean is that he will be constantly moving his feet back and forth is the sheets, so it's like a constant shoosh shoosh shoosh shoosh. But hey I am getting used to it, so it's okay. I even used a some of those sleeping pills the other night, and that helped. I could definitely tell they were in my system, and I fell asleep a little faster. But the next morning I felt like someone had punched me in the face for the first hour, but that's just gym time so that's okay. 

But all and all everything is good. I heard after today the gas pedal goes down, and things start flying by. I am ready for this adventure and I thank you for all your letters and emails (by the way I could hear the game on Saturday night dad),

Love Elder Quist