December 25

Dear Family and Friends,

       This week was one of change for me, being as it was my first transfer. I said goodbye to Elder Baccarini on Wednesday, and picked up my new companion, Elder Saunders. He's pretty cool, and he's a really good missionary. He speaks Spanish, so we're pretty excited to get some good work done in Buhl.

       Speaking of Spanish work, once Elder Saunders got here the area blew up with work. Our spanish sister missionaries Went around Buhl a couple of weeks ago and contacted many of the areas spanish former investigators. We met a couple of really promising people. One man, Alfredo, we talked to him for like an hour (or Elder Saunders did anyways, I just sat there like a dead fish and pretended to know what was being said). We gave him a blessing of comfort for some trials he's going through, and then on Sunday, he came to church! We were very excited. Hopefully I pick up a little bit of spanish, so at least I can understand what is being said. 

       On Saturday, we started teaching the new member lessons to the Lunas. We started to teach The Restoration, but it quickly turned into a lesson about Family History and temple work for the dead. The Lunas are very excited to start doing temple work, so were going to be getting them an interview with the bishop soon, and we'll be having FHE with them on Sunday this week to teach them about FamilySearch and how they can do some ordinances. 

       Christmas was yesterday, so Merry late Christmas to all of you, and a happy New Year! I got to call home yesterday, which was good. I really loved getting to see allmy family, but I'm still not completely sure my youngest sister knows where I am. We called home from the Thaynes house. We also ate dinner with them yesterday. They're a really great empty Nester family, and they enjoyed having us over. This transfer we should be getting a lot of really great spanish work done, so look forward to hearing about that in the future. Our English work is picking up as well actually. Brother Wilder has agreed to read and pray about the BOM, and he already knows a lot about the church, being from a part member family. Its really all up to him at this point. 

       Below is a picture of Elder Saunders and I in front of a christmas tree.

Godspeed everyone, and Happy New Year!

~Elder Quiner

December 18

Family and Friends,

       Wow. This week was pretty crazy. Everyone in our district had interviews with President Bartlett on Wednesday, except Elder Peterson and I, because we're still brand new. Our house was also supposed to be inspected this week, but the inspectors were backed up, so it ended up not happening. 

       On Friday we had district meeting. Elder Black (one of our APs) was there because he was on exchanges with Elder Anderson. We've been doing a lot of training on smartphones recently, which is good. The Zone Leaders already have them, and from what I can see, this will help the work progress a LOT faster. After District meeting, I went on exchanges with Elder Peterson. We got a lot of work done (we passed out 40 LTW cards) Which was really great.

       On Sunday, we had Stake Correlation meeting. We talked about all the work that was happening in the Filer Stake. That night I learned that Christmas will NOT be a preparation day. We will be Emailing on December 26th for that day.

       That night we heard the big news about transfers. Elder Baccarini is going to PAUL IDAHO! Im staying in Buhl and I'm going to be companions with Elder Saunders. He speaks Spanish, which is exciting because now we can actually talk to Spanish people! Im pretty excited to do some good work here in the spanish area. Transfers are the 20th, so we'll see how it goes from there.

Godspeed Everyone,

~Elder Quiner

First Picture: Our house in Buhl

Second: Car Inspection at Zone conference

Third: Me and my Companion on Transfer Day

Fourth: Man it's cold!

Fifth: My district

December 11th

Dear Friends and Family,

       This week was incredible. We went on exchanges with Elders Mehr and Peterson on tuesday after Zone Conference. I went to twin with Elder Mehr, and we ended up going and visiting some really cool people. Their area is pretty low on work right now, but they're trying hard to get things done. The next couple days on Thursday to Friday I went on exchanges with Elder Randall. (Elder Murray's Companion) Hes a really great artist (See the picture of the Elder Anderson dinosaur below) and we got a lot of really great work done. We met a guy named Levi while we were walking around. We helped him push his truck into the backyard and he agreed to set up an appointment with us for this Tuesday.

       On Saturday we had a very cool experience. The Luna family, our super awesome investigators got BAPTIZED! It was and excellent baptism, and the spirit was extremely strong, though I couldn't understand half of what was being said because it was in Spanish. On Sunday, they were confirmed members of the church. We are so excited for them, and they are feeling very welcome in the ward.

       On Sunday we taught a FHE lesson at the Rays house. We talked about the Book of Mormon and how we can gain a testimony of it. For those of you who haven't taken the challenge in Moroni 10:3-5 to read the Book of Mormon, and SINCERELY and with REAL INTENT to know if it is true ask your Father in Heaven if the Book of Mormon is true. I testify that if you will take this challenge, an answer will come. Maybe not right away, and it may not be a loud answer, but it will come.

       Last night I set up our Christmas tree. It was hard, because all the branches were unmarked, but I think that it looks pretty good if I say so myself. I attached a picture of it below.

       So there is a family in one of our wards, the Hortons. They were formerly inactive, but they have been coming every week for a while now. However, they are going through a very hard time right now, and I would ask you all to keep them in your prayers. Brother Horton went to Meridian to have some neck surgery. The surgery went fine, but after the surgery, his neck swelled up and he threw up. At the time, he was lying down, so the vomit went down into his lungs, and he stopped breathing. At that point he went into cardiac arrest. They did CPR on him and got him breathing again through machines, but they started a little late and his brain was damaged. They're not sure if the damage will be permanent, but until further notice he is for the most part unresponsive, and though he can move his arms, he is not responding to commands. His family is very worried, and the ward is going to help them with what they need. He is being moved to a long term Psychiatric Ward soon, and so he wont be there for his family. I would appreciate it if you would just keep them in your prayers for a while. 

Thank You, and Godspeed,

-Elder Quiner

December 4th

On splits with my MTC Companion!

Well! This week was a rollercoaster! On Monday night, I had exchanges with Elder Murray. On Tuesday, I was in his area. We visited some of his investigators, did some contacting/tracting, and had a really great lesson with an investigator named Ginger. It was about the importance of gaining a testimony of the Book of Mormon, and everyone really felt the spirit. Elder Murray and I became quick friends.

On Friday, we had a really great District Meeting. We also got the news that smartphones are coming to the mission, which I'm not really sure how I feel about. We will be a Facebook mission. Not sure how that will work, but I'm sure it will. After all, there are plenty of safeguards and habits that can be formed to truly make smartphones a tool for the work.

Two of our investigators, Jasmin and Luis, are getting married (hopefully) this week. After that, Jasmin can be baptized, which is exciting (Luis is already a member). Also on Saturday this week we are having a baptism for another two investigators, Tonya and Antonio Luna. They are both extremely ready to be baptized, and we're VERY excited for them.

On Saturday, I went on exchanges with one of our Zone Leaders, Elder Anderson. He's a 6'5" mountain of a missionary, but he's a really great guy. He's probably the one I look up to the most right now in the mission. The day I was with him, we determined to talk to absolutely everyone we saw with no exceptions. The blessings we saw from that experience were LEGENDARY. We contacted 22 individual groups of people that day, most of them non-members. We handed out 17 #LightTheWorld cards, and got 4 return appointments! That means there are 4 new investigators for that 1 day in the area. It was truly an incredible day.

One of the experiences I had on Saturday was very special. As we drove down the highway, we saw a man backing a truck full of couches into his driveway. We drove to the house past his and waited until he was done backing up, then we got out and offered our help moving the couches in. The man was probably in his late 20's, and after explaining to us very clearly that he wasn't interested in our message or even religion, asked if we still wanted to help him move the couches. It was interesting to see the look of shock on his face when we quickly replied that we would still help him. He was absolutely amazed that we were willing to help him. He explained that he was moving his girlfriend in, and had no idea how he was going to get the couches in by himself. After unsuccessfully trying to get the couches in through the back door, we managed to squeeze them both through the front door. I'm pretty sure there were angels there helping us, because it really didn't seem like it would work. When we had finished moving the couches, we went inside and shared the #LightTheWorld message with him. He told us that he really hadn't considered the LDS church or even religion before, but he agreed to let the Elders come back and teach him the following day at 10 am. The lesson they had with him the next day was really spiritual, and he agreed to meet with them again this Saturday! What an amazing experience it was to see how such a simple act of service softened someones heart so much. How great a blessing it is that Heavenly Father placed him in our path. I testify that our Father in Heaven works through us to bless his children.

Saturday night and Sunday morning we had stake conference. On of the members of the 70, Wilford W. Anderson was there, and he shared with us that there are 3 parts to powerful prayer. First, we must put our faith completely in Christ. Second, we must conform our will to the Fathers. Lastly, we must ACT. Our Heavenly Father will not do things for us. We must be willing to do our part as well.

For everyone at home, I encourage you to share #LightTheWorld with all those around you. Please, refer your friends to the missionaries, and push forward the most important work in the world. I love you all, and please make sure you do your part to Light our World with the most perfect light of all, even the Light of our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

Godspeed,

~Elder Quiner

P.S. I got a haircut this morning. Looks good.

November 27th

        Thanksgiving Day

Hey Everyone!

      

       This week has been great! The Relief Society in the Clear Lakes ward made us care boxes that had lots of awesome stuff in it. On Thanksgiving, we ate dinner at 1:00 with the Clarks and the Himes. We talked about the spiritual blessing that come from expressing our gratitude to our Heavenly Father. After dinner, we went on splits with the zone leaders and went tracting in Buhl. Elder Baccarini went with Elder Durst (an awesome, short Canadian elder,) and I went with Elder Anderson (the tall one.) The other two tracted out in Castleford, a really small town out in the sticks, and Elder Anderson and I tracted out 12th avenue. We found a couple of really promising Potential Investigators. After that we went to the Scofields house to share last years #LIGHTtheWORLD video and a really great message. We also judged a pie eating contest. The next day we had district meeting, after which I went on exchanges with Elder Peterson. We got some good work in while he was here. I put a lot of emphasis on visiting some of our Former Investigators this week. We got in contact with some people who want to pick us back up again, so thats good. I'm going on exchanges with Elder Murray today. Their area is really active, so hopefully we get some good work done. This December, I would encourage everyone to participate in the #LightTheWorld initiative. I know as you do so, you'll see some really cool blessings come from it. 

Godspeed,

~Elder Quiner

November 20th

My family and friends,

I am doing well. This week we traded our little Corola for a RAV4 with 4 wheel drive. It's really nice. We live in a house with no lawn, just dirt. I ended up purging our house. It was kind of dirty, so I did a deep clean. It looks so much nicer now. There's a restaurant here called Papa Kelsey's that makes AMAZING subs. I met the Brinks this week. He makes fishing lures by hand, which is really cool. This week we had our first district meeting. It was great. I led everyone in the recitation, D&C 4. Remembering names is almost impossible because Elder Baccarini and I cover 3 wards. Usually I just keep my planner out at dinner and just look at the name as we eat. We usually go to the first hour of either the Thousand Springs or Clear Lakes wards, and then all three hours of Deep Creek. Elder Baccarini has to speak again this week, but he brought it upon himself, because he offered all the bishops to speak whenever they want. We went into the list of our FI's this week, and we found 3 people who want to meet with us again! The temple dedication was really great. Elder Duncan and Elder Dube of the 70 spoke, and then Elder D.Todd Christofferson and President Dieter F. Uchdorf spoke. It was on Sunday, so there was no church. We have 2 families with baptismal dates. Their names are the Lunas and the Cabanillas. Both families are spanish, and their both super ready for baptism. The Lunas have a date for the 9th, and the Cabanillas are on the 16th. This size of letter is probably the most you're going to get from me, because we don't have mush time to write. I try to cram as much information in as I can though. The Meridian temple is MASSIVE. We get to shop in Twin Falls on P-Days, which is nice. Everyone wants to feed us on thanksgiving. Last year, Elder Baccarini ate 6 dinners... So yeah.

~Elder Quiner

Mission President and Wife

We received a lovely letter from President Bartlettt and his wife welcoming Elder Quiner into Idaho.

November 13th

Hello family and friends!

       My first week in the field has gone wonderfully. My trainers name is Elder Baccarini, he's been out for 16 months, and this is his first time training. He's dyslexic, but he's a good Elder. I have a couple talks ready just in case they ask us to speak on short notice. On Sunday, we spoke in the Clear Lakes ward about the tenth article of faith. I spoke about how we should establish Zion in our own lives by becoming unified with each other and the Godhead. There are 3 wards we are in charge of: Clear Lakes, Deep Creek, And Thousand Springs. They are all in the town of Buhl. I met a lot of people. Dont remember most of them though. Please send any mail to the mission home. In our first week we've already had a couple really good lessons. Most of our progressing investigators are Spanish speaking, so we have to bring a translator to lessons. We set a baptismal date for the 16th of next month for one of the families, And we had another on date when I got here. Yesterday we had FHE with the Ray family. They're all really great. I love you all! and remember to work hard in the gospel. Having a testimony isn't enough. We must be converted to the Lord.

Godspeed,

~Elder Quiner

Elder Lochlan Quiner

Idaho Boise Mission

1111 S. Cole Road

Boise, ID 83709-1869

United States

November 7th

Dear Family  and Friends,

This week was an incredible way to end my MTC experience. We taught several lessons to a few investigators: Jeff, Oleksandr, and Gabriel. We taught Jeff about the Plan of Salvation, prayer, and the Holy Ghost, and invited him to continue to pray for answers to his questions. Oleksandr is reluctant to pray, but has started reading The Book of Mormon (in Ukrainian). Gabriel promised us that he would read The Book of Mormon and pray about it. We also attended "in-field training" this week, to learn about street contacting, working with members, etc.

       Our classes this week were as insightful as ever. Our teachers, Justin Cheung and Oscar Abadillo have a way of bringing the Spirit into a lesson that is just absolutely incredible. We went to the temple to do an endowment session. It was great. One of the sisters from our district left early yesterday morning for the Gilbert, Arizona mission. The remaining 3 sisters, and one elder, Elder Healy, left this morning. The 5 remaining elders all head out tomorrow to BOISE IDAHO!

       They feed us too much here. I believe I'm gaining weight. We played volleyball as a zone a couple times this week. I have successfully memorized everyones names. 

         I've learned a ton here. I'm really growing in testimony and in spirit, and I'm definately ready to go out into the field! Remember to pray more often. Get to somewhere where you can feel the spirit and really get to feeling it. During scripture study as a family and by yourself, don't just read. UNPACK THE SCRIPTURES. Find the meaning. Look for how they point to Christ. I love you all! I really enjoyed all the letters you sent me! I love you all!

Godspeed the Right,

~Elder Quiner

October 31st

Dear family and Friends,

       How are you? Thanks for the Halloween Package! It got here ok, and didn't smell like fish. I would love more later down the road! I shared the salmon with everyone, they all thought it was amazing. One of my zone leaders, Elder Pryor said he wants you to adopt him so that he can eat fish like that all the time. He's a really great guy, so I wouldn't mind. Haha. This is a comparison picture between my care package and Elder Nielsons, who's family loves him very much.​

      The second week has been really great. Our two investigators, John and Jasmine, made great progress, and John said he wants to be baptized! He's a 72 year old Navy vet. who liked to show us pictures of his past. Jasmine is a college student who refused to pray until our last lesson, because she was scared she wouldn't get an answer. She got officially engaged the day before our last lesson with her. Both John and Jasmine are what we call TRC's. TRC's consist of a mix of non-members and members pretending to be non-members, but all of them are seeking guidance about something in their lives, and so come to the MTC to be to be taught by the missionaries and actually get paid for it. All of them feel like real investigators.

       I'm excited about going to Idaho, though it will be weird to just have one other missionary around all the time.​​ My senior companion will be chosen on Friday, and we leave for Idaho next Wednesday morning. Elder Peterson (my companion) is really cool. He's a really good scriptorian and he's good at math. He took a year of college at BYU Provo before his mission and majored in statistics. Hes pretty down to Earth, but he's a fun guy. His fastest time solving a Rubiks Cube is 24 seconds, and he memorized 314 digits of pi. He's recited all of them for us too. (His knowledge of Pokemon also rivals mine, he started it Dad.) My original companion, Elder Wagner, has a different companion, Elder Healy. Elder Healy is the only elder not going to Boise. He's going to Salt Lake City South, so he actually leaves Tuesday morning. Here's a picture of Elder Peterson and I at the Provo temple.​

 As the district leader, it's my job to receive reports from the companionships, give reports to the Branch President, pick up the mail, plan meetings, assign teachers, conduct meetings, go to branch council, address any concerns, ect. It's hard work, but my love for the district has grown a lot because of it. Yes, I was led by the spirit for the blessing I gave, it was a sacred experience, and I felt that the words I spoke were not my own. It really emphasized to me that as a missionary, my job is to be a conduit for the spirit. A perfect tool in the hands of the Lord.

       Yes, the Character of Christ was the video that the missionaries back home mentioned. If you can, please email me a transcript of it. The transcript can be found on google. The talk is The Character of Christ by Elder Bednar. It really is one of the best talks I've ever heard. Elder Stevenson came and spoke to us about Preach my Gospel and the characteristics of Christ. It was really great, and I got to sit right up near the front. We also got to hear from Mitch Davis, the director of The Other Side of Heaven, yesterday, who spoke on how to become a dedicated missionary.

       I've been unable to find the tree yet... but I will.​ I love you all, and I loved receiving all of the things you've sent me, especially the letter from Boden. I bought a binder, and I've been saving everything, like you've said. I hope you all are doing well, remember that Heavenly Father works through us to teach his gospel. Every member a missionary!

Love,

~Elder Quiner

​PS: My camera is garbage. It's all grainy and lame. I'm probably going to need a new one at some point. All the pictures I've sent have been with Elder Petersons camera.

October 24th

Dear friends and Family      
Whoops. I pressed tab and it sent the email. It's been a hectic week here at the MTC. My teachers are amazing, and my district is the BEST. We have 4 sisters and 6 elders. My companion got changed. His name is Elder Peterson from Virginia, he's a statistics major and an amazing scriptorian. Our teachers are Brother Cheung, Brother Abadillo, and Sister Clark. They're really great at bringing the spirit into lessons. I was made the District Leader for our district, so I have quite a bit of responsibility. The food here is pretty good, especially the chocolate milk. By the way, the orange juice does not give you diarrhea, although one of our elders. Elder Healy did have some problems with it. (though it could have been the gummy bears) I gave my first blessing yesterday to one of the sisters in our district. It was an awesome experience. Everyday, I feel myself growing closer to the Lord. Ive really been working on something that Elder Bednar said in 'The Character of Christ'. He said that when the natural man would turn inward, Christ turns outward, and so should we. 

Our district does many things together, and we've grown pretty close. We have 2 investigators that we are teaching right now, John and Jasmine. As we teach them, I can feel myself being led by the spirit, Its truly an amazing experience. I often find that Elder Peterson or I are the first ones out of bed in the Morning, so no problem there. We work very well together, and he loves singing (the bass part only though). I write in my journal every night.

I love you all, but I've been too busy to miss you! I hope you're all doing well without me. Below is a picture of me holding the Idaho flag and 2 pictures of my district. Elder Peterson is the other blonde elder.

Stay Spiritual!

~Elder Quiner

PS. Nobody believes me about the cream soda tree, so please send a picture of it so Elder Losee ( the only beleiver) and I can find it. Also if  you could send a picture of my beard. If you could send me some smoked salmon that would be great too.

October 18th

Aunt Heather picked Lochlan up at the airport the night before and she and Uncle Seth brought him into the MTC.  Here is is being dropped off at the MTC and another picture of him arriving at the airport and being greeted by his Aunt.


October 18th, 2017

Dear family and friends,

 This is my first email written from the MTC! it will probably be a short one, because I have to get back to class. My P-day is on Tuesdays if you were wondering. My MTC companion is from Arizona, he seems really nice, and get this -- He's a triplet! My teacher is from Guatemala, and he served in Salt Lake City. I'm doing fine, and I'll send another email later. Bye for now!

~ Elder Quiner

Here is a picture of Lochlan with his buddies Nathan and Aaron Porritt who used to live in Kenai.  They lived one street over, Aaron just returned from serving in California, and Nathan is headed to Brazil in Jauary, they came for a visit today  before Lochlan entered the MTC.