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.