January 22, 2018

Family and Friends,

       Yep! You saw the title. By the end of this week, every missionary in my mission will have a smartphone in their hands. In fact, they will be in our hands TODAY (we wont be allowed to power them on until zone conference on Friday) we're supposed to have them charged for zone conference. With this announcement comes changes in the way the work will go. As we've been trained these last few months, we've thought up ways to use technology that will help us to find new investigators, find fellow-shippers for investigators, and keep daily contact with those we are teaching. Along with the benefits to our teaching and finding, this tool will allow us to more effectively plan the route we take while we go to appointments, and improve our personal and companionship study. Its all very exciting.

       Even more exciting however, are the 6 baptismal dates we have for our investigators. All of them speak spanish, and some of the dates are very soon. There is a young couple, he's a member she isn't, that should be getting married TODAY! It's very exciting, because we've been working with them FOREVER. We'll see next week if it actually happened or not. If it does, she can actually get baptized the week after that. We also started working with another young Spanish couple, where he's a member and she isn't. They are actually married though, so thats good. She has a baptismal date set for March. We also have been working with some English speaking people, which is awesome. We're very excited to see the work picking up for both languages we work with.

       I finished Jesus the Christ this week. I've decided it's probably one of my favorite books. The things that Talmage talks about are very interesting, and learning more about the life of our Savior fascinates me. I highly recommend it.

       This week we did an extensive amount of contacting. We've been working with less actives a lot in one of our wards, because we found out that there are over 400 less active members in that ward alone. So far we haven't had a ton of success, but we're hoping things start working out soon. This week, we've done something with dinners that has vastly improved our ability to get referrals. We call 3-4 days ahead of time, and after setting up the dinner, we let them know that we will be asking them for names of people we've been working with after we share a message, and inviting them to think or come up with someone during the time before we come. This, surprisingly enough, has triple the amount of referrals we've been getting. Its pretty amazing. Highly recommend it for all my missionary friends out there.

       I love you all, and I hope that you have a great week. This is an exciting time to be alive. The Lord is hastening his work, and we're right here in the middle of it.

Godspeed,

~Elder Quiner

First Picture: My companion at I at a members home

Second: The wall of pictures I made next to my desk.

Third: Loves for my mom

Fourth: Our district, minus the Filer sisters.

January 16, 2018

Family and Friends,

       Time really just seems to fly by on the mission. its crazy to think that I've been gone for 3 whole months already! Sorry for not E-mailing earlier, preparation day is today because Martin Luther King day was yesterday. Nobody really celebrates it here though, for some odd reason.

       On Monday night to Tuesday night I was on exchanges with Elder Murray we contacted a lot of less actives, and had a really great lesson with one of the people we found in the Meadowbrook apartment complex. She was going to come to church this week, but something came up, so she wasn't able to make it. She said she should be there next week though, which is awesome.

       The next day we had interviews with our mission president. He's excited about some of the work we're doing here in Buhl, which is nice, because we're also very excited about it. All of our wards have been blowing up with work recently, and we have so many potential investigators that we don't know what to do sometimes. The Lord always provides a way though, so hopefully we'll be able to get everything we need to get done done. 

       This week we started to set up more frequent correlation meetings between ourselves and our ward mission leaders. It should help us out a lot to work with our wards more closely. On Saturday, we had a correlation meeting with the Ward Mission Leader for the Thousand Springs ward, Brother Smith. We put together a 5 pronged plan for our wards mission plan. A lot of the work we'll be doing is to help strengthen the members, and really get them involved more with missionary work. We'll also be working hard on our Spanish work, and Brother Smith decided the best way to do so was to start up a class to help people who know Spanish learn English, and those who know English to learn Spanish. We hope that sharing each others languages will bring the Ward closer together, and not only help with member retention, but also with helping us to get more referrals. In our other wards, especially the Deep Creek ward, we've been really hitting less-active work hard. We got a list of all the members in the Deep Creek ward, and to our surprise, less than half of the people on the list were even semi-active. So, after talking with the bishop and ward mission leader, we set out on the arduous task of contacting every less active on the list (more than 400 names) and determining their willingness to start accepting the Gospel back into their lives. So far, we've actually been met with relative success, as we've found a surprising number of them just developed a habit of not coming to church, or not doing the simple things, and are entirely willing to at least let us share a message once in a while. It's very exciting.

       on Friday, we had the opportunity of watching our dear Prophet, President Thomas S. Monson's funeral. It was an excellent event, and we were able to bring the spirit into the home of a less active families house very strongly, which was excellent. This morning we also had the opportunity to hear from our new Prophet, Russell M. Nelson. Dallin H. Oaks and Henry B. Eyring are his 1st and 2nd councilors, and all of them are divinely inspired men, who will execute with earnestness the will of our Lord. how powerful it was to hear the words of our new prophet, as he solemnly declared, and with a powerful spirit, that he would dedicate his every breath to serving the members of this church, in doing the will of the Lord, and in serving Him until his final breath. We sustain him as the next Prophet, and a man who will lead this church with exactness according to the will of the Lord. We look forward to seeing the diverse ways the Lord will move His work forward, as we see He is even now doing. I love this Gospel and this Church, and solemnly testify that there is nothing more true upon the entire face of this great Earth. I love you all, and wish you the best as this week progress'.

Godspeed,

~Elder Quiner

January 7, 2018

Family and Friends,

       This week was a very busy one for us here in Buhl, Idaho. Elder Saunders felt a little sick on Wednesday (He threw up) but it didn't stop us from going out and doing work. Thursday we contacted a LOT of our potential investigators, we met a few people who are really promising. We ended up giving a blessing to an older lady that day as well. It was cool, because we actually ran into her while tracting on her street, and she said she was going to call us later anyways. It strengthened my testimony that what we are doing out here is becoming tools in the lords hands. On Friday, we went to tract out an apartment complex, on inspiration of the spirit. We ended up finding 5 people who want to meet with us again, and 2 less active families. 

       That day was also the first day of the Book of Mormon reading challenge. I'm focusing my reading on the Plan of Salvation and what we have to do in this life to be Happy. Already I am seeing the blessings of my studies. This week, we reviewed our mission president's letter in district meeting. It was about having kneeling prayers, and he challenged us to do so more often. I testify that as we have kneeling prayers by ourselves, in our families, and with our companions, we will be blessed with the Spirit of the Lord as we pray. As we pray, we must remember to not just draw near to Him with our mouths, but with our hearts as well. We should be seeking for what the Spirit would have us pray for constantly as we pray. This is something that I have learned here in the field, and something that has blessed me by making my prayers more powerful. I just wanted to share that with you all, and I would like to challenge you to have kneeling, audible prayers more often throughout this new year. 

       On Sunday, we had two excellent fast and testimony meetings in Clear Lakes and Deep Creek. Afterwards, we co-ordinated with or ward mission leaders for two of the Wards that we cover. We will be working a lot with less active members here soon. Should be good. We have a couple of lists that we a re working on right now, that Elder Saunders has organized to increase effectiveness. 

       We were sad to hear that our dear prophet passed away this week. However, I testify that he was a prophet of God. It was his time to leave us, and the next prophet, President Russell M. Nelson will receive inspiration from the same source that all prophets before have. Remember that this is not a church led by one man, nor by a group of men. The resurrected Christ literally heads his church, and makes the decisions that will prepare the world for the second coming. This is our Lords time, and he is hastening his work. We look forward to hearing the inspired words of President Nelson in the next General Conference.

       I love this gospel and this work, and I bear testimony that this is the MOST IMPORTANT work on earth. There is nothing I could be doing with my life right now that could be more important. I love the people that I am serving, and I know that this gospel is the best thing that they will ever receive. I love you all, and wish you the best as this year moves forward.

Godspeed,

~Elder Quiner

January 2, 2018

 
A Picture I took of Elder Baccarini and I before he left

Family and Friends, 

       This week has been a good one. I went on exchanges with Elder Tauanu'u on wednesday. We had an awesome exchange. We shoveled a couple of peoples driveways, and actually ended up helping a less active family move to Mountain Home, ID. They were very thankful to us. It's always cool to see how peoples hearts soften as we serve them. 

       On Thursday, we had a very good lesson with a young spanish couple living with one of our members. We actually set a baptismal date with them. They are very prepared, and they are very ready to receive the restored gospel. The baptismal date, as of right now, will be the same day as their marriage in a couple of months. We're very excited to continue teaching them. On Friday, we had an AMAZING lesson with a spanish man named Alfredo. The spirit was very strong, and he felt it SO MUCH. It was truly incredible.

       District meeting we talked a lot about the new policies regarding phones. They are coming soon, so its important that we learn about how we can best use them as tools to push this great work along. We'll actually be able to teach people outside of our assigned area, on case by case basis, so that should be interesting.

       New years eve was excellent. We spoke in sacrament, and I gave a very well prepared talk about how we can strengthen our testimonies, and how when it comes down to it, the best way to do so is what we call spiritual CPR. In other words: Church attendance, regular Prayer, and regular scripture Reading and study. Those small and simple things build up our testimonies bit by bit, until they are strong. We went out and tried to find people to teach, but nobody was interested. That night, I SAW A SHOOTING STAR! Not just any shooting star though. This one seemed really close! Very red tail, with little streams coming off of it. I got very excited. (hopefully it wasn't a plane crash, wishes dont work as well on those) Either way, since New Years Eve gets crazy, we had to be home by 6:30pm that night. So once we got home, I did my nightly routine, and then I read Jesus the Christ for a while. It's a really great book, and I'm enjoying it more than I thought I would. It talks about a lot of interesting scriptural and historical truths I didn't know about.

       It's the New Year! This year I'm going to work hard to share the gospel with everyone I meet, so I'm looking forward to doing well this year. Coming up here soon we will be doing a BOM reading challenge, and I would invite all of you to take the challenge with us. On January 5th, we will start the Book of Mormon, from the introduction. On March 30th, we will finish it. 85 days. 7 pages a day. This is the same amount of time that Joseph Smith translated the Book in. Surely we can finish it in the same amount of time.

       Have a good year everyone. 2018 is here!

Godspeed,

~Elder Quiner

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.