February 26, 2015 - MTC

 

 

It has been another week of miracles!

Our zone made it through our last week of just the 12 of us.  We received another district yesterday, 4 Hermana’s and 4 Elders.  We are now up to 20 in our zone!  So far the new district seems really nice, though I think they think our zone is really weird.  In all reality, after being with the same 12 people for a month, we are just comfortable with each other and yes, crazy.  They just need to give themselves time to get to know each other.

 

Fun fact: Elder Kidd is awesome at juggling!  We had a bag of mints, and all started trying to juggle the mints.  Elder Kidd did it so awesomely!  Hermana Williams was really good too.  Elder Burns and I were trying.  He did better than I.  I would toss the first mint, toss the second, catch the first, and then catch the second.  I could not toss the third mint before catching the second.  It was kind of funny.

 Also funny, after gym one morning, I was asked how it was.  I said good, I ran only 2 miles, and did quite a bit of strength training for my arms and abs.  Everyone else, except Hermana Henzi, looked at me and repeated "only??”  Sadly, we don't have a ton of time to work out, but we do have time.  Apparently, 2 miles is super far?  I was thinking, uhm, I used to run quite a bit more than this on my easy run days.  Hermana Henzi did cross country and knew what I was talking about.  

 I love singing!  Our teacher, Hermano Rasmussen talked of how singing really invites the spirit, and that it was cool when he sang with his companions on his mission... Now our whole district is doing it.  Even if you aren't that amazing of a singer, if you sing from your heart, the spirit comes into the room.  Hermana Williams and I have done it every lesson since, and it is awesome.  Hermana Moir y Henzi do it, and Elders Plumb, Kidd, and Burns have done it too.  My advice to future missionaries-try it!  Especially because it invites the spirit and you don't have to come up with what to say.  As we say, sin mierto (without fear)!

 Hermana Williams is grateful for our Panchito practicing over a week ago.  Ever since then, I have been talking more in lessons.  It was definitely a confidence booster for me, realizing how much Spanish I know, without a prepared lesson.  About everyone else in our district seemed to react a bit oppositely, a little unsure now, but for some reason, I needed that experience.  

 Hermana Williams y yo really have come to rely on each other, and completely trust each other.  We will stop in the middle of a thought, and look at the other one, because we don't know where to continue this too, and we just fill in for each other.  We originally didn't think of this as comp unity, but realized that it is a sign of trust, and it can help our lessons flow.  

Hermana Williams is so awesome.  Sometimes, a lot, I will speak without thinking in our lessons, such as challenging an investigator to read the Book of Mormon.  But, I don't completely think things through.  It usually follows with a part question, and I can't think of anything.  That is when Hermana Williams comes in with a part that they need to read.  How awesome is that?!  She just laughs at me afterwards, and I laugh too.  That is something she commented to me about.  I ALWAYS make some sort of mistake EVERY lesson, but all I do afterwards is laugh at myself.  That really is all you can do, or get mad, and that would just make life miserable.

Funny mistakes:

Did you know that hombre and hambre sound super similar?  One is man and one is hungry.  How would you feel if you were asked how you felt when your stomach was really man, not hungry, whoops?

 

I challenged Pablo to read the words of the living prophet, got him on lds.org on his phone, but could not find where the right tab was.  It was really embarrassing, and he switched it to English so that I could actually read everything.  We were just laughing afterwards, I need to be more familiar with lds.org. ---- basically most challenges I make I need to think through more, I am working on thinking more before I start speaking...

We also really feel the spirit in our lessons.  I have seen as God works through Hermana Williams, helping her to say what our investigator needs to hear.  It is always such an amazing experience, and reminds me of how well our Heavenly Father knows each of us.  He knows how to help us personally.

 This week I was really studying the story of Enos in the Book of Mormon, most specifically the first 8 verses.  I have been thinking about how I pray.  Do I pray with all my heart?  How have my prayers been answered?  How have I felt like I received a remission of my sins as Enos did?  The Lord tells Enos that it is through his faith that he was made clean.  Do I have faith to be clean?  How can I continue to grow my faith?  That took me to Alma 32:21-35.  Am I experimenting on the words I read?  Am I taking action, as faith is an action?  As you can tell, I really have been pondering this a lot.  Something I feel, is that I don't need to completely know.  Heavenly Father asks us to have a desire, and slowly, it is definitely a process, that desire grows into a belief and into a knowledge.  I can pray to Heavenly Father and I know that He will answer my prayers.  I may not get the clear response as Enos, but I have felt the peace and joy that comes from Heavenly Father.  

Love

Hermana Quain

* Also, I have been reading up on how you receive answers from the spirit.  How do ya'll receive answers to your questions?

The Hermanas in my District

My mission t-shirt

 

February 19, 2015 - MTC

It has been a wonderful week of miracles!                                         February 19, 2015

 First with your questions:

-We still do not have a new district in our zone, just us 12 missionaries continuing on.  We should be getting a new district this next Wednesday, so that should be exciting.

-I am sleeping all right.  I am such a morning person.  I am always wide awake before our alarm goes off, and I am in charge of waking everyone up and getting them going. :)  So far it is going well, the other Hermanas’ appreciate that I actually am awake in the morning and get everyone going.

-So p-day; we get up, take learning assessments (super easy), breakfast, relax, laundry/email, lunch, we walk to the Temple and do a session, get back in time for dinner, then have class with Hermano Dolbin, and go to bed.

-Our average day- get up, workout, go to breakfast (so amazing-I highly recommend it), get ready really fast, class with Hmo. Dolbin, lunch, class with Hmo. Rasmussen, dinner, study block, and bed.

Fun happenings of the week:

Miracle - Elder Erickson still has all 10 fingers!  He got his ring stuck on his finger and after about 36 hours, was sent to the ER to get it removed.  We tried everything to get it off already, and it was stuck.  They couldn't cut it off, I don't know exactly what happened, but apparently it was very painful.  His finger is no longer purpley, and his ring is no longer there.

Miracle-Hermana Henzi was super sick this weekend.  The elders came to our building, we brought a chair out to the hall, and she came out and received a priesthood blessing.  She started to feel better, slowly, but gradually.  The blessing is that she didn't get any worse and is now better.  The power of the priesthood, the power and authority to act in God's name, is true and real.  As us Hermanas watched the elders all placed their hands on her head to give her the blessing, we felt such an outpouring abundance of the Spirit of God and his love for us.  We Hermanas are so grateful that the elders live worthily to be able to help bless others.

So, our district is not the best at singing.  We sing a hymn, always in Spanish, at the beginning of each class.  But we are getting so much better!  Since we've had to do this since class 1, we are not afraid at all of singing in front of each other.  Also, to illustrate our talent, everyone looks to me to know what song it is, know the tune of the song, and carry a tune - me!  I am always the one that knows the songs, no matter which one is picked, and will sometimes sing the first line before we begin, like the piano intro, so everyone knows what song it is.  Family, you realize how this is crazy.  I love music, but don't sing in front of others, and Taylor and Spencer are the awesome singers, not me.  However, earlier this week, we were all falling asleep during personal study, and Elder Kidd asked if we could all stand and sing a few songs to wake us up.  We sounded awesome!(not prideful awesome, but, singing with all our hearts awesome), we love the hymns, and especially sing Tengo gozo en mi Alma Hoy!  No one can sleep or be sad with that song being sung.

Taylor!!!!!!!  I am so excited for you!!!  That is so awesome!  You better let me know as soon as you find out!  Also, my district is super excited for you too! 

Spanish is coming along.  I tend to be the one that makes the funniest mistakes, or says the most shocking things.  So, one of our investigators is married and his wife is expecting.  In our last visit, I tried asking if his wife was feeling well, smiled, with thumbs up, trying to convey a message of happiness and excitedness for them.... Uhm... I accidentally super excitedly asked if his wife is really sick and not doing well... oops... We were all laughing though, so that is good.  And when Hermana Williams and I told the rest of our district that, they laughed super hard too.  Something like that tends to happen with me though, but I just laugh at myself a lot.  

Also, as a whole district, our teacher Hmo. Rasmussen had us practice teaching.  We role-played with him acting as a drunk guy, who wasn't completely there, but he did want to know about Christ.  We were all talking, and we started to talk about how Heavenly Father loves each of us, and we are all His sons and daughters.  He told us that no, he was a son of the devil, because he does bad things.  Elder Kidd then tried to tell him that no, he is a son of God and that Satan is actually our brother.  That was a mistake, as Panchito loved that idea, and was like yes, we are homies!  Then, trying to make up for that, he asked if he loved God, but asked it in a way that suggests a romantic relationship, and he was just confused, and said no.  It was going very interestingly.  He then turned to me and asked me that, since he does these bad things, is he going to be saved.  I looked at him, and without thinking, simply said no.  Our teacher had to pause the role play, because no one expected me to be the blunt one, and no one could breathe for laughing so hard.  When we started back in, Panchito took it well, and kept questioning me.  I let him know that he could be saved, we can all be saved.  We discussed Alma the Younger's experience, and Panchito decided he wanted to see an angel.  However, we taught that it is better to humble yourself and turn to God without such a huge experience, Mosiah 27 is awesome. 

I have decided that I like teaching when I can be blunt, without being offensive, and Hermana Williams said she liked that side of me, and enjoyed letting me take the reins of the lesson, as she had no idea how to get across to him.  I know this sounds like fun and all, but it is such an amazing experience helping someone see how much Heavenly Father loves them, and that they can change for the better.  The whole district saw a side of me that they said was super cool, although it never really comes out.  This experience also boosted my confidence in Spanish, as we prepared nothing for it, and I could talk so much, in front of the entire district, with someone who brought up interesting points and was acting crazy and drunk.

I got to watch “Meet the Mormons” again this Sunday.  It is an amazing show, so uplifting and fun.  Also, Nicole, I thought of you when the song glorious started playing.  Listen to the whole song for me!  And anyone else who wants to listen to an uplifting song, "Glorious" by David Archuleta is really good and inspiring.  I also am loving Tengo Gozo en mi Alma Hoy and How Firm a Foundation.  Really listen to the words in the last one, they make you think about Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and how they both help us each and every day.

Thank you so much for the packages!  The bubbles are so fun, Hermana Henzi and I had a great time trying to open them; they are 19 year old proofed.  And - goldfish!!  And pineapple!!  Ya'll know me so well.  Also, thank you to the relief society so much for your package.  Especially the bouncy ball.  After over 9 hours of class in a day, 12 18-19 year olds can have a ton of fun with a bouncy ball, bouncing it down the halls, horizontally(wall to wall), and down stairwells :)  The notes were so kind and so encouraging!  Thank you also to everyone who has written me, I do write back to letters, sorry if you have to wait a week for a response, but it should be there soon!  It is so fun to read about your life! 

This is so important to me, I am going to do it in English, 

This week I have learned so much about the Atonement and Jesus Christ.  When Christ suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross, it was not just for our sins, our mistakes in life.  He suffered to also know exactly how we each feel, every moment of every day.  He is the only one who completely understands our joy, our sorrows, our trials, and our triumphs.  He is there waiting for us to reach to Him in prayer.  We never have to feel like we are alone, because he is always there beside us, encouraging us to continue on.  He is there when we are about to burst in joy, or need a shoulder to lean on.  Christ wants us to turn to Him for help.  He loves us each so personally and so much, that he was willing to suffer completely for us.  As we follow His example of how to live, reaching outward and following the commandments of God, he is there to help us.  He wants us to be able to return to live with Him and with God again, and we can, only by following Him.  This means that we help others, we repent when we have done wrong, we study of Christ, and do as he did.  He was baptized, so we must be baptized to return to live with God, we must live with an outward focus, giving of ourselves to those around us, serving others.  This is also how to live with joy.  Following Christ is the only way to find lasting joy, eternally.  After suffering so much, he rose again, triumphantly.  We can too.  After this life, we can rise again, to live forever with our families, with Christ, and with our Heavenly Father.  This is why I am serving a mission, to teach this amazing blessing to my brothers and sisters, because knowing this has blessed me so much, and provided me with so much joy and help.  Never forget how much Heavenly Father and Jesus love you!  They are rooting for you, cheering you on when you do what is right, and they are there for you when you need their help.

I love you so much!!  Have a great week!

Hermana Quain

Hermana Williams in her gangster California shirt :)  She is excited to go to my home area, although she is going down south to San Fernando, everyone calls it my home area.

February 12, 2015 - MTC

It has been a week of Miracles!

Life at the MTC is awesome!  We are constantly learning and growing.

 

So to answer your questions: We go to the Temple every p-day, in the afternoon.  We also get to walk around Temple grounds every Sunday.

 

I haven't actually seen anyone from Vacaville.  I am in 8M for class all day, if that helps in trying to find me.  I have ran into Brent Kimbler a few times, which is fun.  Seems like he is doing well, he is here and drives missionaries all over, early in the morning.

 

Sundays are amazing.  We have breakfast, we watch Music and the Spoken Word, relief society, interviews with the Branch Presidency, a district meeting, Sacrament meeting, Temple walk, dinner, and devotional.  I look forward so much to Sundays.  This past Sunday, Hermana Williams and I were in charge of teaching the meeting and leading a discussion.  We do it in English, and it was soooo easy, no worrying about speaking Spanish.  We talked about el Libro de Mormon.

 

So, we have a really close zone, which has 2 district in it.  Our zone only has 5 hermanas and 7 elders, and we all eat meals together and hang out.  My specific district is awesome.  Hermana Williams and I teach together, she is really good at Spanish and we are getting better at being able to teach with each other.  

Hermana Henzi is terrified of bugs.  We were walking out of dinner, and a bug is on her face.  She starts freaking out and brushes it off.  Instead of going away, she somehow brushed the bug into her skirt!  She was freaking out so much, Hermana Moir was trying to help her while laughing super hard, and Hermana Williams and I were doubled over from laughing so hard.  We got some of the strangest looks I have ever received.  Luckily, she got the bug out, and all is well, and now we have this hilarious memory with each other.  

Hermana Bedell has a head scratcher, which we all call the stimulator.  She told her parents about the fun times we have with it, and they sent us all our own stimulators!  They are so fun, and they feel awesome.

 

So, Eduardo, who we were teaching, is now our 2nd teacher, Hermano Dolbin.  Hermano Rasmussen is still our teacher, but we also teach him, as Chava.  I learn so much from both of them, it is so amazing.

 

While teaching Rosi, I was feeling really prompted to challenge her that if she feels our message is true, and if God answers her prayers, would she be baptised.  Hermana Williams was talking at the time and had the exact same impression, and extended the invitation.  The Spirit was so strong, and Hermana Williams and I both felt the Spirit urging us to do the same thing.  I am so grateful for the spirit and the peace it brings

In class with Hermano Rasmussen, we were practicing a 3 minute message of the restoration.  Since we have an odd number in our district, someone is always paired with the teacher.  Usually they have us switch partners part way through, but this time they had us keep the same partners.  I was partnered with Hermano Rasmussen.  Since he is the teacher, I got to just give the message over and over and over again, while everyone else took turns.  I am actually really grateful for that, as I am now much more comfortable with the message.

 

So my district, who I spend all day with:

Hermana Williams - my comp, she is fun and outgoing

Hermana Moir - she has an amazing conversion story, from just a year ago, and is such an example to me of perserverance

Hermana Henzi - a cc and track girl, she has a quiet strength about her, and extreme fear of bugs

Elder Kidd - really funny, he is super kind and has awesome one liners

Elder Burns - super quiet and really suprising, he says stuff that really catch us off guard, in a good way

Elder Plumb - an awesome artist, an example of sticking with trying to learn Spanish

 

Yo se que Dios es amoroso.  Dios es mi Padre Celestial.  Estoy agradacida por mi slavador.  Yo se que Jesucristo sufrir por mis pecados y saber como yo sento durante los tiemps de dificiles.  Yo se que familias puedan ser eterna.  Estoy agradacida por la oportunidad aprender mucho.  Yo se que el Libro de Mormon es la palabra de Dios.

 

Con mucho amo,

Hermana Quain

 

 Hermana Quain, Hermana Bedell, & Hermana Henzi

This is our old zone and branch presidency.  We are now half that size, down to 7 elders, and 5 hermanas.  3 elders and 6 hermanas left for the field.  Our branch presidency is awesome!

Sisters in my zone

 

February 5, 2015 - MTC

Hola! It is so great to hear from you!

Here is how the MTC

I really love it here.  It is so hard but so worth it.  I definitely was all smiles going into the MTC, I was just bursting with excitement and couldn't wait to get going.  I am in a trio.  Hermana Williams is 6'1" and is my main companion.  We teach together.  Hermana Bedell is also our companion, but she is in our zone's other district, with no other hermana's in it, so she is with us whenever not in class.  Our zone has 3 districts, one old district that leaves this week, and then us 2 baby districts.  My district is the beginner class and the other is more advanced.

Me, Hermana Bedell, & Hermana Williams

Elder Plumb, Kidd, Burnes, and Hermana Moir, Henzi, Williams, and I make up our district.  The Elders and I are going to Mendoza, but none of the other Hermanas in our zone are going there.  Our whole group of Hermanas who arrived together are going to San Fernando, CA.  I am going to miss them so much.  We have awesome times together.  We get up, workout, eat, teach Eduardo, eat, learn from Hermano Rassmussen(our maestro), eat, study, get ready for bed, and sleep.  We also started TRC and got another investigator, Rosi.  

My District

We had to teach Eduardo our 2nd full day here.  It is so crazy how much we learn and how quickly.  We can spend a 40 min lesson only speaking Spanish, and that is amazing.  The gift of tongues is real.  We have made huge steps.  We teach Eduardo everyday,and it is awesome.  Hermana Williams and I will role play to prepare to teach him, and we know all of his little quirks and things like that, which are so funny.  Hermano Rasmussen told us we will be getting a second teacher tomorrow, and we all think that it well be Eduardo.  He has seen us teach and we got it out of him that his job is to teach Spanish, in Provo, so he is our guess.  Hermano Rasmussen is an awesome teacher.  He helps us to learn Spanish and how to teach and Gospel doctrine.

The food is ok, I guess.  It was alright for the first day, maybe, but I guess I like to pick my own food, portion sizing, and make my own food.  They do provide fruit, but sadly it is always the same.  So much so that I about cheered when they had kiwi at a meal!!!

My district is awesome.  Elder Kidd is so funny, he has so many great one liners.  It is just so funny.  Hermana Williams was praying in Spanish, our first day here, and afterwards he looks over with his eyes so wide, and says, that was amazing!!! - we all laughed because everyone else knew that she had read her prayer :)  We were memorizing the proposito and at night couldn't remember how it went, and Hermana Bedell starts singing "the first word is the hardest", changing up the words. 

During a dinner, Elder Smith, in our zone, was making ptyridactal noises, and Hermona Moir looks over and say euwww!  Elder Smith asked what? and She could only get out, that noise, and your face... and everyone was laughing, because it sounded like she was saying his face was ugly and we all thought it was hilarious.  Elder Kidd got us singing "respuesta, respuesta" to a funny tune.  None of us are ever going to forget respuesta.

Oh, You will love this, the other day, we were all singing "oldie" songs while getting ready, Queen, and all of the Guardian of the Galaxy songs, which as we sang these, we realized it probably wasn't the most appropiate song choice, but so fun.  Our zone loves to change up songs and put our own words into them.

Spanish is so beautiful, I love the language. At workout, we have biked, 4-square, which gets intense with a bunch of 18-19 yr olds, and our zone started daily knock-out games-so much fun.

Our President Shallenburger and first councelor, President Slingerland served in the Paraguay/Uruguay area, which is cool. I am learning so much about trusting in the Lord and really relying on Him.  I pray so much here, I am always needing help and strength.  I know that the Lord answers our prayers, and He will help us through everything.  When I get down on myself, I just pray for strength and understanding, and things just turn out ok.

Yo se que Dios es mi Padre Celestial.  Yo se que El Libro de Mormón es la palabra de Dios.  Este creencia ayuda me ser una buena persona y vivir feliz.  Estoy agradecida por mi familia y por el don de lenguas.  Estoy agradecida por las escrituras.  Soy animada enseñar el Evangelio de Jesucristo. 

I love ya'll so much!

Love Hermana Quain

My Zone

The Hermanas in my zone

Some tender mercies:

Wednesday- laying down

Thursday- showers

Friday- working out
Saturday- laughter

Sunday-walking to the temple, finally got unpacked enough that our room isn't a bombshell

Monday- Prayers work! I was shaking so bad and felt like passing out before we had to go to teach Eduardo, and we prayed that I would feel better, and I did! No passing out or throwing up during the lesson, little blessings :)

Tuesday- Devotional, I love learning!

Wednesday- such love and support!  I love the MTC!