I have focused all of my studies on Christ's Birth

Real quick happy birthday to Johnny. Also I think all of you asked me what that superstition was so here it is in English, quasnak in Russian it's like this, скуасняк. So this probably won't be a very long letter, but wow it was awesome to see everyone yesterday. I loved being able to talk to everyone and see you all. I forgot to bring some things up. Mom if you could send my friends letters through DearElder this week. Next week the Assistants are coming down and they will bring the letters. Also if you could send me Grandma and Grandpa Quinns and also Grandma Grace and Grandpa Jim's address I'll send a letter to them thanking them for the money. Who knew I could make money while on a mission haha. That's a joke. 

So I am so glad you all had such a great Christmas. It was a little weird having my firs Christmas away from home but it was still Christmas. This past week I focused all of my study on Christ and his birth. It was really cool. So like I said this week we only found one investigator but he was really cool. He had a lot of random questions and we told him we couldn't answer all of them. We are going to meet again with him on Tuesday and were are bringing Brother Sadchenko with us. He is the second Counselor in our Branch and he is so cool. He is really friendly and nice but also commands respect. So it will be good to have him on the lesson. 

We did like all of our former investigator stop-bys this week and nothing came of it so that was kind of lame. We still have a big pile of calls we can do so I hope some people get interested again. We also did a lot of tracting and walking around. We went down by the shore and talked to some people and also.... well you'll just have to look at the pictures.... haha. 

So I just looked at all of the pictures. Wow the basement looks great and that looked like a fun Nativity scene haha. I'm putting up some more right now so everyone go on a look. I'm sure they will make you laugh.

So again sorry it's so short but it was so much fun seeing you all yesterday. I love you all so much.

Love Elder Quinn

P.S. It is good to hear about Richard and sounds like Parker is doing great. 

My own personal Nativity - from the Wilsons

Zone Conference and Christmas Time

Thank you all for the great letters. It is so good to hear from all of you. I am also looking forward to talking with all of you on Christmas Sunday. 

Night train ride 

up and ready for Zone Conference 

Alright so as for my week it was really cool, so I'll just start. On Wednesday night we took a train to Kiev. It is about a 9 hour train ride and it was overnight so it wasn't too bad. The worst part is not being able to shower. So we had an all Mission Conference this week and it was amazing. President Bennett came from the Area Presidency and you may also remember that he spoke in this last General Conference. It was such a cool day. He really stressed being faithful. He said that before South America became a Baptism paradise they were only getting 1 or 2 a month as well. He then quoted Elder Holland saying "Eastern Europe is the next Brazil." It was really cool to hear that. He then went on to ask "Do you want to be a part of that?" It really got everyone fired up. I wanted to be out on the streets so bad. But I still had to go back to Odessa right after the conference. Unfortunately this ride was a little worse. We took a bus for 8 hours. We got into Odessa at 12 at night then got to Illichosk at 1 in the morning. Needless to say, I slept really well the next night haha. 

So this week we were unable to meet with Dima because he was back in Kiev. But it is all good because he keeps coming to church and reading the Book of Mormon. He is so awesome. Many of you may know that there are two different ways to talk to people. In Russian we use the Ve form when talking to strangers and people who are older than us. WE use the Te form for friends, family members and children. While talking to Dima we have been using the Ve form. Then when you think you are close enough with someone it is polite to use ask to use the Te form. We asked and Dima said "Ya I figured we were already on it." It was pretty fun to have him say that. He often says things like "I better get baptized before you guys leave or I'll fly you in" or "You better be here for a long time it's fun with you." We always say don't worry there will be other missionaries. Also he said he is going to friend request us on Skype and facebook. So it will be really fun to be friends with him. 

As far as investigators go, this week we got a big fat "0".It was really dissappointing. But don't worry I have already seen the blessings that come from hard work. Yesterday at church a sister in our ward, who we don't normally meet with because her husband is second counsellor and has asked us to meet with the other members more, came up to us and said here is a family of four that really want to hear about the Gospel. Here is their number, address, and names. The mom wants them all to listen. I was like "Um Thank you so much!" We have asked pretty much everyone for referrals and none have given them. Then she comes up with an amazing referral when we haven't even asked her yet. I was so pumped. We called them and they said to call after the Holidays. That's pretty understandable though because it gets pretty crazy around here. 

So now I'll tell you about what I have decided to change about this week. Lately I have gotten into a routine of "Hello my name is Elder Quinn and I am a missionary....." Ya it's even boring to type. Now this is what I have been saying. Me: Hey have you heard about this book!? Person: No M: Well do you believe in Jesus Christ? P: Ya of course. M: Excellent this book is "Another Testament of Jesus Christ." And I know that you will love this book..... and then I go on to tell about it. But can you see the difference in those two approaches? This week I was studying and I just realized that the Book of Mormon isn't a difficult of confusing book. It is a fun, amazing, and simple book that has changed my life. I decided I really needed to start keeping that in mind. 

Alright now I'll end with my testimony. I know that God lives and that his Son Jesus Christ came to earth to atone for our sins. I know that the Book of Mormon is the Word of God and that Joseph Smith translated it by God's power. I am so thankful for this great Holiday season to remember Christ's birth. I have never been away from home before on Christmas so this will be a new thing for me. But I decided I am still going to read in Luke about the Nativity on Christmas Eve and I am really going to focus my study on Christ this week. When all is said and done that is really why I am here. To teach people about Christ and his restored Gospel. I love you all so much and pray for you all everyday. I am so grateful that my family is rooted in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Love you all, see you on skype this Sunday :)

Love Elder Quinn

Christmas time in Illinshlic.  I love Christmas!

Elder Wells and Elder Quinn

District Christmas Party 

The Christmas package

What do you send in a package for a missionary?  Especially one that has just left and does not need a new tie or shirt?  It makes you stop and think again about all the sacrifices missionaries make.  We are so proud of Chase and his choice to serve a mission.  What an incredible experience he is having!  We pray daily that he can find people to teach and give them the greatest gift of all: The Gospel of Jesus Christ!!


It will be great to talk (hopefully skype) with Chase on Christmas Day!  It will be interesting to hear what Christmas has been like for him.  Here are a few of the items we sent in Elder Quinn's Christmas package:

Best of all we sent him 28 photos from the family!! 

and of course a partridge in a pear tree :)

I was not transferred - I am still in Illichosk and I love it!

My package has arrived! It is still in Kiev but I'm going up there this week so I'll be able to pick it up. As far as letters go, ya I have to either wait for Zone Conference or wait for someone to come down from Kiev. President Klebingat comes down fairly often because unfortunately the two branches in Odecca aren't doing so good so he comes down for training and things. But don't worry Illichosk is one of the strongest. But anyways usually it doesn't take too long for someone to bring them down from Kiev. 

So I was not transferred which was awesome! I am so happy that I get to stay here for a while longer. And by the looks of it I will be here for a long time. This is Elder Wells' last conference so if we both left next transfer the area would have to be white washed, which President doesn't like to do. Then I would probably be here for at least two after so I could accuaint another missionary with the area. Which would bring me until April or May. So I am really excited that I get to stay. I seriously love this area so much.

So for our investiagtors. Dima is doing awesome. Nothing too new to report on him. But Victory! we finally met his wife. It was an accident but we came over taught him a lesson on Mosiah 5 and then on our way out she was coming home from work and we got to say hi to her. We kept joking about doing a random stop by just so we could accidentally run into her but this was an accident. She was super nice and friendly, and we quickly said hi nice to meet you and bye so that we didn't scare her or anything. We walked away from that so happy because now she sees that we aren't weird and that we are friendly. I really hope this helps her to be more receptive.

For our other investigators Stepan dogged us twice and when we finally got a hold of him he said "Don't call me, I'll call you." We think he went to his church and told his Pastor about us. It was really dissapointing. Wayne goes to Texas tomorrow. He is a great guy but seems to be stuck in his ways. He has really studies the Bible like I mean really studied it. He has read it in 4 languages. When he reads the Book of Mormon I think he is reading it too much for accademics and not enough for truth. I asked him to think about a question, "Could a man have written this book with out the help of God?" He came back and said well God allowed him to write it. It didn't really answer my question. But we are going to see him one more time before he leaves and hopefully I'll be here when he comas back in the spring.

For Stanaslav we had one of our best lessons with him. We went to the Goncheroba's house, a family in our branch. And had essentially a little testimony meeting about how we have all received answers about the Book of Mormon. It was awesome. The two girls gave really sweet and cool testimonies and the mother really brought in the Spirit. It was a great lesson. Unfortuantely he has no money and can't pay to come to church. We told him if he could just come once and meet with our President, we could help him with the costs, but he hasn't come yet.

As for our other Investigators, well we have none. Yesterday we did a "Fast for Finding." Hopefully this week is better. Please pray that we will be able to find more people, and that they will actually meet with us. We talk to so many people everyday but none seem to be interested. We have tried everything, tracting, park contacting, referrals, and even former investigators. But nothing seems to help. Honestly that is all I want this week is to find people to teach. 

Photo taken while tracting

I forgot to talk about Cylvester. He is such a punk. He keeps promising us he will come to church but he never comes. Finally we just flat asked him why and he said "I don't want to." When I was his age I didn't have a choice, I was going to Church no matter what. I kind of got up set and told him "Cylvester sometimes we have to do things we don't want to." I just really want him to come to church to help out our other young man Maxcime. But ya it doesn't help much when while we were teaching, his dad was on the computer playing computer games. Like how is a young man supposed come to church when his dad doesn't seem to care about it. But anyways I really do love that family. 

We really want Dima to have the blessing of the Holy Ghost

Elder Wells "maybe the goats will listen to us!"

Dima is awesome. We can meet with him pretty much when every we want. He is super open and last week even answerd some questions in Elders Quarum. He is making really good progress with his girlfriend. She says that she is amazed at the way he has been acting. This week we are going to try to set a date for everything to get done. We really want him to have the blessings of the Holy Ghost. It is such a powerful gift. But ya as far as he goes everything is going great. Speaking of Elders Quarum I gave the lesson yesterday on Eternal marriage. That topic is hard enough to talk about in English let alone Russian, but I think it went well... I hope.

So this week we found a really cool guy named Stepan. We ran into him at night and he said we could come by the next day. He gave us his address and his house phone. But when we went by he didn't answer. Then we went to the grocerystore to grab a couple of things. We got a call from him saying "Elders I'm so sorry I fell a sleep, please come over." That marlks the first time anyone has ever called us for a meeting. We went over and taught one of the bext first lessons we have taught together, The Spirit was so strong in the room. We only got through half of the first lesson because we had to go home but he wanted to know more about where the Book of Mormon came from. It was super cool. At the beginning of the lesson he offered us coffe and tea. We told him we can only drink Herbal tea. When we got back to our apartment that night he called us and said "Hey I'm at the grocery store what is your favorite tea?" It was so cool to hear him ask us that beacuse we had set up with him for the next day. Unfortunately he didn't come to church and he wasn't home when we went by. But maybe he was just asleep again.... But ya were definately going to keep tabs on him.

So let me just say this area has been such a growing experience. Since Elder Wells is the second counselor and Elder Gregory our branch President doesn't speak any Russian we got to help him during tithing settlement. It was seriously the coolest experience that I have had with tithing. I got to see these amaizing people with very little income declare that they were full tithe payers. I seriously love this branch. It is so cool to see how humble all of these people are, They all realize that they have to give tithing so that when somone needs food or something the branch can help out. They all have a super positive attitude towads helping each other. I love it.

out in the country where we serve 

This past week was Zone Conference. It was so amazing, I wish I could tell you everything about it but I'll just hit some of the highlights. He talked a lot about complaining. Now I don't call my self a complainer but when I first got here I was excited about having cockroaches beacsue "It's not a mission without cockroaches." But now I am really tired of them. My goal is to go back to what I was like that first week. Once we had our hot water shut off while showering and it got so cold that putting my head under for 2 seconds gave me a headache. But I laughed the whole time thinking about funny it was to be having a "real mission experience." I want to go back to that. Also he talked about receiving blessings. Just beacuse we prayed and fasted doesn't mean that the next day is going to be the best day in the world. Just look at the sons of Mosiah, after all of their tribulations they still had more before they had success. This mission is hard but I'm loving every minute of it. This week I hit my 5 month mark. That was really scary. I don't know how it feels to you but it's going by way too fast.

Sorry if that last paragraph didn't make a lot of sense. The final point was that I want to continue being happy about everything. No matter how cold it gets, or hot or how many bugs are in my apartment. I stil want to keep my new missionary attitude. So that's my goal for my mission.

Russian language skills made a huge jump - nice to hear a little English too

So for my language skills, I feel like I have made a huge jump this week. I now understand so much of what people are saying. You guys will probably laugh at this but men are so much easier to understand, women speak sooooo fast. But I am still able to get the general meaning of what they want. This week Elder Muir and I were down here on exchanges. We taught some awesome lessons. He is training Elder Welch right now in Odecca so he is as old as my companion is on the mission. The first thing he said was this is your area so you lead the discussions. I don't want to brag but we taught some awesome lessons. I taught one about using our names in scriptures to help bring them alive. I used 1 Nephi 3:7 using my name and then the members name in it. They really enjoyed that. But ya this week I have really felt that I have been able to open my mouth and talk to people. It was so refreshing to actually speak. 

Alright so real quick funny story. We were walking down the street and I was just feeling down. I was thinking how much fun it is to talk to people in English and just have a conversation with people. They only people I can talk to in English are other missionaries. I kept thinking man I wish I could just have a conversation with someone other than my companion. Literally right after I said that we both said "Good Evening" (in Russian) to a guy walking past us. He responded with "What's up guys" (in English). We stopped and asked where he was from. He said he is from Texas. It was so crazy running into him. He is a Baptist preacher who speaks less Russian than I do even though he has been here longer. (That felt good to know). But anyways he has a ton of friends who are Mormon and has been to Salt Lake City a lot. We set up a meeting and it went really well. At first I was afraid that he would be really difficult, but he was super open and wants to know more. It was so funny that we ran into him.

I prayed about it, pray everyday, prayer gives us a relationship with our Heavenly Father

Thanksgiving Dinner 

Hey everyone thanks for the letters this week. It is so good to hear from all of you. So first of all Happy Birthday to Katie and Melissa! I'm sure Justin and Dave spoiled you. So it sounds like everyone had a great Thanksgiving week. It was really fun to go to the Gregory's house and eat. They are the senior couple in our area and also Elder Gregory is the Branch President of Illichosk. They have us over every other Tuesday for District Meeting and after they feed us lunch. It is really nice of them. 

So now for some sad news. Dima was not baptizied on Saturday. As we were filling out his baptisimal record there is a place for the wife to sign to say it is ok. At this point he informed us that he is not married. Needless to say it came as a big shock. He told us that he only lives there to help take care of his son. His "wife" and him have stopped caring for each other a long time ago. He just doesn't want his son to grow up with out a dad. Up until this point we hadn't asked him to make any significant changes. He didn't smoke, he didn't drink a lot, and he loves to come to church. But now we had to give him two options, leave the son you love or marry a women you don't. It was so hard to ask him to do it. We left that meeting very nervous. Our next planned meeting was two days later. I have never been so worried about someone for so long. I was so scared that he would come to us and say "Sorry Elders it's just not a good time." So we met with him on Wednesday and he came in super happy. He said "Hey I prayed about it and before I was almost sure I was going to leave, but now I feel like I should get married to her." He went on to say that the past little while they have started to do more things together, and he feels that they can rekindle their love for each other. He said it might take awhile but it will all work out. I was so happy to hear that. We challenged him to pray together as a family, and when we talked to him at church he had done it. I really hope that everything goes well with them. So we don't have a date right now but we are having him pray about a time that will work. It was so cool to see him act on the answer he received.

Now for Cylvester, just to clear something up, it wasn't morning seminary. But to be honest this would be harder to go to, it's on Friday's at 5. Anyways we taught him last night and watched the Joseph Smith video. It really brought the Spirit into the room. We talked to him about prayer and why it is so important. We asked him if he prays and he said he doesn't. He then turned to his dad and asked him if he prays. His dad looked at him and said "Every day." It was way cool. Afterwards we asked him to come to church this Sunday and he said he would. Right before we left he asked for my facebook name so that he can friend request me. I was more than happy to give it to him. I hope this will be a good way to keep in touch. Dima has one and will hopefully request me soon as well. I love this area so much.

Out in the Selo (Country)

So do you remember a month or so ago I told you about running into some kids out in the Selo and then their dad came out and started talking to us. Well he offered us some tea so we finally took him up on his offer. He was really nice but unfortunately he was very set in his ways. He said that prayer is something too sacred to do everyday. We tried to explain to him our relationship with our Heavenly Father but he wasn't interested. He said we could come back for more tea but were not sure if it will do anything.

love photos from home

Chase tells us he loves getting pictures from home.  Here are a few we have sent...  

     

Mark 

Caleb

This is "Super Mark" Mark Anderson (on left.)  He loves super heros!! Don't we all.  Here Mark is showing off his cape, belt, wrist bands, mask and the mighty "M" on his chest.
Next we have little brother Caleb or rather "Super Caleb" He is still working on his "flying" skills so Dad (Dave Anderson) is helping him move along.  Super Caleb did not like wearing his mask and enjoyed eating his wrist bands, hence his costume is a tad more simple.

Dave and Caleb

Andrew and Isaac 

Next we have Isaac and Andrew Black (Below) carving pumpkins.
Mom/Melissa said they enjoyed all the slime.  On the right the twins have turned into Thing 1 and Things 2 (Andrew and Isaac) Notice the blue hair.  It is there.  They sure are darling like their Super Hero cousins.

Isaac and Andrew

Caleb, Grampy, Mark, Hannah, Grammy

BYU football game: Natalie, Johnny, Mom, Dad and Hannah     

It feels good to be on everyone's thankful list! My three kernels of thankfulness are...

Hello Family, 


Man it feels good to be on everyones thankful list,   As far as fun things we do while on the streets, is before we talk to someone we will say something funny so that our smiles are real. Usually it's something like "Wow we need a guy with a beard like that in our branch" or "Where can I get a hat like that?" It makes it fun. For P-days we often go up to Odessa and play games with the other Elders. And this week we get to celebrate thanksgiving at the Senior couples apartment.


So now about my week. Unfortunately Dima was not baptized this week. We met with him and there were some misunderstanding of some of the commandments. (Who knew wine has alcohol in it? haha) But all is good. It will happen this Saturday and he is very excited to be baptized. His wife won't meet with us because she doesn't see the need to meet with us. We keep pushing but we don't want to sound too invasive. It is so weird to me that she wouldn't be a least a little bit interested in what her husband is doing. But still Dima is doing great and he even showed up to our Branch service project. It was really cool to see him step up and to realize what will be expected after baptism. 

So this story is going to make mom so proud. Last year a young man who was 14 got baptized. His dad is a member but his mom isn't. He went inactive but his dad still comes everyweek. We have really been trying to get him to come to Seminary. So one week I went with Elder Larrymore (we were on exchanges) but he refused to go. I mean who would go if their mom said they didn't have to and their dad doesn't do anything. So they next week we brought Maxcime with us. He is 14 years old as well and is super strong in the church. This time Sylvester couldn't say no. We brought him to seminary and then stayed to listen with him. This past week We went and Maxcime was already there and they were already to go. It was awesome. We decided that we will go every week until he is already at the church when we come to get him. Next step is coming on Sundays so thats what we will talk to him about tonight.

Now for some good news. I have begun to understand what people are trying to saying to me. Not so much because I understand every word but because I can figure out the meaning of what they want. It was pretty cool when finally I talked with someone while my companion was talking to someone else. It's really nice the branch is super nice to me. They all speak slow and use simple vocab. I love this area so much.

This weeks Elder Welch and I went on exchanges. You may remember that we are both the same age on the mission. This time our exchange went so much better than our first time. We taught 2 lessons and talk to a lot of people on the streets. We both felt really comfortable talking so it was a really big step for us. One night we were getting ready to go to sleep and almost at the same time we said "Your Russian has really improved, how did you do it?" We both started laughing because we came to the conclusion that we only know different words and that's why we think the other is so good. It was pretty funny. I really hope I get to serve with Elder Welch later on in our missions. We get a long really well.

Alright remember that family we found that I said was a future relief society president. Well they dropped themselves. I called them one night and they said "Hey where you guys been, you should have called earlier" So I was super excited to teach them but they said call them the next day. So I did and this time they yelled at me and said "Stop calling us we don't want to meet with you." It was super weird and all I could get out was "have a nice night." But ya this week please pray that we can find more people to teach. We are running out of investigators.

Well I'm going to send mom a letter for Grandma so that's why it's a little short. But here's my three kernels of corn for thanksgiving. I am so thankful to be on a mission, I am so thankful for such an amazing family that send me letters, and I am so thankful for the Ukrainian people. I love them so much.

Well love you all, have fun this week. I know Dave is sad that I won't be able to burn him in football at the "Turkey Bowl" this year. haha

Love Elder Quinn

photo of Larry the pet cockroach and more...

Larry our pet cockroach 

The Night Club across the street from our apartment
we call it "The Great and Spacious Building".

Just had to have my picture taken here 

Things like this make us laugh when we are out tracting. 

Branch service project.
See Dad, wherever I am I still have to haul leaves. :)

Service Project - Dima our investigator in on the right 

I honestly love these people...I want to understand them so I can see how to help them.

 A few snippets from Elder Quinn's last letter...We found two investigators this week but one was while I was on exchanges so I didn't get to meet him. But ya yesterday no one answered their phones and we got kicked out of two apartment buildings.  I think that I am out of the Honey Moon part of my mission and I am now in the rough waters. I really got tested this week on both patience and love. But I will prevail! I honestly love these people so much. I used to want to speak Russian so that I can talk to people but now all I want to do is understand them so I can see how I can help them. Grandma Hoole your poem you sent me couldn't have come at a better time. That's how I felt this whole week. I'm tired but I have energy. I'm sleepy but I can walk for ever. I'm weak but I'm strong. I don't know how it happens but it does.

The Port at Odessa

Our second investigator has just dissappeared. Most of the men here are sailors and this is they time they go out so sea. The problem is they don't know when they are going until the get a call from their captain saying come down to the dock. They have to wait until they get a load of cargo but they don't know when that is. So our investigator who was home 3 days ago is now at sea for 6 months. So we have no way of contacting him. It makes it really hard because when we plan for a lesson with a man in our branch he says maybe depends on if I'm going out to sea or not. So we don't really know what to do with our new Investigator. But hopefully we will be able to get a hold of him in 6 months. 

It was a pretty cool week

Branch members at a get together

Alright so now about my week. It was a pretty cool week. I was able to go on exchanges with Elder Larrymore from the other zone. He is a great missionary and I learned a lot from him. I really like exchanges because it forces me to talk more because I'm the one who knows all of the people we meet with. Dima is doing great but he will be in Kiev again this week so we had to move his baptisimal date back to the 19th. But he is really excited to be baptized and receive the Holy Ghost. We taught him about tithing this week and I was a little nervous on how he would respond but he said "Ya it makes sense the Lord gives us everything anyways." So that was really cool to hear him accept it.

Edic unfortunately is really hard to meet with. Every time we meet we have an awesome lesson and he wants to change. But it's hard when we only meet with him once a week. We will also have to move his baptisimal date back to Dec. But other than that he doing good. He said his back has stopped hurting so he will come to church this week. I really hope he can make it.

I got a little discouraged on the language again this week. After our lesson with Dima he wanted to walk us to our next lesson and talk with us. I didn't understand what we were talking about because it has come to my knowledge that I only know church related dialogue. It was really dissappointing. Afterwards I asked Elder Wells what they were talking about and he said just about everything. He said it was really cool to get to know Dima and just talk to him. I was really jealous, I love talking to people and getting to know them. I don't know if this is pride or not but I think one thing I am good at is getting to know people on a personal level. Russian is making that really hard to do. I feel like a robot when I talk.

But that's enough of me complaining. Because this week was really good. I have been able to talk to members in my branch better and when I make a mistake I understand when they are correcting me so that was good. Oh back to Dima really quick, he said we could talk to his wife and that he would bring his son to primary so that was really good to hear.

Missionaries at the Halloween party 

Mummy making contest! 

Big sandwich, bad hair cut  :)

A garlic stick on fire, a prayer answered and a sweet baptism

So real quick story. The past couple of days I have had a pretty bad cold. I haven't been sleeping well because I have to constantly blow my nose. But I gave a talk on Sunday and I was sniffiling the whole time. After sacrament meeting this member in our branch walked up to me, light a stick on fire and told me to smell it. I did and instantly my nose cleared up. It ended up being a garlick stick. It was so random but it helped so much.

Alright now for some more spiritual stories. This one may not sound like much but it was an answer to my prayer. We were taching a less active member about prayer and I was focusing on trying to breathe because of my nose. I was super stuffy and could barely talk. I said a prayed in my mind to help me so I could at least bear my testimony.  At that moment my companion turned to me and said how about you. I started by saying "sorry I can't talk right now" but then something came to me and it felt like some one was behind me and just said "Talk" so I did. I bore my testimony on prayer and as I spoke my nose and congestion gave me no problems. It was funny how I was telling him I have recieved answers to prayers and at that moment I had just received one. 


Next, this story is about the girl that was baptized on Saturday. I'll start with the story and then give the challenge. So like I said last week, this little girl's parents are inactive but her grandparents have just come back into activity. When I told her grandpa that he could baptize her, he was so happy. So we went over on Wednesday to teach him how to do it. He was really nervous. The day arrived and it went really smoothly. When he pulled her out of the water he gave her a big kiss and I could feel the Spirit so strongly. Her grandma was so happy and I don't think she stopped smiling.   

So here comes the challenge. But this one is going to be hard because it is for the rest of your lives. I want all of you to go to every baptism in your ward, even if you don't know them very well. The Spirit at Baptism's is so strong. We also see people make their first covenant. Just as we go to the temple to be spiritually strengthened, I believe that going and seeing baptisms can be strengthing as well. I was so excited to see her get baptized and it made me think about how awesome it is going to be when Dima enters into the waters of Baptism and recieves the Holy Ghost. This gift is one of the greatest things the lord has given us. It is a constant companion that will never lead us wrong. I was honored to be able to participate in giving this gift to her.

Alright well I love you all so much. Thanks for your awesome letters. Good luck this week Hannah your going to do great. Just be yourself and people will love and honor you for it. Well I'll try to send pictures right now.

Love Elder Quinn

This morning we went to a place called Battery 411. It is essentially a Cantigney in Ukraine. Just a bunch of tanks and boats to climb on. It was really fun to go on as a district. I have some pictures for that too so I'll send them now or maybe next week. 

What does the Spirit feel like to you?

So I have an assignment for everyone (Yes this means you too Justin). It has been really fun to see people describe what the spirit feels like to them. So in the next letters I want everyone to say what the spirit feels like to you. Two stories go along with this. The first is of Dima. We had a meeting with him but then he called and said he couldn't meet but really wanted to. Then he offered for us to come to his garage. It's a little ways from town. We went and asked him how he's doing and all. He said that he wanted to meet with us because he feels good when we talk with him. He couldn't really explain it but he said it just feels right. It was really cool. Then he asked so have you found anyone else to come to church? It is so cool working with him. The next day he came to church after txting us that he couldn't make it. He came in and I was surprised to see him he leaned over and said I rearranged my schedule. It was so cool.

Next story is with our investigator Edic. We have had a hard time meeting with him but finally we were able to meet. When we asked him about his reading (to be honest I didn't think he had) he said ya I read the first two chapters. We were like awesome what did you think. He said "I just felt a trust" I had never heard the Spirit described like that, but what a good way to put it. He said he read and it just seemed like it was real, like a good friend is telling you a story and you know they wouldn't lie to you. It was aweosme. We explained that it was the Spirit and he agreed. We then gave him a blessing because his back hasn't been feeling good. He hurt it while he was at work.Again he said that the blessing felt different like something he hadn't felt before. It was so cool. Ah I can't believe I forgot. Edic has accepted a Baptisimal date for the 26th of November.

Alright well I will start out by saying what the Spirit feels to me. It is different is certain circumstances. When I feel the Spirit durring a song or a performance I get the chills. When I bare testimony I feel a strong sense of love and devotion. When I hear a testimony born, I feel really warm inside and something sweels in my chest. But the newest feeling is when I feel prompted to do something. It seems that nothing else matters until I accomplish that task. Now I haven't seen a lot of success after following the promptings but I figure that's just the Lord testing me and making sure I will follow when the time comes. Sometimes I feel impressed to talk to a family about prophets but then the guy will yell at me and say that I should go back to America. Or I'll feel like tracting a certain apartment building but everyone will slam the doors in our faces. So I'll just keep following them. :)

So I realize that I use "It was so cool" a lot but that's the only way I can describe it

There is a big difference between going on a mission and being a missionary!

This language is hard but I get better and better every day. Quick funny story. We were by our church building when this guy came by, we started talking to us and he said he knew some of the missionaries before us. Then he started to comment on their Russian saying some was better than others. Now this guy might be crazy but he thought I was from Russia. He said I look really Russian and that I speak well. Now before everyone jumps for joy, I only said like 5 sentences. And I think I looked Russian because I was wearing my big over coat.


We ran into this guy and he was really excited to know more. We prayed with him and he said he felt something. It was so cool. We got to our apartment to drop off some things and he called us and said hey can wqe meet right now. We were like Ya! So we met him at the church and began the lesson. As the lesson progrssed I could feel the Spirit slipping away. But I couldn't figure out why. Then his questions became attacks and instead of nodding his head he began to shake it. I could litterally see this man's heart hardening. He started get hung up on things like the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. Then at the end he said ok well I'll call you and actually can you cross my number out in your planners? And lets pretend we never met. Woah, I couldn't figure out what happened. It was so crazy. In less than two hours he became an investigator and then dropped. But he wasn't very smart because we still had his number in our phone. But I don't see us calling him anytime soon.


Oh one more story. Mom I found your new best friend. She is a sister in our ward named Sister Finanko, she reminds me so much of you. She has been trying to get us over for food for about a week but we were always busy. Finally she called and said I have Borsch on the stove and I can't eat it all so you better come over. We went over and all she could talk about was her son on a mission right now. He's in Moscow and just left the MTC in France. She showed us pictures and told us all about him. It was so nice. Then she made us eat like three bowls of Borsch and then some noodles and some weird cold hot dog thing. But it was good. She just made me laugh because she if I feed you then maybe someone in Moscow will feed Volva, her son. It was really nice. When we offered to give her a spiritual thought she ran to her room and grabbed her Book or Mormon and quickly ushered us into the family room. It was awesome.  


Note from me - In case you wanted to know...  :) Borsch is a traditional dish that is made in Ukraine and Russia.  Here are the main ingredients:   

Cabbage, beets, sausage, carrots, potatoes, tomato paste, spices.  Sometimes it is eaten with sour cream on top.  It sounds pretty healthy, but I am not a big fan of beets and cabbage. It sounds like Elder Quinn really likes it.  Okay, now back to Elder Quinn's letter...  


Well thanks for all of the letters. It is so great to hear from everyone. I love you all so much. This has been the coolest month of my life. I love being a missionary and just recently I have really found out the difference of going on a mission and being a missionary. They are VERY different. Going on a mission is easy, but being a missionary is hard, difficult, and challenging, but at the same time really rewarding. I am so glad for my trainer Elder Wells, he really makes us get work done. There is no time for us to rest and sometimes no time to walk between meetings. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else but here in Ukraine. It's almost scary to think that I have been in the counrty for a month already. It went too fast. But I guess that's what happens when you don't have time to look at your watch.


Just something quick, I have yet to remember my head hitting my pillow. I get up off my knees after praying, then the next thing I know the alarm is going off. It's great, I've never slept better in my life. Also if you want to lose weight, come on a mission to Ukraine. I think I've lost 15 pounds already. 


Melissa I got the pictures you sent by mail. Last night we had a fun game of guess which baby is which with one of our part member families. They loved the pictures. Now that I believe they can make it here everyone should send more. :) 

Isaac and Andrew Black - two of Elder Quinn's nephews 

Love you all,  Elder Quinn

"Mobsters deserve the Gospel too."

....We started out doing as President said and praying with people on the street. It went really well. People really softened their hearts after we prayed!We walked up to these two guys who looked like mobsters but we decided "Mobsters deserve the Gospel too." But we started to talk with them and they didn't really want any of it. Then we asked if we could pray. Just by asking the whole mood changed. They said yes and asked if we could pray for them to find work because their families are in Armania and they came to get jobs. So we did and they were really thankful. They both took Books of Mormon and said they would read.


Now for a tracting story. This one is really cool too. We decided to go tracting in a Dom which is just an Apartment building. But we couldn't decide which one. Finally we felt like going all the way to this far one. There were two doors and to get in you have to be buzzed in. So we were about to call someone to let us in when the other one opened so we quickly grabbed it before it shut. We started at the top and said were going to go until 8:00. At 7:55 with no luck we decided to do one more door. When the lady came around the corner for some reason I though "Relief Society President." haha she was a nice poofy haired lady. She let us in so we could talk to her sons. But after talking to them for awhile she became interested and wanted to know more as well. It was so cool to see all that went into finding this family. They were way nice and super interested. They each took a Book of Mormon and said they would read it. 


Dima was gone all week but we kept calling him and seeing how he was doing. We met with him Friday night and it went awesome. We asked strait out what do you think about Joseph Smith. He said Well the Book of Mormon is true so then so is he. It was so cool. We pushed his baptisimal date back to the 12th of November. This is so we can teach him the commandments in lesson 4. But other than that he's doing great. It's so crazy to think that I ran into him on my first day here. 

She laughed until she cried - nice confidence booster.

Here are a few snippets from Elder Quinn's last letter, Chase has been in the Ukraine for three weeks now...  Ok so for the language. I can't understand anything people are saying to me. While on exchanges a sister in our branch called. I could barely hear her because of the static. I thought she said "It is hard to hear because of the phones I'll call back later" So I said "Ok I understand, thanks, bye." But what she actually said was "Give the phone to Elder Wells, I have a question for him." When I saw her the next day she could barely tell the story without crying from laughing so hard. So ya that was a nice confidence booster. There are so many rules to remember and people talk way too fast. I keep trying to stay positive but it's so discouraging. I just don't get it.  


So this week we haven't been able to meet with Dima. We went over to his house to give him a blessing but he couldn't let us in because his wife wasn't home. Apparently her parents gave it to them so she decides who can and can't come in. Then the next day he went to Kiev and is gone through this week. We may have to move his baptisimal date back. But on other news we got two new investigators this week. One is Ura (sounds like youra) and the other is Edik (like Eddie but with a k). They are both great guys. Ura has met with the Missionaries before but feels he has never got an answer. Edik is new and has never read the Bible. But hes way nice, he has been the only person to call us a appologize for not being able to come to our lesson. But we met with him the next day.

This week my companion went on exchanges with another Elder. Which put Elder Welch and I together. If you don't remember we have both only been here for three weeks. But we did what we could and unfortunately all of our lessons fell through, but we contacted a ton of people. So that was good. So now for the funny story. We were at to the store to buy bread for tomorrow. We got to the check out line when suddenly he had a sudden realilization of where we are. He was like "Woa we are in Ukraine" and I was like "Ya" then he starting talking about how three months ago we didn't even know each other and now we are in a foreign country in a super market in a language we don't fully understand. He asked me "Why is this normal?" I just started to laugh because I had never thoguht about it that way before. It was so funny telling our companions about it.

Elder Quinn holding a chinchilla. One member of his Branch breeds them 

Elder Chase Quinn standing on the Odessa steps.  He said that his mission president ran up and down them 10 times!  You can see the Black sea in the background.  Elder Quinn is looking great with his name tag on and a Book of Mormon in hand.  We love you
 Elder Quinn and are proud of you.