"VISA trip" to Bulgaria and a new companion

Hey everyone, thanks for the great letters and stories. I am so glad that everything is ok with everyone especially Natalie and Johnny. You are in my prayers. And Melissa that story about the twins sounds way funny. It really sounds like they are growing up. Dad thanks so much for your great advice. That is something I really strive for is obedience. It is just so important. Mom thanks for that great email about hope, faith and miracles. It really is amazing that every year plants grow up again after they had died. Thanks again for all of you great emails. 

Eastern Europe 

So as for my week. It was a pretty crazy week. So it started out with me going to Bulgaria. The problem is that the senior couple in the office had to leave unexpectedly because their Visa ran out. So when my group got there no one knew we were going to Bulgaria. So ya it was kind of stressful, but it all worked out. We got to Bulgaria and it is really pretty there. We had a sister in our group so a young recent convert girl there was her companion but it was really cool because she was able to take us to all of the cool spots. We got Subway which isn't sold in Ukraine and also Doritos. I'll put some pictures up so you can see them. It was a really fun trip especially because we were all together with the Elders from my MTC district. It was fun to see them all again. But then again on our way home no one knew we were coming back so we had to take public transportation to the Mission Office. But ya kind of a crazy trip.

You have to love those Doritos
(Bulgaria has Doritos!)

Original MTC District 

After that Elder Welch and I did some work with Elder Perkins in Kiev. I had to be there the next morning for a training meeting so we worked up there for the rest of the day. So the next morning was our training meeting. It was so cool to be taught by President Klebingat so personally. He gave us a lot of good advice. After that I met my new campanion. His name is Elder Hughs and he is from a small city in southern Utah. He is a really hard worker and really wants to get out there and talk with people. His understanding of Russian is actually pretty high. The new program that started with us has done so well that from now on Russian speaking missionaries are only there in the MTC for 8 weeks. Although it did help me to see how far my Russian has come. But ya he is a great missionary. He spent a transfer in Boston due to Visa problems. He is really into acting and plays and one of his goals is to be Jean Val jean in Les Miserables. He really helped our branch yesterday while we sang.

Elder Quinn and Elder Hughs
(in front of the Ukraine Temple) 

Unfortunately we weren't able to meet with Dima this week. It sounds as though he is getting pretty sick. We hope to meet with him tomorrow. We were informed that it will only take him 2 days to get married. We are going to commit him to be baptized in two weeks hopfully it goes well. So Mom, As far as getting a picture of his family I will see what I can do. I haven't seen his girlfriend for awhile. 

So yesterday we had a great lesson with Oleg. We discussed the Gift of the Holy Ghost and how to recieve answers. It was a really cool lesson. Anya just came back from a mini-mission and helped so much on the lesson also Sister Alyona did such a great job. It is so nice to have them there especially when our language holds us back. They are a great family. 

One thing that was cool is we received two referrals this week from other parts of Odessa. Hopefully somthing good will come out of these. Although one is a young woman and I don't know how I feel about teaching her but the sisters in our area said they can't do it because she lives in our city. So we will just have to get a bunch of members on those lessons. Also this morning a man called and wanted to set up with us. He said he knew other Elders and wants to meet with us. This is the first time this has ever happened on my mission. We will see how it goes tomorrow. 

So this week as far as study goes I have decided to switch my focus onto Preach My Gospel more. I have started reading it and doing all of the actvities and I can really see how much it helps. That book was totally written for missionaries. And I can see how much it will help me to improve. 

Well sorry this letter is a little shoter, but I love you all and thanks again for everything. 

Love Elder Quinn