Tuesday, March 22, 2011

March 21, 2011

We got Quinn's final email on March 21, 2011. He will be returning to Salt Lake City on March 24 at 8:10 PM.

To complete his Trinidad experience, they went to Maracas to buy Bake and Shark. He was planning on getting doubles again before he comes home.

See you soon Quinn :)

February and March 2011

At the beginning of February Quinn was transferred to a new area. He was also given a new companion, Shaquille McKenna. Elder Gordon and Quinn actually baptized Brother McKenna in January. Brother McKenna is serving a mini-mission. He is really cool and really excited to serve. He is making plans to serve a full time mission in a year or so. He was born in Trinidad, but grew up in England and the U.S. He lived in Brooklyn before moving back. He has an English accent. He will be returning to live in the states on the same day Quinn does.

Quinn has been able to keep in touch with some converts. Patrick, the brother from Nigeria got back in touch with Quinn after a year of nothing.

Quinn is always the adventurous type with food. He has had:
• Roti – Curry (chicken, goat, beef, lamb, whatever)
• Doubles
• Bake and Shark
• Souse
• Cow Heel – very chewy but not too terrible
• Iguana Stew

As we in Utah bore the brunt of another snow storm, Quinn spent time at the beach getting a sun burn!



The first week of March was Carnival. Quinn and the other missionaries were stuck in the in the house for several days. They made up a game called Carnival-soccer or “Carniball”. They played Monopoly and by the end of the second game Quinn owned half the board and had over 30 million Monopoly dollars.



By then end of the 4 days, Quinn had the best beard out of the lot.



Quinn hit his 2 year mark on March 11th. Crazy how the time has flown.

Friday, February 18, 2011

December 2010 and January 2011

The mission is going by very fast for Quinn. It is amazing that he will be home in Utah in such a short period of time. He wants it to slow down, so he can enjoy some more of it.

The weather is a constant 80 degrees, which Quinn loves.

Quinn’s release date got postponed one week. He is set to return to Utah on the 24th of March instead of the 17th. They changed the date to coordinate the transfer schedule with the Dominican Republic MTC for all local missionaries.

Quinn spent Christmas in the mission home, then over to the Stake Patriarch’s home for Christmas dinner. It was good to talk to him and hear his accent. It isn’t too bad, but we had a hard time understanding some of the words that he said. They are local words, which he will have to explain to us again when he gets home.

Quinn had to leave Trinidad, and turn right back and reenter in order to get the proper stamp to stay in the country. There are now less than 20 missionaries in Trinidad. They cover 4 areas between them all. They have a car in order to cover all the area they need to.



They had Stake Conference which was broadcast from Salt Lake City. It was presided over by President Uchtdorf. Also in attendance (via satellite) was Elder Oaks and Sister Barbara Thompson of the Relief Society General Presidency. It was a neat opportunity for Quinn to be a part of.

Quinn bought a cricket bat so he could teach everyone when he gets home.
They baptized a man named Ravi. He has had a long journey to get baptized into the church, but he finally made it.



Sunday, December 26, 2010

October & November 2010

Quinn made the move to Trinidad quite easily. It is everything he remembers. Seeing the skyscrapers was quite a culture shock to him. He gets to experience Rick’s Bake & Shark again (an all-time favorite). He spent several p-days there enjoying the delicious food.




Quinn is no longer companions with Elder Anthony, he is now with Elder Neilson from Nephi, Utah.

For one of their p-days, the elders went to a place called Toco. There is a beach with lots of cool rocks and things to stand on/jump off of.



Quinn was able to drive for a few months, and they say if you can drive in Trinidad, you can drive anywhere in the world. The roads are windy and narrow, but they seem to be just fine.


Eating Cow Heel Soup:



In November Quinn was moved to Couva to be a district leader. His new companion is Elder George. He is on his 3rd transfer, and still very new. The area is very boring, with no beaches, no fun hikes, and all there is to do is lots of shopping which doesn’t really interest the elders. They also don’t get to drive.



November 5 was a holiday called Divali. During the day they met with some converts, and they managed to catch an iguana. They did end up cooking it, but the elders had to leave before it was ready to be eaten.



In early November, Quinn witnessed something that can only be seen in Trinidad, a garbage truck fell through the sidewalk. The drains are all covered by sidewalks, so when it pulled up to get out of the way, it fell right through the sidewalk and into the drain.

Monday, November 8, 2010

August & September 2010

Baptisims: Jamal (August 15) Sheila (September 27)

Elder Coleman from the 70’s came to the Zone Conference. Quinn had the opportunity to be interviewed by him. He has sure left an impression on Quinn.

Quinn went to Berbice again while Elder Ramnarain got some teeth work done.

While in Guyana Quinn learned how to drive a stick shift. He had to use the mission bus and transfer elders in August.

In September he had the opportunity to go to Trinidad for Zone Leader Council and Leadership Training. He was gone from Guyana for almost a full week.

Quinn’s Opinion of accents:
• St Vincent – Sounds a bit like Guyanese
• Grenada – Jamaican with a British twist
• Trinidad – Airy
• Barbados – WEIRD, they sound like they are chewing on something, and they never say “T” at the end of their words “You’ve go’a pu’ on yuh sea’ bel’”

After several months, Quinn was moved back to Trinidad. He lives quite close to the mission office. He was sad to leave Guyana though. Things were going very well for the missionaries.

June & July 2010

Baptisims: Brother Wilson (June 7th) Shavon (June 21) Orin (July 10)Sharmella

Zone Conference was the Week of June 14th. Quinn taught with assistants about how to find people to teach. They did an activity where they hid money in a room and eveyone had to find it before they started the lesson. The rest of Zone Conference was about member missionary work.

Quinn had the oportunity to take President Gamiette out with him teaching. They didn't have much success, because all appointments fell through, but they did have one awesome experience with a man named Orin.

They completed the total overhaul of their apartment. They painted, replaced the floor, and cleaned the ceilings.

Quinn got a new companion, Elder Ramnarian from Guyana. He was 9 months out when the two became companions.

Quinn attended Zone Leader Council in Trinidad. They flew there of course. It was a 2 day thing with lots of flights, and several delayed just like Quinn predicted they would be. At this point Quinn has taken 34 plane rides on his mission.

Quinn's Birthday was celebrated duirng the ZL Council. They sang him Happy Birthday and had a white cake with Lime Frosting. He loved it.


Pictures!







Saturday, August 7, 2010

April & May 2010

The week of April 26th, Quinn had President Gamiette down for Stake Conference and Zone Conference. He was able to do splits with the assistants. They taught 13 lessons that day.

The wather is hot and humid and rainy in the spring. It makes the area all muddy. He has to shine his shoes on a weekly basis so people can tell they are black, not muddy caked brown.

Quinn was able to attend a West Indies vs. England Cricket game. He attended with Elder Moses and Elder Coronado.




Talking to Quinn on Mothers Day was nice. We talked from the fire station and conferencecd in Rick and Cami. It was hard to hear sometimes, but after much frustration, at least we got to talk to him. He left the call headed to play an all night game of Monopoly. He did not win :(

Quinn spends some of his pday time having game competitions. He took 3rd place in a Battleship competition. He also plays Risk with the elders. He was able to drive, and of course he drove on the wrong side of the road! They drive on the left side of the rroad down there, when he was helping the Senior Couple, the Ricks, charge the battery in their car.

Quinn has surely gotten his dad's handyman skills. He has made many improvements to most of the apartments where he has lived. He layed down new flooring in this apartment because the old floor was so bad.

They baptized a man named Rejendra. He speeks very little. He points with his face, his eyes, lips and eyebrows all together.



Transfers came and Quinn and Elder Coronado became zone leaders together. They are pretty much best friends, so it is going to be a great match.