There haven't been any pictures from Quinn in the past few e-mails, but there have been some interesting updates:
In talking to President Gamiette, Quinn is pretty sure he will not be in Grenada for another transfer. The apartment they are currently in will be taken over by 2 sister missionaries. There was no indication as to where Quinn will be moving.
They are eating pretty well in Grenada. Mostly it’s pasta or rice. Quinn is becoming quite the cook. He has tried oildown, and he loved it The one he tried had land crab and pig snout in it. He will soon try lambie (fish from the conch shell) and sea eggs (sea urchin – white ones).
A few weeks ago they found a really cool beach. It is really small and no one knows about it. There are 2 beach chairs and 2 palm frond umbrellas there. There is a rock ledge that slows down the waves, making the water very shallow. The missionaries are allowed to go into the water up to their knees, so they love this spot.
They had zone conference in St. Lucia. They set a bunch of mission goals. There is a big shift from just baptizing to more retention. It was rumored that every English speaking missionary in all the islands of the mission would be there. I am not sure if it happened, but it sounds cool. That would have included Elder Manwill, who was in Quinn’s MTC group, and Quinn hasn’t seen any of them since being out.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
What happened in October
Quinn has been pretty busy these last few weeks.
They built a bunk bed. The elders that were living with Quinn and his companion finally found an apartment, but it only had 1 Queen bed, so the boys got creative and built the bunkbeds. Buying one was too expensive. It took a few weeks, but the finished product was great. They painted it in rasta colors, which happen to be the colors of the Grenadian flag. Quinn was the mastermind who drew up the structural drawings for it. It looks pretty sweet
He hasn’t taken too many pictures lately, because he has seen everything 3-5 times in the 3 months he has been there.
Quinns take on General Conference October 2009: “General conference was awesome. As always, Elder Holland’s talk was incredible and destroys any false beliefs that members or nonmembers may have held. I love his talks more and more every time I hear them. President Monson’s talk in priesthood was great too, about anger. We see a lot of it down here.”
One experience of the anger he sees was a man who put his arm thorught a window in St. Vincent. He had big flaps of skin hanging down. Both Quinn and his companion went into rescue mode and made sure he got to the hospital. It was a while between the time it happened and when he actually told us about it because he didn’t want to freak out Patti. But now he knows exactly what happens when you punch a window.
They had a wedding and a baptism. Majellia’s brother and his fiance’, Ron and Terianne. The Rasmussens gave him a Book of Mormon a long time ago and he said he burned it. Turns out that he didn’t and now he is getting baptized. It’s amazing what the spirit can do to people. TA also said she wasn’t ready to get married and baptized, but she prayed about it and she decided that she should. So that will be happening Saturday.
Majellia’s twin, Marellia should be getting baptized at the same time, but Quinn has not said if that baptism actually took place. She has backed out on her baptism date several times in the past.
They visited Fort Matthew again, it's a blast. They got a tour from one of the guys in charge of restoring it. During the invasion in '83 the US bombed it on accident. It was supposed to hit the military base just up the hill, but they missed and hit the fort which was being used as a mental hospital. OOPS!!! They're working on restoring it and making it really cool. It won’t be finished for 5 years, but it will be nice for Quinn to go back and visit and see the progress.
Thanksgiving, celebrated on Laceys Birthday (October 25th), in Grenada is to celebrate when the US came in and liberated them from the Cubans. Pretty interesting holiday.
They had all of the people Quinn has baptized in Grenada at church one week. 2 got the priesthood and 1 was confirmed. The rest had either already received the priesthood or were girls. Quinn has only baptized 3 women my whole time out and the rest have been priesthood holders. Pretty cool. The big problem in Grenada is the opposite of other countries. In Grenada the men all line up to get baptized and the women that are stubborn.
2 more missionaries are moving onto the island! There will be 6 now. Quinn will still be with elder Livingston, and Elder Coronado will be training a greenie.
President Gamiette and his family were all here for the weekend and they absolutely love Grenada now. His daughters were asking if they could miss the airplane back to Trinidad. They speak English pretty well, but the younger ones are having a hard time learning. It was really cool to have all of them there. There are going to be some really good changes on the island.
Not sure what this is, but Quinn sent it so you all can see it:
They built a bunk bed. The elders that were living with Quinn and his companion finally found an apartment, but it only had 1 Queen bed, so the boys got creative and built the bunkbeds. Buying one was too expensive. It took a few weeks, but the finished product was great. They painted it in rasta colors, which happen to be the colors of the Grenadian flag. Quinn was the mastermind who drew up the structural drawings for it. It looks pretty sweet
He hasn’t taken too many pictures lately, because he has seen everything 3-5 times in the 3 months he has been there.
Quinns take on General Conference October 2009: “General conference was awesome. As always, Elder Holland’s talk was incredible and destroys any false beliefs that members or nonmembers may have held. I love his talks more and more every time I hear them. President Monson’s talk in priesthood was great too, about anger. We see a lot of it down here.”
One experience of the anger he sees was a man who put his arm thorught a window in St. Vincent. He had big flaps of skin hanging down. Both Quinn and his companion went into rescue mode and made sure he got to the hospital. It was a while between the time it happened and when he actually told us about it because he didn’t want to freak out Patti. But now he knows exactly what happens when you punch a window.
They had a wedding and a baptism. Majellia’s brother and his fiance’, Ron and Terianne. The Rasmussens gave him a Book of Mormon a long time ago and he said he burned it. Turns out that he didn’t and now he is getting baptized. It’s amazing what the spirit can do to people. TA also said she wasn’t ready to get married and baptized, but she prayed about it and she decided that she should. So that will be happening Saturday.
Majellia’s twin, Marellia should be getting baptized at the same time, but Quinn has not said if that baptism actually took place. She has backed out on her baptism date several times in the past.
They visited Fort Matthew again, it's a blast. They got a tour from one of the guys in charge of restoring it. During the invasion in '83 the US bombed it on accident. It was supposed to hit the military base just up the hill, but they missed and hit the fort which was being used as a mental hospital. OOPS!!! They're working on restoring it and making it really cool. It won’t be finished for 5 years, but it will be nice for Quinn to go back and visit and see the progress.
Thanksgiving, celebrated on Laceys Birthday (October 25th), in Grenada is to celebrate when the US came in and liberated them from the Cubans. Pretty interesting holiday.
They had all of the people Quinn has baptized in Grenada at church one week. 2 got the priesthood and 1 was confirmed. The rest had either already received the priesthood or were girls. Quinn has only baptized 3 women my whole time out and the rest have been priesthood holders. Pretty cool. The big problem in Grenada is the opposite of other countries. In Grenada the men all line up to get baptized and the women that are stubborn.
2 more missionaries are moving onto the island! There will be 6 now. Quinn will still be with elder Livingston, and Elder Coronado will be training a greenie.
President Gamiette and his family were all here for the weekend and they absolutely love Grenada now. His daughters were asking if they could miss the airplane back to Trinidad. They speak English pretty well, but the younger ones are having a hard time learning. It was really cool to have all of them there. There are going to be some really good changes on the island.
Not sure what this is, but Quinn sent it so you all can see it:
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Zone Conference
With all the turmoil in Grenada Quinn is doing well. They have pulled all missionaries out of the country and will be moving them to many different parts of the mission. No missionaries have been hurt, and none have been jailed. Quinn and Elder Larson have been very busy preparing their apartment for the possibility of other people.
One morning they walked on the beach to Nick’s donuts and got some for breakfast. Then walked to the park and ate them, and walked back down the beach to their apartment.
They went to annendale falls. They‘re supposedly really famous here, but Quinn does not think it’s all that cool. It’s nice, but the upper falls at concorde (prior posts) are much cooler.
Zone conference was held in St Lucia on Thursday and Friday. Quinn got to meet the new sister missionaries and they’re really cool. Elder Anderson of the Seventy was there and Quinn got to spend some time talking to him. Quinn was also informed that next transfer, he’ll be staying in Grenada. There will be two more missionaries coming to the country as well. They will be splitting Elder Larson and Quinn up, which neither is too excited about, but Quinn will get the chance to train another missionary. He will be with Elder Livingston. Elder Larson will be back with his MTC companion. Elder Larson will also be opening a new area called Happy Hill. Coming home from zone conference was nuts! They had to fly through St. Vincent to get there and meet up with the St Vincent elders. When they came home, the plane got into St. Vincent 45 minutes early and the plane going to Grenada was 2 hours late. They had a 5 hour layover to get home! They got home past midnight and were all dead tired.
Diamond got baptized and earned herself a CTR ring. She is really excited about that.
Patrick got baptized on Saturday morning. The church is having the chapel extended and tile put in, so the meeting for the baptism was held outside. It was really cool. Quinn continues to be on “Sea Urchin Removal” before every baptism.
Patrick and Hyacinth. Hyacinth is the Elder’s Quorum 1st Counselor and has been working on his hair for 22 years!! Some of that hair is older than Quinn
Quinn being Quinn:
One morning they walked on the beach to Nick’s donuts and got some for breakfast. Then walked to the park and ate them, and walked back down the beach to their apartment.
They went to annendale falls. They‘re supposedly really famous here, but Quinn does not think it’s all that cool. It’s nice, but the upper falls at concorde (prior posts) are much cooler.
Zone conference was held in St Lucia on Thursday and Friday. Quinn got to meet the new sister missionaries and they’re really cool. Elder Anderson of the Seventy was there and Quinn got to spend some time talking to him. Quinn was also informed that next transfer, he’ll be staying in Grenada. There will be two more missionaries coming to the country as well. They will be splitting Elder Larson and Quinn up, which neither is too excited about, but Quinn will get the chance to train another missionary. He will be with Elder Livingston. Elder Larson will be back with his MTC companion. Elder Larson will also be opening a new area called Happy Hill. Coming home from zone conference was nuts! They had to fly through St. Vincent to get there and meet up with the St Vincent elders. When they came home, the plane got into St. Vincent 45 minutes early and the plane going to Grenada was 2 hours late. They had a 5 hour layover to get home! They got home past midnight and were all dead tired.
Diamond got baptized and earned herself a CTR ring. She is really excited about that.
Patrick got baptized on Saturday morning. The church is having the chapel extended and tile put in, so the meeting for the baptism was held outside. It was really cool. Quinn continues to be on “Sea Urchin Removal” before every baptism.
Patrick and Hyacinth. Hyacinth is the Elder’s Quorum 1st Counselor and has been working on his hair for 22 years!! Some of that hair is older than Quinn
Quinn being Quinn:
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Go back 2 Miles and try again...
Quinn visited Fort Matthew again.
For just a few days Quinn and Elder Larson were the only missionaries on the island. The couple missionaries were in Santo Domingo with a couple getting sealed. Not many missionaries can say they are the only missionaries on an island. So that is pretty cool.
Although Quinn is getting to know the area better he does still get lost. They ended up at a resort called Le Phare Bleu and when asked how to get back to their house they were instructed to go back 2 miles to where they started and then head the opposite direction. Fun adventures in being a missionary.
Quinn and Elder Larson were able to baptize Akim.
They have been teaching him and trying really hard to get him baptized but there has been family issues. They still aren’t sure if he told his parents exactly what was going on that day. Elder Larson baptized and Quinn did the confirmation.
For P day this past week Quinn and Elder Larson went to Concorde Falls again.
For just a few days Quinn and Elder Larson were the only missionaries on the island. The couple missionaries were in Santo Domingo with a couple getting sealed. Not many missionaries can say they are the only missionaries on an island. So that is pretty cool.
Although Quinn is getting to know the area better he does still get lost. They ended up at a resort called Le Phare Bleu and when asked how to get back to their house they were instructed to go back 2 miles to where they started and then head the opposite direction. Fun adventures in being a missionary.
Quinn and Elder Larson were able to baptize Akim.
They have been teaching him and trying really hard to get him baptized but there has been family issues. They still aren’t sure if he told his parents exactly what was going on that day. Elder Larson baptized and Quinn did the confirmation.
For P day this past week Quinn and Elder Larson went to Concorde Falls again.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Ops Gear
Two men broke into Ops Gear earlier this month. The owner is offering a reward for their arrest. These men had no idea they were about to piss off so many people, including many local police and military personnel. Quinn is going to be so mad when he finds out. KSL ran the full story and additional video. The videos below are from You Tube:
Camera 1
Camera 2
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Sea Urchin Removal Master
There is a lot more to do in St. Vincent than on Grenada. There are some cool thing, like the gorgeous beach right outside our door. Once Quinn gets down to Guyana, things will change. It’ll be nice and dirty and very little running water and powerThat’s where the majority of the baptisms happen. However, people used to say Grenada was a dry island (in other words, they don’t baptize) but Quinn is trying to change that!
Quinn is district leader. He thought it would be a co-companionship, meaning to senior or junior companion, but on the transfer sheet, it doesn’t say that. Elder Larson has been out around 13 months now. He’s Quinns youngest companion (20), but he’s still way older than Quinn, mission age. He’s cool and they should work really well together.
Quinn claims he most definitely has the best mission on the earth! He does get to be in this incredibly beautiful country AND baptize a ton! He has had 3 baptisms so far and the number is only going up. The islands are known for being slow, so when Quinn gets to Guyana, things will look up even more. Provided he continues working as hard as he is.
Carnival has begun in Grenada. It started Friday night (8/7), but has just been getting worse. It ends on Tuesday (8/11). It’s been pouring rain and since they’re so afraid of it, it’s been pretty quiet most of the day
People in Grenada are fairly poor, but nothing like in Guyana. Umbrellas don’t really help out because 90% of the people just use the rain as a stupid excuse not to do something. It’s way lame. It poured last week, so they thought no one would be in church. Instead, a lot of people showed up! Mostly med students, of course, but also some visitors too, including 4 investigators.
Quinn had a baptism on Monday (8/17) Quinn had to clean out the font. He is the “Sea Urchin Removal Master” They are baptizing a girl named Aboni. Her mother has finally allowed her to be baptized.
He is having a lot of fun. He is working hard but still takes time to enjoy the scenery.
Quinn is district leader. He thought it would be a co-companionship, meaning to senior or junior companion, but on the transfer sheet, it doesn’t say that. Elder Larson has been out around 13 months now. He’s Quinns youngest companion (20), but he’s still way older than Quinn, mission age. He’s cool and they should work really well together.
Quinn claims he most definitely has the best mission on the earth! He does get to be in this incredibly beautiful country AND baptize a ton! He has had 3 baptisms so far and the number is only going up. The islands are known for being slow, so when Quinn gets to Guyana, things will look up even more. Provided he continues working as hard as he is.
Carnival has begun in Grenada. It started Friday night (8/7), but has just been getting worse. It ends on Tuesday (8/11). It’s been pouring rain and since they’re so afraid of it, it’s been pretty quiet most of the day
People in Grenada are fairly poor, but nothing like in Guyana. Umbrellas don’t really help out because 90% of the people just use the rain as a stupid excuse not to do something. It’s way lame. It poured last week, so they thought no one would be in church. Instead, a lot of people showed up! Mostly med students, of course, but also some visitors too, including 4 investigators.
Quinn had a baptism on Monday (8/17) Quinn had to clean out the font. He is the “Sea Urchin Removal Master” They are baptizing a girl named Aboni. Her mother has finally allowed her to be baptized.
He is having a lot of fun. He is working hard but still takes time to enjoy the scenery.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Happy Birthday Quinn!!
Quinn has been teaching Marella and Magella Street, the twin sisters that should have been baptized a few weeks ago. They’re both really cool and Magella wants to be a missionary. She’s been bringing people to church and talking to her family about the gospel and everything. She had a big discussion about the Book of Mormon with her brother who burned a copy that we gave him because of the pictures that are in the front. He said that he knew it wasn’t true because the bible doesn’t have pictures in it. They are also teaching her friend Akim and his family now. Akim should have been baptized this week, but his father doesn’t want him to yet. They got his 3 sisters to come to church this week and they all really enjoyed it. They should be baptizing them soon as well.
They still working to find more people to teach. Particularly men that can hold the priesthood. Men are just stubborn no matter where you go in the world, so that can be difficult.
They work with members as much as we can here, but they’re very spread out (the branch covers the entire country! They are the only missionaries in the mission with a whole country to themselves) and not always available. The med students are really good about it when they have time. They’re all RM’s and want to help out.
Quinn is allowed to drink Dr. Pepper so he included a picture of that. In the picture he is wearing a Real Madrid jersey he bought down there. As much as Quinn hates country, he hates Soca music even more, and he is completely inundated with it from the passing busses. The country is preparing for Carnival this month so the music is on all the time.
The picture of Quinn with a Chinese man is our old elder’s quorum president, Qin. He’s moving back to China this week, so they had a goodbye party for him on Saturday. He’s way cool. He’s been a member for a little less than a year now. He lived here for 3 years working as a translator at a Chinese restaurant. Apparently there is a branch of the church in the town where he lives. Mainland China, can you believe it! The second coming will be here just now. That would be way cool to go to china and visit him. Quinn is going to have to learn Chinese.
Quinn celebrated his birthday last week. He is now the big 21!! Patti sent him some of her homemade cookies, and it was much appreciated. He has changed so much in look and spirit since he left in March. We are so proud of you Quinn. Keep up the good work!!
They still working to find more people to teach. Particularly men that can hold the priesthood. Men are just stubborn no matter where you go in the world, so that can be difficult.
They work with members as much as we can here, but they’re very spread out (the branch covers the entire country! They are the only missionaries in the mission with a whole country to themselves) and not always available. The med students are really good about it when they have time. They’re all RM’s and want to help out.
Quinn is allowed to drink Dr. Pepper so he included a picture of that. In the picture he is wearing a Real Madrid jersey he bought down there. As much as Quinn hates country, he hates Soca music even more, and he is completely inundated with it from the passing busses. The country is preparing for Carnival this month so the music is on all the time.
The picture of Quinn with a Chinese man is our old elder’s quorum president, Qin. He’s moving back to China this week, so they had a goodbye party for him on Saturday. He’s way cool. He’s been a member for a little less than a year now. He lived here for 3 years working as a translator at a Chinese restaurant. Apparently there is a branch of the church in the town where he lives. Mainland China, can you believe it! The second coming will be here just now. That would be way cool to go to china and visit him. Quinn is going to have to learn Chinese.
Quinn celebrated his birthday last week. He is now the big 21!! Patti sent him some of her homemade cookies, and it was much appreciated. He has changed so much in look and spirit since he left in March. We are so proud of you Quinn. Keep up the good work!!
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