La familia Quiroz

Hola Family!! This last week has been crazy busy and full of exciting news. Highlight of the week: I'm getting transferred again!! I'll be heading over to the Granger North Stake, where I'll be serving as a Zone Leader with Elder Biggs (they have been companions before). I'm so excited :)

Monday 4/14/14:

Today was a sweet P-Day. We had our zone P-Day/outdoor sports day, and the food was amazing and we had so much fun. And we had a bunch of people there. Afterwards, Bro. Christiansen (the guy we live with) cooked us another barbecue to welcome the summer, so it was awesome. We had tons of fun!

Tuesday 4/15/14:

Today was a legit day. We started off the day on exchanges (they switch companions with another set of missionaries), Elder Stimpson came with me into my area. We had a busy afternoon dropping things off for other missionaries and doing online reports, then we had a really cool dinner with the Stansfield family (the guy was wearing an Atlanta Braves hat, so we got along well haha). We went out with Hermano Reyes and had a great night visiting Lupe, Angeles Gomez, and the Bahena family. Then we got home just in time to see Elders Ulu'ave and Driscoll getting to our house. Ulu has 'outgoing missionary day' on Wednesday, so they spent the night at our house so  (Elder)Driscoll could stay with us (missionaries must always be with at least one other missionary if their companion is not available). We ordered pizza, and had a great scare on Elder Chavez when he got home (all 4 of us hid in the bathroom in the shower with the curtain closed, and then when Chavez had closed the door we jumped out. It was hilarious!). I'm glad they're our zone leaders, they're great examples but they know how to have fun too, which is important!

Wednesday 4/16/14:

Today we started off on exchanges, Chavez and I with Driscoll in his area. We went out to Magna to try and visit some of his people out there, ate at this place called Mesquite for lunch, then we came back and we taught a kid named Mikey. The Brickey's (senior missionaries for their mission) picked up Driscoll, and Chavez and I continued on as normal, visiting a few people after dinner. Good day overall.

Thursday 4/17/14:

Another good day. We got up, worked out, studied, and then I had District Leader Training at 10:30. We talked about conversion and it was a good opportunity for me to reflect and think how much my conversion has grown throughout my life; thanks for getting me started :) We had weekly planning, and the Assistants even showed up and talked with us for a while, giving us some tips that were super helpful. We had dinner with the Flandro family, then we had a productive night visiting with the Garcia and Recinos families. Good night!

Friday 4/18/14:

Today was a tiring but super good and spiritual day. I got up and ran with Brooks outside in the cul-de-sac, then showered, read the Book of Mormon, and finished planning for district meeting. I trained on conversion today, both in ourselves and in those we teach. Some members of the district shared their conversion stories, and it was a great spiritual experience and I think we all learned pretty well from it. We came home, I did some exchange reports and online stuff, then we had dinner with the Palma family from Honduras; they made us "baleadas", super good food. Then, Hermano Baquerizo dropped me off with Elders Chappell and Campos, because I was supposed to do a baptismal interview with them. When their guy got there, he didn't feel ready, and we ended up having an hour and a half long power lesson, it was so cool. I look up to Chappell and Campos a ton, and I hope I get to serve with them someday. It was so cool to get to teach with them even for a little bit though. Then we had a super powerful lesson (Chavez and I) with Hermano Chiriboga. We talked about the Savior, and when I was bearing my testimony of Him I could just feel His love, and I was crying and it was a powerful experience for sure.  I truly appreciated the opportunity to share my love for the Savior in that moment.

Saturday 4/19/14:

10 months! And it sure was an eventful day to match that. We got up and had a really good workout, then studies, then this massive Easter egg war in our apartment (throwing the plastic eggs at each other), it was so much fun haha. Then we headed over to the Rojas family's house and had a farewell BBQ for Ulu (Elder Ulu'ave, the Zone Leader who is leaving because he has completed his mission), then Chavez and I stuck around and taught and visited them for a bit (they're less active). Funniest thing ever, I got a nice Nike black sports jacket when Hermana Rojas said she was going to throw it away because, and I quote, "it looks too Mexican on my husband, but you're white so you should be fine." I'll take it haha :) Then we had dinner, a few visits at night, and then we got home. We were standing in Kelly's (the owner of the house where he is currently living) kitchen around 9:30 and we felt the small earthquake that occurred here, which was weird. 

We thought we were safe from transfers because we hadn't gotten a call...then we got one at 10:25.  I'm going to head over to Granger North to be a Zone Leader with Elder Biggs! It's so funny that I'm serving with Biggs again, that'll be so cool. I'm not looking forward to packing all my stuff up again, but it'll be such a good experience. I'm happy that I'll be able to serve and learn even more.  I'll let you know what all that entails when I learn more :) I don't know details on my new area at all yet, but I will by next week (we'll learn this upcoming Tuesday). Thankfully I'll be serving in one of 2 Spanish speaking ZL (zone leader) positions, so that's fortunate, because I love the Spanish program.  Elder Biggs! We get to serve together again, I'm pretty pumped :)

Scottie, Elder Chavez and the Rojas Family

Sunday 4/20/14:

Happy Easter! Today was a beautiful Easter Sunday. We got up, went to church, and then after church the Rojas family invited us over to their Easter family event...which was BBQ ribs and chicken and an Easter egg hunt, so we had a ton of fun. They're one of the families that I'm really going to miss in this area, they’re awesome! Then we came back, and spent the night visiting families that we wanted to say goodbye to, including the Hardy family. They're so kind and they made us an awesome dessert called éclair pie. It was so cool to see them, and we shared an Easter message and it was great. We came home, got numbers together, and then it was time to start packing!

The Hardy Family with Elders Ulu'ave, Higgins and Chavez

Love you always, 

Scottie

I thought padre could appreciate this one :) i didn't actually drive it, no worries!

Update for the family!!

Hey y'all! Sorry it's been a bit since I've sent an update, we've had an incredibly crazy and busy last couple of weeks, so here are the highlights.

Last week:
Friday 4/4/14:
Today was a super good day. We had zone training in the morning, led by Elders Driscoll and Ulu'ave and Sisters Ashcroft and Unga. They trained on the atonement and setting meaningful goals, so that was awesome. We had lunch afterwards, and then that evening we went to the Jordan River Temple with the ward. It was a special trip because it was the first time that the Valencia family was able to go (recent converts, baptized back in late January). So we helped them do some family history prior to the trip, and then helped them print their family history cards so they could do the vicarious work for their ancestors. It was so cool, and I was able to baptize Andres for his Grandfather and Maria for her Grandmother. Afterwards, on the way
home, we stopped at In N' Out Burger, which was awesome because I'd never been! It was an exciting day, to say the least.

He finally got to try In-N-Out Burger!

Scottie and his companions with the Valencia Family 

Saturday 4/5/14:
Today was the first day of the 184th General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We got up and watched the morning session with Bro. Christiansen upstairs, then the Valencia's came and picked us up and we went downtown (Salt Lake City) to the conference center to watch with them. We even ran into Savannah Bassett (a friend from home!) while I was down there, it was so good to see her and her mom! After the afternoon session, we ate at this awesome taco cart with the Valencia's, then they dropped us off at the center again so we could go to the Priesthood Session. It was an amazing day of talks. It's such a blessing to be able to hear from the living Prophet, Apostles, and other general authorities who act as the Lord's mouthpieces so that we could learn what we need to. I felt like a lot of the talks today focused on obedience and the blessings of righteousness, which is so important!

Savannah Bassett and Scottie

Sunday 4/6/14:
More General Conference!! We watched the morning session with Bro. Christiansen again, then we went down to the afternoon session with the Chiriboga family. Today, I thought it was so cool that the talks focused on the love and Atonement of Christ, which are so important to understand in this crazy world we live in. After the conference, we came back, ate dinner with the Bronson family, and then taught the Chiriboga's. I feel like my spiritual batteries have definitely been recharged, and although it's nothing new that we heard, it's so cool to feel the spirit strongly as we listen to the messages and feel that confirmation of the veracity of the messages. I also particularly like Elder Ballard's talk about missionary work; I thought it was so cool that he challenged all members to obtain and study the Preach My Gospel booklet as well as invite someone to meet with missionaries 4 times a year; that'll be a big boost to the hastening of the work.

This week:
Monday wasn't a regular P-Day since we had a temple trip, so Monday was just a regular  proselyting day.

Tuesday 4/8/14:
Today we had our mission temple trip (well, the Hunter Zones that is). We went, as a district, to the Salt Lake Temple and it was a beautiful experience. It was a beautiful day too, so that was great. We came back, did shopping, and then made some ceviche with fish and shrimp and a habanero salsa that was SUPER spicy but super good. My stomach was on fire afterwards, but I loved it. We went and played some football and ultimate Frisbee, and that was awesome, then we got cleaned up and went out to visit. The last 5 days have just been so full of spiritual experiences that it's been awesome! I'm loving my mission and can't believe it's flying by so fast!

4 elders, 1 bathroom....it gets real sometimes :)

This past Wednesday and Thursday we had pretty normal days, we got some good lessons and weekly planning in, but other than that nothing too out of the ordinary.

Friday 4/11/14:
T-Minus 1 month till Mother's Day (he gets to call/Skype us on Christmas and Mother’s Day!), I know you're excited Madre haha :) So today we started off with District meeting, and I trained on using family history and the pamphlets to teach and invite others to come unto Christ more effectively. Training went well, and then we came back to the house and made an habanero chicken stir-fry for lunch: tasty but also extremely spicy, we loved it! We made some awesome referral contacts, met a new guy just talking to him as he checked his mail, then we came in for the night. At 9 we started exchanges with the zone leaders. I went with Elder Driscoll into his area, which is a YSA (Young Single Adults) area. We planned and then were ready for bed.

Saturday 4/12/14:
Today was awesome. We started off doing a good bit of service for the Walgamott family.  Bro. Walgamott is building a stone/concrete shed, so we were moving lots of bags of concrete and digging out the base; it was really sunny too so it was way fun to be doing that work. We showered off, grabbed lunch, then headed out to teach. Their YSA area actually covers my first area in Magna, and we ended up in that area and I got to run into Tomas Carrasco and everything, it was so cool! We had dinner from Cafe Rio (apparently in YSA, they get food
from restaurants and taken out to eat a lot). Then, we went and taught Sharon. Her family is from Honduras, and after the lesson we invited her to ask her parents if Elder Chavez and I could come back to teach them, which would be way cool. It's kind of weird being in YSA, because we're teaching people that are all almost our age, so that's a funny change. We unexchanged (met up with their original companions), and then it was time for bed.

Sunday 4/13/14:
Today was a good day at church. A girl in our ward just received her mission call to Seattle, Washington, so she's really excited and got to speak (give a talk in Sacrament meeting) today. I remember opening my mission call, it seems like it was ages ago, almost 1 year ago when I opened it! That's crazy. After church we had lunch here, contacted, then we ate dinner with a less active family, the Rojas family. They made carne asada and it was super good, and we got to share a message with them, then head home. I collected numbers from the 6 companionships in our district, then we turned them in to the ZL"s (zone leaders) and it was time for bed. We're really excited for our P-Day tomorrow, we're going to have a zone barbecue since Elder Ulu'ave goes home next week, and we're going to cook out and play sports all day, it's going to be awesome! I hope y'all are doing well! The church is true :) Talk to you next week!

Monday:

BBQ, sports and color-water war!!

Ulu manning the grill

me, SIs. Ashcroft, Sis. Unga, Elder Ulu'ave

post food-color-water-war pictures :) sis. ashcroft and I

Love Always,

Scottie

Scottie with the Lizarraga family from his first branch

Hola Family!!

This last week has been good. We've had some crazy weather too, ranging from sunny and 65 on Tuesday to this crazy snowstorm yesterday haha. It's been good though!

Tuesday 3/25/14:

Today we had interviews with Pres. Swain (his mission president). We have them quarterly and it's always an awesome experience and time to talk with him and learn from him and feel his general desire for our success and growth in the Gospel. After interviews we started exchanges (temporary switching of companions with another set of missionaries) . Since I actually have elders in my district now I have to go on exchanges with each of them once a transfer (part of his responsibilities as District Leader). I went with Elder Stancliffe and we went into his area, which was good. We visited a lot of his investigators, went to Cafe Rio for dinner, and then came back and talked about his area, I gave him a bit of guidance, then went to bed. It was solid!

Wednesday 3/26/14:

This morning we got up, did studies, and then met up to un-exchange (returned to original compantionships) haha. Elder Chavez and I had a pretty busy afternoon contacting referrals and a quick service for Herman Quiroz, then we were off towards dinner. After dinner we went over to one of the Sister missionaries wards (local congregation), and we helped with a youth activity. The youth wanted to invite non-members and less active friends and then challenge all the missionaries in the district to a volleyball game... We may or may not have dominated haha :) it was fun, and then we taught a lesson about the Atonement and how we can apply it in our lives. That's one thing that I've gained a super strong testimony of in my life, and I'm so thankful for the love of Christ and his sacrifice for us.

Thursday 3/27/14:

Weekly planning day!! That's what we did for the majority of our morning and afternoon, and since Sis. Ashcroft (a sister missionary in his district) was hitting her 1 year mark we celebrated that with her. Afterwards we went to dinner, and then we spent the night teaching the Tepox, Renteria, and Valencia families, which was really good. The day seemed to fly by too, we stayed so busy!!

Friday 3/28/14:

Today was awesome. I got up and finished preparing for district meeting, we discussed the consecrated missionary talk by Tod Callister and how we can always give consecrated efforts to The Lord. Then, I went on another exchange, this time with the zone leaders. I was with Elder Ulu'ave and we went to his area, he serves in a YSA (Young Single Adult) ward so that was kind of cool! We taught a good bit of people, and we went to a birthday party dinner for this lady in our Spanish ward - she made really good chicken and rice, I enjoyed it. Afterwards we went back to his place and talked, he's super funny and we had to wait a bit before the other elders got there to un-exchange so I got to hear a ton of his funny stories. I also learned a lot from him; he's from Hawaii and goes home next month so that's crazy!

Saturday 3/29/14:

Busy day today as well! We spent all morning doing service with Sisters Unga and Ashcroft (sister missionaries in his district) in their area, then we came back, got cleaned up, and went over to Magna. A guy I was teaching in my first area, William, got baptized and I was invited back to give the talk on baptism. It was a powerfully spiritual experience and I got to see a lot of members from my first ward, which was pretty cool! I'll send some pictures as well :)

Elders Shrack, Quiles,Burgin and Higgins at William's baptism

Sunday 3/30/14:

Quality day today. We got up, studied, went to church and there were a TON of people there today, due to a baby blessing :) So that was fun. Afterwards we looked outside to see that this crazy snowstorm blew in, so we ran home to change into some boots and then we contacted some referrals and had a meeting with the stake president. We ate dinner at the Hardy family's birthday bbq, and then we saw one more person. We came home, called in all the numbers, and that was that! It's been a great week!

Hey!! I love y'all, I gotta run.

Love always,

Scottie

Dude with bunny ears - my guess is they came from his Aunt Tammy!

(From his email to his Aunt Tammy)

Hola hola Tia Tammy!!

It's ben a great week, we're enjoying the nicer weather, even though a crazy little snow storm blew in last week.

Word of the week: conferencia general - that's Spanish for General Conference! We're excited to be able to hear from living prophets and apostles this upcoming weekend, I hope y'all get to see some of it! (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has a General Conference twice each year that is broadcast for church members throughout the world to hear from church leaders.)

Aunt Tammy, thank you so so much for all of the goodies, letters, and the awesome shirt y'all sent in my package. That was seriously awesome. I want to write a real letter back to say thank you, but it meant so very much to me and I just wanted to let you know I got it. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Y'all are awesome :)

Love,

Scottie

Scottie and his companion - Elder Chavez

This last week has been super fun and full of good experiences.

Monday 3/17/14:
Today was a pretty solid first P-Day (preparation day, they get one day a week to take care of shopping, laundry, email, recreation etc.) in the new area. We all got together as a zone and played basketball, soccer, and ultimate 4-square (with 9 squares). It was tons of fun, and this seems like an awesome district to be in. Later that night I got your package, so thank you so so so much for that! The card was awesome, and I loved the Thin Mints, they were delicious, and my apartment mates say thank you as well haha :)

Tuesday 3/18/14:
Pretty normal day today. We got up, studied, and then I had a bunch of forms and paperwork to do as a district leader. The new stake president wants us to break our key indicator lessons (lessons, new investigators, etc.) up by zone, and then turn them in that way. That's a crazy task, but after some number manipulation and lots of calling people in the district we got it done. We had a nice dinner with the Perdomo family, then we went out with Nolberto Reyes and taught Angeles Gomez the plan of salvation lesson, which was great! She seemed really impressed by it, so that's awesome!

Wednesday 3/19/14:
Wow I can't believe that I hit 9 months today (9 months since he entered the MTC on June 19^th) time is flying like crazy! We got up, had solid studies, and then walked 16 blocks over to the Broadway building for District Leader Training. (He and his companion can’t use bikes because his companion is in a sling due to a broken clavicle).  Elders Ulu'ave and Driscoll had some good stuff to share, and then we walked back home. We made some contacts, had dinner with the Saldana family, and then walked over to the trailer park. We taught this guy from Acapulca, Mexico named Jorge Renteria, and he was awesome to meet and talk to, really cool guy. We're excited to start working with him.

Elder Ulu'ave (6'6" and 270 lbs) on a little toy horse :)

Thursday 3/20/14:
Today was great! We started out with workouts and studies, then Elder Jacobson came over (other District Leader in the zone). Yesterday, we got a text saying all Zone Leaders, District Leaders, and Sister Training leaders had to be at the Peachwood building tomorrow for a special meeting. Kind of strange. Then this morning we got a text from the AP's (assistants to the President of the Mission) saying we had to bike there if at all possible...so Jacobson and I got on bikes and biked the 7 miles over to the meeting. It turned out to just be a big pump-up, pep-talk kind of meeting from Pres. Swain to figure out what we can do as leadership to help the mission progress even faster. There's going to be a lot of changes coming soon too (a lot of leaders and solid missionaries go home in the April transfer, so we're  just trying to make sure the mission keeps going well and gets even better. It was a spiritual nuclear bomb of a meeting, and we left with tons of ideas for how we can improve. We biked back home, and then we got back in time to head over to dinner. Then Elder Chavez (his companion) and I hit up some referrals, taught the awesome Valencia family, and then called it a night. It was good stuff :)

Friday 3/21/14:
Good day today, but way too much food. Bro. Christensen, the guy we live with, took us to Kneader's for breakfast (since we cleaned his house so well this last P-Day, he was pleased :). Kneaders has $5 all-you-can-eat French toast, so we dominated that for a while. Each slice was about 2.5 inches thick and massive....and I ate 4 haha. Stomach was killing me. We had district meeting and I did a training on the Atonement and applying it to our lives and our teaching, then we had Domino's pizza as a district for lunch. Then we had weekly planning (different schedule because of that meeting yesterday), and then we had Correlation meeting with Hermano Baquerizo (the Ward – congregation – mission leader), then a great lesson with the Chiriboga family. Life is good!

Saturday 3/22/14:
Awesome but tiring day today! For the first time in a long time, since there's nicer weather, we had service! We went to the Ord family's home (Elders Ulu'ave, Driscoll, Chavez and I and Sisters Unga and Ashcroft) and we cut branches off a tree for him, dug out a pathway, placed about 50 concrete pavers down, and helped him move some dirt around with a wheelbarrow. It was awesome, and they fed us a great lunch afterwards. During the night, we went out with Sergio Lopez and contacted a bunch of referrals, and then we had a great visit with the Recinos family. It was good!

Sunday 3/23/14:
Today was incredible. We started off fasting, as a zone, for the ability to find more investigators in the area. We went to church and that was really good, I really like the ward (congregation) we're in. After a great Elders quorum class and Gospel Principles class, we went over to Hermano Baquerizo's house for lunch. Oh. My. Goodness. That man is a hero. He cooked a ton of food, first off, and what he cooked was even better: barbeque. Not Mexican barbacoa, but like legit, down-South barbeque. Hermano Baquerizo used to have a restaurant so he's a great chef, and the food was incredible. I'll send pics. We invited our investigator family over too, and they loved the food and conversation. 

His fabulous BBQ lunch!

After, we visited with the Ojeda family and then went to a fireside by Elder Franco from the 70 (part of the church general leadership) he talked about the principles of the Gospel and missionary work, it was way good. We went home, called in all the district numbers, and we're excited for the new week. I'm loving this area, Elder Chavez is an incredible companion, and I'm happy for sure :) I love y'all, hope all is good back home!!

Hey, I have to run, but thanks so much for chatting with me!! (We get to email back and forth if I can catch him online on his P-Days – such a blessing!)  I love you tons, can't wait for next week :):):) know that y'all are always in my thoughts!

Love,

Scottie

(from his email to his Aunt Tammy):

Hey Tia Tammy!!!

 I love you so much Tia Tammy, my new area is way cool and we're loving it out here. Elder Chavez is a total homie, I love serving with him (my new comp). We're getting along so well.

 Word of the week: diligencia - diligence. It's an important aspect in any part of life in order to keep moving forward, progress towards goals, and learn while growing. I'm really learning the importance of it out here :)

  Love,

 Scottie