I FRREEEAAAAKKKKK OOUUUTTT!

BEST SURPRIZE EVER!!!!!!!

Mom, so let me tell you my side of the story.

about 6:50 ring ring "ohio? thats weird." "hi this is Sister Quezada" "hola hermana quezada (in spanish) the missionaries gave me you number and I was wondering if you could tell me more about your church." "yes of course" "could meet up today just to meet you. it will be really short" "um can you do it tomorrow?" "no tonight would be the best..." (okay short lesson with a less active) could we meet at a mcdonalds or your church or something?" "ya do you know  where the church is?" "ya" "could we meet you at 8:30?" "si" "oh cual es su nombre?" "uhhh jose"..... anyways have our half lesson. and we get a text at 8:10 saying he was there.... WAAAA who shows up 20 min early nobody. it is usually 20 min late. So ya we get there and there is a senior couple there with OUR MEMBER PRESENT (we had to get a member because he was a guy.) and the senior couple is all worried for our welfare because these 2 young men have been waiting here since 7:15. anyways one of them get out of the car and hes white?? what? and my first thought was dang it he is young we will have to pass him off the the singles ward elders. so this guy says "hey my friend really needs the gospel in his life we just wanted to come and meet you and maybe set up an appointment.""wait are you a member?" "ya" "ya thats fine does he want to meet us? maybe get a tour?" "ya that would be great" the senior couple was less worried now because he was a member. so they come back. and I FRREEEAAAAKKKKK OOUUUTTT! I started bawling and blahhhhh my brother was there. All I said was "what are you doing here"

. I couldn't believe it. It was crazy. yes he gave me a long hug and I guess his friend was explaining to the senior couple. Wow it was crazy. I thought it would be hard to refocus but not too bad. Actually gave me more amo. It was crazy though. and the shoes are darling. HK where did you find those. super cute. and thanks for the box.

 Sounds like you are in full force going crazy once again. MOM DO MA. it will be hard and time consuming but think about the results after this year. you will have so much more time and you wont be so worn down. And the pay will be better too. Do it mom. you are doing better with the scripture thing. 2n 25:23-26. I realize how much I don't know everyday. there is soooooo much I need to know. that people expect me to know.

But this week was great. we almost hit all of our goals we have 5 new investigators. and 3 people came to church. 2 of which are a mother daughter duo that are so getting baptised and they like church. I love them so much and they really are making changes in there lives. It is so awesome! We have had some really powerful lessons this week and just a lot of good things happening here in pomona. Loving it too. its the best when you actually feel like you are making progress! I love being a missionary. it is so crazy on how fast the time flies. Its actually really sad. I need more time I feel like I just got here. and man its just flying.

LOOK MOM WE MATCH......

 Te quiero muchisimo. estoy muy contento. y estoy agradacida por su apoyo. tenga una buena semana. xxooxoxo con todo de mi corazon, 

Hermana Quezada

PS give mwalk a squeeze from me.

HEART AND SOUL

cute little Mia (we love hello kitty soooo much.)

Mom,

Ya sorry about the pictures the computer I used last week would let me send any. And the picture a day thing is a fail. But I at least take one once a week. Its really hard to take a pic a day (mainly because I forget and we do the same things every day) so it would mostly just be of our faces a whole bunch of times. and that's not super fun to look at. and the tic tac thing I don't do that either. I didn't need to with my first set of companions and now its too late to start with this one. Hna ward is a good missionary. We have a lot of good times together and we are both motivated. oh the clicker...  your week sounds fun. repelling.. Texans.. trafalga.. nickel city.. sports of course.. 

My week was crazy. we lost 4 good investigators this week. one was an English pass off. one moved. one dropped us because he doesn't have time because he just started school. and the other Steve.. remember him. ya broke my heart he told us pretty much he isn't ready to give up some things. :( estoy triste. You put your heart and soul into it and then they just reject... its hard but we also found two more this week that we are excited about.

so last Pday we went exploring and found this buddist community. It is like on top of a hill in the middle of the city. I felt like I was in a deserted capitol from the hunger games. It was crazy. super strange. So Its like a buddist charity thing. really odd. kinda cool. but tad bit strange and you cant eat meat there...... interesting... okay I loved yesterday...

Nobody came to church.. BUT we went to YW. 5 girls in there whole mujeres jovenes. we talked about the temple. they asked us to share our experiences with the temple too. The spirit was so strong. made me miss the ward. I cant express enough of how much of a blessing the temple is. It is my favorite places in the whole world. No matter who you are what you have gone through of what you are doing right now. EVERYONE should prepare to go to the temple and continue to go. There are so many women in this ward whose husbands aren't members and how it breaks my heart that they are missing out on blessings. Don't settle and always look to the temple. The spirit was so strong and there were many tears. I feel inadequate day in and day out but when the spirit is with me I can do it. That is something I have been working on. getting the spirit to think through me. and it is hard. harder then you would think. 

I love being a missionary...Ruiz family

Thank you for the support. All I want is letters. I love you all so much and thanks for being my family. keep doing good. I'm trying to be a good missionary. I fall short a lot. but I am trying. hope all is well and have an incredible week

con todo de mi amor, 

Hermana Quezada

I LOVE MY NAME "QUEZADA"......and I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!!!!!

Your sunday sounds awesome! It will be nice to just be able to listen and understand everything people are saying in chuch! soon enough. wait so does nate go in this wednesday?? oh wait what MTC?? oh and hows tadd doing???

My sunday was good. we had  a lady come she is only a potential. and she didn't like church and she doesn't want to hear the lessons... but she said she is going to come back to church next sunday... WHAT??? super weird but she might not be ready yet. We had a good week tho and we have a new vision to baptise. so we will. oh yes we didn't move. Transfers came and gone and I am in pomona with hna. ward. We are going to have a bomb transfer. Im way excited. We made this thing called the "mini restoration" love it. It is a super quick restoration and sets up a perfect follow up lesson! the 2nd lesson is the hardest because everyone works and is too busy for the truth!

okay kinda cool. so we were contacting and this guy was like "Quezada? two of my neighbors are Quezada's" "oh really?" sooooooo guys whoes doors we knocked next?? quezada 1 and 2. BUT we had to be sly.. "we were talking to your neighbors and they said you would like to hear our message about Christ" "talking talking talking..." "y como se llama?" "andres" "mucho gusto soy Hna. Quezada" Quezada?? ""somos quezadas" " de veras?" BOOM INVITED US TO COME BACK! love it!

 my last name has come in handdy on my mission. 

#1 everyone can say it 

#2 its the running joke that I cant speak spanish

 #3 if they don't know I cant speak spanish its really easy to trick them in thinking I do!

okay we had the opprotunity to go to Pasadena and go to a baptism of one of hna wards old investigators. Super spiritual. Listening to english primary song made me bawl. It was really spiritual for me.something i really needed. his name was hunter 11yrs. his mom was a less active. They did this together and once he was baptised his mom said "how was that?"

 " I LOVED IT" that is exactly what everyone should say.. We love it! we love this gospel we want to do everything we can to continue to grow in it! that is the purpose of this life. Grow. cada dia! we found a lot of people this week I am getting more and more excited about sharing the gospel with everyone I see. 

Mom im glad you took that question to church that is a perfect answer! keep going strong! you are doing great! I love you so much!!!!! 

2N 31:20 have a great week!

ALL OF MY LOVE! Hermana Quezada

Spanish is coming surely but slowly.....

I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY

Mom, 

Hey so sorry about the not writing much but its hard to remember everything and answer all of your questions.  We study for 3 hours every morning and two of those are with your companion. So one hour is personal study. I hope Alecc is still studying but it isn't like all we do as missionaries is study. He was a good missionary and helped a lot of people.  and you know people love him so of course they are going to want to talk to him. RM's have this big title but they are still normal people. still make mistakes. still have things to work on. LOVE YOU BIG Bro.  He didn't write me this week so i don't know how he is doing. HEY AL ID APPRECIATE A LETTER! now that you have time! (yes got both packages thanks! and are you trying to make me fat?????)

Which reminds me of a funny story. so last night at dinner Hna. Rubio asks me if I have been losing weight... (WHATS THAT SUPPOSE TO MEAN WAS I FAT BEFORE???) not losing weight not gaining weight. just living the life of a happy missionary! yes we get fed a lot almost everyday. and the food is so good. I love it! nothing too crazy though but it can be pretty spicy WHICH ROCKS!

Okay we had a great Noche de hogar a noche como nuestro barrio. estuvemos in charge. It was the tree of life so we blind folded them and they had a holy ghost(one of the missionaries) and tempters(the smooth talkers in the ward) we placed their hands on the garden hose to follow the "iron rod" and I said "soy el espiritu santo. Necesita algo pidame" Literally moments I said this the tempters would just say "this is a better way come with me" one by one they let go of the rod and never asked for the help of the Holy Ghost. so sad on how this is so true. So I have two really good experiences with this. One of the youth got tricked by the tempters and she was almost into darkness and she stopped walking and in a soft voice, "espiritu santo? donde esta?" I then helped him back to the rod and she made it. So many times we get lost and in the times we need it the most we ask. in prayer for the guidance and the ability to find the rod again. So powerful. the second one I want to tell you about is when I was guiding the bishops son. He asked who I was once. and I told him. He followed the rod very well. But never asked me for guidance. He came to a split were one side was the rode and the other just looked like it. he didn't know which one to pick and the tempters where working on him. He never asked. I hear his mom in the background. "misionera ayudele" but I couldn't he didn't ask. He didn't make it to the tree of life. I went and talked to Hna Olvera about how I couldn't talk to her son because he never asked me. It really touched her and me. 

How do we feel being the family members of people that fall. We are begging for the Holy Ghost to help them. But it starts with them. We have to ask. and I talked to Gio about how he felt. He told me He thought I left him. So as people are off the path they feel alone and abandoned. But in reality I was there the whole time waiting for him to ask. After the activity we went into the chapel where the tree of life was and we had a powerful testimony meeting. 

I am so grateful for that experience. Super incredible! I am so blessed to be a missionary! We found four promising people this week. pretty excited about that! I love you all transfers are next week so I hope I stay in Pomona! Kinda scary. 

xoxoxoxoxox Love you alll soooooo much!

Love Hna Quezada

MY BIG FIREWORK:)

Love you too. I am so blessed to have a wonderful family and friends! thanks for being my mom. now stop crying and go serve someone. grab kiki make some cookies and go give them to someone! xoxoxx have a great week!!!

WOW how the time FLIES......and ALECC is home wowzer.....

Looking for new investigators :)

Mom,

So crazy Alecc is home. Seems like he is adjusting back to his old self. On that computer with his music. Does he sleep a lot? because I think that is something I might do. Because as a missionary you are always tired! OH MY I was so tired this last Saturday we played a soccer game against el barrio de Chino por tres horas! era horrible! but we won 4 to 3. there were a lot of investigators there too! which made the tiredness so worth it!

 I cant imagine how alecc is feeling right now but ya give him a break. He loved those people for 2 years and now he gets thrown back into the world. eeeeckk not excited for that one. But he looks good. fun pics! I hope all goes well this week and the picture thing wasn't my idea it was a lady in our ward. Way cute family they are actually moving back to Utah soon. I love all the people in our ward so much. It is a love I cant even describe. Hna Ward and I were talking about it yesterday. I just want to do everything I can to help them and I can never do enough. It is super interesting on how much people trust missionaries. I love my job. All I do all day is talk to people about the gospel and how it can help there life no matter who they are.

This week was tough lessons wise but we have great potential. We should be having a couple bautismos these weeks coming up. I just wish everyone would be willing to listen because if they listen with an open heart the spirit will testify and they will feel of the truth. The world is so bad and I hope everyone can feel of the goodness of God.

Sorry not too much happened but yes it is super hot here. I hate walking by swimming pools with everyone laughing and playing.. But to our advantage people feel bad for us and give us water which gives us lessons most of the time! Pomona is great and we will be working even harder this week! I love you keep going strong because even when you feel weak you have the Lord which nobody can beat! xoxoxox

Hermana Quezada

My kind of riding a bike.....hahahaha

Mom,

 We aren't doing the web thing yet. Which I am grateful for because I don't know how to do normal missionary work yet. But I guess I will never know how to do normal missionary work because it is always changing. With every person. So I cant believe that Alecc comes home. and that's good papa is coming. I'm really glad to hear that. Please send pics. It is killing me. Well actually I don't really think about it besides Pdays. Life is too busy over here to be soooo focused on me. Whenever I get down I have to realize that's satan. So Our Heavenly Father picks me up 2n 4: 20-21. no funky food just great latin food. I love the food. And I love the salsa. Pero no se si es major como la salsa de mi mama. You have pretty good salsa. There is this guy in nuestro barrio and he reminds me of Papa and he brought his own salsa to a NDH and he was sweating it was so hot. I tried some... HOT! Our living conditions is in a members house that keeps everything spotless and never turns on the AC.. Nights (like last night) I don't even get in the covers. She is super nice. Widowed really young with no kids I feel so bad for her:(

Don't really have a fav moment. Prolly after a lesson where you can see progression. Or when I see Maria continuing to progress. I love her! The Elders are great. Reassure alecc that I'm not flirting and not wining and I am working really hard while respecting my leaders. feet hurt sometimes. but I have been very blessed with a back that is pain free. I don't know how or why but it is a miracle.

Okay funny story. We have been working with steve and the WOW. which is tough and we texted him to read the bullet points on page 11 and 12.. He texts us "I cant find them". We double check in our pamphlet "yep its 11 and 12". "there are no bullet points on pg 11 or 12 in the Book of Mormon" AHHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHHAHA HE WAS LOOKING IN THE BOM! super funny. So when you invite someone to do something do it clearly! We are working with his belief in jose smith y el libro de Mormon. He will get there. We should have a baptism this sunday. This work is so great and the love God has for His children is even greater then anyone can imagine. I love you so much and give alecc a hug from me. Tell him that I'm sorry for not being there. but I know he would rather me be out here. xoxoxox go do something great!

 Spanish still stinks but getting better.

Happy 4th of JULY (2 emails into 1)

Mom,

It is so good to hear from you all and I am glad the fam reunion went well. why weren't there many people this year? just super busy? I know everyone is growing up and all  but they are the family reunions SUPER FUN! thanks for the pics I love seeing them! so something that I wish I could have on my mission is my family. I thought I knew the purpose and I thought I have loved you guys before but ya my whole perspective has changed. I don't talk about you much because it is hard for me. BUT you guys rock and Alecc comes home so soon. That blows my mind. I cant believe that. 

But saul is not getting baptized in this month unless a miracle happens. but STEVE he is the one preparing for baptism. His date is this Sunday but we will see. We dont want to baptize just to get a baptism. We are here to convert for life so as we do so if he needs more time to prepare we will give it to him. But we have been promising some big blessings and he really is progressing. 

Something crazy that has happened that really isn't funny but is not really common. is we have almost gone through all of our potential investigators, former investigators, and our menos activos part member families. So for finding we will need to start from almost scratch. We are working really hard. And I cant describe on how much I love our barrio. These members are so humble and have taught me so much! I love my mission. Oh and Maria our recent convert is great. She is the best. I wish her husband would jump on the wagon. Hna. Ward and I are good. She is awesome. She never sises to amaze me. I kinda compare her to an older version on brooklyn barrus. She is super tough but has a sweet testimony. I love working with her. I am learning a lot from her. 

As for a story so on the 4th I ate bad chicken at our ward bbq and that wasn't fun we attempted to pass out cards at a parade. and at the end of the day we finished it off with poppers so that we could feel a little bit festive. Missions are great. I have been really pondering prayer this week. one of my favs to share is 3nefi 18:18-21 i might have shared this with you already? oh well twice the blessings! 

Kaisa man thats nuts. Ya he was one of my teachers in the MTC well not my direct teacher but ya we worked really close with him and he helped me probably the most while I was in the MTC. Super weird. Hermano Snyder and my lil kais. Well good for them. he is a great guy... weird.. I love you so much and this church is so true so go spread it. xoxox con toda de mi corazon, les quiero, Hermana Quezada

Way to make me cry. I love that you had such a good experience at trek. Man the womens pull. Man. that is some power. One day I will go on a trek with my family. that is really neat im glad you had that experience. super neat. Isn't the Lord incredible. how those people could do that. and as you said in your letter, you cant do it alone. and we are in a spiritual trek right now. The world is getting worse and worse and we need to be those righteous saints that pull with all of our might. And as we do so start putting people into our handcarts and pull them until they can pull with us. I'm so happy you experienced that because. I can feel the spirit so strong as you write about it. Did ces get to see bodil? I hope so that is another thing that I want to do when I get back.

CONGRATS MEGS. that's crazy. Who knew there would be Cantonese up there. Super crazy. I was hoping she would be speaking Spanish. Oh well. I am so happy to hear that she decided to serve the Lord. It is the best thing. I love it. all day everyday you talk to people and help them come unto Christ. What better way to live your life!

Hna Ward is great we dropped off Hna Crawley this morning. That was bitter sweet I love her so much! but yes Hna Ward is awesome we are starting to click more and that will improve our teaching and finding more. She know a little bit more Spanish then I do but we will make due. I hope to be so much better by the end of this transfer. Oh I gave a talk in sacrament meeting yesterday. That was fun. It was short I was the last speaker so I only had like 7 min. The Spanish wasn't perfect but it came from my heart. Ces went in with no notes either just some powerful scriptures! but im not as funny as you!

Steve and Saul came to church. Saul was a shock! But Steve told us he feels like he will be ready by the 14th! LOVE THE PROGRESS he is going to be amazing in the church! I love you all so much. Letters are the best gift! xoxoxox give everyone my love at the fam reunion! xoxox

con amor Hermana Quezada

The new broadcast super sweet right??

mom,
So yes the new broadcast super sweet right?? I dont know much about the electronic stuff yet but im pretty sure we will be using mormon.org way more. ps make an account and be a missionary there is so much work to be done. But we are going to be a test mission to not have any cars in the states. I'm wicked excited. you know what that means... MORE MISSIONARIES AND SMALLER AREAS. which means the work is going to become rapid fire. it wont start right away but im way excited. I might be needing a bike. I'll let you know. so I hope you realized the main message of the broadcast. This isn't just missionary work for missionaries. The missionaries are here to help the members with their work. So the members need to be finding and inviting because the age is changing the more affective way to convert it through the members. without the members missionaries are nothing. I really mean that. I hope that broadcast inspired the members like it inspired the missionaries. CES there are so many nonmembers in high school go find them. Make it part of family night. Get Preach my Gospel and get to work. This time is short and we need to help people recieve the best gift in the world the gospel. I'm excited to see the new changes it is going to be exciting. 

So this week was nuts. on tuesday Hna Lapierre got a call telling her she was training. This means one of us was getting transfered. so all week I stressed and stressed and then on Sat. HNA  CRAWLEY GOT HER VISA she leaves next monday and then that night we got a call. I am staying in Pomona and Hna L is leaving. Then the stress came again who in the world will be finishing my training.?? I find out it is the girl hna L trained right before me. She is only one transfer ahead of me AND her last transfer was in English work.... AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH she has been out for a little over 4 months and me only 3!!!! SUPER NUTS her name is Hna Ward she is from logan and I will send pics next week. It was hard to say goodbye to hna L. but this transfer is going to be crazy! trust in the Lord will have a whole different meaning.
 the Spanish is Okay. President gave me some encouraging words but it will come. I just have to keep working. and I cant believe you got the eyelashes SEND A PIC! 3Nefi es la mejor!  enserio nada es mejor que JesuCristo go back and read those chapters again. my favs are prolly 11 and 18. 17 is good to. That whole book is amazing. I have a new love for the LDM I cant even tell you. I thought I liked reading the sctiptures before. NOPE even more not. I wish there was more time to study because there is so much to learn. 

Yes package recieved thatnk you! and we are aloud to listen to other stuff besides hymns but I would love the jenny phillps cds NO EFY too upbeat. 

Love you sorry if my thoughts are scattered Im writing letters too and I'll be sending a package soon! xoxoxox

Con amor,

Hermana Quezada