6 Months Down!!!

April 27, 2009 - "Well, here we are at the 6-month mark... Can you believe it? I am still in awe every morning when I wake up... Everyday, when I leave the house, I still can't believe that I am in Peru, that I am in the jungle, or that I am on a mission... It really is a dream that Elder Quinn is living... The time really is passing, but there's still more to go. But I do know that the time will come when I will have to remove the nametag, and I don't think I'll be ready for it... We had an awesome baptism this weekend. We baptized the Hermana Rosa Hidalgo. She was baptized by her nephew José who will be leaving on his mission this year... Rosa is a single mom of two little kids. She lives with the family of José. José's family is just like ours... Dad, mom, and 3 boys... Leo, Leti, José, Andre, and Sebastian... I have become really good friends with them, and I definitely have to visit them when we return to Peru... Mom, Leti is just like you...only she is Latina, and doesn't speak English at all... I think this is why I love their family so much because I see so much of you in this mother... This family has become my Peruvian mom and dad and brothers. They always serve us treats and drinks when we pass by, and I love being in the comfort of their home. Tonight, we are going to have an awesome Family Home Evening with their family and I cannot wait... Back to the baptism. It was perfect. Everything went great. When Rosa was in the baptismal font, the spirit was so strong, and when she went under the water, everyone started to cry, including me... It was the most spiritually overwhelmed I have felt during a baptism... After they changed clothes and dried off, I had the opportunity to sing "Abide With Me, 'Tis Eventide" and I sang one verse in English... It went great and I was floating on a cloud... Then Leti gave her testimony, and like I said, she reminds me of you mom, she started crying and I started crying. She said that she feels so sad for me because I am so far away from home, all alone, without my family. She also talked about how much she is going to miss her son when he leaves on his mission... She couldn't even finish her testimony because she was so overwhelmed with tears... Yes, I did cry... But not because I was sad. It was because I was overwhelmed with joy for this family, and especially Hermana Rosa... I know I am far away from home, all alone, but I know that I'm not actually alone. I know that the Lord is with me and I feel the love of you guys everyday... It was an awesome baptism...I love you guys so much and I thank Heavenly Father everyday for the amazingly close family that He blessed me with. I will never be able to pay Him back... I love you guys so much, still cannot wait to see you, and miss you like crazy... I love you. Take care til next week... Love, Coco..."

Missionary Musical

April 20, 2009 - "I am feeling great. I think I've finally realized why I am here... Mom, your words clicked in my head again...I really am just performing on a different stage for two years. Right now, my role is All-Star Missionary... I have realized that everyday is a new performance, and that I need to make every performance that much better... I have to put the same amount of effort into this mission as I put into being Troy Bolton... Instead of having my Gabriella, I have my Latino companion from Puno... :) My set with lights, microphones, and music has become the sounds of rainstorms and little kids screaming "Gringo, Gringo"... :) I am working hard... It keeps me focused and keeps me distracted from worrying about things at home... Really, I don't worry about home...More than anything, it is just that I miss you guys so much! Keep going on in the strength of the Lord... Chase, don't stress. Remember what I said about prayer. I love you Bud, and I love hearing from you in e-mails... Dallis, thanks for your sweet e-mails. Bud, you crack me up. I laugh the whole time when I read e-mails from you. You are such a stud. Keep in touch often... It's always good to hear from my awesome brothers... I love you so much... Take care family... I'll write in a week... Love, Coco..."

Hakuna Matata!

April 13, 2009 - "I was thinking about General Conference and how enjoyable it was again. But this year, I wasn't in my pajamas eating homemade omeletes made by dad, watching it on the Big Screen... I was in a shirt and tie, watching it in the chapel... But it was still very enjoyable...
This week was awesome and fun... Yesterday for lunch, I ate Turtle... I ate Turtle... It wasn't horrible, but it had the taste of the cow stomach that I've eaten before, so I definitely prefer other foods to it... But I can now say that I have eaten turtle... For P-Day, we went to a zoo called Quistococha. There were jaguars, parrots, toucans, pumas, monkeys, alligators, anacondas, and big fish, etc... I kissed a boa constrictor, which was a fun experience... But the best experience was at the end of the day... Sister Luna challenged me to eat Suri... Ahh... Suri is like the grub that Simba eats with Timon and Pumbaa on the Lion King... A big, ugly, chunky, gross, grubby, worm... We ordered 3 fried Suri and counted to three and we each ate one. It wasn't bad, so I ate the third Suri. With the Suri, you can eat everything but the head; so to eat it, you have to hold it by the head and separate it from the body with your teeth... Then came the grossest moment of all. Sister Luna challenged me to eat LIVE Suri... OH NO... I picked my "little" grub out of the container of dirt and grass, cleaned my grub off with a napkin, and was ready to eat it... Just looking at them, Sister Luna and I almost threw up because they were squirming in our hands...But we had to do it... We had to conquer the grub... We had someone else count to 3 and then we did it... I put it in my mouth still holding it by the head, bit off the head, and immediately, all of the guts spilled into my mouth... It was horribly disgusting, and I almost threw up, but I swallowed it, and finished the "meal" with Inka Cola immediately after... It was hilariously disgusting... I filmed it all, so I will be sending home the video of me kissing the snake, and Sister Luna and I eating the Suri... It is hilarious... "We conquered the Grub"... "Hakuna Matata"... Many fun and exciting experiences are still awaiting me... I hope that you had a good laugh reading this e-mail... or maybe just a look of awe in your face... I love you all so much. Take care... I love you. Love, Colyn...

Eating more fun stuff!

April 6, 2009 - "How are you all doing? Did you enjoy General Conference? I absolutely loved it. We watched it as a group of Gringos in a classroom in the Church building in English...It was a great 10 hours of just relaxing and listening to the Leaders of the Church. I really enjoyed just being able to relax and enjoy the music of the Tabernacle Choir,especially because it was in English... I haven't had that much time for English in 5 months... My spelling in English is gradually getting worse. I can tell because my journal is getting filled with more cross-out marks daily... It is quite funny. I never thought I would start to lose my ability to spell.I baptized a kid this week. His name is Arlex Brailin Lopez Laulate. This week I did eat alligator. It was delicious. It tasted just like chicken, just a little different. I am a big fan of it... I also had a surprising lunch this week. We arrived at the member's house, and they served us our plates. And guess what was on the plates... A whole FISH... The head, eyes, tail, fins, bones, scales, and all... I didn't have to eat the head or the tail, or the fins, but the scales were fried into the meat. It wasn't horrible, but I prefer my boneless, finless, headless, scale-less fish...Only 19 more months of unexpected food. This week, we also got caught in a huge rainstorm when we were coming home for the night. There was no sign of the storm, and instantly, it was like a monsoon...huge strikes and booms of lightning and thunder, and tons and tons of rain... I absolutely loved it... We just ran and jumped and had tons of fun in the rain on our way home... (Dallis would have been terrified... :) Anyway, when we got to our home to eat dinner, we looked like we had just been swimming... My clothes, my tie, my shoes, socks, everything was soaking wet... But it didn't matter. I was having fun... Yesterday, as well, I woke up at 5 in the morning to huge strikes of lighting, flashes of white light illuminating the sky, and the huge booms of thunder. I watched it for about 30 minutes and then fell back asleep to get a little more rest before getting up... I love watching the storms... A little about our living quarters. They are fine. We have a little fridge, fans, mosquito nets, desks, beds, a bathroom, and the little things that we need. Don't worry about me. I am living in livable conditions; livable, but not preferable... :) The only trouble I have is worrying about my investigators. But don't worry about me. I'm doing fine... I felt the same way you guys did watching General Conference. I knew that you were on the other side of the television watching it at the same time...only that it was 11 instead of 10 o'clock... I liked seeing the Conference Center and Salt Lake, but it made me miss home a little bit more... But I am doing fine. Only 3 more, and then I'll be home... I love you so much. Have a fun Spring Break and a Happy Easter!!! Tell Chase not to stress about the AP Test. He can totally do it... I am so glad that my two brothers are playing baseball together and having fun. I love you guys so much. I'll talk to you in a week... Take care and don't worry... I love you. Love, Coco..."