Caught in a downpour!

Monday, December 14, 2009

"I absolutely love this culture!"

December 12, 2009 - Hey Cute Family,
So we have two wards now. Our new ward is Las Violetas and it is so much fun to get to know new members and a new area. We have two baptismal dates already and we are hoping that they will be baptized this month of December. It feels great to be out teaching again. The only thing is that Lima is really hard to teach in. The people are more educated and we get rejected a lot of the time, but the work still goes on. It makes it difficult sometimes to be rejected, but it is not worth it to get discouraged. I can’t let myself get down or it takes a little while to get back up. So I had a lot of surprises this week. I was able to spend all Sunday in Church with Landon and his mom, and then we also spent the night together in the Christmas Devotional of the First Presidency. It was a splendid day with them. Landon’s mom is so nice and we had fun just talking about how you came to know each other and the stories about being a Missionary Mom. I’m sure you are living the same experiences Mom. You are going to love the stories she will tell you when they get back in Utah. Thank you so much for the gifts. I am so excited to give President and Sister Pérez their gifts for Christmas. They are going to love their gifts. I love the book and the sweet note that you wrote. The book is perfect. It is full of nursery stories and other tales that are perfect. I love the pictures as well. Thank you for the candy and for the “To: Coco From: Santa” notes. They make me really happy. I am just like a little kid waiting for Santa to come. I actually had a sweet member tell me that I have such a childlike spirit because I love Christmas so much. I am all about being happy during this time of year. I have been singing many Christmas hymns to the members and I love doing it. Thanks again for the sweet packages you sent with Landon and his mom. But there was an even bigger surprise. We had just gotten home on Thursday and were about to go and plan for the next day when someone rang the doorbell. I answered the speaker phone and they asked for Elder Quinn in English. I was very surprised and I told them I would be right there. I opened the front door and I recognized the man’s face, but I wasn’t sure who it was. He asked me if I recognized him and I said that I did. He then proceeded to tell me that he was Leslie’s dad. I about fainted because I couldn’t believe that he was here. I could not believe that someone who lives so close to me was in the front door of the Mission Offices here in Peru. He then went to the car and brought out a package. It was huge…a garbage bag filled to the seam of candy. I was so excited. I told him to tell everyone “hello” for me. I was basically in shock for ten minutes afterward still finding it hard to believe that I had just seen one of my best friend’s dad. Thank you so much for the candy and treats. I have so much candy now that I don’t even know what to do with it. I am going to be gaining a lot of weight in these next few weeks… :) Another cool surprise is that we have two new missionaries in the mission who are from Riverton High that I knew. We are all from the same graduating class so you will find them in the Yearbook. They are Matt French and Garrett Crosby. I am excited to see them and talk about how their lives have been since high school. It really is a small world. Today we hung out in the afternoon with Landon and his mom just talking about the fun trip they had this week. We are going to have to do a similar trip. I am so excited. I really love the Christmas letters from all of the family. They are so sweet. And I especially love the last half of Tuacahn High School Musical. We watched a little bit of it and everybody started whistling when they saw me and Whitley kiss in “Breaking Free.” They were very impressed by mine and Whitley’s performance. Landon and his mom are excited to see me live someday. I can’t wait to perform again. :) Please give Whitley and her family a big thank you from me for their sweet gift. It wasn’t necessary for them to do that. They really are a great family and she is such a special girl. Our Christmas phone call....I am so excited and already starting my list of things to talk about. Good and bad news: we are only going to be able to talk for one hour. I can’t go over. It’s going to be fine. I feel like we are always close and that the weeks are just passing away so fast. I love you so much and cannot wait to hear your voices. I absolutely love this culture and I am so excited to spend one more Christmas down here in Peru. It is going to be so much fun. I hope that you are all in the Christmas Spirit as much as I am. I know that I am not going to be with you for Christmas, but I am going to be okay. I am so excited for Christmas. This is by far the best time of the year. I love you all so much. Don’t ever forget it. I will love you forever. Take care until next week.
Love, Coco
P.S. Tell Grandpa and Grandma Quinn not to worry about sending candy.… Send my love to them and to Grandma and Grandpa Olsen as well. :)

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