Hi family! Cookies are good, except the ones here at the MTC. I've been too spoiled with home-made.
I finally got the package. It was amazing! I now have stickers, chocolate, and bubble wrap. What else could I hope for? :-) And I love all the pictures. (Clark, your Halloween costume was hysterical.) I'm happy to see my jeans again too. Thank you, mom!
I'm so glad your jobs are going well. Hard work brings happiness, I believe. I'm so grateful that I'm sealed to my family for time and all eternity! I am so blessed!
Hi friends and family! Another good week. Ok, something I forgot to say last week, we got to go into the “real world.” My companion is allergic to all the laundry detergent they sell in the bookstore here so we got to go to Macey's grocery store and get some that wouldn't give her a rash. It was weird. Every time we see people from not-in the MTC, I think, "Strangers! From the outside! Oooooooh!" My district is probably tired of hearing me say that.
Thank you everyone for sending me letters! I am truly grateful! I'm sorry if I don't answer everybody individually but I figure that everything I'd tell you is probably in the e-mail and I don't have enough time to write things twice.
So my companion used to be bipolar and depressed so she's going to see the on-site psychiatrist here every week. This last week after she came out, the doctor asked to see me too. Apparently the branch president was worried that my companion might be "wearing me down." I'll admit, it's been stressful but I'm doing ok. I'm learning how to not let it get to me. She's just different from me. It's especially hard later in the week when I'm tired, but we're getting along. Most of our study is individual and that's helped. She has gone through some really difficult things and has come through with a strong testimony. There will be a lot of people she will be able to help.
I figured there's a good way to try to get along with anyone:
1. put their preferences before your own
2. eliminate "I" from your vocabulary (excepting "I love you" and "I like it when you...")
If you can still say "I don't like this person" after doing that, well you've got one too many "I"'s still in your vocabulary. There are lots more things you could do but those are two that I thought of.
We taught the first lesson completely in Spanish for the first time on Saturday to a volunteer. It was cool. I understood more than I thought I would. I was pretty nervous for it, I admit.
Something funny I've learned: potato = papa, the Pope = el Pápa. They´re pronounced the same.
I thought of a good analogy this week. When you´re putting together a puzzle, it´s a lot easier if you have the edge pieces put together first. That way you know the bounds and it´s easier to find where the rest of the pieces go. It´s even easier if you have the big picture to look at. It´s even EASIER if you have someone who knows the puzzle who you can ask for help. We have the big picture. We have the plan of salvation. We have the commandments which give us the bounds of our lives so we can fit everything else in and be happy. We have a prophet who guides us in where to put pieces we´re unsure of.
We were studying yesterday morning when my companion said, "Hey, Hermanas!" By the way she said it I thought she had a cool spiritual thought to say. Instead she said, "The sun came up!" Indeed, the sun was just beginning to peek over the mountain and it was very beautiful. I started to wonder how many people take it for granted that the sun rises every day. That's amazing! It's a great blessing! Then I thought of a different rise that many people take for granted or don't even know about. It's the "Son-rise." The resurrection of our Savior. He rose after three days so everyone on this earth can be resurrected too. That's a free gift to everyone and it's one that a lot of people either take for granted or don't even know it exists. How many people go through each day without even consciously noticing that the sun came up and remember to be grateful for it? How many people go through each day and take for granted God's hand in their life? We need to GIVE thanks, not TAKE things for granted. Thanksgiving thought for the week I guess.
I don't get very many specific answers from the Spirit. The most frustrating thing is that I keep getting the impression, "you figure it out." I guess I'll learn the best by learning to make my own decisions.
The people that are the most happy are the ones that are the most grateful.
There are pictures all up and down the hallway in the main building. They're all of missionary things. One picture I especially like is of a baptism in a frozen lake. There's a hole cut out of at least 2 feet of ice. The girl getting baptized is standing in the water and the elder is lowering himself in. There are a bunch of pictures like that of baptisms in different places of the world. There's paintings too.
In interviews yesterday, we were asked to share our favorite scripture. I don't really have a favorite scripture but one that I've liked the longest that I can remember is Mosiah 13:3. That's Abinadi saying "touch me not!" Abinadi was my childhood Book of Mormon hero. He's not talked about much, but I've always admired how brave he was. He had to stand by himself in front of people who wanted to kill him and teach. He might not even have known what he did made any difference. He didn't live to see the fruits of his labors but he did make a huge difference.
Do you need help ASAP? Then just Always Say A Prayer. :-)
Last night we watched a devotional by President Uchtdorf. It was really good. He talked about our call and how much of a difference we can make. It was great.
Then last night I dreamed that President Uchtdorf was helping me escape to Narnia. That was random.
I've got two minutes left.
My brain always leaves me when I write these. Afterwards I think of everything I should have said. I hope some things I share help someone. I've got three weeks left here. That's not that long but I want to go now. You don't really learn the language till you're out in the field anyway, so can I just go? Please?
I love you all! Thanks for all your continued prayers and support. It means everything to me! The gospel means everything to me!
TTFN
H. Evans
I finally got the package. It was amazing! I now have stickers, chocolate, and bubble wrap. What else could I hope for? :-) And I love all the pictures. (Clark, your Halloween costume was hysterical.) I'm happy to see my jeans again too. Thank you, mom!
I'm so glad your jobs are going well. Hard work brings happiness, I believe. I'm so grateful that I'm sealed to my family for time and all eternity! I am so blessed!
Hi friends and family! Another good week. Ok, something I forgot to say last week, we got to go into the “real world.” My companion is allergic to all the laundry detergent they sell in the bookstore here so we got to go to Macey's grocery store and get some that wouldn't give her a rash. It was weird. Every time we see people from not-in the MTC, I think, "Strangers! From the outside! Oooooooh!" My district is probably tired of hearing me say that.
Thank you everyone for sending me letters! I am truly grateful! I'm sorry if I don't answer everybody individually but I figure that everything I'd tell you is probably in the e-mail and I don't have enough time to write things twice.
So my companion used to be bipolar and depressed so she's going to see the on-site psychiatrist here every week. This last week after she came out, the doctor asked to see me too. Apparently the branch president was worried that my companion might be "wearing me down." I'll admit, it's been stressful but I'm doing ok. I'm learning how to not let it get to me. She's just different from me. It's especially hard later in the week when I'm tired, but we're getting along. Most of our study is individual and that's helped. She has gone through some really difficult things and has come through with a strong testimony. There will be a lot of people she will be able to help.
I figured there's a good way to try to get along with anyone:
1. put their preferences before your own
2. eliminate "I" from your vocabulary (excepting "I love you" and "I like it when you...")
If you can still say "I don't like this person" after doing that, well you've got one too many "I"'s still in your vocabulary. There are lots more things you could do but those are two that I thought of.
We taught the first lesson completely in Spanish for the first time on Saturday to a volunteer. It was cool. I understood more than I thought I would. I was pretty nervous for it, I admit.
Something funny I've learned: potato = papa, the Pope = el Pápa. They´re pronounced the same.
I thought of a good analogy this week. When you´re putting together a puzzle, it´s a lot easier if you have the edge pieces put together first. That way you know the bounds and it´s easier to find where the rest of the pieces go. It´s even easier if you have the big picture to look at. It´s even EASIER if you have someone who knows the puzzle who you can ask for help. We have the big picture. We have the plan of salvation. We have the commandments which give us the bounds of our lives so we can fit everything else in and be happy. We have a prophet who guides us in where to put pieces we´re unsure of.
We were studying yesterday morning when my companion said, "Hey, Hermanas!" By the way she said it I thought she had a cool spiritual thought to say. Instead she said, "The sun came up!" Indeed, the sun was just beginning to peek over the mountain and it was very beautiful. I started to wonder how many people take it for granted that the sun rises every day. That's amazing! It's a great blessing! Then I thought of a different rise that many people take for granted or don't even know about. It's the "Son-rise." The resurrection of our Savior. He rose after three days so everyone on this earth can be resurrected too. That's a free gift to everyone and it's one that a lot of people either take for granted or don't even know it exists. How many people go through each day without even consciously noticing that the sun came up and remember to be grateful for it? How many people go through each day and take for granted God's hand in their life? We need to GIVE thanks, not TAKE things for granted. Thanksgiving thought for the week I guess.
I don't get very many specific answers from the Spirit. The most frustrating thing is that I keep getting the impression, "you figure it out." I guess I'll learn the best by learning to make my own decisions.
The people that are the most happy are the ones that are the most grateful.
There are pictures all up and down the hallway in the main building. They're all of missionary things. One picture I especially like is of a baptism in a frozen lake. There's a hole cut out of at least 2 feet of ice. The girl getting baptized is standing in the water and the elder is lowering himself in. There are a bunch of pictures like that of baptisms in different places of the world. There's paintings too.
In interviews yesterday, we were asked to share our favorite scripture. I don't really have a favorite scripture but one that I've liked the longest that I can remember is Mosiah 13:3. That's Abinadi saying "touch me not!" Abinadi was my childhood Book of Mormon hero. He's not talked about much, but I've always admired how brave he was. He had to stand by himself in front of people who wanted to kill him and teach. He might not even have known what he did made any difference. He didn't live to see the fruits of his labors but he did make a huge difference.
Do you need help ASAP? Then just Always Say A Prayer. :-)
Last night we watched a devotional by President Uchtdorf. It was really good. He talked about our call and how much of a difference we can make. It was great.
Then last night I dreamed that President Uchtdorf was helping me escape to Narnia. That was random.
I've got two minutes left.
My brain always leaves me when I write these. Afterwards I think of everything I should have said. I hope some things I share help someone. I've got three weeks left here. That's not that long but I want to go now. You don't really learn the language till you're out in the field anyway, so can I just go? Please?
I love you all! Thanks for all your continued prayers and support. It means everything to me! The gospel means everything to me!
TTFN
H. Evans
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