FAMILY!!!! Hi! Mom, I didn't get the package yet but I'm sure I'll get it soon. The mail comes twice a day here so maybe it'll be in this afternoon. It'd be nice if e-mails could get to me by Monday morning because we get on real quick and print the e-mails off so we can read them when we're not on the clock. Then we get back on later and use the rest of the time to write. I'd like as much time as possible to read your letters and not be rushed. That way I can respond. James, keep working hard! You're doing great! Fast food is not fun. Clark, you're a musical genius and congrats on the Eagle Scout! That's so exciting. Lila and Michael you're both sports maniacs. Lila, keep standing up for what you believe in! Little things like not playing on Sunday add up and make it easier to keep the harder commandments. Brian and Natalie, by the way I vote Nashville for medical school. I would LOVE to come visit you there ;-) Congrats on the car too. Mom, it's great that you're teaching! It sounds like you're having fun.
Hi friends and family!
Oh, the things that excite Elders. There was a crowd around the vending machine just now yelling "Double hot pockets! Yeah!"
So I must be doing ok in Spanish because my English spelling is going down the drain. Oh well. All in a good cause I guess.
Thanks for everyone who sent me a letter this week. I'll respond as soon as I can. Don't be afraid to ask questions because I like to have some direction in my letters. It gives me ideas on what to write. Time blurs together here.
I've been able to play the piano a lot. When we're early to group meetings, I just start playing prelude and then they ask me to play the opening hymn. I've played for sacrament meeting the past two weeks as well. They also have a violin you can check out that you can use for musical numbers. I'm going to audition to do a musical number for one of the big missionary meetings. I'm also doing another musical number with my companion. Our accompaniest (spelling?) is an elder going to the Ukraine.
Things hate me this week. My scriptures ran away on Thursday and I'm just about dying. I might have to get a new set. That makes me sad. That quad and I have been together for a long time. We graduated seminary together. I'm hoping it returns soon. I've just started misplacing things. Argh! Not good.
I did find one thing that I hoped I would never find in my stay here: the scale. I found it by mistake. Haven't weighed myself though so I'm still not sure what effect that food's had on me. I've been trying to choose healthy stuff though.
I found some native Spanish-speakers on my floor from Peru and they're learning English. I'm trying to go talk to them for a few minutes every night. They help me with Spanish and I help them with English. They're really nice. One sister was practicing English questions on me. She asked me about love and how do you know when someone loves you. That's something that I wasn't really sure how to explain actually. A lot of times you just know. I think the best thing I could say though is that I know when someone loves me when they spend their time with me. Where your time is spent, there your heart will be also, I believe. I'm giving my heart to the Lord for 18 months.
Still trying to understand my companion. I think the only way I'll fully get along with her is completely putting away pride. I didn't think I had a huge problem with pride but I think I need to be rid of it completely. I'm working on it. We're just different. I'm a morning person, she's not. We both don't do well when we're tired and stressed. But she's fun. She knows a lot and when she sees someone she can help, she WILL help them or die trying. She notices people easily. I can learn a lot from her.
We had Elder Ronald A. Rasband from the quorum of the 70 as our devotional speaker this week. He's awesome! He emphasized being bold. That's something that a lot of us needed to hear, I think.
The most powerful teaching experiences I've had are when I'm teaching for the person. A lot of times we role-play but this week we taught a lesson to a few of the newest elders in our zone, just as them, so as missionaries. It makes a difference when you're teaching for their needs. Even when we've role-played before, if the teacher is listening to the Spirit, whoever is listening hears something that they need to hear. That's something they emphasize here. The invitation to come unto Christ is not a flyer passed out on the street. It is an engraved invitation. I'm delivering those right now.
Trials are insignificant when you're looking at eternity. One of the reasons I love going to the temple is to get that eternal view back. When you know what's really important, you realize what you don't need to stress over.
How do you explain the feeling the Holy Ghost gives to you? There really are no words. You can say "joy", "peace", etc. But I don't think you really say how the spirit makes you feel. You show it. With that confidence you receive, you get up and do something. You find someone who needs help and become an answer to their prayer. There are no words good enough, only works.
I'm here for a reason. I'm hoping there's someone that I'm meant to help. Hopefully a lot of people I will be able to help. I'm here because the Lord wants me here. It is constantly being confirmed to me. I'm not sure if I would have decided to come on a mission completely on my own, but the Lord told me to come, so I did. And I'm stubborn so as long as I'm in the right place, I'm going to do my best. That's all anyone can ask of me.
Sometimes I feel bad because I don't cry often when I feel the Spirit. But I realized it's not a bad thing. Everyone feels the Spirit differently. Some it speaks to their tear ducts. Me, it usually speaks to my dimples.
Me and my companion taught the Sunday school lesson on the Holy Ghost yesterday. We did an activity I thought was fun. We blindfolded a sister and told her to find the door. I put my hand on her shoulder and removed it when she was going in the wrong direction. I didn't vocalize any directions. That's the way the Spirit speaks sometimes. He lets you make a decision on where to step and he'll let you know if it's not the right step. You just need to pay attention to what he's telling you. It might even just be a feeling without a specific voice.
I'm SO excited to be out in the field! I want to go now. I don't know Spanish yet but you don't really learn the language till you're out in the field anyway right? I wanna help people now!
Missions are amazing! My enthusiasm grows every day.
I <3 you all! Thanks for all your friendship and love.
Sorry if I forget to write things or it's just random. I'm down to the wire every week and I'm just spilling my thoughts out.
TTFN
Hermana Evans
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