December 14, 2009

Hi Family!  I'm finally getting ready to go.  Just so you know, I probably won't call from the airport.  Christmas isn't that far off and I’ll get to talk to you all longer then.  I'm getting nervous but excited.

Hi friends and family!
So this week was awesome.  We had Elaine S. Dalton, general president of the Young Women come and talk at Relief society.  The Mormon message on lds.org from her called "You are Never Alone" has been one of my favorites at the MTC.  I loved her talk.  One of the things she said was never turn back in the middle of a hill.  You keep going to the top and the view is beautiful.
One of my favorite parts of the MTC is the songs.  Some are a little different.  When we sing Armies of Helaman, instead of "We will be the Lord's missionaries" we sing "We are now the Lord's missionaries."  Instead of "Daily we'll learn until we are called" we sing "Daily we learn for now we are called to take the gospel to all the world.” It’s kind of cool.  Also when we sing "Called to Serve"  the second verse is an octave up and at the end of the chorus we sing "As a triumph SONG we sing, God our strength WILL BE" (going up instead of down on the caps parts)

So this Sunday for the fireside we had the BYU men's chorus come.  It was amazing!  I was so excited.  One guy from the choir got up and told how he is from Taiwan and his parents wouldn't let him come on a mission.  His mom threatened to kill herself if he went on a mission.  So he told us to do a good job for him since he didn’t have the opportunity.  He really wanted to go.
I learned something about Handel's Messiah.  You know how whenever the Hallelujah chorus is sung, everybody stands?  I never knew why until this week.  When The Messiah was first performed, it was performed for a king.  A king stands up for no man.  But when the chorus came on, the king stood up because, he said, every man should stand for Jesus Christ, the king of kings.  I thought that was really neat.  I love this time of year when we do remember the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!  Jesus Christ came into the world so we could b cleansed through Him and live with God and our families forever!  He loves us so much! If we only read the scriptures and pray, you can find out just how much. :-)

Last thing I wanted to address, the best way for missionaries to find people is through members.  Missionaries are there to teach but it's really best if the people they teach are found through members.  Everyone knows someone who's going through a hard time, recently lost a loved one, moved, had a child, or experienced any big change in their lives.  I'd encourage you to make a list of anyone you know who fits into one of those categories and start being a missionary.  The gospel of Jesus Christ brings so much happiness into lives!  Every question anyone has can be answered through the Book of Mormon.  Through Jesus Christ, we can be relieved of any burden.  So here's what you do, you be a friend.  You listen.  You bear your testimony of how the gospel has blessed your life.  You invite them to a church activity, then to church, and then ask if they'd like to meet with the missionaries.  It doesn't have to necessarily go in that order or in a short time frame, but please, EVERY member is a missionary.  We have something marvelous and we need to share it! Missionary work does not work without the help of members.
Please have a very merry Christmas everybody!  If you want to send me something for Christmas, I'd like pictures and letters the best. I don't have room for a lot of stuff.
Remember what this season is about!
I love you all!
      TTFN
          Hermana Evans

P.S. Oh yeah, some good advice I got from my branch president:  God gave you two ears and one mouth.  Use them in that proportion.
Listen to others more than you talk at them.  Therein lies a true friend. :-)
H. Evans