Hi family! Sorry I didn't write yesterday. Lila, I got your letter which I loved just like all of yours but I didn't have time to write you back yesterday. I did, however print out some pictures which I am sending. I actually think I look fat in them but I weighed myself and I’m pretty much the same so that was a relief. Michael, I hope you’re feeling better. Clark, I am very jealous of your trip. That must have been very fun and I am waiting anxiously for the details from you. :-) I am thanking the Lord every day for my amazing family! I am very blessed. I miss you all very much! Thanks for telling me that people ask about me and I’m not forgotten. It's really easy to forget since, like I said a mission is like Narnia. It feels like it's been a lot longer than it actually has.
Hello friends and family from not-so-sunny California! It's supposed to rain a lot the next few days. Good thing we have a car. We drive more than bike right now. Mostly it's because we have a very large area and we have a lot of appointments which is good.
I'm realizing more and more the value of members in this work. In all missions, the highest percentage of people that get baptized are referrals from members. I can promise every single one of you that you know someone who is being prepared to receive the gospel of Jesus Christ because that's how the Lord prepares them, through members. Most of our investigators right now are referrals from this one lady in our ward. Two of them even had a baptismal date. Those fell through but we're still trying to work with them. She just introduced us to another friend who seems interested in learning.
Ooh! Before I forget, I learned a new word in Spanish: albondega (I think that's how you spell it. That's how it sounds anyway). It means meatball. I love how my favorite Spanish words have to do with food. Did I mention that my favorite word right now is cacahuete? That's peanut.
Anyway, back to the work. It also is a HUGE help to have members come with us to teach people and even better if we are able to have a lesson in a member's home. We had ward conference this last week where the stake president challenged everyone to have a nonmember over to dinner every Sunday so they can feel the spirit that's in their home and talk about their faith. If you can build that trust with people and really become their friend, they will feel more comfortable listening to the missionaries, especially if they are able to learn in your home. I would like to challenge everybody to think this week of someone who they could help prepare to take the missionary lessons because I know you all know someone who needs more hope and joy in this life. Not to mention fullness of joy in the life to come.
We also had exchanges this week. My MTC companion and I switched places for a day. We're in the same district. I was with her companion who's nearing the end of her mission. It was a good experience. We taught a few lessons and had dinner at the Spaghetti factory with one of the members. It was really strange teaching in English and especially praying in English. I haven't prayed out loud in English for awhile. When I was asked to say the prayers in English I found myself reverting back to Spanish sometimes. My MTC companion had a good time too. They met with the Martinez family who we've been working with. The father actually said the closing prayer in their lesson and they told us to call them at 7:30 the next morning to wake them up for church. I was excited. We called the next morning though and no one answered. That's what usually happens with this family. They seem excited when we talk to them and willing to read, pray, and come to church but then they don't end up doing it. Then when we go by and ask why, they smile, shrug their shoulders and say "Well, we're trying. There's just all these things we're thinking about and all these things we need to do..." If I could only put motivation in a bottle and give it to them. This gospel is amazing! They can't even imagine the blessings that come! We have a loving Heavenly Father who has given us a living prophet today and the power to perform the ordinances necessary for salvation! We're trying to communicate this to people but we're seeing a lot of "Oh, that's nice" type expressions. It's especially frustrating on the face of someone who had a baptismal date.
We discovered a magic house. Every time we visit, we never find the person we had an appointment with but we end up teaching whoever's there. We actually found 10 new investigators this week. (Not all at that house) A person is classified as a new investigator if we teach them a lesson and they agree to a return appointment. So far we've found Jose, Carmen, Cruz and Sebastian at that “magic” house. We contacted another family through a missionary referral that ended up being mostly members. They speak some Native American language as well as Spanish and sometimes in the visit they would start talking to each other and Hermana Hernandez would turn to me and whisper, "That's not Spanish." I was thinking "now you know how I feel during lessons." I'm actually understanding a lot more and speaking better too. If I have patience, I’m sure I’ll keep doing better.
This is the last full week of this transfer. Wow, time flies when you're having fun.
Keep smiling everybody! "Gospel" means "good news" so be happy and share it! Count your blessings which might be hard because every time you blink, there's another one!..two...three... :-)
TTFN
Hermana Evans
Hello friends and family from not-so-sunny California! It's supposed to rain a lot the next few days. Good thing we have a car. We drive more than bike right now. Mostly it's because we have a very large area and we have a lot of appointments which is good.
I'm realizing more and more the value of members in this work. In all missions, the highest percentage of people that get baptized are referrals from members. I can promise every single one of you that you know someone who is being prepared to receive the gospel of Jesus Christ because that's how the Lord prepares them, through members. Most of our investigators right now are referrals from this one lady in our ward. Two of them even had a baptismal date. Those fell through but we're still trying to work with them. She just introduced us to another friend who seems interested in learning.
Ooh! Before I forget, I learned a new word in Spanish: albondega (I think that's how you spell it. That's how it sounds anyway). It means meatball. I love how my favorite Spanish words have to do with food. Did I mention that my favorite word right now is cacahuete? That's peanut.
Anyway, back to the work. It also is a HUGE help to have members come with us to teach people and even better if we are able to have a lesson in a member's home. We had ward conference this last week where the stake president challenged everyone to have a nonmember over to dinner every Sunday so they can feel the spirit that's in their home and talk about their faith. If you can build that trust with people and really become their friend, they will feel more comfortable listening to the missionaries, especially if they are able to learn in your home. I would like to challenge everybody to think this week of someone who they could help prepare to take the missionary lessons because I know you all know someone who needs more hope and joy in this life. Not to mention fullness of joy in the life to come.
We also had exchanges this week. My MTC companion and I switched places for a day. We're in the same district. I was with her companion who's nearing the end of her mission. It was a good experience. We taught a few lessons and had dinner at the Spaghetti factory with one of the members. It was really strange teaching in English and especially praying in English. I haven't prayed out loud in English for awhile. When I was asked to say the prayers in English I found myself reverting back to Spanish sometimes. My MTC companion had a good time too. They met with the Martinez family who we've been working with. The father actually said the closing prayer in their lesson and they told us to call them at 7:30 the next morning to wake them up for church. I was excited. We called the next morning though and no one answered. That's what usually happens with this family. They seem excited when we talk to them and willing to read, pray, and come to church but then they don't end up doing it. Then when we go by and ask why, they smile, shrug their shoulders and say "Well, we're trying. There's just all these things we're thinking about and all these things we need to do..." If I could only put motivation in a bottle and give it to them. This gospel is amazing! They can't even imagine the blessings that come! We have a loving Heavenly Father who has given us a living prophet today and the power to perform the ordinances necessary for salvation! We're trying to communicate this to people but we're seeing a lot of "Oh, that's nice" type expressions. It's especially frustrating on the face of someone who had a baptismal date.
We discovered a magic house. Every time we visit, we never find the person we had an appointment with but we end up teaching whoever's there. We actually found 10 new investigators this week. (Not all at that house) A person is classified as a new investigator if we teach them a lesson and they agree to a return appointment. So far we've found Jose, Carmen, Cruz and Sebastian at that “magic” house. We contacted another family through a missionary referral that ended up being mostly members. They speak some Native American language as well as Spanish and sometimes in the visit they would start talking to each other and Hermana Hernandez would turn to me and whisper, "That's not Spanish." I was thinking "now you know how I feel during lessons." I'm actually understanding a lot more and speaking better too. If I have patience, I’m sure I’ll keep doing better.
This is the last full week of this transfer. Wow, time flies when you're having fun.
Keep smiling everybody! "Gospel" means "good news" so be happy and share it! Count your blessings which might be hard because every time you blink, there's another one!..two...three... :-)
TTFN
Hermana Evans
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