Hi family! How is everyone? I got your package yesterday. Thank you so much Mom! The clothes are gorgeous! I'm wearing one of the black skirts right now. Just so you know, you have taught me well in life. My companion commented that I'm always spouting off things that "my mom always says." You have always been a great example to me. So the puppy's name is Cougar? That's awesome! I approve. Thank you for your faithful e-mails. I look forward to them every week. It's the only day I'm sure of hearing from people I love!
Hi everyone! I made homemade applesauce this week. One of the members told me how. I just sliced a green apple, smothered them in maple syrup, covered with water in a pot and boiled for about 20 minutes. It was pretty good. Next time maybe I'll try putting in some cinnamon. I also tried Manudo (or howeveruspellit) for the first time. It's pretty popular with Hispanics but this is the first time I've tried it. It's a kind of soup where they use cow stomach. Kind of ironic. Putting a stomach into your stomach. It wasn't my favorite but it was good. My companion didn't like it.
I love new missionaries! We have a new elder who's being trained in our ward. We were all at a dinner appointment together in a Spanish member's home and he said "se huele bien" instead of just "huele bien." So instead of saying "It smells good" he said "you smell good" to the member who was cooking. :-) Reflexives are fun. He's a good example. Don't be afraid to be excited, try new things, and laugh at mistakes. Take chances, make mistakes, get messy as Miss Frizzle always says. Wow, Magic School Bus can be so profound.
We have two more baptisms next Saturday. Bella is 9 and Carla is in her 40's I think. They're both really sweet. Bella was ready to be baptized when we met her.
Missionary work requires lots of patience. I wrote one of my random poems this week:
Just take it all
one at a time
you'll see the reason
you'll see the rhyme.
A masterpiece wasn't painted
all in one go.
It came by a brushstroke
then several in a row
kind of slow.
Take a deep breath
you'll be just fine.
just take things in life
one at a time.
That's really all we can do sometimes. I think I said it before that a lot of the times we don't know how to keep going other than putting one foot in front of the other and take each breath the way it comes and be happy for it. It's hard to see sometimes, but just keep breathing and believing and you'll be ok.
This morning I was studying about Christ and what a great example He was for us. He was in total subjection to Heavenly Father. so much that he said "he doeth the works." ( John 14) Christ was the perfect instrument. I was also seeing how it makes perfect sense that Christ and the Father are separate beings. For one thing, he says "I go to the Father." I don't think you can really go to yourself. You're already there. Christ does say in John 14:11 that "I am in the Father and the Father in me" which might be confusing like Christ and God are the same being but in verse 20 it says "I am in my Father and ye in me and I in you" talking to his disciples. If verse 11 means that Christ and the Father are the same person than verse 20 must mean that God, Christ and the disciples are all the same person which makes no sense. Christ was showing us, again, that we need to be completely humble and submit to Heavenly Father's plan for us just as he did. I just thought that was neat.
Our answers to prayers are in the Lord's time and in the Lord's way, usually when we least expect it. One of the things I learned this week is how we need to choose to follow Christ no matter what. Heavenly Father WILL test us to our limit. We need to promise that we will be faithful no matter what. We need to promise that even as we are feeling discouraged. Just like Nephi who said that his heart sorrowed but "nevertheless I know in whom I have trusted." If we know in whom we have trusted, it shouldn't matter what happens to us. It shouldn't matter some of the things we are unsure about. If we know our Heavenly Father and how He loves us, you'll find the strength to just hold on. Please, hold on! We watched a clip at a zone conference when I first got here about a football coach teaching his team a lesson. He blindfolded one of the players and had him do the "death crawl" across the field with another player on his back. He told him to go to the 50 yard line but told him to promise to give him everything he's got. As the player went on, he got more and more tired. The coach stood by yelling at him to not quit until he had nothing left. The player kept asking how far he had left to go and the coach just kept telling him not to quit until he had nothing left. When he finally collapsed from exhaustion, the coach removed the blindfold and told him "look up, you're in the end zone." Heavenly Father sees our potential. We need to trust that.
I'm not going to lie, a mission is hard but I am grateful to be here. I'm helping other people but I'm also seeing ways I can be better. Sometimes I see warnings. There are people that have had some of the same temptations as I have felt and I see the result of them giving into those temptations. They are not happy. They are searching again for what they had before.
I feel my Savior's love! He is there for us when we need it. We are to follow His example and don't try to tell me He had it easy. Keep holding on! Choose good thoughts, happiness and trust no matter what. (on a side note, we were teaching the word of wisdom to Carla and she said "good food, good thoughts" :-) It's true)
Everybody have a great week! That's not a request. :-)
Hermana Evans
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