Hi family! I absolutely love hearing from you! I could picture everyone's first day of school. You all looked great. :-)
Mom, I'm glad your surgery went well. Just take it easy so you don't hurt yourself MORE. But you know all that. James, it's ok to be nervous. I'm definitely a routine person. I always was really stressed at the beginning of every semester but once I got into the routine of the classes and homework then it was way fun. Just be patient at the beginning. Know there is a light at the end of the tunnel. This will be good practice because on a mission you get that at least every 6 weeks. Things with my companion are good. We were laughing really hard today. I said something in a hillbilly accent and she thought it was hilarious. She told me she has learned some things from me. She feels like I've helped her be a better missionary and that she can have fun with anyone. I'm glad it's more that just what not to do. Being patient with people pays off. I was kind of frustrated with her yesterday and gave her "a look" and I think she got mad because she was quiet after that but I heard mom's voice in my head: "If they wanna act like a pack of hyenas, let ‘em!" She gets frustrated at me a lot. I can be frustrated at her sometimes and it's ok. We get over it. If she wants to get mad because I'm frustrated, I'm not going to let it get to me.
Hey everybody! This transfer has gone by SO fast!!!! I can't believe it's already time to change. We got the calls and I was really excited. I know you're not supposed to have favorites on the mission so I'm going to an area I really like to a companion I really like. I'm going back to Atwater. My companion is the one I was with in Hanford. She's the one from Guatemala. They've had a couple of baptisms since I've been there so that will be neat. I'm actually switching places with the other sister who is in Atwater now. My companion is kind of disappointed that she's staying here again. This is her first area on her mission and she'll be here for almost 6 months by the end of last transfer. That's a long time in one area. The most I've stayed in an area is 2 transfers. I was surprised to be moving so quickly.
After a lesson this week, my companion told me I'm doing really good on my Spanish. She said she was proud of me. That was after a really good lesson. That person was very receptive. I really feel like when I am able to speak better Spanish is when we're talking to someone who really is prepared. When they're not, the words don't come at all. It's pretty neat.
A lot of people here either work in the fields or have their own fruit trees and they always give us fruit. We have gone through trends. Once everyone was giving us peaches. That was great. Lately it's been grapes. I'm learning all the Spanish words for fruits and vegetables. I love durazno (peaches) and uva (grapes, pronounced ooo-ba, reminds me of something an ewok would say :-) ).
We took our investigator Angela on a church tour last week. It went really well and we felt the spirit. At the end we invited her to be baptized. We felt prompted to promise her specific blessings very important to her if she follows the example of Jesus Christ. She said she would have to think about it. We are praying for her and hoping she will choose to find out for herself that these things are true. We met a few new people to teach. Two different lessons where I felt the Spirit. Those people are ready to hear the gospel! One of those people gave us each a grocery bag full of grapes. Her husband works picking them. I don't know what we're going to do with all those.
There are a ton of churches in this town. I'm surprised because it's so small. There are two Kingdom Halls (Jehovah's witnesses) so we see them around a lot. We were actually teaching a lesson to one of our investigators and the Jehovah's witnesses came in because they had an appointment with someone else in the house. That was interesting. I admire anyone that volunteers their time to go out and share what they believe. I know how hard it is now.
I have a personal testimony that Heavenly Father knows each of us individually and loves us. He doesn't give us trials to trip us up so we can't return to Him. He WANTS us to come back. He lets us go through hard things so we can learn and progress. It is up to us how we react to things. I'm learning that first hand too. Choose to love, choose to laugh. Like I think I've said before, I've never regretted loving someone but I've regretted not loving. Even if it doesn't last, if you can make a difference in someone's life for a brief moment, it was not done in vain. It's hard as a missionary because some of these people you won't ever see again in this life, but you love them anyway. As a missionary I am a representative of Jesus Christ and He loves them each individually and personally. If I can't brighten someone's life, I'll at least brighten their day so when they are prepared to hear the full truth, they can remember that and be more willing to accept it.
Thank you for all your love, support and prayers.
The sky is blue
the church is true
the temperature's only
92! (well maybe not exactly but it has been cooler lately :-) )
Hermana Evans
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