Hi family! I love you all so much! Thank you, Mom! I got your letter just when I needed it this week. Lila, I love your letters again, and I'm writing you back. My companion and I are VERY different. I have never met anyone like her. We could probably talk and laugh forever but we could also probably argue forever. We're doing good though. As kind of a funny note, one day when it was a little tense I started language study and I opened up my grammar book and the example sentences on that page were "Alicia is angry with us. She should be angry with herself. She's to blame for everything." Heavenly Father does have a sense of humor. :-) I made pancakes from scratch this week. My companion asked if I knew how so I did. She liked them. In honor of you, Dad, I used the last part of the dough to make a giant pancake which I flipped in the pan. First time I've done that by the way and the pancake was delicious. I love you Dad! :-) Kind of made me a little homesick but, hey, on the other hand... TRADITION!!!!!!!! It's getting hotter. There are some crazy street names here in Madera. There is a Sarah St, a James St, a Clark St, California St, Fresno St, and Mission St. Sarah and James are not in our area but if I get an opportunity I'll take a picture with some. Clark St actually intersects Fresno. My family never leaves me! :-)
Hi everyone! I hope you all are doing well. It's getting hot here but I'm doing ok. Sister Rojas is from Long Beach where 80 degrees is hot. She's doing amazing though. She said she was tutored over the phone instead of going to the MTC. I'm getting used to the area more. I love working in a Spanish ward! I can feel the Spanish clicking a little more. I'm understanding a whole lot more. Not enough to keep frustration completely away from my companion who's a fluent speaker, but I'm doing a whole lot better.
My companion and I have decided we are writing a Missionary Musical. I'm doing the soundtrack and she's writing the script. Some of the ideas for song titles are as follows:
*Is the mail here yet?
*Will you still love me if I come home fat?
*Wonder what's for dinner
*Weekly Planning Blues
*Behind door #1
*The ultimate quesadilla
more to come
We find ways to laugh. Heavenly Father helps with that too. Sometimes I get sleepy especially mid-day when it's hot and we're sitting on a soft couch teaching a lesson. One of these times I heard an ice cream truck go by outside. (There are SO many of those here!) The particular song this one played was a lulaby. :-)
One of the lessons we taught this week that went well was about the Book of Mormon. We talk about how it really is "Another testament of Jesus Christ." We read the last 2 paragraphs of the introduction which invites all men everywhere to read the message it contains, think about it, and ask God with real intent if it really is true. There is a promise that if we do we will gain a testimony for ourselves of it and that Joseph Smith was truly a prophet of God and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is true as well. Then we share a favorite scripture with them and how it has helped us. One of my favorite scriptures is Mosiah 13:3 I think. It's where Abinadi stands up to King Noah. He is preaching what God told him to and this king wants to put him to death. He is all by himself, no backup except the Lord but he knows what he needs to say and what he is supposed to do and nothing will stop him from saying it. That helps me because I know that if we have no one on our side but the Lord then we are ok. We are doing the right thing. We might not even see the fruit of our labors in this lifetime. Abinadi didn't but through him, Alma was converted who then converted many others. His son, Alma the Younger turned out to be one of the greatest prophets in the Book of Mormon too. Abinadi died before he saw any of that but he was still willing to do the right thing no matter what. I have always admired that courage. Anyway, after we share our scripture, we ask them to share their favorite part of the Book of Mormon, if they have read any of it. I love seeing testimonies come out like that. I know the scriptures were really written for us and our day. We can apply them to our lives. We need to so we can know how to live.
Faith is really pointed toward the future. Faith is looking at the moments ahead as a gift and seeing the potential they hold. No one knows how many of these moments they have left but there are never enough. We don't know what's going to happen. Life is unexpected so why worry? 1 Philippians 3:13-14, Doctrine and Covenants 78:17-18.
I hope everyone is continuing to find ways to laugh no matter what. It really is the best medicine. It brings people together and helps mend broken feelings. If you can't find anything to smile about, think about the potential that Heavenly Father has for you. If you have faith in Him, you know He always keeps His promises. He has told us that we are all His children and He loves us. He sees our eternal potential which we can be blind to sometimes. If something bad happens, put it in the past. As Elder Holland said "We claim the glowing embers from past experiences but not the ashes." Take what you need to learn and move on. That has saved me on my mission so far.
I love you all!
Hermana Evans
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