Hi family!!!!! It was amazing to talk to you yesterday! Of course I think of everything I want to say AFTER I hang up. I've never felt very comfortable talking on the phone. I've always liked letters/poetry better. That's been one of my missionary challenges. You have to make phone calls and leave messages. Then I think that what I say comes across the wrong way. But I can't worry about that too much because if I did, I'd be back to my first transfer and I do not want to go back to that. You're right, I do feel more like myself. I really love being a missionary and doing the work. And once I hung up with you I felt ready to move on and get back to work. I love you all so much!!!! I have THE best eternal family in the world if I do say so myself. :-) I didn't think talking was enough. I always have your voices in my mind so I wanted hugs! AIR HUG!!!!!!
Mom, I should have talked to you first! I felt bad that you didn't get very much personal time, and it was MOTHER'S DAY! I hope you know how much I love you and appreciate raising me the way you did. You are amazing!!!!
Hi everybody!!!! Hope everyone had a happy Mother's Day!!!! It was a good Sunday here. We had an investigator at church. This was a miracle. She's the daughter-in-law of one of the less-active members we've been visiting. We visited this member once and her inactive son came over. We set up a tour of the church with him and he said he'd ask his wife if she wanted to come. After he left, the member warned us that his wife was really negative and argumentative about the church. Well, he didn't end up coming but the non-member wife did! She wasn't negative or arguing at all! She was very receptive and we had a great tour. We felt the Spirit very strongly and she agreed to come to church and read the Book of Mormon! We also had a slightly humorous answer to prayer. We had an active member come along on the tour who we were nervous about because he likes to tease as his sense of humor. We were really worried that he would say something offensive during the tour to this nonmember. My companion and I said a prayer before that the tour would go well and he wouldn't say anything that would offend. When we sat down to teach the lesson at the end of the tour, he fell asleep and therefore did not say anything offensive to anyone. We were amazed.
We were knocking doors this week and a man answers the door and one of the first things he says is that his wife died four years ago and he really misses her and he doesn't know what happens after we die. Wow! I thought situations like that only happened in role-plays at district meetings! We told him we could help him with that! We gave him a Plan of Salvation pamphlet and he said we could probably stop by again.
Saturday was a state-wide church service project called "Mormon Helping Hands". Church members from California did different projects in the community. We helped renovate a park. It was a lot of fun. I miss yard work. I love service projects too.
I read this week in Helaman 3:35 that says the population in general was very wicked but "nevertheless Helaman filled the judgment seat with justice and did what was right in the sight of God" or something like that. I noticed the word "nevertheless." You see it a lot in the scriptures. I like it broken up: Never the less. Despite what happens around us we need to be never the less in our determination to do what's right. Christ himself said "nevertheless, not my will, but Thine be done." God's will is always greatest. It is NEVER the less! Whenever you see "never" or "always" in the scriptures it probably means something really important.
We were at a dinner appointment and we asked the family to write down their feelings about Heavenly Father. The 6-year old wrote: "I want to live with Heavenly Father. Heavenly Father is the best Heavenly Father." Enough said. :-)
I learned this week that the Spanish word for car tire is the same for the rolls you get in your stomach. Interesting.
We had zone conference last week. It was great! There was a quote that I really liked:
"I find that when I get casual in my relationships with divinity and when it seems that no divine ear is listening and no divine voice is speaking, that I am far, far away. If I immerse myself in the scriptures the distance narrows and the spirituality returns" President Spencer W. Kimball
I hope everyone follows that. The scriptures really are our guidebook to life and have the answers to questions that we have.
I love being a missionary! I am scared that I'll eventually go back to regular life. I don't want to forget the things I've realized. Being on a mission, you can see so much clearer the things that are really important and you learn so much! You get to know and care about so many people. You learn how to explain the basics of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's such a blessing to be focused on the Savior 24-7! I see the distractions that turn you away from what's really important. It's so easy to get distracted. It's so easy to turn the gospel you need to live into a checklist. We asked one member if she wanted to go visit a less-active with us but she said "oh no, thank you. I already visited her this month." So? That's one other thing we talked about at zone conference. Are we doing missionary work or ARE we missionaries. There's a difference between "Do" and "Be." We can do without being. You can do missionary work but are you really being a missionary? When we are baptized, we take upon ourselves the name of Christ. That's why the primary song says "I'm trying to BE like Jesus."
Hope everyone has a great week! I hope everyone's safe, happy and healthy. We have a loving Heavenly Father who WILL bless us if we're trying to do what's right. He sent His son so this is possible. Remember that.
Hermana Evans
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