Hi family! Great to hear from all of you! Excited to talk to you too! I'll probably call around 10 am Christmas morning, California time. I'll call to mom's cell phone. I haven't gotten the package yet but we're having a district meeting tomorrow and I might get it then.
I was feeling a little down this week, not bad just not super perky. I think it has to do with the cold, cloudy weather, not enough sun. I'm not a cold person. It's also dark in the mornings now so we can't go running but I'm going to start trying to exercise more vigorously. This morning I alternated between running in place, squats and push-ups for the whole 30 min and I'm feeling better today.
I sent Grandma and Grandpa a group of four letters that is really for the whole family that you can open together on Christmas Eve. They have numbers on them so open them in order.
I love you all so much! Talk to you later! :-)
Hi everyone! Merry Christmas to you all this week! It's been raining and cold and expected to be so for awhile but we're grateful here, this area always needs rain.
Nancy and Jose are still going strong. They only need to be married to be able to be baptized- everything else is perfect. Here's the whole dilemma with them. He has no photo ID. All his identification was stolen a few years back. SO we've been working with members who know what they're doing to try and get that because you need photo id to get a marriage license. We first tried just a birth certificate which we had to get shipped from Mexico. They said we need something with photo. We have a member who works in the Mexican consulate who can help him get a photo id from there but you need some paper from Mexico. So we did some detective work and found the phone number of the church where he was baptized at as a baby and called them and they very graciously agreed to send a copy of his baptismal certificate which along with the birth certificate would get him the Mexican ID from the consulate. BUT the member called and she said she talked to her friend who works there that they just BARELY changed the requirements to get that ID AND you need to have some type of photo ID to get it! That is our whole problem. SO he sent some pictures of him down to someone in Mexico to take to a public notary down there and make a document saying it is him and he is from Mexico which they will then send back. As soon as we get that we can go get the ID THEN they can get the marriage licence THEN they can get married THEN (dah-da-da-daaaaaaaaa) they will be baptized!! Whew! This has not been a complicated, stressful process at all as you can tell. Welcome to the mission field. But yes, they are still going strong, coming to church and everything. They're even paying their tithing!
I know that learning by experience is necessary. We cannot be protected from everything. It is by going through hardships that we grow.
I read an article in the Ensign that had a story I really liked:
Sister McConkie, one of the early Relief Society Presidents was once engaged in helping a poor family. She went over every day to help. "One day [ Sister McConkie] returned home especially tired and weary. She slept in her chair. She dreamed she was bathing a baby which she discovered was the Christ Child. She thought, 'Oh what a great honor to thus serve the very Christ.' As she held the baby in her lap, she was all but overcome... Unspeakable joy filled her whole being... Her joy was so great it awakened her. As she awoke, these words were spoken to her, ' Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.' "
No matter how tired we are at the end of the day, no matter what we have accomplished or not accomplished, if we have done our best to love and to serve, then we have done enough. I think I've said it before, I hope no one ever gets so busy you won't drop everything for someone you love. In the Spirit of Christ, I'd hope that you would never get too busy that you won't drop what you're doing to help anyone period who's in need. Many are called to the kingdom of God but many take that as a casual invitation. They will come only if it's convenient, which most of the time it's not. They let personal things get in the way. They don't recognize who God is and who they are and what an incredible honor it is to com to Him.
I just feel very grateful for my Savior and the chance I have to testify of Him and help others understand about His life. I look forward to each day and the coming years and the chances I will have to share my testimony with my friends and my family. I will always be a missionary.
Another quote I found that I liked:
"The world would take people out of the slums. Christ takes the slums out of the people, and then they take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold men by changing their environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature." --- Ezra Taft Benson
Christmas is really fun with Sister Alvarez. We have decorations up in our apartment. We made a tree out of recycling and curled pipe cleaners. A sister in the ward lent us lights to put up. We also have other things that we've been given.
I hope everyone's healthy. The biggest hindrance to the work at this time I think is the fact that everyone's got the flu or a cold or some other physical ailment.
Thank you for everyone who sent me a Christmas card! I really appreciate that. I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and may the Spirit of Christ be a part of your life forever!
Hermana Evans
No comments:
Post a Comment