End

You might think the e-mails ended kind of abruptly.  Like I said, a mission isn't going up and over a mountain, it's a takeoff.  So I tried not to focus on the fact that my full-time mission was drawing to a close.  I kept on working as if I would stay there forever.  I had to plan that way because the people we taught would be handed off to the next set of missionaries and they would need some idea of what to teach.  The fact that missionaries change shouldn't make a difference on their progression. 
The mission really has been a takeoff for the rest of my life.  It's now about 7 months since I finished my mission.  I have seen how much it has impacted my life.  I use lessons I learned as a missionary every day and I try and pass them on to others as well.  I hope anyone who reads this is able to catch some of the inspiration, revelation and optimism I gathered as a representative of Jesus Christ. 
My testimony remains as it always has, firm and unyielding.  I know the Savior lives.  I know we are children of Heavenly Father and he loves us more than we can possibly imagine.  I know that Joseph Smith is a prophet.  The Book of Mormon is the word of God and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is God's true church on the earth today!  I will be forever grateful for the opportunity I had to serve a mission. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

May 6, 2011

Hi family!  Yes, I'll try my best to go out and meet Aunt Kathy and Grandma Darlene.  I love you all!  See you very soon!

Hello everybody!  The sun is shining, the tank is clean, and it's a new week! 

I finally ate something from Mexico noteworthy.  An investigator invited us in last week and we tried "chapulines" and "gusanillos."  I think that's how you spell them anyway.  Basically toasted and salted cricket type things and mealworms.  Not too bad actually.  Wouldn't say it's my favorite but they didn't make me nauseous or anything.  They gave us a little bag to take home.  We gave it to the elders.  Thought we'd share the love.

On Saturday we had a special mission-wide conference.  It's very rare to have a conference with the entire mission.  There were 3 general authorities visiting, Elder Snow of the presidency of the 70, Bishop Burton the presiding bishop of the church and Elder L. Tom Perry.  Elder Perry's flight got in late so he didn't make the conference but it was wonderful to hear Elder Snow and Bishop Burton.  Bishop Burton said he was the last missionary to travel by boat to his mission, Australia.  27 days he said.  Along the way President McKay boarded their ship headed to New Zealand to dedicate the temple there.  President McKay invited the missionaries to attend the dedication with him.  That must have been quite and experience.  Bishop Burton also told us a little about his calling, how he helps set aside the temporal funds for building churches and temples and the like.  He said as a little piece of trivia (that "won't get you into the celestial kingdom") we will build more square footage this year than Wal-Mart.  He is a powerful speaker. He told us to listen to the spirit and pay attention especially to the things that you hear that aren't necessarily said over the pulpit.  That's an interesting thought.  I'd encourage everyone to try that sometime. Listen for the things you hear that aren't said.   He also had all the 17 missionaries that are leaving this week to stand up then he gave them specific counsel.  One thing he said that I liked is the mission is the MTC for the rest of your life.  I know that to be true.  I can't really list all the things I've learned on my mission but I know the things I have learned here have shaped me to be a better person in general for the rest of my life.  A mission is not climbing over a mountain- going up and over, ending up about the same level you started.  It's a runway to take off and keep going strong.  Another thing Bishop Burton said is that when you serve a mission you end up with a missionary spirit that never leaves you. 

We had a special stake conference the next day and Elder Snow spoke at ours.  The other authorities went to other stakes.  I was actually very impressed with the youth speaker- a young man preparing for a mission.  He was very enthusiastic and talked about how much he loved going on team-ups with the missionaries and encouraged everyone to do the same.  He talked about seminary and said that in armor of God terms "Seminary is like a dragon that you get to ride that breathes fire and eats all the bad stuff."    At one point in Elder Snow's talk he said "Let me introduce you to your greatest treasure."  Then he asked all the primary children to stand up and wave so we could see them.  Then he asked the youth to stand up too.  He said they are the future. They are our greatest treasure. He talked about the importance of family and the joy that comes from them.  One thing that stuck out to me in both Saturday and Sunday that they said is that this is an exciting time to live in and there are a lot of things that we don't really need to stress over.  We can have faith and do our best and keep moving forward.  Elder Snow and Bishop Burton were both very calm and optimistic. 

Our car battery died three times this week.  It's still sitting in front of a member's house now.  Maybe that's why we were without a car for so long.  Cars just don't like me.  Or maybe it's just pulling a temper tantrum because it doesn't want me to leave. :-)  It's ok. I like grocery shopping with bikes more anyway. 

This will be an interesting few days.  There are 9 sister missionaries going home, 2 have already departed.  There will be 3 Spanish sister missionaries left in the mission.  There are 4 Spanish sisters coming in so they're changing one of the English sisters to Spanish and she'll be training as well.  Tuesday they've got interviews, presentations and a temple session for all departing missionaries so we'll be there and Wednesday all the new missionaries come in and have a day of orientation.  Sister Harris will probably have to go to a different area to work with a sister who's companion is also leaving.  That means we couldn't plan any appointments for two whole days this week and there are a lot of people we need to see.  It's ok.  Sister Harris and her trainee will just be busy which is a really good thing. 

Sister Harris and I tried to make tortillas the other day.  We failed.

We had a really good lesson with a less-active family last night.  We talked about prayer and helped them paint a family prayer-rock.  They found a big rock, we divided it up into 6 parts and each family member painted a part of it.  The idea is they will put the rock somewhere they will either see it or trip over it on the way to bed to remember to have family prayer.  They loved it!  It seems like they want to be closer together as a family but don't really know how.  The girls asked us if we're going to do something fun the next time we come too.  I guess those kind of things are just natural to me. I have very fond memories of cooking, painting, dancing, singing, playing games and sports, praying, reading the scriptures and going to church with my family.  I really want other families to have those good memories too.  It seems like this family is on the right path.  They have really progressed.  When I first started visiting them the mom would just ignore the kids.  Last night she was helping them paint. 

 We're out of time! I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

See you soon!

        Hermana Evans

April 26, 2011

Hi family.  First of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAMES!!!!! Instead of a card I think I'll just wrap myself up and send me to you.  How's that sound? :-)  I love you all so much!  I can't really think of anything new.  Days are just flying by.  Thanks for keeping me so updated.  I really don't want to make it a big deal around here that I'm leaving.  Mostly I just want to quietly disappear and let the work go on. 

Hi everybody!!!!!  We had another baptism, Edith, on Sunday.  It was very nice.  The Spirit was strong and she had a lot of family come.  Another one of our investigators who is scheduled to be baptized came.  He's a "churrero" which is a guy riding around on a bike selling churros.  He rode the bike to the baptism which caused a problem for a few minutes because all the kids wanted their parents to buy them churros.  Their parents were explaining to them they can't buy one because it's Sunday. 

Today we got to go to the temple.  I'll get to go again a week from today, right before transfers.  It's a beautiful day.  Blue sky, not too hot.  Everyone has blooming rosebushes.  

We street contacted a lady named Ester who turned out to be a former investigator.  She has a strong testimony that God answers prayers.  One time she lost a hat that had $400 zipped in it.  She had dropped it in a huge field where she was working.  She had no clue where it was.  She just felt that she should walk a certain distance and then something told her to look down.  She saw a tiny patch of her hat sticking out of the dirt.  She had found it.  

We are full up with appointments this week.  Before the week even started we had most of it planned out.  We've been finding a lot of new investigators even though we're not really focusing specifically on finding.  We already have more investigators than we know what to do with.  Not all of them are progressing which is good.  I'm really excited about the ones we have.  We have a family of 7 we found last week that I'm excited about.  We'll see where that goes because they had been taking the lessons for a long time.  We just barely picked them back up.  We see potential though. 

With God all things are possible.  Whenever I find myself struggling to speak Spanish, I notice it's at the times where I'm really not feeling the Spirit.  As soon as I let go of whatever negative thoughts I have, I can talk again.  As long as you're living so you have the Spirit with you, you can do anything.   

Thank you all for your love and prayers. Have a wonderful week!

              Hermana Evans

April 18, 2011

Hi family!  Thanks so much for registering me.  Did you find anything out about the foreign language housing?  I don't think I'll need a car.  I'd rather not drive in the snow.  I survived for two years without one.  I am still planning on elementary education.  I got my haircut today.  I just took a few inches off.  It was getting really long and hard to handle.   Tell Grandma Happy Birthday!!!!!!  I didn't get a chance to send her a card.  We've been really busy.

Oh, next week is the temple trip so I will be e-mailing on Tuesday. :-)  I love you all!

Hi everyone!  Wow, another crazy week.  Tuesday we dropped off Sister Alvarez.  She is now home with her family.  She e-mailed me photos of her and her family at the airport.  Today Sister Rivera left for Leemore.  Now it's just me and Sister Harris.  We will have fun.  We had a baptism on Saturday of a sister who has been investigating for two years.  She got baptized with her sister and brother in law.  This coming Friday we will have another baptism of a lady who also has had contact with the church for quite some time.  We are very excited.    What else happened this week?  We helped out at the primary Easter activity.  We played missionary tag and duck-duck goose with the kids before the egg-hunt.  That was fun. 

I hope as everyone celebrates Easter that you all remember the symbolism behind it- that through Jesus Christ we can all have life!

Sorry this is short.  We have a lot to do today! 

Onward!

       Hermana Evans

April 11, 2011

Hi family!  About summer term at BYU, I will trust you on that.  If you feel good about it, it sounds good to me.  Maybe I could take Spanish 102 while living there. Or another Spanish class. I would like to take some sort of Spanish class. That would definitely help.  I would like to take an outdoor PE class, maybe something related to wilderness survival/camping/hiking.  I would love that.  Religion classes don't hurt either. I really enjoyed my New Testament class last time. It included the first half of the New Testament- the 4 gospels. Maybe there's a class that covers the rest of the New Testament.  It would be interesting to know more about how the Great Apostasy was started.    Something I'm discovering about myself lately is I do NOT like transitions.  It will be hard regardless.  At least after the mission I have more options to relieve stress. And BYU is a pretty soft setting to crash land into reality.  I'll be fine.  I am very excited to see you all.  It would be great if we could take a trip up here as a family sometime.  I will keep writing the people that really want to stay in contact. 

I love you all!!!!!  I kind of skimmed your letter so if there's anything I missed, I'll write a letter later.

Hi everyone!  I don't have very much time so this will be just basic.  Sister Alvarez leaves in 2 days.  A few days after that Sister Rivera will be transferred to Leemore because another sister is also leaving mid-transfer and would be without a companion. So it will be me and Sister Harris.  She's very positive and hard-working. I'm excited to work with her. 

This week I taught all the Relief Society sisters how to make pizza from scratch.  A few days later a sister told me she had done it on her own and her husband had 6 slices.  Everyone really enjoyed it.  We had a few investigators there too.

We didn't have a baptism this past weekend but we have 2 investigators who will be baptized next Saturday.  They both have been taught for a very long time and FINALLY have decided to be baptized.  We are so excited!  The only sad part is Sister Alvarez will not be here for the baptisms.  We tried to get them to work before but it just worked out better next weekend.  On Sunday a few of the sisters from Atwater surprised us by coming down to say goodbye to Sister Alvarez on her last Sunday here.  It was so good to see them!  One of the sisters had quit coming to church but she said she recently started going again.  Sister Alvarez needed that surprise. She's been through a lot the past few weeks. 

Press forward with faith!  Remember Faith is the opposite of Fear!  Don't waste a minute worrying about what will come the next minute. 

   Hermana Evans

April 4, 2011

Hello family!   Thanks for all the letters and updates on your most amazing lives!  I have the most incredible family EVER!!!

My companion goes home next week.  This is our last week together then I will be in a trio with the other sisters.  I know we're not supposed to think too much about after the mission but we have an idea.  President his wife are finishing their mission in June.  Sister Alvarez really wants to come back and visit for that and see people we have visited at the same time.  I wouldn't mind visiting either especially for president's farewell. Plus we know a lot of the same people and she doesn't want to go alone.  I was thinking MAYBE she could fly to Arizona, we could all go to Disneyland, then from there we could take a bus or something to here and stay with members for awhile while we visit and go to the farewell. Then we could either fly or road trip or train ride back to Tucson and she could spend a few days there with us then fly home.  I'm not sure exactly all the dates of when everything is planned like Disneyland or the exact day of the farewell so it might not work at all, but it's just an idea.  Another thing, I'm not sure what I'm going to do with my bike.  Do we really want it to come home or should I just donate it to the mission?  It would need some repairs.  The front brakes don't work and I think some parts need to be replaced.  I'm not sure how much it would cost to ship it home.   Mom- I taught a part member family how to make cinnamon rolls (or rollas de canela) this week.  She didn't know what they were but they "sounded good".  They turned out nice. :-)  Thank you Mom, Dad, Natalie, James, Clark, Lila and Michael for the beautiful memories we have created together and the many more we still have in the future!  I'm excited to spend eternity with you flashing back on our wonderful lives!  I LOVE YOU!!!!!

Hi everybody!   I hope everyone had the opportunity to attend General Conference.  It was AMAZING!  Our mission president always tells us to go with specific questions for ourselves and our investigators and pray for revelation.  I heard several talks that specifically addressed the major concerns that I had.  It worked with Sister Alvarez too.  It's amazing how Heavenly Father speaks through His prophets to answer everyone's prayers at once.  Really incredible.  On Saturday there was a couple that took all ten missionaries out to IHOP between sessions.  On Sunday they had arranged that they and a few other members bring potluck lunch for all of us.  We really appreciated their service.  It was so nice of them.  I loved how a lot of the general conference talks were about service.  I just wanted to go and completely eliminate world hunger or something after that.  I hope I can always find something I can do to help make a difference.  

Magdalena is solid.  She's getting baptized next Saturday.  She's calling people in the ward herself and telling them she's getting baptized.  So she's 100% committed to it.  We're excited.  Our investigator, Javier, who's supposed to get baptized on the 23rd might have to start working on Sundays.  We're praying that there will be a way for him to come to church. He's very humble and sincere.  His wife, the member, is really happy he's listening to us.  

With our combined effort, we found 7 new investigators this week. I've only gotten higher than that once in my first area when we found 10 in one week.  It's wonderful.   

Here's a poem inspired by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf's talk in conference:

Are you waiting on the road to Damascus

looking for a sacred grove

that is not your own?

It might be the place it was done before

where angels appeared

a life was changed

lessons learned

but it's not yours.

Don't think your inspiration needs to be

like others have received.

How beautiful were the waters of Mormon

to those who there

received a remission of their sins.

They were not the waters of Jordan

but they were enough.

It's what you do

where you are

with what you have

when the opportunity is given

that holds the importance.

Not how close in comparison

or geographical location

you mirror the spiritual spotlights of history.

Are you waiting on the road to Damascus

for someone else's angel to come?

It's really true that sometimes we don't feel we have received a testimony or an answer to prayers just because we don't mirror what we have heard from the pulpit or articles in the church magazines.  We all receive answers to prayers and revelation UNIQUELY.  Heavenly Father knows each of us and will answer in the way best suited to each of us.  Since we are all different, we will receive different answers at different times and different places. 

I loved Elder Holland's testimony of our living prophet, Thomas S. Monson.  I know we have a living prophet today and 12 apostles that lead and guide Christ's church by His own hand. 

It's finally starting to get hot.  My appendages are slightly more pink.  It feels good to be in the sun after all the rain. 

Thank you for all your prayers and support.  I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

                  Hermana Evans

March 28, 2011

Hi family!!!! I love you so much!  Mom, thank you so much for the shirts! I've gotten compliments on both of them. (And they WON'T SHOW SWEAT!!! Even when we're biking.  I wish I had these last summer.   Sister Harris, part of our quartet, lived in the Spanish BYU  housing and cousin Ali was one of her roommates.  Small world.  Tell James not to worry.  Worrying makes it harder to remember things for the test.  As long as you do your absolute best all semester then study your best for the test then pray for help to remember what you've learned, you'll come away with the satisfaction of knowing you have earned your grade whatever it may be.  You're smart, James. You'll do fine.  Did Clark and Michael get my birthday cards?  I hope they liked them.


Hi everyone! Hope you had a good week.  This week we've had CRAZY weather. One day was cold, rainy, windy and cloudy.  The next was warm and sunny.  The next day was cold, rainy, windy and cloudy.  We've gotten more rain than in a long time I've heard.  This area does need rain.  It's good and bad. Good because we need rain. Bad because while it's raining, the field workers don't have work.  That's good because we then find them home but also bad because they need all the work and income they can get. 
We have a new baptismal date! We had our first church tour in months with the husband of one of the sisters in the ward.  He was very sincere and the Spirit was strong. He wasn't scared off by the invitation to be baptized at all. He just honestly wanted to know how to prepare.  His wife told us later how much he loved the tour and how he really does want to learn so he can know what he is doing, getting baptized.  I'm so excited!  We have two other investigators who have told us they are going to get baptized within the next few weeks.  They just don't want to set a specific date, but they are ready and WILL be baptized very soon. 
Thank you so much Mom for teaching me how to cook. I've been able to use my skills here.  I offered to teach a sister how to make pizza and invite her nonmember sister to learn as well. (her husband's the one with the baptismal date)  The sister didn't come but we taught her how to make it anyway.  She told us yesterday that she's made it again by herself since then.  It makes me so happy to teach someone something that they will use.  I've also got good memories making pizza with my family and I love giving someone else the ability to have those kind of memories. (It works that way sharing the gospel too :-) ) The relief society found out I know how to make pizza and now I'm going to teach the whole relief society how to make pizza at an activity on April 6th.  Should be fun. :-) 
Four sister missionaries in one apartment is a party to say the least.  The Bishop asked us to visit as many members as possible and get them excited for General Conference next weekend.  So what we're doing is Sister Harris and Sister Rivera are focusing on visiting all the members in the ward and teaching about prophets and inviting them to come to general conference and bring their friends.  Along the way they are finding new investigators and part-member families to teach along with less-actives who need visits or addresses that are no longer correct and need to be changed.  Sister Alvarez and I are focusing on investigators, both the ones we have and finding more.  It's working out so far.  With the one-bathroom situation, they shower in the night and us in the morning.  Most of the bathroom stuff like toothbrushes, face wash and makeup are in the kitchen so we don't take up the bathroom doing that when someone else really needs to use it.  They gave us a car to share so we're doing well working with that plus members teaming up with whoever doesn't have the car.  We're still riding bikes and walking frequently.  We don't want to use the car unless we have to. 
I read an article in the ensign with an analogy I really liked:
"Individual members are like bricks. None of us 'bricks, however, is perfectly sound.  Under close scrutiny each is flawed-a gouge here, a bump there.  When we are placed side by side with other bricks there is seldom a perfect fit.  Inevitably there are gaps or wobbles where others' imperfections come in contact with our own.  Without the 'mortar' of love, tolerance, patience and forgiveness our efforts to build the kingdom would come to naught." --Lee Ann Fairbanks.  She's talking about church members but I think that concept can be applied to any person you come in contact with or work closely with.  We all have imperfections and need to realize we need the principles of the gospel which we all have in common to be sturdy and strong. 
I also read a list of 7 life rules that when kept will keep your faith strong:
1. read personal scriptures daily
2. read scriptures as a family at least 5 days per week
3. have personal prayer every morning and night.
4. AH I forgot to write down number four. sorry
5. attend church every Sunday as a family
6. hold family home evening every week
7. attend the temple every month.
 
At the end of every transfer they hold a special fireside for all the missionaries who are going home.  They can invite all the members and investigators and converts they want so they can say goodbye to them. Since Sister Alvarado is leaving halfway through this transfer, this was going to be her farewell too. She wrote and invited a lot of people and we planned to go to Fresno on Tuesday where she would do all the final-day activities for the departing missionaries and I would work in a trio with Sister Boyce and Sister Rojas.  We met up at night to come back to Madera.  It ended up that Sister Alvarez missed the farewell. She started throwing up an hour before it was supposed to start!  I showed up at the end to pick her up and met all the people there to see her who were asking where she was.  One member from Hanford had brought us each a custom-made crocheted blanket. Sister Alvarez was able to see some of the people who stuck around until she got there from resting at the mission home.  Then the next day she fell on her bike and scraped up her knees pretty bad.  Then the next day we had the amazing church tour and set the baptismal date.  After much trial and tribulation come the blessings. There were a lot of little things going wrong with her week for a few days.  I kept telling her that Satan knows how awesome she is and knows how little time she has left so he's going to fight as hard as he can to get her to stop working so hard.  But we've just been working harder and we've had a lot of good things happen since then.  I've felt the spirit very strongly in most of the lessons this week. 
I think that was everything I wanted to say.  I hope everyone has an awesome week!
        Hermana Evans

March 21, 2011

Hi family!  I love you so much!  Happy Birthday Michael!!!! And Happy Birthday Clark tomorrow!!!!  I'll send you cards today.  I got the package Mom!  The shirts are beautiful!  I don't know why I can never find shirts myself in the store but somehow you can.  :-)  I'd love to help out at girls camp if that would work out!  We'll see what happens in the summer.  Hey, I heard that another one of my friends is getting married!  CrAZY!!!!!  Amy wrote me and asked if I want to be roommates in the fall.  That would be nice.

Hi everyone!  Well, some crazy news.  Transfers are this week.  I'm going into my last transfer of the mission.  I'm not thinking too much about it that it's the last one, it's just a fact that I'm aware of but I'm not dwelling on it.  My companion is leaving halfway through this transfer so I wasn't sure what was going to happen.  Sooooooooooo we got the call and we will be staying together for the last bit of her mission AND there will be 2 sisters joining us.  So there will now be four of us working in the same area.  No idea how that's going to work out in the morning with one bathroom.  Should be fun.  So after Sister Alvarez leaves April 13, we'll be in a trio until the end of the transfer.  Coming in will be Sister Rivera, (the sister I was with last transfer) and Sister Harris who I haven't worked with yet.  Sister Rivera has been here before so that should be good, she knows the area.  We'll certainly develop some mad coordinating skills in the next weeks.  I have no idea how we're going to coordinate everything without taking forever.  But yeah, should be fun.   I don't feel like it's the end of the transfer.  It's just another day and we do what we do as missionaries every day.  Have a new adventure, find someone to teach, spread the gospel, build the kingdom.  I've learned that time goes faster the more positive you are.  But if you've got a negative attitude, it CRAWLS.  I don't know how pessimists handle themselves.  I've also met a lot of people on the mission who are just plain lazy and I don't understand it. 

It's started to be cold again.  It's supposed to rain for the next week or so.  Good for us because most people here work in the fields and when it rains they don't work so we can find them at home. :-) When it's good weather, there's no one at home or in the streets in the daytime. 

Tis the season to have oranges coming out of your ears.  A lot of members either have orange trees or are working for an orange company and they like to share with us.  No shortage of Vitamin C. :-) 

We're still struggling to have progressing investigators.  I don't feel bad because we're doing our best, the rest is up to them.  There are some less-actives that have started to come back and that makes me really happy to see. 

I was reading 2 Nephi 9 this morning.  That's an amazing chapter!  I loved verse 40 for some reason.  "Do not say that I have spoken hard things against you...I have spoken the words of your maker"  (emphasis added)  That's powerful.  We are not teaching something made up or light-hearted.  We are preaching the words of our maker.  The plan of salvation that is vital for us to follow if we have the privilege of learning about it (2Nephi 9:26-27).  It is perfectly just and perfectly merciful.   

We have three investigators who have the potential to be baptized.  Edith has a strong testimony but only needs to get divorced with her husband so she can get married to her boyfriend.  Magdalena is completely ready to be baptized but she just has to take the step which is hard for her.  She knows the significance of baptism and wants to feel prepared.  She's coming along.  Lolita said she wants to be baptized but is holding back for some unknown reasons.  She just barely told us that she knows that after she's baptized her mom will start criticizing her more.  We're trying to help her understand that it is HER choice.  Our personal salvation is not dependant on someone else.  It is our own choices that matter. 

Am I forgetting anything? Probably but I'll probably remember tomorrow.  I hope you all have a wonderful week!

  Hermana Evans

March 14, 2011

Hi family!  Thanks for the e-mail!  Again, I always love hearing about your week.  I didn't get the package yet but I should soon.  Sometimes it takes a bit to get through the system.  This week was good, flew by again.  So my companion and I have an inside joke.  There's a recent convert who always has a funny expression on his face.  Whenever I imitate him it makes Sister Alvarez laugh really hard.  Anyway, we wanted a picture with him with me making that face but of course we don't want anyone to know I made the face, so we came up with a plan.  When we visited his family, we asked for a group picture and put the camera on timer.  Picture one- I stand in the back and make the face.  After the picture I said "hold on, one more!"  And we did it again to get a good picture.  Now my companion has a picture that makes her laugh so hard she can't breathe every time she sees it.  :-)  We have good times.   I heard there was an earthquake and tsunami in Japan but not many details.  These are the last days.

I love you all!!!!!! I'm so proud of you!!!!

Hi everyone!  This next week is the last full week of the transfer.  Transfers are next week.  I have no idea what's going to happen.  My companion leaves three weeks into the next transfer because her visa expires. 

I was down for a day with the flu last week but I'm good now. It was pretty much a 24 hour thing.  A lot of people are coming down with "la gripa" or the flu. 

cool quote:  "Failure is one of the greatest teachers if we have the faith to learn from it."   That can be applied in so many areas. 

We are visiting an inactive family where the grandma lives with several of her grandkids.  It's usually pretty noisy and a few of the kids have an attitude so it's hard to teach.  We were considering not setting a return appointment and just telling them we'll stop by if we're in the area but then the kids came over and sat down with copies of the Book of Mormon.  We set a return appointment.  If there is even a chance that I might make a difference in the life of a child then I want to come back.  I might not do much but I will do my best.  I have a strong testimony that children are precious and the raising and education both temporal and spiritual is a great responsibility that is not to be taken lightly.  Families are ordained of God. 

Taking the road less traveled by is good as an analogy in life but not literally as a missionary.  This week we tried to take a shortcut by riding alongside train tracks.  It ended up dead-ending and we had to wade through a field of weeds to find a street again. 

There's always the stereotype of missionaries being chased by big dogs.  In Madera the dogs we are chased most by are Chihuahuas and they actually don't chase you unless you're on your bike.  If you're walking all they do is bark.  They can be vicious though when you're trying to outrun them.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week!  Sorry, I can't think of much to say.  Life goes on.  Every minute a new adventure!

                     Hermana Evans

March 7, 2011

Hi family!  I love you all so much! I'll let you know when I get the package.  I am more and more amazed with every e-mail.  I'm going to come home to a family of prodigies. Not that they weren't already. :-)   That's so cool that you got to see Elder Costa from the quorum of the seventy.  He came to speak at the MTC when I was there and he was so funny!  It was weird to see him speak in general conference and be so serious. That's sad that the stake presidency got released. You'll have to give my gratitude to the former stake presidency.  They served well.  I'll be released by a different stake presidency than set me apart.  My companion goes home April 13, in between transfers.  That's when her visa expires.  She is the second oldest of 4 girls.  Her older sister is a preschool teacher and her next youngest sister just sent in her mission papers.  She is studying to be an accountant (and actually is planning to transfer to BYU :-)!!!!!!!!! That would be amazing!). 

I think it's funny, everyone in the ward thinks I'm a musical genius.  We sing in the ward choir and the director always asks me for input.  We have a little time before church starts after meetings and I like to practice the hymns.  I've been experimenting with changing keys and making up accompaniment.  It's fun.  But people heard and are impressed.   I don't play that well, I just have fun.  There's just not very many people that play instruments in the ward.  Thank you Mom!  :-)

Hi everyone!  The work is going good.  We're having trouble finding new investigators. Many that we have just aren't willing to progress and the ones that actually want to be baptized can't right now.  They're kind of on hold, still progressing but with no set baptismal date yet.  Those are frustrating because they have already been taught everything so we're just repeating until we don't know when.  It's kind of like playing keep-the-balloon-off-the-ground.  You also get frustrated as a missionary because YOU want to see that baptism and the only way that would be sure is if they have a baptismal date within this six-week period.  After that you might have to pass the balloon off to another missionary and you almost don't trust them to keep it in the air.  Anyway, we're still working with those.  We are REALLY praying and working to find new investigators, ones that sincerely want to learn.  There's plenty of people that don't mind listening but have no intention of ever actually coming.  Well, we keep praying and working and testifying. 

Another tip for future missionaries:  ALWAYS count your blessings and have a prayer of gratitude in your heart.  If you're riding your bike and a bug hits you in the face, say a prayer of gratitude that it didn't land in your eye or your mouth.  If it does land in your eye or your mouth, well you've got a bug in your eye or mouth.  What are you going to do about it?  Stop the bike and get it out.  Then say a prayer of gratitude that you have an eye or mouth for a bug to land in.  Afterwards you will always appreciate your bugless eyes and mouth because you know how uncomfortable it is to have a bug there.

We had some instruction from President Gonzalez last week.  There is a new mission president that will take over in June so there's a big push to work our hardest, as always, but to "run the race to the finish."  Which is good for everyone.  President interviewed each companionship and gave us each a wooden baton to symbolize "The Lord's baton" that will be passed to the new mission president.  He asked us each individually by name "Are you with me till the end of my race?" Since both Sister Alvarez and I are leaving before then he committed us to work as if we're going to be here till then.  We are already planning on doing that.  It's not hard.  If you're focused on the work, the time flies. 

James 4:12-14 

The weather's good. It's rained on and off the past few days.  Mostly it's sunny and cool. I love this time of year!  The trees are all blossoming again.  Madera is surrounded by fields and vineyards.  So now's about the time everyone's allergies start acting up.  I've heard that missionaries get called here without allergies and leave with them.  I didn't have allergies before.  I don't know if I have them now.  My nose always runs more when it's cold so I don't know if it's because of that or allergies.  I'll be optimistic and say it's just cold. 

I hope everyone has a wonderful week!  Keep Smiling!

                Hermana Evans

February 28, 2011

Hi family!  Thank you for the Valentine's Day package! I actually got it later that day on Valentine's Day!  I gave Sister Alvarez one of the pairs of socks and a few of the Valentines.  She loved them.  I'm so glad everyone had a good time skiing and singing along the way.  Sounds like my family all right!  :-)  Love you, miss you!

Hi everyone!  Hope everyone had a wonderful week!  We've had two days of crazy cold weather.  It was supposed to snow on Saturday, I think it would have if there were clouds in the sky.  Friday we got a ton of rain, I think the snow was supposed to come from that.  But no, we just got really wet then really cold.  Luckily the day it rained was our weekly planning session so we were inside anyway.  Starting yesterday we've had clear, sunny weather.  Still a little cold but not too bad.  It's wonderful weather for riding bikes.

A tip to all future missionaries: Avoid confrontations at all costs!  When you see a conflict of any sort, don't automatically look for a way to solve it.  Just look for the best way for you and your companion to get out of it.  If it can't be solved by testifying about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ then there's nothing you can do.  Just walk away.  Don't worry, we didn't learn this the hard way.  Just something I noticed.

We had zone conference last week.  Elder Hyde, one of the senior missionaries, gave us a quote I really liked about setting goals: "Better to reach for the treetops and drag your feet in the mud than to reach for the mud and make it."  Another words, it's better to set high goals and fail to reach them having worked your hardest than to set goals you would reach if you did nothing more than fall on your face. 

We had a few days in a row last week where all our appointments were falling through.  It's hard when you feel like everything's going wrong.  But Sister Alvarez said something right after an important appointment fell through- "Nothing has gone wrong today."   It's really true.  Things might not go the way we have planned but ultimately nothing really ever goes wrong.  That's interesting to think about. 

Don't be so focused on the destination and miss the journey.  There is no destination if you don't have the journey.  Some people are constantly running out of breath wishing they are something they're not and not recognizing the beautiful gifts of life along the way.  Here's an example, my family told me they recently went skiing.  My mom said how my siblings would sing songs on the ski lift on the way to the top of the hill.  People skiing under looked up to see who was singing and obviously having a good time.  They could sit on the ski lift and complain that it's going too slow, unhappy that they're not instantly at the top or they could choose to enjoy the ride.  ALWAYS enjoy the ride! 

Ooh! another quote:  "Education is not so much the filling of a bucket as the lighting of a fire."

Our investigators are doing well.  We have a few that are really close to being baptized, they just have some roadblocks to remove like getting married, getting divorced then married, just making the commitment, the usual.  We are really trying to teach by the Spirit.  Everyone has individual commitments that will help them to progress.  For some that commitment might be baptism right off the bat. Others might need to just start reading their scriptures.  Heavenly Father knows what we each need. 

We gave talks in church on Sunday.  As the 4 missionaries in the ward, we taught the doctrine of Christ.  My companion spoke on Faith, I did Repentance, the Elders spoke on Baptism and the Holy Ghost.  It went really well. 

I know that the church is true!  I know that Christ lives and knows each of us individually.  He puts nothing in our path that is not for our good.  I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God who translated the Book of Mormon so we can all come closer to Jesus Christ.  I know that we can all receive answers to our prayers and questions about life through the Holy Ghost if we only listen closely enough.  We have the opportunity and privilege to choose our own destiny.  We know the way to get to where we want to go.  I know we have a living prophet on the earth who is there to guide us on that path.  This is the only church on the earth with that guidance and that power.  I say that in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. 

I hope everyone had a great week! 

                   Hermana Evans

February 21, 2011

Hi family!  I'm so glad to hear that everyone's doing well.  Michael, it sounds like you're getting the right idea when it comes to basketball.  Never forget that it is a game and, so I have heard, the original purpose of games is to have fun and make people happy.  Keep up the good work!  How tall are you now?  Sorry to hear about that school district. Maybe I should change my major....I'll think about that later.  What a stupid way to run education.  Maybe they should redo the standardized tests.  If all the students do poorly I think it says something about the test. I love Heavenly Father's tests!  He made a way at least for everyone to pass.   I didn't get the valentine's package yet but I'm sure I will soon.  I did get the mad-lib valentines from James and it was hilarious. 

I love you all so much!!!!!

Hi everybody!  Nothing much to report, it feels like.  The week just flew by.  We're getting lots of exercise riding our bikes everywhere while the elders wave to us from a car. I don't know why they're smiling, we're the ones enjoying the blessings. :-)   It seems like whenever we set a goal that we are bound and determined to reach, Heavenly Father has other plans.  The past few days we were determined to invite someone to be baptized and to find some new investigators.  I don't know where everyone was this weekend.  No one was home or at least answering the door and the people we did talk to were either drunk or just not interested.  But after the trials come the miracle right?  We're expecting something amazing today. 

I never really notice how tall I am until I serve in a Spanish ward.  There's one family we went to visit and the first thing out of the 4-year-old's mouth was "Esta grandota!"  They were all very impressed when I changed a light bulb without the assistance of a chair.  I lost count of the times we ask people if we can do anything for them and they ask if I can reach something.  My companion, comes up to about my shoulder and she's taller than many people in this area.  So you can imagine how I look. If anyone knows my brothers you'll understand this is a new experience for me. :-) 

There is an optimistic and a pessimistic way to look at everything.  One member shared with us a concern.  She is changing callings after only a brief time and she was feeling like she doesn't ever do a good job so they keep switching her around to find where she works.  She is a very capable person.  I told her I think she just does a good job everywhere so they CAN switch her around.  Satan is ALWAYS trying to make us feel less than what we are.  Take the optimistic route because those are the thoughts that come from the right source. 

We have an investigator who told us that her husband wouldn't give her permission to go to church but we could still teach her.  We asked if we could talk to him so she told us to call when he was home.  We did and he said he had no problem with her going to church.  When we told her that, she confessed that she just didn't want to go.  I wish people would just be up front.  If you really don't want to listen, just tell us.  We don't mind.  Well, of course we are sad that you won't accept the gospel but we do appreciate honesty and we will respect your agency.  That's part of Heavenly Father's plan. 

Some good quotes for today:

Deiter F. Uchtdorf...."Work is an antidote for anxiety, an ointment for sorrow, and a doorway to possibility...let us do the best we can and cultivate a reputation for excellence...When our wagon gets stuck in the mud, God is much more likely to assist the man who gets out to push than the man who merely raises his voice in prayer."

"retirement is not part of the Lord's plan of happiness." (We shouldn't be looking forward to rest.  We should be looking forward to greater capacities to accomplish more things.)

"It is often in the trial of adversity that we learn those most critical lessons that form our character and shape our destiny."

I have had hard times, especially on my mission that I don't necessarily want to relive but I wouldn't trade those experiences for anything. 

Everyone have a wonderful week!

              Hermana Evans

February 14, 2011

Hi family!  Happy Valentine's day!  I hope all of you know how much I love each of you.  I wouldn't be the person I am today without the influence of each of you in my life.  Everyone plants seeds in the lives of the people they know which grow and intertwine to form their character.  Then when you go on a mission, you face the weed-hacker which defines your character into the person which Heavenly Father wants you to be.  Woah that's a cool analogy.  I think that's the poet in me.  :-) 

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!! James is going to California on his mission too!!!!!  :-)  I'm so excited!!!!!!!!

Happy Valentine's Day everybody!  The sun is shining, the tank is clean, and there were 5 letters in the mailbox this morning! :-)  I'm now back in Madera with Sister Alvarez.  My Spanish is better so this time I actually understand a lot of people.  Something I've noticed before when I'm with a native Spanish-speaking companion is the people talk mostly to them and I end up feeling left out. This time I try and speak as much as possible initially when I meet them so they know that I understand what's going on.  It seems to have worked because people are talking to both me and my companion pretty much equally.  I still don't understand everything but I am getting better, especially that people are giving me a chance by talking to me.  It's really nice.  We don't have a car which is actually a wonderful blessing.  Every day a sister in the ward volunteers to come with us and drive us around at night when we can't be out walking.  So the members are very involved with the missionary work here.  In the day when we don't have a team-up we walk and bike more which helps us make more street contacts.  There are a lot of people here that are outside so we can meet a lot of them in between appointments.  Riding the bike more is also great exercise.  It helps that Sister Alvarez is a very hard worker.  A working missionary is a happy missionary, at least in my case. 

I really feel like an instrument in Heavenly Father's hands.  I think I've mentioned it before that I've noticed it especially when I'm asked to play piano.  It's not all me playing the piano.  I feel my fingers guided at times.  It's kind of the same with Spanish speaking.  I KNOW it's not all me.  I am only a tool in Heavenly Father's plan to bring about His purpose.  I love being a missionary where we have this spirit of revelation and can recognize truths like this.  I pray that I can continue recognizing after my mission. 

We've been focusing for the past few days teaching about Agency using Alma 42:27: "Therefore O, my son whosoever will come may come and partake of the waters of life freely and whosoever will not come, the same is not compelled to come but in the last day it shall be restored unto him according to his deeds."   I love that scripture and I love the principle of agency or free will.  Heavenly Father is not going to force us to do anything.  If we want the blessings it is completely up to us.  They're there if we want them.  Whoever wants to come, may come.  And if you don't, well you'll receive a reward in the end according to how you did.  It's perfectly fair and perfectly merciful.  With the Atonement of Jesus Christ we all have the opportunity to choose the good and return to our Father in Heaven.

The weather's been really warm the past few days.  Today it's a little colder and rained a little bit but now there's sun.  It's a great time of year.  The only thing is around here is as soon as people start getting over the colds they've had all winter, the allergy season starts.  It's really bad here because Madera is absolutely SURROUNDED by fields.  I'm so glad I don't have allergies. 

We've got a lot of investigators.  There are a lot of people who are really prepared to hear the gospel. There are also a lot of inactive members I'm excited to work with.  Pretty much everyone is related.  We told our team up last night who we were going to visit and she said "Oh, that's my sister!"  That kind of thing is very common to hear. 

Again, hope everyone has a wonderful holiday!  Tell those you love that you love them, don't just assume they know. This includes Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Have you told them you love them today?  What are you going to do to show that?

               Hermana Evans

February 8, 2011

Hi family!  I'm really excited to see where James will serve!  I got your letter Mom and Lila.  That's a beautiful picture!  The bishop's wife gave me a bunch of gospel books that I don’t have time to read on the mission.  I sent them home yesterday along with some other stuff I want to keep but not cart around.  You are welcome to read the gospel books but please not the journals. :-) Sister Alvarez wrote me a letter and said to say hello to you.  She is very considerate.   Thank you mom and dad for the advice.  I'll have to read over that more later.  I think one of the greatest miracles of my mission is that I'm closer to my family, both immediate and extended, than ever before.  It's a wonderful blessing. I love you all so much!  Keep up all the good work!  Always look for opportunities to share these blessings with anyone you know.

Hi everybody!  So we have transfers tomorrow.  Good news and bad news.  Bad news, we're getting doubled out which means both of us are leaving and elders will be put in.  The ward is sad about that. Good news, I'm going back to Madera, my last area, to be companions again with Sister Alvarez!  I'm really happy about that.  It's bitter-sweet.  I also found out that Sister Alvarez will be leaving a few weeks early because her visa will expire.  I'm so glad we get to be companions again before she leaves.  My current companion is also going to be with one of her former companions.  Funny story- she and I sometimes ask a question-any question- and open up the Book of Mormon randomly and start reading.  It's amazing the answers we find.  Anyway, before we got transfer calls we asked "are we being transferred?"  The verse we opened up to talked about the Nephites "returning to former lands."  Funny how we are both going back to either an area or a companion or both which we have been with before.

One of the miracles I've seen in this area is Brother Smith, I think I've mentioned him before.  Since we started teaching him he has stopped doing drugs and now he and his wife are trying to quit smoking.  They are not perfect but they are trying so hard.  They have so much love for each other and such a desire to do what's right.  The Spirit is in their home now.  It has been a perfect teaching scenario because none of the progress really came from us.  #1 he has had the desire to change #2 he has been touched by the Spirit #3 his family has been embraced by the members.  We have just been witnesses to this miracle.   

Repentance, humility, gratitude, charity and all the other basics of the gospel of Jesus Christ are infinitely important.  Just think for a second what a great gift it is to be able to repent...WOW! I'm realizing the value of these things more every day.

I found a good quote this morning: "The Lord is voting for me and Lucifer is voting against me, but it is MY vote that counts."  That is true.  We all have our agency and it is not up to anyone else what path we will choose.

If you ever have a moment where you don't feel like there's anyone to go to, get down on your knees and pray.  There are times when that's the only place I feel comfort, but I know it is there.  As often as you need that reminder, just do it.

One of the greatest attributes of God is that he doesn't compare us to each other.  He won't be there on judgment day and say "Well, you didn't do well as so-and-so so you can't come back."  We are all different.  We all have our separate strengths.  Just because we don't have the same strength as someone else doesn't make them or us better than the other.  It's really easy as a missionary to compare yourself to your companion or to your district leader because we are all working on the same things.  There is, of course, the stereotypical "ideal missionary" but in reality there is no such thing.  You can be an incredible missionary and not fit that stereotype.  I hope I remember that because that's true no matter where you are in life.

Sometimes I will have a question that I don't know the answer to. As soon as I start thinking about it and praying about it, I realize I already know the answer.  It's really cool how that works.

Everyone have a wonderful week!

               Hermana Evans

February 1, 2011

Hi family! Yes I am still in Atwater. Transfers are next week so we will find out next weekend what will happen.  It is my companion’s prediction that we will stay together until we end our missions and then get doubled out.  I don't know if I want to go or stay.  A new experience would be good I know but there are also a lot of people here that are on long-term progression.  Some people take a long time to warm up to and they finally are starting too and I don't want to lose that.   Heavenly Father will make the right decision.  Hey, I wanted to share something one of my friends wrote to me.  He's a good example of being yourself on the mission.  He said they are teaching an elderly man who got a computer for Christmas.  They helped him set it up.  While showing him how to use the Internet, they came up with the most "diabotically awesome idea ever."  They set his home page to mormon.org and he doesn't know enough about computers to switch it back. His mission president thought it was hilarious.  Do we all get to guess the same where James is going on his mission?  I'm still going with Wisconsin and also Germany.

Mom, please don't feel bad for not sending me stuff in the mail.  I totally understand, time flies especially with all you do.  I am so grateful you take the time to write me an e-mail every week.  It means a lot.   I got a card from someone in the ward telling me how great Clark's talk was.  Thought I'd let you know. :-)   I love you all so much! 

Hi everyone.  I'm still in Atwater.  Transfers are next week.  Most people are voting me off the island because I've been here the longest.  I've been here for 9 months of the past year. I've been able to see a lot of blessings and a lot of people progress over a long period of time.  One particular man I think I've mentioned before.  He's the one that I think I referred to as the most stubborn person I've ever met. He and his girlfriend invited us over for dinner!  He was very cordial and made sure to tell us to keep coming back.  He said "I'll do the cooking next time."  He even said he's been reading the Book of Mormon.  Can life get any better? I submit that it cannot!  :-)  We have two investigators with a baptismal date.  One of those hasn't gotten baptized only because she's living with her boyfriend.  They want to get married but she was not sure if she's divorced from her previous husband yet.  This week's new development: she's not sure if they were even married in the first place.  That would make it SO much easier.  We did find a member of the ward who's a lawyer and he's been helping us out. (YAY! happy dance)  This is not the same investigator as the other ones who we're trying to get the ID for.  We're still working on it there.

I'm starting to understand a lot of things that I didn't really realize before.  #1 what exactly is gossip #2 how much I dislike it #3 how to stay out of it #4 how to avoid it if it tries to find me #5 if you can't do anything about it, don't try and fix it.  Sorry if that keeps coming up but that's something that I keep noticing that I pray not to EVER fall into after my mission. 

Heavenly Father does answer prayers and questions that we have.  We took a member to a teaching appointment last night.  We had run into her in the store earlier and asked if she would come with us. The member shared with us a concern.  We testified the best we could the gospel principle that applied to that (missionaries can't provide counsel).  When we taught the lesson later, the sister we met with brought up the same concern and we were able to testify again with the Spirit even more present who gave us more words to say and more comfort to all present.  It was a great experience. 

quote from Brigham Young:  "We are not going to suffer any more than what is for our good."   Well put.

We will all have hard times.  Sometimes we are simply expected to have faith and patiently endure. 

2 keys to happiness are forgiveness and love.  They allow the blessings of the Atonement of Jesus Christ to take effect in our lives.

Please remember how incredibly precious the scriptures are.  I read the Words of Mormon this morning and I could imagine how sincerely he inscribed those words.  He had not hope for those around him at the time so he poured his whole soul to exhort us in these days to repent and believe in the words of the prophets who testified of Jesus Christ and His gospel.  You can always turn to the scriptures in times of chaos and they provide an assurance that can carry you through.  

I hope everyone takes time to share the gospel with those around them.  You can invite them to church, to listen to the missionaries, to come to an activity or family home evening or simply have them over for dinner.  By just being friends you bear your testimony by LIVING it. That is something everyone can do.   

Everyone have a wonderful week!

                         Sister Evans

January 25, 2011

Hi family!  I love you so much!  Things are going good. Thank you so much for your e-mails, it gives me great comfort.  I'm so glad to hear you're doing good.  Hang in there Lila!  Being sick is no fun, especially when you have a lot you want to accomplish. "Be of good cheer, your trials and afflictions shall be but for a small moment."  I actually haven't had dogs bite me, so don't worry.  Plenty of Chihuahuas you gotta watch out for though.  They can get pretty frisky.

Hi everyone!

My companion is very smart.  She has a very deep understanding about the gospel and we have really good discussions. She has always thirsted for knowledge and so she has the answers to questions I have never even thought of. I'm really learning a lot about the gospel and about myself.

So we received the papers that Jose needs to get his ID. So they could be married and baptized this week. But wait...it's a bird, it's a plane...it's TRIALS AND TEMPTATION!  Surprise, surprise. They are having relationship problems again.  It'll be fine.  It's just Satan knowing that they're two inches away from the blessings of baptism. They'll come through. We just keep praying and pushing forward.

I was pondering this morning about Christ's sacrifice.  I was reading "Jesus the Christ" the chapters about the trials he went through before the crucifixion. It was all so unjust and unfair but he just passed calmly through in a manner that made his accusers all the more aggravated because it intensified their guilt. I was wondering how he went through all that so dignified.  Any other person would have  cracked.  He probably focused on who he is and why he was sent.  His desire to fulfill his purpose was greater than his desire to relieve the suffering.  His knowledge of the surety of his triumph was strong enough to give him the patience to endure.  We can all develop that faith, patience and charity to endure any trial we go through, knowing we have someone standing right by us who knows EXACTLY how we feel.  We can all have the faith that Heavenly Father's promises will come to pass.  Even before Lehi had crossed the ocean, he said "I have obtained a land of promise."  He already was thanking God for blessings he hadn't even seen yet.  Having that vision gives us the motivation to pass through times of trial.  Just by remembering who we are, why we are here and where we know we are going.

There really is a lot we can justifiably be sad about in life.  But most of it is in the past so really we shouldn't worry about it too much.  Today is a new day.  Who's to say that today won't be a million times better than yesterday?  Even if something bad happens right now. Who's to say the next five minutes won't be a million times better than the last?  Time keeps marching forward with nothing but potential for what you want to make it.  And if the next day isn't better, there's still another one after that, and another one after that.  We do know that eventually thorough the Atonement of Jesus Christ all our losses will be made up. 

There's been a lot of fog this week, mostly in the mornings and evenings.  During the day it usually clears up mostly.  In the morning it's probably 300ft visibility I'd guess so it's not that bad.  I heard in Hanford last week they had one day with 0 visibility.  That would be crazy!  We're usually in the car.  My companion was getting allergies pretty bad.   

Hope everyone has a wonderful week!  Onward!

                      Hermana Evans