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
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