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
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