Dec 29 2014

Hey everybody! Hope you all had a great, and cold Christmas!! As the Elder Tommy Jones said here it has also been heating up quite a bit. Today especially is ridiculous. Anyway, it was awesome to talk to the family. It was the highlight of Christmas as the year before. President Rowley invited us to visit a b as many members as possible for christmas to share a mini Christmas message and so we did that on Christmas eve, passing by all the members that we know where they live and wished them a merry Christmas if they didn't have time for us and if they did we shared a short message. The day of Christmas we gave service and cleaned the  church building and visitng a few members and at night we had a district activity and made a bunch of deserts and played a game called "Bang!" So I made gushie mushie or however it's spelled and everyone joked arund and was nervous to try it but they all loved it. We are visiting the Fossa family a lot because a few of them are less actives and a few are investigatores that want to learn more about the church. Gino, one of the sons is super cool and is in the process of returning to the church and is determined to help us teach his siblings less actives and investigatores. We are working most of all with them and the Fernandez family, a family of recent converts and an investigator mother. She goes to all the activities and feels very comfortable in the church. And we found a less active named Deddamia this week that wants to come back to the church and her less active daughter and her nonmember grandkids are coming to live with her and she says that they all hope on returning to the church together so we are pretty excited to keep helping her and her family out. The mission life is good. I love it! I can't believe that in about 6 months I'll be back.

Love you guys, and have a great New Year's!!! I think my companion and I won't sleep till 5 or 6 that morning because of our neighbors who love to play their massive speakers at full volume and drink till the night turns to day...

The funny thing is about the picture I sent with me on top of the house is that so much dirt and sand has piled up at the bases of the houses that I was actually only about 4 feet ofr so above the ground. I barely had to jump to climb on top but the picture makes it look much higher. I have the spanish completely down and now I've been working on my gringo accent. My companion says I'm one of the best spanish speaking gringos in the mission. The dialect or accent of the Piuranos is very funny to those from Lima or other parts becuase they speak as if they were singing and everyone says I do that well. It's much more fun talking like a Piurano constantly speaking higher and lower and emphasizing certain syllables.

Elder Evans

 

Making gooshy mooshy

Dec 22 2014

The time is flying by, it's crazy. I feel like I just got hwere to my new ward but Ive got almost a month. Anyway, i'm sorry i have very little time to write. This week Sister maria, an investigator who's husband and kids are members went to church on sunday for the whole time and she was super happy it looked like. We were going to invite her to be baptized on sunday after the meeting but she and her family and left the house so we will do it this week hopefully. Everything is going great. Today we went to Sechura as a district and went to the beach and explored some ruins or something that was pretty cool. I took pictures but I forgot to send them. I will next week.

Hope everyone has a great Christmas!!  Here we will visit members just for 10 to 15  minutes to give a lesson about Christ and visit as many members as possible. Then in the evening, as a district, we'll go caroling and then each companionship is in charge of making a desert to eat to finish the day. 

Love you guys!!! Merry Christmas!!!   

Elder Evans

Dec 15 2014

This week was pretty sweet. We are teaching the Fernandez family and they are the best. Three of the kids are recent converts and the dad is returning to the church and the mom Maria is an investigator. They all went to church on sunday but the parents left early because they had something to do. We taught them the restoration and about the Book of Mormon this week and it was pretty sweet. The sisters in the other ward Ramon Castilla that attend church in the same chapel had two baptisms this week and that was really cool. There we missionaries and returned missionaries of the ward sang a musical number (regocijad, Jesus nació).

On Sunday we had a spacial conference with the ward councils of the 3 stakes of Piura and the Paita stake where Elder Uceda of the first quorom of the 70 addressed us and talked about the changes we are making in the area to improve the retention of the converts. He said that in this area of 5 countries we baptize one person every 15 minutes; however, of 100 people baptized, only 17 remain active (the statistics of the area). So we have a lot work to do to improve the retention. Elder Uceda taught us a ton and once translated for President Hinkley in Ecuador. In the conference I got to see and talk to people from Morropon my first area, and San Pedro where I just was 2 weeks ago.

On Friday, we had a stake talent show and we the missionaries sang a bunch of christmas hymns and showed two videos (He is the Gift, and Because of Him) and read scriptures. I directed the choir and Elder Eddington played piano. Later we did a theater act. I was the main character. I was a hard working missionary with 23 months with a family about to be baptized for christmas and recieved my dear john letter and I turned all trunky and refused to work. My 'ex' was going to get married on christmas as well so that helped haha. Then three fairies (think of the christmas carol) in the nighttime showed me the past, present, and future. And I changed my attitude for the christmas time and finished strong and baptized the family. President Rowley was there with his wife and loved it. He told me at the end that he thought he had gotten to know me in my 17 months here but he had never met the me he saw acting in the play haha. He said it laughing. One missionary has it recorded I think so I'll try to obtain a copy.

And today we played monopoly listening to christmas music with my district (Sister Martinez from Argentina, Sister Vasquez from California, Eder Rodriguez from Lima, Elder Eddington from Utah, Elder Mauricio my companion from Lima, and me.) And then ate in KFC. It was a good pday.

Anyway, enough for this week. Love you all, and have a great week!

Dec 8 2014

Hey everybody, this week was pretty sweet. It's been hard getting used to a new area when neither you or your companion know the people or where to go but we have had a decently successful week finding members' houses, the investigtores, and the less actives and new converts that are in our ward. We are the only missionaries in the ward and we have received help from a few of the members throughout the week. We live right outside the airport so we constantly hear airplanes coming in and leaving piura. Elder Mauricio is my companion. One of my trainer's best friends, from the same ward in Lima. He has 13 months so we've been working super hard this week and are getting along great. We play soccer about 3 times a week at 6 in the morning with 6 other missionaries from the San Bernardo ward, Los Pinos, and Ignacio Merino wards. I have been learning pretty well how to play.

The ward is awesome. The high priest group leader is super funny and called us from the street one time (we were looking a little lost) and we got to know him and more than anything we are trying to gain the trust of the members. This week we have plans to teach with members to be able to extend friendships to the investigatores that haven't yet gone to tthe church. Next sunday, Elder Uceda from the quorom of the 70 (area president here) will visit the mission and the members to train us about ward councils.

Today we gave service from 8am to 1pm cleaning up streets in Piura with the Castilla stake. Today is a holiday and all the missionaries in the city of Piura helped the 3 stakes that are here in Piura with the service project. It was pretty cool.

Anywyay, love you all. Have a great week!!

Elder Evans

Dec 1 2014

Hey everyone! Happy first day of December. This week was pretty cool. We had our ward activity on saturday and all organizations of the church participated (young men and women, relief society,etc.) and they all had their own rooms in the chapel to teach the first principles of the gospel, the plan of salvation, the restoration, and the Atonement. It was pretty cool, we a had a few investigators and many less actives that went. The goal was that everyone would bring at least one friend or family member that isn't a member of the church. Our investigators attended and a few non member friends of members of the ward so it went pretty well. Also, Elder Melo had his 26th birthday this week so we celebrated that in the ward mission leader's house with a few members and the other missionaries Elder Castro and Elder Humble.

Today was transfers. This times it was way different, last night the zone leaders only said that a few people had transfers(including me) and we had to go to the transfers meeting and receive our new companions and go to our new areas. But my new companion didn't even know that he had transfers because they made this change this morning so he and I will be two new missionaries in the Jorge Chavez ward in the Castilla stake in Piura. The two elders that were there left (but I'm with one because he will teach us the area) and I will receive my new companion Elder Mauricio later today in about an hour. Remember Elder Campo??? I trained him in Los Angeles, Tumbes in May, June, and July. He will be staying with me and my companion and another missionary in my apartment for 2 days as he waits to recieve his new companion whom he will train. He is serving 2 hours away in Talara so the assistants want him to stay here with us until wednesday when re receives his new companion. I'm way excited to be reunited with him for a day or two. I'll be a grandpa in the mission finally. I'm still district leader. It'll be my 7th transfer as such. I've been reading in Jesus the Christ and in Ether (of the Book of Mormon) this week. I love those books.

Hey Mom, wow I pretty much forget that stuffing existed. This week I missed the squash buns . I was talking to Elder Humble fromUtah about them. He and his family grow squash and he loves it haha. That's cool that there were a bunch of new faces at the thanksgiving dinner. Next year Ill go for sure.

Love you guys. Have a great week!

Elder Evans

Handing out refreshments

Elder Paul and Br Victor, who cooked for him

Elder Melo's birthday

RS presidency and EQ presidency

Nov 24 2014

Hey everybody. This week was pretty sweet. This week, and last week as well, we changed the roof of two houses. The elder's quorom president needed our help taking down his roof and replacing it the week before. This week we helped an inactive member replace his roof as well as he and his wife are preparing for the summer here and bought new roof pieces that donn't absorb as much sunlight as the other metal sheets they had on the house beforehand. I got pretty sunburnt. Also, this week while tracting, or knocking on doors, looking for new investigators, we found an inactive lady who got baptized about 30 years ago. She was one of the first people baptized in the Piura area or something. She was super nice and was very happy that we had passed  by. She doesn't go to church because every sunday she goes looking for food to eat by doing small chores for her daughters or granddaughters like washing clothes or dishes or something. She is really poor but the relief society went to visit her to see if she can receive help to provide for herself (she is too old to work and her kids don't do much for her). No one accepted us that day except her but we are happy to have found her and hopefully we can help her. On sunday we went on splits, I went with the bishop, the second counselor of the bishopric, and the relief society president to visit a few families while my companion went with the ward mission leader and the other elders to the coorilation meeting. They planned the final details for our "open doors" or "meeting the mormons" activity we'll have on saturday and I and the others already mentioned visited a less active family and some familiies of investigators we have to help them feel more welcome in the church and feel comfortable. It was super cool.

On Saturday we receive the news for the transfers. Anything is possible!

In my studies I've been reading in Mormon, coming close to the end. I love the later chapters 7 and 8 when he and Moroni talk about the Book of Mormon being revealed in the latter days and how it was written to help us develope faith that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God. So keep reading it! 

Have a great week! Love,

Elder Evans

Nov 17 2014

Hey everybody! Today was a good week. We set a baptismal date for the 6th of december for our investigator Angelica. We also have to talk to her son to baptize them both together. This week we went on exchanges with the zone leaders and it was awesome. They had moved to a new apartment and it is way nicer than any I've seen here. It has 3 couches!!!! And two small rooms and a kitchen and the bathroom in the back. I was astounded. I learned a lot from the exchanges. I was with Elder Arce in his area. Also, on saturday we had a conference with the whole mission and with Elder and Sister Evans. Elder Evans is from the first quorom of the seventy. He taught us a lot about how to be a Preach My Gospel missionary. He showed us a lot of misunderstandings that missionaries have about how to be an effective missionary and all. It was very eye opening hah. When we shook their hands, Sister Evans said to me "Oh I like that!!" Right after looking at my plaque ha. Elder Evans has a sister named Katherine so I told him I do too, and he said thats cool, and that his brother or somebody was a mission president in Minnesota a few 20 or so years ago. A less active family we have been teaching for months finally went to church all TOGETHER! My companion and I are way happy. But not one of our progressing investigators went this week even though they said that they would :(

Today we had a zone activity playing soccer and volleeyball and then we went to Papa Johns. The missionaries always have a 2 for 1 discount just for being a missionary, but I have no idea why. I told them I had worked in Papa Johns for almost 2 years, about 3 years ago. And they invited me to make the pizzas for my companion and two other elders. My companion Elder Melo entered with me to take pictures and so I wasn't alone. Then toward the end one worker said the boss was pleased with my work and offered me a job  :0  ...I politely declined explaining I am dedicated to be a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ for two years. They said I am always welcome to come in and make the pizzas I buy haha. They will make money and not have to work for it haha.

Hope you all have a great week and have fun!!

Elder Evans