Do You Need A Ride???

June 1, 2015

Holllaaa familia!!!

Como estan??? I hope you`re all just great and wonderful! I`m just great and wonderful here! Gosh I love it soooo much. 

 

Well I don`t really know where to start since not too much happened this week. It was super chill....

 

I met one of the investigadores of the other hermana's here from before. She`d been super busy so I hadn`t gotten to meet her yet and oh my gosh she is SOOO amazing! Her name is Carolina and she has 3 kids. She reads the Book of Mormon A LOT and she calls us her gift from God. She has a testimony and doesn`t even realize it. And her little girl who has 4 years calls us the ¨Niñas de Jesus¨ haha that made me smile really big. BUT the big problem is that she can`t come to church because her husband who isn`t even her husband because they aren`t married hates religion and doesn`t let them go to church. It hurts me so much because she has so much love for everyone and is so humble, but she just can`t come to church to keep the peace in the house. BUT she is trying to find work, so she can leave him and still take care of her kids. Basically what she needs is a miracle!! Please keep her in your prayers. She is just golden!!!! 

 

We had the coolest miracle ever... So we left her house a little late and were running so we could get home on time, but to be honest it was looking pretty bleak of our chances so I`m running and just praying that a member passes by in their car or something so that we can get home on time. Then as I finish a prayer in my head, a car passes by with two ladies and they ask if we need a ride!!! Get in! And we`re like ok! Thanks! Ok so now as I write that I realize that it sounds kinda sketchy to just get into a random car but I promise that normally I would never do such a thing unless it was a car sent from God as an answer to a very frantic prayer as this one was. DO you know how many woman drive in Chile???? I`ll tell you. Not many. It was seriously such a huge blessing!!!! We arrived home with 2 minutes to spare!

 

A few days later we were walking down a dark dirt street and we have to walk up this hill of just loose sand. It`s night, it`s freezing cold and I was just like you know what would be great, if someone just stopped by and offered us a ride just to the top of the hill. Literally 2 seconds later an empty bus passes by and stops and the guy says, I`m going up to the top, can I drive you guys up?? And I was like YES!!! Literally immediately. It was way cool. 

It`s so awesome to be able to see how God really does answer prayers. I think that is the lesson that I`ve learned the most during my time here in the mission. That God really does listen and that most of the time the way He answers is through other people. And through maneras (miracles) really simple.

 

As I said, this week was really chill and nothing huge happened. We didn`t find any families or teach any lessons where the people had a super spiritual enlightenment but we were working hard and doing all we could and we received the help when we needed it and asked for it. When we do our part, God will always do His and will help us. I love that so much. 

 

Another thing that I realized this week is just how much I love speaking Spanish. It`s gotten to the point where I can just sit and listen and understand without even thinking about it and then I can respond and it just all feels natural. I can`t even tell you how awesome it is to be able to express thoughts so fluidly in the Spanish language. I love being able to pose questions and the people have to think and they little by little start to recognize the spirit and the plan of God. I also love to see how really we`re not too different. I sit in our lessons and I look around and usually its a Chilean, a Brazilian, and a gringa and we`re all talking about God and families and sharing personal experiences and it is just so cool to see how people can come from places so distinct yet are filled with the same questions and the gospel provides all the same answers that we all need. It is sooo so clear that when it all comes down to it we aren`t Chilean or American or Columbian or Peruvian or what ever, we are just children of God. I don`t have the words right now or time to think and find them to express how amazing it is to realize that. But it is just awesome. I just have soooo much to be grateful for here. I love it sooo much! 

 

Ok so funny story: We had visited a menos active (less active member) and she gave us a reference to pass by her neighbor that supposedly is super great. So we go right afterward to pass by the neighbor, (she told us to not say anything that she sent us because she hadn`t talked to him before), so we yell, "ALO" and this guy answers the door wearing shorts and a very nicely trimmed beard and a cute little kitten in his hands.  We introduce ourselves and he goes oh no we`re homosexuals here.... And it just caught us both really off guard hahaha and I was like what do we say???  So I said,  well we talk to everyone! hahah...  and he just goes yeah, so no thanks.  But he doesn`t even close the door and is just there staring at us! jajajaj I was like uhh what do you want us to say?? So then we just were like, ok have a great day before it got too awkward. hahah well it was probably funnier in the moment then how I`m telling you now but we got a good laugh out of how awkward it got haha. 

 

Anyway, I`ve run out of things interesting to say but know that I`m happy and healthy and I don`t have nearly as many flea bites here as I did in Chorrillos.

 

I hope you all have a great week!!!

 

I LOVE YOU!

Hermana Evans

Alma 50:16

May 25, 2015

 

Hello family!!!!!

I opened up my email and it was loaded with a thousand emails!! I literally thought someone died or something.. and then I realized that something did. My childhood. I`m officially an adult! AH!! It`s awesome! I can legally say no to alcohol now! Haha, but seriously, thank you so much to everyone who sent me birthday wishes!! I feel super special :)
 

 My week here was awesome awesome awesome!!! Everyday is full of miracles. It kind of weirds me out sometimes haha not going to lie, but I just think it`s so amazing that Heavenly Father can focus in on every detail in every life as if He has all the time in the world for every single person. He really does have all the time in the world and is willing to do whatever he needs to, no matter how long it takes. I feel like life on Earth is like a very elaborately stitched blanket, with threads weaving in and out of each other in a manner that almost seems to not make sense when looked at up close but as you step back it makes the most beautiful pattern. 
 

So first, we find ourselves with this lady from Cuba. She comes to us and is crying and we`re like what happened?? And she says nothing, I`m fine, I just moved here from Cuba a few months ago and I just miss my family that`s all. Turns out she was studying with the Jehovah Witnesses in Cuba and thought that we were them. Dang it. But it`s fine, we cleared it up and she said that another day she would like to talk to us.  So, then we went to our appointment, but the lady wasn`t there! So we walk back up the street and we find ourselves again with the Cuban lady and she comes over and she says, actually I have time now, can we talk. So we talk and we end up teaching her the Restoration on the street! She was super interested and accepted a Book of Mormon and said she is going to pray!! Just like that. Our two citas that we had had fell through and thanks to that we found ourselves with her again, a little later, when she was ready to listen! Timing is everything. Looking back at it I can see how God was working to give this lady, who`s far from home and feeling alone,  a chance to learn about Jesus Christ and find comfort in Him and His gospel.
 

Also, we had a lesson with our investigador, Tito on Tuesday. He`d been having doubts about Jose Smith and if he was a prophet or not. So I had left with him my triple so he could read Jose Smith history. We got there and he had read a little and said that he had prayed but still wasn`t sure. We talked about baptism and all that but it always came back to him saying that he wasn`t sure and that he wanted more time because he needed more knowledge and had to do more research. So I was just thinking look, obviously he hasn`t received an answer that these things are true so he hasn`t felt the spirit testify that these things are true. Once you feel the spirit there is just no denying it. I was thinking in the promise at the end of the Book of Mormon, that if you pray with true intention you WILL receive an answer. Not maybe you`ll get one, but you will get one. I know that is a true promise. I trust in that promise. So I was like look, how about we kneel down, right here right now, and you say a prayer and you just ask God if Jose Smith was a prophet and if the Book of Mormon is true? Yeah? And Tito was like ok. So we did it and he said a very simple but sweet prayer. He asked if the Book of Mormon is true and if Jose Smith restored the church. Super simple. Not one pretty word or anything. Boom. And as he closed his prayer, he was crying. He felt the spirit. That promise at the end of the Book of Mormon, that promise that has been tried and tried and fulfilled time and time again has once again felt strong. I can`t even begin to describe how strong the spirit was in the room. He knew that it all was true, even if he didn`t know everything or understand everything perfectly. He just knew in his heart. He stood up and reached out to shake my hand and said thank you. So we sit back at the table and after a little bit more of silence, I asked him, what God was telling him right then. And Tito goes, arrepiéntete y bautìzate.  (repent and get baptized). So I asked him how he was with Sunday and he said that Sunday would be great! hahahaha just like that!!!! Literally 10 minutes earlier he was saying that Sunday was too soon and now he was like yes please, Sunday! Literally as a missionary, I feel like I do absolutely nothing. Because I don`t. The spirit is so powerful. The Lord really does His own work. I`m just so grateful for the opportunity that I have to watch it all go down. I feel like I have front row seats to the greatest show in the world. 
 

So Tito passed his interview and was baptized yesterday! On my birthday!! Best birthday yet????? That would be a full hearted ¡¡SÍ!! 
 

I remember learning in my Anthropology class that in other Indian cultures on ones birthday they give gifts to everyone, instead of others giving gifts to them. I always thought that was really interesting and I was thinking this past week, what gift could I give to Heavenly Father for my birthday? Well, I wish I could say that I gave him a baptism, but even that wasn`t me. But I hope that through the baptism and every lesson that we teach and every contact that I do and every scripture that I share, He knows the great deep love that I have for Him and for Jesus Christ. I know that really there is nothing that I can even give them, only my will. And I hope that They know that They already have all of it. I am so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am so grateful for the Book of Mormon. I am so grateful for the lessons I am learning and for the miracles that I am seeing. I know that God lives, I know that He loves us, and I know that He works endlessly, night and day so that every one of His children can have the opportunity to have not only happiness in this life but endless joy in the eternities. I hope I can keep progressing and everyday for the rest of my life become a little bit more and more like my Savior. 
 

The baptism was super super beautiful! Tito`s mom who is already a member was crying through out the whole thing! At the end, we asked Tito if he wanted to share his testimony and he said YES! Which was awesome because usually they say no because they`re still kinda shy but he stood up afterward and just expressed pure gratitude. It was so sweet. And then afterward, he told us that we now have to teach his wife and daughter! The fact that they came to the baptism is awesome because Tito has been living with his mom because of problems in the marriage, but he just wants to be with his family and I hope that the gospel will be able to help them! We`ll see, we have a family home evening with the whole family tonight  :)
 

Then afterwards for my birthday we ate Papa Johns pizza with a family with a chocolate cake! SOOO GOOD! I felt like I was at home. Then we went over to the Bishop's house in the night who said he wanted to talk to us about some stuff and they surprised me with PANCAKES!!!! Hahaha I`ve never blown out candles from a stack of pancakes, but it was awesome!!! There was even American maple syrup! Did I score or what????? So all in all it was a really great awesome day! Most people on their 21st birthday go out and party all night long, but I wouldn`t trade my experience here in Chile for the world. I know that my party will continue with these people in the celestial kingdom  :)   Alma 50:16.

Well I`ve ran out of time! So until next week... 
 

I love you all so much!!!!!!!
 

Con todo el amor de mi corazón, 

Hermana Evans (21)

Achupallas Leader Conference.  Can you find Samantha????

 

 

More Faith Than Sleepyness People

May 18, 2015

Holaaaaaaa familia!

Oi, como voce esta? tenho saudade de voce. Aonde fica o banheiro? That`s about all I got for my Portuguese this week. Before you get TOO impressed, I just said, hello, how are you?  I miss you. Where is the bathroom? Haha buena no?

I`m glad you guys had a great week! My week was awesome. I love my new sector a lot! I still miss Chorrillos and the people there but I love everyone I`ve met here!

 

First off, question... Do I look like Avril Lavigne???????? I`ve seriously had a thousand and two people tell me since I`ve gotten here that I look exactly like Avril Lavigne. I just don`t see it. The bishop's wife, every time she sees me, she breaks out in some Avril Lavigne song. I don`t know. Chileans are crazy.

 

Speaking of celebrity look alikes, my district leader looks just like Zac Efron hahahaha. It honestly cracks me up. It`s kinda bad but I have a hard time taking him seriously when we do practices haha. I like to drop little references from Zac Efron movies when I`m playing the investigador like, since I started reading the Book of Mormon, I feel like ¨¨It`s the start of something new¨¨ and that I`m kinda scared to change my life but I know that ¨¨we`re all in this together¨¨ and that I just got ¨´to get my head in the game¨¨ hahah it`s fine though because in Spanish it`s not obvious at all but my companion and I get a kick out of it. 

 

Our district leader is great though. This past week he made up a game with our number system. Like a lesson with a member is 4 points, a normal lesson is 3, to give out a Book of Mormon is 1 and so forth and whoever has the most points by this Wednesday wins a pizza. Well my competitive side has come out and it is safe to say that the Hermanas will win by a LONG shot! hahah  But it`s been awesome though because it makes you so much more focused in using every second to the very best and we`ve seen so many miracles come out of it. Miracles and pizza. I`m totally down. 

 

One of these miracles. ...Our cita (appointment) fell through so my companion and I were leaving this apartment building and this lady starts screaming at us out of her window, Wait!! Do you speak English?? And I stopped and told her yes. And then she asks if we teach lessons because she wants her kids to learn because the family wants to move to the US next year.  I told her that I'd  love to, but we were actually missionaries and we teach more than English, we teach about Jesus Christ and how His teachings can strengthen us as families and blah blah blah. She was totally down to learn more and everything. So we taught her about the Book of Mormon right there through her window and she excepted the book and we put a cita to come back another day to teach English AND the first lesson! BOOM! It was awesome. One thing that I`ve learned to love on the mission is fallen appointments. Because I know that means that Heavenly Father needs us in another place with another person and he always uses fallen appointments to put us on a path to find new people, or even a new FAMILY! So you know, when the things don`t work out how we want them to it`s just because there is something better for us and we end up being grateful for it because it always just works out in the end. 

 

Other miracle... We go back for the cita that fell through but Rodrigo, our investigador is SLEEPING! Ah! But his mom is like, well I`ll go back and see if he will come out for a few minutes so you can share something. Ok so I know that if I was sleeping and if I was 14 years old and my mom came over and told me that the missionaries are here, do you want to get up, I`d be like no way, I`m sleeping! So as she went back to his room I just started praying and praying and praying that he would come out so we could teach him. And guess what. HE CAME OUT!!!! Just like that!!!!! Wow, I just felt really strong in that moment that God was really listening to me and that He loves Rodrigo so much that He wants him to listen and wants to help him so that he can get baptized. Usually answers to our prayers don`t come so instantly, but when they do, the Lord`s hand is so clear and it`s just so cool to see the Lord at work. 

 

Funny story... I contact this one guy outside his house and we`re talking and he`s speaking bien Chilean and all and he asks me where I`m from, so as a joke I say, I`m Chilean. (you should see the look on some peoples face when I say that.. they get REALLY confused hahaha) But he just looks me straight and says with a PERFECT gringo accent in English, No you`re not. Where are you from? I was like WOAH! You speak English! He was like yeah, I do. Where are you from? I told him California and he then said, 'I`ve been living in California for the past 30 years. Small world! 

 

Speaking of California... You`ll never guess where the first counselor in the bishopric in my new ward served!! haha... in the Carlsbad, California mission. AND he served in the San Marcos Spanish branch! haha in our chapel!!!!!! How crazy is that! He showed me his mission tag and on the back it`s covered with In n Out stickers haha. 

 

Another cool thing that happened this week is  that we got to go do service for a blind lady in our ward, making chocolate!! Well not making chocolate but melting it and then putting it in molds with almonds and peanuts and making chocolate roses and bears and stuff and then she goes and sells them. But I have to be honest, she is the most seeing blind lady I`ve ever met! If a bit of chocolate drips on the stove, SHE KNOWS!!! And you should see her handling a big knife cutting up the chocolate or lighting her gas stove!!! At first I was like there is no way she is actually blind, but she totally is! But it`s way fun to make the chocolate and she always gives us one afterward .) haha the things you get to do as a missionary.

 

Anyway, I`m running out of time so I will close with one last miracle of the week. We`re teaching this guy, Tito. He works from 11pm to 7 am every day, but since we invited him to come to church, he comes AND shows up early even!! He`s awesome. He has a baptism date for the 24th!!!! And when we taught him last night and were asking him about how he likes the church and everything he was like well I`m tired and all but I like it a lot. Then he said, it`s ok though, because I have more faith than sleep. Listening to that simple but powerful testimony I felt the spirit really strong. I know that he is sacrificing sleep to come to church, but the fact that he loves Christ more than sleep itself is really humbling. Also, he started reading the Book of Mormon 2 weeks ago and he`s already at the end of ETHER! Is he a rock star or what???? Keep him in your prayers this week that he can be baptized next Sunday! The week before the baptism is always the hardest!

 

Thank you for everything! I love you guys so much!!!! Have a great week!!!!!

te vejo depois falo com voce depois

Con todo el amor en mi corazon, 

Hermana Evans

Achupallas. That`s a Name, Not a Sneeze..

May 11, 2015

Hola familia!!!

 

Fue super bueno a verles ayer!!! Se ven super bien! 

 

So, as I told you guys when we were skyping yesterday for Mother's Day, I got changed on Wednesday and now I`m in Achupallas in a sector called Mirador. When it comes down to it, I really didn`t want to leave Chorrillos. I really really love that sector, but I had already been there 6 months so my time was up. But before cambios this week started out pretty crazy!....

 

First this one guy just randomly stops us in the centro and says, hey I want to be a missionary for your church, what do I need to do? And we`re like uhh..  what do you mean? He says, I have a friend on the mission and I really want to be a missionary too, what do I need to do? I ask him, are you a member of the church? And he responds no, I just want to be a missionary. We were like ok cool so we gave him a Book of Mormon and wrote down his address to pass to the elders where he lives and told him where the closet church was to attend on Sunday. He asked if it was a long process to be able to become a missionary. I tell him that from today it will take one year and 3 weeks (investidgadors need to attend church 3 times before they can be baptized) and he was like ok, I can do that. hahaha I really wish that he lives in our sector, I would love to find out what happened with him.

 

Then with our investigador Loreto who thought she was already baptized but when we searched her records isn`t, we invited her to be baptized on the 24 (my birthday!) And she was totally down! It`s crazy, she came to church once (hopefully yesterday tambien), and changed her work schedule so she wouldn`t work on Sundays. She`s changing! She`s aligning her life with the gospel and is just happier, I don`t know, that`s just the best way to explain it. I love when you can start to be able to see the changes in people. That`s honestly the best part of it all. So I`m really excited to hear what will end up happening with her. 

 

Then on Tuesday we wake up early because we have a zone meeting to get to and we start showering and in our house there is this weird drain in the middle of the bathroom floor and well, it just totally exploded. It just started throwing up water ALL OVER THE FLOOR: It went through the bathroom door and was all over in the front room. Luckily there`s almost nothing in our house so nothing was damaged and we quickly put towels in front of the doors of the bedroom and study room but there was literally 2 centimeters of water all over the floor!  But we can`t stick around and clean it up and try to fix it because we have the meeting to get to. And it`s early so the owners are still sleeping so we can`t call them. We call our Zone leader and he tells us to just mop it up and get to the meeting and we say, no elder, there is a lake in our house. You can`t just mop it up....But we were able to soak a lot of it up in towels and we called the guy in charge of our houses and he got everything worked out. I still don`t know what was wrong, but that was a crazy adventure... hahah

 Then it was cambios and well you know what happened there. It was really hard saying good bye to a lot of the people there. I felt like I was leaving home all over again. When I said goodbye to Herminia, this sassy 81 year old recent convert, she gave me hard boiled eggs and bread, to take just in case I wasn`t going to be able to eat traveling to my new area. It really really touched my heart because she doesn't have hardly any money. She told us the other day that she went 12 days with only herbal tea and bread because she didn`t have money for food. The ward brought her over a bunch of food from the bishops store house and she cried. Then she told us that even though the Sunday wasn`t going to be a testimony Sunday that she didn`t care, she was going to stand up to express her gratitude anyway haha (the next Sunday was stake conference.. she didn`t really care. I wonder if she really went through with it or not haha) But then here she is giving me three eggs and bread. It really touched my heart how someone with so little is still so generous with the little that she has. I swear, the people teach me way more about being Christ-like than I can ever teach or show them.
 

So now I`m here in Achupallas (Aw-chew-pie-yas) I know, it almost sounds like someone sneezing... My compañera is Hermana Andrade. She`s from Rio de Jinero! in Brasil! We`ve already made plans for me to come and live with her after the mission! She`s awesome. I`m always worried about getting a crazy companion but I lucked out once again! We`re best friends already. She has almost 9 months in the mission and is pure power. We`re going to be baptizing up a storm over here, I just know it! 
 

The sector isn`t as pretty as Chorrillos. No ocean view :(  ... But I love it. Half of it is just pure apartment buildings so even after being here for 3 days I`m still way confused about how to get around and where everyone lives. One of these days I`m going to count how many stairs we climb every day. I feel like half the day we`re just going up and down stairs looking for apartments. And that`s totally fine, because I`m just so happy to be here and to be a missionary. 
 

The ward is awesome. It`s weird going from a branch of  50 people to a ward with 125 people attending. I have A LOT of names to learn! But everyone is really nice so I`m happy. 

Funny story: My first lunch here, we were talking about ways to clear up your skin or something with the Hermana and she says, ' what I do that works really awesome is I drink my pee. I thought I miss heard her, but nope that`s what she said!!! Then she just goes on about how good it is for you to drink your own pee. Bahahahahahahaha!!! It`s really not that funny but it`s just the way she was telling us, like she was drinking a natural fruit juice or something. But then she says, ' yeah but I don`t do it anymore, I stopped.   I was like ok, que bueno, but then she says, but not because it grossed me out. And I honestly can`t tell you why she stopped because I got hung up on the it`s not because I was grossed out part. Oh man. Honestly nothing that comes out of Chileans mouths is surprising anymore haha.
 

Our investigador here Tito, came to church!!! He works during the night, 11 pm to 7am, but he still came to church at 10! It`s a miracle! He has a baptismal date for the 24th! I really hope that he follows through strong with the fecha. It would be the best birthday gift to have a baptism on my birthday! Keep good ole Tito in your prayers :)
 

 Those are basically the highlights of my week...... I hope next week at this time I understand the sector a little better and am not totally lost still. 
 

I hope you have a great week! 
 

les amo

Hermana Evans 

Hermana Hansen, Herminia and Samantha



This lady named AnaMaria made Samantha this cake
since she was leaving Chorrillos



 

Oh FLEAcidad!!!!!!!

May 4, 2015

Holllllllaaaaaaaaaaa!!!

 

I hope this letter finds you safe and well and with not too many bee stings. I`m definitely preparing myself for some awesome corn bread and honey this Fall! 

 

This week wasn`t all that eventful. Although I did get my haircut! Just the ends though so you can`t really tell but it was fun. We went to a lady in our branch who cuts hair here in the centro. She`s so awesome. Her name is Norfa. And when it was all finished and we tried to pay her she wouldn't accept our money. And we were like no, Hermana, let us pay and she was like Hermanas I went to the temple and I made a promise with God that I would always share my time and talents with others. You guys are here, far from your homes and you`re not paid and are making a big difference in the lives of others. I can`t take your money. I was like wow. It was really humbling to see someone so firm on their temple covenants. Norfa is so awesome. I walked out of that peluquera feeling great in my heart AND about my hair. 

 

 Funny story... So basically I have the most delicious blood in the world or something because the fleas just eat me to death. There is nothing I can do, I`ve tried a bunch of things and I always just itch from all the bites. Fun fact the other week I had 103 bites just around my torso! I literally looked like I had a rash or something. Fun stuff right? So anyway we`re in a lesson and I`m itching the 5 bites on my arm and the Hermana says ' do you have bites? And I tell her the fleas just eat me and she says ' well you need to put rubbing alcohol on them and so I said ok I`ll do that. Next thing I know, we`re talking about the priesthood and she comes out with this huge bottle of rubbing alcohol and says, ' let me see your arm. And I'm like what?? She says, ' give me your arm. So I give her my arm and she just pours all this rubbing alcohol over my arm and just starts rubbing it all over. It`s literally dripping all over her couch and everything. Then she says, ' ok now your other and I say, ' no I'm ok thank you and she says, ' give me your other arm so I give her my other arm and she does the same thing.  Then she says, ' I saw you itching your ankles too and just starts putting rubbing alcohol all over my ankles and then she was like do you have bites on your legs too and at that point I was like NO NO NO. I`m good there, thank you so much and she just looks at me and laughs and is like ok. So then I`m sitting there almost dripping with rubbing alcohol and my companion looks at me and is like wow that smells really strong and I'm thinking,  yeah, I know. So then I have to go through the rest of the night smelling very strongly of rubbing alcohol. But you know what, I didn`t itch after that so that was good. My gosh though, Chileans are crazy sometimes.... haha, but you gotta love it. 

 

One day this week, all of our citas (appointments) fell through and we were walking around contacting people and trying to find someone to teach. As we were walking we had this guy stop by us in the street in his pick up and he asks, ' do you guys have that one book you talk about and we say, The Book of Mormon??? and he`s like yeah! Can you give it to me, I want to read Enos. And we say, sure, are you a member and he says, ' no, but I have a friend who`s talked to me a lot about it, thank you! and then he just drove off before we could get his information to go visit him or something. But that was a cool little miracle, that he was searching for the Book of Mormon and he just happened to find us walking there.

 

A little later we were walking in front of the university that is in our sector and as we were walking by a guy stopped us and says, ' hey are you guys elders? And we were like, well almost. And he said, ' I have a friend that is on the mission and he writes me every Monday. He told me that I should read this book that you guys have, do you have one? And we were like, yeah we do! And we gave him a Book of Mormon! And he says, ' wow thank you so much, I`ve been looking for the missionaries where I live for 2 weeks and have never seen them, I`m so glad that I could find you guys! We asked him if he wanted us to give his direction to the missionaries there so they could visit him and answer his questions about the book and he  said that his family is really catholic so he would rather this be a secret, but thanks so much! And then he went away. That day, even though we didn`t teach any lessons, which is something really rare here, I still feel like we were able to be the answer to people`s prayers and were able to help people come closer to Christ by giving them the Book of Mormon. It was just another testament to me that people are really looking for answers and are really looking for what we have. Even if they aren`t ready to commit themselves to baptism, they at least want to know more, they want the security that there is more and God is leading them to where they will find the answers that matter, in His church and in the Book of Mormon. I love missionary work so much!

 

I contacted this one guy and he asked us where we were from and I told him that I was from California in the US and he asked what part and I told him close to San Diego and he tells us that he has a sister living there and so I asked him what part and he said Escondido! haha I was like really, what`s her name and he said it was Cindy. So if you happen to run into a Chilean Cindy in Escondido, I contacted her brother. He didn`t want anything, He believes in Taoism, but he does make really awesome banana bread which he was selling there on the side walk.

 

Yesterday, Gabriela FINALLY received a calling!!!! She`s Young Womens Secretary!!! I was so happy! It`s so perfect for her! It`s so cool to be able to look back at where she was when I met her, smoking, not sure about baptism and all that to how she is now.... baptized, coming to church and secretary of the young womens! It makes me want to cry of joy just thinking about all of her progress!!! She`s not perfect, but she`s getting there and she`s trying and she really has changed! Which is totally the point of the gospel, so we can change and become better. She`s definitely doing that and I am just so proud of her!!!

 

I also got a letter from one of my converts Ignacio from Limache. He told me that he was able to baptize someone and that he went to the temple and did the work for his grandpa and he felt the spirit so strong doing it!!! It was the coolest thing ever being able to read about his experiences! Really the gospel is just so amazing. I don`t know how to put it into words. You know, it`s like you go on a mission hoping that you can help someone feel a little bit of the love and joy that the gospel has brought into your life and you then get to hear that the people have been able to feel the same love and the same joy and the same spirit as you have, it`s just SO AMAZING. It makes every single flea bite more than worth it! I really wish I could communicate the joy it fills me with. I know the gospel is true because I feel it and I get to hear the testimony of others who I meet on the street one day and then now they feel it too. It is just SO AWESOME!!!!! I love the gospel, I love being a missionary, I love Chile, I`m so happy I could even say that I love fleas. Maybe I`m crazy. But I just love it all so much. 

 

I`m so excited to be able to talk to you guys on Sunday! Have a great week!!! 

 

Con todo de mi amor,

oh and... 

May the fourth be with you, 

Hermana Evans



Samantha with her companion Hermana Hansen and some Elders from her district

Samantha's district

 

Samantha with her companion Hermana Hansen and some other Hermanas

 

Preach My Chicken Wings

April 27, 2015

 

 

Helllloooooo family

How the weeks are just flying. I worry that I won`t have anything to say to you guys because the time just goes by so fast, but I will rack my brain so I can share something practically interesting. (I hope) 
 

So on Monday we went and taught Barbara. I´m so sorry but I can never remember what I told you guys the weeks before or who I talked about so I`ll just explain again real quick. She is living with a menos activa family that are helping her leave the drugs. She`s like really receptive and just awesome and she`s 15. Anyway we taught  about the word of wisdom and she was like well I smoke a pack of cigarettes every day and I can`t try to quit right now because I`m quitting drugs and that `s a lot at once.  We totally understood, that would be way hard. So we`re like dang it, she`s going to be a long process but that`s fine. So then we went on Monday and taught her and she was sick so we taught her in her room while she was in bed. She goes, you know I`ve come to a decision. And we`re like oh noo.. and she says, I`m not going to.. and we`re just like no no no don`t leave us! ...smoke anymore. WHAT??? we`re like wait what, seriously??? And she says, being sick I just can`t breath, I have to always sit up straight, sleep sitting up because my lungs can`t breath when I lay down right now and I don`t like not being able to have control over my body so I`m not going to smoke. (Back ground info: She hadn`t gone to church the week before because she was sick.. God works in interesting ways) So that was a total miracle!! But then she didn`t come to church yesterday because she told her cousin she`d go listen to him play some musical instrument in his church. Dang it! I should have told her that I`ll be playing the piano at ours!! Gahhhh! Yeah ok next week next week....
 

This week we also have the ummmm.. honor? of doing the stand. Ok so to be honest doing the stand kinda sucks because it`s so heavy and you have to transport it down to the plaza with public transportation and then set it up and the stand broke weeks ago so our zone leaders jimmy rigged it using pvc pipes so it`s verging on ghetto and everyone just laughs at the gringas trying to set it up or take it down. BUT once you finally get it up and are there doing it, it`s great. We stand there and contact people walking by. Mostly they want nothing to do with us, they`re all in a hurry to get somewhere or other, so it ends up being a lot of smiling and saying hola, buenas, over and over a thousand times. Over the time of standing there I noticed that no one ever walks by smiling. Everyone is frowning and looks sad. We started doing a smiling count and the first day we got 6 and it was because they were walking and talking with a friend. BUT when we said hi to them, they always at least smirked, but most smiled, and some even said hi back! I realized that the world really just needs a smile sometimes. That really a smile can make so much of a difference. It was awesome to be able to see people looking really sad or grumpy change to smile. Their entire face just changed in an instant! A lot of people even would turn around after they passed us to say hi, because they didn`t realize at first that we were talking to them. And most of the people that came over to talk to us, didn`t want anything to do with learning more about Christ but just wanted to thank us for what we were doing because they recognized that what we were doing was something good. It`s really sad to think that doing good has become such a rare thing in modern day society. But people need good in their lives. They really feel the lack of it in their life. Even though the time we spent doing the stand didn`t leave us with many good contacts to be able to teach, I felt awesome that we could make a difference. I know that they passed by feeling better and really that`s the essence of not only missionary work, but the entire gospel of Jesus Christ. Making ourselves and others just feel good. That`s honestly what made me want to serve a mission, because the gospel makes me feel good. It makes me happy. And that`s the reason most people end up getting baptized. Because they just feel good about it. 
 

Funny story of the week. Doing the stand a lady stopped to talk to us because we`re gringas and we tried to give her a pass a long card and on the bottom of the card are little pictures of random people smiling on the bottom and she looks at it and she says,  you guys aren`t on the card and we`re like well no. and she hands the card back and she says, I want one with pictures of you guys and we`re like well we dont`have one and so then she just walks away hahaha. Also I said hi to this random girl walking by and she took off running... Literally people ran away from us! hahahahaha the joys of missionary work. I love it so much!
 

But that`s about it for this exciting week! I hope you all can do something small to make someone turn their frown upside down! You`ll feel good, they`ll feel good, everyone wins! Also you`ll look a lot prettier :) 
 

I love you all, have a great week! 

con todo el amor en mi corazon, 

Hermana Evans

Moses And His Crazy Dreams!!!

April 20, 2015

Hola familia mia!!

Como estan??? Espero que todo este bien allá y que esten disfrutando la primavera.... Ok English transition because I'm pretty sure dad is the only one that understands this right now....... I`m being kind to the rest of you.  :)
 

This week was wonderful. I don`t think there will ever be any real complaints. I was thinking about it the other day and being on the mission is literally the greatest thing anyone could ever do. It`s seriously this huge break from the world and from temptations and really everything. I don`t know. Even though you spend all day worried about the salvation of other people you just feel good because at least your doing your part. I love that feeling of peace and satisfaction. 
 

This week we met this woman named Jeanette. She is basically pure gold.  We met her husband the previous week as he drove us in his collectivo. Turns out he`s a menos activo that just moved here from Santiago. We passed by his house and met his wife Jeanette. She is so awesome. She`s a mom with little kids and she believes in God and everything and just wants the best for them. Honestly we didn`t do anything special, we just talked about how the gospel provides a refuge for the family and she just loved everything. When we gave her the Book of Mormon she said, you`re giving me your book!? I don`t have any books here! Wow, you passed yourselves up. Thank you I just feel so good and relaxed now! We were thinking, ' wow you are just pure gold'. Then a few days later we were walking down the hill and we see her standing on the side and we start talking to her and she tells us she locked her keys in the house so she's waiting to see if her husband drives by so she can get his spare. I offer her to use our phone and call him and she was so surprised!!!  I was thinking, oh my gosh God loves us too much because what are the chances of us happening to walk down that street to be able to help her. It`s funny how things work out like that. 
 

Then ok, funny story..... We`re at Herminia`s house, she`s this 80 year old woman who is  REALLY funny because she is so sarcastic and says everything on her mind. We literally just crack up at all the comments she has about everyone..... So we`re there right and she makes us herbal tea to take. So she has me pour the water out of the huge thermos thing and I pour it in my cup and it`s cold. It`s straight cold. I try to keep myself under control and I look at my companion and I`m like do you want some too and then I just couldn`t help myself and I just bust out laughing and Hermana Hansen totally knows what`s going on and she says, yeah, I'd love some and we`re just laughing and Herminia asks what is so funny so I just cover and I tell her, ' I'm so sorry, I just spilt water on my skirt and now I feel embarrassed so it made me laugh and she says, ' oh did it burn you?? And then we just have a laugh attack and I tell her no, I'm just embarrassed and Herminia says, 'these crazy gringas' and just starts laughing at us hahahaha. oh man, it was SO FUNNY! You had to be there!!!!!
 

On Friday I had intercambios and got to go to Agua Santa which is down in Viña and it`s a pretty wealthy neighborhood. It`s really, really pretty! We did service for this family (We literally swept the street in front of their house. The street. Why? No clue. Cars literally will drive on it all the time but it`s fine service is service.) But while we were there the lady`s sister and brother in law arrived and she says, I'm so sorry hermanas but I need to attend them. When we finish we go back to the house and the hermana tells us that her dad just died in the U.S but in the U.S they aren`t listed as his children so they have no way to receive all the stuff he left behind. Then she just breaks down crying and is like I don`t know where my dad is. He never got baptized. And just looks at me and says, ' where is he?? Is he suffering? Tell me how he is?? (She`s a menos activa so she doesn`t really remember the plan of salvation). It was so cool to be able to testify of the atonement of Christ and the plan God has for families and that I could assure her with all my heart that they would be together again. Then her sister, who is an active member, hugs her and starts to comfort her and they both start crying. Then the sister says, hey hey, dad is ok. I know that he is ok. You can go and do his work in the temples. This is why there is that work. He is fine, we`re going to be together as a family again. Just pray. The prayers of the righteous are always listened too, they really make a difference.  It was so so special for me to be able to see this family, really applying the gospel in their life and finding peace that surpasses understanding in the simple truths that they feel inside are true. It was so beautiful just to see them there hugging. It was again one of those moments where you`re just like, ' wow, The gospel is so awesome. I`m so grateful for the knowledge we have. 
 

Then a little later we found a menos activa who is a return missionary and who has a 9 year old son who`s not a member. We taught the son a simple lesson about how to pray and then we asked him if he wanted to say the closing prayer but he got shy suddenly so the mom said it. I think it was one of the first times they`d prayed in a long time because she got really emotional and started crying. When we opened our eyes we could see that the son was crying too. I asked him how he felt and he said really good. and I explained that feeling is how he can know that God listens to his prayers and the prayers of his mom. He said he was going to pray every day now. It was another super beautiful moment to see how through a simple prayer they could feel the spirit together and it was so strong. They received an answer right in that moment that God does know who they are and that he loves them, even if they hadn`t prayed in a really long time, God was still there, waiting and ready to let them know that He loves them. I really just love being a missionary and just being able to be there to witness such tender moments. 
 

We also met a guy named Pollo this week. That`s really his name. I invited him to be baptized and he looked me straight in the eye and said no!.... You win some and you lose some. Although I think I still win because my name isn`t chicken.! 
 

Then we met this guy yesterday. We went in and he started telling us about his experiences and beliefs with God. We thought he was crazy. He started telling us that he knows how to see things and connect with spirits and he was like touch my hand and I can show you what I see. I can show you God. And he tells us if we really wanted to know our spirit, he could help us know our inner spirit. Basically at this point were like yeah we don`t want anything to do with this witchcraft crazy stuff and so we were going to leave but he asked why we`re called Mormons and we tell him that actually we`re the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.... and he says oh wow you guys have that big church in Santiago (referring to the temple) and then he tells us that he had a dream about that place and how he went in. And we`re like wow that`s cool, but then the subject changed somehow and we ended up talking a little about the Book of Mormon and so we gave one to him and then he says, ' wow, my girlfriend and I prayed yesterday that we could receive a book full of truth and now you guys are here and you`re giving us this book. And we`re like wow. Literal answer to his prayer. Ok that`s super cool. And then I asked him about his dream. And he says, ' I went in the temple and I went down to the basement and there was a man with lots of books and he was taking all the best parts of all the books and writing it and putting it all together into one book. Then we were like what. the. heck. And we explained about Mormon and how the Book of Mormon came to be. And he says, ' are you serious?? that`s like my dream. And we all just had a moment of silence. So basically the guy went from this crazy, to maybe a future apostle or something...ha ha.. He told us that he knows really well how to feel if something is good or something is bad... Gift Of Discernment. ...So he`s definitely going to read it and get baptized. I don`t know, we gotta invite him next week, yesterday just wasn`t the moment. Oh yeah, and his name is Moses. Need I say more? I`m really excited to go back next week to see what happens!! Like seriously what the heck.
 

So yeah it was a great week! I`m happy, I`m warm (Chile thinks it`s Summer still or something), I`m healthy, I`m a missionary. All is good. 

Con todo el amor en mi corazon, 

Hermana Evans