January 27, 2014

To my beloved family

 

Sorry for not writing this past week. I got caught up doing other things on lds.org for some of our investigators. My sincere appologies. I was amazed to open my e mail this week and see sooo many e mails this week from all of you. I absolutely loved it. Keep it up. For those of you who have served missions, you know what its like to open your inbox and see zero new letters. But hey, there is opposition in all things right!? It makes me appreciate days like today when there is so many!

So allow me to take a moment and update you on the work here in harrow. First off we have an investigator called Nina who is 23, from iran, and will be baptised this coming Sunday. She is sooo excited. She owns her own company and it is expanding rapidly. In our lesson this past week, after the prayer she said ,"I have been thinking a lot about church and how i feel when i come. What do I have to do in order to be baptised?" My jaw hit the floor and couldn't stop smiling we taught her the Law of Chastity thinking that she would have problems with it being that she has a fiance. Nope! She is sooo ready and excited. She cant wait and frankly, i cant either.

There has been a lot of baptisms in our ward recenly with more to come. There is 3 sets of Elders in the ward and we all have people on date. On Friday evening Wembley 2 had a lady called Leah get baptised. I am always amazed how perfect they look upon coming out of the water. They are clean, pure, and can feel of the love of the savior. They know the decesion that they just made will alter there eternal path for the better! Yesterday after church 2 children got baptised. 1 whose family has been members for a long while and the other, called Fatima, whose dad was just baptised 2 months ago. He baptised his daughter. What a tender experience to watch him help her make her first covenant with her heavenly father. Despite his broken english, he did perfect. In 2 weeks time another Nina who has been meeting with missionaries for 20 years now will be baptised by wembley 1. She is super cool. She looks chinese but is from Jamaica. Super confusing when you hear her talk but she is awesome! Truly the Lord is hastening his work! It is easy and clear to see even within the ward in which i am serving.

Yesterday we had an open night at the chappel. We invited all to come and see what we believed. We wanted it to be a good turn out but not many investigators showed. But we still presented. My companion and I were assigned the family proclimation. As we presented and were listening to president Hinckley read it, the spirit was so strong. The principals within this inspired document, were infact the very principals that our family was raised on. "Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the principals of the gospel of Jesus Christ." I know that is true for i have and continue to experience such happiness. The gospel doesn't promise us a life free from trials. But it does assure us that we will never have to bear them alone. Considering the price that Jesus Christ paid for the salvation of each and every one of us, he will not forsake us now. When we come to him we find that he has been waiting for us. Indeed he has been aware of us all along. The arms of chirst only close when we come to him. Indeed in that moment, he will wrap them around us providing the reassurance that he loves us.

Thank you family for your love support and prayers. Indeed miracles occur daily here in England. Transfers are next week so i will keep you updated on what is happening with me. I cant believe that 6 months have passed since leaving home. These have been some of the most challenging, best months of my life. I love you all!

 

My address is:

 

64-68 Princes Gate

Exhibition Road

South Kensington

London, SW7 2PA

 

Elder Evans

 

Commonly called...

 

Crooky

January 20, 2014

This is Eric. He is my favorite less-active. He is soo dope. He told me that he wasnt friends with this one guy because he makes him pay when he works on his car. he said "A friend in need is a friend in need." Close but no cigar Eric

January13, 2014

Hello family

 

So this past week has been pretty good. I invested in a set of hair clippers because i hate going to the barbers shop. So ever since I got them my entire district has been asking for haircuts. I dont know if they know but im not professional. But, i mean give the people what they want i suppose. I cut my companions hair last night before bed. He asked if i could cut it like some movie chacters hair where the front is like a mile high. I told him no exclaiming that it wasnt missionary approved but really i dont even think its socially acceptable.

We found a new investigator this week who is sooo cool! Her name is Natalie. We taught her Lesson 1 and she loved it. She is 24 and just recently got into the religious side of life. After our lesson her mom came downstairs. Imagine a woman who is an aspiring celebrity who dresses to impress via cheetah print and you can probably picture her pretty well. She came walking down the stairs in a cheetah top, sparkle shirt, high heels the size of texas, and Channel earings bigger than my entire hand. Quite the sight. She ended up being super cool though! She said that she wants to sit in on our next lesson because she wants to increase her spirituality as well. So cool! This time of year really is a wonderful time. Everyone has set new years resolutions and most of them involve getting more active in some church. Miracles are happening left and right and its great.

This past week we had Zone Conference. It was amazing. I had been struggling with my companion and couldnt seem to find a way to get him to work hard. I felt that i had tried everything and nothing seemed to work. The hard part was that in his eyes, he was working hard. At the end of Zone Conference President Jordan decided to share a story from his mission. He served in Brazil and at the time of the story was an assistant to the President which was President Faust ( yes the former counselor in the first presidency). He told us that often times President Faust would have studies with them in the mornings. One day they were reading in the doctrine and covenants and came upon the verse where it talks about going to preach the word with no purse or scrip. President Jordan then proceeded to ask his president why the church didnt do that any longer. He replied, "Well Elder Jordan, we can still do that." He proceeded to pick up the phone and call the president of the mission next to theres and told him to find an area that had never before seen missionaries and report back to him when he found an appropriate area. The next day Elder Jordan and his companion departed to that area with no money, travel bags, or a place to sleep. They were only sent with a box of 40 books of Mormon. at the time the church sold the books for the price of printing. When the sold all the copies they would be able to afford a bus back to there regular area. So they arrived there in the area with no plan, no idea how they were going to do it, but trusted in the lord. They started there journey with a prayer atop a mountain overlooking the town. They recognised that to accomplish such a task they needed to place full faith in the lord for this is his work. They began contacting people according to the direction they recieved from the spirit. In short, miracles occured but that is not to say that it was easy for them. They didnt eat until 9 that night. They stopped tracting at 11 p.m. They had no where to sleep so they slept in a public restroom. But in the space of 36 hours all 40 books were placed and they could return home. There is now a chapel there that is full every sunday. There is no doubt that the members there are a result of hard work from the first missionaries to enter that town preaching a message of peace. What a wake up call that story was for all but especially for my companion. This is the ritz compared to that. We have renewed faith and a desire to do all that we can. During weekly planning I always include some sort of motivational quote. Its cliche but it helps me keep going when times get hard. This week I wrote "You have done enough when you have done all that you can." The Lord requires our best and thats all. How wonderful this gospel is!

Family I love you and could write so much more but i have hair cuts to give! I pray all is well with you and that you continue to grow in your faith. Remember, with each passing day, try a little harder to be a little better.

 

All my love

 

Elder Evans

January 6, 2013

Hello family!

 

Sorry for not writing you in awhile but things have just been crazy with the new year and holidays. Great to hear from you all though!

 

So we have just been focused on getting back into the swing of things here. With the holidays not alot of our investigators were able to meet with us which is understandable. We are trying to have 2 baptisms this month which is going to be a major push for multiple reasons. first off we havent even extended the dates to these people but they are soooo ready. second, my companion lacks the faith necessary in extending these committments. Pretty challenging but its fine.

The first one we want on date is nina. she is sooo dope. she comes to church every week faithfully! She is 23 and runs her own business anad it is rapidly growing. She feels good about everything and believes in it she just doesnt fully understand how the spirit testifies of truth to us. so thats the plan for this week.

second guy is Chris. He is an older gentleman who has been meeting with elders for 7 months now. He loves to chat so its hard to teach him because often times the topic of the atonement somehow turns into how the government should lock its borders because this country has too many romanians. he claims hes not racist but im not convinced. So hopefully we can get them both on date. They are ready. The lord has prepared them. They just need to excercise the faith that they have gained!

The past few weeks have been a little bit of a struggle. My companion is struggling to be obedient which i knew was going to happen at the start of the transfer due to the cousel that i recieved from President Jordan. He no longer has a desire to be exactly obedient but rather has a pick and choose the ones that are easy attitude. Its frusterating but i press on! There is always something to learn from every companion and paitence is a virtue in which i am being taught! The Lord blesses us as we do our best. He doesnt require anything but our best and i am extreemly grateful for that. I fall short in aspects daily but know that the atonement can and will make up the difference.

We have a zone conference this thursday and i am extreemly excited for it. I always love the trainings recieved there and the spirit is always sooo strong. I love the feeling when the spirit overcomes you! It is available to all and I love watching people experience it for the first time weather it be in a sacrament meeting or a lesson with us! Ahhh it makes me sooo happy.

Today we did some service for a lady whose mother is a member. She just bought a new home in which she is completly remodeling. So we were scraping wallpaper for hours this morning. I was having flash backs of the remodel that we did at mobile medical. I love doing service for people. Today the men that we were working with were amazed that we were willing to help for free. He told us that he would let us help him anytime just as long as he didnt have to pay us. hahah!

I got my package from you guys! Thank you sooo much! i am in love with my scripture marker and all the gifts within! The books are soooo cool. I have been reading them in any free time that i find! So so helpful! The ties are on point as well! I love them. They are going to look good when i get my suits tailored. So the hems fell out of my suits so there is a lady in the ward who told me she could fix it. So she is doing a full tailor job on them to bring them in skinny. For the record, skinny suits in America are not skinny here. They take it to a new level here and I love it. Thankfully so do President and sister Jordan. Also the quality of suits here for the price is pretty insane. Tj maxx is here except its tk maxx and they sell loads of suits for cheap. Every missionaries favorite store!

Family i love you all and am grateful for the chance that i had to talk to you over the holidays. I hope all is well with you. I am doing well out here and loving what i am doing. I got to speak on Chirstmas sunday and it was great. I was overwhelmed with the spirit when in my talk i realized just how much our savior loves us. I shared a quote that mom shared with me from president Hinckley about each of us can do a little bit better. The savior loves us and wants us to be successful. He willingly came to this earth, lived a perfect life, and then suffered for each of us so that we can return to live eternally as families. How wonderfu! I love you all. Thank you for your prayers. Miracles happen each day because of them so please keep them up.

 

All my love

 

Elder Evans

December 9, 2013

hello family!

 

so another great week here in Wembley! we have a new family that we found. Her name is chantal and has 5 kids. im way excited to teach her. Also we have an investigator whose name is Alcide. He has been extra hard to get in touch with but we finnaly got in his house this past week. way nice guy and appeared to be normal. As we conversed he told us that he was addicted to heroin and was moving back to brazil to get his life in order. Huge step for him because his wife is about to walk out on him because he has been doing some crazy stuff. As he talked he started telling me that upon getting his life back in order he would like to start his own church where people pay him 10 percent in tithing that way he can buy a house in miami like he has always wanted. haha i got a little bit worried and tried to correct his form of thinking but he wouldnt let me get a word in. then his wife came out with plates of food for us so i just let him continue while i ate. Bless the brazilians for there food is to die for! After fininshing i basically told him that he needed to read the book of mormon. That if he prayed about it he would know that this is the true church on the earth today. He softened up and agreed to it. He did tell us the name of his church though..."the mysteries of God." if that isnt the most welcoming name than i dont know what is. haha.

We had a lesson with a former investigator last night named amin. He is a way nice guy with Muslim roots and was trying to convert us i think? It was quite funny because he would bring up these points of doctrine within the bible trying to bash us and my companion was getting all fiesty and i was just sitting there not into it at all. I dont like bashing. It leads to nothing. So after we were there for longer than we should have been in the middle of there little bickering i said something like "Amin as missionaries what we do is simple. We invite people to come to know if the book of mormon is true. It says it quite simply and clear in the introduction. We invite all men everywhere to read, ponder, and pray. If you do this with a sincere heart and real intent you will come to know that it is true. I know that if you follow these steps you can recieve an answer....Amin it was good to see you this evening and i hope you have a great week. We will keep in touch." I dont know if my companion liked that very much but the spirit was not there and it was uncomfortable. O well

 

This week we have a conference with Elder Dyches of the seventy. I am way excited. I have met him once before at stake conference in Norwich and he is a way cool guy. We also as a district bought christmas sweaters for us and president and sister jordan. Today we are taking some modeling pics in them. Tis the Season to get fancy! Should be pretty fun!

 

How is everything going on the home front? Everyone getting ready for christmas? This year it is going to be quite different being away but i am thankful for the opportunity to focus on the true meaning of christmas. It is a wonderful season and peoples hearts are softened. We are spending the day with some recent converts. the mom and her 2 kids converted but the husband did not. Hopefully we can establish a good relationship with him and get him interested in learning more. That would mean so much to the family and even more to the Lord! They see the picture i have of all of us kids on my planner and they are excited to meet you all via skype. They cant believe that 1 mother birthed all 7 of us. I just tell her she is a trooper indeed! How greatful i am for this gospel and the knowledge that it gives us that families are eternal. That physical death can not break the covenants we make in the temple.

 

This past week i have spent a lot of time in the book of Alma. I love Chapter 8-15. Alma has experienced much success in his missionary efforts. He has baptised whole lands of people. Then he got to the land of ammoniah. The people rejected him and threw him out. in the midst of his sorrow, even depression, an angel of the lord appears to him renewing his faith. Verse15 states "Blessed art thou, Alma; therefore, lift up thy head and rejoice, for thou hast great cause to rejoice; for thou hast been faithful in keeping the commandments of God from the time which thou receivedst thy first message from him. Behold, I am he that ^adelivered it unto you." This is what Alma needed to hear. This is what renewed his faith. He is commandedo to go back into the land and preach to them again. And so he does. Not hesitantly but speedily. He meets Amulek and they go and preach together. Alma gives it a whirl with the people and again he is rejected. Recognizing that the lord giveth no commandment save he shall provide a way to accomplish it he continues. Then Amulek says you know what alma, ill show you how this whole conversion thing is done. He testifies to the people and still they reject him. How easy would it have been for them to just give up. To say you know what we tried. Lets go home. But they did not! Talk about submissiveness. They pressed on. They endured trials to recieve the blessings. They witnessed horrible things and were tried, and tested. To be short, they did recieve blessings for the things in which they did. Sometimes we go through hard times but we need always remember that it is our trials that allow us to grow. That the fact that we have trials are proof that we have a loving heavenly father. These are what allow our faith to be firm and unshakable. I am grateful for the challenges that i face daily. I know that no real and lasting success comes from the work in which i am doing unless i recognise that i am weak and can not do this work without the help of the lord. This is his work. As a servant of him I will do it his way. read those chapters if you get a chance. They are wonderful!

 

Family i love you all. I look forward to speaking to you this season. Just remember that i am still the same person. I am still extra wierd just like i use to be. I thought the mission would change that and i guess to a certain extent it has but i still have my personality. I enjoy making people smile and realize that life is good. weather it be another missionary or someone on the street, someone could always use a good laugh and the reassurance that life is good! I love this gospel and the work that i am doing. I know that this is the true church restored on the earth today. I know that Jospeh smith saw the things he said he saw and because of him, we have The Book of Mormon. What a wonderful gift!

 

Love you all

 

Elder Evans

December 2, 2013

hey family

 

so not too much time as i am in an internet cafe and the indians here charge out the wazoo. Everything is great here!

 

so interviews went really well. i always enjoy my time with president jordan. We had a nice discussion about the work both in my area and to do with my companion. He has assigned me to be elder smiths personal trainer. so thats pretty exciting. kinda i guess. he said "Elder smith is gaining weight and fast. i need you to change that. i need you to take him under your wing and make him lose 10 pounds by the end of the transfer. Do whatever it takes." haha so we have been running sprints in the morning. I told him that he can no longer eat ice cream for breakfast. he has a love/hate relationship for me now i think.

 

Today i went to central london with the mission choir not to sing but just to enjoy the experience. they sang for the elderly and it was soo cool. I made a ton of friends. Mainly this man named John. John lost his eye a few years back when a dog attacked him. He openly showed me as a point of interest within our conversation. He went on to tell me that i have a lovely smile that could cheer up any day. haha thanks john. As we were sitting there watching the choir he pointed at president jordan and said "what is he doing here!? Who invited the Governor!?" hahaha he also might have a slight case of dimensia. Cool guy though. Forgot my camera cord or else i would attach a picture.

 

hmmm more stories....so we went and did some service for a less active guy named eric. he is cool. We were working on his car and his friend came to help. On the way home i asked him the name of his friend. He quickly corrected me. "Hes not my friend! I let him work on my car once and he charged me! You know, a friend in need is a friend in need!" Close eric but not quite. but he did come out to church so thats great! Apparently he wants me to replace the clutch in his car next. I told him multiple times that i dont know how to do that but he insisted that i would figure it out.

 

the work continues to progress. I love the christmas season here. Its cold but so wonderful. People are generally happier and allow us in to share a message. I am excited to speak with you all! It should be fun. Tonight we have a ward christmas fhe event and i cant wait. A live gospel choir is coming. Random but cool i suppose. also i have eaten more fish in the last week than in my entire life. I always said i would reject it if it was presented but when a poor family decides to feed the missionaries and you know theyve made a sacrifice to do so, you just eat. Even if its jalafriez and fish. Hottest rice of my life. my eyes water and my nose runs. The member tells me it will keep me warm inside.

 

hope all is well with you. Love you all. Will try to write a better letter next week!

 

Love you

 

Elder Evans

November 25, 2013

indian parallel parking

Ovi showing off his sports day medals

Christopher...Sorry its foggy but you get the idea...awesome man!

Family!

How are you all doing!? Wonderful to hear from you all. I am doing good here in Wembley. So for those of you who are wondering, Wembley is not central London but rather a suburb. so its just west of the big city. it takes me about 15 minutes by tube to get there. I love the area. The members are so wonderful. Most of them are not english but rather african, indian, etc. So fun. Such strong testimonies.

So regarding christmas...Yes i will be able to skype! im excited to speak with you all! A recent convert told us we are welcome to use her home so we will be there all day spending the holiday with them. They are so great. Golden family. Upon hearing about Joseph Smiths vision they said Oh my! So what do i have to become a member!? hahaha golden! So we will skype from there home. we also to get to watch disney movies which will be good i suppose. My companion is more excited than i am. haha Details regarding scheduling will be in the future.

So i am now in the ward choir. haha dont know how i got roped into that one but i did. I guess i took the singing course for a reason. Blessing the people of england with my motab like voice...or something. Also i think im going to be in the mission choir as well. haha so president randomly takes missionaries in the streets and tells them to sing and thats how he conducts auditions. Its kind of like a calling...you can say no but you shouldnt. so Elder Jamieson who is in my district told him that i have a singing voice for some reason and this week is interviews sooooo we will see what happens!? hopefully he forgets.

I have been sick for the past week or so. It has been hard to get up and work with a cold but i continue on! I think my companion uses it as an excuse more than me telling me how i need to just rest and sleep it off. He just wants to sleep as well and be lazy. I dont let him though. Luckily i think its going away finnaly!

Listen to the song attached below. Sister Preya showed it to me. She is seriously the most amazing lady. She is going through a difficult time right now but continues to put her trust in the savior. Such a tender song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8FdW0diox4

So while on a workover with an elder from the same group as me we had such a good time. It was so cool to see how he has grown and developed spiritually! We had so many miracles that day and want to share just a few with you. First of all we had 7 step in lessons which is way good for this area. One was with a Jehovas witness who was doing her ministry and another with a devout atheist. So so great. But the greatest one was with a man named christopher. Christopher is a 90 year old man who was walking at 8:00 at night. He was looking for his house and was not even in the general area. He was walking the opposite direction in fact. He walked slower than anyone i have ever met. Literally 6 inches at a time. We walked christopher home. I held his arm the whole way to keep him from falling. What seemed like a waste of time lead to great things. As we approaches his home after 1 hour and 20 minutes, this man yelled out the window at us saying "Elders!" We looked and saw this man waving us over. As we spoke with him he told us that about 4 months ago he was in contact with a former missionary in the area. They exchanged contact details but the missionaires never got in contact with him. He was GENUINELY interested! As i was laying in bed that night i was thinking about the experience. I realized a few things.

1. The lord works in mysterious ways: The longest walk of my life with a man that i couldnt understand lead me to someone who was prepared to hear the gospel. someone with a strong desire to learn more.

2. As we follow spiritual promptings, we will be in the right place at the right time. I remember approaching christopher and recieving the prompting to talk to him. As i did, i could hardly understand him. We found out where he needed to go and agreed to walk him there. I remember thinking "Man he is really going slow. I wonder if he would be offended if i offered to carry him home?" Thankfully i didnt. Had we made it and quicker, we may not have met the man seeking truth.

3. The Gospel of Jesus Christ allows us to come home. Just as chistopher had a difficult time finding home, we all have diffuculties that seemingly will keep us from returning home with our heavenly father. The Lord provides ways for us to return home. He gave us families, scriptures, friends, and more! He gave us a savior. Christ lived a perfect life and gave it on our behalf. As we struggle, people will be placed in our paths to hold us by the arm and say this is the way. The lord sends help in all aspects of life. He loves us more than we can comprehend.

Family thank you so much for all the support. I have grown so so much thus far on my mission. I am focusing on becoming more submissive. Putting my will totally in line with the Lords will. As i try to do my best, blessings come. The lord doesnt require perfection thankfully, he just requires our best. The atonement will make up the rest. Enjoy your thanksgiving! I love you all so so much. A month from today and we will be skyping! Exciting stuff!

All of my love,

Elder Evans

November 18, 2013

To my beloved family and friends.

 

I am in London! So Transferes came and went. I am in the Wembley area now and loving it. The ward is so much different here and im excited for it. Mainly they are all young families which i am excited for. I am with Elder Smith from Lindon Utah. He has been out about 15 months. Hes a good guy.

So here in our area we have quite a few investigators but none of which are progressing. After meeting with a lot of them they all have crazy amounts of potential they just dont understand the importance of keeping committments. So we are focusing on getting them to keep the committments we set for them so they can come to know for themselves that this is the truth here on the earth today. That through the Book of Mormon, we can grow closer to our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Its going to be a long but rewarding process and i cant wait to see the change within these people!

 

So there is a member here that i met on my second day in the area. Her name is Sister Preya. We were having a lesson with an investigator that rents a room from her. I was just getting to know her and asking her about her life. She opened up quickly and shared one of the most moving, powerful testimonies I have ever witnessed. She explained that she used to be a Muslim. She lived in Shrilanka her whole life and was married to a man for 18 years. Her husband was successful and felt that he achieved all that he could in shrilanka. So he decided he wanted to come to London. He couldnt get a visa unless she came with him so she did as she was told and applied for a student visa so she could study at the Uni here and he could work. The culture in Shrilanka teaches men that they are superior to Women. As such her husband violently beat her for their entire marrige. She never complained as that was the culture in which she knew. When they came to London she told him that it must stop as it was not accepted here. He continued to beat her and she never complained. She never told anyone. She would go out with bruises on her face and she would hide her black eyes with sunglasses. Eventually to police were informed and her husband was arrested. They split up and he persued his professional career. She explained that he has become extreemly successful as an insurance broker in London. But she has something that he doesnt. She said shortly after they split she was lonely. She didnt know what to do with herself. And thats when she was approached by the sister missionaries. They contacted her on the street and she was baptised a month later. She explained that everything that was missing from my life is now here. "I dont have the money that i use to. I have to work long hours just to barely support my family. But the church brings me more happiness than i have ever experienced in my entire life." She is one of my favoirte people i have ever met. She has been through so so much and she continues to smile. She has 2 wonderful kids. Livi who is 12 and Ovi who is 10 and possibly the funniest kid i have ever met. He likes to dance like Michael Jackson.

 

So this past week i got to teach english Class. It was an experience to say the least. Basically i read with this guy who recently converted. We read from the Primary Book of Mormon stories book. He is doing really well and told me that it was the best lesson that he has ever had which makes me question the previous lessons because i felt that it was rubbish.

 

Our District here is large. There is 5 companionships in it. 2 of the Elders were in the Mtc with me so its really fun to serve along side them. Crazy how much they have matured since i have seen them last!

 

My new companion is Elder Smith. He is from Lindon Utah and has been here for 15 months. We dont have the same personalities but it will be a learning experience for sure. He has a tendancy to teach speculative doctrine which usually confuses our investigators so im just waiting to hear from our misson president regarding how he would like me to handle the situation. Hes a good guy. His heart is in the right place he just lacks social confidence which makes it difficult for him to teach at times. We get along fine though so thats good!

 

Well family, thank you for all that you do. I love you all and hope you are doing well! Keep up the letters because i love them!

 

Elder Evans

November 12, 2013

Hello Family, Friends, Associates, etc. So transfer calls came...and I have news. I am headed down to the glorious land of Wembley! Its in London and I cant wait. 

So last week I had to go down to the doctor to get some medical things sorted out. No need to worry as everything is fine but we were there for a little bit longer than expected. We got the chance to work in London and it was so fun. Also its not nearly as cold inland which is nice. We were there on our p day so we got to go in some of the shops. The Mexican in me took me right to the jewelry section. As we continued through doors and passage ways it continually got more expensive. And then I found a jewl. It was a watch. Nothing too fancy just solid gold with rubies on the bezel for a mere £302,000. I think they do layaway which is nice. While in London i got to play some basket ball with some phillipino people. oh my was it funny. They were so feisty but loved the game. none of them broke 5 foot and they would run full speed into you in attempt to get the ball. I was crying laughing!

Bishop found out that i was leaving before he was supposed to so on Sunday he invited me up to bear my testimony. It really was a great experience. The ward has become so great and I really have grown to love the people in which that i served with. I know that i will gain that same love while in Wembley and i cant wait to learn from my new companion. 

I dont have too much time today as I have to pack all my bags and things but i do love each of you and do pray for you individually and seperately. I pray for your success, that you will continue to grow in your testimonies, that you will grow from knowing of the savior, to knowing the savior. Both our heavenly father and savior love us. They hear our prayers and send help in times of need. The atonement of Jesus Christ covers all of the struggles we encounter in life. When we feel hopeless, or alone and abandoned, when we feel that settling for less would be more appropriate, the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ will help us to move forward. Heavenly Father has so many blessings for each of us that he wants to grant unto us. He will send his blessings if we trust him.

Thank you all for everything. Your prayers in my behalf are answered. I pray for you. Hope all is well with you! All my love!

Elder Evans.

November 4, 2013

Hello!

So another week has past. wow. Yesterday we had stake conference. Elder Dyches was present with an area Authority by the name of Elder Charles. He was formerly the mission president for the Greece Athens Mission. I talked to him about Taylor and he remembered him well. He spoke very highly of him. Elder Dyches spoke very well. He was present to reorganize the Stake Presidency. It was a great meeting.

The work here is at a little bit of a stand still. Our teaching pool has shrunk and the people we do teach are afraid to commit to anything. Its quite stressful but we press on. The weather continues to get colder. Which means people stay inside. It makes contacting people more difficult. Also the sun goes down at 4 o'clock here and is pitch black by 5. When we tract houses past 5 people get quite offended for "calling this time of night." Denise and Adrian are progressing well still so that's a blessing! They said they would be at stake conference yesterday however they didn't show. It was a let down. They still love church though and we are trying to give them a baptismal date again for this month. She knows its true as well as Adrian but thinks she needs to wait for the perfect time in life to join. We continue to address her confusion from her previous religious points of view and she moves forward. Slowly but surely she progresses. 

Mrs. Karasin is doing well as always. We stressed our purpose as missionaries to her and it went really well. Before i think she was under the impression that we were there just to hang out and get away from the cold. She has a pretty cool experience. She had started a new novel and was about 25 or so pages in when she received inspiration. She recalled the challenge that we left with her to read, ponder, and pray about the book. Immediately she put down the novel and got the Book of Mormon. She is loving it! "As I continue to read it things are making more sense. I keep picking it up because I feel so much peace and happiness when i read it!" What more could we ask for!? Peace and happiness. That's what its all about.

We have a less active couple that we meet with regularly called James and Emily. So a few weeks ago I offended her on accident. She was giving reasons why she questions the church and we kind of went back and forth not arguing but "passionate points of view." It really was a turning point with them and i'm now grateful it happened because we can talk much more openly with her now. Emily has never gained a testimony for herself so each lesson we have with her we try to tie it back into praying to know. Its so clear that this is the path we must follow. Pray to know. Its in the introduction of the book for a reason. 

Today we are headed down to London for some doctors appointments. Sister Jordan said to come down early so we can enjoy the day in the city so that's what we plan on. We are staying in the Jordan's flat with them and to be quite honest were pretty excited! Next week is transfers and my stomach is in a knot just thinking about it. I am pretty sure that i'm getting transferred  At least that's the feeling that I have now. I really have come to love the people here in Gorleston and don't want to leave them! But we will see! Thank you ALL for you'r prayers, support, and love. Miracles are happening each day because of them. I hope you are all doing well! All my love and prayers!

Elder Evans

October 28, 2013

Hello family!

Sorry I wasn't able to write you this past week but things were super busy!

So with the last day of summer officially past the winter weather is quickly approaching. Last p day we spent pretty much all day trying to find coats that would work for us but no success. we will try again today though. 

We had an appointment with Denise and Adrian on p day and they are doing so well. We have been trying to see them multiple times a week to keep them progressing and last week Monday was the only day she could do it. We had a great lesson with her about the importance of prayer. Due to prior religious views she felt as though she wasn't worthy of prayer but she committed to make small steps towards communicating with Heavenly Father. We met with her again on Thursday to follow up on her prayers and to our surprise she was praying daily! What a great thing to hear! We gave her a talk by Elder Holland entitled "Lord, I believe." She was super excited to read it.

Later we had a dinner appointment with one of the coolest families ever. They are the Smiths. Sister Smith and her husband have 3 kids. However the father is not a member. He lives most of the teachings of the church but is afraid of commitment. We shared the Mormon message, "Choose this day." We were a little worried how he would take it but it went really well. We had good conversation with the family and didn't put too much pressure on him. What a blessing it was when we saw him walk into church for the first time since we have been here. Maybe it was something in the short, yet powerful clip we shared with him. Sister Smith was so happy that he was there as were we!

Tuesday was Zone Conference and it was so great! President Jordan focused his thoughts around the Great Apostasy and why people had false ideas. It was a little bit of a history lesson but so spiritual. Everything made so much sense. He explained that most of the time people forming religious sects were good people teaching good ideas the only problem was they had not the proper authority. Revelation was not a part of the decisions that were made.

Wednesday I had a Zone Leader work over  I was in Norwich with Elder Doudou from Berlin Germany. He is a great elder and i enjoyed the day with him. There are a lot of Chinese people in Norwich studying at Uni there so a lot of there investigators speak very broken English. Luckily for us the spirit speaks all languages and it was so evident that it was there in our lessons. 

While this week has been really spiritual it has also had its fair share of difficulties. A lot of things have gone wrong that have caused stress between both my companion and I. Due to our backgrounds, we often have very different points of views on things. However, when things get difficult its important to press on. So that's what I did. There was a day this past week where things just felt overbearing. I couldn't handle it anymore. I felt as though i was going to lose my temper and need an emergency transfer. At that point our bishop was an answer to my prayers. He dropped off a picture of mom and dad with a member from out here named sister Rhodes. At that point I knew that the Lord was aware of me. He saw me in my weakness and sent a simple, yet powerful message of love my way.What a truly humbling experience that was.

I hope all is well with all of you guys! Thank you for the prayers in my behalf and please continue to pray for missionary work. The Lord truly is hastening his work! People are being prepared all over the world. In an area where people are devout in their faith, where it is largely described as a mission that does not baptize, over 50 people were baptized this past month. We have baptized 3 people as a companionship in this area alone. The Lords work will continue to go forth. People are being prepared. Share with them the joy that you feel for the gospel really is for everyone!

All my love and prayers,

Elder Evans

October 14, 2013

Hello family

Not a lot of time today but i will do my best to update you on everything

Linda- so she will be baptized this next Sunday  She is so excited and has made invites for all her friends. We are still meeting with her and reading from the book of Mormon  A few years ago she use to go to a spiritualist church. She would communicate with her mom who passed away unexpectedly but realizing that it was not from heavenly sources, she stopped going. She still has experiences now where she has paranormal experiences within her home but does not pay any attention to them. She told us that she understands that the temptation from Satan has increased since she has been baptized  she said a few days ago she was watching tv and heard a scratching and pounding on the floor behind her. she thought if she would just ignore it it would leave. The noise became increasingly louder so out loud she exclaimed, "oh my goodness will you give it a rest im trying to watch the teley!" She has a way of always making us laugh. She is having her dad baptize her and she said she is worried that he wont be able to lift her up out of the water. she was talking to him about this concern and asked do you think you will be able to lift me? He gave her the reassuring response of "i guess we will see wont we." haha so funny

Denise and Adrian- so they came to church for the first time this last week! We were soooooo happy when we saw them come in. The members received them so well and they fit right in. They loved the experience and stayed for the entire 3 hours. we haven't been able to meet with them for a few weeks due to schedules but we will see them this week for sure. So as you know the church uses bells to alert you when we have 5 minutes remaining. she wasn't aware of the meaning of the bell and they were singing in class and was amazed that everyone remained calm and continued to sing during the fire alarm. haha

New investigators- so we have a few new people this week that we are teaching. We found a lady who is about 70 named Mrs. Karasin. She is literally the nicest lady that i have ever met. She got a book of Mormon before and read it and said that she was amazed because she felt at peace when she read it. Golden! She then proceeded to tell us that she no longer has a copy because her sister-in-law borrowed it because she told her about the happiness it brought her. She is doing missionary work without even realizing it! We taught her the restoration of the gospel and how the book came about and she received it so well. She came to church on Sunday as well.

We also found a family! Her name is Christine and she has 4 kids. She told us that she has always wanted to know more about our faith but didn't know where to start. We met with her once a week and a half ago but was not able to get in touch with her for awhile. We stopped by on Saturday night and finnaly talked to her! We invited her out to church and she came with 2 of her kids! They stayed for all 3 hours as well which was wonderful. we are meeting with her tomorrow so hopefully she was able to feel the spirit.

So i have a new favorite talk. Its from Holland and called none were with him. I would encourage you guys to read it as it brought so much understanding to me regarding the Atonement. There is also a Mormon message regarding it. It talks about how Christ was prepared both physically and intellectually for the sacrifice he was to make but how he may not have anticipated the feelings from a spiritual side. Watch it, read it, or watch the Mormon message but it really is wonderful. i will attach the link for the Mormon message.

http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=911129090001

i am doing great out here. I continue to learn and grow. I am learning things that i didn't anticipate a mission would teach me. Like how i really cant stand a dirty living space. Dirty dishes drive me up a wall and even more so a dirty desk. I have bought Desk organizers, paper clips, hole punchers, and numerous other stationary items to try and maintain a clean space to work in. I feel like dad in that aspect and when i see my papers, neatly paper clipped in prioritized stacks but it is fine by me! I love this work and love my savior. Everything we do goes back to the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. What a blessing and privilege it is to serve him!

All my love,

Elder Evans

October 7, 2013

Hello!

2 months into my mission now and i honestly don't know where the time is going. however, i am having the time of my life and wouldn't trade it for the world. I remember before my mission Aaron told me laughing that i have no idea what to expect. That each day will be harder than the last and i will experience exhaustion like i have never experienced before. I now can relate. I am always tired. We get home at 9 and i have little to no energy and then we must plan for tomorrow. we finish that and then we update area book. By the time we change out of our clothes keeping my eyes open is a struggle. I fall asleep in companionship prayers and tell my companion that "i was just thinking." However, as difficult as it is, i have never experienced so much joy. I have never woken up so tired but so ready to conquer the day. I know that we have planed with a purpose by the guidance of the spirit and i can not wait to visit the people that we have scheduled in. I arise. I pray and try to exercise as hard as i can in the short 30 minutes that has been allotted  We get prepared for the day and at 8 a.m. the day starts. I am amazed at how often i study a section that seems random at the time but recognizing that its good, i do it. later in the day an investigator has a question about that exact topic i studied and i would not know the answer had i not. Coincidence or the spirit? Call it what you wish. i believe that coincidence is simply when the lord chooses to remain anonymous so i am happy with either choice. 

So we have another lady on date for baptism and she is so wonderful.Her name is Linda she is around 55 and will be baptised on the 21st of this month. She is the sister-in-law to the first counselor in the stake presidency. We teach her weekly and I always enjoy going there. She is so so funny. She tells us such funny stories. She was telling us that she had a friend who was telling her about the micro-pigs she had. she said how cute they were and so linda demanded to see them. She took her to the area in which they were held and in Lindas own words "I walked up to where she pointed and there was a wall about neck high. I looked over the wall and about fell over backwards. The thing was as big as a horse! Put his big ol' snout in my face like i knew him!" hahaha we were laughing so hard we were crying. Her dad is also a hoot. The ward had an activity where they were preparing 72 hour kits. He brought his into the activity as an example. He rolled up in nothing less than the best. you would think that you would put it in a backpack like most people but realizing that it would be heavy he put his thinking cap on. His 72 hour kit is in a shopping trolly. Linda was making fun of him at the dinner table and he was like "you wait. Theres gonna be a natural disaster and you're gonna be begging me for my trolly." He proceeded to give her some things that "she must have in her kit." Complete with Mashed potatoes that expired in 1977. Super wonderful family

Denise and Adrian are another family that we are trying to get on date for this month. They are friends of some members in the ward here and are progressing well. She was formerly a Jehovah witness but was disfellowshipped for getting a boyfriend not of there faith. Denise is probably 42 and Adrian, her son is 9. Everything makes sense to her and its wonderful. I will keep you updated on them.

Mom and dad a lady in my ward here is from Alpine. She just went back and has been trying to get in touch with you. I gave her your address and phone numbers. She is really great. Her name is sister Rhodes. Let me know if you get in touch with her. She could use some befriending.

Conference was absolutely amazing. Watching it as a missionary puts a whole new light on the experience. We watched it at our ward mission leaders home. It was quite strange with the time change. We watched the Saturday Morning session at 5pm on Saturday so that was live. We watched the priesthood session on Sunday at 10am. The Sunday morning session was watched live at 5pm on Sunday  We missed the afternoon sessions unfortunately but we will watch them soon. I loved Uchtdorfs talk in the Saturday morning session. He was so powerful. It is perfect for a less-active and part member family we have. He was so clear and loving in his address that you can not deny that there is something different within him. 

I am slowly but surely converting the people of England over to root beer. There is a recent convert whose name is Carl who absolutely loves it. I have a theory that i just thought of so it must be revelation. If i cant convert them to the gospel straight away I will start with Root Beer. As they come and see that it in fact is wonderful, they will see that we have common ground. As we sit and talk about how much happiness it brings to our lives it leads right into the plan of salvation. I will tell them that although it is hard to believe, the gospel of jesus christ brings us more happiness than root beer. boom, just like they they're walking into the waters of baptism. I will try it and let you all know how it works out.

I love you all and love your letters. keep them up! I pray for you and enjoy seeing your lives progress. i am jealous that you got to watch conference together as a family. Thank you for all that you do. i appreciate your prayers and see the blessings from them daily.

all my love 

Elder Evans

October 1, 2013

hello family

so transfers have passed and i received news that i will be staying in Gorleston for another transfer with Elder Adams! I was way excited to hear this.

So we went to London Yesterday for a meeting and that's why i wasn't able to write you guys. sorry about that. So usually after 3 weeks in the field they have they new missionaries come down and talk with president with any issues that they may be having but since we had a baptism on that day i had to go at a later time. I was with all the kids learning to speak english so the lessons and training were centered around learning the language. there were some funny things said though so i enjoyed the experience. after the meeting we had some time to kill because our train didn't depart back to our area until 5 so we went around to see some sites close by. we walked through Westminster chapel which was pretty wild. I had pictures but forget my camera back at the flat unfortunately. So the chapel that the church has in London is right in the center of all the tourism so they get a lot of exposure. There use to be a house there but it was bombed by hitler and the church bought the land shortly after. There are still chunks taken out of surrounding buildings from the debris hitting the building. pretty cool to see. Directly accross the street from the chapel is the natural history museum so it really gets a ton of exposure. On the way back our train broke down about 30 minutes outside of London with a 2 hour journey ahead of us. Luckily another train was coming so everyone from our train got on another packed train. we were standing for the majority of the time but managed to have some good conversations with those around us. There was a man on the train from the states who we managed to converse with for quite awhile. He was trying to twist church doctrine to work against the things we were saying but after awhile he realized that we would talk with him but we wouldn't debate. One of my favorite things to do is testify to people that attempt to bash on our religion. The whole attitude and demeanor of the person changes before your eyes because of a few simple statements. President taught us that when conversing with someone and we dont know what to say just say what you know. i was able to bear testimony to him that i knew that joseph smith saw what he said he saw. That the Gospel of Jesus Christ is on the Earth today and as missionaries we simply invite people to taste of its glad message. We do not force anything upon anyone but rather help them to feel of the spirit. We help them recieve a personal witness for themselves and then let them decide what they wish to do with what they have recieved. As i spoke i know the spirit was working within him. He felt the passion in the words i spoke and his entire attitude changed. Without the spirit, we can do nothing. But as we recognize that we allow ourselves to become a vessel for him to work within. I opened my mouth not knowing what to say but the spirit provided the things that were perfect for him at that time. No we did not get an appointment out of him. No we did not leave him with a book of mormon. No we didnt even leave him with a card. But we planted that seed within him. He could not deny that i knew the things that I knew for he felt the spirit as we testified to him. One day his heart will be softened. He will put his pride aside and recognize that this is the true church. When we follow the promptings of the spirit as we testify to people something we say will resonate within them long after you depart. 

i realize that i kind of went on a rant there but it really was a great experience. The work here in gorleston continues to move forward. This transfer we want to focus a lot on reactivation because it is a huge part of the ward mission plan. President Hinkley said it best regarding reactivation when he said missionary work is absolutely pointless if we do not retain the fruits of our labors. If people joined the church initially for the right reasons they can be reminded of the feelings they felt at baptism. they can be reminded of the reason they joined the church initially and it will be a spiritual experience for them. 

I am so happy that you are all doing so well. I love the pictures of the tin foil on your heads. Its true. you can never be too careful. We have to block those frequencies. I pray for all of you and your well being and thank you for the prayers that are said in my behalf. I know prayers are answered and miracles are brought to pass through them. Do all you can to do something good for those around you. service is great missionary work! Love you all!

Please send more family pictures via e mail!

Elder Evans

September 23, 2013

hello family

so this past week Maria got baptized! It was really great. she was baptized by our ward mission leader named brother Clulow and confirmed by Brother Gibson. Brother Gibson is a member who comes teaching with us often. He is an older man who is really funny without knowing it. so during her confirmation we were all gathered in the circle and brother Gibson got the wording mixed up and had to say the prayer over again. brother clulow tried to help him out by whispering in his ear the correct way to say it. Brother Gibson stopped in the middle of his word and into the mic exclaimed to brother clulow "don't confuse me!" haha it was really funny and the entire circle of men was shaking trying to  hold in the laughter. 

We met this guy in our ward who use to fight for England apparently. He is a way cool guy and his training gym is just down the street from our flat. He told us that the missionaries use to come train there multiple times a week and everyone loved having them. Lately people have been asking "where are the missionaries?" So we approved it with our president and he said that we could go train in his gym a few evenings a week as long as we talked about the gospel with people and set appointments. So we are way excited for it. Obviously its no contact but will still be a good time. The ward member told me that i have to have a push up competition with him so it will be pretty awkward but funny.

So there are sisters serving in the same area as us and yesterday we had lunch over at the Bishops together. Both sisters are from Brazil and love singing hymns. Without any notice they informed us that part of their lesson was to sing and we were to join with them. It was a song that neither of us had heard and it was extra awkward. The whole time I was having flash backs of my singing class in Idaho. Elder Adams and I were crying laughing. Sister Neves exclaimed after the song in her broken English "you sing no beautiful." haha

so Transfers are in a week now. I cant believe that its already that time. I have no idea where the time went and really don't want to leave the area or my companion. We get along so well feel as though we are finally settling into the area. We are making connections with the members and they are giving us people to teach. The chances that I stay here are slim and even less likely are the chances that I stay here with elder Adams. There will be another 32 missionaries coming in this next transfer putting the total number of missionaries in the London England mission at 234. When President and Sister Jordan got here 14 months ago there was 112. As of last week there was 76,500 missionaries currently in the field and serving and that number continues to increase. The work of the lord continues to move forward. 

I love you all and continue to pray for you. I hope you are all doing great! continue to go forward in faith.

Elder Evans 

September 17, 2013

Family, Friends, and all others who read this message

I am so grateful this week as i have witnessed many miracles that have strengthened my testimony. i am sorry if i dont get the chance to write you each a personal letter but know that i am reading your letters and do enjoy them. time is the only thing that keeps me from responding to each of you with a personal letter. Forgive me. 

I didn't get the chance to e mail yesterday because we had interviews in Norwich (town about an hour away) with president as a Zone. What a great experience that was. We received training's from both sister And President Jordan. They are truly inspired people who have the spirit with them. You can feel the love within them as you speak with them. What a blessing it was to have attended that meeting. Just a few thoughts that i took away from that meeting. We know that Jesus is the Great Shepherd. He gathers his sheep for they recognize his voice. He has instructed us to feed his sheep thus making us an under shepherd. We have a choice as to what type of under shepherd we can be. We can look to the Savior who is our ultimate example and do as he would do. or we can be a hireling. Someone who is hired to do a task and agrees to do a job because of the profit involved. As we read how Christ gathers the sheep we read that he leads his sheep for they know his voice and he knows each of them by name. This is what we are to do. As we gain a testimony of the gospel we are able to taste of the fruit that it bears. As we taste of its fruit it becomes our desire to share it with others so they too can see that it is great. As we follow the spirit and teach about the gospel, and we all have the responsibility to teach in our various capacities, weather it be by example or a more formal setting, the message will seem familiar to that person. It makes sense deep within them. As we continue teaching them they realize why this message is familiar. They lived with Christ before this life. We were sent down to gain a body and be tested. Christ literally took upon the sins of the world so that we may return to live with him in Celestial Glory. Without this sacrifice it would literally be impossible to return to live in the presence of our father. We are all imperfect but through Christ, as we take part in the repentance process, our sins are remembered no more. We are able to be clean from sin thus allowing us to be happy. What a great message we share. What a blessing it is to know these things to be true. I know how the gospel has blessed my life. For that reason i am out here sharing this message to show that we can achieve greater happiness through Jesus Christ. The Gospel is Universal yet so personal. Every person needs it in there life. The Lord has prepared and continues to prepare hearts to feel of this joy. i have witnessed changed hearts for myself. 

quick update on some of our investigators

Maria: she will be baptized this Saturday. She is 35 years old from Portugal and excited beyond belief. I told her that the church only asks one thing and that is that she will sing a solo at the service. her face dropped. after i told her i was kidding she started laughing and told me that if that was the case she was pulling a no show.

Ian Brown: He has had the Book of mormon for about 2 weeks now and is almost into Alma. He has built my testimony so much. When we began teaching he was right next to Atheist. He wanted there to be a God but since all the bad in to world thought that there was no way. He kept committments and agreed to Church, Prayer, and Reading. As he did this a change came over him. Overnight he went from trying to drop us, exclaiming that we were wasting our time, to a full believer in Jesus Christ. He continues to read from the book of mormon and prays to know if it is true daily. 

Amlica: more of a funny story than anything as he is simply investigating for his theology course but we meet with him about once a week anyways. He needs the gospel just as much as anyone. so he tried to criticise us saying that we don't read from the bible at all. after getting a little frustrated with him and explaining that we do in fact read from it and believe in its words he came back with the only response he could think of. he looked at us with a blank expression and with his strong British accent, he hesitantly stated so simply "well...if it aint the bible than its gotta be voo doo." 

we have many other investigators but my time is limited here. Family know that i love and appreciate each of your letters. keep them up! i pray for you all daily specifically. I know that this gospel is true and blesses life. it changes lives. With Christ nothing is impossible. Please send family pics, or any pics. i love them. If i was homesick i would say otherwise for they might be hard to see but regarding homesickness..."aint nobody got time fo' dat."

All my love

Elder Evans