Nov 26 2012

Dear All,

Haha i thought youd all might like that about the Three Amigos. I really wanna see that movie now that i am hear in Mexico. But that can wait i guess. 

So it is great hearing that you all had a great thanksgiving. My thanksgiving i guys was kind of like a normal day. At the end of the day we went to a recent members house, Rosalva, and we made carne, beans, tortillas, and then for desert we ate Arroz con leche. Now i know beans and carne arnt really tipical thanksgiving food, but we were hungry and ate it all happily. 

This week went by really fast! I almost dont remember what i did this week becasue it feels like it just started and ended. The focus of the week has been on the familia that will get baptized this coming sunday. Julia (mom) and Emily y Eder (2 kids). This week among many of the things week talked to them about and taught, i really like the day we just went to watch a movie. The movie is called Finding Faith in Christ. Its a really great movie and shows many of the times that Jesus helped and healed others. My favorite thing about this movie is that when ever Jesus is about to heal someone he always askes if they believe that they can be healed or if they have faith. And after they answer and say they have faith, Jesus well heals them. I like it alot because it got me thinking. Jesus Christ can help everyone of us with everyone of our needs or problems, and not only that but he is willing and happy to help us. But we need to first have faith. If we dont believe that we can accomplish something or just dont show our faith by praying and asking for help well that we arnt doing our part and we may not quiet recieve the help that Christ was willing to give us if we had faith. Also, something i have seen here with the people or mexico (because here in mex is an extremely religious place) is that those that have a big belief in Christ and faith that he is there with them are just a generally more happy people. Well we showed that movie to the family and they really loved it and actually asked if they could barrow it from us. We lent it to them for a few more days and they watched it a few more times. Now this week will be focused on helping them get baptized this coming sunday.

Well what more can i say...... oh yes. So i got a haircut. I dont know if i have talked about this yet but the haircutting places are super cheap. Like today i spent 20pesos (1.50$) for a haircut. When walking around my area i see some other places offering to cut hair for 40pesos (3.25$) and all my mexican companions say thats really really expensive, and that its only that expensive because we are on the boarder. I then tell them that i would cut my hair for like 10$ (130pesos) or 15$ (165pesos) at some places and they look at me like i am crazy. I mean yeah the haircuts here arnt like super professional 4 yrs of college and 2 yrs of practicing quality but they actually give pretty good haircuts here. It will be hard for me to return and pay anything more that a few dollar for a haircut now. 

Well i got to go. 

Sorry i didnt take any pictures this week.

Love 

Elder Evans

Nov 19 2012

Mis amados familia y amigos

So i will first answer or talk about a few of the questions you sent me. Here the weather is definitely cooling down a whole bunch. Its like 60 out and maybe 55 at night. I am still just fine wearing tshirt but everone else needs to have their sweaters. Ok so speaking of sweaters... I remember in the movie 3 Amigos (older movie, with those 3 funny guys who acters in the movie but the little town thinks that all their movies are real and so they think that they can save them from that one dude) well in the movie the bad guy has is given a big ugly sweater for his birthday from some of his friends. Well i used to think it was funny because, well why would you wear a sweater in mexico! its crazy hot in mexico! Well now i think its funny because they actually use sweaters here... all year around. Even when i think its super hot out i will still find a few people wearing a sweater or jacket. Ok.. now back on track... you asked about Thanksgiving, here in Tijuana there are still people who celebrate thanksgiving. Just about all the members atleast. I believe  my ward has had thanksgiving pot-lucks in past years. Idk about this year though. 

OH yeah i did get the packege a little while ago, muchísimos gracias! i forgot to inform u of that the week i got it. 

In this ward, yeah there are members that do family home evening regularly but not too many. I had more FHEs with the members in my last ward. 

The elders in my District are: Hernandez, Toledo (LD), Bowers from NJ,USA, Judd from San Jose Cali (he went to Leigh High),  and some other Elder (forgot his name, hes from Panama)

Now to talk about the borritos here. Ok so rarely ever do i eat a real burritos here. I guess here is more of a Taco place. When people do sell burritos they are usually pretty small, there are some places that sell really big burritos too, but not as many. And the burritos are not a whole lot like chipotle and nothing like tacobell. Generally if i want burritos i have to make my own. When eating at a persons house they usually put all the stuff seperatly on our plates (beans, chicken, carne, rice,.. ect) and then have the tortillas off to the side. The right way too eat this kind of a meal is roll up your tortilla and then us it to push the food onto the fork and then eat the food and then take a bite out of your tortilla. Its not all that common to put the food into your tortilla and then eat it like a taco or barrito. I personally think its tastier when you but the food in the tortilla like a burrito. Oh and speaking of tortillas, people eat there tortillas like crazy here. When we arrive at someones house to eat and they dont have tortillas the first appologise to us for not having tortillas and then they send there kid to go get some. 

We will see how this holiday season goes here, its wierd, this will be the first one where i wont be home for. But i am sure i will have a good time. 

So today we had a ward activity that we actually just got back from. (thats why i am writing late) It was really fun. We played a whole lot of soccer (by the way, i am not that bad at the sport, i remember i was horrible before the mision), then we played basketball and then volleyball. I remember in burnsville that just about all the young men played basketball (maybe not in a league but for fun atleast) here its pretty different. I dont think a single one of them plays much at all, and they all thought that because i am american i am really good at basketball. Not true! They were surprised when i told that i hardly ever played before the mission, and hardly know the rules haha. Well not only did we play sports but we were also served lunch there. Hamburgers! there were delicious. Oh yeah and i have really come to love putting jalapeño chilis and avacato in my burgers allong with the normal stuff. Its really good, i cant remember anyone at home doing it but you should all try it. 

So i feel that this email was very food centered...well i hope it gets you all hunger for thanksgiving!

Now i will share with you my favorite escritura:

2 Nephi 31:19-20

 19 And now, my beloved brethren, after ye have gotten into this strait and narrow path, I would ask if all is done? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for ye have not come thus far save it were by the word of Christ with unshaken faith in him, relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save.

 20 Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.

In 19 it talks about a strait and narrow path and at the end of that path, where we all want to get to, is Eternal Life living with our Father in Heaven. Well now to back track a little bit, before one can fallow down the path and gain Eternal Life, one first needs to find the path or get on the path. Earlier in this chapter it talks about just how we can do that. First we need faith, repentence, baptism, and recieve the Holy Ghost and then we find our selves on the path. 

I love teaching about this stuff, the Gospel of Jesus Christ

Ok well i got to go

Love you all

ELder Evans

 

eating (possibly working the grill) at a P-day/ward activity

He still gets hamburgers in Mexico

 

Nov 12 2012

Queridos Familia y amigos

Its good hearing all about the wedding. I guess its still pretty hard to imagine the changes that are going on while i am here so the wedding being a really big change in all is a little harder to imagine. But i am really happy for you Katie and i wish you two the best! Wish i could have been there with ya guys. That must have been really cool to have soo much family over and to be able to see everyone again.

So the week went pretty normal. I really enjoy Elder Hernandez as a companion. He really chill and easy to get along with. A lot of this week seemed to be spent with meetings with other missionaries. They are usually focused on what we have been struggling with whether its Bautismos, lecciones, lecciones con miembros,...ect and how we can get improve. They are pretty fun actually, its just they take up a lot of time. But its cool listing to what our Mission President has to say to all of us, idk if i have mentioned it be hes a pretty funny guy. These meeting that we had was focused on our use of time in the mornings. We have a little schedule in the mornings of when we get up, excersise, and when we should be studying. This was on how we can more effectivily use our time set asside to studying for our investigaters and their needs.

Besides our little meetings scattered all about the week the other highlight of the week was this saturday. We had a baptism for the girl Katia. Normally we hold baptisms sundays because its more difficult for the members to attend any other day. But so that the family could go we had to hold it on saturday. Saturday was a pretty cool day, apperently, or atleasts thats what what everyone was saying. I of course felt fine with the normal tshirt that i wear. It took place at night (6:00pm), maybe not quite night but it was pretty dark out. Everyone was cold, except me.

Well i love you all! Got to go!
Bye
Elder Evans

Nov 5 2012

Hello again.
So i know i didnt quiet finish the other letter but its because i ran out of time and thought that i would have a little bit more time to finish it... i was wrong.
I cant remember if i was even going to say much more other then, i am doing great ( not sick) but yeah that was like a few weeks ago.
Ok so mission update, we just had transfers and i am now suriving in........ the same place haha :) but im good with that. Though my companions changed. E Zuniga went to work in the offices, and i am now with E. Hernandez from Veracruz. He is a great guy, very fun. I have actually worked with him before, but that was when i had just arrived to TJ and i went on changes. I remember i had the hardest time understanding a single word he said because he slurrrs his words like crazy, and now i actually understand him.... most of the time haha.
Oh and to answer your question about the P in spanish, my shirt ripped.
So this week went by really fast. One reason being that it was the last of this transfer and that there was a lot of things to do before the change, like clean the house, say goodbye, eat at certain members tacostands haha.
Another reason being that halloween and day of the dead happened during the week. Guess what! They celabrate halloweeen here more then day of the dead! Halloween day we went to visit some members and some recent converts to eat with them. Starting at like 6 we started to see kids dressed up in costumes and they started going around asking for candy. Where we say "trick or treat" they say either "Truco o dulce" which is the translation or they say "tricky tricky" which i am guessing is them attemting to say "trick or treat". We Tried visiting some investagaters but they wer all out with their kids asking for candy. Ok now i will talk about what happened  on Dia del Muerte... no pasó nada! Well maybe some people may have had a few parties or something but nothing really seemed to be different about the night, that we saw.
Now this past week in teaching. Nothing to exciting happened but that is this one girl who we are helping prepare for baptism. Her mom is member but has been inactive for quiet a long while. I believe i have talked about them before. The mom (Tana) has a ton of problems both health wise and finanially but she wants the best for her daughter (Katia) and she knows that part of that means geting her active in the church and for her to learn of the Gospel of Christ. So we are teaching here, well the basics haha. Like who is Jesus Christ, what he did, what we must do, whos Jose Smith, why is it important to read the scriptures, and how we have a prophet in these days. It really reminds me of my days teaching Primery, i miss those days. I wouldnt mind coming back from the mission to the same calling again ;) She is going to be baptised this saturday.
Other then that, we are also working with the family of Hno Oswaldo. They went to church this past sunday, i was really happy. I really want the best for the family! I will tell you more of them later.
So this saturday we did two things. Eat fish and helped build a roof. Ok so we didnt alot more then just those two things that whole day but i only have pics of those two things. The fish as you can see in the pic was really tasty! It was given to us by some neighbors of the Otay missionaries. I really had to be careful, it was the first time i had eaten fish like that with all the bones and everthing. The fish had a lot of little tiny pointy bones that i almost swallowed and would have surely been the death of me but luckally i didnt swallow any :)
Now about the roof. That is like a multi day service project and are probably going to return next sat to work on it again. The roof is for a sister in the ward that has only been a member for 1 yr. I actually know that missionaries that taught her. She is really strong in the church and goes ever sunday. She is an amazing lady and cooks just as amazing too! Just about all of the members love her. So what i have learned here is that building a house, roof or something of the sort is quite different then in the states. Here i have not seen a single blueprint, plans, or anything. They just start building with what they got, cut everything and make the mesurements on the spot, and use all the resources that they can. It was really fun.

Well got to go, but before i go... I hope all goes well for you all! Felizidades Katie! Wish i could be there soooo bad! Its actually had to believe that i am really missing the wedding.
Love you all!

the fish

EJ ate the fish

EJ on the roof