Nov 24 2013

Dear everyone,

So this week got a little bit colder here in tijuana. During the day its not really cold at all but in the morning at 630 it feels pretty cold. Especially in the house because the house is made of solid concrete or brick and there is no instalation. We also dont have any gas, that ran out about a few weeks ago and we have been showering with really cold water. The water actaully feels like it was refregerated somewhere, thats how cold it feels. This past week i actually bought myself a sweater. The one i am  wearing in the photo. The year before i went pretty much the whole winter in short sleeves, so i know i can do it again but i really liked the sweater haha.

So this week we had our first real big rain fall and in all the time i have been here on the mision it was my first time being in a lightning storm, i really enjoyed it. Thursday was when it rained, it started to rain and hail at 330 when we were finishing up a lesson with a less active. From that point on we had like 2 appts and a whole bunch of plans but no one was home so we ended up be out in the rain for the whole storm. Alot of things got soaked, but thankfully out of all that got wet my camara and scriptures stayed dry. It was very interesting becasue here there i no drainage system so half of the streets were made into rivers, and we walked through water that got up halfway to our knees. I still have a few things hanging out to dry like my jacket and shoes. 

So i am really excited for this xmas season, i have seen a few decorations put up, but not too much. A few xmas light here and there. My bishop has probably the must decor that i have seen here. Nothing outside but inside the house he has a whole bunch of lights, holly, other stuff, and their tree. His house is pretty close to what i am used to seeing in the states. Probably more cali style then anything. Oh and this week me and my comp will be eating at my ward mision leaders house for thanksgiving. 

Well here in terms of work, our investagator that was progressing the most just moved to Montaray so thats a bummer but i am almost certain that she will look up the elders there. She told us that she even knows where the church is there. We had a few people assist church with us, it was a good surprise because the 3 that came were 3 that wernt really progressing but now i think they will be able to progress better and be more accepting to baptism. We will be going to visit them tomorrow. 

Well love you all,

Elder Evasn

ps. could u send me andies mints i really wanna make the cookies here for xmis but they dont sell them here. Andies mints and maybe chocolate chips are all i really need at the moment and probably wont be needing anythiing else until i get home :)

 

A set of abandoned weights they found

a downpour

 

Nov 18 2013

Dear Everyone,

Im glad you guys had a mostly amazing time in the Florida keys. It sounds like a really cool place, very different from minnasota. So do you guys know why dad got sick or passed out? 

So another week has past here in the Buenas Aires Ward. I think i only have like 11 or 10 weeks left. Im not really sure. Elder Rendon and i are working together again and we are working pretty hard. One of the goals that we are setting is to talk with everyone we meet and try and put an appointment with them to share the gosple. Now the majority of the contacts my not progress but we are deffinitely seeing some of the blessings of talking to everyone, we have more appointments each day and we have more people to teach. Its also very interesting meeting new people. Let me tell you, here in tijuana there are people of all different types. For example, i have taught people who grew up here in tj but really dont know anything about tj, good humble families that come from another state in mex looking for work, druggies or alcoholics, people deported from all different places in USA, people that have just spend time in the Salt Lake City jail, and people that were part of some pretty crazy gangs in LA Cali. Obviously we dont teach people that pose a threat to us so there is no need to worry. All the poeple that we teach are cool people just with very different stories.

I really enjoy teaching the gosple, expecially when i see hope that it brings the people that i am teaching. We are teaching a woman named M_____ and she has really takin an interest to the gosple. We started teaching here about a week ago and she is already reading in Alma. She has gone to church once and two RS activities and she loves it. The only sad part is that she is planing on moving back to Veracruz before december so we wont be able to be with her for the whole conversion process but she has already told us that if she leaves she knows exactly were the church is in veracruz and will keep going to church and we have her address so we can send the missionaries to find her. 

We are also teaching a guy named I____ who is actually from TX and he has gone to church 3 time, he goes every other week because that is what his work allows. He works 24hr then rests 24hr. Basically all he does is "gaurd" stay in a house that has been confenscated by the gov. He can basically do what he wants there as long as he is at the house and awake. He is really cool and has a date set for 12 of Dec. He still has a ways to go to being prepared for baptism, he needs to stop drinking. 

So this week we were walking around and found a house that has a whole bunch of house sized cages filled with different types a birds and we also saw monkeys. It looked like a mini zoo. It was pretty cool, we decided on knockin on the door and tried to set a teaching appointment with the owner but she turned us down very nicely haha. Oh well, it was worth a shot. 

Well i only have one transfer left after this, i doubt i will be here when i leave. They will probably move me out this next transfer. Love Elder Evans

 

 

 

 

 

Nov 10 2013

Hey mom and dad in florida!

Wow i cant believe it is november already. October went by super fast. 

I heard that Enders Game was out in theaters, here they have ads for all the movies that are coming out all over tijuana. So was it good? You think they did a good job of making the populer book into a popular movie? In a few months maybe i will be able to see it haha, i also heard that Thor 2 is out and that it is real good.

I have heard very little of the Philippines here, Just that there was a storm. I didnt know it was that bad! I really hope there werent any missionaries affected by it. How very sad. So basically what is left of the place? So what are the missionarys going to do that were assigned to there? Is Ellen going to stay were she is and continue working like normal?

So as you all know i had transfers today, but surprisingly i stayed here in Buenas Aires and my new companion is Elder Rendon (ex companion from Mexicali). I am assuming that in the the next transfer i will be leaving. Elder Haro and i finish the transfer pretty well, we found new people to teach and the work here is starting to left up again. We are still trying to set some baptismal dates but have yet to put any. Hopefulling this week we will be able to. As always on those transfer days im really tired so this letters not going to be that long but i was able to send photos.  In to picture of us eating tacos, we were with the bishop and his wife. the other family is of a family that i baptised when i was in industrail, got to see them again because industrail is in the same stake.

Well i hope you two have an amazing time in Florida

Love you all!

Elder Evans

Nov 4 2013

Hey!

Btw dropbox isnt really working to well on this comp so i cant see the pitures or send them so no photos until next week. 

So this is the last week of trasfers. Im actually looking forward to these transfers. I think i will be leaving this sector and the next sector will possibly be my last. But that also means that if you send me mail through my bishop i might not get it if i leave. 

Oh btw, did you guys try any of the water flavors or finish off the chacachacas?

So this week we had a special zone conference where we got to hear from a Area Seventy named Allen Walker. When we first heard his name i thought he was going to be american, then i saw him and his wife and i thought "yup definitely american", then i heard them both speak....definitely not american. They are actually from Argentina and they have a really strong/different accent then to what i am used to. It was really really cool listening to them speak, for the message they shared and for their accent. I have decided it would be fun to learn an Argentine accent. 

The message that Sister Walker shared was about being in tune with the spirit, companion, and the investagator. And the message that Elder Walker shared was about talking with everyone possible.

What i learned is that i need to do everything possible to have the spirit with me so that the spirit can testify to whom ever i am teaching, also that i need to be on the same page as my comp and we both have to be on the same page as our investagator (listening to them and then we the spirit will tell us what it is we need to teach to help them out in the best way possible). I also have to work harder on inviting everyone to come unto Christ, from the people we see in the streets to the people we sit next to in the busses.

We have been having a lot of trouble right now in this area in finding people that progress. We are working really hard with the members doing what we can for referals. We havnt recieved to many. But we have decided that if we do our best and talk with everyone we can the Lord will bless us with more work. 

Well i love you all!

ELder Evans