Welcome home!

 

Notice the thumb's up? He'll probably be doing that for a while still.

Feb 3 2014

it still hasnt hit too hard, yesterday i had my going home interview... that was when it started to sink in.

the truth is that it all feels like a dream.

in church i gave my testamony but nothing more. 

 

[Mother's note: I will post pictures of his return home here and then I will be done updating this blog. Thank you for joining us! And yes, the above is all we got in the way of email this week. I think he'd rather talk than write and he's saving up his talking for when he sees us]

Jan 27 2014

[This is the second to last email--Next Monday will the the last email from Elder Jimmy. On Feb 4th, he comes home]

yeah i do believe they give us time to write next monday haha.

haha i will have to take hayley out driving then. wait is she alowed to drive with me in the car because i am an adult? haha i have spun out a few time too. acually there was one time that i did 360s. so did you guys get scared when you started spining?

It will be cool seeing the difference between missions. I learn in the scriptures about why mexico is a lot easier to baptise and teach. it is in like 3nefi20 i think when the Lord talks about house the house of israel (lemanites) would be blessed then loss those blessing and be taken over by the gentiles then be freed and blessed again and recieve the fulness of the gospel. so they were promised sense the beginning that they were going to be a Christ believing people. Everyone here believes in Christ. 

The pics are really cool. Cant wait to see you all!

Love Elder Evans

Jan 19 2014

Wow i cant wait to feel what ethan must be going through right now. I really cant wait to see you all and ethan, nick, and tyler (the other friend in the pic) [mother's note: I sent EJ a picture I took of Ethan, who just got returned home from his mission in Malaysia this past Thursday, surrounded by brothers and friends that EJ knows]

The im starting to get more used to being with my comps. there pretty cool. It took a little bit you get used to them. They are very hard working and good at teaching so our lessons are pretty dang powerful and you can feel the spirit realy well. E. Meza know a ton about the scriputers. And E. clingo is a califonrian and likes to surf. 

So this week we had our first baptism! Becasue of the time and the lack of gadgets i wont be able to send fotos but in 2 weeks i will be able to show you all the fotos ive taken. 

I dont know what more to write because its hard to think super fast. becasue we are really short on time and have an appointment like right now. 

I cant wait to see you all!!!!!!

Love you all 

Bye!

Ps are my black plad shorts still there? i feel like i will get home with very little clothing (thats not missionary clothes).... ahaha

Jan 13 2014

Right now i am with elder meza and clingo, and i am here in ward riveras del bosque in the stake florido.

We had changes because the pres was reorganizing a lot of the mission and because i had a ton of time in buenas aires he took me out but because i am going home soon he put me two other elders that have a lot of work so that i could go home with a lot of work and baptising, because were i was there wasnt a whole lot of work and we were really battling for baptisms.

all though there is so much work here i always feel pressed for time even on pday.

im really excited to see you all in 3 weeks. 

sorry for writing so little but in 3 weeks i will be able to tell you all about my time here in person :D

Jan 6 2014

Hey mom i sent a little letter to dad and i dont realy have much time to write because there were changes today, and i moved to another area. i will tell ya all about it next week

love ya

bye

[Mother's note: Dad won't be in his office until Wednesday, dangit! Note to missionary sons: ALWAYS send the main email to your mother!]

WHAT. THE. HECK.

WTH squared.

Note the fab hair

Dec 30 2013

Christmas here was also pretty relaxing! Monday was a half day because the Pres gave us until 2 to write, wash clothes, and other stuff and then at 2 we had to work again like a normal day. On the 24th we tried working as normal but everyone was celebrating xmas so basically we just eat a whole bunch with the families that we visited that day. That was pretty fun because out last appointment that day we ate tamales a lot of desert (truffels, brownies, and cupcakes) and we played uno and jenga with the family. On xmas we got to have our Pday so it was another very relaxed day. Early in the morning we went to eat breakfast with one of the families by our house. We ate tamales and ham, it was very good. We ended up staying at their house until like 3 en the after noon playing Texas Holdem. That was the first time playing for me and my comp. so we obviously lost.  But it was fun to play a game that envolved their whole family. It will be really fun to play settlers of catan again. I think i have eaten more food than i should have this week and with this week being new years there will be more food this week too. 

Its crazy to think that i will be entering my last month of the mision in just a few weeks. Im a bit bummed that christmas has passed. I really enjoyed sharing messages about the birth if Jesus Christ. I practically carried with me the whole month the DVD of Joy to the World. I watched that in the houses  of other people like 20 times in total. BUt i really enjoyed this christmas season, as well as the year before.

I cant wait to see you all again, im even more excited now that i just talked with you all.

Have a great new years!

Oh i now have a camera, and sent pics.

Love 

Elder Evans

 

 

Dec 16 2013

Hey everyone hows it going!

So today i start my last transfer. Time has gone by really fast and i feel that it will keep on going by fast with the holidays coming up. Speaking of which i will be skpying home on the 25th, i still dont know what time though. Surprisingly my companion and i are not getting changed so im most likely going to stay here until i go home. Im alright with that because i know and like this ward. The areas a little bit hard but we are working had and doing everything possible to have succes here.

We have found a few new people and set baptismal dates with them but they werent able to go to church for some reason. We are going to have to work something out so that they can get to church this sunday. That has really been the biggest problem so far, getting everyone to go to church.

Im really excited for christmas, i still dont know what my plans are but im really excited to skype home and talk to you all. And then like a month and a week later i will be getting home!

Btw i got your package, thanks so much!. The pants fit great and today i will be making the andys mints cookies! Have you guys started making christmas cookies yet or no?

Well this weeks letter will be a little short but i love you all and talk to you in like a week.

Elder Evans

Dec 9 2013

Helo everyone,

So its starting to get a little colder here in Tijuana. During the day and at night i am totally fine with the cold but in the morning it is getting a little harder to get out of the bed and into the cold. 

I also got some bad new, i was planning on making the cookies this monday but we wont be doing that anymore because our house was broken into saterday night and took a few things from us including the mints and chocolate. I was told that there are more cases of roberies and broken en houses around this time of year. One of the things they took was my camera and with it the memory of my pictures from mexicali until now. They also took my tijuana and mexico jersey, mexico hat, medicines and cologne, a suitcase, pants, and some other things i cant think of right now.

Saturday night we had a conference for all the missionaries and ward counsel members of tijuana and ensenada. It was a good conference i enjoyed it, it was all about who the ward counsel and missionaries need to work together with the new program Work of Salvacion. On of the brothers from the ward gave us a ride back home and when we got back we saw that the doors were all open in our house and the neighbors house. They had broken the locks and kicked the doors in. The brother stayed with us as we called and talked with the cops and at the end of all that we just stayed the night in our house with broken locks. I didnt sleep because i didnt like the idea of leaving our house and our neighbers house un watched over. The neighbors (two ladies 26-40yrs old, both teachers) were out of town for the weeked visiting family didnt get back home until sunday evening so they surprised as well when they got home. We tried calling them bothsaturday and sunday but the only number we had of theirs wasnt working at the time so we couldnt inform them. After talking with them we found out that one of them got their laptop stolen but nothing more.

Today the owner came with people to fix the doors and put new locks on. Everythings good now, just a little bummed out for losing the camera and photos.

Well i only have a little bit more time left and i will be back home. I guess the robbery serves as another mission experience. Its really weird thinking that Elder Neeser will be going home soon. All of the missionaries that i met when i got here have all gone home. 

I still dont have traval plans but im pretty sure i will be leaving home on the 4th of Feb. 

Well i a week i will be in my last area in my last transfer. Im pretty excited for changes. This week we will have the mission christmas dinnar too.

Well i hope you all have a great week and mom i hope you have a great birthday! Happy Birthday!

Love 

Elder Evans

Updated with some pictures. Presumably taken with his companion's camera.

Still smiling?

the damage

Dec 2 2013

Hola a todos,

Hows everyone doing? I hope you all had a great thanksgiving. How many people were at the country club? I enjoyed seeing the pictures of everyone. Was there enough food for everyone?

My thanksgiving was pretty a good one, we worked like normal until dinner and then around 6pm we went to the house of our ward mision leader to have eat a bit of ham and mashed potatos. The house wasnt that big and they had family over so it was a little crowded. The family was watching the polar express and i saw a little glimps of it and i remember when granddad was over for the christmas season one year and if i remember right he bought the movie and we all watched it. The movie really put me in the christmas mood, and all i want now is a little bit of snow here to go with the season. My companion is kind of a grinch and i dont think likes christmas...who knows haha. But transfers are on the 16th this month so i have no idea where i will be for christmas. I believe that i will be getting back home on the 3rd or 4th of feb. (it will be a tuesday). So after we finished left the house of my ward mision leader we went to visit a woman in our ward who live alone, she is from Vista Cali and had two of her kids over visiting for the holiday. We werent too hungry when we got to her house so we ate just a little bit of ham and then had a few slices of pie and cheese cake.

Work wise things have gone good this week, we found a few people and were able to place a few baptismal dates. The only problem is that none of them went to the church....so we are going to talk to them about that and see what happened. But there was one person that went to church, one of the members invited his friend over and we talked to him and he accepted an appointment and we are going to go teach him on wednesday. He seems pretty cool, i bet he is like 40 years old and he seems like a great guy... a little quiet but thats alright.

So between us missionary in the same zone we are having a present exchange, i have to buy for an elder named E. Matarrita, he is from Costa Rica and i think i will get him a dragon ball z toy haha, he is a super dragon ball z fan.

Well i hope you all have a great day, 

Love elder evans

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

Oct 28 2013

How it all going? Im glad to hear you recieved my package. And yes i have been getting your letters. So guess what our house flooded sunday morning. Pipe broke underneath the toilet and well we were able to stop it but it took a little time, besides i also spent time to save all of our stuff that was on the floor and then talk a little video.

So my next transfer will be in 2 weeks.

Well i need to fill out a form to send to the offices so they can schedule my plane ride home.

I will be writing more later.

Love you Bye

Elder Evans

Oct 21 2013

Hey everyboday!

Well this week has been pretty busy. Mostly for all the meetings that we have been having, and then the baptism that we had this thursday.

Lunes - PDay

Martes - District meeting in the morning

Miércoles - Baptismal interview for Y____

Jueves - Zone conference then Baptism

Viernes - Interviews with the Pres. 

Sabado - normal day

So it was kind of an uneventful week other then the baptism. I would send pics but im pretty sure the computer that i am using has a virus and i dont want to risk damaging my memory. Anyways, the day of the baptism me and my companion were hardly even in our sector. We had to leave really early to go to the zone conference which was about an hr away in bus and started at 9am and lasted until 2:30. The conference was all about missionary safety. It was pretty interesting, the first time we have really taken so much time to talk about safety. Then after then conference we returned to our sector, eat lunch, and went to the church (which is outside of our sector) to start filling the baptismal font and make preparations. The ward planned the baptism to start at like 730 but i know it was going to end up starting a bit later then that because the dad works late some of the daughters in the family of the girl who was going to get baptised get out of school at 750pm and they dont have a car to get the to church and have to take a bus which takes a little while. Well a fin de cuenta, we went with a member to pick them up at 8. At the church the dad and the daughter got changed and really for the baptism, then we took fotos, and by the time we actually start the service it was 900pm. We got permision to stay out late from the assistents to the pres. It was a great service and a big day for the girl and her dad.

We found this family about a month and a half ago, they had reciently moved from Sanora and didnt know where the church was and little by little returned to church. Its a family is passing through a lot of difficulties but they are keeping at it.

Well i love you all, 

Elder Evans

btw i sent the package with my bishop yesterday 

and yes i got katies package.

Oct 14 2013

Hey mom i really dont have much time to write this week but i just wanted to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Matt and thank you guys for the packages. I believe i got everthing. The letters from you and hayley and the packages. 

I will be sending you a package this week probably wednesday morning. 

Love you all

Elder Evans

Oct 7 2013

Hey Everyone,

This week was pertty great. I really enjoyed General Conference! Saturday and sunday us missionaries basically spent the whole day in the stake center watching all the conference sessiones. The rest of the week was pretty normal. My new companion Elder Haro and i are getting allong really well. We had actually meet eachother a little while back. 

This week we got to meet a few new people to teach. One of which was a referal for one of the members in the ward. His name is Jaziel, and he seemed really interested in what we shared with him. He has accepted to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it. He also accepted to get baptized if he feels that what we are teaching is true. He didnt go the church or see any of the conference sessiones and i dont know why because we havent been able to get a hold of him. We will keep trying thougth because he really seemed interested.

We also met a friend of a lady that we are teaching. His name is Nahum. He is passing through a lot of hardships in his life right now. Hes a really great guy and has two kids but after lossing his job his wife has kind of left them. She comes to visit every once and a while and apperently is very bi-polar, happy one day and super mad the next. I really dont know the whole situation between them but we started to teach him and he is very accepting to what we have taugh. We are basically trying to help him find comfort and streingth in the gospel. He was able to come with us to the first session of saterday conference. He said he enjoyed it and is interested in going to church the next week too.

I really enjoyed the conferences but i think i would have enjoyed them more in english haha. I think one of my favorite talkes was from Edward Dube, about how we cant look back yet because there is more work to do ahead of us.

I definitley have to rewatch the talks.

Well i really dont have too much to write about this week.

hope you all enjoyed conference

love elder Evans

ps in the pic, matt and hayley are the ones who seemed to have changed the most sense i have left.

and i have recieved a package and a letter. i hope by the end of the week i will be able to send a package home.

Sept 30 2013

hey Everyone!

First off! Thanks for the package! i got it thursday! The bishop told me that he called you mom, and he passed the hug you sent for me haha.

So as you may or may not know, today was transfer day and well i am still in the same spot (buenas aires norte) and i got a new companion today. His name is Elder Haro, and hes from el D.F., Mexico. Hes a cool guy, very quiet though. I actually met him before. Well today coming home from transfers, something happened that really made us laugh. A sister from one of my past wards gave us a ride and just so happen she had a short in the horn, and we were in some pretty bad traffic. It made me think of the Byran Regan joke. The horn keeped honking for long periods of time and all of us in the car, except the sister driving, just died laughing all the way home. 

 

So these last 5 weeks have finally paid off! Alberto y Maria finally got baptised! It was a very relaxing day that day, we practically did nothing because we were stuck in the church the whole day. We got their at 3pm to clean and started filling the baptismal font. At 530 Maria y Alberto got to the church because we were going to start at 600 but at 535 the ward mision leader called us saying that no one was going to be able to get there in time and so he moved it back until 730. So basically we just hung out in the church for 2 hrs talking and watching church movies. There was really no point in returning to the sector because Alberto and Maria were already there and the church is a little ways away from our area. It was a great relaxing day. The actually baptismal service, once it start, went just great. Elder Cruz and I were able the baptize. I baptized Maria and ECruz baptized Alberto.

This week we will be working with a member that has a few people he wants us to meet. Some people apparently really interested in listening. So pray for us that we will be able to start teaching these people and they will accept the gospel in their lives. We have a few people we are teaching, but we do need more.

Love

Elder Evans

Baptism day

EJ and keys (and very shiny shoes)

Hugging a dog

EJ, Elder Neeser (former companero) and two other elders

Sept 23 2013

Dear Everyone,

Well crazy enough this transfer is almost over. Truth be told, feels like it just started. 5 weeks have already passed and there is only 1 more left.

Its been a pretty great transfer, my companion is pretty cool and we get along really well so if we dont get changes im fine with that and if we do will i hope my next companion is pretty cool too haha.

So this week we have mainly been working with M_____ y A______, the little girl J_______ (here dad and sisters are members, and they just moved here from Sanora), and a few other people we have meet this week.

I sent a pic of M_____, A_____, Elder Peck (Elder Peck isnt my companion, we were on splits), and me. M______ y A______ are doing really great. They both went to church this week and are now all ready for baptism. They are planning on getting baptised this week on thursday. They have gone through quiet a bit to finally being ready. But they really worked through it using the gospel to help them. We explained to them the vision then Lehi had about the iron rod and the different people that tried to walk the streight and narrow path. There are people that try and walk the path without grabing onto the rod and easily fall away, then there are those that held onto it (a few made it to the end and a few didnt), and then there are those that grasped tightly to the rod and they all made it too the end. They have diffinetely been trying to grasp tightly to the rod, and now they are whitnessing the blessings of the Lord in their life.

The other people that we have meet this week arent progressing quiet so well sadly. We are going to keep visiting them but if they dont go to church or keep the other commitments there isnt really much we can do.

The ward here is slowly changing. They are making more plans on how they can speed up the work of salvation in the ward. they have made the plans, now we will see how everything works out. I hope its a success. Also our ward mision leader, who was just called, is really working hard and is helping us with assigning members to help us out with lession and work with our investagatores. Hes probably the hardest working ward mision leader so far that i have had. The WML in ensenada helped us out quiet a bit too. 

Well nothing really special happened this week but the next will have info on the changes and pics from the biptism.

Love you all

Elder Evans

EJ, his comp, and shovels

a tiny horse

The gray edifice that is in the process of being built is the future Tijuana temple!

M and A, Elder Peck and our EJ