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