MTC Days with Companions

Guatemalan MTC

Hermana Merrell, Hermana Blackmer, Hermana Evans

June 20, 2013

Mom!!

 

Super sorry! I havent read all the emails yet, i wanted to make sure I got an email to you first.  We tried to email on Tuesday but the internets werent working and I couldnt type a darn thing. So im honestly just grateful they are giving us time today to write home because I wont be able to next week. 

 

Ok, I'll hurry and give you my list and then read your emails. :) 

 

(I actually read one of the emails... haha the one about the video) So im super glad you liked it!  Hermano Guirola is the best.  Were pretty sure that wasnt allowed, but he was a champ and did it anyway.  :)  I hope everyone liked it :)

 

Time flies.  its insane.  Like, I leave on TUESDAY!!!

 

Most everything is cheap here.. most everything.. but I did finally invest in some nice spanish scriptures.  It took a lot of convincing but I did it.  and i love them.  fully equiped with sick awes scripture covers that hail from Guatemala.

 

DearElder works beautifully in the field, so I wouldnt be mad if I got them in the field too.  :)

 

Elder Fulcher told me the other day that I am the 2nd most laid back/calm person he has ever met.  The first one was actually a druggy...

 

Umm OK!! So I found a tick!  A real life tick!  Not on my cuerpo, luckily, but I did find one!  It took a while, but I got him killed real nice.  He is smeared across one of my shoes.  Im going to keep him.  his name is Pedro. 

 

A while back we were walking back to the CCM after doing TALL or something, I dont remember and a van pulled up in front of us and men just started hauling bum out.  Honestly I freaked out inside. but luckily they were just delivery men in a hurry at a gas station.

 

The lessons are getting way easier here, they flow much better and so does the spanish.  I still am no where near fluent, but its coming. 

 

We got to watch the Argentina Soccer team drive by the CCM with a police escort on the 14th!  Pretty cool!

 

We went to walmart!  have I not told you about that?!  Holy mackerel!  So we went to a church and played games for a while, I sat with some hermanas and rolled down a hill a bit, and then we tried to soak up some sun while others played ultimate frisbee... It was a party.  then we went to the walmart and it was a game show.  We only had 30 minutes to get everything and we obviously had to stay with our companions.  Hna Blackmers list was the size of the Bible Dictionary (which is the size of Africa) and she was pretty stressed the whole time.  But it all worked out. :)  Then we went to the mall and ate lunch.  Mom, I ate SUBWAY!  And it was heaven in between two whole wheat buns.  Thats really what it was.  There are armed guards everywhere, too.

 

Fireworks or gunshots happen at least once every day.

 

Nate and Joe, you have a personality twin.  His name is Elder Burt and he called me a sass basket the other day. Im sure I didnt deserve it either.

 

I got your package on the 13th!  :)  loved every bit of it!  those letters made me cry!  But i loved them so much!  And I love the cadburry eggs!  I eat a couple everyday so they last longer.  This is the worst form of patience Ive ever had to have.  I like eating them all at once.  But no worries, Im being good and sharing them too...

 

OH!  People here keep seeing family or friends!!  Like a grandpa dropped by the other day, some girl saw her legit family, whats up with that?!  So Im wondering, when does your plane land in Guatemala?  How does lunch on me sound? ;)

 

Oh, this next part is for all the boys and Padre.  (SING TO MOM ON HER BIRTHDAY!!! AND BUILD HER A CAKE!!! NOT A JOKE!!!)

 

Happy Fathers Day Padre!!! :)

 

I wanted to quickly share some scriptures with you.  Alma 26, Alma 9, Matt 14, and Luke 15.  Read them.  Love them.

 

I also wanted to mention that im pretty sure Heavenly Father commands us to inherit His kingdom!  Through repentance of course, but in a round about way, its a commandment.  Thats straight out of the Book of Hermana Evans.

 

fun little thing i learned the other day.  Growing isnt easy.  Why else would they call them GROWING PAINS? 

 

Hermana Erickson (former roommate here) looks a heck of a lot like Aunt Corey.  Its crazy.  I miss her!  and Grandma!  And all of you!

 

Oh, poor Elder Hunt got to talk in Sacrament meeting again.. We switched branches so he was graced with the opportunity to speak otra vez. 

 

Hermana Merrell says, "I wish I could meet her (you) and I love her already:"

 

I was sitting outside in personal study one day and a woman came over to me, sat down, and told me she was an investigator, she will be having a baby in August and she wants to know about the gospel.  Shes a teacher here, but out of nowhere she decided to let me teach her a surprise lesson.  So I tought her the Plan of Salvation.  WITH NO PLANNING!!  WHA?!?!?!  yeah, I talked to everyone else in my district and they said she didnt even talk to them. So i got to teach an extra lesson!  It wsa pretty cool!

 

We got to sing Come Thou Fount with another district at a zone conference on Tuesday.  WAY AWESOME!! 

 

I get to be the keeper of the time in my bedroom.  I also get to be responsible for turning the lights on at 6:30 and off at 10:30.  Fun job. 

 

We get to have a "how to get kidnapped" lesson tomorrow!! whoo! party!

 

It breaks my heart when people think they cant be forgiven.  EVERYONE can come back.  Heavenly Father loves each of us SO much.  I want everyone to know that.  EVERYONE!!!!

 

Ok, thats all for right now.  Adios!

 

LOVE YOU!!

 

imma read the emails now.  :)

 

 

Love, Hermana Evans

 

Group Photo - Received June 20, 2013

Updated Photo of Guatemalan Sister Missionaries  - June 12, 2013

Hermana Robyn Evans is in the 2nd row from the top just to the right of center.

June 19, 2013

Excerpts from the letter we received from Robyn on Wednesday June 19, 2013

June 6, 2013

Mom, Dad, Nathan, Hunter, Isaac and Michael,

There was a couple of scriptures (more like chapters) I wanted to share with you, Alma 7 and 36.   I love love love them.  Over my life I’ve slooowly learned that we genuinely have to humble ourselves before God before He can work miracles through us.  He is waiting very patiently for us to come to Him, but we have to do it the right way ….like the repentance process, all the steps count!  Who knew?!  I KNOW  that Christ is our Savior and Redeemer.  I know that He has already paid for our sins and that He is just waiting and hoping we will do our part to access the atonement.  I know that through Christ ANYTHING is possible.  He can heal a broken heart, a guilty conscience, and the sick.  I know He can.  His atonement is INFINITE!  I love Him and I love all of you.  I’m eternally grateful that I get to be sealed to you for EVER!  I wouldn”t have it any other way.  You are all too precious to me to not be with you for the rest of forever.   I love the gospel and the joy it brings!

June 8, 2013

OOOkay!  Today was pretty good.  Why?  Oh, just, ya know…Awesome food, awesome game of volleyball, awesome maestros, awesome teaching experiences, awesome companions, and awesome LIFE!   We had what I think was Chicken Cordon Bleu, rice, veggies… just the usual!  Ha, they really feed us well here.  Ok, enough about food.  So today, we… oh dear… what did we do…oh!  So we’ve been singing Come Thou Fount a lot and Hna Merrell and Elder Christensen wrote a couple new verses for it.  So of course we all sang it!  And Hermano Guirola (our day teacher) videoed us and is going to put it on the YouTube and email you a link to the video.

June 9, 2013

I love love love Sundays.  Honest tabetsy.  So much stuff!  Honestly, Why didn’t anyone say I’d learn this much in one day?  I would have brought more pens and paper!  Luckily, we’re going to Walmart on Tuesday.

  

June 11, 2013

Michael and Isaac, I LOVE YOU!  Also, don’t forget to open the door for mom.

Hunter and Nate, I wouldn’t mind emails from you two!  Oh, also, if I was you, I would start memorizing D&C 4 and The First Vision.

Mom, I also love when I get to chat with you! 

P.S  I’m putting my mission home address on the envelope.

P.P.S I REALLY DO LOVE YOU!  LIKE, LOTS!

P.P.P.S.  MY SPANISH IS REALLY COMING A LONG!  It’s rocky and not at all perfect.  But it’s coming.  It’s also very humbling to speak to natives… comprehension goes way down.  But as soon as I get in the field my learning will sky rocket.  I KNOW IT!

I LOVE YOU

Love, Hermana Evans

Thanks movie

Happy Father's Day

Robyn sent this picture to Dad on Father's Day

June 10, 2013

FAMILY!

Ok, heres my list of things to say this week. :)

Im working on writing a little bit to you everyday and I{ll send those things on p day.

I miss the Dick Van Dyke show...

The other day I tried to say "Hna Merrell solo hace cadas feos" but I really said "Hna Merrell solo tiene cadas feos"... huge difference.  Sorry if the spanish is rocky.. its coming along.. but it translates to (what i meant to say)  "hna Merrell only makes ugly faces"  (what I said) "hna Merrell only has ugly faces"

I HAVE 2 WEEKS LEFT!!! what happened?!  Im so excited to get out into the field, but im a scared little chicken!

Elder Christensen... do you remember him?! I said something about him in the letter i have for you, but just real quick, you need to know how awesome his family is.  He's the one that his mom found my tickets on the bathroom counter and then she said her son is named Rob too, well a couple days ago Elder Christensen told me that his family has been praying for me!  How sweet is that!  All of the elders in my district are so awesome.  I cant wait for Nate to get on his mission.  Its the best thing.  EVER!!!

We watched Journey of Faith yesterday.. a documentary about when Nephi got to the Americas.. Yeah, it was a little boring at times, but super interesting too!! I watched parts of it in my Book of Mormom Doctrines and Evidences class. 

I dont remember where I hear this, but I loved it.  "one plus God is enough"

The sense of humor here is very different!!  I dont think they will think im very funny. 

I have a joke for you.  "what does an airplane and a stove have in common?"  .........................  "a pilot!!"  Bahahahaha :)

OOOHHHH!!! so we watch old devotionals on sundays, and last night we were watching one of Dallin H. Oaks from May of 2012 when he was speaking in the Provo MTC... I was searching the choir for a familiar face and you will NEVER guess who I saw?!  KYLEE RICHARDSON!!  It was so cool!  she had on a blue shirt and they sang Consider the Lillies.  Not a joke.  I REPEAT THIS IS NOT A JOKE!

Have I told you about CRE house?  Im a putz.  I need to tell you more things.  But CRE is just a fake house (im in it right now) we email, do TALL, and teach fake investigators.  Well, the investigators usually have a fake background story, but the last one we had was a 79 year old woman who talked the whole time about her life story.  She didnt even try to be a fake investigator. It was SO cute!  Shes active and goes to the temple, so we had nothing to do really, we tried to share a message with her quickly before we had to go because she had already talked for 10 minutes longer than we were supposed to be there... I love that tiny woman.

There was a dance party a few days ago.. I didnt know most of the songs, luckily, because everyone else in my district was going CRAZY!!  they couldnt take it.  It was so so funny!

We are going to the Walmart tomorrow.. I'll try to remember lotsa details so I can email about that next week.

OH!!  so the week I leave (on the 25th I think...) I might not get to email.  So next week could be the last time i email until i get to the field.  Possibly.. i hope not, but its a very real possiblity.

our lessons are going pretty good, every once in a while we have a lesson that is sketchy, but for the most part we are working well together.  Except Marcos (we still teach him, he's still our teacher.. he just puts a different shirt on) told us that he thinks we dont love him anymore.  Talk about constructive critism! 

Oh, if you get a chance, can you DearElder me the words to the song "once I was lost, never counting the cost...." I dont remember all the way.. Dad might know what Im talking about.. its in the blue binder by the piano, one of the last few pages.. in sheet protectors.

also, the words to Be Still My soul?

We have been singing Come Thou Fount a lot lately.  We all love it.  Plus its the only english we get to sing... kind of...

Ok, thats the end of my list.. hope you see this soon! :)

Love, Hermana Evans

Hermana Evans and her companions... Hermana Merrell and Hermana Blackmer

June 5, 2013

My mom!! and family!!

I loved your emails. loved them i tell you!!  i was laughing out loud for too long... #embarrassing!

Im doing so so great, I love it here, I miss all of you, I cant believe its already been 3 weeks.  3 WEEKS!!!

Ok, my list of things to tell you....

I ate 12 chocolate covered strawberries a while ago and I didnt even feel bad about it.

We went to the market last p day and that was SUPER CRAZY!!!  Mom, Im really in Guatemala, not even joking.  part of me wondered for a long time if I was just in a remote part of SLC, but no, this is the real deal!  we got to walk around the market and I bought a drug rug (its a poncho, my comp calls it that though... and i thought it was funny...) and she haggled for me.  so sweet. 

Also last p day, we got back from the market, I sat down to sew something probably and hna Merrell was going down for a nap when a women told us we had to change rooms!!!  Right then!! and we had an hour before we had to be to the temple!!  So we were packed and unpacked in the new room in 40 minutes.  I think its ok to not be humble right then. 

We have Celestial Bathrooms now.  So priviledged.  but really, they are celestial.

We got new roommates (we loved the old ones btdubs...)  and one of them is from Austrailia!  Im sure i spelled that wrong, but she is way cool.  she is 28 and she swears sometimes!  Only because its not bad in Australia though!  she is doing better now! 

I have taken on 4 or 5 more sewing projects since my last email.. the elders keep ripping pants they bought at the market when they play with the hackey sack thing.... its really funny when they come up to me.."hermana Evans?  ummm... so I hear you can sew?"

I got your package on Tuesday the 28th.  :)  it made me happy to see your handwriting.

I got your DearElder on the 29th and I LOVED IT!!!  I love them a lot. I think its a great idea.  More of those are definitely welcome.  I like hearing from people in the middle of the week.  So here is news for EVERYONE!!  I LOVE DEARELDERS!! 

Dad, I love you so so much and I want you to be so so happy. :)  You are awesome.

Oh, how is the VISA sitch going for everyone?  Are they getting VISAs yet?

I finally have the 1st vision memorized in spanish.  #winning

I loved the pictures!! Keep em coming!  :)  im sorry Mort died though, thats sad.  But it is super funny that you guys took him with you.

We are OWLways singing or praying here.  I love it!  Dont worry mom, I always have a prayer in my heart.  just like you told me too.  and it is HELPING ME SO MUCH!!!

Im learning that I cant think in english but talk in spanish... it just doesnt work..  there is a switch that i have to flip.

OH, for the friends out there, I would love to hear about mission calls... for instance, HOW THE HECK IS ANNA'S MISSION STUFF GOING?!  (Anna, if youre reading this, I want to know EVERYTHING!!)

There is tile everywhere.  EVERYWHERE!

We got to go to the temple again yesterday for p day and I loved it again.  It is so special! :)  This is the tiniest temple ever, but it is still so so great!

News:  I would just send letters and such to my mission now... or just wait til im there and send dearelders...

OH!  i almost forgot!  if you get a friend request from a Jessica Blackmer, accept it.  Doing so can unleash pictures.  We have an in...dont worry, its totally legal and ok.  But thats how the cookie crumbles right now..

Ok, love you!

Love, Hermana Evans