Howdy Doody!

Hey Family! I hope all is going well. This week has been a little of a rough one on me, with transfers, a new companion, senior companion.... yeah. :D

I hope the Haban family is doing well. That was really a sad thing to hear about Kamaron passing away. Thank goodness for the Plan of Salvation and knowing that death isn't the end, and that we will see our loved ones again. I love the Plan of Salvation, it is my favorite lesson to teach. I love to see people change just from knowing it.

8/18/09 - P-DAY. Wrote letters. Elder Norton packed. We cleaned our apartment and then taught Kevin and Julie, well Julie wasn't there, but Kevin was. They are a Chinese family and it's pretty freakin' sweet to hear them pray in their language......Don't know what they are saying, but that's why we have our WML (ward mission leader) there. He went to China on his mission, so he is our translator. The gift of tongues...I wish I had that. :D

8/19/09 - SAID GOOD-BYE TO ELDER NORTON. That was pretty hard, but it's all good. I got my new companion. His name is Elder Weiland and he is from Illinois...

...near Chicago. Way cool guy.

Remember that tattooed guy in the rice-burner I was talking about in my last letter? His name is David. We taught him the Restoration...

...and he loved it! Dave is GOLD! He was sitting on the edge of his seat the whole time, just wanting to learn more and more. It was so cool. It's amazing to see how much people can change when they are looking for the truth. I'm so glad that Elder Norton and I missed the bus that one day (we missed it by one minute), and if we wouldn't have missed it, we would have missed him. God does work in strange ways, I can testify of that. :D We also taught Jonathan and that went good, too.

Today was the most stressful day of my life, so far. I was doing everything...finding fellowships, rides, calling dinner....etc. We didn't have any lessons after 8pm, so I told Elder Weiland we were going home, and I was going to bed. I stressed myself out so bad, I felt so sick. It was not cool. But, we all have bumps in the road, and I was able to get through it.

8/20/09 - TODAY WAS A LOT BETTER than yesterday. After praying for 20 minutes, and crying like a 5 year old...I'm good. :D

Elder Weiland is a really good missionary. He is way laid-back, but he is a very hard worker, too. We had no lessons set up for today, so after Companionship Study we cleaned our apartment…looks nice! Then we went around the East Stake meeting all the Bishops. But, we did have a mundo sweet street contact. His name is Nathan, he is 15 and has been reading the Book of Mormon...

Oh shoot! It was awesome! We asked if we could meet with him, and he said he would ask his parents. So we traded phone numbers, and yeah. :D

8/21/09 - EVERY MORNING I WAKE UP WITH SERIOUS DOUBTS. Satan is working me so hard, and I don't like it. I know why he is, it's because there is someone here, in Logan, that I need to teach and where he or she is....I don't know. But I'm going to find out. I'm going to work so hard until I find this person, just to annoy Satan even more. :D

We taught Jonathan again today, and he loved it! He is way excited for the 29th when he will be baptized!

He asked if I, "Brother Evans", would speak on Baptism, and Elder Weiland give the closing prayer. We both agreed. Austin Bouchard [note-a friend from Sierra Vista] was there and he drove us around from 6-9:30 and was also my companion for an hour. Elder Weiland went to go teach Kevin and Julie, and Austin and I went to teach the Beck family. Oh, and I ate some Chinese food.... and I was not feeling good afterwards.

8/22/09 - DAVE IS GOLD!

He believes everything! We asked him if he believed in Christ, and he said: "I don't believe....I know." But, we don't know if he can get baptized....he is on probation. So yeah…but tomorrow is Sunday, so I will be fasting for him. Elder Mike Grover drove us around today. That was fun.

8/23/09 SUNDAY…Church was cancelled because of the dedication of the Oquirrh Mountain Temple (which was really good).

We also taught Mike and Barbara today. We watched the "Finding Faith in Jesus Christ " DVD. It has been raining crazy-hard these last few days. Holy moly!

8/24/09 - IT WAS RAINING SO HARD that our power went out in the middle of the night. So instead of us getting up at 6:30... we woke up at 7:24....NOT our fault. It was the power’s fault. :D We taught Dave the Plan of Salvation ...

...and he loved it! Man, Dave is so Gold! We also went over the baptismal questions with Jonathan. Yeah-ya! I'm way excited.

So, that was my week. I love you guys, and I pray for you every night.

Love,

Elder Evans

Hi All!

Here’s something sweet...There is an older brother here in Logan, named Brother Stewkie, and he was one of the first missionaries to open the Tucson Mission...

...and his first area was Sierra Vista! Can you believe that?! :D

Drum roll, please...

Elder Norton and I....well one of us is being transferred....but, I'll talk about that at the end. :D

Anyway...

8/11/09-TODAY WAS OUR P-DAY. I wrote letters, took a nap, cleaned the apartment, and did laundry...the same old P-day stuff. But, check out this sweet deal we got… There's a suit/wedding store just across the street from the Tabernacle and they have sweet, sweet suits and ties. Their ties are $45.00 and up, but since we’re missionaries....we get them for $5.35! Yeah! I got one that is way sweet. It's pink with red and white dots that change color in the sun. It's going to be my Valentines Day tie. :D



8/12/09- EVERYTHING FELL THROUGH....

...the end. :-(

8/13/09-I HAD EXCHANGES with Elder Schanner today. Not everything went according to plan, but that happens. Normally we're not supposed to drive until we have been out for 3 months,but since Elder Schanner can't drive [note-probably because he is from Sweden and doesn’t have a Utah driver’s license]...I got too! I loved it. It felt so good. It was a good exchange. :D

8/14/09-TODAY WAS LIKE P-DAY, but not. We visited a few people in the morning. Then we had a 2-hour district meeting, an hour lunch, then a 2-hour weekly-planning, and then a service project with Elder Hale and Elder Pukepuke (pronounced pu'key pu'key), which was a lot of fun.

We taught Jonathan again and read Alma 7 with him. He told us that verse 26 was Elder Norton and me, so that was really heart-warming to hear. We also taught a family that’s....um, well…they are former members trying to become members again, and that's all I can say about that. But, they are the sweetest people ever. They have 2 kids and are in their 20's. It was a good lesson. :D

8/15/09-Today was another “GIVE-THE-ELDERS-THE-SLIP” DAY.



8/16/09-SUNDAY WAS GOOD! We spoke in the Hill Crest II Ward on missionary work, and then Elder Norton and I went on splits. I went to see Jonathan and Elder Norton went to another ward to see Maria and her family. Jonathan was at church, but Maria didn't show. (Elder Norton and I have been thinking, and if Maria doesn't keep her commitments we’re gunna drop her, and that's not going to be easy. I don't want too, but we might. :-( )

We taught Jonathan the Plan of Salvation and he loved it. Then we committed him to live the law of tithing...he said YES! After dinner we had a Missionary Fireside and Pres. Olson showed.

It was good to see him and his wife again. The fireside was packed! There must've been 200+ people there.

8/17/09-ANOTHER “DITCH-THE-ELDERS” DAY. We also had our last district meeting before transfers. We watched a movie about Joseph Smith...

...and it rocked! We then had dinner at the Golden Corral...

and it was yummy!

So, to continue my story from up top…We were at our apartment, waiting for the Pres to call us and let us know what was going on. :D There was a rumor going around that Elder Norton was going to be a District Leader and he had been freaking out about that. Anyway, Pres. Olsen called and ....Elder Norton is going to Bountiful, to become a DL, and me…I'm staying here in Logan! BooYa! I'll meet my new comp on Wednesday. So, yeah, Elder Norton is leaving
me. :-( It's going to be a little weird but I hear good things about my new comp (although I can't spell his name). :D

Oh, another great experience…We missed the bus...

...and as we were waiting for the next one this rice-burner [note-small Japanese-made sports car] pulls up, and this guy with tattoos all over his neck, arms, and legs is driving and his wife is next to him. She's a member but not active and she wants to come back, and her husband wants to be baptized! Elder Norton and I freaked out! So we just said, “Well, how does Sept 19th sound for baptism”, and he said yes! OH! It was so sweet! I tell ya the Lord works in very many ways. The lady was telling us that she has been looking for missionaries for some time now, and her husband has called around to find some, but then they saw us! It was awesome!

So, that's it for now.

Love ya guys,

Elder Evans

Howdy Everyone!

Okay, before I get started with my week … Dad, can you send me that book of Great-Grandpa's life among the Navajo Indians?

I gave Joe that little short one you sent, and he loved it! He was trying not to show it, but I can read people pretty well. So, if you could send that to me whenever you get a chance, that would be just dandy. :D

Alright my week of up's and down's…

8/4/09 - P-DAY. We went to the Temple and enjoyed it very much. The Logan temple is so cool on the outside...

...but it's nothing like I thought it would be on the inside, but it's all good [note - I think he was expecting it to be more "pioneer-ish", but it has been updated and remodeled a few times since it was built]. I wrote 5 letters, which took me 2 ½ hours....holy moly! Then took a one-hour nap. (Yeah, one hour, not five! No more “mini-comas” for me. :D )

We had a short lesson with Maria and then visited people for the rest of the day.

8/5/09 - TODAY WAS TOTAL LAMENESS! We had set up another lesson with Karen and it fell through at the last minute. Then we had exchanges....again. I don’t like exchanges very much because if you go to someone else’s area you look like an idiot since you have no idea what's going on, or what to say to the bishop, or whoever, about a person in that area. Anyway, all the lessons we had that day fell through. :-(

8/6/09 - TODAY ROCKED! We had our lesson with Karen, and it was the most spiritual thing EVER! We were all in tears. She told us that she had a child, and gave it up, because she couldn't take care of it, and her husband was not a good husband.

She told us that that was the hardest thing she had ever done, but she did it because she loved her son and wanted him to have a better life. From that we were able to share with her that Heavenly Father made a great sacrifice for us, too, since He loves us and wants what’s best for us.... yeah, it was awesome!

Our lesson lasted almost three hours....and it was all about God's love for us (good thing we didn't have any other lessons that afternoon)!

It’s amazing how the last time we saw Karen she almost dropped us, but we asked her to have another lesson with us, which turned into this lesson, and now we have her back. :D

8/7/09 - Today...well every Friday is WEEKLY PLANNING....and that's always fun. :/

Say, do you remember Elder Grover? Well, I called him, and asked him if he could drive us around from 6-9pm. He agreed. The lesson we had fell through, but those things happen.

So, here comes that cool part… While we were with Elder Grover I saw a car I knew I had seen before, back home in Sierra Vista. The car drove past and I told Elder Grover to turn around and follow it.

We were able to flag the car down and guess who comes out of the car....Austin Bouchard! Yeah, it was him! And he was like, "What are you doing here?? You’re on a mission!" It was so funny. He lives in Logan now, so I got his cell number and told him we’ll call him to drive us around some time.... Ahh, it rocked! It was about 8:45ish and we had nothing left to do so Elder Grover took us to Cold Stone...

(I got the “Birthday-Cake Re-mix”, and it was yummy!) So that was my “sweet day” of pure sweetness.

Elder Grover is such a cool guy. For some odd reason I can't call him “Mike”, I just can't. :D Oh, and he told me that Elder Pendleton is coming to Logan, too. Ahh! Two great RM's from the Tucson Arizona Mission are in my mission! It's so cool.

8/8/09 - Today was DUMP DAY as everything fell through, except for our lesson with Karen. :D We watched “Finding Faith in Jesus Christ”, and it was good. Oh, it was raining all day...

...and was 55 degrees. I was freezing!

8/9/09-WE SPOKE in 2 wards today. The topics were Missionary Work and the Restoration, both of which went very well!

8/10/09-Today was a BUMPY ROAD THAT TURNED INTO A SMOOTH ONE. We had another lesson with Karen and she got on the subject of gay-rights. We tried to tell her the Church’s stand on it, and she got offended and walked out again. Her step-mom is gay... I don't know, Karen is really confusing at times. SO that put a major dent in our mood.

But....we had a referral for a man by the name of Jonathan Morgan. He's been to church many times and believes everything! So we asked him if he would follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by someone having that authority, and he said YES! AHHH!!! He even picked the person he wants to have baptize him! AHHHHHH! It rocked! So that was my day and my week.

Love you all,

Elder Evans

Hello, Hello!

Well, before I get into my week, I just want to thank you guys for your letters, and, oh yeah, it's starting to get cold here in the mornings, could you send me a blanket? I've been sleeping with just a sheet, and I miss my blanket!

Could you also send me a copy of "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing", and "Jesus Was No Ordinary Man" in the size of a pass-along card, so I can glue them in the back of my little hymn book? Thanks.

Alright, my week…

7/28/09-P-DAY and we got a lot done. We helped Karen move into her new home, which isn't in our area....so in order for us to keep teaching her we have a “fellowship” [note-a member’s home where they can teach her] in our area, and they are the nicest people ever. They've been married for about four months. They are the most amazing couple and remind me so much of Allison and Loren (that's probably why I connect to them so well).

We also met a “Dry Mormon” [note-someone who acts like a Mormon, but has never been baptized into the Church], named Bob. Bob is about 80+, and is awesome! He knew President David O. McKay!

He said that Pres. McKay was the nicest person he had ever met in his life. It was so funny, though, when he first started talking about him, he said, "Yeah, I know of prophets. My old friend…uhhh....damn it....what was his name.... !?” It was so funny! Anyway, he's an awesome guy.

7/29/09-EXCHANGE with Elder Schanner, our DL, and it was good. We taught Maria about the Plan of Salvation and that was good. Her kids are so crazy!

Now for the really sad part of the day... We had a lesson set up with Karen at our fellowship couple’s home. We were going to watch the “Restoration” video, and right as we started to play it Karen says, "I'm gunna go guys, I don't want to see, or hear about this," and she got up and left! All of us were in a state of shock. We didn't know what to do!

7/30/09-THE CRAPPIEST DAY EVER! Everything fell through. (KaBoom) But, we got 10 bucks, so that kinda helped. We also had Tom drop us… it was just crappy.

7/31/09-NOTHING REALLY HAPPENED today, so I guess it was a step-up from yesterday. :-D We taught this girl named Belinda, and she has some weird insights about Joseph Smith. Something about how he had an Amulet that could control Jupiter...

...and when the Sun was in the right spot with Jupiter God would show himself to him. Elder Norton and I were like "What the...?!?" So yeah, that was the highlight of my day. :D

8/1/09-WE HIT-UP ONE OF OUR STAKES like mad, today! We have like no activity going on up there, so for about half of the day we were talking to Ward Mission leaders, RS Presidents. EQ Presidents, etc.

We also talked with Ken again today and found out he's Mormon, and was baptized, and has been to the temple only for Baptisms for the Dead. He fell away when he was about 13, the reason why, I don't know. We also had Zone conference which was good, too.

8/2/09-FAST SUNDAY and President Morrill invited us to a BBQ!!!

I ate 2 burgers and 1 hot dog, and drank like a half a gallon of milk. Then for dessert I had ice-cream with chocolate chips, and I ate ALL of it! I was so hungry! Then it was the same for dinner…dinner was holy huge and I ate everything!!!

[note-Elder Evans has never been a very big eater, so I have had great hopes that all those LDS women in Utah would be able to “fatten him up” with their wonderful cooking…it looks like he’s on his way! :-D] Later, we had a youth fireside and that rocked!

8/03/09-I WAS SOOO TIRED!! I thought I was going to die! I have never been so tired in my life! Even though I was mundo tired, today rocked! We had 15 unplanned contacts, and they all rocked. We also taught a Jewish man today in one of the bishops’ homes. It was so good. The spirit was so strong, he told us he felt so warm inside. BooYA! But, he wouldn't set up a return appointment. So, hopefully he will later, as we gave him our number and all that.

We also had FHE with a family whose son just left about 6 months ago. We taught them about missionary work, and they all were crying, and the dad said to us, “If you need anything, anything, call us, and we will help you. If you need a ride, if dinner cancels, or just someone to talk to, you call us.” I love that family. I would marry their daughter just to be part of their family…but, she's 13, so that's not gunna happen. :D

So, yeah, that was my week.

Oh, they just re-opened the Logan Temple…

...so this morning all of us Elders in the area went. Come to find out, if we live within 45 minutes of the temple we get to go every P-Day. So if I'm lucky I'll get to go to the Temple 107 times…now that would be cool! :D

Well, let me know how things are going and all that good stuff.

I love you all,

Elder Evans, the 4th. :D

It's Picture Time!

I really enjoyed being in the MTC, but after three weeks I was ready to get out into the mission field and begin to share the Gospel...

Elder Swisher and I finally figured out where Ogden, Utah was, so that was a relief!!!

All of us that were headed for the Utah Ogden Mission got together for one last MTC shot with one of our teachers, Bro. Billings (who, I found out the night before we left, was good friends with my brother and sister-in-law, Jonathan and Candace, as they had been in the same branch when they were attending college in Silver City, NM!).

We arrived at the Utah Ogden Mission office on July 7th...

...and by the end of the day we were exhausted!!!! Luckily there were plenty of beds for everyone.

As you saw in an earlier post, I got to meet my awesome mission president, Pres. Olson, and his wonderful wife, and was then assigned to my "trainer" (and good friend from Eastern Arizona College!) Elder Andrew Norton. Then off we went to my first assignment in the beautiful Cache Valley town of Logan, Utah....

This is our apartment...

...our living room...

...our bedroom (I'll bet you can't guess which bed is mine :-D)...

...and our kitchen (all nice and clean...Mom would be proud!).

Logan is not only a beautiful town, but is also occasionally an "interesting" one, as well. For instance...what is that?

...and YIKES! We were invited to a Samoan dinner party and actually got to "meet" our dinner (although he appeared to be a bit "out of sorts")!!!!

But, nonetheless, I knew for sure that Logan was going to be a "cool" place to serve when I saw this....

Yep, it's all good!!! :-D