Short and Sweet

Hello everyone! I hope all is going well. :D

So we've had a good week. Josh was baptized on the 23rd. That went really well. He asked me to speak on the Holy Ghost, so I did. I tried to keep it as simple as I could since he is only 10 years old.

Our youth lessons are going great! It's been a lot of fun. There is one kid who reminds me of me at his age. He’s 16, and he's a sarcastic little punk!! It's so funny to see. I just laugh every time. :D

Our Young Single Adult lessons are going good, too. I love doing them, but it’s hard at the same time. There are either RM's, or really, really pretty girls. It’s tough! But I love it. :D

Gary and Janice are coming along. Gary may still get baptized on the 30th (fingers crossed), but Janice's parents are still holding back on giving their permission. I just wish I could tell them that if they don’t let her get baptized her sins will be on their heads, but I'm not going too. I like to have people like me, and not hate me. :D

Well, in my last interview I asked President if I could stay in Bountiful one more transfer, and he said, "Nah, you’re probably gone." So, I guess that means most likely I'll be boltin’.

I do want to leave you with my testimony, that I know that God lives, and that he is the head of this church, and that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and he did infact appear to Joseph Smith. The Book of Mormon is true, those 531pages you can hold in your hands are powerful. That little book is what changes peoples’ lives. It's not the Missionaries, it's the Book of Mormon. The Holy Ghost is there, and he lives to lead and to guide us. If we listen to his promptings we will never fall away. Always live worthy to have him as your companion. Make him your best friend. I love each and everyone of you, just as God does.

So, that’s it for now.

Love,
Elder Evans

Hello from the Snow!

As of right now it is snowing...

I hate snow....it's cold, dirty, slushy, and just sounds gross when you step on it. Anyways, enough about that… :-)

My week so far has been a really good one. Our youth lessons are a lot of fun, and more and more kids are starting to come. This week we taught the 1st lesson to them, and the Spirit was really strong when we talked about the experience Joseph Smith had with the First Vision...

I love teaching the youth, they are just so much fun, I love it. So that's why I’ve decided after my Mission I want to go work at the EFY (note - the “Especially for Youth” program is sponsored by Brigham Young University and is a summer program for youth ages 14-18) in Arizona.

I can't wait, it'll be so much fun!!

So, on Thursday we taught the Seminary class. Here in Utah the school system is weird. They have K-6 as elementary, 7-9 as middle school, then 10-12 as high school. ??? Doesn't make sense. So we were at the Middle School teaching the freshmen. It was awesome! We taught about Ammon from Alma 17-19...

It was really cool. We had some role-plays and all that fun stuff. I really enjoyed it.

But the best thing of this week was.........KRISTI WAS BAPTIZED!!! That was the best baptism I have gone too. The Spirit was more than strong, it was almost over-powering! There were like 40-45 people there. It was amazing. I was in tears when I went up and bore my testimony. I don't think I have ever cried harder in my life. It was pure awesomeness! Anyways, that was pretty much the highlight of my week.

Sorry this is so short, that's really all I have to report.

Love,

Elder Evans

Everything Is Going GREAT!

Here's a picture of our Zone with Elder Andrew Norton (my trainer and EAC friend) in the front-center and me on the right.



Well howdy family!

This week has been rockin’! We have 4 with a baptism date. Kristi is on the 16th, just a few short days; Josh is the 23rd, Gary is the 30th, and Janice is the 30th, as well!! It's awesome! We are so very excited for all of them. They are all excited too. It's amazing to see the change in these peoples' lives.

Elder Snyder and I have been doing some youth firesides, and they have been going so good. The youth are involved like crazy, and their seminary teacher even asked us to teach seminary for a full day, because he has heard so much good about us from our youth lessons. I'm so excited!

For Zone conference the AP's [Assistants to the President], Elders Kozak and McDaniel, trained on how to "plan for baptisms on every week". They called it "Think 4 weeks at once", and it was awesome! Our AP's are the bomb! I wish I was as good as they are. :D

And for District meeting tomorrow I will be giving a 20-minute training on how to become a better missionary using the AP's training. Wish me luck on that, I just now found out. –Thanks, Elder Norton [note-now his District leader who apparently gave him that assignment]. :D

Things in B-town are going great. We had a Bountiful North Stake Conference this Sunday and our Mission Parents [note-Pres. Olsen and his wife] were speaking. Sister Olsen said something that really struck me and Elder Snyder. She said, "The Elders in this Stake are meant to be here! They have been called of God to be the Elders in this Area." And Elder Synder and I were like, "YEAH! GO MOMMA OLSEN! WOOT-WOOT!" But we said that in our heads....we didn't really shout it. :D

This transfer is going by too fast, I hate it. But, it's all good. I'm hoping and praying that I stay one more, just one more transfer here in the amazing Bountiful with Elder Snyder. But, like I said before, something is telling me to prepare. So, I still don't know what that means yet, and I'm a little worried, too. If it means leadership I don't know if I'm ready. I don't know if I can train, or become a DL [District Leader]. Being a Senior-companion is easy, but the other things.....I don't know. Oh well, I'll do what God wants me to do.

That's all I got for this week. Sorry it's short. Hey, if you haven't sent me those ties, please send them now. :D

Love ya,
Elder Evans

Here are some pictures of my Christmas...

We had Christmas Eve Dinner with the Bowman family. As you can see we had LOTS of wonderful food to eat...

Elder Snyder and me with the Bowman's son...

After our Christmas Eve dinner we attended our "Zone Sleep-over" where we read Luke 2, talked about family traditions, ate and had lots of fun...

Then Santa came... "Santa!! I know him!!!"

Christmas morning we were invited to the Barkers home to celebrate the day with their family and several other Elders. Again we had GREAT food....

And then visited and played games.

The Barkers are a wonderful family. Here I am with them on the day Elder Pape (holding the dog) was transferred.

Even though Christmas was over I still had a few surprises, which included running into Felicia, a friend of mine from Eastern Arizona College...

...and getting to meet my oldest brother's former mission president and his wife, President and Sister Benson, who were speaking at a Mission Conference I attended. It was awesome to meet them, and find out that they still remember "Elder Nathaniel Evans". :-D

Happy New Year from Bountiful!

Well howdy, family! I hope you all had a very dandy new year. I didn't, as I totally forgot about it. :D And we’re not allowed to stay up past 10:30 anyway, so it's all good. :P

Well, this week has been pretty sweet!

Kristi had her baptism interview and she passed. Yeah! So now all we’ve got to do is wait for the 16th of January. :D And then we’ll be having another baptism on the 23rd for Josh. So that's two so far for the month of January!

Yesterday, about 7a.m. or so, we got a call. This person was telling us about his friend who has been to church four times, and has read most of the Book of Mormon, and wants to be taught. So today we will be teaching him. :D

Janice is also doing really well. We haven't re-committed her for baptism yet. We don't want to go against her parents. Janice really wants it, but her parents keep saying NO. So hopefully, through time, their hearts will be softened.

I really enjoy being with my new companion, Elder Snyder. We have the same interests, and all that good stuff. I know that the next transfer isn't coming too quickly, but I have the feeling that I'll be leaving. Something keeps telling me to prepare for what's coming. Whatever that is....I have no idea. :D But, I hope it's something good. I can see my life changing right before my eyes. It's crazy. But the change that I'm going through is good.

I'm wishing and hoping that I'm here in B-town for 1 more transfer, so that will make it 6 months here. I love this place. I wouldn't mind living here. Maybe someday…

We've been getting blessed like mad these last few days. One older lady called us over and gave us 50 dollars a piece! 50 smackers!! Then some guy gave us a 20! Good Gosh! I Love it!! :D

Elder Snyder and I got to be witnesses for someone’s marriage...




...That was pretty sweet.

I went on a Zone Leader exchange with Elder DaSilva. He's from Brazil. And he is so funny! I had a way good time. He's going home at the end of this month, and he is scared out of his mind! hahaha.

I'm glad you all had a good Christmas. I wish I could have been there.

Oh, did you guys get my letter yet? It's got my pictures in it. :D [note-below are a few of the pictures he included]

[Elder Dill and Elder Evans at a Zone Conference luncheon.]

[Elders Evans and Pape in their apartment with a gingerbread house someone gave to them.]

[Elder Evans keeping warm.]

Well, that's pretty much all I have to say. I just want you guys to know that this is God's church, and He is the master behind everything. The Book of Mormon is true.

Anyways, I love you guys.

Love,

Elder Evans

Two for One!

[note-Since we have been out of town I have not been able to up-date Elder Evans' blog, so here are his letters from the past two weeks.]

Monday, December 20, 2009

Merry Christmas, family! I hope everything is going well.

Well, before I start off, transfer calls were today and here is the scoop…


I have been here in B-town for 3 months and Elder Pape has been here for 6 weeks. So we get a call today and Elder Norton said that Pape is going to Willard Bay, as he is opening the area, and I'm staying here with Elder Snyder. He is from Atlanta, Georgia.

He has been out for a year. I hear he is a Biking Elder. All I can say about that is, "HECK NO!!" There is no way I'm biking up all these hills!

Anyways, that's the down-low. So I get to be in B-town for another transfer. Yeah-yeah-yeah! Yeah!

Yesterday....Sunday, we went to four wards....and each one had a Christmas program.....and 2 of them had "Silent Night" as the closing song. We had a split that night as Janice and Kristi had lessons at the same time, so I went to Janice's and Elder Pape went to Kristi's. We taught Janice about the Holy Ghost and its role. Then she asked, "How can I gain a testimony?" So, we read with her Helaman 5:12 and talked about what we need to do to gain one. It was a way sweet lesson.

Well, I burned my tie on the 17th! [note-it is traditional for missionaries to burn one of their ties (hopefully an old one!) when then reach the 6-month mark on their mission. That is not Elder Evans in the picture.]

I forgot my camera, but thank goodness the Barkers took some pictures. And thank you SO, SO much for the new camera! It's so awesome! I wasn't quite sure if I would be staying so I opened your package early, but I still have Emily’s wrapped. Thank you so very much! It's a way awesome camera! Just what I needed, too. :D

We also had another lesson with Janice on that day. We taught her the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and she really liked it!

I look forward to calling you guys on Christmas. It's going to be exciting. The only thing is we only have 45minutes, just so you know. For Christmas we will be going to the Barkers and just hanging out. I hope my new comp is a cool guy.

Anyways, I love you guys, have a good Christmas and I will talk to you then.

Love,
Elder Evans

Tuesday, December 28, 2009

Hello family! I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas. I had a lot of fun. Let me start off with the 24th...

We didn’t have much planned for that day, but that evening we had a Zone sleep-over. All the Elders in our Zone were there, including two greenies. We read from Luke 2...

...and talked about family traditions. Then we ate and had fun. We didn't get to bed until about 3am... :D But, we all still woke up at 6:30am. :D It was a lot of fun.

Then we went home, got ready and went to the Barkers. There were a bunch of Elders there. Brother Barker was a Ward Mission Leader for two years, and so he was able to get all the Elders that are still serving, that he has worked with, to come over. So there were twelve of us. It was a mad house, but so much fun! I loved it, and I felt right at home. The Barkers remind me so much of you guys, that's why I love that family so much.

Other than that nothing really has been going on. Kristi is way EXCITED for her baptism. Janice is having a little bit of a hard time, but we'll get her back. I know it. :D

On Sunday it was like "right place, wrong time" day. We went to the 27th Ward to be with Janice, but she wasn't there. :-( On top of that, the speakers were a newly married couple, and they spoke on “marriage”, and Elder Snyder and I just looked at each other, and said, "Oh boy." Then we spoke in a Young Single Adult ward....bad idea right there. Good Gosh! Then we went to the 18th Ward and it was a missionary home-coming! Sunday was a “trying” day! :D

For the last few days we have been going around and meeting people like stake and ward leaders. We did pick up two new investigators last week! One is a Hindu guy, and the other is a 10 year-old boy. Both of these are “member invites”. Yeah! Member invites are the best! So much more solid then us finding on our own. :D

Anyways that was my week.

Love you,

Elder Evans

PS. Emily and John, thank you SO, SO, SO much for the electric blanket! It's nice! I love it! I turn it up on “high” right as we plan for the next day (which takes about 30 minutes), so when we’re done, my bed is nice and toasty. :D

Thank you, I couldn't have asked for a better gift. And, Jonathan, make sure you send me the "Evans Tie” [note-this is a tie that I bought for Elder Evans' father 35 years ago. Both of his older brothers took it on their missions. It is a wide, green, 70s-ish tie so, of course, Elder Evans is excited to get and wear it!]. :D