December 29, 2014

Cheers to 2015!

Hey y'all!  Ahhh!  It was so good talking to y'all on Christmas! I am so happy I was able to FaceTime the family :) Everyone looks good! Really- not a whole lot different than when I was home almost 7 months ago! So that's good news! 

Well.. this week was a bit slow with the Holidays! To be honest, this has probably been one of my most difficult transfers of my mission because we literally don't have a single soul to teach.. which makes the time go really slow! But oh well :) We are still working hard to find people to teach and are trying to work with a lot of the less actives and members. This week, we had about 5 or 6 solid branch members move away to Utah and Idaho for school, so we are a bit scarce in numbers! 

We were able to spend Christmas Eve at the Tiemann's and had a fancy candle-lit Christmas Eve dinner and then we spent Christmas Day at the Botkins!  We had a great time :) 

Yesterday we were able to teach some young children and we had a really fun lesson with them! I love how close to the spirit young kids are! I am learning and growing so much each and every day! I hope y'all have a great week and a happy new year! Wahooo!! 

Love, 

Sister Evans

December 23, 2014

MERRY CHRISTMAS Y'ALL!
Hello, friends and family! 

Mom- sorry I wasn't able to get on the computer yesterday. We had a mission Christmas Party, so we are taking our P-Day today! 

Harrison- I'm so sorry that you were so sick this week :( That makes me so sad! Feel better soon!! 

Mom- I have loved the 12 Days of Christmas boxes! You are killin' it with the Christmas surprises! I also received a package from the Smith family this week- thank you SO much! And THANK YOU to the McClellan's for the card and for thinking of me! I feel so loved! 

We started off the week by witnessing Timmell (one of our recent converts- he is so awesome!) receive the Melchezidek Priesthood and give his first priesthood blessing! It was so neat! Then, on Tuesday I picked up my new companion, Sister Gonzalez and she is lots of fun! We work well together and I really like being companions with her! She is from Chicago and speaks fluent Spanish, so that has helped get us through a couple doors this week! We did some service for Sister Dale this week and she gave us the sweetest gift- a pair of fleece-lined leggings to keep our legs warm in the cold! Gosh! Everyone is so thoughtful :) 

We have been invited to the Tiemann's home in Hereford this week for Christmas Eve (the same family that took us in for Thanksgiving-1st counselor) and then we are headed to Amarillo to spend Christmas Day with the Botkin family (he is the 2nd counselor in the branch presidency). So... YES!!! I will get to Skype and should be on around noon or 1pm (my time). I'm so excited to get to talk to and see my family! Woot Woot! 

Yesterday at the 1st Annual "Jingle Jam" (that's what Sister Heap named the Christmas Party) we were able to watch the Saratov Approach, have a talent show- no Mom, I didn't participate!- and President Heap gave us the best instruction! He told us that within the next few weeks, ELDER BEDNAR will be coming and wants us to gather as a mission (which never, ever happens! There's way too many of us! 260+missionaries) and have a conference!  I am so excited! There are a lot of great things happening here in the TLM! 

I love being a missionary, especially during this time of the year! It is such a blessing being able to teach others about our Savior and why his birth and life is so significant in our lives today! I hope y'all have a very Merry Christmas! 

Love, 

Sister Evans 

MERRY CHRISTMAS Y'ALL

My New Comp! Hermana Gonzalez

Texans have some serious Texas-Pride!! I love it!

December 15, 2014

Christmas is next week??
Hey y'all! Thanks for all of the emails :) I love hearing from all y'all!  Mom (and Dad).. I LOVE my new shoes! Thank you! 

We had a great week around here! It was finals week for the students, so a lot of them left for the Holidays and won't be back for another 5 weeks or so... so we have been spending a lot of time working with our less actives in Amarillo! We had a great Zone Training where we learned about how to have better studies, having hope, and how to deal with Anti... We get so much anti-mormon stuff all the time! It just goes to show.. not all websites and tv shows are correct! Satan tries SO HARD to get in the way of the Lord's work! 

Anyways, I can't believe I have been out for 6 months! I will be home next year at this time- WEIRD! Sister Affleck was invited to sing at the Canyon Ward Christmas Party.. so we went to that and it was good! Sister Dale was there and she cracks me up!! This week she crocheted me a headband and a matching pair of mittens! I Love that lady! Yesterday, I spoke in church about the Savior's birth and mortal ministry and that went well! I LOVE my Savior so much! This morning, I read about what he went through for each and every one of us in Matthew 27. Jesus Christ was the perfect example of patience, love, self mastery and control, humility, and the list goes on and on! 

We were able to teach a member's friend after church who had a lot of really good questions! His name is T and he is definitely seeking for truth! The member's dad (Branch President in another town) sat in on our lesson and it was so great to have his strong testimony of the church and the power of the Book of Mormon. 

Our transfer calls came this week and I will be staying here in Canyon YSA and will be getting a new companion! Her name is Sister Gonzalez and is a spanish-speaking missionary!! So.. hopefully I can brush up on my basic spanish! I'm excited to have her join me here :) Lots of great things are happening around here! I'm excited to talk to y'all on Christmas! Have a great week!!

Love, 

Sister Evans 

Our Little District 

My new companion is on the Left!

Sister Dale and I :)

December 8, 2014

Hey Y'all!
Hello! It looks like Brittnie's wedding turned out great and that everyone had a good time! Yay! Congrats :) I had a great week! Grandma and Grandpa Evans stopped on their way through on Monday and it was so good to see them! I love my tender grandparents! 

We were able to go to the stake president's home for family home evening this week where the lesson was about the sacrament- President Vest's young children participated in the lesson and I was blown away by the knowledge they have of the Savior at such a young age! WOW! I want to raise my children just like they have! So much love and understanding of the significance of the sacrament! This week has been a little bit slow here on the college campus since it was "dead week" meaning that finals are this coming week. 

Lots of students are going home for the holidays and have a hard time setting aside time to meet with us... but we did get to meet with K and we shared with her the new "He is The Gift" video and talked about Christ's Atonement and that really touched her heart! She is slowly progressing and is doing well! I love teaching humble people like her! 

This week we were able to do service at the museum for the big, annual Christmas Open House. We were told that we would be helping supervise with the cookie decorating, but when we got there, they asked us to run the "player piano." hahahaha It was HILARIOUS! We had to pump the pedals (which was a major workout) and we changed the scrolls so it would play different Christmas songs! I felt like I was on a stationary bike, spinning in a skirt and performing with a smile on my face for 3 hours! It was pretty fun! Then last night, we had the opportunity to watch the Christmas Devotional which was so uplifting! I loved it! I had a great week and I hope y'all did too! I love you all! Let us all remember the reason for the season and have a great week :) 

Love, 

Sister Evans 

P.S. Transfer Calls will be here this Saturday... EEK! I'm not sure what will happen this next transfer! :) 

December 1, 2014

Happy December!
Hey y'all! What the hay!? It's December already!! Wow! It sounds like everyone had a great Thanksgiving! I did too :) We went to the Tiemann's home- he is the 1st counselor in the branch presidency. His wife made some delicious food and it was great! Afterwards, our zone got together and tried to work off our Thanksgiving meal by playing pigskin! So that was fun- until I jammed my pinky as I caught the football and now my hand is all bruised haha! 
This week the work was pretty slow since the whole campus was DEAD! I mean... DEAD. Not a soul to be found! Oh, the joy of serving in a YSA area during holidays! Oh well :) We have been working a lot this week with a recent convert who has decided that he can no longer be a member of the church since his family is disowning him and sending him anti-mormon literature... so sad! We've been really trying to help him feel the spirit this week so that he won't turn his back on God. Honestly, that's all that really happened this week! We haven't been able to meet with T since she has been out of town all week, so we are probably going to have to push her baptismal date back. 
We are working hard to find more people to teach and I'm super excited about the He Is The Gift initiative that the church has put out! Have y'all watched the video yet? If not, watch it now! christmas.mormon.org  -It's only like 2 minutes long and it is so good! The spirit is so strong as it testifies of Christ's birth- the real reason we celebrate Christmas. I love y'all and hope you have a great week :) 

Love, 

Sister Evans 

Oh- I made a pumpkin pie :) My wife skills are a work in progress! Good thing I'm on a mission for a while longer!! 

soooooo...... we played "pigskin" on Thanksgiving. One of the Elders threw the football to me and I jammed my pinky... haha! Now my whole hand is a big ol' black bruise 

Monday was AWESOME!  My grandparents have been serving a mission at the Washington DC Temple for the last year.  On their way home they stopped to see me!  I am grateful for a mission president who allowed us a quick visit!