11/25/13 - letter from Josh

So everything is awesome here. I absolutely love the people. They are so nice and friendly. They are just awesome. All of our investigators are the best. So my companion Elder Corrales is from chile! He is seriously awesome. The Lord knew that I would need him. He is 23 and has been out in the field for 10 months

He is an awesome missionary. He cares so much about every investigator. He keeps up working really hard, and is the district leader. So im serving on the outskirtish area of santa cruz. The 3 and 4 ring around the city.

The ward is really small. only 90 to 100 people. And the chapel is tiny! Every day at lunch we go to what is called our pension, and its a family in the ward that feeds us every day. Its usually the only meal we get too.

The week we taught a whole bunch of lessons, and I got to commit someone to baptizm! :) Any questions from anyone??

 

We are emailing from an internet place. There are tons here. Also there are pharmacys like everywhere in the city. Every street just about. Its weird. Also I want to ask all of you guys to do something, they have asked and asked and asked for us to work with the members. It is being pushed a ton. So will you guys maybe once or twice every other week go and teach lessons with the missionaries?? Ive gotten to have members come with me, and the difference is staggering. It is so much better. The missionaries need members to have success. Honestly the difference is amazing. :)

 

Ive had the opportunity here to feel the spirit here like never before. It has been incredible. So I feel like ive had a couple of manifestations of the spirit. Giving me advice :)  Eternal life in the top kingdom of the celestial kingdom is where i want to be. :) and it will require that I find a companion as determined, and willing to work towards it as much as I want it. And that is alot. It will require willingness to change, humbleness, love for others, and a desire to constantly have the spirit as a part of your life. And its hard. So my standards need to be as high as the young woman I will want to marry. Working in our life towards this goal will put our life into harmony with the gospel and bring us nearer to Christ. And you´ll be able to overcome anything :) But you need to have a companion with the same goal! It really is a perfect system the Lord has set up for us :) My testimony has been so strengthened since coming out. And I know its only going to get stronger!  ¨Look unto the Lord in every thought. Doubt not. Fear not.¨ D&C 6:36 follow this scripture and everything will fall into order :)

Love you!
Elder Evenson

 

 

11/25/13

 

11/23/13

Here he is with his companion Elder Corrales.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Kimberly Lynn Willard" <kwillard@ldschurch.org>
Date: Nov 23, 2013 2:00 PM
Subject: Elder Joshua Evenson
To: "Elder Joshua Evenson" <bemagnificent@gmail.com>
Cc:



Dear Family,

We are so happy to have met your wonderful missionary! We are so honored to work with him here in the Bolivia Santa Cruz Mission. It is obvious in his countenance that he has been prepared to serve the Lord at this time of the hastening of His work.

"And blessed are they who shall seek to bring forth my Zion at that day, for they shall have the gift and the power of the Holy Ghost; and if they endure unto the end they shall be lifted up at the last day, and shall be saved in the everlasting kingdom of the Lamb; and whoso shall publish peace, yea tidings of great joy, how beautiful upon the mountains shall they be."(1 Nephi 13:37)

Every time we look into the face of Elder Evenson we are reminded of the great love that God has for him and also of the great love, that you at home, have for this great missionary. We know that you pray for him every day. We also feel great love for him and pray every day for his well-being, spiritual growth, and happiness. We know that God hears and answers these prayers.

We have two daughters that are serving missions at this time. We also know of the tender feelings that come with having a missionary out in the field. We know that your influence will continue to be a great strength to your missionary. Your favorite scriptures, spiritual experiences, and expressions of love in weekly emails and handwritten letters will help them feel confidence in their ability to do this great work.

We thank you for all you have done and all you will continue to do to bless the work of the salvation of God's children here in Bolivia. How grateful we are to have Elder Evenson here in the Bolivia Santa Cruz Mission. We love him so much!

                                                                            With love,
                                                                            President and Sister Willard

11/19/13

Alrighty so I'm in Bolivia now!!! We left last night at 1:30 in the morning! :D It has been a really really long day. Bolivia is amazing though. SOOOOOO hot though, and the older elders said it is just getting started. :( hahaha It is super beautiful. It is really flat though! No mountains anywhere. President and Hermana Willard came to the airport to get us, and I just got done with an interview with the president. They are the coolest!! :) They are so nice, and just absolutely happy to be here. I can already tell I am going to love it. I can't wait to get out there and serve! Hope everything is going alright with you guys :)

11/16/13

Tell Mckade congratulations for me! That is way exciting. I knew he was a beast at wrestling. So I've gotten to go to the temple like 4 times since being here. The Bogota temple is super beautiful. So awesome. I actually got to see the old video too! :D In Spanish though. The Spanish is kinda hard to understand but not too bad. I love it here in Columbia, I am definitely coming back here someday. So this next week on Tuesday or Wednesday I'm leaving for Bolivia! Finally! I am so ready to start preaching the gospel. I'm so excited. I'll admit there have been some really hard times in the last month, but I know i'm in the right place. The next two years are going to fly for me. I can already feel it. :D

11/05/13

So the last four days here have been fine. Nothing really new to report. I'm so ready to leave the CCM though. I just want to get out of here! Actually tomorrow we are getting new companions. All of the North American Missionaries are going to be getting Latino Companions. I'm pretty nervous. We all are. The last group of latinos knew absolutely no English. At all. So we're a bit nervous. 

Oh man though, Columbia is soooooo beautiful. I am for sure coming back here after my mission. I have loved it so much. Its so green, and it storms all the time, and the weather is fantastic. The drivers are crazy though. Insane actually. We fear for our lives every time we drive somewhere :D 

So all is well here!

Love, 
Elder Evenson

11/01/13

Hey!! Sorry I couldn't email you on Wednesday, the schedule is crazy here! Sorry for the grammar as well, the keyboards are in spanish and so some things are difficult to do. My flight went really well! We woke up at 3 in the morning to catch our flight, and then didnt get to the MTC until 10 that night. It was a long day. I have a new companion whos name is Elder Fruehan. No new calling, but the new district leader is awesome. His name is Elder Gallagher, and he is the coolest. Hes from California, like the bang up, gangster, shoot it up kinda place. And that was what he was like. Hes overcome soo much to get here, and you can really tell. He is so cool. Columbia is absolutely gorgeous. I love it sooo much. The weather is just fantastic, and it is unreal pretty. The MTC is way smaller. Probably like an eighth of Provo. Haha you get to know everyone! :D The Spanish is coming along fine I think. Although I know that I have no idea whats going on once I get to Bolivia. I just love it here. The food is great too. So much better than at Provo.

So I already placed a Book of Mormon!! On the very first saturday we were here they sent us out tracting on the streets. Elder Fruehan and I went out and talked to people, said hello, shared our message a few times, and one lady wanted a BoM! We bore our testimony to her, and I could feel the Spirit so strongly. It was awesome. We got her contact info and stuff and sent it to the missionaries so I really hope they can get to her!