3/24/14

Time sure is flying right by, no? It finally got just a little bit cold this week here! :D Our companions from south america were just freezing every morning, and me and Elder Roberts were totally fine :D it was probably only like 50 or 60 degrees but for here that's kinda cold haha.

Well this week at church was good. We always arrive to the chapel a bit early to greet all the people as they come into the church. This week in particular we sang a song as missionaries :D haha 158 trabajemos en la obra in Spanish but i can´t remember what in English :D haha sorry. (note from mom: I looked it up and it is, Let Us All Press On (in the work of the Lord), but it took me some serious research to figure it out because the Spanish Translation is way different (Work Today In The Work - which barely makes sense in English. Hahahaha!) Then after sacrament is over we go to the Gospel Principles class with all the new members and recent converts and investigators. We usually do a lot of the teaching in that class :D haha We have a teacher, but he really likes to rely on us for some of the finer details haha. And in Gospel Doctrine its a ton. Then we go to the elders quorum. We also talk to tons and tons of members. We are so busy at church. But that´s a good thing :) every third Sunday of the month here is a sacrament meeting dedicated to the work of salvation. So we will talk in those occasionally. Our ward here in Antofagasta has about 150-190 people every week. Its one of the bigger wards here. Buuuuuuut when sacrament starts there are like 40 or 50 people at the church.... Things start like an hour late here. haha its crazy. But our bishop is determined to change the members! haha This ward is super great :)

There are tons and tons of sister missionaries who are the same age as me. It´s so different, Cary always said the sister missionaries were not the prettiest, but pucha the ones here sure are. (note from mom: I translated pucha, and it translates to heck) :D Tons of them are super pretty. haha buuuuuuuut you should read the talk ¨lock your heart¨ by pres. Spencer W. Kimball. He talks about our mission experience and how we should interact with people of the opposite sex. He thought that marrying anyone you met in your mission is a bad mark on your time spent in the mission. Have a great week!

3-17-14

P day is today so we´re going to practice a special musical number for a conference with Elder Grow from the 70 this week. After that play soccer!!!! I´m so excited. I just love it! after that I need a haircut. My hair is way too long. haha And yes, I write in my journal almost every night. I write tons. I'm actually writing in two separate journals now, one for the day to day activities and one for spiritual thoughts and experiences. Today the weather is a bit rainy, but usually its just scorching hot. So that´s fun. Well there are always hundreds of dogs and cats. Mostly dogs. They´ll fight in the streets all the time. Oh yeah I got bit by one too last week, just a little though because I reacted really fast and the dog only clipped my ankle. I hate the dogs here. That was the third one in the past week that has tried though. There are lots of cool lizards here; the ones who run on their back legs really really fast and can run on water. I´ll find geckos on the walls inside the house from time to time. And there are always new insects. There are just the weirdest bugs here.

3/10/14

During Carnaval we were just locked in our house :) President Willard gave us homework to do. We had an activity for every hour of the day. So really we were just studying for three days straight, but it was so awesome. I learned so many things. Really I love studying the scriptures soooooo much. There is always something incredible and new to learn! Yesterday was really cool, there was a country wide broadcast for all of Bolivia for stake conference. It was a live broadcast and we had one of the counselors of the relief society, Sister Reeves, Elder Rasband of the seventy, and Elder Russell. M. Nelson speak to us! Elder Nelson can speak spanish really well! I was super suprised :D It was an incredible broadcast! :) THe work of salvation is being hastened so much right now. Missionary work is more important than it´s ever been! 

Blessings

Elder Evenson,

Here is a little memory: President Evans set you apart on October 7th as a missionary. Wade was your companion until you left, and slept in your bedroom with you that night. :) Good memories!

I wrote down a few things I could remember that President Evans blessed you with. Thought you'd like to hear them again:

1. He blessed you with safety and awareness of your surroundings.
   
2. He blessed you with the ability to learn the language.
   
3. He blessed you to be aware of your body, to eat right, get exercise, and be healthy.
   
4. He blessed your family to share in the blessings of your mission.

I know there was more, and I wish I had written it all down. Love you kiddo. Can't wait to "chat" with you Monday morning. I really missed you this week. 

love, mom