Sept 22, 2014

This week. wow.

 This week. honestly was so hard. i have felt numb. lost and so so hurt. i walked home in the pouring rain with my umbrella closed in my hand. we got to the house. and i noticed it was raining. my comp laughed so hard. cause i saw his umbrella open. and thought to myself out loud. well. isnt really worth it now. haha i was soaked. Tuesday. was just hard. didnt really get better all day. haha yeah. 

 Wednesday. the morning was so hard. i prayed and i told god. that i would just do it. im just going to follow him. act. and just get at it. started studying. just broke down. 

 here is where i saw a miracle. my companion. my best one i ever had. my best friend. i realized he is here to help me get through this. i wouldnt have been able to with a companion that i didnt trust. or just love with all my heart. that morning i just prayed and cried. i was on my knees for hours. and he just came in kneeled by me. put his arm around me. didnt say anything for almost an hour. but i felt so much comfort from him. god blessed me with him. he knew i would go through this at this time. right now. and he prepared the way to help me. almost 5 weeks earlier. 

 that day before we left for lunch. i just prayed. the day before i got a blessing which didnt really help. till the next day i saw why. i kneeled down. and i told god. i told him. i will do this. i will go out and i will work. and you will help me. you will. i told him that we had christoval and rosa today. we needed a miracle so that we wouldnt lose them. we had planned our lesson. and we did our part. and i told god. that he had to be there with us. dont let us loose them. i promised him. if he did that. that i would do all i can to fulfill my calling. 

 we went to the lesson. i hurt all day. i didnt feel his help. but i knew it would come. it was my other test of my faith. i walked into their house. still hurting. till after the first prayer. than i felt the spirit. inside of me. burning so much! i testified and taught with my companion with all the power and authority we had. at the end. they prayed with us to know the book of mormon is true. invited themselves to church. and invited themselves to pray about baptism. if they need to again.

 god was there. he strengthened me. i still hurt. but i was so so happy. that we saw that miracle. that day i just gave my thanks. there is a point in every missionaries mission. where they have to choose. to stay or go home early. sometimes they decide to stay but in their mind going home is an option. this week. i passed that point. i will not come home early. i got work to do. 

 this week we saw so many more miracles. maybe because i was struggling. including we found a family of 7 all adults. who accepted a baptismal date. and are reading the book of mormon. haha we only brought 5 book of mormons. because there was only five the first visit. but they loved it so much. they invited their family to listen. so we still need to take them more books. it was so cooL! 

 I have felt gods love for me. how proud he is of me. I dont know his plan. or why things happen the way they do. but i trust in him. completely. and thats all i need. i dont need to know. i just need faith to trust in him. I love him. and i know he loves me. he showed me so many times this week. that he is with me. sometimes in the mission its just a routine. we have the spirit but we get so used to it. its like we dont feel it. this week i know i was on jesus shoulders. he pushed to me grow and be better. he helped me when i just fell and cried. thats the greatest part of this church.

 thats its true. that jesus cares enough to help it grow. even someone like me. who was a sinner all his life. who still is imperfect. he helps even me. i dont understand how. or in what way or why. but i know he is with us. proud of me. and what im doing. i love it here. i love it so much. costa rica. is my second home. which makes these people my family. i want to help everyone. i want to let them have the hope and the knowledge and the faith that i have. so when they pass through their hard times. they can be strengthened. and blessed. and get through it with him.

 if i had to go through this at any other time. at home. or anywhere else. i would die. but here. right now. with god. im fine. im learning im growing. and if their is one thing that this week taught me. is that this is gods church. he guides it. he protects it. and this church is ONLY for our good. tohelp  us. what more could i ask for. i love it here. im getting better. im growing stronger. but most of all. i love it. dont worry about me. keep me in your prayers but know that ive got this. its hard. but i can and will get through it. 

 next week is changes. im super scared. i dont want to go. or leave this companion. but ill go where im sent. and do what i need to do. =D hopefully we will have a baptism this week. this change we havent had one. its been hard... not much success. but i know ive done all i can here. every day. i did my best. 

 my mom always complained about how i put things off or only get them half done. its so true. i decided that my mission would kick that habit. that i would give it my all. and trust. that god will bless me. 

 I read a quote from general conference in april i dont remember who. but he said. I would never have asked for this trial. But i would never give it away. 

 embrace life. embrace the trials. use them to grow. grow physically. mentally. even spiritually. and you will never ever frown. or lose the smile on your face. trust in gods plan. kick satan out of your life. and know that god loves you. 

 I love my mission. thanks for all your prayers this week i honestly have felt them so strongly... 

I love you all.

Love Elder Jordan Evans

 some temple pics. hahah look at me and frozone. (see above) we arent even sitting on the bench.. it was wet. haha me and him. and me and my grand daughter in the mission. hahaha temple. amazing. cant wait to have one close and go all the time! 

me and the sisters in asseri. haha they are so freaking funny. we are like best friends. one is canadian. and she has a cool accent. they are like my grandmas here in the mission. they take such good care of me. hahaha so funny. selfies. 

Sept 16, 2014

So this week i feel like it will be really hard. last week was rough. so if you could. just keep me in your prayers. alot of personal things. along with things in the work. so just keep me in your prayers this week if you could. 

 so this past week was. well started really weird. my comp has been a little disobedient. and its been hard for me to stand up to him. so we just havent been studying super well. cause he wont study with me. haha yeah. 

 but this week everything just started to fall. i love the work. and im super frustrated cause its not going well. fetchin satan. haha this week. we lost our family. we were teaching we saw so many miracles. but they called us and said they dont want anything else with us. and a lot of other things . i dont know why! im sad cause they dont want the blessings. 

 i know its ok to be disappointed but never discouraged. haha im just like. why! why wont you accept the truth. its right here.

 so this week we have one last lesson with them. tomorrow. im hoping to be ready spiritually. doing everything i can. 

 another 3 baptisms fell this week. as they couldnt come to church. ah. im so mad!! haha 

 but yeah. thats my life. i love the mission. this is the first time. ive been so preoccupied by their spiritual well being. that it hurts me. haha i guess im starting to understand how i need to suffer for people to come unto christ. haha jesus rocks.

 but i went to the temple! it was so cool! it was cold and dry. and thats the only place in all of costa rica. hahaha i loved ti. the spirit was so so so strong. it really was what i needed. that spiritual recharge is the reason i can keep going. l'

 sorry if my letter was supper negative. haha im good. i am. just. disappointed. haha i love it here. im happy. working hard. just want to help people. =D 

 this week well yesterday was independence day here. and they go around in huge trucks like a parade. but a truck and a trailer. playing music making noise at 5 in the morning. hahaha i was not happy about that! it was pday! hahaaha and everything was closed. thats why i had to wait till today! hahaha

 it was cool. bought some new ties. super swag. haha working hard. i love you all. i love the mission. i love being here. helping people even when its hard. 

 i got to give a talk sunday. they asked me right before the sacrament. and obvi i cant plan a lesson during the sacrament. i need to be thinking about jesus. so i had honestly 1 minute to plan a 10 minute talk. it was fun. hahaha oh well.

 i got to go. love you all. 

 Love elder evans

 please keep me in your prayers

Sept 8, 2014

so. uh. hey. =D 

 this week rocked. so we had a lesson from pres. he taught us the doctrine of planning. hahaha that was so cool. he taught us how god planned everything before. and how satan plans perfectly. and god is hot. and satan is cold. and if we dont plan we are just in between. than he showed us a scripture that says. if your not hot nor cold and your just warm. i will vomit you from my mouth. hahahahahah thats how he ended. i was like. great. im just vomit. hahahah but my planning is a lot better. im like a plan master. i mean just look at my emails. i plan those. =P that was a joke. i dont actually plan those. but yeah. hahaha i dont plan too well. but hey im learning!

 so yeah. this week we didnt have any in church. and the assistance dropped by 50! just cause their was no water in the morning. so they couldnt shower. we did. cause we got up early. just another way satan plans.. hahaha fetching satan. 

 but yeah. bishop went with us to our old couple investigators. and testified so strongly about eternal families. and i did too. and it was so powerful the lesson they cried just to feel that they could have a family forever. this isnt the end. they are kinda close the end of the road... so hey. they are scared. i love the message we bring. it just brings hope. and joy. and peace. how could it not be true. i see the miracles every day! 

 but yeah. great week. my comp rocks. haha we get along so well. he looks like frozone...hahah from the incredibles. hahaha we havent fought yet. and we wont. cause we just love each other. and its inviting the spirit so strongly. hahaha 

 so today isnt p day. we just can write today. cause if not pres would get a lot of angry mom letters. hahaha but its because we are going to the temple this week! haha wednesday! so i invite all of you to go too! and tell me your experiences. when was the last time you went to the temple!? to visit your father. and your brother. and learn. id go more if i could. but we have rules against it. haha i miss the temple so much. i need the spirit that i feel there so much. i need to help other people! hahaha even if they already died. hahaaha

 so i got all my shirts and pants taken in. so that i dont look so goofy. haha and we changed the lady that washes our clothes. today we got them back. dry. clean. ironed. and folded. hahaha this is the life. hahaha im so grateful for her. hahaha 

 so found this rice milk. sound horrible tastes a little weird... but after like a couple sips. its to die for. hahaha its so good. haha fetch. everything here is made with rice. hahaha rice in every meal. haha remember how before the mission i hatd rice. hahaha now its like. the main part of every meal. hahaha tomatoes. too. ahha and rice and beans. hahaha every single freaking day. only when i cook do i not eat rice. but now im drinking it. hahaha i have a problem. 

 but yeah. im not sick. havent been for a while super happy about that. missionary work is good. no baptisms for this week. but next week we have 3 planned maybe 4. we will see if satan kickes in. hi hope not. hahaha if so. ill just plan better than him. and we will win! haha faith. 

 i love you all. hope everything is going well! 

 this is a picture of a bird that tried to kill me. i just tried to save it. and let it go outside. hahahaha fetching birds. haha

and this is my comp. he looks like frozone. from the incredibles. hahhha im not kidding. sometimes im just like wha. frozone. hahaha i looked for pictures of me. but.. there arent any. sorry. next week! hahaha

Love you all. love elder evans

Sept 1, 2014

THIS WEEK ROCKED! hahaha

so yeah. this week was so good. so many cool things. great lessons. great investigators. great miracles. great food. and yeah. great week.

so this month we are planning on 8 baptisms... when there is a spirit of unity there is the spirit. with elder moran. we get along so well. i wish i had a picture with him. hahaa he looks like frozone from the incredibles. hahaha its so true. i just stared at him for like 20 min in our studies trying to figure it out. frozone. hahahaha fetch. 

this week i drank coffee. well corn coffee. which isnt against the rules. and they put in the powder for baby milk. and i hated it., haha but now i crave the flavor of the coffee. its better to just stay away from the fire all together. hahaha

so lightning struck the neighbors house. it was so loud. and sooo cool! haha welcome to costa rica. one minute we are studying outside. than the sun starts to burn us. so we go in. and 1 minute after. there is the thickest rain you can think of. hahaha so cool. 

bought a new umbrella. its black and white. haha i look like such a good little missionary.

so yeah. got all my shirts sowed up. this week ill get my pants done too. so i will be guapo. hahaha 

this week. we went to a car audio. competition. which was cool... our investigator was competing. he took 3rd. it was so cool i felt like i was in a fast and furious movie. hahaha thats what my comp told me. i miss real world cars. hahahaha

but the work yes is worth it. hahaha

great week. so many miracles. haha found a new investigator. who has like a hundred books of the jehovas witnesses. hahaha our goal is to baptise him. and burn the stack. hahaha my comp was like. that whole time i could just see the stack burning hahaha. yeah. 

the first lesson. i lent him a book of mormon. so he could read about more prophets. he was super excited. we will visit him this week. if he read. we will give him the book. i like to lend the books more than give them. why? so they feel a pressure to read it. and it gives us a chance to stop by cause i have to pick up my book! hahaha but i always give it to them after. ... but they dont need to know that...

i love the gospel. i love the church. i love my comp. i love this area. i love you all! im the most blessed man on earth. i love it here. 

Aug 25, 2014

15 to go.

so yeah. found out this week only 15 to go. thats wierd to me. haha dont want to think about that. hahaha my companion did the math. its ok. i did the math for him. he goes in 7 hhahaha he is so old. hahaha i love bugging him. hahahaha

 So! my comp and i. ok this has been the best week of my mission! haha well companion wise... haha i love him to death. we both had a super hard change last change and so this companionship just rocks. we are just best friends. every day has been fun. funny. and just uplifting not only for us. but for those around us. haha he just rocks. i love him to death. i will not let our friendship fail. because jesus said. if your not one. ye are not mine. haha and yes we are one. we think the same. we teach the same. we work the same. haha he is just a bit lazier than me. haha which i know sounds fatal. haha but here in the mission im not that lazy . =D 

 so this week rocks. fetch he rocks. but eyah. its like a man crush. hahaha maybe not. haha but yeah. this week. good week. worked hard. didnt see much success didnt have many lessons either. which was hard. but we had super amazing miracles. and lessons we had. wow. 

 one was with a less active his son is getting ready to be baptized. next month on his birthday. haha but yeah. he lives with his x wife. so the house is just contention. and he said he doesn't go to church for people. and he just went off on excuses. than me and my companion. just received so much of the spirit. and we just cut off his head. hahahah we just said exactly what he needed to hear. we were so direct. and im not usually super blunt and harsh. but i said what the spirit said to say. and he was like making jokes trying to break the spirit. but at the end with tears in his eyes. he said. your right. you have all the reason in the world. than he said. i know you here to teach my son. who is autistic and a bit slower. and he said. lets change the date to his birthday. and you have my support. i will help you. than he left the room. i felt almost bad that i said what i said to him. but after my companion said. i have never felt the spirit testify so strongly. its true. the spirit touched his heart. and he needed to hear what i said. i hope he thinks about it and comes back to the church. he wants more than anything to go to the temple. maybe this will be his rode back to happiness. with his wife. he is going to be an example for his son. that day. was a miracle for me. to be the hands of the lord was so awesome. 

 we did divisions with the new missionaries that came. we both had miracles this day. helped so many people. my comp was a gringo didnt speak hardly anything. hahaha i remember those days. haha but when he testified about the temple. (one of the topics you dont really study the vocab for in the mtc) it was such horrible spanish. i barely understood. but the spirit. was so strong that every person in that house cried. it was so awesome. even i cried. i got to testify of his words. and share my first experience with all of you in the temple. to see my family in the celestial room. to know that my family would be together forever. and to understand it. i cried so hard. this lesson helped me learn and grow so much. it was so awesome. so many miracles this week.

 we are just struggling finding new investigators. this change we should have 6 baptism. that are almost for sure. god is blessing us with success. we just want to work harder help more people. 

 so eyah. our baptism for this week. was all good to go. he is 11. in our lesson about the law of chastity. haha we asked at the end. what is the law of chastity dylyn.? he said. to have a girlfriend... but not have kids. hahahahah funniest thing every. yup dylyn you got that right. haha

 he totally passed his interview. 

 than his mom signed the paper too. and everything was good. Saturday night his mom said no. that we didnt have her permission that he wasnt ready because she thinks he is only doing it. cause we are cool. and he likes to spend time with us. so this week. my comp. and a member will go teach him. to show her its not the friendship i have with him that makes him want to do it. haha so if all goes well. it will be this week! 

 my convert elsa sewed up all my shirts so now i dont look so dumb. so thats cool. ahahha and yeah. saturday we had a mothers day activity i got to cook in the kitchen for 100 people. felt good to be cooking again. strange but i kinda miss arctic circle. ahha only a little. haahha

 but eyah. so just so you know im safe. and im doing great. i have right now the most dangerous area in the mission. there was 8 murders this month here. its wierd to see the news. and know exactly where that is. one was killed outside our investigators house. a bit scary. my comp has been freaked out. but we are ok. the police sent in 150 more. they are on every corner now. so its kinda the most safe. ahhaha but eyah im good. i love it. hahaha 

 so the joke of this week. we helped a family move. i had thier plasma tele in my arms. its like 40 inch haha (thats one thing even the poor people have. teles.) haha and the mom said. hahahahaha it looks like the giants tablet. hahaha fetch. it was a good one. hahahaha they all laughed. ahhahaha freaking funny. 

 but yeah thats all i have this week... so yeah. love you all!

 ELder Evans

Aug 18, 2014

So this week. well Changes. so im still in jardin haha im so happy i could cry. haha and my comp is elder moran. haha he is so cooL! he is from el salvador! and... yeah. he is tall and super skinny like me. haha we look so funny together. haha swag. but yeah we get along os well. im so happy. 

so yeah. this week was hard. we had a party for micheal it was good. than his mom threw a party and it was so cool! haha they had a dance like all latinos do. than this drunk uncle. haha was dancing to this american music. and was like challenging everyone. haha it was so funny. so i totally jumped in. ahhaha haven't danced in ages. but as you all know its something i love to do. so i just showed him up. it was so funny. hahaha but yeah. =D part of the work yeah?! 

so yeah. that was my week. along with other things ill send some photos this week. but yeah. i love the work. no baptism this week. =( but next week yues! if his parents will let us. we are struggling with them. so yeah.

made friends with a new family. he lived in the states. i dont know if i told you this. haha but he plays the guitar. and likes to speak english so we talked and he played for us. and at the end we taught about the restoration a bit. and they said we believe

the book of mormon is true. its  interesting. when can you come back. miracle! haha god blesses me so much! i love it. 

but eyah thats my week lets get on the photos. haha sorry not very interesting this week. haha normal work. haha working hard. haha =D going to kill it this change with my new twin companion.  

so yeah. this is me helping with the party. haha cleaning and stuff. and the sound system. i have an addiction haha its so cool they use these for competitions. ahah its so cool 

                                                                                                                                                                                                  the story of abraham sacrificing his son! hahahah super cool 

and im a bat. haha in the cave. haha or somehting like that. haha

trip to the mountain! haha coolest buterfly. 

and titanic sceen hahahaha swag.

cooking for the party! haha wooosh! look how much! they ahd so many left overs they cooked 10 lbs of rice as well! how crazy! haha

the family of dorca and luis. haha super funny she is like sister farley. haha just full of attitude. she threatened the guy that assaulted us along time ago. haha she was so happy when my comp left. she thought i would go and cried so hard. haha freak yeah. swag. i love being loved. hahaha

my family of escazu. they are who were there after i left. my daughter and her daughter. so my grand daughter. my x comp and everything so cool!

 

haha my other daughter in the mission. haha also from colombia. haha this picture. just says it all. hahahahaha 

Aug 11, 2014

so today. is the day. that i complete 8 months. what. hahaha how weird. 

thats enough of that subject. haha so found a cool soda. or a small restaurant. that sells hamburgers fries and a drink for 3 dollars. yup. im happy. its so hard to find something from my own country. hahah diabetes. 

so this is so weird. now im translating everything back into english. hahah so cool! dreams. thoughts. everything in spanish. haha losing my mind. hhahah losing it to the latinos. haha car. they got me. haha 

yeah. this week was cool... we did divisions. which is splits in english i think. and i went to another area. my first time. for 2 days. to san miguel. haha i learned that one of the missionaries there does a lot of lpes with the girls he thinks are cute. haha so they have like a ton of good looking investigators. hahaha its so funny. hahaha fetching san miguel. haha 

but eyah. it was good. taught a lot. learned a lot too. my DL is super smart. he studied the bible so much! but yeah. i just asked him all my super deep questions. and he helped me. ahha this week was full of super deep teaching i felt like i was learning more than i taught. haha turns out i know nothing. haha one day. thats why im here right to learn. hahahah and to help others learn. 

never did like learning. but im good with it here.

last week we had a lot of problems in our companionship. its weird. we just don't mesh at all. hahaha normally we get over it and are friends. but yeah. we are doing are best. thankfully god has blessed us a lot. with his spirit to help us keep going. we are trying. well im trying. 

but yeah. i have to go. they are closing. we went on an adventure ill send photos when i can. i love you all. love elder evans. 

ps. with the spirit everything is easier. i love it. i love it here. i love the work. last week we had 18 new investigators. i love talking to people i love the mission. haha it rocks. sorry for not writing much.