Mar 24, 2014

LOVE OF CHRIST

Perfect title. and I will explain. haha this week was kinda long. not as fast as usual. but it was amazing. my new companion elder Roldan. is fantastic. I have no complaints. he is awesome our spirit together is going to change this area. we are having a hard time in this area. with finding news. but hey. we are doing all we can. and thats enough. haha so yeah. this week. pretty good. 

My companion is my best friend. not perfect but neither am I. and I have not had a single problem with him. we are so strong. we love each other. we work together well. and its so fun. I love it. 

My cold. is still here. a little. I slept all day Tuesday. cause it got so so bad. I couldn't do anything. it was bad all week but I worked through it. took a lot of nasty meds here. haha but hey. I feel ok today. by next week it should be gone. haha 

So wed we had a meeting as a zone and. we learned about the Book of Mormon why its true. and real without the spirit. just science and facts. about the mayans and stuff. super cool. it was hard to understand all the weird terms but! he had a lot of pictures. so I learned stuff too! hahaha it was so long =P and I was sick and sniffing and coughing the whole time so it felt longer. but he had 364 slides. that's like 1 a day for a year. haha yeah.

 so I saw a very small like ford ranger type of pick up truck. with two cows in the bed. what? who put that there?! haha so funny for me. hahahaha 

 so my comp made the hermanas mad. cause we used to work a lot with them with the new rule where we give them all our women investigators. and with my new comp he thinks its bad. which I guess it is. but I didn't know. so now we rarely talk or see them. haha they got mad with him. but he said something to make them mad. and me. being sly in the ways of the words. solved everything and after he called me a piyo haha I guess it means like good with words. it was so funny. haha I guess I am. I said its cause I grew up with 5 women in the house. you learn or you die. haha its much funnier in spanish. aprende o morir I cant spell but yeah. we were laughing so hard. also piyama is sleep over. in case you were wondering. haha so yeah sat we had to fill up the baptismal font at 120

 so sat. was crazy had a cita at 130 and another at 2 but like 40 min of walking in between so we just said. no. cancel. so at 2 we went and had 2 lessons. so now it 320 ish right. walking time. and so after we had to run for like 20 min to get to the store bought a cake. took a taxi to open the chapel. turned off the water set up the chairs. had a lesson. and a blessing set up another room and yeah. for our classes of english. it was just crazy. I was so stressed out. we ran for hours to get everything done. haha thats my point. you had to be there. and after we did splits. but first, my companion had a miracle during the blessing we gave. just he was just guided. haha it was cool. the spirit was so strong. that night we did divisions. with members. and I went and taught. and I felt like we needed to pass by this house. and teach an old investigator. we taught about faith. and at the end. I felt the spirit yelling to me. i just blurted out. AS A REPRESENTATIVE OF JESUS CHRIST I know that if you pray tonight with faith. god will answer you. tonight. everything went quiet. and she said. I will pray. I know I need to. the spirit like smacked us all in the face. and I learned so much. crazy. haha it rocked.

 on a funny note. my companion calls weird kids that are like really nerdy and needy of their mom. he calls them mommy! haha in a really high pitched voice in his bad English. hahaha its so funny. he was like that guy was really ... mommy right? hah so funny. 

 so domingo. we had a baptism of an amazing woman her son is member. since November. and he had the chance to baptize her. they are both a little... slower. amazing but its hard for them to remember things. so they went in the water. and he says. oh gracias senor. to start his prayer. I was like crap. haha so I stopped them. and fed him the words. and it was great. but she didn't even come close to going under. so we tried again. nothing. she didn't come close again. and she just floated. after he tried to put her back up she didn't put her feet back down she is like 90 haha so he was just pushing her across the water. it was so funny and sad and scary. I took off my shoes cause i thought she was going to drown. I was so scared. so I decided to take of my suit. I found white pants and I put it on. and I jumped in in my white shirt and white pants. haha super fast. so I explained everything in the water with them. and we tried to baptize her. didn't work. so she came up. and I was squatting in the water to be at her level so she could feel I loved her and I was trying to help.

 I said hey at least the waters not cold right? and she laughed. and we tried again. nothing. 2 more times nothing. haha we just couldn't do it. for a new reason every time. like he would push her under but hold her hand out of the water or something. so the last time. we tried. was the most amazing experience in my entire life. I got down on her level. and I said. we are going to do it this time. grab your nose hard and hold your breath ok? she was just smiling. I just said. you have your son. trust him. can you feel his hand on your back. and she said yeah. and I said. I will have mine a little higher. can you feel it. and she said yeah. than we did the prayer. perfect. I grabbed his arm cause he had both hers right. and I just pushed a little harder being as gentle as possible but firm to do it. and it was valid. perfect! she came out of the water. and she said. before I told her it was valid. she said. in spanish. que rico, gracias senor. 

 wow. just wow. here rico means usually used as a term for oh this food is super good. but when used like the way she used it. que rico.. than gave thanks to god. wow. the whole room went from uncomfortable to crying. wow. 7 trys to get her under the water like 12 with the prayers. she was baptized and what an amazing experience for all of us there. it was beautiful I was crying so hard. I love her. to see her son baptize his mom. to have her be able to go to heaven with him. just wow. changed my life.. I will always remember this experience. I loved it.

 what an amazing week. god blessed me in so many ways. the spirit in that baptism. was. incredible. what a week. I love it here.

 

I love you all I miss you. do whats right. look for the lords hand.

I love you.

Love elder Evans.

I made a snow man from the ice build up in our fridge. ahha after had a snow ball fight.

 

oh and my companion taught me something important.

 Al Infinito Y Mas AYA!!!! 

 it means. to infinity, and beyond. hahahaha 

Mar 17, 2014

so. I love putting the juicy details somewhere in the letter so you have to read the whole thing. That's just how i am with investigators. I put a funny part in somewhere and they have to listen closely the whole time waiting to hear it haha. ok que malo haha its a joke. but really. read. haha i'm a hypocrite. haha jk. i read everyday. i have a lot of emotions. not sure how to feel. you'll see why.

SO Thursday. one of the hermanas got super sick. i thought she had appendicitis. So we ran her to the hospital but before they called us. and my companion tried to not have to go. and called tons of members I was like no! I yelled at him. i'm so bad. i said your the leader of the district! they need you! I dont care if you dont want to walk we are going. its our job! so we were at the hospital till 3 am. she is ok. Dont worry just needs to drink more water. she had an inflamed colon. Hashi will know that could mean right where appendicitis could be. so yeah.... 

My companion is now very mad at me.

So friday. haha I cant remember very far back. woot. fail. we had a multi-zone conference with pres. and it was super good I learned a lot. i just wanted to work. haha his talk made me want to not be there. but to be working. it was weird. listen to him talking about working harder. or working harder. haha fail. but yeah. it went 6 hours over. kill me. 9 to 5 what a long meeting. I guess that's how this pres is. oh well. he is great. scary but great.

Saturday we had stake conference. for adults. and it was awesome. just like back home. and it was in our capilla so i didnt have to leave. woot. no buss. but! my companion was on the phone with the hermanas. and I wasnt listening. cause I was talking to members. and I felt horrible. I ran out there. made him give me the phone and i called them back. they said. he confessed his love for them. and other things. I don't know if you know this. but that's bad. haha love. 

 SO yeah. the next day I got sick. real sick. I have a horrible cold right now. not important. keep working. haha but yeah. I asked the zls for a blessing cause my companion has been mad at me since our fight. and after the meeting I asked to talk to them about yesterday. I told them everything. We then talked to assistants and then to pres. cause it was muy feo. so yeah. pres said that night that he would be going home tomorrow... Monday. 

So here we are. We were in the office all day. it was hard. and it hurt a lot. I love him so much. its been horrible. he didn't go home. pres did cambios and I have a new comp he is the same guy I went with my first day here in costa rica. he is an amazing person. and missionary and im so so so excited.  but i only remember the good. and honestly I learned so much from him. what a great guy. he was my trainer. the one I needed. and he was lazy and didn't work hard. and I learned how to drive myself. I love it. I love him. im so grateful for him. I told him that. and we are all good. We are best friends he said. that means a lot to me. cause I said. your my best friend. whether we like it or not. and he always said he hated me. but we bonded this last day. he opened up. we aren't perfect. but we love each other after all the bad. and that is a lesson for all of us.

 amar su enemigos 

 love everyone. look for the good in the bad. its hard. it hurts. and it seems never ending. but trust in god. trust in the words of Jesus Christ to Joseph smith. your afflictions will be but a small moment. and then you will be rewarded. sometimes we just need to look for our reward. mine. is my mission. our friendship. my experiences. I wouldn't trade for the world. maybe not for more than 2 years. but you get the point. 

 want some home work. go watch. come what may, and love it. its a video. its amazing! you might cry. 

 stick it out. suck it up. work through it. serve someone. give something. bless someone with your life. just like all of you have in your own ways for me. I love you all. its crazy how much I love you. 

 so random stuff. stake conference was super good. heard two apostles. Richard G. Scott gave his talk. in spanish. it was cool! hahah you don't get that opportunity much. haha so yeah. 

 Safety of activity. I loved that phrase. go to church. now. you understand no need more palabras. eh. 

 I love you all this is all for this week. i'm sick. and struggling so keep me in your prayers. and I will keep you in mine. I love you. thanks for all you do. this is the most life changing thing i've ever done. and its hard. at times it sucks. and i love it. always. =D i love you always. haha love 

 Jordan Thomas Evans.

Elder Evans

Mar 10, 2014

I found my first vine, called myself Indiana Jones.  haha everyone in my zone thinks im the funniest guy ever!

so here i am. another week down. haha my companion. lets start there.

 So we have been beyond good... like best friends. i think with the changes we got a hermana that he likes. but i dont even care. he is happy. most the time. and we have been having a lot of fun. i also constantly serve him. in every thing. like his favorite is when he wants something he does like the spider man thing at it. and i run and get it and throw it to him. its stupid but he is happy. that is what counts. =D

 so i had a drink this week. called aloe vera drink. it sounds horrible. and strangely un healthy. but here its like a rare thing. i bought it. it was so good. i hated the chunks but that doesn't matter. haha also they sell. drinkable yogurt by the gallon. so yeah. bought some of that! haha my through has been killin me so that really helped.

ELder price left. we had a party with a piñata and a cake it was awesome the tradition here is to take a bite out of the cake. before so. yeah. keeping that tradition. hahaha

 had a bible bash with for fetching testigos. ahha that's what my companion calls them. tey spent an hour and a half showing us how our church is wrong. and. i laughed. every time they would teach or say something. i would feel the spirit... run away. it was like god was showing me. that they are wrong. not true. it was such a spiritually uplifting experience. i love having the full truth. haha see you in heaven. not. haha what a pain that was.

 so yeah. good week. marticurz still hasn't been confirmed and im so mad about it. haha b ut juanita was so that is really good! it was so good to see her face. she is so happy. this gospel is such a blessing. i love it. every day is a new struggle. new challenge and guess what. a new blessing. its crazy to see all god does for me.

 so tomorrow is the mark of the start of my 4th month. haha crazy. time just flies by.

my amigo aaron. he helps us with our missionary work. his girlfriend just dumped him from her mission. so he is having a hard time. so i have been helping him a lot. =D i love him. and you can just see the lord in his life. you'll prolly meet him one day. he is going to go to byu. so thats so cool. i help him with all the english stuff. he is an amazing help to us. and the church.

 i cant wait to be a help to the missionaries after the mission it really is a blessing. its what we need to help our investigators progress. so if you have missionaries. ask them. how can i help you. thats how we get the work moving forward. we have a new well. another leader of the missionary work in the ward. he was baptized 2 Sundays ago. he is awesome and is helping us so much with the retaining of our converts. but we need members for that. so really. the missionaries are trying to bless your ward. and help you. how can you help them?

 if we had just one family we could use their house. once a month. we would baptize 1 more family. every month. keep that in mind.

 I love you all. i miss you all. its crazy how much i do. but im working hard. im giving my all to the lord. and i love it here. i love my life. its hard. i miss home. but im doing my best. and i will be home soon.

 we got new people in this change. im not the noooby in the field. haha i love it. i can understand so much spanish. i had to do divisions. with a gringo 5 days in. and it was crazy how blessed i am with spanish compared to him. i know its cause of my faith and your faith. your prayers thank you. i took a whole day not having a backup plan to be able to be liek. what did he say. and i loved it. i didn't have a single problem.

 what a blessing. i love everything. the rain. getting soaked to the bone. my companion and i are doing better. and i love my mission. i love you all as well. and i kepe you in my prayers.


Love your favorite missionary.
Elder Jordan Evans

                                                                    My favorite nino

Mar 3, 2014

My spanish is so bad. i love it. so does everyone else. so thats that. what a good way to start a letter. english never was my strong point. im just bad with languages. not my fault. but i make do. =D

 So miracle. we had our first rain. what. its so different. first its warm. and second. the rain is like a blanket. if you step out in it. your covered. soaked. instantly. i loved it. hahaa so the miracle. is we were walking in the rain. and some guy gave us a ride. ran out of his house and said hey. ill give you a ride get in. we asked. do you recognize us? no. do you recognize the church oor missionaries? no. were you going this way already? no. do you want a tour of our church? uh.. sure.. haha so that is how it happened. a reference from god. we had a good lesson and we are now teaching him. not sure how it will go. but its not bad. haha

 cambios. wow. changes. so hard. the hermana that speaks english that i talk to about my comp when i just cant take it. she is my favorite she helped me so much got changed. and pres had emergency cambios for the whole mission on today. monday. so i didnt get to say good bye. but yeah. all the gringos in my zone. are gone. and elder price. made me cry. he has 2 more days in costa. he just told me he loved me. and told me what he thinks of me. im so grateful for those two misisonaries. they both helped me realize i can do this. i owe more than i could ever explain to them. Elder Price and Hermana Patterson.

 but i have hermana delgado. grumpy cat we call her. she is awesome from Guatemala she is so funny and knows a little english. haha and her new comp who doesn't say much. she is knew so its ok.

 had a baptism. cool. ill send pictures. her name is juana del socorro gonzalas espinosa. im at 2 woot! two new eternal friends. in one change. haha win.

 so me and my companion. have had so many problems. friday he broke down tried to punch me so i lauged. it was bad. i just stood up to him. and the zls came and yelled at him. and we did splits. good day for me. but he just told them all these bad things about me. which hurt. but. i just expressed my love and told him all the good things. so when i thought i would look bad they all thought it was good. i feel so mature. i went about it the right way. so i feel good. we didn't talk for two days. except when we needed to. he has been such a pain. and so grumpy. but oh well. today. i decided to be more like dad. and serve the crap out of him. he was having a good day. and we were talking. we are doing better. we will still have problems. but god is with us. ive been trying to develop more charity. and just love him. i love him. its so amazing how good i feel now. no need to worry.

 so before this we invented a new game. when im on the toilet and him at the church. in the stalls next to each other. we make a ball out of toilet paper and play volleyball. its gross. and so funny. it helps us relax, and let loose... hahahahah funny word play. =D

 so the buses when they turn and a drunk person is in the way. it just slowly pushes them out. hahaha funniest thing ever. i love costa rica.


Well that's all not much time. haha but i love it here. i love the spirit and the love of god. i love you all.

love elder evans+



pictures of baptism and last weeks trip. haha love it.

                                                             
                                                                  My Birthday Cake

      My favorite hermana haha reminds me of Jaylyn Campbell, she is so awesome and a great help to me.

                                                 
                                       my hike with elder price. we got as high as we could. and took this. its amazing how beautiful it is. haha i love my mission. who has the best. me. get some.

Feb 24, 2014

So I had a birthday.

I left my planner at home so i don't have any of my list to tell you about things this week. so. ima wing it.

well this week. was long. haha and kinda boring. but! i went on divisions with a member of the ward. he is a recent convert. we are working with him too. but he showed me his family. i taught them by myself. and got 3 people to commit to baptism. the 22 de marzo. haha im so excited. i did it myself first lesson. haha it was kinda hard. cause i can really understand people. but i can talk. and i can say what i need to. and i have the spirit. that's all anyone really needs. hahaha.

so my birthday was yesterday. it was good. i guess. i got to be a witness for the baptism of the hermanas in our ward. they baptized an amazing family. just ready for the gospel. haha it was super cool. so yeah. church we had 8 investigators. what!? new record i believe so that was good. but remember marticruz. the amazing and wonderful lady i baptizied. well she hasnt been comfirmed yet. we are trying everything. we dont know what is wrong. or what went wrong. we think its her family. they are very anti us. so working on that...

uh after we went back and my companion told me to eat. so i did. i ate a ton. cause i was starving. and as we were leaving he said. well. we have a meeting with lunch. they will feed us. i was like. why would you tell me to eat!?! i was so frustrated. so we went to the richest place ive ever been here. and they fed us amazing food. pasta and cheesecake. i dont like either. and a lot of both. so i felt so horribly sick after. but the father was from new york and speaks english only english. which is good. but he married a tico. and she speaks only spanish. so yeah. that was... wierd.

our next cita was with carlos (a dry member) he is an amazing dad. and spouse i look up to him so much. but they wont get married for the law. so they cant be baptized. so workign on that. but they are my greatest friends. he just laughs at everything he is like a brown brother johnson. haha with hair. and alot of it. hahah i think i love him so much cause he is so much like brother johnson. works alot. great dad. super jacked. and just has a good attitude about life. someone tell that man to email me. i miss him. hahaha anyway... yeah. so they made me food for my birhtday too... so we took it to go. i think we offended them. but im going to write them a letter. i really just was going pale i hurt so bad. i was so sick. so all night we just slept cause my comp got sick from the food. so i was full. and sick. over full. my first time in the mission. that was horrible. normally we dont eat here so that was just like what.

so yeah. than at 8 we went to the chapel to eat cake with the hermanas. i have pictures but i cant send from here. so im sorry about that. i dont have anything with me. ill explain. and my comp wouldnt even sit at the same table. he is a pain. this week he said. I hate it when you ask me spanish questions. or when you are homesick. or when you talk about brooke. i almost lost it. i went home and just worked out for about an hour. i give up on him. lets just work. thats my attitude. i cant wait for one mroe change. hahaha

so yeah. this is the last week in my first change. what!? time. flys. haha

so today. for p day. we went up the mountain to this cave. and it was like a shower in it. it was soo cool. than me and elder price. went up the mountain. he is so cool he goes home next week. and we just sat on top the mountain taking in the view. he said. what a good way to end the mission. i said. what a good way to start it.

 what an inspiration he is. this country is. and this mission is. without it. i dont know where id be. the person id be becoming. but i know this is for me. as hard. as complicated. as terrible at times. i sit down with one person. or i make one person laugh. and its worth it. i touch hearts everyday. people here ask me. what about when you leave. than what. we will be friends for the eternities. the wife of the bishop doesn't speak much spanish and she is in charge of so many things. well one is chior. and its so hard cause no one comes. or sings. so she was crying last week. i told her last week. id help her to prepare a song for Easter. i translated it. and i help lead. this week we had 20 people come. she is amazing. and i know that im here to bless the people. ive always been able to sing. not great but i can. and i know that with this talent. even this small one. i need to use to grow. and develop it. i cant hide it. god gave it to me. i read the parable of the talents. and if you haven't read it. go read it. ill give you the reference next week. but it was like. god said to me. use it. develop all your talents. i sang a solo in church this week. i was so nervous and it wasn't so great. but i did it. and i felt amazing. cause i am sharing all that i have.

i love it here. i love how humble people are. and how much they just want to come unto Christ. they have it so hard here. we have it so easy. so i challenge you all today. to smile at someone you pass today. just say good morning or good evening. cause maybe that's all they need.

 share what you have use what you have. and kaylyn good job. keep up the good work. dancing and doing hair. your beautiful babe! haha i miss you . just so you know. i am writing you a letter for you birthday so i dont know how long it takes to get there. so you might have to not open it for a while. but keep sharing your talents and if you feel sad or like maybe you are having problems with your friends. see who you can serve. for me. its hard with my companion. it is. but i keep serving him. and i do with a glad heart. and i love it. it makes me feel so much better inside. by the way. here in costa rica. cake. is queque. so yeah. thats your new name. write it somewhere and hang it up in your room. so you can remember me. Queque i love you!

Love you all. write you next week. love your son. friend. and favorite missionary.

Elder Evans... yeah.

I speak a little spanish... =D