Sunday, December 11, 2011

Week 23 (Nov 28)

Happy Thanksgiving!

So, I had a good week. We had like 5 meals on thanksgiving. By the end they said that we looked like zombies ready to vomit. It was almost true. In Spanish they have several names for thanksgiving, Dia de Gracias (day of thanks), Dia de Accion de Gracias (day of acting on thanks), and my personal favorite Dia de Pavo (turkey day). The sad part was that we didn’t really get any pie or any stuffing. We did get one slice of pie, but it was yam pie and tasted like cheap old pumpkin pie, I pretended to like it. I did get some REALLY good jalapenos though, I’m gonna need that recipe!

I haven’t written back to Bekah because I had no return address in the Dear Elder, and I really wanted to send the girls pictures of me, because they can’t read (especially my hand writing), but then I broke my camera, maybe I’ll just send them to you. Hopefully today, but I’ve got about 10 letters I want to write, and each week I seem to be so busy I don’t write any, so the pile just gets bigger and bigger. There are definitely priorities though and Bekah and the girls are definitely toward the top of the stack. I will need Bekah’s address though (insert by Becky: sorry Bekah! I sent him your address this week!). I wanted to write her when I got the letter, and I think I added it to my letter home that I needed her address but never got it. Has she written me since the MTC? That’s the only one I got. I would write much more if I could.

We’ve started teaching a man named Brandon, his wife is a member, but he’s always believed what he could see. He would never listen to any of the missionaries before, but a while back at a dinner, he heard me talking about my story with my Dad and from all the way across the room shouted for me to come over. His thing is, that he thinks that it’s all just kids listening to their parents, when he found my circumstances were different he told me he almost believes me. My hope is to get him to be open to any missionary by the time I leave. Right now, if I’m not there he isn’t very teachable. Yesterday we went with the bishop and all 5 missionaries. It was a great dinner (more jalapenos) and he showed us his house (that he had just finished building). I really felt the spirit during the lesson helping me answer his questions (which were good ones). The bishop helped a lot too. It’s always good to have the bishop with you. I’m surprised he has any time at all for us though, he is so busy. At the end of the lesson, Brandon came to the conclusion that he wasn’t doing enough and committed to go to Church, Pray, Read (aka CPR). It’ll be slow with him because he doesn’t understand faith, but if he does those three, he will get exactly what he searches for.

I’m starting to feel more like a missionary. A lot like a missionary. I notice it when I teach, when I’m at Church, in the apartment, doing my scripture study, my focus and heart is definitely changing. My relationship with the Savior is changing, the way I view His relationship with others, all aspects of my life. I did the Christ-Like Attribute activity at the back of Ch. 6 in PMG and a question really struck me. The question is something like, “do you remember what the Lord has done for you throughout the day?” I thought about it and at first thought yes, I remember it because I make mention of the Atonement in lessons etc. but then the Spirit taught me something. I learned that moment, that remembering the Savior also meant remembering all the times he has been there for me. Such as the times I have felt His love, or received strength from His hand, or when I received the knowledge or testimony that I needed, or the times I’ve had the Spirit help me teach or learn (like with Brandon). Then I realized that I do not always remember Him, because I do not think of all that he has done for me. Just remembering the Atonement isn’t enough. I have a relationship with Him and He wants my time and affection. I started to think more about moments that I’ve received some of those things throughout the day and I have been so blessed for it.

Some other interesting moments from my week: We went to a teaching appointment to find they were passing a Hookah around, we went to a different teaching appointment and they opened the door and said, “I’M DRUNK!” a lot of breaking the word of wisdom around holidays. We were going to play B-Ball with Franciscan Friars today, but they are about as reliable as we are. All of the other missionaries will be playing baseball, but I’ll try to get those letters in.

With Love,

Elder Matthew D. Evans

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