December 22 Weekly Update and Pictures

This week was crazy and amazing, with Investigator dinners, Christmas Conference, and new investigators! Wednesday we had dinner with the Riveras, our miracle of church attendance last Sunday! Before we had been thinking of teaching them the plan of Salvation, but once we started eating they had lots of questions about Joseph Smith, so we went instead to the Restoration! Their little girl, Lily, sang "Let It Go" to me for part of it, had me pouring tons of ranch on her plate for another, and then was listening to music on her mom's phone super loud! When we went to share the first vision, though, the music stopped and it was really quiet for a minute, which we were praying for! We are excited to have dinner with them, again!

Wednesday we also went to the doctor again for my knees and I started shock therapy , which made the muscles go crazy! In the morning on our way to Christmas Conference they were hurting and I was nervous to be sitting all day! The spirit was so strong during our meeting, though, that it calmed me down so much that my knees didn't hurt as much! It was so cool! Missionaries were sharing miracles from their mission, and Sister Clegg talked about one miracle of her mission being her companions. It was so sweet and so good to talk to her and catch up with each other and things we heard from Mishawaka!

Something we've really been focusing on is finding people to teach, and yesterday we planned to go to an apartment building down the street from us and tract. For days we prayed to have the faith to find and were reading in Preach My Gospel about finding, and the hour we had to tract Sunday morning we found 3 NEW INVESTIGATORS! It was so exciting! I love tracting, I was so excited to go, and after we found so many people who listened to a Christmas message I got in the car and could hardly contain myself I was so excited! One lady we found was named Adrian and she was such a hoot! They had had a few deaths in the family over the last like 8 months, so they so need the gospel! I am so excited to go see her again, Saturday!! This week our zone found 18 new investigators with the "He is the Gift" and 13 were from our district so we were pretty excited! 

Favorite quotes!

"I like you two! You work well together, you're like fire, and you're like water!" Will Rivera

"Please bless that the boys won't be scared of the girls" Sister Burtzo, referring to her husband and us, the sisters

"It's ok, you've got a while before you need to feed anyone!" Sister Richins, after I picked a wrong salad bowl.

Sister Peel and I in downtown Indy

Sister Clegg and I at the Christmas conference

Dec 15 Weekly Update and Pictures

Hello!

It's been an exciting week with "Why I Believe" meetings and a baptism!

We had a "Why I Believe" meeting yesterday, and it was amazing! They are my favorite, the spirit is always SO STRONG! I love it!! We almost had a recent convert, Jenny Taylor, speak, but she wasn't feeling up to it. We were pretty bummed, but we helped the Elders' convert, Brizeida calm down so she could speak and she did so well! Emory also spoke, who was baptized in Plainfield, last week. Ed spoke in Mishawaka at their "Why I Believe" and is going to send me his testimony since I couldn't be there! I am pretty excited.

Saturday I got to go to a baptism in Plainfield, which is only 25 minutes away from Beech Grove! The baptism was for Adam Nicholas, who was baptized by his brother, Zach, who got the Priesthood that morning! It was super neat and their whole family was there! Timothy had his baptismal interview and will be getting baptized this Saturday or the next, depending on his dad's work schedule! Sister Ostler and Elder Twitchell are great trainers and the missionaries there were doing great!

We also had a way cool miracle, yesterday! We hadn't been able to meet with our progressing investigator, last week, and he wasn't going to be able to go to church so we were kinda bummed, but we got a call Monday morning from Sister Vidmar, who finished her mission in Beech Grove with Sister Peel last transfer, telling us that an investigator family she was friends with on facebook wanted to come to church but had lost our information! We called them really quick and let them know when and where it was, and they came! It was awesome, and the ward was so welcoming! This family we stopped by the other day and they invited us over for dinner but they haven't even been taught the restoration, yet! They are so great!

Sister Lowry, Sister Ostler, me, Tori, and Adam!

Sister Banks who lives next to the elders and takes way too good of care of the missionaries has some intense Christmas decorations!

Favorite quotes!

"You graduated, went to BYU, and then went on a mission? You're like a professional Mormon!" Elder Mortenson

"You look like you play basketball, and you two look like you...like to bake brownies and watch movies" neighbor of Sister Williams, talking to us and the elders while we were putting up Christmas lights

"It's ok, we all have to learn!" Sister Restivo, throwing away my first batch of cookie dough

"Taste this and tell me you're better at cleaning than cooking!" Sister Restivo feeding me cookies while I was washing dishes

"I like those shoes! I've seen them on older women, and I've thought about getting some, but I like them better on you" Beverly, a less active's husband

"Um...ma'ams?" I talked to the uh...gentleman from your church about the car..." guy from the car place after talking to the vehicle coordinator, Elder Smith

Thanks for reading! Have a good week!

Dec 8 Weekly Update and Pictures

Hello from Beech Grove!

This week was pretty crazy and pretty great! At transfer meeting President Cleveland talked about setting goals as new companionships, which my new companion, Sister Peel, and I did part way through my unpacking. We were super excited to set expectations and goals to make this transfer a rocking one! Sister Peel is from Alabama, has been out a transfer less than me, has been in Beech Grove the whole time, and is a very driven missionary!

This week I met and we taught Sister Burtzo several times, who was baptized a year ago and recently went through the temple. She is super amazing! Her son's best friend, Randy, is living with them and progressing toward a baptismal date of January 3rd! They are sweet and Sister Burtzo is always feeding us! 

Friday was the ward Christmas party, which is crazy because just 6 weeks ago I started out in Plainfield with a ward Halloween party! It's much easier to remember names and faces without costumes:). I got to meet a bunch of members this week, one of them being the Sanders. They are such a sweet family and are so humble and generous! We went over to help set up Christmas decorations with them, but they couldn't find any lights for their tree, so we ran to the store with them real quick. It was raining and crazy and we didn't find lights for like three stores, but in one of them we ran into a less active that's not on our records! Her name is Ina, and Sister Peel and her trainer had been trying to get in contact with her for a few months! We got her number and stopped by Saturday! We talked to her about family and prayer and fasting, which was so led by the spirit it was amazing! That was definitely a grace this week!

Sister Ostler and I doing service at the horse ranch our last week together!

Sister Peel and I making cupcakes for little Ricky Taylor's birthday! (He just got baptized, and also, we were matching when we met each other!)

Favorite quotes!

"We're so glad you're cool! We get really nervous every time we get a new missionary!" Jenny Taylor, Recent convert

"You're going to get a sweet new companion! Wait--let me check...ya, she's sweet!" President Cleveland

"Really? Who is it?" Sister Peel

"Is she short, tall?" Sister Vidmar

"Oh, she's tall!" President Cleveland

"Cut bandaid!" Jonathan, Sister Burtzo's grandson

"Everybody loves me!" SIster Peel

"Nuh-uh! Only me and Jesus!" Jonathan

"I know it's the sabbath and all but could we listen to some music?" Elder Diaz

"This is Elder Holland." me

"Wow!...Sister Evans I feel like you're super nice but you could totally hulk someone." Elder Mortenson

"What makes Sister Evans mad? Like what irks you?" Elder Mortenson

"This doesn't really make me mad, but the other day I realized dogs licking bones really grosses me out, like when they chomp on them it's so gross!...Does that count?" me

Thanks for reading, have a great week!

Dec 1 Weekly Update and Pictures

This week was full of a lot, including surprises, and miracles! To start, Sister Ostler and I were looking for a less active we met going to lunch the other day, but couldn't remember her last name or find her from her first name, she was no where to be found on the directory! Friday sister Ostler wasn't feeling well so she laid down for a nap and I was updating the area book when I found a super old teaching record for her! I was showing Sister Ostler after she woke up when she told me that she'd dreamed that we went back to talk to her and she gave her a sticky note with her address but it was blank! We ended up finding her address and going to see her that night, it was so neat!

Another amazing part of this week was the launching of the "He is the Gift" video initiative! We've already found two new investigators and received a member referral and it's only been a few days! One's name is Brian and he has quite the story! He is the neighbor of Brother and Sister Chapman, who just left to Florida for the winter, but went to go meet him with us a couple three weeks ago or something. When he first met us he was pretty excited to show and tell about some anti things he had and other things he'd learned, and was pretty intense! He was telling us how he'd had a mormon girlfriend try to convert him and set him up with missionaries and he would have none of it! At the end Sister Ostler bore her testimony, and he told her of anyone, she came the closest to converting him than anyone had! We had to hurry to dinner, but that Sunday the Chapmans were super excited to tell us what happened after that! About 30 minutes later, Brian went over to the Chapmans and apologized for being rude, and said he wanted to talk more about our beliefs, which he did very civilly. They then had dinner, talking about home teaching and addiction recovery classes, which intrigued him. They invited him to church but he wasn't sure he'd feel welcome, being a Catholic. The other day we went back to see him and he apologized for being rude, was super nice, and we had a great visit with him! He said he felt bad about how closed off he'd been and was praying for God to show him what he should do! He was super chatty, telling us about government conspiracies and churches he had been to in the past, even acting out some pentecostal church scenes in his yard and his neighbors were all staring, oh my, we were dying!! We told him about the Christmas video and set up another appointment with him! Sister Ostler is so going to baptize him!

So the biggest surprise this week was transfer calls! Sister Ostler and I were expecting to both stay, and just get a text Sunday night. We were at Bishop's Saturday night for a ward council party when the elders got a call from President Cleveland, and they told us they were doing transfer calls early, and we should pay attention to our phone! We laughed because we were sure we'd both be staying, but we pulled the phone out and had a missed call from President! We hurried and went in a quiet room to sit down and called him back. He said Sister Ostler was staying and training a new missionary, and I would be leaving but staying close to Physical Therapy! We were blown away! Luckily I'll probably be able to come back for our baptisms coming up!

Thanksgiving with the Meachams and Tori!

Thanksgiving at Tori's grandma's house!

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favorite quotes!

"That was probably part of Satan's plan!" Sister Ostler, referring to confusing patterns in last names, while doing family history

"I am patient! I'm just trying to teach him how to drive!" Brother Brown to Sister Brown as they were driving us home from physical therapy

"I pick the sisters" Tori picking teams for "Bigger Better Best" at mutual

"Ok! Can we go to the bathroom now?" me

"Hoping you had a peaceful day" me, reading a text from Brenda

"A feasible day?" Sister Ostler

"No, a peaceful day!" me

"March 15th is the day!" Brian predicting the fail of the money system

"That's 2 days before my birthday!" Sister Ostler

"We better get your birthday shopping done early, then!" me

"I love you, sister Evans, even your low 5s are peppy!" Sister Ostler

"Hope you had a feasible day!" Tori

thanks for reading, have a great week and WATCH "HE IS THE GIFT" IF YOU HAVEN'T YET!!

christmas.mormon.org!!

November 17 Weekly Update and Pictures

Hello again! It's been quite the week!

This week we received and taught a referral from the White River Elders named Antonio who is amazing!! His friend was living in Indy, where the Elders found and were teaching him. The friend moved to Georgia, and he actually lives in our area, so that's some of the back story. He is super chatty, and Brother Baumgartner who we brought with us could hardly stop talking to him! It was a Hoosier lesson! He was already reading the Book of Mormon, though, and when we invited him to baptism he was so excited! He called his friend to tell her he was getting baptized soon and would let her know when he was put on a date! AHH he is so ready!!

Adam, Zach's brother, got approval from his parents for his baptism to be December 13th!! We are still working with Timothy but are so excited about how excited Timothy is! We also were able to get a Book of Mormon to an investigator that is super hard to get a hold of and have finally been able to set up appointments with her! I think she is going to progress really quick!

I got to call Ed this week and we were so excited! He is doing so well! He told me about how he had born his testimony in church and even wrote President Cleveland about how much the gospel and Sister Clegg and I meant to him, he is amazing! When we had interviews this week with President I told him about it and he was so excited to read the letter! Interviews were so great, I am so grateful for President Cleveland! Him being my mission president was definitely inspired!

One tender mercy we saw this week was one day Sister Ostler got a migraine that was much worse than most that she gets, and was having a hard time driving, but our dinner that night was with a member who is a nurse, and she let us come over early so Sister Ostler got to lay down and get feeling a little better. We also had a member drop us off a bunch of cuties and a card when we were feeling a little overwhelmed, and it made our day! Also, today I went to Physical Therapy which was pretty exciting! Hopefully I'll be in and out in 4 weeks!

One of my favorite scriptures this week is 3 Nephi 13:24 because all we need to do is take life one day at a time and trust in our Heavenly Father! He is so caring and loving he takes care of what we cannot!

FHE at a member's house with Tori (recent convert) Marina (member), Emory (investigator), Zach (recent convert) Austin (investigator)

The first snow that stuck (and first snowball fight!)

Favorite Quotes!

"Baptize nations with this!" Elder Buchanon during a training in Zone Meeting

"I wanna baptize the President!" Sister Ostler

"President Cleveland is already baptized!...oh wait..." me

"How old are you, Sister Evans?" Elder Mills

"5 Months!" me

"No, how old are you?

"Oh...19" me

"Oh life saving day! There are ear muffs in here!" Sister Ostler

"It looks so warm but feels so cold it's like so facade-ish!" Sister Ostler

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Have a great week! Thanks for reading!

November 10 Weekly Update and Pictures

It's been another eventful week!

First off, we had a baptism!! His name is Zach and he is 17, and his parents were converted and baptized years ago. He is a senior and now preparing for a mission, and is so excited about the gospel! There were tons of people there to see his parents who haven't been to church in a while, and it was great! Zach's brothers, Adam and Timothy, are a hoot! We went by last night for the parents to sign the baptismal record and they talked our legs off, we barely got out in an hour! We talked about finding answers through fasting and prayer, camping, trick or treating, and many other things, and it was a great time.

We taught JoAnn again, who we found before District Meeting last week and she already knows the Book of Mormon is true! She is 85 and Methodist, though, and before we could invite her to baptism told us she doesn't want to change. Hopefully we're taking her on a church tour today and the spirit will keep working on her--along with us and the members, of course:)

We had a pretty exciting experience the other day when we were short on miles and getting rides from a ward missionary, Sister Chapman! We were at her house looking for addresses of less actives we were going to visit when her husband came home and was telling us about their neighbor, Brian, who was very religious. He said we should go talk to him, before deciding he wanted to go with us right then! We went over to Brian's house, and when he saw we were Mormons had a lot to say about how he felt about our beliefs! He went on and on and we were starting to freeze, but we listened and waited until we could bare our testimonies. After we did, he said we'd come closest to converting him than anyone ever had.
On Sunday the Chapmans were very excited to update us! They said a half hour later, Brian ran over to their house to talk to them about their beliefs, and did so in a very civil way, until Brother Chapman said he needed to get going to do some Home Teaching, which Brian was curious about. They talked about home teaching, and how he taught the addiction recovery class and Brian thought it was so cool! He ended up having dinner with them and they invited him to church! He was worried he wouldn't be allowed to come in as a Catholic, but we invited him on a church tour which we'll hopefully be taking him on today! Crazy story, right??

Last week I also went to the doctor, which I was pretty nervous for! We were in the waiting room and I was getting more and more nervous when I got the prompting to just read until I was called back. I only got to read a couple verses about the Nephites being taxed by the Lamanites, but the spirit was overwhelming and so comforting! It strengthened my testimony of the Book of Mormon so much! After a blessing of a visit we found out I have Patella Femoral Syndrome, IT Band Syndrome, and Patella Tendonitis, which we will be treating with Physical Therapy. The spirit stayed with me the rest of the day and continued bringing comfort, and hope, which was amazing! I sure love the gospel!

Us with Zach!

Sister Olsen, Sister Ostler's previous companion and my MTC companion got to come to the baptism! Here we are with her and Tori, their recent convert of a few weeks ago

Favorite Quotes!

​"I like your jacket--it's pretty and awkward" Tori

"I think we should give frozen hot chocolate to girls that wear short skirts and Uggs" Elder Clark

"They just need me, the spider whisperer--I just whisper before tours and they leave the font" Sister Ostler

Thanks for reading! Have a good week!!

____________

Hello! Crazy week report time!

One highlight of this week was going to see an investigator named Chris. We were getting ready to leave the apartment and Sister Ostler asked how the Halloween cookies looked that we were gifted, and they were a little sad and crumbly, but she kept looking. She was looking around at our treats, asking if we could take some of my muffins to her, and I was so confused what was going on. We put together a bag of candy and left. When we knocked on her door she said she hadn't been feeling well and was living on Gatorade, when we gave her the bag of candy she was so excited! I was so excited about the lesson plan we'd made for her and inviting her to baptism, but because she was sick I felt like we could at least share a scripture with her, though I wasn't even sure which one until I opened up to Mosiah. We shared one about the atonement and invited her to baptism. ON HER PORCH WHILE SHE WAS SICK. It was crazy, but the spirit was amazing! She was telling us about how she had been baptized and received the holy ghost before, when we were talking about it she practically quoted scripture when she was saying how she thought it was so silly everyone debates about how to be baptized, "Just do it like Jesus!!" she said.

We also talked to some amazing families this week! One we found trying to find the house of a less active, and they had dinner burning and kids running around like crazy but we shared like a five second message about modern day prophets and the anchor that they can provide families in such a changing world and they seemed really interested! Once we found the less active she said she'd be having a barbecue and inviting them over, soon! On another door we knocked we talked to this 14 year old girl who said her family had been looking for a church and kept making this face like she couldn't believe we were there when they were looking for a church, which was way cool! We got to try them the next day when she said her parents would be home, but talked to another sister who was going to college and super busy. We shared a scripture with her about continually reading and enduring to the end and it was so sweet she said she was excited for her mom and sisters to learn more about our message, because of the great experience they were about to have. She said that!!

This week we taught Adam and Timothy the restoration with their dad who works on Sundays but was baptized years ago. The first vision was amazing with them, they all felt the spirit so strongly, and the dad was in tears! We invited them to baptism, and Adam said yes, and wanted to meet every day until he learned all the lessons to be baptized. Timothy was more hesitant, but we helped resolve some concerns in our lesson after church, yesterday. Since then they've been to church, scouts, and reading the Book of Mormon! Hopefully their parents will agree on a baptismal date of December 13th!

We also got to go to a fireside called "Why I Believe" last night, which was amazing! Tori, who was baptized maybe a month ago, was one of the speakers and did so well, we were so proud! There was an amazing spirit there with so many recent converts and missionaries super excited about the gospel! It was also fun to see some missionaries I have worked with before.

it was a sunny day and we weren't wearing coats!!

We borrowed rakes from a member and left a note (John 13:34-35) with a potential after raking her yard. There are SO many leaves in Indiana! In parts of Plainfield there is a service where the city picks up the leaves if they are raked out to the street!

Favorite quotes!

"I'm really sore here!" Sister Ostler
"Maybe too many high fives?" me
"But I never high five with this hand!" Sister Ostler

"I see you put Jesus on your car" Tori, after we taped Mormon.org cards in our window

"Good luck with your harvest!" me

"Do you get to watch church produced films like Napoleon Dynamite?" member daughter

Thanks for reading! Have a good week!!

October 27 Weekly Update and Pictures

What a week! I probably say that too much, but it was a pretty wild week!

Last week in Mishawaka, teaching the Eskridges was amazing! We went back to teach Tyler and Ashlynn and got to teach another granddaughter, Mckenna! Her mom, Tabitha Lynn, is less active and dating a nonmember. We took them on a church tour but they weren't too interested, and didn't want to talk to us much. She came in but was fine letting us teach her daughter! Hopefully the new sisters will be able to keep the momentum going and have a few baptisms! Dennis was pretty sad we were being double transfered and took us to dinner with his daughter, which was super fun! She ended up liking us more than Dennis thought she would, which was great! He said he's still working on his testimony so he can be baptized, which we are still invited to:)

NOW I'M IN PLAINFIELD!! Not exactly Indy, but super close! My companion is Sister Ostler, who is from Preston, Idaho, and even made a celebrity debut in Napoleon Dynamite! She's been out for 6 months, and was just companions with Sister Olsen, my MTC companion! We have so many things in common it is crazy. 

One super cool experience we had was tracting before district meeting--we had just a few minutes but we wanted to go! We stopped on one street and prayed, but both felt like trying a different street, and ended up both feeling like we should stop at the one next to it. We were getting out of the car when we saw a lady in one house looking at us so we went and taught her. She was a sweet little old lady named JoAnn who we shared the Book of Mormon story with and she loved it! I thought her eyes were going to pop out when we showed her the painting of Christ visiting the Americas and told her about 1 Nephi 11. It was so neat, and we have a return appointment with her this week! 

We also had a 24 hour exchange with a 17 year old recent convert of 2 weeks, which was way cool! Her name is Tori and she reminds me of Nora, she is so great! We took her tracting and she was so excited she wants to go on a mission like right now! She bore testimony with us and it was such a unique and fun experience! At the end of the day she was saying how she was struggling with her family but being able to serve made her feel so good! 

Last night we had dinner with a part less active family, the Hacklers, who are originally from Utah, and we finally figured out Sister Hackler, formerly Sister Betten, were both in the North Salt Lake Parkway Stake and went to girls camp together! We reminisced of faith walks, the siren alarms, crafts in the lodge, and other fun things, it was so fun! We became great friends, it was so great and it made me so excited to build relationships with all the ward members!

There were a lot of pictures this week...prepare yourself...

me, sister Hoffheins, Sister Clegg, Sister Warner, and Sister Blacker, my step sister, step mom, step grandma, and step great grandma!

Sister Ostler and me! Yes, I did cut my hair again, but I had some super cool gospel conversations with the hair cutter lady, Trista!

Favorite quotes!

"So everyone in Idaho is named after Potatoes?" Dennis, referring to Mikesell potato chips and Sister Clegg

"I heard that knock and I was like 'here comes Satan'" Sister Ostler, when JoAnn's son came in part way through the lesson and didn't want to hear about the Book of Mormon--luckily she still did and even stuck up for prophets! It was pretty sweet!

"Tori you should go invite him to church!" Sister Ostler

"You guys suck!" Tori

"We suck? We taught you the gospel!" Sister Ostler

"and then the gospel was restored, just like your car!" me

"I think my hair grows faster than it dries..." me

Love you all, have a great week!

October 20 Weekly Update and Pictures

Last week in Mishawaka! AHH!

This week we had more amazing experiences, as usual! We were trying to set up an appointment with Dan who is still recuperating from the funeral of his grandma that he took care of, but he was super busy and short with us on the phone, which was unusual for him. During weekly planning we felt impressed to text him a scripture because we were worried about him and he gave us a call that we were super afraid was going to be a drop call! He thanked us for the scripture and after we talked for a bit set up a better day to call and set up a time, and he didn't drop us! It was a little miracle but meant a lot to us.

Another day this week we were coming back from Margy's when we drove by Patricia Ann's whose house was super dark and it was getting later but I told Sister Clegg to stop so we could see her. She ended up being home and let us in! She was struggling because the next day was the funeral for her niece, who was one of her best friends. We taught her a little bit about the Plan of Salvation and prayed with her and assured her that we were still looking out for her! It was so sweet and it was amazing that we caught her at home!

The highlight of the week, was definitely Ed's baptism!! He is so elect and was so prepared! The night before we watched Joseph Smith Prophet of the Restoration with him, and he cried through so much of it that we were crying too! At the baptism he bore his testimony of the Book of Mormon and the spirit he felt the first time outside the Las Vegas temple, and it was the sweetest thing. After he was confirmed yesterday he was already fellowshipping our investigators and being a missionary!

We were super sad Rob didn't come to the baptism but he did go to church yesterday and ended up loving it! Rob and Laura got an apartment in the city of Mishawaka but the South Bend ward, and we were so sad! We went by to see him last night because he was super sad it was almost transfers and he already knew and trusted us, and we read a chapter in the Book of Mormon with him. He loved it and even though he had a hard time with the wording, got into it and downloaded it on his phone so he could keep up in Priesthood the next week! Please pray he will do well with the transition!

I'm officially headed to Indy next transfer, Sister Clegg is leaving and going Sister Training Leader, a trainer and trainee will come in behind us, Elder Rasmussen is going Zone Leader, and Elder Nyman is training! What a blessing it's been serving with amazing missionaries and in such a great ward with such great investigators! I have learned so much.

Favorite Quotes!

"Sister Evans is leaving? Geez!...Tell her she can't go!" Jessica

"I know, I've been telling her that and she's not listening!" Sister Clegg

"He's getting so old he peed in the house the other day right in front of me!" Greg Forsythe, talking about their dog

"Poor Peppy!" me

"Poor Peppy? Poor me! I had to clean it up!" Greg

"Tell her to come over for gumbo and we'll talk about the gospel!" Sister Mullins, one of the best member missionaries ever!

"all you need is the Priesthood and Melaluka!" Tara Ciesiolka, advice for being sick/prepared for anything.

Ed's baptism with Sister Shoff!

Breakfast with Monica, Alaina (members), and Jessica (Investigator)

October 13 Weekly Updates and Pictures

Highlights from another great week!

So many good spiritual experiences this week! In one, we were teaching about the restoration to Paula, the wife of Jim who we met on exchanges the other week, and she not only felt and understood the spirit and was excited about how much it made sense, but couldn't get over how bright our eyes were--she could see the light of Christ! We also had an awesome lesson with a less active and her non member husband, Kelly and Kaushik Roy. We had the prompting to show them the "The Hope of God's Light" Mormon Message and they were both so touched by the spirit! We also got to see Nora who came home for fall break and she is doing so well! She is in a family ward at school because the singles ward is 40 minutes away and is still so strong! She even taught Ed with us after church on Sunday and we were so proud! ED IS GETTING BAPTIZED THIS SATURDAY!! He took us out to lunch on Saturday while Sister Shoff was out of town, and he also finished the Book of Mormon, which we were so excited about! He is so elect, I feel like I learn 3x more than he does from our lessons!

This week we taught Rob, Laura Smith's boyfriend about faith and repentance. They are in quite a situation with housing but have been so faithful and strong! Our lesson about repentance was one I will never forget! Rob had a rough beginning, growing up in Chicago and already told us there were a lot of things he was going to need to change in his life. We went into it wanting him to see the hope of repentance, and what happened was totally by the spirit! We got to the page in the pamphlet with the picture of the Savior and I asked him how he thought the Savior felt about him. He laughed and said "Sister Evans why you gotta always ask the hard questions??" but then we shared the story of the Prodigal Son and how much he was loved and even he was crying! Laura said it was the second time she had ever seen him cry in his life! We invited him to church and he wasn't actually able to come but was so excited and so grateful for "his sisters" that kept him going! He looks like a big, tough, African American guy but he's really just a big teddy bear that loves so much! What a blessing it has been teaching their family!

Testimony Meeting yesterday...oh my! How can I even describe it? Dennis came to the Mishawaka ward, and skipped his Nappanese Church Saturday and Sunday! Transfers are not this Wednesday but the next and knowing I'm probably leaving, I knew I had to bear my testimony. Finally I got up the nerve, and stood up, at the same time Sister Clegg did! We stood up at the same time in our unintentionally matching polka dots. We have uncanny comp unity. I shared my testimony of the prophet and apostles, and talked about how much I loved Elder Bednar's talk about the power of the Atonement and our desire to share it. I related that that was the reason I was on a mission, because even with my struggling knees I knew the Atonement was strong and I couldn't keep the blessing of that knowledge to myself. Luckily I was almost done before I was in tears! After I sat back down by Dennis who just squeezed my hand, thanked me for sharing, and told me what a good job I did. The testimonies were perfect for Dennis and he felt the spirit so strongly! After he said he didn't know I struggled with my knees and was worried about when I'd be leaving, and when I said it wasn't until next Wednesday he was relieved that we'd have a few more lessons together.

Favorite Quotes!

"Who are you with?" Dana

"My girlfriends" Dennis

"What??" Dana

"The missionaries" Dennis

"The Mormons?" Dana

"Ya"

"Ok. Tell them hi" Dana

"And I was like 'don't give me sass, woman!'" Nora, when her roommate didn't understand temple sealings

"Hi! This is Sister Evans from the Indiana Indianapolis mission!" me

"What?? Who?" Receptionist

"Amanda Evans...sorry" me

Lunch with Ed! 

Church with Nora!

October 6 Weekly Update and Pictures

Weekly Highlights!

This week we got to serve Val Williams, from the ward. She asked us to help her change the air vent in her basement that she couldn't get to very well. We were struggling pretty badly because the parts weren't fitting right so I asked if we could pray and try it again. I got to say it, and it was so humbling! Heavenly Father showed me how he saw her and how many prayers she needed for her family and health problems and house, it was amazing! Then Val got an idea, and asked me to climb up and try it. It took me a while to figure out what she wanted me to do, bless her heart, but I figured it out finally and we got it! We shared a message after about how much Heavenly Father loves us, knows us, and cares about us, to our smallest cares like air vents!

This week we got to teach a less active's husband, Steve Breen, which was amazing! He was so prepared, and there was such a spirit there! His wife and mother in law and half their family were in the kitchen canning apples and being super loud but Sister Clegg was praying for the spirit to be there at least for the first vision and as soon as we began sharing it, it was super quiet! At the end he committed to being baptized and said the prayer, and we were so humbled! He had found the path he was looking for and we were and are so excited!

We also taught Rob again, Laura Smith's boyfriend, who committed to baptism, as well! When we extended the date to him he said "OF THIS YEAR??" but said he would do his best! They have to get married first but he wants to change so much!

This week we went out for ice cream with a member and her daughter. Sister Braley had had a rough week and it was Brittany's birthday the day before or so, so we took them out and oh my, what a hoot it was! The guy working came over and asked if we had just come from a function, confused why Sister Clegg and I were all dressed up. We told him we were missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Sister Braley told him she'd had a rough week so we were taking her out, and he was just getting more confused as we went haha! I mentioned we were also celebrating a birthday for Brittany and then he got really excited and ran to the back! He came back with a birthday hat for her and made her stand up on a chair while he sang to her, she was so embarrassed! She was such a good sport and is luckily still talking to me! They were doing ribbons for breast cancer awareness and said we could write ANYTHING encouraging, so we of course were looking up the best quotes from conference and writing scriptures on them:).

Conference was AMAZING and I could write an entire email about it but I will try to spare you all! We watched two sessions at the church, one of them with Ed and Dennis, which was great! Ed was so excited to meet Dennis and was telling him about how he needed to come to his baptism on the 18th, it was so great! We also watched a session with the Ward Mission leader, Brother Petras's family, and the Bishop's family, the Lees, which was so much fun! Before going to the Lee's yesterday we were tracting in their neighborhood and ran into a lady, well,stalked into her garage as she was coming home (the spirit told us to, don't worry), and found out she knew Sister Lee and was thinking about checking out our church! She was so elect and we are so excited we are trying not to be too much!

Favorite Quotes!

"you two are like bags of fertilizer" Dennis, giving us a very serious and sincere compliment which we had to laugh about later

"and we're grateful for dramatic children" Sister Caplinger as her granddaughter cried through the prayer

"we're not missionaries, we're date crashers! We're the worst!!" Sister Clegg, trying to coordinate church keys with Bishop and Brother Smith, who were both on dates with their wives

Conference with Bishop's family, the Lees!

Ice Cream with the Braleys!

Sept 29 Weekly Update and Pictures

Weekly Updates!

This week we had some amazing finding experiences with the spirit and teaching others of how to feel it! Last Monday at the library we were emailing and the man at the computer next to me was struggling with the mouse and internet and technology in general so I talked to him and helped him and he talked to me for a bit before finding out I was a missionary. After he found out we were missionaries we had a sweet gospel conversation and he asked us to pray for his friend. His name is Brother Marshall and he's from South Bend but the South Bend Sisters were with us so we quickly referred him and they set up an appointment! After he was done emailing we went in a corner and prayed, all 6 of us from that table he told us he was so blessed to sit on, which was crazy! The Sisters taught him last week on exchanges and already have another appointment with him!
Wednesday we were tracting and got a referral from a guy who thought it was great we were missionaries but told us that as long as you're serving God, it doesn't matter what church you go to, which we get a lot in Mishawaka! We went over to see her and she was so sweet! Her name was Christina and she was going through a divorce, so a message helped so much! We gave her a five minute restoration lesson which we have been practicing a lot in the mission, when we asked if she had five minutes we could tell her more about our message after the initial contact and she said yes, just like we'd role played I could hardly believe it I was so excited! By the end of the lesson she had a great big smile and you could tell it was by the spirit! After sharing the first vision we asked how she felt and she said humbled, and good, and we taught her about the spirit, prompted by our learnings from mission conference! Since then we have been teaching about the spirit a lot and it is helping so many people! She wasn't feeling well when we saw her last but we will be trying back, soon!

Friday on exchanges we PCed into the nicest old man, Jim. After we began teaching him about the gospel we asked how he was feeling, and taught about the Holy Ghost. It's amazing because the spirit is so essential in conversion and a lot of times people feel it but don't appreciate or understand it! That's something we've been blessed by focusing on this week!

Updates on Ed, Pat, and Dennis:

Ed is progressing so well and makes us cry every lesson he is so prepared and sweet! We taught him about temples last week with Sister Shoff who travels a lot for work and fun, and he told her he'd be her temple buddy once he got to go through. Oh boy, we love them so much!

Dennis is continuing to progress, slowly but surely. We are still working on his testimony of the restoration, but he is learning more about the spirit and how to really study the Book of Mormon. We're bringing him to a member dinner tonight and will be teaching him about the Priesthood so we're excited! He's going through a divorce and is getting lonely, he offered to take us out for pizza sometime. We pray for him often. Yesterday he went to his normal church in the morning during our ward, and went to the Notre Dame ward with us after. They were having the Primary Program, which Dennis ended up loving! Before he was a little annoyed with the kids in Sacrament meeting, but once he appreciated they were there to learn as well, his heart was softened and it was so sweet!

Pat almost dropped us yesterday, but thankfully Sister Clegg had the prompting to go visit, even when we were super low on miles! We talked about her stress over her baptismal date and dropped the date but she agreed to continue having lessons. Oh boy, Satan's already working hard on her!

Favorite Scripture of the week:

Today I read Enos 1:11, about Enos seeking to convert others after he was converted, which reminded me of Jacob 7:24, and Alma 26:24, where others who were converted next sought to teach others. What a neat pattern, when we study the Atonement and gain a greater testimony of it, we are more desirous to share it with others!

Favorite Quotes

"That guy needs the gospel and a ride!" Sister Cutler

"I've got the girls--mission accomplished" Sister Shoff, after picking up Sister Clegg and me

"Alright, meet you at the rendezvous" Ed, after picking up pizza for dinner (AKA they are the coolest 60 year old couple you will ever meet!)

"and Sister Evans if you feel prompted to walk, don't do it! I mean--" Mishawaka Elders, trying to help me with my knees.

Sister Clegg's baptism last week

we got to see the temple progress!!

September 24 Weekly Update

Weekly updates!

Last week we tried to meet with Dan but his grandmother passed away and things with his family were super busy! We were so sad, but can hopefully stop by and set up another appointment with him. We had a member, Sister Hogue, lined up and there by the time we found out he didn't want to meet because the grandmother had died earlier that day, but we got to share a message with her in her car as it poured outside. Despite the lack of preparation, the spirit was so strong and we were able to share a scripture and few things that she appreciated so much! We even remembered to ask for a referral, which is something we've been working on!

One night we didn't have much time left to work and it was too dark to tract, so we decided to stop by the Bryces. We scared them at first because it was getting later, but had a great mini lesson with their family! The kids were super excited to see us, the parents were surprised we were still serving in the area, which I think means they weren't as excited that we were there! We talked about praying, though, and they said they had been praying as a family. Jocelyn said the closing prayer and it was so good, we knew they really had been praying together, and faithfully! Hopefully we can use the excitement from the kids to keep brother and sister Bryce going!

This weekend we had the rare opportunity to go to Westfield for the baptism of an investigator named Tim, that Sister Clegg taught. His wife was a member and daughters baptized, which makes me want to baptize a part member family so much! They drove 2.5 hours to get us, fed us, and we got to stay at their house! They were so sweet and it was so fun getting to know them! Even after just 24 hours together, Sister Dellinger had my email and address and everything, determined to be lifelong friends!

Yesterday we had zone conference with Elder Perkins from the 70, which was amazing! He and his wife were so sweet and so inspired, we learned so much!! We learned about the doctrine of families because our goal is to baptize families, how to live the wisdom more fully on our missions, how to teach the restoration more simply, and even had a sister group hug! We think we'll stay in our own area for a while:) By the time we got back in the car to drive home from Lafeyette, also 2.5 hours away, we all felt like casting ourselves on our beds like Lehi!

Something I learned this week: The Restoration in 10 words: "God loves you! Prophets are back! You can know! Baptism?"

Favorite Quotes!

"Eat more food, sister Clegg!" Elder Nyman

"I'm from Salina, Utah, made famous by Ephraim's Rescue!" Elder Rasmussen

"Mishawaka...you know, waka flocka flame..." Elder Nyman

"What time is it?" me

"Time to get some wings!" Sister Clegg

"Lost?" Mishawaka Elders

"but now am found!" me

"I've heard everything" Doug

"Well you haven't heard my testimony!" me

"and I don't want to" Doug

"wait what?" me

"At the wedding I threatened the camera lady, I told her do not take my picture, I'm wanted by the police!" Patricia Ann

"You didn't yawn, that means you're 50% psychopath" Brittany Braley, to sister Clegg

"No, it means there's a 50% chance you're a sociopath! I took psychology!" Adrian Braley

"sight and sound, sight and sound--Marco! Marco!" Elder Nyman

"Polo, YOLO!" Elder Rasmussen

"Boy scouts...once you're in, you never get out" Chris Sammons

"It's like the mafia" Brother Smith

"Oh we try until we're very very sure people don't like us!" me

"Well I can't imagine anyone not liking you!" Sis Jacobson

"Oh, it happens!" Sister Clegg

"You've been like beating me up with love!" Dennis

"don't worry, we're in that boat, too! We're super white, remember?" me to Dennis

"Oh wow she spoiled us!" Sister Clegg

"She spoiled us with vegetables!!" me

"6. Set goals and make plans for lessons to be taught to all other investigators--is that the pizza man? I need to go to the bathroom" Sister Clegg while weekly planning

"This is like me and these are like the missionaries" Dominic and his lego guys

"That's Sister Evans? She looks kinda creepy" Sister Clegg

"Ya, that's Darth Vader" Dominic

"Ch ch what's missing? U R" Church sign

"What happened here changed the earth" me, messing up a quote about the restoration changing the world

"Sorry, we didn't practice this that much!" Tori singing at Tim's baptism

"and substituting the law" AKA sustaining the Law, Article of Faith 12 Primary Program

"mom said we're having cookies for lunch but she can't have one cause she's on a diet" Tori Dellinger

"Brother Dellinger..." Sis Clegg

"Ya, I'm a bro now!" Tim

"And sister Clegg what's your mom's name?" Sister Dellinger

"What is this, family history?" Tim

"You're not awfully persistant, you're pleasantly persistant!" Tim to Sis Clegg

"Steppy--that's a nice name for someone who likes to be called Steppy" Sister Clegg

"Wow that truck is really suspended above...above" Sis Dellinger

"I don't know if it's because I'm naturally not as hot or because of what I'm wearing..." me

"We had to man handle that church tour...sometimes you have to man handle the situation a little" Sister Clegg

"Why didn't Lamanites kneel to pray?" Sister Cutler

"why?"

"Because of all the Nephites" Sis Cutler

"Hahaha!" everyone in the car

*a few seconds later* "Oh, knee fights!!" me

"What's the 'blank' of the law of chastity?" Elder Perkins

"Don't 'blank'!"

"gotta love Jynx, sometimes you just wanna ring her neck, though!" Elder Perkins

Pictures may or may not come in another email when I figure out this computer!
Sister Evans

September 15 Weekly Update and Pictures

Hello friends! If you asked for a copy of my first talk, here it is!! It went pretty well :)

I. Good afternoon, brothers and sisters! I'm Nora and this is my FIRST TALK EVER! I'm from Mishawaka. I am a freshman at Elmhurst College studying speech pathology and moved into this ward 3 and a half weeks ago. I was baptized on August 9th, and first I'd like to talk a little about that.

II. I was introduced to the church by my best friend Camden, who is now serving his mission in Bogota, Colombia.. He kind of tricked me into having my first missionary lesson. At first i was a little upset at his sneakiness, but now I know he was just excited to share this gospel with me. And of course, once I had my first lesson, I couldn't help but agree to meet with the missionaries every week. Everything they taught me made sense. It was all reasonable enough and I loved learning with them. For some reason, though, i didn't feel ready to be baptized for a long time. I think it had something to do with my uncertainty about several other aspects of my future: what to study in school, if i even chose the right school to go to, and whether or not I had a chance with Camden in two years (people laughed here). I wanted all these answers to come to me somehow. So I prayed about it. I prayed a lot about whether or not I should be baptized, and no answers came at the start. I thought i was doing everything I had to, coming forth with a broken heart and contrite spirit and asking honestly what I should do. However, i found out i was missing a piece in my prayers when I read about Joseph Smith in Ensign. In a talk called "If Ye Lack Wisdom" by Elder Marcos A. Aidukaitis of the seventy, the actions of Joseph Smith are discussed when he was seeking wisdom. He, too, asked in faith and with an honest heart. However, Elder Aidukaitis says, he also  "was ready to act upon the answer he would receive, even before he prayed." Before Joseph Smith went into the grove of trees and prayed to the Lord, he knew that he would act on anything that the Lord prepared for him. That is what I lacked when it came to my baptism. I wanted all the answers which God could provide, but I wasn't ready to ACT on them. Once I prayed and I was ready to act on any answer that Heavenly Father offered me, He revealed that THIS was the way I'm supposed to live the rest of my life. In THIS church. Living THIS gospel. So I was baptized! The rest of the answers that I desired from Heavenly Father would be revealed to me later in my life, and I was perfectly fine knowing that. None of those things mattered if I had this Gospel as my foundation.

III. This brings me to my next point, which is living the Gospel. Living the gospel means to live as Heavenly Father would have us live. It means to have regular prayer and meaningful scripture study, give dutiful service, and be an example to family and friends. President Gordon B. Hinckley stated at General conference that living the Gospel applies to everything we do, and this is true. It applies to work, school, family, and other responsibilities. Living the Gospel is the formula we need to endure to the end and return to our Father in Heaven. It might not always be easy to follow these teachings on a daily basis. But something that comforts me is Romans 12:1, which says, 

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

Something that always stands out to me in this scripture is that it says REASONABLE service; Heavenly Father wouldn't ask us to anything we weren't capable of. Furthermore, when we consider the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made for us, any sacrifice we have to make by living the Gospel is, by comparison, quite reasonable. It helps to keep that in mind as we live the Gospel more fully.

As we diligently read our scriptures, pray, and live by the standards that we're supposed to, we are infinitely blessed by Heavenly Father. I have experienced this firsthand with my baptism and with my obedience in the covenants I've made with Christ. Brothers and sisters, I encourage you to be as Joseph Smith was, and to be ready to ACT on whatever Heavenly Father puts on your path. I can testify that He will give you answers to your questions once you are ready to act on them. You will receive answers in His perfect timing when He knows that in your heart you are ready. I can also testify that living the Gospel will prepare you and help you be ready to act with complete trust in the Lord. And I say these things in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Weekly updates!

On Monday we took a tour of Notre Dame with a YSA that goes there and met a nun who took a picture with us! It was so great, I'll have to send the picture soon!

Wednesday we found a super sweet new investigator! We were tracting before dinner at the Smith's and found this sweet man who was Catholic, going through a divorce, and super receptive! We set up an appointment and taught him, and he was so receptive we probably taught too much, but we were so excited about how receptive he is and how close he is to the Smith's who will be awesome fellowship!

Thursday the member that was going to go with us to teach Dan fell through barely before we went to teach him, so we had a bit of an exciting dinner hour calling half the ward to find someone to teach with us! Like 30 minutes before our appointment we found a YSA to go with us which was a huge blessing! The spirit, as always, was super strong with Dan! He is amazing, it is so humbling to be able to teach him!

Saturday Ed and Sister Shoff were home so we got to have dinner with them and a lesson! They've both been through some tough times but have amazing faith! I don't know how I got so lucky to be able to be part of such an amazing thing, teaching them! They offered to adopt Sister Clegg and I, which we basically accepted.

Yesterday we had Pat and Ed in church with us, and we went to a later ward with Dennis. We asked Dennis how things were going without coffee and if he had tried the pretend coffee we gave him from the bishop. He made a little gagging face but thanked us for being so kind to bring it, which he said several times. He likes to pretend to be a big tough guy but he's really pretty sweet! We also taught Pat later that night, which was amazing! We found her in the garage when she was smoking but she let us in to teach her the plan of salvation. She knows the gospel is true, we are just working with her through the lessons, a couple of questions, and quitting. She has a hard time sleeping a lot so some weeks she can't make it to church, but it was so sweet, she told us she was so upset she couldn't make it to fast and testimony meeting last week because she wanted to bear her testimony of missionaries because of the answers and comfort we brought her! She also committed to November 9th to be baptized instead of March, with her granddaughter! Hopefully Sister Clegg and I will still be here, pray for my knees to make it a little longer in the North! Another quick highlight was a church tour with Rob, a member, Laura Smith's, boyfriend. We had a super chatty member from another ward come along, which made the tour an hour and a half instead of a half hour! It was a little stressfull and very late, but on our way out Sister Clegg told him not to worry about all the new information, that we'd help him, and he gave her a high five and said he knew it would be ok.

Favorite quotes!

"Wait, why is Carol here? Oh ya, it's a party!" me

"I hate it! It's like between a tickle and a stabbing pain!" Dan, when his foot fell asleep during a lesson

"So...you're wearing a skirt and you're wearing sweats..." Elder Rassmussen

"Ya, we went tracting like this" Sister Clegg, during our lunch break

later..."It's good to see you in a skirt! Don't take that the wrong way...I'm gonna go..." Elder Rasmussen

"We didn't get volunteered, we got volun-told!" Elder Nyman

"And your eyes are blue" Hunter, and why I was patriotic in 9/11

"I'm like the whitest white girl you'll ever meet--" Sister Clegg

"I like that!! I'm gonna write that down and use it!" Dennis

"I love you girls, and Jesus loves you!" Joseph, cute old man

"Are you writing me down?" Sister Clegg, as I write in my quote book

"Kaushik--say that 5 times fast and you'll probably swear!" Sister Clegg

"What did they feed me? I'm kinda hyper!" Sister Clegg

"The party don't start till Brother Petras (the ward mission leader) walk in" Elder Rasmussen

"let's not say that ever again" me

"You think conference is good, then you get on your mission and it's like Christmas! On steroids!" Sister Clegg

Sister Mckendrick's going away party at Anna's

Tracting in the rain with matching umbrellas

Better Late Than Never

The Week of 6/23

Amanda lives on the corner of Esther and Ellen

Sister Ruth and I live on the corner of Esther and Ellen, so the other day I decided to read more about Esther. I learned that she was a missionary in a way, too! She was super awesome and so courageous! I have learned a lot about being courageous this week. Sister Ruth already knows everyone so well, they know her so well, and she has so much more experience teaching that it was hard to get in a few words edgewise. I've been working on it am most often able to testify, rather than teach, but am getting better. She has been an awesome trainer. Yesterday we got to teach Jessica who is almost a month clean from smoking and she was pretty excited to see us. Her mom was also getting into the lesson, and it was so great! Their enthusiasm about the gospel was so exciting and we practically left high fiving. It felt like the MTC and was such a boost! Since then our lessons have been getting better and better. Tonight we are teaching Dennis and having another member dinner. We have so many investigators it's hard to keep them straight! It definitely keeps us busy and on our toes. Yesterday Sister Ruth was feeling very stressed so we asked the elders to give us blessings and they were amazing! Our blessings were so similar which made me realize how similar Sister Ruth and I are and how much we need each other as companions! 

​The other night we went out for dinner with an awesome member who is not afraid to say what she thinks! We got into this intense discussion about Word of Wisdom and child abuse which I was a little worried about, but when we shared an actual message with her it was amazing! She is struggling with her son who is being rebellious so we brought a talk from the Ensign about faithful parents and wayward children which she absolutely loved! Sister Ruth and I talked about how the church had changed our lives and how we had gone on missions even after hard things and she loved it. She couldn't stop telling us how cute we were and how much she loved us and how we were such good missionaries. She tried to get me dessert but when I said I didn't eat sugar she went back into the Word of Wisdom for a minute and how healthy I must be before making our waiter go back and get me a bag of chips to take home. She was awesome, it is so fun having dinners with members! They are so helpful and giving!

On Saturday we were going to help the Bryces with a garage sell, but they canceled it and took us to breakfast, instead. Sister Ruth and Sister Bryce knew each other fairly well so they were pretty chatty and I was being a little quiet when Brother Bryce suddenly started telling us all these stories from his mission when he was super outgoing and talked to everyone, telling me I needed to talk more. I tried to hop in the conversation, but he just kept talking! He started talking about placing Books of Mormon so I asked quickly if they read it as a family, which allowed us to teach them about reading as a family. They said they did for a while when things were really rough, but stopped after things got better, and even threw in the fact that they had a puppy, now. I'm not sure why that was also included, puppies are lovely but not as good as the Book of Mormon! We committed them to read and scheduled an appointment with them while their daughter is at girls camp. She is very interested in the church and we are hoping that she has a great experience and helps her family to be more motivated to work to getting back into the gospel, for the dad, and getting the rest of the family in the gospel. She also told us that there was a huge sale at Bed Bath and Beyond, and we were barely able to say that that place was great when she offered to go get us a bunch of stuff, which they dropped off at our house that night. She was such a sweet lady, we couldn't believe all the things they got for us! We saw Jocelynn, their daughter, at church yesterday, and she said her mom had loved us. This made sister Ruth super excited because she said missionaries had tried to teach her before but she didn't like them very much because they didn't explain things super well where she didn't have much of a religious background. 

Sept 8 Weekly Update and Pictures

Weekly Highlights!

On Wednesday night we had ward correlation with an emphasis on active member lessons, and Sister Clegg and I both felt like visiting the Bryces, so we hurried over to talk to them really quick before curfew. We were catching up with Brother Bryce when the spirit took over and just started teaching him, it was so neat! We were hoping to set up an appointment but instead taught him, and hopefully helped! He wasn't at church, Sunday, but hope it helped our relationship with his family!

Thursday we ran from a Relief Society activity to a lesson with Dan, who we introduced to the Book of Mormon with the pictures in front. He is taking care of his grandma nights and working days and keeping his family and their friends going without hardly any sleep! He is an amazingly humble man! We texted him the other day and he has already followed through with our reading assignment and read a few chapters! We are so excited to meet with him again, tonight! Earlier that night we taught Dennis, who has a baptismal date for the 27th, about the Word of Wisdom, as he drank a mug of coffee. Last minute we got a member to come with us who had struggles with the Word of Wisdom in the past, and we had no idea! She was so sweet and perfect for that lesson! On Saturday we met the Elders at the church so they could give Dennis a lesson, which was so powerful! They asked why he wanted a blessing and he told them about how he wanted some help figuring out if this church was right for him and help quitting coffee. The spirit during that blessing was amazing and he even admitted that he appreciated Sister Clegg and I texting him at 4 in the morning to help him not drink coffee before work.

Friday, oh my, it was so exciting! We had dinner with a member, Tara, and shared verses from Mosiah 18 about the blessing of the companionship of the Holy Ghost we receive after baptism, and she was so excited she asked if we could read more verses after because they were some of her favorites! She said after we left last time we had dinner with her she was on such a spiritual high she ran in her room and read her scriptures, which made us smile! We were taking some trash out for her and her mom who is elderly and living with her when it started pouring! Our next appointments were all falling through and no one would answer their door so we ran around in the rain doing the best we could to find those searching for the gospel! At one door we couldn't avoid puddles any longer and broke down laughing so hard! We decided to stop by a recent convert, Brother Sandsmarck, and his family who kindly let us in to share a message. The spirit helped us know what their needs were and how we could share something to help them, which was pretty humbling and so neat to be a part of!

Saturday we went tracting around the Dave and Becky Smith's before dinner and met Bob who was so ready for the gospel! He climbing on a latter while we were knocking on some other doors but once he got down we talked to him about how he was Catholic but not totally sold on it. We asked what he looked for in a church, which he said was fellowship, and we set up a return appointment with him! It fell through because he was sick, but we have another for Wednesday! We also met the daughter of a former investigator, Lynn Day, which was pretty crazy! We called Lynn who didn't answer, but will keep trying. That family must need the gospel!

Favorite Quotes

"I used to save lots of those!" Sister Petras

"Cats??" Brother Petras

"No! Pamphlets!" Sister Petras

"Someone published our number under a moving company so this is our new number!" Elder Rasmussen

"You curled your bangs!" Sister Petras

"She chopped her hair!" Sister Clegg

"Pat, how did you feel when you were reading those pamphlets?" me

"Peaceful. You're sitting on it." Pat

"Oh I'm so sorry! Let me get that!" me

"It's ok, I was a little worried about it, though" Pat (we switched seats part way through the lesson so she could hear me better)

"I have a bunny...his name is Chester...he hops around" Sister Hogue

"Don't think, just eat" Sister Clegg

"No, my cat's name really is cookies oreo Mckendrick!" Sister Mckendrick

"Awkward things happen and I just lose my skeleton!" Sister Clegg

"Is that a pretend alligator?" me

"No, that's a real alligator" Sister Clegg

"Did you just say brain freeze or grape freeze??" me

"Ooh, what fun, colorful cups!" me

"Is it my turn to pray? No, I think it's your turn. Ya, it's your turn, Sister Clegg" me

"Great, anything else you'd like to say to yourself, sister Evans?" Sister Clegg

"What's that word that means you just keep coming back?" Sister Johnson

"Persistant?" me

"Ya! Ya! You two are sure persistant!" Sister Johnson

"Ya, we get that a lot" Sister Clegg

​we love Sunday tracting!

​Sister Clegg couldn't handle the glasses bigger than her face

"Sister Clegg, did you curl your hair?" Elder Nyman