August 11 Weekly Update and Pictures

It's been a pretty exciting week, so much has happened!!

On the 29th we got to see Patricia Ann who has been sick but was so excited to see us! She takes most lessons telling us stories, and telling us how much she loves seeing us smile and how it brightens her day, but it's so fun seeing her! We drove to Carmel with the sister training leaders that night for transfer meeting. What a ride! We listened to Sheri Dew and sang along to Christmas CDs and had a great time, though. That night we stayed with Sister Clegg and Sister Hoffheins, who are super sweet!

On the 30th I found out my new companion was Sister Clegg! It was super neat not only because I already thought she was super sweet, but the spirit brought such a confirmation to us both that this was what God wanted for the next transfer. We had dinner with the Sandsmarcks (don't worry, I am now spelling their name right) but got pretty lost, thanks to our struggle bus GPS and my lack of direction. We got there super late but they were way good sports and gave us dinner and let us teach them. Being late also allowed for both Kerry and Steve Sandsmarck to be there so we were able to have a pretty great lesson!

On the 31st we had one strange day! We began with service at the food bank with our sister training leaders, who drove us (thankfully we were not in charge of directions!). We don't usually get to have gospel conversations while there, but that day we had a whole table around us working on a craft super interested in what we were in Indiana for, and there were like 50 gospel conversations going at once! It was so exciting! That day we also ran around trying to get in a few lessons before going to a baseball game called "Mormon night at the Cove". We went with a member family, the Braleys, and got to see lots of other missionaries there, too. The ward got a section all together so I was super excited to introduce Sister Clegg to everyone but people were upset we were standing in the way, so we had to just sit by the other missionaries part of the time. The Braleys have a few kids, one of them named Desi, who is a hoot. She was trying to learn Sister Clegg's name and we were trying to figure out how to say Desirae and with so many kids in the car Sister Clegg and I somehow became "Cleggy and Evie" which we rolled with and still laugh about! It was great to get to know the family and help them. We also found Sister Clegg's GPS which has been like the third member of our companionship, it gets us pretty much everywhere.

On the first we had district meeting with so many new members of our district! We went to Stake and Shake and I went so far as to have french fries with seasoning and ketchup. It was pretty wild. That day we were tracting and found the neatest lady! Her name is Kalene and when she first opened the door she was bent over and looked a little skeptical. As we talked to her, she began to straighten up and open the door more, and her eyes began to look brighter. She was feeling the spirit! We got to know her and will hopefully be able to see her again soon! It was definitely a miracle, though, and we were pretty excited to have had the guidance to knock on her door specifically.

On the second we had another cool experience tracting! We were deciding which doors to start with but couldn't decide so we said a prayer, right out on the sidewalk, and I had a feeling we were going to be able to answer someone's prayer that night. It took a few doors to find someone, but when we did, she was just walking from her car to her house. Her name was Katy and we asked her if she had ever heard of the church before. She said she had a friend, who she began describing, when I realized her friend was in our ward! It was super cool! She said she was Catholic and very happy with her beliefs but were introducing the Book of Mormon with the pictures and when baptism came up she said she agreed with our beliefs of baptism more than her own religion, and agreed to read the book! We were walking around the house trying to find the house number after that when we saw a man in his yard just staring at us, so we waved and he waved back. Sister Clegg was still writing about our visit in her planner when I was talking to him. He was very friendly and talked for us for a while about how he'd seen other elders, before he told us he was a Jehova's Witness. He was the first Jehova's Witness I've talked to on my mission! Sister Ruth has been wanting to talk to them so much! He had so many questions about the Book of Mormon, he just about talked our ears off! We had to get home for curfew but were trying to pray with him before we left and finally just had to say bye and run to our car! It was pretty exciting. Earlier in the day we had a lesson with Bowe Marvin's neighbor, Shauna, and her mom, Christy, who we met that day. We taught them out on their lawn, but the spirit was so strong as we shared the first vision and when we finished they told us what peace they had felt! It was amazing, they just soaked it right up! We have another appointment and are so excited to keep seeing them! Miraculously, we reached our lesson goal for that day! There was a lot to do, but as Sister Clegg and I just hopped into the work Heavenly Father blessed us so much!

Yesterday we fasted for Nora, whose family now knows she wants to be baptized and is growing more and more upset about it. We got to sit with her through the meetings, though, and everything was perfect for her! Our hearts were so full! We watched a movie in Relief Society about enduring trials, and one of the songs was "Come Thou Fount" which is one of her favorites, that we will hopefully be singing at her baptism. When it came on we all looked at each other and just cried! We tried to get her into the Smith's home for an FHE but her parents wouldn't let her out of the house so we are praying for her so much! We also got to see the Bryces, who were even more open than last we saw them. We learned a lot about them and the spirit helped us know what we can teach them next, which will be tonight!

Sorry for the novel, here are some pictures!

Beautiful Indiana

Posterity pic! Sister Warner, my step grandma, Sister Hoffheins, my step sister, and Sister Clegg, my step mom!

​Nora and Elder Smith, her best friend, Camden's dad

​Nora with brother and sister Smith--they are so great!

Hello, friends and family! It's been an exciting week, and you are about to get an exciting email! (At least you've been warned!)

On the 5th Sister Clegg and I were teaching a recent convert which was an interesting situation we weren't totally sure what to do with, but we had a really cool experience! We were just being filled with words to tell them, and there was even a point where I told his wife something that she liked a lot, and I still don't remember what I said. The spirit is definitely the best teacher! After their lesson we weren't sure where to go to save on miles, since we've been using so many, getting to know the area. We pulled off on one road to look at our map and ward directory when a family walked by. They walked by several times while we were there before we decided they needed the gospel, so we tried to think of a not scary way to hop out and talk to them because they were already part way down the road. We decided to "tract" into them after knocking on a few doors. The first door we knocked on we found a mom named Tiffany who was in the middle of bath time but actually looking for a church to take her girls to! She was so excited to hear about primary and church tours, her daughter was too! We went to set up a time for a church tour and I jokingly suggested after bath time, and the daughter was all for it! She just kept saying "after bath time! After bath time!" and we knew they were so ready! We found another man on that road who was super ready for the gospel, too, and we couldn't stop smiling after our little miracle street.

On the 6th we had dinner with a member named Sister Shoff whose boyfriend, Ed, is not a member. We found out he was super immersed in the gospel but not home enough in his ward boundaries for the missionaries to teach him, but he was so ready, and he liked us so much he wanted us to teach him! We called President Cleveland and had to work out quite a few logistics but got clearance to teach him! We are so excited, he is amazing and such a hoot!

On the 9th we had lunch with a part member/less active family, the Roys, who we had invited earlier in the week to Nora's baptism. It turned out the husband was very interested in learning the gospel, and I asked, again, if they would come. I admittedly guilted them a little bit by telling Nora's story and her need for support, but the husband was totally on board, and asked when it was. When we were filling up the font, after, sister Roy texted to ask if they needed to dress up. Sister Clegg were so excited we did a little dance and texted them back. They came!! It was so exciting, and the baptism was amazing! We had another investigator there, along with a bunch of Nora's friends. The talks were perfect and so great for them! When sister smith finished her talk on the Holy Ghost, she pulled out a clip of a song that Camden and Brother Smith sang in sacrament a few weeks ago. She said even though Camden was on his mission, he was there in spirit, and played the song. The spirit was amazing and we couldn't stop crying!

The 10th we had another miracle! We were mapping out less actives we wanted to visit, one of them being the Long family. When we went we met a different brother, Orlando, because the one we were looking for had actually moved to Hawaii. Orlando was so ready for the gospel! He mentioned several times feeling lost, and unsure, and worried about his mom who had passed away. We taught him part of the plan of salvation and he wanted the address of the church and a return appointment! That night we also found a family of girls painting their nails on their porch and taught them while the mom was on the phone, but they were so receptive! Oh my, they were amazing! We squealed a little on our way back to the car because we were so excited to see them again on Tuesday!

​We liked the sign

Favorite quotes!

"That's actually the closet" sister Sammons to sister Clegg, when she was trying to open the front door but not looking

"She says she got out all the pictures of Ben..oh, now she's laughing" Sister Sammons, who called my mom to check on them

"YOMO! You only mission once!" Sister Clegg--AKA our motto and reassurance when we're really awkward

"You're welcome! Y'all can take showers anytime!" Sister Mckendrick, after I told sister Clegg about the time we had to shower at the STLs apartment after the tornado warning

"So I have a question...are his teeth--" sister Clegg

"That's a grill" Sister Caldwell

"That was a girl??" Sister Mckendrick

"ooh you smell good!" Sister Mckendrick

"thanks! I just put on hand sanitizer!" me

"I told her, 'come on over tomorrow, it's the Mormon book club!'" Dennis

"If you do this, people will not think you're as awkward, and that's a legit promised blessing" Elder Johnson

"Do you think they need help backing?" me

"haha...ha...ha..." sister Clegg

"Oh ya, that is kinda weird" me

"Oh Ryan! You shall be baptized in the morning!" me

At the end of his lesson (this is a super embarrassing story, P.S.) sister Clegg was building up for me to testify and the spirit was so strong and this scripture popped in my head to share with him, but I had to use the restroom so badly! Sister Clegg was wrapping up her thought and I knew I had to share the scripture but I couldn't do it I had to use the restroom! So She finishes up and looks at me so I can say what I had to say and I leaned closer to Dennis and whispered "I'm really sorry, Dennis, can I use your restroom?" he was so confused, but let me in the house so I ran to the bathroom, but when I got back he was already talking about body building with our member and I was so sad I had ruinned the spirit! I sat down and apologized for ruinning the spirit and told Dennis that I wanted to share a scripture that popped in my head by the spirit, but had to use the restroom first, and his famous words were "You were moved by the spirit--literally!" but I shared the scripture which brought back the spirit and we wrapped it up and left, but it was so embarrassing! Sister Clegg and I can luckily laugh about it now, and use it as our code!

Love,
from Indiana,

Sister Evans :)