Cadê a fé? (Where´s the faith?)

Oi família!

Well, my last 25 is going well.  We´re trying to give it a 100% sprint the last transfer.  The heat is always fun, but we´re working hard.  We´d hit something of a brick wall this week because we contact everyone possible and everyone says the same thing, "Oh, if I have time I´ll go by", "I don´t want to promise and then not fulfill" and things like that, and we were super frustrated.  Then we were at lunch on Saturday and the sister of the ward who we were eating with said, "you know, the only missionaries who I saw who passed by here asked me who they should pass by who was less-active with family members that weren´t members.  They went there, reactivated a bunch and baptized a bunch too."  Élder Helvey and I got super excited and we said, "So who do you think we should visit?"  and she said, "Well, go here, here, here, and here" and we went that afternoon.  It was really awesome because the less-actives we all like, "Wow!  I haven´t seen the missionaries in forever!  How´s it going?!?"  And all of the ones we visited said they would come to church yesterday.  One family came and they young man brought his girlfriend too!  It was awesome.  The Lord has given us a new direction in our work and we´re super excited to see what happens.

But we also had a really cool experience with finding this week.  Friday we had planned to do contacts from 2 until 3 as close to the church in our area as possible.  Now, contacting people during these hours is already extremely hard because there are few people in the street because of the heat, but we had no one that we could have taught at that hour, so we went for it. As we were getting ready to head out we learned that our lunch had been delayed for an hour.  So our plans changed from doing contacts from 2 to 3, to doing contacts from noon until 1.  So, doing contacts from 2 to 3 is hard.  I thought that doing contacts from noon until 1 would be impossible.  After noon until 2 here in Ceará is difficult because everything closes for lunch.  Houses, buisnesses, schools, everything. But earlier that day we had prayed that that day we would be able to find an elect family in that area.   So, we headed out and began working.  About noon we were waiting under a tree looking for where to go that had people and we saw a mo walk by with here two kids.  We quickly walked up and said, "Hey, we´re missionaries!"  And we began talking with them.  So we met Irmã Rosangela, and two of her children, Zeus (seriously, how cool!), and Antonio Marcos.  We asked if we could come back later and talk with her family and she said that we could.  We returned later that day and met her daughter, Mayra, and we had a great lesson as we discussed the Resoration.  The kids were so engaged in what we were teaching.  They said, "Yeah, let´s go to church mom! We want to find the true church!"  It was really cool.  Then, they came to church yesterday!  It was awesome!  The Primary presidency said, "The children of Irmã Roseangela were awesome!  We want them back next week!"  It was really cool to see how the Lord answered our specific prayer.  I´m a little sad that when we headed out that I didn´t have more faith, but the Lord rewarded the little faith that we had that it would work out.  And it did!  This week we´re going to head out and talk to everyone about General Conference and we´re going to take a bunch of people there.  I´m pumped.

As you all prepare for General Conference think of some questions that you would like the Lord to answer and write them somewhere.  Then as you watch the conference I promise that the Lord will respond to each and every question you have.  He has never failed to respond to my questions.  I love conference and I know that Thomas S. Monson is the Lord´s prophet for the earth in our day.  As we listen to and follow his counsel, we will be following the cousel that the Lord has for each and every one of us.  As He said in Doctrine and Covenants,

What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all befulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of myservants, it is the same (D&C 1:38)

I know that these words are true.

Amo vocês!  Até o próximo!

Élder Evans   

The Last 25 (Yep, more swimming analogies. And I promise that I´m not getting trunky)

Oi família!

This week was fun.  We´ve had a number of missionaries that had to go home early this transfer because of school, and the majority of them were Zone Leaders.  So, Tuesday night, our District Leader, Élder Toffoletto, got a call from the Assistants congratulating him that he had been called as a new Zone Leader in the Sumaré Zone!  I heard that and I just about went crazy because that´s where I began as a Zone Leader.  I was telling him a bunch of stuff, "Élder you´re going to meet Antonio, and Marília, and Irmã Meire, and Irmão whatshisbucket and Irmã brazilianname and it´s awesome there!!!"  So, because he was transfered, we were walking in trio this week with Élder R. Oliveira until the real transfer.  It was a little crazy because we were covering a really big chunck of area, but we worked it out. Élder Helvey and I are staying together for one more transfer.  Élder Lessa will be coming in as Élder R. Oliveira´s new companion and Élder R. Oliveira is our new District Leader!

We had some awesome experiences this week with Aurilene from last week.  She´s been devouring everything that we´ve taught her. After our last lesson that I reported about the Book of Mormon she has progressed a lot.  We headed over there Tuesday and we asked, "so, did you pray about the Book of Mormon?"  She said that she had.  She explained, "Well, I went to read the Book of Mormon and beforehand I prayed to know if it was true.  After I prayed I was filled with the most wonderful feeling of joy!  I was so filled that I didn´t know what to do, so I hugged the Book of Mormon!  I know that our church is true!"  It was awesome. But in general she´s be progressing super well.  Every time we go over she has a bunch of questions for us to answer.  The best part is that she studies the stuff that we leave with her for the next lesson.  Saturday we left the Word of Wisdom pamphlet and the assignment to begin reading the Book of Mormon from the beginning.  When we got to her house yesterday she said, "So, I read the pamphlet and I wanted to know a little bit more so I did the addicional study here in this back part.  If you guys could open your scriptures to..." and she began to teach us about what she had learned.  Then we were reveiwing the Book of Mormon and she said, "It makes so much more sense when you read from the begining.  I´ve already read until 1 Nephi 13."  Seriously.  She read 13 chapters, the Word of Wisdom pamphlet, and the addicional study in one day.  Elect?  100%!  We talked with here about baptism as well and she´s accepted April 5th as here baptismal date (conference baptism!) and we are so excited.  Élder Helvey and I had a rough last transfer with people falling through, people moving, people disappearing, but now we´re begining to see the fruits of our labors. I´m also seeing the power that the Book of Mormon has in our lives.  I´m so grateful for the Book of Mormon and the difference that it has made in my life. 

So, why is my e-mail entitled "The Last 25?"  If you remember, in my e-mail from November 17th, I talked about my history as a swimmer compared to my service as a missionary.  (For those of you who didn´t receive this e-mail you can find it at http://eldertrentevans.blogspot.com/ )  In this e-mail, I explained how the mission is comparable to the 400 IM because it´s 16 lengths of the pool, the same way that the mission for foreign language elders is 16 transfers in the field.  Well, I´m on my last one.  My last transfer.  My last length.  For those of you that know how my race strategy was, this length is a full-out sprint.  There´s no more playing around.  120% until the end.  This is the truth.  There is no denying it.  This is the one and only message that can bring true eternal happiness to this world.  I know that this is the true church of Jesus Christ. 

Amo vocês!  Até o próximo!

Élder Evans

Photo: Planalto Zone during our last Zone Conference (3 weeks ago)

Mormons? Are you kidding me?

Oi família!

I´m happy to report that this week I won´t be complaining about the rain.  It rained a little last Tuesday, but after that it was a sunny and clear week.  Like normal, it´s now really really hot, but it´s fun.  I´m still not tan, but I have faith that before I go home the Lord will bless me with at least a little something. 

On another fun note, my companion got a package from home a week or so ago and his family sent him bags full of cereal!  Cap´n Crunch, Lucky Charms, Golden Grahms (?), and Honey Bunches of Oats.  So, yesterday, for the first time since the MTC, I ate Lucky Charms with milk.  It was so awesome. 

But, we had a cool experience this week with a lady we met named Aurilene.  Élder R. Oliveira and I were on an exchange in my area and we were contacting everyone we saw.  Near the end of the night we were walking down the street and there was a lady standing at the door of her garage.  Élder R. Oliveira walked up to her and we began talking.  The first question she asked after we presented ourselves was, "What God do you worship?"  We responded that we worship God, our loving Heavenly Father and that we were messangers to share a message with her.  She made an apointment with us and we headed out.  We were also on an exchange Friday, when we had set the apointment, so I was unable to teach her, but Élder Helvey said, "She´s awesome!  She´s coming to church on Sunday!"  Then one of the best parts, SHE CAME!!!  We headed to her house afterwards and began talking with her.  She explained, "you know, I always said to myself, 'If there´s any church that I will never join, it´s the mormon church.'"  She explained how so many people speak so poorly of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and how she never wanted to know anything about it.  Then she explained that she had been praying for a long time to be able to know which church was right as she asked the Lord to put her on the right path.  She said that she was confused because every church she had been to spoke something different about God and His purposes in our lives and how much she wanted to know which one was right.  She said that when she was asking that was just the day that we talked to her.  She´s been praying and seeking for the truth.  She felt something at church, but wants to confirm her feelings.  So, we presented her with the Book of Mormon.  The Spirit was super strong in the lesson as we explained about the divinity of this amazing book.  I know that it is true. 

As Élder Neil L. Andersen has said, the world will not glide calmy to the Second Coming of the Savior.  He explained that acording to the prophecies of Moroni, many will speak bad of the Prophet Joseph Smith and of the work of our Father and Savior in these latter-days.  But, I know that as we seek spiritual responses to spiritual questions that we have, the Lord will lead us, guide us, and answer our sincere questions.  I know that this is true.

Amo vocês!  Até o próximo! 

Élder Evans

Uma igreja da família (A family church)

Oi família!!!

We´ve been receiving rain this week again.  It´s really weird because Ceará is known as one of the drier states in Brasil, so it´s super weird to have consistent rain.  Because it never rains here most of the roads aren´t really prepared for it and they end up turning into mini rivers.  But it´s been fun.  On the bright side, I arrived to church yesterday with shoes completely clean because it started raining on the way there and my shoes got soaked.  But, they looked like they were polished, so it made the experience a little more exciting.  The Lord loves me so much.

We´ve been facing some difficulties in the work this week.  We had 17 confirmed that they would come to church yesterday, and we ended up with only two.  But we´re still staying positive.  We´re talking with everyone we can and inviting everyone to church.  We headed out to work yesterday after lunch and the first person we talked to accepted the invitation to come to church!  We walked with him to his house and we began talking to him and he said, "brothers, (almost everyone calls us brothers when they first meet us), I´m a little confused.  Why is it that there are so many churches today?  Isn´t there only one Jesus?"  So, we explained the Restoration.  He really enjoyed the lesson and said that he´ll come to church this next week and keep learning with us.  It was awesome.

But the real cool expierence of the week was one we had way out in Tabapuá. We were out working and decided to visit a less-active member of the ward, Irmão Mendonça.  When we got there, we met his daughter, Ohana.  Her family was baptized when Irmã Mendonça was pregnant with her.  Because he family fell away when she was 6 years-old, she was never baptized.  We began talking with her about the church and the importance it places on the family.  She talked about how much she wants to be able to raise her family in a good loving atmosphere, specifically one that focuses so much on the family, for that reason, she wanted to raise her family in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  As we taught about the importance of the family and how our families can be together forever, I felt so strongly that what we taught was true.  I began to understand better how the gospel and the church were placed on the earthto bless our families.  What was more important was the appreciation that I felt in my heart for having had the oportunity to be born in the new and everlasting covenant to faithful parents who placed gopsel learning and principles first.  I began to review in my mind all of the broken homes I have visited as a missionary and I then realized how blessed I was to see how my home isn´t that way.  So, shout-out to mom and dad, thank you guys for giving me the best that the Lord has to offer.  But the lesson was great and we all really felt the Spirit testify that the Lord loves the family.  I am so grateful for mine.

Até o próximo!  Amo vocês!

Élder Evans  

É bom, né? (It´s good, isn´t it?)

Oi família!

Well, this first week with Élder Helvey was really good!  He´s a little crazy, which mixed with my insanity, makes for a good pair.  We´re trying to head out and contact everyone that we can see and it´s working out.  We´ve had some funny experiences this week, but also some really good ones.  We´ll focus on the spiritual though.

On Wednesday we contacted a lady this week named Juliana. We began talking with her and she said, "Well, I attended your church that´s in Parque Rio Branco (a neighborhood in Fortaleza) for about 6 months a few years ago."  As we talked a little more I discovered that it was the same ward where I began my mission (Parquelândia) and that she was friends with a few people that I know from there.  We invited her to come to church and she said that she would. We returned the next day to meet her husband and daughter, Carlos and Julia.  We taught about the importance of keeping the comandments of God and the Spirit was so strong.  They said they would come to church and we asked if we could come back on Saturday to prepare them for church the next day.  They agreed and we returned on Saturday.  We began teaching about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  It was amazing to feel the Spirit testify during the whole lesson.  From the start until the end the Spirit was testifying, "this is true."  They agreed to come to church once again, and we left.  Yesterday they came to church and really enjoyed it.  I asked them afterwards what they thought and Carlos replied, "It was way better than I imagined it would be."  We visited them yesterday and they were so excited about everything that happened.  They talked about the peace and tranquility that they felt in the church and how aliviated they felt after they left.  They talked about how wonderful they felt even when we were in their home and then we asked, "So, do you two feel that God has answered your prayers to know that this is the true church on the earth?"  Juliana replied, "To me, it always was the true church.  Everything today just confirmed that to me."  and Carlos said, "More than anything now, I believe that this is the true church."  and here on March 21st, they´re going to be a part of it!

I know that this is the true church of Jesus Christ on the earth.  Joseph Smith was a prophet.  Thomas S. Monson is the Lord´s prophet on the earth.  Jesus Christ lives.  He is our Savior.  The Book of Mormon testifies of Him and will bring us closer each day that we read it.  I know these things of myself because God answered my prayer.

Amo vocês!  Até o próximo!

Élder Evans

Inspiração do Alto (Inspiration from on High)

Oi família!

It was hot this week.  On another note I didn´t work in my area for almost the whole week.  Tuesday and Thursday we did exchanges, Wednesday, Élder Borges and I traveled to Itapipoca and back which took up almost the whole day.  Friday, we took Élder Borges to the mission office for the final dinner and training with President.  Saturday we picked him up from the office.  Sunday was normal, except church in the morning.  One way or another, it was a fun week.

I left Élder Borges at the mission office for the last time this morning since he´ll be returning home today.  He was an awesome companion.  I know that it was inspiration that we worked together.  When I got here I didn´t have that same fire passion for the work that I had in the past, but working with Élder Borges quickly turned that around.  He was an awesome companion and I´m ever so grateful that we were able to work together.  What I love even more than gaining new companions is gaining new friends.  I feel like Élder Borges and I were truly friends and that we´ll be able to help each other out for year to come.  He´s awesome.

On one of our exchanges this week I headed out with Élder Ribeiro, the "greenie" in the zone.  I worked with him in his area to see how he would do given that he´s only been here for about6 weeks.  We began the exchange and I said, "Élder, today is your day.  You´re the senior companion.  Show me what you have."  He just said, "Ok, let´s go."  It was a good exchange.  He wasn´t scared to talk with people in the street.  He contacted everyone that we saw.  I love how I was able to see his testimony by the way that he worked, not just the words he spake.  But the highlight of the day was about 3-4 o´clock.  We went to a street to contact people to find the street 100% deserted.  There wasn´t even a dog or a cat or anything.  And we began walking.  As we were walking we heard some sound coming from a house in front of us and Élder Ribeiro said, "Let´s clap there." We clapped and a man came to the door and said, "You´re from the Mormon church?"  We responded that we were and he said, "My wife and mother-in-law are from this church.  Would you like to come in?" So, in we went.  It was super cool.  This family moved to the area 3 months ago and they were wondering where the nearest church was.  They said that they had given the address to the sisters in their old ward and they thought we had come because of them.  Truthfully, it was the Spirit that sent us there.  We had a nice visit and the mom said that she has a goal to go to the temple before the end of the year.  Talking with the élder that works in that area he said, "Wow, that family is amazing!  They came to church and the husband cried during the sacrament he felt the Spirit so strong!"  It was cool.  Much like the experience from last week, the Lord is very aware of his elect and knows where they are.  As we seek them in faith, the Lord will show them to us and help us to know how to help them enter on the path of eternal life.

That this week each one of you can pray for someone to find with whom you can share the restored gospel of Jesus Christ is my prayer.  I know that He will show someone to you and give you the words to speak.

Amo vocês!  Até o próximo!

Élder Evans  

Ovelhas perdidas (Lost sheep)

Oi família!

Well, this week was one of those weeks where nothing and everything happens.  We had a few tough days where seemingly nothing happened but some really cool miracles happened as well.  We´re working hard and sweating a lot (it´s really hot here) but we´re having fun.  This is Élder Borges' last week of the mission and we´re going to work like crazy.

We received a list of referrals from the mission office this week that we had to contact to give feedback today.  We went hunting after some of them on Friday and it was discouraging to say the least.  As we went after them we found out that the majority of them didn´t exist.  I saw one name on the list that we hadn´t contacted, Tiago.  We looked at the map and saw that Tiago lived way at the end of our area which was even more discouraging.  We had to contact him one way or another so we headed out there.  The whole way there I just kept trying to think positive.  "This is going to work out.  He´s going to be the elect.  We´re going to baptize him."  When we finally arrived at a street I had never seen in my life we began looking for his house number, 290.  We got to the spot where his house was supposed to be to see two houses, number 294 and 288 but no 290.  We asked a few people if they knew Tiago and they said, 'He lives a little further down" and the "thought" (inspiration) came "maybe it isn´t 290, maybe it´s 190 and we just got the number wrong."  So off we went.  190 existed, so we went up and clapped (we don´t knock much here, we clap).  A man came to the gate and the conversation went something like this:

Us: Hey, do you know Tiago?

Man: Yeah, he lives on the other side of the street.  Are you guys Mormons?

Us: Well, it´s a nickname people give us.  We´re from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Man: I was baptized there.  You guys want to come in for a little bit?

Us: Sure!

So, we met Cléssio.  He was baptized about 8 years ago but after his father died it was hard for him to keep going to church.  After that he invited his girlfriend to hear our message too, Irmã Rose.  As we were getting to know them Rose said, "You know, we´ve been looking for a church to attend and we´ve been attending many different ones.  But Cléssio always says, 'I want to return to the Mormons.  I feel the best with the Mormons."  We proceded to teach about the Restoration.  After Élder Borges recited the First Vision the room was full of the Spirit.  We asked Cléssio and Rose, "How do you guys feel right now?"  and they responded, "I feel so good.  Happy and peaceful.  It´s amazing."  We testified that it was the Holy Ghost teaching them that what we had taught was true.  Then we threw out the big invitation, "Rose, with a certainty that these things are true and being prepared, will you follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by someone holding the resotred priesthood of God?"  and without pausing she said, "Yes, I will"  we testifeid about how we knew that the Lord had sent us there to find them at this critical time and how He was looking out for them.  We prayed and as we were leaving you could see the emotion in Cléssio´s eyes because he knew that the Lord was aware of him.  They came to church yesterday and loved it.  They are 100% commited to learn of and apply the gospel in their lives.  It´s awesome.  But what I learned is that even way at the end of an obscure neighborhood in Caucaia, Brazil, the Lord knows where His lost sheep are.

I know that this is the true church of Jesus Christ restored to the earth today.  I know that Jesus Christ lives.  He is our Savior.  Joseph Smith was His prophet and Thomas S. Monson is His prophet today.  I am His representative.  This is His gospel.

Amo vocês!  Até o próximo!

Élder Evans