What greater love

Hello!

I am settling in. I have been surprised with how much calmer I am as I become familiar with my surroundings, create friendships with other missionaries, members, and locals, and get used to the missionary routine by sheer repetition. I guess we truly do have other needs, emotional and social, besides food and sleep.

WHAT GREATER LOVE

What greater love can one manifest for Elder Evans than to leave some of your food for him? There is none greater. My companion will often insist that I have some of his food, especially during our luches out in our sector during the middle of the day. I know he's also hungry, and I insist that he eat it, but he has this sense, and can tell that I'm really famished. It's a small gesture, but it means a lot to me.

COMMUNICATING

I can understand most of what is said to me, and I have most of the vocabulary I need to respond to communicate our message to others. But even initiating a conversation in English is hard! I worry about how clearly and concisely I can convey our message. But I have found that I never regret putting myself out there and trying to share the greatest news on the earth with others.

COOKING 

The first week or two of my mission could be a TV show called "Elder Evans learns missionary skills." This week's episode features a foot tall grease fire as Elder Evans tries to cook chicken!! ("Companion!! VENEZ VENEZ!") 

MY 19TH BIRTHDAY

My birthday fell on a preparation day! I celebrated by eating some dried mangoes I brought in my suitcase, and throwing the frisbee around outside our apartment with another elder. Several kids gathered around, probably seeing a frisbee for the first time, and a couple of them had a fun time trying to throw it.

THE PEOPLE

There is an Elder in our apartment, from America, who also went to a year of BYU before leaving on his mission, and it is really validating to talk with him (not too often) about the Creamery, BYU sporting events, Helaman Halls, etc. He gave me great advice for the mission. He said, 

"If you look at the mission from the perspective of what you do on pen and paper, it is pretty monotonous. We wear and wash the same white shirts every week, we eat the same chicken and rice when we cook for ourselves everyday, and we go out and teach everyday. It seems like that would get pretty boring, right? This is cliché, but what I have loved most about the mission is the people."

This is true. If serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was not a true, divinely inspired work, there would not be tens of thousands of missionaries out right now. It's hard. Why do missionaries stay out in the field? What a crazy idea, sending out a bunch of 19 and 20 year olds to go teach religion to the world.

The hardest parts of the mission usually all involve me focusing on myself, and the best parts involve loving and serving others. It is not natural at all to forget yourself, and that is apparent in this adjusting period at the beginning of the mission. But this is the greatest work on the face of the earth.

TESTIMONY

Heavenly Father loves us, and we show that we love Him by loving others. It is not natural and it is hard to love everyone. But it is a sure way to accomplish that which Heavenly Father needs us to do.

Love you all,

Elder Evans