Sunday, June 21, 2015

Oh Paita

Bonjour bonjour!!!
Well today was a mostly sending pictures day, so not much time to write.
This week we don't really know what happened, but somehow had way less lessons than usual. But sometimes that happens. The work goes on and I have no doubt it will pick right back up again this week.
We had an activite fete des peres this Saturday (Fathers day Activity) and we had FOUR amis come!!! Two of our wonderful wonderful couples! And bless our sweet members they even made friends! It is something else to sit back and watch as amis get welcomed into the ward family. It was a night of some weird awkwardness and also some good laughs. All good things.
We also fixed a date de bapteme with one of our amies! Oh sweet blessings it is so exciting. This ami, C, is someone I've taught since my first week on my mission and I love her so much. She is working so hard to prepare herself for baptism. She has struggled and struggled to quit smoking and hasn't yet been able to. But we had a powerful lesson with her and I can just feel a miracle about to happen. I just about burst open at lessons with her because of the incredible progress she makes and how much I love her. She came to the baptism of a 9 year old convert on Friday (the elders recent converts' father baptized their son) and the Spirit was so strong.
When we fix baptismal dates it is 100% based on the Spirit. We pray and then we "feel it out" in our minds and in our hearts. We cycle through a bunch of dates and months in our heads until one of them seems to "stick". It sounds abstract and unreliable, but when you are really in tune with the Spirit, we can pick dates with a certaintly that otherwise wouldn't be possible. Well given that I leave so soon and that I love this amie so much, I was feeling a little too biased to really pick the date. So I mostly left the decision up to Soeur Giles. We had picked August 22, but then we prayed a final time to make sure and at the end of the prayer she goes, "Ok. I'm not just saying this to make you happy or because I like you. I really think it's supposed to be August 8" "Nooooooo! No way, I am too biased, are you sure?" Well, we prayed about it and felt pretty good, but to me it still felt too good to be true, given that I fly out of this place on August 10th normally. But during the lesson I felt with such strength that we needed to invite her to be baptized onAugust 8th and oh lalal you cannot even imagine the joy in my heart.
Paita continues to become dearer and dearer to me. These people that I thought I already loved are becoming such true friends. I feel so at ease with them and want to do everything I can to bless their lives. It is such a blessing to be here.
I forgot to mention last week...I will be FINISHING MY MISSION IN PAITA!!! Hahahahahah it is unreal. I started my mission in this secteur, and now I'll be ending it here. That will make one year total in this place. But it is such a privilege to get to know these amis and members on a such a deep level and over sucha long period of time.
Time to go. Love you all! Have a delightful week. 
Tell someone you love them. Smile til your cheeks hurt. Be excited when you see someone.
Much love!
Soeur Evans
Everyday sunset with New Caledonian Pines


Typical little house

A little Jurassic Park Action in New Caledonia-- yes it's a grasshopper

Souer Giles and Soeur Evans at abandoned ship

Soeur Giles and Soeur Evans on the abandoned ship

Sister Missionaries at the Beach-- winter style

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