Edified and Uplifted

Bonjouuuuuur!!

Well we spent all week in Noumea and only got back to our secteur on Friday afternoon. It is good to be back.

I had THE most WONDEFUL day on Thursday. We started the morning with Zone Conference. Enfin! I learned so much and felt the spirit so strongly. It was such a blessing to get to hear from President Brewer and feel the spirit that absolutely radiates from him and his wife.
After our conference, since me and Sr Gunn were sectuerless we got to sit and talk with Sister Brewer for a couple hours as we waited for our ride. What a treat! We got to really get to know her and it is such a privilege because normally we get very limited interaction both our Mission President and his wife due to them living in another country and only coming every 6 to 8 weeks. And then, my favorite part of the day. I was able to receive a priesthood blessing from President  Brewer, with our stake president, President Guidi, standing in as well. They are the two men in the surrounding 3 countries who hold the highest  priesthood  power and keys. It was an incredible privilege. As they laid their hands upon my head and gave me a blessing by the power and authority to God, I was filled with the Spirit. I know these men are the Lords representatives. I feel a renewed energy and peace and duty.

We are happy to be back in our secteur!

Tidbit, it's been a while since I gave a tidbit. Yesterday our best friend member fed us. Total local meal, she didn't buy anything. It was some steamed bananas and water taro from her garden along with a parrotfish- all cooked in one pot with some fresh scraped coconut. The fish was literally just a fish. Head, eyes, scales, gills, even its parrot beak still attached. And I ate it all. Our member loves the heads especially, and ate the lips, gills and brains and eyes right there. hahaha so wild. Not to that point yet.

We are getting taken to the beach today! Gonna see how to fish with a spear and other casual awesome things. Can't wait!

looove you all
soeur evans

I Know Enough

This letter starts with the answer to my question about telling us a little more about her everyday life in Bourail.

We live in Bourail village in an apartment that is super nice, full of sunshine and a constant breeze. We keep the windows open constantly because we're on the second floor and we can always hear birdsong and the sound of the babies of our neighbors playing downstairs. This week being in Noumea for meetings has been an adjustment. I was sitting trying to do studies yesterday in the other sisters' apartment and couldn't focus. Then I realized it was because I couldn't feel the breeze or hear the birds. I went and sat on the balcony and immediately felt more peaceful and able to focus. Crazy the little things about me that are changing too. I need to feel like I'm outside pretty much constantly now or I feel uncomfortable.

We walk everywhere, obviously, which means were out by about 10 or 1030 each morning and back by nightfall at 7 at night with just a one hour lunch break. Most of our walks are a minimum of 30 minutes but sometimes it gets up to an hour and half one way. Hitchhiking is a thing here so pretty often people pull over and offer us rides. If they are nice looking women alone in the car we accept and always have a great moment to contact them and to also speed up our routine a little :)

We shop at a little discount store in town about a 10 minute walk away. The town center, aka, the main street, is only a 5 minute walk from our house. Other than that if we need something else we go to the little store across the street from us and they have all the basics food wise. We're good friends with the girls who work there.It's fun to just go buy a baguette every now and then

This week with the  mission president I will talk about looooads. It's been 3 or probably more months since I got to talk to him, so I am beyooooond excited and ready to talk with him: I love and respect him so much. I'll ask about school and mostly give a report on the work in Bourail. They just opened up another secteur up north because we have been having so much success up here. It is really exciting and rewarding to know that our work is making a HUGE difference on the work and the progress in the whole north. So so happy. We will talk about things that need to get corrected or tweaked up north, as things are still getting started up north in all aspects. 

We have the one active member here who I LOVE.. She is so giving and humble and sweet and hilarious and real. She's the straight up islander from the tribe near Bourail and she is hilarious. She just eats the shrimp heads and hands and everything during dinners together and is just completely herself and I love it. Not enough room to describe her but one day. Sometimes on pday we get to go to the beach with her which is the bessssst. Her kids went camping on the beach the other day and speared some fish with homemade spears and then smoked river eels on the beach as we ate the river shrimp they had caught that day for dinner. I'm not kidding when I say SO STINKING LEGIT aaaaaah obessed :)))

Hope that gives you a little picture of my life..

Here is the rest of her email…….

sorry vite fait! quick email

We are in Noumea this week, yes allllll week. We have ZONE CONFERENCE this week!! I am so very very excited to see President and Sister Brewer! It has been much too long. We have to stay down in Noumea all week as a result of all of the meetings and interviews and such that will take place. While I am very excited for the spiritual edification of this week, I already yearn for the people of  Bourail and doing the everyday missionary work up in our very own secteur. It's just not the same when you're tagging along in other soeurs secteurs.

We had an interesting experience this week, one of my most passionate moments on my mission thus far. We were in the middle of a lesson with our recent convert and he was getting a little fired up about some questions. Some questions we were able to answer, but others we just didn't know. For the latter, we simply said we don't know. He questioned how we could come all the way around the world if we don't know all the answers. And my heart was pumping like crazy and the Spirit almost bursting me as I testified that I DONT knows everything. There is a lot I don't know; But I KNOW that this church is true. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior. I know the Book of Mormon is true. I may not know everything, but what I DO know is enough. More than enough.

Well unfortunately that's all I've got time for. I love you all!!! Read the scriptures. Pray with sincerity. Thank your Heavenly Father for all He gives you.

Love you endlessly

Soeur Evans

photos-- working on my tan, untouched sunset

The Lord's Bountiful Hand

Bonjouuuuuuur mes cheries!

Well the Lord is so good to us. We had.......22 LESSONS THIS WEEK!!!!!! I am sure that to some that looks like nothing. But it is absolutely incredible to us. We started in Bourail with about 7 lessons a week and almost all of those were with our recent convert couple preparing them for baptism. When they were baptized we were still able to maintain 7 to 11 lessons a week. The longer we've been here the more we teach and this week just blew us away. We feel so very blessed. How rewarding it is to start a secteur. To arrive and have nothing. To know the President of the branch lives an hour away and there is a couple preparing for baptism, but apart from that it's been years since missionaries set foot here. And then to look back over the weeks of hard work and truly see the fruits of your labors. Lists of names of people we teach and of inactive members in the area that have been lost for years. How sweet it is to be an instrument in the Lords hand.

Unfortunately there is opposition in all things and despite inviting every one and their dog to church we ended up with only 6 people at church. Hahira and 2 of those were us, one was our branch president and one was his 9 year old son. We gave the talks and taught Sunday school. We will be giving the talks and teaching Sunday school next week as well. And the week after that. Hahahah on the brightside I only need a little post it note of scriptures and s few minutes to pray and ponder in order to prepare for talks now :)

Sr Gunn and I are staying in BOURAIL!!! No transferring for us :)

We love you! Hahaha oops I'm so used to saying we. I love you all!
Talk to someone about Christ. Guaranteed it will lighten their day. 
Soeur Evans

Mangos & Umbrellas-- Part of Summer

A peaceful moment in paradise

11 months on the Mission, 20 Years on this Earth

Skyping home on Christmas Day with Sr. Gunn

Dessert Table on Christmas Day- French

Christmas Feast with Area Missionaries

Happiness is Skyping with Family

Cooling off on a Summer Day- Dec 25, 2014

Missionary Christmas Day in Noumea

Happpy Happppy Days to you all!!
I missed so many big days with email not working last week. The place we do email was closed and we were so so very sad. But! Its open today sweeeet praises!

Quick recap so you know briefly my life over this holiday season. 

Last week we spent most of the week in Noumea. We had a big missionary Christmas devotional with our whole island (about 40 missionaries total). Twas grand to see everyone but it felt super weirdly normal. Hahahaha almost like a normalish social situation.

For Christmas Eve we had a grand meal with some members down in Noumea. Christmas Eve here is rung in with sea food so the table was arrayed in mussels and shrimp and loads of raw fish.

Christmas day we got to spend with the Guidis because proselyting is impossible on Christmas day here. It was sooooo wonderful to get to talk to my sweet family!! The rest of the day was full of fun activities with the Guidis and other missionaries. Hahahah when we showed up they told me and Sr Gunn to go sit on the couch and relax. Hahahahaha we just stared at each other in confusion and awkwardness because we literally don't remember how to relax. We are so used to constantly doing something. We lasted about 10 minutes on the couch and then had to stand up and find something else to do that the other 10 missionaries hadn't already done. It was a lovely day full of the Spirit.

We went back up to Bourail on Friday. As soon as we were back we felt a huge ease wash over us. It felt good to be back with these people we know and love doing the work we know and love. 3 days away from our secteur felt like a long time, regardless of the wonderful things that happened those 3 days.

Other details... live have been out 11 months! Eeepers that's crazy! 

Also I am 20.  Baaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!! Sr Gunn is the cutest and she spoiled me on my birthday :) But God really outdid Himself on my birthday. ALL OF OUR PLANS WORKED. That is unheard of. All of our amis were there for their lessons. The Spirit was unbelievable. We had a day FULL of missionary work and the Spirit filling our hearts. I couldn't ask for anything better.

This Sunday our recent convert passed the sacrament for the first time. Cane in one hand, sacrament tray in the other, he hobbled between all 10 of us and used the Lord Holy Priesthood for the first time. It was such a tender moment to watch him and to feel the Spirit of this moment.

We taught a lesson for the New Year for our little branch. Hshahaha church is basically us giving talks, us teaching Sunday school and then us doing a third hour of sorts. Hahaha it's unconventional. These poor sweet souls need some other people to hear from. But! I HIGHLY recommend reading the talk "The Best is yet to Come" by Jeffrey R Holland. It is life changing.

Fun fact. It was 115°F on New Year's Eve. We were out doing porte a porte and joking about how we felt like we were literally cooking ourselves and then found out we were. Yowza it is hot.

Looove you all. Sorry for the scatterdeness. Too much to tell!
Soeur Evans

Joyeux NOELLLLLLL

JOYEUX NOELLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!

Yikes I almost logged off without sending my big email. So caught up in thoughts of my cute family.

Well this week is a blessed week. The week we get to think of our Savior and all He does and is for us.  I am so grateful for a simple Christmas this year that gives me more of a chance to focus on the things that actually matter. The things of importance. To think about my Savior Jesus Christ. To think about my sweet family. To serve all of the diverse people who surround me. To invite random people on the street to think about Christ. To sing songs of the lord for the old lady who lives behind us. To remind others of the hope that comes from faith in Jesus Christ ( Moroni 7:40-42) . Oh it is truly a blessing!

Amid all of the Noel things we had a really sweet week too! Ok honestly it is Noel here now but it doesn't really feel like it so I have to work hard to remind myself it is. All of the classic "Christmas" things are stripped away- hot chocolate, decorations, being with the family, carolers, being cold, sweaters, Christmas parties or events. Noel on an island is something else. But as I said, all good.

Anyway among the delightful things of the week are:
We went to the tribe of one of our members. And did the tribal custom offering to the tribal chief to get accepted into the tribe. I handed the costume (manou, money, a book of Mormon and a brochure all wrapped together) to the man, about sweating to death of nerves and heat. I said the little ritual presentation of the costume. Then, all without smiling or telling, he takes it and walks back into his house. Then he walks out with a roll of fabric and money for us. He accepted!! And plus he gave a costume of thanks, which isn't always required. Yes yes yes! We shared a thought about Christ and the true meaning of Christmas. Then we drank sweet hot milk together. Then he gave us lychees from his tree. Then we left with him smiling and waving goodbye. We can do all things through Christ!

We also finally got to do service this week. Showed up to our recent converts house and asked what we could to. She tapped a tree in the middle and goes, "cut it there." hahahahahaha uhhhhhh. So we cut a tree down. Us two soeurs. With our machetes and arms. Proving to Bourail that were not pansies. Thank you father for raising me right. 

Loooove you all. HAPPIEST OF CHRISTMASES TO YOU!!! Please take a moment in all, the busyness of Christmas to have a quiet, sacred moment with the Savior. 

Talk to you soon family!
SoeurEvans

The Little Noel

Bonjouuuuur et joyeux fetes!

This week was much slower than the past. We're down to the very last people in Bourail who don't know us yet. Literally everyone knows us. And almost none of them are interested. Which means we basically walk around talking to people, greeting them by name and casually trying to ask if they're interested to learn more yet? Hahahahah basically in our heads, "bonjouuur estelle! ca va? You interested yet? How about now? Nope? Ok, we'll stop by next week. Maybe you know someone who would be interested? Can we do anything else to help you? Anything at all?"

Hahaha it sounds desperate but we're much more tactful in real life.

We have a few SUPERB people were teaching. They need it so bad. They need the Gospel of Jesus Christ so bad. They flood us with questions and we want to answer them all, cause we can, but we have to help them build the bade first. If you build a house without the foundation it will fall. So much as we want to we lay foundation and try to answer enough questions to help them recognize that the true, widespread answer is the Gospel. We wish so much we could just download the gospel into people. Probably doesn't make sense. But we meet these people with such deep aching needs and questions and it is SO clear that they need the gospel. They need the Lord. And we just want to press a button so THEY can realize that too and be healed and filled and fed all at once. But the Lord works little by little so we keep praying and studying and fasting and praying some more that these people will hold on long enough to see how happy and joyful their lives can and will be with the gospel and Christ at the center.

Me and Sr Gunn organized a Christmas activity for our ward yesterday. Oh my it was a heart melter. We acted out the nativity and sang as we went to fit with the story line. Almost everyone present played a part in the nativity, leaving our audience smaller than our actors, but it was so joyful! All of these precious people that I love so, dressed up as shepherds and wise men, singing and miming the story of Christ's birth. The cutest. Then we showed a short film of Christ. And we finished with everyone testifying of Christ. The Spirit was there. It was so simple and small; maybe 15 of us, but we all remembered the true meaning of Christmas. The greatest gift in our lives. The Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who came to this earth and LIVED for us and then died for us. He lived the example. He showed us the way and made the way possible. My gratitude for Him is infinite and unending. I love Him so. 

May you all feel the Saviors vast, encompassing love this week,
loooove,
Soeur Evans

This is the Lord's Work

Dearest family! Chere famille! And friends too of course,

Well the Lord just blew us away this week. Miracle after miracle.

Our elderly couple who just got baptized have changed drastically. They used to be a little on the grumpy side and quick to complain at times. Well since their baptism and confirmation they have been glowy, happy and sweeeeeet as can be. They are lit with the light and love of God and of their Savior. They have made many comments on the change they have felt in their home since they received the Holy Ghost. The testimony of the man this week at church was one the simplest most sincere testimonies I've ever heard. It made my heart tingle and my eyes burn with emotion. It is all so real. So true.

We also were walking back from trying to followup on someone we had met the other day. They weren't there, so we were walking back to town, because they live in a raaaandom side of town with no one around. Well we see a woman sitting on a bench so we go over and talk to her and before long she says that she was just in the middle of thinking about baptism. I'm sorry, what? BAPTISM? Well, we can most certainly be of service to you with regards to this subject. We proceeded to share a brief message with her and teach about the importance of baptism. She set up another appointment without hesitation.

THEN. This was my favorite one. We are about 45 minutes away from home or town or anything doing porte a porte. And all of the sudden out of NOWHERE it starts to downpour. Like DOWNPOUR. Within 10 seconds we were completely soaked. We're running along the side of the road holding our bags and splashing in 6 inch puddles and just dying laughing because it was so unreal and we were soooo far away from anything. And this woman pulls over and offers us a ride. Long story short, her mom took the lessons 20 years ago and she's now older and has started her family and is going through a rough time. She wants to get back to the fundamentals and asked if we could come by. She lives at the end of an inaccessible road by foot, so we never would have found her. 5 minutes after she dropped us off in town it stopped raining and the sky cleared up. God made the storm for her.

We got a call the other night from a mother asking for a blessing for her daughter in the hospital. We show up and it's a woman who has been inactive for 35 years and who isn't even in the directory. The elders drove down from Kone to give a blessing. We stopped by yesterday and her fever broke and she will be leaving the hospital today. We now know her and her family and they said we van visit them. Miracle. Lost sheep are not lost to the Lord.

So many more. So many more. God is just raining them upon us.

Cute Soeur Gunn's Mom sent us a make your own Christmas tree kit, SHOUT OUT THANNNNK YOU!  So we have a Christmas tree made out of lights on our wall covered in pictures of our families. We are getting in the noel spirit.

looove you so!
Soeur Evans

Notice the miracles in your lives this week!
If you don't see any, focus extra hard in having faith worthy of miracles