The Next Episode

Querido Padres y Amigos,

            So I got transferred! I'm now in some place called Maracò. It's like a section of city called General Pico (heneraal Peeko). It's 2 hours north of where I was before, so it's in the same province, La Pampa. I'm still in the same zone, just a different district. So I go to Santa Rosa every couple weeks for conferences and stuff. So really nothing changed, just the scenery a bit. It's going to be a rough couple of next weeks because they are going to be putting 2 more elders in the house that I'm living in right now. That means 6 dudes trying to shower and get ready in a one hour period with only one bathroom. I'm scared. We are going to start searching for another place for my companion and I to live.

            Oh yah, funny thing. My Companion is Elder McCord from SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA! What the heck are two Northern California boys doing in some backwoods city in Argentina? He seems alright. He likes to talk about how great he is and how terrfiying he is when he needs to discipline people (even though he is the least terrifying person I know). He was in a heavy metal band before the mission and needless to say, he is a bit interesting. So we'll see. 

           I'm still with the Mexican, Elder Landerose from my last house. So I have a friend and that's nice. There is another Elder in the house that may be possesed by some sort of ghost or phantom or banshee. Last night he was just laying on the floor running his hand up and down his chest starring at the ceiling. He also likes to walk up to me and say "Elder Evans", do an evil chuckle and then touch my arm or hug me. He has already touched me 9 times this morning. That's 9 times too many. He's got demons in him. Also, this house may be haunted too. Elder Landerose and I kept hearing weird noises in the middle of the night. I'll let you know if we end up doing an exorcism or something. I'm probably going to call a priest or something, this kind of thing is out of my jurisdiction. At least I'm probably going to sprinkle some holy water on that possessed Elder, that should do it.

         I'm kind of sad to leave Santa Rosa, I can't say I loved the place, but I loved my ward. They were all mad that I was leaving because usually we have at least 3 transfers in one place before we leave. Flor, the girl in the picture, was especially mad. Ana and Alexis were also super sad too. Ana looked like she was going to cry a little bit, so that was sad. They are getting officially married this week and then baptized the following. I'm a little bummed that I will miss that.

That's all I got!

Elder Evans       

  This is the best picture I have ever taken.     

Ana, Alexis, Shayla and Isaiah (picking his nose, classic)

Me and Flor (she is super awsome)

Me and Julio Santa Cruz (the best member ever)

The Breakdown

Dear Padres y Familia,

        Everything is back to normal again. Nothing happened really crazy or terrible this week soooo that's nice. And honestly, I don't really remember what happened. It was just kind of a big blur. One of my journal entrees from the last week actually says, "I think something happened today, but what it was I have no idea. I can't remember anything anymore." This is what my life has become. A blur of spanish, dogs, and argentines. 

        At least my spanish is getting better, it was a little stagnant for a while, but now it's improving tons every week. I'm getting to the point where I don't feel like a fool everytime I open my mouth, which is a lovely feeling. I think I now have the spanish ability of about a 7 year old and that's good enough for me. The sad thing is that as my spanish improves and I speak it more, my english is starting to suffer. The other day we met a member who is really good at english and I just had an awful time trying to talk to him. It took a good 3 or 4 minutes before I could speak without thinking about it again. It was so weird. 

       It's transfers time again this week. I think I'm probably going to stay here again, but I have the weird feeling like I am going to be transfered... I dont know. I'm going to buy a couple souvenirs just in case, though. 

       This week I had divisions twice. The first was with Elder Perkins from Utah and that was interesting. I swear, for every normal missionary there is in this mission, there are at least 2 others that are really weird. Don't get me wrong, Elder Perkins is super nice and I have no problem with him. I feel bad because he tries so hard but he hates germs, other people, to have his clothes wrinkled, and so much more. He only has 6 more weeks than I do here, but the people can not understand him at all. I actually had to translate for him because he has retainers in his mouth and his words slur really bad. So sad. Then, this Saturday morning we got a call from the Presidente that we needed to do emergency divisions with Elder Perkins and his compañero that morning because Elder Perkins had a crazy breakdown and started yelling at Elder Astete in english (his companion, who doesnt speak english) and crying. So I went to a little tiny town called General Acha (coincidently where Mr. Mason served for a litttle). It was ok because I needed a little change of scenery and I love Elder Astete. I now know that there is beauty in Argentina, just not in Santa Rosa.

           And thats pretty much all that happened,

           

            Love Elder Evans

Noah's Flood Part 2

¡Hola Familia y Amigos!

        Oh it's been a little bit of a crazy week. It started out good. I bought a camera (it works), we found a bunch of good investigadors, had some good lessons and all that jazz. Then, for whatever reason, the theoretical poop hit the missionary fan. Thursday morning it started to rain... not kind of rain, but RAIN with a capital wet. It was like Forrest Gump when he is in Vietnam but I was in a tie. The streets weren't streets anymore. They were rivers of 6-12 inches of water flowing. I saw dogs not being able to cross the roads because they would get swept away, if they did. I was actually having a grand time playing in it, you know, one of those "this is so horrible that its laughable" situations. However, that changed a litttle bit when its stopped raining and just got really cold and really windy. I was so very cold and wet. Then we got a call from our zone leaders that we had to walk to the bus terminal 30 minutes away and pick up another Elder who would arrive at 10:30. Of course he didnt get there until 12. Then our washing machine broke, so we have to wash our clothes like pioneers. Then the next day, we found out that Elsa (the cancer and pamphlet lady) got sick after going to church and she thinks its a sign from God that our church isn't true. So that kind of stinks!

             Ana and Alexis are still coming to church every week, though we are struggling to get anybody else there. Its ok though, they are great. I am happy, don't worry, some dumb week isn't going to get this pelirrojo (Red head) down!

Answers:

-I don't really know about recipes, just stuff! good chicken and things like that. I don't know... sorry

- No, no bug experiences yet, Argentina is dirty, don't get me wrong.

Love 

Elder Evans!

I Testify of Christ... and for Alexis

Dear Family and Friends,

        So I got asked to testify in court this week. So I can check that off my bucket list. One of our investigators, Alexis (the one in the couple that is going to get married) had served jail time a month or so ago because he has a crazy sister that is a pathological lier or something that likes to pin crimes on him (sad, I know). So he got accused of committing another crime this week (I don't know what it is) that was supposedly committed the same time as when we were teaching him one day. They came to us  and asked us if we would testify for him if it went to court. We said that we would love to but we had to check with Presidente to see if it was all good. However, Presidente said we probably shouldn't because we are americans and they don't like us here and he didn't want to cause an international incident or something. Luckily, now it looks like Alexis won't have to go to court, so they will not need my awesome testifying skills. I'm not going to lie, though, I really wanted to testify in Argentine court. I was going to cry and everything on the witness stand. Maybe rant about political oppression or racism or something to inspire the judge into throwing out the case.... its probably best I don't testify for anybody... 

        Alexis and his future wife Ana are probably the cutest family in the whole world. They have two kids. Isaih (that one prophet in the bible that I dont know how to spell) who is 4 years old and their baby Shayla who is 3 months old. Isaih is crazy, he has more energy than I thought was possible to contain in such a little package and Shayla is the calmest baby in the whole world. I think I have only really heard her cry once in the billions of times I have met with them. Alexis is super funny because he is like a little kid when he gets excited about something. I taught him how to tie a tie on Saturday for church and he was so excited to wear it. It was awesome. Ana is great too. She loves to watch movies about the church and they both love to talk about all things they've learned. 

I don't really have a ton to write about this week, sorry. I'm sure there will be stories next week.

 Answers

- The lady with throat cancer is great, she's probably going to be baptized at the end of this month

- My healthiness depends on the week and if I need cookies or not.

- The happy birthday guy has to work a lot, so we're trying to get a time to meet with him still.

- Sam, you are going to be better than me at soccer when I get back. They don't let us play soccer because missionaries aren't allowed to have fun... just kidding.  It's  probably just so I dont get hurt or something.

Love 

Elder Evans