Week #41 Faith goes with Trust!

Hi everyone! I hope you are all doing well! Well, that was another week on the mission. I really feel like I was just writing you guys but hey, I like it :)

Anyway, this week was interesting. Not a ton of success with numbers but we had a lot of tender mercies this week. First, I started running into Utah Mormons. Not just regular Mormons. Utah Mormons. This lady stops me one night and says, "Hi Elders! How are you doing?" I was kind of in shock so I did not say anything right away but we started talking and they were way cool. I forgot their last names but they were still way cool! Outside of being Ute fans, I mean ;) nah, it is all cool. They were nice to send a picture of me to my Mom. I almost forgot my Mom's cell phone number but it came back to me. I never thought that would happen out in Germany but it did. 

Picture texted back home

We had an exchange with the Zone leaders this week. I was with Elder Peterson in Stuttgart. Elder Peterson is a way good missionary. Humble, hard-working, and fun. I have been able to work a lot with him the last few months and it has been a cool experience. We did a lot of finding on our tausch. We found 7 people! That was fun and satisfying. We also ran into another pair of Utah Mormons on a business trip. They saw so many churches out and they wanted to know where their missionaries were. Then they found us! Still kind of weird to talk to normal people from Utah. I mean there are missionaries from Utah but it is still a bit different. 

I also saw my MTC teacher on the street last Friday. Bruder Robertson! He helped me a lot in the MTC and it was weird to look back and see how much has changed since then. 

Bruder Robertson and myself

Anyway, I promise I did not only talk to Americans and English speakers. We did a lot of work on the street this week. A lot of teaching appointments fell through sadly. One fall-through was really awkward. We were waiting for a guy named Karl. We saw him come nearby, talk to a friend, talk to someone on the phone,and then walk away to go catch a U-Bahn. And this was when the appointment was supposed to be. He told us later that he thought he was talking to us when he picked up the phone... Not sure if I believe that but whatever. We will try again and again if necessary. Whatever needed to help God's children :)

We did have an Ausstellung on Saturday which is always fun. Sadly, another church had their Ausstellung set up as well so people on the street were sick of religion. They also did a lot of street preaching which is hard to compete with. The people at the other stand loved to bash us. Near the end of the day, three of them approached me alone and wanted to bash. Not the best experience for sure. I have learned one lesson about bashes.. It is best to not let a grudge build up because of a bash. Sure, people will argue all they want but when we hold negative feelings against them after the fact, that can only hurt us, not them. Anyway, if you get in a bash, be kind and polite but also be firm on what you believe. I could have done better with that

For a spiritual thought, I wanted to share what I learned from Enos. Enos prayed all night long with the faith that God would answer. God answered and Enos trusted His promises. He was not unsure but certain that God would fulfill His promises as He said. When God said that these blessings would come, Enos believed Him. Let's be more like Enos when we hear a promise from our living prophet or read a promise from the Book of Mormon. Wr can show faith by acting on the promise and trust God that He will do His part. 

Today for P Day we are going to a Spring festival. It is one of the biggest in Europe and it is in our area! I really do like the culture here when I think about it. And the fashion. European white shirts are the best:) Anyway, got to go but have a nice week everyone! Love you! 

Elder Evans 

Following 3 pictures are from the Spring festival

Following 2 are from Zone Conference a little while back

A fun picture of President Brown in front of the apartment he lived in during 1984 in Stuttgart while he was on his mission.  President Brown knows what it's like to be a missionary in Germany and he loves it!