FELIZ NAVIDAD

Dear all,

I hope that in these next few days you can all take a little more time to think about others, a little more time to be with your family, and a little more time to learn more about and share with somebody the life of Christ.

In the mission I have come to learn so much more about my Brother and Savior Jesus Christ! His love is unconditional. He knows exactly what we need, and when we need it. He is more patient than we could ever hope for. He served everyone, without regard to status, race, health, or age. He is the noblest of all the nobles, the kindest of all the kind, the greatest of all the greats, and the most humble of all the humbles.

The best Christmas gift that I could ever receive is to be able to give to know to other people the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ and the blessings thereof.

I hope that this Christmas, you can all learn a little bit more about the Atonement, make your relationship with Heavenly Father a little stronger, and be a little bit better. Forgive others, forgive yourself, accept the gift of our Savior and His Atonement.

We are still planning Margarita's baptism for December 30th! There is nothing that makes a missionary happier than seeing an investigator start to change their lives and accept Christ as their Savior. There is nothing that makes me happier than knowing that other people are finding true and lasting happiness through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He is the Light, the Life, and the Way.

Merry Christmas!
Hermana Cheever

ps we had a zone conference the other day and our mission president showed us the music video "Glorious" by David Archuleta from Meet the Mormons. It was almost the best Christmas present ever. I also got to play the violin with the sisters in our zone singing "Noche de luz", commonly known in English as "Silent Night". It felt good to play. Develop your talents and share them with other people.

pps we also got a picture with Santa Claus, but lamentably I will not be able to send it this week.

Valle del Sol

Dear all, 

This week quite possibly has been the best week of my mission so far. So yes, my companion and I both were transferred out of our area. We left the house sparkly clean and ready for the next sisters (or elders) that were to come. Our bishop was nice enough to take us to the transfer meeting in Puebla (the city. Puebla City is the capital of Puebla State). There, it was announced that the areas Atexcac and its neighbor, Ixtacíhuatl, would be combined. I was a little sad to hear that, but it’s really for the best because Atexcac is SUPER small.

My new companion is Hermana Villa, from Hermosillo, Sonora (it's right underneath Arizona). I am happy to be with her, we met in my first area, Atlixco, and after that we were in the same zone in Nealtican. And now we are companions in the ward Valle del Sol in the Valsequillo stake in the city of Puebla! My area is just about 100 times the size of Atexcac, and there is SO much work to be done here!

For those of you who hadn't already figured it out, Valle del Sol means Valley of the Sun. And boy, is it bright here! To start off, we had super great results in not even one week of work. I just want to tell you about Adrian and his mom, Margarita. They are golden investigators! They were a reference from the North mission, (that's another thing. Basically across the street from our house begins the Puebla North mission. Sometimes we end up out of mission boundaries when we take the bus...) but have accepted the change very well. They are so easy to teach because they understand everything we tell them. They are both reading the Book of Mormon and this Sunday was their third church attendance! They came to the dedication of our new church building last night and were both really impressed. Adrian tells us that he has found that he is happier than he ever has been, but he can't find out why. Sometimes he just has an urge to read the Book of Mormon, and he feels really great in the church and with all the teachings. His mom feels the same.

Last night after the dedication, we had a little chat and invited Margarita to be baptized. She accepted, without a doubt. She was baptized four years ago with the Christian Church, but she would like to be baptized again with us. Before we could even challenge her to a date, she said that she would like to be baptized on a day very special for her, her birthday. I was a little disappointed because who knows when her birthday is, but then she said "December 30th!" So we have a baptismal date for December 30th. Adrian is a little bit harder. He's stubborn and a little egoistic; he's having a hard time with the commitment. But he told us that he knows that it's imminent, but he doesn't want to put a date. When he's ready he'll let us know. I am hoping it's sometime soon. Observing them while teaching, I know that they know that it's true and that they feel the Spirit.

I am so grateful for these two wonderful people! Another interesting thing is that last night after the lesson, they went with us to drop us off at our house because it was late. We grabbed a bus, and after a few minutes, we realized it was the wrong bus! Margarita talked the bus driver into changing his route, and off we went towards home! The driver was a little angry, but even though it wasn't his normal route, he had a ton of passengers! Now you see? Help the missionaries, the Lord will bless you. One of the passengers was a clown. Yes, a clown. I have a chronic fear of clowns and tried to ignore him, but since I am white he singled me out of the crowd and I had to answer some questions in front of the busload of people. It wasn't too traumatic, but I'll let you all know what the psychologist diagnoses me with.

So that was fun.

There are so many other grand and fantastic things that I want to tell you all about, but I will save some other people's stories for next week.

Share the Gift with everyone this Christmas by helping them know the Restored Gospel! The greatest of all the gifts of God is eternal life, which can only be obtained by sacred priesthood ordinances in the holy temple and by our strict obedience to God and His commandments. It's not easy, but it's worth it.

If I don't get a chance to tell you next week, ¡Feliz Navidad!

Hermana Cheever

This is a girl in Atexcac that we were teaching.
She sells apples covered in a candy tamarindo.
She taught us how to make them.
She's wonderful,
I will miss teaching her and I hope that she progresses
with the other sister missionaries who will be working there.
Her name is Esperanza.

This is la familia Lozano.
They are all less active and
we worked really hard with them in Atexcac.
One Sunday they all came to church and
my companion told me it was the first time
in over a year that they had attended.
Some people just need love. Do your part.
The blurry girl behind me is Maleny,
our investigator with a baptismal date. 

DECEMBER!

Dear all,

Happy December! Time has been flying by so incredibly fast, there's hardly time for anything! Last week I passed the 8 month mark on my mission, which means in just one more month I will have hit the halfway point. That is so crazy. I don't ever want this mission to end!

There have been a lot of hard things, a lot of challenges and trials in the mission, but the few really good things that happen balance it all out. Take this story for example:

Yesterday we had the first lesson with a new investigator. Her name is Maleny. Her boyfriend is a member and she is living with him and his family (note: do not try this at home, live the law of chastity). She has come to church the past two Sundays, and we started the lesson by asking her if there are any doubts or questions that she has. She asked us a few things about what happens after this life (author's note: yes we really can become like Heavenly Father and enjoy the glory that He enjoys if we obey in this life). We helped her clear up a few doubts and then taught about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. The Spirit was so strong and I could just feel that this girl (she's only 16 years old) really needs more of God and the Gospel in her life! It was a great lesson. so great that she even accepted a baptismal date! If all goes well, she will be baptized January 7th, Yes that is a Wednesday, but it's the date that came to my mind and I would like to think that it's inspired. This was somewhat of a miracle for my companion and me, seeing as how in the area in which we are serving it is really hard to find investigators, almost impossible that they come to church, and just amazing that she has agreed on a date to be baptized.

The downer is that tomorrow are transfers, Both my companion and I will be leaving the area to be serving somewhere else, so we won't be able to see Maleny progress and be baptized. To some it is given to sow, others to reap.

I hope that all of you are busy sowing seeds of the gospel in all aspects of your life. The best way to do that is by your example. We as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints are a covenant people. We are different. We have the light, we have the truth, LIVE LIKE IT! Reach your potential. Live worthy of the blessings of the temple. Show others what it means to be a part of the Restored Gospel and when your non-member friends want to know why you're different than others, invite them to meet the missionaries.

Plant your seeds and then read Alma 32:41. With patience, faith, diligence, and hope that seed will grow into a tree that will bring forth fruit for Eternal Life, the greatest of all the gifts of God.

Hermana Cheever

This is one of the first members in Atexcac. Look, he's still going strong, studying Doctrine and Covenants!

Fotos and more fotos - just in case you were worried Rachael has changed