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Dear all,

So. I have a new companion (not so new anymore that it is the fourth week of the transfer). Her name is Sister Hernandez, and she is from Saltillo, Coahuila. And yes it took me 6 days to be able to say Saltillo Coahuila. But I can say arrpentimiento ten times fast. Sorry, that was a lie. Sister Hernandez doesn't speak English, but I get to help her learn! So we'll see what damage I can do with that; in spite of being a missionary the teaching skillz todavía me falta. Did I ever tell you guys that one time I tried to hold a weekly English class in the church? That was fun.

Speaking of fun, today I did something awesome! Awesome enough to go down in the Cheever Book of Fame (mom don't read this part). So my companion and I got ready to leave para hacer some compras. Go shopping. I walked out of the house behind her, shut the door, and promptly remembered that I had conveniently left the keys inside. We frantically searched for an open window. Annnd yes! There was one. But I had to climb up on the roof/eave/algo/something to reach it. But it was easy and safe and not even very far off the ground. I was examining the opening of the window, and decided that thanks to the abundance of tortillas in Mexico I wouldn't be able to fit. My companion is smaller, and we both ended up trying to get ourselves inside the window. But because of the configuration of the window, Sister Hernandez's short legs couldn't breach the bottom part of the window (I know this is complicated and you probably can't even picture this in your mind so it doesn't make sense and I didn't take pictures, disculpame. But hang in there). So I decided (this is when the Cheever part of my genes kicked in, I just know it) that I could do it. I squeezed myself in through the window and dropped down into the stairs of our house, almost without injury. I minorly bruised my hand on the window sill. It was awesome.

Okay mother, you may resume reading :) So yes, my first adventure.

On another note, we found a new investigator this week named Diego! He is thirteen years old and ready to be baptized! Almost. He had been attending another ward with a friend, and he is really interested in the gospel. So we started teaching him and hopefully he will be able to make his first covenant with God in two or three weeks! When we asked him what he wanted us to teach him, what he was interested in, he told us "the gospel!" And we asked what he liked about going to church with his friend, and he told us "the scriptures!" We have a lesson with him later tonight, I'm excited to teach him because he learns really well and quickly!

And to close, I would just like to remind all of you that God loves you and He wants you to be happy. When you're feeling blue, just remember that you didn't lock your keys in your house. Unless you did. But even then, remember that God loves you.

Romans 8:35-39
Mucho amor,
Hermana Cheever :)

This is chile en nogada. Es delicioso. Google it, I can't even remember what all was inside. Like the whole world. 

New Shoes :)

Sister Hernandez, from Saltillo, Coahuila

Here we go again!

Dear all,

So this is going to be short because I have not a lot of time to write this week! But I love you all, and thank you so much for the letters you have all sent me this week! And thank you for your prayers! They are felt, that I can promise you. I don't have time to write back to everyone this week, but know that I love you and appreciate you taking the time to write me!

Something I learned this week: I am not humble. I am going to work on that. I encourage all of you to obtain a copy of Preach My Gospel, read chapter 6, and choose one attribute to work on that will help you to become more like Jesus Christ. Something I learned about humility, it is recognizing your dependence on God, but also learning to recognize your dependence on others. God has placed all the people with whom we associate in our life for a reason, and we need to learn from all of them.

Look for missionary opportunities. Well, do more than look. FIND THEM! I promise you they are there.

Hermana Cheever :)

ATLIXCO!

Dear family and friends,

I will be staying in Atlixco for at least another 6 weeks! But Hermana Campos is being transferred. I am a little nervous to be getting a new companion (I will find out who tomorrow at los cambios), I feel like I just barely figured out how to work well with Hermana Campos! But it's all good, I know that the Lord sends us the people we need when we need them.

I am so grateful to be a missionary! Everyday, well everyday that I darme cuenta, or take notice, I am amazed at how much the Lord answers prayers and how merciful his tender mercies really are. I want to share my experience with the ayuno, fasting, this week. On Saturday I started my fast, and I was praying that the Lord would help Antonia to keep having spiritual experiences, so that she could have a lasting conversion. My thoughts turned to her son, Ricardo, and his wife Lulu, who were inactive but have been reactivating themselves whilst (yes I used that word) we were teaching Antonia. So I was praying and fasting for all the less active members of our ward. On Sunday after church, I was thinking about my fast, and the less active members, and I realized that we had 7 members at church that day that don't usually come. That number is on the higher side of success. This is only one example of the many ways that the Lord has showed me His hand while I am here serving Him.

Well, that's about it for this week! I am excited to keep working here en el barrio Independencia, a ver que pasa :)

Siempre fiel,
Hermana Cheever

fotos!

Our district!

A lady in our ward that is like our grandma

Last Week of transfers!

Hello!

Well this week is week 6 of our tranfer cycle, and who knows if I will be here in Barrio Independencia or even Atlixco next week!

So I would like to take the opportunity to share with you all some things that I have learned from the members, less-actives, investigators, missionaries, and people in general here in the first four months of my mission! (Yes, I have been gone four months. If you were wondering why you missed me, that's why).

• God loves us. All the time. This is something that I have a hard time remembering, and I keep learning it. I feel like when an appointment falls through or when a week, two weeks, or months pass without a baptism God is upset with me and disappointed. Not true. He loves us all the time. Even when we're disobedient, prideful, arrogant, and hard-headed. 
• The Lord lets us make our own decisions, sometimes. It is not meet that we should be commanded in all things. 
• When you expect the best from other people...it's not guaranteed (I have never known how to spell this word and nothing looks right). But at least you have high expectations for other people. 
• Some people don't like the USA. 
• Sometimes when Mexicans sound like they're mad, they're just telling you that they love you. 
• Mangoes are a real fruit and quite delicious. 
• God gives us lots of chances to mess up. 
• In the midst of a lot of trials, there are even more blessings. Every time that I have a hard moment, I think of Antonia, the lady who was baptized last week, and what a great and lasting change she has made in her life. And it shows. She looks so much happier all the time now, and she is so much more confident. In life, the total is always so much more than the sum of parts. If you don't understand that, ask a statistics or psychology teacher. Or better yet, Heavenly Father. 
• And lots of other things. 

I hope all is well with all the eyes that come into contact with this letter. And the bodies that are attached to them.

Peace, love, and happiness from Atlixco.

this is in front of a church on the top of Cerro de San Miguel (cerro means hill) that we climbed today.

And some more fotos:

Looking for investigators

 

¡INTERCAMBIOS, BAUTISMO, Y MÁS!

Querido familia y amigos,

El Sábado Antonia se bautizó! Y su nieto Kevin. Ellos son muy muy buenos, y estoy muy agradecida por poder haber sido un parte de su conversión. Él Señor nos ama mucho, el poder de la Expiación es real, y hay personas que están esperando para escuchar el evangelio.

On Saturday Antonia was baptized! And her grandson Kevin. They are so great! And I am very grateful to be able to have been a part of their conversion. The Lord loves us so very much, the power of the Atonement is real, and there are people waiting to hear the good news of the gospel.

El viernes tuvimos intercambios con las hermanas capacitadoras. Y aprendí algo muy importante que tiene que ver con la oración. Para poder experimentar la conversión real y participar completamente de la Expiación, debemos de arrodillarnos cada noche y, en voz alta, pedir perdón de nuestros pecados. Además, tenemos el derecho también a pedir por un testimonio del Espíritu Santo de que hemos sido perdonados, y por un sentimiento de pureza. Les desafío a todos a hacer esto, puede cambiar su vida. Y no solo una vez, pero cada día. Esto es lo que es la Expiación. Perdón, amor, y pureza. Y gracias a nuestro Redentor, por eso, podemos tener la vida eterna, a vivir con Dios y con nuestras familias para siempre!

On Friday, we had companion exchanges with the sister training leaders, and I learned something very important from Hermana Lara that has to do with prayer, In order to experience real conversion and partake completely of the Atonement, we should kneel and ask for forgiveness, vocally. from our sins. More than that, we have the right to ask for a witness from the Holy Ghost that we have been forgiven, and for a feeling of purity. I challenge all of you to do this, it can change your life. And not just one time, but every day. This is what the Atonement is. Forgiveness, love, and purity. And thanks to our Redeemer, because of this, we can have eternal life. We can live with God and our families forever.

I hope you are all serving God with all your heart, might, mind and strength.

Keep pressing forward and never give up!

Hermana Cheever

fotos!

Me cleaning the font antes del bautismo! 

The newest members of Barrio Independencia in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints! 

Another Email

Dear all,

So the work is still going pretty great. We did not have a baptism last Saturday, but we will this Saturday! Antonia has been progressing so well, and she is so wonderful!

We are in a bit of a dry season, investigator-wise....we haven't had very many new ones and the old ones just won't come to church! We have tried a lot of things: teaching the importance of church attendance, how to keep the Sabbath Day Holy, leaving early Sunday morning to go look for them, having members stop by to take them to church. And, nothing. But on Saturday we had a lesson with a new investigator, a 19-year old named Carla. We taught about Joseph Smith and invited her to baptism. She told us if she got the answer within the next month that it was the thing to do, she would be baptized! We then proceeded to invite her to come to church with us the next day and she readily accepted! Well to accept the invitation is easy, but many investigators have told us that they will come to church and....nothing. Nevertheless, my companion and I left early Sunday morning to accompany Carla to church. And we knocked on the door, and waited, and waited....and waited! And then she answered! And she was ready to go! And she came with us to church! Just like that.

Entonces, a veces la vida es difícil. A veces la vida es fácil. A veces experimentamos desesperaciones, a veces experimentamos felicidades. Pero, todo es un don de Dios. Él sabe lo que podemos hacer, lo que podemos aguantar, y nunca nos probará más allá de lo que podemos sostener. Siempre nos da experiencias por nuestro beneficio y nunca estamos solos. Él siempre camina con nosotros, está allí en las tinieblas y en la luz, en la lucha y en el descanso. Siempre. Nunca nos va a dejar.

I want you all to remember that even though we experience difficulties, the Lord is still there and He still loves us. When we keep the commandments and live the gospel He will bless us. This does not mean we are free from trial. The Lord lets us be tried for our own growth and benefit. He knows that without opposition we cannot progress.

D&C 95:1  Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you whom I love, and whom I love I also chasten that their sins may be forgiven, for with the chastisement I prepare a way for their deliverance in all things out of temptation, and I have loved you—

Ánimo, therefore, and on to the victory! Remember that there is still life to live, still fights to be won, and still lives to be saved! Participate in la obra de salvación.

Mucho amor,
Hermana Cheever

and this is one of the reasons that I love Atlixco.

This. Is. Popocatéptl. 

But you can call him Popo. 

And yes, he is a volcano.

Weekly email!

Hola!

This week I just have one experience that I want to relate. There's an inactive young woman in our ward named Melina. We have been visiting her for the entire time that I have been here. Almost every week she promises us that she will come to church, but every week something comes up. Well, about a month ago we started leaving for church early in order to stop by and accompany her to church. And she never came with us.

UNTIL YESTERDAY! Melina came to church :) after about 3 years of inactivity. She is the sweetest soul ever, and just about my best friend here!

My advice to you is to never give up! Sometimes things require diligence. Lies. All the time things require diligence.

One other thing. Hopefully we will be able to baptize Antonia this week. She is amazing, I love her so much. The only things that would impede her from making a covenant with God this weekend is café. That, and she feels like she hasn't been putting forth enough effort in her prayers and scripture study. Which I know isn't true. She has had amazing experiences with the Book of Mormon. But if she isn't ready this week, another week. It's all in the Lord's timing, and I am so grateful to be able to be a part of His work because it brings me the greatest joy I have ever felt.

I hope you are all praying for, finding, and participating in many missionary activities!

Let us all press on!

Hermana Cheever

Melina is the one in the wheelchair, the other two girls sitting are some Laurels from the ward, 
the one standing on the left is my companion and 
the one of these things that isn't like the others is yours truly :)