AUGUST!

Wow! I can't believe it's August already! This year is just flying by!

This week was a great week for us! We have been finding a lot of new investigators. It's great to tell people how the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ can change and bless and enhance their lives. And what a blessing when we can share that every day of our lives.

Rosa and Miguel are getting excited for a trip to the open house of the Mexico City Temple! They would be baptized already, but every Sunday is a new problem for the which they cannot attend church! It's been hard. But we are really hoping that this Sunday they can finally attend!

I am so blessed to be able to be here in this time, serving a mission. I know that the Lord can make more out of our lives than we ever could! Let's give ourselves over to Him so that His perfect plan and His perfect love can mold us and shape us into eternal and celestial beings!

Have a great week! And notice all the small miracles that God sends us every day. They really are great!

Hermana Cheever

Today we had the opportunity to go visit my first area and 

I visited Antonia, a sweet sister that was baptized a year ago, 

and her daughter-in-law, Lulu. It was great 

to be able to see them again and feel the love! 

Happy Pioneer Day!

So Friday (I think...) was Pioneer Day! And you know what we did to celebrate? Almost nothing. But I was grateful to think that people existed that walked more than I do. Because sometimes we walk a lot. Haha But now for real. I was reading in Our Heritage about the sacrifices the pioneers made and I am just so impacted every time. They gave up so many things and passed through so many hardships. But the Lord needed them to pass that trial by fire to sanctify them and make them worthy, able, and willing to build up the Church when they reached the Salt Lake valley.

And in every one of our lives, the Lord does the same for us. We are each pioneers in our own way. We all have to cross our personal plains of pain and progression to be able to reach the peace and pleasantness of eternal life. (How's that for alliteration?) SO...where are you on your plains? In your wilderness? Do you trust in God? Do you remain happy and celebrate the good things with your loved ones? Do you press forward with faith or do you go backwards in doubt? Is there anything that will keep you from reaching Zion, or will you give it your all?

So that's the inspirational part of my letter.

Something exciting that's going on in Mexico is that the Mexico City Temple is going to be re-dedicated after it's remodelation. But first, they're going to open it up to the public for an open house! We are so excited and are inviting everybody to go and feel the Spirit of the Lord's house. We have two investigators, Rosa and Miguel, who are excited to go! Rosa is blind, and she worries about not being able to see the beautiful temple. but we have told her that it is something that is more felt than seen. I know that if she goes with the right mind-set, it will be an amazing and life-changing experience for her! The temple changes lives! The gospel changes lives! Let's be pioneers and change the world! One life at a time.

Have an amazing week, and sigan adelante (keep pressing forward) on your personal plains! Because if you do, there's a really salty lake awaiting you. Oh, and other things like temple blessings :)

Love,
Hermana Cheever

BEING A MISSIONARY IS FUN!

Dear all,

I can't even remember very well what I wrote the last time I wrote, so I will just write everything that is new! To start off with, I am currently in Metepec, Atlixco with Hermana Chauque! She's from Argentina! My first companion that's not Mexicana or from the US (only one from the US). So basically I have had a lot of Mexican companions. So, I don't know how well I can speak Spanish, but I am pretty fluent in Mexicano, which makes it hard sometimes to understand someone from Argentina! (All of the countries that speak Spanish speak it differently. Maybe like the difference between the US and Great Britain and Australia, etc.)

But we are having a great time! The best thing that anyone can do with their life is serve the Lord. Wherever you are and however you can. I love being a missionary, and sometimes I think I would just like to stay here forever.

Right now we are working with a few different people, hoping to help them accept and live the Restored Gospel. There's one couple that I especially love, Miguel and Rosa. Rosa is in a wheelchair, she can't walk very well and she has lost her sight. Sometimes she gets really depressed and it's hard for her husband and her son to help her. But Miguel is a very good man, and he treats her really well. Five years ago they knew some missionaries and they taught them for a bit, but the missionaries were transferred, and, as is wont to happen, they stopped investigating the church. But we have found them again and they are accepting the lessons really well. They have a lot of trust in us as missionaries, and they love it when we visit. Rosa says that every time we leave she feels as if a big weight is lifted from her shoulders! I am excited to invite them to the temple open house in August, for the rededication of the Mexico City Temple. We are going to hopefully set a baptismal date with them today, even though it's going to be hard for them to attend church because they work Sundays. But I know that if they start to experience more of the blessings, they will be more willing to sacrifice. It is so important that we make sacrifices to be able to open up the windows of heaven.

In other things, today is Friend Day in Argentina! To celebrate, we ate popsicles. When we went to go do our shopping, we ran into a sweet girl we are teaching named Verónica! See attached photos.

I hope that everyone is having a great week and is taking advantage of opportunities to serve others and share the gospel!

Love,
Hermana Cheever

ps I found Carmen and Melina in Atlixco! They are people that I knew one year ago when I was here for the first time!

Hermana Chauque! She's from Argentina! 

We went out to eat today!
Burger King isn't any better here than in the US.
 But....a missionary's got to eat.

With some awesome Elders in the transfer meeting.

Elder Sánchez, on the left, was my zone leader for 3 transfers

and then he invaded my area in Valle del Sol,

Elder Sosa was in my district for one transfer, he is a super happy person.

And the other is Elder Ortega, he was my district leader for one transfer,

 and then he was a secretary and we were in the same one for about 3 transfers.

Elders Sanchez and Ortega went home this last transfer. 

Other missionaries 

Hermana Campos, my first companion, finished
her mission and also went home. 

with Hermana Estrada, the last day together. 

Today is Friend Day in Argentina!
To celebrate, we ate popsicles

Quick report

Dear all,

I am doing great here in the mission! I just love being a servant of the Lord, there are so many blessings here, and I know that many blessings will come after.

It is such a blessing to be able to be involved in the work of the Lord, no matter how we do it! I hope you can all find opportunities this week to make a new friend, talk about the gospel with everybody, go to the temple, and maybe give away a Book of Mormon. That book has so much power and it is the greatest missionary tool ever!

I hope you all have a great, fun- and spirit-filled week! Remember always that we are children of a loving Heavenly Father and He will help us to overcome challenges and trials every time we ask Him!

Love,
Hermana Cheever

JUNE!

Dear all,

I can't believe it's June already! Time flies when you're having fun. I feel like it's been a long time since the last time I wrote everyone, so I'll try to include everything new.

First of all, I was transferred out of my area two weeks ago! After 6 months I left Valle Del Sol Ward. It's a great place and I learned a lot of things and saw a lot of miracles, but now the Lord has called me to another area. Currently I am in Metepec. It's part of Atlixco, which is where I started my mission, and I am so happy to be back here! It's a beautiful place. Metepec is actually known for being a popular tourism spot. You should look it up on Google, I'm sure there's some pretty pictures there. The work here is also great! We have been finding a lot of new investigators and getting to know the members. It's a pretty small ward; I don't think more than 80 or 90 people attend each week. So there's lots of work to do here.

My new companion is Hermana Estrada, from Durango, Mexico! She's great and we're working really well together and having lots of fun!
(See attached photo) 

Hermana Cheever y Hermana Estrada
Having lots of fun!

Hmmm what else is new? I feel like the mission is a great opportunity that we have to prepare for life. You have to apply ALL the Christlike attributes and love ALL the people. You have to keep going when you don't want to, be there for other people, be responsible, follow the guidance of the Spirit, be worthy of the Spirit, be a good person, and well, there's just a lot of things and if you want to know all of them you should serve a mission.

I just want to encourage all of you to take some time this week to come closer to Christ. This week we had a lesson with some members about the Atonement. They shared some experiences that they had had with the Atonement, and their testimonies of its reality. I also want to testify of its reality and its power. And say that we NEVER stop learning about this marvelous gift our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have given us. I know that God will always forgive us, every time we are willing to change. He will always love us, even when we're too stubborn to change. He will always give us another opportunity, because He wants us to CHANGE. Changing is something that we should and need to do, every day. As children of God we have inherited the ability to do so. If you don't believe me, study about conversion and how and why people are converted. God wants us to be our best selves, so let's not get in His way of making us what He knows we can be. Keep the commandments, be righteous, pray and read often, and take the Sacrament every week. So we can one day be united in the Celestial Kingdom, to enjoy God's love and His glory FOREVER!

Have a great week, and I will strive to write more often!

Love,

Hermana Cheever

saying goodbye to Janett

saying goodbye to Elias and his grandma

 saying goodbye to Stephanía and Leticia

ice cream that we ate last week. 

it's a cool place called friso where they 

make your ice cream right there, 

with the flavor of your choice 

(including nutella. Yumm!)

last picture with Hermana Palmer (my previous companion)

Feliz Mother's Day!

First of all, to all the mothers that read this, HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Now,
Things have been going well here in Puebla. Right now it gets really hot during the day and then in the afternoon it sometimes rains. But when it rains, it RAINS. Like flooding the streets-, outside for two seconds and you're soaked-, umbrellas don't help-kind of rain. But it's beautiful.

Lately I have been thinking a lot about and learning about the Christlike attribute of faith. Christ really is our best example of faith--He never doubted and always trusted in His mission and the mission of the Father. Faith is something that maybe we will never get to completely understand here in this earth, because it requires believing and trusting in unearthly things. But it is something that we need to study and exercise daily in order to live.

A few weeks ago we had interviews with our mission president, and we talked about faith. I'd like to share with all of you something that he shared with me. He says he's got this vision of faith. And it looks like this: Moses leading the children of Israel into the Red Sea. Maybe he didn't understand exactly what was going to happen, but he trusted in the Lord that He would provide a way for the children of Israel to leave Egypt, so even when he encountered the great, un-passable sea, Moses knew that the Lord was going to follow through on His promises that He would free His chidren. So he took one step in the water and...nothing. Another step...still nothing. But he trusted in the Lord. He had faith. So maybe he kept walking until the water was up to his neck, saying "Lord, I don't know how you're going to do it, but I know that you will. I am going to save these people or die trying". And maybe when Moses takes the last step and the water covers his head, that's when the Lord parts the sea. Faith requires action, and if we never act, we very well may never see the blessings.

So this week I invite you all to have a little more faith, work a little more, take one more step, and trust that the Lord will do what He's said He'll do.

I know that we are all imperfect, and we have an imperfect faith, but even like that, God loves us. Because He sees us as we really are and as who we can become.

Have a great week, and PRESS FORWARD WITH FAITH.

Love,
Hermana Cheever

The week in which Sister Cheever learned lots of important things

Dear all,

This week I learned a lot of important things. Or maybe that's just one really big thing. I know we hear it a lot, but our Heavenly Father loves us. Even when we fall, even when we don't reach our potential, even when we feel like we've failed, that love never leaves us. He is always there to help us. He always loves us. And that love gives us power.

This was a little bit of a hard week, I know you've all had 'em like that. Sometimes things just don't go the way we'd like. Sometimes we just don't know how to keep going forward. Sometimes we just feel a lot of pressure. Sometimes it's just hard to want to try again the next day. Sometimes we just need to ask for help.

Don't wait, don't delay, don't hold out. Use the power of prayer to talk to your Heavenly Father. He wants to hear us, He wants to help us, He will never leave us. We are His children.

Also remember that there is someone that understands and knows you perfectly. He is our Savior Jesus Christ. When you feel like giving up, when you feel like you don't have strength, remember His journey through life. Was it easy? No. But was it possible? Yes. And your journey is possible as well. If you feel lost, remember that your map is the words of our prophets, the ancient and modern-day ones. Look there for direction. I know that the scriptures help us to find meaning and direction to our lives, if we can only be attentive to the voice of the Holy Ghost.

So remember that our Heavenly Father loves you, our Savior suffered so that you don't have to, and the Holy Ghost will teach and inspire us so we can understand and complete this mortal journey.

Lots of love,
Hermana Cheever