Week 56

8/24/15

Susan got baptized!!! And her father Ernesto baptized her!!!

Aye, Ernesto had his interview with the bishop Tuesday night and I was so nervous because he didn't tell us if was going to be able to baptize Susan or not.  It was 10:30 and we still hadn't heard, so I went to bed.  Then around 11:00 pm we got a text letting us know he was going to be able to baptize her! AH!  I was so excited that I couldn't sleep.  But I was also so tired so I fell asleep....don't' worry.

The baptismal service was so nice and beautiful (not just because Hermana Piri and I were speaking) but it was so wonderful to be able to see Susan's family all there supporting her.  Also ward members were there and members from the Spanish group.  There were also a lot of children from Susan's class and it was so great to see them supporting their friend.  Yesterday she was confirmed and it was also so wonderful.  She looked so happy to get to have the Holy Ghost with her.

Well, transfer time has come again!!  I am going to stay and my new companion will be Hermana Garza.  I don't know her but I am excited to be able to serve with her and learn from her.  Hermana Pirir is going to LOMPOC!!  I am so excited that she can serve in one of my last areas :)  I already told her about all the members there and of all the people that she is going to meet.  She is nervous but also really excited.  I have really enjoyed the time that we have had serving together, to teach her what I know, and also learn a lot from her.

Yesterday I finished reading the Book of Mormon again and I loved it.  I know that it is true.  I know that we have it in our days to teach us what we should do to be able to return to live with our Heavenly Father again.  I also know that anyone can read, pray, and know by the power of the Holy Ghost that it is true.

Well, I don't have anymore time but I love you all!  Have a great week :)

- Hermana Cuevas Da Silva ♥

The other sister and us

Pictures from Susan's Baptism :D

Week 55

8/17/15

Hi Family :)

Well, this week was so great and full of many blessings :)

I don't have much time but we are preparing for Susan's baptism this week end.  Today she has baptismal interview and tomorrow her father has an interview with the bishop to make sure everything is ok.  Because a few months ago he was inactive but he has now reactivated.  So, we are praying lots so that both pass their interviews so that we can have the baptism this Friday :)

Susan is so nice and very special.  I have really enjoyed teaching her, I love teaching children because they are so simple and understand things without any problems.  And they are honest.  I love it.  Susan has learned so much and is inviting all her friends to come to her baptism.  Her friends asked her, "what is a baptism? what does that mean?"  And she so nicely explained everything and told them that the Holy Ghost, who will be a like a friend, will always take care of her and protect her.

Elena, well, little by little.

Yesterday for sacrament meeting Ivonne gave a talk.  She was baptized a year ago but this was her first talk.  She did so great!  She talked about families and the importance of raised children in the gospel.  That they know that we have a Father in Heaven and that He loves us and that He helps us in every part of life.  It was so great to see her up there testifying of the divinity of this gospel, and to be able to see how much she has grown since her baptism.

We have some other members who were new members and who are now returning to activity when Hermana Pirir and I arrived and it has been so nice to see how they have grown these past 3 months.  It makes me so happy to see them come to church together as a family every Sunday and be able to go back home and help them better understand the plan that our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ has for them.

We have transfers next week.  So next Monday I'll let you know what happens.

I love you all!

Read the Book of Mormon this week :)

The pictures are from a hike we went on.  We went to a place where they filmed the show M.A.S.H.

Week 54

8/10/15

Hi Family!

This week was so great :)  Enjoying every day that I have to serve our Heavenly Father and his children.

Yesterday we had a sacrament meeting that was so spiritual!  In my morning studies I have been studying how to increase my faith.  I read (I think it was a scripture) that said that to increase your faith one of the things that you need to do is to honor and keep our covenants that we have made.  So, during the sacrament while they were passing the bread and water, I was reading the sacrament prayers in my scriptures and looking at the things that I promised to do, like take on His name and always remember Him and keep His commandments.  And our Father is Heaven promises that if we do these things we will always have His Spirit with us.  Then I read a little bit more about what it means to take His name upon us. I think one of the things that I liked the most was to be a representative of Him.  As a missionary I am an official representative of Jesus Christ, but as members of the church we are all representatives of Him here on the Earth.  We have to always remember to try to be more like Him so that when others see us, they see a disciple of Christ.  I invite you all this week to remember the covenants we have made and that you think about how you can always keep those cevenants.

Well, it was also a great Sunday because we got to see lots of our members!  We had 44 people in the Relief Society room!  Susan and her family also came and Elena and Marlene.  The sacrament talks and the lessons were so great and you could feel the Spirit so strong.

Susan is doing well.  She is excited to be baptised and she is reading the Book of Mormon for children everyday and also praying :)  I love teaching her because we teach her in such a simple and easy way.  That's the way it should be.  Because the Gospel of Jesus Christ is simple.

Well, I love you all!  I'm sending some pictures of Hermana Piri and me with some sweatshirts that some members bought for us.  Hermana Brown, Hermana Brown and I at the zone activity last week (we did Tie-Dye and we painted hands, and some enchiladas that I ate this week :)

Love you all Lots!

- Hermana Cuevas Da Silva ♥

Week 53

8/3/15

Hello my loved ones :)  Sending you lots of greetings and a great big hug!

Okay, first before anything...Tuesday we went to see Elena and we brought Cristina.  It was so cool because Elena was all stressed about her daughter and everything else that is going on and Hermana Pirir and I, really don't know what to say, but Cristina was such a big help!  She has more experience in life with situations like this, so she was able to be a great support to Elena.  Then we went to see her again on Thursday and come to find out that Antonio doesn't want to move out.  So, he ended up staying :(  Soooo, since she is not keeping the law of chastity, she can't get baptized this month.  We are praying a lot that everything that is happening can all work out ok so that Elena can prepare for baptism for the end of September.

Also, we talked to Susan and her dad and we changed their baptism date for August 21st.  Her father (who only a few months ago was less active) has been making a lot of changes because he is going to baptize Susan.  Also, another son, Tyler is going to turn 12 years old so he is going to be able to give him the Priesthood.  And also, he is going to get to bless their new baby!  I know that our Heavenly Father is blessing this family so much for all their hard work :)

We had a really cool discussion with some less active members this week.  They have been coming to church the past few weeks, so they are not less active anymore.  But, we are still teaching them to help strengthen their testimonies.  We talked about Temples and about baptisms for the dead and of family history.  The Spirit was there and one of the sisters told us that she has a great desire to be baptized for her aunt who was like a mother to her.  She said she has dreamed that her aunt is trying to tell her something, and that she needs to do something for her.  Then after our visit she told us that she thinks that her aunt is trying to tell her that she is ready to accept to be baptized.  We are working with her to find her information and then talk to the bishop to be able to get her recommend to go to the temple.  When her husband was baptized he said that he didn't have a strong testimony, but little by little you can see he is trying and he wants to learn and know more.  This weekend we had a baptism in our zone and the Brother came with his daughters while his wife worked and we felt that it was a really good experience for him, more than anything, to feel the Spirit.

Well, I hope that you all have a great week.  I love you all so much!

- Hermana Cuevas Da Silva ♥

With the other Hermanas on our hike :)

The Hermanas that we live with decorated for my one year mark

A picture of when Hermana Zarate and I went to help Jose with the piggies!!

Week 52

7/27/15

Ok!  Hi my loved ones :)

Sending you lots of greetings and I hope that you have had a good week.  My week was so good!  Like always, of course.

Wednesday we had exchanges and it was my turn to go.......to Camarillo with Hermana Clark!  We served in the same district in Arroyo Grande (my second area) and we have always wanted to be companions!  And this week our dream came true.  Just for a day, but it was the best day :)  In the morning we made the goal to tell the people we meet that we are Representatives of Jesus Christ and that we have been sent to them from Him and that during our visit they will feel the Holy Ghost.  With almost every person we started to tell them about the Comforter and the importance of His presence in our lives.  It was such a wonderful experience because in the moment that we started talking about the Holy Ghost the Spirit came and was so strong.  Then after that we started to talk about the Restoration, or another topic.  It was such an incredible day full of miracles and lots of blessings :)  I really enjoyed being about to work with Hermana Clark and be able to learn from her every moment.

Okay, Elena is really good and is progressing towards being baptized put this week was really hard for her.  Friday we went to see her and when we got there she told us that her grandmother had passed away.  She was really sad but we were able to talk to her about the Plan of Salvation and we reminded her that she is just on a "trip" and that she will get to see her again :)  We also talked about how after she gets baptized, then she can also get baptized for her grandmother.  This gave her a lot of comfort and she started to feel better.  Then yesterday after our dinner, we checked our phone and we saw that we had 3 missed called from Elena and a text message.  The text said, "Hermanas, I was just told that my sister has died.  I need you, please come."  We ran over to her house and were there with her.  She told us that her sister was coming home from their grandmother's funeral services when someone started shooting at her car and killed her sister.  Poor Elena, she was so sad but she was also so strong.  Her faith has really helped her this weekend.  And the best part is that even after this trial and many more that she is facing right now, she has never lost her hope and faith in our Heavenly Father.  I know what Satan is working extra hard so that she will give up hope and not want to be baptized but she is staying firm and we are trying to support her as much as we can.

Well, that's all for now.  I love you all so much and I hope that you never forget the great mercy God and Jesus Christ has for each of us :)

- Hermana Cuevas Da Silva ♥

Week 51

7/20/15

So many miracles this week :)

So, to start, I'm sending you lots of greetings and hope that everyone is doing well and hope that you are all saying your prayers everyday.

Okay, so this week we were talking to our mission leader for the ward about Elena.  She can't get baptized because her boyfriend is still living with her and he doesn't want to leave.  He asked us if we have tried setting a baptism date, and we told him that we don't know when to make the date because we don't know when Antonio is going to leave the house.  But with the Spirit of prayer he suggested that we we set a date to use as a goal.  So, Hermana Pirir and I prayed and decided that August 29th would be a good date.  So, we went on Saturday and taught her about baptism and we shared a scripture with her.  3 Nephi 19:1-15 says:

 1 And now it came to pass that when Jesus had ascended into heaven, the multitude did disperse, and every man did take his wife and his children and did return to his own home.

 2 And it was noised abroad among the people immediately, before it was yet dark, that the multitude had seen Jesus, and that he had ministered unto them, and that he would also show himself on the morrow unto the multitude.

 3 Yea, and even all the night it was noised abroad concerning Jesus; and insomuch did they send forth unto the people that there were many, yea, an exceedingly great number, did labor exceedingly all that night, that they might be on the morrow in the place where Jesus should show himself unto the multitude.

 4 And it came to pass that on the morrow, when the multitude was gathered together, behold, Nephi and hisbrother whom he had raised from the dead, whose name was Timothy, and also his son, whose name was Jonas, and also Mathoni, and Mathonihah, his brother, and Kumen, and Kumenonhi, and Jeremiah, and Shemnon, and Jonas, and Zedekiah, and Isaiah—now these were thenames of the disciples whom Jesus had chosen—and it came to pass that they went forth and stood in the midst of the multitude.

 5 And behold, the multitude was so great that they did cause that they should be separated into twelve bodies.

 6 And the twelve did teach the multitude; and behold, they did cause that the multitude should kneel down upon the face of the earth, and should pray unto the Father in the name of Jesus.

 7 And the disciples did pray unto the Father also in the name of Jesus. And it came to pass that they arose and ministered unto the people.

 8 And when they had ministered those same words which Jesus had spoken—nothing varying from the words which Jesus had spoken—behold, they knelt again and prayed to the Father in the name of Jesus.

 9 And they did pray for that which they most desired; and they desired that the Holy Ghost should be given unto them.

 10 And when they had thus prayed they went down unto the water’s edge, and the multitude followed them.

 11 And it came to pass that Nephi went down into the water and was baptized.

 12 And he came up out of the water and began to baptize. And he baptized all those whom Jesus had chosen.

 13 And it came to pass when they were all baptized and had come up out of the water, the Holy Ghost did fall upon them, and they were filled with the Holy Ghost and with fire.

 14 And behold, they were encircled about as if it were by fire; and it came down from heaven, and the multitude did witness it, and did bear record; and angels did come down out of heaven and did minister unto them.

 15 And it came to pass that while the angels were ministering unto the disciples, behold, Jesus came and stood in the midst and ministered unto them.

Then we talked about  how the biggest desire that the people had was to be baptised and to receive that Holy Ghost.  Then she shared with us her desire to be baptized and then we asked her if she would start preparing to baptized on August 29th and she said, "Well, I was hoping to be baptized before that because Antonio is going to move out by the end of this month."  OH yea!!!  So, we are praying lots that everything goes well with A
ntonio and he can leave by the end of the month and that she can get baptized :)

We have also been talking to a less active sister, because we went to help her clean because she had just ha

d a baby.  A little bit after that she told us that her 9 year old daughter has not been baptized yet and asked if we could teach her so she could prepare to be baptized.  We talked with her (Susan) yesterday at church and we are also going to teach her mom :)

I know that being a missionary is not easy, but when we try to work hard and always have the Spirit with us and try to do His will, He blesses us.  I know that the blessings and the miracles that we see everyday has nothing to do with what me and my companion are doing, but everything is thanks to our Heavenly Father.

I am so grateful to be  able to serve and help others come unto to Christ :)

I hope that this week you all can always remember what a blessing it is to have the Gospel and more than anything, try to have the Spirit with you as your constant companion.

Read all of chapter 19 from 3 Nephi, or if you can, start at chapter 11 through19 (it's when Christ comes to America)

I love you all!

- Hermana Cuevas Da Silva ♥

This week it rained!! We are so grateful for the rain and we are praying for more!! :D

Week 50

7/13/15

Good morning my loved ones :)  I hope that this week was full of lots of blessings and lots of laughs.

Well, this week is transfers and I am going to stay here in New Bury Park with Hermana Pirir 6 more weeks :)  We are really excited to be able to stay together working hard and to be able to find the families that are prepared to hear the Gospel.  We are going to help our members share the Gospel with their families and friends.

This week we had a really nice and inspired meeting.  First we talked about the declaration that the church put out about the new law about same sex marriage.  I really liked to hear the prophet and apostles testify of the importance of marriage between man and woman, just as God established.  I know that even though the laws of the country may change, the laws of God never change.  The family is ordained of God and is sacred :)

Also, a sister shared a talked about the great responsibility we have as missionaries.  It talked about how as missionaries we are representatives of Jesus Christ and the people (our investigators, members, and everyone) should know this.  We have to act in a way that when people see us they see the Savior.  They should have no doubt that we are from God and we are here to represent Jesus Christ because He can't be here.  She shared a saying that says, "He who gives money gives much, He who gives of his Time gives more, and He who gives of himself gives everything."  -President Thomas S. Monson.  I am trying to serve with all my might and try to be more like Jesus Christ everyday.  I know that I will never be able to be like Him, but I can try.

I am trying to be more of an instrument in the Lord's hands and be more like what the prophet Mormon said (Mormon 1:7)

 

7 And I do this for a wise purpose; for thus it whispereth me, according to the workings of the Spirit of the Lord which is in me. And now, I do not know all things; but the Lord knoweth all things which are to come; wherefore, heworketh in me to do according to his will.

I hope you all have a great week and that you can study the life of our Savior Jesus Christ and strengthen your desire to try and be more like Him every day.  I love you all :)

I will send more pictures of our activity from last week :)

- Hermana Cuevas Da Silva ♥

 

Week 49

7/6/15

Hi Family!

I hope you all enjoyed you weekend and your 4th of July :)

It was a little difficult here because everyone was drinking and getting drunk.  We didn't even feel comfortable walking because everyone was just staring and watching us.  So, we went to visit members and it was really great :)  We had some Carne Asada and we ate so much!  They also had Seniza, grilled onions, and shrimp cock-tail.   Oh yeah, I ate a lot but it was soooo delicious!

 Yesterday we went to visit Elena and Antonio with Brother Campos (one of the leaders from the Spanish group).  We talked to them about their relationship and we told them that either they need to get married or separate.  Elena has the desire to be baptized but she is not doing anything to have Antonio move out.  But yesterday she didn't that she knows that she needs to do something.  We will see what happens.

This week marks 6 weeks of the transfer!! So this Saturday they are going to call us to see if we will stay or see who is going to go :)  I let you know what happens next week :D

Also, yesterday after we left Elena's we found one of our investigators....Felix was drunk and on who know what other drugs but it was really scary.  Thankfully Brother Campos was with us.  But Felix was mad and he gave back the Book of Mormon that we had given him this past week :(

Brother Campos' wife is less active and we have been looking for her for the past 5 weeks and finally this week we were able to find her and have a little discussion with her :)  We are going to go back to ask her why she doesn't go to church.

We have also been trying to find new investigators and we are using the members to help us!  We want to plan a cultural night where we can invite everyone to get to know the friends of the members in our group.

Well, I don't have anymore time but I love you all.  Read the Book of Mormon everyday!  It will help you, guide you, and comfort you.  I love you all!!

- Hermana Cuevas Da Silva ♥

Me with the Spanish Group councilor's car

With the sisters that we live with on the 4th of July

Happy 4th of July. Viva America

Week 48

6/29/15

Hi Family :)  I hope you all had a great week :)

Well, this week went really well for us!  We were in Omar and Cristina's house (some members) almost every night this week.  Omar was baptized in January and is such a great new member!  He had to talk yesterday and he was so nervous.  So we went to their house every night to study his topic a little bit.  And every night he said, "Sisters, its just that you don't understand.  I am not good at learning, I always forget everything and I'm not going to remember this on Sunday."  But we keep going with him and we just told him every night that we had faith that our Father in Heaven would help him.  Well, yesterday the time came to give his talk and he remembered EVERYTHING!!  It was just a great talk and full of the Spirit.  His topic was "Examine the path of your feet" and he spoke so great about Jesus Christ and how we can strengthen ourselves everyday by trying to be more like him.  We were so proud of him.

Also, yesterday at church there were 37 people!!  This is so good for the group.  Normally there are only 15-20 people.  But yesterday 4 less active families who we have been working with came!  It was so cool to see the whole family come to church together.  It was such a miracle and blessing :)  Also our investigator Elena came and brought her "boyfriend" Antonio!  This was also a huge miracle!!  We are going to try and teach them together :)  Elena also said that next week her daughter is going to come as well because she also wants to learn more too.  I know that the Gospel is for FAMILIES and that to learn about it together will unite more than anything in the world.  I am so thankful to be about to see these families come to church together and support each other.

This week we also had an experience that really helped me.  We went to a house of a less active member to have a discussion.  But when we got there, no one was home.  But another guy was there.  He told us that he was also interested to learn more and asked if we could teach him.   We accepted and went in.  But the moment we that we went in something felt weird.  I didn't know what it was so I tried to ignore it.  But as we started to teach I was praying to have the spirit with us, but I couldn't feel the Spirit like I normally do.  Instead of feeling the spirit of love and comfort and peace, I felt the spirit of adversity.   We tried to keep teaching but we couldn't.  I looked at Hermana Pirir and I could tell that she felt the same way.  So we decided to end the discussion and leave.  Leaving we could literally feel the Spirit return.  As I talked about it with my companion, we couldn't explain why we felt the way we did but we knew that we were no supposed to be there.  I am just grateful that my companion and I were able to hear the whispering of the Spirit that we needed to leave.

Well, I don't know what else has happened....oh yeah, in the "little houses" which is where all the latios live, there were two car crashes and the police had to go like 5 times during the week.  We don't know why but we just heard the cars.  But it's ok.  I know that our Heavenly Father guides us and protects us so that nothing bad happens to us :)

I have been reading the Book of Mormon again focusing on Christ.  I am marking every time that Christ is mentioned (Christ, Redeemer, Savior, Messiah, etc.) and  I can really see that the Book of Mormon really only testifies of Christ, His plan, His Gospel, and more than anything, His love.  The Book of Mormon is a book and record of the Love of God and Christ for all of us.  I invite you all to read the Book of Mormon everyday and look for examples of His love for you in your life.

I love you all so much, hope you have a great week :)

- Hermana Cuevas Da Silva ♥

Week 47

6/22/15

Hi Family!  Sending you lots of greetings!
Ok, so this week was incredible, full of blessings, miracles, and happiness.

Okay, so Tuesday we had exchanges and I stayed in Newbury Park and I worked with Hermana Winn.  She is from Montana and is so nice.  I was able to learn so much from her and we saw lots of miracles.  Ever since we came here Hermana Pirir and I have been looking for a house of a less active sister.  He have passed her street so many times but have never been able to find her house.  But this Tuesday we found her!!  I don't know how, because of all the times that we have passed by I have never seen that house until Tuesday.  We found the husband at home and we are going to go back this week because they want us to visit them.

Wednesday we went to the Temple in Los Angeles!  It was such a special day.  I really enjoyed being at the temple and to be able to feel the special spirit that is only there.  It was so special to be there again after almost one year!  It really made me so thankful that we have temples so close at home and I hope to be able to go every week when I get home.  It also made me realize how great it feels to be able to help those that have passed on to be baptized, receive their endowment, and be sealed to their families.  But also I am so thankful that as a missionary I can also help those that are still here on the earth to make these same covenants.

Thursday, a brother from the Quorum of the 70 came to our mission, Elder C. Scott Grow.  We had a really special zone conference with him.  He helped us to see the importance to always be looking for those who the Lord has prepared.  And he also helped me know how to exercise the necessary faith to be able to find them.  During the conference a district from our missions got up and sang, "Oh elderes de Israel" and I liked how there were more sisters were singing than elders.  When they sang the last verse I felt the spirit so strong in my heart,

We'll go to the poor, like our Captain of old,

And visit the weary, the hungry, and cold;

We'll cheer up their hearts with the news that he bore

And point them to Zion and life evermore.

I know that I am here serving and looking (just like Jesus) for the poor in heart and for those who are looking for Jesus Christ and I feel so humble to be able to be part of this great work.

We had many great discussions this week with less active members and I know that they were able to feel the Spirit in their home and in their heart.  I know that they are going to see the necessity of returning to the church and I know they will do it.

I love being a missionary and to be able to declare to the world that Jesus Christ lives, that He love us and that our Father in Heaven has a plan for each one of us.

I love you all and hope you have a great week :)

- Hermana Cuevas Da Silva ♥

Hermana Winn and I during exchanges

At the Temple

With the sisters who took us to the Temple

Los Angeles Temple