Week 46

6/15/15

Hi Family!
Sending you lots of greetings and hugs :)

Well, this week was full of blessings and miracles.

To start, we had stake conference this weekend and it was such a wonderful experience!  Saturday we heard the testimonies and the stories of recently baptized members from the last few months.  It was so awesome to be able to feel the Spirit and to be able to see how the Lord lead them and watched over them during this time.  On Sunday, Omar (a recent convert in the Spanish group) shared his testimony.  He was so nervous because he didn't want to say it in English.  I told him that if he wanted he could speak in Spanish and that I would stand up with him and interpret.  So that is what we did.  It was so cool and his testimony was so simple and humble but full of love and thankfulness to our Heavenly Father.

We have found some new investigators that really have a desire to learn because they know it is somthing good for them and their families.  They have really be prepared by our Heavenly Father and they are so ready to accept the gospel in their lives.

Elena is one of the investigators that is ready to get baptized but she lives with a man who is not her husband.  She knows that they need to get married, or one of them needs to move out.  But the guy doesn't want to get married and he also doesn't want to move out!  It is so sad to see a daughter of our Heavenly Father who is ready to make this covenant with Him but she can't because someone else doesn't want to help.  We are praying a lot for her and that her "boyfriend" Anthony leaves to go live somewhere else.

And, well....for my birthday I really a had a great time!  I got calls from my mission leaders and lots of cards from friends in the mission as well.  Thanks for everything that you guys do for me and for your "Happy Birthdays" as well :)  It was the best birthday, I think, because I was visiting and teaching others the whole day.  I could feel the Spirit the whole day and that was one of the best parts :)

I hope you all have a wonderful week :)

This week we have exchanges, then we are going to the temple, and we are going to have zone conference.  I am so excited :D

I love you all so much and I hope that you all try to feel the Spirit everyday of our lives :)

- Hermana Cuevas Da Silva ♥

The Sisters I live with decorated the apartment :)

Celebrating with some members

20 years old

Week 45

6/8/15

Hi Family and greetings from Newbury Park USA!  I am so excited to be serving here!  Well, my new companion is Hermana Pirir from......Orem UT.  Yes, it's true, and yes we met before the mission.  We went to High School together and we have some of the same friends.  It was so good to see a familiar face again.  I am so happy to be her companion and to be able to serve with her.

Our area is so beautiful and the members are so good to us!  The members of the Spanish group are really excited to have sisters again :)

Almost all of our work here in this area is with less active members.  This week we met Walter, Carlos, and Angel.  They are really nice and they have testimonies of the Church but each one of them has their reason why they don't go to church.  Walter is having doubts about what he knows and about his testimony.  Carlos is really focused on what his friends and the world thinks even though he knows what he should be doing.  And Angel, it's just hard for him to wake up on Sunday morning and go to church.  So, we are praying to know how to help each one of them.  We are trying to contact everyone on our member list in order to get to know them and see what their personal needs are.

Supposedly we also have two investigators that want to get baptized but we haven't been able to find them at home and they haven't answered our phone calls.  But don't worry, we will keep trying and we are going to find them!

Well, this morning I finished reading the Book of Mormon!  I started my first day of my mission and today I finished :)  I am so greatful to be able to have the Book of Mormon in my life because by reading it I have been able to see that they only thing it testifies of is Jesus Christ, of the love He has for each of us and of the plan the He has for us.  I know that it is true and I know that no matter what is happening in our lives, the Book of Mormon can help us.

Ok family, I love you all so much, Thanks for everything!
OH!  This is my new address:

1780 Via Petirrojo#F
Thousand Oaks, CA 91320

(Our zone leaders gave it to me wrong last week)

- Hermana Cuevas Da Silva ♥

Saying goodbye to the Uribe Family

Our last Hug

My new companion, Hermana Pirir

Week 44

6/1/15

Well, I'm leaving Lompoc!  I'm going to be moving to Newberry Park and my new companion is......I don't know.  I will be training a new sister missionary so I don't know who it will be yet!  Tomorrow we are going to meet in Ventura and there I'm going to meet her :)  I am really excited to have this opportunity and to be able to serve and love her!  I am a little bit nervous because we will both be new to the area, but it's ok.  We will get lost together :)  I know that good things are going to happen these next 6 weeks and I am excited :)

My new address is:
1780 Via Calle Rojo APT. F
Newberry Park, CA
(I don't have the zip code yet, sorry)

But!  I am also sad to be leaving everyone in Lompoc!  I feel like part of my heart is going to stay here and I don't want to leave the members and the investigators.  But I know that this is what the Lord wants, so I have to trust Him.

This last week was so great!  We had a discuss with Beatriz, a new investigator and we taught her about the Restoration.  She is so READY!  She understood really well and she really liked what we taught.  We left her with a Book of Mormon and we invited her to read and pray about it.  She said that she will take the time to do it because she knows it is important.  We also went with Hermano Julian and we taught about the Plan of Salvation.  The Spirit was so strong and he really felt it and this time he accepted it!  At the end he thanked us told us that he felt so good and felt so peaceful.  I know that little by little he will let the Gospel into his heart and into his life again.  We had lots of other great discussions with members and less actives.  I have been able to see that everyone has a desire to be good and follow our Heavenly Father.  That fire to be baptized is still there inside of them but they let it go out a little bit.  Maybe it's not as big as it was before, but that testimony is still there.  We just have to help them to find it and help it grow.

This weekend we had a baptism and three brothers were baptized!  They are 16, 13, and 9 years old.  It was so cool to see them take this step :)

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

- Hermana Cuevas Da Silva ♥

With Jack & Darlene at the Friendship House

Saying goodbye to Elena

Saying goodbye to the Trujillo family

Week 43

5/25/15

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

Here in California everything is going great!  There are three people who are preparing for baptism in our group.  Little by little we are growing.  The Bishop say that by mid-June we will be able to turn into a Branch!  We are all so excited :)  Especially the members of our little group.  You can feel their excitement to share this great message of the restored gospel.

Last week while we were knocking on doors, we found two really cool guys.  We found Carlos and Francisco.  We are going back this week and they both have a great desire to follow Jesus Christ and do what is right.  We were teaching Francisco about the restoration and then his friend Fabian came.  We were going to leave because it looked like they had plans, but Francisco said, "where are you going? My friend also needs to learn about Jesus Christ and His plan for him."  It was really cool and then we got to teach them both and we left them each with a Book of Mormon and we told them to read it and and pray about it that God would let them know if it was true.  He told us later when we say him again, "well sisters, I read it and I prayed and now I'm just waiting for God to answer."  We taught him more about the restoration of the church and about Joseph Smith and more about the Book of Mormon.  He has a great desire to learn more and discover the plan that our Heavenly Father has for him.

Brother Julian is coming along, little by little.  Our last discussion that we had with him, he gave the closing prayer and thanked God for sending us with the truth.  It was really cool to hear him pray.

Well, family, I just want to tell you that I love you all so much and that I love to share the Gospel.  I feel such a great joy in doing so.  I hope you all have a great weekend!

- Hermana Cuevas Da Silva ♥

The Uribe's daughters

Driving home

The Trujillo kid's birthday

Week 42

5/18/15

Hi Family! Sending you lots of hellos from Lompoc California :)

Well, this week went by so fast!  I feel like every week goes by faster and faster and I don't like it!  But it's ok because that means that we are busy and working hard.

This week I learned a lot about how I can listen and follow the whisperings of the Holy Ghost on how to find and teach people.  We had an activity in zones with Presidente and Hermana Felix and it was so cool!  We went on a hike and during part of the hike I had to blindfold Hermana Zarate or she had to blindfold me and we took turns feeling "the spirit."  We had to help our compainion to walk and stay on the path and not fall off the mountain.  I remember when I was blindfolded, I was so scared because I couldn't see anything!  I tried to grab Hermana Zarate, but we couldn't do that.  I could only listen to her voice and have faith and trust in her that she was leading me down the correct path.  Little by little as I walked my faith started growing and also my confidence grew as well.  I knew that she wouldn't lie to me and that she only wanted to help me and so that helped me a lot!  It was a really cool experience to realize that the Holy Ghost is always there guiding my path and helping me find people that are ready to receive the Gospel.

Also this week we had a District meeting focusing on the Restoration of the Gospel. It was so cool to be able to study more about it and be able to see how wonderful it is to have the same church that Jesus Christ established when He was on the earth.

Well family, I don't have much time, but I just want to invite you to take the time to listen to the Holy Ghost this week and I know that He will guide us where we need to go and to what we need to do.

I love you all so much!

- Hermana Cuevas Da Silva ♥

The District Latinos

Me and Hermana Zarate

Following the Spirit

Week 41

5/11/15

Hi Family!  I hope that all you moms enjoyed your mother's day yesterday and I hope that your children or your family brought you breakfast in bed.  If not, it's ok.  They can try again.

Well, this week went by so fast!  We went to visit Hermano Julian this week and we had a super cool discussion and we could feel the spirit SO strong, but Hermano Julian was rejecting the Holy Ghost.  We tried to teach him about the resutration and how there can only be one true church in the world.  And that this church has to be the same church that Jesus Christ established when He was here on the earth, but his heart is so hard and he wasn't listening.  We don't know what to do, but this week we are going to to go again with a Sister from the ward and we are hoping that this will help.  He needs lots of prayers.

We had a zone conference this week and it was really cool.  As a mission we are really trying to focus on being guided by the spirit to find and teach and our meeting was completely guided by the Spirit.  It was really cool to be there and really concentrate and Listen and learn from the Spirit.

Also, this week we went to pick up a sister from the ward from her job in Buelton, so she could go tracking with us.  She's been home from her mission almost a year but she's about 30 years old.  She is so powerful and such a good teacher.  We found a family that the Lord has been preparing and it was so good to have Dulce there with us.

This week went well with the Uribe family.  When we first started to teach them we only talked to the dad.  Then the wife starting listening once in a while, and now we are going to have the whole family there listening! (Well, all those who live there).  It has been cool to see how little by little we have gotten to know them and they have felt more comfortable with us and how now they accept the things we ask them to do like pray and read the Book of Mormon.

Then we had a baptism in the Spanish group on Saturday!  Everything started with the Hermana Hortencia.  She invited her friend Flor to come to church on Sunday.  Then the missionaries went and taught her and now to got baptized with her two daughters who are 8 and 9 years old.  Then after a few months her husband got baptized, and now, months later, her oldest daughter Elsa got baptized!  It was such a cool service!  All of the Elders who have taught this family were able to come and be there with Elsa.  It was also cool because a few weeks ago we met her and became friends.  The day she got baptized she asked Hermana Zarate and if we could stay with her waiting after she got baptized.  It was a really special and spiritual service.  We know that the Lord continues to bless this family and that in one year they will be able to be sealed as a family.

And something fun that we did this week was we got to go to "Pork Place" a farm with Jose (our less active member) to help him with some work so that he can go to church on Sunday.  There were so many piggies!!! We cleaned up their poop and then we corralled them and then played with them.  It was fun and......Jose came to church!!!  He really liked it and we were so happy because he hasn't come in so long!  Next week I will send you pictures of the piggies :)

Well family, I love you all so much and I hope that you never forget how much our Father in Heaven
loves you.  He will always be there and everything He gives us is because He loves us.  I know that this is the only true church on the Earth at this time and I know that God helps us with His work.  I love you all!!

- Hermana Cuevas Da Silva ♥

Elsa's Baptism

Week 40

5/4/15

Hello family!  Sending you lots of hellos from Lompoc and happy May!  I can't believe that we are already in May.  I feel like just last week was Christmas.  But oh well.  I hope that you are all enjoying all of the blessings that our Heavenly Father has for you.

This week was so good, like always :)

We had exchanges and I got to work with Hermana Costilla this time!  And we stayed in Lompoc.  Well, we went to Solvang for the day and it was so cool to be there again.  Since we live in Lompoc now, we don't get to go there very often.  But we found a family from Honduras that are so cool!  The mother, Berta, was already being taught by some missionaries a year ago, but when they moved, she lost contact with the missionaries.  Her and her children have a great desire to follow Christ and do what He want for them.

We have a less active member, Tomas, that we went to visit and told us that he wants to go back to the Catholic church because he's not sure if he still has a testimony.  We had a really spiritual and good discussion with him about prayer and how our Heavenly Father answers prayers.  We are planning on teaching the discussions again.  We hope that this will help him a lot.

On Sunday, some 8 year old twins got baptized and that was their birthday.  The missionary who baptized their mom 2 years ago, came to baptize the girls.  It was so cool to be there and see how much the members love the missionaries who serve there.  Even 2 years ago.  And also to see the love this brother has for each one of the members.

Okay, to finish, yesterday we went to the Uribe's house and they had their family there.  Hermano Uribe was with the family outside and we were inside with Hermana Uribe, her daughter Lili, and some of the daughter's friends.  We had a really cool discussion about the weaknesses that our Father in Heaven gives us, and about the trials that we face and how we can face them with the help of our Father in Heaven.  It was super cool!

I want to finish with a scripture that our District leader Elder Lee sent us after a really hard day, it is D&C 112:10-11

10 Be thou humble; and the Lord thy God shall lead thee by the hand, and give thee answer to thy prayers.

 11 I know thy heart, and have heard thy prayers concerning thy brethren. Be not partial towards them in love above many others, but let thy love be for them as for thyself; and let thy love abound unto all men, and unto all who love my name.

He didn't know that it had been a hard day or anything, but I am greatful to have leaders so inspired like him, Presidente Felix, and our Hermanas Trainers.

Thank you for everything thing, and don't forget to call your mothers to tell them thank you for giving you life and for all that they do for you :)  I love you all!

- Hermana Cuevas Da Silva ♥

Me and Hermana Costilla

Our bunk beds and some lips Hermana Zarate made me buy

The District! from left to right, Elder Moreno, Elder Herrera, Elder Lee, Elder Bautista, me and Hermana Zarate