Singing on Doorsteps

Hello Family!!!!!!                                           (This is from Monday, June 13th, 2016)

Happy Week to all of you!!!! It is crazy that our family is all growing up!!!! We are entering into a new stage of life. It's crazy. It just blows my mind every time that I think how Jenna just graduated from High School!!! And how Jessica is married...and Jackson is going to turn fifteen this month, and how Vanessa looks so old and beautiful!!!! It's crazy....I've been gone from home now for 17 months!!! In just seven months I'll be home!!! Time is just flying by!!!

So...this last week was another amazing week here in Las Mercedes. On Monday....Elder Mendez got permission to visit one of his old areas that is really close to us, so we traveled to Villa so that he could visit some members and some of his converts. It was really cool so see the reactions of these people when they realized that it was him. They were all so happy, and he was just smiling the whole time. It was awesome to see him that happy!!!! We also went to some cool places in Villa....but....sadly I left my camera charging in the house....so I don't have any pictures from Villa. Next time we go, I'll take pictures.

Tuesday we had a really awesome district class. we listened to a talk given by Neil L. Anderson in the worldwide missionary training conference entitled ''Teach Repentance and Baptize Converts''. It is so good. Elder Anderson talks about our purpose as missionaries. the importance to understand in order to teach the atonement and repentance to our investigators. He said ''be ready to testify at every moment with the power of the Spirit. Testify of Jesus Christ and invite all to come unto Him.'' He asked several questions that I have pondered on this week during my studies and free moments. I want to share them with you guys with the intention that you all think about it this week. What is the Atonement of Jesus Christ? How am I applying it in my life everyday? The Atonement is for every moment of our lives. Not just on Sundays when we take the sacrament, not just when we mess up big, or not just when we feel bad. We should always remember that sacrifice that He made for us, and in every moment strive to be better. Once we understand repentance, and the Atonement, we can then teach it to others. When our investigators really understand it, they take action and their lives begin to change. That is the truth!!! When they experience these changes, they have a personal conversion, and that leads to baptism. It all flows together like a river. It was a great class!!!

We found a bunch of new investigators this week that are all super great. On Tuesday we found this lady named Maria Ofelia. She is about 70 years old and is so sweet. She just loves talking to us. When we found her, we sang her a hymn....and she just loved it so much that she asked us to sing her another...so we did...then another...then another. We sang her like five or six hymns, then we taught her about the Restoration. The Spirit was so strong, and she really felt it. It was awesome.

On Wednesday night we didn't have an appoinment so we were walking around looking for someone to teach. With the threatening rain...their was no-one outside, which made it a little difficult, and no-one was answering their doors. We decided to say a prayer. We asked Heavenly Father to send us to a house, and give us a way to get them to the door. After we prayed, we started walking again. In like 2 min, we passed a house, and without saying anything to each other, we both pulled out our hymnbooks. We both looked at each other like ''Hey...I was gonna tell you to do that!!!'' So with that we sang ''Lead Kindly Light''. And guess what....they answered the door!!!!! We finished the hymn then we asked if we could teach them for a couple minutes. They accepted and we taught them lesson 1. They accepted everything. It was awesome. Valentina is the mom, and she had three kids...Candi, Angel, and Itzel. They are an awesome family, and I know that the Lord led us to them and gave us the way to get them to come outside. It was great.

Since that worked so well, we started singing on doorsteps to get people to come out, and it has worked for majority of houses. It is a lot of fun. It reminds me of Christmas caroling.

On Thursday we went to visit a recient Convert named Roque. He is the one that makes the hammocks. He taught us several steps of how to make them. We caught on pretty quick. Who knows? Maybe I'll set up my hammock shop when I get home:)hahahaha.

On Sunday I was asked to play piano for the Choir of the Parilla ward. They had ward conference, so they asked me to play for the choir. It was fun. They sang ''Home can be a Heaven on Earth'', ''How Gentle God's Commands'', and a really cool hymn that I have never heard before ''Lord We Come Before Thee Now''. Their ward conference was really great.

On Sunday Lady and her daughters came to church!!!! It made our week!!! After almost two months of teaching them....they came!!!! It's a really cool story so keep reading...

So, Lady is a single mom with two daughters. Suari is 15 and Yahaira is 12. They are super happy and nice and cool with us and really enjoy the lessons. We have been trying to get them to come to church for a long time now, but Lady works everyday of the week, including Sundays from 7:00 to 3:00. Our services are at 8:00 am, so she hasn't been able to come. On Monday night Elder Mendez and I were talking about this family and how we could get them to church. we prayed and asked that the Lord would provide a way. All week, we prayed with this family praying that her boss would give her permission to come to work late, in order to come to church. Everyday she would ask, and her boss told her no. By Friday we were all a little sad....but.....when we showed up at their house on Friday night, Lady was very happy. More than normal, so we asked her why. She told us that she got permission to go to work late in order to come to church!!!!! We freaked out (in a missionary appropriate way)!!! She told us, that they had fired her old boss, and the new one, gave her permission!!!! The girls made jokes that God got her old boss fired for standing in the way. I believe it's true though. Don't mess with Him. We knelt down in that moment and said a prayer of thanks. They came to church on Sunday and participated in the sacrament, and felt the Spirit. It was really special, and they loved it. Her daughters are going to mutual on Wednesday.

Maria Ofelia also came to church on Sunday, and Loved it as well.

All in all it was a great week.

Pretty flowers we found

I find joy everyday speaking and testifying of Jesus Christ and His restored gospel. He is the reason for everything good in our lives, and the reason to change all the bad. Through Him, we can repent and change....from anything. I know He loves me inspite of the wrong things that I do, and He is always willing to forgive...if I do my part. I Love Him, and I love the chance that I have to serve Him everyday.

I Love you all, and hope that you can feel that.

I wish you all the best week that you can have.

With much love,

Elder Cavenee