Obedience/Work/Love

Happy Fourth of July Everyone!!!!!!                                                       6/4/16

I hope that you are all celebrating and enjoying this day....because it´s just another normal day here:) This morning our landlord called me, and wished me a Happy Fourth of July! That was cool. He told me to hang my flag outside on the balcony so....after reassuring my companion that no one was going to kill us...I did. When I told him I was going to hang it up he was like ''No Elder....someone is going to throw a bomb at us!!!'' It was really funny. But it's hanging up right now....and nothing has happened:) I also wore my Captain America shirt in honor of the great country of where I was born (and because he is pretty cool). Anyways.....remember the great country that you all live in and all of the freedoms that we have!!!!

Today is also Tony´s birthday. The bishop's son....he is turning three today!!! He is the coolest. We saw him today and he came running up to us and gave us his birthday candy!!!! And then he asked for it back:( It's alright though because he still gave us a piece!!!

So...on Tuesday this week we had district class. It was a pretty good class, and we all set a goal to find a new family to teach this week. As companions we decided what we were going to do in order to find them. My companion and I decided to fast and pray, that we could find this family and that they would contact us. So we did it. We decided to fast on from Thursday to Friday with that specific purpose. On Friday....as we were taking food to Sebastian we passed by an apartment that is below his. Standing there in the door was a little boy, who waved at us energetically and gave us the biggest smile. We waved back, and went up the stairs to feed Sebastian. On they way back down, he was still at the door, but he was with his mom. She called us over and asked us who we were. She see's us everyday taking food to Sebastian, and so she asked us what we were doing. We explained that we were missionaries, and that we take care of feeding S
ebastian. THEN........She asked us if we could share something with her kids!!!!! She invited us in and we taught them about the Restoration. The mom's name is Maria, and she has four kids. Juliana who is 12, Jesus who is 9, Carla who is 8, and Bryan who is 2. They are a great family, and the lesson went very well. They accepted baptism, but they weren't able to come to church this week, so that is the next goal with them. But our prayer was answered!!! Fasting and prayer really works.

On Wednesday we had a conference with our new President. President Haws!!! He is from California, and he is amazing. The spirit he has is so powerful. I was talking to my companion, and we both feel that he is going to take this mission to another level. He shared with us his three favorite word from Preach My Gospel. Obedience, Work and Love. He shared witht us the importance of each of these in order to have/feel the Spirit. And that is how this work is done....with and by the power of the Spirit. He talked about our calling as missionaries. Our goals is to be and instrument in the hands of God.

41 And you must preach unto the world, saying: You must repent and be baptized, in the name of Jesus Christ;

42 For all men must repent and be baptized, and not only men, but women, and children who have arrived at the years of accountability.

43 And now, after that you have received this, you must keep my commandments in all things;

44 And by your hands I will work a marvelous work among the children of men, unto the convincing of many of their sins, that they may come unto repentance, and that they may come unto the kingdom of my Father.

45 Wherefore, the blessings which I give unto you are above ALL things. D&C 18:41-45

When we are able to become that instrument and literally save people...the Lord promises us His blessings which are greater than anything else that we can recieve. I really believe this. I have recieved so many blessings that top anything else that I can get in this world. ''These two years are not the best two years of my life, they are two years to better my life.'' Anyways....President Haws is amazing.

On Thursday, I had one of the most Spiritual experiences in my life. We went to visit Hermana Ladie and her daughters. Together we watched ''Meet the Mormons''. It was awesome because all three of them laughed, and cried. Afterwards, we talked with them about the movie and they all shared there favorite parts. Ladie then shared with us how much she loves when we come to visit because of what she feels every time we are in their house. It's different than any other time. We had the amazing opportunity to talk with them in detail about the gift of the Holy Ghost, and how it has blessed and changed our lives. For the first time in a while, as I was bearing my simple testimony of this to them, I started crying. I felt like someone was sitting beside me, and that he put his hand on my shoulder and told me that what I was saying was real and true. I was filled with a ton of happiness and love. I felt sooo good. In that moment we invited them to be baptized. Suari and Yaharia accepted right away! Ladie told us that she is almost ready....that it will be sooner than we think. That was amazing. I can't really describe everything that I felt in those moments, but it was one of the most tender moments in my mission. It was wonderful.

We also found two other new investigators that accepted baptism. Marco Antonio and Conception. Neither of them were able to come to church:( But we are going to work with them this week to get them to church.

So...that was my week. I love you all and hope that you all have an amazing week.

Love,

Elder Cavenee

P.S. We stopped by the Temple when we were in Villa

Follow the Spirit

Hello my traveling Family,                                       (Note from Mary:  this is from Monday 6/27/16)

I hope that everything is going amazing for all of you in your travels around the United States. It looks like a ton of fun!!! I miss you all.

So this week was spectacular. I thoroughly enjoyed it. (Normally every week is like that). We had the coolest experience with a family. So...last week we were traveling in a combie (taxi van) when out of nowhere a little boy named Erick started talking to me. He asked if I was a missionary...and of course I told him yes. He got super excited and told his dad (who was sitting on the other side of the combie) that he found missionaries. When we got off the combie, Ruben (the Dad) told us that he and is family were members, and that they had just moved from Merida. They asked us to come and visit them later that week, but they didn't know there direction. They kind-of explained to us where they live...giving us directions that didn't really make sense, and we set an appointment to visit them. On Tuesday we had that appointment, but we couldn't find there house. We looked for about an hour, but could not find them. We felt really bad, but we couldn't do anything about it.

On Thursday we were in that neighborhood again, we were just passing through on the bus to go to another area for an appointment. Elder Mendez and I both felt really strongly that we needed to get off the bus....so we did. Getting off we started trying to figure out who we were supposed to visit. We decided to pray and ask the Lord who we are supposed to find/visit. In that moment we both felt that it was this family....so we headed out to find there house. After looking for like twenty minutes, we could not find it...and we were about to give up again. We decided to pray again and ask for help to find this family. The moment we finished the pray...Erick came running down the street yelling for us. When he got to us he gave us a huge hug, and then took us to his house. His whole family was there and we had an amazing lesson with them. They were all so excited to see us and wanted more than anything to come to church on Sunday. They told us that they had been praying for several weeks that the missionaries would show up in order to help them get to church (know when and where). Then we showed up. On Friday we went back with the Bishop so that he could get to know them. We had another amazing lesson with them. In just two visits they feel like family, and I love them. They are a family of five. Mom, Dad, two girls that are 11 and 9, and Erick who is turning 8 in September. Ruben, the dad, is a musician. He performs on buses and in restaurants playing his guitar and singing. Everyone of them love to sing and have amazing voices. We had fun singing together. They are amazing. They came to church on Sunday and were so happy.

I know that the Lord always inspires us and always answers our prayers. We need to be ready in every moment to receive directions from the Holy Ghost. Once we receive those instructions, we need to act in the moment. I have learned that here. When the Spirit speaks, we need to obey in the moment because it is really God speaking to us. When we do, we receive blessings, and when we don't....well, it's better if we do. I know that He is aware of everyone of us and our needs. If we ask, He will answer.

On Thursday we had our farewell with President Morales. That was really hard saying goodbye. He leaves on Wednesday:( During the meeting, all of the missionaries were given the opportunity to speak and share something about President and his family. Express love and gratitude for them and all that they have done. I didn´t realize how much I really love President Morales until that moment. As I spoke, I turned around and looked him in the eyes, and once again just felt the overwhelming love that he has for me, and all of the missionaries. Of course I was crying. I am really going to miss him and his family. They are amazing!!!!

It has been raining a ton here. I Love it. The storms roll in so quick and it is really cool to see. I'll send you pictures.

My companion got really sick this week, with a fever and strep throat.

He was out for about two days, so I got to play nurse and take care of him. He caught it from the bishopwho has also been sick. I got to do a lot of injections this week. Every morning and night I gave my companion and the bishop injections!!!! That was super fun. I'm surprised I remembered how to do it, but everyone is okay now so I guess I didn't forget. That was fun.

On Sunday I took pictures with several families here in the ward. I'll send them too.

Sorry it's a little short today....the internet is really slow right now.

Anyways, I love you all and hope that you are all safe and enjoy the rest of your trip!!!!

Love,

Elder Cavenee

Pics:

Storms

I found Ragu Sauce!!!!

Baptism of Maria

Hello Family,                                                           (Note from Mary: this is from Monday 6/20/16)

I´m sorry if my letter is short today because It is pouring rain, and the cibers are all losing internet!!!!

When I say that it is pouring rain, I mean that there is a waterfall falling out of the sky, and all the streets have turned into rivers!!!! It is awesome. I love rain. Last night we woke up in the middle of the night, soaked from the rain that was blown into our window. It was a really weird feeling to wake up with water falling down your face, but it was cool. It seems like the earth can´t decide what weather it wants to have right now. During the day it is burning hot, and then it rains like crazy for an hour or two, then the sun comes out again and vaporizes all of the water making it even hotter (seriously, it is a natural sauna!). Then at night it is pouring rain, and freezing again. It's crazy, but I like it....adds a little variety!!

It´s awesome to hear what you´ll all be up to for the next two weeks!!! DC, NYC, and Nauvoo. That is going to be a blast. I miss Nauvoo. It still has a part of my heart. Yes, I did go to New York for the Scout Jamboree. I don´t remember how many days we were there for, but I remember in NYC the Empire State Building, Times Square, and Central Park. Also we went to Gound Zero (Twin Tower Site) and did some other stuff....I don´t remember a whole lot. We went to a bunch of Church and American History sites. It was a lot of fun. I hope that you all enjoy it!!!!!

This week was fantastic. We had a Baptism!!!!! Maria Ofelia got Baptized!!!!!! She is so animated now. Walking her home from her baptism she asked us ''What chapters in the Book of Mormon do I have to read before church tomorrow?'' It was awesome. She brought her grandson Hector and her really liked seeing her baptism, and her confirmation on Sunday. The young men in the ward welcomed him very well, and he loved church. We are planning to start teaching him, and use that as a opening into the rest of his family. Ofelia told us that her son Hector (young Hector´s dad) almost came to church. Ofelia told us that he was going to come, but he was wearing tennis shoes. So...she told him that he couldn´t go to church in tennis shoes, he got upset, and decided not to go. When she told us that, we explained to her that it was okay....just as long as he came. She told us that she thought he couldn't because of the way that we dress. Hahahah!!!! So we explained to her that the Lord just wants us to wear our best when we go to church...she understood and is going to invite him for next week.

We had a really amazing experience with Maria Ofelia this week. She shared with us a dream that she had...about a month ago. In this dream, she saw Jesus moving and changing the earth. She said He was doing it with ease. Creating mountains, sinking cities, changing everything. Then, she saw Him come down from Heaven. He blessed and taught the people that were there. And then, with hand movements, built a church with three pillars. After it was built, many people entered, but they were all children. Jesus then sat with all of them and blessed them. Then He went back up to Heaven. After that she woke up. My companion had chills all over his arms, and I was crying. I felt the Spirit so strong in that moment. It was amazing. She then asked us what it meant, and we both opened the Book of Mormon to 3 Nephi 11. We read the chapter with her, and she told us that that was what she saw. Then she asked us about the Church with three pillars. We read in Ephesians about the church that Jesus Christ established and how it had three fundamentals...Prophets, Apostles, and the Authority of God (priesthood). We talked about how Christ established his church with these fundamentals....which the pillars represent. Then she asked about why only children were in the church. We read again in 3 Nephi 11 when Christ teaches us that we need to be as little children. It was so amazing. Everything that we said or read was given to us by the Spirit. My companion, Ofelia, and I felt the Spirit so strong that afternoon. Elder Mendez and I left that appointment in awe. She dreamed what happened in the Book of Mormon, and the Spirit led us to be able to interpret that dream. It was amazing!!!

On Saturday night, Anuar called us and asked if he could take us to church on Sunday. We thought that he was talking about his old church because all week he was trying to get us to go with him. But he explained that he wanted to take us to our church. We were so surprised!!! He was progressing so well until about three weeks ago when he just stopped completing with the things that we left him and started contending with us. It really surprised us...but we said of course he could. He came and picked us up on Sunday morning in his truck, and went to church with us. It was awesome!!!

Lady wasn´t able to go to church this week because she had to work, but both of her daughters showed up...on their own!!! Also, on Wednesday, we went to the church to meet with our ward mission leader, and they were there with the young women at mutual!!!! It was really funny....we were talking with our mission leader about their family, and he told us ''did you guys not know that they are here right now?'' Sure enough, they were there. That was awesome. We are planning on setting a baptismal date with them this week.

On Tuesday we had our last conference with President. It was really awesome and really sad at the same time. President and Sister Morales talked to us about how we can become better than we are, and how we could do it. They talked about how the best gift they could leave us, is having taught us how to trust in the Spirit when we teach. We had a really awesome practice, with a new style of teaching, and it is the best lesson I have ever given in my entire mission. It was amazing. It is helping a lot in our teaching. Afterwards we played volleyball with president, and of course I was on a team opposite of him. I got several good serves to pass through his arms, but because he is president, he called redo....hahaha. He has a really good serve as well. It was a lot of fun...especially because president starts talking trash to everyone (in a very loving but funny way). At the end, he told us that it was the last game, but we played four more until he finally won. And then he said ''Alright, that is the real last game, so that you all remember that I beat you all at volleyball!'' It was very funny.

I ordered a new magnet name tag like five months ago (i lost my other in a bus) and it finally got in this week. The only problem is that when a Méxican Elder send in the order, he writes your name wrong. My name tag showed up written Elder Cavene. I´m going to order a new one.

On Sunday I sang ''Oh My Father'' for a special musical number with another sister in the ward. It was  awesome. She has an incredible voice!!!! (Picture of her family included) Also, the primary kids sang for all the fathers during Priesthood.

Anyways....this week was great, and we are preparing for another great week ahead. I Love you all and hope that you have an amazing and safe vacation.

Love,

Elder Cavenee