Really Hard Week/Baptism of Josefina

Hello Family,                                   (Monday, August 29th, 2016)

I'm glad to hear what you all are up to. Sounds like life is busy but enjoyable for ya'll back there in Arizona.

This week was a rollercoaster. Some pretty big ups and downs. Bigger than normal. but I made it through, and am looking at a better week ahead. I'm going to start with the downs because it's always better to end reading the good stuff. First thing..,.this week the mosquitos have been super crazy. There are tons of them. Because we are entering in the rainy season, they are multiplying like crazy and they are everywhere. We use repelent, but sometimes it's not enough:(

Second...I got super sick. I had a fever, headache and runny-nose. We think it was from the mosquitoes. Our house gets really hot at night, so we open the windows, but they don't have mosquito screens so we get eaten alive. The doctor thought that I had sika....it's a disease that is contracted from the mosquitoes here. I don't think I do, but I have to go in a couple times more this week to check. I'm doing better now, but I had to buy a ton of medicine:( So, I am out of money. (Note from Mary:...don't worry...we sent him some)

Third...my companion and I have officially walked too much. Our feet are dead. Literally dead. On Friday my feet were killing me towards the end of the day. On Saturday, my companion and I both woke up with swollen feet. Also...because of the humidity our feet have cracked open and are bleeding. We went to the doctor on Saturday for our feet and he said that they are very bad. He gave us strict instructions so that they can heal up. We had to buy special cremes and more medicine....not cheap. He also said that I need to buy all new socks, and if I can two pairs of new shoes so that I can give each pair a day to air out. I don't know where that money is going to come from...I hate to ask for money. I'll try to figure it out with what they give me here:/ On Sunday morning our feet were even more swollen. It is really hard to walk around the house in the morning. During the day my feet go numb...so I don't feel it, but they are bleeding when we get home at night. The doctor said we need to rest, but we don't have time too. We were given permission too, but I don't want to. There is too much to get done!!!! Please pray for my feet. Really struggling with them right now.  (Note from Mary:  I emailed him back and forth 8 times and told him he needed to buy 2 pair of shoes and new socks...we sent him the money....and rotate his shoes, etc.  So don't worry...all is well.  He had this issue in high school, too...but it is compounded with the humidity.)

We spent all day today resting in the house because we are just super tired. Those were the struggles of the week, but I also had several highlights.

We had another baptism!!!! Josefina, Lady's mom, was baptized on Friday!!! That is all of the family that lives in our area. They are all so happy for that, and they want to send missionaries to the rest of their family.

We have another baptism planned for this Saturday. Viki is an investigator that I was teaching with Elder Velazquez. She wasn't really interested, but, following the Spirit, we went and visited her this week. She accepted baptism!!! She came to church on Sunday and is preparing for Saturday!! Her daughter is a member and is filling out her papers. She is so happy right now!

President came and visited us twice this week. It was great to have him over and get to talk with him. We had a special meeting with him about our work in Teapa. The plans that we have, and some permision that we needed. He also brought us a air-conditioning unit!!! He brought that on Saturday...so we have passed the past two nights sleeping with clima!!!!

Teapa is going great. Last week we met with the family that is going to have the meetings in their house. They are super excited to start the branch out there. The first sacrament meeting will be this Sunday!! We have permission to baptize in the river there!!! We are super excited. Right now there are about 20 members that live there, but only 6 are active. We spent all Wednesday there, and now we have 7 investigators with baptismal dates. We are going back on Wednesday and Thursday this week. I am so excited for what we are going to be able to do there.

Now that we have two days less every week in Mercedes, we have to work twice as hard. I am absolutely exhausted, but it's okay because we are seeing the blessings.

Please pray for me and my health. I want to be able to keep working super hard. Don't want to miss a single moment.

I Love you all soo much!!!!! Have and amazing week!!!

Love,

Elder Cavenee

Baptism of Ariana!

Hello Family,                                                              (August 22nd, 2016)

I hope that you all had an amazing week and that you are all keeping super busy! This week was absolutely wonderful for me!!!

On Monday, Elder Gonzalez, my new companion got to Villa at like 4:00 so apart from writing home we didn't really do anything else. We got to know each other a little more. We both know of each other, but have never actually met. We were given a special assignment from President. We are in charge of opening a branch in Teapa. Teapa is about two hours from Villa. We are still in charge of our area, but we also have to get the branch open. We have a lot of work ahead of us.

Tuesday morning we headed out early to visit Ariana. We had an amazing lesson with her. We talked about several problems that she is passing in her life right now and in what ways the Spirit could help her to make it through those things. The Spirit testified of himself, and she felt it very strongly. She accepted to be baptized!!! The rest of the week we taught her the commandments. On Friday she was baptized!

Wednesday we went to the Temple!!!! It was so nice to be there again. We got to do baptisms with the young men and women from our ward. Lady, Soari and Yajaira were all there. It was their first time in the Temple and they absolutely loved it. Afterwards Lady shared with us that during the confirmations, she felt a really strong prompting that someone was waiting very impatiently to have their work done. She shared with us that is was very strong and that it was a feeling of a deep desire to be cleansed from sin. We are now working with Lady to do her Family history so that she can get the work done for her family. Elder Gonzalez got to baptize and be baptized by one another. It felt so good. It was a little wierd being the one being baptized after so much time....but I loved it. The Temple is my favorite place on earth. Inside I really feel at peace. The things that I worry about everyday as a missionary seem to be so simple and not stressful. It was a wonderful experiance. The Temple President and his wife are from Mesa. I was talking to his wife and she told me that her seminary teacher in High School was Brother Noble. He is President Turley. They know our family. Now the Temple is closed and He headed back to Arizona. We are going to ask permission to go to a session when the Temple opens again.

Friday we had Ariana's baptism. It was great!! Lady gave her first talk on Baptism and the holy Ghost. She shared a strong testimony about eternal families, and was crying. I felt so happy and proud as she stood there with only one week as a member and gave a talk. It was great. We sang with them for the musical number. It was a very special experience for the Hernandez family. Now we are working with Lady's mom. She could be getting baptized this week, and Lady's sister wants us to come and visit her and her family as well. It is amazing how much the change that has happened in Lady's life is changing the lives of so many others.

Baptism of Ariana

On Sunday bishop asked Elder Gonzalez and I to speak in church about missionary work. First time that I have spoken in church in this ward...but it went very well. In our Gospel Principles class we taught about the Word of Wisdom. Lady shared a strong testimony of how her life has changed for the better because she is now living the Word of Wisdom.

We also started teaching a new investigator. Yessica is 19 and all of her family are Jehova's Witnesses. She came to church on Sunday and participated a ton. It was great. she is progressing very fast, and she invited her boyfriend to come next week.

This week we are starting our visits to Teapa. Two day out of the week we are going to be there, so we are working super hard the days that we are going to be here in Mercedes. this last week the latest we left the house was at 8:30. Normally proselyting starts at 11:00....but we just have so much to do!!! I am so tired right now...but that's okay because I'll be able to relax a little in four months:)!

It rained a lot in the begining of the week....but now it's hot again. And super humid!! It's been hard to sleep at night. Good News though....we found a house with air-conditioning and today President gave us the green light to move. We are going to move this week and we will have AIR-CONDITIONING!!!!!! We're pretty excited!

Vanessa!!!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY this week. I Love you and hope that you know that. I hope your birthday is a very special day for you!!

I Love you all!!!! Have and amazing week!!!

Elder Cavenee

Maohricio Baptism!

Sorry,                                                 (Also from August 15th)

I forgot to put something in my email.

On Saturday a boy in our ward was baptized....Maohricio. His Mom asked me to confirm him. It was amazing what came in that blessing I gave him after the confirmation. I felt all the love that the Lord has for this little boy. He reminds me a lot of Jackson. The Lord has a lot planned for him. It was an amazing experiance.

This family have never really been close to missionaries before, but I love them. After the baptism the father gave me a huge hug...and crying thanked me for caring about them, and not leaving them alone. It was a wonderful moment.

The sister sent you some pictures mom. Mom, in your facebook, no one can send you friend invites. I don't know why, but there are several sisters that want to be your friend on facebook to be able to send you pictures and videos:)

I Love you a ton!!!!

Elder Cavenee

On Fire Literally and Figuratively!

Hello Family!!!!                                (This is from August 15th, 2016)

It's great to hear about your amazing lives. You guys are the best. Mom, doing Cinderella sounds like it will be super fun. I really don't remember who I was when I did it. I miss acting/singing....being in musicals. That was such a joy for me in High School. I hope that you have a great time with that. Sounds like it's going to be a good year with ALA!! I really want to be part of that group (Rob Gardner) when I get home. It would be super fun. Oh...here is President's email.... karl.haws@ldschurch.org

I was talking to another elder from my generation today, and it seems like our return date is December 19th. I hope it is so that I can be home for Christmas!!!!  (Note from Mary:  I emailed Pres. Haws and Brett's return date is exactly two years from when he left....Sat Jan. 7th....we will save Christmas until then!)

Dad....yes you can vote for me. Just vote for the same people you are voting for. Sounds like this class is going to be super cool. Eternal Families....it's something that we teach a lot about here. I really hope that you and mom enjoy teaching that class. How is your new calling going? You are going to be a great Young Men's president.

Jenna.....I still can't get over how grown up you are!!! You're in college now!!!! WHAT!!!! And working!!!! I'm very proud of you. Stay busy....and read your scriptures and Preach My Gospel everyday. Seriously...do it:) So....just a little bit of gossip....I have our family picture hung on the wall in my house, so when other Elders show up....they obviously see it. the funny thing is....they always ask about you;) It's really funny, and they all want your email...to talk to you. It's great:) Obviously I haven't passed any of them your email:) No worries;)

Jackson....keep doing good in school. Study hard....I believe in you!!! When do you start lacrosse? Keep being an awesome helper to mom.

Vanessa!!!! Swim Team!!!! That's awesome. Practice hard so that you can make it to the A lane for the meets:) I Love you!

Josephs engaged!!!! That is so cool. Give him a big hug for me!!!

So.....Elder Mendez went home:( He's gone now, and now I have a new companion....Elder Gonzalez form Ciudad Juarez in Chiuaua Mexico. He is really cool. We have the same time in the mission and we are super excited to work together. While I was sitting in the bus station waiting for my new companion all morning (I waited from 9:00am until 3:30), I got to see part of the Men's Volleyball game between USA and Mexico. We won!!! And I got a ton of crap from all the Mexican missionaries that were sitting with me...but hey...we won.

TGI Friday's with the Bishopric!!

Lady and her daughters are doing amazing. I caught Lady paying her tithing on Sunday. That filled me with a nice warm feeling. I got permission from President to go to the Temple with them on Wednesday to do baptisms. It is going to be their first time going. I am so excited. On Saturday night they made mole for dinner and decorated their house. It was a surprise for him. Everyone was crying. Lady has started talking with her friends about the Gospel and how it changed her life. We have appointments with them this week!!! Soari is attending seminary now, and Yajaira is working hard on her personal progress. They are amazing.

This week was la Semana de Bienestar for the relief society in our ward. I don't know what to call that in English, but it's when they all get together everyday of the week and have classes all day. About health, first aid, cooking and crafts....stuff like that. we spent several days in the church with them helping out preparing the activities. On Wednesday we taught a first aid class. That was really fun. Elder Mendez took an EMT course before his mission too, so it was fun to teach with him....something different than what we normally teach. On Thursday I taught the sister to make Cinnamon Rolls. It was super fun!!! All of the sisters were making jokes like ''Elder...why don't I have a daughter your age?'' or ''Sisters....we need to find a wife for elder Cavenee so that he stays here!'' Then they all made fun of me because I turned red. Everyone here thinks it is funny that I'm always turn red for whatever reason...heat...embarrasment...

We found a new investigator this week. His name is Jorge and he is from Ciudad Carmen, but he staying here for a while. He has read almost all of the Book of Mormon!!!! He is amazing. He came to church on Sunday and absolutely loved it. We are going to work hard with him to see if we can get him baptized before he goes back to Carmen.

Lucy is progressing very well. She went to the Relief Society activities this week. With lots of prayer she might get baptized this week. she loves coming to church.

We are working with Lady's mom and other daughter Ariana. Ariana lives with her Grandmother and takes care of her. They have both come to church several times, and are now starting to progress. They've seen the drastic change that has happened with Lady, and are now very interested. It's great....Lady is affecting a ton of people for the good. They will probably be baptized within the month.

On Sunday I taught the Gospel Principles class. The class was about service. It was great. We talked about the Saviors example in not only giving service, but accepting it as well. Many times, God answers our prayers through others...and we have to be willing to accept the service they bring us. We also need to be close to the Spirit to be guided to help people. To be the answer that God sends to their prayers. Serve someone this week:) I promise that you'll feel great!

I got my new Temple recommend this week. On Tuesday we went into the offices for Elder Mendez's final interview with president. While we were there, he pulled me into his office and just talked to me for a few minutes. Just asking how I was doing. He is awesome.

As far as what I need, I just got some pants and shirts that Elder Mendez left behind (Mom the pants and shirt that I burnt were ones that I found in the house....they weren't mine) so I'm good there...but I do need new shoes....I now have holes in the bottom of mine. They still work....just not when it rains:/ I'm going to take my camera to a place to see if they can fix it.

Anyways....I am feeling really good. I feel on fire!!!! Figuratively and literally. It is super hot here. Supposedly we're in the rainy season....but there's not very much rain. Yesterday it rained...but today it is blazing hot again!!! I am super tired but I feel good...I have just enough energy to get done what needs to be done....and then I'm out. It feels so good to see the fruits. It is amazing the peace and comfort that the Gospel brings:)

I Love you all so much and hope that you have an amazing week!!!!

Elder Cavenee

P.S. My new companion has a camera that works....soo, hopefully I can get more pictures until I fix mine.