River Baptism in Teapa!

Hello Family,                   (Note from Mary: this is from Monday, Sept. 26th, 2016)

I hope that you all had an amazing week this week. I sure did. Well.....it was alright. Not the best week, but not the worst, so that´s good.

Transfers were today and Elder Gonzalez and I are staying together for another transfer!!! We're pretty excited for that. I now have six months in this area. I love it here!!!!

First off, it is raining almost every day here....and at night the thunder is so loud that it wakes us up. It is crazy the storms that come up here. Right now it is very wet....but that´s better than dying of heat!!! It's awesome.....my last Tabasco rain season:( Gotta enjoy it while it lasts.

We had a great week in Teapa. We were out there again on Wednesday and Thursday. Angel is doing great. He is progressing and applying everything that we teach him. The only thing is he is still scared of committing to baptism, and he hasn't come to church yet. That is the goal this week, that he comes to church. I think we can get it done because he has been wanting to come, just keeps having things come up. So....

we´re going to help him in that. I know that once he has the opportunity to participate in the sacrament he will start progressing at an even faster rate. We're pretty excited for him.

On Wednesday we had a little time so we went (tracting you could say) looking for people in their houses. After being rejected like 15 times, we found Carlos. Carlos is 17 and is an awesome investigator. As we were passing his house, he was watching TV. We stopped at his door, and asked if we could come in. He said yes, and we taught him. He accepted baptism, and was very enthusiastic about it. At first I thought that he wasn't going to take us seriously, but he did, and now he is preparing for baptism. We talked to him last night over the phone and he is still very excited.

On Thursday we went to visit an inactive family to invite them and explain when and where church services were. We went to a ranch outside of Teapa....walking. It took us about an hour and a half to get there, but it was a beautiful walk. A small road in the middle of the jungle. Everything super green!!! It was cool. We had a nice lesson with them, and they came to church on Sunday. We also met the members' sister who is not a member....Esperanza. We invited her as well, and she came. This week we are going to visit her and see how she feels about baptism. I think she is going to be a golden investigator.

On Sunday we had our first baptism in Teapa!!!!! Hector.... an 8 year old boy. We have been teaching him and his Dad, Daniel. His dad isn't ready for baptism yet but Hector was. I got to baptize in the river. It was super cool....and harder than I expected. Because of all of the rain lately, the water was deep and the current was stronger than expected. I was literally holding Hector in place so that the current wouldn't sweep him away. It was super cool!!!!! Almost fell over a couple times getting to the spot, but it all went well....and was an amazing experience. We are hoping to get some more in that river soon.

Last Monday we had family home evening with Edgar, Angie and their family. We had a great lesson with them about the trials in our lives. It doesn't matter what is happening, we will always have the help that we need....if we ask for it. We showed a video with Russel M. Nelson called "Men's Hearts Shall Fail Them." Here is a quote from that video that I like a ton. He said ''Be patient with yourself. Perfection comes not in this life, but in the next life. Don't demand  things that are unreasonable but demand of yourself improvement. As you let the Lord help you, through that He will make the difference''. Such a powerful message for all of us. This family has been passing through various problems lately so we shared that message with them. It goes really well with Ether 12:27.

Afterwards we were talking with them, and Brother Edgar began to speak very seriously with us. He shared with us that he has a special spiritual gift from Heavenly Father. He told us that the Lord called us to Teapa for a specific family. That this family is waiting eagerly for us to find them. He then told us....''work as hard as you can there. This family is very special. The Lord chose and sent you two for them. Find them and help them.'' We were super shocked, but the Spirit testified to us both that it was true. It was a really neat experience. Now we are looking high and low for this family, praying that the Lord will lead us to them. I just hope we find them soon!!!

Alejandro's baptism fell through on Saturday....that was kind of disappointing. It was the second time that it has fallen through. But that's okay...we just keep working with him.

On Sunday I gave another talk in church about the blessings of keeping the commandments. There is a scripture in D&C that I love...D&C 130:20-21. We always receive the Lords blessings when we keep his commandments. It was a good talk:)

Anyways....another week down...and another transfer down. Only two and a half transfers left!!!! It's crazy how fast time is flying, but I'm making the most of every moment.

I Love you all and help you have another amazing week.

Love,

Elder Cavenee

Elder Cavenee