What Didn't Happen This Week?!

Two Baptisms, A Wedding, Transfers, Bucking Hay, Nerf Gun War, Cherry Picking you name it we probably did it.. :)

Safe to say it was an AMAZING week.. so let me back up!

** Warning- There will be pictures all over this email because I'm sure some of you just want to see the pics! 

Okay so Monday it was our last P-Day together as a Zone :( and  we decided to have a Nerf war was it EPIC indeed it was! We have some awesome members who gave us some Nerf guns to borrow and we went to town district vs. district. Perfect last P-Day. This week we knew we were going to be soo busy. And we were super grateful to be apart of the lives of the people here in Nampa. 

This week was sooo HOT! Wednesday our investigator Dan was getting married. They asked us to come set up so we did. Except it sort of turned into us setting up however we thought it should look so we kind of had free reign.. call us wedding planners! It turned our super cute though. It was 102 that day as we were setting up.. that was my first with the hundreds in dry heat whew! The wedding was beautiful and it was awesome to see their family and friends there to support and love them. The next day was Dan's baptism and what a long awaited day for his family. Her bore such a beautiful testimony on how he supported his wife in going back to church and was just going to support and then it became about his growth and desire to learn. Dan has been waiting for that moment for so long and it was so wonderful to feel his spirit and see the joy on his face surely as well in his heart. Such a blessing to work with him and to see how the gospel blesses families.Dan had 8 sister missionaries teach him over a span of a year. All of us were there. And a huge ward family was as well! I know that the gospel will continue to be an anchor in there marriage and family.

We finished teaching Francisca the lessons this week and it was a huge blessing to work with her. She was a referral from the ward. Some young women's girls reached out to her two years ago at school and over two years with the fellowship of the ward Francisca was able to get baptized this week. She truly is amazing.. something funny she said in our last lesson. We were teaching about the the ten commandments and we talked about good language and not taking the lords name in vain in speaking and action. And she said "I'm gonna tell my sister, she can take all the curse words and make a sentence" i had to write it down! Francisca is late for everything really its so bad.. hah Soo we were ready for her baptism and she needed to be there at 5 because the baptism was at 6.. So we set things up and were waiting and waiting and then ward members starting arriving and no Francisca. We called and she didn't pick up the phone it was the most stressful experience ever.. 5:30 came and went.. and we were all waiting pacing up and down the halls of the church.. finally she called us and told us she was waiting for her parents who are not members to come to her baptism but because friends were over the opted not to come.. the sadness in her voice was evident and I knew how hard it was going to be as she said so.. "I'm coming alone" We waited for her to get there and with puffy eyes she got dressed and some sisters from the ward came in to help her and reassure her of their love. We sat with her through her baptism.. no parents or family but the amazing ward family there to support her. Such a powerful baptisms the tears with flowing and the spirit was so strong. That amazing ward has cared for and hosted lessons, invited and invited and loved her. The power of reaching out with love was evident at that baptism. How important is heavenly father children to him? there are too many reasons to count. Every time I sit and watch those who I have been blessed to teach enter the water of baptism.. every time the power of the spirit is so strong as it whispers "its means everything to me". How grateful I am for the example Francisca is of following what she knows in her heart to be true and being converted enough to act on it. Even when her decision was not supported by her family. Do we truly understand the power of Nephi's words in 1 Nephi 3:7? With all the surety and strength of my soul I truly do. 

The previous week I finished our mission president challenge to read the Book of Mormon. I saw this quote this week that testified of why we offer the book of Mormon to friends and family, why we invite those we love to find out more about the things we believe and know to be true "Our desire to share the restored gospel of Jesus Christ with you is a reflection of how important these truths are to us. Some of you may respond, “But I already believe in Jesus and follow His teachings,” or “I am not sure if God really exists.” Our invitations to you are not an attempt to diminish your religious tradition or life experience. Bring all that you know is true, good, and praiseworthy and test our message. Just as Jesus beckoned two of His disciples to “come and see” (John 1:39), so we urge you to come and see if the restored gospel of Jesus Christ enlarges and enriches that which you already believe to be true." - Elder David A Bednar   We also did service as a zone this week on a ranch and I got to experience some things I haven't before.. such as bucking hay and brushing horses it was pretty fun. The cherry trees are growing like crazy here so we have gone picking three times already. I love mostly anything free..so it was perfect. This week we had transfer calls and I have been transferred to Nampa West. Super sad :( I'm going to miss trio life and my awesome companions. We loved serving together. This week is my halfway mark and we are heading to the temple on Thursday i'm super excited!

Hope everyone has a great week

Much love,

Sister Cleveland

"It's getting Hot over Here.."

Hellooo Fam!

Honestly ever time I write out an email it feels like what happen this week happen a month ago time is so weird on the mission. So starting in the beginning of the week we were driving home and there was a man at a gas station the spirit told me "you need to go talk to him" so we kept driving and as we got further down the road i turned to my companions and told them and we kept driving.. (i know horrible missionary) finally I was like we need to go back! So I met Darryl he lives in Mountain Home and we started talking, I told him about the Book of Mormon and the testament it is of our Savior Jesus Christ. I invited him to read it and find out more. In the moments we were driving I was thinking about Darryl and how important it is to listen to promptings as they come. President Monson told us to "never delay a prompting." And I wonder what would have happen had I ignored the prompting I'm so glad I don't have to find out. I also thought about how much the mission has changed me 9 months ago It would have been super weird for me to walk up hand someone the book of mormon and tell them the spirit told me to come talk to you. I'm soo grateful that the lord magnifies the called and that sharing my testimony seems to flo more freely on my mission such a tremendous blessing. The promises found in D&C 33:10 are true if we open our mouths the lord will fill them with the things we need to share.

This week we had dinner with President and Sister Cannon it was super fun and of course we had to eat Ice Cream. We went on exchanges this week and I went with Hermana Vujich we had a grand time and I became an Aunt to Jamal. Elder Forgach son.. we ran into the zone leaders. And Jamal was riding in the back with no car seat. But he had his seat belt on! Our investigators are doing super good and Dan will be getting baptized this week and Francisca we are super excited for them. Dan is also getting married on Wednesday.. ( you know me and weddings love them!) i'll make sure to take tons of pictures. We had our first lesson with out investigator Hayden this week on the restoration and it was sooo good. She asked so many deep questions and super funny comments about church and the church she goes too. She said:

"When you got your mission call were you "low key" disappointed? Cause ID SUCKS.."

"I love your temples.. Boise is beautiful.. but Rexburg isnt your best work"

Also, this week we found some interesting treasures at the church.. (check out the pics)

We celebrated Memorial Day with a fun family in the elders ward and of course had to get matching shirts we played an intense tournament of "Z Ball" we were so pumped and won our first game and then lost the next so we went in to the loser bracket :( it was good while it lasted. Hah the work is going well, Idaho is getting warmer everyday but i'll survive i got my otter pops and lotion! 

Have a great week everyone! 

All my Love, 

Sister Cleveland

Trio Tag: The past is my experience, the present is my responsibility, and the future is my challenge." - Joseph Forkpah

Tender Moments

Hellooo Everyone!

Our mission boundaries are going to be changed. We will be getting Meridian, Star and Eagle and will be getting the Meridian temple which we got to see this week :) Along with getting a new mission president next transfer we will be getting 52 missionaries from the Idaho Boise Mission. We have some major changes coming soon. 

So much has happen this week:

Started the week of playing some water balloon volleyball with the zone. It's starting to get super warm here so were pretty excited. We went walking that night to an appt. As we were walking some members pulled over not the first ones we saw that night.. and told us there was a girl coming our way who looked like she had been crying. So we positioned ourselves to the other side of the street so we could "run into" her and we did. She told us what had happen and she walked off crying. We were a little dumbfounded so all we could think to do was pray. We didn't have our car to chase her down.. so we prayed right there on the side of the street. We prayed that the lord would soften her sisters heart and that the girl would have a ride home because she lives on the other side of Nampa. We hope that he sister was able to find her. Of course whats a week without some service so we did a zone service project moving a family with a super tiny trailer so we played Tetris.. there were lots of Chiefs but we had enough Indians so i guess it worked. This week  was also spiritually exhausting in all the best ways. We had our last zone conference with President and Sister Cannon it was super emotional. We had a great testimony meeting and were able to play some fun zone bonding games that were spiritually and fun. President talked about getting the gospel into our souls not just our hearts. My favorite quote was "Becoming more like Christ is emancipating" Our lives can become better as we follow the simple invitations from the Savior to "come unto him". We picked up an new investigator this week named Hayden. She went to church last week and told us it just felt right. She came to church with us this week and met our Bishop. Who bore a powerful testimony on the book of mormon and invited the youth in the ward to read it. Hayden turned to us and said "he's talking to me!" This week were super blessed to be invited to the temple by a sister in our ward.I wrote about her in the last email. We were able to receive permission and had an amazing experience at the temple with her. Her parents were able to come. Such a beautiful experience to watch them in the temple together. Such a tender mission moment. Her mom took my hand and held it and just kept saying thank you. To all of us sisters. She also told Robin that it would be the last time they would be there together. I'm so grateful for the love of heavenly father has for each of us. Our prayers are always heard, the pleadings over time will be answered in the lords time. What a tender experience to be part of the answer to prayers that have been over by that sweet family. Robin spent the following day in the temple again. The Blessings of the temple are for all of us! I KNOW that the lord love us.. I KNOW it and I BELIEVE it. Keep the Faith and Keep trying everyday! Have a great week everyone. 

Trio Tag: "We all need to be viewed with the eyes of faith on what we can become, not necessarily what we happen to be at the moment."

Much love from Idaho,

Sister Cleveland

His Love is Always There

Hello Everyone,

This week, This week was freaking awesome!

Okay this week we had tons of miracles. We started off this week with some service projects we actually did four this week, we did tons of yard work ( i mowed a lawn for the first time seeing that my dad took precious care of his lawn and i clearly didn't want to mess it up) i'd never done it before! One of elders was teaching me but he had a specific way he did it i might have messed it up a little but the lawn got mowed that's what matters :) pulled some more weeds this week, and helped move people and pack up some houses. It was super fun we usually do our service as a zone too which is helpful. We've been walking our area a lot more which is fun and friendly waves are everything.. one of my companions likes to wave at every car that drives by until they wave at her its pretty entertaining. We run into some interesting people while were out walking always great to share the gospel. And every time we walk we have to have some sort of photo adventure.. we found pride rock in our neighborhood it was awesome. So of course we all had to take a picture on pride rock. So one day this week Sis Abello got sick and she is our designated driver so I had to drive and we were on our way to visit a less active and we saw an ice cream truck (you know me and ice cream) so Sis. Chevalier and I chased it down until it pulled over for us! it was worth it. This week we also had a companion fast such an experience we did it towards the end of the week.. we were having a semi- slow week with getting into people's home and we had our fast and so many awesome experiences after. 

First our investigator Dan passed his baptismal interview we are so excited. We went back to his house that night and he did the lesson super cool. His daughter who is three said the most beautiful prayer and we look up and Dan is crying it was a tender moment. Second, our investigator Francisca came to church this week! And the talks were on baptismal covenants and the holy ghost it was perrfect! Thirdly, a less active we have been working with has become active and qualified for her temple recommend. She had an interview with our bishop and didn't expect to me getting her recommend, the bishop interviewed her and walked her down to the stake presidents office and she was able to receive her temple recommend she hasn't been back to the temple in 20 years. We are so excited for her. Fourth, Marissa the investigator I taught in  Caldwell got baptized on Saturday! She asked me to speak at her baptism. It was such an awesome experience. Her foster dad was able to baptize her.. it was such a tender experience he teared up while he was in the font. It made me reflect on Elder Christofferson's talk on Fathers from, general conference.” "Some men are single fathers, foster fathers, or stepfathers. Many of them strive mightily and do their very best in an often difficult role. We honor those who do all that can be done in love, patience, and self-sacrifice to meet individual and family needs. It should be noted that God Himself entrusted His Only Begotten Son to a foster father. Surely some of the credit goes to Joseph for the fact that as Jesus grew, He “increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man. " They have been such an incredible family for her. And the best news the are going to adopt her next month! So excited for them. I know how much heavenly father loves us individually and cares about the things we do. I was reading from a talk this morning during personal study also by Elder Hugh B Brown "The Currant Bush" Check out the short video. The lord is mindful of all of us. I have a huge testimony of his love. I hope everyone has a great week! 

Trio Tag Line:  "With the gift of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the strength of heaven to help us, we can improve, and the great thing about the gospel is we get credit for trying, even if we don’t always succeed." - Elder Jeffrey R Holland

Much love,

Sister Cleveland 

BUCKLE UP: Cause We had an Eventful Week

So this week was amazingly packed!

We started off the week by  having a super dead day no one was opening the door we taught one lesson so far that day but we were determine to keep "our line in the water all day" as we went to another house and no one opened we got in the car and got a text message from a member in one of our wards who said a investigator that we have been looking for was in her backyard! The investigators name is Francesca and she has taken the discussions twice already but because of her age and her family not wanting her to get baptized she couldn't. But she is now 18 graduating high school and we finally got a hold of her, taught the first discussion and set a baptismal date! Such a huge miracle that day! we also did some service this week we went  to a less active sisters house and pulled some weeds with her with the elders.It was super fun ( who ever though i'd saying pulling weeds was fun) but we had a great time fellow shipping with this sister. We also started walking around our area a lot more and entertain ourselves with seeing how many friendly honks we can get in a day! We also had a fabulous comp date at IKG which is Hawaiian food super delicious we were in heaven… later that night we got a surprise from my university basketball coach who just happen to be traveling from Virginia back to Oregon so she called my mission president and asked if she could see me. She took my companions and I out for desert it was a fun time. 

I'm super excited for our an investigator in Caldwell I was teaching, she called me this week and told me she was getting baptized on Saturday! I'm super excited for her! and i get to go back. Such a blessing to be a part of the journeys of so many people who want to draw closer to heavenly father. We just finished the lessons with our investigator Dan is was such tender experience as we asked him and his fiancee to close their eyes and imagine themselves dressed in white at the temple and then imagine themselves in white with their kids standing in front of heavenly father. We talked about he beauty of everything heavenly father wants for us and more. Dan talked about his conversion and how much his life has changed he chose this verse to describe it Alma 5:12-13. This week I've been working on our mission challenge to finish up the Book of Mormon too its going well I'm already at the end of Alma so I am right on track! To finish off the week we went on a nice morning stroll with our mission president and his wife. Got to chat about life and pet a horse in their subdivision :) Super good week jam packed! Hope you all are doing well!

Lots of Love,

Sister Cleveland

Here is the weekly trio tag: In giving His life, Christ saved not only His own life but our lives as well. He made it possible for us to exchange what would otherwise have been an ultimately futile mortal life for eternal life.

"Hello Boys"

Hey Everyone!

      Nampa life has begun and the trio so far is good. I'm serving with Sister Abello and Sister Chevalier  we are all one transfer apart from each other upon entering the field. It really feels like we are shotgunning our area because one of my companions has only been here for 6 weeks and really doesn't know as many people as she would like so we are starting from scratch but that's okay. This week hasn't been as busy as I'm use too but we taught some lessons with some super cool people. We also did some service as a zone were we pulled weeds and did some gardening my skills are going to be on point in the future and had what felt like nothing but meetings all week it was probably like two meetings hah We have two investigators here  one who has a baptismal date set for June (yes that's actually next month weird..) and the other is a super sweet girl who is 11 and wants to learn about heavenly father. Her parents are Catholic but she loves to pray and told us how much she feels god answers her prayers. I loved it, it was such a sweet reminder that our prayers are heard and when we have the faith it reminded me of this scripture in the Book of Mormon in Alma 33:8 the lord is mindful and hears the cries of all his children. Our mission Book of Mormon challenge is still plugging along we 5 weeks left to finish I'm hoping to be finished with Alma this week. Update from Caldwell Marissa who i was teaching is planning on getting baptized this weekend so hopefully that comes together. I also got a call from the elders in Payette that someone we taught is getting baptized on the 21st so were pretty excited about that too. We have found our our favorites sisters in Nampa she is British and hilarious she doesn't like Yankees even though she married one and lives in America. This week our companionship is focusing on a quote be President Henry B Erying " When you go to comfort and serve anyone for the savior he prepares the way before you" I know that to be true, it has been such a blessing to see the lord open pathways for us as we serve the lord. I know that you go to comfort and serve those you may come in contact with he will answers your desires to know who you can help! Hope you all have a great week :)

Love,

Sister Cleveland

"I have been BLESSED!"

Well I cant say that it wasn't coming but I got transferred and i balled like a baby..

     Let's back up to this week. I knew that I was being transferred so teaching this week was super hard because I didn't want to leave anyone. But I started this week with an awesome Sister Conference with the Sisters in the mission. It was so much fun to see all my sistas  ( yes the trio w as back together) I know you were thinking it and the reunion was quite glorious. We had an awesome conference filled with training's, talks by President and Sister Cannon and a great lunch. Starting the week on a high for sure. This week we played baseball with our recent convert Merle he plays for the rec team in Caldwell and we were going to visit him to teach a lesson before his game (yes we're those missionaries) and he decided to teach us how to get ground balls, and throw you name it he taught it. Love him sooo much. (we also played an intense came of rock paper scissors) This week I reflected a lot on the atonement (I know I do pretty much every week) but in the lives of the people we've been working with its always seems to be the answer or comfort to the things that they are going through. I have come to have a depth of love that fills my whole soul on my mission its kind of the only way I can describe it. I was reflecting on how the atonement does not just apply to one person, it applies to all. We all need it to make it back to our heavenly father. I reflected on how the atonement provides healing not just cleansing which we often understand from the garden of Gethsemane. But the power the atonement has to heal broken things.. even hearts. I've watched that power countless times in my life here on the mission.

       Sometimes my mind and heart cannot comprehend the love that Heavenly Father has for his children sometimes it almost makes your heart want to burst. That's why leaving the area is so hard.. I mean I didn't just cry when I send goodbye.. I ugly cried.. Saying goodbye to so many people I have loved was super hard and when I had to tell Merle (our recent convert) I blubbered and cried all over.. he probably thought I was a weirdo. His dad was talking to me and he made me cry. He said "Sister Cleveland you have become part of our family and always will be.. and i don't say that lightly." I really hope that they're family stays active so that they can go to the temple and get sealed. I know Merle will be a tremendous blessing to his family. I'm so grateful for my time here in Caldwell and training. There are so many things I have learned and had a privilege to be a part of so many lives. I was talking Nathan's Mom last night.. update on him: sadly Nathan went back to jail just recently its been pretty hard to watch those you love go through so much and you want to help them carry the load, or wish they didn't have to go through it.. but his Mom has been super strong and going to see her and testify of the love the lord has for her has been one of the many blessings in Caldwell. I have been thinking about how i'm being a baby and its super hard to leave my area in the hands of someone else. But I think about how much Heavenly Father entrusts people into our care. how he loves them and hopes that we come to understand even just a speck of the love he has for his children. I'm so grateful for my time here and all the lord has taught me and now its off to Nampa.. to go love his children over there. grateful for the mission everyday.. I've truly been blessed.

All My Love, 

Sister Cleveland

Pictures: 

1. me and sister bertalino

2. The Hartungs love them

3. Caldwell

4. My Sista- Sorenson

5. Sister Smith and I

6. The Trio Reunion

7. Nate and Nina.. such amazing examples to me I will share there story in a guest post next week

8. Merle Kinder Jr <3

9. Elder Anien and I

10. All the Sisters I entered the field with.. Halfway next month.. (What? I know..)