Happy Thanksgiving!!

Hey everyone!

Thanks so much for all the prayers and emails! I love reading them!

This week we started off with a service project helping a less active move to another house. We were packing and moving things which didn't take to long. We also met her dad and were able to talk to them for awhile. It's always nice wearing a name-tag because people recognize you! Later we went to make some sugar cookies and rice krispies over a members house and that was super fun. It's also fun to get people recipes here that i love, like one woman in the ward makes fresh cranberry salsa which is delicious! (Shout out to Sister Youngberg :) We ended up taking the cookies to people we taught and some members in the ward. 

Thanksgiving was a treat! We ate at three different homes, it was super fun to be with the families! It was hard  the last dinner because we were so stuffed. But we are so grateful for the wards and their willingness to feed the missionaries. I love the wards we are serving in :) My companion ended up getting sick this week so I've been tramped in the apartment for two days.. (hardly seeing sunlight) just kidding. But we've been in the house the past two days. It was not fun at all.  It is more fun doing missionary work. I was getting restless and my companion asked me if I wanted to visit people while she sat in the car. I almost took her up on the offer. I'm ready to hit the ground this week we've got tons of people we need to see so hopefully she gets better soon! 

Hope everyone had a great thanksgiving :)

All My Love,

Sister Cleveland 

Where Did the Week Go?!

Hey Everyone!

We've had one Heck of a week! I don't even know where to begin?! We got our first snow fall and it was kinda pathetic but we still went out to see it! It's definitely cold here in Idaho this morning it was 29 degrees when we left the house. Its just something you get use to, but the elders are still running around in shorts. This week we went tracting it was cold to say the least, we didn't have much luck but we'll be at it again tomorrow. It nice to get out of our car and walk around even if it is cold outside. We also had Zone Conference this week and the sisters from McCall there are four of them came down to stay with us so they didn't have to get up early and drive. Missionary Sleepovers are way fun. Six sisters in an apartment and 1 bathroom I'll have stories for days. Part of the trio was together and that's trouble waiting to happen Sister Sorenson and I are already embracing our Griswold Christmas and chatted all night. We had a fun time talking and laughing, the next day was zone conference and we all had to prepare a 5-min talk on "What would the Savior do?" Our Conference was a "Fast and Feast" and all the missionaries had begun their fasts the previous night and were fasting through the meeting. It was a great conference. I had prepared my talk and was confident that I wouldn't have to give it.. I mean 60 missionaries the chances of me speaking are pretty slim. But I was wrong and President Cannon walked up to me after a break and asked me to speak.  It went well and I answered the question he had given us by teaching about compassion from Mark 1:41 and Mark 9:22-24. I think it went well,  its nerve racking speaking in front of  missionaries who have been out longer than you! But conference was great overall!

Later that day the sisters from McCall had left, and we were out the door and they texted us that they were on their way back they couldn't get back home because it was snowing pretty hard and the roads were bad. So we had a sleepover round two. Popcorn and a movie is what we did after we finished our appointments for the day. I made all the sisters breakfast the next morning and we all left and were off to continue another day of missionary work. It was super fun to have the sisters come stay with us for sure! 

I also had my first adventure with sewing my own clothes. I made some Christmas flannel pajamas that seemed like they took forever but it was really fun! We got to sew with a less active member and chatted with her kids while we were, we found out they are interested in raising their children in the church. It was a fun experience overall. We're still teaching the boys and they have so much energy sometimes its hard to reel it all in. They had great lesson ideas and we taught one about the Plan of Salvation (or Happiness) and he asked if his friend was going to be in the Celestial Kingdom with him. It melted my heart! His mom told him if he was a good example that his friend would be! We've been visiting some of the sisters from the nursing home. We go and teach there every week. Cheryl and Betty are our favorites and they always remind us of our importance and they put a smile on our faces. We have had a great week and we are always busy. I'm super grateful to be a missionary and the love that the Lord has poured out to me and the people here in Payette. We went to a missionary farewell of a family who is sending out their first missionary they are beyond thrilled. He spoke in church and he has a stutter. He said he never knew if he would be able to serve a mission. In his talk he said that his grandpa told him the lord gave him his stutter because he new he would overcome it. It was a great reminder that the lord can use us as instruments if we are willing, we do not have to be perfect but as long as we are willing he can do great things with us.

Each and everyday I am humbled and grateful for the opportunity to be a missionary to testify and share my love of the gospel of Jesus Christ.It is a blessing to carry the message of a living Savior into the world and the blessing to do the work along so many awesome missionaries. I hope you all have a great thanksgiving and remember that we can be grateful in all circumstances of our life no matter good or bad. Have an awesome week! 

    

All my Love,

Sister Cleveland

We Don't Know Nothing Y'all

Hey Everyone!

It's almost Thanksgiving I cant believe it! We have been busy this week helping people prepare for the winter coming up. We raked tons of leaves and help wherever we could. We have continually been teaching people and we have been blessed to learn from them as much as they learn from the gospel of Jesus Christ. We love meeting with the members and have been helping two boys prepare for baptism next month! They are eight and we are so excited for them. We are encouraged everyday with their faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ. It reminds me of the little children that Jesus Christ blessed in his ministry both in the Americas and in Jerusalem. He invites us to come unto him as little children. It takes the faith and humility of a little child to love the lord, rely on him and to follow him. Hope everyone has a great week!

All my Love,

Sister Cleveland

Its Transfer Week!!!

Hello Everyone!!

My second transfer has begun and my companion and I will be staying in Payette for the next 5 weeks! It's been a pretty odd ball week. But it was another week of strengthening our testimonies and helping others come unto Christ. This week we went on Splits with some of the Ward Mission Leaders and it went really well. Some of the women we got to visit were open to having us and we were able to share a message with them! We continue to work with the ward members helping to fellowship the in-actives and build the ward. We are continually seeing the fruits of our labors and getting more in-actives to attend church and activities.

We are beginning to teach a new family and are preparing three investigators for baptism. The work in Payette continues to grow. We also went on companion exchanges this week which was a great blessing because I was able to learn from my Sister Training Leader and found much comfort in her experience and her advice. We were busy all day and were incredibly busy, I even got to be senior companion and drive the car around Payette. It was one of my favorite days. I wish we could be companions sometime on the mission but she is leaving to go home next month. Although with the new transfers "The Trio" from the MTC is back together again we are serving in the same Zone for this transfer and are super pumped to be back together. Sister Sorenson is in my District which is awesome.

I been studying a lot this week and finding so much joy in reading the New Testament about the Saviors ministry and the road of discipleship. It has been a great blessing to have time to study every morning. One talk I focused on this week as well was by Elder Robert D. Hales in this General Conference. He talks about having a "personal council" with ourselves. He invites us so take some time to think about what we can do better to strengthen ourselves and others. We are the pilots in our lives and are in charge. I have learned as a missionary that each day we have choices we can choose to be obedient and we can choose to be happy, we can choose each day to be better.

Lastly, towards the end of the week we were broadsided with a number of opinions about the things going on in the "outside world". I will just leave my testimony I know that the hand of the lord Jesus Christ is in this church and that he is at the head. I testify that the message we share each and everyday is truly the restored gospel here upon the earth and that the missionaries serving around the world are representatives of Jesus Christ called by a prophet of God. I testify that the men we sustain as Prophet, Seers and revelators are men called of God, led and guided by him. I know that the Savior will come again to this earth and that he loves all of his children and is and will always be mindful of each and everyone of us. This work is not about us missionaries it is about the children of God. Each and everyday it has been a blessing to represent my Savior Jesus Christ and to be whole heartedly invested in the work. I know that the message we share is true and that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love each and everyone one of their children because I feel it for the people here in Payette.

Have a great week everyone! 

All my Love,

Sister Cleveland

"Did I dooo that?"

Hey Everyone!

This week we had a couple fun experiences!

We were driving to a less active house and while were driving we passed an old woman raking her leaves. Her back was hunched and she looked like she had been out for awhile. We kept driving and I turned to my companion and said stop! She laughed and I told her we needed to turn around. We ended up turning around and my companion said "What are you going to say to her?" and I replied "I'm gonna ask her if she needs help" So I hoped out of the car and my companion followed and I ask her if she needed help she declined at first but I convinced her. So I raked leaves while my companion talked to her. Skirts and boots and all. When I finished she preceded to tell us about her life in Idaho and how she has been widowed for over 30 years. She's a gem and her name is Hazel June. (which I love) We didn't share message (don't worry we thought about it) but we did get a reminder that we are representatives of Jesus Christ and that he would have done exactly that. The best part was that on Sunday at church a member who had lived on that street told us that they saw us and were appreciative. We were just grateful to live up to the call that we have been given.

The second experience was with a less active who we have been trying to get to come to church for awhile now. We ended up visiting her because she bailed on us once again and told her that if she wasn't in sacrament meeting we'd come pick her up after for relief society and Sunday school. we also taught the importance of attending church and how it can bless our week and lives. She promised this week she'd be there. And sure enough she was. We were so excited. After church she talked about how good she felt even though it was a little uncomfortable at first. She even plans to come to the activities coming up this week!. 

Lastly was sweet KJ he is not a member but comes to church with his friends. He is eight. and loves the gospel so much. last night we got a go ahead from the bishop to begin teaching him the discussions! The bishop met with his dad and the dad is willing to let KJ get baptized and even said we could teach in there home. We are super pumped. KJ bore his testimony this week and said even though his family doesn't come to church he knows that the people who bring him to church is his family too. He melts my heart.

Also, because I cant help being a teacher one of the members asked me to help her daughter study for a test while we were over. She had tons of stuff going on and was swamped. we told her we could do dishes or whatever but she asked for me to help her daughter study. her name is Nicole and is awesome. She is in 6th grade but is at a 8 year old level and doesn't have very good fine motor skills. She just learned how to tie her shoes. She is a doll and I love seeing her at church! We studied that night and I told her what questions to go over before she went to bed. Her mom texted us and told us she got a 97% we were so happy for her!

Sorry its so late. We were in Nampa,ID all day today and got back pretty late. Anyway I hope everyone had a awesome Halloween. We were in by six due to President Cannon's instructions for the mission. I dressed up my comp did not :( (she's lame) and we carved pumpkins and passed out candy for about two hours. We watched 17 miracles which I balled my eyes out through, such a great message of what we are willing to do to draw closer to the gospel of Jesus Christ! Hope everyone has a good week! Thanks for all the letters and packages this week! :) 

P.S- I think my Urkel costume was one of the best costumes I've ever worn!

All my Love,

Sister Cleveland