"Darn Right I Would"

Hey everyone :)

Happy 2017 :) 

What do you know about the Book of Mormon?

Have you read it? Is it a book sitting on your shelf right now, rarely opened? 

This week in Relief Society a sister said something that struck me.. "If you don't have a testimony now sisters, you better start gaining one" Why is it so important to have a testimony of the Book of Mormon. My whole mission I have testified of the truthfulness of 531 pages. Which was translated by a Prophet Joseph Smith by the gift and power of god. But it isn't just enough for me to bear testimony or for others too. The most definitive and faith exercising witness anyone can receive about The Book of Mormon is from the witness from the holy ghost himself. Moroni a prophet in the closing of the Book of Mormon leaves this promise if :  "And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things."  That is the promise! Moroni knew what he had endure,  he knew the heartache and pain his people had witness and watched civilization be destroyed. No matter all that he witnessed he kept the faith and he believed in Jesus Christ. He knew for himself that this book was true, he knew the prophets who came before them too carried in their hearts a knowledge that Jesus Christ in the Messiah who had been prophesied in both the New and Old World. 

There is no way, no reason, no sense to testify of a book  that lives as a testament of Jesus Christ if it wasn't true. I add my testimony to the millions who have testified of this book already. The Book of Mormon is true. God still speaks to man through his chosen prophet and he will provide the tools necessary for us to have happiness here on this earth and prepare for us to live with him eternally, perfected. I think about Frank Elder he has had the missionary discussions so many times his wife is a member and he told us how he has been desirous to know but never received and answer from god. We asked him if he'd read the book and he said he hadn't very much. To which we testified to truly know about the truthfulness of the book and receive an answer you have to read the book and be willing to act upon the answers you receive. So we asked would you act upon the answer you receive? He replied "Darn (he use another word closely related) right I would" He said he wanted to be with his wife in Heaven. You could see the sincerity in his eyes and the fire! That is what we need we have to be willing to know so deep in out heart that we would be ready to act on the answer that we receive. The answer that leads us to a life of committed discipleship with our savior Jesus Christ. If you haven't read the book of Mormon I would invite you with every fiber of my being to pick up the book, open it pray ask questions and receive answers to the questions of your soul. If you've read it and haven't picked it up in a while, PICK IT UP. It will bring you closer to the Savior Jesus Christ. The testimonies in the Book of Mormon are true. It will be a greater happiness I leave my promise. 

Love you all :)

Sister Cleveland

Heyy Fam!!!

Hey Everyone! Hope you all had a wonderful holiday! Huge thanks to so many people who remembered me by sending cards and packages. I loved it! This week was awesome filled with the spirit of Christ and so many people we were able to serve and those who served us here is my week in pictures :) 

Love you all :) 

-Sister Cleveland

Because of Him "All is Well" // 15 months

Hey Everyone :)

Merry Christmas Week! It really is the most wonderful time of the year. As my title suggest I hit my 15 month mark this last week and it was weird note the expression on my face in the photo below. This week was exhausting to say the least we spent a lot of time on the road, Tuesday we were asked to come down to Nampa and so I spent lots of time helping the office staff and saw some of my favorite people again. Of course we had to make a mess in the mission office putting up the Christmas tree but it was so fun to see them again. By the time we were ready to leave we couldn't drive back to McCall so we had dinner with President and Sister Sorensen teriyaki bowls yumm :) just casually having family dinner with your mission president. After dinner we sat and chatted for awhile and then I went to spend the night with one of my favorite people out here Sister Sorenson and her companion. We had a blast. It was tough being so close to my old area. I just wanted to see everyone :( the next morning it was snowing and we needed to beat the snow back to McCall, so we got on the road and I bought myself the best Christmas gift I could have asked for Chic Fil A.. I was soo thrilled to have lunch and my Peppermint Chocolate Chip Milkshake as you can tell by my facial expression ignore how scary I look. Living  on the roads for forever does that to you. WE got back to McCall and the next day we went on exchanges. I stayed in McCall with my one of my old companions Sister Abello. It was fantastic we went to the Pancake House and split the famous cinnamon roll, and enjoyed talking about our experiences, we were able to clean up the area book and it was like being companions again I loved it. We were out contacted and one point we were in the snow and she fell over and then I just plopped down but when its 10 below you can't even feel the cold anymore so we just sat in the snow while people drove by and starred at us. we love it. sometimes being a missionary makes you crazy. We talked tons about the miracles of our missions the lessons we've learned, and the testimonies that have blossomed. We are a transfer apart so she goes home next transfer.. :( tons of reflecting moments throughout the day. Also we were contacting and a nine month pregnant lady yelled at us for coming over.. it was funny. Clearly pregnancy can make you crazy too. 

The next day we headed down to Weiser when we got a text that mission vehicles were not allowed to be driven at all that day because of a storm working its way across the valley. We were already down the canyon when we got the text so we just changed our trip to Middleton and we went to go wait it out with our companions. We got there and started to go stir crazy after hour 2 so Sister Abello and I went to brace this "storm" it was literally freezing out the wind was whipping so hard but we were determined that heavenly father would lead us to someone who needed his love that day. We walked and tried contacting which resulted in people not being home and doors slammed in our face but I believed no matter the lack of success that maybe someone saw us and their faith increased that day. As we walked we expressed appreciation for the pioneers who left blood stains in the snow from walking  miles and miles to find a promised land were they could build Zion. It is there footprints we admire and strive to add ours too that we stand with them with the vigor and frivolity that they had, we the assurance that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true, that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has the keys and tools to happy and successful families that will be prepared to return back to our heavenly father presence one day. How grateful I am for those pioneers who admits the hardest trials sang " Gird up your loins, fresh courage take Our God will never us forsake; And soon we'll have this tale to tell All is well! All is well!" Let us take courage this week and always because of the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ "All is Well" Merry Christmas Everyone :)

All my Love, 

Sister Cleveland

Christmas to Me

Hey everyone :)

First off sorry for my lame update last week! I know all you faithful readers are probably tired of those lame three sentences paragraphs. I promise mission life is great :) McCall has been fun, its been snowing like crazy here thank goodness I'm from New Jersey! This week it hit -17 I thought my eyes were confused. But this week we have been working to learn the area my companion doesn't know the area very well, so its been an adjustment, I wish I could say who we are working with but it's going to take some time to get adjusted! This week we had a district meeting on the savior naturally. But as I sat and thought about it this week, I was  reflecting on the humility of the saviors birth we say it so often it may be trite but as i was studying the old testament I thought about everything leading up to  this humble birth.

 Micah prophesied "But thou Beth-lehem Ephratah though thou be little among the thousands of Judah yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting." 

 Isaiah prophesied "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Immanuel"; "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given and the government shall be upon his his shoulders; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." a testament that the Savior would come. 

I think of Adam and Eve who had to leave  the garden because of sin and transgression. But as we learn in Moses, Adam was taught the plan of happiness that he would have a savior to save them from the thought and belief that they would never be worthy or able to stand in gods presence again "And in that day the Holy Ghost fell upon Adam, which beareth record of the father and the son saying:I am the only begotten of the Father from the beginning  henceforth and forever, that as thou hast fallen thou mayest be redeemed and all mankind even as many as will" (Moses 5:9)  and so it is for ages of people prophets who testified of the birth of the savior. 

One of my most favorite scriptures that pierces my heart is in the Book of Mormon 3 Nephi 1:11-19 as Nephi is pleading for help, "And it came to pass that he went out and bowed himself down upon the earth, and cried mightily to his God in behalf of his people yea those who were about to be destroyed because of their faith in the tradition of their Fathers" The Savior who would enter the world that the next day in Jerusalem thought to answer the pray of  a humble servant,"Lift up your head and be of good cheer for behold the time is at hand and on this night shall the sign be given on the morrow come I int o the world to show unto the world that I will fulfill all that which I have caused to be spoken by the mouth of my holy prophets"  he thought to bring peace to his aching heart surely the sign would come to tomorrow Nephi would see it, but he truly is the prince of peace. 

Of all the things we would be doing before a big trip, before the only begotten son of the father left his fathers and mothers presence he answered the prayer of a humble man. It speaks everything of the character of Jesus Christ. And then of all circumstances to come to, with every ounce of humility, an obedient foster father, and a worthy mother he chose parents who had honor before the birth of this king in the eyes of our heavenly father. AS Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said "But first and forever there was just a little family without toys, or trees or tinsel. With a baby that's how Christmas began." Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year, in our house our parents always may Christmas fun, it wasn't the extravagance of the holiday but in the simply reminders around our home of the savior, it was reading the birth of the savior and our father gathering us around to pray and give thanks for the Saviors birth to remind us that before toys and tinsel, it was just that little family. It was the service projects my mom gathered us together for, making cookies and delivering to neighbors it was nights of songs about the savior that reminded us that it's not only on December 25 that we celebrate the Savior but everyday. As we aspire to follow his example all year round we realize like President Thomas S. Monson said " that it's not the spirit of Christmas but truly the spirit of Christ" that is always in our hearts. As week make preparations in the coming weeks for this big day, I would invite you to find little ways to remind yourself of the true reason for the season! 

Have a great week everyone :) Love you all!

Sister Cleveland

First Week In McCall

Hey everyone :)

Happy December! I can't believe it, Christmas in in full swing here in McCall and the first week here has been full of snow and lots of traveling from New Meadows, to Riggins, back to McCall to Weiser and to Cascade. This week flew by and I love when my weeks do that! This week to kick off the worldwide day of service Sister Park and I volunteered at the McCall Senior Citizens Center to help get their Christmas Decorations up and it was fun :) This week we were able to meet some of the investigators, the recent converts and try to figure out the work going on in our area. We were able to watch the Christmas Devotional with LA and his father who isn't a member and it was awesome. My favorite line was "rejoice in the gift and the giver of the gift". If you haven't watched it, visit lds.org and take a peek it was AMAZING. I hope everyone is keeping up with the advent calendar of service. Sorry this is so short. I'll have a longer update next week. Have a good week everyone :)

All my Love,

Sister Cleveland 

Goodbye, Nampa l love ya!!

Hey everyone :)

The news is true I have left the wonderful land of Nampa and am heading to McCall, ID for the next 6 weeks! leaving Nampa was super hard, and our area is getting a set of brand new missionaries who know nothing about the area so I had to leave tons of notes and extra extras but i know they will do great in this area, I love the people in Nampa the last 7 months have been so good to me here, I've seen so many miracles and lives changed I'm so grateful for my time there. As I was pulling out today it was so bittersweet and I shed some tears. This has been a huge blessing and I know that McCall will bring more blessings and miracles.

This week was so good! It was kind of crazy hopefully I touch on everything. This week I had a reunion with my Payette family the Youngbergs and Jordyn. It was so good to see them I sure loved my time in Payette and am so grateful for the good care they took of us and that we can still stay in connect and have these awesome lunch dates. I loved being with them. :) Thanksgiving came super quick and my companion and I got up to do a little turkey trot we just really walked the greenbelt and didn't run at all..haha We had thanksgiving lunch at the Beals house who we love and it was good food & good company and just smelling the food made me want to nap. We had some good conversations I helped Sister Beal Christmas shop for her kids, online she looked it up and ask my opinion I told her what I thought, she was Mrs. Claus and I was Head-Elf :) We headed over to the Asay's for Thanksgiving dinner it was great, I love that family they are all so funny and we had a blast as always. We ended the night going to play another round of zombie wars with our zone using nerf guns it was a fun way to spend the night. Friday we got back to work and did some work around our area.

We got transfer calls Saturday morning which told me I was heading to McCall and with both my companion and I leaving we had a ton of packing and cleaning to do, lots of area work, saying goodbyes and prepping for the new sisters. The crazy thing is we had a baptism that same day! We were on our way to dinner and our investigator called us and said she was feeling too sick to get baptized, she had a headache and wasn't feeling well. Sick to her stomach. So we canceled dinner fliped around drove to her house, I asked her if she would consider having a blessing which she previously said she didn't think she needed one but finally agreed to. Thank goodness for all my mom taught me and I learned at college. We ran to the store grabbed her Gatorade, crackers and a banana and some ginger ale to get her hydrated and something light in her system. She got up showered agreed she could go to her baptism, she was dressed got a blessing and then her car wouldn't start :( she called her friend who was able to pick her up to go to her baptism. We left and went to the church and as we were printing the programs the printer jammed and wouldn't work. Which meant we had to leave to go to our church building which was about 6 mins away and it was 6:40 at the point. I got there as fast as we could, printed programs came back just in time to take pictures and get Christina and Alexis baptized. It was a got baptismal program and even sweeter to see them confirmed the next day in church. I know that they will be well taken care of by this ward and that they will be cared for.

I'm looking forward to my time in McCall it'll be awesome and a white Christmas sounds divine.

I hope you all had wonderful thanksgiving and check out the #LighttheWorld intivative on christmas.mormon.org

All My Love,

Sister Cleveland

Happy Thanksgiving

Hey Everyone,

 I hope you all have a fantastic week can't believe its Thanksgiving this week. We have tons to be grateful for especially this great gospel. I'm grateful to be here in Idaho to share it with these wonderful people. Who I love very much! Hope you all have a week filled with laughter, family&friends and yummy food :)

Love you all,

Sister Cleveland