Happy Mothers' Day

Since we were able to talk with Hermana Cleveland on Mothers' Day, no letter! but lots of pictures:)

Hermana Cleveland did have a very dangerous encounter with a lose wire on her bike, and will not be riding a  bike for a couple of weeks until the stitches heal. She was so excited on Skype to show us, haha

I'm sorry if this irks you....its quite disgusting.

...see, its not That bad; only five stitches

Stud

To the Best Family in the World

...Visa status= no visa. Kinda awesome because I really like serving here. TRANFERS!! are this week and nobody knows where to put all us visa waiters  because when they actually get here, we're off. Possibly mid-transfer. No clue. 

Ok I'm going to go ahead and describe a bit about the mission, where I'm living, that stuff. It's about time. Right now I'm with three other sisters living in a member home. It's weird because the neighborhood I live in is a bunch of mansions, up overlooking the valley right next to the mountains, but my whole day is spent in around four trailer parks. Layton is so pretty! I thought I was close to the mountains in Provo. Here I feel like I can touch them, that close. The weather is as bi-polar as it gets but esta bien.

We met with the Amaya's again today and basically they're top notch people. It's weird to think that Janeth is my age. I really respect her and her decision to investigate the church. I love that in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we all teach and learn from each other. There is no one person who knows it all. From the 8 year old who speaks in sacrament meeting to the bishop, we are able to see how others have learned and come unto Christ and then apply what they have learned to our lives as well. Makes sense.

Had the chance to meet Asencio the other day. Asencio is in his late 50's, from Mexico, and waiting for his family to join him in the United States this summer. He is so excited! He really got a kick out of my Spanish, straight up started laughing. This week I've made it a goal to not tell anyone that I'm "learning spanish" and instead just go for it. Throwing words out there. It's been going nicely and it's changed the conversations I have. When people see that I'm trying and not making excuses, willing to look dumb, they respect me more. Even trust what I have to say more. When the effort is there and you're teaching with humility you allow the spirit to testify to investigators. Ok, so here's the miracle. The minute we left Asencio, Hermana Roades mentioned that Asencio had actually dropped them around 4 months ago- hard core drop. Please leave. I don't want to hear anymore drop. What?! But he loves us?! Shocker. Seems that his heart has been softened. I'm excited for him to hear the gospel a second time with a willing heart.

My first transfer has already changed the way I think about everything. The mission, my relationship with my companion and with you, my family. It is TRUE that when you love your companion, you'll love your mission. I can see that it could be easy to judge your first couple trainers- well every companion you have I guess. But we just need to learn that some things DON'T MATTER. Being united with Sister Roades this transfer has allowed me to show my love, Christ's love, for those we teach. Surprise, this transfer has been hard. I've have been studying and really trying to understand humility. Thinking, how can I develop humility? It's consistent work. I know that faith leads to action, and when we are consistently trying to be better, Heavenly Father will help us out. Thinking about charity, having the pure love of Christ is a GIFT....and I could go on forever so stopping now.

This week I encourage all of you to decide what really matters to you and to let the small stuff go! Do it! You will feel better, you will have a better relationship with every one...

Whew. Long letter...sermon. 

I love you all! Excited to hear from you!

Love, 

Hermana Cleveland

Shortie

Yikes time is moving. This week is a short one. Earlier this morning we hiked Ensign Peak with half the mission and it was a spiritual experience. We are hear and we are preaching His word. Most of the pictures this week are from the hike.
Ok funnies of the week. Hermana Roades and I have biked through some ADULT sprinklers twice already. (like bullets) You think we'd learn. So funny!
People will ask me all the time if I'm understanding them. some advice for myself. SAY YES. Sure makes for an easier, more normal conversation.
Janny (Uruguay, recent convert) has said I look like a pioneer, princess kate, and today said I look like a doll. Something about the way I eat my food? I don't know what's she's thinking...she makes me smile. I ate my first mango today (Dad!) and I love them! We had a great lesson with Janeth and her husband today about the Plan of Salvation. I feel really excited and good when I'm around them. I just want to say more. It's going to take some hard core language study- but more importantly- it's going to require that I have courage and do what the spirit tells me. Because even with my limited vocabulary I know I can teach with the Spirit. The hardest part is having a prompting to say something or ask a question that doesn't quite pertain to the lesson. Those are the times when we all need to take a leap of faith and trust. That's when we see the miracles happen. Speaking of miracles, I've been trying to look for miracles happen every day. I'd say yesterday was a miracle for me in the sense that we weren't having a lot of success and we were beat. It's amazing the energy missionaries have. I know the Lord was supporting me with the energy to bike my 6th hill yesterday. Miracle in my book.At one point during the day Sister Roades and I had no one- zip- to teach. Now that is the worst feeling. Here in the SLC mission we're not allowed to go tracting- everything is by referral or through the members. Saying a prayer, we went over to a group of trailer homes and just by talking to people on the way, we were able to knock on five more potential doors. Another miracles. I'm sure miracles are happening all the time. It was a goal for Sister Roades and I to write down a miracle we say every thirty minutes! Try it familia.
Well I'm sorry it's a short one, I love you all!

Hiking It UP/Conference