Good afternoon everyone!
We thought that the library was closed today and then realized it wasn't so we came to e-mail a little bit later in the day.. haha.
This week has been really awesome, as usual!
Couple things before I go into detail of my life.. I serioulsy love prayer and I know Heavenly Father listens to me. We went to do a service project to do some hardcore yardwork at this home that had been abandoned for years and all I was doing was raking and putting leaves in bags and my lower back from where I hurt it before started aching really bad again. :( I seriously need to start doing some sort of exercise for that because seriously... I will be so upset if it does that every time do physical labor like that. But anyways, it only hurt for that day because I was literally pleading with the Lord for a good long while telling him that I needed to stay healthy & able to function & I woke up the next day and felt great! Wooohoo! :D
So annywayys, I guess Louisiana is known a lot for its alligators and Sister Wily and I had quite the interesting experience trying to find the house of this less active lady. Our GPS got us lost and it was really dark outside and we ended up going down this really skinny road lined with all these super creepy trees with bayous surrounding us on both sides. We were trying to think about what we would do if an alligator came up from the swap and what we would do if we got a flat tire because our phone didnt' have service. Yeah, super scary. But good news, God loves us and we found the house eventually and nothing bad happened but, whew, what an experience I tell yah!
Super awesome news though, EMILY WAS BAPTIZED SATURDAY!! YAYAYYY!
It was such an awesome baptism. Some of her family came from all parts of Lousiana and Alabama and for many of them it was their first time really learning about who mormons are, etc. and it was such a fun experience for her. She was just so happy it was honestly a really great day. I attached a picture for you all! (by the way, I have to consciously think to remind myself not to start saying y'all... but I'm not sure how much longer I'll be able to resist! Lol...)
Update on Gene & Lindsey, We pushed their baptism date for March 8th! But still super exciting! They weren't able to go to church with us on Sunday, but the night before Gene texted us and asked if it was okay that he invited some of his friends to go. We were like YEAH! absolutely!! haha! Given, they didn't end up going because last minutes Gene & Lindsey couldn't, he still is already inviting his friends to learn about the gospel and I am so happy and so amazed! Yesterday he joined us for dinner at one of the members homes and he gave us a couple of his friends that he feels need some upliftment and they live super close to him. I'm just so happy! He's so awesome. It's honestly so hard to describe the kind of love that you feel for the people that you meet and teach while on a mission. You just get to know them on a totally different level and it amazes me to see and work to understand why the Lord does that. Why am I so lucky to be able to be doing his work? I am so grateful!!!
On a pretty serious note though, I had a pretty traumatic expereince this week that really opened my eyes to a lot. I just am so sensitive to some things and one of those things is physical abuse to spouses and children. What's so incredibly depressing is how often we have found people who that is the case in their home and it just kills me. We went to go visit these 2 older women who are roommates and their next door neighbor came over with her son. And side note - I know I may not know the whole story to this, I fully understand that... but this was my conclusion. - Her son was just kind of like a hyper kid and they had come in when we were just starting our lesson. So, he just was moving around and wanted to get attention and the mom just was yelling at him so awfully in front of us. And okay, this is a little 5 year old kid. Which also made me extra emotional because of my nephew Jayden being the same age.. and so then we try to keep teaching and then the mom was in the kitchen eating something but gets so frustrated that she grabs the kid and storms out the door saying she will be back. Then she goes next door (which these are little apartments that are all connected) and we can literally hear her screaming and cussing and things falling and crashing to the floor as as he is crying and begging her to stop. My heart literally sunk to the floor and the women whose house we were at were kind of just justifying what was going on, saying how she must have just have just gotten fed up with him today, etc etc. Sister Wily could totally see the pain in my face so she just took over the lesson and I was trying to concentrate but I just had tears running down my face because I could literally hear everything that was happeneing. My eyes just water writing this because it honestly just was too much for me to handle. I couldn't imagine the kind of fear that must have been within that little boy and I don't care what he said or did, that extreme of violence was absolutely not even close to acceptable to me. Bottom line is, there is no way that I will ever be able to see that woman and look at her the same way again and that it was a huge learning experience for me. The spirit of the Lord immediately left the room and I just couldn't continue to talk. It's taken me to a new level of conversation in my prayers to God and has really helped me in feeling for others who go through things like that. I'm not sure exactly what I can do, but whoa, I just ahh.. There is no way that would be acceptable to the Lord. Not at all.
I just know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ helps us endure through so many different things. We can't control the kind of actions that others do, but we can absolutely do everything in our power to bless the lives of people so goodness can fill the corners of the earth.
I know that Christ expects us all to work on becomeing better people. I know he is helping me become a better person as i experience the many things that go on here in Louisiana.
Remember to love those you care about. Tell your family you love them.
Love you all,
Sister Cuevas
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