October 10, 2017
So my last week here in the office
is going to be pretty crazy. Hermana Diaz (our mission presidents wife)
isn't here for change week and she's the one that is in charge of food.
President took Chef Cheney too literally and now I'm in charge of food
for the week. So I have to make a dinner (like a fancy, real dinner) and
a couple of lunches. I'll get help from the other guys but I'm like the
food coordinator I guess haha. But it'll be fun.
One of the guys we're teaching right now is Tomas, he's Haitian. There are a bunch of Haitians
that
are getting here to Chile so we've been talking to a ton of them. They
don't speak a whole lot of Spanish. Some speak a bit of English. In the
office we've kind of been trying to learn French, but it's pretty hard
haha. Tomas is a good guy, he left his family in Haiti to come here and
work. We talked about prophets last time and he understood pretty well,
he was interested in the idea of prophets to guide us.
This
week I reread one of my favorite scriptures in 1 Nephi 10. This is
right after his father, Lehi prophesies and teaches a bunch of stuff
that was kind of hard to understand and believe. Nephi tells of how he
was desirous to see and know like his father had seen and known. Then he
shared in verse 19 " For he that diligently seeketh shall find; and the
mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto them, by the power of the Holy
Ghost, as well in these times as in times of old, and as well in times
of old as in times to come; wherefore, the course of the Lord is one
eternal round." The secret to great knowledge, a grand testimony, is
that there is no secret! We have to diligently seek and be patient in
that search. And when we have an open heart and real intent then we can
learn of the truthfulness by the power of the Holy Ghost. It's important
to be consistent and deliberate in our studies of the scriptures and
our prayers.
Love you a lot Mom!! Thanks!
Elder Cheney
October 18, 2017
I
don't think I ever went to Charleston with you guys... but sounds like a
lot of fun! We went to the Biltmore house one time for a field trip and
it is massive. It's a pretty cool place. (I was telling him about some things we did with his Grandma and Grandpa Cheney when they visited)
It
was the first time Elder Merkely had gotten flights and he accidentally
asked for the wrong day haha. But we got it all figured out. He learned
how to do it haha. (I kind of panicked when we
received an itinerary from Church Travel confirming that Daniel Cheney
would arrive in Charlotte on October 18. Yikes!!! I sent the office an
email and they said that was wrong, and a new itinerary was coming. We
did get the new itinerary--Daniel will be coming home January 10 at 8 in
the morning!!!!)
The dinner went
pretty well. We made way too much food. Like wayyyyyy too much. But it
went well, we made chicken, some sort of beef thing, cheesy potatoes, a
couple salads, garlic bread, cream corn, and we had a couple of cakes.
And salmon. So it was a pretty great dinner. I was in the office up
until yesterday, then I got on a bus (alone for the first time in a year
and a half!) It was pretty dang scary, even though it was about 2 and a
half hours away. Now I'm here in Los Vilos! It's the Illapel Zone. It's
a bit further north of Viña, but not too much. My companion is Elder
Hucks, he's from American Fork, Utah. He was in my zone back in
Huanhualí so I kind of already know him. He's a really cool guy.
I
don't know the sector all that well, I got here at like 5 yesterday,
but we're going to have a pretty busy week with a good amount of people
to teach. It's pretty hard to meet a ton of people and remember where
they live, names, faces, who they are, after leaving a different sector
with a bunch of people. But in a week or two I'll be fine.
I'm
pretty excited to be out in the field, even though it'll be a lot
different from the office, it'll be nice to focus in on the sector.
Actually yesterday when I was coming up on the bus I was reading in the
Book of Mormon, and right in the part where it talks a bit about the
stripling warriors. It's such a great part, in Alma 56 it talks about
how the Nephites were trying to defeat a Lamanite army and Helaman
leaves with his boys to draw them out. The lamanite army follows them
and they begin a race of sorts. Behind the lamanite army comes the army
of Antipus to fight the Lamanites from both sides. So all three of them
are running after each other and trying to escape. The army of Helaman
wakes up one day and realizes that the Lamanites aren't following them
anymore. It could have been that Antipus had caught up and needed help
in the battle, or the Lamanites had laid a trap for them. Helaman says
to them "Therefore what say ye, my sons, will ye go against them to
battle?" Then in his letter to Moroni he says "45 And now I say unto
you, my beloved brother Moroni, that never had I seen so great courage,
nay, not amongst all the Nephites 46 For as I had ever called them my
sons (for they were all of them very young) even so they said unto me:
Father, behold our God is with us, and he will not suffer that we should
fall; then let us go forth; we would not slay our brethren if they
would let us alone; therefore let us go, lest they should overpower the
army of Antipus....Now they never had fought, yet they did not fear
death; and they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than
they did upon their lives; yea, they had been taught by their mothers,
that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them." They rose to the
occasion and chose to be valiant and strong. In our lives God gives us
"Moments of Greatness," where we can choose to rise to the occasion and
be valiant. The stripling warriors had never foughten but they trusted
in the promises of the Lord. We have moments like this every day, some
big, some small, but we have to choose to be great, or to deny ourselves
the chance to grow and progress. Even though these decisions can seem
small, they will have all the difference at the end of our lives.
I'll send some pictures next week! I don't have any haha
I love you guys a lot!!!
Elder Cheney
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