Email February 3, 2014

Hello. As for super quick information on this week, Elder Perkins and I worked super hard again all week. We are usually out working all day, don't get in for the night until 9 and then we plan and get distracted and plan and get distracted for the next hour and a half so we basically need to go to bed right as we finish. I haven't been able to write in my journal at all for the last week and a half :( and I have hardly had time to reply to letters. So to those who have written me in the last little while and do not yet have a reply, I'm sorry :) I'm trying haha. And for a quick note on the same tone as trying, I'm sorry I haven't been sending pictures! Reason is that since we now have iPads, there's no need to go to a computer to email. So the pictures I take on my camera I can't send through the iPad so every once in a while when I go to the real computer I'll try to send some! :) Another really quick note to make you all jealous: this entire last week and a half, Perkins and I have been eating FRESH PICKED oranges and tangerines. Extremely good. You're all jealous. :) ;) I'll get to the few spiritual stories at the end because I like ending on a spiritual note, it's just...better. So yeah. But for now, here is a story about a Elder Perkins dressing up like a ghetto guy who was trying to pawn off "organic" grapefruit: So the Spanish Elders were coming to our apartment to do their laundry. It was dark outside and we wanted to play a small joke like the nerf guns joke we would play on Elder Correa, so Elder Perkins found a bright orange traffic jacket with silver reflectors, got in his jeans, put on some big black sunglasses, put a hat on backwards and had a red backpack with a white plastic sack full of grapefruit. He was going to be chilling outside our apartment and was going to offer the other elders some organic grapefruit like this, "Hey you. Want some grapefruuuuiiiit? Izz organiiiiic." And saying it in a really chill relaxed voice. Haha you had to be there, it was awesome. Title story! So we've been kind of struggling to find people to teach, as you all know, and in district meetings every Wednesday we talk about how our areas are going. Well, some of he Spanish Sisters texted us about a referral we had given them and we got into a short conversation about how our area is coming. They said something along the lines of, 'don't worry, if you're doing what you can then the investigators will come to you.' and Perkins and I were thinking of a response and the first thing that came to my mind was the popular song which lyrics include, "my milkshake brings all the boys to the yard!" So, I said, "We should reply saying 'well our milkshake doesn't bring all the [investigators] to the yard like yours apparently do!'" I thought it was funny and we had a really good laugh, but didn't send it haha. Now as a post-story disclaimer, I don't know if that song has any innuendos so, as such, I do not intend any innuendos to come across in this story. I strictly keep this to the literal meaning of milkshakes. :) So we had some pretty great spiritual experiences. We were visiting with our bishop about the progress record and he asked us if we could come to a youth fireside yesterday and present a little blurb about youth member missionary work. So we accepted and we only expected to talk for about 5-10 minutes and then bishop would present his portion of the fireside. Well, come the night of, we shared amazing experiences both of us have had in our lives about how member missionary work, although we didn't think we were doing a lot at the time of the experience, affected so many lives. It was incredible as the Spirit testified to me so strongly that the message we have is completely true. I wish I could share some of the other experiences but I am out of time. You guys, I know that we have a Father in Heaven who wants the best for us. If we do our part as either a full time missionary or a member missionary, we are affecting lives for the better and are helping our brothers and sisters come to a knowledge of their true potential and of a perfect love that a heavenly family has for them. The church is true! Love, Elder Cevering 2