Email March 10, 2014

Hello! I hope everyone's week has been great! Mine was pretty good. I'll proceed to tell you why: As you all know, I got transferred! From Hillcrest ward in Yuba City to Redding 2nd ward in Redding. It was a two hour drive up. That's how far north Redding is, haha. The California Roseville Mission covers from Citrus Heights and North Highlands all the way up to Mt Shasta and Weed. It's about a five hour drive from top to bottom. Pretty big. Sweet stuff. Redding 2nd is the third area from the top. I'm pretty far north haha. Redding is pretty nice. I have some pictures so hopefully I'll be able to send some home today. It is pretty: pretty hot and, so far, pretty wet haha. But this week is supposed to be 70's and hit 80 on the weekend. It yes it is pretty! I like it. There are MOUNTAINS. Woo. I can see Mt Shasta, Mt Lassen, and other mountains as well. It's nice to see something even kind of familiar haha. Redding is also very hilly. That makes biking fun. I pretty much have ripped legs. It's awesome. My companion, Elder Solomon, is from Pocatello, Idaho. We get along well. He is a little quieter so sometimes I don't know if I am getting on his nerves or making him mad or anything. But he says I haven't so that's good. He is quiet, but we have a pretty similar sense of humor so that's helpful too. We live with members in a converted garage space. I have pictures and hope to send some home. It's nice, and the members are really nice too. Well, in the six days I've been here I've met three interesting people. First one was a lady who says she has seen Jesus and hat He told her to tell everyone about the "Blood Oath Covenant." She talked to is for like 15 minutes about this covenant thing. It was...weird. She kept saying the same thing over and over again that the blood oath covenant is all that we should preach. Weird. The second was a guy we met at Black Bear Diner after lunch, he claims to have been a multimillionaire who lost all of his money because of the greed of men. Could be true, I don't know. But he kept saying that young men like us missionaries should be out getting experience and money and that men in suits don't get anything done. Well, personal opinion, Donald Trump get things done...Presidents of the United States get things done...President Monson, the First Presidency, and the Quorum of the Twelve get things done. To give just a few examples. But yeah, he was talking about how we should be out in the world getting experience and not trying to spread the word because God isn't real and man is the closest thing to a god, and he wouldn't really leave us alone. The last thing he said, when he had finally backed himself into a corner with his words, was that he was kidding and then he walked off. Third person we met while fixing bike brakes out on the streets. He was a really nice guy, but he kept talking about how he has done a lot of temporal research about the Bible to make sure that it's true but never has prayed about the Bible or Book of Mormon. We told him that that is the way God has told us we will come to know of the truth. He said that that wasn't enough. Basically, he wanted to see the gold plates because the Book of Mormon (translated directly from the good plates) isn't enough proof. We asked him to pray about it and he said that it's not enough proof. He brought up a lot of good points, but they contradicted themselves on multiple fronts. So yeah, those were three interesting people in 6 days, and I haven't even met a Bethel yet. Bethel's are people who go to the Bethel church. People say that Bethel people are crazy and that I'll have some great stories to tell when I leave Redding. I can't wait to meet some. OH. And there's a less active member who is obsessed with Elvis Presley. He's not all there, but he is a really nice guy. I'll send pictures soon! So I was in ward council yesterday and when I met the Elder's Quorum President, he said his last name is Ogden. I was like, "oh geez...why does that sound so familiar...?" I was digging through the deepest pits in my mind. Then. From one of the deepest and darkest crags, I remembered that that's my hometown! Haha okay, not really. But I thought it would be funny to say it that way. So last night there was an earthquake pretty far from Redding, but in California nonetheless. And I felt it! It was so cool! It was just a little rumbling and wiggling, nothing super extreme, but it was sick! Kinda scary because put into a bigger shake and rumble that would have been really destructive and there's nothing I could have done about it. I don't like not being able to control things like that. :) Well, it looks like I'm coming to a close. On a final, spiritual note Elder Solomon and I watched The Testaments with a less active member yesterday. Lately I've been trying really hard to help myself have more faith in Christ and what He did. The Testaments does a fantastic job of showing the Lord's works and life. It is great at showing His love and His miracles. I love how real it makes the ministry and appearance of Christ in both Israel and the ancient Americas. Multiple times during the movie the Spirit testified of the reality of our Savior. It was amazing. I know this church is true. I wouldn't be out here preaching the gospel if I didn't love it, if I didn't know it was true, or if I didn't want my brothers and sisters to know of it's incredible message. It is true. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love us. Turn to them in any time of need. They are always there. I love you guys! Things are going swimmingly. :) Love, Elder Jacob Cevering