Email September 29, 2014

Top o' the Afternoon! Not a ton to report on...sorry. :/ Nothing very exciting, other than the mission is just as crazy as always! I don't think that one will every change. Ups and downs and lefts and rights. And that's just because of the town's layout: hilly and curvy streets galore. Then there's the members, less active members, investigators, happy(ily) nonmembers. But it's all good. :) Just part of the experience! And it's easily one of the best experiences ever. We did have another lesson with Fernando and that went really well. And the next day on exchanges Elder Raab and Elder Vanleeuwen stopped by and talked with him for 20 minutes and he said he would come to church this week! And then we didn't see him for a few days straight because he was never home and we couldn't contact him. So we tried texting him and reminding him about church, calling him, and showing up on his doorstep in the rain. Nothing. We hoped he was just at the church already and he wasn't. So that was heartbreaking. Hopefully he's still going strong on not drinking. We have been working with a Less Active named Rick. The night Elder House and I showed up on his doorstep was a pivotal night for him and he said that because we were there, he is wanting to turn his life around. :D We have been meeting with him for a while and he has said he would come to church for a long time, but this time on Saturday night we stopped by and invited him again and he promised he would come. He even set his clothes out, tied his tie - everything. He was completely ready for church. Well, the block starts and he's not there either. Needless to say, it was one of the harder Sundays of my mission because we basically had two promises that they would come to church, both of who need it REALLY badly, and neither held up to their word. It makes me so sad. :( Elder Raab and Elder Vanleeuwen were on exchanges and were finally able to get David and Nicky to have a gospel conversation! They don't understand why priesthood authority is necessary and so Elder Raab and Vanleeuwen told them why. David and Nicky apparently said it was one of the most informative times they have had with the missionaries. Which is great. :D They also committed David and Nicky to pray about why the authority is necessary and they accepted the invitation so we're going to follow up with it next time we see them. We have also seen a few little perks here and there start popping up in Less Active work. Would you believe me if I told you Elder Raab and I worked on a list of Less Active members and we found out there are over 350 Less Active and Inactive members within the ward?!?! Crazy!!! No wonder our average attendance is around 65 people! So we are working hard to change that. Hard. And it's starting to pay off. No huge successes, but a few people have been okay with us stopping by again in the future. Which I'm excited for! :D And that's about it. Unfortunately this week built up to some good prospects but ended with broken promises. Not cool. But, again, that's mission life! It's okay, it happens. We're just looking forward with faith. Make sure you all do the same! I promise you that you will see blessings of peace and comfort. :) Have a fantastic week! Love you! Elder Cevering