Email November 10, 2014

Hello! So I speak of fundamentals due to the transfer doctrine we received last night: Elder Cevering: Staying in Grass Valley to train a SECOND missionary!!! Elder Raab: Going to Shasta Lake Ward up right above Redding 2nd Ward. I'm going to be training! Again! Back to back! I NEVER expected that. None of us did. Usually the greenie takes over the area and the trainer leaves, but I guess not this time around. I say usually because this does happen every once in a while. I just never expected it to be happening to me haha. In mission terms, missionaries a person trains are their "sons." So Elder Raab is my firstborn in the wilderness and now whoever my next new missionary is, is my second born. My posterity grows! Hahaha! I'm really excited though. I didn't feel like it was time to leave and I really didn't want to because I love this ward and the people we have been working with recently. I also expected to leave because I was at my regular 4 1/2 month allotment per area, but now, in theory, I'll be here for 7 1/2 months. I should be here for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Eve. Crazy. Even crazier is that there is a family in the ward here who has a grandson coming to this mission this transfer, so potentially he could be coming to the ward he lived in for a little while a few years ago. I don't know if that'll happen though, considering they try to keep missionaries away from family...but who knows! We'll see what happens. So for the rest of the week: We went to our lesson with Brad on Saturday and there was a lady there with him named Melody. When we started talking about the Book of Mormon, about what he had read that week, she was a little interested. So taught her what the Book of Mormon is and how she could know it was true for herself. When we shared the First Vision with her she started crying and said it was incredible. She asked if the gospel could help her overcome her drinking problem and we said that it could and she is excited to start trying it. Although right now she has a mindset that one prayer or scripture will free her forever. We explained to her that it probably won't happen that way, but it'll take diligent and persistent work but that if she does her part, the Lord will do His part. We taught her about the Atonement and she seemed to love it. And one of the greatest parts was that while Brad was talking about some of his other sacred book/ancient text stuff she was shaking her head in disagreement and stuff. Booya! Haha, that was kind of good. She wants to make a big change in her life and we promised her the gospel, if she strives to live it, will help her to make that change. I can't wait to keep working with her. For most of the early week we did some service like helping people clear their yards, make burn piles, and burn it with them and another family we helped on their ranch by driving in T-Poles, repacking their trailer, mowing their front lawn, clearing the horse stalls - ranch chores haha. That was a lot of fun. The father of that family is a leather worker so he makes amazing scripture cases for the missionaries who ask him to and I really want one from him so hopefully I can get something figured out! We continued working with some investigators from the zone blitz but they're actually in the Nevada City Ward boundaries so we're going to hand them off sometime this week. :( But that's okay! Our ward has been so much more excited to do missionary work since the blitz and we have a few people who have referrals for us, one of which has lots of questions! So we're having a dinner with them soon. Hopefully something will come from it! We have a bunch of less actives that we're trying to have lessons with, but most of them are single women so we can't go over there alone and that's tough. :/ We're trying to get men from the ward to go with us but it isn't working out too well so far. But that'll hopefully change. We had a couple of investigators finally show up to church!!! Their names are Heather and Megan and they were Nevada City's investigators until they moved into our area. *Happy Dance* They're cool and have basic beliefs that, as far as I have seen, go right along with what we believe. Megan totally believes in a Heavenly Father and that He has a gospel. Whether or not she believes it's OURS we have yet to find out, but we will continue going over and inviting them to read and pray about it. That's where the answers truly come, when we ask the origin of all truth Himself. I've had some amazing epiphanies these last few weeks and I'm so grateful that the Spirit is speaking these things to my heart. I've always tried to notice and accept sudden bursts of understanding as the Spirit, but sometimes I was too prideful to not accept it. But I am so glad that I have been blessed to recognize it so much more recently. Truly things that bring us peace and understanding are given to us by the Holy Ghost. One epiphany I had was the scripture telling us that if we ask, seek, and knock, we will receive, find, and have it opened to us. We are all trying to get back to Heavenly Father. But in order to find out how to do that, we need to seek for and find the way. We need to ask how to get there and we will receive the answer. We need to knock on heaven's door and the things we seek will be opened up to us. I know that this is true. Prayer is real. Heaven isn't so far away, really. It's just a prayer away. And when we ask, we will truly receive!!! I love this gospel, I'm so grateful for the opportunity I have to spread it. Goodness is it going by fast! 11 months left! I love you guys, I hope you have an incredible week. :) Til next Monday, Elder Cevering