Email December 1, 2014

Hello Family and HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!! I know it's after the fact, but I realized I didn't say it last week so I'm saying it is week. So, yeah. Happy Thanksgiving. :) I hope it went well! We had a great Thanksgiving! Sister Dooley is a super good cook! And yes I did get the package, the cookies were fantastic!!! I was so happy to see them! They taste great! Thank you so much. :) Well, this week was good. The lesson we had with Megan and Heather fell through so we went to Gary and Katie Irwin and had a lesson with them. It was a good lesson, they are starting to understand priesthood authority. However, we still aren't sure if they are accountable or not so that makes it difficult. We even had a member there and he wasn't sure either. He feels that Gary could be accountable but that Katie isn't, which is definitely something that we have been feeling more lately as well. After we talked about the priesthood authority and how it was lost then restored through Joseph Smith, they set a baptismal date in May. It's really far out for a couple reasons, they aren't sure about it yet and honestly neither are we. But we're going to work with them and get them to that point unless otherwise directed. Brad was interesting as always. We started into the drop talk with him and he said he wanted to be baptized, but not in our church. So, you can guess that we're definitely dropping him very soon. Like, next week should be our last lesson with him. If it's not...I don't know what I'm going to do haha. Probably scream. Just a little snippet from this lesson: Brad's books tell him that peoples' souls come from heaven or hell, not that they all come from heaven and go to heaven or hell like the common belief. So when those souls that came from heaven or hell die, they go back to where they came from. But later on he was talking about if someone kills another person the murderer goes to hell and the victim goes to heaven. So to play devil's advocate I said, "But what if the victim came from hell and the murderer from heaven? What happens then?" A puzzled look came on his face and he paused in thought for a few seconds. Then he said, "Well I believe God can do anything he wants." Not that I disagree because I do believe God can do anything He wants. But based on Brad's books, that would go against God's own doctrine which would prove God to be a liar which would prove that God isn't really God. I don't get it. So yeah, that's where we are at with Brad. Consider him dropped There was a lesson we had with a less active lady answering her questions about the beginnings of the Bible. I really like the history of the Bible, actually. It's really cool. I don't know a ton about it, but what I do I find very interesting. I'm grateful for the people who worked so hard to give us the Bible we have today. So many people put their lives on the line and most, if not all, lost their lives over it. Incredible sacrifices. Thanksgiving was really awesome! We cleaned the church building in the morning and in the afternoon we made visits and then had dinner with one of the best families in the Grass Valley ward, and debatably the mission, the Dooley's!!! I feel really bad though because we didn't know we needed to be home early and so we had to leave their house before dessert. :( I was really sad, but the time we did have there was awesome. Great food, great company, hilarious conversation. It was just fantastic. I'm so grateful that I have had the opportunity to be with the Dooley's both for dinner and in the ward. They are so awesome. I love them so much!!! So that's kind of it, I guess. I'm trying to think if there is anything else I need to say, but I can't remember anything. I love it out here, it is amazing. Elder Dixon and I are getting along super well and we are doing great work. He is a great missionary and it is a privilege and honor to be training him. I love the gospel, I know it is true, I know that God lives, and I know that He and His Son Jesus Christ love us more than we can imagine. My testimony of Joseph Smith has been grown as well and I love it. I know he saw what he said he saw, Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, in that sacred grove that early spring. I know the church is true. I love you guys! Have an incredible week! Love, Elder Cevering