Email December 29, 2014

Hello Family! It sounds like you guys had a good Christmas. I know that I did!!! Goodness it was incredible seeing you guys, I love you guys so much! Honestly it was the best Christmas gift I got this year. I mean, I was super happy to get everything I did, but nothing can top seeing and talking with my family that I haven't seen for months! To report on the week, nothing much happened. Again, all of our investigators were out of town. :( And nobody wanted to sit down and watch a simple 3 minute video about Christmas. No one. Even people who identify as Christian didn't even want to watch a video about Jesus Christ! I don't get it. That's something that is really starting to really bother me. Christians don't want to learn more about Christ? And especially at the season when every Christian denomination is focusing on Him? We as missionaries tell people our goal is to strengthen and build their faith in Jesus Christ and ask them if they want to meet with us. The usual response, "Well we're already Christian." PERFECT! So you already HAVE faith in Christ, all we want to do is to help you make it stronger. The usual response, "No, we're okay." ...what?! I don't know about you guys back home, but I have never met someone who has too much faith. So yeah, that's getting really annoying. So like I said, none of our investigators were home this week. Plus Elder Dixon wasn't feeling well for a couple of days. Plus it was Christmas and no one wanted to hear our simple and quick and beautiful message. It was just a really tough week. The only lessons we had this week were with some less actives who are starting to come back to church. But that is super awesome! I am extremely grateful that we have less active members to go visit and who are progressing. I guess I just overlook that I am doing important work there. They really are just as important as investigators. I am excited to start working with the new investigators who said we could come back after the holidays. I am just hoping and praying my heart out that they will hold true to their word and actually meet with us. And that they will be ready and prepared. And that the Spirit will be able to confirm to their heart the truth of the things that we discuss. I really want and need another solid investigator. It is getting hard. I really love it out here and I have never been involved in something better. I have never learned more in my life. I can't believe I'm in the single digits of number of months left and I don't want it to ever end. But it is so hard out here. But you just need to keep on truckin'. Never give up, never surrender. A war was never won by giving up. I think that is one thing the Lord is trying to teach me out here. To trust Him. To love Him. To believe in His promises. To have faith. To endure to the end. But for that I am super grateful. I am grateful for the Lord's plan. I don't know what it is yet, but I know that I am going to be prepared for whatever is in my future. Thanks be to God! Well, I'm looking forward to the coming weeks for the potential investigators we can pick up. Again, I am hoping and praying that they will be ready. I also look forward to New Year's eve and the new year, 2015, in which I will be seeing my family in person again!!! I hope you all have a fantastic and safe new year celebration!!! I love you guys, have an incredible week! Love, Elder Cevering