Email March 30, 2015

Helloooooo! How's everyone doing?? Hopefully just splendid! I know that I am doing just fantastic. Week before last was a tough one and last week was really rough as well, but it ended perfectly so that's all I could ever ask for! Anyone who has been on a mission knows how crazy things get right before a baptism. It's as if when an investigator wants to be baptized on a specific date, Satan flips a switch and things you never expected or thought could go wrong go totally awry. This time a week ago one of our investigators was ready to give it all up, things none of us expected saw coming happened and it was crazy. But we kept encouraging her, turning her to the scriptures and to prayer and to her Heavenly Father and Savior, Jesus Christ, and thanks to her building her testimony upon her Savior, she was able to make it through the mighty whirlwinds of the adversary. They really were incredibly mighty! But now I have a stronger testimony of how much the scriptures and prayer truly help us in times of great need. Truly we need to build our testimonies on Jesus Christ! He is the only sure way to have help and hope! The baptism went so well! Elder Jones gave the talk on baptism and then her best friend baptized her. Then Elder Jones and I talked about the Restoration and the new Easter message the church is spreading called Because He Lives (which is super awesome! I'll talk a little more about it later) after which I gave the talk on the Holy Ghost. The Spirit was so strong during everything!!! After my talk we made sure that she had some time to bear her own testimony of the gospel and wow was it just so incredible to hear!!! She even wanted to bear her testimony at her baptism when we very first even talked about the program probably two weeks ago! She's so awesome! It was super cool because her mom, younger sister, grandparents, aunt and uncle and cousins came to the baptism and they, especially her mom, were so grateful for Elder Jones and I. It was so amazing to see their gratitude for helping their daughter to be happy. All I could think and tell them is how grateful I was that their daughter/sister/granddaughter/niece/cousin came into my life and truly sought happiness and worked so hard to achieve it. She really is an incredible blessing in my life. Funny story! So supposedly I look like this girl's ex-boyfriend. No one in her family likes him. When we very first started meeting with her it was pretty distracting because it was hard for her to take anything I said seriously for the reason that I look so much like her ex. But she quickly got over it. Then a day or two before the baptism she said to me in a lesson that her family isn't going to like me very much because I look just like her ex. So I was bracing for all of these comments about how much I look like her ex-boyfriend and whatnot and when the night of the baptism came, nothing. No comments at all! Then come to find out the next day that when I was meeting her family at the baptism, her younger sister thought I was her ex and wanted to punch me. How glad I am that she didn't I cannot explain! Hahaha! But yeah, it has been pretty funny actually to try to not look like her ex. I've tried different hairstyles, different speaking habits, etc., but nothing really worked. We even joked about having me wear a bag over my head in lessons, but we never did haha. But do you know what did make the difference? A smile. She said he never smiled and that I smile all of the time. So much it looks like I have Botox, she said. Hahahaha! So it's true when they say that a smile can make all of the difference! She asked if I would confirm her and give her the Holy Ghost and that was a huge honor as well! I haven't been able to be in the water with any of my investigators, but all three times I have been blessed to be the one to finish the incredible ordinance and I am so grateful and humbled. In Sunday School before Sacrament Meeting she asked me if I was ready and I said yes and she said she wasn't sure if I was and asked if I needed cue cards. She is so funny! Haha! I reassured her that I didn't and it went super smooth. Loved it. Well, other than that huge highlight we were super blessed to be given a few solid referrals this week who became new investigators right off the bat. SUPER awesome!! We have been really blessed here in Roseville. And, again, I am so super grateful for the opportunity that I have to be here. So that has been my week. Another huge rollercoaster ride right up to Saturday and then it all came to a perfect end! And she was interviewed RIGHT AFTER SACRAMENT for her temple recommend! And, of course, she was able to get it! She's going to do baptisms, like, next month! It's going to be so amazing. We were texting her last night about it and she was just so thankful and grateful for everything and so excited to keep progressing in the church. She is doing so incredible! I know it's still super early to say that, but it's such an amazing start! The gospel is true, the book is blue, Moroni is on the ball. Hope y'all have a great week! I challenge each of you who read this to post something online that has comforted you in the past and/or still comforts you today! I promise you that you will touch someone's life if you do so! You may not know it, but to that person you will be a miracle. Love y'all! Love, Elder Cevering