The Plan of Salvation truly provides hope and peace

This week has been super crazy for a lot of reasons but still full of missionary goodness.

Tuesday started it all out. This is one of those few times I'm really serious about things because of how big it is. We had gone to the temple to pick up the other elders in our district and on the way to lunch we got a text from President Orgill telling my companion Elder Brown to call his dad, which if you're a missionary is never a text you want to see. After a 15 minute phone call, Elder Brown hung up and told us that his mom had passed away in her sleep. It was pretty unexpected so it was hard for his family as something like that would be. But at the same time we all felt so much for Elder Brown and his family, when we got out of the car Elder Summers and I both just hugged him and we all cried for a second. Even with this news Brown has continued to work hard and it has just gone to strengthen his testimony of the Plan of Salvation. It is truly amazing that the Lord has provided us with this knowledge that makes it a lot less scary and sad when something like this happens. 

On Thursday we had the opportunity to go to the Gladys Knight and SUV choir devotional with Brock and his mother. The music was super awesome but way different then regular church music which was pretty fun. Brocks mom who comes from a lot of the same background as Gladys Knight seemed to really enjoy the whole things so hopefully it will lead into an even better avenue of teaching her, especially since Brock is going to be baptized in just a couple of weeks. After the performance we had to help clean up which was much less fun. We didn't end up getting home until about 2:00 AM so we were dead tired all day long on Friday. And to make things crazier Elder Brown went back to Utah for the funeral so we have had the other Elder Brown and Elder Rubon living with us all weekend since we can't drive so its been pretty fun but it will be nice to be back to normal this coming week.

Saturday and Sunday were of course awesome with Ryland's baptism and confirmation and all. The service was amazing, she had all sorts of family members there and it turns out that one of her grandma's and one of her aunts and one of her cousins are less active and then other family members there weren't even members. Ryland is so excited to finally be baptized and now she is going to already start being a missionary by trying to get her family to come to church as well so we will see how that goes. Its always so cool to be a part of confirming somebody and helping them receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, it truly is one of the best gifts that our Heavenly Father has given us and to be able to share that with people and give them that opportunity to have his companionship in their life is awesome. 

One of my favorite scriptures in the Book of Mormon has taken on a whole new meaning this week, its in the book of Jarom in verse 2 and says "And as these plates are small, and as these things are written for the intent of the benefit of our brethren the Lamanites, wherefore, it must needs be that I write a little;but I shall not write the things of my prophesying, nor of my revelations. For what could I write more than my fathers have written? For have not they revealed the plan of salvation? I say unto you, Yea; and this sufficeth me." As we have tried our best to comfort and help Elder Brown through this trial it has led me to think a lot on the Plan of Salvation as well and this scripture, although simple and not that long, really is rather profound. In this life the Plan of Salvation truly provides hope and peace through any trial we might have and central to that plan is the Atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace and the ultimate source of hope in this life. Like Jarom I can agree that no matter what we teach people or what we do, if we help them understand the Plan of Salvation and if we come to know it ourselves we will be so much better off and when the hard times come, because they do, we will be ready and will be able to stay firm on the rock of Christ. I love this gospel so much!

Love

Elder Cheever

 

 

I struggle to remember anything except the big miracles

This was one of those weeks where we were so busy that come Monday its all a blur and I struggle to remember anything except the big miracles so I'll do my best to give you an idea of what's happening here.

On Wednesday we were able to meet up with Brock at his friend Jack's home and have a really good lesson about the Plan of Salvation. He is super interested and really loves to learn and soaks it all in and then when we asked him if he was able to understand it he told us that it all made sense because his whole life he always felt like there had to be something more than just Heaven and Hell and that until we taught him about the degrees of glory he didn't know what it could be. We were able to teach him again on Sunday after church and it went super well again, he was super accepting of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and was totally willing to live it all.

We finished teaching Ryland all of the commandments this week as well and went over the baptismal interview questions with her yesterday to prepare her for the actual interview. She is super excited for her baptism on Saturday and its so cool to see the pure faith that she has in following Christ's example and commandments. I guess there really is a reason that the Savior has told us that we should be like the little children ;)

Yesterday at church we had two pretty awesome miracles that rounded the week out well. For some reason Sundays are usually the days where the most happens for us. In Sacrament meeting I sat next to Robert Carr and in the middle of the actual Sacrament part he leaned over to me and said he plans to be baptized by the middle of May and that he threw away all of his tobacco and alcohol. And then right after that Elder Summers sent me a text from the back of the chapel where he was with a Japanese investigator and said that somebody had just walked into church and said that he wanted to change his life and then accepted Elder Browns baptismal invite. After Sacrament meeting we sat with him and Elder Benton and Elder Wilcox and talked about his life and why he wants to do this and were able to help him out and then pass him off to them since he is 21.

We are all excited for all the stuff that is happening in this area and this ward and we hope that it will continue happening as we do what we need to and work hard to invite people to come closer to our Father in Heaven and to our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Keep choosing the right and doing what's most important, that's the best way to have true happiness.

Love

Elder Cheever

This ones kinda long because we had a lot of good stuff

As some weeks tend to go the best stuff didn't come until the last few days but the miracles we saw were amazing. On [Monday?] Elder Brown and Elder Brown switched places for an exchange that went super well. In the morning we went to the temple with our returning less active Greg so that he could do the baptism for his grandfather. It was a great opportunity for him and for the three of us to go and to feel the Spirit of the temple. Elder Brown had the opportunity to baptize him and Elder Summers and I got to be the witnesses and then I had the chance to do the confirmation for him. Its been so cool to work with Greg these past couple months and seeing him be able to progress and be excited about the gospel. Later on in the day we had a window that we were pretty excited for based on how we set it. When we were praying to know where to have it Elder Summers fell asleep and had a dream that he gave a copy of the Book of Mormon to a man wearing a red hat who was interested in learning more so when we got to the street the window was on we went to where Elder Summers felt like he remembered it happening in his dream and we started knocking on doors. The second house that we went to had an open garage and there was somebody inside so we went to talk to him and we ended up having a really good conversation with him about God and we were able to give him a copy of the Book of Mormon and he told us to come back again so that we could tell him more, after we left Elder Summers looked at us and said "That was the man from my dream!" Its so cool to see the Lord work through us for the benefit of his children.  After that we felt like we needed to stop by Greg Donato since he hadn't responded to us for a few days. When we got there his wife was at home as well which was something we had been hoping for because we have wanted to be able to teach them together. They told us that they had started to pray together and that they could really feel their relationship strengthening and that they could feel the Spirit more in their life. We were able to talk with them for a while about the importance of keeping the commandments and how much that can bless their lives. The whole time the Spirit was so strong and we were able to have them commit to come to church together, they didn't end up coming but we wont give up. They have both changed a ton in the last two weeks and have gotten so much closer to one another and to our Heavenly Father. This week we hope to be able to set a baptism date with them this next week to give them something to work towards and we have faith that as we do what is required of us that it will all work out. When we left Greg walked us out the door and with tears in his eyes thanked us for stopping by and thanked us for the help that we have been to him and Kathleen. The Spirit was so strong that as we all walked away we couldn't say anything, we just smiled and chuckled and held back the tears. It was definitely one of the most amazing lessons I have had in my mission. 

On Friday we got to teach Ryland again and we were able to discuss more of the plans for her baptism. Its awesome to see how excited she is and to see her faith in pressing forward. 

Saturday ended up being amazing as well. We had another exchange but his time Elder Jones joined Elder Summers and I again. It was a ton of fun to have all three of us together again, we joked about how we just needed Elder Wilcox with us and it would be like our room in the MTC. We had kind of a weird day but at night we went to the stake baptisms with Ryland which was a great opportunity for her to see baptisms happen and to get her even more ready for it, the whole ward is getting ready and you can feel the support that they have for her as she makes this step in her life. 

All of this came to a peak on Sunday. During our window on Thursday one of the young men in the ward who has been bringing a friend to church texted us and asked when we wanted to meet up with his friend Brock to start teaching him. Brock was at church so we planned on meeting with him after church. I went with Jack and Brock to the priest's quorum and the lesson ended up covering almost all of the points of the restoration lesson so when Elder Brown and I sat down to talk with them Brock already knew a lot of what we were going to teach so we were able to answer more of his questions about other things. He told us how much he loved coming to church and learning, he told us that he had gone to a YSA activity before general conference and that they had invited them to write down a question and to listen for the answer when they watched conference so he did it. He asked "Am I on the right path?" and then when he watched President Monson's talk about choices and paths he said that he felt like President Monson was speaking right to him. At the end of the lesson we invited him to be baptized and he said that he wanted to do it because of the how he feels at church and because of how much sense the gospel makes in his life and because he wants to be able to be cleaned of his sins. 

We have been so blessed in this area and we are seeing even more blessings daily, being a missionary is awesome.

This gospel is so true and everyday I come to realize that more and more. I love being able to help people come closer to our Heavenly Father and to see how much love our Father in Heaven has for all of is children. There are people being prepared here and all over the world, go out and share the gospel with them!

Love

Elder Cheever

Watching General Conference was great

This week was pretty awesome, we were able to have some pretty big miracles and help some people out.

On Tuesday we had English class for the Japanese people and we talked about Easter with them and why we celebrate it and then we dyed Easter eggs with them. It was fun to see how excited these grown women were about dying eggs for the first time since Easter isn't a widely celebrated holiday in Japan.

On Thursday we had a lesson with Greg Donato and we ended up talking about forgiveness with him and we could tell that it really touched his heart. He continues to get closer to baptism, even if it is in little steps, and we have a goal of setting a date for him and his wife in May so hopefully through diligence and faith it works out.

On Friday we were able to meet with Ryland, a 10 year old girl whose mother is a less-active member of our ward. Her mom asked us at church one day if we could teach Ryland so that she could be baptized and of course we told her we were happy to. Ryland is super determined and already loves the gospel. We asked her why she wanted to be baptized and she told us that when she goes to church and activity days she feels good inside and it feels like this is her church and then before we could say anything she told us that she knew that it was the Holy Ghost that she was feeling. We were able to set a date with her for April 23rd and so far the ward is being super supportive and those involved are helping with the covenant path which is great.

Watching General Conference was great as always. We ended up being able to watch it with a couple of the less active people we have been working with and we could tell that both of them really enjoyed it and found things to work on in their lives. We were also able to find things that gave us ideas of how to direct the work here so that we can see more success and bring more people closer to Christ. Its always amazing to hear the Prophet and Apostles speak and the spirit that can be felt as they bear testimony of the Savior is truly remarkable. I loved how Elder Holland told us to "hold fast to the inspiration we received," I know I have a tendency to forget about ideas I get not too long after I get them. One of the best ways to be able to hold fast is to continually look over the words of the prophets and apostles to keep that spirit of conference always in your mind and heart. I know that President Monson truly is God's mouthpiece for the world today and that Jesus Christ is the head of this church and our Savior and Redeemer. I'm proud to say that this is the Lords true church on the earth today and I'm happy to say as Ryland did "this is my church." I'm glad to be a missionary here and to be able to help bring others closer to our Father in Heaven and to Christ and bring them on the pathway to eternal life, the people I serve are good, and I need to be with them.

Love

Elder Cheever