Cam's baptism and confirmation

This week flew by! Not much went down on Monday and Tuesday. We played soccer and football and I got super dehydrated so that made the rest of Monday miserable and part of Tuesday morning.

On Tuesday we met with Cam to finalize the plans for his baptism and then when we told our ward mission leader it turned into a huge argument about the timing because nobody in the ward would be able to go to it on a Thursday morning at 11:00.  I ended up making Elder Davies be in charge of the phone and I just had to pray that Heavenly Father would let everything work out in whatever way He needed it to and I laid down on the ground and tried to relax. Elder Davies ended up mad too so we went on a walk on some trails by the church building which definitely helped a ton.

On Wednesday we got to go to the temple in the morning which was the beginning of the week getting better. We were still at odds with Steve about the baptism scheduling so I went in praying for that to be sorted out and praying about some other questions I have had. During the session one question began to be answered and then within an hour of leaving the temple we had sorted out everything with Cam's baptism and were completely ready to go through with it. It is amazing how much power there is to both prayer and Temple attendance. That night we also got a call from the San Clemente Elders saying they have another investigator for us with a baptismal date.

Thursday was obviously amazing because Cam was finally baptized after four months of waiting and scheduling and rescheduling. He was so happy after Elder Hook baptized him, we could hear him yelling and laughing back in the little changing room. At night the day just got better when we went to the lesson with Elders Butler and Brown to begin teaching Andrew. He is a super cool guy and has loved learning more about the gospel. He asks a lot of questions which is awesome because generally people I have taught don't and it makes it hard to know if they are understanding what we have said because I know that often I can be garrulous and confusing, so its good to know that the Spirit is there to teach them what I can't.

On Friday we helped with a move and did some weekly planning, I hate planning; it is so tedious and nothing ever goes according to plan anyways but the days do feel way more productive when we plan. We also got to have a lesson with Kurtis and we taught him the Law of Chastity. He lives with his girlfriend but he really wants to do what is right so we made sure to explain to him the reasoning behind the commandment and promise him the blessings that will come from living it and then assured him that Heavenly Father would help him out as much as he might  need help.

On Saturday we helped move the same family some more and then ended up helping out the SOI elders and picked up some groceries we needed and got ingredients for a dessert for our zone Halloween activity. Before we went to that we had another lesson with Andrew that went really well. We got to spend the last couple hours of the night with the zone because our mission president didn't want us outside. It was pretty fun we played some games and talked and enjoyed the night. Halloween definitely isn't the same as a missionary, but I guess most everything is different now.

Sunday was stressful, awesome, and interesting all rolled into the three hours of church. Cam asked me to confirm him so I got to deal with being nervous about that all morning and then we were stressing about if our investigators Andrew and Kurtis would make it to church. In all this stress I totally forgot at what words to say for the confirmation so when I got up and started to do it I said "Camil..." and then looked at Elder Davies across from me in the circle and whispered "I don't know what I'm doing" and he guided me through it. After that I was so nervous I gave a short blessing and then we all sat back down. Cam was so happy that I don't think he even noticed or cared that I flubbed it a little bit. It was fast and testimony meeting so as usual that was interesting, especially when a basher that the sisters invited to church decided to get up and bear his testimony about Christ never giving up, which went well until he started clapping, stomping his feet and singing "His love never fails, it never runs out, it never gives up on me" and encouraging us to do the same. After Bishop Walton quieted him down he proceed to bear more testimony and close by saying we need to make sure we believe in the right Jesus or we will be dead (this is one of the favorite arguments of the Compass Bible church in the area, that we believe in a different Jesus.) After he sat down the next two people who spoke bore super powerful testimonies of the truth of the restored gospel which quickly brought the Spirit back into the room.

This week I definitely learned the importance of trusting Heavenly Father. He has a plan for each and every one of his children and although Gary went about it a little crazily he was right that God's love never gives up on us. I am amazed every time I am able to help somebody come closer to Heavenly Father whether it be in having lessons with them or by having a baptism like Cam's. There is no better work in the world and I love doing it. California is awesome and has some crazy people, but despite their oddities, I love them and need to be with them!

Love

Elder Cheever