Happiness is about wanting what you get

Even though walking everywhere is quiet tiring and can be a bit of a pain it has also been a great tool for finding. We are able to stop and talk to so many people and help them out in little ways and its been amazing to see just how many people out there have a little desire to learn more. In all of our walking and contacting and tracting this week we were able to give out 43 copies of the Book of Mormon and have 115 contacts. From all this we have picked up 7 new potentials who we have been able to share a lesson with and invite them to learn more or who we have been able to set up a time to come by and share a lesson with them. It is truly amazing to see how when we devote ourselves to finding those seeking truth, that our Heavenly Father will give us the opportunities we are looking for. We met one man named Salvador and at first we just said hi and kept walking but I felt like I should turn around and talk to him and when we did we ended up having a really good conversation with him. He told us that he sees missionaries around all the time and that he would like to learn more but that when ever he sees them they just walk right on past like we almost did so he was really glad that we stopped to talk to him, unfortunately he lives outside the mission and so far the Elders in his area still haven't gotten back to us so we haven't been able to get him in contact with them. Saturday morning we had a breakfast at President Silva's (the Newport Beach Stake President) house and had a good testimony meeting/devotional thing, which got us super motivated to go out and do something good so right after that we tried to stop by one of the people who said we could come by and before we left to do that I had prayed that we would have the opportunity to meet with our intended person or that, if we didn't get that chance, we would be able to find somebody we could teach and begin helping in their life. Unfortunately the lady we were trying to visit wasn't home but as we were leaving the neighborhood we were able to stop and talk to a man named Jazz and share the Restoration lesson with him. When we invited him to church he said he would definitely check it out because he has been praying to find a church in the area that speaks English and that has the whole truth so he doesn't get led away. It was so cool to see that in this one contact Heavenly Father answered both of our prayers and was able to start helping Jazz find the truth that he is looking for. Last night we met these two high school boys named Max and Joel and we were able to teach them the Restoration as well and they both said that if they were able to find out the truth of our message they would be baptized, which was super awesome.

We had a really good lesson with Gabriel this week as well. We taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ through reading 3 Nephi 27 and explaining each part of it with him as well as teaching him about keeping the Sabbath day holy. We were able to commit him to baptism on January 30th but unfortunately he wasn't able to make it to church yesterday because he had to babysit his siblings while his mom went to her church so now we are going to have to set a new date with him. He has a hard life and it has greatly increased his faith but he still worries and after he prayed he started tearing up and talked about how it is hard to try to provide for his family now that his mom lost her job and to try to pay for his schooling, while he said this I had the biggest prompting to give him a blessing so we offered that to him and I could really see after wards that it helped him and that he felt better.

There is this guy in the ward named Dave Waldram who is hilarious, he is 63 so his level of political correctness is about the same as mine so we get along pretty well and he is also super knowledgeable when it comes to the gospel. On Sunday he got roped into teaching Gospel Principles and Sunday School on the fly but he did an amazing job. In one lesson he said "Happiness isn't about getting what you want, its about wanting what you get", which I think is so true. Sometimes what we want isn't always what's best for us and Heavenly Father knows that so He gives us what we really need and at first it might suck and not be any fun but the trick is to be thankful for not only our blessings but also our trials and as we do that we will be able to find the good that comes from the hard times and end up being glad that it happened. 

As of late, President Orgill has been sending us a lot of reminders about obedience and how important it is to be strictly obedient. This morning in my studies I read Helaman (yes the whole thing) and obedience is a huge underlying message of that book. Throughout it the people go up and down and up and down with their levels of obedience and they have drastic results, when they are obedient they are blessed hugely and are able to protect themselves against the Lamanites and then they are able to prosper and become wealthy which then leads them to slowly be less obedient and more prideful which opens cracks for Satan to sneak through and bring about wickedness like the Gadiantion Robbers (who ultimately prove to be the downfall of the entire Nephite people) which makes Helaman, and Nephi and Lehi have to go out and fight but also makes them have to teach the people. And then because of the people's wickedness Nephi laments for them and because of his personal obedience and worthiness he is promised great blessings and then is also able to teach the people and ultimately brings many of them to a remembrance of the Savior and what they need to do to be happy and then they make the changes they need to in their lives and they become prosperous again (after going through war and famine) but then they fall back into disobedience and evil and Samuel has to come yell at them and tell them to stop being stupid or they will be destroyed and they don't like that and then the Gadianton Robbers become even stronger and lots more people die and ultimately they all begin to forget how many times they have been helped by God. It just goes to show that when we are obedient and stick with whats good and right in our lives Heavenly Father wants to and will bless us with what we want and what we stand in need of and when we aren't He will punish us with a righteous judgement until we are humble again and get back to the straight and narrow. I know that this is true and I know that its just as important for us today, we might not have to worry about secret combinations and kings being killed but we do each have our own personal challenges and God will be with us as we listen to what He asks us to do. I love being out here helping people, I know that Jesus lives and that He is is our Savior and that as such He can strengthen us to be able to overcome what we are going through, I know that the Book of Mormon is true and that it was translated by the prophet Joseph Smith and that it shows the love God has for all of His children and shows that Christ's church has been restored to the earth. I love being a missionary and I know that the people here are good and that I need to be with them.

Love

Elder Cheever

Either cars don't like Elder Greenberg or God needs us to walk

Not very much happened this week until the last couple days and then it got a lot better.

It rained a little bit on Monday, a little more on Tuesday, and then on Wednesday it poured all day long (apparently it was some of the most rain that Southern California has gotten in the last like 20 years). Luckily on Wednesday, when the rain was the worst, we spent most of the morning in the mission office then in our district leader's car so we stayed a little bit dry. With all the rain and then the fourth earthquake in the last four weeks (this one was the biggest yet at a whopping 4.8) us missionaries are preparing for some crazy disaster of some sort which hopefully will bring a humbling and some miracles to the California Irvine Mission.

Thursday we were able to meet a guy named Ned, while we were out tracting, who told us that he really loves Mormon people because they helped him out a lot when he lived in San Diego, so we were able to get his phone number, so we could get in contact with him, so that if he needs anything we can help out. Then, when we contacted him, we told him that if he wants we can also meet up with him to teach him more about why it is us Mormons are such nice people and he responded super enthusiastically saying that he would love to learn more so hopefully as we keep in touch with him something amazing will happen.

Friday was by far the highlight of the week. We got to got to the temple again which was amazing as always. Being able to go the temple while on my mission has been a huge blessing and I'm so grateful that we have one so close by. While I was in the Celestial room I was able to read some scriptures that were the exact answers to my prayers and that have helped me push through the tougher times and I was also able to talk to one of my friends from the San Clemente YSA ward while she was working in there and she was able give me some good advice so that was super helpful too. After the temple we attempted to meet with a less active man in our ward who wants to start coming back to church but he didn't show up; as we were about to leave a car pulled up in front of us and one of the kids that got out was somebody we gave a copy of the Book of Mormon to a couple of weeks ago who wanted to learn more but he said he got a new phone so he took our number down again and said he wants to meet up with us so since we ran into him again we have high hopes that something will work out. When we started biking home from that we stopped at a park to contact and met a man and his son and we were able to have a good chat with the father and we found out that he wants his son to find a religion in his life so we gave his son a copy of the Book of Mormon and he told he would read it and his dad said that if Brandon, the son, wanted to learn more he would let us know. After that we hopped back on the bikes and continued home but we didn't make it far before Elder Greenberg cut in front somebody trying to leave a parking lot and he got hit, luckily he was again protected and the only damage was to the bike so we are back to just on our feet, which, let me tell you, isn't the most fun thing in the world, but maybe we are supposed to be walking everywhere for some greater purpose, or cars just really don't like Elder Greenberg, so far I'm not sure which one it is.

We didn't end up getting to meet with Gabriel this week because all the rain led to a lot of leaks on the projects he was doing at work so he was kept super busy roofing but he continues to read the Book of Mormon and hopefully we will be able to meet with him this week and set a baptismal date for him.

Despite the hard times and crazy weather we keep working hard and having faith and patience that everything will work out in the end and that things will pick up in our area and we will begin to see the results of our efforts as promised in Alma 32:42-43 "42. And because of your diligence and your faith and your patience with the word in nourishing it, that it may take root in you, behold, by and by ye shall pluck the fruit thereof, which is most precious, which is sweet above all that is sweet, and which is white above all that is white,yea, and pure above all that is pure; and ye shall feast upon this fruit even until ye are filled, that ye hunger not,neither shall ye thirst. 

43. Then, my brethren, ye shall reap the rewards of your faith, and your diligence, and patience, and long-suffering,waiting for the tree to bring forth fruit unto you."

I know that there are people out there being prepared by the Holy Ghost and I know that our Heavenly Father wants them to find the help each of them needs in their lives. I know that each one of them is good and I know that if its in God's plan for them and me I will be able to be with them and help them.

Love

Elder Cheever

At the temple

Eating the original bananas on Balboa Island (like in Arrested Development).

The mission car after the accident

South Coast Ward missionaries

Elders Neilsen, Toland, Losee and Cheever

Opening Christmas presents

You are not alone

Not too much happened here this week that was exciting. We knocked on a lot of doors and talked to a lot of people who weren't interested. We did get bikes though, which is a little better than walking but makes it awkward to stop and talk to people as we are going. I had a fun exchange with one of my district leaders, Elder Lovgren that was a big help to me. He has only been out a month more than me and was into a lot of the same stuff at home and now is even struggling with some of the same things that I am so we were able to have a good talk and help each other out. It's super weird that it is 2016 but I'm excited to see what the new year has in store for me, and now I can say I go home next year even if that's still far away. My message for this week is you are not alone, no matter how hard things might seem or how dark times may get in your life there is always somebody you can turn to. Heavenly Father is always waiting eagerly for you to ask for His help and all it takes is simply calling out to Him in faith through prayer. Not only is Father there waiting but our Savior Jesus Christ knows how each of us feels and can be the strength we need when our own fails and in addition to His help we have thousands of people on the other side of the veil watching over and protecting us because just as much as our Heavenly Father wants us to be happy, or family who has gone on before us wants the same and will do whatever might be in their power to assist us in our live. These people are good and I need to be with them.

Love 

Elder Cheever