Craziness to the week but mostly good things

We had some craziness to the week but mostly good things. The Outhwaites are back in town so we were able to have a good visit with them. We shared the Prince of Peace video and talked about Christ and how He can bring us peace. They have had a few changes in their work schedules and in other aspects of their life that has been pretty crazy for them so the video came at a good time to help them know how they can maintain peace while dealing with the changes of life. We were also able to visit with the Castillo family as well. We brought President Brennan, the former stake president, with us and we watched the talk by Elder Joaquin Costa entitled "To the Friends and Investigators of the Church." In the talk he outlines four things that investigators need to do and then he boldly invites them to be baptized. The four things he suggests are take the missionaries seriously, go to church, read and pray about the Book of Mormon, and to repent. Pedro told us that they have done all of that except for reading the Book of Mormon so now they will focus on that so that they can be ready to be baptized. We have high hopes that it can happen by May 13th so that Elder Mann and Elder Tree can still be here when it happens. We got a referral for somebody in Coto de Caza, which is the largest gated community in the country if not the world, and when we went by they told us they weren't interested. On our way back to the car we were talking about the principle in Preach My Gospel that suggests knocking on doors around the place you just visited a referral to see if maybe somebody else near there was the reason that you were directed to where you were. Unfortunately since Coto is gated we can't just knock on doors so we just drove past the houses that we wished we could visit. Then the next morning we got a text from the elders in a ward in the Mission Viejo stake giving us a referral for a lady who lives in Coto that is the sister of their investigator. When we went to visit her we discovered that she lived in one of the houses that we had wanted to knock on the previous day while visiting the other referral. It was amazing to see that Heavenly Father will provide a way for us to visit those who are ready even if they are in a heavily fortified gated community.

Since Elder Mann and Elder Tree go home soon and I go home not too long after them we have all been thinking about the future and home a little bit more than usual and its a little scary to think about the future. I'm so grateful that I have a Heavenly Father who loves me and has a plan for my life and I'm glad that I can rely on Christ to help me feel at peace and to carry me through. The other night at dinner we were sharing the prince of peace video just after my younger brother did my class registering so I was pretty stressed about that and while the video was playing I had an overwhelming feeling of peace hit me and I felt that even though I'm scared right now and that I have no idea how things are going to go that it will all be alright in the end. I'm so glad that Jesus really does live and that He does fill that role as the Prince of Peace and that I can ask for that help whenever I need it. I'm grateful to be here in Rancho now and to work with these great people, they are good and I need to be with them.

Love

Elder Cheever

General Conference

We had General Conference this week so of course it was a good week. I was very grateful to hear all wonderful talks and to gain guidance and answers to things I have had on my mind. On Tuesday we helped down at the Modjeska house in the canyon and then we helped a member in our ward to move out his old dental office and into his new one and then we picked oranges with the youth for mutual. It was fun way to get to know the young men better and to build a bond with them. After the orange picking part they had all of the young men and young women get together and we sang the EFY medley in preparation for one of the boy's mission farewell. The Spirit is always so strong during that song and it was especially powerful to sing about being the Lord's missionaries as a missionary. Saturday morning we helped a single lady and her son move and it ended up causing us to miss the morning session of General Conference but we were happy to help the member in our ward and we are going to watch conference tonight with the family we are having dinner with so it all works out. Pedro and Peter Castillo both made it the Priesthood session of conference. I don't know quite how much each of them got out of it but the Spirit was there so if nothing else they felt that. Last night we went by a potential investigator who has a boyfriend who is a less active member and in the course of our discussion we were able to ask her if she would be interested in learning more and she told us that she would like to know more and then to our surprise her boyfriend actually voiced his support of us teaching her so hopefully we can begin seeing miracles there. This week we are hoping to get in with the Castillos to watch a couple of the talks from conference that we feel would have a good impact on the progress of the family. Saturday night was also transfer calls night. Elder Mann goes home at the end of this transfer (May 16) and I go home three weeks later (June 6th) midway through the next transfer, so we figured we would end up with a third companion so that our area wouldn't end up with two people who know nothing about the area. We weren't wrong about the third companion, but its not at all who we would have guessed. We are going to be joined by Elder Tree, my former companion from the Laguna Hills 3rd ward. Besides the fun of getting somebody I have already been companions with, he also goes home with Elder Mann so that means that when they go home things will get crazy for me and the area. But we are excited and its what the Lord wants so we are going to do it.

In addition to a challenge for each of you to take a chance to watch or listen to General conference (you can find it at this link https://www.lds.org/general-conference?cid=HP_SU_2-4-2017_dPFD_fGC_xLIDyL1-B_&lang=eng) I would also encourage each of  you to check out this year's Easter initiative #PrinceofPeace (you can find this one at https://www.mormon.org/) It is a powerful video that talks about the role of our Savior Jesus Christ as the Prince of Peace and how His Atonement can bring us peace. Watch it, apply it, and share it with others. I'm so grateful that Easter is coming up and that we will have the chance to celebrate the resurrection of Christ. I know that He lives and loves each and every one of us. I know that because He lives no problem we face needs to stay a problem. Through His Atonement we have the ultimate source of strength, hope, and of course peace. If we follow Him and strive to be like Him we can have true happiness in this life and a fullness of joy in the life to come!

love

Elder Cheever

Lots of exchanges

Sorry I didn't send an email last week! It was a hectic day and unfortunately emailing was the thing that got cut short. It was a pretty good week, some cool miracles but all in all a pretty regular missionary week.

This week was also pretty crazy. The transfer is getting close to ending so there were still a couple more exchanges to go on, one with our district leader and one with the assistants, and then we also had a day where we mixed up the entire zone so I was all over the place. On Wednesday I got to go to the Tijeras Canyon ward with one of my good friends Elder Kenner. We had a fun day and had a couple good visits with some of the less active members that they have been working with. The very next day I went to the Newport Coast YSA ward with Elder Everett, one of our assistants to the president. We had a fun day inviting people to the institute lunch class and then trying to find some new move ins that their bishop asked them to track down. We actually managed to get in contact with all four of them that we tried and were able to get the information that we wanted from them and to give them the information about ward activities that we wanted to share with them. It might not sound like that much but it was a pretty big miracle. Usually as a YSA missionary when you go out "less active" hunting you don't get very far so Elder Everett and I were pretty excited for that. We got to have dinner with the Thach's in the South Coast ward, we have both served there previously. It was fun to catch up with them. After dinner we spent some time trying to find a couple of investigators there in Santa Ana. It was fun to walk the streets of that crazy city and talk about fun times there with somebody else who has a love for that place. On Saturday I got to go to the Lake Forest ward with Elder Van Orden, one of the missionaries actually in that ward, and Elder Summers, one of my companions from my time in that ward. We had an amazing day. We went by some people that Elder Summers and I used to visit and work with and we were able to set up appointments for Elder Van Orden and his companion to go by them again and we were able to catch up with some old friends. Yesterday all four of the Castillos came to church once again. In Gospel Principles the lesson was on the Atonement and our ward mission leader did a really good job and at the end Pedro said it was a very touching lesson. It is so cool to see that family progressing and to see the love they have developed for the gospel. 

I'm loving it here and I'm so excited to be in such a great place with such great people for the last little bit of my mission. I know for a fact that they are good and that I need to be here with them.

Love

Elder Cheever

Castillo family came to church

Things are good in our area. Tuesday ended up being a whole day of service. In the morning we helped at the Modjeska Garden house, a neat little historic site deep in the canyon, and then we helped some of the elders in our zone with a move for a little bit and then we went to help at an interfaith food pantry in Rancho. It was pretty fun to get home exhausted from doing a different kind of work all day but to feel good from having helped others all day long.  On Wednesday we had our zone training meeting. For the first hour and a half of the meeting nobody in our zone was focused and they were being loud and disruptive while missionaries gave training's so the Spirit wasn't there in abundance as it should have been. Fortunately they calmed down and behaved when the former stake president came to talk with us and when President Clark arrived as well On Thursday we got to go to the temple which was a huge blessing. It is always nice to go there and to learn, to feel the Spirit, and to be at peace and away from my usual worries for a couple of hours. I was on exchanges with Elder Wothe that day. He went to BYU as well before his mission and he is a lot like me so we had a lot of fun all day long comparing stories of various adventures that we had. After the temple we ended up helping with a move with the Lake Forest elders. We got it done pretty quickly and had a great time.  All of the Castillo family came to church this week and loved it. Kayla, the 17 year old daughter, went to Mormal (Mormon Prom) with one of the young men in the ward and had a great time with kids who have good values and who were good examples to her. We are hoping with this added progress that they can get baptized by the end of April. The Outhwaite family is doing good as well. We were able to meet with them together one night and then we had an individual lesson with May that started out as the Gospel of Jesus Christ but transitioned into eternal marriage and the blessings from that. It was actually super cool that the conversation went there because the things that we talked about ended up being the evidence and support to beliefs that May has had her entire life. They are going to be out of town for the next couple of weeks which is a bummer but we have some awesome members in our ward who have become close with them so they should hopefully still be in contact with the church while they are gone.

Yesterday morning I finished reading the Book of Mormon again, for the 13th or 14th time. As sad as it gets towards the end of the book the Spirit is so powerful as Moroni teaches and bares his testimony of our Savior Jesus Christ. Each time I read of the fall of his people and his description of his life I can feel the emotion that he puts into his writing and it constantly confirms the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon to me. I'm so grateful that in addition to the Bible we have the Book of Mormon as another witness that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and the Savior and Redeemer of this world. I have found so much strength, comfort, and peace from the words contained within it. I'm so grateful for all those men from thousands of years ago who took time to instruct us and to record their testimonies and I'm grateful that Joseph Smith had the faith to pray and ask what path he should follow in his life that led to the restoration of priesthood authority, of Christ's church on the earth, and in the translation of the Book of Mormon. I hope that each of you can take a chance each day this week to read from the Book of Mormon and to feel the power that it has!

Love

Elder Cheever

Good week in Santa Margarita

We had a good week here in Santa Margarita. 

We had a zone conference on Tuesday that was a good chance to review the principles that we learned a couple of weeks ago from the teachers from the MTC. Elder Mann, Sister Sanders, Sister Loveridge, and I (the sister training leaders and zone leaders in our stake) were assigned to give a training about church tours during the zone conference. We were relieved to be able to have our training done with. We were glad that it went well and we hope that it helps bring miracles in the areas around the mission. Tuesday night we had dinner with our investigators, the Outhwaites at the home of some super solid members in our ward. They are both converts and the stories that they shared hopefully will help May and Brendan continue to progress.

On Wednesday I had the opportunity to go on exchanges with Elder Van Orden. I was kind of nervous to have to lead out the area after only a week of being here but it ended up being a really good day. We were able to have some awesome visits with three less active men and we were able to meet a former investigator and visit with him for a little while.

On Thursday we were able to meet with May again and the member that we brought with us was a huge help. He was able to bear testimony of a lot of principles that brought the Spirit in super powerfully. She even shared with us that she got her answer to knowing this church is true and that she is just waiting for her husband to get an answer as well.

On Saturday, Elder Burk joined me on exchanges in my area again. We helped with a couple of service projects in the morning but the afternoon was pretty empty. We were able to find things to do but it was weird to try and know the best way to spend our time with out having much of an idea of what to do in the area.

Yesterday Elder Mann was sick so we only went to Sacrament meeting. It was nice to be able to have that spiritual recharge amidst a rainy day inside the apartment.

Last week during our gospel principles class one of the women in the ward made a comment about the Atonement that I really liked. She said that Christ loves us so much that even if it was only each one of us and Him in the world, He still would have taken upon Himself everything that He did to be able to help us. Sometimes I think we get into the thinking that Christ loves everybody as a whole but its so important to remember that He loves each and every one of us individually and is always there to help each of us. I love the Atonement so much and I'm so grateful for it!

Love

Elder Cheever

Amazing week

We had an amazing week over here. We have spent a lot of the week going around to visit various members of the ward to introduce me and to unveil the ward mission plan to them. We were able to have some awesome visits with our investigators as well. We are teaching the Castillo family, Pedro the dad, his wife Nelly, his daughter Kayla , and son Peter. They are an amazing family who really knows that this church is true. Our ward mission leader came with us and we were able to have a good conversation with them that eventually led into a very direct conversation about baptism. The Spirit was crazy strong and I could tell that everything Elder Mann, Brother Johnson, and I said to them was directed by the Spirit. We attempted to set a baptismal date with them and Pedro told us that they will be baptized as a whole family when everybody is ready and that when it happens it will be a bigger deal than his wedding day. Their daughter Kayla is the last member of the family to be 100% in but she is going to come to mutual on Tuesday, she wants to go to Mormal (Mormon prom), and the whole family is going to come to church next Sunday so we are pretty sure that after this week she will also be all in. Its a super exciting time for them, the ward, and us.

We also had dinner with our other investigator family, the Outhwaites (Brendan the husband and May the wife and their two year old daughter Olivia). May is progressing super well and is just eating up everything that we have taught her and that she has heard at church. Brendan still has some hesitations but he is very supportive of his wife. We talked with her about baptism for a little bit and she wants it to happen. We went over the baptism interview questions to show her that she is almost ready and she said she would talk to Brendan about it because she wants them to make the decision together.
Its amazing to have people to teach who are so genuinely committed to finding the truth and who have the faith to come to church and keep the commitments that we extend to them.

This week I also had the amazing opportunity to FaceTime my brother Sully as he opened his mission call. It was so cool to see the excitement on his face as he read that he would be going to the Spain Madrid mission and even better to see his best friend run up to give him a big hug since he also opened his call to Madrid the same day. I have been so grateful to have one of my good friends in my mission and I know that Alex and Sully will be a huge support to one another. 

We also had the chance to call Elder Mann's family to listen in as his younger brother opened his call. It was cool to support him in that and to see our brothers following in our footsteps.

I'm so excited to be here in this area to finish out my mission and to work with the members as well as the investigators that are here. These people are good and I know I need to be with them.

Love

Elder Cheever

Transferred to Santa Margarita

We both got super sick this week so that severely handicapped the amount of work that we could do this week. On Tuesday and Wednesday we tried to visit some of our investigators and we tried to set up appointments with potentials or hunt down less actives but none of them were available or responsive which was a bummer.

On Thursday I had to go to a mission leadership council meeting. Usually its just the zone leaders and sister training leaders but this time they invited all of the district leaders for some reason. We received trainings from a couple of instructors from the MTC to help us be able to help our investigators progress better so it was a pretty good meeting, even though it went from 9 am until 3. After MLC Elder Ahlstrom and I went to dinner with the less active man that we met last week, Robbie, again, despite both of us starting to feel sick. He took us to a really nice Chinese restaurant called Din Tai Fung and then he took us to the Lego store and bought us Lego keychains and then we went to the Godiva chocolate store and he got us super good chocolate. By the end of our time with him he asked us what he should read so we were able to help him download the Gospel Library app so that he could begin reading the Book of Mormon again. Hopefully as he reads it he can find the desire to return to church. By the time we got home I was miserable and could barely breathe I was so congested and I could hardly see because my eyes were watering so much. We were still sick on Friday and Saturday so we just rested at home. I'm still not sure if the fever from having a cold or the cabin fever that I developed from being inside so long was worse. I'm just glad to be able to work again. 

Saturday night was transfer calls and I found out that I would be getting transferred and going to the Santa Margarita ward in the Rancho Santa Margarita stake with Elder Mann. I spent the rest of the weekend packing and then this morning I met up and I am now with Elder Mann. I like Rancho and I know Elder Mann pretty well so I'm excited to be here and to work with him. 

I know our Heavenly Father answers our prayers and that He knows our need, our wants, and what is best for us. I'm so grateful for this gospel and the perspective that it brings into life.

Love

Elder Cheever