Knowledge of the Plan of Salvation

Not too much to report on for this week. We finally got bikes back so we can get to doing even more work again, which is nice, except my legs are constantly sore but what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right? We have been knocking on a lot of doors and we have been working to try to get the members to feel the spirit of missionary work so that we can find more people to teach. We have a couple of potentials right now that we are continuing to work with hoping that they will truly listen and start making changes to reach the waters of baptism.

We went to a memorial/funeral service for one of the recent converts in the ward and it was a super powerful testament of the importance of the Plan of Salvation and how great of a blessing that knowledge is in our lives. As I watched the emotions and reactions of the various people there it was interesting to see how although some of the members of the church were sad and had tears in their eyes, they remained positive and they knew that they would see Rick again and that he is happy where he is right now. When I watched the nonmembers there much more of them were more distraught and a lot more upset about his passing and seemed to miss him much more, even those nonmembers from a strong Christian background. We truly are blessed to know that our Heavenly Father has a plan for us and that this is not the end.

Even when it goes slow this is still the work of God and if it goes slow its because He wants it to go slow for a reason. I know the elect are out there and I know that I just need to keep being patient and faithful to find them and help them come closer to our Heavenly Father.

Love

Elder Cheever

This is definitely the slowest area that I have been in

This is definitely the slowest area that I have been in but I know that that just means that there is lots of work here for us to do. I don't know how long it will take to start having people to teach but I have strong faith that it will happen before too long, as long as we continue to do our part to gain the Lord's trust in us for this area. We continue to do our best to find people to teach and yesterday we went by somebody who apparently we talked to before and we were able to teach him the restoration on his door step and then set up an appointment for next week to teach him and his family the plan of salvation.  Its been a little harder to get around in the last week since we have been on foot for most of it. Last week during my exchange with Elder Benton he accidentally blew the tire on Elder Tree's bike and after that everything that we tried to do to fix it seemed to just cause us more problems so we didn't have the bikes until Thursday when we were finally able to repair them and we were super excited to get back on them and get more done. When we got to our dinner that night we parked our bikes in front of the sister's car in the parking garage of the apartment complex and assumed that they would be safe there and much to our dismay when we left dinner we discovered that they were no longer there. Even though walking is arduous it gives Elder Tree and I a chance to talk a lot more  and get to know one another better so it has its plus sides, and hopefully soon the Truck Elders will bring us some bikes from my last area but until they arrive our feet are our vehicles. This morning we had a pretty awesome experience with some potential investigators. Apparently right before I came into the area Elders Tree and Koffi-Washington were able to give blessings to a husband and wife going through some medical crisis; this couple is neighbors of a member in our ward and so they were also able to have a member there to support them. We have kept in touch with them and have attempted to teach them and then this morning the member called us right before personal study and asked if we would be able to give the wife, Marsha, a blessing because she was struggling. When we got there we learned that she was feeling as though she was under some sort of demonic torment and that she just needed strength and support from people who are close to God. When Elder Tree gave the blessing he cast out whatever might have been bothering her and then proceeded to bless her with comfort and patience to get through the stresses of going through cancer. After the blessing we watched the Mormon Message "Lift" with them and talked about it for a little while and then Elder Tree read a few verses from 3rd Nephi when Christ was giving the sermon on the mount to the Nephites and from there we were able to teach them more about the Book of Mormon and why it is so important. We will continue to visit with them and hopefully as we teach them more and more they will feel the Spirit in their home and in their lives and they will be able to recognize His prompting them to follow what we share with them and ultimately join the church.

On Saturday and Sunday we had a stake conference with two general authorities, Elder J. Scott Dorius who is one of the new seventies called in April and Elder Christoffel Golden of the 70. They both gave amazing talks and mentioned some very important things and taught us a lot. Elder Golden began his talk by saying that it is totally okay to fall asleep in meetings and that it is even natural and beneficial so basically he is now one of my favorite general authorities, but he was such a great speaker that falling asleep this time wasn't an option. He is from South Africa so he talked a lot about Africa and told a story of how one time in the Congo they were baptizing too many people so he pulled the missionaries out of those areas and surprisingly the baptisms just continued to go up so he put them back in to slow down the work. All us missionaries laughed at that and it showed that it is possible to see baptisms simply through the work of the members. Hearing these two men bear testimony of the Savior was the coolest part, they truly know Him and recognize the role He has played for all of us and they can powerfully tell others of that knowledge and bring the Spirit into a crowded chapel with ease.

Each day out here is a new adventure and a new opportunity to learn how to truly live the gospel and help others see how important that is in their own lives. I love it and I wouldn't trade it for the world. I can't wait to continue seeing miracles among the people of Laguna Hills.

Love

Elder Cheever

 

 

Not much to say this week

Not much went down this week. I got to lead the area out two days in a row, I don't think I have had so little of an idea of what to do in my whole mission. One of the elders I went with trained my former companion, Elder Davies, so we told stories about him and biked around all day. I managed to get pretty sunburned on my arms so I had a pretty intense farmers tan and now a solid watch tan line. We are still trying our best to find new people to teach and to keep helping the less-actives that we are working with. Lately I've been studying a lot about listening to the Holy Ghost in all that I do out here since without His guidance the work doesn't go too well. Being able to have the presence of the Spirit all the time is one of the greatest gifts that our Heavenly Father has given us and can truly guide us in all aspects of our lives, if we do what is required of us to let Him in.

Even though this area is different than the past ones I have been in, I know that there are good people here who need the happiness that the gospel can bring and I know that I need to be here for some reason.

Love

Elder Cheever

Laguna Hills

The first week in a new area is always pretty fun and interesting. We are full time bike in one of the hilliest areas in the mission so we get good exercise everyday. We have spent most of this week trying to visit less-actives and potential investigators, and biking up some of the biggest hills I've ever seen in my life to get to some of the biggest houses I've ever seen. The best stories this week come from the weekend, as usual. On Friday we had a whole mission surprise luau for President and Sister Orgill since they leave in July. As soon as they walked in they both teared up and then went down the line of missionaries giving all 167 of us a hug and telling us they love us. Seeing Sister Orgill cry was just like seeing my own mom cry which was super sad. It ended up being what all luaus are, a lot of fun with good food and good friends. We all ate and talked and had a good time and then each zone did a special musical performance to show our love for the Orgills and then each zone gave Sister Orgill mothers day cards since she is our mom out here, it was super touching. It got really sad when they both stood up and talked about how much they have loved us and how they never imagined being able to love so many missionaries as much as they do, I was able to video everything that Sister Orgill said but my camera died in the middle of President Orgill's remarks which was a major bummer. After they thanked us we all sang "God Be With You 'till We Meet Again" just like we used to at transfer meetings and I don't think there was a dry eye amongst all the missionaries and then right after that we sang them "Aloha O'e" which just continued on the sadness, they will be dearly missed in a couple of months.  Saturday was crazy but ended up amazing. All day long stuff was super weird and we almost died a number of times but ended up amazing by the end of the day. The first near death experience was a cloud of angry bees, imagine the plagues on Egypt when Moses was around and how they had clouds of locusts, except with bees and you'll understand why it was so scary. And then while biking in Nellie Gail, right after we turned a corner a jeep flew around the same corner and sped up the hill narrowly dodging us and then when we went up to a gate a HUGE dog came running up barking at us so we just gave up on that house. Fortunately we survived it all and I was able to go back up to RSM again for Brock's baptism which was amazing. I once again learned how much Satan wants to stop people from making that step and how he can use very little things that can even be good to distract and prevent things from happening. We had planned the baptism for 7:45 at night because prior to it the stake was going to be having 8 year old baptisms but they told us they would leave the font ready for us. At about 6:30 we called the Lake Forest sisters who were at the stake center to have them make sure everything was ready and much to our dismay they told us that the font was locked and most likely empty, at this point we started to panic. We had to then wait for the zone leaders in Rancho to bring the key to the font for us, they arrived at 7:15. As soon as we had the key we began filling the font and praying that it would fill up quick enough and that everything would work out. Pretty soon people started coming in and preparing for the service while the font continued to fill, 7:45 hit and they started off the service and the font was still not quite full yet so Elders Summers, Tree, and I were all starting to stress out even more. Just before the person giving the baptism talk finished his remarks we shut off the water and hoped we had done it right. When Brock and Jack stepped into the water it looked really low but at that point it was too late to do anything so they just went for it and there was enough water for Brock to get all the way under on the first try. Then after he changed clothes he got up to bear his testimony and blew everybody away with how much faith he had, and he even memorized a verse from the Doctrine and Covenants. It just goes to show that no matter how hard Satan opposes this work and how much his forces of darkness try to stop it, the light always shines through in the end and our Heavenly Father's work continues on victorious.

On sunday we had a less active member just randomly show up at church and have a great time and participate super well during our lesson in Sunday School which was awesome.

This work continues to amaze me and now matter how much some days suck and make me want to be done, I still want to be here forever and keep changing people's lives with the message that we share because it truly is the greatest gift that we could give anybody we know. I know that the people of Laguna Hills, whether VERY old or very young, and even the horses of Nellie Gail are good and that I need to be here for some reason that Heavenly Father has planned out.

Love,

Elder Cheever

Madsen with President and Sister Orgill

At Brock's baptism

I can barely remember what happened this week

So I can barely remember what happened this week so I may jump around between stories and days, bear with me.

On Tuesday we had eikaiwa with the Japanese people. The actual teacher wasn't there and we didn't have time to prepare so winged it and it came out pretty well. It helps that Elder Summers is good at Japanese and I'm good at english. 

On Wednesday Elder Summers was sick so for a part of the day we just stayed inside. It was nice to relax for a little while. Half way through the day traded Elder Summers for Elder Rubon since big Elder Brown was sick too and then we went to our lesson with Brock. It went super well and then on Sunday we finished teaching him and planned out the baptism this weekend. He is super excited and his family is being really supportive so hopefully their hearts will be softened and they will want to learn more. 

On Thursday we got to play tennis with Greg Felix in the morning and had a good lesson with him. For my first time playing tennis I did okay and it ended up being a ton of fun. Basically any sport is fun as a missionary since its something different to do and can still count as missionary work. At night we went to a lesson with one of our neighbors and a friend of his. We had talked to him a little about the priesthood and about the need for a resorted church so going into the lesson we had a pretty good idea that it was probably going to be a bash, it was. Elder Summers zoned out the whole time and then half way through had one of our Japanese investigators call him so he got to escape and speak Japanese and laugh about all of it for a while before he pretended that Saku needed help so we had to leave. Elder Brown was in a bad mood so he got really angry. I was tired because I'm always tired so I was kinda slow the whole time, kinda like when you smoke a beehive so they don't sting you when you try to steal their honey. Bashes are no fun but every time I come out of them more firm on the truthfulness of this gospel and on the Book of Mormon so in the end they help a little.

Friday was filled with meetings as usual. At night we did our soccer with missionaries and whoever they invite. We had a less-active girl bring her friend and then some other people at the park joined in, it was a ton of fun and then because of that Savanna came to church on Sunday too which was good.

On Saturday we helped with a move for the former relief society president and her family. It was cool to see the whole elders quorum show up to help, it made it feel like helping with a move at home. After the move we got to help with youth conference for the stake. They did a giant game of "Life" for the kids where they had to basically go through life and see what happened to them. One of the things they could do was go on a mission so we got to be the people they taught. We got to wear regular clothes and just hang out and play the games and stuff they had set up in the gym and enjoy ourselves until "missionaries" contacted us. We ddin't have our tags on so the whole time youth leaders kept asking us what we were doing with our lives or where our "wives" were so apparently I'm still young enough looking to blend in with the youth. At night we had transfer calls. Sadly I'm going to be moving to the Laguna Hills 3rd ward in the Laguna Niguel stake. I have loved being in the Lake Forest ward. The people here are awesome and are super loving and really love and live the gospel. Even though its sad to leave here, I know that the people in Laguna Hills are good and that I need to be with them!

Love

Elder Cheever

 

Madsen with "Mama La"

Madsen and Elder Summers

 

 

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