Email August 5, 2013

Hello Family! The most frustrating, and yet most surprising thing about missionary work are the random changes that happen every day. NONE of our investigators came to church yesterday, and we'd worked so hard to invite them and help them feel comfortable. We were so frustrated! We were having our weekly planning session last night and we--Elder Delcompare and I--just felt so down about all that had happened. We'd set up baptismal dates, taught some really solid lessons with members, and then no one came, which makes the dates fall through. It was pretty devastating. But the great things always come after: you just never know what the Lord's doing behind the scenes. We received a call just this morning from a man in the campo who wants a Book of Mormon and wants to come to church. I was stunned. And Elder Delcompare just put his head down and said, "This is just what we needed!" I am so grateful that this is the Lord's work. It always surprises me just how involved He really is, and how He knows everything that's going on. I'm trying to have more faith in His timing. I'll tell you what happened with our other investigators: things aren't hopeless, nor are they over, but it was disappointing that they didn't come. Rodney told us last week he doesn't want to give up his Sundays because that's his biking day. He asked, "Why is it Sunday? Why can't it be Saturday?" That's a pretty normal question from a Puerto Rican since all the churches here congregate basically every day. Even the Jehovah's Witnesses and the 7th day Adventists meet more than once, and they're the ones that are sticklers about the Sabbath day being Saturday. So, we talked to Rodney about faith being the will to act in accordance with things unseen, and we thought there was a chance he would come. But he didn't. We weren't incredible surprised about that one. We were more surprised that Leangie didn't come. We set up a calendar with her to organize everything between now and her baptism. She was really excited: she told us this week that she feels like she needs to have the relationship with God that she's never had. She loves the Book of Mormon, and she reads from it. So we were blown away when she didn't show up to church. We're visiting with her tonight to see what happened. The other day Elder Castaneda used my bike--he broke his about two weeks ago and we haven't gotten it back yet--and he did something to the tire. He is the destroyer of bikes. But we didn't know anything was wrong with it until Elder Delcompare and I were out biking. We had to drop by Walgreens real fast for Elder Delcompare to use the bathroom, and when we came outside my bike tire was flat. We were far from the car, and we hadn't been able to work all day due to a meeting and to doing some reports. I was standing, looking at my tire, when a truck pulled up, and a woman jumped out and went inside. I went and talked with the store police to see if I could leave my bike, and when I went back to lock my bike, the man in the truck asked if we wanted a ride. We accepted and through our bikes in the back. As we drove we talked about our work as missionaries, and they seemed pretty interested so we left them a Book of Mormon. They dropped us off at the car, we through our bikes on the bike rack, and then went back to work in the neighborhood. Not even five minutes later a car came driving by. The kid in the car threw his door open and said, "Hey, just now--and I mean just barely--I left from my friend's house, and he told me that if I wanted to get closer to Jehovah I just needed to stop the next two men Jehovah's witnesses I saw. Then I come driving down the street and here you are." Well, we aren't Jehovah's Witnesses. We told him that, and he said, "oh. Well, who are you?" "Mormons." He looked at his phone, and then said, "Well, Mormon or Jehovah's Witness, it doesn't matter. I just know that with God there are no such things as coincidence. Write down my number, I want you to teach me." So we're going to teach him tomorrow. His name is Michael. That was a miracle story: everything worked out just perfectly for us to be there in that street at that minute to talk to Michael. The Lord is really always behind the scenes. It's not always easy to realize though. Do you remember the girls I was teaching named Nicol and Minelys? Well, Nicol got baptized yesterday. It was great! The first counselor in the bishopric was released yesterday in the ward. There have been some interesting things happening here. But now the bishop has no counselor, neither does the elders' quorom president, and neither does the primary president. The Relief Society has the only full presidency. The thing that's happening in Carolina is a fulfillment of prophecy. Remember in the Doctrine and Covenants when the Lord says He will cleanse His church? That's what's happening here. The Domingueros (that's what we call Sunday Mormons here) are literally being cleaned out. Not by the leaders, but by their own actions. It's kind of scary to witness. There's not a lot I can say, but I am seeing the justice of the Lord here in Carolina. The Lord is cleaning the vessel. "Old bottles cannot hold new wine."--The Savior. Well, I love you all! This should be a good week. One year has gone by so fast: I'm probably going to hit up Cold Stone to celebrate :). Love ya! Elder Cevering