Email March 10, 2014

Hello again! I feel like the past week was long, but it was a pretty good week. We had a good number of lessons, and our investigators are progressing. We didn't maintain our numbers, but I'm happy with what we could accomplish. I try to look at the success we have with the people we are able to visit rather than look at our numbers. Abraham and Anna are doing really well. We went back to their house to teach them about the Restoration again, and it was really great. It started off slow: Abraham was on medication so he wasn't completely there haha and Anna seemed a little unfocused at first. But after having to step aside to take a phone call, the thought came to me to give them blessings. Abraham was in a lot of pain and Anna hadn't been sleeping because of the care she has to give him. They accepted the offer for the blessings, and the Spirit fell upon their house when we administered to them. Abraham became fully attentive to us, and Anna said she felt that during the blessing there was a current passing over her head from our hands, and she felt more at peace. We were then able to give the lesson without distraction, and they both were really excited to read the Book of Mormon. We have a new investigator named John. We taught him on Saturday about the Book of Mormon. He told us, "I stopped going to church a few years ago because I couldn't trust what the preachers were saying. Hasn't the Bible been changed over the years?" We told him he could trust in the Bible but also to trust in the Book of Mormon: that together they would help him know the pure doctrine of Christ. It was a really good lesson. He was going to go to church but had to take his nephew to Toa Baja--the city next door--so he couldn't attend. I talked with the elders up in Aibonito and they gave me some exciting news: there are going to be 7 baptisms there this month! Really exciting. The branch has really come alive in helping the missionaries in their efforts. The elder that I talked with reminded me of the day that we all knelt down together and prayed for the Lord to give us guidance concerning the branch. This elder says that "all the good that has come for this branch has come as a result of that prayer: because the Lord answered it." He's still up there in the mountains seeing the fruits of our labors, and I'm so happy that he can see them. This morning the Jehovah Witnesses came through the neighborhood. Elders Arana and De Oleo wanted to play a joke on them--you'd think that we'd have more compassion on people who preach in the streets knowing what they go through haha. They took my Jehovah Witness Bible--one I took from the house of one of my investigators--and went down in the streets and said, "We don't want this Bible, the Mormons gave us a different one and it's better." HAHA. It's super funny, but it's also super rude. The Jehovah Witnesses didn't take it back, so I still have their Bible. And apparently they want to come and visit us at our house: Elder Arana acted like he didn't have a religion and that he was talking to the Mormons. Bah. Here we go... We're working towards March 30th: that's the day we have to instruct the ward about missionary work. We are planning to do some practices with them about how to share the gospel. I'm really against getting up in sacrament meeting and preaching to the members to do missionary work. They know they have to do missionary work, and many of them have done it throughout their lives. But they haven't had much success at it because they don't know how to do it. So we're working with them on that and trying to prepare ourselves for the 30th. I don't know if I want to stay here in Bayamon for that day or get transferred out--transfers are the 25th. We'll see what happens. Anyway, I love you all a lot! Elder Cevering