El Yunque Waterfall

Last day in Corozal. Left to right: Sister Maritza, Junito Ivalys, Enrique, Junior & Elder Cevering

December 31, 2012 Email

Hello Family! Well, the big news is that I was transferred again! Haha. I am now serving in Carolina--far, far east from Arecibo and even Toa Baja. I don't know where it is in regards to San Juan, but it's on more of the eastern side of the island. So far it looks like a cool place: it's kind of a mixture between a lot of campo and city. My companion is Elder Delgado: he's from Panama and he leaves for home this February. He speaks pretty good English. I was with him a few times before when I was living with Sister Visker and he was back in Bayamon. The past week was a good one: talking on SKYPE was both heart-warming and heart-wrenching. But I wouldn't have had it any other way because it was a much more effective way of talking and it was good to see everyone. Puerto Ricans don't do a lot to celebrate Christmas other than put out big Christmas lights, eat really gross food called pasteles, and make cherry bombs to blow up. There's also a thing called the Mascarra--I don't know how to spell that. It only takes place in Hatillo, which is a part of the Arecibo area. These people dress up in thick, bright costumes and decorate big floats, then drive around and attack each other. They spray shaving cream on car windows and slide across the fronts of cars with bells attached to their belts. It's supposed to be a really crazy holiday: we weren't allowed to go over to Hatillo that day so you don't have to worry. The baptism of Genoveva and Isaias went through last Saturday and it was so great. I felt--for one of the first times as a missionary--the sacred nature of my calling on a mission. To see them enter the water in white, and considering on the symbolism of baptism, was a very powerful experience. It reminded me of the words in D&C 84 where it says the power of godliness is made manifest in the ordinances of the priesthood. That's so true. Another of the great things was to see that, though I wasn't the one baptizing them, I had contributed to so much of what they learned before their baptism. Elder Garcia and I were the ones who began teaching them everything, so that's cool. I don't know the "why" of being transferred to Carolina, but I do think I know just a little bit about why I was transferred back to Arecibo. I was able to find a Colombian family last week that Elder Garcia and I contacted, but who Elder Garcia had never followed up with before being transferred. I took Elder Astle to this family and we taught them and it was a very spiritual lesson. They were strongly impacted by the Book of Mormon and in their prayer at the end of the lesson the father said: "If this is your will, please let us know that the Book of Mormon is true." I don't know the fruit of that prayer: but Elder Astle will let me know :). But if I had never gone back to Arecibo they may never have found that family again. The quote this week comes from the gas station this past Saturday: the moon was HUGE and gold and Elder Astle was recording a video of it on Elder Thomas's camera. He said "Look at the size of that moon" and started talking in an Australian accent like some animal planet narrator. Then Elder Thomas turned around and says "Are you recording?" Haha. It was really funny in the moment, especially when we watched the recording. To end, I just want to share that I learned something new about the atonement this past week: something I had never even thought about before. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior, and is the Savior of the world. A greater understanding of the atonement enriches our lives: although right now I am definitely still emotional about the transfer (because I love Arecibo and was excited to work there), I know that there are other people who need the atonement in their lives. Maybe I'm called to bring it to them? Anyway, love you all! And I miss ya. Elder Cevering

December 24, 2012 Email

Hello Family! Well, like I told you I was transferred to Arecibo to work. This has been pretty great because I'm with Elder Astle now--we're the youngest companionship in the mission. Elder Jensen--his companion before--went home on the 15th, so that was why the transfer was made. The great thing is all of their investigators are now ours ON TOP of all the investigators that Elder Garcia and I had before both of us left for Toa Baja. So we have a lot of people to work with right now. Christmas Conference was pretty fun: we went to El Yunque, which was cool! I don't have pictures today because I am using the computers in the church. We have to use the computers here because everything basically shuts down on holidays except for bars and the stores. I performed my "Billionaire" Missionary Song at Christmas Conference. haha. President now calls me the "sensation" of the mission just for that song and he made me perform it again this morning at his house for our Christmas breakfast. That was kind of cool. I'll tell you a little bit about what has happened back in Toa Baja/Corozal since I left. I was transferred before Junior's baptism, but he ended up not being baptized because he drank. Then last Saturday he was going to be baptized and I was going to perform it--I had permission because of circumstances with Elder Astle being in the mission choir--but he drank again the night before because of some crazy circumstances. He was at his son's house cooking when ten of his friends came over. They were all drinking and told him if he didn't drink that they would make him: so he drank. He's going to be baptized this Saturday if he doesn't drink again, but that's what has happened with him. I really feel bad for him: he really wanted to be baptized last Saturday, and the whole circumstance was kind of sketchy, but the rules are rules. Although I don't get to baptize Junior, I do get to see the baptisms of Isaias and Genoveva this Saturday: do you remember that I was teaching them before I left? They're being baptized! It's going to be cool to see that. Other than that, I have nothing more to tell you. It was just kind of a slow week: but I love ya! Elder Cevering

December 17, 2012 Email

Hello Family We only have five minutes to write: we're going to Il Yunque for mission conference right now. It should be pretty cool. Some news: I was transferred back to Arecibo. I'll tell you more about that next week when we talk: still plan on around 2-3:00 Puerto Rican time for me to SKYPE. Love ya Elder Cevering

Hello Family! Well, I have some good news and some bad news: the bad news is I am still showering in cold caribean water. The good news is we have baptisms scheduled for this week and next week! And I will be performing the baptism for Junior/Augustine this Saturday. So, it has been a crazy past couple of weeks working in Corozal: it's really great up there working with Maritza, having a cooler climate because we're in the mountains, and getting to enjoy the change of culture from city to campo (jungle). We have Augustine being baptized this Saturday, and we have Martha, Junito, and Ivalys being baptized next Saturday. Augustine is very prepared for baptism: the other day we met at his house and taught his entire family the Plan of Salvation. His entire family lives in the same little alcove of the jungle, so we've met pretty much all of them. He's been teaching them so their interest has increased and they've accepted us. It's really great! But he does more than teach his family: he's come with us to teach other people, and he's also gone with Maritza and the other missionaries to some lessons. How more prepared can you get? I'm so excited for his baptism, and I was really excited when he asked me to baptize him. Typically we have members baptize them, but President told us that in the month of December only missionaries will perform baptisms. So you'll be getting some great pictures! I may not be in Utah, but I guess I'll get to see a white Christmas. Besides that, we have a Jehovah's Witness following us around! haha. There's a great talk titled "The Futility of Fear" in which the speaker tells of a time when he was a mission president and a preacher followed some of his missionaries around to all their appointments and door-contacts. He says in this talk that he told his missionaries "Good"--that the preacher is following you--"because that means the devil's getting scared." That's been my perspective on this wonderful experience with this Jehovah's Witness: both Elder Peacock and I have had some good conversations with her: the most recent one ended with Elder Peacock saying "Until you read the Book of Mormon and pray about it we have nothing to discuss. Through the power of modern day revelation I have received more truth than you and until you cease to fight against that we are done." Then he handed her a Book of Mormon and we left. It was pretty great! With Elder Peacock I've been learning to be bolder, as you can tell from the previous story. But even more than that is this: because Elder Peacock leaves for choir trips once a week I have been running our area: setting up baptismal dates, coordinating lessons, and dealing with our tag-along-Jehovah's Witness. And I just found out twenty minutes ago that he's leaving again Wednesday until Sunday for a choir trip: that means I will be doing a lot for the next couple days. But he told me today that he was praying about the circumstances and he received this inspiration: "Teach Elder Cevering what you can, and then he'll take care of it." HAHA. When I prayed for a mountain to climb, I didn't think it would have so many random inclines :/ But I'll do my best to keep everything running. The other night we had a HUGE snake on our porch: it was wrapped around the railing just traveling along. Elder Peacock was outside talking on the phone when he saw it and shouted haha it was so funny! But I didn't have my camera because it was in the car, which was on the other side of the snake, so I didn't get a picture. I'm sorry! But the story ends with us sicking the Dominican Republic elder on it--Elder Paula--and he knocked it off the porch with a broom. Such a great experience. Living with Latin Americans is really great: they take care of snakes for you, and they also provide a lot of entertainment. We were making smores the other day by putting marshmallows in the microwave: you should have seen the Latins laughing and screaming as the marshmallows expanded in the heat! HAHA. That was one of the greatest things I have ever witnessed. They started grabbing big bowls and butting marshmallows in them to watch them grow, and they would get so excited. Oh man, it was so awesome. Also, in church we were talking about "experiences with the Holy Ghost" and one of the guys said: "One time, after I had prayed and taken my medicine, I climb into bed and a few minutes later I floated and levatated over my bed!" And he was saying that this was a manifestation of the Holy Ghost. One of the guys then said: "Must have been your medicine." HAHA. So great. Besides that I don't have a lot to report: I met a family by the name of Endecott. They used to live in Huntsville years ago and they know the Allens, the Buttars, the Froerers, Alan Mckay, the Packs. The husband works for the Boy Scouts of America and because he served his mission here in Puerto Rico the Boy Scouts sent him here to work. They're a cool family. Well, I am tired! We did a lot today: our P-days are always really crazy. We have been cleaning our house all day, but typically we have meetings until 12:00 before we email, go shopping, and do our cleaning. This week was the exception because some of the missionaries have been living like slobs. So we cleaned and cleaned! I love you all and miss you! Elder Cevering

Puerto Rican Pastry...Looks delicious!

Elder Cevering enjoying a Shish-ka-bob

Thanksgiving Dinner with the Maritza Family

Rice & Beans for Thanksgiving Dinner

Cooking the turkey for Thanksgiving Dinner

A ceiling fan destroyed by the humidity

The "Three Kings" - In Puerto Rico the "Three Kings" bring gifts to the children

Another view of the mountains of Naranjito

The mountains of Naranjito

Email December 3, 2012

Hello Again! I know you're all dying to know how I am: I'm still about 5 feet tall, losing weight (weird?), and trying to work hard! haha. I want you to understand from the beginning that I'm doing well, but I'm still having trials :) My abdomen is NOT healing like it should. But I don't really know what to do about it anymore. I'll just tell you about my week! First let me tell you a little about Hermana Maritza: she's a really fired up member who works with people in the community with different problems that they have (drug/alcohol addictions, anxiety and emotional struggles, etc.). So who does she call to help her out? Just take a guess: the LDS missionaries, who just happen to be Elder Peacock and I. To give you a brief summary of this past week: we taught two people who nearly committed suicide, their families, and tracted Hermana Maritza's entire neighborhood. Everyone invites us in because they know Maritza, and we are having a lot of success in that way. I have a huge testimony of the power of members in missionary work! So, like I said, we taught two different people who almost committed suicide: we dropped by one with a member last Wednesday. We taught him about the restoration and gave him a Book of Mormon. He told us about how he had beat up his wife and that's why he was about to kill himself. He brought his wife out to meet us--bruised under her eyes and very timid--and we talked for a long time. They were very receptive to the message, but we didn't see them again until Saturday. We answered some of their questions about the restoration (the God and Jesus Christ being separate personages and such), and then told them we would be coming back later that night to talk to them because they needed to leave. So that night we went back and he wasn't there: everyone told us he was down at the bar, to which Elder Peacock and I both sighed in frustration. But we went to the bar :) We drove down the street to where it was and while Elder Peacock parked the car I walked up to the door and shouted for him: that was a crazy experience. Here I am, dressed in a white shirt and tie, a short little gringo standing at the door of a bar at 9:00 at night in the middle of Puerto Rico. All the people looked at me, but he emerged from the back, entirely sober, and came and talked with us. Wow. It was one of the more courageous moments of my life...haha. Through that we invited he and his wife to church and....THEY CAME! And they loved it. Elder Peacock and I were so happy! The other person who tried to kill herself was a woman --she tried to stab herself apparently. We got a call from Maritza around 8:00 at night telling us what had happened and asking us to come over. We raced up to her house where she was quivery and on the verge of tears. She invited us into her garage space where we talked for a minute before sharing with her the truth of the atonement. She cried and cried as we reassured her of the love of the Savior, and she told us about how difficult her life was. We just told her of the love of the Lord and shared a few scriptures with her, reassuring her that the Lord felt everything she has ever felt when He suffered in Gethsemane. That calmed her down, and after giving her a Book of Mormon to read, and after a prayer, she was very calm and the Spirit of peace filled the dimly-lit garage. She had stopped crying entirely when we left. We visited her the next day too and she was doing really well: she's been reading the Book of Mormon to her daughter and they are both really interested in learning more so we are going back tonight. Besides all of that we have two baptismal dates for next Saturday (December 15th). The first is named Augustine and he's a good friend of Maritza's. He's a farmer who lives deeper in the jungle with his uncle and cousin. He immediately accepted our message and has been reading the Book of Mormon ravenously (and for him reading is hard, so ravenous means about 8 pages, which is a huge accomplishment). A lot of people Maritza helps can't actually read, but Augustine has been doing his best to read and he's learned a lot. He has come to church three weeks straight and really wants to get baptized. His only struggle is with the Word of Wisdom, which he wants to live but doesn't have a lot of support from his uncle and cousin who make fresh alcohol from the sugar cane that they farm. But I sure love him: he's one of the humblest men I've ever met. The other baptismal candidate we have is named Martha--and I've already told you a lot about her. She's quite a character! But she has some struggles with her husband. We're working hard to get them more united but one of them is always sick. Her husband--Jimmy--has diabetes, and it's really bad I guess. I don't really know the nature of diabetes, but I do know that a lot of people here in Puerto Rico have it. Jimmy's can make him pretty sick...I don't know if that's it though for sure. I'm not a doctor. I got an email from Elder Liston last week and a letter from Elder Hansen, and I get emails from Elder Marriot--I was so happy! haha. I have been pretty emotional these past couple of weeks and Cragun's letter about had me crying...ABOUT. But not entirely. It's just good to hear from your friends who are serving alongside you, even if it's from a different part of the world. I'm not here for them, but they definitely motivate me. And hearing about all of my girl-friends who are leaving is a big inspiration to me. I'm stoked to hear that Shayna is going to Texas - Spanish Speaking :) Well, there isn't much else to say. I'm just trying to be a good missionary :) I love you all a lot! Elder Cevering

Sammy & Wandy's Baptism

November 26, 2012 Email

Hello Family! Well...Let me just be honest right from the start: the way I've been feeling is very day-to-day. I'll give you more background of what has happened and then jump into my past week. So, we went to the surgeon two weeks ago where we learned that I have abdominal tears in my umbulicular muscle, which have the potential to cause a hernia. However, there were no hernias caused so nothing happened. However, I was given instructions not to bike or exercise or such, and that I would have to come back in two weeks. Well, tomorrow would be two weeks. Am I going back to the hospital tomorrow? No. HAHA. They think that I'm "Just Fine" so there's no need to pay the money. But now, to let you know how I'm doing today: I am doing alright. Like I said in the beginning of this email I feel very day-to-day. I'm going to try to describe it: Missionary Work is very different from what I ever thought it would be like. Now, I knew it was going to be hard work and I knew I wasn't just going to baptize a bunch of people, and I knew that working with companions wasn't going to be an easy life. I knew I'd have to do my own laundry and cooking and shopping. 6:30 A.M. was always something I dreaded before my mission. And none of that bothers me: I enjoy the independent feeling of being on a mission. But through all of this experience--the injury, etc.--I think the hardest thing has been asking myself: "Why am I here?" Well, it's definitely not for my mission president, and it's definitely not for my companions. It's definitely not for my parents--because I'm too selfish to do this for anyone but ME. So, why am I here? For me. This is something I've wanted to do all my life. I want to be here to help other people come unto Christ: there's no question about that in my mind. But with the injury and the anxiety I began to feel like I was going to lose that opportunity. I began to fear injuring myself more, or something like that. Throw all of that onto a newborn missionary and what does he do? Haha. It's funny. I don't know the purpose of all of this, and I don't know if I ever will know for sure. But I'm just trying to take it all a day at a time. It's really tough right now: but here's the good news: I LOVE where I am now, and I love my new companion, and I love the members I work with. I was reassigned to the Toa Baja zone here on Puerto Rico (east of Arecibo, west of San Juan), and I am specifically assigned to work in an area named Corozal and Naranjito. It is BEAUTIFUL! It's a little "pueblo"--or town--in the mountains. The roads are narrow, the clouds sink down into the valley during the day, and at night I just listen to the coquis in the fields as I walk. It's a wonderful place. I love looking at the lights in the pueblo as we walk the hills at night. My companion is Elder Peacock--he is a great missionary! He was the assistant-mission trainer for the mission before he became my companion. That means he did a lot of traveling to teach missionaries here. So he's really smart, but he's also a very open learner: he asks me a lot of questions about things just to learn, which is great. We have some good discussion. He's from Kaysville so that's not far from home. I live with six missionaries right now: one from El Salvador, one from Honduras, one from the Dominican Republic, and then Elder Peacock and another Elder from Utah. There are less than 10 members in Corozal and Naranjito--I guess I should say ACTIVE members. They all have to drive down the mountain to go to church. So Elder Peacock and I want to work to be able to create a Branch up here, but that's all just our opinions. We think it's possible and that it would really help the area and the members. We have two investigators in Corozal with baptismal dates (Martha and Augustine). This past week when we invited Martha to be baptized we had a great discussion with her: we talked about the need for priesthood authority in baptism, which she understood really well. She's been baptized twice before (Catholic and Pentecostal) but she said she was excited to be baptized again! haha. But the cool story comes here: She told us that when her aunt died years ago she had a dream of her aunt standing at the doors of heaven, knocking and trying to get in. She said that that was surprising to her because she thought she would have seen her aunt inside heaven. So she told us "Now I understand why I had that dream: She wasn't baptized by the proper authority!" To that we taught her about baptisms for the dead, which she was so excited about. One of the members up here in Corozal likes to call Elder Peacock a lot of different bird names, so that's where the title comes from. Some days he'll yell "Elder Chicken!"or "Elder Rooster!" It's really great. And as for my McGuana title, that was something that one of the AP's said last week to another missionary. There's not anything really funny behind it. Please don't worry too much about me! Just be glad to know that I love where I am right now :) I love you all and miss you all a lot! Elder Cevering

November 12, 2012

Hello Family! Here I have been in Puerto Rico...sitting on a couch the last few days in the home of Sister Visker (the mission nurse). I am going a little bit crazy...I am going to the orthopeudic doctor tomorrow to find out what's wrong with me. To let you know more specifically about how I am physically, I am feeling worse now than I did when I was working: right now my abdomen just aches really bad! I alternate my bag of ice hour-by-hour, and rest all day long, taking Ibuprofen ever 4 hours to reduce the inflammation I have (I've never felt so pregnant! haha). So overall, I'm just ready to not have this issue anymore. I'll tell you more about the circumstances in a minute, but just know that if Monte says it takes 6 weeks to heal, I am going to go insane! I really wonder if I'm going to be home soon: to rest and recover. We don't have the means here to help me recover the way I think I should: I can't just stay in this house for 6 weeks: every day I sit around from 9:00 A.M. until 9:00 P.M. The AP's pick me up and take me to different houses to sleep in for the night (I'm not allowed to sleep here because I'm not sick enough and I also don't have a male companion--and living in a house of females is WEIRD), then they bring me back in the morning. I've gone out and worked once--I'll tell you more about that--and I was in a lot of pain after that. So we went to the hospital, got my CT scan (the scan preparation drink they gave me was terrible!), and it just so happens to turn out that all my insides are fine---------but the funny thing was, we still had no idea what was wrong with my abdomen. We'd done tests on everything else--blood, intestines, liver, kidney, blah, blah, blah--but not the muscle that I had hurt. Wow. I was so incredibly frustrated. I haven't gotten angry, but I've been pretty down about this whole thing. There are some perks to living with the mission nurse though: last week she had to go to the south side of the island to a city named Guayamo. I had to go with her because she is my "companion", so I have been able to see more of the island. The south side is nowhere near as pretty as the north side--at least, as far as what I've seen. It's really flat and hot: there are a lot of cactus there. While we were in Guayamo I went on an exchange with a missionary--Sister Visker was meeting with his companion. We met with a member and his non-member wife and her cousin. It was actually a great lesson! We talked about The Book of Mormon and invited them to be baptized, to which they both accepted: it was a really powerful lesson! There aren't really a lot of words to describe it. I'm really grateful to have had that experience. I didn't know who those people were, I don't even remember their names: but I was able to share my testimony with them and bring them closer to Christ. Besides that, my life is really boring. There is nothing else to tell you about my week: so I'll give you more information about my injury. I injured my abdomen more than 3 weeks ago! I was using the ab wheel, and as I was in the downward motion--ab flexed, body straight, knees on the ground--I felt a sharp, hot pain run straight up my ab. I fell on my face and just started laughing because it hurt so bad: I'm sure you wouldn't think that would make it funny, but I couldn't stop laughing. It took me about 10 minutes to get up, and when I did get up I spent the next hour on the couch just gripping my ab because of the pain. As time went on I did my best to work: the pain moved into my back and even down above my groin. I began to feel like I had a needle in my side, and my stomach was swollen. I felt bloated! haha and I still do. The pain kept me up at nights, and the weakness in my core wore me out by mid-afternoon. Even after we got a car I had a difficult time turning the wheel after a couple hours of driving, and my back would start to hurt really bad because there wasn't much strength coming from my abdomen to support me. So that was my life for the last three weeks: work and rest, rest and work, go to the hospital to have my kidneys and other insides checked, go back to work...etc. So, now I'm here living with Sister Visker and I'm still not improving: three weeks after the injury, four days of rest: no improvement. I just sit around and talk to the sister missionaries all day: which is really weird. There are three that live here: Sister Visker, Sister Stoddard (who are both senior missionaries), and Sister Medina (she's from California, born in Mexico). The only really great thing about living here is getting to be with the AP's at night: there's one named Elder Medina (he's from Chile) and he's hilarious! He's learning English right now so he'll talk to me in English a lot. He was asking me about my injury, and as I finished telling him he said "Oh Elder, I'm sorry. You're in the uh...um...oven? Yeah! Oven of affliction!" HAHA oh man, it was so funny! He's really hilarious: in fact, all Latin American missionaries are pretty funny. The AP's have had me sleep with a lot of different people over the past few nights: I spent one night with some Elders from Panama, some Elders from the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Chile. I'm learning Spanish really well! HAHA. But, the bottom line is, nothing exciting is happening, and it doesn't look like anything exciting will be happening soon! Don't be surprised though if you get an email that says I'm coming home. That's the hard part: this injury has brought me to the depths of decision and desire. What do I want right now? That's the question I ask myself every day: What do I want? Haha I laugh at myself for praying for "Mountains to Climb", and I laugh because the prayers have clearly been answered: I've never been so conflicted in my life than now! Mountains to climb! I am really grateful to all of you that have been writing me! I wrote a lot of letters before I came to live with Sister Visker, but I didn't bring any of them with me because I didn't think I'd get the chance to go to the office to send them. So all those letters will have to wait (Olivia Buttars, Tanner Family, Bailey Love, Lund Family). I'm sorry! Maybe you'll get them hand delivered sometime next week ; I got your letters though. Thank you for sending me a pillow! haha there are really no pillows in this world we call the Puerto Rico San Juan mission. I have only had one pillow in the three different places I've slept in the past few days. Isn't that crazy? Well, I really have nothing else to say. I love you all! Don't worry about me: I know that's the same as asking you not to breathe, but I'm doing alright. Elder Cevering

Update on Elder Cevering's Injury

Brother and Sister Cevering, Today Elder Cevering and I have spent the entire day together. I picked him up at 6:00 AM in Arecibo and made it back to San Juan at 9:00 AM to have the CT exam. The results came back at 4:00PM and it shows everything as normal. All of the tests to this point have come back normal. It is looking more like we have an abdominal muscle tear. We spoke with an orthopedic doctor after receiving the results and he thinks it could also be an abdominal tear. He ordered complete rest, ice every hour along with ibuprofen every four hours. He will evaluate the treatment and severity of the pull on Tuesday. Elder Cevering will spend his days with me resting, studying, icing, and healing. He will spend the nights in an elder’s apartment not far from me. His attitude is very positive about this course of action. He is also making a plan to use his down time wisely getting closer to his Heavenly Father, becoming more familiar with Preach My Gospel and studying in depth some gospel topics that he and the chooses. I appreciate that you have raised him to be always a gentleman. We will keep you up dated on his progress. Sister Mary Visker R.N. Puerto Rico San Juan Mission Nurse