A tribute to a wonderful Mission President

Wow, I’m really going to miss President Cahoon, he goes home in like 8 or 9 days. It has been amazing to be able to work by his side in the Lord’s Vineyard over these past two years. I have learned so much, and I’m so glad that the both of us could feel the joy of Ammon together, so many times, as we brought many souls unto Christ. I´m so thankful for his outstanding example of faith, diligence, obedience, patience, courage, LOVE, and so much more. I can´t even explain how eternally grateful I am for everything that he has done for me. I know that he has been called of God. The Lord always told President Cahoon exactly where to put me and with what companion. I learned so many things in areas like Palau where many elders didn’t want to be, however, those days changed my mission and they definitely changed my life- I learned so very much. I wouldn’t be the man that I have become if it wasn’t for President Cahoon. I learned so much from the way that he trusts is the Spirit and it has helped me immensely. I´m excited to see him and Sister Cahoon in Utah soon! 

Just thought I would give you all a little update on Ivan from the letter I sent about a couple of the recent miracles here in our area. Last Sunday we went to his house to pass by for him for church, however, he was at a pool party with his cousins and he had forgotten to tell us about it. When we got to his house his uncle came outside and he told us that he was also baptized in the church. He later stated that he has an 18-year-old son and a 13-year-old son just like Ivan. We went back later in the week and we talked with Ivan and he committed to go to church and he said he was going to invite his cousin Sebastian. They both came to church and they loved it. They are both really excited and they will be baptized soon! I gave a talk in sacrament meeting and I gave them a huge shout out as shared how we found them! It was super cool hahah…. everyone loved my talk!

This week we set a fecha for next week, however, the mom didn’t want to give her son permission to be baptized. I had my companion Elder Villalobos talk about how his parents didn’t support him at first and I talked about how it was similar for my father being the son of a Pastor and what not. Then I talked about now 5 years later Elder Villalobos parents support what he is doing and I said that it took my father 20 years for his father to reach out for him and to acknowledge that it was a good thing. I said that she would know that it was a good thing for the family and that she would know a day later or maybe 5 years later or even 20 but she would understand it eventually. I also talked about Mosiah 6 and 26 and how over about 15 or 20 years as the kids grew up they didn’t want to make saving covenants with the Lord and how they didn’t understand the words of King Benjamin. I explained what happens as kids grow up and I testified that the God’s work and glory is to save his children and as I said that the Spirit filled the whole room immensely. I said that the age of 8 years old was revelated unto a prophet of God because God wants to save all of his children and that an 8-year-old almost always wants to follow God. Then I talked about other things that come into a kid’s life like phones and tv and girls and how these things can distract young men from making saving covenants with the Lord. The youth that we have the fecha with said the last prayer and then his mother said that she would give him permission to be baptized! It went great! 

Much love,

Elder Ceb

1. Banana splits

2.   Best comps

3.     It is so hot out here in the desert haha

4.     Happy Father’s Day to my dad

Endless tender mercies from the Lord

Wow!! What a week!! We had a Leadership conference on Thursday afternoon down in Saltillo. It was our last leadership conference with President and Sister Cahoon. It is going to be so hard to say goodbye to them... on the bright side… they live in Salt Lake so I will still be seeing them often. Plus, I’m going to make sure I take my future wife on a double date with them to make sure that she makes the cut… haha!! It´s going to be hard becuase they are just so great so I’m sure they will put some high expectations! 

President gave me a little bit of time at the end of the Leadership conference to talk about some of the miracles that I have seen lately and about how we were able to work with members in Ramos Arizpe during my time there. The Spirit was so strong in that room. I will never forget how I felt that day. What an amazing experience!!! 

When we got back to Piedras Negras on Friday morning it was 2:30 AM and the whole bus station was full of immigrants that were making some plans to cross the river over to the US. I don’t know if you guys have heard about this but there have been a ton of immigrants from Africa and Honduras coming through Piedras Negras to cross the river over to the US... they use blown up plastic swimming pools and they use them like boats. Anyways, as we were waiting for a taxi we saw a couple of them walking towards us and they gave us a really dirty look and then they opened up the door and like 20 of them ran out the door with two plastic swimming pools.  Then they crossed the street & the police showed up and then they dropped the boats and started to punch the police officers. It was like right in front of us haha like legit 10 feet in front of us. One of these cops even had an AK47 so that was crazy. Luckily a taxi showed up and he helped us load my weights in the back of the taxi haha! 

This week we baptized Ximena; it was a super dope experience. Her great grandfather stood in for the confirmation so that was great! At first, she wasn’t really sure that she wanted to be baptized, however, then she had a dream and her great-grandmother who was a really strong member of the church told her that it was time for her to make some big changes in her life starting with baptism! Such a miracle…got to love the endless tender mercies that the Lord blesses us with!!! 

Hope you all have a fantastic weeeek!!

Much love,
Dad aka Elder Ceb 

1.  Ximena’s baptism

 2. Special day

3. Elder Cebollero, Ximena, and Elder Villalobos

 4. Ceb and Atkin 

5. Beard gainz with Elder Atkin #dayonesaltilloboyzz

6. B-dubs 

7.  My mother sent me these iron-on temples that say ¨Holiness to the Lord¨ and so I gave one to Pablo and to Elder from Ramos to remind them of the great opportunity that they have to get sealed in the temple!!! Pablo was working when I passed by, however, I did get to talk with his fam for a bit and they even gave us a ride around time to visit some more converts!!! 

 8. Temple ties

 9. Miss all these guys!!

 10. Loved seeing everyone

 11. Elder Ceb visiting Elder and his family

12. Good seeing some old friends from Ramos! Helaman has been killing it as a deacon lately. 

He passes the sacrament every week! 

The Lord is blessing His children

The Lord is blessing his children; we have seen so many miracles lately! Last week while we were working with a young teacher from the ward, he brought us to a couple of friends.  They were really cool, however, after a bit he quickly ran out of people to visit. Then we said a prayer with him in the street so that the Spirit could guide us and so that he could be prompted to take us to someone who was ready to accept the gospel. Then a house came into his mind of a friend from his school and he took us there; we talked with the kid and he was super prepared!! He lives with his grandmother and it turns out that she is a member of the church, however, she hasn´t been in over 30 years. She was really glad when we started teaching her grandson Ivan!

This week a little bit before the foot appt., I decided to take out the map and to pray. I prayed over it and then I saw a street that stood out to me and I knew that we needed to go there. As we walked over there I prayed and prayed and prayed to the Lord as I pondered about the story of the Eunuch and Philip from the 8th chapter of the book of Acts as I prayed. 

26 And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert.

27 And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship,

28 Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet.

29 Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot.

30 And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?

31 And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.

32 The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth:

33 In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth.

34 And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?

35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.

36 And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?

37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

38 And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.

39 And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.

Philip was told by the Spirit to go to the chariot and he did so.  As I prayed I asked the Father to let me know exactly what house; just as Philip was guided to the very city and the very Chariot. As I walked down the street I saw a house and I knew it was the house that we needed to go to, the Spirit was just so strong! When I knocked the door, a lady came out and said "hi elder, come right it" it turns out her two teenage kids live in Iowa and they are really strong members of the Church there! She is not a member, and she also has a 10-year-old daughter and a 12-year-old son and they are super prepared and animated to listen to us! Such a great tender mercy!

I love the mission so much!!! I never wanna leave rip…I´m gonna miss it so much! 

This week for p-day I hit the gym with my boy Elder Atkin hehe! Which reminds me that Golds was bought out in Layton... Rip such a sad day Rip..... I will never forget the days that I spent in Golds #arnold #legend.... I would just like to officially come out and say that I will most likely be going to Vasa. It will definitely be a change; however, it will need to be done. The branding behind Golds and the history of Arnold and so many other greats training there makes all the difference rip.... but I will make my own legacy in Vasa with Murray and Logan hahaha !!

Much love,

Elder Ceb  

1. Hype

 2. Flex time

3. Tool pics with Elder Atkin haha

4.. RIP golds

 5. Meal Prep Gainz

 6. Protein life

Be like Amulek!

What’s goooood? 

My comp and I have been working really hard to make every member like unto Amulek! “Now is the time for members and missionaries to come together, to work together, to labor in the Lord’s vineyard to bring souls unto Him.”—President Thomas S. Monson. So, this is exactly what we have been doing! On Friday we went and work with our buddy Samuel (the Lamanite haha). He Is a teacher here in the ward and he took us to 6 of his friend’s houses! They were all really cool and it will be fun to keep on teaching them! 

We have also been working a ton with all of the recent converts. When Wilford Woodruff served his mission in England, he baptized over 1,000 people in just 8 months! Which is insane. He did so by teaching the friends of all of the recent converts! We have been doing the same!  In my last area, we baptized Jose and he brought us with 4 of his friends that all got baptized shortly after! One of my kids here in the mish (someone that I trained) is a convert and after he got baptized he brought the missionaries to teach and baptize his 5 brothers and then he brought the missionaries to his uncle’s house and they baptized 7 more and then he brought them to his other uncle’s house and they baptized 8 more there and then he baptized his friend and then he even baptized his mother! Which was over 20 baptisms in just a few weeks! I love missionary work so much; my companion truly felt the same joy that Ammon felt when my companion was a recent convert and there are so many people ready to accept this eternal message! The field is white and ready to harvest! 

Love you all! Keep on grinding, the church is true! 

Much love,
Elder Ceb

1. Se va a hacer o no se va a hacer la carnita asada?

2. Getting back on that anabolic fasting grind haha… shout out to Cory G!!! 

 3. I love broccoli!

4. Good stuff! 

5. This face mask legit hurts so bad haha… hopefully it works lol

Nothing like working in the Lord's vineyard!

Que rollo con el pollo? 

This week went fantastic! There is nothing like working in the Lord’s vineyard! I had an awesome opportunity to do some great inner-changes with some people in my zone and also to do a bunch of interviews! Sometimes it is super hard to find time to do everything ha-ha, however, I always just strive to put the zone first and trust in the Lord! I have been able to do this a ton over the mish and it has been a huge testimony builder for me over these past couple of months! I often find myself leaving my area and coming back and just seeing tons and tons of miracles! I´m so glad that I have been able to have these experiences and that I have been able to see the Lord’s hand in His work daily! This week we left the area a bunch, however, we had some awesome miracles and we should baptize another 2 this week! 

Much love,

Elder Ceb

1. Chillin’ at Elder Atkin’s convert’s baptism!!!

 

2. Hype

3. Good food

 4. Me and this bird are pretty tight

5. Gotta love when President Rosas does some pushups during our lesson/game! 

Life could never be better!!

Another good week out here in Piedras Negras! 

The work is going fantastic! My comp and I are killing it together and my best friend Elder Atkin is in my ward, plus I talked to the fam yesterday!  I get to email with my boy Elder Murray every Monday, so life could never be better, love all of you! 

The mish is going by way too fast…I can´t believe it. The mish has truly been such a great experience and I know that it is just going to get better in these last 3 months! 

This week we planned a huge activity with the youth and they all brought their friends and then I got them all hyped up! 

Then on Sunday I gave a talk and it went great! Maybe I will give some details next week if I have time… haha… I’ve been really busy out here grinding.  I told my mom some more details so you all can hit her up for some more details ha-ha! 

The church is true, love you all,

Much love,

Elder Ceb

 Happy birthday to my comp Elder Villalobos!!

 Loving having my best friend Elder Atkin in my ward!

 Love serving these good people!! 

 Happy Mother's day to my mom!!

It was so good to skype my family and my awesome grandparents!!

Piedras Negras...here we go!!

It’s been a minute! But I’ve been crazy busy, we are out here grinding a ton just trying to finish strong hehe! I have been in Piedras Negras for just over a week now!   It is cooool....I can see US border from my area ha-ha so that´s cool! 

Leaving Ramos after a solid 7 month run there was definitely super hard... I lowkey cried when I said goodbye to the bishop hahah… we were super tight! I gave him a tie and then when I was saying bye to the whole bishopric...there were definitely some emotions. It was even harder to say bye to all of my converts too, so much love for them.... 

Before I left Ramos, I got to baptize my boy Helaman so that was super hype! I felt so bad leaving his family though… they were all crying :/ I definitely miss them a ton, ahhhhh leaving these wonderful people is always the hardest part of the mish! So much love for them! 

Anyways, we had a super great Zone Conf. this week! The interviews were super cool. President Cahoon is leaving soon so during my interview he just gave me tons of advice about real life and marriage and what not... which was dope and scary though, hahah!  

My new area is super cool, my boy Elder Atkin is here in the ward with me and he is the other zone leader so that is super dope! My comp is Elder Villalobos- he is from Honduras and it has been super fun to work with him so far! We have also been working with the old stake President, President Rosas! He is a G, we teach so good together ha-ha we are like Alma and Amulek hahah lowkey! 

Well, I got to go again...

Much love,

Elder Ceb 

 My new companion, Elder Villalobos, from Honduras

 Elder Ceb, Elder Atkin, Elder Montiel Bravo

 MTC Comps back together in the same ward as zone leaders!!

 So many ties...so little time!

 Piedras Negras Zone Conference

 Love these valiant missionaries!