label:joy's-mission 4/20/15

Hey family!

This week was full of exciting experiences! I don't have my planner with me, so I'll try to remember what happened.

- The family we live with went out of town, so we took care of their animals. They have chickens and we had the blessed opportunity to go collect eggs every day. It was gross and smelled nasty. I felt like Napoleon Dynamite.

- We started covering 2 new English wards and the Bishop of the 8th ward invited us to come help them with their cows. They were branding them, giving them shots, and all that other cow stuff. It definitely was a different experience. It smelled even more disgusting than the chickens. We had to herd them and I've never been more scared. Huge cows racing towards you is slightly terrifying. I tried to give a cow a shot and ended up accidentally poking myself with the needle. Nice. It's ok though, I'm just more healthy than everyone else.

- We went on exchanges. This was a more difficult exchange, but I learned a lot from it! We also were able to teach a few great lessons in Spanish. I am so grateful to be Spanish called! I love the people and the language.

- We spent the night at one of our Ward Mission Leader's home because of some weird things going on in our zone. They are the sweetest family. Sister Hunt got up to make us biscuits and gravy. She is the sweetest! We are so spoiled here.

- We had dinner with a family in the branch and they invited a less active family. It was such a fun dinner! We couldn't breath afterwards because of all the food they served us, but it was definitely worth it.

- We had a solid lesson with Maria and Abel! I absolutely love this family! The Spirit was so strong during that lesson. We had a member with us who does not speak Spanish. She bore her testimony in English. Maria and Abel said that is when they felt the Spirit the most. It just proves that the Spirit speaks to each of us, no matter what language we speak.

That's about all I can remember. We mostly did a bunch of contacting in our new wards this past week. I am loving it out here! Teaching people about Jesus Christ has brought me so much happiness. I hope you all have an awesome week full of missionary opportunities! Love y'all tons!

Hermana Clay

Picture: Sister Wilemon! She's the best.

I got bronchitis! - 4/13/15

Hey family!

This week has been crazy! Sister Willes went home. I was with Sister Hansen for 2 days. Uncle Kent is actually her Bishop. Small world. Then, Sister Wilemon came! She is awesome. She's from Florida and is a convert of 5 years. We've had a lot of fun together so far. She is an incredible missionary and I think we'll see a lot of miracles together!

We finally were able to visit with Destiny again! She still is strong as ever, but her parents are still a little nervous about baptism. We were able to meet her dad. The whole family is wonderful! We invited them to take the lessons together as a family. Hopefully that will happen. The dad works a lot, so he's not home very often. We will pray that it works out!

Wednesday night, we were trying to contact a referral, but we couldn't find the right house. We decided to knock on the neighbor's door and ask if they new where they lived. We ended up meeting the Meppen family. The husband is not a member and the wife is less active. We had an incredible lesson with them. The husband told us he feels like they need to have Jesus a more central part of their lives and that we were welcome to come back. Unfortunately, it's not our area. However, I know that Heavenly Father lead us to that family. He guides us in every aspect of our life, whether or not we see it.

We saw Genaro again. I really love that family! He is being stubborn and doesn't want to keep his commitments. We will see how things go!

Saturday was a little bit of a rough day for Sister Wilemon and I. Even among all the challenges, miracles happened. Our dinner appointment dropped, so we decided to go out to eat since we had no food at home. We went to the restaurant and someone ended up inviting us to eat with them and paid for our meal. I am so spoiled! The people here are SO generous.

I made a new goal to write a short scripture in my planner every day. One of my favorites this week is "...whatsoever things ye shall ask the Father in my name shall be given unto you." (3 Nephi 27:28) Prayer has been a principle that I am still trying to become better at. Although I still struggle with it at times, I know for a fact that God is listening to me. He will give me what I ask for, as long as it is in align with His will.

I'm so grateful for each of you! I'm grateful for the knowledge of the Plan of Salvation. Helping other families come to this knowledge has been such a joy to me. I know that if we work our absolute hardest in this life we will be able to live with our families forever. This is possible because of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I know He lives.

Love you all tons! Have a fantastic week!

Hermana Clay

General Conference 4/6/15

Hey family!

This week was great. I don't have a lot of time to write, so it will be quick.

I hope you all enjoyed General Conference! I absolutely loved it. So many great talks were given! I felt like a lot of it was focused on eternal families. I loved Elder Eyring's about fasting and fast offerings. That is something I am going to try and improve on. I'm excited to go back through the talks and study them. Hopefully the Spirit spoke to y'all on what you can do to become more like our Savior.

Speaking of Him, it was Easter! Happy Easter! I love Him and I'm grateful that I can serve Him for this short time. I know He lives. I know He is the way back to our Heavenly Father.

Sister Willes goes home tomorrow :( I'm pretty bummed about that, but excited for her at the same time. I'm grateful that we were companions again. She has helped me through so many different things and we're always having fun and laughing. She is an incredible missionary and has such a strong testimony! I'll definitely miss her!

I've got to go. Love you all lots! Have an awesome week!

Hermana Clay

Because He Lives - 3/30/15

Hey family!

This week was great. We had lots of meetings which ate up a bunch of our time. But it's ok, I learned a lot from them!

We finally found a perfect fellowshipper for Genaro! Hermano Perry was able to come with us and they clicked. Genaro is doing well, but is struggling to keep his commitments. We are postponing his baptism again. It's a bummer, but we feel he needs more time to prepare.

Visitors' Center trainers came up from Salt Lake City this past week. We had two meetings with them. All of the Visitors' Center sisters were able to come for it. So many things were learned from these amazing trainers! Even though I am not currently serving there, the things I learned can be applied to my area. I think the biggest thing I took away from it was to testify more. When we testify, the Spirit automatically comes.

We taught Abel y Maria Gil. They are golden! They are both from Mexico and are focused on making their family unified. We read the Family Proclamation with them and they loved it. It's interesting because usually the husband is the one who is less interested in learning about the Gospel. Abel, however, is almost more into it than his wife. We are excited to continue teaching them and help them progress towards baptism and eventually the temple.

We also had Mission Leadership Council this week. We, as a mission, are aiming for a high goal in the month of May. We want every companionship in the mission to reach the Standard of Excellence. This will require many miracles. In the Bible Dictionary it says, "They (miracles) were never wrought without prayer, felt need, and faith." These three things is what will lead us to achieve this goal.

We were able to visit with Destiny and her mom, Carissa (finally!). They were very distraught because their cat died. I hate cats so it was hard to have compassion. Haha but I am super happy that Carissa is opening up to us and is feeling more comfortable with meeting with us.

Saturday was the General Women's Conference! I hope y'all were able to watch it! It was so wonderful. The entire conference was focused on families and the importance of them. Families are central to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We need to defend the Family Proclamation and strive to apply the it in our own homes. That will require effort, time, and doing our part. When we apply it our homes will be spirit-filled homes.

After the conference, Sister Willes and I had a couple of minutes to try and find someone to teach. We decided to stop by the De La Luz home. Miguel came out and after a few minutes he began to tell us how he wished his family spent more time together and how much he loves them. Because we had just come from the conference all about families, we were able to boldly testify that he can have a happy family and he can be with them forever.

It seems that most of this week was focused on families and the fact that we can have an eternal family. I know that this is true. God gave us families to make us happy. I know that God has provided a way for us to return to live with Him and with our families. That way is through His Son, Jesus Christ. Christ "broke the bands of death". He lived for us, died for us, and lives for us today. The Church has come out with a new video, Because He Lives. I encourage each of you to watch this and think of a way you can find Him more in your life. Then, apply it. I can promise that you will feel His love and will be able to face any challenge that comes your way.

I love you all tons! I'm so grateful for each of you. Happy Easter and happy conference weekend! And Chloe, happy birthday!

Hermana Clay

Picture 1: Visitors' Center training

Picture 2: We won the "Most Awkward Companionship" award. No worries, we also won the "Most Unified Companionship" award.

The Alien Family 3/23/15

Hey family!

This week was crazy. We finally were able to see Genaro for the first time in forever. We reset his baptismal date. We went over the baptismal interview questions which helped us see his concerns. He told us that he has to work every Sunday now :( We are praying that Heavenly Father will provide a way for him to get to church. 

Someone gave us a referral for a nonmember (or so they thought). We went to contact them and invited them to be baptized. Turns out they're members. Awkward. 

We went on exchanges again this week. I went to Rigby with Sisters Little and Fermoso. They are awesome! They teach with such power. We were able to visit a man and testify about the Plan of Salvation. It was a cool experience. Funny story: We went to dinner at the Allen's home. They had a sign that said "The Allen Family". Sister Little must have read it wrong and said, "Oh how cute! The Alien family!" We were all dying.

Yesterday, we met a super cool man named Abel. The sisters taught their family a few times, but the wife and kids went to Mexico. Sister Willes thought they had returned so we tried them last night. They were still in Mexico, but the husband was there. It was such a great discussion. He is so open and wants to learn more and do it with his family. We talked about the tender mercies of Heavenly Father and how they are all around us. It was a tender mercy for us to find and teach Abel. We have a return appointment this week with his whole family. We're excited!

We spent a lot of time with some sisters that we serve with this week. They have been struggling so we went to try and help them. Although I'm not sure we helped out much, I learned a ton from this. I have felt love for these sisters more than I ever have before. I'm so grateful that Heavenly Father has given me this opportunity to learn from them. I know that He is watching over each of His children and He loves each of us individually. He knows exactly how we are feeling. He knows how to help us in our times of need.

I read a talk by Elder Holland that I think all of you should read. It is called"Cast Not Away Therefore Thy Confidence". Make sure you read that this week! Don't ever doubt the impressions you receive from the Spirit!

Love you all lots! Happy birthday to Jason, Max, and Annie! Have a wonderful week!

Hermana Clay

Picture 1: Last time seeing Chele! She leaves for the MTC this week and will be serving in Washington DC North and in the Visitors' Center!

Picture 2: The best spoons in the world that Sister Willes' little brother sent us.

"I AM the Bible!" 3/16/15

Hey family!

This week was really busy and full of ups and downs. 

We went on exchanges twice this week. I was able to be with Sisters Wilemon and Cole. They are amazing and super hard workers. Lots of interesting things happened while on this exchange. They have an investigator who really wants to be baptized but her mom won't let her. Her mom is quite an interesting person. We went to talk to her to hopefully help her understand that baptism is the right choice for her daughter. She asked us to meet her at a park because it is "Jesus' park" and "you can hear the angels sing" there. As we were talking with her she told us that she has been ordained to the Melchizedek priesthood and that she is the Bible. She is such a sweet person, but definitely has some interesting thoughts. Unfortunately, she still hasn't given permission to her daughter, but in time, I'm sure she will! We also went to help clean the apartment of one of their new investigators. It was nasty! But that's ok. We were able to set a baptismal date with her! Hooray!

I also went on an exchange with Sister Duncan. She is such an awesome sister and trusts so much in Heavenly Father! We had a successful day and I learned a lot from her! I'm grateful that I have this opportunity to learn so much from the other missionaries here.

Destiny is doing awesome! She is so prepared. We did have a good/bad thing happen with her this week. Our Ward Mission Leader invited Destiny and her mom over for dinner on Friday. I was not there because of exchanges. As the sisters taught the lesson of the Restoration to Carissa (Destiny's mom), Carissa expressed that she would like Destiny to push back her baptism. Bummer. But the miracle of the whole thing is that Carissa accepted to listen to the lessons. Sister Willes and I were sad that Destiny won't be getting baptized this weekend. But as we thought about it, we remembered that the gospel blesses families. It is not just an individual thing. It is for families. Destiny will be much stronger in the gospel if she has her mom along her side. We are super excited to start teaching the both of them!

Genaro has been super hard to get in contact with this week. He has had to work a ton. But, Cyndi (his wife), told us that he has been reading. Cyndi is the best! She bore her testimony for the first time in sacrament this past Sunday. It was so powerful. The whole meeting was powerful. I love serving in the Spanish branch.

There's the update for the week. Although there were a few setbacks, Heavenly Father showered us with His tender mercies. I am so grateful that I have this opportunity to be a missionary. I love serving and I love the people. Life is always going to have it's challenges, but "con su fuerza puedo hacer todas las cosas." (It sounds better in Spanish). Have an amazing week! Love you all tons!

Hermana Clay

Fred the Mouse - 3/9/15

Hey family!

This week was crazy awesome! There were some big miracles that happened.

We had zone conference and it was great. Everything was focused on Doctrine and Covenants 4. So many great trainings were given. I have been able to study that section more this past week and I have learned a ton! My desires to serve have definitely been realigned.

We were able to set a baptismal date with Destiny! She is absolutely amazing. She has such a pure heart and really wants to learn about and be closer to her Savior. When we asked her why she wanted to be baptized she said, "I want to be closer to Christ. I also want to go do baptisms for the dead and help those who didn't get the chance here." Holy cow. Amazing!

Guess who else we set a date with? Genaro! I'm not sure if I've talked about him yet. His wife, Cyndi, was baptized in September. He is a super awesome guy, although at first a little intimidating. We have been trying to set a date with, but haven't had success. He really doesn't know much about religion. He never grew up talking about God or even celebrating holidays. On Saturday, we stopped by to visit. The Spirit completely took over in that lesson. It was kind of scattered, but everything said was exactly what he needed to hear. We set a date with him for the end of this month. Sister Willes and I walked out of that lesson completely stunned. It was seriously a miracle! As she and I were talking afterwards, we really felt that it was because we realigned our will to Heavenly Father's will. Genaro is still a little nervous about baptism, but we are going to work super duper hard to make sure it goes through! He was at church yesterday, so we're on the right track!

I am starting to really love this area. There is so much potential! Hope that everyone has a super great week full of miracles! Make sure your desires are aligned with Heavenly Father's :) Love you lots! Happy birthday to David and Sammy this week!

Hermana Clay

Picture 1: Accidental twinning and one-legged Sister Willes

Picture 2: Zone Conference with my favorite Mohana!