eMail from 1-31-2022
Hello Everyone!
Happy Pday (or whatever day you are reading this)! The work in Americus Georgia is not stopping. We have done a lot of really good things, and are now at a point where we get to see if what we’ve done is actually going to work. We finally had a Branch Coordination and I think that it really was a good meeting that will be really helpful to have (evert week?!)!!
So, this week was good. Last Monday, we pretty much had a normal Pday, except we planned a lesson with one of our friends Johnnie, and we went to their house, and they said that it was too early (11:00am), and so we’d have to go back later. Because it was Pday, our scheduled was fairly open throughout the day, so we called them in the middle of the day, and they said they were out of town now, but would be home later. We said we’d call later to see if it would be a good time, and they said they’d love that. Needless to say, we called back a third time, and they said they were going to be home in 5 minutes, so we were like perfect! We can come in 30 minutes. We get there and they were not home! So we never did get to teach them… Fast forward to yesterday, we had rescheduled their then, and turns out this last week they lost a family member, so we didn’t meet with them again. I really hope that we can meet with them because they seem like a really cool dude! Definitely keep him in your prayers if at all possible!
We also drove up to Columbus at the end of the day to get ready for District Council, so we stayed the night at the ZLs house again. So Tuesday morning we had District Council and district Lunch at Cook-out, so thats always fun. ?
Wednesday, was a busy day! We had quite a few lessons go through, which was fantastic! And then we had dinner at President Tuckers house, where we went to this Mexican Shop and got burritos, and they were sooo good!! President Tucker is the Branch President, so it is always good to talk with him and his wife!
Thursday, we had a lot of contacts and another lesson go through! We had a Lunch with Sister Chase at this all you can eat pizza and salad bar place, and it is walking distance from our apartment, and it is suuper yummy! ? then we had Weekly Planning, which are always such a joy to plan and make goals for everyone, and then dinner at the Pearces. We finally got to meet Sister Pearces other son, and so it was really nice to meet him and his wife and baby. (They have two babies at their house now, and a 3 year old who is hilarious! ??)
Friday, was completely packed with lessons, and two of them went through, so could have been better, but still not too bad. We had a really nice mission Devotional (via zoom) where President Needs gave the whole mission a challenge to read the Book of Mormon in 90 days! I am super excited for the challenge, and will talk more about that in just a sec.
Saturday, we ended up going over to Cordele because someone requested a Book of Mormon, and we have the miles, so we went and delivered that. There house was like in a historical neighborhood, so it was actually really cool to see all of the super old buildings! There was one house that was actually not a square, but a circle room!! It was kind of weird, and I would be Interested to see what the inside looked like lol.
Sunday was really good too. We went to church, and had our first Branch Missionary Coordinarion, which was really nice! Unfortunately, none of our friends could make it, but we did have more members than normal, so that was good! One thing that we struggle with is getting people to church, because a lot of them don’t have cars, and they live 30+min (drive) away! We learned that the ward area is separated by county, and so that’s why it is so big. Its a little strange because some of the people that are wayyy out there are actually closer to other wards/branches, but are still assigned to ours. But we have goals and plans to try to help people make it to church, so hopefully we will be successful in that!!
And that leads us to today, where I’m writing this email, and now you get to read it :D. Today, my spiritual thought is going to be on the Book of Mormon again. As I mentioned before, President Needs has extended a challenge to all of the missionaries to read the Book of Mormon in 90 days. That’s about 6 Pages a Day. (Today is read to page 18!). He said to focus on faith, and the miracles that come from faith. Also to be looking for aspects and points in the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Faith in Jesus Christ, Repentance, Baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the end).
The last two days have been so cool to have this focus because there are so many examples of Faith that Lehi and his family literally leave their homes, go back to get the plates, and then go back again to get more people?! That’s gotta be so hard, but they had the faith to do it! There are so many Miracles that they see too! As Nephi turns to the Lord, he is always comforted. Laban was delivered into his hands. They were protected in the wilderness, and all of this came from faith! It has already helped me see miracles and tender mercies and miracles in my life, and it’s only been two days!! I know that the Book of Mormon is true. It is truly the biggest tool in conversion because if the Book of Mormon is true, it’s all true! As you do more than just read, but study it, you will come closer to Jesus Christ, and that is a promise!
I love y’all so much, and hope that your week has been good too! Catch ya on the flip side! -Elder Claussen 🙂
