email from February 28, 2022
Hi everyone,
I hope y’all’s week has been great! This week for me was full of travel (like always lol), making contacts, and it was another super busy week that I think went very well! It’s crazy how it’s already been 3 months and this is my last week of being a greenie!! Like how did that happen?! ??
I can’t remember what we did last Monday, but I do remember being more productive than doing nothing at all (*three weeks ago* ?). It was a good day though! Our after 6:00 time we finished editing a video (which will hopefully be posted this week or next week!), and had a fire Lesson with someone, and it was over Zoom! It was a little weird because their video wasn’t on, so we were talking to the stock photo of a silhouette of a guy. But it was still a really good lesson either way! Zoom lessons are a lot nicer than phone calls, because then they can see that there are two people and know why there are two voices. It is sometimes weird over the phone when there’s one of us talking and then all of the sudden there’s another person and they’re like, “Wait, who’s that?”
Tuesday, unfortunately most of our lessons didn’t answer, so that was kind of sad; but it was still worth it when one of the Gloria’s (we are teaching 3 Glorias!!) answered, and we had a fantastic lesson with her. Sneak peek to Sunday, she made it to church! Funny story about the name Gloria. We are teaching three people named Gloria, we named our car Gloria, and this morning we found out that Elder Harmon’s violin’s name is Gloria too! So many Glorias!!
Wednesday was a bit of an all over the place day. It started out normal, and we had a lesson which went pretty well! We taught the word of Wisdom, and it didn’t seem like they had any issues with that which is fantastic, because there are a lot of people who struggle with that down here!! Through the middle of the day, we had an in person contacting block, where we would go around and visit returning members and people who have been interested in the past. We made it to one house in the whole hour and a half we had planned out! The person we were trying to find wasn’t home, but their son was, who apparently went to church when they were younger. We ended up talking for a very, very long time! I’m not going to lie when I say that I had trouble following the whole conversation. It kind of jumped from one place to another so fast and I was completely lost! By the end of the conversation, he had a Book of Mormon, 3 different passalong cards, and a Plan of Salvation Pamphlet! So that was fun.
Thursday was another day where people didn’t seem to want to answer! We went to a lesson in person, but they weren’t there, so we visited another returning member’s place that lived nearby, and had a similar experience as Wednesday! We ended up talking for about an hour fifteen minutes! This conversation was better because I could follow along better. This lady we talked to is very sweet, it was just a really long conversation ?.
Friday was good. We went up to Columbus for District Council, so that was good! It’s always nice to be able to see other missionaries!! It was funny because the Zone Leaders were on exchanges, so we had honorary district member Elder Bayles who came into the mission at the same time as me. It was good to see him! We also had a lesson with someone we are teaching, and Sister Chase joined us to help teach them. Our friend and Sister Chase seemed to get along very well, so that was super cool! Hopefully that friendship can stay and help our friend feel welcomed :).
Saturday, we drove back to Americus and had two lessons that went well. We tried calling a bunch of people, but most people didn’t end up answering, but the two lessons made the day worth it!
Sunday was fantastic! We had one of the people that we are teaching come (Gloria), and one who listened over the phone. It was Gloria’s first time coming to church with us, but she seemed to really like it! They seemed to be very engaged and were so excited to come back! There’s also a new couple that moved in from the Newnan ward and they seem pretty legit. All in all, I think there were 30 people that were there, which for Americus, is fantastic! It was a very good day!
And, that leaves us to today, where as of me writing this, we went to Walmart to get some groceries, which was fun, and now we are waiting in line for Taco Bell, and it’s been almost 20 mins, but we’re chilling lol. But we are going to eat lunch at the Gazebo, so that’ll be fun.
As for a spiritual thought today, there have been a lot of cool things that I’ve learned. I’m not quite sure what I would like to share today, but I guess I’d like to share a thought about Book of Mormon (again ;)). As I have probably mentioned so many times in the last few weeks, the mission is still doing the ‘Read the Book of Mormon in 90 days’ challenge, and it has been going really good! I ended up taking some extra time in some parts, and so I am a little bit behind from where the guideline reading is. Don’t worry though, I have a plan to still finish in time ;). As I have started reading Mosiah, I really like how in the first chapter, it explains the importance of the scriptures. It explains how if Lehi didn’t tell his sons to get the brass plates, then they would have no recollection of the covenants that God has made with us, and they would have not been able to remember everything, “Except it were for the help of these plates.” (Mosiah 1:4). The scriptures help us to understand the mysteries of God, and help us recognize his hand in every aspect of our lives.
There was a talk by Elder Bednar called The Character of Christ, and it is amazing! I don’t know where to find it, because Elder Harmon had it downloaded on his phone; but if you do somehow find it, you should definitely listen to it! There are so many different things that are really good about that talk, but that would be a whole other discussion lol. Something that Elder Bednar challenged was that if you have any questions, if you grab a fresh copy of the Book of Mormon, and read it front to back marking all of the things that help answer that question, then you Will find an answer to your question. He went on to say that by the time you were his age, you would probably have a library of 500 Book of Mormons that help you see the progress that you’ve made throughout your life (probably true, but funny!). I think that this is so cool, because it is a very bold statement to say that one book will help answer any question that you have in life; but it is true! As you read the scriptures, it creates a time for you to feel the spirit and put Heavenly Father first. Even if in the Book of Mormon it doesn’t say word for word an answer to your question, as you are seeking with a purpose, the Holy Ghost will testify to you truths that Will answer your questions.
Read the scriptures, they’re great :)! I won’t lie, before I came out to Georgia, I didn’t read them nearly enough! I found it hard to read sometimes because of the biblical language and understanding what it meant. As you read, the understanding will come; and before you know it, you’ll grow to love them. I know it sounds like such a ‘missionary’ thing to say, but it’s because it is true! If you live your life in a way that invites the spirit, and study the scriptures every single day; it will be a life changing experience. I am grateful for this opportunity to serve on a mission, because it is helping me learn so many principles that will help me for the rest of my life. I have already learned so much in the 3 months, and am so excited to keep on learning new things each and every day! I know that this is the true church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and I say this in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
-Elder Claussen
