Hi everyone!
Another week has gone by already, and I don’t even know where to begin lol. It has been a really good week, and I hope that everyone has been doing good too!! This last week, we ended up ‘mile fasting’ because we were running low, and we also wanted to go somewhere special on Saturday, so we saved those miles for that.
Monday, after 6:00 time made a bunch of phone calls and did some service by helping a family move in their new couch. That was fun because we got to meet two members that we had never met before!
Tuesday, we made some more calls (that will probably be a common thing haha! I feel like I say that about every day, but we do; so it’s probably worth mentioning!) We had the third post baptism lesson with Sister Carillo, and that went really good! We had Dinner with the Willey family, and it was good!
Wednesday was District Council, so you already know it’s a good day! I do always love being able to see all of the missionaries in the district council and always learn so much from each of them!! After District Council, we had lunch and then a lesson with a gentleman who we got in contact with last week. We ended up reading Ezekiel 36 with him, and I’d say it went well! To save miles, we ended up staying at the church until Dinner, because dinner was on the way home from the church, so we you guessed it, made some calls and planned a route of people to visit on the way to dinner. We had dinner at the Borcek’s house, and they actually just moved into the ward, so we were surprised to see them signed up! They are a super nice family and I am excited that they can be in the Stilesboro Ward!! If Wednesda wasn’t already good enough, on the way home, we went to a gray dot’s house and when we went to the door, it was open and being completely renovated and no one lived there! We were like, weird, but knew we were there for a reason. We looked down the road and saw a lady playing fetch with her dog. We decided to go talk to her, and it was such a cool experience! We introduced ourselves, and she told us a little bit about herself, but one thing she said is that whole day, she was thinking a lot about religion and where she’s at, and then now we showed up. Wow! That was cool :).
Thursday, we had Weekly planning! We went to Brother Ferrar’s House for lunch and service, and we got to talk to Ralph again! Ralph is Brother Ferrar’s brother, and he is awesome! After weekly planning, we called this guy we met two weeks ago and gave a Book of Mormon to, and I think we helped him be excited to read it? (I hope!!) But we taught most of the Restoration and have a lesson with him later today! I am super excited for him! That night we also got a call from the gentleman who we read Ezekiel with, and that was an interesting phone call (to say the least). We had a time to call him on Friday, so we confirmed that, and then it ended up being a really long phone call from like 9:00-10:00pm! ?
Friday, we had Zone Conference, and we barely had enough miles for that ?, but it was super good, and it was a very powerful meeting!! Plus, we got to see all of the senior missionaries, who are all great, and also President and Sister Needs! There was some very tasty food, a very strong spirit, and it was super nice :). We had dinner with the Wright family at this Mexican food place, where I got a mexi-pizza, which was surprisingly tasty! That evening, we had another lesson with that lady we met outside with her dog, and taught the Restoration, and it was super good! 🙂
That takes us to Saturday, where our mile fast payed off because we got to to to the baptism of someone that Elder Peterson was teaching before he came here to Stilesboro. That was a super cool experience, because that was the first baptism that I’ve been to since Treska’s!! ?? It was about an hour drive south down through Atlanta, so we did get to see a bunch of the city, which was fun. We are now at 9 miles/day, but I’d say it was completely worth it!!
Sunday was a fast and testimony meeting which I found a little bit different because it is still the end of March, but it is because General Conference is next week!! It was a good Testimony meeting and a good Elders quorum. One of the testimonies made me smile because it was someone who is in Seminary studying the Old Testament. They explained some of the family struggles that they had back then, from literally killing your siblings and also selling them into slavery. He bore testimony that even though his family might drive him crazy sometimes, “he’s got it easy” and that he loves his Family. I’d like to second that testimony and say that I love my family too, and each and every one of you that’s reading this right now :). Families are so important! Even if they do things that drive us insane or really annoy us, it is our families that will always be there for us!
I think that just about sums up this week! Overall, it has been super crazy busy, but definitely worth every second :). I wanted to give a spiritual thought today in preparation for General Conference. I hear that General Conference “hits different” as a missionary, and with all of the things that are happening right now, I am so excited to be able to hear the words of the Prophet and recieve guidance of how I can do better!! :))
This week, one of our big focuses has been about listening to the spirit and acting on the promptings we receive. It was very fitting when in Elders Quorum, we had a discussion on three steps that we can take to recieve answers. First, we must ask in faith. Next, we need to be in a state of mind and place where we can recieve answers. Finally, we should thank Heavenly Father and act upon the answers you’ve recieved! Each one of these things is so important. As you prepare for General Conference this next week, I invite y’all to have questions that you prayerfully ask and be in a position that you can recieve answers to those questions. I know that even if none of the talks specifically talk about your questions, the Holy Ghost will be able to tell you what you need to do regardless! 🙂
I hope y’all have a fantastic week! Stay awesome, and always remember that God Loves You! 😉
-Elder Claussen
