Emailed on June 20, 2022
Hey Everyone!
How has y’all week been?! So crazy how time literally flies! How is it already at the end of June!? I remember writing my first email in the month of June and now there’s only one left after this one?! So crazy lol.
Last Monday, we did have a District Pday again, so this week we do not have one as we have been asked to not have them every week. Honestly, I feel like it’s fine because days we do have a district P-day, our cleaning kinda slacks a little bit, so it’s nice to not have them so we can catch up.
Tuesday, we had District Council which was super sweet! I was asked to give a training on a Preach My Gospel section, and I chose to give it on Prayer. I learned that Prayer is so powerful, and I am so grateful that we can have that opportunity to talk with our Heavenly Father (more about prayer in the spiritual thought :)). We had a lesson after with a part member family, and I’d say it went super good!
Wednesday, was a day just full of contacts! For pretty much the whole day, we just called, texted, and went to people’s houses to try to find more people to teach. It was cool because there was a less active member that actually answered our text we sent, so that was super awesome!! We are hoping that we can help her and welcome her back to church 🙂
Thursday, was kind of a crazy day! In the morning, we had our studies and set some goals for the week. Then we went to the Dallas Building so we could have interviews with President and Sister Needs. As always, I still have nothing bad to say about them because they are such great people and examples to all of us missionaries :). It is sad because it is the last interviews that we are going to have with them because they are leaving on July 1st, and then We are getting a new Mission President!! So crazy how all that works, and well, I am sad, but optimistic for what the future brings!! The rest of the day, we had Weekly planning and dinner with the Craig’s. We had Chicken Pot Pie, and it was very tasty ?.
Friday, pretty much flew by. We finished up our weekly planning because we didn’t quite finish on Thursday. Then we made some contacts, did some service and had dinner at the Beardsley’s home. Then, when we got home, we actually got back in contact with one of our friends who said they needed some time to themselves, and we had an awesome lesson with them! Hopefully that will turn into more lessons and we can start teaching them again!! That would be awesome!
Saturday morning, we went to the Macland area to help some of their members build a shed in their backyard. I thought it was super cool/funny because it is actually the same kind of shed that my family got right before I left. I think that was cool because I already knew what was up when it came to building it ? #tendermercies!! We made it back to the apartment in time for us to see the moving Elders who had a special delivery for us. They got us Bikes! Long story short, our car is having some issues, so next week we need to take it into the shop. Depending on what it is, it could be a couple hour fix, but just in case if not, we got bikes so we won’t be stranded at the car dealership. As much as I actually do like driving, I am actually kind of excited because I have heard a lot of success stories from the mission who ride bikes because they can stop to talk to everyone as it is a lot easier to stop a bike and talk then to stop the car and talk. (Stopping the car and talking low key gives me creepy vibes! Yikes!). We shall see how the bike riding goes though, and I will be sure to keep y’all updated on that!
Sunday was a good day as well. We didn’t have any of our friends come to church again, but one of these days, we will have success in that! All in the Lord’s timing. Out of all of the invitations we give, I feel like we give come to church the most (besides read and pray), but it is the one that is least likely to be kept. People coming to church really is a big commitment, and I know that it will happen eventually ?. At 4:00 there was a pre-recorded live Facebook event and it was super awesome! It was all about Fathers for Father’s day! Which speaking of Father’s Day, Happy Father’s Day!! ?
That brings us to Today, where I have officially done ALL of my laundry, which is nice as well as clean the bathroom (not as nice) and sweep/vacuum the floor. It’s been a good day so far. I think the only thing we have left is to clean the car and go shopping. Everything else is going to be bonus.
And for my spiritual thought today, I hinted it earlier, but I wanted to talk about prayer! I gave a training on Prayer in District Council, and I am so grateful for that opportunity because prayer is just awesome! In a literal sense, praying is how we talk with Heavenly Father. We can tell him what we’ve done in the day, what we are grateful for, our goals, what we are struggling with, how we need help, and well anything that we need. The list goes on, but I feel like sometimes we can get in a routine where we say our prayers and we are always grateful for the same things and are always asking for the same things. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as if we truly are grateful or truly do need those things, then you should pray for it! If we truly mean it and have a sincere desire and real intent, then that is how our prayers should be :).
You can pray for literally anything and everything. I love the scripture in 2 Nephi 32:9 which reads, “But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul.” As a missionary, we pray before everything we do because we want to invite the spirit and also because we know that God will consecrate our performance so we can do exactly what it is He needs us to do. I just love this! 🙂
For those of you who are not missionaries, I would still invite y’all to always have a prayer in your heart. I know that God does hear and answer every single one of our prayers. As we pray for strength and guidance, we will be provided with opportunities where we can become strong and recieve the guidance that we need. So often I feel like prayer is overlooked, but it is such an important part of our day :). I know that Heavenly Father loves each and every one of you, he loves to hear from you, and as you pray, you will be able to come closer to Him every time you do it. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. 🙂
Hope y’all have a fantastic week!!
-Elder Claussen
