Email date: 1/3/2022

Hello all!

First and foremost, I feel like I haven’t said thank you enough times!! Thanks to everyone who has sent me emails, thanks to everyone who has sent me packages, thank you to the 5th ward, for sending me a care package, that actually was soon sweet!!  And thank you to everyone who’s reading this! I guess I can say it one more time? Thank You!!

This week has been really good! The first half of the week was pretty much like the last week’s, but the end of it was very full and busy! 

Tuesday and Wednesday we were out of miles, so we pretty much just stayed at the apartment all day. We ended up asking the APs for miles because we were going to have to travel all the way to Peachtree for a conference (which ended up getting canceled? More on that later). Fortunately,  we did still get some more miles though, so Thursday-Saturday we could go places! 

Wednesday was when we were supposed to go to a training meeting in Peachtree, which got either postponed or canceled. They said it wasn’t happening, and as far as I know there isn’t a new date for it, but I guess we will see. It got canceled because apparently everyone is sick! I’m not sure if it is Corona, but some missionaries have gotten tested positive, and others negative.  But needless to say, everyone seems to be sick! Elder Harmon and I have been blessed with health, because we have not gotten sick, and hopefully it stays that way!!

Luckily though, our zone leaders were not sick either, and we had exchanges planned with them, and so on Thursday night they came for Exchanges where we switched companionships for the whole Friday day.  The plan was for all of us to blitz our Americus Area, meaning all 4 of us would just stay in our area. Thursday came, and it was a fun time. I exchanged with Elder Fredrickson, and Elder Harmon exchanged with Elder McArther.

Friday morning, we woke up, ate breakfast, planned, and studied, which was pretty much like any other morning. But for the exchanges, we ended up going out and seeing if we could meet people in person. From what I’ve picked up, missionary work has changed a lot in the last couple of years. We don’t actually go door to door knocking anymore, because turns out that is not nearly as successful or productive. With that said, there are still a lot of people that have requested a free Bible or Book of Mormon, or even to just meet with missionaries, where they go through the referral process which eventually makes its way down to us. When we get a referral we try to contact that person as soon as we can, and set up a time where we can get to know them and have a first lesson. Typically, we start with phone calls, as they are the most convenient for those we’re teaching. That is what I have been doing most of the time. 

If we can’t contact people through calling, texting, emailing, or social media (whatever is provided in the referal), we switch them to be instead of a ‘yellow dot’ meaning interested, we make them a gray dot ‘not interested’. We don’t completely drop them, because we still end up checking in on them through time, and we still try to reach them, but this is what I guess you could call the ‘process’ of what we usually do. 

The reason I tell you this is because our meeting was canceled and we ended up getting miles anyways, for Exchanges, we went through the city to go to gray dot houses and see how they are doing and if they are interested in the Church of Jesis Christ of Latter Day Saints. So I guess I could boil all this down to instead of missionaries going door to door, we go to specific houses of people who have been interested in the past. 

While two of us went out to see if we could reach people in person, the other two stayed at the apartment to make calls to people. I think we contacted more than 50 people that day, and we have to report on each contact in the calendar, and well our calendar by the end of the day was packed!! We did end up getting in contact with a bunch of people, and got a lot of lessons planned out. 

That leads us to Thursday night. New Year’s night! There are 4 Elders in our apartment, and so what better thing is there to do on New Year’s Night than eat a Bazzokie (chocolate chip cookie with ice cream on top) and bang pots and pans at midnight and celebrating a new year? You’re right, going to bed at 10:30 and sleeping sounds way better! I don’t want to call us out, but it was a good night ;). It was funny though, because as soon as midnight hit, there were so many gunshots (not fireworks) that we could hear from all around. There were some fireworks, but these were gunshots lol. 

Because of all of our contacting, Saturday was a good start to anew year! We ended up planning 5 lessons, which was so many!! I think the old record was 3? And only 2 taught (as people have busy lives or are sick, so they can’t talk when we planned)… but we planned 5 lessons, and successfully had 3 of them! It was a very busy day haha!

Sunday was good because we got to go to church and take the sacrament. And we also got to teach Sunday School. The new Years come follow me books came out, and if you haven’t had a chance to look at them yet, I would invite you to do so because some of the art work and pictures in it are just beautiful!! 

Also, it is the New Testament year, but instead of starting in Genesis, it actually starts in Moses with the Pearl of Great Price. I think it is so cool the experience that Moses had and how because he knew that he was a child of God, Satan had no power over him! 

“And it came to pass that Moses looked upon Satan and said: Who art thou? For behold, I am a son of God, in the similitude of his Only Begotten; and where is thy glory, that I should worship thee?”

Satan tried his hardest to tempt Moses, and he even pretended to be the only Begotten and tried to convince Moses that he was the Son of Man. Moses stood firm, and cast Satan away because he had faith and believed in Jesus Christ. He knew that he was a Son of God, and because of that, Satan had no power over him. In fact, Satan pretty much threw a big temper tantrum right in front of Moses! 

I challenge everyone for this new year, and especially this week to go ahead and read the come follow me Verses that we had this week. It is Moses 1, and Abraham 3. As you read, look for ways that Satan tries to tempt Moses, and think about if you have seen him try to tempt you that way too. Make it a goal, or resolution to write these things down as you see these things, so you can be confident in saying, “…depart hence, Satan!” I am a Child of God, and you have no power over me! I promise that as you learn how the adversary tries to tempt you, it will make it that much easier to choose the right and make good choices. You will be strengthened, and will stand unwavering in faith. 🙂

I hope everyone had a fantastic new years day, and continues to have a wonderful new year! I love you all, and wish you all the best of weeks! Thanks again for everything y’all have done for me!! :)))

Loe ya!

-Elder Claussen

Hi Everyone!

I hope that your Christmas was Merry and you had a great time! I know that this last week, so much has actually happened! I don’t have a lot of time to write today, so I will try to fit as much as I can into it.

On Tuesday, we went up to the zone leaders apartment to prepare for the Christmas Zone conference. Then on Wednesday was the Christmas zone conference, and that was so much fun! There were fun games that we played and the entire mission was there, so there were a lot of people lol. After the fun and games and food, there was a nice Christmas Devotional, and that was super sweet! 🙂 

Thursday, we had district council, and that was good. And then we got to go to waffle house afterwards. And for the second time that I’ve been to a waffle house, and they are good! 🙂

We then drove back to our apartment in Americus, and that is always quite a trek lol. Friday, we had a lesson, but it was pretty chill. 

Then Saturday, it was Christmas! It was a really nice day because it was also super low key. We got to call home which was really nice, and then there is a family in our branch that let us come over and they are just the nicest people. 

Then Yesterday (sunday), we had one of our friends come to Church, and it was so good to see them!! 

I have been trying to get back to everyone with personal emails, and hope that I’ve gotten to everyone! If I haven’t, shoot me an email saying “I’m waitinggggg” and I will get back to you next week ;). 

Thank you for everyone that has emailed me and/or sent me stuff! I really appreciate it soooo much!!! I love you all, and do truly hope you’ve had a great Christmas!

My Scriptrue for today is Helaman 14, which is where Samuel the Lamanite prophesies of Jesus Christ’s birth. That is the true meaning of Christmas! 🙂 I know that the holidays can be so hectic and busy, but in all reality, as long as we are focused on Jesus Christ, then it is a successful holiday season! 🙂 I invite everyone to take the Christmas Spirit of giving Into the new year. Try and make it a new years resolution to brighten people’s days. Keep this resolution too! Write it on a paper and hang it on your fridge. Put it in your journal. Hang it on the mirror. As you remember this spirit of giving and love, you will be happier, and will be able to see the blessings flow into your lives! 🙂

I love you all, and wish you a very Happy New Year!

-Elder Claussen

Why hello everyone!!!

I made it to Georgia!! The beginning of last week on Monday, it was kinda just a non pday kind of a day because we literally had nothing planned except for packing. Elder Messerly, Sister Stucki, Sister Woodall, and I all went on an art tour through building T4 because all of the art work was actually beautiful. There were so many original huge wall sized murals that would show different stories, and it was just so cool! 

Tuesday, we woke up bright and early at 4:50am so we could check out of the MTC and ride the bus to the train station and then ride up to Salt Lake to get to the airport. We made it to the airport and Elder Messerly and I both got Café Rio because we both like it and there are none of them in Georgia!! Not even Costa vidas here. So we ate food, and then got to see all of the other (17?) missionaries that were going with us on the flight. We ended up being able to have a nice talk with this very nice lady who lives just outside of Atlanta, and it made me so excited because one, I was having a nice talk with a stranger, and two, They were from Georgia!! 

We made it on the airplane, and I got a window seat! (Prayers are answered!!) we were getting ready to leave and getting all settled in, but we weren’t moving! We got an announcement from the pilot saying that one of the latches to one of the doors had been broken, and they would have to fix it by taking the door off and putting a new one on. That was comforting haha! We waited for a solid hour just sitting on the airplane waiting for them to get it fixed. 

We finally get the latch fixed and we were off! It was a pretty smooth flight, a little bit of shakiness on the take off, but other than that it was good. I will have to give a nice shoutout to the pilot though because the landing was probably the smoothest landing I’ve ever had! Usually there’s like a bump when you land, but it was actually so smooth, so ???!! 

As soon as we got off the airplane, there was this really nice gentleman that helped us get to the baggage claim area because THE ATLANTA AIRPORT IS HUUGE!! I was very grateful to have him help us! At the baggage claim area, there were our mission APs there waiting for us and also Sister Needs (Mission Presidents Wife) was there too! We got our bags, then loaded into a Mission van and we went on our way to Peachtree Georgia, and landed in a church building that is supposedly close to the mission homes. There we had a missionary orientation and lots of information was given, that I listened to very intently, but as of right now, I could maybe tell you only half of what I remember ??. But it was really cool and the food was really good! (Especially compared to MTC food, because that Stuff DESTROYED my stomach!! Sorry Elder Messerly!!!)

Anywhere, we ate food and then went to a hotel and spent the night there.

The next day, we went back to the church building in peach tree, and as if we didn’t get too much information the night before, we got about triple the amount of information for day two! ?

But then, it was finally time for the transfer meeting!! So we went to that and then I got to meet my new Trainer Companion! His name is Elder Harmon, and he is super nice! Throughout the rest of this week, I’ve been able to learn so much and it has just been fantastic to work with him!! 

We were assigned to be in the Americus area, which is kind of middle of Georgia? It is a huge area, but there are a lot of farms and lots of trees (especially compared to Utah, there are sooo many trees lol). The span of the area is about 2-3 hours? But there is only one Church building, and it’s not even a normal church building! It’s like a branch building? It has one big room, and two classrooms, a small kitchen, and a small library. That’s about it haha. 

We got to go to church yesterday, and the branch seems to be really sweet. Im not going to lie when I say that it is probably the least amount of people that I’ve ever seen for sacrament meeting in my life! (15-20 people?) With that said though, I could feel the spirit super strong, and every single person that was there has a solid testimony centered on Jesus Christ. 🙂

I forgot to mention that on Thursday night we got to go to dinner at the Pearce’s (sorry if I spelled that wrong) house, and had some amazing homemade Mac and cheese, chicken, and something that I didn’t know, but it had chicken and noodles, and it was very delicious. So thank you to them! 

And then on Sunday for lunch, we got to go to the Coopers house and had a very nice meal of “beef and potatoes” which was all suuper yummy ?!! For dessert we had gingerbread cheesecake, and oooo the whole meal was so good. 

No offense to the Elders that were here before us, but they kinda left the place in, I’m just going to say in gross condition, specifically in the kitchen. In the Fridge there was this moldy, ‘juicy’, smelly, gross fruit that smelled like awfulness, and it was left in the fridge. I don’t know how long it was there because all of the food in the fridge ended up soaking it in and tasting like the awful smell. So long story short, we cleaned it up and had to throw pretty much everything out because it was just bad. Buttttt now we have gone to the store, so we have food again! ? I have never been so excited to clean though! ?

But back to Americus, all of the people that I’ve met so far have been really nice! There is definitely a lot of work to do here, but it will be good! 🙂 I hope that Elder Harmon and I will be able to do good work and help people come closer to Jesus Christ :).

My scripture that I’d like to share this week is the whole chapter of Luke 2. As many of you know, it’s Christmas Season, and what better scripture to share than the first Christmas story! I know that Jesus Christ is the reason we have Christmas, and I know that it is the most important to remember him in these times of holidays! We should remember the spirit of giving, and so I’d like to challenge everyone to think of something that you can gift to someone and then do it! The first person that comes to mind ;). (And the second, and the third, and so on…;)

I love you all, and hope you guys are well and staying safe! I’ll write next week ?

-Elder Claussen

P.S. I don’t think any marching band people from Arizona are ever going to read this, but if you do, the title of this email is for you 😉

Hi family! 

There are officially only 3 more days until I leave for Georgia!!! I am both excited and scared. I have actually loved this week here at the MTC and have learned so much! I feel like I have definitely learned a Lot about the Charity of Christ and have actually grown to love my district and the couple of people we have taught so much! It’s definitely going to be hard to leave them, but it’ll be worth it!

This week, there was a helping others appointment (teaching appointment) where we were able to teach someone named rob, and well fun story about one of the people that we got to teach. To start, there was this investigator that Sister Stucki and Sister Woodall taught, where there was someone that they really wanted us to teach, because he was fun/good/hard to teach? All of my district thought that it would be a good idea to go ahead and teach him because we could help him come closer to christ. We made a goal as a district to help him, and long story short, we all scheduled appointments with him on Friday, where we booked his entire day. We officially met Rob at dinner one night, and then Elder Messerly and I saw him on our way to a different one of our appointments. We stopped to talk for a minute, and well, it turns out Rob made a bet with some of the other investigators to try to get missionaries do silly or wierd things for them. Namely, he wanted to get missionaries to sing to him. We talked to our district, and they all hopped on board and had a nice Devotional with him and sang and filled his schedule. Whether or not he was a member, I hope that he could feel District 14-D’s love for him :).

My scripture for this week is going to be Alma 32:21

“And now as I said concerning faith—faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true.”

I know that if you have faith, even when it is hard, then you will be able to accomplish literally anything. I know if that I wouldn’t be where I am right now if it hadn’t been for faith. My faith has grown so much in the last few weeks, and I absolutely love it!!

I love you all, and hope you are having a good week! Elder Claussen

Attached is the December 2021 Elder Claussen Newsletter update!

Hi Family and Friends!

The update is that I am at the MTC in person!! I got here on Wednesday, and have been loving every second of it! I think that I have learned so much, and learned a lot of really good teaching skills that will definitely help me out in the field. I think that it is crazy the amazing spirit that can be felt here at the MTC! I am also so happy that I have finally been able to see my wonderful district that I had only been able to see via zoom. We already truly are a big family. That is actually one of our goals as a district, is to help each other out and be as a family.

To explain the title of this email, Last night, there was a really good devotional where Bishop Caussé came and bore his testimony on various things, and then played his testimony on the piano. There was one of his friends, and he actually arranged a two piano duet, and it was a wonderful christmas devotional! I could really feel the spirit, and it is just amazing the spirit that can be felt through music!

Today we got to go to the temple, and that was fantastic, it was just the second time that I have been able to go, and I feel like for the second time, I understood a few more things than I did the first time ;). It was really cool, because I had never gone to the provo temple before, and it is the last birthday cake temple (not for long though! It’s getting remodeled!). I do know the blessings that do come from going to the temple though!  

After our trip to the temple, we had to do laundry! We quickly realized that we definitely did not have any laundry detergent. This was troubling because the book/supply store is actually not open on Saturdays!! We found some elders that also appeared to be going to the laundry place who had detergent. We asked where they got it, and they showed us a ‘secret’ store place where we could get some for ourselves. Might seem like a small thing, which it kind of was, but it actually really made my night, because then we could clean our clothes with more than just water! We could have detergent! haha!

My scripture for this week is going to be 1 Nephi 4:14, because I know that as we all keep the commandments, we will all be able to prosper in the land ;). I feel like the MTC this week has really been a ‘land of promise,’ which might sound cheesy, but it is true! I have been able to feel the spirit, and have learned a LOT about the character of Christ. We should all strive to turn outward when everyone else turns inward. If we are able to do this, we will be blessed, and prosper. We will feel the spirit, and we will definitely come closer to Christ :)))) I would like to invite everyone to try and think of others, especially as we come closer to this time of Christmas!!

I love you all,

Elder Claussen

I am allowed to contact you tonight! And well, I made it!! We had a very nice Devotional, and it was very very nice!! I also saw a bunch of family faces! And I also saw someone from Bonneville and Alyssa Thompson and Bekah Crawford.

Hello Everyone!

     This week has been absolutely amazing! (I can’t believe it’s already been a week!) I have officially started my mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints! I started HMTC (Home Mission Training Center), and have loved every second of it! I don’t even know where to begin, but I guess the best place to start is probably at the beginning. 

It all started on Sunday Night, when I got set apart to be a Missionary by my Stake President, and that was such a neat experience! I could feel the spirit so strong and I knew that I was doing the right thing. 🙂

My first day of HMTC was on Monday, and it started bright and early at 6:30am, which I am not used to at all, so that was exciting, but then I got to meet virtually with my companion, and can I just say, I am so lucky to have Elder Messerly as my companion! He has been absolutely fantastic to work with, and I am soo grateful for the wonderful insights that he has been able to share and teach me! I can’t imagine having anyone else to go through the MTC with! We had our first large group meeting, where all of the new missionaries that were starting that day got to join, and there were more than 500 of us!! Let me tell you, the zoom meeting chat was insane! This meeting was really cool because I found out that I actually knew some of the missionaries that were starting at the same time! 

After the large group devotional, I got to go to my first class, and meet one of my teachers, Sister Andrews, and my district for the first time. I got SOO lucky to be put into such an amazing district! I have gotten closer to them faster than I thought was humanly possible. The insights and stories they have shared have just been spectacular and the spirit that they are able to bring is SOO strong! I am not usually one to brag, but I would definitely say that District 14-D is the best district ever! Then, I got to go to night classes, and meet our night teacher Brother Smith. I don’t think I can stress enough how amazing both of my teachers are too! Sister Andrews and Brother Smith (and special shoutout to Sister Graham for subbing because Brother Smith went on vacation…) have just been spectacular! I know that they have spent time on their lessons, care about us, and have been prepared and it shows!

The rest of the days this week were very similar to the first, so I don’t think that I will necessarily go through every day this week. I do know that Heavenly Father has a plan for me. It is no coincidence that I have the companion that I have or am in the district that I am in, with the teachers that I have, because it is just perfect for me! I have been able to learn and come closer to my Savior Jesus Christ, and my testimony has been strengthened so much more this week, than I think ever before in my life. I know that I would not be where I am today if I didn’t have the support of everyone that is reading this. I love you all! 🙂 

In one of the large meeting devotionals, one of the teachers made the joke that we couldn’t sing ‘I hope they call me on a mission’ anymore, because we have now been called on a mission now, so I wrote a little ‘remix?’ of it that I feel is fitting. 

I know that they’ve called me on a mission,

Now that I have grown a foot or two,

I hope that now I will be ready,

to Teach and preach and work as Missionaries do

Tonight, I have had more time than I will probably have in the future and I am also on a computer, and have not had to type this from my phone. Because of this, I cannot promise that every email will be this long. 😉 With that said, I do hope that no matter how much time or where I am writing from, that I will be able to at least share a scripture with you guys! 🙂

Today, I would like to share 2 Nephi 31:21 

“And now, behold, my beloved brethren, this is the way; and there is none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God. And now, behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and the only and true doctrine of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, which is one God, without end. Amen.” (italics added)

I love this verse because one, it proves that the Mandalorian stole straight from Nephi, and two, because this truly is the way! I know that through Jesus Christ and his Atonement, we can repent, and ultimately make it back to our Heavenly Father again. This is His work, and His Church; and I know that it has been restored for us today by the prophet Joseph Smith. The Book of Mormon is true, and I know that as we read it, we will be able to come to know of its truthfulness. I would like to invite everyone reading this to try and find something that you can do to help someone, in whatever way that might look like! I know that if you do this, that you will not only bless the lives of those you help, but also be able to feel the spirit and strengthen your relationship with Jesus Christ. 

I love you all,

Elder Claussen