Ontario Airport: Week 105

Well, it's official. I hit my 2-year mark on Saturday and now I'm in the airport coming home! It's exciting but I will definitely miss this place and the people here. 

This week was amazing honestly! We went really hard and had a great time. We met some new people to teach and I got to say goodbye to all my friends in the area. They had me get up and bear my testimony in sacrament meeting and it was pretty sad looking out at everyone and knowing it will be my last Sunday here! I'll have to come back and visit for sure. 

We also had some great times in the zone. We went out to a nice Thai place for a "Last Supper." Then on Saturday we did exchanges and I went with a tagalog speaking Elder. Some members took us out to dinner and even got us a thing called Halo-halo(?) which was basically filipino shaved ice with ice cream, boba, banana, nuts, and a whole bunch of other things. Then on Monday morning a group of us got together and we ran a 5k at the Rose Bowl. And yesterday, we went to Micha's house and she gave me a leaving/Christmas present: a painting of my face!! (Pics attached) How cool is that???

It's been a wild ride, that's for sure. I was not expecting the whole covid thing, and all the other surprises I encountered along the way. But I just want to say, I am so so so grateful for my mission. It's probably the best decision I've ever made.  I feel like a completely different person. I've learned so much, but it all boils down to this: Jesus Christ changes lives. I've seen it firsthand in other people and I've seen it in myself. 

2 Nephi 2:6-9

        6 Wherefore, redemption cometh in and through the Holy Messiah; for he is full of grace and truth.

7 Behold, he offereth himself a sacrifice for sin, to answer the ends of the law, unto all those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit; and unto none else can the ends of the law be answered.

8 Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah, who layeth down his life according to the flesh, and taketh it again by the power of the Spirit, that he may bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, being the first that should rise.

9 Wherefore, he is the firstfruits unto God, inasmuch as he shall make intercession for all the children of men; and they that believe in him shall be saved.

I know that's true. I love Jesus Christ! I know I can never repay him for what he's done for me, but for the rest of my life I will serve and follow him.

Thank you for your support, I love you all!

Elder Clayton

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My home email: clayton.williamE@gmail.com

Pictures:

Me and Elder Stephens at the airport, last supper, 5k, halo-halo, some Armenian church members, Micha and my face portrait, final zone

 Glendale, California: Week 104

I thought next week was going to be my last pday, but we got an email saying that Thanksgiving will be a pday, and that next Monday will not be. So I guess today was my last one!  

I will probably still write an email next week before I come home.

Last Monday we did our Armenian family home evening, and it was really fun! We played a card game, had food, had a spiritual thought, then at the end one of the guys got up and challenged us to shoot hoops. All these guys were like 50+ and they still made more baskets than I could!

On Sunday we had a combined ward primary program. Those are always so adorable. About 85% of the kids that participated were from the other ward cause our ward literally has like one family with young kids haha. 

I have to say, I am starting to get sad about leaving next week! I've met more amazing people out here than I can count. All the ward members, leaders, fellow missionaries, and even the random people I met on the street have had a huge impact on me. I'm excited to go out and make this last week count! 

Elder Clayton

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Pic of me and good friend Jeremiah:

 Glendale, California: Week 103

Well, a whole lot of this week was spent going by and calling inactive Armenian members. We're having a family home evening activity for the Armenian group and we're hoping to get as many people there as possible. In the past, there's been more people show up at events like that than at church. It seems a little backwards, but I think it's because there's food and games and such. Most of them that we stopped by didn't answer, but some of them did and I got to meet a few who I haven't even met before. One guy said he stopped coming because he got offended by political things, but when we came by he asked us when church services are and said he would like to come back! Another said he couldn't make it because of health problems but that he would like to watch over zoom. 

Also, on Wednesday we had a game night, where people brought various board and card games and we all played together. It was fun! We're planning to continue them every week.

That's about the only new and exciting things from this week. I'm also preparing to come home in a couple weeks, which is absolutely crazy! As part of preparing to finish the mission, I've been doing My Plan, which is a program the church does to help missionaries set goals for the future and reflect on what they've learned. It's starting to sink in how close it is to the end! I'm kind of sad but also definitely excited. 

As always, have a good week!

Elder Clayton

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 Glendale, California: Week 102

This week, Friday in particular was a day of miracles. We were having a lesson with our Armenian friend Victoria, and her friend knocked on the door. She invited her in, introduced us to her, and we all had a great conversation about the restoration. Now her friend wants to keep meeting with us, and both her and Victoria said they'd like to come to church! 

Then later on in the evening, we met a guy while we were out walking on the street, and he was really nice and actually struck up a conversation with us, which is rare haha. He said he met with missionaries in the past, like half a year ago, and the way he described them, I knew which missionaries they were. So now we'll be meeting with him again and he's already messaging us and asking us questions about the gospel.

Also, yesterday I gave a talk in sacrament meeting. I just kept it pretty simple and talked about faith, repentance, and ways of sharing about Jesus Christ with others. The other speakers along with me were Elder and Sister Womack, the senior missionaries assigned to the ward. 

We also had a cool missionary training where the APs came and taught our zone. Each companionship brought some members from their ward, and all the missionaries practiced teaching the members about using technology to share the gospel.

And for Halloween yesterday, we didn't do too much, but we went over and had dinner with some members, which was nice. Some trick-or-treaters came by their house when we were there so that was fun. 

Have a great week!

Elder Clayton

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 Glendale, California: Week 101

My whole mission up until now, I've never gotten sick. No colds, no sick days, nothing. But that streak ended this week unfortunately. There have been several missionaries and other people that are sick that we've been in contact with, and I must've gotten it from one of them. I was ok earlier in the week, but on Wednesday and Thursday I was feeling really tired and faint. And when I woke up on Friday I knew I was too sick to go out. It's sad, I was hoping to go the whole mission without getting sick! But oh well, I'm feeling better now, I just have a minor cough left. 

Other than that, the week was good! We had a good lesson with Micha and her Dad. We had the Bishop come along with us because he's also a lawyer and Micha had some legal papers that she wanted someone to look over. And the lesson went well, they had a lot of questions for Bishop about church organization and different points about the gospel. It was great. 

We also did exchanges this Wednesday, so I got to be with Elder Chatwin, who's only been in the mission a couple of months. He's a fun guy, and it's also fun being with younger missionaries and helping them to learn the basic missionary stuff. 

Well, have a great week! 

Elder Clayton

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 Glendale, California: Week 100

Wow, week 100! That's kind of crazy. 

On Saturday we did a big zone exchange, so I went north to a place called Sunland for the evening. Sometimes we go up there anyway, because there are a lot of Armenians. In fact, there's one man that we're teaching who speaks only Armenian, but he attends the english ward in Sunland because he prefers it and it's super close to him. That's one hard part about growing the Armenian group, there's actually quite a few active Armenians, but they just live too far away and prefer to attend an English ward. Anyway, it was a fun evening. It's always nice going on exchanges where we both speak different languages, cause now we were able to speak to anyone English, Spanish, or Armenian. That covers most of it but we still met a Persian guy we couldn't really talk to.

We're also planning a game night in a couple weeks for the Armenian group. They used to have them regularly before the pandemic with a pretty good turnout, so hopefully we'll have a nice group there.

I don't have any new pictures from this week, but I do want to attach some pictures of the past zones I've had. 

Have a great week!

Elder Clayton

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 Glendale, California: Week 99

Yesterday after finishing fasting we went over to our friend Micha's house for dinner. She said she wanted to have us over for a bbq, but when we got there we found out it was a giant feast with a bunch of her other family and friends, and all sorts of delicious Lebanese things (pics attached)! Micha is a professional painter, and I guess her artistic skills carry over to food preparation as well cause it all looked really fancy and good. 

We also got transfer calls on Saturday. This will be my last transfer... It's pretty crazy how fast it's come. I and Elder Stephens will both be staying here. Also, there will be equal number of sisters as elders in the zone, which is pretty insane. I've never seen so many sisters in one zone before. There are 6 new sister trainees coming into the zone this transfer! 

Finally, the weather has been pretty good recently. Highs have been in the 70s, and we even got some rain and lightning, which I haven't seen for a long time!

That's about it for this week.

Love,

Elder Clayton

Երեց Քլեյթոն 

 Glendale, California: Week 98

Well, Don got baptized this Friday! And it was super cool! It was a fairly small service, with just a few of Don's friends from the ward and some missionaries. Afterwards, he said that he felt different, like he is now cleansed and at peace. I'm so happy for him, and also, I think he will be a great new member of the church. Sometimes I worry for people getting baptized that they may quickly fall out of activity in the church. But I really believe Don will stay strong and have a lot to contribute to the ward. 

It's also cool cause the day after his baptism, he got to watch general conference for the first time. We sent him the link to watch it in Thai, his native language. We haven't heard what he thought of it yet but I'm looking forward to talking about it with him. And on Sunday, we went over to our other friend Jeremiah's house to watch, which was awesome! Because of covid and things, I've never gotten to watch with someone who isn't a member. He seemed to really like it, and he asked us all sorts of questions. 

There were lots of great talks this time around. I think my favorites were by Elder Uchtdorf, Renlund, and Brad Wilcox. And something that stuck out to me was that multiple of the speakers quoted President Nelson about how the happiness in our lives has everything to do with the focus of our lives and not with the circumstances of our lives. I definitely think that that's true. 

Have a good week!

Elder Clayton

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 Glendale, California: Week 97

The husband of someone we're teaching passed away this week, which was really hard on her. We went over and did our best to comfort her and assure her of the power of Christ in overcoming death. Of course she was still very sad and in pain, but it was a spiritual experience. And as we talked, I felt my own testimony of Christ's resurrection being strengthened. It's amazing that we will all live again, and that through Jesus Christ, every single pain and discomfort won't have to last forever. 

Besides that, there actually wasn't too much unusual stuff that happened. We had a couple of dinners with some really nice older couples. 

I'm also very excited for general conference coming up this weekend! 

Well, I wish I had more to write about and more time to write, but hopefully next week I will. As always, have a great week!

Elder Clayton

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Pic: the sun randomly turned really red one evening

Glendale, California: Week 96

The mission got to go through the LA temple this week, and it was such an amazing experience! 3 zones met up at the mission office, then we rode on a giant bus through LA and eventually got there. As with most people, it's been so long since I've gotten to go through the temple. It was so peaceful and the spirit was super strong. I've never gotten to go through with such a large group of my friends, so that made it an even more special experience. 

So, we continue to be super busy each week (Which is awesome, not complaining about that at all!) Which makes sense because this area used to be covered by 8 missionaries! A year ago, there were 2 companionships of Armenian and 2 companionships of English in this area, but now it's just the 2 of us. But! There's actually a senior missionary couple from Idaho that just got here, and they are assigned to this ward for the next couple years. So they will be a huge help with doing member work, meeting with less actives, and also they can help us find and teach people. Their name is the Womacks and they are awesome. They kind of just got thrown in without much direction, so we've been meeting with them a lot and showing them how to do stuff.

We've also continued meeting with Don (the guy from Thailand that we're teaching), and this week we gave him a little tour of the baptismal font in the church building and talked about the specifics of his upcoming baptism. I'm so excited for him! In just the past couple months that missionaries have been meeting with him, he learned so much about Jesus Christ, who he previously had never really even heard about. He also hardly spoke English a few months back but his English is actually shockingly good now, he understands almost everything we say, except for some of the weird churchy words, which we explain to him. 

Love you all, have a good one

Elder Clayton

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Glendale, California: Week 95

Well, Elder Spens is now off in Africa. We got up at 3:30am on Thursday to drive him to the airport (I'm still recovering from that haha). So now it's back to just me and Elder Stephens.

We also had some interesting lessons this week. For one, we met with our friend Jeremiah several times, and he is super amazing. He's had a rough past, but it's amazing to see how much he's learned about the gospel and how much that's impacted his life. 

We also met with someone named Micha and her dad Edward. They are Lebanese and speak Arabic, French, and English (no Armenian though). Well, this time when we went over they kind of got in an argument, and it got really awkward with us trying (and mostly failing) to bring back the spirit. They kept shooting heated remarks at each other in Arabic while we were trying to pray and read a scripture. And when we were about to leave, Micha pulled us aside and literally forced a $100 bill on us. At first she said "I'm just so thankful for all you guys do for us and for coming over," but we were like no no no, we definitely cannot accept your money for that! Then she said "just pretend I took you out for dinner or something, use it on food," but we were still like no, we don't need $100 for food! Then she started actually getting mad at us and was like "take the money, if you don't take it I'm going to cry," etc. So we just took it cause she was already in an upset mood. Anyway, we're still holding onto it trying to decide what to do. 

Yesterday at church was also a really cool experience. In the English sacrament meeting two Armenian members, Arayik and his son Artur, gave talks. And they are both incredibly faithful and amazing people. Artur talked about his conversion experience with the missionaries back when he was just a teenager, and how he decided to serve a mission, and ended up being called to his own home country (He was the first native Armenian to get called to Armenia). Anyway, it was amazing hearing their stories and testimonies, and really gave me a reassurance that the preaching of the restored gospel among the Armenian people is making a difference, even if it is a slow process. 

Finally, this upcoming Wednesday, I get to go to the LA temple with a bunch of other missionaries! I'm so excited! Like so many others, I haven't gotten to go in the temple for over 18 months. As a mission, we've been preparing by reading a lot of scriptures about the temple and about points of the gospel, and I'm really looking forward to it.

Have a good one!

Elder Clayton

Երեց Քլեյթոն

 Glendale, California: Week 94

Վերադարձել եմ։ I'm back! And being back in Glendale and in Armenian work has already been super eventful! 

My new companion is Elder Stephens, who just got out of training. He's from Billings Montana and he's pretty cool! We're covering the Glendale 1st english ward as well as Armenian group, and there is so much work going on in the english ward that President put another companionship here to help out. However, the next day we got a call from President saying that due to some missionaries leaving the mission, the other companionship will actually cover a different ward. Also, we are in a trio for the week! Elder Spens, who was going to be a ZL, will be going to his original assignment in Cape Verde Africa next Thursday, so he's chilling with us until then. 

Seriously, we've been so busy every day. We have tons of lessons and it's hard to even find time to go finding. The only downside is most of our solid friends are English, and the Armenian work is still a big struggle. But we are teaching a really cool Thai guy named Don, and we set a baptismal date for him in our last lesson! We're also teaching multiple other promising people, several of which have been coming to church regularly! I'm very excited for the next couple months. 

Armenian church group is now back in person, with about 6-7 people coming each week (about the same as before). But here's the crazy part: There's a guy named Arayik who moved here from Utah for the purpose of helping to grow the Armenian group! And he is amazing! He used to be an area 70, he's Armenian, and totally willing to go on lessons with us and teach the group in church. That's a massive blessing!!! Also at church, there was a recently-returned missionary who served in Armenia. He brought his wife and stopped by in Glendale so that he could check out the group. 

Oh, another miracle from church! There was a random Armenian lady named Lida that showed up, and we've literally never seen or heard of her before. She had to leave before sacrament meeting started, but she wants to meet with us so we can "show her how to be a member" 

Also yesterday we visited a cool Armenian guy named Vahe and he had a beautiful house with some really neat pictures.

As always, have a good week!

Elder Clayton

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One of Vahe's pictures: