Chino, California: Week 62

Now that I'm on the east side of the mission, I've been wanting to hike up Mount Baldy, and today we finally went! We didn't really hike it, but just went up to play in the snow, and man was there a lot of snow! It was so cold but a lot of fun. We threw snowballs and stuff, I just wish we had a sled or something! 

It has been really windy and a little rainy this whole week. The big tarp setup at the church parking lot caught the wind and it bent some of the poles, so we spent some time helping to get that fixed. Then when we went there for church on Sunday, it was really foggy and cold. Fog + Cold + Mask means that my glasses were so fogged that I could hardly see anything. But the talks were really good.

And finally, we started teaching someone new this week, the friend of a family in the ward. She is awesome, and we had a great conversation with her on Tuesday. She has been reading the Book of Mormon, and although she doesn't understand what she reads, she feels good when she reads it. She has been going through hard life struggles recently, and it was really cool to hear how her experiences with prayer and scripture reading have brought her peace through these difficult times. I am excited to meet with her again.

Have a good one,

Elder Clayton

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 Chino, California: Week 61

Frankie had his baptism on Saturday, woohoo! It was such an amazing experience! It was the first in-person baptism I've attended since I've been here,  and we had just a little group of Frankie's family and some close ward members come. We did it at the Bishop's pool, which was pretty cold but it all worked out. There were some great talks given, and originally Frankie's uncle was going to baptize him, but he got Covid a few days before, so they asked me to baptize instead. I was a little nervous, but it all turned out well. Frankie is such a great kid! After his mom said the closing prayer, he jumped up and gave another closing prayer. I'm so happy for him and his family! 

We also had zone conference this week, where the whole mission listened to President and Sister Hall, then got into our zones and practiced teaching.

Have a good week!

Elder Clayton

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 Chino, California: Week 60

Frankie, the 9 year old kid we've been teaching will be baptized this Saturday! I'm excited for him. We are still getting all the details worked out, but he's had his baptismal interview and he's ready to go. It's so amazing to see the growth of Frankie and his mom over the past month and a half that we've been meeting with them. We originally found the mom just by reaching out over text. She was an inactive member, and asked if we can pray with her, then requested a priesthood blessing, then wanted us to start teaching the missionary lessons to her and her kids. 

Now they come to church every week, Frankie is learning lots of great stuff, and the mom has expressed how thankful she is that we crossed paths and that she's coming back to Christ. She said it's healing her and helping her to overcome hard things that she's experienced in the past. 

The gospel of Jesus Christ is so good! When we live the commandments of God with a sincere heart, it heals us, encourages us, and gives so much more meaning to our life. I've really seen that in Frankie's family, and it's awesome to see.

We met with Don as well, although he is sick and isn't supposed to have people over for the next 2 weeks. We got him a Book of Mormon in Sinhala, his native language, but we will have to wait a little bit until we can give it to him. 

Have a good one, 

Elder Clayton

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Picture: Sinhala (Sri Lanka) Book of Mormon

 Chino, California: Week 59

A few months ago I talked about a guy named Emin, who Elder Christensen and I found on an Armenian group hike. Well, I'm so happy to announce that he's been baptized! 

His baptism was on Saturday, and I had the opportunity to watch over zoom and give the talk about baptism. It was incredible to watch! I know that Emin has such a good heart and willingness to follow Jesus Christ. I think he will be a strong new member of the church. He's come so far already. 

That's about all the news I have for now. It's only been a few days since I sent out my last email. But I hope everyone is safe and doing well. There is a missionary in my zone who had to get tested for covid, so if he does have it, there could be other missionaries close to me that have been infected. Hopefully that's not the case!

Elder Clayton

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 Chino, California: Week58

Happy New Year! Here's to a great 2021 

Now that Christmas is over, we've been able to meet up more with the people we're teaching. We met with Frankie and his mom, and got his baptismal date set for January 16th, which is really exciting! We have taught him most of the missionary lessons now, and we are just getting the details of the baptism worked out. Covid-related restrictions have changed a lot recently, but for now we are allowed to hold baptisms outside in pools, or we can go into LA county and perform it in a church building. 

We also finished teaching the Plan of Salvation to Don. He has a Buddhist background, so he had some questions about reincarnation and stuff, but we were able to talk about resurrection and salvation, and how that's all possible through Jesus Christ's sacrifice.

It's incredible to think back to the start of 2020 and see how I've changed, and how the world has changed. A year ago, I was in the MTC, and now after being in the field for almost a year I can see how much my testimony has grown, and my knowledge of gospel thruth. The missionary life has helped me strenghten my prayers and scripture reading habits, and I see God's hand a lot more in day-to-day life. I think this year has brought a lot of people closer to Jesus Christ. There have been so many trials and hardships, and it is so cool to see the peace that people get when they turn to God and make a bigger priority of coming to church and making a personal connection with our Father in Heaven. I'm excited to see what 2021 brings. 

Have a fantastic week,

Elder Clayton

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