Chino, California: Week 56

We got transfer news this week, and it is insane!! Not really in a good way though. 

My companion and I are staying the same, which is fine, I'm really happy about that actually. But things didn't go so well for the Armenian elders, and I'm worried for the future of Armenian work. When they were announcing transfers for my zone, they said Elder Bell is coming here to Chino. That shocked me because that means he's being taken out of Armenian work, and there was only one companionship over there... It turns out President Hall is planning to completely dissolve Armenian work, at least for now. He was going to send Elder Christensen to Arcadia, Elder Bell to Chino, then all 4 of us would become English-speaking only. That's pretty crazy! None of us were expecting that in the slightest! Anyway, Elder Christensen called president and explained that we have several progressing investigators that only speak Armenian, and without the missionaries the Armenian group's church meetings would fall apart entirely. President said he (Elder Christensen) could stay in that zone to continue the Armenian work, but he will be with an English companion, and Elder Bell will still be sent out. 

So basically we're down to 1 missionary in Armenian work. And in the future, Armenian work in California may be discontinued altogether. I understand President's thinking, because we haven't baptized anyone in Armenian group for like 10 months. I believe that it's possible though, and there's actually someone on date to be baptized soon, as well as other potentials. I hope that it stays alive and that I get to go back to Glendale, but I'm not sure what will happen at this point.

In the meantime, this English ward I'm in is doing well, as well as it's done in a long time actually. We have 2 people preparing to be baptized, and I'm really excited for them. We've also had 4 people at Sacrament meeting the past few weeks in a row, which is truly insane. The AP's called us and asked us what we're doing to get so many people to come to church. We told them that it's not us, it's all the Lord's doing. We just happen to be teaching several really cool people right now. God is preparing the hearts of the people to hear the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ! And I'm excited.

Have a good week.

Elder Clayton

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 Chino, California: Week 55

This week I had one of the most amazing lessons I've ever been a part of. We've started teaching a 9 year old kid, the son of a part member family who never got baptized when he was 8. So it was the mom and 4 little kids, and lessons with kids are so fun! We went through the whole restoration lesson, and it was so full of the spirit. When we gave the kid a Book of Mormon, the mom started crying. Then the kids insisted that we sing a closing song, so we turned on "I will be what I believe" and they all sang and it was really cute.

Also, near a bike shop that my companion and I went to, there is a little Argentine empanada shop. Elder Bastian was reassigned from Argentina, so we had to go in and check it out. The empanadas were pretty expensive, but really good.

Then on Friday we had a devotional that was supposed to be with Elder Renlund.  But he wasn't able to do it because he wasn't feeling well, and as you may have seen in church news, he got covid. So instead, we got to hear from Elder Ballard. It was very last-minute, and he was only supposed to speak for 15 minutes but he ended up going for about 45 minutes talking about Joseph Smith's life story, the gospel of Jesus Christ, and how we as missionaries can better help people to have spiritual experiences. 

The one not so cool part from this week is that LA county has again issued a stay at home order, and our mission president said we can't approach people outside or go into members' and friends' homes anymore. So I guess it's back to a lot of Facebook finding and zoom lessons and phone calls. I think most things will be able to keep moving forward though, it'll work out. 

Have a great week, be safe, and know that God loves you!

Elder Clayton

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 Chino, California: Week 54

Well, I finally found an Armenian here in Chino! She was working at a thrift shop we went to. I could tell she was Armenian because of a very Armenian-looking bracelet she was wearing. I told her I was learning the language, and nothing really came of our conversation but it was cool anyway. 

We also went over to help a family set up their Christmas tree (pic attached). I really like this Holiday time of year. We've gotten to go over to a couple people's homes and help them unpack Christmas decorations and whatnot, which is fun.

In terms of people we're teaching, things are going well. We had 4 investigators tune in to sacrament meeting on Sunday, which is the most I've ever had at a time! They said they enjoyed it. There's hardly anybody walking around outside, so we aren't really finding new people to teach, but overall we are staying busy, which is nice. 

This week we will have our zone conference, and on Friday we'll hear a devotional from Elder Renlund. Exciting stuff!

Have a good one.

Elder Clayton

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Pictures from a little hike we did this morning: 

 Chino, California: Week 53

Happy Thanksgiving!! President Hall changed P Day to today, that's why I didn't email on Monday.

I love the message of peace President Nelson gave on Friday, and the invitation he gave to flood the world with gratitude. It's been really cool to see all the things people are thankful for on Facebook. If you haven't watched the video, you definitely should! 

On Friday I also hit my 1 year mark, which is pretty crazy! We went out and got chili burgers and it was a good day!

Then today we got together as a zone and helped some people put down sod in their yard. They found us through a Facebook ad that the zone leaders put out, and said they were expecting like 4 people to show up, so when the 20 or so of us pulled up, they were really shocked and thankful! It was cool. And the bishop invited us over for Thanksgiving dinner, which was great.

I am thankful for each of you. Have a great week!

Elder Clayton

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 Chino, California: Week 52

This week has been really eventful! And I love this new area! 

My new companion is Elder Bastian, who was reassigned here from Argentina about 6 months ago. Everyone is jealous that I get to be his companion because he is literally a professional cook. He worked as a chef and has even won cooking tournaments and stuff! So yeah, he's super cool. A great missionary too, he's a hard worker and I can tell this will be a great transfer. 

Also, this ward is amazing! They're so nice, and so willing to meet. Yesterday, we had 5 lessons back to back, 2 with investigators and 3 with member families. It is exhausting but so nice to have stuff to do! They also feed us. In Armenian work we would get fed like once a week, and here it's like 1-2 times per day haha! I'm probably going to get fat over here. 

It definitely feels weird not speaking any Armenian. I've almost let a couple Armenian words slip when talking to people or praying or things like that. It's also weird teaching families with kids. That's insanely rare in Armenian work for some reason. Kids are awesome though, we were teaching a lesson about spiritual light, and asked what would it be like to drive a car without headlights. And the 8 year old kid said "Well, if you're driving in the desert you might run into a cactus." Love that answer :)

The one thing that's not my favorite is that this is one of the few bike areas in the mission, so we have no car. I guess it's good for me though, I could use the exercise. 

Finally, I can't believe I have been out for almost a year now. That is crazy. 

As always, I love you all, and have a great week!

Elder Clayton

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A pic of my previous zone

An Argentine dish my companion made for breakfast

 Glendale, California: Week 51

Wow, we got transfer calls this week, and it was completely unexpected! I thought I would be back with my trainer Elder Bell and that the 4 of us Armenians would stick together, but instead they are splitting us up again. It's back to 2 elders doing Armenian work, and I'm going to the Chino zone on the whole other side if the mission, where a lot of the Chinese work is done. So I'll be in the 2nd area of my mission, and I'll be doing solely English for a while. Who knows, maybe I'll pick up some Chinese phrases while I'm out there. 

It will be nice to see a new place, but I am also sad to leave this area. We have been meeting with some awesome people. This week our friend Emin picked a date for baptism, which is very exciting! We've been meeting with him for about a month now and he always loves meeting with us and learning more. I believe that he will keep progressing well and become a great new member of the Armenian group. It's unfortunate I will not be around to see him be baptized, but I am excited for him nonetheless, and so happy I could meet and teach him this past transfer. 

Have a good one!

Elder Clayton

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 Glendale, California: Week 50

Happy (late) Halloween! Hope everyone had a good one. We didn't do much special, we just dressed up as missionaries. Plus I think hardly anyone did trick-or-treating this time around. But we did go over to an English speaking member's house for dinner, there were 8 missionaries there. He made a lasagna, garlic bread, and cheesecake so that was awesome. He's a great guy, sometimes says some crazy stuff though. He went on a rant about how Obama won't win the election. Yes, Obama, he got some names mixed up. So that was funny. 

We went on another hike today. It started out fun but it was rough at the end. We started hiking at 5am, and 4 of us broke off and kept going to the top, and ended up getting back at noon. So that was really long, plus we didn't bring much water at all. We were extremely dehydrated by the end. Lesson learned, I will always bring lots of water in the future.

In other hiking news, the young Armenians hike got cancelled due to fire this week, but we went on the other one with lots of people. We didn't find anyone new, but we met up with Emin again, the guy we've been meeting with recently. He is doing great, and he loves meeting with us which is a huge blessing.

We also had a good turnout for Armenian church group this week. The speaker talked about forgiveness, and gave the example of how we should forgive those in Turkey and Azerbaijan who are fighting against Armenians right now. Some people didn't take that too well, but for the most part it was well accepted and there was a lot of participation, and the spirit was felt. I have a lot of respect for the Armenian members. I know I've already talked about this, but it's true. They are such a small group, and these wars and conflicts in their home country is hard for them, but they are so strong considering all the sacrifices they make. 

Have a great week!

Elder Clayton

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