Glendale, California:  Week 27

Hello, I hope everyone's doing well! Happy Memorial Day.

On Tuesday we collected food from people in the stake to donate to Salvation Army, and the 2 of us were stationed in this church building where we collected like 45 bags, which is way more than we were expecting! I was 100% convinced we would need to call over some other elders to help us take it over to the Salvation Army drop off place. But we spent like 40 minutes fitting it into our Corolla very strategically, and in the end we got it all in. It was stuffed. I was basically covered in bags of food.  In total, our zone collected over 400 bags so we were happy about that! It felt great to get out of the house for a few hours.

Besides that not a ton has happened this week. We keep getting a lot more missionaries, lots of companionships are turning into trios. Lots of Spanish-speaking especially. And tomorrow is transfers, and 2 of the other elders we live with are going home. So we'll be getting some new guys in the apartment, that's exciting. But super sad to see these Elders go, they were awesome.

See ya next week, love you guys

Elder Clayton

Երեց Քլեյթոն

Glendale, California:  Week 26

Wow, this week will be my half year mark. That's crazy to think I'm already 1/4 of the way through my mission! And I've spent more of my time in California in quarantine than out. Hopefully that will change soon!

We got a new missionary living with us! Not in my companionship, but with the other elders we live with. He got reassigned after coming back from Argentina because of the virus. He's a cool guy, and seems to be enjoying California. I feel bad for him though, it must be so hard to have to readjust to an entirely different mission after already being out for a while. And coming in while the quarantine is still on, you can't even get out and meet people in the area face to face!

We were teaching our one Armenian investigator this week, and her member son and little grandson were there, and the grandson asked if he could say the opening prayer. Hands down one of the coolest prayers I've heard. He was saying thanks for fruit, and for people so that we can make things, and for trees. All sorts of stuff, he just kept going for like 5 minutes and it was adorable. It made me rethink my prayers a little bit, there's so much to be thankful for. I mean, I don't think I've thanked God for fruit before, but why?? Fruit it awesome

Speaking of prayer, Elder Hubner and I made our first video for our zone Facebook page, where we explained prayer simply. It was fun to make, although harder than I thought. Missionaries don't really have access to decent video editing tools, so we spent longer putting the clips together than actually planning and recording it.

Overall, things are going well still. I've gotten to know the ward members a lot better the past couple months, and I like that we keep doing transfers to change up the scenery. 

I hope everyone is doing well, and have a great week! 

Elder Clayton

Երեց Քլեյթոն

We went on 2 hikes this week, one during the night to see the city lights, and one this morning which was super foggy.

Glendale, California:  Week 25

Our Facebook page is finally up with a couple of videos!  

Here we'll post creative videos and messages to help people come unto Christ and learn more about him. Feel free to check it out, we greatly appreciate the support.

https://www.facebook.com/missionariesinlacrescenta/

It's already been a lot of fun making these posts with the other missionaries in the area. I love my zone!

On Thursday we got to go help with service at Salvation Army, packing boxes with food. It was fun, and a great opportunity to get out of the house a little. We got to meet face to face with some other missionaries we haven't seen in over a month. It felt weird to see them not over zoom, haha.

Finally, here's something I've been reading and thinking about

Luke 15:7 "I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance."

And when I read this I thought, 'which need no repentence'? Who is that?

Really, we all need repentance at some point, we're all in need of a shepherd to keep us from going astray. There's no 99 perfect sheep, just 99 other 1's that each need finding from time to time. And I'm eternally grateful for that loving shepherd, Jesus Christ, willing to save me when I wander off the path. 

I know that he loves us personally, enough to suffer everything so that we can be saved. 

I love you all, have a great week!

Elder Clayton

Երեց Քլեյթոն

Glendale, California:  Week 24

This morning 8 of us went on a big car ride/hike into the mountains and it was really fun! We got some great pictures, enjoyed the nice weather, and there was even some snow on the ground up there, which really surprised me. And on the way back down, we met some people with really nice cars. We were all kind of freaking out, and got out and talked to them and asked if we could get pictures with their cars haha. People have such nice cars here, it's crazy. I haven't been here that long and already I've seen several Lamborghini just driving around.

On the missionary work side of things, it looks like there will be finally be some interested changes! We're due to get 3 waves of about 20 missionaries into the mission over the next month. With ~60 new people, we aren't sure what will happen. A lot of people might be in trio companionships and we'll almost certainly get new people in our zone. Many are being reassigned, who previously served out of the US. I'm excited to meet them and hear about where they're coming from!

We are also pushing a big Facebook initiative, and I am actually assigned to be in charge of our zone's upcoming Facebook page. Which is interesting for sure, because I am definitely not an expert with social media, and don't really know how Facebook works. But I believe this will be a great opportunity to reach out to new people and share about the goodness of Christ, and I am excited to see what happens with it.

May the 4th be with you.

Երեց Քլեյթոն

Pics of the hike:

Glendale, California:  Week 23

This week was a pretty good one for teaching. Obviously it's been very difficult to find people to have lessons with right now, but this week we got a couple more people to teach. Armenians, too!  Some missionaries in the LA mission referred them to us, and we did a big zoom lesson with 2 sets of missionaries, 2 members, and 2 Armenian investigators. It was sweet. I have to say though, I can't wait until we can talk to them in person because trying to understand Armenian over zoom feels almost impossible.

On Thursday we're going to start an online Book of Mormon class for our ward, where we'll just read together and discuss. We used to do that before the quarantine and I'm excited to start that up again.

Besides that nothing much changed this week, it's a lot of the same stuff. It reminds me of Mosiah 23: 21 - 

"Nevertheless the Lord seeth fit to chasten his people; yea, he trieth their patience and their faith"

I definitely feel that my patience is being tested during these times. We've been stuck inside for so long. But I know that this time doesn't have to be time wasted. We can use it to become better, work on improving our talents, and preparing ourselves to come out of this quarantine as better disciples of Jesus Christ. What a great time it is to study the scriptures and strengthen our testimonies, reflect on personal experiences and come closer to God. I know we're in this situation for a reason, and it's up to us what we're going to do with it. 

So stay strong and positive, continue to rely on the Lord, and know that I am praying for all of you.

Until next week,

Elder Clayton

Երեց Քլեյթոն

Glendale, California:  Week 22

Well, we moved into the new place, and I'm all situated with my new companion. It's been a good first week of the transfer! We're in a member's small side house in their backyard, and I like it. It was super dirty when we first got here, but we spent like 2 days cleaning everything. We dusted, swept, mopped, rearranged furniture, put up some pictures, basically redid everything. 

One miracle that happened to us this week is that we went to call somebody, and it was the wrong number.  So we decided to just introduce ourselves and asked if we could share a scripture with her about Jesus Christ. It wasn't some big great discussion or anything, but we were able to bring the spirit and bear our testimony about Christ and the Book of Mormon, and she said we could call back again. I wasn't expecting to just run into a new person to teach while we were in quarantine, but there were go! 

Fun little video of the week: https://drive.google.com/a/missionary.org/file/d/1xg0-tNAL5uyRZkloQOCoFRIcTdQqsKaF/view?usp=drivesdk

I'm just the cameraman in this one, but it's about the story of Ammon with the sheep, from the Lamanites point of view. I think it turned out pretty great haha. 

Love,

Elder Clayton

Երեց Քլեյթոն

Glendale, California:  Week 21

Hello again, and Happy Easter! I hope everyone had a good one. Ours was good over here, we were able to share a lot about the atonement and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and it was really special.

What an amazing gift to us, that we ourselves can be resurrected and also that we can live with our families forever, because of what Jesus Christ did for each of us.

In our little personal sacrament meeting many of us shared our testimony since we will be moving away from each other this transfer. We weren't sure whether we'd get transferred during the quarantine, but it turns out we are, and I'll be staying in a member's house now.  My old companion is going into English work and becoming an office elder in Arcadia. So for now there will be only one companionship in Armenian work, consisting of me and Elder Hubner. It should be fun, and I'm excited to get a bigger pool of people to teach.  However, I hope there can be 2 Armenian companionships again soon. 

Love,

Elder Clayton

Երեց Քլեյթոն

Here's a fun little video we made this week: https://drive.google.com/a/missionary.org/file/d/1swVcDDQpXZXoj5iQI6ANjJnetqdPe854/view?usp=drivesdk

And an impressive picture my new companion drew, based on the new symbol: