Glendale, California:  Week 36

It was a pretty eventful week! One highlight is we got to help a family move. They are moving out of the ward, and we will miss them for sure, but it was nice seeing them and helping them pack up the truck. 

Also, we once again got in contact with a nice man we haven't met with in months. He is awesome, and even came to our weekly Book of Mormon class, and said he'd try to attend church over zoom. I'm also very impressed by his self-made electric train setup that goes all the way around his room. It has tons of tracks and tiny buildings and people that he all made himself, and the trains move realistically along the track. He gave us a tour of it all after our lesson with him, and said he's also trying to get into the hobby of glass, like mosaics and stuff. What a cool guy!

It's funny, between the people we're teaching, we now have English, Armenian, and Persian church zoom classes on Sundays that we invite people to attend. This was our first week trying an Armenian church meeting on zoom. We had 6 people attend, which is more than we usually had back when we could meet in the church building! But I think there's potential for that number to double in the coming weeks. And my hope is that all the people who start regularly attending the zoom meeting will continue coming to church when we have it in person again some day.

Finally, yesterday we taught a new guy and his mom who are interested in learning more about the church. They are the first Georgians (from the country Georgia) I have met with, which was cool because I remember how to say hello in Georgian from some of the Elders in my MTC district. :) The man also speaks Turkish, Russian and English. I'm always so impressed by people who know so many languages like that.

Elder Clayton

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Glendale, California:  Week 35

This week for filming our new Facebook video ( https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=151697206524929&id=111171017244215&sfnsn=mo ) we got to drive around to some pretty cool monuments. For one thing, we visited a really tall Armenian memorial with pillars, which was neat. But my favorite was a massive and beautiful cemetery called Forest Lawn. It was filled with statues and pictures, including a 10 ft tall replica of the Christus. Also, I heard this is where Michael Jackson, Walt Disney, and Marilyn Monroe are all buried. Although I'm not certain on that.

On Tuesday we went and met a super awesome family who we've talked to a bit over the phone. Their little kids were running around, speaking Armenian to each other and to us, it was really adorable. The parents speak English about as well as we speak Armenian (not that great) so we taught each other words, and spoke in Armenglish. The wife said she heard that "crocodile" is a formal way of saying hello. We told her about the "after a while crocodile" phrase, but that's not a formal hello, so I don't really know what that was about.

Unfortunately, a few days ago we got word that things are once again more strictly closed down, so no more in person church meetings. But besides that everything's still good. 

See you next week!

Elder Clayton

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Glendale, California: Week 34

Wow, this week was awesome! 

Getting pretty hot outside, but awesome.

For one thing, we got to get outside, drive around, and meet with quite a few people who I've only ever met over phone. For example, we went over and helped a woman in our ward who I've talked with, but have never met with in person. With the safety precautions of masks and everything, we went over and helped her move a mattress and some furniture to a different house, then she bought us dinner. Also, this week we're going to start teaching English classes over zoom to a couple Armenians trying to learn the language. We were doing English classes before the whole covid thing, and I'm excited to do it again.

Another highlight of the week is when we went over to visit a somewhat active member who's good friends with the missionaries. He's a cool guy. After our lesson, we played a game where you open up the Book of Mormon to a random verse and read it aloud, and whatever it says describes you (just jokingly of course). Anyway, I got Alma 32:3:

"Therefore they were not permitted to enter into their synagogues to worship God, being esteemed as filthiness; therefore they were poor; yea, they were esteemed by their brethren as dross; therefore they were poor as to things of the world; and also they were poor in heart." Ouch

Finally, when Elder Christensen moved over here, he brought a fish tank with him, and we filled the bottom with red, blue, and orange rocks! Armenian fish tank, how cool is that? (pics attached)

I'm not sure if we're actually allowed to have fish, but Elder Christensen said he at least wants to fill it up and get some water plants or something haha.

I also bought a Georgian drink that tastes a lot like mouthwash, and a thing called "չար աչք" or "evil eye." I'm not sure what the story behind them is, but they look cool.

Anyway, have a great week! Love you all

Elder Clayton

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Glendale, California:  Week 33

Hope everyone had a fantastic 4th of July! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

Ours here was fun all things considered. The 5 of us missionaries made a big meal with hot dogs and soda and stuff, then we climbed up on the roof and watched all the (illegal-in-California) fireworks people were shooting off around us.

We also got to meet our new mission president and his wife, President and Sister Hall, and they seem really awesome! They have a lot of love for us missionaries. They're really family centered, and introduced themselves to the mission with a video of all their kids and grandkids and it was really sweet. I think I'm going to really like them as I get to know them better.

Yesterday, we found out the news for the transfer tomorrow. It turns out my companion and I will both stay together, which we weren't expecting, and we are actually gaining another, turning us into a trio! Being in a trio with Elders Hubner and Christensen will be fun. I was in a trio back in the MTC and loved it.

Finally, highlight of the week: We met again with a couple we've been teaching, and addressed some of the questions the husband had. In the end he said "I don't want to join the church until I feel something and gain a testimony for myself," which may sound kind of obvious but it stuck out to me. I feel like a lot of the time, people meet with us to see what our church believes, and either be convinced that it's true or not. Many people seem to have the mindset of "If what the missionaries are saying makes sense and seems right I'll join the church, and if not I wont," but really it shouldn't be like that. As missionaries we teach people how to create a deep connection with God, so that through the holy ghost and in answer to their prayers they come to know that the church is true, and gain a testimony for themselves. I believe that this friend of ours is truly willing to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it, and I'm really happy for him because I know that's the key for knowing it's true through the spirit.

Have a good week! 

Elder Clayton

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Our 4th of July setup / some cool fish we saw in the pet store:

Glendale, California:  Week 32

Hello all!

Wow, this week we finally hit... 100 days in quarantine! Well, not complete quarantine I guess, things have opened up a bit by now. In fact, I got to go back to church this Sunday for the first time in months! One ward in the stake began back at church this week, and we have someone we're teaching who wanted to attend some church meetings, so we got permission to attend that ward with him.  It felt good to be back, but so weird. Everyone was 6 feet apart, masks, no singing or piano playing, etc. 

Also I like this house we're staying at. The other day Elder Hubner and I were just making some phone calls outside because the weather was nice, and 2 tiny baby lizards showed up! We caught them and enjoyed their presence for a little while, then let them go. Next week is transfers so I may be moved out of here, but we'll see.

Have a great week! 

Elder Clayton

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Glendale, California:  Week 31

Hello!

This transfer is the last one with our mission president and his wife. President and Sister Wells have been awesome, really supportive and loving.  They've been a huge blessing to me in my mission so far, and I can't wait to meet the new mission president in a couple weeks!

Also, this week I read Acts 5, about Peter and John after they have been preaching of Christ, working miracles, and are arrested and brought before the counsil. The counsil, clearly not liking the message they're spreading, commands them not to preach of Christ, but the way the apostles react is amazing.

        "40  And to him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.

        41 And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.

        42 And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ."

Wow, now that's discipleship. Not only did they not stop preaching of Christ, they left the counsil "rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name." They knew so strongly that what they were doing was right and true, that when they faced rejection and persecution, they rejoiced. Testifying of the savior Jesus Christ is not easy, but when we are willing enough to open our mouths, teach what we know, and "suffer shame for his name," it's truly a reason to rejoice.

So that's a new favorite scripture of mine I wanted to share.

Besides that, nothing too major happened this week. Things are still going well.

Have a great week!

Elder Clayton

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Glendale, California:  Week 30

Finally we got some good in person contact! :)

This was a good week. On Friday we went on a hike to get some fresh air, so we got together with 4 other missionaries and started climbing a nearby mountain. And when we got to the top, there was already a guy up there. We got to talking with him, and found out he had moved here from Armenia 20 years ago. So we started speaking to him in Armenian and introduced ourselves as missionaries. He was really interested and started asking us questions about missionary work and the church, and we ended up having a ~30 minute lesson about the restoration of the gospel, right there on the top of the mountain. It was an awesome discussion! It's the first face to face conversation I've had with an Armenian in months! I understood practically everything he said too, understanding in person is definitely easier than over the phone. So that was my highlight of the week.

We also talked on the phone with a new person this week, who then agreed to meet with us at the church building. I guess we sound a lot older over the phone because when she saw us in person she was like "You're the ones I was talking to?? That's so cute. I thought you were like 30."

And finally, we got to hear a devotional speaker Elder Klebingat, which I enjoyed a lot. He talked for over 3 hours, and said too many cool things for me to list here, but my biggest takeaway was that I want to memorize more scriptures. I've always kind of avoided it, because it seems really hard, but having scriptures memorized is really useful and powerful. And Elder Klebingat has memorized over a thousand scripture verses apparently, not just the references, but the scriptures themselves. That's pretty insane. 

Have a great week!

Elder Clayton

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