Chino, California: Week 80

So, we were over at a family's house for dinner, and got to talking about how our mission has gone so far, and how I was assigned Armenian speaking. Then one of the people there said "Oh, my friend's son just opened his mission call going to Arcadia speaking Armenian!" So he called his friend and I got to speak to their family and answer some questions that they have about the mission. It was really cool! He will be coming in November, so he'll probably get here right when I leave. Also his dad speaks Western Armenian, so he's already familiar with some Armenian culture, although I don't think he speaks any Armenian himself (yet).

Also, there were some changes in ward callings since the Elders Quorum President and his family just moved to Utah. The ward mission leader became the new elders quorum president, and our new ward mission leader is Bro Peck, the one whose son just got called to Australia! 

Finally, we had our zone conference meeting this week, which is always fun. We had lots of cool trainings about member missionary work, time management/planning, and how to use Facebook more effectively. So overall, things are going pretty well.

Have a good week,

Elder Clayton

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 Chino, California: Week 79

The San Antonio ward has 5 young men getting ready to serve missions in the upcoming months, and it's been cool meeting with them and their families and being able to talk with them about missionary life. On Tuesday, we were out biking and visiting some members, and after a while we returned to the church building, but to our surprise there were a bunch of people there. It turns out one of the boys was opening his mission call, so we got to watch him open it and congratulate him on his call to Australia!

We also did quite a bit of bike maintenance this week, because the bike that my companion got from the mission office is honestly pretty trashy. But we went up to the bike shop and he got new tubes, new tires, and got the kickstand removed because it was constantly rubbing against the back tire. His bike's much better now.

Transfers is in a few weeks, so I'll most likely be moving to an area with a car, which I'm excited for because it's starting to get hotter. Not as hot as it's going to get, but it's in the 90s today, not ideal biking weather.

Have a good one!

Elder Clayton

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 Chino, California: Week 78

We were out knocking some doors just south of the church building, where some awesome members live. After stopping by them to see how they're doing, we just went around the streets looking for someone new we could hopefully share the gospel with, and it went really well! One house opened up and it was a woman who said we can share for a few minutes. She invited her husband and daughter over to come listen, and after talking with them for a bit, we asked if we could come back another time to share some more and they said yes! 

Then, the very next house we went by, there was a guy in his garage that we went up to. He was really nice and started telling us about how he moved here from Albania a while back, and how Turkey used to attack their country and stuff. I was like, hey, that sounds a lot like Armenia! So we connected that way, plus he said he has visited our church meetings a couple times in the past because his member neighbors introduced him. It's cool to see the impact of local church members and church buildings on a particular area. It really does get noticed by everyone around, and it's a huge part of what prepares people to say yes when missionaries ask if they'd like to meet and talk about Christ. 

It's also nice to see that covid restrictions are continuing to ease up. Most missionary related things are back to normal now.  It's weird looking back on the mission up until now, how things have changed with covid, a new mission president, and missionaries constantly coming and going. Things are entirely different from when I first got here,  but it's been a good experience the whole time.

Have a good week,

Elder Clayton

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 Chino, California: Week 77

On Wednesday Elder Holland came and spoke to us and one other mission, and it was amazing! He talked a lot about becoming truly converted to Jesus Christ, and how our mission sets us up for our future lives, our families, future church callings, etc. It was really cool, he is such a powerful speaker. He teaches and testifies with such passion. He talked about Preach My Gospel and the process for how it was created, and how missionary work is constantly changing, and yet it's always the same gospel, the same message of Jesus Christ and love.

Something that's interesting is that even after all this time of being a missionary, I'm still so far from perfect when it comes to missionary work. I still feel totally inadequate in everything I do. But I read in Jacob chapter 5 this week, about the tame and wild olive trees, and I loved verse 72:

"And it came to pass that the servants did go and labor with their mights; and the Lord of the vineyard labored also with them; and they did obey the commandments of the Lord of the vineyard in all things."

This isn't my work, it's not President Hall's work. It's the Lord's work, and he's laboring with us in every effort that we put forward. As we follow God's commandments and put our trust in him, his presence can always be felt. And that's really comforting to me, because I know that God has the power to do all things, even if I don't.

Besides that, nothing too out of the ordinary happened this week. Things are going well in the area, I'm learning a lot, and I'm still shocked at how fast time flies. 

Hope everyone had a great mother's day, and have a great week!

Elder Clayton

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 Chino, California: Week 76

So this actually happened a couple weeks ago but I forgot to write about it. We were out and about trying to find people to meet with, and we knocked on the door of one guy who met with missionaries a while back. He opened the door and pretty much immediately was like, "Hey, you guys want some chard?" We were like ??? But he took us around back to his garden, where he just has tons of chard growing, which I'd never had before but it tastes like cabbage. He gave us a ton of it, way more than we could ever eat on our own. He's a cool guy, said he's down for a bible study with us! 

We also did a super awesome zone blitz on Saturday, where the entire zone (21 missionaries, most with cars) came to our area and went finding for a couple hours. We split up the area into 10 sections, and it was amazing how many people we got to talk to! Everyone had some pretty cool experiences. 

Also, I'm super excited, Elder Holland is coming to speak to us and one other mission! Elder Holland is the best, I already know I'm going to learn so much.

Hope you all have a good week!

Elder Clayton

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 Chino, California: Week 75

This new transfer is off to a good start. We've been working with the members a lot more recently because President Hall is making a big push to help get the members more involved in missionary work. Also my trainee has been doing more of the leading as we go out and talk to people and do lessons and things, he's doing great. We've been super busy, it's definitely one of the most exhausting times of my mission!

On Friday and Saturday we got to help out with youth conference that the Chino stake was doing. It was actually super cool! On Friday evening we went to serve dinner, and they had this huge fancy setup, and it was Cuban style, with all sorts of cool decorations. They had meat, rice, beans, and fried plantains. Near the end of the meal they even had one of the members of the stake and his wife come out and teach some Cuban dances, and got the youth involved in it. They'd been dancing as a couple for years and it was really impressive. 

Then we went back on Saturday afternoon to serve lunch, and it was Chinese, with orange chicken, egg rolls, etc. So delicious. Again, the decorations and music made it seem really authentic. They even had live goldfish in bowls at each table. For breakfast they did France (crepes) and dinner was Italy (lasagna), but I wasn't there for those. Such an awesome activity!

Have a splendid week!

Elder Clayton

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 Chino, California: Week 74

It's definitely been an interesting week! Fun too. So one of my zone leaders/roommates, Elder Dupaix, went to his original assignment in Brazil. So for the past 4 days we've been in a trio with Elder Burbidge. He covers the Young Single Adult ward, so we got to meet a bunch of the YSA and do some lessons with them and stuff. He's also a very good missionary, so both Elder Simons and I have been learning a lot. Plus, he has a car! After biking for 6 months it sure does feel nice to drive from place to place in a car. 

This week was also the first week I got to work in a different area besides San Antonio since I got here. For the past 6 exchanges that I've done I stayed in my area. But we did exchanges for the day and I went to a neighboring ward which, again, has a car. :) 

Finally, we got transfer calls this week. I'll be staying for a 5th transfer here in English work! I'm the only one in my zone who's been here this long, I've seen every single other person leave. Feels weird. I am almost positive I'll be going back to Armenian work next transfer. 

Have a good one! 

Elder Clayton

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