Happy New Year!

an e-mail sent on Monday, December 29, 2008

Hello and Happy New Year!
This was a fairly uneventful week, considering we didn't do much work on Christmas Eve or on Christmas Day. Still, it was nice to celebrate the holiday (and especially nice to call home).
Christmas Eve we had district meeting over in West Branch, so it was nice to spend part of it with the other Elders in my district, and then we drove over to Hale where the Karn family fed us and played with us. Afterward we went with them to the local Lutheran candlelight Christmas Eve service. (Although the Karns are LDS, Brother Karn's parents are Lutheran and Brother Karn's daughters were singing in the choir). It was nice. On Christmas we had dinner with Pat Morris and her family. It was so nice of them to share their Christmas with us! When we got back to the apartment, Elder Sodenkamp called his family (you'll recall that I called y'all in the morning) and I worked on a puzzle with a bunch of missing pieces (not the little puzzles you sent me for Christmas; they still have all their pieces). We're totally out of miles for the month, so we've been doing lots of walking. Friday we walked about 6 miles and Saturday we walked almost 15. It wouldn't have been too bad but it warmed up almost to 50 on Saturday, so we were mostly wading through puddles and slush and the snow boots I bought aren't really waterproof. Needless to say, my feet were soaked, so they're still a little raw.
Thank goodness it's a new month on Thursday! Miles again!
We finally had church this Sunday, which was very nice. They ended up doing the Christmas program they had planned for last week. Sis. Drury, the Branch Pianist, had me play the organ while she played the piano (which we do most weeks). For the opening hymn, we both started at different parts of the introduction and it sounded absolutely horrible! Eventually, I figured out what I had done and we got back together. The best part of the meeting was that they ran out of time to have me sing! Unfortunately, Sis. Drury told me later she would just have me sing next week. Apparently, Silent Night is still allowed in January ...
Sadly, we didn't have any investigators in church Sunday. The three sisters we're teaching were out of town for the holiday and nobody else had a good excuse (so far). There was one family we were really hoping (and expecting) would come - we have an appointment with them on Tuesday, so hopefully we'll be able to keep helping them along. Well, I can't think of anything else to report. I'm excited for the New Year - I can't believe I've already been a missionary for 4 months! Love and Happy New Year,Elder Cloward

The Halls are Decked

Hello and Merry Christmas from very snowy Oscoda, MI!

It's snowed a bunch this past week. Church was canceled again this week because of it - understandably - we decided to go out in it anyway but our car got stuck several times and we almost caught frostbite eleventeen times once we started walking instead, so we spent the evening indoors. Just the same, we were very disappointed that church was canceled because we were planning to have at least four investigators there! I don't know if I mentioned last week that Elder Valentine and Elder Seely, one of the zone leaders, met a man while door-knocking last week who was very interested and has now tried to come to church twice. We plan to see him tomorrow, though, so all is not lost.

The three sisters who are investigating the church are doing so well! We finally met up with them again for a lesson and it was awesome! We challenged them to pray and specifically ask Heavenly Father if it was right for them to be baptized on January 17th and all three of them said they were willing to ask. The Lord has promised that if we ask, we will receive and I trust that they will receive.

I am very excited to call home on Christmas. I will call between noon and 1 our time (so between 10 and 11 your time). I had hoped to be able to wait until grandma and grandpa are with you but our Christmas dinner is at 2, so I'll be busy. I'm excited to hear all your voices again!

In other exciting news, I have a bunch of new pictures attached!

#1 - I'm standing ON Lake Huron! Yep!
#2 - That's me, with our lovely friend the ...
#3 - Possum!
He just sat there while we took pictures of him and after a while he got bored of it and jumped off the landing - about 15 feet off the ground - and scurried off into the bushes. Crazy Michigan varmints!

#4 - That's the lighthouse at Tawas Point, or whatever it's called. We tracted nearby so that we could go and see it.

#6 - I made an ornament for our Christmas tree! It needed a topper, so, who better?


#7 - Thanks for the package! This lovely tree you sent me is set on our kitchen table.

#8 - C'est moi with Elder Sodenkamp, my new companion! You may also notice that I cut my own hair! Fantastic, no?

Things are happy in Michigan. Are they happy where you are? If not, make them happy! "Men (and women) are that they might have joy!"

Lots of love,
Elder Cloward

Some Say the World Will End in Fire

Merry Christmas!

Things are going well in Oscoda, MI! First things first, we got our transfer calls on Friday - Elder Valentine will be going down to Midland and I will be staying in Oscoda. My new companion will be Elder Sodenkamp, who has spent the last six (and only) weeks of his mission down at MSU in Lansing. I'm a little nervous to be the "experienced" one, but President told me we're officially co-senior, so - thank goodness! - I don't have to take all the responsibility. It should be a lot of fun; I'm excited to meet him tomorrow.

Church was canceled yesterday because of road conditions, so we were told we had to stay in. We got a lot of study done but decided to fly the coop in the evening because conditions weren't as bad as they were supposed to be. We didn't even crash!

Nothing real exciting in the "work" this week; it just keeps going along. Thursday and Friday we had trade-offs with the zone leaders and Elder Valentine found a couple of solid contacts while knocking doors with Elder Seely in East Tawas. It seems that there are many people in our area who are open to learning a little more about our religion, which is fantastic!

I think I forgot to mention my WEST HIGH PRIDE(!!) last week. At zone conference, I discovered that three of the senior missionaries also graduated from West High (in 1959 and 1960) - Elder Horne and Elder and Sister Seeley. If I did mention it, you'll have to forgive my Panther zeal. Also, I found out that Elder Stayner, who is currently serving in the next area over - West Branch - lives on Emerson Avenue! Crazy, no? He went to East! Small world.

Our Branch Christmas Party was Saturday night. It was lots of fun and a great time for Elder Valentine to say goodbye to everyone. The Karn family were very angry with them because we lied to them the day before. They asked us to call them as soon as we found out where we were going. Well, I called them, but due to the encouragement of Elder Price, one of the zone leaders, who served in Oscoda a year ago, I told them Elder Valentine was staying and killing off an elder who only has six weeks left and that I was going to be training while re-opening the Alpena area and serving as a district leader. To my credit as a skilled dealer of deception, they ate it right up. Later, of course, when we confessed our sin, they were rather upset. Elder Valentine says I've lost member trust in this branch. :)

The Karns must not be TOO angry, because they gave us a Christmas tree!
A picture of which is attached!

The other picture is from our last district meeting.

From top to bottom and left to right we have: Elder Fortuna (District Leader), Elder Valentine, Elder Yours-Truly, Elder Price (Zone Leader), Elder Wilkinson, Elder Lish, Elder Seely (Zone Leader), and Elder Stayner. Notice how I'm the center of the pyramid. It's because I'm the most important. :)

Lots of love! Have a wonderful holiday season! Sing a Christmas Carol or two just for me! I know it is the Lord's work we are about here in Michigan and He is guiding it!

-Elder Cloward

P.S. It's definitely ending in ice! (The world, that is. We've got lots of it in Michigan right now.)

P.P.S. That's a Robert Frost reference for all you poetry-haters. At least I think it's Robert Frost. I'm not really that well-acquainted with the world of poetry.

I Brought My Camera!

Hello!

We're expering a much-appreciated Michigan heat wave this week. We got up to a record high of 18 degrees yesterday! Can you believe it? I've had a bit of a cold this last week but the warm weather is really helping me kick it.

I don't have much time to write this week because I've taken a while figuring out how to upload and attach pictures. Since I can't include them directly in the email (with captions), I'll just have to explain them by number.


No. 1: My district back in Petoskey from left to right (Elder Horne, Sis. Horne, Elder Stoddard, Elder Robinson, Elder Williams, Elders Rau & Hatch (the zone leaders), and me!


No. 10: Elder Valentine. We were tracting. Seriously. LOTS of distance between houses sometimes.


No. 11: Me while we're tracting.


No. 12: Hunting and getting haircuts are both popular pursuits for Michiganders.


No. 18: So, I love Michigan. And even Michigan winter. Why? Because it's BEAUTIFUL!! Of course, right after taking this picture we returned to the car, which we subsequently dug and pushed out of a foot of snow. Somehow we thought our little Malibu could do it, no problem. Thankfully, our prayers were answered and a semi-driver pulled over and helped us out. He made us promise we'd keep the car on the road from now on, though. This picture, by the way, was taken at Iargo Springs along River Rd. (in between Oscoda and Hale).

The week was fairly uneventful, really. Zone conference down in Harrison was great, even if I did end up playing the piano most of the time. Although President told us we are dead last in the baptisms-per-missionary category (they will be cutting our mission back by almost 30 missionaries beginning immediately) he says our numbers have been improving, so that November was the best month for our mission since he got here in July.

Saturday I witnessed my first baptism as a missionary! Riley, An eight-year-old branch member was baptized and he asked Elder Valentine and I to give the talks at his service. I spoke on baptism and Elder Valentine spoke on the Gift of the Holy Ghost. It was a very nice service. Matthew, a really cute three-year-old boy who came to the baptism, shouted out "All done!" when Riley came up out of the water. His mom told me that right afterward he turned to her and said "More baptisms!" She told him he'd have to do a little missionary work first.

And we did have some good happen yesterday: The less-active brother we've been working with came to church and had a really great experience! It made up for having no investigators there this week (the snow makes it hard when a lot of them live 30 or more miles away). Not a bad week, but we hope the next will be better.

Love always,
Elder Cloward

More Pictures!

3. A dragon in Kalkaska! (We spent the night there during District Conference in Traverse City)

4. Me with Sherman and Tori (Petoskey - Tori is the investigator there!)


5. Me with the Ellsworths (Petoskey)

6. Why I cleaned the refrigerator in Oscoda. Nasty.

7. The beautiful Au Sable River (Oscoda)

14. I tied a perfect dimple in my tie!!!! You should be excited too!!!

20. The lake (on which the Schroeders live) froze over! (By the way, Sis. Schroeder might come visit you at home. She'll be in Salt Lake in just over a week.)

These Pictures along with an e-mail were sent by Josie Meyer of Au Gres, MI



Hi Cloward Family,
I am sure you are very proud of Elder Cloward.
He came for a visit on Friday with Elder Valentine whom I met this summer at the Paul Bunyan Days Festival.
I hadn't heard from him since that day in August, since I live in Au Gres a city South of Oscoda.
Elder Valentine called on Thursday evening and said he and Elder Cloward would be in the area on Friday afternoon, and asked if it would be ok for the two of them to stop by.
I responded by telling him I would be making chocolate chip cookies in the afternoon and the only way they could come is if they would have some freshly baked cookies and milk while they visited. Needless to say they said they could oblige.
They were both here for two hours and I thoroughly enjoyed their visit, they had wonderful things to say about their family and days gone by.
It brought back memories of my son sitting at the kitchen table while I was baking, my son is 32 now and will be getting married in the Spring.
Thank you so very much for sharing your wonderful young man. He looks happy and healthy.
Sincerely,
Josie Meyer

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

An e-mail sent on December 1, 2008

Hello all!

Lots of love from wint'ry Oscoda, MI. We got a couple inches of snow overnight, which is lots of fun to walk through! We (thankfully) have new miles now that it's the start of the month, but in order to avoid running out like we did last month, we're going to start out walking anywhere in Oscoda. Makes me wish it were a little denser of a city. We're probably going to kill our miles right off the bat since we have work planned this week that will take us to Houghton Lake (100 miles away), Hale (30 miles away), Tawas (15 miles away), Whittemore (50 miles away), and Au Gres/Omer (70 miles away?). Yeah. So, we won't be able to use our car much this month. Too bad.

Thanks for the package! Elder Valentine was jealous of the candy bars (I was too selfish too share them) but I didn't feel that bad because he got a package last week with one of those big bags of Reeses' Peanut Butter Cups and he had them all finished inside of one day. The cookies are delicious! The thermals will come in handy! And I'm way excited to have CDs! I love the Rejoice and Be Merry CD! Elder Valentine doesn't understand why I'm so enamored with the King's Singers but that's all right. I'll only make him listen to them through the end of the month.

Sticking to a theme of musical news, I'm going to have a very musical Wednesday at zone conference. I'm playing the hymns, performing one musical number (I'm a little grumpy at the zone leaders for letting me know with only enough time to practice one day - today), accompanying another (some of the sisters are singing), and then playing for the caroling activity (I'm not exactly sure) that we're apparently having after zone conference. For my musical number, I borrowed a Christmas songbook from one of the ward members. It's not meant for a piano solo, so I'm doing what I can to jazz it up. I wish I had paid more attention back in music theory - I'm so bad at composing/arranging. Oh, and also, I'm hoping I get transferred out of Oscoda before Christmas because the branch music-lady (whatever her official title is) asked me if I would like to sing for the Christmas program (how she got that idea I'll never know. Actually, I do know. I mentioned that I sang to Sister Karn - bad move on my part).

In non-musical news, we had really great trade-offs with Elder Fortuna, the district leader, and his companion, Elder Wilkinson this last Wednesday. We all blitzed Oscoda to conserve miles (since Houghton Lake, their area, is 100 miles away). I started the morning with Elder Wilkinson, we taught a lesson while tracting and taught one of our investigators and then I switched to spend the evening with Elder Fortuna. We did some more tracting; I felt really strongly that we needed to go back to the street Elder Wilkinson and I had knocked earlier and we found a couple of potential investigators. Mostly it was just a lot of fun to talk to Elder Fortuna. I don't know, I guess it's just nice to spend a little time with someone who's not your companion every once in a while.

Sunday was a little disappointing for us; only one investigator came to church (we were hoping for at least two), and our less-active member that I mentioned last week ended up being sick. Still, it was a good time, I guess - Elder Valentine and I both spoke (about which I was not informed until Friday night, despite the fact that Elder Valentine heard about it on Wednesday).

Oh, and also, Thanksgiving was great! We spent the day with two member families down in Tawas - the food was great, we played Apples to Apples and generally had a good time.

I love you all,
Elder Cloward

And I Think to Myself

Hello all!

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you all gorge yourselves on Turkey and pie! I'm going to try to make a pumpkin pie this Wednesday for our district meeting. I think I'll be all right since I'm using a pre-made crust. (It was conveniently in the freezer when I got here. Libby's Pumpkin Pie Filling, too! But that was in the cupboard, not the freezer.)

Since I'm a big fan of lists AND I've been trying to find ways to liven up these weekly emails, I thought I'd give you a TOP 5 OCCURRENCES OF THE PAST WEEK IN OSCODA AS PRESENTED BY ELDER JOSEPH CLOWARD!

5. We're getting better at talking to people. Elder Valentine and I are two new missionaries who have not been doing a great job of talking to everyone like we should. BUT we've been getting better! We're still not having as many "Quality Gospel Conversations" as Elder Maynes challenged us to have while he was touring the mission but we're working on it. Improvement is always encouraging.

4. It's been a little warmer the past couple of days!

3. We committed a long-time investigator to once again work toward baptism. He wanted to be baptized last year but every time he set a date it fell through for one reason or another. We'll see if he will really make this a goal he will work toward but if he does I am excited to see him make the necessary changes in his life. He has a two-year old daughter who would be greatly blessed by his becoming a more responsible father.

2. We have been working with a man who was baptized several years ago but who had stopped being active in the church. After joining the church his health and the health of several of his family members rapidly declined and he told us that he was angry at God for punishing him when he was doing the right things. Two weeks ago, both of his kidneys failed and the experience has definitely humbled him. Now, I had been praying throughout the day yesterday that I might be able to be the answer to someone's prayer. When we stopped by his home last night he told us he had been praying all day that we would stop by. He seemed entirely different from when I had talked with him before. He told us he needed to make a change in his life and that we would see him at church this next Sunday. Fantastic!

1. Our three new investigators (the three younger sisters of a recent convert) are golden! We taught them the Plan of Salvation this last week, which they really enjoyed. They've read out of the Book of Mormon and came to church yesterday with their oldest sister.

Being a missionary is so much fun! I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving week!

Love,
Elder Cloward

More Thermals Please!

Hello all!

I've decided my emails need a bit of spicing up. I fear they're getting a little same-y and that would be unfortunately boring. Because boring the life of a missionary isn't! So today I'll give you a bit of the Good, the Bad, and the Strange of Oscoda, MI.

The Good: Three new investigators! This past Thursday, Elder Valentine and I taught the three sisters of a recent convert the message of the restoration. It was my first time really doing that, so I was really excited. We met them at a member family's home for dinner at 5:30. The food was delicious and the conversation, though not exceptionally lively, was fun. Our lesson, however, went oh so well! I felt very comfortable as we were teaching, the girls asked questions and participated, the member family was extremely helpful, and the Spirit was incredibly strong. I felt like leaping for joy I felt so good! The three sisters all seemed very excited to read from the Book of Mormon for themselves and agreed to pray about it. We'll be seeing them again this next Thursday; I'm extremely optimistic.

The Bad: It's cold in the winter and we've been doing a lot of walking. Really. A! Lot! Of! Walking! We're only allowed to use 1250 miles/month on our car and we've already used over 900, notwithstanding we have at least one more 120-mile round trip to make for district meeting this Wednesday. We can't be blamed for using up our miles, though; we lost over 300 of them the first day we had the car because it had to be driven from Grand Rapids to Mt. Pleasant and then to Oscoda. Plus, we have to go to West Branch (60 miles away) for district meeting once a week and we have significant amounts of work to do in Tawas (15 miles away) and Hale (30 miles away), where we teach our three new investigators. So, we've been spending every day in Oscoda we can. Walking. We walked 30 minutes to church yesterday, an hour to do our home teaching, 45 minutes to visit a less-active sister and this all in dress shoes! I suppose I should quit my whining. It hasn't snowed and stuck yet. And at least I have legs; it would be harder without them!

The Strange: We stopped by the home of a contact we have. He wasn't home but some teenage boy was. We asked him to tell our contact that the missionaries had stopped by. As we were walking away, he popped back out of the house: "Wait. Like, the missionaries that kill people?"
I was totally confused. Luckily, Elder Valentine recognized his mistake. "Oh, uh, no, I think those are mercenaries."
"Oh. Right. Well, seeya!"
Those crazy Michiganders ...

Anyway, all is well in Oscoda. I think I'm slowly but surely improving as I strive to work harder, be more obedient, and do more to leave my comfort zone. Being a missionary is pretty much basically a good thing. For sure!

Love you all,
Elder Cloward

It Snows Less Here!!

Greetings from Oscoda, MI!

This has been an eventful week, getting to know a new area with new people and a new companion. Tuesday morning we drove down to Mt. Pleasant, where Elder Williams picked up Elder Johansson and I met up with Elder Valentine. Since Elder Valentine doesn't have driving privileges yet, I drove and he navigated our way back to Oscoda. (Because he hasn't been driving, Elder Valentine doesn't know his way around as well as I would maybe like, so we've been making a lot of U-turns.)

Oscoda is nice. It's not Petoskey-nice, but it's still nice. Lake Huron isn't as pretty as Lake Michigan, but it's still pretty. Our apartment is nicer than the one in Petoskey but not as clean. I'm working on that. I think Oscoda is about the same size as Petoskey, but our area is much wider. If you're looking at a map
View Larger Mapour area covers Tawas City and goes all the way down to almost Standish (b). It goes West past Hale(c) and North past Harrisville(d). Anyway, we've got a lot more driving to do and less allotted driving miles than we did in Petoskey. It sounds like I may have a walking winter. Thankfully, Oscoda gets very little snow in comparison to the rest of Michigan, and especially Petoskey, which is up in the "snow belt". Unless they get a Noreaster, the lake effect is felt on the opposite shore. Wahoo!

Elder Valentine is from Benicia, California, in the Greater Bay Area. He's been in Oscoda since August, although he spent the last six weeks working in a threesome in both Oscoda and West branch because an elder was sent home early and some elders were moved around. He left on a mission straight out of high school, where he played football and basketball. He's fourth out of five boys in his family; one of his older brothers has served a mission. I'm excited to work with him because he is extremely intent on being an obedient and diligent missionary. Our combined lack of experience is, at times, embarrassingly evident, but I suppose this is as good a time as any to learn to allow the grace of God to make up for our inadequacies. I don't think I enjoy the experience of learning a new area. It's nice to meet so many new people, but it's difficult to dive in and start teaching them when I don't fully understand what they have previously been taught or what their prior experiences with the missionaries or with the church have been. We have four or five investigators, but all of them are pretty stagnant. They've been taught all the missionary lessons and, for the most part, read the Book of Mormon regularly but none of them are actively attending church or preparing for baptism. As I meet them, I suppose we'll have to figure out what it is they really want.

This last weekend was Stake Conference down in Midland. As nice as these large conferences are, I'm really ready for a Sacrament meeting, which I haven't attended in 2 weeks. It was fun to meet all the elders in our zone. I think we may very well have the youngest zone in the mission. Among the six of us that spent the night in one of the Midland apartments, we didn't even have two years of experience. Many of the other elders in our zone have only been out a year or so and another companionship is in the same boat as Elder Valentine and me. Sunday morning we had interviews with President Jones. I was very appreciative that he spent a little more time with us than last month. He told us that he had felt strongly impressed to put so many young elders together in our areas and that if we will learn to work by faith, trusting completely in the Lord, He will bless us to find, teach, and baptize. I'll do my best.

When is the BYU-Utah game? I want to try to watch it with some members. I've been getting regular updates on BYU's games from members - that TCU loss made me so sad, especially since Elder Williams is a Utah fan and rubbed it in lots.

Anyways, I like Oscoda, or at least I'm happy to be here. I'm excited to work more and harder than I have thus far. I love you all and I hope things are going well.

Love,Elder Cloward

Petoscoda

e-mail sent Nov. 3, 2008

Hello everyone!

I love you all and miss you but I am still loving Michigan! The mission fieldis definitely the place to be. The week started out just like any other. Actually, it was probably more boringthan the average week, we didn't really accomplish very much. Thursday night wedid get started with the piano lessons. We had four members there for thelesson and one non-member - he's an exchange student who came with one of themembers. I thought it went pretty well; everyone seemed excited to keeplearning and had plans to tell more friends about the program.

Friday was Halloween, of course, but much more importantly to missionaries inthe MLM, it was transfer-call day. Elder Williams and I both planned on stayingfor another transfer together in Petoskey, since that's frequently how thingsare done. When the zone leaders call in the morning (sometime before 10), youknow that there won't be any changes to your area. Well, we waited around inthe apartment (since we weren't allowed to go anywhere before we got our call)but the zone leaders never called. That wasn't so bad, I thought, it will befun to get a new companion and show him around Petoskey, being almost in-chargesince I know what's going on. Around 1 we did get our call from President Jones and - SHOCKER - I'm the onebeing transferred! Elder Williams is staying in Petoskey (for his thirdtransfer here) and his new companion will be Elder Johansson, who was mycompanion in the MTC. Elder Johansson just spent the last month and half downin Grand Rapids but the lucky dog gets to come spend some time in the celestialkingdom (as President Jones calls it). I'm still hopeful I'll get a little moretime here. If not, I suppose I can always rent a summer home here during themillennium.

I am headed off to Oscoda, a small town on the shores of Lake Huron. I hear theapartment is nice and big AND it has its own washer and dryer (YES!). The areais bigger than Petoskey's and the people are more spread out, but they say it'sa beautiful area, even if not quite as nice as Petoskey (it really doesn't getany better than this). The most surprising news in all of this, however, isthat my companion will be Elder Valentine, who has only been out for twotransfers. Between the two of us we'll only have four and a half months ofexperience. I'm a little bit nervous about it but I'm far more excited thananything. It will be nice to work with someone who hasn't yet absorbed theculture and attitude of the mission and with whom I can learn and experimentfairly freely. I'm glad that President Jones trusts us enough to place ustogether (and I really hope that trust isn't misplaced). Anyway, I'm off to Mt.Pleasant early tomorrow morning, from whence I will head back North to Oscodawith Elder Valentine.

This last Saturday and Sunday we spent down in Kalkaska because of districtconference. We drove down to Kalkaska Friday night, spent Saturday with six ofthe other elders in the zone (playing frisbee golf, which is actually prettyfun) and then went to the adult session of the conference Saturday night. Afterthe general session Sunday morning we headed back to Kalkaska and then back toPetoskey. The conference was really good. My favorite speaker was probably theTemple Matron from the Detroit Temple, Sister Schilling (sp?), who testified ofeternal families. I'm so glad to know I can be with my family forever and thatI can help other families be sealed together as I share with them the gospel ofJesus Christ. The plan our Heavenly Father has for us is perfect!I'm grateful to be a missionary! I have more opportunities to learn and growthan I have ever had in my life! I'm doing my best to use every minute of thistime I've been given.

Life is short; make the most of it!

Love always,Elder Cloward

More Faith in My Savior, More Sense of His Care, More Joy in His Service

Aloha from rainy Michigan!

Nothing much going on here. I don't think this week was any more exciting than the last. It has been getting cooler as most of the leaves are now on the ground instead of on the trees. This has been a rainy week (it actually hailed yesterday) but no snow yet. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it won't come until at least November.

Wednesday we had trade-offs with our district leader and his companion. I spent the day in Charlevoix with Elder Robinson. It was a pretty busy day for them down there, which was nice. I got to meet a lot of neat people but I was kind of sad that I probably won't see any of them again. I suppose we'll have tradeoffs again sometime next transfer, maybe I'll go down to Charlevoix again.

Thursday we had our interviews with President Jones. I had been sort of looking forward to it and was a little disappointed that we only got to talk to him for about 5 minutes each. Since Traverse City is a district and not a stake, President Jones is actually the presiding ecclesiastical leader for the district so he was also going from place to place doing temple recommend interviews, etc. Anyway, he was late in getting to Petoskey and then had to hurry off to Cheboygan and Gaylord.

Also on Thursday we received a visit from two women that Elder Williams knew from when he served in Badaxe in the thumb. They came up with the Midland zone leaders, Elder Mineer and Elder Seely. Elder Mineer knew them because he trained Elder Williams in Badaxe. They were fun; we went out to lunch at Applebee's.

We spent almost the whole day Saturday at training with the Red Cross. Eventually we will be on the DAT (I think it stands for Disaster Aid Team). If there were a single-family fire anywhere in Emmet County, they would call us out to contact the family and see what their needs are and give them whatever the Red Cross is able to provide. It sounds like a neat thing to do. I'm just hoping that once we finish all our training it will end up being worth it. Thankfully, once we have the training, we can go into any chapter (at least in Michigan) and be put on the team.

Tori (our one investigator) bore her testimony in church yesterday (again!). She is amazingly solid. I'm so excited to be teaching her.

Piano lessons are officially starting this Thursday. A lot of the members have said they're intending to come but I don't know if any of them will be bringing other friends from the community, which was sort of the idea. That can come in time, I suppose. I'm a little nervous, especially since it seems like it will be such a mixed class, ranging in age from 6 to 60. We'll see how it goes, I guess.That's about all the news that's anywhere near fit to print (or at least type).

My piano skills are being used frequently (shall I say exploited?). I'm now the Primary Pianist for the branch and I ended up playing the organ yesterday, too. (I way butchered the closing hymn, though, so maybe they won't ask me back.) It's nice to be able to play since I don't ever get to practice during the week. Well, I hope all is well with all of you.

I love you lots!
Elder Cloward

The Wint'ry Day, Decending to it's Close

An e-mail sent Monday, October 20th

Hello all!

I don't know if you've noticed my pattern of hymn lyrics and titles for subjects but I simply wanted to point out that it is not yet wint'ry here, just a little chilly and currently rather rainy. I just think that hymn has a funny title.

In other news, sorry I didn't email on Thursday. Elder Williams suggested we simply have a Preparation Day (starting about 2) on Thursday and then we'd have the other half today (ending about 2). Going up to the Mackinac bridge was really fun. It's MASSIVE - the longest bridge (5 miles) in the US. We paid the toll to drive across and I took lots of pictures. Half of the road is just a grate - Elder Williams and I stuck our heads out of the window and looked down. It was so sick; you're so high above the water! The trip was fun. We went up with Sherman and Tori (they drove). Tori's our investigator and Sherman's her boyfriend and the Branch President's son.

Nothing particularly eventful happened all week. In our weekly planning session we decided to drop almost all of our "potential investigators" that missionaries have been focusing on for months and even years. None of them are really interested, so we've designated this week as a finding week. Hopefully we'll be starting piano lessons the first week in November and we're also planning a community-outreach stop-smoking clinic. Apparently, that sort of thing has been really successful in the past.

Dad had a bunch of questions that I thought might interest other people. We're supposed to write to the mission president every week but I've only remembered to do it once so far. I'll have to find time to write one today. We haven't had interviews with President Jones yet but he's coming up to Petoskey to do an apartment inspection and to interview us on the 24th. My district leader is Elder Stoddard. He serves with Elder Robinson in Charlevoix. Also in our district are Elder and Sister Horne who serve in Charlevoix as well. We were supposed to have trade-offs with Elders Stoddard and Robinson last Wednesday, but Elder Stoddard was sick so we're probably doing that this Wednesday instead.

I'm not sure how many missionaries serve in my zone. I'd guess 24? I think we're the smallest zone. Our zone leaders serve in Traverse City, although they do almost no proselyting there. Apparently, President Jones has changed the role of zone leaders in our mission a little bit (at least from the way President Edwards did it) so that they only get 14 or 15 days every 6 weeks to spend in their home area. Because of that, a pair of sister missionaries serve in the same area in T.C.

Saturday was a really busy day. Pres. Everest, the Elders Quorum President, picked us up at 8 to help him and Bro. Kintz cut down some trees. Those things were MASSIVE! We cut down one that was over 100 feet tall and probably 7 or 8 feet around. Elder Williams and I had to pull on the lead rope (if that's what you call it) while President Everest and Bro. Kintz went at it with the chainsaw and wedges. It was a split tree, but it had rotted out and was actually split lower than it looked, so when Bro. Everest started cutting it down at the bottom (once it had fallen) the top "tree" fell and gave Elder Williams a pretty good whack on the head. Bro. Everest was cutting big round slices of the tree and having me move them out of the way. They were WAY heavy and I dropped one on my foot. Ouch.

After that, we went to the Christensens (the branch president's family) and helped them take out their hardwood and tile flooring. It was a lot of work, but it was fun. Unfortunately, I injured my foot a little more by stepping on one of those long flooring staples. I'm not sure which injury did the most damage, but my foot's pretty swollen, or at least it was yesterday. It's mostly good today. I had to play the organ in Sacrament Meeting yesterday because Sis. Lindstrom wasn't there. I could barely get my swollen foot in my organ shoes (which are already two sizes too small) but it actually felt really good to have something tight on there, so that was a blessing in disguise. I had thought it would hurt to play the pedals, since it hurts to walk, but it was just fine.

I also spoke in church yesterday. I gave a talk on prayer and I quoted a lot from Elder Bednar (April 2008 and Oct. 2008 Conferences) and from Elder Scott (April 2007 Conference). I told a story from the MTC, when I felt like our prelude singing was an answer to my prayers and I decided to actually sing "I Feel My Savior's Love" instead of just reading the lyrics. I don't know what came over me, maybe it was a bad idea. I'm feeling sort of embarassed about it now but no one has mocked me too badly, so I guess it's all good.

Have I mentioned that the members in our branch are amazing? We had a dinner every night this last week and this week might be the same way. Funny story: We went to the Ellsworths last night for dinner (Bro. Ellsworth is the Branch Mission Leader) and had a delicious homemade chicken pot pie and some ice cream cake (it was also Bro. Ellsworth's birthday). Anyway, after we shared our little message - a fun one in which Elder Williams uses a real alligator - we had a prayer before we left. Bro. Ellsworth asked Sis. Ellsworth to say the prayer. Halfway through her prayer, their little four-year-old, Lillian, stood up and walked over to her mom and started whispering in her ear, just like her mother had done for her when she blessed the food earlier. It was so cute - Sis. Ellsworth said exactly what Lillian told her too. I've never seen a little kid do that before - it was so funny!

Anyway, that's probably a long enough letter, especially considering how non-eventful the week was. Hopefully this next week will be a little more exciting.
Love you all lots and I'm praying for you!

Love,Elder Cloward

Carry on, Carry on, Carry On

Hello all!

This wasn't a particularly eventful week. Monday was disappointing because we didn't get to go up to the Mackinac Bridge, BUT we should be going on Thursday. We called President Jones last night and got permission to switch our preparation day so we'll have two this week (send any emails by Thursday) and none next week. It's the longest bridge in the US - 5 miles long!

Tuesday we did some more work on Kelly's wall and floor. It's going to need a lot more work. I'm sure glad Elder Williams has worked construction for years (he's even been a foreman!) because I have no idea what we're doing. I just hold things.

Tuesday night we drove down to Kalkaska where we got a ride with Elders Jensen and Harper to the half-mission conference in Mt. Pleasant. We spent the night with the zone leaders there. (Did I mention that Elder Mineer is my grandpa? He trained Elder Williams.) Wednesday morning we met with President and Sister Jones and Elder and Sister Maynes (Elder Maynes is a Seventy and I believe he actually spoke in the last Stake Conference I attended in the Valley Forge Stake). It was fun to see a few of the elders with whom I left the MTC and was a really good conference. Elder Maynes mostly encouraged us to refocus our efforts on baptizing by doing the real work of finding and teaching more. Our mission definitely has room to improve and rumor has it we'll be receiving a somewhat biting letter from President Jones in the next few days. It sounds like Elder Maynes gave him a lot of instruction. (Speaking of President Jones, when we called him last night he was in Palmyra! Elder Williams said President rubbed it in that he had been taught by Elder Bednar in church that morning, held in the Peter Whitmer home, and that they are going to the Palmyra temple tomorrow. President Jones said there's still not much chance that we'll get to go to Detroit or Chicago anytime soon.)Also at the mission tour, we picked up a couple of keyboards that Sis. Brunner and Sis. Kidd brought up from the mission office and the thumb, respectively. Why, you ask? Well, I will, hopefully, soon be teaching piano lessons. Elder Williams asked me to teach him and then thought it might be a great finding activity. We'll be offering free piano lessons one night a week at the church (or something like that) and the only cost is for individuals to buy the Keyboard Course booklet sold by the church.

Friday I taught my second lesson (on baptism, the Sacrament, and the gift of the Holy Ghost) and we had trade-offs with the zone leaders, Elder Rau and Elder Hatch. I spent most of the day knocking doors with Elder Hatch. He's a really great missionary. I wouldn't be upset at all at serving with him in the future, but I think he'd have to stop being a zone leader. I don't think I want to do that, ever.

Saturday, Sister Jones didn't allow us to leave the apartment. It was our semi-annual deep-clean day, which she instituted after doing apartment inspections for the first time. Our apartment was already pretty clean - Elder Williams is at least as obsessed with cleanliness as I am - but now it practically sparkles. We shampooed the carpet, I scrubbed all the walls, we cleaned out the stove, the refrigerator, the microwave, and scrubbed every square inch of the bathroom. It was good. I'm really scared to get a companion that won't clean because I know I'll have one. I guess I did fine with roommates, though.

I think I'm going to be really sad when I have to leave Petoskey. I already feel like a real member of the branch here, partially because it's so small and I really do know everyone already. Still, the members are SO great. We had dinner with the Belfords last night and Brother and Sister Belford entertained us on the guitar and the piano. And (Brother Belford taught me to play the banjo! It's way easy. I think I'm buying one when I get home.) They really reminded me of home.

Anyway, things are going well; I can't believe I'm already halfway done with my first transfer! Petoskey is more beautiful than ever; I think the fall colors are reaching their peak. We went for a walk along the bay yesterday, and it was amazing! And the drive to the Belfords was even more amazing - over rolling, country hills with intermingled farmland and forest! I was pretty much basically in heaven.

Love you lots!
Elder Cloward

There is Hope Smiling Brightly Before Us

This is from an e-mail Joseph sent on Oct 6 I just took awhile to post it

Well, I've just completed my first full week in Petoskey. Since you all seem curious to know a little bit more about the area, I guess I can start with that. From what I understand, our area goes West to Bay Harbor, South to the Charlevoix county line, East to the Cheboygan county line and north to Cross Village. Petoskey isn't quite as small as the census would suggest because the town limits are actually pretty small. Right next door (literally) is the town of Bay View, I think it's called, and Harbor Springs, Walloon, and Boyne City are just a couple of miles away. All the areas in between seem as densely populated as rural farmland is apt to be, so, rural as the area is, it doesn't feel anything like Holden or Fillmore. Maybe it's just all the trees though.To be honest, mom, I can't answer any of your questions about the city of Petoskey. I don't know if I've really been to the downtown area or not. Actually, I'm positive I've driven through it (I think it's about one square block) but I didn't notice any tunnels.

I'm glad to hear your trip went well. It sounds like you had a lot of fun. I'm surprised to hear that the leaves were all still green. They're changing pretty nicely here, although it's not as impressive as I had hoped because there are so many evergreens this far north. (Incidentally, driving up to Petoskey we passed the 45th parallel - I'm closer to the North Pole than to the equator!)

This past week has been pretty good. On Tuesday, I met one of our investigators. We helped her move (out of our area) but didn't end up having any time to teach her. We may still be visiting her, even though she's in the Cheboygan area now, because she's only spending the winter there and is keeping her house in Alanson. She, like a lot of people I've met, can't afford to heat their homes this winter. She's just lucky to have a friend she can spend the winter with in Indian River.

We've also been working with a recent convert (and former Strangite). We went to her home yesterday to tear out some mold-infested dry wall, hoping to replace it so her home would be fit to live in, but discovered that the mold is also in the flooring, making the situation a whole lot messier.

We helped a branch member, move. He, like lots of others, is living with another family to save them all money. Perhaps that sort of thing is more common than I had ever realized or maybe it's just a Michigan thing.

I got to teach my first lesson this week! Thursday night we visited Tori and taught her about Lehi's vision of the Tree of Life and the importance of prophets in preparation for General Conference weekend. Elder Williams tells me not to expect many of my teaching appointments to be as easy as those with Tori. For the most part, teaching her was just like the simulations we did in the MTC.

General Conference was awesome! We had two elders from Kalkasska, where there is no church building, come spend the weekend with us. It was fun to have more than just the two of us. In conference, I especially enjoyed President Uchtdorf's priesthood session talk. I think his suggestion to "lift where you stand" was exactly what I needed. I also loved Elder Bednar's talk on prayer and Sister Dalton's talk on virtue. And Elder Holland's talk. And ALL of them! I think I finally get why dad always says "I can't believe it's already over" on Sunday night. I'd always thought he was just feeling a little goofy after the ten hours of church or something

Well, my time's almost up, but I love you all and trust that you are doing well. May God bless you always!

Love,Elder Cloward

Greetings From Paradise!

From an e-mail sent Sep. 29th

Well, after the last day and a half in the MTC, we were all shipped off to Michigan on Wednesday. Funny story from Cincinnati - we had a really quick layover and none of us really felt up to giving out a pass-along card. The one elder who did, Elder Barney, was about ready to give one to the man sitting next to him, when the man actually turned to him and asked Elder Barney where we were all headed and then explained that he had served his mission in South America somewhere. Those darn mormons are everywhere!

Anyway, we got into Grand Rapids about 4 Wednesday afternoon and were greeted at the airport by President and Sister Jones and the three assistants: Elder Kunz, Elder Sweat, and Elder Belliston. After a few pictures (which you should get in the mail sometime soon), we loaded into a couple vans and drove about an hour to Lansing. That evening we did a little bit of orientation with the assistants, had a pizza dinner, and went to bed a little early. The next morning, we headed over to the Stake Center a couple of blocks away for more orientation. There we met the office staff - Elder and Sister Brunner, Sister Fredline, and Sister Rogers, who told us all about how we should spend money wisely, take care of our mission vehicles, etc. and then we went over into the gym where the President announced where we'd be going and who our trainers would be.

The night before, he had actually told us what the possibilites were and who would be training, but we met all the trainers Thursday at the church. He had them step out one by one and tell a little bit about their areas and then he would assign one of the new Elders to the area. My training companion is Elder Weston Williams of Elko, Nevada and we are serving in Petoskey (pronounced puh-TOSS-key), Michigan! After lunch, we went and picked up our stuff at the mission home, dropped by the mission office to have my driver license copied, and then headed up to Mt. Pleasant where we would spend the night. We were met there by Elder Mineer and Elder Seely, the zone leaders for the Midland zone (which I believe covers the area of the Midland Stake). We went with them to a dinner appointment with a really nice family there in Mt. Pleasant. After dinner we went to Wal-Mart to get a pillow and blanket for me and then we went for a run on the track at CMU (Central Michigan University).

Anyway, Friday morning we were picked up by a Petoskey branch member, Bro. Rutterbush, who is actually the first counselor in the branch presidency. It was about a two-and-a-half hour drive up to Petoskey but it was really nice. The leaves are just starting to change and this is truly a beautiful part of the country. Literally EVERYONE has told me I'm really lucky to be starting out in Petoskey, which everyone calls the paradise of the mission. It's a beautiful coastal town and a major Michigan tourist attraction, although the tourist season is mostly over with winter coming on. I'm especially lucky to be in the only part of Michigan with hills. Elder Williams has told me not to get used to it - everywhere else he has served (Badaxe, Battlecreek, and Cass City) is completely flat so that you can never see over the trees. Fun fact: The home at which the final scene of Gone With the Wind is filmed is in Petoskey! I have, in fact, driven by it about a hundred times already!

The branch here in Petoskey is pretty strong. In the summer they have a large crowd but it has apparently dwindled. I'd say there were probably thirty people there yesterday. The members are fantastic though. I've had a chance to meet a lot of them already. So far, I've only had to feed myself for breakfast, so they definitely take care of our temporal needs. We've had a chance to do some service, helping out Bro. Law and the Ellsworths - Bro. Ellsworth is the branch mission leader. Yesterday I also met our investigator, Tori. She's dating Sherman, the branch president's son, and has said she wants to be baptized. She even bore her testimony of the Book of Mormon in Sacrament meeting yesterday! I also got a chance to meet the two converts that were baptized over the last two transfers - Brandt and Kelly. We taught Kelly one of the new member lessons yesterday with Bro. Ellsworth.

I haven't had a chance to knock doors or do any kind of street contacting yet, which I can't say I'm too disappointed about. Apparently, President Jones has actually asked that we do very little door-knocking, simply because it's completely ineffective here in Michigan. I guess we're supposed to come up with more creative methods of finding.We did, however, leave the apartment last night with the intent to do some door-knocking. We were going to walk around and look for a street that we felt good about working on and on our walk we stopped at the pier since I hadn't really seen Lake Michigan yet. Gorgeous! Anyway, we were looking for some Petoskey stones (fossilized coral found only here and in the Middle East somewhere) when a man walking toward us called out "Hey, Elders!" It turns out that his daughter is a member, married to a return-missionary, and seeing as his family had just finished a turkey dinner, he invited us in to have some. They were on vacation from Midland. We ended up just eating and chatting for fifteen minutes because we had to hurry to get to our actual dinner appointment with the Belfords, after which we were STUFFED! I don't know if I can handle two dinners every night without getting super fat.

Anticipating your possible questions, this is almost entirely a car mission. There are 60 cars for 70 missionary companionships and we are one of the many companionships with a full-time vehicle. It's an '07 Malibu (only the Sisters get to drive '08s). It's 100% necessary because ours is a pretty large area and definitely rather rural. For instance, we had (our real) dinner at the Belford's farm last night out in Boyne city - a good 20-minute drive, but in beautiful country. Driving out over those rolling, verdant hills was breathtaking. I can't wait for fall to hit in full force. It will be terrific!

Sorry for the length of my epistle. I am doing well and enjoying Petoskey so far. I do sort of feel like we should be working harder, though. I'm not exactly sure how we would do that though. Everyone tells us to "work hard, but work smart". I guess I'll figure that out in time.
Love you all,
Elder Joseph Cloward

Hi all!Love you lots and miss you! I'll actually get a chance to call on Wednesday. Our flight leaves at 8:30, so if I'm too the airport in time, I plan on calling around 6:30. Don't wait for me to call to go to school though, that could be bad, because I'm really not sure when I'll be to the airport. If not, I'll just call and talk to mom later.

This has been a great week, although it's had its challenges. Elder Johansson and I went through a pretty rough patch this week as far as our companionship goes - it turns out I'm pretty hard to live with, as I'm sure none of you could have guessed ;)! It's all good now, though. We worked things out and we're better friends than we ever have been (if ever can refer to a period of 2 weeks). Before I forget, I DID get the package with the cookies, brownies, and camera. Thanks! I've got an extra 5 pounds to prove my gratitude!

The call center has been pretty fun. I don't know that I'm very good at it - I have a hard time being bold, at least over the phone. (And I have a feeling I might need even more work in person). Still, I had a really great experience with one woman this week. Her name is Devonne Brundage - will you pray for her this week? I talked to her on Friday - she had ordered a Book of Mormon in the mail and I was making a follow-up call. I gave a ten-minute version of the first lesson, explaining the background of the Book of Mormon and she said she would read from it this weekend and pray about it. The missionaries should be calling her today or tomorrow.It seems that our family really needs to hear from Elder Hinckley right now - he spoke at the MTC devotional last Tuesday night. He was really good (if not quite as exciting as President Uchtdorf) and he gave his 9 Be's of missionary work: Be civil, be happy, be bold, be prayerful, be obedient, be careful, be filled with faith, be leaders (by being followers), and be clean. I don't really know what else to write. I'm doing really well and I'm excited to leave on Wednesday. I'm feeling a little nervous, but I know that, as President Patterson, our branch president, says: if I do my best, the Lord will do the rest, and I know that He will. I know that Jesus is the Christ and that He suffered all the pains, weaknesses, temptations, and afflictions experienced by every person that has lived. He suffered for our sins and because of His suffering, we may all enjoy peace in this life and eternal life thereafter. Joseph Smith was a prophet called by God and he restored Christ's church in our time. President Monson is God's prophet today and as we follow his counsel, we will be blessed and protected. Love you!Elder Joseph Cloward

2nd E-mail from the MTC

Hi Family!Thanks for your letters! You are definitely allowed to email me (at this address) all you want. I can only check email on preparation day (and can only send it then too) but you can email me every day of the week, if you'd like. I wouldn't expect too many more letters from me. As long as President Jones follows the same protocol as the MTC I should be able to email and that's a lot more convenient, anyway. And thanks for posting that last email on the blog - as long as I don't say anything too personal (you know, like having a really rancid fungus) you can definitely post them on there. You should all feel free to add your own posts too, you know, all about how much you miss me, and you cried three cubic inches of tears during the last week, whatever. :)This week has been great. President Uchtdorf spoke at our MTC devotional Tuesday night, which was fantastic! His wife spoke first - she was really funny as she told of her family's conversion in her much-thicker-than-her-husband's accent. President Uchtdorf spoke about a lot of things but a couple of things especially stuck out to me. He told the missionaries that we can consider ourselves the extended arm of the quorum of the twelve apostles, fulfilling the commission the Savior gave his original apostles in Matthew 28. He warned us of pride and taught us that we must humble ourselves before God or we cannot be effective missionaries. He noted that while we are busy learning so many things by heart, it was important that we actually embed them in our hearts that we might always teach from the heart. In any case, it was wonderful to hear an apostle of the Lord speak - I can't wait for General Conference!Elder Johansson and I have two teaching appointments so far - last Wednesday and Saturday. I don't know if they had them when you were here, mom, but it's where you teach a lesson to volunteers from the community who pose as investigators. Both times we taught lesson one, but we're finishing our lesson plan of salvation (for lesson two) in preparation for our third appointment on Wednesday. I feel like we've done pretty well, but there is still so much to learn.I've run into Elder Tubbs a couple of times - I think we have class in the same building. He seems to have survived his first week; after that, it's easy and goes really fast. I can't believe I'm on my last full week here already! I love our Branch Presidency and I'm so grateful to have gotten to know them. I hate to pick favorites (not really), but Brother McIff, the first counselor (actually released yesterday), is mine. He's a master teacher and has a strong testimony of the Savior. He's a heart surgeon and has been called to serve as the Medical Director for the Northeastern United States and Canada, so he and his wife will soon be living in the MTC. They haven't called a new counselor yet, but I think they're going to this Sunday. I also love President Patterson, and our second counselor, Brother Stacey, but I haven't gotten to know them as personally, at least not yet. Brother Stacey did give an excellent leadership training meeting on accountability yesterday. That makes me remember, Elder Johansson and I are the zone leaders for this last week. It doesn't sound like we'll have too much to do - we give part of the orientation to the new district that comes in Wednesday, make sure people go to bed on time, and encourage everyone to keep their rooms clean. It is a little intimidating, though, to be expected to be an example, especially when President Patterson always refers to us as the "obedient branch" - Branch 24 is obedient 24 hours a day. So anyway, that should be fun.Not much else is going on. Our roommates, Elder Jensen and Elder Shrecengost are leaving tomorrow (for Eugene, Oregon) so we'll get two new elders on Wednesday. Elder Johansson and I have already made plans to scare them into going home early ;). We got our travel plans a couple of days ago. We live on the 24th at 5 AM. We're flying Delta to Grand Rapids with a short layover in Cincinnatti. I'm excited to drive to Lansing that first day we get there - Michigan should be looking really nice as the trees are starting to turn colors. Isaac - although I have forgotten your email address, I still expect you to read these and I would LOVE to hear from you. I'm going to choose to assume that I just haven't gotten the numerous letters you've already sent me ;). Anyway, you rock! I hope you're enjoying your first real year of high school. I know, though, that it's not really any different - just another year at West High - which is NEVER JUST ANOTHER YEAR! WOOHOO! WEST HIGH PRIDE!Jacob - I'm so excited that you're doing Sports Machine! Don't even think that you're not as good at it as Alex and I were - as if we said anything intelligent! As long as you insult girls frequently and talk about sports unintelligently you'll be doing at least as much as I ever did. I hope your seminary video worked out, since I suppose you've already finished it by now. Also, I would really encourage you to start studying from Preach My Gospel (if you don't already). I thought I had done a good job preparing, but there is just so much to know! Preach My Gospel is a wonderful tool. I think it was President Packer who said it was written on the other side of the veil and compiled here. I know that must be true! It will enlighten your scripture study and help you understand why it is we have been asked to share the gospel and serve as missionaries.Anyway, I'm out of time, but I LOVE YOU ALL! THANKS FOR YOUR PRAYERS! LOVE,Elder Cloward

!st Email from the MTC

The MTC is wonderful! I'm loving every minute of it! I used to think it was strange that all of Elder Sandstrom's emails are packed with exclamation points, but I think I get it now! Just kidding! But seriously, the MTC is great!Let's see, I know you (Mom) were wondering what things are like in the MTC these days, so I'll give you a quick run-down of the typical day. We get up at 6:30 and take showers - withOUT the "tree of life", we get stalls these days - get ready, etc. By 7:00 we're in our classroom for personal study, which is really great. We've all experienced the frustration that comes at the end of personal study when we have to move on to other things. If it weren't breakfast, I don't know if I'd stop some days. The food is actually pretty good. On the whole, I'd say it's better than Penn cafeteria food, and certainly much cheaper. After breakfast we'll either have class with Bro. Geddes or companion study. Bro. Geddes is great. He served his mission in Detroit, so he knows a lot about the sort of things we'll be facing. We just ignore him when he talks about da ghetto. Class is great. We mostly study Preach My Gospel, so far just the first lesson and the first two chapters (My Purpose and Study Effectively). We've got lunch at 1:00 and then more class, this time with Bro. Bastian. I love him - he's so funny because he just got married last weekend and he's so clearly excited about it. He served in Nairobi, Kenya a couple of years ago. He's a great teacher too. Afternoons and evenings our schedules vary between MDT (Missionary-Directed Time) and gym. During our MDT we've mostly been working on our lesson plans and studying but starting this week we'll be spending more time at the Referral Center and Teaching Evaluation Center. They seem like they'll both be great. We've also got our first Teaching Appointment (with fake investigators) on Wednesday. I'm pretty excited to actually give a lesson to someone other than another missionary. We have large group meetings with special speakers every once in a while, which are pretty good. I like 'em. Whatever. We've got planning at 9:00, after which we just get ready for bed so we can have lights out at 10:30. Yesterday was by far my favorite day in the MTC so far. Since it was a Fast Sunday, they did things a little differently than I think they will in the future. We had a mission conference this morning, which was incredible. The speakers were pretty good, but the music was terrific! Before each large meeting we sing prelude hymns together, which is great. During the meeting, though, an elder sang "I Heard Him Come," which was just really moving. During the rest of the meetings we sang a lot of other great stuff. My favorite was in the evening fireside when we sang "I Feel My Savior's Love" during the prelude. Somehow that song touched me in a wonderful way. It was really an answer to my prayers. Preparation Day has been good so far, although a little boring while we've done laundry and written letters. We went to the temple this morning, though, which was really great. It was wonderful to see all the other elders and sisters in my zone, dressed in white. I think it's impossible not to love someone when you see them faithfully serving in the temple. I love the elders in my district! They are all wonderful missionaries who are going to do great work for the Lord! Elder Johansson (of Chino Hills, California) is great - he's really fun to work with (and easy to work with too). The other 9 elders in our district are also going to Lansing, so I'm excited to see them through the rest of my mission - Elder Andersen, from Orem; Elder Daley, from Colorado; Elder Lierman, from Lindon; Elder Barney, from Alpine; Elder Stout, from Bountiful; Elder Hermonat, from Texas; Elder Beck, our district leader, from Texas; Elder Cope, from Spokane; Elder Hurst, from Sacramento. I think that's everyone. Actually, Elder Hurst just got a new companion today (he was in a threesome with Elders Cope and Beck), but they'll only be companions for the next two days - the new elder wasn't actually supposed to get here till Wednesday.Anyway, my computer time is almost up and I don't really have anything more to say. The gospel is true! God loves us and wants us to be happy! I'm so excited to be sharing that love as an authorized representative of Jesus Christ!I love you all,Elder Joseph Cloward

MTC II

Picture an anthill and that pretty much describes the initial activiates of the MTC experience. You drive in the gate and immediately volunteer workers go in to action. They wave you to the curb and tell everyone to get out of the car except the driver. They assist in getting the luggage out of the car and on to the curb. The driver (myself ) is then directed to take the car to a parking lot further away. This is not done in isolation as cars are entering the facility almost continually and there are family and friends of the new Elders and Sisters everywhere. Joseph and the rest of the family follow the directions of a myriad of volunteers (there is one about every 10 feet or so it seems) and takes the luggage to a holding area. At this point I was reunited with them and we went into the building where the orientation was to take place. Joseph picked up his name tag and had his mother put it in his lapel pocket. From there we walked to the room of the actual meeting as described by Mrs. C.

We will miss him but are very grateful he has chosen to serve his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I can't think of a better friend to spend two years with than the Redeemer of Mankind.

http://www.mtc.byu.edu/themtc-virtualtour.htm is a site you can go to to take a virtual tour of where Joseph will be until the latter part of September.

The MTC

Well, Joseph went to the MTC today. I was planning to post a picture or two, but I forgot to take the camera (so did Joseph). Hopefully, there will be pictures later.

It was one of those bitter sweet moments. I was so proud of him, but it wasn't easy to let him go. I'll have to admit, there were some tears. The procedure was simple: drop off the luggage, pick up the missionary nametag, file into the big room, sit and watch homefront commercials (church made commercials on the family--some I thought were a little cruel, especially the one where the girl was leaving on a train) while the room filled up with missionaries and their families. Once the room was full, there was a prayer, a song, and some people spoke about the MTC and how wonderful it is. Then we watched a little bit of a video called "Called to Serve" before they gave us a few minutes to say good-bye.
It was quick and almost painless. It's good to know he'll be in good hands.

Write me letters!

Hi!

So, I'm entering the MTC in a week now (minus about 3 hours). Accordingly, I thought I'd post my addresses.

For the first couple of weeks (about 9/3 to 9/24) write to me at:

Elder Joseph Aaron Cloward
MTC Mailbox #159
Expired--Expired--Expired--Expired--Expired--Expired (use address below)MI-LAN 0924
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604-1793

After that (or at least until September 2010), write to me at:

Elder Joseph Aaron Cloward
Michigan Lansing Mission
1500 Abbott Road, Suite 110
East Lansing, MI 48823-1956

AWESOME!

Another option is to use DearElder.com. I would recommend them if you want to write while I'm in the MTC because it's FREE! And I'll even provide a link to the correct page on their site! I think you have to know my P.O. Box Number for that, though, so I'll have my parents post it as soon as I know it (which will be once I'm in the MTC).

DOUBLE-PLUS GOOD!