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.