Hello and happy new year!

I've got to be really brief because we don't have much time. We scheduled a lesson in the middle of our preparation day so that Elder Morales and Elder Alder could join us before they're transferred.

This week was fun, if a little bit slow. We had a number of appointments fall through because of Christmas plans. I've also decided that the week after Christmas is the sleepiest time of the year; probably 75% of the congregation came in late to Sacrament Meeting Sunday morning.

We had transfer calls on Christmas Eve. Elder Morales and Elder Alder will both be transferred; Elder Morales is going to Greenville, North of Grand Rapids, and Elder Alder will be with the Lansing zone leaders in Portland. Elder Morales was pretty upset about it; we had definitely expected that I would be the one transferred. He's excited about it now; there are a lot more Spanish-speakers in the Grand Rapids zone that he may be able to help with.

I'll pick up my new companion, Elder Taylor tomorrow. We're starting off immediately with a district leader council, which we planned over the phone Saturday night. I think it will go well; we are conducting training on using the Book of Mormon as a powerful resource in conversion since the transfer theme is the Book of Mormon. We'll be specifically focusing on using the Book of Mormon to help the other missionaries we serve strengthen and deepen their own conversions.

Love you all lots,
Elder Joseph Cloward

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Hi!

I just wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas from Bay City, Michigan! The Christmas season is the best time for missionary work! Let's remember the Spirit of Christ this Christmas by sharing our testimonies of Him and His gospel with those we love!

Love,
Elder Joseph Cloward

P.S. Attached is a picture with my companions - Elder Alder and Elder Morales.

Hi Family! Merry Christmas!

We've had a great week. For the first time on my mission we reached (actually exceeded) Elder Perry's goal that each companionship teach 20 lessons a week. We'd been really close before but we finally taught 22 lessons this week. Here's to many more weeks of the same.

The baptisms went really well. There were lots of people there - family, friends, and church members - and I think it was a really good experience for the three who were baptized - Roxanne and Christian and Kendra (the last two are brother and sister). Christian and Kendra's brother Jacob has set a baptismal date for January 10th.

I got to have my first trade-off at MSU, which was fun (the last two times, I've been here in Bay City with one of the Assistants to the President). People on college campuses will talk to you! I also enjoyed being able to spend the day with Elder Barney, who started his mission the same time I did.

We had a really neat experience yesterday. We decided to get a little creative and spent 20 minutes yesterday singing Christmas carols (specifically, Christmas hymns celebrating the birth and mission of the Savior Jesus Christ) outside the entrance to Walmart, which was extremely busy, as you might imagine. It was awesome! We didn't really talk to many people, so we have to figure out how to improve upon that, but it was incredible to see how moved many people were just to hear, for a brief moment, a simple reminder of the reason for the Christmas season. It's nice to have strangers smile at you for once. We liked it so much we're doing it again today and every day up through Christmas - it's probably the only time of year we'd get such an opportunity.

I also included a part of my Christmas gift - Elder Morales has a voice recorder and let me record a little Christmas message for you. And some pictures!

Merry Christmas!

Love,
Elder Cloward


PS -
Picture 1 -
elder Alder looks cold, doesn't he?

Picture 5 - The three of us and the Assistants with the Bad Axe - Caro district.

Hi Family!

We had a good week, if a crazy one. Winter's here in full force, starting with a bad storm this last Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, just in time for everyone to drive to zone conference. It didn't help that we didn't have a car because it was in the body shop, getting some superficial repairs due to an incident with a rogue mailbox.

Zone conference was good though. It was our Christmas zone conference, which was fun. President Jones spoke about the progress our mission has made this past year and challenged us to step up our efforts in 2010.

We had a couple of trade-offs this week, which added to the craziness. Elder Morales went to both Houghton Lake and Bad Axe while Elder Alder and I stayed home with another missionary. Driving back from Houghton Lake Thursday afternoon, we hit a total white-out on the freeway, which was a lot of fun. Elder Morales said he was just glad I was driving.

Our Ward Christmas Party was a lot of fun. Chris, a young man who was recently reactivated, played the part of Santa Claus and Elder Morales and I got to be elves. The kids were way fun and we had our investigators and recent converts there, which added to our excitement.

We're excited for the week ahead - we've got a zone leader council and Christmas Party at the mission home tomorrow, a trade-off with the assistants, and - hopefully - four baptisms on Sunday (we'll have at least one).

Hope you all have a great week! Merry Christmas!
Love,
Elder Cloward

Hello all!

Another good week here in Bay City. It's officially Christmastime now that we've had our first snow - just a light dusting on Friday. I understand we're supposed to get a bunch more soon, though.

Elder Morales and I each took a turn being sick this week, although it must have been some 24-hour bug. Neither of us could talk the other into taking much of a break, so we taught 9 lessons between the two sick days. I hope we didn't infect anybody ...

We were pretty excited about the number of lessons we were able to teach this week. We've been working for the 20 lessons/wk Elder Perry has challenged us to reach and got so close this week with 19. This week it will be hard to get because we've got zone conference on Wednesday and no car for a couple of days (it's in the body shop) but we'll do what we can.

Sunday was awesome. Mike Arquette was confirmed and given the gift of the Holy Ghost. Roxanne, who we've been teaching for just over a month, came to church for the first time and loved it! She got so excited about her upcoming baptism that she asked us if we could move it up a week. (It helped that we had a really good fast and testimony meeting and that she stayed for the baptism and confirmation of a girl who just turned 8.)

Elder Morales, Elder Alder, and I all bore our testimonies during Sacrament meeting, which was exciting, because immediately after Elder Morales (who was last) finished his, the Bishop stood and bore his testimony. He told the congregation that if they had not yet had us in their home, they needed to have us come teach them because of the special spirit we have. I love this ward and I'm excited that they're excited to have us - I think it would be so easy for the work to take off here, even to the point of having 50 to 100 people reactivated or baptized within the next year - there's just so much potential!

I hope you all have a great week!

Remember: His strength is made perfect in weakness! (2 Corinthians 12:9).

Love you all,
Elder Cloward

On the Third Day of Thanksgiving the Williams Gave to Me...

Hello Family!

We had a good week in Bay City. Here's the run-down ...

I had trade-offs in Oscoda again. Visiting old areas on trade-offs will never get old. In addition to a couple of good lessons, we had two awesome meals with member families I hadn't been able to see too much of since February - the Karns and the Rouses. Elder Ryan Swapp was my exchange companion - he's the son of Craig Swapp (you've seen him on TV asking you to call him when you've had an accident) and was in the same ward as Ryan Hermansen, who went to West with me. Fun stuff.

Thanksgiving morning we traded back in Standish and then hurried on to the Samyn's. They fed us a delicious traditional Thanksgiving dinner and played lots of fun games with us. (I'm hoping they'll give us the video they took of musical chairs. Five Samyns and three missionaries makes for a pretty wild game.) Sister Samyn is an incredible example to me. She's been diagnosed with cancer in her lymphatic (is that the right word?) system and has four months of extremely intense chemo. But is she upset, discouraged, or afraid? Absolutely not! She reminds me of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, who knew that the Lord would deliver them, and if not, they would trust in His wisdom. She's awesome!

We had a second Thanksgiving dinner on Friday with the Schindlers, which was very fun and once again very filling. We also visited them on Saturday for an open house they held for their son, Joseph. He's going to BYU and was home for the holiday but will not be home again because he reports to the Missionary Training Center on December 16th - he'll be serving in the Czech Republic Prague Mission. The open house was a great opportunity for us to meet many of his friends and neighbors who had lots of questions about what a mission is like. One of his former teachers will be having us over for dinner and wants us to talk her two sons into serving as missionaries ...

Saturday night we had some more turkey, our Third Day of Thanksgiving, at the Williams' home. They're an awesome family; we had a good meal and a good lesson. The three kids will hopefully be baptized soon - I'm crossing my fingers that it will be able to happen before I get transferred from Bay City.

Sunday we had Mike Arquette's baptism, which went really well. It was really special for Elder Morales, because it was his first opportunity to be in the water to baptize someone. Mike will be confirmed next week. I would send home pictures from the baptism, but I told Elder Morales if he took pictures I'd just get them from his camera later. Only I haven't done that yet. Maybe next week.

We have a few more baptisms coming up as of yesterday. We've been teaching another part-member family for a while and 2 out of 3 kids (so far) want to be baptized on December 20th. They're a way cool family - the mom was baptized about 6 years ago in Las Vegas. Pray for them! (They're kind of hard to pray for by name because they've got multiple last names, so pray for Kim (the mom), Jacob, Christian, and Kendra.)

Love you all,
Elder Cloward

P.S. Pictures


#4 - Look at that Turkey!


#5 - We helped clean up after dinner!



#7 - My companion is a peace-loving terrorist!

Three's Company

Hi Family!

How's it going? I hope you have fun Turkey-day plans. I'm excited for our three Thanksgiving dinners this week (all different days, mind you). We've also been having some fun lessons incorporating the principle of gratitude. If any of you haven't seen the Thanksgiving MormonMessages video on lds.org yet, it's really good. Go check it out. Right now!

And, since our week was so action-packed, I think I'll give you a day-by-day play-by-play:

Tuesday: We picked up Elder Alder in Mt. Pleasant. It's been interesting having a third companion. (To answer your question mom, he's not a zone leader with Elder Morales and me.) Teaching, finding, everything is a lot different with three of us. We're adjusting well, I think, and we're excited to start exploring the possibilities for splits to double our impact.

Right after transfers we held our first district leader council, something we decided to start doing after Elder Pieper talked with us. I think it went really well; I'm excited to be working with all our awesome district leaders this transfer. We're all really excited for our mission goal for a baptism in every companionship this Christmas.

Wednesday: I don't actually remember ...

Thursday: We did some "advanced-level planning" (those were Elder Alder's words) and taught a few really great lessons with some less-active members of the Church. I'm really excited to be in Bay City at this time.

Friday: Sara's baptism! Everything went really well and we had lots of members there. Another investigator, Mike, came to the baptism and loved it. He's way pumped for his baptism next Sunday.

Saturday: Lots and lots of finding. We were really working to reach our goal for three new people to teach but didn't see the success we hoped for. It's a great opportunity to learn to have patience in waiting for the Lord to fulfill His promises. :) At least that's what I decided to tell myself after a great lesson on faith on ...

Sunday: Sara was confirmed in a really great Sacrament meeting. We stopped by to visit her later in the day. She had earlier asked if she would feel different after being baptized and confirmed. I told her I wasn't really sure, since I don't remember how I felt after I was baptized when I was 8. Anyway, I asked her last night if she felt any different and she said she did. She said it wasn't anything really dramatic but she could just tell that something had changed inside her. I'm excited for her continued growth in the gospel.

I love you all and hope you have a very merry Thanksgiving! Thanks for being the best family in the world!

Elder Cloward

P.S. 2 Pictures

I made delicious salads for me, Elder Morales, and Elder Alder with breaded chicken breasts in a sweet ginger teriyaki sauce, fried mushrooms, and spicy nutmeg carrots.


#2 - Me, Sara, and Elder Morales at the baptism.

Stake Conference and a Mattress on the Floor

Hi family!

How are things?

We got our transfer call this Friday with some somewhat surprising news. I'm pleased to report that I will be Elder Morales' first two-transfer companion. We get to stay together in Bay City, meaning I will be here for our baptism on Friday. Yes! We will also be getting a third companion, Elder Alder. He's got just two transfers left in his mission and has actually served in Bay City before. We're excited to have him, although a little unsure of where we're going to put him. The extra mattress we've got is now taking up all the floor space in the bedroom and we're looking for a third desk.

I feel like I spent my week in a suit. (Normally we only wear our suits to meetings, which we had Wednesdsay, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday.) Wednesday was district meeting in Bad Axe, followed by trade-offs (more on that in a moment), Thursday was our monthly meeting with the Stake Presidency, which went really well. We reported on how the units in the Stake are progressing with Elder Perry's new mission plan and we're hoping to see more initiative among ward and branch leaders. Saturday and Sunday was Stake Conference. There were lots of excellent talks. A lot seemed to revolve around the principle of sanctification (at least in what the Spirit taught me), which I appreciated because I've been studying it a lot lately and will be leading a discussion on it in our district leader council tomorrow morning. Sara Webster, who is being baptized on Friday, was able to attend the Sunday meetings, including an early meeting for new members and soon-to-be new members. The Spirit was so powerful as the Stake President, Mission President, and others bore their testimonies in an intimate setting.

So, back to tradeoffs last Wednesday. I was in Bay City with Elder Hoffman; we had a good time. The funny part of this story comes while we were driving back to Bad Axe. We were almost there when a daring, little squirrel darted out into the road. I considered my options. My first inclination was to swerve to hit him, but deciding that would be impolite and un-Christlike, I moved just slightly so he would pass directly between the tires, seeing as there was not time to avoid passing over him completely.

Unfortunately, my plan did not succeed. Elder Hoffman and I heard a loud THUNK and looked back to see what was left of our poor rodent friend. We were very puzzled when we couldn't spot even a flattened patch of fur on the highway behind us. We pulled over to inspect the undercarriage of the car, seeing if he was somehow flattened against something. Much to our surprise, we found the poor squirrel half inside our grill and half out of it, his little leg caught in between the plastic grill and the bumper. To top it all off, he was still alive and wiggling around to loose himself.

Once we got back to the Bad Axe apartment (just a couple minutes away) we pried the squirrel's leg loose. We couldn't get him to come out of the bumper, though (the only way out was back through the grill), so we went down to the police station. They were unfortunately unhelpful, so we headed back to Bay City. Somewhere along the way our furry friend decided to jump ship. It was a fun adventure.

I hope all is well. We're looking forward to our baptism on Friday. Have a great week!

Love,
Elder Cloward



Here's a couple from the last two district meetings I attended and from our fun friend the squirrel.

Get Thee Up

Hello all,

We've had a very sorry end to our 90 by the 9th goal this week. I'm not sure why it worked out this way, but we had a record low of 4 new investigators in the zone this week. Here in Bay City, Elder Morales and I worked our hardest this past week and didn't teach a single new person. We haven't given up just yet, though. Today is the 9th, so we have urged all members of the zone to work hard today to get the 19 more investigators we need. We've scheduled a couple of appointments during our preparation day, hoping a little sacrifice will bring the blessings of the Lord.

I was really grateful for the study we had this morning. Elder Morales shared with me a few verses from Joshua 7, to which he had cross-referenced from Alma 53. In this story, Joshua and the children of Israel lose a battle against some Canaanites because they have taken "accursed" things belonging to the Canaanites into their midst. Joshua complains to the Lord because of their failure and the Lord gives a compelling response:

"Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face? ...Up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow: for thus saith the Lord God of Israel, There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee, O Israel: thou canst not stand before thine enemies, until ye take away the accursed thing from among you" (Joshua 7:10,13).

We hope to acheive our goal today, but if not, we'll keep on with the work. Thanks for your prayers on our behalf. If you'd like another goal to pray for we have a mission-wide goal that each companionship baptize in December. This is going to be a very challenging goal to reach, certainly one that will require the sanctification of the missionaries throughout the MLM.

Otherwise, this was a very good week. We have a new ward mission leader - Manny Martinez - we are very excited about. We had another Zone Leader Council last Tuesday to talk about the things we learned from Elder Pieper. It was great; I'm excited for the progress our mission is making.

We have transfer calls this next Friday. I'm definitely hoping I get to be Elder Morales' first two-transfer companion; I don't want to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas anywhere but the Bay City Ward.

One cool experience I'd like to share. We'll be teaching a woman later this afternoon whom we met while door-knocking. We didn't knock on her door because she was standing outside raking her leaves. She actually let us help her! We raked leaves with her for about an hour, talking about our beliefs, her beliefs, and her questions about life. It was a very fun experience; I hope to have many more like it.

Love you all,
Elder Cloward

Love You!

I finally got a picture with Paul Bunyan while on trade-offs in Oscoda.


Hi family!

We had a fantastic week, what with zone conference and everything. I learned so much this week and I'm feeling overwhelmed trying to apply everything I'm learning. It's a good feeling though.

Some highlights from Elder Pieper ...

We need to obtain an "eye of faith"! The Lord grants according to our desires (Alma 29:4). Are our desires His desires? We obtain His desire through sincere prayer and searching questions.

We have failed in our teaching if those we teach come to rely on us for the answers to their questions. Our purpose is to invite them to come unto Christ! They must learn to find their own answers through a study of the scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon, and by developing a personal relationship with their Heavenly Father through pondering, questioning, and praying.

We are participating in one of the most highly anticipated times in history. Nephi, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and others spoke constantly about the gathering of Israel. The Lord has given us the assignment and privilege of gathering the House of Israel and searching out His elect. Will we cheerfully submit to His will or shirk the responsibilities we accepted premortally?

It was a great conference.

Halloween was also fun. We went trick-or-treating with a part member family because Elder Morales had never been before. Apparently, El Salvador just isn't as cool as the U.S. Dia de los muertos doesn't even involve candy. :) Elder Morales had fun and I got fat.

The zone is still right on track to reach our goal for 90 by the 9th. We just need to find 23 more new investigators this week. We have a goal for five here in our area. Keep us in your prayers this week; I know the Lord will help us to exceed this goal as we place our trust and faith in Him.

I love you all and hope you're enjoying the fall! It hasn't yet snowed in Bay City, for which I'm grateful. Lots of rain this last month though.

Love you,
Elder Cloward

P.S. Some pictures:


#3 - Elder Morales uses his stealthy ninja skills to stalk delicious ice-cream-cone cupcakes.


#5 - I'm in mortal danger at the Ward Halloween Party Bean Bag Toss.


#6 - Elder Morales and I did in fact dress up for Halloween. I went as Elder Morales and he went as me.

Love you!

I Got Hugged by a Memeber of the Seventy

Dear Family,

Hi! I apologize for not writing yesterday and forgetting to tell you last week that I would be writing a day late. This week we're having a mission tour by Elder Pieper of the Seventy. We'll have our half-mission zone conference tomorrow but we had a zone leader council with Elder Pieper all day yesterday. It was fantastic! After our instruction, he asked President Jones if he could interview a few of us, so I got to talk with Elder Pieper one-on-one for a few minutes. It was interesting. He asked me a few questions about my family, my plans for the future, where I had been able to serve as a missionary, and what the most important changes I'd seen in my life since becoming a missionary. And at the end I got a hug from him; hence, the subject of the email.

This week went fairly well. Elder Morales was sick for most of the week. I have never had a harder time trying to get a companion to rest when he needed it than I have had this week. I had to trick him into taking a nap, calling Sister Jones, and taking his medicine. We have, though, another investigator, Sarah Webster, who has a baptismal date - November 20th, plus 2 more we've challenged to pray about that date (they didn't seem super sure of themselves when we first invited them). New investigator-wise, the whole mission slipped quite a bit this week. Although we only had 11 new investigators in the zone (less than half of what we had last week), we're still on track to reach our goal for 90 by the 9th if we step up our game just a little bit these last two weeks. Elder Pieper taught us a lot about the "eye of faith" yesterday that we learn about in Ether 12. We're going to reach our goal!

I love you all and I'm glad you're doing well. I hope none of you catch the flu. It's been pretty crazy here with lots of schools closed for the flu. The Kalamazoo Stake actually canceled all of their meetings for the week. But everyone knows they're wussies. They cancel church in winter way more than the UPers ever do.

Have a great week! I'm sure I'll tell you all about our amazing zone conference when I email next week.

Love,
Elder Cloward

Good Stuff

Hello family!

We had a fantastic week here in Bay City and in the Midland zone! Seeing the work that took place among the incredible elders and sisters of our zone this week reminds me of a phrase that came to mind as I listened to President Monson's first welcoming talk in this last General Conference. As he spoke of the tremendous growth the church is enjoying worldwide, I jotted down "Hasten the work!" in my study binder. I'm not really sure where that phrase comes from but it feels appropriate this week.

Our zone doubled the number of new investigators we found this week, getting more than this zone has had in one week in a long, long time. The only sad part is that this great feat was accomplished by about 2/3 of the missionaries in the zone, while the others did not contribute. If we can get everyone working and exercising their faith, I do not think there will be a limit to the success the Lord will grant us in the wards and branches of the Midland Stake.

As for Elder Morales and I, we had a great week. Some highlights:

- We had splits with the Priests on Wednesday. I went out with Donald and checked on a former investigator named Bryan. He invited us in and we talked with him for about 20 minutes about the things he remembers from what the missionaries taught and how he felt about it. He told us it was so crazy that we had come by because he'd been thinking about us lately. He actually stopped being taught because he moved to Saginaw for a job, which he had since lost. He only recently returned to Bay City and has had a lot of time on his hands to spend time thinking and praying at home. He's had a pretty crazy and sometimes criminal past but he knows he's not happy and wants to change for himself and for his kids. He said he has been praying every day for God to show him what he wants him to do in his life. Anyway, he had just found an old pass-along card in a drawer that had the missionaries' number on it and had showed it to his girlfriend, who told him he'd better get back to church. And then we show up, seemingly randomly. "By small and simple things, great things are brought to pass".

We got to spend a little time on the campus of Central Michigan University Thursday with a six-foot-tall Book of Mormon. We drove the prop over to the sisters who work campus and they let us stay for a bit. It was a lot of fun to talk to students my age, who were generally as open and receptive as anyone I've ever talked to. I did almost freeze to death though because it was in the 30s and I wasn't wearing a coat.

Saturday, we taught three more new investigators. One of these was in an incredible lesson with the Rodriguez'. Sis. Rodriguez was once married to a less-active church member, so she had a lot of questions for us starting out. The Spirit that was there as we talked about Joseph Smith's First Vision and the Book of Mormon was incredible. They were so prepared to receive our message!

To top it all off we had six investigators at church on Sunday. And we're hoping for more next week. Elder Morales' previous record is 10 (WAY more than I've ever had there) so I'm hoping we can beat that. So many people in Bay City are openly seeking greater truth and light in their lives and they're welcoming us into their lives and their homes. The gospel is true!

I love you all,
Elder Cloward

So You Think You Can Find...

Hello family!

The subject of this letter will be finding because the subject of my life at this moment is finding. Finding, finding, finding. (We'll try not to forget about teaching and baptizing, the other two members of the tripartite pact, but for now we're finding). Did I mention finding?

I'm sure I've mentioned before, but in effectivity analyses of our mission, Salt lake has continually told us that our greatest weakness is in finding new investigators (people to teach). According to our statistics we're very effective teachers, we just need more people to teach. So, President Jones has been continually asking us to focus our efforts on consistently finding new investigators, specifically the standard of three new investigators per companionship per week.

Elder Morales and I have hit the ground running, really wanting to help the missionaries in our zone begin working toward that goal. After some prayer and a lot of thought and discussion, we came up with a goal for our zone of "90 by the 9th". 90 new investigators, total, for the zone within the first 5 weeks of the transfer, or by the 9th of November. It's only halfway to the standard, requiring just 1.5 new investigators per companionship per week, but it requires more per week than the zone has previously done. We feel really good about it, President Jones felt really good about it, and we're excited to help the missionaries acheive it. Prayers for us would be great.

President Jones has talked lately about the importance of miracles in this work. In Moroni 7:37, Mormon teaches us "it is by faith that miracles are wrought; and it is by faith that angels appear and minister unto men; wherefore, if these things have ceased wo be unto the children of men, for it is because of unbelief, and all is vain." We've been striving to have the faith required for miracles to happen. Well, Elder Morales and I have been working hard each day to find a new investigator, doing everything we know how to do. Saturday night we were exhausted and disappointed to be ending the week without finding a single new person to teach. And the Lord blessed us with a miracle! A less-active family came to church and brought a friend who really wanted to learn more about the church! And we taught her! And she was really receptive! Later, another less-active member invited a friend to join our lesson! And we taught her! And she was really receptive! We trust that by our faith the Lord will continue to provide these and greater miracles.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is miraculous and has power to change our hearts and our lives! Jesus Christ lives! He has restored His church and kingdom to the earth in preparation for His Second Coming!

I love you all!
Elder Cloward

P.S. A couple of pictures of me and Elder Morales.

Conference and Transfers

Hello all!

Wasn't General Conference great? I love the reassurance I receive through the Holy Ghost every six months that God has called prophets and apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ. I know that if we follow their counsel we will be blessed with a closer relationship to our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. I can't believe I only have one more General Conference left on my mission.

I was excited to have Angela (the one who lived in Sierra Vista) at conference Sunday morning. (Well, for us it was Sunday afternoon, but it was the Sunday morning session). She really enjoyed it; she obviously felt the Spirit very strongly and told some church members they'd be seeing a lot more of her because it feels like she has "come home". I haven't been able to hear statements like that too many times on my mission and they are priceless.

We got our transfer call this last Friday. I'll be staying here in Bay City with Elder Morales. I don't know him very much at all. He's from El Salvador by way of California and has been on a mission six weeks longer than I have. This will be his first transfer as a zone leader, so I get to train him in the things I still don't know how to do. I'll be picking him up in mt. Pleasant on Tuesday morning. Elder Smith is going down to Allegan, near Kalamazoo. I'll really miss him; he's been great to serve with.

I got to spend a day back in Oscoda on exchanges this last Wednesday. It was a lot of fun, but not everything I'd hoped. We had to cancel a few plans (including plans to see Staci Saurer, who was baptized when I was there) because Elder Meldrum, with whom I spent the day, managed to step on a few rusty nails while we were helping Bro. Dykes tear an old polebarn on his property (which was very fun). So, we spent a few hours at the medical clinic while Elder Meldrum had his feet workedon and got tetanus shots. It was kind of funny remembering a very similar experience I had last year. I wasn't smart enough to go to the doctor, though. Good thing I'd had my tetanus booster, I guess.

I can't really think of anything else to report. I hope you all have a fantastic week.

Love you,
Elder Cloward

Servers Down

Hi family,

I'm just sending a quick note to tell you I'm alive and well. I think the church's server must have gone down or something because as soon as I got done reading your emails this morning, the computers in the library couldn't connect to any church websites anymore (although they connected to others just fine). I guess I'll tell you all about my week next week.

Love you!
Elder Cloward

Won't You Tell Me How to Get, How to Get to...

Hello Family,

This weekly email is brought to you by the letter 'T'. T is a great letter because you use it to say things like "truck", "tentacle", and "take that tortoise to the top of Timpanogos". For me this week, T means ...

Trade-offs. I guess I'd better be getting used to a lot of these. I spent Wednesday over in Caro (my first time venturing into the thumb of the mitt). I spent the day with Elder Thomson of Layton, Utah, who is getting ready to go home in a couple of weeks. The highlight of that trade-off was definitely teaching a new investigator named Victor; he's a well-studied Christian, so it was a lot of fun to teach from the scriptures and have him showing us cross-references. The next day I brought Elder Hoffman back to Bay City (he's currently being trained in Bad Axe, also in the thumb) and showed him a grand old time. I really like being around the brand-new missionaries; they're almost always excited and positive, which are pretty much basically the best attributes ever. :)

Thermometer. That is, the thermometer to the water heater on the baptismal font. We filled it Saturday morning for Adam Samyn's baptism. Everything went really well and he received the Gift of the Holy Ghost in Sacrament meeting on Sunday. I love their family.

Towels. It's raining today. So a towel is an allusion to the wetness ...

Toast. What my use of alliteration seems to be making this email. I can't think of other things that start with T.

Testimony. I've got one. I know Jesus is the Christ and this is His work.

Ta-ta. What I'm saying to you all until next week. I love you all and hope things continue to go well.

Elder Cloward

Zone Conference et ectera

Hi family!

This week was pretty good. Elder Smith spent the first few days of it pretty sick, which was boring (such a selfish perspective, I know), but he's feeling dapper now and the work goes on.

The highlight of our week was probably Friday's zone conference - certainly the most stressful I've had so far, largely because I was responsible for a little more of it. Our zone meeting (before the conference, which actually includes both the Traverse City and Midland zones) went pretty well. We focused on having the faith to reach the "standard of excellence" President Jones has set for the mission and discussed how each of Elder Pearson's "Destructive D's" given in last April's General Conference influence us as missionaries.

This was also a musical week for me. I threw together a musical number for zone conference - I accompanied three elders who sang "If You Could Hie to Kolob" quite nicely. Also, it just so happens that Sister Julie Schindler of the Bay City Ward is from Salt Lake City and knows Miss Tate's sister very well. Anyway, they did some chatting and Sister Schindler's husband, the ward choir director, decided it would be a good idea for me to sing a solo for Sacrament meeting. So I sang a verse of "Home Can Be a Heav'n on Earth" when the choir performed it yesterday. It went pretty well, but I'm hoping not so well that they ask for any repeats.

We're looking forward to a baptism this Saturday, which should go really well. Hopefully we'll be able to get a few of the people we're teaching there. We've still been focusing on finding new people to teach and teaching 20 lessons a week. We talked with Bro. Savage, the high councilor assigned to the Bay City Ward, about his involvement in reaching those goals and I'm excited for the work he'll help us and the ward mission leader to do. We've been teaching lessons to a lot more active and less-active member families in order to follow Elder Perry's counsel. I feel, as President Jones has expressed, that Elder Perry's program will revolutionize the work done in the Michigan Lansing Mission.
All in all, things are going well.

I can't believe Jeff is home. I can't believe I've been out this long. I can't belive how little time I have left and how much I'd like to accomplish in that time. I thank God it's not on my shoulders alone. Philippians 4:13 all the way :). (I purposefully didn't type it out so you'll have to look it up if you don't know it. It'll be good for you.)

Love you all,
Elder Cloward

Bay City Adventures

From an e-mail dated Sept. 8, 2009

The Bavarian Inn in Frankenmuth

Hi family,

I'm writing today because the libraries were closed yesterday for the holiday. Hopefully I'll be able to write you a proper email this week. Our email time was very brief last week because we spent most of our preparation day down in Frankenmuth, a German-by-heritage tourist trap south of Saginaw. It was pretty fun; I'll attach a picture or two.

Let's see; I don't think I've really told you much at all about the new area. Bay City is a small city (I think there's something like 30,000 people here) on the Saginaw River, about 5-10 miles removed from Saginaw Bay and Lake Huron. The congregation here is a small ward, just a little bigger than the Hart Branch. I've met some fantastic church members here who are all very willing to help out the missionaries. We're teaching quite a few people. One boy, Adam, who is the eleven-year-old son of a less-active member family, will be baptized on the 19th. Another family, the Williams, made up of a now-active mom, an excommunicated-but-working-toward-reinstatement dad, and three unbaptized children, is working toward baptism. They're really fun and progressing really well.

The zone leader-business is all right. We have to go pick up some keys tomorrow from some elders who've been feeling rebellious and going over their allotted miles. That aspect of leadership is not so fun. Last Tuesday, though, we had Zone Leader Council with President and Sister Jones and the Assistants and it was fun to be able to sit in on that meeting. ZLC in two months will be attended by Elder Pieper of the Seventy, who will be doing a mission tour. That will definitely be fun to get to sit in on. What has been most different about serving here in Bay City is having a companion who has been out longer, which I haven't had since November of last year. In a lot of ways it's really nice because Elder Smith is a great teacher and has been helping me a lot to improve my skills as a missionary. He's been great helping me adjust to the challenges that have come with my new assignment. I hope everything is well with all of you. Love you lots!

Love you!

Elder Cloward

Attached Pictures:#7 - My last district.
Front row: Me and Elder Schuler, who didn't get that we were doing a serious picture. Back row: Elder Law, Elder Weaver, Elder Andersen, Elder Egan.
#8 - Way cool bumper sticker.


#12 - Me and Elder Weaver with Denny, one of our investigators.

#15 - My posterity shirt (now in Elder Weaver's possession) passed down through trainers since 2005

#18 - Elder Smith is great! He makes me tortillas!

A Quick Note

Hey all,

Sorry - I've only got time for a quick note again. Bay City is pretty good so far. There are a lot of people here who are progressing toward baptism. Being a zone leader is a little different - lots more planning, paperwork, and phone calls. I'll have to update you more on it next week.

Love you all,
Elder Cloward

Transferred!

Hi all!

Well, transfer calls were sad even if unsurprising. I'll have to make this a quick email because I've still got to pack (!!) and we're driving to Grand Rapids in 4 hours. We'll see how that goes. I'm managing to collect a lot more stuff in each area. Somehow, I don't think it's all going to fit in my suitcases. (I can't decide for sure if I'm going to take my rolling pin or not. How else will I make delicious pies and pastries?)

Anyway, I'm heading off to Bay City over on Saginaw Bay. I'm glad to be keeping with my pattern of bouncing back and forth between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. I've spent a year without living farther than 10 miles from one of the great lakes. Kind of nifty.

And, since I know President Jones is going to send you a letter anyway, I might as well not forget to mention that I'll be a zone leader for the Midland zone. I'm not sure I really want to be a zone leader (I guess I'll do it whether I like it or not) but I am excited to go on trade-offs in Oscoda, where Elder McKinnon is currently serving as a district leader. It'll be great to see everybody there again - or at least a few of them :).

This week was pretty good. Our Spanish friends didn't come to church but we visited them later in the afternoon and learned they had all been picking peaches while church was happening. Speaking of Spanish, the area will finally be getting a Spanish elder - Elder Patino, who came out the same transfer I did. It'll be awesome for the area.

The best news of the week came yesterday when another of our investigators made it to church. He's progressing really well and praying about a baptismal date. So now we have two investigators who will -hopefully- be regulars in Sacrament meeting. What a great branch to begin attending. I'll miss the Hart Branch dearly. They gave me some things to remember them by, at least for a day or two - the Longcores gave me freshly picked pears to take and Sis. Myers made me pumpkin whoopie pies for the road! Yum!

Love you all,
Elder Cloward

Beware the Jabberwock, My Son!

Hi there family!

Elder Weaver and I have had a pretty good week. Let's see ... what to report on.

First things first. We weren't able to email last week because we were tied up (for five hours) at a baptism. A family from Ithaca was having a family reunion in the area and wanted to baptize their 8-year-old daughter while all the family was together. Since our building houses the nearest baptismal font, we got to help out. And, since they were doing it in the middle of the day, we were asked by the Branch Presidency, all of whom would be working, to be the branch's representatives, fill the font, clean up and lock up, etc. We arrived at 2 to fill the font and discovered that the water has to be turned off every 10-15 minutes so the water heater can fill back up. So we were filling until just before 4, when the family was supposed to arrive. They didn't make it there until 5, the baptismal service took until 6, and they weren't done eating and cleaning up until 7.

We had interviews with President Jones this week. They're never as exciting as I hope but that's probably a good thing since he usually just tells me to keep up the good work or something like that. All signs are pointing to my leaving the Hart area. I'm going to be pretty torn up when I go but I've had a good 6 months here; I definitely feel like I'll be leaving the area better than I found it and that's a certain measure of success. I'm really hoping to help a few of our investigators commit to baptismal dates this last week here.

We had kind of a fun experience with a house full of Spanish guys yesterday. It started out as we went to visit Carmelo, a media referral whom we had taught once. It turned out he was done picking peaches and had moved to some other farm-hand housing where he was now picking zucchini. We managed to find his new place (a miracle since I was given directions in Spanish) and we taught him and six of his roommates the message of the restoration. They were all excited about it and about reading El Libro de Mormon; they all agreed to share three copies of the book - we had two on us and had already given one to Carmelo. They said they're coming to church this Sunday, so we're crossing our fingers that someone can be there to translate.

Speaking of Spanish, President Jones has told us he'll be putting a Spanish-speaking elder here if he transfers one of us. I'm a little jealous that it will probably be Elder Weaver who'll get a Spanish-speaking companion (I'm sure it'd be a lot easier for me to learn Spanish if I were living with a native speaker). Still, this area really needs a Spanish speaker; our branch president said he's considering requesting a Spanish-speaking senior couple for our branch. I have little doubt that there would be a Spanish branch or ward in this area within a short number of years.

(Writing emails home is always an exercise in prioritizing. What things are most important for me to include?)

I'll share one last insight before I close. Sis. Myers, who was baptized here last August, attended the temple for the first time last Friday. Elder Fortuna and Elder Contreras, who were here when she was baptized, were able to go with her. (They'll be going home next Wednesday, so it's a great way for them to finish up their missions). Anyway, Sis. Myers was given the opportunity to bear her testimony yesterday in Church. She told us about how marvelous it was to visit the temple, the House of the Lord, to feel of the Spirit there, and to feel the added armor of protection her covenants give her. Then she said something I hope to remember for the rest of my life. In speaking of the youth of the church who have grown up knowing the precious truths of the restored gospel, she said: "I often think: O, what I could have done with my life had I had then what they have now." I had to write it down verbatim so I would remember it.

I have the truths of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I know who my Father is and I know who I am. I know what my purpose and mission is in this life. I know how to call down the powers of heaven to fulfill that purpose and bring others to Christ. I know how to obtain blessings, protection, guidance, revelation, inspiration, and counsel. I know how to exercise faith and repent of my sins, and I have the assurance, through the covenants I made at baptism and in the Holy Temple, that I will always have His Spirit with me, that my sins are forgiven me, and that I will inherit eternal life with my eternal family in the Kingdom of God. O, what I can do with my life because of what I know! I'm so grateful I still have a year left of my mission - there is so much more I need to do and accomplish. Lisa Sandstrom forwards me Jeff's emails every week and the way that crazy kid is working and seeing success is blowing me away. (I think that's on my mind because I just read his last email.) Anyway, he inspires me, and if I can kick my work up to the Ammon-like level that he has, and work that way for the year I have left, I know I can accomplish a good work here for my Father in Heaven. The gospel is true!

I love you all and pray for you daily!
Elder Cloward

If I had a Beard, I'd Twirl it

Hello Family!

This week went well. I learned a lot and hope to be better off for having lived this week :). (I guess that's my hope each week of life; perhaps especially this week?)

Continuing to focus on finding new people to teach as President Jones has encouraged us, we taught two new people last Saturday - two of the teenage children of Moses, whom we had already started teaching. I had actually already met his daughter because she ran track at the high school. We thought that made for a good week (just one shy of the "standard of excellence", set at three new investigators per companionship per week). Little did we know what the Lord had in store for us Sunday where we began teaching three more people. Two speak only Spanish (Carmelo y Pedro) and are hard to teach not only because I'm the only one who speaks any Spanish but also because they work a lot. As in, more than I thought people were allowed to work in this country. I guess agriculture has special exceptions. In any case, it makes finding time to meet with them difficult.

But, speaking of lessons learned and beards twirled (isn't beard-twirling a natural result of lesson-learning?), I actually had a pretty rough week previous to Friday zone conference and our successful weekend. We had a few lessons that fell through or didn't go as well as we hoped and I was allowing myself to feel like an inadequate missionary, whose failings and lack of perfect diligence, knowledge, and planning skills were basically going to sink the ship. Anyway, some good chastisement at zone conference and afterward got me out of that slump. The summary for me came in our Sunday School lesson yesterday on the persecutions and trials of Missouri and Zion's Camp. D&C 101:16 - "Therefore, let your hearts be comforted concerning Zion [concerning your missionary work, Elder Cloward]; for all flesh is in mine hands; be still and know that I am God." No unhallowed hand can stop this work from progessing, not even mine. Especially not when I'm trying to do the opposite and relying on the help of the Lord.

Love you all, have a great week!
Elder Cloward

Trade-offs and a Grass Skirt

Me and Elder Weaver in our hawaiian gear

Hello Family!

We had a great week. Here are some highlights:

1. 3 days of trade-offs. I spent Tuesday in Grand Rapids with Elder Lopez. We had a good day there and made a couple new contacts for them. President Jones, as I think I might have mentioned, has challenged us to have three new investigators per companionship per week and has said that the first zone to reach a zone total of three per companionship for two weeks in a row will get some kind of special activity. The word on the street says that special activity will be a temple trip, assuming President Jones can get permission from Salt Lake. Anyway, Elders Lopez and Guedez, our zone leaders are really pushing it for our zone, so spending the day with Elder Lopez got me excited about it.

My second trade-off was with Elder Andersen, one of the Elders in North Muskegon, with whom I spent most of Wednesday and Thursday (normally we would have traded back Thursday morning but they got a ride from a member for that since it's the end of the month and we all have no miles to spare). If you'll recall, I was with Elder Andersen in the MTC and haven't spoken with him much since. We had a good trade-off, had some good teaching appointments, and got SOAKED while biking in a sudden thunderstorm.

2. We had Cindi in church again this week. She's progressing really well - we're planning to set a baptismal date with her tomorrow night. Sunday we had some AWESOME meetings (it was Branch Conference) and a delicious potluck afterwards, where Cindi enjoyed a lot of fellowship from branch and stake members. Also in church, Elder Weaver and I sang acapella with an octet that performed "Be Still, My Soul". It went really well.

3. We found five new investigators! And they're all pretty awesome! The most awesome came out of a challenge we issued to the Brown family to have someone for us to teach in their home within three weeks. They started two weeks ago with a fast and have been working on it ever since. When they realized Bro. Brown would be gone at Scout Camp the whole third week, they decided they had to get 'er done! They invited one family to meet with us, whom they'd been thinking a lot about, but they weren't available for Friday or Saturday. So, Sis. Brown asked her five-year-old daughter whom they should invite. She listened to her daughter and invited the wife of a church member, who, much to everyone's surprise, graciously accepted the offer. And we taught her and it was great and we're teaching her again on Thursday.

4. I'm a little bit dumb. I locked our keys in the car. The wrecker came to jimmy them open this morning and it cost me $50. Not that cool.

5. We helped out at the nursing home's annual picnic, which had a Hawaiian theme this year. So ... they dressed us in Hawaiian shirts and grass skirts and had us help the residents with pineapple bowling. Some real live Hawaiian dancers also taught us how to hula. Well, taught me how to hula. Elder Weaver was a wuss and just sat there eating while I hula'd in front of everyone :).

Love you all,
Elder Cloward

P.S. I've attached several pictures. The first is

Elder Andersen with an old lady we met while knocking doors. One is from the pioneer picnic last week (watermelon-eating).

and I threw in a gorgeous view from the bike trail for good measure.

One Year Older and Wider Too?

Hi family!

Thanks for your emails and for the package - I had a great birthday! The cookies were delicious (don't worry, they're not ALL eaten yet), the ties are much appreciated, and the CD is great.

My birthday, since we're on the subject, was great. The branch held a pioneer picnic, which was a lot of fun - we went on a trek through the woods, had a watermelon eating contest (I was second place), had a balloon-toss (Elder Weaver and I were second place), and ate lots of food (I was second place; I'm pretty sure Elder Weaver ate more). I ate way too many slices of Sis. Myers' delicious peanut butter Texas sheet cake, which I adopted as my birthday cake :). It was also our branch president's birthday, so the branch sang to both of us.

Also on my birthday, at the risk of being irreverent, I asked Heavenly Father for a present - I only asked for one new investigator but he gave me two! (That upped our week total to four). We taught Jerry and Leann Saturday (after talking to them while tracting over a month ago). Interestingly, Leann has an aunt who loves the missionaries (I don't know if she's a member or not) and has been telling Leann to talk to missionaries and get a book from us for years. We're excited to teach them more. (Sadly, I'll be in Grand Rapids on trade-offs tomorrow while Elder Weaver and Elder Guedez teach them).

Another of our new investigators, Cindi, came to church with us on Sunday! She requested a copy of the Book of Mormon when she saw an ad for it on TV; she was feeling really depressed (she's been recently laid off) and thought it might help her out. She loved everything we taught and was excited to go to church again after years of not attending any church. We hope things continue to go well there.

I have to wrap it up here because I'm out of computer time. I know Jesus Christ leads this work. I'm so grateful for his patience with me and the grace by which He strengthens me each day. The Lord knows what kind of instrument he wants and needs and he'll make us into that! I love you all!

Elder Cloward

Another 5 Weeks in Zion!

Dear Family,

Hi! Best transfer news ever! I get to spend (at least) the next 5 weeks (it's a shortened transfer for missionaries who have to get home for school) in Hart! The best area in the mission (possibly the world)! I'll be keeping Elder Weaver for that time.

This last week went pretty well. We made some great progress with Robert, a 70-year old man we have been teaching. He prayed aloud (outside of mass) for the first time in his life last Thursday. We were encouraged that our Tuesday lesson on prayer had sunk in; he kept his commitment to pray about the Book of Mormon and he told us he's pretty sure it's true. Now we just have to help him understand what that answer means for him.

We also had some fun adventures with the toilet this weekend ... we're not sure why, but both Elder Weaver and I enjoyed a sleepless night filled with worship of the porcelain god. Thankfully (kind of), we didn't share a night - Elder Weaver hogged the toilet all Friday night and I had dibs for Saturday night. I don't think I have ever hated being sick more than I hate being sick on a mission. Canceling appointments, which are so hard to get in the first place, always ticks me off. But ... I suppose that's just the way it goes.

Not much else to report this week. I hope everything goes well with all of you.

Love you,
Elder Cloward

Sis. Meyers is Great! She Feeds Us Chocolate Cake (Almost)

Hi Family!

This was a pretty good week for us. I had an opportunity this week to have my first two trade-offs with my district with Elder Egan on Tuesday and then with Elder Hansen on Wednesday. I can't say I did a great job 'leading' the trade-off but I always enjoy working with other missionaries. Hopefully I'll get better at using trade-offs for improving our work as missionaries.

We did attend Gary's funeral this week. It was actually held at our church, which was wonderful, thanks to the efforts and offers of a wonderful branch member, Bro. Walborn, who has been a good friend (and across-the-street neighbor) of Gary's family for most of Gary's life. The church was as full as I have ever seen it (every single chair the branch owns was occupied and there were people standing in the back and in the hall). I had the privilege of playing the piano and organ during the service and Bro. Walborn did a great job conducting and later blessing the grave. Bro. Brown gave a wonderful lesson on the Plan of Salvation (to roughly 300 people, only 5 or 6 of whom are members of our church). It was a very nice funeral, very personal and a wonderful memorial for Gary. After the internment, the Methodist church in Shelby served a nice luncheon. We plan to visit with Gary's girlfriend and parents this week to see if there is anything more we can do for them and to invite them to learn more about the church into which Gary was planning to be baptized.

The best news I have to report is that Juan and Amalinalli, the Spanish couple we began teaching last week, attended church this week and very much enjoyed it. In addition to the two active members who speak Spanish, a Spanish-speaking couple was visiting from out of town, so they were all able to help Juan and Amalinalli feel very comfortable. Speaking of Spanish investigators, I also received an update on the Peruvian man I met in Grand Rapids last week. He has been taught several times and wants to join the church, but he'll have to do it in California, because he just moved there to stay with friends until his medical treatment is finished. He apparently told the missionaries that, since he is a periodista (he produces radio and television news broadcasts), he wants to help the church spread its message through his broadcast resources in Peru. I hope the tender mercies of the Lord allow me to see him again some day. But if not, I'm glad I got to spend a few hours with him on a Tuesday morning in downtown Grand Rapids.

And, in explanation of the subject line, Sis. Myers, affectionately called "Mama Myers" by the missionaries who love her, gave us some chocolate scones to bake for our breakfast this morning. They were delicious, and somewhat reminiscent of the Cosby children's infamous breakfast.

I love you all and am grateful for your prayers and support. Jesus Christ is the Savior; He will strenghthen and support us in every hardship and through every trial until we have become everything He knows we can! He has restored His church and the fulness of His gospel to the earth in this time! This is His work!

Love,
Elder Cloward

This Week In History

Me and a lame (or, rather, flightless) butterfly

Hello Family!

I'll start out with the sad news. Gary passed away yesterday, so we'll be attending his funeral some time in the next week. He was a very good man and I'm glad I was able to know him, even if it was only for a couple months. I look forward to visiting with him more on the other side.

Otherwise, things are going pretty well. Elder Weaver is great! It's a lot of fun working with a missionary who hasn't yet discovered that some missionaries are lazy and disobedient and who definitely doesn't want to be one of those missionaries anyway. We've been able to do a lot of good work.We found six new investigators this week; that's a record for my mission so far, so we were pretty excited about it. Unfortunately, only 3 1/2 of them speak English. We talked with a great Spanish couple on the street last week and have taught them twice last week. After reading the Book of Mormon after our first lesson, they had lots of questions and were very excited about learning more. I just wish we spoke the same language. I don't think I've taught them anything totally off-base yet, but it's kind of hard to tell when I'm guessing at all the words ... (Thanks for sending "Predicad mi Evangelio" mom, it helped a bunch.) They want to be baptized, though, so definitely more evidence that the Holy Ghost does the teaching if we do it right.


Elder Weaver y yo

I also had an awesome-miraculous experience while on a trade-off in Grand Rapids last Tuesday. Elder Lacock, one of the zone leaders, and I decided to spend the morning contacting in downtown Grand Rapids during the morning since we didn't have a lot going on. The first man we stopped told us he didn't speak English. So, I told him hablo un poquito Espanol and we started to speak with him. Once he realized who we were, he excitedly told us all about how he was just in Salt Lake as part of his vacation (he actually lives in Peru, not Michigan) and he LOVED it! As in, he wouldn't stop talking about it! He told us about how much he loved the temple and the special feeling he had there. He just sat at temple square all day and reflected and thought because he felt so good there. He asked us if there were any temples he could visit in Grand Rapids because he needed to do some more pondering! (I might also add that the Gift of Tongues was doing a lot of work here - Elder Lacock doesn't speak Spanish and neither do I, yet we understood everything he was saying!) He was especially excited to meet us and talk with us because he's stranded in Grand Rapids - it was his last stop on his US vacation but he tripped over a construction barrier and fractured his skull, so he has to stay in Michigan indefinitely getting medical treatment. He kept telling us that he was sure God sent us to him because he knows no one in Michigan and suddenly he had two friends! Anyway, he invited us to lunch and we accepted. On the way to McDonald's we met a man who was baptized the Saturday before into the Spanish branch in Grand Rapids! Ahora tenian tres amigos! We called the Spanish elders, who met us at McDonalds. Cinco amigos! As Elder Lacock recently updated me, he has now been taught twice and gone to church. Talk about someone prepared to accept the gospel ...

I love you all and hope all continues to be well with you.

Elder Cloward

P.S. Attached are pictures of Michigan country roads in summer,


Hart Lake, and


President and Sister Jones with the assistants and all the trainers and trainees.

I Have the Swine Flu!

Hi!
The subject line is a lie. That was just to get you excited about the contents of this email. Elder Weaver, my new, fresh-out-of-the-MTC companion, says he doesn't think he had swine flu, although his MTC companion, Elder Merrell, did. He does have a deep cough, though, which is apparently a symptom of the swine flu. If I sprout a curly tail, I'll know something strange is going on.

So, Elder Patrick Weaver is my new companion! He is from Gardnerville, Nevada, the last of eight children (his parents are almost as old as my grandparents), and awesome! He's sincerely excited about being a missionary and serving the Lord and the people of Michigan. It's a little intimidating to be a 'trainer', realizing that I am, so far, his only impression of "real" missionary work. I hope I do an all right job.

We had some very sad news this week - our top investigator, Gary, suffered a major heart attack Thursday night. When we visited him in the hospital Saturday night he was still non-responsive (he'd been semi-comatose since the heart attack) but we gave him a blessing and trust that things will be all right. Prayers on behalf of him and his family would be much appreciated.

We taught a new investigator this week who happened to know a lot about our church and our missionary program because he follows college football very closely. He told us all about missionaries who leave Utah football teams for two years and then come back and keep playing. He was also kind enough to pull out his college football magazine and rattle off BYU's season for me. Sounds like it should be a good one :).

When we started teaching him about the Book of Mormon, he briefly excused himself and returned the room a moment later with a stack of five Book of Mormons. He's never been taught by missionaries, but seems to have had significant contact with us or other church members over the years. It reminded me of a similar story I read in a church magazine once and of the moral of the magazine's story - we need to get the book(s) off of his shelf and into his heart.

It's a good time to be in the Michigan Lansing Mission. It's beautiful and warm (although very humid), and great things are happening this mission. We are working on stepping up to the challenge of truly becoming a "Preach My Gospel" Mission and reaping the harvest the Lord has promised us here.I know this is the Lord's work; He directs it and it must be done in His way.

Thanks for all your love and support.

Love,
Elder Cloward

Drive Time

Hello all!
I'll have to make it quick because we need to get on the road this morning.
Yesterday, zone conference, was excellent! I'm hoping the one I attend on Wednesday will also be excellent. You see, today we have to drive down to Battlecreek, where I will drop off Elder Tribett and pick up Elder Darley (who needs to meet up with his new companion, Elder Hermonat, in Harrison) and then drive up to Lansing. We'll spend the night in Lansing (as will the new missionaries who are flying in today) and then head up to zone conference in Harrison early Wednesday morning where we'll have trainer-orientation and learn which missionary will be our companion and then we'll attend the Harrison Zone Conference. After which we'll ride back down to Lansing and then I'll drive home with my mystery companion to Shelby.
So ... we've got to go wash the car and finish packing really quick.
Love you all!
elder Cloward

Hola!

I don't have much time to write, but we had a good week and I love you all! The definite high point of our week came yesterday when Gary came to church! He was the first investigator we've had there in two months. It was sort of an interesting testimony meeting but I think Gary enjoyed it; in any case he told us he was looking forward to seeing us again on Wednesday and he promised he'd stay for Sunday School next week.

We found four new investigators this week and at least three of them seem fairly promising. I'm excited to teach one of them - Andy - tomorrow because a member will be going with us who happens to know him very well. That's one thing that's convenient about being a missionary in such a small town area - everyone knows everyone so those you teach instantly have a friend to welcome them and help teach them.

We've been car-less for most of the week. If you'll recall, Elder Arroyo damaged the bumper pretty nicely a couple months ago. The body shop called Tuesday and asked us to bring our car in that day since they finally had our part in. We're getting it back today.

Elder Cloward

Pictures

A picture for y'all:

Elder Tribett and I rode the beautiful Hart-Montague bike trail to the Sanderson's where we had a branch activity planting a community garden.


Love you,
Elder Cloward

Hello all!

I may not have time for any individual replies, so I decided I'd better start with my newsy letter. Because there's a lot of crazy news!

So ... a couple of weeks ago President Jones told both Elder Tribett and me during interviews to get comfortable in Hart because we'll be staying for quite some time. And we were excited! Then President Jones came to our branch for a fireside and told all the members he intended to keep us both here for a while. And we were even more excited! Then President Jones called us for transfers on Friday morning.

When two missionaries will be staying together, President Jones doesn't bother calling them - the zone leaders do. So we were initially surprised to get a phone call from the mission office. "Oh no," I thought, "he's transferring me out of Hart."

I answer the phone. "Hi, President."

"Good morning, Elder Cloward. Am I on speaker phone?"

"You sure are."

"Good. Well, elders, I'm sorry to do this to you. Elder Cloward, you'll be staying in Hart. I'd have liked to have kept you there too, Elder Tribett, but I want Elder Cloward to train this transfer."

"Oh ... okay," I said. Elder Tribett turns to me and mouths, "What the heck?!"

"Elder Tribett, I bet you'd like to know where you're going." President Jones continues. "You'll be heading down to Paw Paw with Elder Thompson and Elder Baros."

So - that's our transfer news. Elder Tribett said all his goodbyes over the past few days and has been a little upset to be transferred after just six weeks. It seems he's not going to get to spend more than six weeks in any area.

This morning we went golfing with Brother Fuller and Brother Girardot, which is why we're emailing a little late (sorry mom). Anyway, there we were at the sixth hole when Elder Tribett, who has the phone, gets a call. He waves me over in the middle of a putt - "Elder Cloward! Get over here, quick!"

As I hurried over , I was surprised to hear President Jones' voice, yet again on speaker phone. "Elder Cloward, there's been a slight change of plans. The elders who were supposed to get here from the MTC this next Wednesday will be delayed at least two weeks because of a breakout of swine flu in the MTC. Elder Tribett will be staying with you for at least the next two weeks. We'll let you know more as soon as we know."

"Oh ... okay," I said. Elder Tribett pumps his fist and mouths, "Yes!"

So - that's our newer transfer news. I'll have to let you know what's going on when I know what's going on. Until then, Elder Tribett and I have to find things to do for the next several days, which, until this afternoon, I was planning to spend in Lansing.

Things continue to go fairly well here. Our best investigator, Gary, told us last night that he believes Joseph Smith was a prophet and he thinks he'd better get baptized. He doesn't want to do anything too quickly, but we're very optimistic. And we're working with a number of other people as well. Nobody in church this week, though. That's been tough for us. We'll keep working on it.

Have a fantastic week. Happy June!

Love,
Elder Cloward

Dropped Gators, Soccer, Food and Spanish

Hi All!

We've had sort of a rough week in Hart, but we're still plugging along. Two of my all-time favorite investigators, the old couple we were teaching, dropped us this week. It happens. They're still two of the nicest people in the world. We had two investigators committed to coming to church this week but they both changed their minds/plans. It would have been the first week Elder Tribett and I had an investigator in Sacrament meeting. We'll keep trying though.

We did have some fun this week. President Jones has encouraged us to attend local sports events since a large part of the community will be present. We went to the Shelby v. Hart girl's soccer game, which was intense! Hart is Shelby's biggest rival and we know a number of the girls on Shelby's team. After terrible calls by the ref and a dropped ball by Shelby's goalie Shelby came back to win it on a PK by one of the girls in our branch. It was a lot of fun.

In more spiritual news, we had an excellent time talking with Spanish investigators Sunday, accompanied by one of the Spanish-speakers in our branch. We talked with several people; no new investigators, but a couple of return appointments, which was fun.

I don't really know what else to write this week. We had a fun Memorial Day - a big family breakfast at the Hawleys and a picnic dinner at the Myers saw me eating more food than I've ever eaten in my life. Honestly. As a natural result, Elder Tribett and I are starting a diet today. I even used a measuring cup to pour my cereal. A 1 cup serving of Apple Jacks is hardly enough to get one's metabolism going. Ah well, I'll let you know how it goes. (We were inspired by Elder Tribett's purchase of a body fat-measuring scale.)

I love you all and am so glad to be doing what I'm doing. I know this work is led by Jesus Christ; He has overcome the world! That means we can at least overcome the little bumps along our individual roads, right?

Love,
Elder Cloward

I Lost at Football but I Feel Like a Million Bucks

Hola! (And also, HOLLA!)

How's it going? We didn't accomplish as much this week as we would have liked to but it was still a great week. It's time for the day-by-day play-by-play:

Monday: We golfed with two awesome members of our branch. I don't think anything could be funnier than watching our branch mission leader scream and beat the ground with his club. Except maybe every attempt I made at putting ... Bro. Fuller told me I should spend some time on the practice green ... At the end of preparation day, we taught a lesson entirely in Spanish for the first time! We mostly read from the pamphlet, but I bore my testimony in Spanish and talked a little bit. I even understood a joke the sister told. We read: "Cual es mi proposito en esta vida?" And she responded, "Comer!" [What is my purpose in life? - To eat!] It was a good lesson. Hopefully, though, we'll have an actual Spanish speaker with us next time.

Tuesday: I saw Cambria and Eric! I was totally taken by surprise as someone who was not an old lady hugged me for the first time in months! Jeff wrote me an email and informed me my call has been revoked because of my blatant disobedience! Yikes! Oh well, seeing them was worth it. The performance was really fun and we actually had a part-member family there with us, for whom it was a really great experience. (Attached is a terrible picture of Cambria, Eric, and me).




Wednesday: Half-mission activity day! This is where I lost at kickball. I let the whole Grand Rapids zone down by missing a fly ball. We lost 11-4. It was my fault. Also, I tripped during the 3-legged race. Elder Tribett has officially decided that I am the clumsiest person he has ever met. (Attached is a picture of the Grand Rapids zone. And yes, I do heart G.R. If you have a hard time spotting me, I'm in the upper right hand corner.)


Thursday: We taught a couple great lessons. One was with my favorite 80-year-olds in the world. They told us they are very attached to their church (they've been attending since childhood) but they love talking with us and they are praying to know if the Book of Mormon is true. They are about the nicest people I have ever met! Also on Thursday, we talked with a man who was in Michigan for just a week of work - he normally lives in Chiappas, Mexico. In our broken Spanish, we talked with him about the Book of Mormon, which he recognized. He was very excited when we gave him a copy. (In my terrific Spanish: "El libro de Mormon. Para usted. Gratis.")

Friday: We went to a wedding reception and buried a dog. Completely unconnected events.

Saturday: We tracted ALL DAY LONG but it was fantastico! We found lots of new contacts, taught a new investigator, and didn't even get sick of it :). Elder Tribett is the best!

Sunday: No investigators in church (we were really hoping for a couple this week) but we had a fantastic missionary fireside with President Jones in the evening. We only had about 20 people there but they all enjoyed President Jones inspiring words and my cookies and accepted our challenge to share a Book of Mormon with a friend by the end of May. (Feel free to accept this same challenge).

I'm loving Hart and hoping I get to stay. The third picture is the obligatory tank in Shelby (I'm pretty sure most Michigan cities have one). I don't know if I've sent you a picture of it before.



Love you all,
Elder Cloward