Crepes are Delicious

Hi! It turns out my reports of melting snow came a little too soon. We got about 5-6 inches on Saturday and it's been too cold to melt yet. I think it's supposed to get a bit warmer by the middle of the week. We'll see. In any case, they canceled church because of the snow. Elder Sodenkamp and I received permission from the Branch President to take the Sacrament in our apartment, which was nice. Still, we would have rather had church, since we have two newly-baptized members of the church who still have not received the Gift of the Holy Ghost.

President and Sister Jones spent a little time with us on Friday to inspect our apartment and have interviews. We passed our inspection! All except for the old rusty bike without wheels sitting on our balcony. We have to get rid of it. I thought it was rather picturesque ...

But, anyhoodles, interviews were great - President Jones has a way of making me feel like a good missionary, a feeling which normally lasts at least 20 minutes before I once again realize that I still have no idea what I'm doing :). President reaffirmed my assumption that I will be transferred the second week of March. I'll be really sad to leave Oscoda because I've really grown to love this branch, but I'm excited for new opportunities and new people. Thankfully, President also said he needs to have me getting some more experience so I'll be ready to train and lead later. Which, I assume means I won't be training or leading next transfer! I don't think I'd mind being a trainer, but I don't really look forward to opportunities in leadership, so it's nice to know I've got a little time before I have to deal with that.

Elder Sodenkamp made crepes for me this week, which I thought I should mention because they were delicious! He taught me to spread jelly on them and roll them (I've only ever had them folded over with fruit in the middle). And I taught him that Nutella is amazing.

And that's the whole barrel of monkeys. Well, actually, I suppose it's not. But, really, all of the monkeys are pretty much the same, so I figure I don't need to tell you about all of them :). The work continues to go forward and I'm doing my best to follow President's and the Lord's counsel to act for myself and not be acted upon (see 2 Nephi 2) by changing what I have power to change (mostly just myself) and letting the Lord worry about the rest.

I love you all,
Elder Cloward

Whoosh!

Super quick email this week!

Sunday was a little disappointing because we didn't have any investigators in church, nor were our newly baptized members able to come for their confirmations so we'll have those next week. Things come up, I guess.

Our car's currently in the body shop, so we're doing LOTS of walking again. At least temperatures are sticking in the 20s. It could definitely be worse.

I did a lot of cleaning yesterday because we're having an apartment inspection this Friday! We also have interviews with President Jones, which I always look forward to.

And pictures:

1 - Mr. Peanut, a cute little dog a member owns.


2 - Yep, I'm in Oscoda! Love the mitt.



3 and 4(the picture up top) - Iargo Springs. Just about the prettiest spot in Michigan.

Love y'all,
Elder Cloward

Snow Is Melting!

Hello family!

I'm excited to announce that the end of winter is finally in sight. Although it's definitely not over, we did get a bit of thawing and melting this weekend with temperatures in the 30s and 40s and it even rained this morning! Hallelujah!

I'm emailing today because we had zone conference yesterday, so they bumped our preparation day over. Zone conference was fantastic; it always does so much to uplift me and get me re-energized for the work. The focus this transfer is on effective teaching and teaching by the Spirit. I definitely have a lot of work to do, but I was really grateful for all the pointers we received. I was asked to do a musical number for zone conference, so I played an arrangement of "An Angel From On High". The Assistants to the President called and asked if I would play something last Friday night. They're always great about giving me lots of notice. In any case, I got permission to look online for music and to spend some time practicing. So it went all right.

The highlight of the week was definitely the baptism on Sunday. Everything went really well. Staci and Courtney, the girls we baptized, had a lot of support from family and branch members. Elder Valentine and his companion, Elder Turner, even made it up from Midland in time for the closing prayer. Staci and Courtney were really excited to have him there, so it was neat. It's been very rewarding to see them progress and learn so quickly. Elder Valentine and I knocked on their door and asked them if they would like to learn what their oldest sister had been taught and accepted on the very first day I served in the Oscoda branch.

I think that's about the long and the short of it. I love you all and hope you have a wonderful Valentine's day filled with commercialistic romance and the stench of capitalistic sentimentality. (Speaking of which, thanks for the package!)

Love,
Elder Cloward

Hospitals & Venison

Fig. 2: Our dashing district (last transfer). Row 1 (l to r): Elder Stayner (who lives on Emerson Ave and who is our new district leader!), Elder Moi, Elder Sodenkamp. Row 2: Elder Farley, Elder Fortuna (our old district leader), Elder Darley.

Talofa!

We had a little bit of unusual excitement this week, which I think I will present through a wonderful array of meals/foods. What an exciting lens through which we can view our lives!

Taco Soup: We had a delicious dinner at the Calkins, a now-active family. We'll actually be there again for Jeff's birthday tonight! He received the priesthood last Sunday and had the opportunity to bless the Sacrament for the first time yesterday. We are hoping to invite his nonmember dad to take the lessons. They're one of my favorite families!

Honey: While knocking doors on a country road up in Mikado, we noticed a country honey store. Since Elder Sodenkamp is a little bit obsessed with honey, we stopped in and talked for a while with the kindly proprietor of said store. She gave us a sample of raw honey, which was amazing! (Did you know store-bought honey is pasteurized, which kills the good-for-you enzymes in honey and takes away a lot of the flavor? Pasteurization does nothing for the sanitariness of honey, it merely prevents crystallization). Anyway, she talked us into buying a lot of honey. As in, I'll have to transfer with it for the rest of my mission. At least it's tasty!

Lasagna: We taught two of the three sisters this last Thursday, prefaced by a lasagna dinner provided by our branch mission leader's family. Two will for sure be baptized this Sunday! Elder Sodenkamp and I will each baptize one of them and then we will switch for their confirmations next week. Their older sister told us she does want to be baptized but she's still scared and thinks Sunday is a little too soon. We're crossing our fingers for three baptisms this Sunday, but we're happy to wait until she's ready.

Water: Caused Elder Sodenkamp to vomit explosively! Saturday morning, around 2 he woke up and started vomiting and having awkward bowel movements. These continued all day. So, we went to the ER (50 miles away in Alpena) where he got an IV because he was pretty dehydrated.
Fig. 4: Elder Sodenkamp, gowned and IV'd.

Venison Steak: What I ate for dinner Saturday night! The Averys had given us a couple of frozen venison steaks, so since I had plenty of time while Elder Sodenkamp was laid up, I decided to try it out. I'm personally not much of a steak fan anyway, but I liked the venison at least as much as I've ever liked any beef steak. I didn't notice the "gamey" flavor everyone talks about, but I had marinated it in honey barbecue sauce (made from real raw honey!) for a couple of days.

Baked Spaghetti: Well, Sunday, we went to church (Yay!) but only for Sacrament meeting, since Elder Sodenkamp, although feeling better, didn't want to get everybody sick or over do it. The three sisters were there, and we spoke with them briefly before heading back home to rest. As I still had a lot of time on my hands I read 1 Nephi and made myself a delicious dinner of Baked Spaghetti (WAY better than I thought it would be!), Spicy Nutmeg Carrots (thank you back of the McCormick Nutmeg bottle!), Garlic Toast (thanks Sis. Schwinck!), peaches, and a glass of orange juice. I felt rather healthy and accomplished. :)

Things are well. I love you all, oh, and some photos are attached.

Elder Cloward

Explanation of attached photos:
Fig. 1: Look what Elder Sodenkamp did to our car!

Fig. 3: Lake Huron, Tawas Bay