Mattress Delivery and Burmese Immigrants

Hallo Familie!

Yet another busy week. I can probably stop beginning my emails that way. From henceforth, please assume I had a busy week. I will no longer include this detail in my weekly emails. :)

We had companion exchanges Wednesday and Friday. Wednesday I was down at Western Michigan University with Elder Maxwell Merritt. He's from somewhere in Davis County. We had a really fun day on campus there; I got a sticker and a pen! We also were able to set up four return appointments with students and taught four lessons. They're doing some really good work down there; I was impressed. Elder Merritt helped me catch a little bit of his fire for the work, which I definitely appreciated. Friday I spent with Elder Brad Sodenkamp in Portland. It was fun to spend the day with him since we served together over a year ago now. We had a few good lessons. They're doing well applying the Lansing Stake's direction to follow Elder Perry's instructions for ward missions. Their whole zone is doing fantastic, largely due to the support of the Stake (as well as some really faithful missionaries and leaders who encourage and support them). 8 out of 10 areas taught 18 lessons or more this week (the Stake and mission have a standard of 20) and one area - the St. Johns branch - taught 44 lessons!

We also got to spend 5 or 6 hours driving from area to area in the Kalamazoo zone delivering mattresses on Thursday. It was a good time. I actually really enjoyed being able to see some of the Spring colors, especially down near Lake Michigan in South Haven and St. Joseph. It's a beautiful part of the country!

The work continues to go well here at MSU. We started teaching a girl this week who is getting baptized on Saturday. She has been taught by the St. Johns elders (where her boyfriend lives) and by the Holt elders (where she lives) but she decided she wants to be baptized in the Young Single Adult ward (where we live). Her name is Mika Rotman; she's a really nice girl and will be a great addition to our ward.

We had an awesome experience yesterday. We received a referral from the Lansing elders, who had met three siblings on a bus. They said they would love to have the missionaries come by some time - their father was a pastor in their home country, Burma. Due to a misunderstanding, the Lansing elders thought their dad was still back in Myanmar, so they sent us, since we teach any interested young adults. We stopped by yesterday, and Peter Khen, the father, greeted us at the door. He speaks very little English, but saw the name "Jesus Christ" on our name badges and invited us in. An immigrant family of ten, they were the most hospitable people I have ever met. They gave us seats on their couch, some of the only furniture in the room, and asked us to share with them about Jesus Christ. We explained, through one of his sons, who interpreted, the basics of the message of the restoration. They were very interested to have a copy of the Book of Mormon in their own language, zomi-chin. (I'm not sure if this is equivalent with Burmese, which may or may not be the name of a language. We'll find out, though, and we're hopeful that the Book of Mormon, or portions of it, has been translated into their language.) After we talked, they brought out a table and served us coffee and delectable French toast (made a little differently than I've had it before). They were initially confused that we refused the coffee, but served us Pepsi instead once we explained that it was for religious reasons. (I detest colas, I think that might have been the second Pepsi of my life, but I figured it was better to just politely accept). As we were about to leave, Peter Khen asked us to pray for him and his family, who all came in and sat around on the floor. The Lansing elders will be visiting them again next Sunday.

I love you all! Thanks for all your prayers and support! I truly do feel the blessings of heaven that come my way because of your faith. Thank you!

Love,
Elder Cloward

P.S. The pictures are ...
#186 - Our ride. A 2010 Dodge Grand Caravan. Elder Barney's the soccer mom; I'm just his little MVP.

#188 - Our other ride. We drive her for transfers and - this week - mattress deliveries.


#195 - I got bored while we were driving mattress around ...

A Round-the-State Trip down Memeroy Lane

Who wouldn't want a picture with this sign?

Hi Family!

Another great and very busy week!

Tuesday morning, after our weekly meeting with President Jones, we headed up to Mt. Pleasant for our first trade-off of the week. I stayed with Elder Tyler Merrell at CMU (Central Michigan University). We had a terrific day on campus; tons of people were willing to talk to us and many of them set up appointments with the elders. We also got to teach a girl I knew (I watched her team play soccer once or twice) through a member family in Shelby. The elders ran into her on campus and she said she had some Mormon friends and would be willing to learn more. She's been taught several times and we had a really solid lesson with her. She seemed very intent on finding out for herself if the Book of Mormon and the message of the restored gospel are true.

Wednesday Elder Barney drove back up with Elder Taylor (with whom he'd been on a trade-off) and picked me up so we could drive to Petoskey for another trade-off. I spent the day in Petoskey with Elder Brad Knutson. We saw a few of their potential investigators, taught a few lessons, and did a good spot of finding. It was fun to be back in that area one more time.


Little Traverse Bay in Petoskey

Thursday we wrapped up our trade-off and then drove down to Grand Rapids in the afternoon. Construction all over the place made the trip exceedingly pleasant. We picked up an elder who was being transferred from Grand Rapids, drove a car over to Muskegon, and then took the transferring elder up to Hart, which will be his new area. Through some planning, finagling, and a stroke of luck, we were also able to have dinner there in Shelby with the Myers' and Walborns, which was delicious and very fun. I also briefly stopped by at the Garcias. It would have been nice to have a lot of time and to have been able to visit everybody I knew in that area, but I was happy just getting to be there again for a few hours. It was hard to believe I was there a whole year ago.

Friday morning we had a study with the Grand Rapids zone leaders and then (finally) made it back to Lansing. We had a few good lessons.

Saturday was Lindsey's baptism! It went really well; I've included some pictures:
Elder Barney, Lindsey, and me
Lindsey with her parents


Elder Barney, Lindsey, and me


The members who participated, giving talks and testimony, did a great job; I think Lindsey was able to feel very loved and wanted as a part of our ward. She'll be a great asset. It's been really fun to watch and help her take hold of the gospel. She's happier than she's ever been and her parents have really recognized it too. (They're great people, by the way. We've had dinner with them and visited with them several times.)

Sunday Lindsey was confirmed a member of the Church and received the Holy Ghost. Also exciting!

So ... that was our week. Here's hoping for an even better one.

Love you all,
Elder Cloward

Another Week in Paradise

Hello Family!

We had a very busy and very good week. The most exciting part was probably this weekend's baptism and confirmation. We had a great baptismal service for Levi on Saturday. We had a pretty good turnout from the ward and a lot of his family members were there. The Spirit was really strong and some really good talks were given. I've included a picture. Sunday during priesthood meeting, Levi was asked to bear his testimony; it was amazing! He said he didn't know for sure how he would feel after being baptized and he was a little surprised by the comprehensive sense of serenity and peace he felt. He is going far!

We also had zone conferences in Mt. Pleasant and Grand Rapids this Wednesday and Friday. I learned some really good things; the Spirit was strong in both of them. Sister Jones gave an awesome talk about things as they really are (see Jacob 4:13). She shared the story of her son Chris' high school basketball experience. He faced a lot of opposition but he always kept in mind his goal of being a successful basketball player and he did what he had to do, even when it was hard, in order to reach that goal. It was an apt allegory for the struggles we have as a mission. I've also been thinking a lot about a talk that was given Wednesday by Brother Lyndon Robison, a former mission president who lives in the Lansing Stake. He talked about the Atonement and about love as the motive for and result of the Atonement. I learned a ton about the doctrine of the Atonement of Christ in just a half hour. And I'm continuing to learn as I reflect on it!

We had a few other really great lessons this week. Our Chinese investigator, Ivy, is way fun to teach. She gave the opening prayer the other day! (She didn't believe in God - at all - a week ago.) She had prayed the night before too. When we asked her how she felt as she prayed, she said it was like having fresh air go through her soul. It's so exciting to help someone make their first steps in recognizing the presence of the Holy Ghost! Other lessons with Ashley and Lindsey also went well. Lindsey is excited and prepared for her baptism this Saturday and Ashley came to the baptism this last weekend. She is starting to take our teaching really seriously and I think she's excited, if nervous, about continuing to learn more and come closer to Christ through the restored gospel.

I love you all! Jesus is the Christ! This is His work!

Elder Joseph Cloward

ZLC, GC and Companion Exchanges

Hi Family!

It's been another busy week! Here's the wrap-up!

Tuesday: Zone leader council. Elder Barney and I held a 45-minute zone leader orientation beforehand, since 7 out of 10 zone leaders were new enough that they had never been to a ZLC before. (President Jones canceled the ZLC that had been scheduled for the beginning of the month - we generally have them monthly). We started teaching a nice Chinese girl named Ivy, who we taught a second time yesterday between sessions of general conference. She calls herself an atheist but she describes herself in terms of agnosticism. She is super curious, though, about Christianity and asks a ton of questions, which makes our lessons a lot of fun for us.

Wednesday: I brought Elder Perazzo, one of the Grand Rapids zone leaders, for an exchange at MSU. We had a great day, with five fantastic lessons - two of which were taught to investigators with a baptismal date, and a lot of good finding. We saw a fun T-shirt a girl was wearing that inspired my new motto. On the back, her shirt read: "Man up. Do work." That evening, we had dinner with Lindsey, who is being baptized on the 17th, and her parents. It was great to meet her dad and to be able to answer her parents' questions. They're great people; although they don't necessarily agree with Lindsey's decision to be baptized, they have encouraged her to do what she feels is right and never stop asking questions. Great advice from any parent!

Thursday: Among other things, we had a great lesson with Charles on the word of wisdom. We were nervous he wouldn't receive it well, but he seemed to really enjoy the lesson and committed to live accordingly. He's still planning on baptism in a few weeks on April 24th.

Friday: I went down to WMU (Western Michigan University) for a trade-off with Elder Riley. He is so cool. It was fun to get the perspective of working on a different campus. We had a really awesome lesson with a student from Burkina Faso. He converted to Christianity in his youth, causing his animist parents to completely disown him. Intense.

Saturday and Sunday: General conference was great! It's hard to pick a favorite talk, but I probably most enjoyed President Uchtdorf's comments on patience in the priesthood session. Overall, I felt very much that the Spirit was telling me that I need to develop greater charity. I still have so much more love that I could give to others. This was just one answer to a question I asked going into conference - "what lack I yet?" Lindsey and Levi were both able to attend multiple sessions of conference (Levi seemed particularly impressed by the priesthood session, and rightfully so). We rounded out our weekend with a delicious Easter dinner with President and Sister Jones and their son Nick, who was visiting with his family from Illinois.

Love,
Elder Cloward