Another Week in Paradise

Hi family!

Sorry I don't have a ton of time to write this week. I spent most of my email time trying to figure out what in the world I've got to do in order to be able to advance register for fall classes in a couple of weeks. It's a little bit challenging when everything is online and I only get an hour of internet use each week. Registration doesn't end until April, though, so I'm not stressing about it just yet. At least not too much. :)

This was a great week. I think I'll just share a few of my favorite experiences.

Saturday morning, I went with Elder Rawlings to teach our Chinese friend, Xifu. He had been reading the Book of Mormon and had lots of questions, which always makes a lesson more fun. We talked about how the only way to know if the book is true is to pray and ask God. Xifu had not prayed before, so we taught him some of the basic steps of prayer and then he offered the best prayer I've ever heard in my life. The Spirit powerfully filled the room as he sincerely asked the Lord if the Book of Mormon was true and as he asked God to help him understand the things he is studying in English because the culture and language in the United States are so foreign to him. It was one of the best lessons I've ever been a part of as a missionary.

Lindsey, a girl we've taught the past few weeks, is doing really well. She is planning to be baptized on April 17th but is having some real challenges because her parents aren't exactly thrilled about it. Her mom is okay with it after we met with her and Lindsey both last week, but her dad hates the idea. In spite of some arguments they've had, she continues to tell us that she's feeling happier than she has ever felt in her life, she loves coming to church, and she knows that the things we are teaching are true. She was in church yesterday and got a priesthood blessing because she was feeling sick.

We began teaching a member's boyfriend named Levi this week. He's way cool! He has already read a lot of the Book of Mormon and believes that it is true. He said that our message makes a lot of sense. I'm excited to see him again this Wednesday. Should be a good lesson.

Love you all! Thanks for all your support!

Love,
Elder Cloward

P.S. Plus: pictures with the new missionaries (above) and the Kalamazoo elders' car buried in the snow!

Mandarin and Korean but mostly just English

Hi family!

We had a great week. Here are some highlights for you:


I got to have a trade-off with Elder Taylor back in Bay City, which was really fun. It felt strange to be so at-home on a trade-off. I was glad to see a few of the people I knew while serving there, especially since we got to teach Jake and Christian, who were baptized in December and January. I wish I could have gone on a trade-off with both Elder Taylor and Elder Smith, since I've served with both of them before, but I guess that's all right. They're doing so well together and tearing it up in Bay City!
It's snowing right now. I guess that's all right, since it's still February and we've had a really warm week (up to the low 40s) otherwise.

I had a blast in a lesson last night with a Chinese couple. They had been taught previously by the other MSU elders who were transferred out. Xhifu is a student from Beijing studying abroad at State. His wife Jan-Wei is here with him. They speak English fairly well and understood us as long as we spoke slowly and clearly. Christianity is very new to them but they are fascinated by it and have lots and lots of questions. They've been reading the Bible together. We answered some of their questions about Jesus Christ's relationship to God the Father and helped them understand that Jesus Christ is Jehovah, or the God of the Old Testament. We also shared with them Joseph Smith's First Vision experience and a copy of the Book of Mormon, which Xhifu seemed very excited to read. I'm only disappointed because we'll have to let the Williamston elders teach them, since they serve in a family ward.
Saturday night we had a great lesson with a student from Korea named Jin. He grew up in the church but is currently agnostic; he finds it hard to believe anything he cannot see or that cannot be proven to him scientifically. His friend Edward, also from South Korea, joined us. Edward told us he has been searching for peace in his life because he has a terrible relationship with his father. He started with Buddhism because that is his family's traditional way of belief, but he didn't feel like it was helping him, so he converted to Catholicism about a month ago. We talked with them about the nature of God and His relationship with us, His children. We had a great discussion, and I feel like we all benefited from it. Afterward, Jin took us out to dinner because he's loaded. He actually took us out on Tuesday too (to a delicious Indian restaurant!).
I can't think of much more to share. I love the gospel of Jesus Christ! And I love you!

Elder Cloward

The Craziest Week of My Mission

Hi!

Wow. I'm so glad I survived this week. It was crazy. Let me tell you all about it.

Monday: A sunny and beautiful - if cold - day. We drove the transfer van from Lansing to Battlecreek to Kalamazoo to Grand Rapids to Lansing. After dinner, we filled up with gas and got everything ready for the next transfer day.

Tuesday: The worst day of the winter. Lots of snow. Elder Barney drove the transfer van, but I followed him in various minivans/cars that we were transporting around the mission. We drove from Lansing to Mt. Pleasant back to Lansing, and then from Lansing to Grand Rapids to Kalamazoo to Battlecreek and back to Lansing. We had a wonderful evening at the mission home with the departing missionaries. We shared our testimonies, ate good food, and then had an emergency transfer meeting with President Jones. It turned out that we needed to make some adjustments to the transfer; we decided to make those on Friday.

Wednesday: We got up at 3 to take the departing missionaries to the airport in Flint. It was a crazy drive. We rode back with President and Sister Jones, did a little missionary work, and then got ready to head back to Flint to pick up the new missionaries. Only, they missed their connecting flight out of Atlanta. So we found some more people to teach for a couple hours while we waited for news. They finally got in at 7:30. We brought them back to the Mission Home and did some preliminary orientation. We had to put off more of it until the next day since it was already 10:30 by the time we left.

Thursday: We held some more orientation with the new missionaries. Afterward, we headed over to the Stake Center to do some orientation with their trainers while the new missionaries met the office staff. I really enjoyed the trainers' orientation; there was a very good spirit in the meeting. President Jones read a quote from President Monson that made me cry. It was kind of embarrassing, but it was very good. President Monson talked about how much he loves seeing missionaries say goodbye to their parents in the MTC - seeing dad in a wrinkled, old suit and shoes that might have a hole in the sole, looking proudly at his son in a handsome new suit and polished new shoes. President Jones emphasized to us and the trainers that the missionaries have a family back home praying for them every day, and in many cases, praying for their companion, and especially for their trainer. Thank you all for your prayers. I feel the blessings that come from them. I know that God hears our prayers.

Anyway, after the meeting, we took Elder Merrell (one of the trainers) and Elder Ames (his new trainee) to Kalamazoo. And then drove back to Lansing.

Friday: We made some adjustments to transfers, driving from Lansing to Kalamazoo to Grand Rapids to Lansing. On the way from Grand Rapids to Lansing, President Jones called with some more changes that needed to be made with the transfer. Thankfully, he did the driving for the three companionships affected. Sister Fredline, who has worked in the mission office for basically forever, said this has been the craziest transfer she's ever seen. I figure if I can handle this week, I can handle anything they throw at me, right?

Saturday: We just did missionary work. It was awesome! We had a lesson with Alex, a young man in the ward, and invited him to invite one of his friends to be taught by us. He said he would. To our surprise, he called us that night and had us come teach his girlfriend, Lindsey. Long story short, after coming to church yesterday and meeting with us again, she wants to be baptized. So, she's preparing for baptism on March 6th. Pretty cool.

Love you all,
Elder Joseph Cloward

So Much Driving

Elder Cloward with Elder Taylor

Hi family!

This has been a crazy week. Lots of driving. And the coming week will involve even more.

Tuesday morning, Elder Taylor and I loaded up my stuff and headed down to Lansing. We had to stop in Midland to pick up an extra car that we needed to bring down to the mission office. I drove the other car and followed Elder Taylor down. It was weird to be driving by myself for the first time in almost a year and a half. We had Zone Leader Council in Lansing, at which I gave a little training, my first assignment as a new assistant, and after lunch at Chipotle (yum!) I headed off with my new companions, Elder Jake Packer and Elder Danny Barney.

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday we had transfer meetings with President Jones. It was very interesting to be on that side; President Jones presented his plan for the upcoming transfer and then asked us what we thought about different potential companionships or how the work was going in different areas. We had some added complications to figure out because we rearranged the districts (again) and reworked car distributions. (All district leaders have full-time cars and almost everybody else has a car on a rotating basis). I'm excited for how much I'll learn about church administration and government by working so closely with President Jones.

Wednesday I got to meet Eric, who the elders here started teaching last week. They had set up a lesson with a member, who then invited Eric to join. He loved what was taught. In fact, on Wednesday, we set a baptismal date with him for February 27th. We had another lesson with him Sunday morning and he attended church in the afternoon (the student ward meets from 1-4) and loved it. He's really excited about the restored gospel and loves reading and discussing passages from the Book of Mormon and the Bible. Very cool.

A note on our living situation. We have an apartment at the LDS Living Center, which is officially "on-campus" living at MSU. It's fun to be living in the same building with half of our ward; it makes it very convenient when we need to go with someone to a lesson. There are three other missionary companionships that live in the building, although that will soon be cut down by one. Previously, there have been two companionships working the MSU campus - the assistants plus another set - but since we're currently short on missionaries, it will be just us for the next six weeks.

So, driving. On Friday, I got to watch a fun and exciting (not) safety video on driving the transfer van and its trailer and then took a practice run out to Dewitt and back. I was nervous to be driving something so big, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I only curbed the trailer once (and that was in the parking lot on the way out). Friday night we drove up to Cheboygan for a baptism. Elder Packer baptized a man he had taught when serving up in Sault Ste. Marie over a year ago. From Cheboygan, we drove up to Sault Ste. Marie (which is half in Canada) and spent the night with the elders before heading back to Lansing Saturday morning. I was fried by the time we got home. But we taught a bunch of good lessons anyway and that was that.


A couple pictures from crossing the Mackinac Bridge from the UP back to the lower peninsula


At 1:00 today, we'll pull out of Lansing driving the transfer van. I get to drive today from Lansing to Battlecreek to Kalamazoo to Grand Rapids and back to Lansing. Tomorrow we'll drive the same loop again but throw in an additional run up to Mt. Pleasant and back. Wednesday, we've got to drive out to the Flint airport and back twice - the first time to see off the departing elders and sisters and the second time to pick up the arriving missionaries. Thursday, we've got to drive all of the trainers and their new companions back to their areas after doing orientation Wednesday night and Thursday morning. It's going to be a crazy week.

Anyway, I won't bore you with any more particulars. I love you all. The gospel is true. Jesus Christ lives and leads His church.

Love,
Elder Cloward

You just got Lansing'd!

Hello Family!

I've had a really great week here in Bay City with Elder Taylor, we've been very busy. We had trade-offs and business all over the zone this week. Tuesday, we drove to Alma, where I left Elder Taylor and then spent the day with Elder Lyons (who went to Bennion, Bryant, and East) in Bay City. Wednesday, we drove to Mt. Pleasant for a district meeting and then I went with Elder Jordan Hansen to Harrison for the day. (Harrison is beautiful! And very cold!) Thursday we were done with trade-offs but had to drive to Caro to do a baptismal interview, which went very well. Baptismal interviews are one of my absolute favorite things to do as a missionary; it's so exciting to have someone share with you their newly found testimony of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ!

In other news, Sacrament Meeting was incredible yesterday! We had a small attendance, which was disappointing, but the Spirit there was very strong. Sister Andrea Klopf gave a talk on "worthiness". I felt strongly that as I maintain a focus on the temple I will have the power to resist all temptation because worthiness to enter the temple will be my most carefully-guarded possession. Elder Taylor and I performed "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief" with two of the young men and Brother and Sister Schindler accompanying (he on the cello and she on the piano). I didn't really feel nervous, but I started to shake a bit, so I'm not sure how great my solo first verse sounded. We performed the same number later at a missionary fireside we held last night. I was glad to have a re-do because I felt I sang much better the second time. The Schindlers videotaped it, so it may or may not be on YouTube sometime soon ...

President Jones called Friday morning. I answered the phone. "Hello, President."

"Hi, Elder Cloward."

"How are you, President?"

"Great, thanks. I'm transferring you to MSU. You just got Lansing'd!"

All right. Maybe that's not quite how it went down. In any case, I'm going down to MSU tomorrow, where I'll be serving with Elder Barney (and Elder Packer; regular transfers don't happen for another week, so Elder Packer's got a week before he goes home). I'll be serving as an Assistant to the President. I've got kind of mixed feelings about it. I'm definitely going to miss Bay City a ton. I knew it wasn't likely, but I was really hoping to stay with Elder Taylor for another transfer. I'm really nervous about serving at MSU; it will be very different to teach no one but college-aged young men and women, although it should be fun. In any case, I'm grateful the Lord allowed me six months in Bay City. I have learned and grown so much here. I am so grateful for the miracle of a mission!

I love you all and pray that God will continue to bless you!

Have a great week,
Elder J. Cloward

I Lost My Favorite Pens

Hello family!

We had a pretty good week here in Bay City. Here are a few of the highlights and lowlights:

Highlight: We taught 20 lessons this week. I'm hoping we're getting into a good rhythm where we'll be able to sustain this as our average in the area and work our way up from there. It has been very rewarding to do more teaching; I wish I had understood the importance of teaching regularly at the outset of my mission. Elder Holland says a teaching missionary is a happy missionary and I believe him.

Lowlight: I lost two pens. They were Zebra F-301 planner pens, which are probably used more widely in the Celestial Kingdom than anywhere else. The unfortunate part was that I just bought them the week before.

Highlight: Ward Conference was excellent. President Jones, the Stake President, gave a fantastic talk in which he discussed the various ways in which Jesus Christ succors us or runs to our aid. How privileged we are when we allow ourselves, through our obedience and our closeness to His Spirit, to be His means of succoring another.

Lowlight: I can't think of another lowlight.

Highlight: We started teaching a cage fighter. His name is Patrick. He's got a couple of broken ribs.

Lowlight: I ran out of bananas so I couldn't have one on my cereal this morning.

Highlight: Today is preparation day and I will buy more bananas!

Another highlight: Elder Taylor is amazing. He has specifically challenged me to be more confident. I've really enjoyed our discussions and studies about where our confidence comes from. Preach My Gospel states (and I'm quoting from memory so I might get it wrong): "remember that your confidence should be in Christ, not in yourself." As I read the words and account of Nephi in the Book of Mormon, I'm consistently impressed by his confidence, which comes entirely from His knowledge that the Lord has all power and all knowledge. (I apologize if I mentioned this last week. I'm still reading Nephi's account this week.)

And I can't think of anything else newsworthy.

Love you all,
Elder Cloward

The Book of Mormon

Hello family!

We've had another Book of Mormon-centric week here in Michigan. We had a great zone conference on Wednesday. President Jones gave each of us a softcover copy of the Book of Mormon with an assignment to read it twice by August 1. Between now and April general conference, we are to read it, marking in red each reference to Jesus Christ, His attributes, or His words. Elder Taylor and I have additionally been reading a chapter together each evening. President Jones' program (a suggestion in Preach My Gospel) was first used by President Marion D. Hanks, who had his missionaries use it in England when Elder Quentin L. Cook and Elder Jeffrey R. Holland were serving as missionary companions. (Elder Cook was head of the missionary department when Preach My Gospel was produced - I'm sure some of President Hanks' other wisdom is included in the manual as well).

Our week wasn't quite as exciting as we wanted it to be. Elder Taylor has been helping me improve by encouraging us to confirm appointments the night before so we spend less time going to people's homes when they have forgotten they were going to meet with us. In spite of that, we had almost every investigator call us an hour or two before their scheduled appointment to cancel this week. It seems like everybody and their dog is sick in Bay City.

Still, we had a pretty good attendance in Sacrament Meeting, with a lot of people that haven't been in a while, including a number of people that we have been teaching. It is so rewarding to see people improve themselves as they immerse themselves in the gospel of Jesus Christ. I have never seen anything in all my life that has such incredible power to ennable positive change. The gospel has all the answers the people of the world are seeking.

Additionally, I've reflected a lot on the significance of the family. We meet and work with so many people whose problems arose because they had a negative family environment (and sometimes no family environment at all). The world needs strong families more than anything else right now and I am confident that "happiness in family life is more likely to be acheived when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ" (Proclamation to the World on the Family).

I love you and I'm so grateful for the strong family that you are!

Have a great week!
Elder Joseph Cloward