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