I am Exhausted

 Time is running out. That is so sad, exciting, depressing, and scary. All of the above. This week we went out to this super nice resort to play disc golf. It was a 2 mile course and we probably walked about 3-4 miles that day. We payed 10 bucks and it took us about 4 hours. It was really fun except for the fact on Wednesday we heard that Elder Avery had three ticks on him. This terrified me because 1. I was with him on Monday and 2. I literally was shirtless the whole time because I was trying to tan. As of right now I am chilling, everything seems to feel like a tick now. 

Wednesday was full of activities. It was the last district council with Elder and Sister Lake with us. They are returning to Utah since they are competing their 18 month mission. We had a two hour meeting with them following the district council to gather together all of our new information to update the branch list. Afterwards, they invited us to go back to Los Ranchos and eat lunch with them. This time I took a photo of the masterpiece (you'll understand when you see the photo). There is something about good mexican food that is unbeatable. For the remainder of the day, we participated in two service projects one was helping a widow out and the other being installing drywall in a shipping container. In the middle of the day we had an amazing lesson with the Mitts family. We found Hailey on Facebook about a transfer back and now we are teaching her two kids, her mother, and her boyfriend. 

This week we had district leader exchanges. I was with Elder Avery who is actually from Queen Creek and he went to Queen Creek High School. We were trying to figure out if we knew the same people. We brought up how i used to do olympic weightlifting and he's like,"some small asian kid at my school was insane at that." I am like,"THAT was Dylan bro." I pulled up a photo and confirmed that we were talking about the same person. I found that so funny. Elder Avery came into South Haven for the day. We have been doing a lot of service in this area as well. I get along really well with him. It was a good exchange. 

Saturday was Mayra's birthday. She turned 20 so we ended up doing a game night at the church with a bunch of members. It honestly turned out really good. About 20 people showed up and we played a handful of different card/strategy games. Mayra also had her baptismal interview this week and she passed! Woo-hoo. Her baptism is scheduled for Saturday, June 3rd at 6pm. We are so excited for her. She is literally a cheat code. I wish I could explain how elect this girl is. Here is an example. We asked her the question,"what do you think enduring to the end is?" Her response was this,"enduring to the end means remaining faithful to the end of our lives while partaking of the sacrament weekly to renew the covenants we make with God." We feel like she is already a member. There is also a chance she might serve a mission.

As I am concluding the end of the mission, it is honestly really hard to stay focused. I am going to be honest. It seems that Satan is working so hard against me to be more casual, relaxed, or satisfied. What has helped me the most in relying on God through prayer. Everyone, I am exhausted from this mission experience. Once I finish, I know I won't be able to go another day. That's the honest truth. In the gospel topic of prayer it states,"At times, Heavenly Father will counsel, guide, or comfort us while we are on our knees." I know the Lord hears and answers our prayers. I wished I knew how to understand and apply the principle of revelation earlier in my life. I never paused, listened, or even waited in my prayers to receive revelation. Heavenly Father does guide. He will counsel. I know for a fact that He comforts us. 

Time is running out. Two more emails and I am home. Love you all. 

From,

Elder Clouse

With A Splash

 Our preparation days in South Haven have gotten better. The Benton Harbor elders drove over and we decided to go run a course of 18 for Frisbee golf. I have never thrown any Frisbee discs before so it was very new. Who knew that I was so nice with it. We ran teams of two and we shot like 4 over through 18. We also played a handful of games before the day was over. Elder Wessman has gotten me hooked on a game called Azul that I know the family would love. 

This week started with a bang. Tuesday morning we had a call with our friend Mayra Calvillo. She is 19 years old and has been trying to reconnect her relationship with God. She attended church last week and she really enjoyed the fast and testimony meeting. As we met with her for the second time she said,"I apologize guys, I am not a fast reader." We reassured her that she was alright. When we asked where she was she stated,"I finished the book of Nephi." We said,"." We taught her the gospel of Jesus Christ and she accepted the baptismal invitation for June 3rd. As we asked her her feelings about the Book of Mormon, she said with a smile on her face,"The Book of Mormon makes my heart glow. I really believe it to be true." This lesson almost seemed too good to be true. Our hearts melted at the fact we get to be a part of her conversion to the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. She has been so prepared by the Lord. 

Following that remarkable lesson we had interviews a couple hours from that. I received my interview for my temple recommendation. I am recommended by the Lord! I am so excited to go back even though I remember absolutely nothing. President Heap and I spoke for about 30 minutes talking about how I could maintain good worthy habits as I return home. It was sad to me that that was my last transfer interview with President Heap. 

Throughout the week, we have been outside in the sun so much. It has been such a blessing. I have stayed consistent with tanning and we are out and about either having lessons in the sun, going door to door, or even doing service for our friends. The downside is my allergies are acting up so much, they have never been so bad in my entire life. I absolutely love the weather currently. This next week it is going to be 65-70 degrees with the UV being 8 everyday and not a cloud in the sky. Does it get better than that?!? 

This weekend turned into service wahzoo! We were running around town either moving someone, doing yard work, or moving more people. It has been really fun though. We love serving God's children. 

Update on our friends on date preparing to be baptized. Keene (he is the homie that lives in two shipping containers) is progressing well. We will have to postpone his baptism due to some substance struggles, but he will get baptized. Our friend Lisa we have decided to take off date since she did not see the importance of the covenant made at baptism… UNTIL she came to church with her husband Sunday, the spirit touched her heart where now she has made a firm decision to become a baptized member of Christ's church. 

Finally, we have our girl Mayra. She is the one we found 2 weeks ago on Facebook. She is 19 and I have never seen someone progress so fast. I also have never been so nervous to teach someone the gospel my whole mission because she is so close to baptism. She is one of the main reasons I got assigned here to South Haven. June 3rd, there will be a baptism in South Haven. The first in over 2.5 years. Hurrah for Israel! She came to church on Sunday and brought us homemade snickerdoodles. I think I will have to compare them to grandma's recipe because they were that good. 

All of our lessons were canceled on Sunday, however, 6 of our friends came to church that day. The members were honestly like astonished haha. The Lord is in charge. Miracles are happening. Elder Clouse will finish with a bang in the Michigan Lansing Mission. Actually, more like a splash  (if you know what I mean). 

Love,

Elder Clouse

Smooth Transitions

 We have soared through another week as a missionary. The first one of the transfer. On Monday, we convinced President Heap to allow us to have another district pday so we were back at the Lakes home again. We went to a Taco bar this time and played games. It was hailing on us since it was 37 degrees out, but we still ran some spikeball for a couple hours. 

Transfer day was on Tuesday and this is where I received my new companion Elder Wessman. I learned that homie is 22 years old. I picked him up at 745am and we were back at the house before 9am. We had the whole day to do missionary work which was such a blessing. It has still been cold here in Michigan and I have been waiting for summer. Elder Wessman and I seem to be getting along. The work is not slowing down so I cannot complain. The transition has been smooth. 

We found a 26 year old girl named Hailey on social media last week. She admitted one of the main reasons she was open to us talking was because she thought I was attractive. God works in many ways. Besides the point, we got our foot in the door and she is progressing so well now, she even came to church. She has two kids named Noah and Emersyn. Noah is 7 years old and I have never seen a more engaged and willing to learn child in my life. While we were leaving her home, Noah said,"you guys better be coming over for LIFE!" There is such high potential for this amazing young family. 

Our friend Lisa is on date to be baptized! She has been so prepared by the Lord. We have been teaching her for about two weeks now and the past couple of lessons have been so good while we have had members present. She has recognized the spirit of God a handful of times as she has read the Book of Mormon. She has had word of wisdom struggles throughout her life, but she is finally off them. She is planning on being baptized on May 27th. Time is running out! So much momentum in this area, I literally am loving it so much. 

The UV is finally starting to pick up over here in Michigan, it is going to hit 8 this upcoming week. What a blessing. I am going to be consistently getting my 30 minutes everyday during my lunch hour. It will be a smooth transition to Chandler let me tell you. 

We come to a close on week 1 of this transfer. Yesterday was fast sunday and after fasting every Sunday of the mission, I can still say it isn't easy. The latter half of this week seemed to drag on since lessons kept canceling, but this area is in a good spot. The Lord loves effort. 

Scripture of the week. Alma 37:6:

"but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise."

If you want to see change in your life, focus on the small things which will in turn change the big things. 

Love, 

Elder Clouse 

Dying in SOHA

 District pday was actually so fun. It was extremely needed. We went to the Lakes (senior couples) home. We had a BBQ, played some board games, ran some football, and a lot of spikeball. It was seriously so fun. I woke up on Tuesday so sore since I haven't gone that hard in a sport in over 6 months. I have not served around many elders that are too athletic so this was a good break from that. 

Tuesday we faced a lot of rejection, but it is okay. We are still going forward. We had about 6 lessons canceled. The hope that pushed us through the day was from a text from a kid named Cagen Ernsberger within the branch. He was opening his mission call that night. We gathered at the branch building and he opened his call. He has been assigned to labor in the California Ventura Mission speaking Spanish. He begins his mission on my birthday. It was a fun end to the day. 

We are teaching such a sweet part member family. There is one girl in the family named Traci. She is 12 years old and loves the gospel already. She seems to recognize the importance and light of the gospel so early in her life. Everytime we give her an assignment before we come back, she reads it, and then proceeds to write all her thoughts on what she remembers about that topic on paper. The sad part is that the Hernandez family is planning on moving out of the branch boundaries in a few months. We received direction from the branch president to not baptize her until after the family is situated in their new home. 

We got to put Jacob 5 into real life and prune the vineyard. We have a family in the branch that owns 30 acres of Blueberry bushes. We asked if we could come over and prune for a couple hours. It was hot and very tedious. It was a fun opportunity to learn, but I think I am going to try to stick to a white collar job. 

Thursday evening we had a lesson with our friend Keene Brown. He is currently living in two shipping containers on his plot of land. It's pretty legendary. We brought along Cagen (the soon to be missionary) with us and taught the gospel of Jesus Christ. As we were reading 3 Nephi 11, Keene looked at us puzzled and said,"I think I need to prepare myself to be baptized." He has come a long way since the first time we met him. Keene is attempting to be baptized on May 20th. What a great lesson that was. 

We received our transfer news on Saturday morning. It honestly shocked us. I will be receiving a new companion, his name is Elder Gavin Wessman. Elder Howard is getting transferred out to bluewash an area (he will be replacing sisters in an area that's never had elders). I am honestly so excited to stay in South Haven. We found a handful of promising people this week. The momentum we are carrying forth into the end of the transfer is amazing. We are going to baptize this coming transfer, it will happen. 

We were asked 5 weeks ago to speak this past Sunday. I spoke about Christlike Consistency. It was solid, it could be aired at General Conference, but I don't know yet.

We convinced our mission president that we should have another district preparation day so we are. We aren't too sure what we are doing yet, but it will be fun since we get to gather with more missionaries. I am also glad I do not have to pack. 

We are going into week one of my final transfer as a missionary. I will continue to give my heartfelt all to the Lord. This is my time and season to serve Him full time. I testify He lives and He is aware of all of you.

Love,

Elder Clouse