March 19, 2018~"He Transforms Darkness into Light, Grief into Hope & Loneliness to Love"~Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Yes the couple  did get here and they are great.  They are from Malad!  They will help us a lot...I'm excited!  I did get did get the video of my mission call.  It was cool and I have it on my phone and watch it often!  Yep it was really fun working with Elder Lipscomb and was great seeing my old area.
They do things different here that is for sure and well the tacos are so good I love them!
Thats good that you guys still had fun even though the weekend wasn't as successful but we will see if they can pick it up.  I know that it does help you see how well you will do if they will bounce back and go hard so we will see what will happen

So our week was just a long one and tiring but we got through it. I will start with Tuesday and well we had our meeting with Elder Pino and he talked a lot about our mission call, the paper we receive and what we do with it and how sometimes we don't read it all and what it explains and how  we should always remember that we accepted this call and should take it to heart and use it to work hard. So I was happy that I received the video and photo before haha. We got home at like 830 so we got ready for the next day and then we went home so we could get ready and then the next day we had the meeting again but in the pueblos and after we worked in the offices and got some visa stuff done which is a pain sometimes.   On Thursday we had consejo (counsel) and it was super good and we talked with President about it after and we felt so inspirado!!! (inspired)  After that we had the couple come in and we met them and they are just wonderful .  Elder Buehler is just the happiest guy in the world... they are just so great. On Saturday we went and worked with the APs in their area so I got to go back to Castorena and had a blast again.  It was fun. After that my Comp and I got some food and headed back home!!   Sunday we went to church and after the first ward we had to go change the tire on Hermana Grossen's car haha so that is what the picture is of.   It was fun and then we had a meeting with President that night and we were with the Buehlers too.   Today we had our meeting and we don't have P day today because we are going to train the Buehlers so they can help work.  We will have P day on Saturday because this week again is just going to be crazy!!!

We that's about it so I hope you guys get some wins...I love you!!!

Elder Cleverly 

March 12, 2018~"True Happiness Comes Only By Making Others Happy"

Yeah the Howe family is a great family!!  Bro. Crimin is awesome!  I loved being in his seminary class.  That is awesome that McCord and his wife will be at the same school... that's exciting!!!

Our week has been a stressful one because I had to get visas done but I messed up three times and so we had to keep going back and back.  I think we went about 5 times to get it done and I also had to go to the airport to get some visa things fixed because there was an error that happened and so we had to go there to get it fixed. On Saturday I got to work with Elder Lipscomb and we went and worked in Castorena.  It was super fun and we saw some amazing miracles. First we went and visited a family that was less active.  When I was there in that area I found that family and they all were not members and so I told Elder Lipscomb that I knew of this family and that they were not all members and so we found them and talked with them and well they are going to get baptized here soon. It was super cool because I was the last Elder to visit them and that was in July.   After that we contacted people that I contacted a while ago and then we saw my converts and investigators that I taught and now Elder Lipscomb is going to go teach them because they are interested in listening now which is super cool.  The coolest part of it all is that Elder Lipscomb didn't know the people and if I wasn't there he would have never found them like we did. After that I did a baptism interview and the person was so wonderful and then we went to an activity and we played the acting out game and they have to guess and well I am amazing at acting so we got it super quick and won. After that we had a couple of investigators at church and so that was exciting and then we had a lesson and a meeting with President.  We ate pie in our house with President and hung out for an hour while we were waiting for an Elder that was finishing his mission today.  It was a fun time with President and all that.  Now we are going to have a busy week because we have the mission tour and consejo (council) and the new couple comes in so we are pumped!!!

That was my week... to describe the fotos... one is the tacos that I ate the other day.... the other is of a guy with a huge umbrella.  He was walking around with it and I thought it was funny because it wasn't hot nor raining. The video is our guard fixing our gas line with fire... not smart and his fixing technique is so funny. After that we had french toast on Saturday with the APs and today we went and got churros and so that is where we took the foto with the sweet view!!!! Well I think that is everything.  I love you!!!!​

March 5, 2018~ "In God's Eternal Plan Salvation is an Individual Matter; Exaltation is a Family Matter"~ Russell M. Nelson

1.  So do you think the next transfer you will be leaving the office?  
Yeah I will probably leave the offices and train or be a zone leader or something like that.  Trust me I will go hard because I'm pumped to get out and just work super hard...It will be great!!

2.  We were laughing over the video with the little girl climbing the wall and sliding down the post.  Was that during church or after church?  And was she just doing it over and over again?  Haha...yeah it was after church.  The children go crazy and she was doing it over and over again! 

We were all over the place last week but yeah its fun to have a chance to see all the missionaries and have a blast talking to them. 
Yes Elder Bonner is training him... he is huge!  It does help a lot to do exercise and we have started running too so it has been super good to get out and move.  Yeah it was weird to have the hermanas leave because they came with us and now they are gone but hey it was their time to go.

I was asked how I felt so far with my mission and I honestly do feel good with what I have done and well it still hasn't hit me that I have a few changes left but I am still fresh, still verdecito (little green) so I will keep working till I am in President's house again.  I know one day you'll meet Elder Jacobsen's mom.... you always find some way to meet them haha.

I didn't know about Char... that is great!!! That is good that Stock is doing well and will get some time and hopefully he can step up and be a big contributor.  I do know what Top Golf is I just have never been! I heard about it before I left because it was brand new.  When we go, I will show you how to play haha.

Coco is better in Spanish!! It has a lot of culture that is so true...I love it! The singer is from Cuajimalpa where I was with Elder Bonner

I understand what you were saying and it is hard because you don't want your kids to suffer and fall and you want to be there with them always but just like riding a bike you have to let go or they will never learn just like our Father in Heaven did for us and it is true...we were left to do it on our own and he gave us rules and told us to follow them but he is not forcing it on anyone he just knows whats going to happen if we don't follow the rules and so that is why he puts so much emphasis on why its important to follow the commandments and we have to choose whether to follow or not and he doesn't punish us for not following we actually punish ourselves because of the consequences.  What God does is gives us the choice, tells us which one is right and then lets us decide through our desires and sometimes we fall and sometimes we choose the right but in the end God still loves us and knows us personally and will help us when we fall.  He won't kick us while we are down and say its your fault and give us more punishments like sometimes we do to people or the way parents do sometimes but rather he will pick us up brush us off and will help us choose the right. It is hard but if it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. Don't worry I don't feel like I was pressured into doing the right from you guys. I think you made it clear what was right and was what wrong and I suffered with the consequences whether I chose good or bad so its a learning process that we will all have to go through and no one is exempt from it and that is why we just have to love each other and help when they fall because we went through it too and we never want to see someone suffer.

Yes President is a great guy and I look to him as a second dad and I'm gratful to have the best father in the world and a President that loves and cares for us... shout out to my dad... you are the best!!!! and I'm also blessed to be here in Mexico and serve the people and I have enjoyed a lot of moments here and its sad that it will come to an end soon but I will come back for sure and will bring you guys along to see all the wonderful things there are about the people and the culture.

This week was pretty normal. After the new ones came in and we sent them off we went to President's house to help the Hermanas and Elder Bingham with their luggage and plan for the next day.  The next day me and my comp we were in the airport from 4:30 in the morning until 3 in the afternoon.  It was a long day but it was fun and we got to help a lot of people out while we were there so I felt like we were there for that long for a reason.  We were able to be a light to a few people there. After that it was pretty normal... just regular work nothing too crazy but that is alright because we will have plenty of locura (madness) in the upcoming weeks so stay tuned.  Just know that I am loving every moment and pondering and thinking and reflecting on the people I want to be with that last day and I am thinking on how I can finish my mission strong and I'm excited to get out soon to do that for 3 more months before its time for me to go and to leave Mexico but it doesn't mean I don't stop being an example and someone who searches the sciptures.. it doesn't mean that I stop being a missionary when I go back to the real world... now in the mission is a time to learn discipline and I'm being disciplined in what I do so that when I get back I'm disciplined and can help others do the same.  I won't be doing things of the church 24 hours a day but I still will be that 24 hour missionary.  I won't have my plaque on but mine is engraved in my heart and I will remember all the good that came and will remember all the trials and challenges and I will be able to look back and say I did that and I am the Lord's servant and I can teach my future kids that so they know the love of the Lord and they can come to realize that we are in the best times of the history of the world because we have the gospel of Jesus Christ... restored here on the earth. We are blessed and we need to be an example for others so they can see our light and wonder how they can have that too. I leave that with you guys and know that I love you so much and know this church is true and that I'm in the place where I'm suppose to be and I'm doing it with a SMILE!!!

February 26, 2018~"Compared to God, Man is Nothing Yet We are Everything to God"

We are still working with them its just hard because we are always doing other things.  Yeah it was a lot of money but that is what happens when missionaries don't take care of houses!!!
Transfers flew this past change.  Its super weird because next thing you know I will be on a plane.... that is super weird and I don't know how I feel about that.   February flew!!!  Oh trust me I have been working out everyday.  We go hard.  Its not a ton that we do because we don't have a lot of equipment but that is alright.
Trust me...I will leave the office and lose a ton of weight because I won't eat as much and I won't workout the same way as I am now so I won't be able to maintain my body and I will go back down to a skinny boy!  

I sent out an email to all the parents and Bishops and Stake Presidents that everybody was ok after the earthquake so that is why he got the email.  That is cool that he knows Elder Cook.  He is a great missionary!!

That is too bad about the baseball tourney but that is alright... sometimes that happens!!! Glad you guys got home safe.  Yeah I have talked with Mash.  He seems like he is doing great and well I don't know about hanging out in the living room but we will for sure hang out hahaha

So my week consisted of a lot of running around and late nights!
To start it off...Tuesday we had to go to the airport super early and drop an Hermana off in one area which was so tiring because it was a lot of travel but oh well then from there we traveled an hour and a half to get to our District Meeting which we showed up late for to drop money off.   After that we went to the offices and I got all the cedulas done so that I didn't have to worry the rest of the week about them! After that on Wednesday we were working on the close (the close is closing the three mission accounts) and I went to the visa place to renew a couple of visas and so we traveled for that. On Thursday we finished the close and President brought us Buffalo Wild Wings and so we enjoyed that but Elder Christensen got food poisoning and was sick the rest of the day so we had to finish the close alone and we didn't go to bed till 1:30 that night! On Friday I went to the visas place to take fotos and fingerprints for the missionaries and then we went back to the visa place to pick up the cards.   We saw some new missionaries there which is always fun. That night we didn't get to bed till 12:30 due to the fact that I needed to finish the visas and Elder Jacobsen didn't finished the close till that night.   After that we had to go to Office Max to make mission binders (binders that have information aobut the mission and how it is.) and we didn't get to bed till 2 because I was up doing 15 of those haha. On Sunday I had a great day at church.  I was dying in the 6 hours that we have because I was tired from the night before but thats alright. That night we had meetings with President and we went through the changes and what will happen.  We set up and then we went to the house but I stayed up talking with Elder Osorio about a lot of things because I hadn't talked with him for a long time and he was staying at our house so it was fun to catch up with him but I stayed up till two as well and today we had to wake up early to go to President's house and do the orientation with the new people so it was a long week... well not long but tiring!  Tomorrow we will be in the airport all day. So this has been my life... a lot of running around but its fun.  I enjoy it! It was sad because the Hermanas that go home tomorrow are the Hermanas that came with us to the mission... at the same time and were in the CCM with me so its sad to see them go but I guess its getting to that time. The meeting went well today.  I had a blast and have fun with the new missionaries.  I get them pumped and they get excited and so its fun for me and I get to meet them and learn about them. There is an Hermana named Hermana Porter that knows me through the facebook page and knows you because you are in charge of the page haha so I talked with her today about that.  There are great missionaries and I am sad that I won't be able to work with them a lot because my time is short here now but I hope I can help them understand the importance of this work and to be a missionary.  I hope that they can look up to me and rely on me to help them because they are so awesome!!

Well that has been my week... hope that everything goes well and know that I love you guys!!!​

I forgot to tell ya that we did a challenge where you had to eat a pound of hamburgers and we did it!!

February 19, 2018~"Love is the Most Powerful Force in the World"~ Dallin H. Oaks

1.  The family that you ate at last week....their last name is Player?  You said they have a great story.  What is their story?
So they have been moving around for the dad's job.  He works for General Motors and he is really high up in the company and travels every three years to go to a different place and helps out there.  He was explaining to us how it all worked out and how it was an internship and he got the job later and it was because he speaks Spanish.  He served his mission in Argentina...I don't know how to really explain it but it was the blessings of serving a mission!!!!

Yeah its too bad they don't get into the Olympics here but oh well. I miss the Olympics... but that's alright there is always in two years. Yeah I love breakfast food!!!  Yes that Hermana is super cool.  I didn't get that foto but I'm glad you got to see that.  Yes the family did come to church we were super happy!!!  This week I played volleyball in boots haha and I balled hard lol.  Yeah I am having fun and its going to get more fun soon because we got a lot of meetings and activities so I'm pumped!!

Yeah I miss baseball a lot... hearing that Stock and the team did good made me sad because I wasn't there to enjoy it with them.  I still wish I could play baseball again though.  I am glad that they did good in the tourney.  Dad told me that the finals got rained out...that's too bad but maybe next year!!

To tell you the truth I don't have a ton to tell ya because we pretty much did the same thing everyday which was work on visas! That is what we were doing all week but the cool part was I got to meet the new missionaries that will be coming in next week so it was exciting.  Also we did go to an abandoned house that the missionaries left and we will have to buy a new boiler because the missionaries destroyed that one and they left 2 years worth of light, water and gas bills so we will have to pay for that too.  It was fun because we went on an adventure haha!!! This coming week is changes so I will be getting ready for the new missionaries and we will go to the airport tomorrow because a new missionary comes in tomorrow so I will have to go pick her up. Also we played volleyball today.  I was the best as usual haha but it was fun.  We played fair and it was a good time that's for sure!!!! Other then that not much.  I don't have a lot to tell you.  Oh I am up to 180 pounds again.  I have been working out a lot and drinking spinach  blueberry and strawberry with banana and other things smoothies so its been helping me get some weight back on me.  I am working out so that's the best part.  Well that is all I got.  I love you!...Enjoy the video and the photos.... the photos are older but that is ok!!!


Elder Cleverly 

February 12, 2018~"Increase Your Faith....Proclaim Your Faith...Let Your Faith Show"~Russell M. Nelson

1.  So what do the people there think about the Olympics?
Actually I didnt know it was going on that is how big it is here haha They don't care to much about it besides the English Ward

2.  What was your favorite things about this week?
My Favorite things this week well this is how my week went:
So first was the District meeting which was really good...I really enjoyed it and I had fun.  We also bought a speaker for the house so we can listen to some tunes as we work out and are getting ready. After that we had the junta de los nuevos which is always fun because first we  are in President's house and second we get to help the new missionaries learn more and grow and do an evaluation on them to see how they are progressing. I got to see Elder Bradley there because he is training and it was great to see him and to talk with him.  I had a blast. We made waffles and I ate three of the big huge waffles ...they were so good.  I was full for the rest of the day though haha

After that day we got back really late to the offices and we were tired but President had us go to the hospital because there was an Hermana missionary that was having surgery and so we gave her a blessing.  As soon as we were done the medicine kicked it and she was acting really weird it was so funny haha.  Then the next day we went back to see how she was doing and to bring them food because they were starving... so we brought them some food!!!
After that we cleaned the office and got all the junk out and so now it is our office.

Saturday we got out and taught a family that we found and it went really well.  The family is a great family and we hope that they can progress!!! The bad part was that they didn't come to church on Sunday so that was a little worrying but we will call them and see what happened. 

Sunday we had a great day at church.  I really felt the spirit speak to me as I was in tune with everything that was being said.  It was a great class.  After we ate with the Players.  They are great.  They are from California and Oklahoma and they have a great family and their story is really cool!!!!

That was my week and today we had our training and then after the training i taught all the Zone Leaders how to win at basketball as I did amazing and beat them all haha.  The bad part was I got a blister on my foot for playing in my church shoes so I guess that was my pay back.  Anyways that was my week... a good week!!!
No we didnt get any cheesecake when we went to the Cheesecake Factory because I didn't want to order food, but President did say that we could have done it I just didn't want to be there to eat...I just wanted to help the guy.

Yeah last week was a blast and I really enjoyed it.  It makes me sad that I won't be there again for baseball:( I have been missing it more and more.   Its sad that I wont be apart of that again. I loved those times to go down to St George and play ball and have fun.  It was a blast!

Well I appreciate the email Mom.  Time is winding down for me and its weird.  I don't know how I feel about it.  I am loving life here but also you will get to see the fam.... its a mix of emotions but I will just go into it with a smile and ride out my last few months working hard and not thinking to much about it.

I love you Mom and I hope that everything goes well in the tournament and that they do good!!!!​

Elder Cleverly

SOAKED

Why does he stay out in the rain???

February 5, 2018~"Happiness Comes From Living the Way the Lord Wants You to Live and From Service to God and Others"~Thomas S. Monson

Yeah I could have gotten sick because we don't sleep much which is alright because we are helping but when its cold and you don't sleep its not the best combination.Ha yeah its simple but some missionaries don't know how to run something complicated so we "dumbed" it up for them.
You are lucky with the weather.  It is starting to warm up and I will finish my mission riding off into the sunset with some nice weather hahah.  That sounds good about  the school plans.  Its weird that I will be going to college soon even though I'm not looking forward to that... but its alright

This week we had Consejo (counsel) which was pretty good. I got to speak about a change of heart and how we can have this change of heart.  I tied it into a puzzle with sometimes we are missing that one piece to complete the puzzle and sometimes as missionaries we have that missing piece as well but if we change are hearts and come to the Lord we are able to complete the picture/puzzle and are able to see clearly what God has in store for us.

After that we had a Zone Conference and well it was good.  We did like a "shark tank" thing but you had to sell items that we use as missionaries.  It was fun and you had to think outside the box on the importance and the why of the item.  It was a great activity 

Later in the week we got a call from President while we were in the offices.  He asked us if we could do him a favor and as his secretaries we are more then willing to do anything.  He asked us if we could go to Cheesecake Factory at 11 oclock at night to give a waiter that had waited on them that same day a blessing.  He was going through a rough time.  So we were in the offices till 1030 and then we took Uber to go there.  We met the guy and he talked to us.  We listened for about 30 minutes and then he accepted our offer to giving him a blessing and we gave him a blessing there in the mall in more of a private place.  The good part was there were not a lot of people because it was 11 oclock at night.  After the blessing we gave him a Book of Mormon and he said he would read it. Now he doesn't live in our Mission so we don't know a lot on how he is doing but first things first... the back story behind this was crazy. So first thing was that day was the day that President gave us Books of Mormon to write our testimonies in. What scripture did I put in??? 2 Nephi 22:2 God is my salvation I will trust and not be afraid for God is my strength and my song and he has also become my salvation. So a very comforting scripture.   After that President and his wife were going to go to another restaurant but it was busy so instead the went to  Cheesecake Factory and guess who waited on them for the 6th time??? Thomas. and who happened to have a Book of Mormon with them with a scripture that was already in it with a testimony.... and we just happened to be in the offices when President called ...and we happened to be in the right place at the right time and that just doesn't happens but rather God loves his children and he helps them through his servants and we were able to see the power of God comfort somebody... the Book of Mormon be a comfort to him.... to be an instrument in the hands of the Lord and to be able to see the plan that God has for us in this life.  It is crazy how it all worked out and how we were so ready in that moment and that is because God knows each and everyone of us and he cares for us and he wants us to return to him and we were able to help someone do that.  Even though Thomas doesn't see it as clearly as we do we can testify that it is true... that God does love us and he has a plan for all of us.

That was our spiritual experience for this week.  It was a great week and we finished it cleaning out the office and making it look good. Also we got to have All you can eat pancakes at Ihop for 49 pesos.  It was awesome!!!!

Elder Cleverly 

Elder Cleverly enjoying All You Can Eat IHOP Pancakes