another 6 weeks in Texas

la la la o well la la la it doesnt matter. 57

 hi family

so first off i got transfer calls last night and im staying in Texas
for one more transfer with elder dalia. can you believe its already
been six weeks? but i called it all the way. i told elder platt when i
left if i like him we will spend 12 weeks together if i don't we will
spend 18. he is a good guy i just have to remind him that its the
lords time he is on.
i think pres always puts me with missionary's that need a little help
and a little bit baby sat. i guess its because i can handle them. i
try not to yell and complain about my comps and just give them loving
advise. im trying to be like Jesus is definitely the song i sing the
most. but one good thing about elder dalia is he is not afraid to talk
to people. at all. he is kind of like you mom in the store. just talks
to people at walmart and subway and McDonalds. and that leads to
talking to some crazy people. like we were eating at Mcidees. and this
guy sat next to us and he was like you want to know a secret?  so we
said yes. (duh im not going to miss an opportunity like this) and he
pointed at these old guys across the room and he said there vampires.
i have been following them for three days now and im debating how to
take them out. so i asked how he knew they were vampires? and he was
like shut up they will here you. we told him to watch his back those
vampires are crafty little buggers.
so we will go backwards. Sunday was church and i got in the shower
late because everybody took for ever in the bathroom. so i got out and
started shaving my face and our ride showed up about 20 min early. so
i just stopped and washed the rest of the shaving cream off. and got
the rest of my clothes on. so i went all day yesterday with only the
right half of my face shaved. church was good i had to help teach
Sunday school.  we had dinner with a cool family he told us that he
met his wife in the airport when he got off his mission. they went on
three dates and he proposed and they were engaged for one month and
then they got married. talk about quick whole smokes! (don't do that
dakota we have to go on double dates when i get home)
Then we went to a black church. one of our investigators is a preacher
there so he invited us to a revival that was going on there. me and
elder clontz were the only white people there. and they fed us fried
chicken, greens, waffles, cool aid(not hot), corn bread, and baked
beans.then the service started. lots of yelling and IM SAVED! PRAISE
GOD! HALLELUJAH! AMEN! dancing and clapping and black Jesus. drums and
a keyboard. and a guy that i swear was air bending on the stage. the
spirit wasn't there the whole time. then in the middle they asked us
if we would like to sing a song. so me elder dalia, clontz, and
otuafi. got up and sang all creatures of our god and king and the
spirit of God. and we just sang acapella. it was quiet and nobody
talked and they just listened. the spirit was so strong there people
were crying and whispering to each other. then after we were done we
asked if they felt that? then we said that was the spirit the real
holy ghost. and then we sat down. it was crazy awesome i hope the
whole church converts.
on Saturday we had a meeting with two of the seventy. it was intense!
so pres was freaking out about it we all had to get hair, cuts dry
cleaning, conservative ties, and we had to write up lesson plans. we
had to be in our seats at 8:45 so because im in texas and the drive
took about 3 hours we had to wake up at about 4:30 in the morning i
was so tired. we drove up in the mini van and took the dvd player and
watched to prophet of the restoration. it reminded me of driving to st
george.
but the 70 gave us the mission hand shake. (its were he interviews us
just by looking into your eyes) and they gave us a talk on the plan of
salvation and gave us some really deep doctorin. then they gave a talk
on being obident and sacrafice. it was really good. telling us that
sleeping in was robing god because we are on his time. and he told us
that we cant have one foot back home and one in oklahoma. and we need
to put all of our distractions on the alter and give them to god.
really good really inspiring. there names were Tad R. Calister (he is
the one that gave the talk in general confrence about the book of
mormon and the bible are like two dotes on a paper and you can only
draw one strait line between them) and the other one was Elder
Roberts. he was really good too but i dont think i recognize him.
friday district meeting we played jepordy. missionary style. and we
ate at taco bell and i didnt have money to pay and the guy that worked
there said i got you and said get what ever you want. anything for a
servent of the lord. it was really cool to get reconized by a non
member.
Thursday we helped this lady paint a carnival booth and some chairs.
we used spray paint and i started painting and they asked if i had
done this before because i was doing a really good job. (thanks dad
for teaching me whats what) elder dalia sprayed way to much on and it
was running like a felon. they just asked him to stop. then we taught
them about the doctorin of Christ and answered a lot of her questions.
 she said that she wanted to go to the temple and asked her to help
her out. so we have to help her not smoke and teach her the law of
chastity.
Wednesday  was exchanges with elder clontz. i came out with him and
its funny because everybody in our zone is new to the mission so we
make fun of them for being green. we did alot of biking because i
still dont know excactly were im going. but we had elk steak for
dinner. reminds me of home.
tuesday i dont excacly remember what happend. missionary work i think.
O yea we taught gilbert and his sister. it kind of frustrating
teaching gilberts sister because we have to explain everything to her.
every character and where everything is.
monday we went mountain biking it was intense. like most of the trail
was a black diamond. and a couple of the parts were double black.
really steap hills and big rocks, sharp curves and skinny bridges over
mud holes. it was scary at first but you just have to go for it. don't
hold back and go fast other wise if you hesitate you will eat dirt.
elder beams on the other hand went slow, hesitated, stopped, and went
around and he crashed like ten times. good pday i will have to do it
again in a couple of weeks.
so i got your letters and it was great lots of letters equal lots of
smiles/ happy missionary :) i liked the tape and the candy and the
letters you guys are so funny. the whole house listening to you guys
and we were crying because we were laughing so hard. we definitly
agreed that your the coolest family. and sent THE BEST STUFF.
Dakota this part is for you hey man im sorry that i didn't write you
forever. but now we can definitely chat because were only 1500 miles
away instead of 6000. (i don't really know how much it is) but the
only advise i have for you is just keep up the study's in the morning.
personal and comp if you can find some one to study with you. i love
you man keep up the good work. your my inspiration. you know i use
your mission to help my investigators out. people are like why do you
serve missions or where do you guys all go. and i all ways say well i
have a friend in Brazil right now.  and keep going from there. take
care do your best.
well rest of the family i love you so much and keep being the best. i
will talk to you guys soon
Love elder Clements

9 months left

hi family
so yea im glad that i got your emails this week because last email was
so boring i almost died! i will admit i was kind of mad but im glad i
got them this week. so dakota is home holy fish piss! time flys when
your on a mission. i will write him a letter today.
so Lauren how was the dance? did you have fun? what did he look like,
what did you look like? tell me all about it in your letter. i haven
gotten a letter in forever it feels like. because all of the other
members in the house are green so they get letters like twice a week.
but its ok they need them.
so this week has been good. on Monday we went up to mount scott its
the tallest place in Oklahoma. and its super not tall. yea its the
highest ive been in like 14 months but still its nothing compared to
the bountiful hill. we had lots of fun up there. we saw some buffalo
and elder dalia about peed his pants when he saw it. it was such a
long drive up there, it was about 4 hours. we did it for zone pday so
all of the members of our zone went up. i saw elder shupe again, man i
miss that kid. we took lots of pictures. and we played a game of
football on the top of the mountain. it was fun but dangerous, elder
beams fell of the mountain and rolled like three times. and some one
threw the ball off the side of a cliff on accident.
so we went on exchanges this week i was with elder otuafi, and so to
start off my tire was flat so i bought a new slime tube. ($12) i
started pumping it up and filled it to about 60 psi then put the cap
on and went down to put it on my bike and it exploded in my face! a
peace of rubber hit my arm and cut it open and gave me a big bruise,
and a piece hit my helmet and made a big dent in it. so i went to the
bike store to get a new tube and to find out what the heck was wrong
with it. so the guy sold me a new tube and he put it on himself. ($18)
so i started biking and i set my bike down on the ground and the tire
got a big bubble in the side and it blew it out again! so the other
elders picked me and otuafi up. we went to the bike shop and the guy
was like o you must need a new tire. i was freaking pissed i yelled at
the guy and told him that he should have done his job better and
shouldn't try to rip me off. i had to buy a new tire and another inner
tube. ($65) he gave me a discount but he should have given it to me
for free because it was his fault. i needed the tire, otherwise i
wouldn't have been able to get home or work until i got a new one. so
i just bought it. man biking can get expensive.
anyways we have been helping this less active lady out alot this week.
we helped her set up/ run her booth that she had at this convention.
it was crazy and weird. she does birthday party's and stuff so we
helped run her games and bring people in. i brought the uke in and
played for people.
i don't really remember what all happened this week. o this was funny
one of the ladys we are teaching, she is from Germany and she doesn't
know the language all of the way but she knows how to swear. so in
church in Sunday school she was commenting on what the teacher said
about something. the lesson was on tithing. and she said people need
to stop B****ING about there fasting, and just do it because the lord
asked us. it was so funny everybody just kind of got quite and didn't
know what to say.
then last night we were about to go in because it was about 8:20 but
we made one more stop, we saw this family and taught them and helped
answer there questions about Joseph smith. it was more history then
doctor-in but he really liked our answers. he said that him and his
family would love to join our church. because family is the most
important thing in the world to him. and we told him that that is what
the lord wants. for us to be together for ever with our family.
well i guess that it for this week i hope you guys have an awesome day
and week and month and 9 months. i love you all so much and i will
talk to you guys soon
Love Elder Clements
PS can you please pray that i can find my memory card with all my
pictures on it. ive looked everywhere and it would be really great if
i could find it you know.

9 months left

hi family so this week has been good no complaints.
here are a couple of things that happened this week. we have been seeing this guy named gilbert. he is the one that 

wants to get married next year. we have been meeting with him and his younger sister and helping progress towards the gospel. the younger sister has alot of problems and she 

doesnt see why we need all of the rules. we gave her a Book of Mormon and challenged her to pray. she has been so 

thats good. gilbert owns a taco truck so he has been feeding us lunch everyday. its like the same thing everyday but 

different meat. so we taught him the restoration and he 

said that he doesnt pray out loud. and that he hasnt prayed out loud in like 10 years. so we used the old missionary trick i will say a prayer and then you say one right after me. its 

so that they can see how to pray. you just pray
very simply and then tell him to do the same. he got done 

with his prayer and he asked if the Book of Mormon is true. he stopped and said what have you done to me? my heart is warm, its like nothing i have ever felt before. we told him 

that that was the holy ghost testifying
to him that the Book of Mormon was true. it was cool
after that we taught his sister. and we told her that the 

rules are there to protect you. and its just like a hot stove 

that you touch it. you will get burned. and then i did the 

choice and accountability stick. were you cant pick up one end of the stick with out picking up
the other. it really hit  home for her, she is hanging out 

with the wrong crowd and we were trying to explain to her 

that God wants the best for her. it was kind of challenging 

because she is only 17 and still in high school (plus she is a

 very beautiful daughter of God)
we have been doing alot of bikeing. duh because were in a

 bike area. but more than usual. elder dalia and i have but 

down 110 miles this transfer. and our top speed is 31 mph. but elder dalia wants to lose some weight. so i have been 

helping him work out and take sodas away
form him and telling him not to buy snacks. he bought some weight lose pills to help out, but i told him that he just  

needs to work out and try to get in shape.
but we found this mountain bike trail that cuts through our area. and its so sick all kind of obstacles and jumps. so we 

just happen to take that as a short cut everyday. it makes me want to go home and do mountain biking alot. take it up to the B and stuff. is lukes mission a biking one? if so tell 

him to get in shape now. buy a bike and ride it to work.
so idk thats really all i can think of right now. the rest of 

the week was good. church, stuff, you know.
o i forgot. so we role play as missionarys alot. for teaching and stuff. and we were just sitting and talking one night 

and i asked the question what would you do if a zombie 

apocalypse happened right now? if a zombie just jumped 

through the window what would you do. so we just
talked about it at first then we started getting into it. like what weapons would you take. and what around the 

apartment could be used to kill a zombie. so we role played it out. i beat the zombie down with a bike lock. then we all ran and got our shoes on got our back packs and
started throwing stuff in. we had five minutes to prepare i 

grabbed a pair of pants and some shoes and my medicine

 bag with my contacts and ibuprofen. and everybody else 

got there stuff. by the end i had a cast iron pan and a 

kitchen knife, elder dalia had a broom handle. elder
swell had a bench bar and elder beams had scissors and a

 ulock. we all ran out the back door. (this was like 9:30 at

 night) and started heading down the street. then we 

realized we were 20 years old. and stopped playing around. it was really funny. you get bored as a missionary. and you 

just make up crazy stuff. kind of random but it
was fun. so how is dakota doing? does he have an accent? 

does he even speak english any more? jk but how was his 

home coming talk? did you record it? tell him i will wright

 him when i get the chance. man i miss that kid.
well i love you so much and i will email you next week.
your favorite missionary
Elder Clements

i love the whole world i love the cloudy skys 57

hi family whats up?
so this week we have had crazy good successes. i love this area. it
like five times better than my last area. me and elder dalia are
getting along fine. im pretty sure that i can get along with 98% of
people now. because at the first of my mission i was kind of a punk.
if things didnt go my way than it was the highway. but now im learning
to love as the Savior would love. unconditionally and unselfishly.
well any ways let me tell you how my week has been going.  so on
monday we had pday what ever. you know at the first of my mission pday
was everything. it was like a mini vacation. but now its just a couple
hours of doing laundry and hanging out. but we went to the mall
because elder clontz our DL needed some stuff. so we went to the mall
and i dont miss the world at all. its all about sex and violence. but
we walked around window shopped talked to some crazy guy that thought
he was ice skating in the mall. i bought some jeans because my pants
ripped when doing service. (i dont know if its because im getting fat
or muscle) i got them at aropostal and the girl that was working there
asked me if i wanted to hang out. i told her that i was a missionary
and wasnt allowed to date for another year. i think she thought it was
just an excuse.
on tuesday elder dalias bike broke because his bike cant handle the
weight he has so the spokes all busted up. so it was walking for a
couple of days. that night we went and saw this less active family in
the projects. and we played a song for them on the uke. our area is
the most getto area of the mission. i guess they thought i looked big
enough not to get beat up. (jk) but most of the hoses in our area are
government owned. and there are more Hispanic familys than white. but
its really good the people are really humble.
on Wednesday we helped this family move into the ward. they just moved
form alabama. and there a really cool family. he used to be a seminary
teacher. and he loves the gospel and wants to go out and teach with us
all the time. so we got all six of us elders and it was no sweat. but
the truck he had was over loaded with stuff. it was just a pick up
truck but it was stuffed to the max. like bikes and tvs tied to the
back. i took pictures. so after that they fed us pizza and we ate 10
pizzas! thats one pizza per person and then some.  then he started
handing out nerf guns to all of us and we had a small nerf gun war. it
was all good untill elder beams decided to jump through the wall of
there brand new house. there was a whole in the wall that was about 4
feet long and a foot wide.  it was so funny for us but bad for him and
the family. the guy was cool about it and said accidents happen. but
you could tell he was a little mad.
on thursday we moved in another family. he looks likes traver maxwell.
it was kind of funny. i had to ask him if he was related. they took us
out to chiles after. and the food was so good but the water was super
gross. i guess the lake water is down so were getting all kinds of mud
and algae in the water.
friday we fixed the bike and had district meeting. and other cool stuff
on saturday we talked to one of our investigators, his name is
gilbert. and he was like guess what? and were like what. and he said
that he was getting married in the salt lake temple. and were like you
cant unless your a member.  and he is like i know that i want to get
get baptized in a week! (his girl friend is already a member) he has
been taking the lessons for about a year now and he just decided to
commit and make the change. so if all goes well he can get baptized on
saturday. i was so freaking excited that i pee'd a little bit. not
really but whatever.
then on sunday we saw this family. the one that i told you that he
quite his job because of the church. and he isnt even a member. well
we saw them on sunday and watched the restoration with them. they were
so touched by the video that there were like we know that this is the
right thing for us. and we want to get baptized. so were working with
them right now. they said that they dont commit to anything unless
they mean it and they have gone to a bunch a different churches and
none of them have felt right. but they said we can feel a difference in
your church. freaking fricked flip face!
than that night we were invited to dinner with this family and we have
been working with there neighbor. and we had a great lesson and he was
crying and i was crying. and he said that he want to join the church
as soon as he finds out for himself that Joseph smith is a prophet.
than after that he watched the work and the glory and called us up and
said i know that Joseph smith is a prophet and that this is the church
for me. really really really cool.
so if we total that up of familys that want to change and get baptized
were up to 7 people.  really really really good week. the Lord is
working extra hard in this area. and i love it!!!
on monday yesterday. we went to a familys house. and they gave us the
taco challenge. it was to see how many tacos you could eat in a row.
they made us tshirts and everything and they put the number of tacos
we ate on the back. i ate 12.5 elder dalia at 22 (he is so competitive
he wanted to beat the record of 21) elder otofi at 16. all together we
ate over 100 tacos. if i never eat another taco in my life i will be
happy.
but thats it for this week. you guys sound like you had fun at the
lake. good luck at school Lauren i know you will do fine. just be
yourself and dont get into the clicks of people. love people how jesus
would love them. and you will do great. stay away form the foot ball
players. and jocks all together. elder dalia told me about all of his
numbers with girls. and how they didnt mean anything to him. except
for the bragging rights.
mom dad i love you so much and your the best parents in the world. im
glad you raised me how you did. high five through the email! keep on
keeping on. and i will talk to you next week. and if you could send me
that song thats on 17 miracles that would be great!
love you tons
YOur FavoRite missionary
ELder ClEmEnts

say Hi to Elder Dakota Iverson for me