36th week Staying with Elder Shupe

hi family/ everybody else that's cool enough to read my letters.

so kind of a cool week but you know not the funnest week of the miss

on Monday we went to the cowboy museum. it was pretty cool but we were the only ones there the the security people were breathing down our necks the whole time. so it made it not really fun. lots of old stuff. but nothing super cool. i took some pictures. but you couldn't take your camera into the coolest part. it was old Indian stuff. but its considered sacred and stuff so you couldn't take pictures. i really like our zone alot. we do all kinds of cool stuff together. we all came up with trucker names. (you know like red feather, or sitting bull) mine is feathered serpent (queto coa) elder shupes is white trash.

mexico sounds so cool! i super hate you guys right now. you know not really but still. you couldn't have waited like15 more monthes? o my nine months out mark is on april 13! this mission is just screaming by! the transfer is all ready over. and president taylor has one year left on his mission. so that means i will have the opportunity to serve with two presidents. it will be weird being so used to PT. and then going to some one completely new.

Im really into the study of Jesus and his life and his teachings all of the sudden. i told you i read Jesus the Christ right? and now im on my second time reading the new testament. i just love Jesus he is such a cool guy. Probably my favorite character in the book of Mormon is Teancum. (he is the guy that is one of the generals in the Nephite army at the time of moroni. and he travels around from place to place with a grappling hook. and he climbs city walls and he killed the king of the lamanites. you know what? that is right. he is a ninja!!!) so everything i read it comes back to Jesus Christ. the book of Mormon is truly another testament of Jesus Christ. i all ways thought of it as a history of the ancient Americans and their prophets. but they are allways talking about Jesus and how he would come and what he would do. i mean its got alot of history but it all leads up to the coming of Christ.

on Friday we went on exchanges and i had the opportunity to go to El Reno. its elder neilds area. and like 79% of the people there are native American (lamanites) and i just thought of how cool it was that i was fulfilling prophecy (just for a day but what ever just let me have my moment) we gave out like 7 book of Mormons. el reno is just a small town in the middle of no were. its kind of fun just to be there. because its just like how you think a small town would be. everybody waves when you pass by (or since were missionary's they yell out Mormons/ devil worshipers) they had a guitar hall of fame museum and they let you play the guitars! so i played some sick guitars for like a half an hour during lunch. makes me miss that awesome instrument.

any way so since its Easter everybody decided that they want to come church. its like one of the two times that people come to church. the other is Christmas. so we had about 60 people there that would have normally come. the place was packed. three people invited us to Easter. so we picked the fist one that offered. and we went over there and they said that it wasn't a good time. and they would feed us another time. it kind of pissed me off because we said no to a couple of really awesome family's to go to this family that invited us first. and they didn't even invite us in. so we went to the Micalchecks. (they all ways say we can come over for dinner no matter what day it is) 

 o and we got tranfer calls last night and im staying in OKC 3rd Ward for at least 6 more weeks with Elder Shupe.

so that's basically this week. i love you guys so much your the best family ever! send me lots of pictures please. love you

love your favorite missionary elder clements.

ps yes i got your package. and i swear you pray for inspiration on what to put in the package. it all ways seems to be what i need. like this is kind of gross but the wet wipes were perfect! i ate some crazy hot sauce and it was hotter on the other end. just saying.  

 

pictures YEA!!!

                                      Oklahoma City

                      Man plant

                   D&C 18:28

                               Peter the Potted Plant

                       The sign should say don't be stupid!

                             Putting Grandma's pen's to work

                   

                           Elder Payton and Elder Shupe

                     

                               District Picture

                           Persian Book Of Mormon

                     Happiness with Elder Shupe

                           District Lunch

 

                                  Jada and Maloks Baptism

                 A couple of Dakota Too!

35th week

hi family

dang that picture is so pretty. i am die ing right now! holy smokes. man Oklahoma looks like a dump compared to that. i didn't know court and zack were with you guys. that's cool. did you guys have to get visas or anything to visit? are you taking a hundred thousand pictures? any ways. how was the plane ride? did Lauren have fun? did you almost puke? i remember when i came out to Oklahoma we ran into a lot of turbulence and the plane was shaking up and down for like five min. did you get any of that? what is the temp down there? is it sunny cloudy (with a chace of meat balls) or in between. wow im jealous right now. lets go back.  plan it now because we only got 14 months left!

well anyway this week has been fun. first off pday is the devil here. like we don't do anything. there is only 6 people in our zone right now. and so we just sit there board. we played this game were you draw pictures. it was fun but still super boring. this week is already week 5 of the transfer. its gone by super quickly. and last week was fight week. its like when you get so sick of each other that just the little things start to piss you off.  its happened with all my comps so far. its  just the week when all your angryness comes out. (kind of like a guy pms) anyways so we knew that was going to happen so we planed accordingly. every time we thought we were going to get on each other nerves we just yelled out fight week. and it just reminded us to just be cool and don't freakin freak out! it was funny because we probably yelled that like 500 times this week. but it was better than the alternative witch would be to have contention between us. which would meen we would lose the spirit.  and we cant afford that ever. because we rely on its promptings all the time.

ok so we were tracking this week. and the spirit was directing us were to go 100% we call it moroni trackting. because we only knock on the doors that you feel like there is an investigator behind . or that there someone that need to here you speak that day. so we already got like 5 book of Mormons placed. in like 10 min. then we knock on this door. and this lady comes out and was like hey i have been meaning to talk to you. so were like sick! this is going to be one of those cool conversion stories! we told her all about the book of Mormon and gave it to her. but then all of the sudden she is like i have something for you too. all the sudden i just got this sinking horrible fealing. she comes out with this book and she said because you gave me a book i will give you a book. elder shupe took the book. but i asked what was in the book. she said that once you read it you wont belevie in god any more and you will see that your religions a cult. i was stunned. i couldnt beleve that a lady this nice would say such a thing. she closed the door and just left us speachless. we when home that night and i just opend the book. an all of the sudden the house just got super dark and it felt like you were walking through mapel syrup. all kinds of weird stuff was going down. and it just feld like the devil himself was in the house. we immediately got on our knees and prayed and dedicated the apartment. the feeling sort of when away. so i decided to throw the book outside. immediately the feeling went away.  it was super crazy. and one of the worst feeling i have ever had. after that we listened to church music to try and get the spirit back. super crazy. i dont know weather to give the book back to this lady or weather to just burn the book. its still on our front porch.

well back to the good stuff. conference was this week. and i love them with all my heart. just to hear form the prophet and all the apostles. its so great. you only get four of them on your mission and the probably the best four of your life. unless you speak there yourself. just lots of insperation. and full of hope for your investigators. just cool beans.  the ward fed us in between secions so we didnt even have to leave the church.

but here was the dumb idea of the week. so some one wanted to hold out signs and dace around on street corners. to try and get people to confrence. it was super dumb. im like what are we a babtist church. lets show some dignity! but whe had to do it anyways because of these dumb missionary's. wanting to impress the sisters again. no one ended up coming anyways. if even one would have showed up. it would have been a success. but not even one soul unto christ. but now people will just remember us by. didnt i see you dancing on the street the other day?

well anyways

i love you guys so much dont have to much fun without me. i love you all

YOur FavorITE missionRY

Elder Clements.

Elder Dakota Iverson's letter

Mom that is so great that you watched conference! And did dad watch it
> too? I hope so! It was the best conference that i have every had on my
> mission, let alone on my whole life. I do not believe that was my last
> one. I literally do not believe that it was my last one! It seems like
> to me that the general conferences are of so much worth to me on my
> mission. I pray that you all watched it, and if not that you will
> watch it on the sight.
> So basically i am still here in São Luis. The cool thing is that
> two more missionaries were put into my district and are not living
> with me in my house. I love it because they help me keep the house
> nice and clean. I had to divide my area with them. So that lady that
> is going to get married and baptised this saturday will be their
> baptism and i will just go over there and support them. I would rather
> not have it any other way because one of the missionaries that moved
> in with me is an american that arrived in brasil right now. I am so
> excited that i can give him this opportunity to be excited in the
> work. What better wayt to start your mission and marry and bapise some
> body in the first week!
> I am really happyt to be here with him and help him. We did a
> divsion where i left with the new kid and my goal was to have him
> return to the house totally excited about his 2 years ahead of him. We
> did a contact with a family on the street and i invited my self in to
> their house, well i guess they invited me. I sat down and felt a
> feeling to talk abou the law of chastity. I set an invitation for them
> to get married and baptised to complete the comandments of god and to
> be able to be an eternal family. They looked at eachother and they
> were like ``yes, yes we will´´. You should have seen the face on the
> new kid light up! IT was so great. When we left that house he was
> saying how cool the mission is and how excited he is for the work! i
> am grateful to be able to be here to help him. The person who is
> training him has only 2 months on the mission, so he also looks up to
> me alot and i have to stay alert always to help them and give them
> instruction. I know that i can be a tool for bad, or for good in the
> situation that i am in right now. I must be an insturment in Gods hand
> and show to these two missionaries why we are missionaries and how to
> reprensent the Lord. I thank my Father in Heaven for this chance. New
> missionaries are my favorite, just because they are so open and ready
> to learn so much from you.
> Pedro was supposed to be baptised yesterday, but there was a
> problem. I will do all in my power to make sure it happens the week
> that comes. We should have 3 people baptised if everything goes right.
> All i can do is my part and let the lords will come to pass.
> Other then that miracle with the other family i felt really
> humbled as i talked to a lady about her husband that had passed away.
> We did a prayer and then i started into the plan of salvation. I told
> her that if she does the right things she can be her husbands wife for
> ever! She looked at me and said in a small shaken and tender voice
> ``could it be that this is really true´´? I said, yes, yes it is, then
> was able to bear my testimony about the subject.
> My other favorite example with the week was when we were teaching
> adriano and marlion who should be baptised this saturday. While we
> were in their house we were just talking with them and all of a sudden
> i had the strongest feeling that we should talk about the gift of the
> Holy ghost to him. But for some reason i put off the prompting and
> just kept on going trying to do my own will. About a minute later
> after a few questions and comments were made my companion looked at me
> and said that he felt that we should talk about the gift of the Holy
> Ghost. I looked at him and said ``wow, i had that same feeling´´. So
> that was a witness to me that the spirit truly works with us if we are
> ready to listent to it. I just put off his prompting and ignored it,
> so he went over to my companion and said the same thing to him. Then
> my companion used his agency to follow the prompting. Thus, helping me
> to use my agency for the right and not in the wrong direction. It
> truly was a miracle. I know that they spirit is real and is the
> essence of my call as a missionary.
> Mom, Dad. I know this church is true. Never can some onetell me
> that it is not. I know for my self that Thomas S Monson is the prophet
> of the Church and of God upon this Earth. I know that i must keep on
> going foward with a firm hope in christ so that i may be saved by his
> mercy.I want to apply his atonement in my life and become better every
> week. I love my family and all his godly hand has given me. My prayer
> is that i can be who he wants. Who he expects of me.
>
> I love you all.
>
> Elder Iverson

34th week (9 months)

hi family

so first off. the post office was closed on Monday (construction or something) so i sent the package today. sorry about that. i would have sent it sooner but. its kind of a pday thing to write letters. and were trying to be obedient to all the rules. so sorry for your running up to the mail box.

wow thats no bueno about zack. i hope he is ok. :( its sucks that he had to go home but its better than staying out there. maybe he will get a second chance? idk when is Brenden going? and is he pumped? that's cool that he goes basically back to were he lived before.

you guys are so lucky that your going to Mexico! is it southern or northern? and will you guys be close to the beach or like a couple of miles away? (look for elder soto) take lots of pictures and write me some cool letters. (plus i like souvenirs) wink

so this week has been fun. on Monday i played ninja destruction with the sisters for pday. because no one else would play with them. plus the rest of the zone was playing basketball. and I'm not really a fan. maybe if i was 6'4 and black.  but that was kind of fun. its kind of awkward to play at first. but i won. just so you know. it helps that im a ninja. then we had a training by the zone leaders. because elk city is basically not doing any work. so the zone leaders had to pretend that the whole zone was struggling but it was just elk city that needed the training.

we did some service this week. and helped one of our investigators put in a pool pump. elder shupe did electrical work before the mish so he helped out alot. i didn't know what i was doing so i was just there for emotional support. her name is sister ford. and she is so close to baptism its not even funny. im guessing within the next month. but really cool. i love bringing souls unto Christ. its like the cats pajamas/ the bees knees.

this other investigator we are pretty sure he is a spy or something. because he does all this cool stuff. and he is like 6'2 and riped. and he speaks like a couple of languages. and he has this big house. but he says he does "flooring" (iwonder if that's code for something)

me and elder Reynolds when on exchanges this week. he is elder neilds new son. so he has only been in the mission for like 3 weeks. its fun to be with him because he doesn't know what to do.  so he just makes up stuff on the door step. nothing set. so he has a easy er time relating to people.

and because they were out of miles we ended up staying three days together instead of just the normal 24 hours. its good to get a new comp some times. and just switch things up. but elder Reynolds snors so i had to sleep out in the hall. not the funnest thing in the world.

on Sunday. we had a bunch of people get up and share there testimony. and this young women got up and bore her testimony on food. it was one of the weirdies testimony's ever. it had nothing to do with the Gospel. the bishop asked her to sit down. and then the next girl gave her testimony on she knows this church is true because we don't have a bouncy house outside. it almost fell apart form there but elder Reynolds got up and saved the day. and bore his testimony on missionary work.

I'm so excited for general conference! you only get four on your mission. and there the best four of your life. because your so full of the spirit. and have your spiritual thinking cap on.

ive finished the book of Mormon again. this is like number 5 on the mish. plus Jesus the Christ by James talmage and the new testament. i love the study time in the morning. you get so much out of the Gospel.

but yea this is BASIC it for this week.

i know that this church is true and the only church with the fullness of the Gospel on the earth. i know that my savior died for me. and that we have a prophet on the earth. i know that the book of Mormon is true. and that it contains the fullness of the Gospel. and that we can become closer to God by following its teachings.

Love your favorite missionary

Elder Clements.

33rd week

Subject: giggle giggle 57 giggle giggle

hi family how's it flowing? like a river or a stream or more like a current in the ocean?

so this week has been kind of uneventful. i don't have allot to say this week. i got your letter. and it sounds like all of the missionary's are doing great. i also got a letter from grandma/ grandpa/ creton. it was a fun letter. i opened it up and all kinds of shamrocks fell out. so i had to vacuum the floor. do you remember the card that grandpa carter had? the one with the butterfly that flew out as soon as you opened it? 

im getting freaking sick of smoking! who ever invented cigarettes needs to be shot and then punched and then shot again. were teaching like six people that smoke. and they don't seem to have the desire to give it up. we have a program the makes you quit in 7 days. but people don't seem to follow it at all. you drink grapefruit juice and use Cinnamon mouth wash as soon as you wake up. and it involves alot of praying and staying away from cigarettes. but people cant even commit for seven days. and they cant get baptized until they quit. so a couple of our baptisms fell though. but we still have two in the next month. one guy is super cool he sky dives and travels all around the world. he has been though heck and back twice. so hes really humble. the other is a lady that wants to read the book of mormon all the way through before she gets baptized. but she is in like 3rd nephi.

alot of people are flaking out on use lately like we tracked into people and they say come back but then you cant end up teaching them for some reason or another. they make up the most ridiculous excuses. like o my dog is barking so you cant come in. and my favorite so far is o i have a baby in a high chair so i cant talk right now. i wish people were more strait up with us. then we wouldn't waist our time if there not even interested. but what ever one day they might. seed planted. hopefully some one reaps what we sow.

ive been taking lots of pictures. and im sending them today so bee looking for them. and also there are two tapes in there that you can listen too. hope you like them.

sounds like you dance was fun. lauren. was he a fun date or no? he looks like a creeper. wink. and how did he answer you to the dance? something about a string and a pop bottle? was it creative or kind  of lame? was he crazy like our family? was he bonkers, off the wall, nuts, completely off his rocker? ill tell you a secret. all the best people are.

i was asking if you typed your own letters dad. because of the smile faces and exclamation points. i just didn't expect it. that's it not that i didnt think you couldn't type. hows the elders quorum there. i forget. are they willing to do stuff. because this ward is not very good at that. how is the home teaching? who are your family's? and who is your fellow home teacher? and who is our home teachers? and do they come alot.

i dont know what to do about the whole not wanting to go on a mission? just tell them that 25 percent of missionarys turn out to be losers but 95 percent of the people that dont go on a mission turn out to be losers. idk it hast to be a personal decision and no one else should make it for you. if your not converted to the Gospel yourself then your not going to convert anybody else. you can leave and come home and not even be converted yourself. you have to be committed before hand. people can tell if your be hypocritical.

anyways i love you all so much im out of time. but i care about each and everyone  of you.

LOve Elder Clemetns

Ps Thanks Nana and Papa for the Money

32nd week

Sent: Mon, Mar 12, 2012 12:30 pm
Subject: i guess you say what can make me feel this way, 57

hi family.

 how is the marsh is it beginning to stink yet? sometimes i miss that smell. (weird right?) i had i dream were i came home and then i woke up mad. because i thought i was home and stuff. (im pretty sure Satan sends thoughts dreams) yes i got the package. and for some reason you all ways know what to send. like we ran out of TP and then i got that package. Do you pray before you send it? IDK

so this week has been going good. elder olinger is letting me write his "sister" (shes just a girl in his branch back home) but she is a beautiful daughter of god! she lives in Hawaii going to BYUH. and im excited for the return letter.

anyways back to business. so this week has gone by good. i took over the area. so i have to plan for the day every night while elder shupe just listens. its hard because he doesn't know the area and i barley know it. so we end up track ting alot. its fun but at the same time it sucks on ice. you meet alot  of interesting people but they mostly don't want to here form you. I'm excited its daylight savings time because you can track at night now. and people aren't like who is this creepstash on my door step. you know that promise that Jesus gives to his apostles. that they shouldn't worry about there food or drink that the Lord would provide for them. man this promise is paying off. like every time it seem like we need something the Lord provides. like we would need to use the restroom. and we would happen to tracked into a member that would let us use the restroom, or i was like 99% parched (name that movie) and so we were going to go back to the apartment. but i said one more door. and this guy talks to us and asked if we would like some bottled water. so we stayed out longer than we would have if the guy would have given us the water.  which led us to find a new investigator. i love the way the Lord works hes so legit!

me and elder shupe get along great. probably better than all my last comps. just as much as elder Curtis if not better. hes just a chill guy. and funny, he just rolls with the punches. hes still new to the mission. like less then 4 months. so he doesn't know how to teach effectively yet. but I'm sure i was the exact same way like a transfer ago. but he try's and that's what counts. we have alot of comp unity. were good friends. the other day we bought Nerf guns. and we have been shooting each other ever since. like i will be in the bathroom and i will come out, and my gun would be on the floor. and i would have to go find him without been shot. its fun. but the only problem is that we both suck at waking up on time! we have 4 alarms set and were trying really hard. but sometimes it gets tough. Ive been praying for help with that. because i know if you are obedient to the rules that's when the miracles happen.

we have been biking alot lately because the weather is so nice. its like 60 everyday. it rained on Sunday and Saturday though.  we don't have that many miles so we have to bike at lest once aday. its mostly to like close stuff like less than 5 miles. its fun to bike but at the same time its no fun. because the wind is all ways blowing against us now matter what direction you seem to go. o this is funny elder Shupe ran over a Opossum with his bike like 3 days ago. (it was already dead)  and it popped as soon as he ran it over. and got all over his tires.

the guy from Iran, were letting him read more of the book of Mormon before he comes back. he said that we wants to wait a while before we come back. so hopefully everything goes OK. i know that the book of Mormon will change his life if he lets it. we had a baptism on Saturday. for two of our investigators. Jada and Malak. and they asked me to baptize them. so i was freakin freaking out (you know me and stress) it was really a special moment. the spirit was just flowing out of the font. one of the best baptisms Ive ever been two. it was bad though because at first we could get the doors open to fill the font. so we had this little boy crawl under neath the "accordion doors"  and turn on the water. it was funny. but everything turned out OK. so that makes 4 and 5 for me and baptisms! but first ones i have ever done.

church was all about missionary work and how we need to share the Gospel with our friends and family. and not just plant seeds but reap the seeds that have all ready been planted. sometimes it appears that there not ready and you cant tell. but they said there like carrots. you cant see the fruit of your labors until you pull them up. so just go for it and share the Gospel with some one. hopefully this leads us to get alot of referrals. because that's were the work comes in. is when people share the Gospel with there friends. so that way they all ready have a friend in the church. and they can ask them any questions.

well that's it for this week. i love you all so very much. i like it when you send long emails and letters. because i want to know everything that's going on. it makes it fun. i love all your letters. (dad do you write you letters yourself or does mom or Lauren?)

well i hope everything goes swimmingly

Love your favorite missionary Elder Clements

31st week

i dont know why but this computer is being super slow today it took me twice as long to read your emails. your guys emails was super long today. i like that alot. dont worry im a fast typer so i can read and type all in the allotted time.

so this week as been great! monday was super boring. we were supposed to go to the zoo. but we didnt so we ended up playing monopoly (again) and now we cant go to the zoo without special permission. because they split the whole mission up and now its like 7 zones instead of 4. its crazy there is so many leader ship positions out there. (thats probably why they made me senior).

so i wanted to go senior this transfer but i also didnt. because its alot of responsibility watching over someone. (especially a greenie) and because elder olinger left i had to take over the area. elder shupe (shupe dog) is really a swell guy. ilike him alot. hes humble and knows alot about the gospel. plus since we already have that common ground we didnt go thourgh that "awkward week"  he wants to work hard (witch is more than i can say for all the rest of my comps) so we set some awesome transfer goals. and i know we can complete them. we want 6 baptisms this tranfer, and 26 new people coming to church.

on Wednesday i had to stay home and watch elder evans. because they didnt have room for him. so i didnt say good bye to elder damon (my dad) and elder eggbert (my old district leader) maybe we will see each other again one day. but probably not. and because we had nothing to do. we just were throwing a Frisbee  around for like an hour. then it broke. and so we helped some people from Uzbecastan move. it was cool that we got to serve these people. i gave them a book of Mormon. but they said that they had a hard time reading english. but they would try anyways.

OOOOO hold the phone i forgot about what happened on Monday!!!!! so i was feeling a little sick after lunch. but i wasnt worryed about it. my stomach hurt but i thought i could tough it out. then it got worse and worse. my stomach felt like i was being stabbed over and over. and so i laid down. then i had to get up and go to the bathroom. i had the runs for like two hours. "SICK"  stomach felt like crap. then i threw up for like 10 min straight. and then dry heaved for the next six hours! i was up until 3 in the morning. thinking i was going to die. elder olinger took me to the hospital. but sister taylor called just before we got there. and told us that it wasnt needed. (that actually really made us kinda mad, elder olinger was furious) but we think its food poisoning.  but im not sure. anyway's top 3 worst days of my mission.

but now im good.

so we have been working hard and choosing the right. tracking alot. and we ran into this Jehovah witness. (my first one) and he was willing to tell us all about his religion. its freeking nuts. i thought we had some far out doctrine but man these people get some crazy stuff. most of his stuff was good and i could see how they get some converts. but the other part was freeking nuts. like the third of the hosts of heaven chose not to follow the Savior because they saw Eve and how beautiful she was and so they chose to come down to earth to have sex with women. in the form of a man. and there offspring is the giants that are in the old Testament. and the giants that we have today. and satan had accessto heaven until 1912. and now he cant get there anymore. he was a nice guy though. he gave us some delicious chocolate. and offered us some coffee. but we told him its against our religion. and he freaked out. and told us that it wasntin the bible that you couldnt have it. (we told him that weed wasnt in the bible either)

"so thats whats happening around the country, heres whats happening in your neck of the woods."

well i love you all so much and your the best! i did get the persian book of mormon and gave it to that guy. but we havent seen him since because he wants to read it first before we come back.

keep writing me and praying for me. i will see you guys in about 16 months

love Elder Clements