Hello everyone!
This past week has been pretty amazing and crazy. Elder Albright went down to South Africa so Elder Kirby, Elder Brown and I have been in a trio. We also had an area change so the three of us cover a stake, which is at the base of the hill we live on. So once we get down to our area, it’s not as hilly riding around our stake. We have a car, but we often bike to save miles and to exercise. We also run for exercise in the mornings. Elder Kirby used to run cross country like I did, so he gets us running.
We were given the Moderna vaccine last week, so hopefully the covid restrictions will be lowering and we can more easily meet with people soon. We also have 3 people we are hoping to put on date for baptism and some more that are taking the lessons. I feel very blessed to be in this mission - the support from the members has been generous and touching.
General conference was, of course, incredible. Because of covid, none of the missionaries could go to the Conference Center, but watching it was very spiritual. My comps and I watched it at the stake center in the comfy high council seats. A couple talks that stood out to me were Elder Oaks’ talk on the constitution and Elder Dyches talk about how light cleaveth unto light. In a revelation it says that the constitution will hang by a thread and looking forward, it may be this church that will become that thread. The message about light being stronger was particularly inspiring. As Elder Dyches said, “Even when in darkness so strong you could not see your hand in front of your face, it has to surrender to the light. For even the faintest of light is stronger than the most powerful darkness Satan can bring.”
Being able to spend Easter on my mission was a great experience. The fact that we have a day dedicated to the resurrection of Christ (even if lots don't use the day for that) is a testament to the importance and significance of that act. We were also given lots of Easter candy from members so we got to enjoy all the parts of that holiday. :) During one preparation day, the mission watched the movie, Lamb of God - a concert film about the life of Christ. It was very spiritual and I have been listening to the soundtrack all week. I would highly recommend watching it if you can.
It has also been cool to see how the gospel has spread to every corner of the earth. In a couple of days we were able to teach a member message to families from Ivory Coast Africa, India, Columbia, Nicaragua and one other Asian family. There are no boundaries when it comes to the gospel and to truth. There are also sister missionaries in our zone teaching people in India and Brazil. Social media is a powerful tool to reach and inspire people. In our new message we invite people to go onto our mission Facebook page "A Road to Hope and Peace" (which now has about 34k followers) and share an inspirational post from it. There is so much negative news going around so watching those rays of light appear on posts can be just what lots of people need.
Some cool stories from the week. Elder Kirby felt there was something wrong with his bike, probably just a small issue with the brake pads, so he took it in. Turned out the frame of the bike had cracked and the bike could have broken when he was going down a hill so he was definitely protected. Since Elder Albright didn't need his bike anymore Elder Brown got a replacement - so miracles all around. We also got to visit the geographically smallest stake in the world during p-day last week. We went to an auto repair shop to get a bike hitch put on our car. They said it would take a couple hours, so my companion took us for a walk to a previous area of his where the stake is so compact that we could see from one side to the other.
It had been a pleasure and a joy to be in the Lord’s service down here in Utah. There is so much love from everyone and I have never felt closer to the lord. I hope all of you are feeling the spirit.
From,
Elder Cluff
The picture is from our hike this morning.
