Trio & Teaching In Orem

Hey Everyone,

 

Hope your week has been amazing. This week has been kind of crazy for me. I moved from Lehi to Geneva Heights, Orem, - I’m finally in my second area! I'm in a trio right now. Elder Engstrom, who is from California, is going to Argentina on November 4^th, so we're going to be missing him soon, and Elder Hoffman, from Wyoming, is being trained by me. We have been running around getting Elder Engstrom ready to depart for Argentina and getting his visa ready. It's been interesting seeing that process

 

The work has been great here in Orem! We put someone on date to be baptized a couple of days ago and we are working to put two more people on date. We work a lot with unbaptized children of record in this area which is a lot of fun. Learning to teach the gospel simply can be hard, but enjoyable. And not only is the work great, but the food is too - we went from one dinner a week with ward members in my last area, to now being fed every night! 

 

Last night, our mission came out with a new “Why I Believe” with John Schmidt from the Piano Guys. It's inspirational to hear his story and how he has overcome trials in his life. Here is the link to it, if you are interested. My mission President and his wife are the hosts of the  “Why I Believe” live events.  The Road to Hope and Peace  

 

We have also been working hard to find new people to share the Gospel with and there is a lot of potential here. We are hoping to start teaching a couple of girls who are so ready to get baptized if we can help them overcome their fear of water. This area covers a lot of the housing for UVU so it's an interesting dynamic. The people here are really receptive and it's a joy and a pleasure to be serving here.

 

Elder Cluff

 

Picture: Me and my new companion, Elder Hoffman.

Transfers And Training

Message from Mom:

 

Elder Cluff called and said transfers are this week and he will be leaving Lehi after 7 ½ months and moving to Orem. He will be training a new missionary, and he will be in a three-some for a couple weeks. He and his new companion will be able to be with Elder Angstrom for his last couple weeks before he leaves to go to his original assignment. They will be serving in the Orem Geneva Heights Stake.

 

Jacob is sad to leave the wonderful people of Lehi, but is excited for a new experience and challenge. He is also excited to be moving into an area that has a car – especially after his 5 flat tires recently, and with the wet, cold weather coming. We’ll see if the car lasts long -  who knows?

 

This past week, while Elder Cluff and Elder Reed were biking down the street, Scott Eddington (previous neighbor and Bishop, and dear friend of our family), was visiting UT and drove past Jacob and recognized him. He flipped a U-turn and stopped for a quick hello and a picture – which was so fun!

 

Thanks for supporting Jacob!

Interview With Elder Cluff

Elder Cluff called home today, and so Mom got to ask him some questions which we will send out for his email this week.

 

What did you do for your pday activity today?

“We hiked Battle Creek Falls, which is in Pleasant Grove.”

(It is just minutes from my brother’s house and Rog’s sister’s house. Crazy how close he was to seeing family today!)

 

Which stake are you serving in, in Lehi?

“Pheasant Point Stake. We used to live in the Seasons on Traverse Mnt, but now we live by Sky Ridge High School. We are still in the same stake, though.”

 

What is your favorite part of the day?

“When we get to teach, of course! That is always the BEST part. And when we get to see people’s lives change as a result, that is just amazing!  (pause) After that, I would say personal study time. I get to do that for an hour every day.”

 

What are you studying right now?

“I have been studying Isaiah alongside Revelations! I’ve loved it! (then he quoted a bunch of scriptures, but too quickly for me to write them down.) And then I’ve also started reading the New Testament again and am in Hebrews now, which I have really enjoyed. Oh, and also, I decided to study all the scriptures that Moroni quoted when he visited Joseph Smith in his room that night. I figure that if an angel was told he just had one night to teach a young man, that would some day be the Lord’s prophet on the earth, then he would have some pretty important things to say, and maybe I ought to study and know those things too.”

 

What is probably your biggest challenge?

“I would say when people are not interested. When we knock on someone’s door or approach someone we see outside, they usually say, ‘I’m not interested.’ Well, we could just walk away, but the challenge is to try to help them see that they would be interested if they knew how much the Gospel could bless their lives. If they have children, we try to help them see how the gospel could bless their children’s lives, or tell them about eternal families and see if that is something they want. That is challenging. 

But, people have been pretty polite. The meanest man we met we were able to talk to until he calmed down and ended up eventually inviting us in for a glass of water. So, I hope my luck doesn’t change. Ha ha”

 

“A small challenge is all the flat tires I keep getting. Have you heard of goat head thorns? Well, they keep popping my tires!”

 

Who did you get to teach this week?

“We taught the Rowley family; a few teenagers and their parents, who we have been teaching for months. Their parents were inactive and actually kind of anti for 15 years. But, over 4 months ago, the Dad had a very spiritual experience and knew he needed to get back to church. So, one Sunday, he showed up at church with his family. He met with the Bishop for a few weeks and then the Bishop asked us to start teaching the family. They have two boys, Tyler who is 19, Brandon who is 16, and then Erin, their 14-year-old daughter. The challenge is that they have been taught by their dad to hate the church for 15 years and now their dad is wanting them to embrace it. So, it’s taking a while. But it is really great to see them learning and changing. 

We are also teaching a 9 year old girl named Abrianna. Her mom was offended at church 5 years ago and won’t go back, but a youth invited her older daughter to mutual last year and she became active and now the 9 year old wants to learn. Their mom is happy to have her learn about the gospel, which is nice.”

 

Pictures: Elder Reed and I in front of a member’s house, our hike to Battle Creek Falls, funny mission joke, and a unique street sign – no my hearing is fine.

Elder Cluff's Pictures

Hello family and friends, 

 

Since Jacob hasn’t written in over a month, I thought I would write a little update.

 

We got an email from Jacob’s mission president, President James Evanson, in which he mentioned that they have a mission FB page that they started in July, when they came to the mission. I went on the FB page and found 5 pictures of Jacob! 

 

The first picture is the day he went to pick up his companion he would be training, Elder Reed. The next picture is them after interviews with their mission president. Then, there are 2 pictures at the temple. He and his companion were able to go with their Lehi zone to the Timpanogos temple on September 23. That is especially exciting because he was only able to receive his own endowments before his mission and was not able to go back again before he left.

 

Three weeks ago, at transfers, he and Elder Reed had to move. Their stake split, and so they needed to move into their stake boundaries, which moved them down the steep hill. So, now they are back on bikes and live in the basement of a member’s home. Sounds like it is a nice place, but they do miss having the Assistants to the President as their roommates.

 

We are sure thankful he is serving a mission! Thanks for your support!

 

Heidi 

 

PS. I was literally about to hit “send” and this email came through from Jacob;

 

Hey Everyone,

 

I hope you are doing well. Sorry for not reaching out earlier.  My phone wasn't working and my companion Elder Reed’s broke. Luckily, I got it working again. 

 

This last week has been incredible with General Conference. The talks were amazing! We got to watch one session at our mission president’s home, which was great! I loved the quote, "Give me your whole self and I will give you a new self, even myself".  We kept having connections to the people in general conference. Elder Brad Wilcox’s daughter lives in the area, so we had a heads up he was speaking. Elder Seikihama spoke in our mission just 2 weeks ago and another 70 spoke with the Evanson’s in another stake in our mission, so we had heard about him. One lady in our area sang in the Saturday afternoon General Conference session. That was cool! I felt really edified by the speakers in General Conference and it was a great time for learning.

 

This week has been interesting. We have been doing everything from helping people dig a trench, to fixing flat tires, to removing defacing someone put on church mirrors. Lots of service.

 

We also had an incredible teaching moment where we taught a guy named Luke. He had come to a chapel just looking for some water. He had never been in a church before. We ended up talking outside for about an hour about our basic beliefs in God and Christ - since he had been raised without religion. While he ended up not wanting to take another lesson, he did say he was open to any service opportunities, and we believe he has great potential. (Especially since all his roommates are members).

 

Teaching Dawuyien has been amazing. While his family is still in China, he has been working hard to prepare for them. He started reading the Book of Mormon this week, which was great, and said he was open to going to church. It's powerful to watch peoples of all cultures and backgrounds become united under Christ.

 

It sounds like all of you are doing well. I hope you have an incredible week like me!

 

Elder Cluff