May's letters

Hello family and friends. I hope everything is going good for all of you. I am still praying for all of you and hope your days and weeks are wonderful. Well this week was a good week. I had a baptism this week. Jose Manuel Calderon Salaberry. We have been working with him forever and finally he was cleared to be baptised. Now we are hoping that we can make him our ward mission leader. He wants to preach the gospel and share his conversion story with every body and so we are thinking this would be a great way for him to stay active and do what he wants to do. It was really crazy for his baptism. We had only planed to have my zone leaders join in on the baptism and we were going to baptize three people. We starting getting the water ready and cleaning the room and everything thing else, when another set of missionaries showed up and said they had a baptism when we were doing ours.  We said OK you can join in, no problem. Then about 5 minutes after that, another set of missionaries showed up and said, " we have a baptism".  So we said, OK, you can join in too. Then 5 minutes later, another. By the time we started the service, we had 7 wards and branches joined into one, and we baptised 13 people. It was really cool and I need to get the pictures of all of us together. It should be cool and spiritual to see all of them be baptised. Everyone said they loved it.

       Well this week we had the activity of the concert night with the missionaries. Where we went to three different areas and sang hymns and showed pictures of Christ. It was really successful. In my area we had 5 less active families and 5 investigator that I have never met before. So I am really happy about that.  The singing was really great. I had a kid in my branch take pictures and videos of the entire activity, so I have every song on video. When I send the next CD home of my pictures you all will be able to see and hear all of the songs and pictures.

      Well this week also I found the smallest monkey I have ever seen. Its called the lion monkey. I don't know why because it is really small. But it has has hair around its head like a lion so I guess that's why. But it's so small that you can put it in your pocket and walk around with it. I put it on my head and it was running around my shoulder and on my hair graping and pulling it. It was the coolest thing in the world. The lady that had it said that we could buy one for 8 soles witch is about $2.20 in dollars. So I think I will buy a thousand of them and put it in my suitcase when I come home. They are awesome.

      Well I went to the river Nañai this week. Its a river that feeds into the amazon river. It was so cool to see all of the different boats that the people made out of wood  and tree trunks, also how the people fish and use the river to live. It's a whole different life and way of living. The were telling me that there are other fish with teeth that they use their mouth to cut hair and finger nails and stuff. It's all weird but really cool.

      Well this week was really great. Transfers are tomorrow but I will be staying with my companion for another change. I guess he has had problems with a lot of his companions and president said to my leaders that I was one of the best persons to get along with him. So he has to use me for a little longer. But we are working hard and hoping that some of our plans will go through. Well I love you all and hope things are going great. I will write again really soon.

        Love you all Elder Clouse

 

May 24, 2011

Hello family and friends. How is everybody doing allí en Los estados unidos. Estoy bien. I am doing just fine. Well things are going great this week. Sorry it’s a little bit later but      I had some conferences with my mission president. And so my p day was moved until today and so there we are.  First things first with the work. We are working with some families to get them married. It’s a slow process and they need to save a little bit of money before they can do anything and so we are waiting for them to get ready. Well, the man that was supposed to get baptized 2 weeks ago had another interview with president Blunck and was cleared to be baptized this weekend so that should be really cool.  This week we also have an activity with all of the missionaries where we have a choir of missionaries singing different hymns and also a slide show showing different pictures of Christ and somebody speaking a written part. It is coming along really nicely and the singing is very good. I have been in charge of putting all of the songs together and teaching the different parts. I am pretty pleased with how it is sounding so that should be great.  Next week we have transfers again. It has gone by really fast but I am excited to see what happens, if my companion will go or not.  He only has 3 months left so it would almost be better if he left to work in one area for a good amount of time; Also to see if they make me senior companion or not. It should be interesting to see.

          Well for the pictures that I have its of us eating piranha. If that’s how you spell it. Its the fish that has teeth and eats meat. Oh ya, I ate it and it was actually pretty good. The others pictures are of my church building that is a house. So you can see a little bit of where I go to church, and also of the motorcycle taxi that I always take here. Those are awesome. Also of the professional soccer stadium that they have here in Iquitos. Today for p day we went and played soccer there. It was awesome and is a really nice field to play on. SO those pictures should be cool to look at.

           Well this week we had zone conference and a training on how to be better missionaries and teach better. They are always so spiritual and uplifting. It really shows the missionaries that we can all be better and how we can do it. It really gave me a lot of ideas to do things in my branch.  We will see if they work or not. Well I think that is all for this week. I Really hope things are going good. I love you all and I am still praying for all of you. Love you all Elder Clouse 

May 16,2011

Hello family and friends! How is everybody doing in the  U S of A. I am doing really good, but the summer heat is coming on. It's really weird !In Lima it is winter right now and is freezing. But here in Iquitos summer is just starting. I think it because I am closer to the equator if that's how you spell it. SO i will continue dying from the heat. Well my baptism didn't go through. We have a little bit of issues to work through so we scheduled it for the 28 of May.  I hope and pray for this date to finally be his baptismal date. But other than that we are doing really good in my area. We have some people that we are teaching that are really great and want to progress, but there are a few little things that they just can't give up. Like working on Sunday, not being lazy and going to church. It was so funny last night. I went to an investigators  house to ask why he didn't go to church. His name is Felipe. And he told me that he just couldn't get himself to get out of his chair. HE REALLY SAID THAT: I was pretty mad but was laughing at the same time. But he said that next week for sure he will go. Well yesterday I went to church like normal. Just being as happy as can be singing away and trying to feel the spirit. And after the sacrament meeting the second counselor started to announce the rest of the program. And started to say that me and my companion would speak. But the worst part of all is that he said that I was the second speaker; the one with twenty minutes to speak. The first time in my life I had to speak 20 minutes and in Spanish. Wow that was interesting. I got up there and I started to ramble stuff off. Who knows what I said. But I did good I guess because the people thanked me after the meeting for my words.

Well, I will explain the pictures. The one with the bus is just to show you what they look like. The frame is made of metal but where we sit and stand is wood. Its very bumpy and uncomfortable but its cool. The other is my house and my beloved coconut tree. I love my coconut tree.  The other is a part of my area where I have to walk everyday. My area is really beautiful and I love looking at all the different areas and trees that I have. Well I am doing great. This week nothing really happened interesting. Today I am going to play soccer with the young men in my ward. SO that should be fun. Well thanks for everything. I love you all and I will write next week hopefully with something more interesting. Love you all Elder Clousito.

Well family and freinds. It has been a really great week. I had a baptism this week. Jose Luis Rolin Jerame. We have been working with him for about 4 weeks now and he accepted baptism and showed up for his baptism. The baptism was really spiritual and when he gave his testimony it was really powerful and could feel the spirit really strong. You could tell that he was converted to the gospel. And next week he will receive the priesthood. So he is progressing along really well. This is the first baptism that my area has had in 3 months and so the branch is pretty happy about the baptism. Well I don't have a lot to say this letter. The baptism was the highlight of my week. SO I will explain the pictures.  I bought a hammock and there is not a day that goes by without it being used. I love my hammock and was the best 9 bucks I have spent so far. The other is of my baptism. I call Jose Luis, pe pe. You can see why ha ha.  The other is me in the rain. It has rained here for 4 days straight. And when it rains alot I have to use boots to get around. Otherwise my shoes would get torn up. My area also has dirt mud sand and everything gets dirtied up  pretty quickly. Well I was walking when it started to rain and I have never seen rain water pile up so quickly. It was like rivers were forming. But I am in the amazon rain forest so I guess that's where it gets its name. I am sorry its not much this week. But the work is moving on and I am really enjoying my mission. I love you all and thank you for the love and support. Happy Mothers Day to everyone and I will talk to you all next week. I love you all! Elder Clouse

Hello to everyone from the heat of of Iquitos. How is everybody doing. Well this week has really been good. I have found a lot of people to teach. And the people that we already have are preparing for baptism. This weekend I have a baptism of one brother named Jose Luis. But i call him pe pe. ha ha He is really good and has kept all of the commitments we have given him. Especially about drinking the booze. He has not touched it in almost three moths so we are doing pretty good. He has invited all of his family to the baptism so we are hoping that we can get some of his family members in the gospel. So that should be really cool. Well this week we had  a conference with a member of the seventy. Elder Juan Uceda came here and taught us a lot of stuff about obedience and being a good missionary. He made me read a lot of scriptures and speak alot  in front of all the missionaries. I was pretty nervous but I did alright I hope. This is the second time that I heard him speak and he is such a good speaker. I always feel uplifted when I hear him speak. Well Also we had stake conference in my stake and Elder Uceda changed out the stake presidency. So on Sunday I got to hear him speak again. It was cool.

      Well president Bluck came to the conferences and spoke too. But after the stake conference he came up to and talked to me about an activity that he wants me to do. Well he wants me and the other elders to go from village to village singing to everybody the hymns of the church. And he wants me to be in charge of it. So we are working with the elders on the songs and in a couple of weeks we will go from village to village singing, SO that should be cool.

     Well nothing really happened this week that was to excited. But I have a few stories to tell. I was teaching a lesson in a house with no walls. So everything is out in the open. The roof is made out of leaves with a few wooden poles holding it up.  We were teaching this family and all of a sudden we heard something moving in the roof. And then we heard something moving towards the edge really fast and then something fell from the roof. We all stood up and looked and we saw a snake. About three feet long. It was green and nasty and I wanted to kill it really badly because I hate snakes.  The the dad grabs the axe and walked over and chops it up into three pieces. That's not even the nasty part. The mom walks over there and picks it up and starts cooking it up. And then says would you like to stay for dinner? Ha ha!  I graciously said no, I am full. But then after it was all done and cooked I watched her children eat the snake that they just killed. It was nasty.

      Well another story is from last night when we were contacting. We knocked on this guys door and he opened the door and immediately said to come in. My companion told me. Wow someone who was prepared by the lord. But then as we walked in we quickly realized that he was a pastor from another church. And so he started talking to us by throwing scriptures at us from the bible saying all we have to do is accept Christ in our hearts and we will be saved. well we started talking about the restoration of the gospel and about Joseph smith and said how he was the person called by god to restore the true church. And how he could know that it was true. Well he started calling us liars and devils and all sorts of weird stuff. But then he stopped and I spoke one little sentence that I will never forget. I said, Bueno Hermano, usted puede decir a nosotros que somos mentirosos diablos o cualqueir otra palabra. Pero Jose Smith fue un profeta escogido por dios., para restaurar la iglesia de jesucristo. Y no importa lo que nos dice, Jose smith fue un profeta verdadero. Y usted no puede cambiarlo. Now in English, Well brother you can say that we are liars or devils or any other word, but Joseth smith was a prophet chosen by god to restore the church of Jesus Christ, and it doesn't matter what you say to us. Joseph Smith was a true prophet and you cannot change that. It was small simple but really powerful. After I said that he stopped talking and only listened to us. We taught him about how he could receive his answer and then we left. It was really powerful and the holy ghost was really strong. Cool stuff.

    Well that's about it for this week. With some of you i will be talking to you on Sunday. But I want to say thanks for all of the stuff that you have done for me. I love you all and pray for your wellness every day. Love you Alllllllll ELDER CLOUSITO