CALLED TO SERVE - PERU LIMA CENTRAL MISSION - JULY 2014 ~ JULY 2016

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

January 26, 2015 Letter...

That story I asked you for.. yes it's probably recorded on FamilySearch, but I don't know who told it so I can't find it. I still want it, either the story or who told it! I'll let you guys know. But probably both. Anyways, I hate hearing that everyone is sick... :( that's never fun. Especially here in the field.. it's the worst thing of all time. I hope everyone gets better! Remember to ask dad for a blessing :)

And awesome.. I'll be in touch with Elder Chatwin, too! He is a stud.. (and a distant cousin, his mom is Cluff) so yeah we're gonna get that package figured out. Haha, keep praying that it will turn up :) it'll all work out!

And Kula and dad found a new trainer? That's a sweet story! Ah, I'm excited!!! I can't wait to see that dog when I get back.. such a stud. I bet dad's super pumped, too... haha, too cool. Definitely keep me updated on this. 

And yeah Zack's gonna kill it at driving.. he'll have fun. Tell him to be safe.

So this week were were super blessed. We were walking in the street, and this little boy sees us and he is like, "Are you guys the Mormons?" Usually the kids like to screw with us, so we're like, "Yeah... why?" Not really expecting anything, and he is like "Yeah, my mom used to talk to the missionaries before we moved and we went to your church, too." And we're like... "What, yeah... okay what's your name and where do you live?" So we got his info, and went and visited him the next day. We met his mom named Maribel, and she had received the missionaries from the Peru Lima East mission, and had a baptismal date and was all ready and everything, but moved so she couldn't be baptized. Anyways we're like... What? This is nuts. The Lord put this person in our way, so prepared and everything, and we were so pumped. We talked with her a bit, and she has a really cool story as to how she came to know the Book of Mormon is true. Anyways, she also gave us a referral of her sister, so we went and visited her and invited them all to church. This Sunday we had both families come. Maribel and her 4 kids, her sister Diana and her 3 kids, and her mom. It was a super special experience. We are super excited. Maribel and her oldest son will be baptized this first week or so of February, and her sister and mom, we are still working with, but they'll be baptized, too. We are so blessed that the Lord has given us so many prepared people. I'm firmly convinced that coincidences don't exist. But that everything happens for a reason; that we were walking in the street in the perfect moment so Maribel's son could see us and recognize us as missionaries. It was an answer to her prayers, and ours. The Lord answers prayers. We just need to be consistent and diligent. We need to first complete with our part, and he'll do his. He always has and he always will. The work is going good here and we're doing all we can to make the date of Feb. 7th a "White Night." I'll keep everyone updated. Keep your prayers coming, every one is heard, and every one helps. Love you guys. Tell the boys I love each one of them personally. Tell them to keep reading their scriptures and saying their prayers, because it will help them in more ways than they know right now. 

Love, 
Elder Cluff

  Happy 2nd Birthday Franco!

Mean streets of Rimac, Peru!

Monday, January 19, 2015

January 19, 2014, Letter...

Ahhh... that's crazy Dallin's home... I hope he's doing good now tho! I'll be praying for him. And that's great to hear Brigham gave a talk hahaha.. what a stud. Glad to hear he did a good job. And mama look at that.. working in the nursery.. that's gonna be.. interesting... haha have fun. That's too great. You rock mama.

Ya I didn't get transferred or get a new comp. Still here in Rimac.. I'm about 100% sure I'll get transferred the next change, but as always we'll see. We get a new president in July! His name is President Larson, and he is from Idaho, and has kids, and an elder in the mission! So that will be super interesting... gonna be fun:)

And yeah, Carrie the Mom #2 (Coon McEwan) is too legit. You gotta go hang out with her. You two would be purreeee trouble. And they live in Highland.. by... mountain ridge a bit ... That's crazy that Zack gets his license in like two weeks.... he's gotta get a handle on that driving thing, haha. But that's super awesome to hear he's in Mr. Nelson's.. that man changed my life. Really changed my life. Super solid guy.

HAHAHA and a .22 sniper competition? Are you kidding? That's great hahaha. I wish I could have been there to see. Hahaha and everyone's getting guns and gonna compete every Saturday.. the same ol' dad with big ideas that I love. haha good guy.

This week was good. We're working really hard with our investigator Walter. He has such a strong testimony of this gospel, and we have only known him for a week and a half (he has only known missionaries for a week and a half). He has the strongest desires to be baptized, but first we have to work over one little problem which is that he co-habitates. He wants to get married because he understands and wants to live the law of chastidy, but his partner has zero desire to get married, listen to our message, or anything like that. So we are trying to work through all these problems so he can be baptized as soon as possible. Please pray that all will work out. We are praying and working super hard so that the heart of his partner can be softened so he can make covenants with the Lord. I know that whatever needs to happen will happen. The Lord put this man in our path for a this reason, to help him make covenants with the Lord that will lead to his eternal life. We are doing everything we can to help him reach this goal.

Also Gian and Adela will possibly be married this week. We are still working super duper hard with them, and it has been the biggest stress and pain, but I feel that we're almost there. There still exists about every complication that can, but little by little we are working through them. Today they came up with the money to be married, and also they were able to get there papers. These were two of the biggest challenges, but now we have them. So yes, we are excited. After this, we need to work through all the red tape with the city to get them married. But we are all working together to get things done. Pray that this can happen, so Adela can finally be baptized.

Love you guys, this gospel is true. It truly blesses lives. I'm so blessed to be able to serve the Lord. It's not easy, but it's worth it.

Elder Caden Cluff

Pics from Christmas 2014...Peru Style

Merry Christmas, from Elder Caden Cluff, Elder Jake Irving and Elder Bradley Clark! (LPHS Alumni)
Christmas Pyrotechnics

January 12, 2014 Letter...

Wow, I watched the video of me talking... I was SO awkward hahahahaha. Funny. Know that I'm normal and not really like that. hahahaha. crazy stuff. 

Transfers this week, but I'm about 100 percent sure I'm staying.. again. lol. And ya not kidding go to lunch with Carrie. I call her my second mom. You guys would be best friends I'm not kidding. She is super solid. GO MOMS. 

Tell Zack to take super good care of the car. I think when I get home I wanna buy a sick cheap car from the 80's that looks like a Volkswagen Amazon L5. (I saw one the other day and loved it). Put new speakers and all that good stuff in it. 

And such a blessing this new job with Dave Grant mom.. I'm not kidding. He is a stud. I'm so happy to hear you're happy, keeping working hard, and it will pay off mom:) I'm glad to see you guys are being blessed:)

Is Christian planning on serving? I'm glad to hear they're good.

Okay this week was awesome. Seriously. The work, has been super slow here, we haven't had that much luck. We have found tons of people to teach, but all of them are nothing more than a few lessons, and nothing more. It's super hard to find prepared people. What me and my comp have been doing is praying specifically to find prepared people. People who are prepared to receive this message and accept this gospel as the truth and as the only truth. This last Sunday, we received a reference from a girl in our ward of a man she met that wanted to learn a little more about the gospel. Anyways we thought, ya cool let's go visit him. So we passed by his house on Friday and talked a bit with him and we found out his daughter is a member, and was married in the temple. This man Walter, the reference, told us that he was able to go to the temple to see them when they came out of the temple. We were super excited to hear this. Anyways, he also said he had a Book of Mormon, and had been reading it.. WHAT? Are you serious? We were stunned. So we were like, ya can you come to church this Sunday, its at 8:00 a.m., and we're gonna come at 7:30 so be ready. So we came at 7:30 on Sunday, and he was dressed in his Sunday best ready for church. Which was a first, no investigator that I have had has dressed in their Sunday best for church. Anyways, we took him to church and he was pumped. He told us, ya I have been to church like 3 times... and we were like wait.. this is too good to be true, when were you baptized? Then he was like.. what? I haven't been baptized yet. And we're sitting here thinking.. how is that? This dude is SUPER prepared... how is he not a member? We walked into the church and he recognized the painting of Moroni and he remembered who he was. So solid. After church we put a baptismal date on him for this 24th of January. And he accepted. So get this, we met this guy Jan. 9th, and he'll be baptized Jan. 24th. He has never talked to missionaries before or anything. Wild right? This has been a huge answer to our prayers. I know that the Lord has prepared people for us to find, we just need to be in tune with the Spirit to find them. This is the Lord's work and he directs it. Please pray that this hermano Walter, that he can be ready and stick with his baptismal date for the 24th of January. Pray that everything will work out. Love you guys and I know this gospel is true with all of my heart:)

Stay safe, and have fun:)

I'll keep you updated.

Elder Cluff

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

January 5, 2014 Letter...

Hey Mama,

NO, I loved the package for my birthday and every thing in it! You rock mom, I'm serious:) thank you! And yeah, President Borg is a stud.. seriously the most chill, loving mission president ever.. I don't want him to change this June.. but, yeah, sadly he has to :(

And going to Disneyland without me.. I would kill you guys.. don't even think about it.. haha, wait for me..

OH YEAH, TELL CAM HAPPY BIRTHDAY AND THAT I LOVE HIM SO MUCH AND THAT I'M SUPER PROUD OF HIM AND THE PERSON HE'S BECOMING. I love Cam. I miss him a ton. He is the sweetest kid and I hope he is having a good birthday. And starting Jr. Jazz? Atta boy:) That's gonna be fun. And Brig, ahh. I love him. Let him know I love him. And that I think about him every day. Tell him to just keep pushing through, because it will all pay off. I hope he loves his new guitar.. that's awesome he got one. Tell him to push through with it, and to not give up. He'll be fine. I know he will. Make sure he makes good friends. That's gonna be key to getting him happy and motivated. And Zack.. he is a stud, isn't he? I love him. He replaced me as the favorite child.. WHY MUST I CRY. How sad. No, but seriously, I love him. And that's so sick he got Zuriicks... stud.

Okay, I'll upload the pics soon.. the next time I do internet, because I forgot my camera this time. Yikes..

Okay, this break was amazing.. Christmas was soooo fun, and then wow.. my birthday was one of the best birthdays I've ever had in my life! It happened to be P-day, but not just any P-day, it was a super special one. We started the day off with me and my comp giving a training to the Zone about being missionaries of success.. it was awesome. After that, we left as a Zone to the rich part of Lima -- Mira Flores, by the beach to the super sweet mall complex (beachside) called Larcomar... there we went and played pool for a few hours then went and ate at Chili's! So smooth. Then, after that we left and went and watch Meet the Mormons as a mission! We got the whole mission in a church building and watched it. It was amazing. So spiritual. Such a great movie. I love this gospel and I love being a personal representative of Jesus Christ. But yeah, after that we left, went to the store and bought snacks, and then went to the stake center as a Zone and watched Penguins of Madagascar! Haha, it was too good. Probably a lot funnier here in the mission. Afterwards we went to the bishop's house, ate with his family, then watched fireworks with him and his family at 12 midnight. They were sweet. The whole city of Lima does fireworks and it's way cool to see. This day will probably never happen again while I'm in the mission.. because it was pure "not" missionary work, but it was super fun. And it was all on my birthday.. so it just make it that much cooler! How cool though, right? Then the day after was P-day again, so we just went and played sports all day with all the Zone Leaders in the mission and the AP's and Secretaries (me and my comp were the only ones there not ZL or AP's, haha) and then went to Chili's, again. Super awesome.

I'm seeing a lot of miracles here in the mission too. For example, we have been working with this brother named Jose.. we have been working super hard to reactivate him... and are in the process of reactivating him... and, we were able to reactivate his son in the church. His son would only go to church every 1-2 months, and didn't care anything about the church. He is an RM too so it was super sad. We didn't work with him because by the rules of the mission, he was counted as active member, so there wasn't much we could do -- only invite him to church and all that. So in the process of teaching his dad, he has had the desire to make a complete change in his life. He is going to church every week now, all three hours, and now he wants to listen and participate when we teach his dad. His reactivation in the church may not have counted as "numbers" for us, or the mission, but it counted with the Lord. That's what we're here to do. Help people make and keep covenants with the Lord. I've been so blessed to see the Lord's hand in this work.

I have so many more stories from this past week, but I'll save them for next week:) I love you guys:) The mission work is going great. Such a blessing. And hold your horses, because I might have a change this Tuesday... we'll see what happens though.. I'm excited to see!

Elder Cluff

December 29, 2014 Letter...

I love you, mom and I don't believe that the packages have been hi-jacked.. they'll come.

I'm sorry to hear everyone got sick, but that's hilarious and always happens... hahahaha. Go Fredonia.. and wow Jacob's kitchen? Are you kidding me? I've never seen anything like that in Fredonia, haha, crazy.

I don't have too much time today, but know that I love you and seeing all of you this week made my entire life!. It was something so special. I love you all so much and the boys are all growing up and, ahh, it's so good to see them. I'm glad everyone had a good and special Christmas and got everything they wanted. I love you guys so much and you are all in my prayers.

I'm waiting for my packages and they should be here soon! I'm super excited:):)

I'm gonna send pics this Friday! I love you guys:)

Elder Cluff

December 22, 2014 Letter...

Hey Family -

I have not got the packages.. I'm still waiting. I'm super pumped for them! I'm super excited to see you guys on Skypeeeeeee! It's gonna be probably at 4:00 p.m. our time here... so yeah, be ready. And yes:) I am making many Christmas memories.. I do love it here. It's hard here and it's hard being away from home, but it's all worth it. In the end it's all worth it. I just always need to remember to work as hard as I can here and I'll be blessed immensely :) .. but yeah, crazy that I almost have 5 months? Then 6 months.. and then I start on a downward slope towards my year. Crazy. And yes, send me millions of pics from this Christmas please! I can't wait to see them! I wanna see everything.
And yeah, this week we have been working really hard. We had our ward Christmas party and we brought with us this less active member Richard that we have been working with. It was awesome. We sang Jingle Bell Rock in front of the whole ward in English and Elder Hiatt and I, the only two white guys who speak English, killlled it. Super cool party though in the ward. It made me remember how much the Christmas season is about the Lord, and only about Him. I've been thinking a lot about Him and his humble life lately.. the simple way He was born in a manger.. the very son of God born in a manger with hay; not in a mansion, not a spectacular way, but in a manger with hay.. His birth was a precursor to His humble life on the earth. The way He lived and served others. He gave us thee perfect example of a humble life, full of perfect love and charity. This Christmas season isn't just the time to remember Him, but it's also the time to make changes in our life's, so we can remember Him every day. Not just Christmas. Let this season of Christmas get us focused on the Lord, and let's continue in that focus for the rest of the year. I love you guys and hope you have a very Merry Christmas:) I'll see you this Thursday at around 4:00 my time:) I love you all! 

Have a very Merry Christmas:)

Elder Cluff:)