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

Monday, April 20, 2015

April 20, 2015 Letter...

ADHD HAHAHAHA, I LOVE YOU GUYS. That class selection garbage was so hard.. most stressful time of the year. They gotta figure something better out. And haha with the car.. I'm so sorry... but luckily.. you know a guy. Haha, that was funny. And hahahahaha you are killing me... dad asked the 10 and 12 year olds to go dig up the fence? I bet you can guess how that went... hahahaha, I you bet I can. Classic dad. And Josh and Breecia are gonna live in my basement? What the fetch? That´s the weirdest thing I have ever heard in my entire life, hands down. Good thing is, Haden will stay my best friend forever and this will just make that easier. I love Joshy and Breecia is cool too. But wow.. that´s sick. Uuge.. hahahaha, you kill me mom :)

I love you most, I'm glad to hear you´re happy.. you are the greatest mom ever and you have no idea how really grateful I am to have a mom like you in my life. You are literally thee coolest mom I have ever met, just know I love you so much. You are the person most special to me. Loveeee you.

This week was good.. it was a normal week... today wasn´t Pday because tomorrow we´re taking the day off and going to Parque de las Aguas for the 7 millionth time. But hey, there´s nothing else to do here. We had interviews with the president this week and they rocked. I love this mission and I am so grateful that I'm here in Lima in this mission. Pres. Borg rocks and I love him. I'm gonna miss him. We say bye to him like June 19th and it's super sad but it's life. It's time to move on. This week we had a lot of people progressing and on May 2nd we´ll have 2 or 3 baptisms. Remember Paul? Well he received an answer about the Book of Mormon, he prayed and received, like we promised him. And he wants to be baptized May 2nd :) We are so blessed and happy. Love you guys, remember family scripture and prayer :) read the email I sent to dad.

Elder Cluff

Monday, April 13, 2015

April 13, 2015 Letter...

I love you mom. Glad to hear everyone is doing good. And yes, when I get back I want to hike Angels Landing. That would be a blast. I want to do a lot of things with the fam when I get home. I want to go to Fredonia tho, I really love it there. It has such a special place in my heart. But anyways, I love you guys a lot and tell my brothers I love them. Tell dad to write me too when he has time.

This week was a good week. A bit slower, but we taught a lot of people. I just felt like the week was going so slow. I´ve been super stressed too this week because we have a couple, Wilber and Jessica, that want to get married so Wilber (less active) can be reactivated in the church, and so Jessica can be baptized. It´s another Gian and Adela case. Which really dis-animates me, because we have to marry them, and it´s such a difficult process that we weren´t able to accomplish after 6 months in Rimac. The good thing is that this couple is a lot older and mature, and Wilber has lived his whole life as a strong member, only the last 5 years or so he became inactive. They have strong desires to change their lives, but more than anything I'm praying that the Lord will give us a way or help us find a way to get them married. There won't be as many complications this time, which is good, but we just gotta figure it out and get it done. I know we can do it. Also this week we met a cornelio (someone that´s prepared to be baptized when you first meet them) and his name is Jose Anselmo. His brother is a member, and has helped Jose learn about the church. The first day we met him and taught him, he told us he wanted to be baptized and that he knew the Book of Mormon was the true word of God, even more than the Bible, haha. He said that and it made me laugh. I was like, "Yeah, you´re prepared -- let's go to the font." He´ll be baptized this May. We´re super blessed and I really mean it, the Lord has prepared so many people for us, and we are finding them, it just gives me a stronger testimony that this really is the Lord's work, and not ours.

Also this week, we met a man named Paul Moreno. His cousins and aunt and uncle are super strong members, and he has assisted the church a few times but had never talked with the missionaries. So finally, we met him and talked with him and made an appointment to meet with him at his uncle's and aunt's house. This man too, is super prepared. We got to the house, got to know him and taught him the restauracion and the spirit was SO strong. I can´t even describe how strong it was. His two cousins were in the lesson with us and they were both able to bear powerful testimony of Joseph Smith and also of the Book of Mormon. It was sooo amazing. At the end of the lesson.. the spirit was strong.. everyone felt it. Things got quiet for a minute, and then he asked us, "Elders, is this book really true?" He asked it in such an honest way, with such a sincere desire, I looked him straight in the eyes, tearing up a bit and told him, "Yes Paul, I know this Book is true. I know it. I know that
you´ll know it, too." After this moment.. the spirit got even stronger, and it was such an amazing experience. My comp did great in this lesson, too, he is learning a lot. Paul accepted a baptismal date in May, and we´re gonna be doing all we can to help him obtain a testimony.

I just want to say that I know the Book of Mormon is true. I don´t care about whoever says it's not, whatever evidence someone can find, the Book has changed my life, and I have seen it change the lives of others. The Book of Mormon is everything to me, and I hope you guys can treasure it as much as I do. Love you guys. 

Elder Cluff


April 6, 2015 Letter...

Family -- I love you and I'm super happy to hear the family is doing well and that everyone is doing good. That´s crazy about the conference.. I didn´t know that happened... I didn´t catch it, but yeah, they´re idiots haha, whatever. I don´t how how anyone can watch the prophet speak and not become converted in an instant. Those men are SOOO powerful, and I was able to learn sooo much this conference. I had the opportunity to watch three of the sessions in English, and it was such an amazing thing. I understand it in Spanish and all, but it's just a lot more special in English. A huge difference. But it was so amazing. I took 18 pages of notes, and honestly I can say I´ve been more impacted by this conference than any other. I loved it. The sad thing is that I actually missed Elder Holland's talk because I had to help an investigator get situated and everything, so I'll wait for the Liahona to read it :) but some of the notes I took I'm gonna share with you guys.. the thing I want you to remember, more important than everything, is the question that Russel M. Nelson did at the beginning of his talk, "Because of what I´ve heard and felt during this conference, how will I change?" This is so important. Yeah, the talks were insanely spiritual, but if we´re not doing anything to apply them into our lives, we´re wasting our time. So remember that. How can we apply what we learned into our lives? How can we become better people and better disciples of Jesus Christ because of the inspired messages we´ve heard? :) Remember like Kevin W. Pearson said, once we make covenants with the Lord, there´s no going back. We need to always keep and honor our covenants, keep enduring, even though it requires total commitment, we´ll be able to do it. Also Elder Wilford W. Anderson´s talk about the music and dance compared to the gospel and the application of it in our homes was SO SICK. Every talk was just pure gold. We are SO blessed to have prophets that are inspired of God, to speak to us, and help us through this difficult life. I could write out a billion more things I liked but yeah, I'm not going to.

"If you cant hear the music in your home, if something is out of tune, remember two words, keep practicing." I challenge you guys to read that talk by Wilford W. Anderson when you can for Family Home Evening. Or all of them. Because yeah, wow.

Anyways I love you guys. This week was a little slower because of Conference, but in spite of that, we still met a lot of great and prepared people, who have baptismal dates for the month of April. We are killing it out here , and I love you guys so much. Tell my brothers, and dad, and my sister I love them. Because I do. And Kula and Bear, too please. I love you mom. Please really help the boys understand the significance of these talks that were given. Love ya!

Oh yeah, also we moved houses this week. We now live with our pensionista.. it makes life so easy. Because we eat lunch with her and dinner, and we just have to climb down our stairs from our apartment and there we are. I'll send pics. ;)

Elder Cluff