Some Pics :)

The best taco place in all of PERU!

 My Taco :) Sooooo good!

 LPHS Elders!  With Elder Jake Irving, Elder Austin Richards, Elder Caden Cluff at transfers!

 The beach on Miraflores.

Riding bikes along the beach to the statue of Christ.

 The beach was so cool!

 The Christmas tree in Larcomar with some of the elders and my comp.

Statue of Christ on the beach in Miraflores, Peru.

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 can love 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 ssoooo 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... we went and played pool there for a few hours then went and ate at Chili's! So smooth. Then after that we left and went and watched 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 bishops 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 made 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 Secrataries (me and my comp were the only ones there not ZL's 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 in the process of reactivating him, 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 about anything with 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 counts for 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 15, 2014 Letter...

Thanks for the packages Mom:) I'm sure they'll get here fine! I'm really excited. I love you guys. Keep the personal scripture study and family scripture study up.. it's gonna help you guys a lot. In every aspect of your lives!

Glad you guys got to get together with Skyler and Ash and all the family... I miss stuff like that, but yea whatevs:)

Anyways, this week we had a baptism! Our investigator was baptized this Saturday. We are still working with Gian and Adela for Adela's baptism, because there were complications with their marriage for the 13th, so we pushed it way back for the 10th of January so we can put everything in place to make it happen. We are super dissappointed we couldn't make everything work, but I guess the Lord has other plans, and we are definitely okay with that. We prayed and felt that we should push their marriage and baptismal date to January 10th, 3 days before transfers. We''ll make it happen. But yes, Saturday our investigator was baptized! She is awesome and has a strong testimony of the gospel. I got to perform the ordinance and it went super smooth:) baptismal service was super beautiful and it is the first of many. This sector (before us) only had 1 baptism in the past 2 years. So we are working hard to change this pattern. Me and my comp and doing all we can to help people make these covenants with God. I love this missionary work :) It is super hard and super stressful, but seeing the fruits of our labors, seeing people change and draw nearer to the Savior is better than anything in the entire world. This is why we keep pushing, why we keep working. The Lord has more people for us to teach, and it's our job to find them:)

I sent pictures, too! Enjoy! There's one of me with 2 of my LP friends!! :)

I love you guys and hope everything is going good!

Elder Cluff

Elder Pedrera, Celen and Elder Cluff

(Elder Cluff's hair is getting so blonde!)

Members and investigators from the ward and other pair of missionaries from the ward :)

December 8, 2014 Letter...

Hey Family!

That's sweet Zack got laid out hahaha... not kidding. It'll toughen him up... ah he is a freaking stud. Make sure to remind him to eat a lot of food to grow. I'm lifting again and I'm gonna buy protein soon... hehe. Yes. Good to hear you guys are doing family scripture and prayer. And yes challenge them to read their BOMs personally! Offer them an incentive! A knowledge of the Book of Mormon is so key for the mission, and the earlier the better:)

This week was good. We'll been working a lot this week getting all the things in place for the marriage of Gian y Adela. We are working really hard to make it happen so Adela can be baptized. There have been about 100 complications with their marriage and we are trying to work through them. We fasted for them this week that we can make their marriage and her baptism on the 13th. Pray for them that everything will work out. We have another baptism this week with an hermana named Celen. We have been teaching her for about 4 weeks, and she'll be baptized this Saturday. She is awesome. I can tell the Spirit has worked in her because I have seen her testimony develop. I love seeing this change happen. I love seeing people acquire testimonies of the restored gospel. Me and my comp focus most on developing the testimonies of the investigators. For this reason, we only use the Book of Mormon. If they don't gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon, they'll never accept this gospel. We focus really hard on the conversion of people, so they can know for themselves. I have learned a lot and I'm still learning so much on how to help people develop this testimony. Anyways, I'm really excited:) We have two baptisms this Saturday, one reactivation, and one marriage:) We're gonna make it happen. I'll be sure to send pics too. Please pray that everything will work out. The mission is the greatest thing in the world. 

Today for P-day we went to one of the richest areas in Lima called Miraflores, where we rented bikes and rode them by the beach and up hills as big as Suncrest. It was too fun. This area Miraflores looks like California.. not kidding.. it's amazing. There were were a whole bunch of North American tourists everywhere.. and it was weird. Super fun P-day and I'm sun-burnt, but also look Peruvian so it's alright, haha. I'll be sure to send pics. We went with the whole zone.. and they are a blast. 

This week was slow.. because we have focused all our time and energy in making these baptisms happen. We know Celen is for sure, but if we can't get Gian and Adela married, we'll have to postpone it, which we don't want. Please pray everything will work out:)

I love you guys and I'm glad to hear everything is good at home:) 

Elder Cluff

P.S. tell the boys I love them and to send me letters next time! Tell Zack to email me personally.

December 1, 2014 Letter...

Hi Family!

I love the family so much! Yeah, this week we didn't knock too many doors.. we were super busy with other appointments and stuff. And yeah! How was thanksgiving?! Glad to hear dad is still working Kula.. Security shifts too.. same ol' papa:)

Yeah, I'm gonna look at those pics! Sounds great Christmas and all. Thanksgiving here we had a multi-zone meeting and a training with the president and the assistants. It was really awesome. I got called on to speak and give my opinion (in front of 60-ish people) to talk about how we can find the people the Lord has prepared for us. I talked about how as missionaries we spend too much time worrying about finding these people, and don't give enough room for the Spirit. The way we find prepared people is through the spirit. Nothing more. If we can't feel the Spirit - if we can't feel the guidance, we aren't going to find anyone to teach. Yeah, we might find people to teach, but they won't be the people the Lord has prepared for us to teach in that moment. The constant companionship of the Spirit is the key to success. I have seen that here in the mission field, the smallest things drive the Spirit away, it is very sensitive. I have learned how important repentance is. People think as missionaries we have to Spirit always, but this is not true. We have to repent even more than other people. It may be more for little things, but through repentance we regain the companionship of the Spirit to help guide us to where we need to go (I shared something like this). Ahem...and all of this was in Spanish and yes, my Spanish is killing it.

Oh, Thanksgiving meal was five hot dogs, two bags of chips, an apple and water.. and more learning. It was good to spend it with President Borg and Hermana Borg though, because they are in the same position as I am, being away from home (Utah) on Thanksgiving in another country that doesn't celebrate it. I love them.. I'm going to be super sad when President Borg and his wife return to Sandy in June :( 

For a package, I have the info here: se llama Vanessa Cotreras y su numero telefónico es 801-548-0561, 1604 S. Prospect St. SLC, 6 dollars per lb. (I typed the first part in Spanish have fun lololol) Contact this lady and figure out wha's up and see if you can send packages with her. I think she works for the church.. but I'm not sure. I know she works though.

Yeah, I sent you another email about the money I need:) the things I want in a package is airheads extremes again, sour gummy candy, I WANT TO BUY PROTEIN FOR MY LIFTING TOO. I don't know, just put things in there that are heartfelt... :)

But yeah, not too much happened this week, we are working hard to complete with our baptisms we have for the 13th. We have two for that date that are going to happen. Sister Adela, and Sister Celen. With Celen, this week we prayed and prayed that she would come to church, because we couldn't go with her because she has school until the hour church starts. So we prayed and prayed, and with 10 minutes left in sacrament meeting, she walked in! She loved church too. She will be able to be baptized on the 13th, but we are still working really hard with her. Prayer is something very powerful, and when we pray with faith, the Lord is going to answer our prayers. With Adela, we are working hard to get her marriage papers done, there are a few complications, but the Lord will help us through them! Marriage on the 13th, then Adela's baptism the same day:) Big day no? Yeah goooood stuff. Oh and my bishop here is a stud.. I love his family.

Anyways, I love you all! Keep having a jolly prep time before Christmas!

Elder Cluff

P.S. Tranfers are tomorrow but I'm 99% sure I'm not going anywhere! I'll be here for a while:) Long live Rico Rimac!!!!

November 24, 2014 Letter...

Hahaha, oh man that was absolutely horrible with those leaves last time mom.. and you guys did 14 bags?!!! Holy cow, congratz... haha that's amazing. Skyler and Ash came, funnnn. They got to go to Circa Survive.. haha good for them that's smooth. I wouldn't mind a concert right now. Ya I'm on a mission though. Lolz. La Costa, wow now that sounds good. I can't wait to come home and talk to those workers at my favorite restaurant and blow them away in their native language... fácilito. Haha. Yeah, Hunger Games are cool movies, I've never read the books but I saw some of the movies.

About your job mom...what an awesome faith builder. Sometimes we have to take a leap of faith, but the savior is always going to catch us, and help us. When we have faith in him, listen to the whiperings and promtings of his spirit, we are always going to be okay. He is always going to lead us where we need to go when we walk with faith. I love you too mom and I knew the Lord would bless you... :)

Thanksgiving... haha what's Thanksgiving? Yeah, we have no plans. The mission doesn't do anything, but for Christmas, yeah we will have a lot of fun! And I think we get a Pday on the 31st.. which is a Pday on my Bday... COOL:) Have a good Thanksgiving though. This is my first away from home.. not cool but ya it's my life right now.

But yeah, this week was good. Okay the couple who I have been talking about Gian y Adela who have a little cute son named Franco, are so amazing. Me and my previous comp started working with them like my second day in the field, Gian being less active and his partner being an investigadora. When we first started working with them, it was difficult a little. They didn't want to change much, and didn't want to get married because they didn't think it was too important. Over the past 3 months of working with them, I have seen such a change in them. This gospel has made such a change in them; it's something very beautiful. The girl Adela, has progressed so far it's insane. She said she'll do anything she needs to do to be baptized, first marriage on the 13th. In this little family of 3, I have seen the foundation of the gospel set for the rest of their lives. I have seen how much closer as spouses it's brought them and that all the problems in their life have worked out as they've completed what we've taught. I just absolutely love seeing the change this gospel has in people, and that we are here to help familias be eternal. Nothing makes me happier than this. 

We are working hard, and committed another hermana to baptism last night named Ilda. Powerful lesson we had. She shared with us her love for us, and called us angels because we visit her parents (recent converts Ramon y Corpusa both 85 years old more or less who are purely amazing) several times a week.. Something I've learned is that people know us by our fruits. When we act in the way of Jesus Christ, people are going to see it, and be more deeply converted to what we teach, because we are showing His love. Loving the people is the key to converting them.

My companion is powerful and the connection we have when we teach really is awesome. My teachings are becoming more powerful, too, as I rely on the spirit more to guide me and help me to discern. 

December is going to be a busy month for us :)

Love you family, keep pushing forward.

Elder Cluff

Parque de los Agauas (park of water displays) PICS!

 The whole Zone at Parque de los Agauas!

 Elder Cluff and companion, Elder Pedrera

Me and the Zone Leaders! 

Just me and a statue. NBD. 

 Randomness.  My Zone is awesome ;)

 Elder Pedrera, Hermana Juanna Maria and me :)

SWAGGERCLUFF. (haters gonna hate...)

Our entire Zone got these custom soccer jersey's!  Of course, mine had to say SwaggerCluff!

November 17, 2014 Letter...

Winter is hereeee, how sweet:)

Yeah it's summer here. It's starting to get really hot and sweaty. I don't really like the heat here. The sun destroys us. But what can I do! 

And, yeah I'm gonna look at those pics on Dropbox of Zack! I'm excited:) watch out also for the fotos that I'm gonna upload! 

Ah yeah, Christmas there would be really, really sweet! I miss Christmas at Grandma's house.. some of my best memories are there. Every morning opening presents, then going to Grandma's to open more. Ah. I want to have another Christmas there with all the family! Haha, and Meet the Mormons.. that movie sounds great. I wonder if we could watch that on the mission, because, isn't it produced by the church? Haha, idk but I want to see it someday! And no, you didn't tell me Dallin Warnick came home for knee surgery. How is he doing? Poor guy.. that would be the worst. I'm praying that I can stay healthy and safe so that I won't have to come early.. it would be absolutely terrible. There is a kid in my mission who had 9 months, cut his finger really bad, and had to go home for 2 months for surgery, then came back and kicked off at 9 months again. Yikes. Gotta be safe.

Yeah, this week not much happened. We worked hard, as always, and kept really busy. We had to help a couple, two of our investigators, move this week, luckily still in our sector :) We had to carry cabinets seriously miles because renting trucks and stuff is expensive.. so we carried it all. This was the couple that we have a baptismal date and a wedding date in December! They are the greatest. Their names are Gian y Adela. Pray that everything will fall into place so that they can be married and that Adela can be baptised. (Gian is less active.)

This week we got another baptismal date for December. Her name is Celen, and she rocks. We got her to come to church yesterday, and she loved it. It was great. December is gonna be a busy month, our goal is 4 baptisms in December. We are working hard to accomplish this. Also we want to have 2 more reactivations in December.

We had a reactivation this week! This Hermana named Juanna Maria has been a member for 30 years but was inactive for 7 or 8. We started working with her, retaught every single lesson, got her an interview with the Bishop, and voila. We are excited. She is awesome. This week we had the opportunity to go to the temple with the ward to do baptisms with them. So we took this Hermana, Juanna Maria along. It was a good experience. We taught her about the temple and baptisms for the dead before, but in the end, she didn't really understand. She is about 75 years old or more, so because of this age she has trouble understanding the deeper points of the doctrine. But yeah, we brought her and it was sweet. The experience for her wasn't as good as it could have been, because of the age barrier, but we did all we could to help her and love her. She is awesome. Oh, and I got to do confirmations at the temple, and was a witness for baptisms! It was super awesome, and the Spirit was amazing. I really love the temple, do all you can to make it there at least once a week:)

What else happened this week? Ahh, not much. OH YEAH, I bought weights to lift in the mornings. So make sure their is money in my account because I'm gonna need to take some money out. I don't know how much, but just make sure I have a good chunk of money. Thanks mama.

Anyways I'm gonna send pics!

I love you family! Keep it up!

Elder Cluff

November 10, 2014 Letter...

I love you mom and miss you tons too! Glad to hear the family is still kickin' and that everyone is good! Brigham, Cam and Zack are studs.. glad to hear they are all doing good too! I love them sooo much. Make sure they know that, and that I think about them soo much. Tell them to keep working hard in school because one day it will pay off and they'll be so glad they did. And yeah mama you too, keep working really hard. I'm proud of you and all you do. It will be cool when you get your real estate license :) you got it!

Can you believe Caleb has 6 months in his mission?! I'm coming up on 4.. so wild... the time here flies so rapido.. It's super weird.

Anyways this week was cool. We went to Parque de Los Aguas (park of water displays) on P-day and I took a ton of pics that I'm gonna send. It was superrrrr fun. We all chilled as a zone and hung out and had a good time. My zone is seriously the greatest. Hilarious kids, let me tell you. My zone leaders are way tight too.. one of them, one of my heroes here in the mission named Elder Itzep is leaving December 2nd. I'm gonna miss him. He is one of the most solid Elders here. Anyways, the missionary work this week was really slow... everyone that we had appointments with, cancelled. Ahhh. It happens a lot here, people say, "Ya come at this time," and then we go and they aren't even there... like, come on people. But we are working really hard with a couple named Gian and Adela. They are about 20 years old, and we are working our butts off to get them married so Adela can be baptized. She wants to be baptized super bad, and this desire is awesome. They also desire to follow the Savior and be married. There are a few details we are trying to work out that are super technical, but we can do it. Our date we are going for is 13 de Deciembre. Pray that we can meet this goal. Pray that the details will work out, so we can get them married and follow more closely the Savior and so Adela can be baptized. Oh, and Gian has his interview with the Bishop soon, and after that he is reactivated! My first reactivation.. Reactivation's are about the same amount of work as a baptism. We also will have another reactivation this week! With an Hermana named Juanna Maria. She is great. She lives in an old folks home in our sector. And we love visiting her. She loves telling people she is a decendent of Inca princesses. Haha. Entonces ya. Good week.

Ah, once again I loved this week doing family history, reading about David Cluff, Sr.'s 12 sons. All of them have the coolest stories about the prophet Joseph Smith, and of the gospel. It's honestly something special having direct ancestors that personally knew the Prophet, and testified of his truthfulness and good works. It's a testimony builder for me. Our family rocks. Oh, there are two elders here that we are related too! One, Elder Schaudie or Schauddy can't remember, comes from David Cluff, Sr., then Moses Cluff, Sr., and then branches off from there. So, we are about 4th cousins with him! HOW COOL?! He is from Arizona and right now is a secretary in the office, and is hilarious. Definitely Cluff blood. Solid dude. Also there is an Elder Chatwin that comes from one of the 12 sons David Cluff, Sr. I don't know which son, but yeah, he is a cousin too:) Pretty great. 

Anyways, I love you family... next week I want a little paragraph from each kid telling me about school, and everything in their lives.. new video games, how Kula and Bear are, how everything is :)

Elder Cluff

Photos from the Field...

 My comp for a day... see his tag??

My comp had a mask, so I had to of course take a pic on Halloween... and the decorations Mom sent :)

We play Jenga in between our weekly planning sessions (that always takes forever)..
so it’s nice to add a little fun into it :)

 Here are two pics of the city - the view from our hill, our sector. The pics only show a little part of it.. but all that you see in the pics on the hill, and even below, is where we are every day. Super poor... you have no idea, but it's awesome. We teach a lot of amazing people.

These pics of the fam and temple are my favorite pics.. I love my family and my goal is to be married in the Salt Lake temple :)

November 3, 2014 Letter...

Hey Family!

This week I had some fun doing family history.. reading a biography that aunt Nelda wrote about Grandpa Bruce.. He was a STUD. Holy moly. He went through a lot.. a lot more than I realized. Family history seriously is the best.

This week we have seven new investigators that we found and that we are working really hard with. We got another baptismal date for December yesterday with an hermana, se llama Adela. Her partner that she lives with name is Jean, and he is a less active. We have a date for their marriage that we placed on them yesterday, and then a day after that she will be baptized. So awesome:) Also, we are going to place another baptismal date tonight. Pray for us that people will receive our message and that the Spirit will touch their hearts to know that it's true. 

I really love this work. My comp and I work EXTREMELY hard.. like i'ts ridiculous.. we go from appt. to appt., talking with every person in between... it's great work tho. I love teaching. Teaching is cake now in Spanish.. understanding is becoming a lot easier too. 

We are going to Parque de Aguas on Wednesday (today isn't P-day this week, we only write our fams then work like normal) and it's this place with water shows similar to Disneyland with the lights and water..I'm sooo stoked. I'll be sure to take a load of pics to send home:) 

Haha, funny thing here, the month of October was the month where the Catholics celebrated Señor de los Milagros (The Lord of Miracles) and they do all these weird celebrations and get drunk (there are millions of drunks every day here, and they also give us crap, so whenever they do I just speak really fast English to them and it stops them cold every single time, they have no idea what to do hahahaha) We have been poking a little fun at this celebration by calling it Señor de los Anillos, which is Lord of the Rings... hahaha. It's hard to explain how funny it is, but yeah... we always chant Señor de los Anillos, Señor de los Anillos, Señor de los Anillos, Señor de los Anillos.. hahaha. I sound like a complete idiot, but it's funny.

I'll be home probably July 12 of 2016. That is when the transfers are. I can't extend because I have school. So mark you calenders 2 years in advance, haha. It will be nice to come home that time because I'll have a good amount of time to adjust. 

I love the Elders here, and my comp is a beast.. we work darn well together and have a connection when we teach. We are turning our sector around.

Love you guys, seguir adelante!

October 27, 2014 Letter...

Hey Family!

No way, the little motorcycles are fixed!? How cool! Yeah someone teach Zack how to ride mine haha.. he'll fit on it great.. it's a good bike.. and they can all go ride up by the stake center! How fun... I'm glad to hear that. That was my childhood.. riding dirtbikes.. literally my life as a kid. Sometimes I miss it. I have so many good memories.. and bad.. haha. Cam and Brigham are such studs! Ah, Cam is gonna need a bigger bike soon. Make sure the boys stay safe, but make sure they take a bit of risk and have fun. They won't learn if they don't crash :)

AND YES!! NEW COMPPP!! I have no pics.. sorrrrry we've been so busy and haven't had time. But his name is Elder Pedrera, he is from Equador, he is 20 years old and has one year in the mission! He is a stud. He is obedient, and very willing to help me when I don't understand something. He acts the way a trainer should act. He is a stud and honestly an answer to my prayers. We are working really hard to turn this sector around. We have three baptismal dates, (we got 3 in two days, this dude is powerful, and together we KILL it.) and we are working really hard to get the investigators to attend church so they can keep these dates for their baptisms. Please pray for Hermana Magda, Carmen, and Luiggi, that they will know they need to attend the church, and how important baptism is. Pray they their hearts will continue to recieve our message, and that they will continue progressing. 

Have I ever told you that the bishop in this ward is a complete stud? After Bishop Rasmussen, he is the greatest bishop in the world! Seriously, he is the man. He's pretty young, but is always so willing to work with us. And he is hilarious.. he always jokes with us and shows us a good time. Especially when we eat at his house.. he always says to his wife.. ah sorry... Elder Cluff won't be eating today, he told me he doesn't like your cooking.. I was like, what?! Haha, little things like that. He is the man.

This week we have been working hard - all day, everyday - climbing up the giant hill where our sector is located. We climb up and down it - all day, everyday - finding people to teach and making appointments and teaching. It's really hard work, but it's paying off. We are killing it. We are already turning this sector around. We have one couple of recent converts, named Ramon and Corposo, and they are the best. They are both 85 years old, but so funny and such great people. We love visiting them. Please pray for Corposo that she can have good health. Yesterday, we brought the sacrament to them and taught them a little more about it. They are so receptive and thankful. They remind me of grandma and grandpa Carr.. it's scary.

Okay, have I told you also that we have one hour a week, apart from emailing, to do FAMILY HISTORIA? Yeah, well we have one hora to get on familiasearch.org and do our family history work! I absolutely looveeee it. There is an AWESOME spirit to it. Not indexing.. yikes.. I don't know about indexing.. but doing my work, adding to my tree, reading of past family members, all of it. I had a super spiritual experience while doing it. I was searching for grandma and grandpa Carr to add them to my family tree, and I came across some pictures of them and their grave.. I starred at their grave for a minute.. and the Spirit flooded my body.. something that I haven't ever quite felt before.. I couldn't keep back the tears, and it's hard to keep them back while writing this. But I felt something extremely special. Almost like I could feel their love for me in that moment. How proud of me they are for serving a mission. I could feel it. I could feel it. I know they are happy right now. I know they have accepted this gospel. I know they are diligent servants of the Lord. Even though I miss them; the gingersnaps everyday, the brownies, their love for all of their grandkids, I know they are extremely happy right now.

Anyways, that was this week. It was funny to see the new Elders come at tranfers.. haha, it feels good to not be the most green Elder in the mission.. but Spanish is coming really fast, and I only study in Spanish now. It's good. I'm hoping by December 2nd I'll be fully functional. That's my goal! Working hard to accomplish it!

Can you believe I've been on my mission for 3 months...because I can't.

Love,
Elder Cluff

Enjoy this pic from my 1st P-day in the field.. my old district.. half of them changed.. but they are legends. Super solid dudes.

October 20, 2014 Letter...

Hey Family!  Hope you had a good week!

Don't stress about doc and all that. It's not your problem. Yeah continue helping, but sometimes you need to think about yourself and not so much of others. LOL. Usually it's the other way around, right? But in your case, you are a perfect mom and woman, you only think about others! That's what I love about you. Dad, and all us boys are beyond lucky. Honestly I can't describe how lucky we are to have a mom like you. I don't know how dad pulled you off to be honest.. hehehe. But really, you care so much about others, and pleasing others, and I love that about you. You have been that way ever since I can remember. Whenever us boys wanted to do something, no matter how tired or whatever you were, you did it. You would go out with us, or go to the store with us so we could buy something, or just whatever. These qualities are something that I admire, mom. But remember, sometimes you gotta think about yourself, and what things you need:)

HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY DAD!! I LOVE YOU!!! I hope you had a good birthday! Did you get anything cool? A spank on the rumpkin? I'm glad to hear your guns are coming along! And in all honesty with my gun, make it look as cool as possible with the colors, I want black, and maybe tan or FDE. Idk, whatever looks cooler and sweeter. I prefer probably a darker green. But like I said, make it awesome. I love you dad and I think about you a lot. Keep working hard always and the Lord will bless you. Mom and dad, remember personal scripture study:) you´re never too cool to read the word of God!

Fun to hear about those movies.. I like movies.. but don't get to watch any. I watch The District which is missionaries preaching in real life, recorded on cameras. Yeah it's like I'm watching myself in real life; not that entertaining, lol.

This week, not too much happened. Sorry for my bad English, though. My English sucks now and so does my Spanish.. haha. I don´t know what happened. I've been reading my Book of Mormon only in spanish and it's amazing. I love it. I have also been reading the New Testament. Right now I'm in Juan. The New Testament is my comic relief for the day. I honestly don't know if this is sacrilegious, but I think it's kind of comical when Jesus is trying to teach His disciples a parable or something, and they take him literally and don't understand.. and they are just bewildered and like.. what just happened? What did he say?

For example:

 11 These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.

 12 Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well.

 13 Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep.

 14 Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.

Jesus is talking about bringing Lazuras back to life... but His disciples thought Jesus was talking about waking Lazarus up from a nap.. and they were like, wait why are you gonna wake him up? Aren't naps good? Then I imagine Jesus face palming... Then clearly saying, you fools, he´s dead. I'm not being literal.

This happens so much in the New Testament and it makes me giggle. They understand, but not until the Savior teaches them.

What else happened this week...? Not much. Taught a lot but very few receive what we teach. It can be difficult. Especially when I can't understand their needs that well. Continually pray for people here that we will find people that are prepared of the Lord. The importance of following the spirit is the most important thing. I´m learning everyday how to follow it more, and how to better listen.

Tomorrow is cambios (transfers)! I won't be transferred but I might get a new comp.. we´ll see what happens!

I love you guys have a killer week!!!

Love,
Elder Cluff

Pictures!

This is Diego, an investigator of the other elders that was baptized. Here we are in the city center of Rimac. It was awesome.

 We went to the temple :)

We were visited by Peru's finest marching band outside our window.

October 13, 2014 Letter...

Congratz on the job mom! It's so good to hear that.. haha real estate.. thats so cool! I'm sooo glad to hear:) Haha you legitimately have to most extensive resume I've ever heard of.. I love it. You´ve done it all mom and I love you very much. I think about you a lot and always want you and the family to stay safe and healthy. Eat healthy :)

Dad is a stud.. working with Julie.. I'm glad that is working out. He works so hard and it's really an inspiration to me. I love him very much. Don't move to LA tho.. keep it in Alpine, haha. Thanks.

Hahahaha at the thing about me setting the bar high with school.. tell the boys I'm sorry.. Just work hard and have fun.. don't worry too much about it, just pray for the Lords help and he will give it.. he always does! That's how I got through all my work in high school. High school ended up being the greatest experience. I loved it. Tell the boys to serioulsy live up every last moment! Especially zack. You blink, and then it's over. 

Zack.. I'm glad he´s lifting.. stud. He´ll grow. But he needs to eat more. He needs more healthy complex carbs and should shoot for around 400g a day, with around 150g of protein. He can get that from drinking shakes with a cup of raw oats, and eat eggs, potatoes, drinking two scoops of protein with a cup of oats right after lifting, and then eating an hour later. He´ll grow, he just needs to eat:) Also creatine monohydrate will help... turn him on to that. If he has questions tell him to talk to me:)

Anyways, not much happened this week. Just the usual in the beginning of the week, then Thursday we went to the temple! Ah, it's such a pretty temple. The session was in Spanish, but I understood everything until the end.. lol. It doesn't help when the worker is from the US and speaks white man Spanish, lol. But, yeah I loved the temple. I bought the missionary reference library and also these smooth scriptures cases with my name and mission emblem that are gonna be here in a week. They are super cool, I'll remember to send a pic. But, yeah the temple was SUPER spiritual.. I learned a lot and received a lot of revelation. Really great experience. Conference this week was good too! We watched it all day Saturday and Sunday with the stake! A lot of good messages! Again, all in Spanish, so I didn't get everything. Haha on Saturday when the MTC choir sang I saw 10 people I knew from the Provo MTC hahaha. Including Grant Lyman that you know.. and Jake Downs.. haha legendary. I love my friends.. I am excited though for The Liahona to learn more from the talks! I challenge you guys to do the same in FHE :) The work here is going forward!

Next week is transfers.. there is a chance I'll get a new comp and be the new guide of our sector because my comp has 6 months in this sector.. but we´ll see. I wouldn't mind that. Tomorrow are interviews with the president; I'm super stoked because our pres is the greatest man ever. Such a stud. Oh yeah, I GOT THE PACKAGE. I loved it. I also hung the decorations up :) The Twix... oh my heavens have been perfect. All the candy! I loved the letters too.. thank you :) I love hearing from the fam!

Anyways I love you guys. Keep killin' it!

Love, 

Elder Cluff

October 6, 2014 Letter...

Hey mama,

How is everything at home? This week went by fast, but not a lot happened. On Monday for P-day, we went and visited my comp's old sector and the families in it. It was good. Then the rest of the week was just normal normal normal. Our house is really far away from our sector, the area where me and my comp specifically teach, and every day we have to walk sooo far to get there. Sometimes we take mototaxi's though, which is really nice. Mototaxi's are like motorcylcles with two wheels in the back, and a huge cab for people to ride in built over them. They are super interesting and are all over Peru. It's funny they don't even exist in the US...

We didn't have much success this week, people didn't really want to hear what we had to say, and when they did, they were never home. There was one day this week where we knocked probably 20 doors of less active members and investigators to teach, and only one person was home and able to hear our message. It's pretty difficult sometimes. I'm getting more comfortable with talking during lessons and slowly I'm becoming a better teacher. 

We have been praying and praying for a couple we teach (the male is a less active member) to want to be married so the girl could be baptized. She received and answer that our message was true and that the Book of Mormon was the word of God, but couldn't be baptized because her and her partner were cohabitating and not married. They discussed and settled for a date in January, which is just too far. They need it now. So we prayed they would want a much sooner date and the Lord answered our prayers! We set a date for October 25 for their marriage and we're so excited! We also set the same date for her baptism! Our goal in this mission is not the just the baptism, it's enduring to the end. We want to help all people endure to the end, and that involves family history, baptisms for the dead, and eternal marriage. It's really awesome that the Lord helped us with this, and it's really a miracle because they were dead set on January. I know the Lord answers our prayers!!! 

Not much more happened this week. Yesterday we had thee biggest lunch of my life... like you know those half plate, half bowl things? We had a giant one of those filled past the top with rice, beans and meat. After eating I felt like my stomach was gonna blow... So then we went on and visited a less active member, and she ended up feeding us a huge bowl of soup, and spaghetti. At this point I felt like I was seriously going to die. I´ve never felt my stomach so stretched and so full of food, but nevertheless I ate all of it. Haha. Yeah... the members treat us really well here, they are great. But sometimes they don't know when to stop feeding us, haha. A *little more food* never means a little more... I'm just glad my stomach is better, and that I can handle all the food!

Yeah, thanks for the package! I can't wait to get it:) I should get it this week or if not, the next! I don't think customs will be a problem if it's in her suitcase... but we´ll see. And yeah don't worry about the backpack:) I'm using my black Jansport one and it's great!

I'm glad you guys got to go to Lagoon, and that you gave your notice! I know the Lord will bless you and that you will love your new job:)

And yeah we didn't watch conference this week because it was national elections week, and all public meetings of any kind were prohibited. So we're gonna watch next week. We are super excited. I love hearing from our Prophet and the Apostles. It's such a blessing to have a Prophet that leads and directs our church today.

Haha and the dude that called... yeah 2 years please call back. I want to talk to him. Lol.

Anyways, I love you and I love the family so much. I'll talk to you next week:)

Love, 

Elder Caden Cluff

September 29, 2014 Letter...

First and foremost, mom - thank you for your letter. It was beautiful, and it helped me so much:) I'm gonna try to print it if I can find where to print it and how, haha. 

Anyways, thank you for your prayers and everything.. this week was really better. We did a lot of teaching and found a lot of new people to teach.

Okay, cool.. packages... ahh okay yes that sounds amazing! I want a care package more than anything!!!!! I enjoy candy a lot here.. I don't know why but, I have a sweet tooth.. so some chocolate, white chocolate, air heads extremes, umm yeah, the good stuff. Hand written letters from all of the family.. yeah. Think of things to send me that will make my life. Send it to the office, and our zone leaders bring it to us every week. So I'll get it way quick! Yayyayayay..

Did I tell you our mission is the most people dense in the world? There are like 3 million people, and even cooler, 2 million stray dogs. There are so many stray dogs here. I didn't even know stray dogs were a thing before I came here. But there are sooooo many. They poop in the streets, so everywhere you step there is a landmine, but if you make your comp step in it you get 3 points, so I guess that's cool. Really stinky tho. 

This week I was super sick, only for one day, with diarrhea and a huge headache, and freezing cold, yeah it's winter here, and a giant sore throat. It was terrible. I'm over all of it now, thank goodness.

Okay, this week we ate at a members house and had something called (actually I forgot) but it was cow stomach.. and wow it was TERRIBLE. It had all these little tubes and veins all over in it and ahh, it was so gross. Nevertheless, notwithstanding my desire to falter, I continued on eating and with the scripture talk.

Another thing, I have pictures to send.. but because of the sketchy computer I'm using today, I won't be able to attach them. I don't want a virus! But next week for sure.

We have had many spiritual experiences. One experience was last week. We had a burning spiritual prompting to knock this door.. not only me, but Elder Fernandez felt it too.. so we knocked it and this boy answered and said his parents weren't home, so ya. We were a bit confused.. Then this week we passed that same door again, and again, we felt a burning Spirit. Even more, it was the only house with light coming through the front door (all the doors are glass). So we knocked again.. this time an hermana answered and invited us in to teach. We taught her the restauración and the Spirit helped us so much. She is super elect. She is one of those people you meet and would assume is already a member because of her happiness and how kind she was. Anyways, at the end, we showed her the correct way to pray, and asked if she would. She agreed, and began to pray. Immediately the Spirit filled the home, we all felt it. She ended the prayer and began to cry. She said she felt such peace and tranquilidad. It was a great experience. She agreed to continue to pray and ask God if our message is true. 

Such a cool experience. I know the Lord prepares people to hear our message. I know that He loves us and that all we need to do is be worthy and ready to listen when the spirit whispers to us. Whenever I have bad days here, all I gotta do is remember the good days. Remember that I've been called by a prophet to declare that Jesus is the Christ. Remember that it won't always be easy, but as we strive to work with diligence, we are always blessed.

I love you so much family and pray for each one of you individually every single night. Keep killing it. Zack is a freaking stud at lax, so is Cam, so is Brig. Ah, I love them so much. Tell them to keep having the time of their lives.. and to not stress about anything. Tell Zack to live high school up to it's fullest, and to be himself. Don't change for anyone. 

And ahh dad. I love dad. He is such a hard worker. He is my inspiration. Tell him I love him. 

Congrats on your new job; I know it's right for you. The Lord knows it too. He wants you to be happy, and that's why he has given you this new opportunity, mom. I love you. Keep working hard and keep being the honest to goodness greatest mother in the world. 

Love, 

Elder Caden Cluff

September 22, 2014 Letter...

Hi mama and family... 

I'm glad to hear everyone is doing well and you and dad had a fun trip:) you guys definitely deserve it!

This week was rather difficult to say the least.. I can see now why people say missions are the most difficult times of their lives haha.. It only gets harder though.. Can't wait:)

Anyways, apparently there is a lady in SL who sends packages for like six dollars a pound that this elder here uses. He says she is the best, but couldn't remember her info. Google around and ask around to see if you can find it, but if not I emailed him and asked for it!!! Hopefully I'll be able to get some care packages, hehe. 

This week was funny. We were walking back from a meeting at the church, and the police stopped us and started questioning us like we were criminals. Come to find out they though we were selling cocaine hahaha. Funny stuff.. 

Okay, I don't know if I told you this last week, but the food here is amazing. Soooo much chinese food, I love it. I haven't had any problems with soy which has been a really nice! But chaufa, aeropuerto, lomo saltado, arroz con pollo, sooo good. I love rice, and they do so many different things with it here. For about three American dollars, you can buy enough chaufa (best fried rice evvvveerr with chicken) to feed you for two nights. There are so many street vendors and restaurants that sell it. Also, there are little stores everywhere that sell candies, treats, food, ya. All of it. It comes in handy. On Sunday we ate at a members house, as we do every day, and she made french fries and fried chicken... soooo divine. 

This Saturday we had 4 hours of stake conference and then 2 more on Sunday.. wow they were really good and I understood a lot, but also they were tough because there was a lot that I didn't understand. When I don't understand I tend to zone out, and then I'm lost, lol. But it's getting better for sure. 

I really love teaching people and helping them. We teach a lot of lessons. I'm starting to talk to people more during lessons and on the street. I feel more comfortable every day, but still need work. I'll be honest, Spanish is extremely hard. At least it is for me right now. It's baptism by fire, really. But I need to rely on the Holy Ghost to teach me and to help me during the lessons, and during whenever I talk. We almost have another baptismal date, but we gotta keep working with her. A lot of people are so ready to hear and live this gospel, the only problem is where to find them. 

Our whole sector is on the side of a giant hill; Google Rimac Lima Peru, and the hill with the big cross on top, right under is our hill, our sector. It's difficult at times because there are people who are ready to hear to gospel, a lot of older people, but they are all unable to come down the giant hill to come to church or be baptized, etc. It's a huge problem. I always wonder how the older folks even got up the huge hills to their homes in the first place, haha. 

The Spirit is always strong here. We had a new missionary conference with the President and his wife, and oh I absolutely love President and his wife.. They are the sweetest, most loving people I know.. anyways we had a conference and mainly just went over rules, but we also learned that this is gonna be hard, but we can all do it. We can do this. 

I'm really grateful for this opportunity to serve and pray that I can have strength from the Lord to do it, and have strength from the Lord to learn the language so I can teach effectively, how he wants me to teach, so I can help His children how they need to be helped.

 I love you so much, family!

Love, 

Elder Cluff

September 15, 2014 Letter...

Tell all the boys I love them and thank you for their letters, they mean the world. I´m so happy and glad to hear they are all doing so well. Cameron cracks me up... Brigham is still just chill and happy.. and Zack is a stud.. make sure to tell him he needs to eat a lot of food if he wants to grow:) I was so happy to call you and dad.. it was great. Oh my comp´s card wasn't working, so he couldn´t call, so I let him use my debit card.. hope that´s alright. Oh today is P-day so I´m going to buy a new backpack. My shoulder bag destroys my shoulder. I love you mom and family, please start making noche de hogar a priority. It´s so important, the family is where we grow and learn the principles of the gospel the best. This is why families are so important. I loveee you guys so much:)

Okay now to reply to this letter and to tell you a little bit about Peru:

A contestar su preguntas..

My companion, Elder Fernandez is from Puno, Peru. He is learning English here on the mission; we only speak in spanish though. Which can be veerrrryyy difficult at times, because sometimes I need to say things that I don´t know how to say, but I´m learning very quickly. Oh fun fact.. Peru.. doesn´t speak pure Spanish. Here it´s called castellano. Which is Spanish, but super slangy, fast, and difficult to understand. It´s like someone learning Utah English for six weeks, then goes to the UK to continue learning English. It´s difficult but I´m picking up on the slang and different phrases and words and sounds.. slowly, but surely:)

Okay.. Area of town, hahaha. I live in Rimac. Rimac is probably the second poorest district, and second most dangerous. The people here, the area, all of it is extremely poor. Like I´ve been extremely humbled seeing how people live here compared to Alpine. It´s so different, but it´s amazing. Me and my comp´s sector is called Leoncio Barrio 3, and we have the hill with all the houses on it. So we have to climb up mountains of stairs every single day.. I can already feel my legs growing, hahaha. It´s fun though. The people here are great, especially the members.. they are so loving. The investigators always make fun of me because I´m a gringo and don´t speak much Spanish haha.. good stuff.

We don´t have a pensionista in this area. But every single day we go to a members house for lunch, and holy wowowwowow is the food good... One thing I´m learning here, is how to eat, and how to eat a lot. There is rice with probably every meal, but it´s always amazing and flavorful. Lot´s of chicken and potatoes, too. Also, there is this drink called chicha morada - it is this purple corn drink with piña and sugar. It´s good if it has a lot of piña. But, the members feed us sooo much. I´m not kidding. Infinite amounts. The other day at the stake president´s, we first had a huge plate, stacked to the roof of pasta, the second course was a huge plate of rice, chicken, and veggies.. soo good, then we had a break with a banana, then dessert was ice cream. Sooo much food, but MY stomach feels healed and can pound food:) I can´t wait to get fat.. actually, I probably can´t because of the infinite amounts of walking we do. But it´s great!

Oh we get to go to the temple here about every 3 months! Which is awesome! I´m really excited.. We go for the first time on october 6th!

I need to continue working and continue to learn this language so I can help people to the best of my abilities! We have several investigators right now, and we just commited one to baptism!!! We are arranging a marriage first, because cohabitation is the norm here. We can´t have that:) So yeah marriage first, then baptism! We are so excited. Many more to come:) 

I´m still adjusting here, but I do love it. I love you family!

Love,

Elder Cluff

 CCM District

Five Star Hotel Breakfast - First morning in Peru!

 View from my apartment window!

 View from District Leader's window!

 Elder Fernandez, Elder Cluff, District Leader, Elder Hiatt

Elder Cluff with his Mission President and Wife!

Presidente and Hermana Borg with Elder Cluff :)

Dear Cluff Family,

We are delighted to report to you that your son, Elder Cluff, has arrived to begin his service in La Misión Perú Lima Central.  He looks great, is healthy, and is very excited to begin his service (see the enclosed picture). We are thrilled to receive him and we will take good care of him.  It was our privilege to share breakfast and lunch with him while he was being interviewed and trained in the mission office. 

Elder Cluff has been assigned to the area of the mission called Leoncio Prado 3.  He is in the Rimac Zone.  His companion is Elder Fernandez.  Please be assured that these assignments are not made randomly, but are a matter of serious pondering and prayer.
 

Because of the geographical size of our mission, Elder Cluff was introduced to all of our missionaries at a general meeting held in a local stake house that same afternoon.  There he met and was joined with his new companion and trainer, Elder Fernandez.

We thank you for the support that you give to your son during his mission.  Elder Cluff will look forward to positive, uplifting letters from home.  We ask that he corresponds with you weekly, and we encourage you to do the same, using the e-mail address he will give you if you do not already have it (the same one he used at the CCM).  

We will watch over your son during this time in which he will be serving the Lord in this important work.  We also know that your family will be blessed by his service.  If there are any emergencies that need to be forwarded to Elder Cluff, please use the telephone number or e-mail address listed above.  

Con Cariño,

Map of Elder Cluff's area, Rimac Zone (outlined)

A Quick Email... Next Stop ~ PERU!!

Hello Everyone!

I just want you to know I leave the CCM in two hours, so I get to email and say I'm packed, and ready to go. I haven't checked the weight limit yet, but I'm gonna check it soon and figure things out. I love you and the CCM was really great, but I'm ready to go. I'm ready to go into the field and fish for the souls of men:) Tell the family I love them and am proud of everything they do! I hopefully will call today.. it will be around anywhere from 11-3 your time, so maybe be ready! But at Christmas we'll talk for longer!

Talk to you later, from Peru:)

Elder Cluff

Last days at the CCM!

Farewell to the CCM! (and some random Elder)

We helped decorate the Comedor for Mexican Independence Day! YAY!

 Kissing statues is good luck.

 Our district and our night teacher, Hermano Salazar!

Pictures!

We have to cut out naughty pictures on the chip bags here :)

Doing service for Hermana Rosa. Ella es mi favorita:) pero, tengo muchos favoritos. Lol, the funniest part was she wanted to take a selfie with us. We were so excited to take a selfie.

Just chillin' on P-day

September 4, 2014 Letter...

Hello mom and family!!!

How is everyone? I loved your letter mom! I got my flight plans and I leave Monday, at 2:57 PM! So I'll call around that time, probably sometime before (hopefully). I hope I can call because I'm really just unsure with how it all works and stuff. I'm excited for dad and his exams, he'll pass them all I'm not worried. Captain America sounds really good! And so did that motorcycle ride! Sooo fun. I miss riding the scooter everywhere I'm not gonna lie.. that was such a blast.

Haha, definitely do not get a cow.. please. That would be weird.. and what would the dogs do with it? Haha. Just buy milk:)

Yes I'm doing well.. and the CCM is pretty great. It's the same schedule every day, so it gets tiring, but I'm learning a lot and working hard to I can become the best missionary I can be. I know I have to work as hard as i can, and be obedient as possible, so I can reap the blessings here in the field, and the blessings of when I get home, and for the rest of my life! It's sometimes hard to keep those thoughts in sight when I'm tired, miss home and friends, but I know this is where I'm supposed to be, and no matter what, I need to trust in the Lord, pray with all diligence and strength, and endure to the end. I can't wait to teach and help real investigators with this same thing. I can't wait to bring happiness to others lives. I'm starting to realize that my mission isn't going to be easy. Apart from missing home, and worries of what will happen while I'm gone, I'm beginning to realize that I'm going to be doing a lot of suffering while I'm here, for my investigators. I often think of a lesson dad taught in Gospel Doctrine, where he talked about how his mission was the hardest experience of his life. How he talked about how for the last 8 months of his mission he was a branch president, and had to remove more names from the church than add. How every night he kneeled in prayer, pleading with the Lord for help, for direction, and for comfort for him, and for the members. I'm beginning to see this in my own mission. I'm beginning to see how this "missionary work" people take so lightly, isn't light at all. When I think of how dad felt on his mission for his investigators and the members of his branch, and how I will feel for my future investigators, I need to remember I'm not the first one to walk this path. A man, much greater, much more perfect than us walked this path. His name was Jesus Christ. As perfect, as loving, as Godly as he was, It was NEVER easy for him. Jesus Christ, the son of the Living God, asked his Father, (his mission president, if you will) if there was an easier way. The point is, we have to suffer here. I have to suffer here. We need to walk somewhat a glimpse of the road he walked. Because in times of suffering for our investigators, for the work of salvation, in those times is where we are shoulder to shoulder with the Savior. He is always here for us. He knows better than we do, exactly what we're going through. Salvation was never easy, it was never cheap, and it's going to be hard. I'm ready. I'm here for nothing but to bring souls unto our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I'm ready to begin this journey in Lima, Peru. I'm ready.

Jeffery R. Holland and Henry B. Eyring gave talks that touched heavily on what I just talked about and they hit me hard this week.

Oh, this week I also gave a talk in church...yes. all in Spanish. I gave it on the restauracción and it went really well. I went like 10 minutes on accident, it was only supposed to be 5, but it was really good! My Spanish is progressing extremely well. I spent 3 hours with the Mexican workers (they prefer to be called Mexicans over anything else) and boy did my Spanish get good in those 3 hours. It's way tough to understand them with their thick accents and speed, but it's becoming much easier! The word is that Peruvians speak much faster, and more difficult Spanish.. so that will be fun:)

Anyways, I love you guys! I'll try to get some pics!

Love,
Elder Cluff