Entry Fifteen: Achievement Unlocked

April 28, 2025

Entry Fifteen: Achievement Unlocked - On the Run

4/28/25

Are weeks even real at this point? It genuinely feels like it was just P-Day, and here we are again. But, hello everyone, and welcome back to Nathan Hale Elder Clayton’s Hazardous Tales! This week might’ve had one too many dangerous encounters, but the Lord’s missionaries are always protected, let me tell you. (Ok I’m making it sound worse than it actually was hahaha)

To begin though, we unfortunately had to take our friend Cyndi off date, she just doesn’t feel ready for baptism. It’s a real shame, but on the other hand, we have two other friends who are incredibly keen on being baptized, Korey and Maya! Korey’s set to be baptized on May 18th, and Maya hasn’t set a date yet (but let’s just say I might get to be a witness to a marriage, maybe even a flower girl again 👀).

Now for the worse opposition: We went to go find an inactive member, so we pull up to this really sketchy house with two guys outside (in the most stereotypical hillbillie outfits you can imagine). We ask them if they know said member, and they said she’s gone, but she’s letting them stay there. Then they started talking about how they hate Jesus Christ cuz [REDACTED] and [REDACTED] (lies, honestly). Yeah, verrrrry rough conversation. One of them also said in full confidence, “I hate Jesus Christ! I’m no Christian, I’m a Mormon,” so, that was at least a little funny. We honestly should’ve left at this point, but being stubborn as we are, Elder Driggs and I wanted to at least bear our testimony. They then started talking about how life’s been so rough for them and how they used to have families… and now they’re DRUG DEALERS??? And to top it all off, they told us to get off their property (honestly we were looking for an opportunity to leave at that point), so we hiked it out of there as fast as we could. We ended up driving to a YSA’s house to have a little destress lesson 😂

So, that’s the main story from this week, here’s some other highlights!

1️⃣ It was Earth Day this week! 🌎 God be thanked for the wonderful and beautiful world we’ve been given!

2️⃣ I gave my first training in District Council! It was a little terrifying, but everyone said it was one of the best they’ve seen. 💪😎

3️⃣ I also led out the Forest City area for the first time on my exchange for Elder Youngberg! This also meant I drove for the first time on the mission (And didn’t crash, so that’s cool too!)

4️⃣ I finally got kicked out of a store. It’s funny, because this was the local Ingles, and we almost never go to Ingles. But, we can’t invite people to church there any longer.

5️⃣ We had interviews this week, and President Barlow set high expectations for the Forest City area. So, stay tuned for future emails!

6️⃣ Lastly, media referrals are the most interesting things. One day you can have someone super excited about baptism, and the next morning they don’t want anything to do with your church :/ BUT, the referral game is on the up, and we’ve had a lot of successful contacts. We’re getting pretty close to being considered a Hot Zone!

Thought from the Scriptures:

One verse that really stood out to me this week was 3 Nephi 9:13, which reads:

“O all ye that are spared because ye were more righteous than they, will ye not now return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you?” (emphasis added)

I love how Christ invites the people to come to him for healing. I think we often assume that Christ will cure us of all hardships, but he says he’ll heal us. The prophet Nephi said, “...he shall rise from the dead, with healing in his wings;” (2 Nephi 25:13) I forgot who gave this talk (or if it was just notes from a lesson I listened in on somewhere back in December), but I like this quote: “Curing implies going back to a previous and perfected state. Healing implies growth. Scars are a symbol of healing.”

I think there’s a good reason why Jesus’s perfected and resurrected body kept the scars from the cross. Not only is it a way we can be “graven upon the palms of his hands” (Isaiah 49:16), but it shows he went through a whole lot, and came out the other end stronger than before. When we make mistakes, they help us grow, and Christ heals those wounds. He makes it possible for us to repent, so that we can be free from the consequences of our actions but keep the wisdom from those consequences. I have a testimony that Jesus Christ loves you all. He wants you to come unto him and to be healed. He paved the way, and I plead with you to embark down that path. I say this all in his holy name, Jesus Christ’s, amen.

That’s all from me this week! I hope you all are excited for the month of May! Also, I can’t see you, but I’m sure you all look fabulous today!

“Life isn’t about balance, it’s about priority.” -Elder Marriott of the Seventy

Your favorite Elder (certainly),

-Elder Clayton

I’m not sure how many pics, but there’s at least one:

Metallurgy with AJ