Entry Thirteen: Halfway Trained

April 14, 2025

Entry Thirteen: Halfway Trained

4/14/25

What’s good y’all? Transfers happened this past week, meaning I am halfway through being trained! This next transfer is supposed to be a 7 week transfer, and thankfully I have no changes to my area or companion. The work here in Forest City is awesome and I love it!

Speaking of the work, we put our friend Cyndi on date! She’s one of the first finds I ever had (like I think we met her at Walmart day 2 of being out here), and it’s cool to see how she’s progressed and gained a testimony that this is the restored church. She also brought her sweet 5 year-old granddaughter to church yesterday, and she loved being in Primary! She already made some friends, which is just awesome that the kids are being fellowshipped!

Last P-day, my district was at a mall, and we found this escape room place. We were curious, and turns out they had a time like right then and there, plus it was pretty cheap. I think you know what happened next haha. But, I must say Forest City District is an absolute unit and we just work so well together.

Spiritual Thought:

If I’m being honest, despite the work being fulfilling out here, it is easy to let my own thoughts beat myself down and discourage me. I’m sure a lot of you can relate to feelings of inadequacy, fixating on the past or future or both, or even just plain discouragement. I’ve struggled with these for a looooong time, and I still struggle with them today. So, I have two items that might help (they’ve helped me):

One: Remember Jesus Christ has unconditional love for you. In the spirit of the Easter Season, I testify that He truly gave His life for you. The theme of Easter this year is “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13) What makes this even greater to me is the verse immediately after that says, “Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.” We are Christ’s friends. He went through unimaginable pains and sufferings in Gethsemane. I like to think the reason he got through was that when he felt he couldn’t go on, he remembered you– not the person next to you, but you specifically (althought let’s be real Christ definietly remembered that person as well). Moral of the story: Jesus loves you and he always will because you are you. The worth of souls is great in the sight of God, and that is an unchanging and eternal truth.

Two: Ok that last one was a bit bigger than I was expecting haha. But, I have a quote from Elder Uchtdorf that is in Finding Strength in the Lord: Emotional Resilience (highly recommend checking out this book on Gospel Library, or by joining an emotional resilience course your stake may have). He says, “When the force that is pushing us heavenward is greater than the temptations and distress that drag us downward, we can ascend and soar into the realm of the Spirit.” In typical Uchtdorf fashion, he relates the gospel to airplanes, but I think it works incredibly well. What are you doing to create spiritual lift? You may not be able to fully control what drags you down, but you can always control what pushes us heavenward. Turn to the scriptures, pray, or even reach out to a friend or family member, because we all have the light of Christ in us. I’d also like to recommend checking out Adjusting to Missionary Life (the church has soooo many resources for dealing with these challenges, please use them!) whether you’re a missionary or not.

Conclusion: I love you all, and Christ especially loves you all! You are seriously never alone. He knows how to “succor his people according to their infirmities.” (Alma 7:12)

But, that is all from me this week. Apologies if I rambled on, I try to keep myself in check but it doesn’t always go to plan 😂

Every wrong turn can lead to an unseen opportunity.

I love you all like Christ loves you!

-Elder Clayton

Pics!