Entry Eighteen: Of Drunks, Bashes, and Ward Councils

May 19, 2025

Entry Eighteen: Of Drunks, Bashes, and Ward Councils

5/19/25

Before I begin, yes. This is a reference to the famous talk by Elder Holland, “Of Souls, Symbols, and Sacraments.” It’s an incredibly good talk, but fair warning to all who embark: It’s all about chastity and there’s some tough love there. However, it is a very needed message in today’s world.

Now we begin: Gooooooooood morning everyone! I hope this week went better for you, because it was tough for me. Though, I must say, no day is a bad day unless you let it end on a bad note. I know this was a test where I’ll grow a lot from, and plus, it gives me lots of funny stories, so it was worth it.

First up, we had a referral from an incredibly drunk guy, who we got in contact with over the phone (thank goodness) at Norma’s house (she feeds us every Monday because she’s the BEST). I think I’m a little too innocent to be out here, because I saw this man in despair, and was ready to head on over and start helping him. Luckily, Elder Driggs has more of a brain than I do, and we pushed out our meeting till next week, and within that time, he called us like 3 separate times saying weird stuff about Norma, and eventually just started saying he was “gonna prosecute us” since we were “nice enough to come over.” Yeah, that’s a stop teaching if I’ve ever seen it.

Second, throughout the week I had the worst luck with finding. One of the most effective ways to talk to 100 people each day is to go to a public space (Walmart lol) and split off (within sight and sound, I promise I’m no standard breaker) to talk with everybody. While Elder Driggs was finding people who wanted to learn more, I ended up with all the antis and intense people. However, there were 2 incredibly funny interactions from these kinds of people this week. The first one was this guy who I invited, and he said he’d go if I could answer him a question. In my ignorance, I boldly said sure, and he hit me with the most out of pocket question about early Christianity. He then was like, “Well, I had a question for you you couldn’t answer, do you have a question for me?” In which I responded, “Yeah, do you wanna come to church with us? 😂

The second interaction wasn’t actually mine, but Elder Driggs asked some folks if they wanted to worship Christ with us on Sunday, and they said they worshiped the devil. He then said, “Oh! Well that’s not good!”

Third and final crazy, we got a little bashed by our ward council for putting someone on date for Father’s Day? It was definitely an intense meeting, that’s for sure. No hate to them though, they’re all stellar people who devote a lot of time to the ward and the missionary effort.

As for other things this week that went well, we had a baptism for our friend Korey yesterday! His story is pretty cool. It all starts with us trying to have a member and missionary moment with our friend Rodney Gosnell, in which he forgot about it and wasn’t home. To apologize, he set up a dinner with us the next week. During this time, Rodney felt impressed to have mercy on an old coworker of his who got fired, and take him in to live with him. So, at that dinner, we met Korey, and we hit it off. He loved learning about the gospel, and he knew it was true right from the get go. And, now he’s baptized! Hoorah for Israel!

Lastly, we had planning bootcamp this week for all missionaries in their second transfer. It was basically an extra zone conference, but I learned a lot about being intentional with every aspect of missionary work, especially planning intentionally.

Spiritual Thought: This week, I listened to a devotional by Hank Smith titled Being Happy in an Unhappy World. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to listen to the full thing because the audio file I have is in 20 different parts and 3 of them are missing, but there were some great things said. The main idea of the talk is expressed in this quote by my mission president:

“Your whole life will be determined by either what you’re waiting for or what you go out and do.”

What Hank Smith was saying, was to accentuate the positive. When a happy thought comes to mind, replay it over and over! Water it and give it sunshine- whatever you need to do to let it grow and fill your life with joy. And when a sad thought arises, promptly kick it to the curb and leave it behind. Now, I’m definitely the most imperfect example of doing this, but I will say this is a very important skill to develop. God may be able to deliver us from any trial, but he knows we need to grow. Sometimes when God helps us it could hurt us in the long term, so instead, he’ll just cheer us on.

I want to bear my testimony today that Jesus Christ is the path that leads to true happiness in this life. Over the course of this past transfer, I’ve been able to see the gospel change the lives of those it touched. I’ve seen cases that seemed hopeless be lifted up high above anything ever imagined. I’ve seen friendships nourished and strengthened. I’ve seen growth and the development of lifelong skills. All because of Jesus Christ. Have we not the greatest reason to rejoice? I know that Christ is joy, and he loves us each so dearly. In his holy name, amen.

Let your heart be not faint now the journey’s begun; There is One who still beckons to you. So look upward in joy and take hold of his hand; He will lead you to heights that are new-

With a joyful song in my heart,

Elder Clayton

Phonics