Entry Fifty One: A Baptismal Invite A Day Keeps The ZLs Away

January 05, 2026

Entry Fifty One: A Baptismal Invite A Day Keeps The ZLs Away

Why hello there! How have you guys been? Can you believe I last emailed y’all last year? (cue the laugh track) But, I hope you guys are doing fantastic! May this new year bring new opportunity and new enthusiasm for life!

So, I figured out why my phone wasn’t letting me add pics last week. For context, I write my emails in a google doc first, then copy it over to email and send it out. Turns out, there is a limit to how big a google doc can be, and conveniently enough I reached it at entry number 50. Unconveniently… well let’s just say it froze the document and now I can’t edit anything. But, we got a new document going, and pictures are back! (although I don’t know who ended up with all the exchange pics, so we’ll see what I have on my camera roll)

Now onto the missionary work: as I alluded to just barely, I went on exchanges with the zone leaders. We decided to go from New Year’s Eve to New Year’s Day, plus the ZL I was with brought their greenie (they’re in a trio) to Lebanon so he could have In-N-Out 😂

It was tons of fun, and even though we weren’t as locked as we should’ve been, I did learn a lot from both of them.

As for the rest of the week I was way more locked and dialed in on the work. Our mission has been rolling out the standard of trying to invite one person a day to be baptized, and this is the first week I believe I’ve been able to do that every single day. It’s tough stuff, but I’ve come to find that as I am more bold about baptism, there’s more enthusiasm in the work, and we’re able to bring more hope to people we meet.

Unfortunately though, you can have a super powerful spiritual experience with someone in a Kroger parking lot and still never hear from them again. Soooo womp womp

We got three friends to church on Sunday though. It’s always good to see people show up and experience the sacrament. What’s funny though, is that all our friends were young black men, and they all came separately.

Obedience has recently been on my mind, due to an increased focus on the missionary standards before this upcoming zone conference (praying we don’t get chastised this week 🙏). My mind instantly turned to these verses from the Doctrine and Covenants:

“There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated- and when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.” (D&C 130:20-21)

If I’m being honest, throughout my mission (and from what I’ve heard from missionaries who have served long ago) I’ve seen that for some reason, missionaries can be incredibly disobedient to standards, and even basic gospel laws, and still see lots of progress in their work. It can be incredibly demeaning to see that at times, especially if you hold obedience to be one of your priorities.

What I’ve learned recently though is that these verses are true. It is by obedience that we obtain blessings. Sure it may not be for others, but when we choose to be obedient, Christ can change us. He will transform us into what he needs us to be, and that is all we can ask for. Elder Corbridge of the seventy put it best when he said, “You need to be the fourth missionary (obedient because you want to be), not for me, but for you. It is the only intelligent thing to do”

Called to serve Him, heavenly King of glory, chosen e’er to witness for his name.

Love y’all!

-Elder Clayton

Pictures for reals this time: