Entry Sixty One: Election Season

March 16, 2026

Entry Sixty One: Election Season

Hi! To whom it may concern, you are a beautiful soul and hopefully this week went well for you! For me, we were COOKING in Douglas Lake. Gotta bump our KIs right before transfers so I guarantee myself a good comp (or maybe I’ll get a struggling comp and I pay it forward, who knows?). Let’s get into it, shall we?

We exchanged twice, and I led out the area for both. One was with the ZLs, and the other was in my district. We got a lot of good work done, involving our friends with members, and even putting a few on date for baptism! Turns out locking in on your purpose makes it easier for you to be in tune with the spirit, who would’ve thunk it?

So, prayers up for Tyrone, Tasha, and Kayla 🙏

Tyrone is on date for this Sunday. He’s been a long time internagator, and has finally been able to make a huge push to make it to baptism!

Kayla and her husband attended church for the first time yesterday (finally it took them like 3 weeks to get a car 😭 (but at least it’s a really cool truck)). She is incredibly invested and wants to be a member so badly.

Her husband is a bit funny, because he was lowkey anti until he got dragged to church, and his heart was softened like CRAZY. He legitimately asked us, “So, how does one become converted?” He said he’s not ready for baptism quite yet, but I think his wife getting baptized will help him a lot.

Lastly, we put Tasha back on date! She has been really busy. Also, I’m not sure if I mentioned this previously (or if I even mentioned Tasha at all, I’m so bad at sharing about the friends I meet 💀), but her son has severe schizophrenia. The family is concerned that it’s worse than that though, and that he has an unclean spirit accompanying him.

We offered to give him a blessing, so we went outside (he was just trolling around in the backyard, talking with himself, and messing with some tongs), and Tasha told him that we were here to give him a blessing.

Now, Elder Painter has this cool wooden case for his oil vile he wears on his belt loop. It’s super discrete, and so normally no one thinks of it.

When the son heard we were to give him a blessing, he said in this dark, twisted voice, pointing right at the vile, “What, with that whistle?”

It was really unsettling, the fact that he pointed it out and almost in a way knew that the vile was involved in the blessing. The spirit that’s controlling him knew full well what we were trying to do and would not allow it. Crazy stuff.

We have transfer calls the evening after district council, so I’m putting in a vote for AP because that’s hilarious to me 😂

Lastly, I got to bless the sacrament en español, despite barely understanding what the words translated to. Gift of tongues carried that one for sure.

Spirits are such an interesting topic, honestly. The scriptures mention them enough for us to know that their presence is real, but also little enough that our understanding is very vague. It also rarely is talked about in modern church culture. Sometimes, we can even feel certain presences, and it can be hard to assign it correctly.

We learn of one such instance of spirits when the Savior was presented with a pleading father of a possessed son in the gospel of Mark. This spirit does some crazy things to this poor child, and it puts the family through so much heartbreak.

We need to be aware and cautious of the fact that there are unclean spirits and that the devil is very very real. But even more importantly we must come to know that our Savior and his promises are very very real as well.

“If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.”

Choose to declare now that same declaration made by that father: “Lord, I believe; help thou my unbelief.” (Mark 9:23-24)

I’ll be the first to admit it is hard sometimes to not give into the devil’s cunning aspirations. But the power to choose is within us. When we believe in our Lord, everything will change. And I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

With faith in every footstep, we follow Christ, the Lord. And filled with hope through His pure love, we sing with one accord.

Lovingly,

-Elder Clayton

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