Entry Eighty Five: Let’s do it right this time

September 14, 2026

Entry Eighty Five: Let’s do it right this time

Goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooood morning everyeone! Or afternoon or evening or night wherever you are when reading this! Welcome back to another installment of my life. Hope you guys had a good week. This one was a doozy for me, lowkey very glad it's passed haha just one of those weeks.

But let's focus on the positive shall we?

We had a mission tour with Elder Cavalcante of the seventy! Him and his wife are from Brazil, and they were mission leaders there before the call to serve as general authorities. They are so cool!

Elder Cavalcante wanted to spend a LOT of time with the missionaries, so from Tuesday to Friday, there was something almost every day for each missionary (Tuesday was MLC only (RIP all my fellow commonfolk)).

Wednesday and Thursday we got to tune in virtually to the other side of the mission's zone conferences. Wednesday had a meeting for all the greenies and Thursday a meeting for all the DLs. Then Friday was our zone conference, and afterwards more MLC.

Then, on top of all that, Cumberland zone had our stake conference this weekend, in which he presided. It was so awesome! I love hearing his stories from the mission field, and he is a real funny guy!

Aside from all the meetings, we did actually go out and work. But, it was lowkey such a hard week in that regard, but we made it out the other end. I’m grateful to all my fellow missionaries for pointing me towards the Savior in all things. Keeping your focus on Him makes it so much easier to make it through hard days.

I’ve come to find that the most surefire way to stay locked in on the Lord is through making time for consistent study of the scriptures, particularly the Book of Mormon. That book has a very unique power that I have not found and will not be able to find anywhere else. I bear my witness that the book is true!

No where else have I been able to understand my relationship with God so clearly; nor can I turn anywhere else for doctrine so pure, simple, and sweet to the ears. Everything that book teaches makes logical sense and is coherent with the very nature of life. It also has the magical power of providing peace and comfort through its words that taste like honey (and I am not meaning the stain from my peanut butter and honey sandwich in Helaman chapter 8 💀). Like it or not, there is something to this book that needs to be considered.

Although it is the church’s culture to read the Book of Mormon everyday (which is a practice I fully support), I want to suggest that we cannot take this book for granted. We NEED to be thoughtful and intentional about its use. It is a treat from on high, meant to be savored and not wolfed down. It is meant to be complemented by our other studies and by the experiences we go through in this life. We should revere it and ensure it gets practically used.

I am so grateful that the windows of heaven are open. We are not bound by the dogma of sola scriptura and we know that God lives; he speaks to us and continually reveals his word. How grateful I am that through the imperfect words of prophets and apostles, I can receive additional light and knowledge on the daily!

Combined with the Spirit, the Book of Mormon will convert you to the Lord Jesus Christ– it’s how I came to know him. Read it and study the heck out of it if you sincerely want to know him too. If it doesn't work for you, then no worries. He'll manifest himself to you in some other way.

The Lord Jesus Christ lives. He is real, and he loves you. Your guilts, sorrows, and tragedies can become peace, joy, and hope as you pray in his name to the Father of our spirits. His mercy invokes a transformation in us that blesses us beyond measure. I testify that these things are all true, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

I love you all! Have a fantastic day and I’ll catch you all later :)

-Elder Clayton

Flicks of da week: