MTC Picture

Eugene Oregon Mission

Here's a cute picture of Sister Cluff from her MTC days.  She didn't have her camera cord to download her photos for awhile.  It's always fun to see her smile!  It's even more fun to hear her laugh!

Thanksgiving & Transfers

Happy Anniversary to Mom and Dad!! Thanks for all of the letters!  I love finding out what all happened at home. 

I was very loved on Thanksgiving.  We got to watch the movie “17 Miracles” and have Costco cinnamon rolls at a members’ (young married couple, both RMs) house.  Then we wrote a bunch of letters.  I ended up writing 7 on Thanksgiving!  We had "dinner" at 3:00PM at a couple's house, and then we had "dessert" at 5:30PM (which was really leftover dinner) at a family's house with a group that included about half church members and half friends.  So, we had a super busy day. 

Some exciting news is we got transfer calls on Saturday.  Sister R and I are getting a companion!  Her name is Sister R.  She is going home on Dec. 20, so she is only with us for about 3 weeks.  It is going to be exciting.  We also are in M Ward and R Ward [names of congregations] now.  We are no longer in NC, which means nothing to you but it is kind of sad for me.  It is funny because a lot of the people we were working with were in NC and then got moved over to R Ward from the boundary changes.  We were worried about how the change would affect their church activity at this early point in time, but we get to move with them!

 I haven't yet cut my hair, maybe next week.  For those of you who don't know, I am pretty sure I am getting my hair cut short.  There is a ward member who is a hair cutter.  She went to beauty school and cuts curly hair a lot. 

Oh, no.  I just remembered something I have to do.  They gave us homework, so I’ve got to run.  (P.S. I know this church is true.)

Looking for Rainbows

This is Sister R and I celebrating the baptism of 3 children we have been teaching.   They are great kids we found through other Members! The adversary did everything he could to stop this baptism.  We just kept moving forward with faith and they were brought into the fold on November 18.  The Holy Ghost will now be their companion as they go forward from this point.  Moral of the story-- Satan works really, really, really hard to stop baptisms from happening.

            How is the weather back home?  I can't check weather while on my mission.  It’s one of the many weird things that I miss. 

The weather here is crazy!    The moss is growing from the trees.  I want to send some to you.  AND-- IT STILL LOOKS LIKE AUTUMN OUTSIDE!  My towel never dries completely and it is ridiculous.  It doesn't feel that humid but fruit ripens and bread molds very quickly.  It is kind of weird.  And, don't think of hang drying clothes.  It is not a very good idea.  I love the rain, so far.  It is way awesome and we don't have to pump our own gas! 

  We are definitely normal people as missionaries.  It is kind of weird as a regular member I viewed missionaries as perfect.  Now I see how many flaws I have but how I am working constantly to be better.  We love laughing and joking, there are a lot of things we can't do but we do talk a lot.  I am glad that my companion has become my "new twin."

My companion, Sister R, has been having a bad-health week.  Since she was under the weather, we had to take it a little slower. I feel really sorry she is dealing with all this.  She really doesn't want her health to shorten her missionary opportunities.  She still has a year of service to go.  I am praying hard for her.

I did get Kendra's wedding invitation.  It was beautiful.  It made her wedding seem much more real.  I felt super left out when Kendra "replaced" me but I am further away from it now so it is easier to handle.  Sister R is one of my best friends.  I definitely have an advantage over other people by being used to someone 24/7.  It is still different.  As companions, we have to be within sight and sound of each other always.  Sometimes you feel like "escaping" but that is impossible on a mission because it is clear you are never alone.  The other morning I just felt like going in my room and crying not about anything specific-- mostly just tiredness-- but I couldn't leave my companion.  It forces me to have good communication with my companion which is a very good thing. 

Missions are awesome!  I wish everyone could serve a mission.  It helps you so much with life.  It not only teaches you skills, but you see things in a different light and it allows you to focus on things that are most important. 

I love my mission and Oregon is growing on me.   The members always feed us really well.... I love this gospel and all of the blessings I and my family get from it.
A note from Sister H:

“Sister Cluff is doing great in our ward; she's got such a relaxing personality and genuineness about her.”

Mission Happenings

Our week has been super busy, we went to the Sisters’ Conference, which was awesome, and I feel like we have been running around ever since then.  Tomorrow we are going to a Zone Conference (which is 1.5 hours away) by the temple.  It should be exciting.  I am giving a 5-minute talk; I was already asked.  It is about the doctrine of Christ and I am going to try to relate it either to the hen and chick analogy or the Christ knocking at the door analogy.  It is still a bit shaky in my mind… we'll see how it goes.

We have a mission BlogSpot:  http://oregoneugenemission.blogspot.com/

I am in a couple of the pictures.  You should spread it around.  The photo below is from that blog.

[Sister Cluff's little brother asked her what she was doing on Nov. 11 at 11:11AM.]  I think at 11-11-11 at 11:11AM I was doing weekly planning, basically we plan for the whole next week.    At 11:11pm I was sleeping …which was super fun for me, but not very exciting for you to read about.

On Friday at 6PM we have a baptism for 3 kids (2 "investigators" and 1 "child of record").  We are getting super excited for it.  IT WILL BE MY FIRST BAPTISM!!!  So, these are the grandkids of 2 active grandparents.  Their parents are members although they could be classified as semi-active and less-active.  The grandparents have custody of the children and we got to teach them all about the gospel.  They have been in a foster home for the last 2 years, and would have been split up if the grandparents hadn't taken them.  There are four of them D… (11), M… (9), H… (8), and M… (4). They are all super cute and we love teaching them.  I will be sending a picture next week.  I get to conduct the music at their baptism.  I have conducted music more since I have been on my mission then pretty much ever before, not including FHE [Family Home Evening].  I only led the music for Sacrament meeting in the MTC once, but it was kind of a big deal for me.

We are also teaching an Egyptian named Ahmed and he speaks very little English.  He is also Muslim so we have to get permission to teach him.  We get to have a counselor from the mission presidency come to the lesson.  We were joking with the Elders that we need an emergency transfer of the Arabic missionaries to our area.  (There are no Arabic missionaries in our mission.)  Ahmed seems really open to learning, but it is going to be a slow process. 

Well, I am grateful for the chance to be here.  I am grateful for all of the miracles that we see every day.  There are little and big miracles.  I prayed for the DVD the other day because it was pretty skippy the day before, and it worked flawlessly.  I love the Lord, and all he did and does for us.  Jesus Christ still lives.  Heavenly Father is the father of our spirits, and the Holy Ghost can be our constant companion if we live worthily.  Every day I discover how blessed I am to have the gospel in my life and how true it is.  Everything I learn about the gospel just solidifies its truthfulness. 

My release date as of now is April 16, but I could extend another 6 weeks.  We'll see.  I gotta get going.  I am not allowed to procrastinate here.  As a missionary you feel super bad wasting time.  Love, Sister Cluff.

Note from Sister H

We received a nice note and a few pictures from a family Sister Cluff and Sister R were visiting.  Here's the note:

“Your sweet daughters just left and we had the best time with them!!!  We've lived here for 14 yrs and I do not remember ever having sister missionaries before - so we are feeling very privileged to have them.

                We have made plans to have the sisters join us on Christmas Eve - they don't know the plan yet (any zone stuff or curfews or such) but are going to discuss with the mission president and get back to us.  I encouraged them not to plan anything too firm on Christmas Day as they will be able to call home and that will take top billing over anything else.  If there's anything I can do to help with Christmas surprises let me know…. We’ve got a son going to the MTC on Jan 11th, so we're happy to assist other missionary families as much as possible.

                Anyways, just wanted to let you know that your children are doing great and making a difference... with their cheerful countenances and joy for the gospel.”

So fun to see and hear about our missionary!  Thanks to Sister H.

Answering More Questions

Note from Sister Cluff's Mom:  Sister Cluff has been faithfully sending emails on her prep days, but I have been negligent in my posting.  Our family has been a little distracted with a wedding and travel during the past few weeks.  I hope to catch up soon. 

Sister Cluff says:

Thanks for all of your awesome letters!  I am so thankful for my great family!  I don't have much time, so I guess I will just answer your questions. I love you all!

Tell about your apartment.  My apartment has 2 bedrooms (one for sleeping and the other for exercise) and one bathroom (it had a black shower when we got there that was supposed to be white).  There is a kitchen with a dishwasher and disposal. (YES!!)  We don't have a TV.  We have about 4 desks in our front room/kitchen to do all of our studying and we have a couple of old couches.  Our beds are a little creaky, especially when you get up in the night to use the commode.  So I try to jump out instead of getting on the creaky side (I feel like the middle is not quite so creaky).  6:29AM comes way too fast.  Happy day-light savings time!

What kind of food do you eat?  I have had imitation crab in Alfredo sauce.  It was interesting and I tried not to make a big deal out of it.  (I didn't mention that it was my first almost crab until I got out to the car with my companion).  It was actually not bad.  I have had elk sausage, turkey spaghetti, lots of lasagna, spaghetti, Chinese food, etc.  For lunch, we have leftovers, frozen dinners, quesadillas, etc. - stuff that is super easy and quick so we can get a nap in.

What do you do for your service hours?  We have hair shampooing and setting for our service this week.  There is someone in our ward who knows someone in cosmetology school.  It should be interesting.  At the MTC mostly we mopped stairs.  They had all the missionaries cleaning up after themselves (which cuts down a lot on custodial bills).  We need to do more service in the upcoming weeks.  We have just been super busy and we are trying to work it in.

What's the ward (congregation) like?  The wards we work in are super nice.  There are a lot of older people and there are quite a few young families.  There are also no singles branches in our area so there are a few young single adults.  It is interesting the people you meet here.  I have met more people on their second or third marriage, or divorced than I thought was possible.  It makes learning the families more complicated.

What gospel topics are you studying?  I have been reading the Book of Mormon a lot.  I have been skipping around on various topics. 

What have you learned about yourself so far?  I am pretty quiet.  I like a clean environment.  I have been trying to be cleaner since I started on my mission and my companion thinks I am a “neat phreak.”  I have learned that I love to laugh. (Okay, I already knew that!)  I have learned that I take a while doing things (like writing letters and getting ready in the mornings) sometimes.  I am trying to be quicker.  It is hard to follow so many rules, but it is totally worth it to do so.  As missionaries, you meet the humblest and most interesting people, who are often having super hard trials in their lives.  I just want to shake people and say, "Don't you understand how much the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints can bless your life?"  People all have their own agency.  They are going to be kicking themselves when they learn about it in the spirit world, I think.  I have learned how blessed I am to have the gospel in my life. 

Learning to Love Schedules

As you can imagine, I am not a schedule kind of a person.  So, it is kind of tough for me now but it is and will continue to get better.  I am probably going to be lost without a planner when I get back.

Here’s my daily schedule:

  6:29am - Wake-up.  Roll out of bed onto my knees in prayer position. 

                        Then I exercise for 1/2 an hour and get ready for the day. 

  8:00am - Personal study time.

  9:00am - Companion study.

10:00am - My training (which will happen for 12 weeks).

11:00am - We begin teaching others or looking for people who are interested

                         in learning more about The Church. 

12:00pm - We have an hour break for lunch. 

  5:00pm - We eat dinner with a member family from church.

  9:00pm - We have 30 minutes of daily planning for the next day.

10:30pm - In bed, with the lights out. 

Once a week, I have P-day (short for preparation day).  This is the day missionaries take care of all their personal needs like shopping, laundry, letter writing, and so on.  Most P-days I have from 10am-5pm as P-day.  On Halloween we had to be in by 7pm (no dressing up or holiday parties!) so our P-day was mixed around and it was from 1pm to 7pm.

The church members are taking care of us well here.  They are so excited to have sister missionaries.  We have had reports that they haven't had sister missionaries in this area for the last 41 years, but then we had reports of some sister missionaries…but not for a long time.

One of the hardest parts of the mission right now is knocking on doors.  Sister R says that that is her favorite part.  After knowing that, I have an even harder time doing it.  We made a goal that I would do it every other time.  (I came up with that goal.) 

The rainy season is kind of starting.  It is often foggy in the morning and the rain is really light.  It is like when you sit at Grandma Layton's house and the swamp cooler is spitting on you a little bit.  That is how the rain is.  Or at least the rain I have been in.  The misters at Six Flags have more water coming out of them than the rain I’ve been experiencing so far.

Here are some random facts (based on my limited experience) about Oregon:

There are hardly any sidewalks in neighborhoods. 

Lots of houses just have car-ports. 

There are tons of cats and almost every house we knock at has 1+ dogs. 

I want to finish by sharing my testimony.  I know this church is true.  I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior and that through him we can return and live in the best way possible with our Heavenly Father.  I love the Atonement; it is the best thing ever.  I know and can recognize how the gospel can help everyone I talk to.  As a missionary, I meet many people who have been humbled or have had hard lives.  While people have their own agency to decide what they believe, I want to share my testimony that Jesus Christ can help them.  I am grateful I get the chance to do this.  <3 Sister Cluff