Knocking on Doors

We have had a few days that have been nice enough to not wear a jacket for a little while.  Hopefully the winter will be done soon.  At least it hasn't snowed or iced.  I am glad I am not anywhere colder because it would be a lot harder to go outside then.

            This week we have done a lot of tracting (going out and knocking on doors).  We tracted for 13 hours.  Some of those hours were in the rain.  It was rough but we saw many miracles.  We have a bunch of new people we are going to start teaching and we found one person who is a member and might be interested in coming back to church.  We are going to keep working hard with these people that we have been blessed to find. 

            I don't really have too much to write about this week.  It feels like all we did was tract.  A funny story is that we came across a Jehovah's Witness and she thought we were Witnesses.  We talked with her for about 15 or so minutes and she said that the Jehovah's Witnesses were the most persecuted church in the world.  We corrected her and she relented a little and said that we had it pretty bad but that it was just because of polygamy.  [Note:  There was a brief period of time when some members of the church did practice polygamy in the mid to late 1800s, but the practice was officially ended in 1890.] We let her know that we were persecuted before and after that. It was kind of a debate about who was persecuted more, because the Bible says that the true church is going to be persecuted and that it grows fast.  She said that Jehovah's Witness, Mormons, and the Community of Christ were the 3 fastest growing churches in the world.  It was kind of a funny conversation.  Neither of us was changing position on being the true church but we were trying to be diplomatic about the whole conversation. 

Oh, so sister missionary transfers are happening tomorrow.  Anyway, Sister W, my companion from the MTC, is going to be companions with Sister R and me.  We are staying in the same area.  Yes, a trio. We are trying to find a bunk bed so we can fit three beds into the bedroom.  It is going to be a party.  Sister R is scared because she has to train us both.  But it is only for 1 more week.  It is going to be super exciting this transfer and a huge adjustment to have a third companion.  But it is going to be fun.  I already love them both. 

Highlights

Thank you so much for yesterday.  [She’s referring to the Skype call.]  It made me feel so happy and loved and almost normal.  It was like I was back home for an hour.  That was definitely one of the highlights of my week.



So, last Monday we went to Wildlife Safari.  It was pretty sweet.  We have a couple of ward members, the M family, who volunteer there and were able to give us a free tour.  The first part was a little walk around zoo thing and then we went on a safari.  When we were on the safari, Brother M fed a banana to the giraffe out of the car window.  It was kind of against the rules, but he "turned himself in" afterwards.  It was sweet.  The giraffe's head was in the tour van.  It was definitely the coolest part about the safari.



Another highlight was that we had two baptisms.  Bobbie was baptized!  She is a mom; she works with doctors somehow.  She is really sweet and loves her family more than anything.  Her son was baptized about 6 years ago and just got back from his mission about a month ago.  She took the lessons while her son did and has been taught off and on.  She was just waiting for her son to get back.  Now her son, Chase, is not the only member!  This gospel really blesses families.  We hope to be teaching Bobbie's daughter and husband in the near future so they can be eventually be sealed in the temple.   Tim was baptized at the same baptism as Bobbie.  His wife and step-daughter are members and he has been investigating for a little over a year.  He and his wife both work at schools.  They are really awesome people and I am super excited that they now have the church in their lives.



Christmas Stockings



Christmas Tree with gifts waiting below.





Christmas was an awesome day.  We opened presents at 6:30AM, much earlier than we would have at home.  It was hard not to open them sooner than that.  There are no parents here to guard the tree!



Sister Cluff follows the Cluff family tradition.
Each year we take a Christmas photo amidst the pile of wrapping paper.



 This letter is going to be short.  P-day is on Saturday, Dec. 31, this next week.  [It was switched to accommodate New Year’s Eve activities.]  So, it would be nice if I could get some new emails in my inbox that day.  I love you all so much.  Thank you for all of the letters you have written!!!

Alexa's Skype Call on Christmas

Hi.  It's Sister Cluff's Mom here.  We had a busy holiday.  It included airline flights, a cross-country driving trip, Adam's & Kendra's wedding, a reception luncheon, and an open house.  I won't bore you with all the details.  I just mention these things to put the call in context.  We were in Arizona when we got to Skype with Sister Cluff.

She looked good.  Her hair was shorter, so it took a moment to get used to the new look.  I don't recall many of the subjects we talked about.  What I remember most is the laughter.  We talked and laughed and talked some more.  The time went so quickly.  It was hard to say goodbye at the end.  I just wanted to hug her.  We will get to talk (Skype) again on Mothers' Day.  It seems so far away right now.  Until then, we'll just anticipate those weekly letters. 

 

Merry Almost Christmas

Merry almost Christmas!  It is an awesome time of the year.  It is so happy and joyful, especially if you think of the miracle of Christ's birth and how much He did for us. I have been thinking a lot of Christ and why we celebrate Christmas. What I came up with is that the reason we celebrate his birth is not really because of the miracles that happened during his birth, but the most amazing thing about it is that he chose to come down.  He chose to live a perfect life, suffer for our sins, die for us, and then rise again.  He did all of these things for us.  I am really grateful for all he has done.

This last week, hmm.  Time has flown past; I can't believe it is already P-day again.  Some days drag and some days speed by.  We have been working on teaching about 20 lessons a week.  This is a lot and it is the standard of excellence -- or the Eugene mission's goal or guidelines to how you spend your time.  I don't know if you know this, but missionaries work a lot with the less-active people in wards.  So the majority of the lessons are with them but we are trying to build up a teaching pool, people we are teaching lessons to in order to prepare them for baptism in the future.

Last week we got to do service for a family that is just moving in to a new-old house.  This family was in the ward before.  We got to wash the sticky gunk off of the walls after they took down a wall paper border thing.  It was pretty fun.  Since we spend most of our time wearing dresses or skirts, any time we get to wear jeans we are happy.  It is awesome to have time to go help people.  I love doing service.  The week before Thanksgiving we got to help unload the Church food distribution truck to families in need.  It was a special experience.  It is nice to teach people and to bear testimony but in my opinion it is great to serve people.  I feel like it is a refresher in a way, you get to stop having to worry and you can just “put your shoulder to the wheel.”

Oregonian weather update:  it hasn't been really rainy.  I guess all of the people in Oregon are concerned about the lack of rain.  It didn't rain for about 2 weeks, and then lately it has at least rained once every 2-3 days.  I guess it is usually raining a lot more.  But that doesn't mean that it has been sunny.  The area where we are serving has some intense fog.  It sometimes lasts all day.  It is pretty gross.  It is typically in the 30s and there hasn't been any ice or snow.  There is a little frost on the car sometimes but it melts by the time we leave the apartment, about 11AM.  Not quite like Chicago weather, where your ice scrapper is your friend.  They tell you to take vitamin D here because you don't get enough from the sun during this time and it helps you stay happy.   Here’s an interesting tidbit… skim milk has more vitamin D than 2%.

Sister R is doing pretty well.   I am driving for the week until she is sure she is okay.  She is happy not to drive and I like driving except for the parking part.  But I am practicing up. It is scary how little I pay attention to the area when I am passenger.  This should help me learn the area better.  Sister R keeps saying that I will probably be the one in charge of the area and she will be the one leaving.

I get to go to a place called Wildlife Safari today.  It should be super fun.  It is more hands on than a zoo from my understanding.  We are going with some members who volunteer there and can get us in for free.  They can also let us do a few behind the scenes things.  I will keep you updated and send some pictures.  Maybe there will be a Lexa in the Lion's den picture [reference to her brother’s mission photo taken in a Lion’s den at an Africa wildlife park].

I love all of you.  Thank you so much for your prayers.  I think of each of you every day.  We will be allowed to Skype home on Christmas.  There is not a specific time limit, but we have to keep it to a  reasonable amount of time.

A Few Photos...

Riding thru my first carwash with Sister R.

What it looked like from inside the car.

Our Lovely Apartment.
  Yes, there is a lamp hanging from a string and Christmas lights strung around the room.

Beautiful Oregon Sunset.

Sister Cluff with the beautiful sunset behind her.

Missionary Minded

This week was a week of miracles.  We just got into a new area and there are two people who have been taught lessons and are now finally prepared to be baptized.  We went in on the first lesson with each of these people and invited them to be baptized.  This just reinforces the fact that the Lord has his own timing.  One is a mom whose son just got back from his mission.  The son was baptized when he was 14 and is the only member in his family.  She was just waiting until he got back.  We happened to be the lucky missionaries who got to teach her before her baptism.  She has seen how much the gospel has helped her son grow and she wants that for herself.  She also wants that for her family.  She understands this not only can bless her life but the life of her family.   Her son was the one who really taught her but we are the ones who get to share the lessons with her.  Examples can help people, but unless you invite someone to do something they won't change. 

            The second person we worked with is named Tim.  He was a devout Catholic the missionaries have been working with for some time (probably about 1-2 years).  He is one of those people who want to know everything.  He has never felt ready before but now there is nothing holding him back and he knows the Book of Mormon is true and that he needs to be baptized.  The thing he loves the most about our church is the focus on the family.  He and his wife are on their second marriage and love each other and their kids a lot. (She and her kids are members.)  They want to be sealed together.  This is also from the efforts of a lot of missionaries.  Both of these baptisms are scheduled for Dec. 22 at 7PM.  The mission president is going to be there because he helped with teaching Tim.  We are super excited!

            Since I have been on a mission I have loved the ward members who are missionary minded.  I just wanted to invite you to do what our mission president invited each family to do in this mission.  He mailed the Bishops a letter that invited them and their family (and all of the families in the ward) to invite someone to their home to hear a special Christmas message from the missionaries in their home.  This is a great time of the year to do missionary work because Christ is more accepted at this time of the year and people are trying to remember the reason why we celebrate Christmas.  I invite you to pray for someone to come into your mind who can hear a message from the missionaries.  Think of all the joy you get from having this in your life.  Since I have been on a mission I have regretted all of the missed opportunities to share the gospel with friends.

            I know the church is true.  Don't forget about the real reason we celebrate Christmas.

P.S.  I am getting my hair cut short.  I have an appointment at 2PM today!

Anyone for Pizza?

Mom was kinda complainy last letter about my letters not being very good.  [A Note from Mom:  I just mentioned I wanted more information, not that the letters were bad.  I pull parts from all the letters she sends and make them into one blog post.]  So, I am writing this first....

First of all, I don't have a new companion.  We found out Monday afternoon that it wasn't going to happen.  We had started rearranging our furniture to accommodate a third bed in the same room.  As missionaries, you have to sleep in the same room as your companion and you can't sleep in the same bed.  The mission rules are very clear about that.  Any way, we are kind of bummed about not getting another companion.  We had been getting super excited and telling all of the wards.  So, now everyone is all confused whether or not a new companion is coming.

 Mario is from Mexico and his wife is a member.   They are in their 50s and have two daughters in their 20s.  He wants to meet my Dad, since he went on a mission to Mexico.  He is a philosopher, entertainer, and people pleaser.  He calls Sister R, Rosita, and me Blanca Nieve (Snow White in Espanol).  It is pretty fun.  We are having a hard time teaching him because, as a Catholic, he believes in Saints.  He will try to pray for anything we ask because we asked him to do it, not because he wants to.  He has been having lessons with missionaries for at least 10 years.  We set a baptismal date but until he feels that desire to know he is not really going to progress. 

 Maggie requested missionaries and she is the most prepared person ever.  Her biggest hang-up about why she doesn't like our church was because she thought we worshipped the Book of Mormon.  (We don't by the way.)  When we taught her about the Word of Wisdom, which includes our health laws, we were a little skeptical.  She had been agreeing with everything up to that point and we knew she at least was a smoker.  She said that she knew these things weren’t good for a person and she didn't understand why other people didn't.  She said there was a verse in the bible that said a person couldn't feel the spirit if they were drunk.  It is awesome that she recognized that!  She is going to be baptized around Dec. 20th. YAY!!

 Rodrigo came to church yesterday and after fast and testimony meeting, he asked where he could sign up to be a member.  We are teaching him the first lesson on Thursday.  We hadn't met him until after Sacrament meeting.  Miracles happen!

 Abby's Legendary Pizza.  We have an hour for lunch every day, which usually gets taken up by missionary work like calling people.  One day last week, we were in between two lessons so we decided to go out for lunch.  We decided on Costco since it was on the way, but when we walked in the exit the lady asked where we were going and we said to use the bathroom (which was true), she said that was okay.  We felt bad about buying food (without having a membership there), so we went to Abby's for pizza.  Abby’s are all over here, and semi-decent.  It is kind of like a thin-crust version of Pizza Hut.  So, on our "restful" lunch at Abby’s, we saw the kids that were recently baptized, the Relief Society President  from the NC- ward, the Young Men’s President  from the NC- ward, a less-active member from R- ward, and three people who have been going to church for over a year and aren't baptized yet. It was the most productive lunch ever!  Most of them were at a birthday party for the 17 year old who hasn't been baptized yet.  We helped out with his Eagle Scout Court of Honor our first week here.  We were invited over to the party, it was fun.

I know this church is true.  We have seen sooo many miracles.  I hope you feel like a part of my life now, since I have written more about my people.  Obedience brings blessings, exact obedience brings miracles.  We haven't been exactly obedient, it is a work in progress, but we have been trying our best and Heavenly Father helps out.  It is unbelievable.  Praying 20 times a day also helps out!  I love all of you sooo much!!!!  Love, Sister Cluff.