One Year Out! letter received October 12, 2012

Hi Family!

I have gotten a lot of packages from ya’ll lately and I’m so grateful!  Thanks for all the candy that I’ve shared and binged on.  I’ve been doing well even through the constant changes.  I was able to help the Zone Leaders in my last area help all the investigators and less-actives.  One family named the Lahafeakis (or something close to that spelling) had us over for dinner and they were really funny.  They had a tiny daughter who kept singing the party rock anthem.

Saying goodbye to E. Capson was okay – the work could go forward while E. Drexler was still with me.  He helped me to continue to come out of my shell when it comes to teaching lessons.  We happened to finally commit Katrina to baptism in the process.  Saying goodbye to E. Drexler was really hard for me to do, because I had to give him as a trainee to a former companion who always seems to get everything.  But, really E. Drexler needed to be his companion so that he could work as a biking missionary – President Perry thought it would help him get over his homesickness, which has been bad.  E. Drexler is a recent convert of only 15 months and the rest of his family is not even interested in the gospel.  His sister even had a big party with drinking the night before his baptism.  It was a big temptation for him and he ended up sleeping in his truck.  Not long after he was baptized, he got into a bike accident which hurt both of his knees and he found out, while at the doctor, that he battered his MCL, so that was bad.  The latest thing that has happened was his grandfather dying.  Now E. Drexler is the only one who can run the ranch his family owns.  That was the turning point which put E. Drexler back on the plane home.

I’m writing after a P-Day activity of basketball/watching “Man’s Search for Happiness.”  The movie gave me a desire to explore the world.  I’m glad I’m here, though, because of all the people I’ve made a strong connection with.  Once I’m home I really want to volunteer during the summers for church related service projects.

Last week was fun due to serving in a trio again and preaching the gospel.  We continued to teach Donald Carter as he was preparing for his baptism.  The lessons were more of reminders because he has received all of them before.  He has a bunch of tattoos on his arms so he wore a white, long-sleeved T-shirt under his baptism jumpsuit.  His mom was so happy even before the baptism started – she was in tears. The baptism was very sweet since his mom was crying for joy that her son was getting baptized and soon they could be sealed as a family.  It was good to see the healing effects of the gospel.  I got to stand in when Donald was confirmed.  It was a really powerful feeling to be able to use the priesthood in that way. 

Last Thursday, I was able to feel and use the power of the spirit. We had a lesson with a man of the last name Hurley.  He is the one who is interested in reading the Book of Mormon, but not to know if it’s true, just to read it.  He doesn’t think we use the Bible enough in our lessons, so when E.Harris and Canova were trying to spark his interest in the Book of Mormon, they used the seed of faith deal in Alma 32.  I had flipped through the Bible for some reason and found Mark 4:3-8 where Jesus talks about how a sower sowed his seeds.  This helped Hurley make a connection between what we were teaching him in the Book of Mormon and something similar found in the Bible.  I think he’s started to feel a little differently about the Book of Mormon.

Well, the last week I had the pleasure of seeing off E. Caldwell (my trio companion) and one of my mission friends, E. Bradfield.   They have served their whole missions and are now going home.  It was very inspirational because it is a little like soldiers getting to return home from war.  After seeing them off, E. Coburn and I were having fun dividing up the areas of Oak Grove/Meadowbrook and Appomattox A/Appomattox B.  We made maps by cutting out areas of bigger maps.  We also moved furniture around so that a second set of missionaries could live in the apartment once I’m in my new area.  We played Oompaloopa Ball last Thursday.  Everyone except one elder played.  That was E. Joyner, my soon-to-be new companion.   

As I packed for my new area, I was able to pack everything to the brim including a comforter (that I got here) and my pillow plus everything else in one bag.  The transfer meeting was interesting because for the second time we had a big group of new missionaries, so 40 different companionships are training.  Crazy stuff.  Since E. Coburn is Hawaiian and I was white, when we left I put my arms in the air and shouted “Hurrah for Israel!” like in “The Other Side of Heaven.”  A member gave me a ride to my new area and it took awhile.  It was so quiet that I got to sleep.  On the drive, it was really nice to see mountains for a change.  The sights are beautiful.

So now I’ve been in my new area as a District Leader for a couple of days and having a new companion, E. Joyner, has been a little awkward and confusing.  He is very quiet.  He told me he had had no friends at all in High School.  He has struggles being bold and extending commitments, which seems to be a struggle for many elders throughout the whole mission.  Oh well.  We had a lesson with an investigator who has set a baptismal date.  Her name is Talia Norton and she has ADD, so sometimes she isn’t fully there.  She is all innocent and sweet around us, but she is really crazy around her mom and has told her mom that she doesn’t want to be baptized.  We moved the baptism date back to October 20, which would be the same day that Katrina and Alaya are baptized.

This last P-Day we spent the rest of the day, aside from emailing and shopping, playing Bang!  It was fun and I was able to get to know the missionaries in my zone better. 

General Conference was cool and 18-year-old males going on missions:  Garry!  19-year-old girls going on missions:  Tessa!  Both could go!  I thought E. Dallin H. Oaks’ talk about families was pretty forceful.  I loved President Monson’s address about prayer and helping people at the end of the third session. In the priesthood session, E. Eyring told about finding a scripture for each of his sons that describes them.  What scripture do you think describes me?

Well, enjoy this week and write me a letter!

E. McClure

District Leader over Waynesboro and the Departure of a Beloved Missionary - received October 1, 2012

This is Elder McClure’s fantastic week with Zone Leaders:

Well, we had a fun week and it was pretty cool.

Monday: we did the whole Tri-zone P-day stuff:  playing ultimate Frisbee and football. We had a fun lesson with Donald Carter, getting him ready to be baptized.  We also had a hilarious dinner with members named the Quadas. Their children were really funny trying to guess my name. I would only tell them that it started with “M.” Some said Marvin or Murial or other things but they got it eventually.

Tuesday: we tried to teach a few people.  We were able to do a blessing of healing for a girl named Makayla to help her to feel better.

Wednesday: we had a district meeting and then had lunch at the Colonial Heights apartment.  Those elders had built a teepee on the third story of their apartment and made some funny poses next to it. Later, we had another lesson with Donald Carter and tried to teach a few other people, as well. Some of them are hard to reach and the week after that was basically the same except for:

Thursday: helped a widow with moving out of her house and she had a lot of stuff. She was just all out of sorts and is a little sad to go to the Appomattox Ward, but she does great missionary work for us. She bought a lot of pizza for us and I was about to burst. Then 2 hours later we did an exchange where I went to Meadowbrook and Elder Drexler went with the Zone Leaders. I was having such a hard time from my bike just not cruising and the many hills to go over. After that, we taught a lesson to a guy that is having a very hard time believing in the Book of Mormon, partially because he doesn’t like that we do more teaching out of it than the Bible.  I found out that Elder Drexler is going home early due to a death in the family and, due to that, he is the only one who can run the family ranch. 

Friday: we helped the widow move more things into the truck.  We took an entire expired food storage to the dump, and that was a little annoying. Plus, we accidentally went to the industrial dump rather than the local one. The rest of the day was a little laid back due to Elder Coburn becoming sick.  He has been very tired and achy. 

Saturday: we had the baptism of Donald Carter and it was so cool. His mom was crying and it had just been a long time and journey for him to make it finally. I bore my testimony during the missionary moment when they wait for the person who was baptized to get dry and stuff. The bishop commented on it and said all my future generations will remember the testimony of Grandpa McClure. Huh - not a fan of becoming old. The rest of the day was all hectic. We had dinner at a member’s house.  She’s a painter and she did a very weird painting of a tree and the trunk of the tree was a lady’s rear end to symbolize mother earth or something. Really weird. Then we went to Sweet Frog (like Uswirl) frozen yogurt. We got our transfer calls there and I am going to be the District Leader of Waynesboro which is close to the top of our mission boundaries. My companion will be Elder Joyner. 

Sunday: Had an hour and a half of fast and testimony meeting (which was very long) and then just visited a lot of different people to see if anyone owned  “The Other Side of Heaven” for a movie watch today instead of “The Best Two Years,” which President Perry doesn’t like. Well, that will be interesting.  I am so glad/ anxious to be the District Leader.  I am a little worried about running the district meeting I have to hold every week except if another meeting is in the way.

Well, I love you all and I have been having fun with my bad self.  And write me a letter!

Love,

Elder McClure 

I'm with the Zone Leaders/Massive Boundary Changes received 9/24/2012

Hello people of planet Earth,

This week has been very crazy and so I’ll try my best to describe it.

Last Tuesday Elder Drexler (my greenie) and I were split up.  Elder Drexler went to Meadowbrook to be part of a biking trio companionship and I was put into a trio companionship with the Zone Leaders. The first few days were strange because Elder Caldwell (one of the Zone Leaders) was on exchanges for two different days.  We also jumped from place to place in the zone to go to zone meetings. In doing so I got to meet some fun people whom the Zone Leaders were teaching. One lady is named Kim - she just had her baptism last Saturday and it was awesome! Her family was there and they were really touched by the service.  However, one of her uncles and his family reacted negatively because he was offended by the statement that our church is the true church.  He also thinks that our church encourages dominion over women because Kim’s boyfriend performed the confirmation after the baptism. We had to stall for the confirmation since the boyfriend (Jared Rhodes) forgot a white shirt so his family had to go out to buy him one.  It ended up costing them $50. Crazy.

Another person I met with the Zone Leaders is Donald Carter.  His dad is a member and is just a powerhouse and knows the gospel is true. Donald is getting baptized this Saturday, which is amazing. He has a bunch of scary faces tattooed on his arms from his past. 

We also taught a lady named Desiree Divine (it sounds like a stripper name but she’s nothing like that).  We taught her about the Restoration.  The member who introduced us to her was bringing in all this deep doctrine (we were trying so hard to get back on subject) but in the end it all worked out for the good. 

The mission had some boundary changes last week:  the Meadowbrook area took half of Belmont and all of Oak Grove.  Now Belmont is half of Belmont and half of Chesterfield.  The Swift Creek area is the other half of Chesterfield and most of Colonial Heights.  I know that doesn’t make any sense unless you’re here, but trust me, it’s insane. Every missionary is still going to be working in his assigned area until transfers, though.  Elder Caldwell is leaving in a week and so we have to deal with that and Elder Coburn leaves very soon, as well. They are so fun and we are just focused on doing the work.

Well, other than that we went to a ward party and we played volleyball with some of the youth members and I totally spiked it and said, "Gird your loins" in doing so and it was hilarious.

Have a good week and I will get back to you on what will be happening in the future with transfers. 

Elder McClure

Less Actives, Less Actives, Less Actives. . .email received September 3, 2012

Hi Family!

Well, this week wasn’t all too exciting due to the fact that we just went by to see all the less active people on the ward roster to help out our bishop and we found that 33 different people plus spouse or kids have moved. Crazy!  We talked to two out of all the less actives and they were nice to us and two wanted their names removed from the records. It is just so sad to see these people deny the blessings and deny the Holy Ghost just to be lazy. They are promised so much more.  

We talked to the husband of one of the less actives and we bashed for 2 hours on their front porch while it was raining…and it was Fast Sunday, which killed us because we were so hungry. First they bashed on the picture of Jesus - in the Bible it talks about His ascended form but we were showing a picture of what he looked like before that. We then got into it about the Book of Mormon and the Apocrypha, which we were basically told is half true and half false, so not worth translating. We had to explain to them that Joseph Smith translated the gold plates into the Book of Mormon, not writing it himself, not riding in the boat with Nephi and Lehi, not being in Jerusalem, etc. Also they wanted to know what tribe Joseph Smith was from. Like I would know that, let alone share it with them.

The other part of the week was the same kind of thing, then coming home to talk with the other elders and then breaking out into a Nerf war that is two against one, me being the one. I got shot in the eye a lot and so I hid the guns.  Whenever they are talking all tall and whatever, I pull a gun out of a secret hiding place and shoot them.  Being with Elder Capson is getting better and I always try to treat him better since Elder Swanson is kind of a bully to him. Other than that just trying to stay busy and also I am the designated driver so I drive us everywhere.

Oh - got a cool letter from Rick Twelves from the MTC and he’s going to the California Arcadia Mission where they speak Armenian. Pretty cool!  Well I love you all and will keep you updated on my mission.

-Elder McClure

Small Email for Small Week - received August 27

Hi Family,

Well, as you may have guessed from the heading to this email, we didn’t do a whole lot. On Tuesday we were in Oak Grove and we had to fix Elder Canova’s tire like crazy because he buys the cheap tires and there is glass all over the streets in Oak Grove. We caught a giant spider in a jar and a giant moth and a wasp. We were watching them fight for most of the night but they all took a break and the next morning the wasp was killed and the giant moth also a few days later.

On Wednesday we taught a few lessons. First, we taught an older lady in Oak Grove and she hugged me and kissed my neck - weirdly enough. She just talked and talked while we were trying to teach her. The second was with Jordan Lee and we taught the law of chastity to him. He was really good about the lesson and accepted our commitment. We then had to pass him on to the Midlothian Zone Leaders due to the fact he is going to college and will be in their area. Then we taught a lesson to Sister Joseph because Jacquan told us that she thinks it’s okay to drink tea and all that. She just has a lot of weird things enter her mind like it’s okay to look at porn as long as your spouse is there and you’re watching together. Weird.

Thursday was transfers, so I had to go early to go into a training meeting where President Perry just told us to love the new elders and get them familiar with missionary work. Found out the Elders were getting taken out of Wakefield for a transfer so Sister Harter ran into President Perry at the airport with all the new elders and sisters there and chewed him out for taking the elders. Ouch!

So the rest of the week Elder Capson and I have just been meeting with the less active people in the area and trying to get more referrals. Elder Capson is a very intelligent guy with Aspergers Syndrome which is a form of autism. President Perry took me aside and said that he is not lazy; he just has a lot of medical issues like he doesn’t get a lot of sleep at night so he sleeps in, he is overweight and in bad health, and he carries a Nook
around with him. It is difficult for me to relate to him due to the fact that he relies heavily on knowledge to start up conversations instead of just talking to people and he is just one of those guys who try to be funny when it’s more awkward than funny. Well, President Perry said he trusted me to stay strong and get the most out of it. It'll only be 2 more whole weeks of him, so if I can be out for almost a year and not do anything stupid  then I can handle this.

I love you all!

PS:  The picture with all the cards in a display case is our ward mission leader’s man cave and I also forgot to mention that I got stung by the wasp we tried to catch for the spider.

Transfer Calls Came. . . email received on August 20, 2012

Hi Family,

Well, fun last week before transfer calls and I got one but you’ll have to read through my long email to get to it.

Fun time on Monday where we did nothing except teach a really cool lesson to this couple, Ashley and Ameall, on the Restoration which they are really interested in and Ameal has a lot of interesting questions. While we were teaching them the TV had that movie on where the bus has a bomb on it and they have to go over 50 miles an hour to keep it from exploding. Then we had dinner at the Dubon’s which is always a really good treat for us because Brother Dubon is really funny and is an RM.

On Tuesday I went on an exchange with Elder Jones in Meadowbrook. I had to use elder Harris's bike (Elder Jones's companion) which is really crappy on brakes and the chains suck. Most of the day everything fell thru and later we had a lesson with a recent convert named Katie and the member we brought with us kept going really deeply into her being tempted by Satan and how Katie will be tried. Crazy weird. Then we went to a member’s house for dinner and they fed us a lot of pie. Elder Jones leaves tomorrow. A lot of missionaries are leaving to go home and we are getting a lot of missionaries in return. Mostly sisters.

Wednesday we had a zone conference with President Perry speaking and he was really sick, but when he spoke to us he didn’t cough once. He talked to us about ward council and other things. I found out that President Perry knows how to juggle. I always help out the sisters with their trash which President Perry always appreciates from me. We spent the rest of the day in Oak Grove where we just biked and talked with some cool people. I really love biking in Oak Grove and being there because of all the cool graffiti and broken down buildings which are really interesting to bike around and the hills are not as big as in Meadowbrook.

Thursday we just taught S. Houn more English and she fed us rice and steak with the most sodium laced soy sauce ever. We also drove around after that and I was able to buy a butterfly knife from the flea market and it is so cool. I duct taped the blade so I can practice cool tricks. We had dinner at the home of the oldest daughter of our bishop and she is so talkative and also her roommate is pretty funny as well.  One of them is the Relief Society president and the other the Young Women’s president in Oak Grove and they are really annoyed with the branch presidency. It is so frustrating how people can get offended so fast and stuff like that.

The rest of the week wasn’t much to brag about since the three way is Elder Durrant and Elder Canova taking over everything and I’m in the background. Elder Durrant is what I would call a “knowledge missionary” which means he will not bear frequent testimony but he will pull things out of the scriptures. Oh well. Funny thing yesterday:  We got out of a lesson where the lady gave me a soda so I put it in my backpack and we were biking around Oak Grove and this lady down the street is like, “Can you wish me a happy birthday because I am having a bad birthday.”  Then she went on about that she didn’t even get a soda for her birthday so I said, “Weird thing is that I just happen to have a soda in my backpack.” Her face got so happy and she thanked me and then the other elders gave her a card and a pamphlet.

Well, on to transfer calls. Elder Canova is now district leader of Meadowbrook with Elder Harris as his companion. Elder Durrant is training in Oak Grove and I have the weirdest transfer ever. I am going to be with Elder Capson, an elder about to go home who is very lazy and uses his Kindle all night and sleeps in till 10.  I will be with him for 3 weeks, then I will either be training a newbie for three weeks if his knee surgery is successful or in a three way with Meadowbrook. So, fun stuff and I will be majorly stretched this transfer so send letters and candy for me to keep my sanity.

Well, love you all,

Elder McClure

Best of Both Areas: email received August 13, 2012

Hello Family,

Really fun week. Nothing much on Tuesday but we taught our investigator Jordan Lee, the Word of Wisdom and he has already been living most of it without knowing except the tea drinking part. We went around seeing other people and when we tracted a street called Coventry, we met a very British black woman. We knew that she wasn’t from around here by her accent and the fact that she knew that Coventry was in England and was not just the name of a convenience store around here. She asked us for a Bible, but what she meant was a Book of Mormon.  She then she asked us if we (Mormons, and elders) could have sex before marriage. When we gave our answer she said, “Well, I feel sorry for you.” Then she said she would pray for us when she gets home in England.

On Wednesday, we got Elder Coon's companion, Elder Durrant, because Elder Coon left for home two weeks early to do school so we are co-taking care of Belmont and Oak Grove. The rest of the day was pretty boring, just dealing with Elder Durrant.

On Thursday we got to do district meeting which was pretty fun and then we went to this Mexican restaurant that has weird paintings of South Americans and some with guys and girls and the girls were very immodest and nasty. We brought one of our members, Jacquan, to some lessons with less actives and recent converts. During our lesson with S. Moore, I almost fell asleep.  Then we had a weird lesson with a less active sister, Sister Thomas. We later had an appointment with Blaine Franklin at the church but he wasn’t there. I saw Brother Harter and he said everything in Wakefield is good and Matt (a guy I taught once then passed off to the senior couple) got baptized and is engaged to their daughter Emelia. Really cool!  I knew that Brother Harter was in my area because I saw his giant tree-hauling truck he had in the parking lot near all the little cars. Then we went to Oak Grove and we played air hockey until it was time to go to bed.

On Saturday, we did all Oak Grove work.  We taught a lot of lessons that were scheduled one on top of the other. First was an old lady they want to have a baptismal date with. She was scared of committing to baptism because she thinks the church might run her ragged with callings and stuff. During the second lesson we were talking and reading with a smoker lady named April and a guy named Persel which was 1 Nephi 16 and it was okay. Then we had a lesson with a do not contact member and she had gotten offended by the Branch President and a member of the branch presidency apologized for the Branch President who had made it clear he would not apologize. So she left the church.  Getting offended is really big out here. Then we taught a lesson with an investigator and then a referral who, upon contacting, wants to be baptized. Oh, and this was all on bikes so really sore butt afterward. Then we went to Belmont to have dinner with Sister Henry (Carribean lady) and the Josephs. Really funny and talked with her granddaughters and they are funny.

On Sunday we had meetings and had to teach a class on the Plan of Salvation. Then we went to the Oak Grove area and taught April again, reading 1 Nephi 18. Then we tried to have a lesson but went to a very less active member instead. His name was Scooter. Major white trash and really racist. He has a bunch of dogs and had his shirt off. He gave us watermelon and peppers.  I bit a pepper and really burnt my mouth. He was growing weed in his backyard and was just talking his head off about things and weird stories using cuss words every other word. Fun time.

Well, have a fun week and I’ll update you on how I be.

Love you,

Elder McClure