Week 14: The Standard Works

March 14, 2016

Hola mi amigos!

Another week, another week! Lots of fun and lots of work!

This week was a good one. It all started when last fast Sunday we had a non-member girl get up to the pulpit to bear her testimony on prayer. We went to go talk to her after church but didn't end up catching her. Later on in the week, we asked the family she knows best in the ward what her situation is and apparently she wants to take the lessons from us, so I can see a potential baptism in store hopefully! Last week we also saw a security guy and another man trying to turn off their water heater after it had leaked all on the ground and in their house. Elder Barnes luckily had a pen just the right size to turn the lever somehow. After the guy saw us he thanked us and told us that we could come back any time to his home. He told us his name is Eric. Once we eventually came back to see him again, we found out he believes that Joseph Smith is a prophet, that the church is true and everything and we don't know why he is not baptized! We ran out of time to talk to him so we set up a return appointment with and we'll see how that goes.

Another investigator of ours that we set with a baptismal date had an appointment with us at 8pm at night. When we went to go stop by his house, his Mom told us that he was asleep. So as we drove back to go to our ward mission leaders house, we turn around and our investigator was right there! He apparently had heard us at the door, chased down our car, jumped a fence, and cornered us until we saw him. What a stud!

We had a Lip Sync for one of our wards here and it was a blast! Everyone in their auxiliaries did really well. We of course did a skit as well whether we wanted to or not, but in the end the skit went well. We did a skit off of the song "Humble Way" from Saturday's Warrior. I honestly really didn't feel like doing a skit in the beginning, but in the end it was great!

What a great week! This last week's challenge was to buy and give a set of scriptures to an investigator, so I ended up giving it to our investigator who chased down our car. This next week's challenge is actually already completed as it was to write to all the missionaries serving in our home ward! Woo!

Love y'all! Stay true and faithful and have a great week!

Elder Cline Nevada Las Vegas West May 2014 - 2016

Photo for the week is one that came in a separate email:

Elder Cline found fresh grass and was super excited about it. Apparently it's pretty rare in Las Vegas in March.

Week 13: COOKIES!

Note from Elder Cline's mom:

As some of you might notice, I'm a bit behind updating Elder Cline's blog. It's just been a bit hectic around here and busy, and we are preparing for him to come home! So I will post enough to catch up so there will be lots to enjoy! Let's get started with Week 13!

K Cline

Last 24 Weeks: 13 of 24

March 7th, 2016

Hello again to all! We are working hard and having a blast in Sin City! This week we had the challenge to give out cookies to our neighbors around where we live. We first had to trust our skills in baking, then we created some delicious triple chocolate cookies. The morning after, we handed them to our neighbors, all of which were very open and I have no doubt they will not be as apprehensive to us in the future.

One of our wards held a Young Women's auction at the church this week and our ward mission leader decided to auction off his hair. Our ward mission leader was a very hairy guy, and now, he is not. But it was great to watch! He had all the young men and young women cut it.

On one day, we decided to see if anyone lived in a gun range that is connected to our area. We did not know how far away the gun range was and so we ended up walking a total of about an hour and a half walking to and back, just to find out that nobody lives there. At least we got a picture or two there.

The challenge for this next week is: Buy and give an investigator a set of the full standard works. Lets go!

From this scripture this week, I learned that humility is key to having the spirit.

Alma 13:28 "But that ye would humble yourselves before the Lord, and call on his holy name, and watch and pray continually, that ye may not be tempted above that which ye can bear, and thus be led by the Holy Spirit, becoming humble, meek, submissive, patient, full of love and all long-suffering; 29 Having faith on the Lord; having a hope that ye shall receive eternal life; having the love of God always in your hearts, that ye may be lifted up at the last day and enter into his rest."

Amen!

Love yall, have a great week!

Elder Cline Nevada Las Vegas West May 2014 - 2016

Week 12 ~ Wash Dishes for a Member

February 29th Hello Everyone!

My first week in the Tule Springs Stake was great! We had a lot of fun and we have a lot of work to do. We had a great start to the week by completing another challenge. The weekly challenge for this week, week 12, was to Wash the Dishes for a Member. We went out with a priest in the ward, Tyler, and asked him if we could wash the dishes at his house. He accepted and we enjoyed it!

Our week continued and on Wednesday our zone went to the Temple once again. It was a great trip and I should only have one trip to the temple left, and that will be my departing temple interview with the group I came out with in April or May. Exciting stuff!

Coincidentally enough, we found out one of the streets in our area is named "Cline Mountain". There's only about 3 streets in Vegas with the name "Cline" in it, and I just so happened to be in that one area! We made sure to take pictures, as I couldn't miss an opportunity like that.

And I am so happy for my sister who just had a baby this week!! I know you'll be a great mother Sis!

The challenge for this next week is to give our neighbors cookies and introduce ourselves to them. Until then!

Stay true and faithful and remember:

"When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God."

Mosiah 2:17.

Love y'all!

Elder Cline Nevada Las Vegas West May 2014 - 2016

Week 11 ~ Sending Home a Bit of Vegas

Feb 22, 2016

Hola again everyone! It's another great week to be alive! People are healthy and fresh in Las Vegas!

This week has been a great one. Lots of new changes and lots of fun!

The weekly challenge for this week was to "Send home souvenirs from the mission to the family at home". We ended up getting some from a member that went down to the strip one day. They got us a snow globe and a Vegas Sign stand, so now my parents get to keep a bit of Vegas for themselves!

So something interesting happened to us this week. One Thursday during our weekly planning session, we decided to take a break and to go visit one of our investigators. On the way there we saw the streets loaded with trash cans blown over from the wind which was pretty hilarious. On the way up to our investigators house, we saw an unfamiliar car by their driveway but didn't think too much of it. As we turned the corner to approach the door of the investigators house, we saw two ladies who we thought may be out selling home insurance in the neighborhood or something, but as we inched a step closer, we then realized what we had just ran into, as both the ladies had in their hands an obvious, recent edition of "The Watchtower". Yes, we had run into Jehovah's Witnesses. After realizing what had just happened, Elder Snyder and I, mid sentence in our conversation, came to a stop and out came an "ohhh.." from my mouth. The "J-Dubs" along with our investigator all quickly turned their heads at us and seemed almost as shocked as we were. All that was running through my mind was "Well, this is going to be interesting...". We kind of all just stood there in shock for a moment, followed shortly after by me saying "well, looks like we came at the right time!". We chuckled. After coming to the reality that we indeed had interrupted the Jehovah Witnesses in one of their discussions, we asked the J-Dubs what their names were, introduced ourselves and then we told our investigator "we'll just stop by another time", and we left. I tried to imagine afterwards of what they were thinking when they saw two Mormon missionaries turn the corner towards them. It definitely was interesting to say the least, but we all got a good kick out of it.

Elder Snyder and I were pretty certain we would get split up considering how we've been companions for 3 transfers, and sure enough, I am leaving the Skye Canyon/Lone Mountain Zone for good ole' Tule Springs! We had gotten our transfer calls Saturday after noon, so the next two days were spent saying goodbye to members and wiping away the tears. It was sad to see everyone leave but it's time to go, considering how I've been here in the area for 7 months. My new companion is Elder Barnes who has been out for 3 months. I'll miss Elder Snyder, but i'm sure It'll be fun here too!

The new challenge for this week is to Wash the Dishes for a Member. We'll make it work!

Love y'all! Stay true and faithful!

Elder Cline Nevada Las Vegas West May 2014 - 2016

Week 10: Write an Elder a Valentines Day Letter Addressed from a Girl

February 15, 2016

Hope everyone had a great week! We did!

This week passed by in a flash. I think the main event that happened was being able to do service for an investigator of ours, Shanae! We love Shanae, she's awesome! We asked her last lesson if we could pull her weeds for her, and she accepted. We ended up having a trash bag, gloves, a rake, and two leaf blowers to help clean up the yard, and we made it look good! We were sure to take pictures afterwards. We also had a couple of other lessons with investigators and some with recent converts of the church.

I also tried to make a mini stratosphere made of soap recently before bed. It's turning out alright but still needs a little work. I'll show the progress as it goes closer to a finish.

This last Weeks Challenge for Week 10 was to Write an Elder a Valentines Day Letter Addressed from a Girl. We ended up getting it all finished and written and even got a legit looking stamp on it.... But... Unfortunately, we didn't see the reaction after we placed the letter. We're still waiting to see what happened. Oh well.

This new Challenge for Week 11 is "Send home Souvenirs From Your Mission to Your Family at Home".We'll see how that goes!

Thanks for all y'all do in helping others receive the restored gospel. Stay true and faithful!

Week 9: Walking the Streets

February 9, 2016

Hello Everyone again!

This week was a relaxed one but yet stressful, as we had a lot of meetings and exchanges with different missionaries all week, but we got here again.

We had a couple of lessons this week, and during one, one of our 9 year old recent convert scouts invited us to his Blue and Gold Banquet for Cub Scouts, so we went. It was entertaining and we saw him earn a merit badge or two. He was excited.

Our challenge for this last week, Week 9, was to Walk the busiest streets in our area so members could see us. It worked out great, and because of a lot of exchanges, Elder Snyder was able to help out with it a lot. They walked the streets and talked to a lot of members. It was great.

This next week's challenge for Week 10 is to Write an Elder a love letter before Valentines Day addressed from a girl. This should be a good one!

The scripture of the week: Mosiah 4:30!

Love yall! Stay true and faithful!

Week 7: Pay for a Meal and Dessert for your Companion

January 25, 2016

Good morning, afternoon, or evening everyone! Another wonderful week in good old Sin City has passed. This week was not bad, considering how our number of lessons with investigators went way up, and we increased in our number of progressing investigators as well!

On Tuesday, we had a training from a High Councilor over the Stake and he gave an amazing training on "the Law of Attraction". From what I got out of it, it seemed like the underlining them was if you tell yourself something realistic long enough, it will happen. We just have to be looking for something in our lives. So, the High Councilor told us to write something down as to what we want to accomplish for our area and perhaps the rest of our missions. We wrote them down and then he had us go around the room and tell others what we wrote down, as if those events had already happened. The key was to be excited about it. It seemed silly at first but it ended up being quite effective for our area. One thing I wrote down was a set number of lessons I wanted to achieve for the area per week. It surprised me that by the end of the week, we ended up having close to that many discussions! Hopefully this week we can pull off the goal. I guess it just takes the right mind tools and the faith!

Wednesday we watched the "Specialized Missionary Broadcast" that was presented specifically and only to all the missionaries serving around the world. It was cool to know all my friends and everyone serving from home was watching the same broadcast I was here in Las Vegas. The broadcast basically informed us what we can be doing to teach better, find better, and how to bring and focus on the Spirit during lessons. From the Twelve Apostles, David A. Bednar, and Dallin H. Oaks spoke to us and gave us amazing training.

On the 21st, Thursday, I hit my 20th Month Mark!!! Members continue to inform me that I "don't have much time left". Ahh! It's gone by fast! 4 months is still a good chunk of time though, especially for the work you do on a mission. If anything, it's a time on your mission to train other missionaries on what you have learned, so they don't have to learn it through a hard way! Being with my trainee Elder Snyder for my 3rd transfer now holds a big responsibility on my part, and I still have a lot I want that I want to share with him to make his mission go more smooth.

Friday was another one of our monthly Mount Charleston! It was really white there! This was the most snowed in Mount Charleston trip I have been to yet. It was so snowy, we couldn't even climb up to one of our potential investigators house. We tried sledding on a piece of a trash bin someone had just thrown into the snow, which sort of worked but we went down with a lot of stops. It ended up being an alright trip for visits, but the main attraction to remember that trip was the snow. This week's challenge for Week 7 was to Pay for a meal for your companion and to buy them dessert as well. We ended up going to Subway for a sandwich then to McDonald s for an Oreo McFlurry so I could pay for Elder Snyder's meal. Elder Snyder seemed to really like this week's challenge.

Lastly, on Saturday we ran into two drunk dudes before our dinner appointment. One was Atheist and basically had a "Psychological" belief system. The other has been raised Catholic his whole life but hasn't been practicing for a long time. We shared most of the Restoration lesson with them. Afterwards they asked if they could take a picture of us. We said sure! Of course they took a picture with us, holding their drinks in front of them. Two could play at that game! We got a picture with them and their drinks as well.

It was an eventful week! Can't wait for the challenge ahead this week. Week 8's Challenge is: Hand out 20 Book of Mormons in one Day.

Thanks for tuning in! Stay true and faithful! Elder Cline