"Be Faithful to not lose 40 years in the wilderness​" - 9/2/13

Dear family,

I hear dad chose the celestial time zone being in Europe this week, eh?  Too bad we don't get to see each other. I hope that work is going good and that all the people you meet are able to see you for who you really are.

This last week was pretty hectic and crazy mainly because Elder Butterworth received a transfer call and now is serving in Lugansk.  I wish him well and know he will finish strong.  I appreciate all I learned from him.

Guess who my new companion is? Elder Carley! We get to serve together some more which I'm very excited about.  The amazing thing is that Elder Carley and I already have such an incredible friendship that we naturally already have unity.  I have to really step up and do what is required of me...but Elder Carley is the perfect companion to magnify the assignment with me.

We are at a time right now in the mission where there are over 21 missionaries that are in their first 18 weeks of their missions and soon there will be an incoming group of 17 more new missionaries.  From these past few transfers and upcoming one, it will mean that 50% of our mission will be young (in their first 24 weeks after coming into Ukraine).  It is humbling to know that the Lord is giving us this opportunity to take advantage of the building of this mission.

This past week I've pondered a lot about the children of Israel and what was the cause for them to go into the promised land. After all, we are promised that temples will dot this entire land and that children of Israel will join the church by the thousands...so....what is keeping us from that day, was my question I pondered.  I've read and studied, and realized that in the story of the Israelites leaving Egypt and getting ready to enter the land of Canaan, we are no different.  Moses sent 12 spies to go and check on the land, see if it was worth it, if it was fruitful, and how the people were. The faithful (two spies) Joshua and Caleb came back seeing the fruitful fields and fortresses of the children of Anuk (or the giants as they called them). They were faithful in the Lord and gave what the Bible calls a "good report" of their findings. The other 10 spies unfortunately did not have the same faith. They considered themselves as grasshoppers and refused to believe that they could do what the Lord asked. What was the result? Because of 10 spies, an entire nation of hundreds of thousands, who were perfectly naive to the actuality of the land of Canaan, followed suit in the same faithless opinions and eventually wandered in the wilderness by commandment for 40 years. What would have happened if they had all united in their faith as Joshua and Caleb? The children of Israel wandered in the wilderness without direction and progression for 40 years receiving sermon after sermon on obedience, faith, and that as soon as the older generation died off, the young ones would enter the promised land. I see our mission in the same circumstance as the spies, or currently serving older missionaries, will have a time to give report to the naive children of Israel, or the new eager missionaries. The Lord has withheld missionaries from coming in last transfer and will send them in a powerful force this next transfer to continue what report we give. So in short, Elder Carley, myself, President Lochhead, and the mission are on a quest to prepare our minds and hearts to drop the ridiculously unfaithful mentality that we are in Ukraine and thus cannot expect the miracles of the gathering of Israel. We can and we will.  We will improve our faith.  So if you could pray for our mighty change of hearts and sufficient faith to bring about the long-foretold promises, we can use it!  Ask home wards to pray too.

Those are some of my thoughts  ;)

I love you and these principles apply everywhere and in every calling in the church: The Lord gives us the promises, the goal, the vision, the 'what'. We are the ones that must use the scriptures, personal experiences, and receive revelation for 'how' we'll go about doing all of it. We need Him. We testify of Him.

I love you,
Elder Claypool

Recent photos of Elder Claypool

"...Show our dependability, the Lord will take care of our capability." - Aug. 26, 2013

Dear family,

It's great to hear that the ward back home is doing well and that all of our friends are returning home and doing well. It was pretty crazy to think that this last week was my year "in-country" mark. I remember thinking that would be so far away, but here it is. I can't believe how fast time is flying, but I really want to serve the Lord well. Some times I worry that my abilities aren't good enough and that I never really give enough, but I know that I am a more capable and committed missionary than the one that entered Ukraine a year ago. I really do just want to bring my brothers and sisters to the Lord and I know that it will bless them, however in the moment I sometimes have a hard time remembering such desires. I wish people would open their hearts and listen.

This week I was however really grateful to be able to sit in sacrament meeting this week with a sacrament hall full of my dearest friends and loved ones. I have served in this branch now since February and am somewhat able to tell something about each of the members. I have met with most of them, have had tender experiences with the majority, and found great pleasure in going around Sunday seeing all the smiling faces of those being blessed by the Gospel. The Sacrament is so much sweeter when you're not partaking of it alone but with those that you have had the opportunity to help.

There were recent-converts there, less-actives returning back into activity, dear active members, etc. One family that I had the opportunity to work with in my last area was there. One recent-convert we are now helping move forward in the Gospel blessed the Sacrament. Kolya that was baptized not long ago was there in his white shirt and tie just as another one of our Donetsk family. Even the less-actives that we have been personally working with this transfer were there and stayed for the second hour. This work is joy!  The best part is is that you don't have to be a full-time missionary to do it either.

The Gospel flows and is preached much more naturally from the stand point of a member of the church than a missionary actually. We have the friendships, have built the bond of trust, and truly love those around us when as members we share the Gospel with our family and friends. I have also prayed for our family to find people to bless with the Gospel. It could be less-actives and it could be investigators, but our family is a missionary family that performs the work of salvation.

I heard an interesting thing (of course mom has already perfected this issue) that one general authority counseled a group of stake presidents to do in order to more fully consecrate their work to the Lord: clean their homes, make any repairs needed, and then dedicate (or even re-dedicate if necessary) their homes to the preaching of the Gospel. It's something to think about to show the Lord: We are ready to work. I love the words of Elder Maxwell: "The Lord does not ask about our ability or inability, but our availability. And if we show our dependability, the Lord will take care of our capability." It's one way that we show the Lord our availability.

Pray for the work here that we may have enough faith to find those ready for baptism and that we may have enough faith to give as the Lord would have us give. Love you!

Elder Claypool

"Eternal Truths" - Aug. 19, 2013

Thanks for your wonderful email and for always keeping me light hearted. I appreciate it. I'm so grateful to hear that you are all praying for the opportunities to share the Gospel. I think that the more I come to understand the precious truths that we live by, the more I realize what life is like without the Gospel. Really...seeing others and their families without the Gospel is really a heartwrenching thing. Some times I get so caught up in not being perfect in this or knowing that, but when we really take the time to stop and be grateful for what we know, we will with out a doubt widen our gaze and start to see in the eternal prospective of our Father's eyes. A really wonderful activity that I have had the opportunity to do is to read the Book of Mormon, writing down all the all the plain and precious truths that we received because of the Book of Mormon. Even this morning, I was able to study the simple doctrine of "God our Loving Father in Heaven" and was left after studies really feeling like I didn't learn anything new...and then I took the time to ponder and realized just what I knew about God our Father in Heaven: 

He is our Literal Heavenly Father. Understanding this we build our relationship with him where we love him, trust him, and treat him as our father. This understanding eliminates all notions that He is some not-understandable higher power or idea, but an actual being that we come from and can return to. I know that He is my Father. He's all of our Father, and we can know this truth for ourselves.

 

He created us in His image. This relates to the first in that our potential to be like our Heavenly Father is so much greater than we often give ourselves credit for. Our father is the greatest being of all beings, and our potential is so immensely great. 

He has a Plan. We should take comfort in that and in the thought that all that is around us - including our experiences and trials - are for our benefit from our wise creator. I know He created all things and is in the woodworks of our lives. We can all come to know this to be true. 

He speaks with us and we can speak with Him. Can you imagine the magnitude of this blessing? The All-Powerful, Wise, Creator of Heaven and Earth allows us, His imperfect children, to speak with Him through prayer. He's given His word in times of old and still gives His word to us today through modern-day prophets and apostles. I absolutely know that He hears our prayers and that He always answers - always. We can all come to know this is true through trying it out. So ask Him if He's there and answer. 

He loves us. We pray, we rely on his council, we remember his teachings, we keep his commandments, - All these actions operate on the fundamental doctrine that God loves us. If we understand this, keeping the commandments becomes not a chore, but a way to seek blessings. We don't pray just because, but to really talk with him and receive counsel. We don't go through this life without purpose or worth, but live every day worth-while and purposefully. I know He loves each of us. I know that.  

These doctrines are probably the most incredible foundations of our belief that we rarely take time to think about, but they are the doctrines that we more than any other use on a day to day basis. I am so grateful that the plain and precious truths of our Father in Heaven were restored through the prophets of His Son, Jesus Christ. And we have the privilege of  being his Children and living up to the fullness of the measure of our creation. 

I love you dad and mom because you're my mortal parents and examples to me of how I can be more like my Heavenly Father. Help the members not take for granted the precious truths that they bask in from day to day. 

The work continues and the miracles are great. I love the Lord and love His work!

Elder Claypool

"This life is really just one large learning process"- Aug. 12, 2013

I do have to say that dad’s jokes are always a pure uplift to my weeks. My companions are brought to say now after I've laughed my head off, "Yep, that's your dad." I've tried convincing all my companions that I'm funny also, but they don't quite get my humor...and judging by our emails, it seems that we have similar humor.

 

Please tell grandpa Claypool happy birthday from me, and thank him and grandma for serving a mission. I just received their letter in the mail dates July 9 in which they spoke of their soon-to-be-ending mission. Tell then that I am so grateful that they chose to serve the Lord and really are starting a family tradition. I can't wait to go on a senior couple mission with my wife (many years from now). It will be just amazing! Have you and mom ever thought about going out to serve a mission? I guess you still have quite a few years too, but it's definitely something that all missionaries here are grateful for: senior couples.   Our senior couples are the best!  The Lord really needs the expertise of the senior couples too. The Church is quite young here and for a talented duo like you and mom, it would be just thrilling for any missionaries to experience your love and support as those that come over to our home already do. 

 

You asked about what challenges I have as an Assistant to the President?  well...it’s crazy, fun, and pretty stressful. There are so many things that go on in the mission that I am now aware of, and the special considerations to handle new missionaries correctly, registration/travel things, and just the normal needs of our missionaries, etc. One of the most amazing things that does happen as a mission leader is that the Lord puts a lot into you and the miracles you experience. As mission leaders can attest, our areas are supposed to be exemplary and allow other missionaries to model their area in according manner.  Months ago when I was privileged to serve as a zone leader, we were able to see many miracles that allowed us to teach with greater power. Often you have to ask yourself  "What does the zone need?" or "What does the mission need to learn?" From this you are able to plan the activities and act out the necessary events that need to occur in order for you as the assigned leader to teach what they need by your actions. It’s really a seemingly unfair way to expect miracles from the Lord (smile)  but we are so grateful for it ! We have a whole group of missionaries that didn't yet receive their visas and so the transfer is being delayed a few weeks...but it gives me more time to learn from my companion before the duty of lead assistant falls upon me as he gets reassigned soon. It’s pretty stressful only because my companion knows so much, and he is amazing, but I've realized that with The Lord I can really do all that He asks and nothing more. I've really come to learn how dependent I am upon Christ. 

 

This life is really just one large learning process. I guess to believe in the notion that every interaction, conversation, person, and situation are just things to pass-by, fill our time here in mortality, is to believe in the notion that our Loving Father in Heaven, in all the wisdom of His perfect plan, would not use every minuscule moment of our short time here on earth to learn and grow. If we look for opportunities to learn and grow, we see them. That's one of the greatest blessings of being here on a mission: Learning, Acting, Sharing.   I love to learn...not always in the ways that the Lord asks me to do so, but nonetheless, learning and progressing gives me a feeling of freedom; on the other hand, digressing and feeling stuck in a rut just makes me feel awful. The trick is to really follow the Spirit, even if in your efforts it seems like the Lord leads you into a valley when you wanted to be on a mountain.  The beauty can be found in both to learn.  By faith we know He'll lead us out. Then with all that learning that we do, we apply, make mistakes, learn some more, and apply again. It’s a beautiful progressive-process that defines us as perfecting sons and daughters of God. It’s the essence of our existence. 

 

I pray to learn and always have not the desired outcome itself given to me, but the opportunities to use my agency, follow the Spirit, and apply what I learn. 

 

I love you. Please never doubt that or that I pray for you every day. Mom and dad, you are so amazing good in your callings!

 

Elder Claypool

Letter to Chris - "No discouragement" Aug. 5, 2013

I don't think that it would be possible to be discouraged with the amazingly uplifting letters that you send me every week. They always make me smile. They often make me laugh out loud...and they often make me laugh out loud with my companion. Thanks for your inspiration on sending me that letter about discouragement. I am growing to love the Book of Mormon even more. I also love the Holy Bible.

The Preach My Gospel manual also stresses that the Book of Mormon contains the answers to the soul. These can be typical answers regarding the plan of salvation or they can be very specific questions regarding our personal circumstances. First and foremost the Book of Mormon teaches the Plan of Salvation clearly, thus answering any questions about life accordingly. It also teaches the pure ordinances and principles of the Gospel that when understood properly can be applied to any circumstance, thus answering any of those questions accordingly. However, "It teaches that prayer and revelation are the key to solving particular problems. It helps us have faith that God will answer our prayers" (PMG107).

In Preach My Gospel it also talks about the importance of again and again receiving a witness that Moroni's Promise is true...so I did again this last week. I had just read a bit here, a bit there and was learning a ton. Right now I'm reading the Book of Mormon in Russian and taking note of all the saving doctrines taught in the Book of Mormon. It's an incredible holy book. So I got on my knees and prayed to Heavenly Father asking if the Book of Mormon is true. Right then, as usual, no distinct answer came; however, as the days progressed I had a powerful experience. As I was having a rough day, I was able to just open the Book of Mormon and read the words of Alma to his son Shiblon. The words were so peaceful and helped me to realize that the Lord is really proud of me...that I can still improve, but that the Lord loves me. On top of that in studying for an investigator and his questions, I was able to literally find the exact question in the Book of Mormon he had and the answer directly written from thousands of years ago. That book is from God and teaches the necessary doctrines of the Gospel better than any other book...I think as members of the Church we forget how blessed we are to have that Book and modern day revelation...and how much we are responsible to carry that message to all the world. Thanks dad for being a mortal extension of my Father in Heaven. You really love me and mom and our family...you help me to realize just what our Father in Heaven feels for me. Take Moroni's challenge again and take the challenge to every family! I love you!

"Why does it seem like we are doing it alone?" - August 5, 2013

 

Every single week, I sit here and think about what to write...and every single week something comes...but this week, I don't think anything is really coming yet. It was super good to see all the pictures that dad sent of you and the family. I feel like the family is growing the Gospel just as much as I am. We are really experiencing the Gospel functioning in its most prosperous environment: The Family. Heavenly Father wants us so badly to be blessed as eternal families as we individually and together strive to come to him. This last week in Heavenly Father's mercy he once again pulled me from coming out of a spiritual slump, as he has already so many times before. He just loves me too much to let that happen. I was thinking about this a lot lately and just the idea of miracles and faith. I found myself being a little discouraged this last week after having been out of our area for a few days, sitting in sacrament meeting just wondering why the miracles weren't there - why the cup wasn't brimming over. Heavenly Father loves us perfectly. He wants us to all accept his path to happiness and be cleansed and claimed by the Savior. He worries about no other work than this, His work and Glory. So the question is "Why does it seem like we are doing it alone?" I think from this came two variations of this question: 

"Am I trying to do it alone?" - I realized with the upcoming changes in the mission there is a likelihood that I will have to step it up a notch to do what the Lord was asking of me, - I was stressed and really quite fearful of the future. But I realized in an evening prayer with my Father in Heaven this thought: "You take on you the work meant for two." Not looking at this on  the companionship level, I realized that I was really not relying on my Savior as I should be. Once I realized that I had a Savior that loved me and wanted to help me, things became a lot more peaceful. The truth is this: "There is no mortal man that is so much interested in the success of an elder [or sister] when he is preaching the gospel as the Lord that sent him to preach to the people who are the Lord's children" (President Lorenzo Snow, PMG 12). 

"Why are the miracles not coming?" - We know that miracles can only occur when we display faith and that faith is tried, but I think in all aspects of life we ask this question theorizing that if God really loved us, we'd not need wait this long for his hands to be manifest in our lives. This week there was an experience that taught me something about this. Yesterday we were able to meet with Sister Albina after a lesson with a less active family and talk about how she was doing. She broke into tears as she began to describe her life situation. She has never had a family of her own, constantly is having trouble with different work places falling through, and housing arrangements not working out. She is one of the most faithful members of the church I know. Other members would light-heartedly say "have some more faith," "Do this," or "Do that." Her biggest fear was just that she felt she wasn't displaying enough faith and because of that lack of meriting miracles, she was being punished. Coming from a missionary of Jesus Christ that walks the streets and sees the hardships in his own way, please help everyone including yourself know that just because miracles don't seem to be coming, it doesn't mean that God is withholding blessings because of our imperfections. Having faith in God is a deliberate confidence in the character of God. So hold on, because if we do all we can (of course we'll have to seek ways to improve), we know our loving Father in Heaven is just that: Loving. In a council lead by Elder Per Malm of the seventy, he said in response to a comment much like I just stated about the love of the Father: "That is freedom." When we know the character of God, we can have faith in him! 

I realize that most of my letters are more of  a spiritual account of the lessons I'm learning and I don't talk much about our investigators and things like that...I'll do better next week on that. I really am so grateful for the Gospel and its infinite capacity to fit every facet of our lives. This is because it is true, pure, and simple. I know that the Lord blesses us with opportunities to learn and grow, applying the Gospel in our daily lives. That's really what this life is about: Apply all that we we learn becoming not only rich in doctrine, but disciples in doing. I love you all so much and really am so grateful for all that you do as my mom to give me an example of love, service, and consecration to the Lord. 

Till next week!

Elder Claypool