November 26, 2014~"Gratitude is a Catalyst to All Christlike Attributes"

1.  Do you get to eat at someones house for some sort of Thanksgiving meal or will it just be a regular day?

~ We got invited to eat with some members from the States who come down here occasionally woo!

Yes I got the package and no Ii didn't wait to open it hahaha. I was really happy to know you still know what I like ...especially the pretzels! haha.   Everything works and is great ...thanks so much!!! But for future reference, when you fill out the customs don't put the actual price of things but put it a lot cheaper because they charge me for how much the package is worth plus how much you paid to send it and a whole bunch of weird math and I have to pay to take it out. Luckily the lady was nice and only charged me 4 dollars to take it out but she warned me for future reference...but everything is good and it did get here fast!

Im happy to hear Parker got my shoutout   Sounds like Stock and his team are doing really good... thats cool! Glad to also know that my family hasn't forgotten me and still knows me, Melanie is right... that I'm happy to hear that and I'm totally praying for Jimmy.. I always am..I love that guy! I trust he'll be able to get over things and that he has learned an important lesson. Anyways onto the week!

So   I have decided to remember each day and put a scripture theme at the end of each one and write it down in my journal. So last Tuesday was 3 John 1:2 yes,...I am referencing from 3 John haha..I like how it talks about prospering in health as everyone has been getting sick but I have been blessed to be healthy as I am now and hope to keep it up. Last Wed and Thurs. Matt 7:7 and D&C 6:5... in the scriptures it says so many times this phrase to "ask and ye shall receive" we have been using this promise God gives to us while we work and I invite you guys to use it too ...Why wouldn't we want to use a promise from God? Fri 2 Nefi 28:30... we met a lady on interchanges (I went to San Ignacio) and she is an inactive member and was so close to going to the temple but fell away and I thought why and how could that happen? Then I realized we are given line upon line and when we try to understand everything and not focus on the simple things we are in danger of getting lost in the less important stuff like deep doctrines. Sat 2 Nefi 4:26... we had a hard day but still worked hard and I love how in this one it talks about why should my strength slacken because of afflictions?? Sun D&C 84:88... we had 73 people in church and a random family came too.. it was awesome! Also the American members that live here seasonally are now here and they help a ton with giving to the needy and helping us out... definitely the angels of relief. Monday we had a multizona for Thanksgiving and we ate a ton!! What I learned though is how I can better myself and purify myself so the scripture is D&C 50:28. and Last was yesterday 1 Nefi 13:37.. we had a crappy day and got soaked! But we worked with the APs and had so much fun haha.   We were drenched and standing in the rain and no one would let us in their houses with people saying they were too busy.  I was so mad when I heard that but with a happy attitude or as the scripture says "Publish peace" or show a good attitude how beautiful everything looks. Well that sums up my week... sorry it was short...just so much to write about I couldn't get into too much detail but it was a fun week for sure! Enjoy tomorrow guys.."Happy Thanksgiving" and remember for what you are grateful for! Maybe at the end of each day write down one thing you were grateful for that day that you saw.  I have been doing it and it has bettered my attitude and given me more blessings! Thanks always for all your prayers too! Love you Mom and errbody! Eat Turkey!!!!

Elda Clev

Israel

Read More

November 17, 2014~"The Enemy Always Fights the Hardest When He Knows God Has Something Great in Store for You"

1.  Do they celebrate any kind of Thanksgiving there? 
Nope

2.  Who is Sister O?  Sister Savage's comp?
Yes

3. Any strange or crazy things happen this week?
Um not really unfortunately

4. Is Stin enjoying being in Belize?  Does he have a good companion?
Yeah... his comp is a cool guy too

5. Are you still riding bikes or do you walk more?
Mom ..if I had the choice of walking or going on wheels what do you think I would do? haha of course you know I hate walking...I haven't changed that much!!! haha


Well I'm glad you guys are enjoying the cold :) haha.  Its still hot but the weather has been nice lately and hasn't rained in awhile! Nice to hear the sports updates and hope to hear all wins next week.
I knew Parker couldn't handle being away from my jokes and input for 2 years and would be wondering about me haha... shoutout to Parker-I can still beat you in 21 anyday!!! haha

As for my week we had another baptism!!! The Montalvan kids ...it was so awesome!!! haha Bro. Montalvan is the coolest guy. He showed up to his kids baptisms with shades and a white shirt buttoned down a little and says I look like you now haahah.  I love that guy!  He is also wanting to pay tithing now too. I'll be honest... this week was kinda tough. We tried really hard running around but so many times it was someone needing something... that was really frustrating and I feel like sometimes no one understands that we have things to do as well!! Me and Elder Hiatt though are helping each other out and are now even doing exercises every morning... something I have kinda been lacking on haha. We also invited Wilbert (we found out we have been spelling his name wrong the whole time) to baptism and he doesn't feel ready yet. Its hard because he can think for himself and understands a lot.. it now is just up to him to use his agency. Other things this week is we had to go to Belize City because I am working on getting my work permit and we met with a couple of other Elders and I have realized something big.... Even though we are missionaries we still aren't perfect. These Elders were really into the political side of the mission and don't like me because I am not a DL anymore haha.  I'm so grateful for how much I have learned and grown in the mission and that I am not wasting my time worrying about other things. After that we had to go extend my passport in Belmopan on the way home... well when we got there it was 12:45 and the guy said we would get in at 1.... 3 hours later is when we finally got done. Haha  I guess you could say I still need to work on patience. People would butt us and tell sob stories to the guy so he would let them in early and it was all just for a little stamp!!! In the back there were like 7 employees and only 1 was working... the rest weren't "in charge of stamps" and eating nachos and flirting... yes very businesslike ahha ..Welcome to Belize!!! Well last thing I got for this week is I finally finished el Libro de Mormon en espanol!! It took awhile because I started a study journal.
Sorry for the crappy letter...Wish I had more to talk about .  I hope you guys have a good cold week! haha.  Love you Mom and peeps!

Elda Clev

Happy Birthday Brother Griffith....93!

Assembling the Font with Sister Savage and Sister O

Montalvan Family Baptism

Filling the Font with the hose!

The Sunglass Gang...looking cool!

Read More

November 10, 2014~ "The Process of Gathering Spiritual Light is the Quest of a Lifetime"~Dieter F. Uchtdorf

1. Yep I know Hermana Savage....tell Hermana Savage "Hello" from me and tell her I am glad she is doing well and I read her blog every week.  I got to talk to her before she started her mission.  She wanted to join our Moms Facebook group and I let her and so we were able to help her get ready for the Mission and what to expect.  I told her that hopefully she would get to meet you sometime out there and I am glad she has been able to.  
I did she... says hi like every week haha and Sista O says hi too!

2. What are Elder Hiatt's interests?  Did he play any sports?
He played basketball and likes a lot of things, he is fun to be with though

3. How long has Elder Hiatt been out on the Mish?
He has 6 weeks or one change less than me


Me and Elder Hiatt get along perfect! haha...He is not too much like me that nothing gets done and keeps me in control haha but I'm still counting my blessings!!
Thats good to hear about Stock getting to play but a mini me? I'm not too sure about that haha..I give him all of his substance! But if he is I guess when I get home we are gonna have to shave our heads bald and take a Dr. Evil and mini me picture too hahaha. On the serious side glad to hear that they are planning to get their patriarchal blessings.  I love mine and it helps me a lot.

Also tell Big Red's Mom I say what up!!!!! anyways onto the week!

Well there wasn't much to report on from this past week. A lot of that is because it was busy busy busy and we kept getting calls and having to do so many things such as get our lights fixed at our house because almost none of them were working and the electricians took forever...and doing interviews for people and just running all around. So of course this week wasn't so successful but we are not too discouraged about it.   We are learning to manage our time a lot better and got a lot done to move along with the work such as getting a good map of the area. Sunday wasn't as good.  The Aldonas didn't come sadly but we never had any time to go meet with them either so its hard to have someone progress when you can't leave that Spirit with them and also Wilbur was gone for a week but comes back this next week so we are hoping to be able to invite him to a baptismal date this week! Please pray that he will accept and help out here in Santa Elena! I'm still doing great and now have been writing each day in my journal how the Lord's influence has been in my day and also a scripture for the day as well. My invitation this week is for the family to do this each night and see how much it changes your life!!! Sorry there wasn't too much to report on but I am hoping for a better week! Love you guys and Mom and know I am always praying for ya!

Elda Clev

Making Tortillas, Sister Savage and her companion and Elder Cleverly and Elder Hiatt

Mayan Ruin Caracol

Howler Monkeys

Read More

November 3, 2014~"Your Past Does Not Determine Who You Are....Your Past Prepares You For Who You Are to Become"

1. So you said that Elder Jack was going to be leaving...so who is now your new companion? Name/Where he is from
 Elder Hiatt from Arkansas... super cool guy

2. Does the portable font stay outside or do you store it inside and bring it out when needed? 
We construct it and when we are done you put it back in a shed haha

3.  Where did Elder Jack get transferred to? Did he stay in Belize? 
He is in Dangriega still Belize

4. Do they do anything Halloweenish there?
There was trick or treating but we didn't see too much..I'll explain below

5.  So do you see Tarantulas just walking around all the time? Have you had any inside your home? 
Not all the time and no if there was any in the home I would freak and want to move


Glad to hear finally that it was a warm Halloween for you guys. It was for me too don't worry haha Actually it has been pretty nice and cloudy and not too much rain these past 2 weeks. I'm so happy to hear about the Stake Presidency! I love President Macrum and also loved the old stake presidency. They were all such great examples and  really I took pride in saying that I trusted my life my Stake President. So I'm glad I can continue to say that! 

Talking about Chiropractors maybe I should go to one after the mish haha and also I am for sure getting a massage after the Mish hahaha.  Awesome to hear Halloween went by safely and now just one more holiday season to endure with Thanksgiving and Christmas! ....well onto my week!

It was a crazy crazy week!! So we had changes on Tuesday up in Belize City... so another day of travel haha. There I got my new comp Elder Hiatt! He is an awesome guy and we will get along more than great here! He is 6'5 so yes my first comp taller than me ..haha so we have gotten nicknames like "The Twin Towers" "9/11" haha ...one member family calls us that I'm 9 and he is 11 haha. But yeah such a relief to get another great comp.. how can I be so blessed?! So this week was crazy and all messed up.  It seemed like each day we had something unplanned happen but I have been working on my time efficiency and we still did good work! We were not allowed to work after 6 on Halloween  for safety reasons but all went good. Then church came and we got 6 investigators to come and all the less actives that came last week came again!!!!! I am so happy for the blessings I have received from God.  I could not do anything without his help. Part of those 6 was Wilbur again but sadly he leaves again this week for another week long trip but he liked church! Also this 14 year old named Miguel who is a cool kid! So this week we are going to have to keep up with the success! 

Also other news ...the new Sister in Santa Elena is Sister Savage...I guess you guys have talked before?? and I'm writing today because I had a multizona yesterday. At the multizona I finally got to see Stin again and we caught up and had fun haha... so nice to have a friend in the mission I can't even tell ya! But it was a great message about faith and also stumbling blocks and how we can make our stumbing blocks turn into stepping stones. A great message as always from President! We should have another meeting for Thanksgiving this month as well! Well I think thats all I got for this week! I'll send pics but I'm doing great and know I always love you Mom and peeps!

Elda Clev

Elder Cleverly with new companion Elder Hiatt (twin towers)

Monuluvan Family, the family that just started coming back to church... They hadn't been for 9 years!

Elder Cleverly, Charlston, Wilbur and Godfrey

Elder Cleverly and Stin together again!..at least for the day

The "Wizards" ( I really miss this group of boys!)

Multizona~ Elder Cleverly is in the very back left hand side

Read More

October 27, 2014~"When Life is Sweet, Say Thank You and Celebrate, When Life is Bitter, Say Thank You and Grow"

1.Are most of the people there in Belize black people or are there a lot of Latinos as well? 
Depends on the part your in...North more Chinese and Mexican, Central blacks and the closer to Guatemala Latinos

2. You still have never sent a picture of your home.  What is your place like? 
My place is small but there aren't any problems.  I have hot water haha...Sorry I still forget to do some things like send those pictures

3. In your Branch are there enough kids to have a Primary?
Yes haha... the Sister Missionaries always help with the Primary and it is a handful haha

4.With transfers being this week....Do you think the transfers will effect you or your companion?
My comp is leaving  and I'm staying but I kinda expected that!   Also Sis. Montes, the sister missionary in the branch is leaving

Oh the rain does not cool us off though this week was "cold" in the evenings haha which is like 70s but when it rains it does for like 15 min then the sun comes back out.. it sucks! I'm super bummed that the Stake Presidency is getting changed...I can't come back to someone new!!! Also glad to hear we are still Ridge City and that Ryan played..I told you he would! On Friday night I actually thought about those very things ...it was weird and I was cheering here in Belize. I'm glad you guys are enjoying the weather.. trust me the cold is coming haha! but anyways onto da week!

Finally ...I guess you could say a successful week that we actually could see our successes! We had a lot of less actives come to church... especially a family of 11 that hasn't come to church in 9 years! They are the coolest family...I will send a picture and they for some reason LOVE me haha... they call me the giant and are always so happy when I come over. The only downside is they live in the sistas area so we don't go over too often.   After church we had the first baptism ever in Santa Elena!! It was from the Sistas so we baptized them but we don't have a real font here.. it is a portable font haha.. its kinda ghetto and you know I had to get in it and get a picture! but yeah we also have been doing a lot of service for the Branch because they don't have any checks for some reason so we can't use any of the money so they hadn't paid anyone to cut the yard for weeks and the grass grows fast here! So finally Bro Moody, the best member in our Branch brought his own lawn mower and we helped him clean up the yard which took a long time because the grass was feet high and the yard is big... also having to rake up all the grass afterwords! He started at 4 in the evening and didn't get done till 9 at night in the pitch black but he is one of those guys that isn't gonna stop till he is done... such a good guy!!!! So yes I had a throwback moment doing yard work again haha and we had to finish up raking today. But yeah such a good week to see people come renew their covenants with God! And to top it off 2 kids that live by the church came randomly just because they wanted to know what the church was like and they liked it so now we have 2 new investigators! God is seeing our efforts and we are continuing to do our best. I'm so glad I'm not leaving because I still have the goal to baptize someone here and there is just so much to do with this Branch I can't leave!!! I'm loving it here even though it is considered a hard or crappy area and I don't wanna move because there is always work to do!! We will see who my new comp is and I'm a little sad for the change.  I hate changes because I don't know if it will be for the better! Definitely gonna miss my Comp and Sis. Montes who is like the girl version of me haha and actually gets my sarcasm. Onto another change and hopefully more success! Love you Mom and other peeps!!!


Elda Clev

Here is an experience that Elder Clev's comp shared last week that they had...

To start off, we had a very interesting visit with the Chiac's (the bee family). The mom's brother came to visit from Belize City, because he just got shot up doing a gang bust with the Belize Defense Force. We taught him once before, and he seemed pretty positive, so we decided to teach him again. Well then we learned that he is a 'lee bit crazy,' as Belizeans would say. He insisted that he see a picture of Joseph Smith first, so we did. Then he insisted we show him a picture of the current prophet, so we did that too. Then he said that we needed to set an appointment to meet him (the prophet), because he had some questions for him. Then he started ranting about the wickedness of the world, and the fact that God lets bad things happen to good people, all of which is not all that crazy, until he picked up the huge kitchen knife and started repeatedly stabbing the floor we were sitting on with every word he said, a frenzied look in his eyes. I was sitting a foot away from him, and I was slightly disturbed, as was his family. I didn't know what to do because it looked like he was going to get violent, so I pulled out the phone and set the alarm to ring right then, and pretended like the alarm tone was someone calling me, so I "answered" it, and pretended like we had an emergency and needed to leave right then. Elder Cleverly and I then left, looked at each other, and rode away in silence. 

So we were walking one night, and happened to see a tarantula walking on the street. That was no big deal, but then a guy walked up and said "I pick those up." So I said "Let's see it then," so he did it. I asked him if he has ever gotten bit, and he said "you di kid me, mon! If di ting mi ah bite me, my han mi ah rot off. You jus need fi grab di wais." Which is to say that these tarantulas rot off your hands if they bite you. But if you grab them in their waists, they can't bite you with their huge fangs. "

Cutting the church yard

Sunset Saturday

Baptizing in the portable font

Read More

October 20, 2014~"Your Hardest Times Often Lead to the Greatest Moments of Your Life...Keep the Faith...It will All Be Worth It in the End"

Glad to hear that Ridge got to get a win even if it was JV... good practice for next year! Awesome to hear Ryan is doing good too.  Who knows maybe he will play because he has been the past couple of weeks and I am sure if the other guy gets in its just because its his last year but I wouldn't be surprised if Ryan started because its Layton and they wanna win... not just let people feel good. It could be a good advantage for Ryan for next year... maybe already solidifying his spot. KEEP NORTHRIDGE CITY!

I knew Stock would make it...I had no worries about that! You know  I will be sure to bring him down a few levels in confidence haha..I'm good at that! And he has a phone?! what is this?! haha

Try and make it to Kevin's farewell and if you can tell him good luck for me and that I am proud of him even though I write him and tell him that anyways haha.
Anyways onto the week...

We had some more successes this week but its still going little by little. We had interchanges this past week and I had to lead my area.  There was a lot I wanted to do but more than anything I wanted to find new peeps. So all day in the rain we contacted... it was so fun!!! My ZL is Latino and can't speak English very well so I was talking the whole time... very tiring but fun! We found this 18 year old kid named Keon who is a cyclist. Super chill kid... the only problem is he is a JW. But as a JW they can't accept visits from anyone is what he told us but that he felt like he had to. While talking you could tell he has grown up in his church but doesn't believe it. He respects it but he said cycling is over everything for him... haha so you know I had to testify that sports are good and from God haha and that in our church we want people to enjoy themselves in sports as long as it isn't excessive. We taught the 1st lesson and he understood everything and said he would pray to know if it was true but couldn't accept the pamphlet or schedule another visit so we have to pass by randomly to see how he is doing. I told him before leaving how I was raised in the church but had to develop my own testimony and that he needs to really find what is his beliefs and own testimony. I hope we can pass by and he sees what he needs to do...I could see his potential... it was so cool and I have been praying ever since for the guy...as for other peeps, Wilbur is still on his work vacation and so pray for him too that he can come back and have read and prayed during his trip!
I know its hard to read this and know I don't teach a lot of people... its hard here but know that I am doing the best I can and I really feel like God sees my efforts and knows me and is happy with me. Just like in the Book of Mormon, the people here are deep in sin and wickedness...I don't like to say it but its true. The best I can do is just keep doing my thang and God will bless me one of these times. As you can see I have been thinking about this the past week and staying positive! Know I am working and doing my best and even though I don't have numbers and names I do feel the little successes of my work.. just like in football I didn't get all the stats but I did play and work just as hard. Well thats my little message and hope  y'all are doing good and have a good week! Love ya Mom and Peeps!


Elda Clev

Read More

October 13, 2014~"So Much in Life Depends on Our Attitude..The Way We Choose to See Things and Respond To Others Makes All The Difference-Thomas S. Monson

1. How often do you see the Rinderknechts? How close do they live to you?
Not too often anymore... it is really weird because before we always did. They live in San Ignacio the other city across the bridge

2.  What did you guys do last week for P-Day?
Nothing haha... P-days aren't the funnest here because of the distances and stuff.

3. What time does it start getting dark there?
Like 6

4.  Have you still been getting the Dear Elders I send?
I haven't...I usually get them in bulk haha

5.  How come you will have a shorter transfer period this next transfer?
Because of the merging of missions, the missions weren't in sync with changes from before and so some missionaries would have left in October and come back in November if changes stayed the same so this change is 4 weeks and the next one is normal then the next is 8 weeks.

Well I'm glad you guys are having some good weather... its hot here as usual. I am used to it now but I still don't know what cold is anymore!!!! Enjoy it while it lasts! I have heard about the movie Meet the Mormons... the thing is here there are no movie theaters so nobody really knows about movies unless they are on commercials and you just buy them from the corner stores. We wanna see if we can get permission and buy it and show it for an activity but we will see.  We have movie nights every Thursday and are running out of church movies haha.

I'm sad that little league will be put off for awhile... not until your grandkids hahahahaha! Im gonna miss all that.. wow things change! Sorry to hear about the Ridge problems... to be honest after my grade none of us felt like the kids under us were the same in tradition and you really could feel a culture gap... definately a sad thing. ...whats wrong with kids these days having zero love for the sport anymore?! Times have changed and lucky Ryan is still holding strong.  I expect a lot from him and I am proud of him for doing so. Tell Stock good luck for tryouts.  I am glad he is trying out because he should. Also for the package I have a couple more requests haha...I need a mini English hymn book...I can't get a hold of one here and also a new ipod cord the one doesn't charge my ipod anymore...but onto my week!!

Success is growing!!! So this week was pretty good i'd say! We have been really blessed as an old branch president came to visit this past week and showed us where a ton of the less actives live!!! The thing is that our current branch president doesn't know where anyone lives and isn't very proactive.  Its hard and the addresses here are hard to follow so its always awesome when someone can just come and show you! Also we found another really positive less active who showed us where a bunch of  people live!   Since there are so many less actives, we are focusing more on who are members and just bringing them back and also completing families....so baptisms will be slow but the Branch will be growing in other ways. I talked a little bit about it to Pres this week because we had interviews with him. He said this area of the mission really needs to secure its members before we can even think about baptisms because none of them will stay. So we are working really hard on that. Also in my interview, Pres said me and Stin and some of the happiest missionaries in the mission so I thought you would be happy to hear that haha! I also went on interchanges across the bridge this week in San Ignacio and its so weird how much it changes just from crossing the bridge. Its a lot more developed there and I  started to think it would be cooler to be there... then I thought how grateful I am to be where I am at...I mean I don't want it easy! I want to learn from the hard experiences and Pres and Sis. Hintze said the same things... they know I can have success here and that is why I am where I am at! I love how my mission has been up to this point and wouldn't change it for the world! The knowledge I have learned is priceless!!! Well that is all I got for this week! We are working hard especially with the Elder Quorum Pres who is really good and hopes to improve Santa Elena!

A short experience from this week.... So you know I have to have something fun for this week! So before interviews we ate lunch with Pres and another zone who had interviews in the morning... after eating they needed an Elder that could drive stick to drive the bus of Elders from the other zone back so Elder Williams (who lived with me in my last area) said he could. Well his comp is new and doesn't know his way around so I volunteered myself to be his temporary comp to get us back and not lost.. even though I didn't know the way too well hahaha... but you know I'm good with directions so I trusted myself.   We drove and dropped all the Elders off where they needed and reached the Guatemala border!!! So I had to take a picture to show that I have now been to Guate too!!! haha well that is all I got...Love you Mom, Fam, and Friends... have a good week!!!

Elda Clev

Guatemala! Probably the closest I'll ever get!

Roadtrippin!!!!

Angel's Baptism

Read More