Mailing Address

Elder Matthew David Clough
California Ventura Mission
3301 West Gonzales Road
Oxnard, California 93036

Phone: 1-805-485-1034 (only necessary for packages)



Monday, June 16, 2014

Gelling your hair for the first time, + Summer = a really burnt scalp

Which is quite itchy.  Which, in turn, is a problem when you have gel in your hair: it ruins it if you scratch it!

Elder James and I had quite a time this last week.  It was interesting because we weren't in our own area for very long, we went on two exchanges where we both went to the other elder's areas, but we still saw some amazing miracles!  Where to begin...
First off, we haven't been able to find Alicia, unfortunately. She did say she'd be busy with her children ending the school year and one of them graduating, so we're not too nervous but we're still a bit worried.  Hopefully we can get in contact with her again and figure out what she needs to continue to progress.
Then, on Tuesday we had an awesome lesson with Felipe and Carmen.  We read Alma 32 together, and it was amazing how much they got out of it.  About halfway through, we asked Felipe what he'd learned so far, and after he summarized the main idea, he proceeded to tell us "but if we don't do anything and the plant dies, it's not because it's not a good plant, it's just because we didn't care for it."  Which was EXACTLY what the next two verses where going to say!  We pointed out to him how the spirit was enlightening his understanding.  They really loved what we went over, and next week they're going to start going to the Branch's Family Home Evening.
Then, we went on two back to back exchanges with the Elders in Fillmore, and then with our roommates!  In Fillmore I went with Elder Parrish.  He's a super confident, powerful missionary who loves the Lord and loves the work.  He also loves milk: he drinks four gallons a week!  (He used to drink one a day!) I really learned a lot from him about the importance of confidence.  I noticed how much the way he carries himself speaks about the message he carries and helps people automatically trust him.
Later, I went with Elder Sorensen.  It was super fun to work with him.  We talked a lot about his first transfer and his trainer, and how though they struggled to get along, Elder Sorensen is starting to take the right steps and forgive him.  It was awesome to walk it through with him; I can understand why he was frustrated: it's hard when you don't agree with someone you're stuck with 24/7, but it's so important to take responsibility and decide how you feel about things for yourself.
Well, here we go into week five; last week of the transfer.  I CAN'T BELIEVE WE'RE HERE ALREADY!!??!  Time still makes no sense to me.  We'll be having President and Sister Castro's farewell "Zone Meeting" this next week, and then we'll be having transfers! 
We'll see what the future holds.

Love,
Elder Matthew David Clough