Mission Adventures of Elder Clark Lovell

Hello everyone! Week one of working remotely is just about up! We have done our best to work with the members to help them help us, because that is the only way we will get work done in this mission. We are trying to get the members to share our Facebook posts, and have their friends see them in the community. During all of this, I was struggling a little bit with the idea of potentially working remotely for the rest of my mission, and I decided to ask my companions to give me a priesthood blessing. For those who aren't familiar with priesthood blessings, part of what we teach is that the same authority that Christ gave His followers, called Apostles has been restored to the earth, which gives men the ability to bless in the same way that they blessed people, in the way that the Savior blessed. When I received that blessing, so much peace came into my heart. It was gradual, but now, with the fluctuating circumstances surrounding the term of my service, I fee...

Hello everyone! So...... This week has been interesting, to say the least. It has been quite a blur, and lots of things have happened. Primarily, this afternoon I received a phone call from my mission president early this afternoon, and he informed me that because of the issue with COVID-19 in the United States, the First Presidency and The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (the prophets that lead and guide the church) determined that all male missionaries who reach their 21 month anniversary on or before September 1st will go home early. With that direction he received, President Youngblood told me that my finish date for my mission was moved from June 24, 2020 to May 13, 2020. Needless to say I have about a million different emotions in my head, so much so that I think my brain is just numbly confused. If anyone has any advice, please let me know, I would love to hear it. He told me that I would "finish my honorable mission on May 13, 2020" those words stuck out to me in th...

Hola todos! Sorry this email is going to be shorter, I am low on time. I had an unconventional week this week, because due to the health of one of my companions, we had to stay in the apartment on Friday and Saturday. Don't worry, he didn't have the Corona virus... But he did have the flu. Word to the wise, get your flu shots when you can. We tried to make the best of the situation by making plans and studying extra, and proselyting over the phone. It was a new experience for me, and by the time we went out again on Sunday, I was itching to talk to people. It felt good to talk to people again. The other experience happened on Tuesday night. We had a lesson with a mom and her 16 year old daughter. The daughter was struggling with believing in the existence of God. She didn't understand faith, and it was clear that she wanted to believe, but her own pride got in the way. She spoke very directly to us, and didn't hold back at all. For some reason, the Spirit didn...

Hi everyone! This week has been full of ups and downs, and I don't have time to write about all of them, but here is one: We had the baptism of Cesar and Jesse on Saturday, and it was a beautiful service! When we went to fill up the font, we turned the lights on, and there was a scorpion in the font!! So, naturally, we baptized him.... Just kidding.  But we did obviously have to take it out of the font, but that was a fun chore.  The people who came to the baptism were completely all the way to the back of the Relief Society Room (which is a larger classroom in our chapels). When we got in the water, it was cold! And Jesse, who is 12, got in with me, and he was freezing. Right after I baptized him, the water got really warm! I couldn't feel the cold anymore! I knew it was the Spirit of God warming us up. It was a beautiful experience. The down of the week was yesterday when the lady who had called us last week to teach her family, she told us ...

Hello everyone! This week has been a week full of miracles! It was a busy one, due to transfer duties being taken care of. It's fun being in a trio, especially with a former companion of mine.  We had a pretty amazing experience on Sunday. We had just gotten home from church, and we got a call from someone, who asked if we would please come and teach her son. She had received a card from missionaries with our phone number on it about a year and a half ago, and her son was really struggling, and so her and her husband decided to call us to have us come teach their family. That never ever happens to us, and so of course we would! We went to their house, which was in a part of our area in which we didn't really go much because of the lack of Spanish speaking people there, but they lived there! We had the most powerful conversation with the family. This wonderful Sister and her husband were crying as we taught their son that yes there is a God, and that he was a son of God...

Hello!! It's been a great week!!! And it got better this morning when I found out I would be staying in Alta Vista for a 6th transfer, and with Elder Palmer my companion.... And... Elder Troya, my trainee from all the way back in 2018, is joining our companionship!!! I am very excited! Honestly the past week or so it has been hard to find new people to teach and I was kind of expecting a change of area, but when we visited the Coreas family last night, and I looked at this family that I loved so much, I thought "I can't leave this family, I love them just too much" and all feelings of just wanting a change of pace, instantly left me. I could not sleep last night literally just wondering how I would handle leaving that family. And I won't be just yet!! On Saturday we had an event that our district and a few other districts helped out with. It is called the "Saints and Sinners 1/2 Marathon". It was organized by a member of the church about 10 y...