Go Magic

Elder Nye, Mark, Dexter, & Sheena
right before their baptism
preformed by Elder Claiborne

Elder Claiborne and Sheena

Week 14

When Monday and Tuesday came and went with no email from Elder Claiborne, I suspected this was the first week he was going to neglect to take time to write home. I've heard of other missionaries who, while valiant missionaries, were not good letters writers. So I was pleasantly surprised to get his weekly email yesterday.

It appears the Savior has seen fit once again to allow Elder Claiborne to grow a bit. His experience in translating reminds me a bit of an experience Jack had years ago. He was called to serve as the President of the Young Men Organization at the ripe ol' age of 23 (for non-members, that is the adult leader of the teenage boys ages 12-18). It was a daunting challenge for someone barely out of the teens himself. As the Bishop spoke to him, he said, "We know you are too young, but you are all we have." Now that is honesty! Ha, ha, ha!

I have found, however, that the Savior often chooses a willing heart above complete readiness. The President of our Church, Thomas S. Monson, has been quoted as saying, "Whom the Lord calls, the Lord qualifies." I have seen that truth evidenced time and time again over the years. When Jack was called, because of his willingness to serve, he became qualified and served diligently with those young men.

Likewise, Elder Claiborne has now been given that same opportunity. I can almost hear the Savior saying to him, just before he was asked to translate from broken English into Tagalog, "I know you aren't yet fluent, but you're all we've got." He became qualified the moment he presented to the Savior a willing and humble heart (a VERY humble heart, I imagine). econd

General Update:
This week was Transfer week, so preparation day was moved to Wednesday (today). I will be transferring to..... nowhere! I'll be in the same area for at least the next six weeks, and I have a hunch I'll be here for longer than that. I'm excited though. I wanted to stay, and improve our work here.

Sheena's baptism had a couple complications, which were not her fault at all, so it got postponed. We'll be continuing her baptism this Saturday along side two seventeen year old boys named Mark and Dexter. They're good kids, and have a ton of family support. Their Uncle will be performing the baptism, which is the kind of thing we always shoot for.

I had an interesting experience this past week. We went on splits with some Elders from the Manila MTC. I was a little nervous going in, because I knew they probably wouldn't speak any English, so it would be a good test of my Tagalog. It turns out, I was right. They spoke zero English. Unfortunately they spoke zero Tagalog as well! They were from Indonesia. Luckily, they had a translator with them. The translator spoke their language, very broken English, and zero Tagalog. So I was the best Tagalog speaker in the group.... Scary thought. We managed to get through some good lessons though. I did most of the teaching. They would then bear their testimonies in their language, their translator would translate to broke English, and I would then translate it to people in Tagalog. It was kind of a circus, but successful nonetheless.

The rest of the week has been good. A lot of the same.

Elder Nye and I are going to ghetto-rig some weights out of cement so we can lift. That should be fun. I'm able to stay in better shape than I expected.

God is good. I can see his constant hand guiding our work.

Love/miss you all!

Elder Austin R. Claiborne

AKA: Certified POGI

Week 13

Elder Claiborne loves serving in the Philippines and learning about a new culture. But he reports that he loves America and reminds us that we are blessed beyond understanding. It appears his language skills are gradually improving. It is in his nature to work at something until he masters it, so I have no doubt he will keep pushing himself until he is comfortable in his communication skills. His update is below.

General Update:

We had a rough week of work, and lots of rain... But, like Sister Bell always tells me, we "kept truckin!"

Elder Nye and I are excited for the baptism of a 16 year old girl named Sheena this coming Saturday. It is amazing to watch a light grow in her eyes as she has accepted the gospel of Christ. She has already written her name in big, colorful letters inside the scriptures we got her. She's got scripture book marks, and loves reading in them. She is already in Alma in the Book of Mormon which is great.

I found out what address my companion uses and think it is more direct than the one I've been given, so here it is:

Elder Austin Claiborne

Philippines Manila Mission

#4 Comet Street, Bel-Air Village 2

1204 Makati City, Metro Manila

Philippines

Hope to hear from everyone soon!

Love,
Elder Claiborne

Picture Time

Nanay Fannie - Elder Claiborne's 1st Baptism

Elder Claiborne with his mission president and his wife

Elder Claibornes 1st companion, his trainer, Elder Nye

Week 12

Elder Claiborne reports another busy week sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. In his separate letter home he reports that his companion, Elder Nye, is an excellent trainer and he describes his mission president as a spiritual giant (all 5'5" of him). He also tells us that prior to her baptism, Nanay Fannie was so excited she was jumping around doing karate, which is even more humorous given that she is apparently 60 years old! Thanks to everyone who has taken time to write to him. The letters are slow in arriving (even through dearelder.com) but when they do arrive, they mean a great deal to him.

General Update:

Epefania Justiniane Ramos (Nanay Fannie) was baptized on September 24, 2011 and confirmed on September 25, 2011. It was a great day for a missionary! She was so excited, it was great!Oh, on a more random note, I saw the American Idol winners last week. haha We went to Market Market which is basically a mall. It's very Americanized. We go there every preparation day so we can buy food for the week, and it just so happened that at the exact time we went, the American Idol people we there. I don't remember who all it was, but I saw Scotty Mcsomethin, Lauren, and a bunch of the other top ten people from last season. We didn't linger or anything, but it was super random! haha So I thought I would throw that in my email this week.

On the same day, I was able to get my shirts tailored (they feel so much better now..), and play a pick-up basketball game with a group of Philippino guys. It was fun, and a bunch of people were stopping to watch the white American play basketball, because it's not something they are used to seeing. haha Oh, and I dominated. Duh.

O.k. well those things don't have much of anything to do with missionary work, but I thought they were fun stories.

My Tagalog is improving slowly but surely. That has easily been my biggest hindrance so far.. I'll get there though. We've been teaching a ton of lessons lately, but hope to be able to get more members present for our lessons. It's always helpful when a testimony comes from someone who is't a full time missionary.

I'm trying my best to put all my focus on the work here, but I'm not going to lie, I miss everyone back home a ton! I try to keep everyone in my prayers, which keeps me on my knees for a long time some nights.

A good section of scripture study this week is Alma 32:28-43 :) God bless everyone. Remember to show God you love him by keeping his commandments!

Love,

-Elder Austin R. Claiborne

Pictures

My favorite part of blogs...the pictures. Here are some pictures of Austin while in the MTC. He will be sending more next week. -Court

Week 11

Elder Claiborne sent pictures this week with his email. They are MTC pictures, but pictures nonetheless. Courtney will be posting them shortly. We're hoping for some Philippines pictures next week.

I've been reflecting on Elder Claiborne's comment this week about why the people of the Philippines love the missionaries so much. I cannot remember a time in my life when I didn't have at least a basic knowledge that I was a child of God and that our Father in Heaven sent his Son to atone for our sins and sorrows and to give his life on the cross. I cannot remember ever wondering if our spirits are eternal or whether we would be resurrected. Thinking of growing up without a knowledge of God and his plan for his children is as foreign to me as living each day without sunlight.

Beyond being able to teach people about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, Elder Claiborne has the unique opportunity to teach those who are without even a basic knowledge of God. Is there anything more important?

In the past 11 weeks I have come to see what a great circle of blessings a mission is to every full-time missionary. It blesses the missionary, his or her family and friends, those he or she teaches and finally those taught by these new converts.

Well, my update won't be very long this week because my wonderful mother likes to be long winded in her letters! So I spent most of my email time reading her letter, but that's okay because I still love her.

It's only been 5 days since my last email, because our preparation days got a little mixed up since we had Temple day last Wednesday (which became our Preparation day). So that's why my emails are close together this week. Just didn't want anyone to think I was being disobedient!

We've had a pretty good week of work, except we couldn't proselyte last Wednesday, or last Saturday. Wednesday was Mission Temple day. Then on Saturday, I had a pretty amazing day. One of Elder Nye's old investigators was being married in the Temple, so we were able to attend. It meant waking up at 4 a.m. but it was worth it. Before the wedding, all these people I didn't even know kept having me get in their wedding pictures because they said I was "pogi." That was fun, usually at an American wedding you wouldn't throw random people in your wedding pictures!

We then went into the Temple for the wedding ceremony. Wow! I want that one day. It was pretty special.

We then went to the reception, and sat in the back, like most missionaries would do. Then the Groom's mother came and got the four of us Elders and had us sit at the head table with the other Immediate family and V.I.P.'s. I was pretty surprised. I just met these people that morning. It got me thinking about the Philippine people. Looking around at the people and the love in their hearts was pretty humbling. So many people in America are so much wealthier, yet these people were willing to give me, a stranger, the very best they had. I see it almost every day when I go into their humble homes and they give us the best they can afford. It is humbling.

A lot of it is just their culture, but I realize there's a lot more to it for us as missionaries. Among both investigators and members of the church. They are SO grateful to us. Even me, as a new missionary. They love us because of what we brought to their country. The gospel of Jesus Christ. Those who have accepted and acted on the message have been able to find real happiness and they love it.

We were then able to go out to work and taught three or four good lessons before going to a baptism that night. (Not one of our investigators, but just to offer support.)

So yeah, Saturday was pretty great. Witnessing an ordinance of exaltation as well as an ordinance of salvation.

Other then that we're just working hard. We were able to get a "perfect pull-up" set up at our apartment. At the expense of the door frame... Hopefully I can get back into better shape with that thing.

Oh yeah, and I'll be baptizing a lady named Nany Fanny this Saturday. It will be the first person I baptize so it's pretty exciting. We also have 5 investigators who have chosen to accept baptismal dates and hope to invite more this week. How exciting for them!

O.k. well I was able to give a pretty good sized update anyways. My email to just my parents will be what suffers! God bless.

Love,

-Elder Austin R. Claiborne

Week 10

You may have noticed I adjusted all my weeks by one. Because Elder Claiborne's emails arrived on Fridays and I posted them on Mondays, but he left on a Wednesday. We were off by almost a week. He has now been on his mission for 10 weeks (9 weeks in the MTC and one week in Manila).

We were able to track Elder Claiborne as far as California where Courtney, Dallin and Olivia stayed up to receive his call. Olivia performed well and said all her new words and sounds for her Uncle Austin. He was going to attempt to call again from Hong Kong but his phone card apparently stopped working. We assumed he arrived safely in Manila on the 7th. We were hoping for an email on Friday, but that is not their Preparation Day so nothing came.

Monday came and went and there was no word. Then Tuesday arrived -- nothing! Yikes! What had they done with my son??? Finally, on Wednesday morning, we woke up to an email he had been typing while we were sound asleep. (Remember, he is now a full 12 hours ahead of us.)

I could not stop smiling the rest of the day. Not just because we had finally heard from him, although that was great in itself. No, it was the content of the email that brought another grin to my face every time I thought of it. When he was in the MTC, we kept encouraging him to send us a bit more detail. I think that will no longer be a problem. He will have much to tell from this point forward. I will NEVER look at toilet paper the same again --nor will Elder Claiborne!

It was just a sampling of what I can see are going to be a long line of emails detailing all his interesting experiences in another culture. His report is below. Enjoy!

General Update:

Wow. I don't now how on earth I could ever explain everything that has gone on in my first week. This place is so crazy.

I'm serving in the Bonifacio 5th Ward right now, which is in the Makati East Zone. So I'm in the city, which is the dirtiest most polluted place I've ever been in my life... It's hard to get used to, but if I say I love these people (and I do) then I can't complain about living like them. Which includes, but is not limited to, no toilet paper, no air conditioning, no working shower, washing clothes by hand, and many more similar luxuries.

The food is different. It is going to be very hard to eat healthy here.. Almost everything I've had has been very good though. We had some squid that kind of threw me off, especially the tentacles. Oh, and we also had some fish where the fish's eyes were staring back at me, it was good though. Oh and I found out half way through eating Sigsig that there are pieces of pig ear in it... I picked those out.

Eating here will be an adventure in and of itself! It's fine with me though, I'm not picky.

One of the biggest shocks to me, besides the terrible air quality, is the traffic. There are no actual laws. It's like a giant game of Mario Cart. The only understood rules are, nose goes, honk and/or yell to let people know you're there, and be alert. It's okay though, because I don't have anything to drive, so I just have to make sure I don't get hit while I'm walking. We ride Jeepneys a lot too. There is no way I could explain those things, so just look them up.

The church is still very new here in the Philippines, so everyone still relies on the missionaries a lot. All the member have been super nice though, and the kids are a lot of fun. The members of the church generally speak some English, or at least Taglish.

Speaking of the language.... That has been the biggest struggle I think. It is a lot more difficult than I anticipated. Coming out of the MTC I thought I would be alright at it. I was wrong. So most people think I'm just shy, but really it's because I have no idea what they're saying half the time, or how to respond to it. I'm able to teach things in lessons though, even if it's rough. Most people are nice about it though. Except the Nanay's (older ladies), they tell me I need to get better. Oh yeah, things that are considered rude in America, are allowed here. Like telling someone they're fat, or ugly. haha it's funny because nobody cares.

My Trainer's name in Elder Nye. He's from Utah, but he's fluent in Tagalog. Having an American companion is super helpful at times, but makes it a little harder to practice the language because he likes to speak English to me. He's a great Elder though, we have been working hard. We have a LOT of new investigators. We actually got 11 new investigators yesterday during finding. Our schedule is pretty full. I LOVE watching the gospel change people's lives. I've only been here a week, but you can see the light entering people's eyes as they accept the message we have to share. The message that Christ lives, that He suffered for our sins and afflictions. and that through His Atonement we can find joy in life that we never knew before.

Oh yeah, I got held up the other day. Sort of. haha. A little boy came up to me with his laser pointer and said "Hey Joe! Gimme all yo money!" (Everyone here calls Americans "Joe.") I just scared him off and he ran away. It was so funny. The kids like to yell anything they know in English at us, and then they're shocked when we speak Tagalog back. Well, I wish I had more time to try and explain everything that I'm experiencing here. It's so different. My mission continues to be the hardest thing I've ever done, but bringing the Gospel of Jesus Christ into people's lives makes it worth it. God bless.

Love,
-Elder Austin R. Claiborne

Week 9

After receiving word that the missionaries would be allowed to call home from the airport before their flights to their mission destinations, we planned a "special" Family Home Evening which consisted of staring at our cell phones and willing them to ring. Finally around 9:30 pm we got the call. I don't even like to talk on the phone, but hearing Austin's voice on the other end was an oh so sweet sound!

We talked his ear off. He had finished up at the MTC with some really positive experiences but we could hear in his voice how excited, yet nervous, he was to finally, finally, be on his way! I cannot remember most of what we talked about. Our only goal seemed to be to keep him on the phone so the call didn't end.

He gave us the details about his flights and who was in his group. Jack gave him travel advice. He talked about how much his niece, Olivia has already changed in just the few weeks he's been gone. Austin shared with us again how amazing Elder Holland's talk was from the prior week.

It was especially fun to hear Austin talk to his brothers. They were all hanging on each other's words. Austin went into coaching mode at one point after listening to them talk to him about how they were doing in football. He gave him the lecture about hard work and not giving up and reminded them that it goes by fast. His football coach, Coach Parker, would have been proud.

But then he got even more serious and he challenged them to read the Book of Mormon by Christmas. That is not an easy commitment for them since they are already commited to reading the entire Old Testament this year for seminary. He's been reading it again since getting to the MTC and finished up while on his flight. He's fallen in love with that book like never before.

He is working on catching up on some letters he is behind on. He also wanted us to send a big thank you to those who sent care packages. He was REALLY feeling the love the week prior to his birthday. He plans to get thank you's out, but wanted you to know how much he appreciates everything. He said it was really hard in the MTC to find time to write because their time was so tightly scheduled. I suspect he'll find he is just as busy and just as exhausted in the Philippines, but we will see. Even if he gets letters sent, it could be a while before they are received. I'm told regular mail can talk an entire month! Just before Austin signed off, he said, "Wow, I just heard someone swear! That was so weird!" Now there is a great side benefit from living in the MTC!

We cannot wait to get his first email from the Philippines! I can only imagine the sights, sounds and smells that are about to invade his senses.

Week 8

This was Elder Claiborne's final week in the MTC. As you will see from his email, he is pretty excited to be on his way to the Philippines. Elder Claiborne mentions the challenges provided by the MTC and how long his time there has felt. In speaking with other missionaries, it has become apparent to me that while a few love their time spent in the Missionary Training Center, most are anxious to complete that training and be on their way. I equate the MTC training with a boot camp or sorts, or perhaps the training an athlete must endure in preparing to achieve greatness. The MTC is the training ground for a missionary and while not always exciting, is vital in preparing each of the Savior's emissaries to represent him with full purpose of heart.

From here on out, Elder Claiborne's letters will begin to become REALLY interesting! I hope to hear of exotic foods and lifestyle differences. But above all, I look forward to hearing of those whose lives are about to change for eternity because one young man loves the Savior enough to spend two years serving him full-time.

Elder Claiborne mentions Elder Jeffery R. Holland in his post. For those of you who are not members of our church, Elder Holland is one of the 12 Apostles called and set apart as special witnesses of Jesus Christ. This follows the same pattern organized by the Savior when he walked the earth and continued after his death until the great apostasy. You can read about the Savior calling his apostles and the continuation of that organization following his death in, among other places, Luke 6 and Acts 1. Elder Jeffery R. Holland is a favorite speaker among many i n our church. If you are interested in hearing what he has to say, the links to two of my favorite discourses are as follows:

http://lds.org/general-conference/2007/10/the-only-true-god-and-jesus-christ-whom-he-hath-sent?lang=eng&query=only+true+god

http://lds.org/general-conference/2008/04/my-words-never-cease?lang=eng&query=continuing+revelation

As an Apostle, Elder Holland holds the title "Elder" as a lifetime title and priesthood calli ng, whereas Elder Claiborne will only be referred to by that title until the completion of his two year mission.

If you are using dearelder.com to write to Elder Claiborne, remember that you will now need to send the letters "pouch mail". In the future if you want to write to Elder Claiborne and don't want to set up a dearelder.com account, you can forward letters to http://www.blogger.com/deanne.claiborne@hotmail.com and we will see that he gets them. You can also just use the regular mail system, but I don't know the cost of sending a letter. If you intend to send a package, they have weird rules for sending stuff. Basically, if you send a large or expensive package, customs is known to charge an exorbitant surcharge which the missionary will have to pay before retrieving the package. Small things are not a problem. Elder Claiborne has decided that his favorite thing to receive now is pictures from home which is perfect because they are cheap and easy to send.

Elder Claiborne doesn't know it, but there are some planning to meet him at the airport in Salt Lake to send him off with some extra love. He will be sooooo excited! If you live in Salt Lake and want to do the same, I suggest being at the airport at least by 6pm and then just hanging out and looking for a big herd of missionaries! Thanks again to all the people we love in Utah who have been watching out for him for us! We love you!

General Update:

Well it's been a pretty crazy day and crazy week. I finally got everything packed and hopefully I won't have to pay extra for baggage because they haven't been real clear on the regulations for the flight to Hong Kong... It will be an adventure for sure. I'm pretty nervous/scared/excited for my first day in Manila on Wednesday. I feel like I'll be able to express myself for the most part in Tagalog, but I'm scared I won't be able to understand the natives because they will speak so fast.

Tuesday was a pretty amazing day. It was our last devotional at the MTC and none other than Elder Jeffery R. Holland showed up to speak to us. It was an amazing message which answered a lot of prayers I've been looking for answers to. His main message was about how much God loves us. I took a few pages of notes, but I don't have them with me... Maybe next week I can email a few of the things he said. That man is as much of an Apostle as Peter James and John. This is the real deal people.

Usually when something comes to an end, I look back and feel like the time flew. Not this time. I feel like I've been in the MTC for years! I'm so ready to get out there and be with the people. I know all my work here has been service to them, because it has better prepared me to speak to/teach them. When I've kept in mind why I'm here, it helps a lot. It still hasn't been easy so far though. I never expected the plethora of challenges provided in the MTC.

Here's the most updated address I have for letters. I'll be sure to update it as much as possible. I don't really know how it all works for stamps, so I'll leave that up to you guys to figure out!

Elder Austin Claiborne

Philippines Manila Mission

PO Box 1997

Makita Central, Makita City

0714 Metro Manila

Philippines

If you need a phone number to put on anything tracked, here it is:

Phone: 63 2-899-9128

I hope everyone takes some time this week to read their scriptures, and maybe study the atonement. The love Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have for us is unfathomable. Jesus lives. God is good. I miss you all and love you very much.

Love,

Elder Claiborne

P.S. I got an email from my Mother about the BYU win over Ole' Miss. Go Cougs!

Week 7

I love Austin's comment below about the little family at the temple. I can just envision this mom's enthusiasm and the little boy's awe as she introduced him to what should be among every little boy's biggest heroes. Now Austin understands more clearly why we try so hard to have the missionaries in our home every week. We aren't feeding them -- they are feeding us. If you want your sons and daughters to grow up with a desire to serve God on a full-time mission, may I suggest becoming more involved with the missionaries and the missionary effort now? It will instill in them a desire to share the gospel in later years. Thanks for your prayers and other support for Austin. It is knowing how many are cheering him on that spurs him to give his full effort each day. General Update:

Well, the Lord decided to throw some more curve balls my way this past week. I never knew how many various challenges I would have to face in the MTC. I guess I didn't know what to expect here in the first place.

The oldest Philippines district left this week, making my group the oldest district still in the MTC. I guess the only thing real exciting about that, is that means we only have about 2 1/2 more weeks left before we are out of here, and in the Philippines. I'm really excited to get out there because then hopefully I will be able to see some effects of all my work and study. In the MTC, we don't really get to see much of that besides our progress in the language. It's a little scary to think that these are my last 2 1/2 weeks in America for the next 22 months.

On the walk home from the temple today, a family was going on a walk and stopped to talk to my new companion and me. The dad asked if we would shake their sons hand and the mom said to her son "These are the missionaries!" The kids face lit up and he told me his name was John. It was pretty cool for me simply because it was one of the few times we've been able to stand out as actually representatives of Christ.

God bless.

Love, Elder Claiborne

Week 6

Elder Claiborne has had another interesting week at the MTC. In particular, he had two very powerful experiences this week that demonstrated to him personally the importance of following spiritual promptings. In each instance he acted on his prompting and his actions proved to be a tremendous blessing not only to him personally, but to others with whom he is working.

We add to Elder Claiborne's testimony that God speaks to His children through the Holy Ghost. However, it seems we often fail to recognize the promptings we are receiving. Perhaps the question should be not, "Does God speak to His children?" but "Are we listening?"

We are humbled and grateful this week for a Heavenly Father who is mindful of one young man striving to do His will and for a young man who has prepared himself to listen and act on direction from his Father.

August 12, 2011
General Update:

Well, another week down, full of challenges and uplifting moments. I wish I had exciting news about investigators, and how cool my mission is, but while I'm still in the MTC there is not a whole lot of excitement. The days feel like weeks, and they are all pretty similar; lots of studying, lots of reading, and lots of praying.

I love the nights when a letter or two comes in the mail, so for those of you who have been able to send them, thank you. I will be getting some pictures sent to Courtney for her to put on the blog she and my mom are working on. I'm moving forward and will continue to do so.

A dear friend told me this week that I should share my testimony of the Atonement with everyone I come in contact this week. It is impossible to express the extent of my gratitude for the Atonement of our Savior, especially in an email. I'll try and follow my advice though, and share a couple short thoughts. Just know that Jesus Christ is the Redeemer of this world. I know it. The miracle of His life and sacrifice can penetrate even the most difficult struggles and rough times we will experience in this life. He is there. He lives. He loves us and is waiting for us to more fully turn our lives over to Him. Thanks to Jesus Christ, we have the ability to live with God again. Heavenly Father has a plan for all of us, and it is only by and through the infinite Atonement of Christ that any of it is possible.

God bless everyone, you are in my thoughts and prayers.

Love,
-Elder Claiborne

Week 5

Here's Elder Claiborne's post from August 5, 2011:

General Update:

Alright, so I know my update from last week was not the most pleasant.. I probably should have done a better job of censoring my struggles, but I really couldn't do any better than I did. Anybody who is worried, or wondering what happened, don't worry about it. I'm in God's hands so I have to trust that He will take care of things. This week was not easy, in a lot of ways it was just as hard; however, I'll keep all that nonsense to myself because none of what I'm doing on my mission is about me. It's about God's children who need to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The language is coming faster than I ever imagined it would. Don't get me wrong, at times I feel like I can't say or understand a thing, but when I think about the progress I have been able to make, it really is a miracle. For 8 hours of each day, my district has chosen to speak zero English unless we get special permission to do so. We also have to teach every lesson in Tagalog. I may not be eloquent, and I'm sure everything I say is riddled with mistakes, but I am able to say/understand what I need to. Each Thursday night, we have TRC which is an activity where volunteers come and pretend to be investigators so we can teach in various situations. They changed the format however. Now, the volunteers are just themselves, and we have to teach them real lessons in Tagalog that will help them better come unto Christ. One of the people we taught this past time was a man named Oliver. Somehow, I was able to say everything I needed in Tagalog to without stopping to think. The lesson went great, and it impacted Oliver a lot. The spirit was strong in that lesson. It felt really good to be able to actually teach as a missionary, and actually impact someone's life for the better. It wasn't a role play like we do for most of the week.

I'm really starting to love reading the Book of Mormon every day, if you really get into the scriptures, they are amazing. I started reading the Book of Mormon when I got here, and I'm in the middle of Alma right now. It's great.

I have a great district here as well. We don't always agree on everything, but we love each other nonetheless. There is so much to learn from other people when you stop, pay attention, watch and listen. There is also so much we can all do to strengthen others. Some guys in my district do a great job remembering to have fun, some do a great job following the letter of the law at all times. I think as a missionary it is important to find a way to do both. That's what I'm trying to do.

Scripture chapter of the week is 2 Nephi 4. It is an amazing chapter. Read it. I miss everyone and love you all very much. Letters make life a lot easier around here, so please send them!

Love,

Elder Claiborne

Week 4

This was Austin's most difficult week so far. We could sense in his email how hard the adversary has been working on him. Yet there was no indication of anything but a continuing determination to serve God's children. Sometimes it is our deepest struggles that create the greatest opportunities for growth. We can sense Austin's growth even in these few short weeks. As he talked about what a struggle this week has been, Austin shared the following:

"Last night I read something that has made me do everything I can to change my attitude. . . In Preach My Gospel it says that 'the attitude you have toward your mission experience is a reflection of your love toward your Heavenly Father and His Son and your respect for the priesthood.' I know I love the Lord and His Son with all my heart. . . The only way to get through this life is through the grace of the Savior, Jesus Christ. So I will do everything in my power to show my love by having the best attitude toward my mission as possible."

Keep that focus, Elder. The adversary is no match for you AND your Savior.

Week 3

Here's an update from Elder Claiborne. Notice that he attends to the "most important" information first. lol. He might be serving a mission, but he is still a Claiborne. If anyone wants to respond to his not so subtle hint for packages and wants to know what to send, here's our response -- we have NO idea. Sorry. Good luck and thanks for thinking about him:

Hey everyone! I don't have much time to email (like always at the MTC!) but I'll try to fill everyone in on some general updates. First and foremost, the basketball courts finished getting refurnished, and opened up this past Monday! That gives me something more to look forward to each day. Also, no other district has been able to beat the team my district organized, or even get close for that matter. Swag. Something that hasn't opened up yet however, is the Temple. It sure would have been nice to go there these last couple weeks. It will be open for my next preparation day (P-day), which I'm really excited for. That will be a really peaceful, nice break from all the studying we do here each day, I can't wait. Speaking of studying, the language is crazy! It is coming though, slowly, but surely it is coming. The days here are very long, and very tightly scheduled. I've sure had a lot of ups and downs. More downs than ups to be honest... It's been rough on me so far, but I'm still pushing along. I know that the harder I work here in the MTC, the better I will be able to serve the people in the Philippines when I get there. My companion's name is Elder Lindsey. He's from West Virginia, and we get along really well. It is hard adjusting to having a companion all the time though. Oh, and by the way, packages will be very hard and expensive for me to receive when I'm in the Philippines, so if anyone would like to send me packages (like for my birthday on September 7th ;) then please make sure they get here well before September 5th... That is the day I fly to Manila. Oh yeah, and I found out I will be stopping in Hong Kong for a layover and you don't need a visa to leave the airport there, so I get to see Hong Kong for an hour or two. That's exciting. But yeah, please get any packages to me well before September 5th. I miss everyone and love you all very much! Keep me in your prayers, I can use them. I have everyone in mine. God bless.

Week 2

General Update from Elder Claiborne:

Sorry I haven't been able to get any updates out until now. It's pretty crazy in here and we don't really have any time to email, so this will be short. The MTC is a great place for learning and feeling the Spirit. I love that about it. The language is still pretty crazy but it's coming faster than I expected. I'm ahead of most guys in my class I think, but we all still have soooooo far to go. I have a lot of ups and downs while I'm in here emotionally.

I am allowed very little time for emails, so please send letters or use Dearelder.com to write me an email. They will print it and get it to me the same day or day after. We have a LOT more time for letters than we do for emails.

Day Two

This is the Provo, Utah Missionary Training Center (MTC). Approximately 2,000 missionaries reside here at any given time. There are currently 17 Missionary Training Centers throughout the world. The MTC is a missionary's first stop in his/her mission travels. It's purpose is to give missionaries an opportunity to further learn the doctrines of Jesus Christ and to develop and strengthen Christlike attributes. Missionaries who will be speaking their native language generally remain at the MTC for 3 weeks. Missionaries who will be learning a new language generally reside at the MTC for 9 weeks. There are currently almost 50 languages being taught at the Provo, Utah MTC.

The MTC is a self-contained campus containing everything a missionary needs while there. This is a link to an article regarding the MTC if you are interested in learning more click here:

Austin's first few days in the MTC, as expected, were really hard. He was VERY homesick. He was able to email us on his second day to inform us about some shots he needed. Here's an excerpt of his letter:

Here is my experience so far in the first two days:

1. I miss home a lot - yesterday was incredibly hard.

2. I'm having phone withdrawals.

3. The MTC food doesn't settle well -- please send Tums.
4. Our teacher hasn't spoken a word of English and said he isn't going to. I'm doing better than most with the language, but it is still pretty wild.
5. The MTC is like prison, except in prison you get an hour of recreation and we only get thirty minutes.
6. The temple is closed this whole month and the gym is closed for two weeks. -_- Not cool.

I've had some moments of positivity. Seeing friendly faces from BYU has helped me feel a little better, and I saw Joey Scott today and talked for a minute. The Spirit can be really strong here when you focus on it.

Love,
Elder Claiborne

Day One; Orlando Airport

Here is everyone at the airport hamming it up for the camera at the early hour of 5:00 a.m. We were all okay until Austin actually got in line to go through security. Reality check.


Deanne kept thinking to herself, "All these travelers have absolutely no idea what a monumental event is occuring in our lives right now."


There was a cute young family in line next to Austin. Courtney noticed that they kept glancing over at him and talking. Suddenly they said to him, "Good luck, Elder!" That is when Deanne fell apart. It was a reminder to us of what a small world it really is and how the gospel is growing.

Austin reported later that he felt strongly that little family was placed there at that time to help him feel less alone in the world as he boarded his plane. They ended up sitting near him on his flight to Utah. Austin called it one of the Savior's tender mercies.

This is the order in which I think Austin will miss 'people':

1. Becca Menke
2. Olivia, his niece
3. Shadrach and Molly, his dogs
4. Chris Opificius
5. I think the rest of us are all jumbled up somewhere on or below spot #5. ;)

Here is Austin with his best friend, Chris Opificius (one of our "adopted" sons). Chris leaves on November 30th to serve a mission in the Dominican Republic.

Day One; Missionary Training Center

Uncle Jon and Aunt Natalie -- Elder Claiborne's Utah parents. :)

Aunt Nat reports that driving up to the MTC was just as she imagines it will be as we arrive in the Celestial Kingdom. The road was lined with an army of God's angels smiling broadly and waiting to greet incoming missionaries. Even outside the MTC they could feel the great spirit there.

Those who have served a full-time mission will tell you the first days in the MTC are hard. It is a big adjustment learning to turn your focus entirely outward to serve our Savior. Here's Elder Claiborne putting on his best brave smile for the camera. The smile looks a bit staged, doesn't it? He's already feeling the homesickness, but is willing nonetheless to put God's children first. Time to go to work . . .