When one door of happiness closes, another opens;

February 18, 2014

When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.
-Helen Keller

Love you! Excited to see you tomorrow!
Rinna

Still Going Strong! :)

‎Monday‎, ‎February‎ ‎10‎, ‎2014 ‎6‎:‎22‎ ‎PM

Hey there! Life is so good! We've had so much fun these laser few
weeks going back to my first two areas for baptisms. The First week
was Margarita and Sister Aldridge and I taught her and found her by
miracle. It was so amazing to see her again and see how happy she was.
After the actual baptism she hugged me and shared how happy she now is
for having the knowledge of her purpose in life and a new
understanding who Jesus Christ is. The second week we were with Yeral
who we taught when we taught Edwin there is a fun picture on Facebook
with him and the 6 sisters that taught him in order. Haha he's
hilarious. Then yesterday we went to DC 1st ward for  Blanca's
baptism. I was able to teach her a lot in the Visitor Center and it
was a a very special experience.

This mission experience has been so amazing and at the same time
humbling. I have seen changes in people that I never thought was
possible and I have been a small part in helping others come back to
the fold again. I love this opportunity to serve and even though I had
this really worldly moment today with a member who was quoting Kung
Pow....:) I just want to do the best I can with the time I have. Love
you all and I'll be seeing you!

Hermana Corrinne Clement

Ps. Elder Mann voy a escribirte un correo mejor la próxima semana!! Te amo!
 

Miracle in our Ward!

January 13, 2014 at 12:48:42 PM MST

Hello!!

Well we had transfers and I am staying here in Olney II for the rest of my mission!! I love Olney II! I have 2 new companions....Hermana Tuft and my companion once again, Hermana Shaw (we've been together 2x before).

So we have already had a good start together. The cool thing is that Hermana Tuft and I came out together and we go home together!!! So we are both in that last stretch run and Sister Shaw is already getting worn-out she tells us. haha. But she loves it! :) 

So our Spanish ward here has really struggled with having active members, especially men that have the Priesthood and live worthy lives of it. So in many of our councils Bishop Costa has expressed his concerns time and time again, and the Elders and us have been visiting these families and bringing other members to support the effort. Well for what seemed like a long time of nothing....this Sunday 6 of those men came to church that we have worked with and the Bishop called them into his office. All six of them accepted the invitation to prepare to receive the Priesthood!!! That is so huge in this ward! Just for Shoemaker's & Word's sake (Roman Salvador, Manuel and Angel Gomez, Nelson Miranda, Nelson Medina and Luis Vasquez) They all were full of joy and excitement as they participated in classes and talked to us after church. :) I cannot tell you how feliz I am right now. I'm not going to lie, my heart has always been more toward those who are struggling in the Gospel (members that are less active) and to see this happen while I am here just testifies to me that the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Faith, Repentance (change), Baptism (Sacrament), Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End) which is our purpose as missionaries, applies to  everyone no matter if we are non-members, active members or less-active members. We are all always in need of the healing that it brings. We just have to choose to live it, and keep living it. 

I am really grateful for my companions right now. It could not have been more inspired, this companionship. I see the end, yet I see how much there is still yet to do here and I pray with all of my heart that we have the strength to finish it strong. We have been doing a lot to establish the Ward's mission plan...not as easy as we thought. But, we down-sized it from a long multiple-page document, to a one page picture of the Temple and boxes with goals of each individual organization. We also decorated the falling apart missionary work bulletin board all cute in the church building. :) Good things are happening here! We have new awesome member referrals that we are teaching and we are walking in the cold! I have learned so much about working with people, and wards. I love this mission! and I love being able to follow promptings that lead us to talk to people that the Lord knows need the Gospel. 

I truly have grown in my understanding of why this is the only true church of Christ. It has taken time, but I can see a lot more clearly now than I once did. 

I love you all! And I'll be seeing you soon!!...but not too soon! :) 

Love,

Hermana Corrinne Clement

Hey There!

January 8, 2014

So I have tried to send pictures a couple of times but these computers have many problems and it just gets sad staring at the screen waiting 20 min for one picture to load....I'm pretty patient, but that's pushing it. haha.

But I love you all!! :) This week was the last week of the Big Festival of Lights!! And we had our first night back in our area teaching again! :) It's a bitter-sweet transition but we have been readjusting to the normal missionary schedule and getting back into setting up nightly appointments. It feels so good! We have had a lot of neat experiences with finding new people and this week is full of really awesome people to teach. This Saturday, also was the baptism of Katie Li...not Spanish. she is an Investigator that I along with many other Sisters at the Visitor Center have had the privilege to teach. She is so awesome!! And I have this picture of her with a bunch of Sisters that were at her baptism. It was a neat day.

So we found out that Hermana Graff is leaving Olney II and we find out tomorrow night where she will be going. She has been pretty sick and Sunday morning she was coughing and congested really bad, but she fought through it and went to church to share her testimony for the last time. She loves these members so much and it's going to be hard for her to leave. :( I'm going to miss her too. We have gone through a lot of stuff together and we have learned a lot about failure and bouncing back. 

One kinda funny experience we had was when we went to contact a referral named Fernin that the Elders had had no luck with. Well, we get there not expecting too much and this man opens the door and is on the phone but looks excited and lets us in. We walk in and see his wife who is just beaming at us and after he ended the phone call they just start chatting it up with us like we were best friends. It was awesome!! haha. So after we taught a short message and got a return appoint. Ana, the wife, prayed and I don't know what happened but I got a bad itch in my throat and started coughing during her prayer...at the end she looked up at me and asked, very seriously, what happened? I just said it was an itch in my throat but she got all nervous and asked if her prayer had caused it. I assured her no. The whole mood changed and as we left she just starred at me and didn't say much. SO.....I hope that she will not take that as a bad sign or something. But we will find put this Sat.

This is going to be a good transfer, I can feel it! And I just need your prayers to help me finish strong and give everyday my all. I love you and  thank you for the Christmas you all gave me! You rock!

Hasta ver!

Hermana Corrinne Clement

Really Fast!

December 30, 2013

Hey all of you!

It was so good talking to most all of you!!! Missed you Kris, Cara,Cam, Camylle, and Claire. BUT I love you all so much! Christmas was great! the program turned out to be very sweet and the spirit was strong. Can't ask for anything more than that! :) And to make it all better the Sisters felt excited and felt happy to be a part of it...even if it was their only time they've performed in their life! It was all worth it!

So for Christmas we had a half day conference as a mission and watched Monsters University and had a talent show!! No way Gyver, I played the uke with our zone and we did Rudolf as well.. :) Good stuff. We put together a crazy jamboree of dancing, duck call whistling, and glitter! It was intense and funny. ha.

Christmas eve was so fun with all of the Senior missionaries that read us stories and sang us songs till about 11:30 at night. It was exactly what the sisters needed that night. Then Santa came!! (thanks family) super spoiled this year...probably not a good thing. ha. But we did get to teach a lot both nights as so many people from around the world filled up the Visitor Center that did not have Christian backgrounds. We saw their faces light up as they felt the love and peace of the season. And then I got to skype the Mann's the next day and Elder Mann was on the other Ipad. :) That was a special moment. And I just want to Thank you you all for making it all possible. I love you all! I'm praying for you all! And I hope you have a fun time this week for new year's and that you make a goal to center your life this year on the things that matter most. :) :) Love you!!!

Hermana Corrinne Clement

Heyo!

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Hey Family! 

So Festival of Lights is still going strong. We are all still alive and feeling the Christmas Spirit. It is like living in a Christmas fantasy land everynight...but it is even better because we get to share the Gospel and testify of Jesus Christ. :) I love you all so much and guess what....(Gyver included) our mission is allowed to skype this Christmas!!!! And it gets even better: We get 1 hour! :) So much better than a 40 min phone call!! So we need to figure that out! Hermana Graff and I will be with Missy Bethke (a member from the English ward in our stake) so she will probably call you mom and dad to make any specific coordination. But email me when and how we can do it....I think some of you are going to Mexico? Haha. Anyway, I'll get Missy to call you.

I don't have much time because the Library was closed yesterday and our P-day was half of the normal time BUT we had miracles!!! Gaby (from Glenmont ward) went on her mission! And I wrote a cool christmas song from a poem that an Elder wrote. I'm going to play/sing it Christmas morning for the mission. Should be fun! Carla, this awesome woman from El Salvador that we are teaching is in the Hospital from an ulcer and she just got fired....I pray that miracles come for her. She is so good and has a strong desire to learn the Gospel. I hope all is well and I will write more later!!

Take care and as for the kiddos....there is a special something coming your way. :) 

LOVE

Hermana Corrinne Clement

p.s.  Elder Mann...it's more getting pulled into music things than game things. they say, "oh you do music!" haha. I feel ya though.

It's Starting!!!!

December 2, 2013 at 12:27:03 PM MST

Festival of Lights starts tonight!!! :)

Man, this has been a fun past weeks of rushing to get everything ready for the month of December. Tonight is the lighting ceremony and it is closed to the public and only Ambassadors and their families are invited to come. Then this Thursday is for the Diplomats and their families. I remember myself here at this time last year thinking to myself..."what in the world is going on?" Now I get it. :) Took a little bit. The most confusing thing was that last year all that I remember from my training for these nights was to smile and look pretty (because we aren't allowed to invite ambassadors to learn more) so I just smiled really big last year.. this year I see much more of the big picture! It is really such a special night that involves bringing these highly influential people into the visitor center to feel the Spirit and meet members. By doing so, hopefully creating a good experience to look back on as they look at missionaries waiting for visas...or if their country is debating about having missionaries allowed there. It is a much bigger deal than I thought last year. Don't worry I'm still gonna smile big. haha

Thanksgiving was a lot of fun! We ate with two families and they both sent us home with way more than we can eat..which is normal. ;) Also, we were able to teach their families about God and why we would give thanks to him. Not all of their families are members and so we shared a broader message. The first dinner with Hermana Ranjabar we had the English Sisters there as well and they all speak other languages so we had fun with that. (German, Portuguese, Japanese, and us with Spanish) We sang I am a child of God with my uke and in all of the languages. Hermana Ranjabar's niece and nephew wanted to learn more and accepted a Book of Mormon. Super awesome!!

Hermana Graff and I are doing great! She loves singing jazz so we do that a lot and we are planning out songs to go caroling this month on a street corner somewhere so if you are out here in DC look for us!!! I love you all so much! Hope your Thanksgiving was magical and I look forward to talking to you in 23 days!! :)

Love,

Hermana Corrinne Clement