...From Sister Zandra Vranes

Hi Sister Wellesley and Sister Clawson! I got to hang with your lovely ladies again this evening. We may or may not have snuck onto the Boise State smurf turf...☺️. Clearly your girls are spiritual their steaks caught the Spirit of God like a fire is burning...LOL! We went out for Argentinian food tonight and then they were off to teach a new investigator! Hope you Moms had a great Mother's Day, the ladies couldn't stop gushing about how great their Skype calls were.

Don't tell the Elders but we just love having Sister missionaries in the ward, I think they even smell a little sweeter than the boys. ;)

So many meetings!

 This week has been a very interesting week. We had two huge meetings, one was for the new missionaries and the other was our zone conference! They were both super good and we learned a TON! Missionary work itself went kinda slow but we were able to see quite a few people between all the meetings and service projects. We were asked to help at an elementary school festival with the fishing for prizes booth and man, little kids can swing pretty hard. We both got hit a couple of times!Then we learned to stand back! hahaha Not much to talk about this week but I'm sure I'll have more next week sorry! I love you all so much and hope that everyone is doing well! I do know that the church is true no matter what ANY body says! I know what I have felt and experienced and I can NOT deny it! I love you all!!!

--

<3 Sister Ashley Clawson

Mothers Day!!!!!!!!!!

 I gota say that this week was super hard because of the anticipation of seeing my family!!! AND it was SOOOO worth the wait! I love them soooo much and it was definitely that pick me up that I needed!

 On Monday, we had a super fun time doing sports with the Zone! We were playing ultimate football and Sister Dale went to block me but couldn't stop so she ran straight into me and I had no chance I fell straight on my butt!! It was the FUNNIET thing ever! hahhaa only like a couple weeks into being companions and she is already tackling me!!! hahaha Then Sister Pahuloo ,a big Tongan Sister who is HALARIOUS, was trying to protect herself from Sister Dale and was telling her that they were on the same team and not to tackle her! hahaha much too funny! We went on a huge bike ride that night with Bruno and man along side the Boise river, there is a bike/walking trail that is called the green belt! It is so beautiful! Something I want to ride completely when I come back to visit!

 One thing I have learned on my mission is when it's not someone's time to accept the Gospel, it's just not their time...We have a very nice family that we see cuz they wanted some questions answered and at first, they were very nice, then it turned into a bash the Mormons and make the New Sister cry....it's really hard because his daughter was promised in a blessing that her dad would join the church...hopefully, one day his heart will be softened...but that time is not now. During times like these I have to remind myself that EVERYONE is a child son or daughter of God!

   Exchanges=Miracles! We switched companions for the day and I got to be with Sister Maness!!! She is stinken awesome! We have served in the same district before but never together! Well that morning Tre emails/texts us and says that he wants to meet! So we plan it for that morning at 11 am! Some scary stuff happened at his place last week so we took him to the institute building and talked about Faith, Repentance, Baptism, receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Sacrament! Then he brought up something that made me sooo happy! He said that as soon as he has completely stopped smoking he said he will pray about a date to be baptized!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wahoo!!!!! We also received a referral that is super interested! His boss is LDS and they were already planning on inviting missionaries over..hence the referral! haha

  We had Zone meeting this week and we talked about how to introduce the Book of Mormon to people better by actually emphasizing the fact that it is another estimate of Jesus Christ! Something that a lot of people leave out for some reason! Something super cool is that the first time the Book of Mormon mentions Christ by this name is in 2 Nephi chapter 10! just a fun fact :) I started the Book of Mormon over again about a month ago and have been marking every time it refers to Christ and says his name and all and man my eyes have been open to how much it talks about Christ! I always knew that it was about Christ and His teachings but I never realized that it is ALL about Him!

  I love when dogs escape out of their house and don't listen to their owners....we chased the dog down and finally caught her and I was all muddy, which was perfectly fine with me. I didn't care but the member did and instead of telling us to come back, which he was about to do before the dog darted out of the house, he had us come in and we were able to talk with his wife! She is a member and we have been trying to get her to read the Book of Mormon and she told us she hasn't started yet but her desire is there she just has to sit down and do it now! haha When we were talking about her desire that she has she started to tear up and said its all because of me! She said that for some reason I was sent here to help her come back to the church and she doesn't know what she is going to do when I leave! It was such a sweet tender mercy from the Lord showing me that I am doing what He has sent me here to do and that I am touching peoples lives! She wants me to come back next summer and go float down the river with her since she has never gone! I love being a missionary!!!!

  Speaking of people coming back to the church we got to see Mike and get to know her a bit more! I think she wants to set me up with her son too! At first it was flattering when people would say that but now...not so much! haha

 Mothers day was great! Loved the primary children's songs and yes, I teared up and I had the funniest conversation with the kids that were sitting behind me. They are super rambunctious and this is how it went when their mom had to take their youngest brother out:

  me:  Do you think you can pretend that your bottom is glued to the seat? 

  boys: no

  boys: Do you think you can pretend your eyes are glued to the speaker?

  me: can you?

  Boys: no

  me: then no and shh!

  Boys: you can't make me shush, no one can!

  me: you want to bet? I can just come sit next to you ;)

  boys: never!!!!

hahaha, This boy has attitude but he's a sweetheart! I love little kids!!!!

 

  I got some super cool news during my Skype time! Justin, my friend from high school got baptized and invited me to come!!!! It was the coolest news ever! As I was thinking about that this morning I was looking back at my life and realized that I have had many missionary opportunities in the past but have never done anything about them or really realized it! I love what the Gospel can do for peoples lives! I have seen it first had transform peoples lives in ways they never expected!!! I know that Jesus Christ is MY Savior and he died for MY sins! I know I can't ever do anything that will repay what He has done for me but I will do EVERYTHING and ANYTHING to let Him know that I fully appreciate, even though I still don't fully understand everything that He has done for me! I love you all and pray for you! Stay strong and Safe and carry on!

--

<3 Sister Ashley Clawson

 

Pictures!

 

 

 

 

1. I like taking pictures what can I say? haha

 

2. Flowers are my favorite thing to take pictures of if you cant tell! haha

 

 

3. Oh, I totally forgot! This sister got home in July from her mission and is up for the weekend and ran into the AP's and asked if there were any sisters in the area and they gave her our number so she drove us around and we had a blast seeing people and talking and she took us to Sonic before we went home! I want to be like her! She called us up and said that she was bored so why not go out with the sisters! hahaha

 

4. We painted flowers with two older folks at the retirement center and helped set up and serve for their Mother's day tea it was a lot of fun! I love service!

 

5. AZ! Home sweet home! For the both of us!

 

6. Our bike ride! Just beautiful!!!!!

7. A shot with Bruno down by the river!

 

8. Me and Sister Dale!


--

<3 Sister Ashley Clawson

...Mother's Day Letters from the Summerset Ward

My mother's day gift were these buaitiful letters from members of the Apr 27, 2015
Brother and Sister Clawson,
We are so grateful for your daughter serving here in Boise, Idaho. We wish she was still in the Summerset Ward, She is a beautiful girl with a bright testimony and an enthusiasm for life. She touched many lives while serving here and we are thankful to have felt of her light and love for the Savior. I have heard her testimony many times and especially was touched as she spoke on the Gift of the Holy Ghost at a baptism. I appreciated having Sister Clawson over to eat dinner and share lessons with my family in our home. She is so patient and would figure out a way to gear the lessons to my kids' level even when they are being very rambunctious. :) She is going to be such a good wife and mother someday. I also admire Sister Clawson's ability to reach the youth. She's always willing to love and invite and smile. We made a video for the your of all of us leaders and we wanted to involve the missionaries. I wasn't quite sure how to coordinate with all of the missionaries in our stake, so I called Sister Clawson and she set everything up and had the missionaries come in different groups to be filmed. She's someone you know you can rely on and will get a job done. The video turned out to be a lot of fun. Maybe I can get you a cop somehow.

We hope you have a wonderful Mother's Day! Thanks for sharing our daughter with us!
Becca (and Skye) Root

~~~

Apr 29, 2015
Dear Bro. and Sis Clawson,

We enjoyed having your daughter serve in our ward very much. She was always enthusiastic and cheerful. She loved her work and made things happen! She was attentive to the needs of our less active members and was vocal in making sure those needs were met. As a result, several families and individuals have become more involved and committed in the gospel.

We love having the missionaries to dinner, especially because our children are grown and we love interacting with younger people! She was always appreciative of our efforts and interested in our lives. Such a great talent! We did take her and her companion to an Ethiopian restaurant one night for dinner. Since we didn't feel well the next day, we are afraid that they didn't either. But they wouldn't admit it. Which just shows how lovely Sis Clawson (and her companion) are.

We missed her when she transferred, but we are sure thta she will do great work wherever she is sent on her mission - and in the future, as well.

Thanks for sharing her with us.

Ann and Patrick Costello
Summerset ward
Boise West Stake

~~~

Apr 27, 2015
Dear Brother and Sister Clawson,
My name is Sherry Hatcher aka: crazy lady at Walmart, If she didn't tell you about me then she didn't do what she promised she would do. When my son was on his mission and even now, I would go up to all of the missionaries that I would see at Walmart and tell them that no missionary was safe since my son was on a mission. Then I would encourage them to write a detailed letter to their parents and to make sure they sent a picture of their cute little face. If their letter didn't include the crazy lady at Walmart it wasn't detailed enough. She loved to ask me how many missionaries I got that Monday.
We LOVED having Sister Clawson in our ward! She was a wonderful missionary. She loved to do service and there were several times she would rope me into it. We worked together in packing up a house that had a fire 4 days before Christmas. She loved to have me come with her and her companion when they taught discussions especially the chastity one and there were several discussions where she would love to harass me or embarrass me. If every you needed something done all you would have to do is ask and if it was too big of a job she would round up some Elders. I loved to have them over for dinner because she would rave about how good my cooking was even if it wasn't top notch that day. She especially loved coming over to my house when my newly returned missionary was home. (I think she had a crush on him, but was disappointed when he found a girlfriend right away!). Thanks for sharing her with us.
Sherry Hatcher

~~~

 

Sister Clawson has been a delight to become acquainted with. She is always happy and positive. Her beautiful smile is contagious. We loved having her in the Summerset ward.
Sandy Sanford

~~~

May 1, 2015
Sister Clawson,
We want to let you know how much we've come to love your daughter Ashley (Sis Clawson) as she has served in our ward as a missionary.
She has such a wonderful spirit and testimony which she has shared with us as she and her companion have visited in our home. We've felt as if she could be one of our granddaughters.
We will miss her as she has moved on to a new assignment.
Thank you for sending her into the mission field.
Her spirit reflects the love of good parents and especially her mother.
May the Lord bless you!
Sincerely, Tom and Muriel Timothy
Boise, Idaho

~~~

Apr 27, 2015
Dear Brother and Sister Clawson:
It was a delight to have your daughter serve in our ward. We had her in our home on a few occasions for dinner. Her bright personality lit up a room. I saw her help out a neighbor on our street to trim her overgrown willow tree. A very BIG project! She enlisted the help of the elders to get the job completed. It actually became a catalyst for that neighbor to take a little more interest in her yard.

Your lovely daughter also played the flute in our sacrament meeting at Christmas time! It was wonderful to have that sparkly touch at the holidays. She played well and nobody would know that there have even been a gap in time since she had played. She was also able to play flute in our ward conference in January., an obbligato for He Sent His Son! It was lovely and the stake presidency remarked on how well it all sounded... but I think the flute added a brilliant touch that enhanced the singing.

I'm sure you have missed her very much. We are appreciative of your faith in sharing your daughter with us up here in Boise, Idaho Summerset Ward. She's delightful and possesses a confident testimony that will continue to build up the Lord's kingdom throughout her life!

Sincerely, Mary & John Gagnon

~~~

Apr 27, 2015
Dear Bro and Sis Clawson,
We love our sweet and amazing Sister Missionary (even though she was transferred) Sis. Clawson. We loved when she came into our home...She always brought the sunshine with her. And when she would teach us a gospel principle it was taught with humility and power. We have felt her testimony, her love, her joy for life, and her desire to share the gospel through love. She is a delight to be with and we do miss her.

We have watched her junior companion grow because of the example that Sis, Clawson set. She taught with love an kindness. She taught as the Savior taught.

Thank you for having enough faith and courage to send her on a mission. I know that she has touched man, many lives and has made our little area of the world a much better place.

We love and pray for her.
Happy Mother's Day.
Jay and Gail Minor

~~~

26 April 2015

For Sister Clawson's Mother:
One Sunday, a few months ago, one of the Sister missionaries spoke, just before she was to be transferred. She had been in our ward for quite a wile, so we had gotten accustomed to her spirit, and were sad to see her o, but happy for others who would get to know her.

I her talk, she shared part of a letter her mother had sent to encourage her on her mission. As a writer, I was impressed not only with her mother's skill, using parallel sturchture to make teachings memorable, bus also with the care and compassion with which she taught er missionary daughter of human nature, divine expectations, and choosing wisely.

Mothers have influence in the lives of their children in all stages of their lives and in every circumstance. The wisdom of her mother, and the care she felt for her daughter, were evident in the shared letter, as well as in the sister's work as a missionary in our area. I was pleased to discover that this sister missionary was recognized a stake and a city away from where she served. Other missionaries serving here knew her spirit and her work. I'm sure that if the 2000 strppling warriors had been young women, this sister missionary would have been one of them

Happy Mother's Day!
Sandy McCarty

~~~

One evening Sister Clawson and her companion came by my home. I had my grandchildren, Brisa and Mitchell there on that Friday night.

Those sweet sister missionaries were so tender and good to us. They were fun and we taught a new card game that neither of them had played before.

Then they taught us great truths of Christ and shared scriptures and their testimonies. Brisa and Mitchell had an aunt on a mission and I know it was so good for them to see what their Aunt Deruse might have been doing on her mission.

I am thankful for the sacrifice and devotion of your dear daughter and my testimony was strengthened by her great service!
Sister Madge Nelson

~~~

Apr 27, 2015

For Sister Clawson's mother,
I imagine that you are everything that a mother should be because the example of your daughter. I am sure that you are a big part of her becoming the beautiful young woman and missionary she is today. We have loved her in our ward. Unrelenting in her missionary work, service and compassion. She is a reflection of goodness!
We so enjoyed having her in our home for dinner and conversation. I am occasionally involved in feeding the missionaries during zone conference so I am able to observe most of the missionaries. She was the one sister that came to my aid. Without asking she was at my side cleaning up and helping in the kitchen when most of the others left. I love that she is so conscious about acts of service.
We enjoyed listening to her play her flute during our sacrament meetings. You can feel her testimony as she plays with great emotion and love for the instrument. This brought much joy to all of us during Christmas. Her music brought the spirit into the meeting with her gift and there was a feeling of reverence that permeated the room.
As I watched her, I can only hope that my girls and granddaughters will have the same kind of love and devotion of the Savior. Thank you for sharing her with us. I don't even know you but I love you because of your daughter.
Sincerely,
 Sister Cheri Hessing

~~~

Dear Sister Clawson,
Your daughter Ashley lived in y home for six months where I learned a lot from her. She is friendly and bold and her smile can melt the coldest hearts. I have lived in the Summerset ward over 30 years and in a few months she knew every inch and member of the ward much better that I did. She spoke often of how much she loved her mom and your chose relationship/ I'm sure you're proud of her as many more in the Boise, Idaho mission do and we love her too.

Helen Wilkes

~~~

One last one that the Bishop of the Summerset ward sent

 Apr 27, 2015

Sister Clawson's mother:
Happy Mother's Day! My name is Skye Root and I am currently the Bishop of he Summerset Ward where your daughter served for six months as an outstanding and committed missionary. You and your family should be very proud not only of her qualities as a missionary but her qualities as a person, a daughter of God who knows who she is. While she planted plenty of her own seeds her in the Summerset ward, she was also able to do substantial harvesting. We appreciate her efforts to effectively harvest, for it became our harvest. You no doubt raised her to be an effective teacher, communicator and "inviter" and those skills greatly blessed our ward. Her testimony is strong and her faith great. However, I think what makes her most effective is her genuine love for the people she teaches and serves. This outspoken love allows her to be bold without offending, a rare combo. You've raised a wonderful daughter who blessed my ward, my community, my family and me as she served here. We were sad to see her go. I would be very happy if she was one of my daughters and treated her as such while she was here. Thank you for loaning her to the Boise Mission, and specifically the Summerset war, for a season. She';; be home before you know it!

Bishop Skye Root

...Update to previous post

The previous member was actually Zuandra Vranes, co-author Diary of Two Mad Black Mormons. She will be speaking at Time out for Woman in Phoenxi on November 13th and 14th.

...Text from a member

Hi Sister Clawson & Sister Wellesley,

I just had dinner (Thai food) with your fabulous missionaries. Got them all caught up on the latest gospel-gossip ;) and they both tried duck for the first time. I'm a vegetarian, but the sisters said it was delicious. Thanks for being willing to miss them for a while so that Boise could be blessed with them!

 

You are so welcome! Our ward has been dying to get sister missionaries and we finally did/ The ladies said they can't wait to call y'all on Sunday. Wish you both a happy Mothers Day!

1 Corinthians 9:16

 

Today at 2:07 PM

  So I got to tell ya'll that I LOVE the temple! It is seriously the best place in the world!!!! Million times better then Disneyland! hahaha I love going and receiving so much comfort and revelation! So since Maureen had passed before my eyes, my mind has been super clogged. Kind of feels like when your nose is super stuffed and you can't breath or really do anything. I didn't realize how bad it was until we tried to do some weekly planning and I couldn't think of anything or anyone. It was hard. So that night I prayed and asked what I should do to fix it. I ended my prayer and promised my Father in Heaven that I would humble myself and ask for a priesthood blessing. I don't know why it is so hard for me to ask for one but I do know that the priesthood has been given to us as a gift to help us and so we need to use it. Just like going to the temple we need to allow it to become apart of our lives,  not just when we are on the last string like I was. After we were done with our temple trip I got my answer that the priesthood blessing that I would receive the next day would be a big benefit for me! So the next day I asked Elder Cornell for a blessing and, almost immediately after, my mind was free and clear! I love the power of the Priesthood!

  Can I tell you how much it means to missionaries when people pay for our meals! It brings tears to my eyes every time I think about it! It's not the act of saving us money but the realization that we are called of God on the Savior's errand to bring OUR brothers and sisters back to live with us again in the presence of OUR Heavenly Father! I love this calling and I pray that every worthy young man AND young woman will go on a mission! It will change your life in ways that you could NEVER have even dream about!

  In November two young boys were baptized and their sister was still only 7 and she was devastated that she wouldn't be baptized with them. On Saturday May 2, Brooklyn was able to be baptized and this time by her dad! He wasn't able to baptize his sons but he was able to baptize his daughter! And MAN was it an amazing thing to watch and to see him stand in the circle for her confirmation! This family has come so far! Lacie wouldn't let any members come into her house until she met us now she is active! Their dad was living in a place where he didn't have his records in the ward now he has baptized his daughter and his new wife is baptized and they are planning on having her son to be baptized soon and to go do baptisms for the dead in the Salt Lake temple! Miracles do happen I PROMISE you!!!!

  I know that God answers prayers and will help guide us to the people he knows we can help wherever we go! I have always wanted to live in Mesa AZ my whole life but with what I have learned now on my mission is that whereever Heavenly Father wants me I will go because I know now that He will use me as a tool in bringing His children back to Him! And He does that with ALL of us! All we need to do is put our trust in Him! I love you all so much!
--

<3 Sister Ashley Clawson

 

 

My district at the temple!

 

Look its Arizona!!!!! home sweet home!

 

Yup, these are our funny faces

 

 Me and my little Brooklyn I promise that she does smile! hahaha shes the one that reminds me of Macky May!

 

 Hears the family who are ALL members now and are progressing to further blessings!
 

Look who I got to see!!! Peggy, Spencer and their son Richard whom I have never met and his wife and my 3 month old new baby boy cousin! It was a sweet experience to meet them and connect my family together even more!

 

So Sister Dale decided that this dog is wearing WAY too much eye liner! Man, were we tired that day!!!!

 

This, my friends, is the "crazy lady at Walmart" that is what she has named herself. It's Sister Hatcher from my last ward and I have never seen her at Walmart before now! hahahaha