An Evil Duck

Hayden mentions the phrase "Un Pato Malo" in his email this week. Since I don't speak Spanish, I had to translate it. The Google translation is "an evil duck". I'm guessing that is not the same meaning he is using. Why on earth would you ask someone if they are an evil duck? It seems I have a long list of questions for Hayden to clarify when he gets home. This one will be at the top of the list...

"I`ll make it short this week!

Don`t ask people if they are "Un Pato Malo" because they show you their pistols to prove it. I also saw two 250 pound women get in a fist fight with rocks. It was lovely!

We are teaching the Familia Gabriel that are 5 Hatians! They should be baptized soon. Gloria and a couple others as well, should be baptized.

We live in a sweet apartment! It`s on the 18th floor.. Directly above and below us live other missionaries. So we always kinda just open up the windows and hang out a bit.

My chapel is the biggest in South America.. Or at least that's what they tell me. It`s got a basketball court too.. So we played today!

I love the mission! District leader with sister missionaries isn`t all that bad. My comp is from CANCUN so I will be visiting him after the mission.

My sector is supposed to be one of the hardest.. We will see what happens!

Peace.

Elder Clegg"

Hello and Goodbye

Transfers happened this week. Yes, Hayden got moved to a new area with a new companion. I can't imagine how difficult it was for him to say goodbye to Ochagavia. I know that place will hold a spot in Hayden's heart for eternity. He met some of the most humble people and was able to train a companion who changed his life. It seems he is excited for new adventures though. Change is hard...especially when it involves your heart!


"Whaddup,

Just hearing some Snoop Dogg here in my new sector. It`s another great one. Got some nice ghetto parts, but it`s also got some nice rich parts. So we are good here. Any sector that plays Snoop Dogg while you`re typing is a good sector. Haha!

Leaving Diagonal was the worst thing ever! I was so sad to leave my comp Elder Baten.. my kid in the mission.. and the ward. That place is like my baby.

I am pumped for this new sector. My house is dope. It`s right on the outskirts of the big city! I live on the 18th floor of an apartment and it`s got a killer view. My comp is Elder Ocaña from Mexico who just finished his training. Seems like a good guy!

This ward is strong.. 160 members who go to church. I am pumped! My old ward was weak and we had to work so hard to keep people in the church.

I also have to deal with a lot more stuff this change because there are a lot more people in my district. I have to worry about the dreaded... Hermanas... Uh oh. I hear Hermanas always have problems, but we will see what happens!

That`s all for this week! Don`t have time to do anything else!

Love ya`ll,
Elder Clegg"

He Loves Us!

We were able to Skype Elder Clegg on Mother's Day! It looked like it might not happen due to technical difficulties, but in the end it all worked out! He looked so happy. He still has a great sense of humor, but he has definitely picked up a Spanish accent. He loves the work, the people and the area so much. It will be hard for him to change areas if that happens. We find out on Monday!


"Hey all!

This week was fantastic! We had a bunch of people come to church that I never expected.. They all came! We made a baptismal date with a dude who we saw robbing people one day.. We found Miguel and Natalí.. They are both gonna get baptized. We had a bunch of people at church. Overall.. everything is going down great with teaching. Looks like it`s getting set up perfectly to leave this change. :( I really hope I don`t leave this next week!

We went to the temple with some converts! I love watching them do baptisms for the dead!

I talked to my family on Mother's Day. They love me. Haha I also love them.

With some of the sad stuff that has happened to Sister Missionaries in South America, everybody is overly protective of the missionaries right now. They might be able to attack my shins if things get pretty gnarly.. They are definitely some really big people.

That`s all I`ve got this week folks.

Elder Clegg

My Ward Mission Leader thought it was pretty cool to take this picture.. Not sure why! Sometimes you`ve gotta turn up a bit."

May the 4th...Be With You

Hayden has LOVED Star Wars his entire life. He would reenact epic light-saber battles in our backyard...by himself or with Mike. Mike usually had to be the bad guy. Hayden still owns light sabers and when he heard that a new set of Star Wars movies were coming out, he was downright giddy. It must have been pretty exciting to have the chance to write home on May the 4th. I mean, who gets to use that in a subject line? Except for him, it is more like, "Que el cuarto estar contigo..." (Blame Google translate if that is slaughtered.)

Read on to see what epic things have happened this week for Elder Clegg.


"MAY THE 4th BE WITH YOU!

I know it`s super cliche, but I have to be able to say it sometime. I am a Star Wars fan and I will be dressing up as a Jedi for Halloween 2016. Just to make that clear right now.

This week was crazy. So many miracles.

We were walking in the street one day and we saw a group of people huddled around some teenager that had some weird deal going on.. He was screaming and wouldn`t get up.. So his mom runs up to us and is like, "I`m Baptist and my kid won`t get up.. can you do something?" So we walk over and I say "Hola" and he gets up.. The people about crapped their pants after seeing us do that! Haha

Then I was super sick.. for one day. My comp gave me a blessing.. I went to bed and I was good as new in the morning.

We baptized a girl that has been waiting 7 years to get permission from her parents. We had to work so hard for that. She reminds me so much of my little sister Aubrey, that I felt so strongly about getting that done!

There are so many great things happening here in the mission field. I just typed this in like 2 minutes flat.. That was pretty sweet.

Love you all!

Elder Clegg"



Pic of us and the Mom who finally gave el permiso

My comp and me

Bautismo