Telemarketers

Recently I read somewhere that one of the women in the Church Auxiliary Presidencies uses telemarketing phone calls to her home as a means of sharing the gospel.  I was inspired by that, so I decided to give it a try!  Sure enough, one called and I didn't even let him get past "Hello".  I started talking faster than I ever thought I could.  I shared with him the Plan of Salvation.  I asked him if he knew who Jesus Christ was and he said "Yes".  (He was still on the line!)  I said some more stuff and then turned him over to the missionaries in his area.  Then I hung up.  My heart was going to explode. I was sweating and I felt like I had just done something amazing.  I could not wait to tell Hayden that I did some missionary work!  In my next email, I told him all about it.  I was sure he would tell me how proud he was of me!  Instead, he showed me up.  Read on...

"Haha that makes me laugh about the telemarketer thing, because I got the chance to do it this week as well! I´ve been wanting to do it a ton! I got the baptismal invite in on the phone!"

Yep!  He got the baptismal invite in on the phone!  I have a lot to learn about this technique.  Good thing Hayden will be home in a month and I can watch the pro in action!

PCCB

After we finished our Mother's Day Skype call with Hayden, I could tell he was struggling with wanting to come home.  He was so unsure of coming home and needing to make big decisions, as well as remembering how to live in the "real world".  In the mission, Hayden is sure of what he is doing every day.  His schedule is set, his routine in place and he is VERY comfortable.  So, I went to work.  I prayed that his heart would be able to remember some of the little things he loves about home.  Over the course of the last several emails, I can tell he is starting to remember.  The spirit is reminding him of those things that are "home" to him.  One of those is pumpkin chocolate chip bread.  He loves it!  Although pumpkin chocolate chip bread may seem like a small reminder of home, it is a big reminder to me that Heavenly Father answers prayers.

"I´m doing well down here! Just a crazy week! We did two divisions. I went to Talagante and 5 de Abril. It´s been cool to go back to all of my old zones and see the fruits that keep on giving. So many stories to tell! 

As an AP, no day is ever the same! We do a TON of classes and meetings and stuff. We drive quite a bit. We are with President way more than anyone else, but not too much either! We go to his house sometimes to plan. We travel a lot. We run errands. We work in our sector. It´s all pretty cool! 

I´m just getting pumped to eat Pumpkin chocolate chip bread. Haha!"

Busy Busy Busy

Our family loves Christmas movies!  One of my all time favorites is Frosty the Snowman.  Mike and I quote it all the time.  This clip (I sure hope it works) describes Hayden's time in his mission right now.  Time is winding down and he is trying to accomplish all he can.  I love that he is staying busy. I love that he is giving it all he has.  I love that I get to see his face in less than seven weeks!

"I´m tired as all get out, my body is dead, but I know that there are still a couple more people down here for me to find! Maybe you´d also find it cool that I have written on my desk, 'Be the type of missionary that your Mom thinks you are'. Haha that phrase has motivated me so much!"

Heavenly Father is in Charge

As Hayden has served his mission, I have seen Heavenly Father's hand manifested in so many ways.

In his growing up years, I can see that Hayden was given the opportunity to meet and become friends with a Haitian boy who was adopted into a loving family in our ward.  They shared life experiences and it made Hayden a better person.  Fast forward to the moment on Hayden's mission when he was asked to help in the Haitian Branch in Santiago.  He instantly felt tender feelings for those beautiful people.

I can see the choice Hayden made early on to work with his special needs peers becoming a huge blessing in his life.  He took the peer tutoring classes and always came home inspired and touched by his time there.  In his senior year, Hayden chose to help with the special needs high school soccer team.  He practiced with them every day, he rode the bus to their games, and he traveled to Salt Lake to participate in their Special Olympics soccer tournament.  (I was blessed to attend this event with him.  I hold those memories close.)  Hayden shares a story this week about a special needs boy that reminded me again of how wonderful our Father in Heaven is.  His plan for our happiness is sure.


"Super good week! Haha I had a ton of fun! I ended up being able to go back and work in two of my old sectors...Diagonal and Nueva San Martin! The Lord put so many of the people that I knew in my way. I had probably the coolest experience of my mission in Diagonal. It was exactly a year since I left there!

We were walking on these ghetto streets going to meet up with some Elders, when all of a sudden this kid with some special needs comes up to me with his Mom...so we contacted them and I was like, "Hey have you talked with missionaries before..?"  Then the Mom starts to say, "Yeah we have...we always remember one that came through here.  He was so kind to Luciano one day."  (Her child with Down Syndrome.)  Then she just started crying when she read my name.  She said, "Clegg. We never thought you'd come back. It´s so good to see you. Luciano talks about you every day." Haha then I started crying when I realized that it was a little kid that I had gone out of my way to be nice to one day. I only talked to that kid once, but it´s so crazy how some of the little things we do will always be remembered by these people. 

Super good to see some of my converts like Danny!  (Picture below)

We worked super hard in our sector this week and found like 12 people in one day.  I bet that most of them will be baptized!  Super cool. We don´t have much time in our sector, but when we do.. I love it! 

Love all you guys...

Especially my MOMMY! 

Elder Clegg

P.S. We bought some super cool knock off Jordan Jumpsuits. These are what all of the Chilean gang bangers wear.  I love them!  Haha! 

Danny

Completos"

POD Squad

Last Friday, we were eating dinner together as a family.  Out of the blue, Mike says, "Nine weeks from today, we will see Hayden."  I had a moment where time stood still.  I can't quite comprehend being able to look my son in the eyes, to feel his presence and hear his stories.  It is something I haven't even allowed myself to daydream about because it is too painful.  But now...I catch myself daydreaming about that boy (man) ALL THE TIME!  Anxious isn't even a strong enough word to describe how we feel.  But oh, how grateful I am that he is getting to have these new experiences during the final, precious weeks of his mission!! 


"Hey guys! 

This week was crazy. Not really.. 

Monday: Meeting with President all day and then we went to the sector and found a girl that will be baptized for sure. 

Tuesday: Visited a couple zones and did some LD trainings. 

Wednesday: We went to the coast and did more trainings on the way. 

Thursday: Slept on a tile floor and did divisions with the ZLs in the coast. 

Friday: More Divisions

Saturday: More Divisions

That leads me to the title. Haha we were living out of a suitcase for the whole week and sleeping in sleeping bags. One night Elder Brooks rolls over and just yells, "I feel like a bean."  So it´s pretty logical that we now call ourselves the pod squad. Then it turned into the P.O.D. squad, which stands for Plannin' on Dunkin'. So basically we just had a long week and tried to make it fun. 

We´ll see if President sends the Pod Squad on divisions again this week. Don´t think so, so maybe we´re gonna go baptize. 

Love,

Elder Clegg"