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"

Greenie Again

Hayden is learning so much right now and feels like he's starting over.  He is upbeat and happy with his new responsibilities.  He finally got to see the coast!  I love that he sent so many pictures this week!


"Hey Guys! 

This week was pretty crazy. Haha I got a new sector..  Hood for life. Haha it´s 80% Hatian and 20% scary. 

I´m now comps with Elder Brooks from Brigham City! We´re doing a White Wash into the office as AP´s.. Haha so we´ll hardly ever be in the sector. Elder Brooks and I are in charge of preparing new leaders for the new mission president, because President Barreiros ends with us in June. Elder Ballard and Elder Harries that I lived with are in charge of the office calls and stuff like that. 

My whole mission just changed, so we´ll see what happens! Haha 

We´re still gonna baptize a lot. 

My P-day is now Saturday! 

Talk to ya´ll later!
Elder Clegg

Baptism of Josefina

Maaawige of Josefina

Da Playa

Our truck...We don´t use it much...

Traveling with Elder Brooks"

There's An AP(P) For That

I woke up Monday morning, excited to hear from our missionary.  I was anxious to get the scoop on all the flooding that happened in Santiago last week.  This is what I found!  (He wrote a group email to Autumn, Aubrey and me.)  


"Hey Gals! 

I am probably not gonna be able to respond to you guys at all this week, because today isn´t my P-day. I am now gonna have my P-day on Saturdays because of being in the office. 

I got called as an AP with the assignment to train future leaders...so that will be interesting! I´m going to be ending my mission in Ochagavia. The same place I was 1 year ago. I´ll be driving a car and not really sure what else.  I´ll be traveling around the mission a lot. 

Love you guys!
Bubba"

I guess the flooding didn't stop the work.  Transfers still occurred and it looks like Hayden will have more opportunities to learn and grow!  And yes, my heart just about burst when I read the words "ending my mission..."  We cannot wait to see his face again!

So Many Miracles!

There is a definite learning curve to writing a missionary.  It took us some time to figure out how to get the most information out of Hayden.  I have learned each week to ask him two or three questions at the beginning of my email.  He then answers them in return.  Sometimes the questions are as simple as, "Did you get the package?".  One week I asked him when the last time was that he cried on his mission.  (It must have been a good thing to ask, because it was just that week he cried.)  This week I asked him the best and worst part of his week.  This was his reply.

Best part of my week was hearing the "still-wet-from-the-font-Alfredo" give his testimony about the Atonement. 

Worst part.. Well I didn´t really have anything bad happen. 

In his group email, he explains a little more about Alfredo.

"Alfredo was bapped. Super cool dude! He´s been waiting for a surgery for 5 years to restore full function because he´s partly paralyzed. He got mugged and was left pretty bad, but right after he passed his baptismal interview, he got a call saying that his operation would be this Tuesday! So many miracles. 

Josefina will be married and bapped this week. SO cool!

Love yall

Elder Clegg"

Sleepless in Santiago

As babies, all three of my kids had chronic ear infections.  This made for lots of tears and even more sleepless nights.  Hayden has had some sleepless nights this week.  He mentioned in his email to me that he had to do some visits to other missionaries during the night.  From the sound of things, I think I would rather deal with a fussy baby, than fussy missionaries.  Hang in there Hayden!


"Hey there! 

Thought I would pop a group email this week because lots of stuff happened. Haha it was a really crazy week. 

We got woken up in the night a few times to help some Elders, so it was a long week in the sleep department. 

We bapped Alina. She is great! We have 3 more lined up for the next two weeks. Miracles! Also, pray for Sandra. She is a single mom that we are trying to baptize this change. The ward is giving us all sorts of references. 

Speaking of the ward...we went to lunch in the most rich place ever. Haha Ferrari's and Rovers type of rich. It was on a private golf course and the food was SO good. 

Found a dog with rabies for the first time. Rabies is a real thing. Haha I didn´t think it ever happened. 

Conference was super sick.  I love Elder Renlund and President Uchtdorf! 

We had an interview type deal with like 10 other missionaries with the head of the Missionary Department and a 70.  It was really cool! 

That´s about all that came to mind.

Love you guys,

Elder Clegg"