Feliz Navidad!

This is Hayden's letter from last week. I'm late in getting it published. I'll post about the Skype Christmas call. I promise!


"Hello everyone!

This week was fetching crazy. Haha we had a few Christmas activities and they were way fun!! I love to be around all the other missionaries. I imagine my type of Christmas this year is way different.. We have had BBQ`s, played basketball, and sang in Spanish.

Oh, and let me tell ya a crazy little story.. We were out knocking doors.. or rather yelling at the doors because every single house here has a fence crazier than a military base.. Oh and within every fence there are like 7 million dogs.. These particular dogs were barking way loud.. So I was like, "Hey, it`s probably a good idea to spray these three pit bulls with water so they will be quiet and I can hear if somebody is home.." Well anyways. That I did.. Then next thing ya know this huge gangster dude runs out of his house screaming.. In English and Spanish.. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING? WANT ME TO KILL YOU?" Haha so we were pretty scared but then he tried to punch me through the fence.. That`s when we got the clue that running might be a good idea. Sooo...we took off! Good thing I am not that fat yet because this dude left the fence and started to chase us! Haha we were ducking through allies and sprinting through side streets until we felt like we had lost him. Then we ran to this ripped dude's house and taught him the importance of Christmas. Did I mention this guys lives two houses away from us? Haha but it`s cool. He saw us again and didn`t do anything.

Even crazier.. For like the first time I realized.. Dang. It`s Christmas. I am not with my fam. This is weird. Well I walked outside and IT WAS SNOWING. Little tiny flakes of frozen mist. Barely noticeable, but yes.. It snowed. Yes that is a miracle for me. Yes I was really happy, because if ya didn`t know.. Chile isn`t the coldest place during the summer!

Oh, and a pipe broke right outside our house and sent a river in the streets.. Pic..

I saw one cat and two dogs get eaten by other dogs.

We have 8 baptismal dates right now and I LOVE MY SECTOR AND COMP!

Other than that.. We have just been celebrating a bit here and there with the missionaries and members. Christmas time is the best. It doesn`t even matter where you are, who you`re with, or what you`re doing! Try to remember a bit more than just The Birth of Christ. Try to remember what He did for every single person.

Alma 7: 10 y 12

I hope you all have a great Christmas! I can`t wait to talk to my family. Hope they still remember me and that I can still speak in English..

Merry Christmas!

Elder Clegg


Pictures...

They have big hot dogs here. Se llaman completos.

I wrapped lights around myself because it was snowing!!

We flooded the road for like 5 miles.. It wasn`t us! It was our neighbors.. but everyone thought it was us!"

White Christmas

When Hayden got his call to Chile, we started to do research about life down there. We learned a lot. One thing I remember thinking is... "It will be summer in Chile at Christmas time..." Now I see this as a tender mercy from Heavenly Father. He knew that it would be super tough on Hayden to be around lots of snow at Christmas time. I am amazed at the blessings God gives us because He knows us so well. Despite being summer in Chile, Hayden is still enjoying a white Christmas. Take a look at the picture from this week and you'll see why!

"Hi

Holy Cow. I have been out for 20 weeks! Somebody told me that today. I have lost track of time down here. Oh, and all you guys are full of crap. It is not Christmas time. There is no snow and the Mall Santa Claus was just speaking in Spanish. I think he has the gift of tongues.

Well, this past week was the best of my mission. My card reader doesn`t work, so I can`t send pictures yet.. butttt I had the chance to baptize Patricia. It was something that I won't be forgetting anytime soon! It just makes everything worth it. After it was done and I was changing.. I just started crying! Haha man I am a baby, but it was one of the most spiritual experiences that I have ever had in my life. In one month, the gospel has changed her life completely! After our first visit, she told us that she didn`t want anything and tried to give the Book of Mormon back.. but we just sat on her doorstep for a minute testifying about what it had done for our lives and she decided to give it a second chance. This second chance is going to change her life, and the life of her family forever. Her mom and daughter should be getting baptized the 3rd of January!

Apart from that I don`t really know what else to say. Life is good. We are finding, teaching, and baptizing right now. Chile for life!

I did divisions with our Zone Leader, Elder Johnson this week. He is such a stud! Haha well this Chilean just fixed my card reader. I think he wanted me to pay him or something!

Oh, and don`t eat Chilean Chinese food... That is just asking to mess yourself up! My companion and I got destroyed because we tried to celebrate a little on Saturday night.. Those are two countries that don`t mix.. but I will tell you one thing. Elder Didericksen is right...Everybody in South America listens to Wiggle Wiggle Wiggle. Even a Chinese dude working in Chile.. who only speaks Chinese.. he knows that song.

I hope you are all well! Have a Merry Christmas season y'all."

Elder Clegg

Power to Promise

This is actually Hayden's letter from last week. I'm a bit behind...

I've made some pretty important promises throughout my life. I promised to keep the commandments, serve others and take upon myself Jesus Christ's name when I was baptized. I've also made promises in the temple and to Mike. I've promised to not tell important secrets when friends and family confided in me. On several occasions, I've promised not to ruin surprises and Mom, I'm forever sticking to my promise that I did not hide food behind the washer and dryer to save for later...
Hayden has an experience in his letter that has had me thinking a lot about promises and the power they carry.

"This week was pretty dang great! Like after Colo Colo.. (like the Oakland Raiders of Soccer).. lost the championship, there was a dude that drove past our house shooting a gun out the window! First time I have seen that.

Also, directing the sector hasn`t been as hard as I originally thought it would be. We had a lot of good things happen this week. My new comp, Elder Figueroa, speaks Spanish. He is hispanic.. So we were passing by some of the people Elder Fisher and I stopped visiting, just to see if they would progress with a new missionary.. I had the strongest prompting to go by this dude named Josè! Elder Fisher and I looked over him really bad... He doesn`t hear very well.. And doesn`t understand when gringos talk in Spanish.. but long story short.. He has read the Book of Mormon since we stopped going by, went to church with us, and is getting baptized on the 21st!

Also, Patricìa is doing great! She is gonna be baptized this week. We have always been told that as missionaries, we have the power to promise things.. So when we first met Patricìa, she had been without work for a year and a half..! So we promised her that if she made the decision to be baptized, she would be able to get work..and she got a job!! This is a lady that at one point tried to give us her BOM back, but now.. She wants to be baptized and is more active in the church than most of the members!

Oh and hey.. another miracle. I REALLY had to go to the bathroom.. but we were a good mile and a half from our house.. I was about to have some serious problems.. So I said a prayer! Haha then right as I ended my prayer.. My investigator Danny was behind us in his car and saved me. Haha prayer works. I promise you guys that if you need something, don`t be afraid to ask for it!

No pictures this week.. but I really wanted one with this drunk dude that had just about the sickest hair I have ever seen. This man is a miracle in himself.. In the 5 minutes we talked to him, he drank 2 liters of beer.. He had 3 more bottles that size. What a legend."

Elder Clegg


It sounds like I'd better promise to send Danny his favorite treat or something. He saved Hayden from what could have been a REALLY BAD DEAL...

Staying Put

Transfers occurred this week and Hayden is staying put! He is excited to be able to stay in the sector that he and Elder Fisher worked so hard to open. Apparently Elder Fisher is off to be a Zone Leader! Hayden has a new companion and much work to do.

Call me a mean Mom, but I have giggled all week about the fact that the day Hayden wrote this email, we woke up to 3 inches of new snow. Read on and you can laugh with me!

"Hi

Haha I just came from my second Reunion de Cambios.. That means that I finished my training! So that is cool.. However, my life just got drilled with responsibility!

Haha my Companion, Elder Fisher, got sent to a different sector.. So that is gonna be hard. He was an absolute machine at working. I got a new comp, Elder Figueroa. Yeah even though the name doesn´t seem like it.. He is from Utah. Haha I have only had gringos from Utah as companions so far! He only has like 5 months in the mission and I have 3.. So that is a very freaking young companionship! He is really happy though. I like happy people! Haha

I hope that I can keep up what Elder Fisher and I started, I now have to direct the sector every day! It`s gonna be an adventure. Elder Fisher and I went from 6 lessons in the first week.. 0 investigators.. To 48 lessons in our last week.. With lots baptisms waiting! Haha so needless to say, in the start.. I hated life, but in the end.. Elder Fisher and I got along really well! It was sad to see him go.

Here is my first huge mission miracle. Danny. He has been such a blessing! Haha he is 25 years old and SO receptive. His baptism should have been last week, but like any other flighte.. (Thugish person), he might have to wait. He told us that he had a dream that two angels came to him and offered him a book.. and that they spoke a different type of Spanish.. Then the next day, we showed up with a BOM. He is converted. He stopped drinking and smoking, has read through Alma, and is sharing the gospel with his friends...IN 3 WEEKS. God works in mysterious ways. Maybe I won`t be able to be the missionary that baptizes him, but I have had the absolute pleasure of teaching him!

I am super excited to keep working here in Nueva San Martin! Haha life is good.

Have a good one. If it`s snowing. I hate you all."

Elder Clegg

"Pics.. Danny!! (Yellow Shirt) Carlos.. (Gonna be baptized).. My district as of this last week... New companion (Edler Figueroa)"

Grateful

Taken from a talk given by President Uchtdorf called "Grateful in Any Circumstance"

"Perhaps focusing on what we are grateful for is the wrong approach. It is difficult to develop a spirit of gratitude if our thankfulness is only proportional to the number of blessings we can count. True, it is important to frequently “count our blessings”—and anyone who has tried this knows there are many—but I don’t believe the Lord expects us to be less thankful in times of trial than in times of abundance and ease. In fact, most of the scriptural references do not speak of gratitude for things but rather suggest an overall spirit or attitude of gratitude.

In any circumstance, our sense of gratitude is nourished by the many and sacred truths we do know: that our Father has given His children the great plan of happiness; that through the Atonement of His Son, Jesus Christ, we can live forever with our loved ones; that in the end, we will have glorious, perfect, and immortal bodies, unburdened by sickness or disability; and that our tears of sadness and loss will be replaced with an abundance of happiness and joy, 'good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over.'

How blessed we are if we recognize God’s handiwork in the marvelous tapestry of life. Gratitude to our Father in Heaven broadens our perception and clears our vision. It inspires humility and fosters empathy toward our fellowmen and all of God’s creation. Gratitude is a catalyst to all Christlike attributes! A thankful heart is the parent of all virtues."


It will be difficult for our family to sit down to Thanksgiving dinner without Hayden. But as I read his email this week, I realized that Hayden's gratitude is the very thing that keeps him going. He sees people all around him and knows that the gospel is the tool to give them hope. That dedication and endurance is the very thing I will put at the top of my gratitude list.

"Hello,

The weeks are starting to fly! How the heck is it Christmas time? Last time I checked I was competing with little niños during Halloween.. They were knocking the doors.. and we were too. But for a different purpose.

I am so happy right now. In all honesty I love my sector.. and I actually have grown to really like my companion. My investigators are progressing! Danny, Patricia, and Milton are the three that are going the fastest.. But we found 4 families to teach this past week! I love it when we find families. Hopefully they can progress as well!

Well we skip Thanksgiving down here, but it´s kinda funny how I am the most grateful I have ever been right now.

Let me share a little story that I will NEVER forget!

The last week in the CCM (MTC) missionaries always get to go out into the field and do splits to see what it´s really like. Well I was all pumped to go! I got sent up to the Chile Santiago North Mission.. It is like pure farmland.. And the most poor. I got sent to the poorest sector in the entire mission! The first door I knocked in my mission was the house of a less active member. His tiny little house was made out of concrete and barely had a roof. I imagine that his whole house could fit in whatever room you put your T.V. in back at home.. It had all the windows broken out because of a robbery.. There was shattered glass glued everywhere to keep people from climbing his fence.. We go in and sit on his two little stools.. There is a fire going in the middle of his dirt floor. He had NOTHING. NOT A SINGLE THING. His dogs were just about dead.. and the food cooking in his little fireplace was not lookin' too hot either. We taught him and left. Ernesto! That´s his name. Thanks to Ernesto.. I now know just how lucky I am.

I won´t be eating a huge Thanksgiving dinner and watching football this year, but I know that I am doing something much more important. The Church is TRUE. The Book of Mormon is the word of God. Getting a REAL testimony of it will change your life forever. I didn´t have the strongest testimony before I left, but let´s just say that it has grown A LOT during the mission.

Love you guys! Thanks for all you´ve done for me!"
Elder Clegg


Hayden says, "Pictures..

Graffiti, me getting ready to mark up the town,

(With Silly String.. Wow I am sure glad I am funny LOLOLOLOLOL)"

Shout Out

This week Hayden's letter was full of "Shout-Outs" to various people. I'm going to follow suit and do a few of my own...
Shout out to all the missionaries serving in the field right now! They have sacrificed much to be where they are. They have so little and give so much. They represent our Savior and teach his gospel. They are His hands and voice.
Shout out to the families who are supporting those missionaries from the home front. They have sacrificed too. Shout out to the leaders, Bishops, friends and extended family members who helped to get them on that mission.
On a personal note, a shout out goes to the angels of Chile who feed my son, send us pictures of him and watch over him. Shout out to his companion, Elder Fisher, for training Hayden and helping him to learn what he needs to be successful in his work. Shout out to the people he will be teaching. Thank you for allowing him the opportunity to share his knowledge and testimony with you. Shout out to Joseph Smith for having the courage to pray for and receive an answer that lead to the gospel being restored. Shout out to Hayden for his hard work, dedication, and love for the work he is doing. We love and miss you!


"Well Hello there,

It`s P-day, so that means it´s time to do some crazy fun stuff...Like wear my gold chain during personal study. That is when ya know you`re living large! Haha

I would like to do a few shout outs this week. Like shout out to me for swearing at my companion in my sleep last night and being really mean to him.. Oops. I feel pretty bad. Good laws. Not proud of that incident.

Shout out to the guy who I tried to talk to yesterday, but he ended up flipping me off and spraying me with a hose. Haha good thing I am speedy quick and he couldn´t spray me as much as he wanted to. Haha nice guy!

Shout out to the 80´s music that is always playing in this internet place. Shout out to me for being the only person in here that understands it.

Shout out to DANNY! Haha probably the coolest dude I have ever met. He is by far my favorite person I have had the chance to teach. He is like 24 and progressing super fast! He is a little bit of a thug, so I hope he doesn´t have any addictions and stuff like that, but he has a huge desire to learn. He is the first person that I have met that I feel like was prepared for me to meet! It was such a huge blessing.

Jacob 4:7 is a pretty flipping cool scripture. It made me realize that everything we recieve really is a blessing from the Lord and that he gives us weaknesses so we can make them strengths.

The work is going forward down here! There are 500 members in our ward and when we got here 60 of them were active. We have raised it to more than 100 now, but we still have so much to do!

Sorry.. No pictures this week! There is only one computer that I can send them on, and I didn´t get that computer today.

Love you all! Read the Book of Mormon, because it is the only way to strengthen your testimonies!

Elder Clegg

P.S. To Clarify. I was only mean to my companion in my sleep.. Haha I actually like the kid."



Shout out to summer that Hayden is currently experiencing! Autumn is sooooo jealous!

Math, Valentine's Candy, and Nose Picking

Last night I had a crazy dream. (Isn't there a song that starts off like that?) I dreamed that Hayden came home. In my dream, I knew it wasn't time for him to come home, but I didn't know why he did. We had the whole airport homecoming thing and then came home and visited into the night about his mission experiences. Then it got really weird...the next morning we woke up and went to my friend Julie's house. There she did a math assessment on Hayden and he couldn't quite get it. As I looked over at him (in my dream), I noticed he kept trying to pick his nose. (So sorry Hayden!!! Remember this is my crazy dream!) I was so embarrassed and asked him, "Do you need a tissue?" "Why don't you go to the bathroom?" He got frustrated with me and said, "Mom, I'm fine." Then Julie served us some Valentine's candy. Next thing I know, Hayden is coming up to me and saying, "I have nothing to wear. Let's go get something for me to wear." We went to the mall to get him some clothes and then I tucked him in his bed, fulling expecting to find him there when I woke up this morning. I even asked Mike if Hayden was home. I surely wish I could interpret dreams. Someone could have a hoot with this one. (And if you are one of those people who can interpret dreams and this one means I'm looney, thanks for nothing. I already know that!) I'm sure you will have an easier time interpreting Hayden's email from this week. Here it is...


"Hello everyone!

This week was an average week! I can´t believe that it´s already P-day again. The time is starting to pass really fast! There are Christmas decorations on the houses. That is so weird. It is straight up summer down here. I hope Santa still visits missionaries. If he tries to come into our house, I hope he doesn´t come in through the attic, because my trainer is convinced that there are people breaking into our house through the attic... I am more than a little bit sick of having to explain to him that we are perfectly safe. Haha

This week Elder Nelson came to talk to us. It´s not every day that you get to hear from somebody like that! He talked so much about the pre-earth life and how we are serving exactly where we need to be serving, with the people we need to be serving.. and that they are our friends from the pre-earth life down here waiting to receive the gospel. It´s a pretty cool thought!

On a not as good note, my trainer doesn´t know how to work a toilet and flooded part of our house, including getting toilet water in my suit cases! Haha that is always a really fun thing to have to deal with.. He has taught me some way good habits such as obedience with exactness, how to work hard, and how NOT to live in a house.

As far as cool experiences go, we were out contacting one day and we talked to this guy who told us he was busy. I told him.. "Why do you have a remote in your hand if you are SO busy." He got pretty mad, but then we left. Like a half hour later he drove up to us in his car and told us he had been looking for us ever since we left and that he needed to hear what we have to offer! We are going to teach him today, so I hope that goes well!

Also, I had to give a talk in sacrament.. in Spanish.. with like 30 minutes of preparation. The Bishop came up to me before church and was like.. Hey we don´t have anybody to speak. Can you? Haha the whole promise of open your mouth and the words will come is so very true.

I love all you guys! I think I need to edit this group because half of my friends are now on their missions. Haha!"

Les Amo,
Elder Clegg


"This scripture really hit home today."

A Bad Hair Cut Never Stopped Anyone

Apparently Hayden received a doozy of a haircut this last go around. He said he was in and out of the chair in about five minutes. Needless to say, (but I'll say it anyway), he isn't sending any pictures of himself right now. I can't blame him. But that hasn't stopped him from sharing the gospel and working hard.


"Hello there.

It is really hot down here. Before you start to complain about the cold, think of a missionary burning to death! Haha but hey.. That´s just more motivation to teach lessons! I have the gnarliest farmers tan of all time.. Not just the sleeves, but yes.. The neck. It is dang attractive.

This week was just a normal week! Eating good food, walking in the heat, getting yelled at by lots of catholics, LOTS of dogs, and LOTS of teaching the gospel!

I love my sector here in Nueva San Martin. It´s the right balance of a little bit ghetto and a little bit nice. In all honesty, Chile is not all that different from the states. I feel like I am serving in California.. Haha!

The language is coming along super well! I didn´t ever expect to learn Spanish this fast! I have had some serious help from above. I love learning languages! I didn´t know that before the mission!

As far as teaching goes, Patricia and Juan El Bautista are progressing pretty dang fast! We have also found a family of gold. They are seriously pretty much models. They will be on every church magazine cover that exists if we can dunk them. We have also found a Professional soccer player to teach! He is a stud. There are many more, but those are my favorites that we are teaching.

I am getting along pretty well with my companion, but on Halloween I went on divisions with a kid that is my best friend in the mission! It was such a blessing. Divisions last 24 hours. I went over to his sector and we knocked doors while every one else estaba haciendo dulce o atravesura.. (Trick or Treating) We have a combined time in the mission of less than 7 months, but we always have such good luck when we work together! Man that would be cool to be companions with Elder Kimball!

My companion is district leader so we have to do a lot of divisions.. but I ended up in a sector that used to be the sector of my cousin like 5 years ago! (So Dane I met a bunch of people that you know!) I guess Elder Erickson was a stud! Haha

Sorry not very funny or scary or anything this week, but if you guys could see this dude punching the keyboard behind me, I think you would be laughing too.. Oh and I about cried laughing when Elder Campos.. Honduras I think.. He ate crap playing soccer. Like literally.. He fell so hard. That poor feller is gonna limp his way through the last month of his mission.

Have a great week ERrrrRRYbudy."

Elder Clegg

Keep the Change

"Don't be afraid to change. You may lose something good, but you may gain something better." Author unknown



The way Mike and I approach our finances is very similar. We have common goals and our marriage has benefitted from it. What we don't have in common is how we treat our spare change. I try to get rid of mine, which results in me counting out change at the
cash register whenever possible. I'm sure it drives people crazy who are in line behind me! Mike will consistently pay with dollar bills and then he ends up with change. Every time. He throws it in a cup in his truck or stores it in his pants pocket for me to find as it spills to the floor on laundry day. Neither way is right. Neither way is wrong.

Hayden is dealing with an entirely different type of change. His whole life has changed. I have to remind myself of this every day. His schedule, language, surroundings, climate, social group, diet and wardrobe are all different than three months ago. But...he wouldn't have it any other way. He is happy and feeling joy he never knew, as he watches people change their lives! Here he is this week...


"Hey I have bad news. I forgot how to change the subject line again.

Oh also to make something clear... I didn't keep the dog from last week. Even though I wanted to. We actually left it in the street... Sorry little sisters. That's what we were told to do... But don´t worry Aubrey. It is living in Doggy paradise. Haha

Well, this week was awesome. When we arrived in our sector, the first week we managed to teach 5 lessons. This week we taught 36. So opening the sector is going great! It feels so good to see growth.

We have several investigators with baptismal dates! High school was dang fun. I love my friends and family, but never in my life have I felt better than when somebody is really willing to change. It´s like a different feeling of happy. I thought I had an idea of what it would be like, but nope. You have to go on a Mission to experience it. Sorry everybody!

The only hard part is that it is HOTTTT down here. HOT. You walk outside and feel like death. So that is fun!

Halloween is coming up! You´ll never guess what my costume is. I think I am gonna wear a name tag or something and pass out books. That will be so fun! Haha I hope you guys all have a great time. Make sure to not eat all your candy, because I think this guy behind me ate all of his for the next 4 years. That poor chair.

Haha life down here is good. I can´t complain. The only bad thing is that the garbage men aren´t very friendly. They like to walk past and wave guns in your face.. That was an interesting experience.. Haha I only tried to help him by throwing something in his truck.. Not everybody likes service.

Well, time for another week. If you guys have time, I would read Jacob 4: 4-13 when you get a chance. It really gave me a boost when I needed it this week."

Love Yall!
Elder Clegg

Pick a Team!

Taken from an April 1984 talk by Elder J. Thomas Fyans, "Who's on the Lord's Team?"

"We sing a hymn, “Who’s on the Lord’s side?” What does the word side mean? The definition of the word side is one of the contesting parties in a game or sport; one of a group of players; a team.

Based on this definition, the question “Who’s on the Lord’s side?” could appropriately be rephrased “Who’s on the Lord’s team?” Some of the lyrics that might be appropriately applied are:

Who’s on the Lord’s team? Who?
Now is the time to show;
We ask it fearlessly:
Who’s on the Lord’s team? Who?

We serve the living God,
And want his foes to know
That if but few, we’re great;
Who’s on the Lord’s team? Who?

We’re going on to win,
Nor fear must blanch the brow;
The Lord of hosts is ours;
Who’s on the Lord’s team? Who?"


Hayden has been in Chile for almost three months. He is strengthening his testimony and reaffirming his choice to be on the Lord's team. This week he found himself choosing a Chilean soccer team to cheer for...apparently it is a huge deal in Chile! Hopefully Hayden can help the people he's teaching to see that choosing to be on the Lord's team will bring eternal joy and happiness!


"Hi guys,

I hope you noticed that I fixed the number of weeks that I have been in the Mission. That is crazy that I am about to start my 13th week. I feel like its been about 6.5 days and 2314234123451345 years at the same time. The Mission has that effect on people.

It's weird to think about people from home... I have made so many new friends here in the Mission and all the people from home are just living the regular life. I forgot what an I-phone looks like. I literally don't even remember my phone number.. I don't remember my address.. What is gonna happen when I get home? I might forget which family I belong to and go home with the wrong family at the airport. I have 21 months to worry about trying to remember.

As far as interesting things happening.. John the Baptist baptized Jesus, but who baptized John the Baptist? That's right. Elder Clegg. Haha actually not yet, but we are working towards baptism with a guy named Juan El Bautista. I can't wait to put that on my resume.

My companion and I are starting to find lots of people to teach. Doors are starting to open, people are listening, and I couldn't be happier. The gospel really does change lives.

This week was the rivalry soccer game between the thug team Colo-Colo and the cool team LaU. You could say that I am a fan of Colo Colo. Haha not like missionaries ever watch, but you need to have a team down here. I prefer to talk to the more poor and a little bit more thug people because usually they are more humble. Plus, If you know the difference between Wiz Khalifa, Bob Marley, and Snoop Dog.. You can probably be their friends.
Long story short, Soccer Fans are crazy and Colo Colo won.. Like BYU vs. UTAH... That is nothing. These people go CRAZY.

The last thing I will say this week, is that I love Spanish. I think I am going to switch languages. I love learning it and speaking it. It is the coolest thing to be able to chat with people who 3 months ago, I would have walked right past them.

The Church is True, The Book is True. Keep me in your prayers! Thanks for all of the support.

Love,
Elder Clegg

PICTURE: We walked out of our house today to find a tiny little puppy.. It got in through the gap in our fence and it's name is Misericordia. I feel like if you mixed African American names and South American Names, that's what it would be. It means mercy in English. Sorry. Missionaries are weird."

Some Weeks Are Like That

One of my favorite children's books is Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. Alexander, the main character, tells the story from his perspective. I'm sure you've all read it. It has also been a favorite for my kids to read. While the book focuses on the terrible things happening to Alexander that day, my favorite part is how it ends. "It has been a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. My Mom says some days are like that. Even in Australia." Hayden hasn't had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day, or week. But from all the emails we received yesterday, it sounds like he has had a pretty good, nothing too exciting, frustrating at times, figuring it out, kind of a week. And this Mom says, "Some weeks are like that. Even in Chile."


"Hola Amigos y Familia,

Hi guys. This girl is trying to talk to me right now and I am just really not in the mood to talk about anything. Good laws I am trying to type. Haha ok she is done.

This week. Absolutely nothing crazy happened. Haha how weird is that? I guess I´ll take the chance to tell you a little bit about Chile.

The food here...It´s really good. I am gonna get fat guys! We have a really big lunch every day.. Pretty normal stuff, but we eat a ton of bread! Haha Chilean bread. Try it if you get the chance.

My sector. It´s in the suburbs of Santiago. It is literally just a bunch of houses. We are in a ward called Nueva San Martin! Haha there are soooooooooo many inactive members here! We are always trying to help them.

My companion... he is a good guy. We just are not the same type of people! He likes to play soccer and that is the only thing he talks about. He isn´t great at Spanish, but Chileans are.. so it's not hard to learn! My favorite piece of advice from him was, "Hey, if he is using sign language, that means he can´t hear you." Thanks man! Also, when dogs and stuff come after us, he likes to hide behind me. Hahaha oh well. I am learning patience, and I should be nicer. I am sure I am not the easiest person to live with.

That´s all for this week guys. We are working hard! Haha we got the companionship of the week for the mission! So I guess that means we are doing something right. Not sure what that means..

Love you all!

Sorry I was boring this week."

Con Amor,
Elder Clegg

Hayden wrote his own captions...

There are lots of stray dogs here.. Haha some of them are really cute! Others try to bite me. (Not sure which category this one falls into. He's not looking too trustworthy to me...)

Chilean Sunsets are better than Cache Valley Sunsets. I am sorry guys, but it's the truth.

Reaching New Heights

Height has always been a topic of conversation in the Clegg home. My parents are average height. Mike's parents are not. In fact, they are short. (Were short...not sure how to respectfully address the height of people who have passed away.) That being said, my kids are surprised at Mike's height, despite having incredibly short parents. My kids have enjoyed keeping track of their height with marks on a wall or door frame every few years. Hayden couldn't get tall fast enough. He felt it was his key to making the high school basketball team. The majority of his height came after tryouts and by then he found joy from biking and skiing. Autumn's height came fast and furious and she lamented being taller than all the boys. That gap is now closing and she is owning her height a little more. (I even got her to wear her adorable black boots with a heel the other day!) Aubrey just wants to grow. She sees her tall brother and sister and has great hopes of joining them someday. It is fun to look at the marks and dates on the wall and compare heights over the years.

If I were to be measuring Hayden's spiritual height he is gaining, I would need to make a mark every week. Each letter, I am the one in awe at the growth he is making. I am humbled when I read his letters and feel the Spirit testify of the truth of his words across the miles. Here he is this week...


"Hey its Monday and Stuff,

This week was a crazy good week for multiple reasons.. Conference, splits, and not having anything too exciting happen. Haha my only weird story for this week is that one night I got into bed and was like "Wow I love it when I can get into a bed that has been made. It makes sleeping on the floor great.." Then I was like.. "Oh wait.. I didn't make my bed. Hey Elder, did you make my bed? No..? Ok.. who made my bed?" Haha then I went to sleep in my nicely made bed. I love it when ghosts and robbers and stuff are nice to me.

My first time doing splits was such a great experience. Elder Kimball from California came over to my sector to stay the night and work the next day. The two of us have a combined experience of less than 5 months.. I was a little unsure of how we were gonna be able to do! Haha but greenie luck.. We taught the most lessons of any day I've had.. and even put down a baptismal date with some dude we found! Haha I am here to tell you that "The Gift of Tongues" is a real thing.

Also, there's this holiday in the Mission that nobody tells you about.. General Conference. We still work and everything, but we get to listen to all of the sessions at the chapel in a room full of the gringos from my zone.. In English.. It was awesome! We all paid super close attention and tried our best to receive the revelation that we need! My personal favorite talk was the one about the night sky by Uchtdorf. He blew my mind. We have a God who knows our name. He loves us. This has never been more apparent to me. God loves all of his children! Even the really rude Catholics down here in Chile. Haha I am sure everyone has tweeted the crap out of all the good quotes.. So I will try to not bore you with that.

However, I will tell you about my personal conference miracle. Haha as missionaries we try really hard to bring investigators and such to the conference, but not many people were successful with that. My companion and I were settling in for our last session of conference in the gringo room when he looks out the window and sees one of the families we have been teaching randomly show up..This was a miracle in its own right! Haha we talked to them and had them sit by some members in the ward.. Returning to the gringo room I started to pray! I just wanted more than anything for them to hear something they could understand and like. I was getting a little discouraged with one talk left.. Then I remembered.. "Hey Bednar is gonna talk." I said one last prayer.. Probably the most sincere prayer of my life that they would hear something they needed.. Right after I said amen, Bednar stands up and says that his talk is going to be to the people not of our faith. I just started crying. It was embarrassing! Haha but by the time he said "Every Knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is the Christ." The 20 other missionaries in the room joined me. I have never felt the spirit so strong in my life.

Right now, few knees are bowing and fewer tongues are confessing.. As missionaries, it is hard, but I can't wait for the day when we realize that all of our trials and work was worth it. When we can say, "I told you so." I have a new love for conference.

Hope you are all doing well.
Con amor,
Elder Clegg

P.S. I have only eaten Oreos for breakfast twice in my mission and one of those times was today. A man's gotta survive."


Hayden is inspiring me to try to reach new spiritual heights. I am going to need to find more ways to strengthen my faith and testimony, so I can grow as well. We miss him so much, but we also realize the plentiful blessings our family receives because of his spiritual growth and sacrifice.


Hayden being domestic. It sounds like he is good at cooking Oreo's!!
Hayden showing us what he puts in front of the door to feel safe at night. So comforting...
Hayden in his front doorway. He barely fits!!

Waves and Winds

Be still, my soul: The Lord is on thy side;
With patience bear thy cross of grief or pain.
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In ev'ry change he faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul: Thy best, thy heav'nly Friend
Thru thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul: Thy God doth undertake
To guide the future as he has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul: The waves and winds still know
His voice who ruled them while he dwelt below.

Be still, my soul: The hour is hast'ning on
When we shall be forever with the Lord,
When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, love's purest joys restored.
Be still, my soul: When change and tears are past,
All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.


"Hi guys.

This week was much more calm. Haha I don´t have many scary stories to tell you this week. Sorry! I´ll try harder to have terrifying experiences more often.

Oh here´s one! I remembered. Haha one night we were walking back to our house and some lady starts to talk to us.. Well it turns out that she is hopped up on drugs and saying "Yo quiero matarme y mis niños. Yo levantame cada mañana con pena y cortas en mi piel. Hay algo mal en mi casa." I´ll let you figure out what that means, because I don´t want to write about it in English.. Anyways we were like, don´t do anything. We will be back in 10 minutes.. So we took of running as fast as we could to the Bishop's house.. He wasn´t there, but we ended up finding another priesthood leader and two other missionaries. We returned to the house to give a blessing and dedicate the home.. During the dedication she passed out and it was either a really big show, drugs, or something really really bad was kicked out of the house. The mission has made me a believer in the other side...

That night we got back to our house and I was still feeling a little off. We decided to sing a hymn. "Be Still My Soul" was our choice and I found a line in it that I love, "The waves and winds still know his voice, who ruled them while he dwelt below."

This is true. Christ not only died for our sins, but he knows us personally. He is the perfect example. Knowing that he knows exactly what we are going through and that he has felt the same way we are feeling has been the biggest boost to my testimony. Whatever we go through in life can´t be bad.. "The mission isn´t easy, because salvation isn´t a cheap experience." - Elder Holland

Life isn´t always gong to be easy, but it´s not always going to be hard. I love the comfort that the gospel brings to my life. I love being able to watch it change lives. I love knowing that the mission is exactly where I need to be. It´s so cool to think about all my friends out serving the Lord in their own way, in their own place.

The church is true guys! I wish I had more time to share my experiences with you. 1 hour is really short with a foreign keyboard."

Love,
Elder Clegg

Keys

The month of July was a blur. It was full of mission preparations, precious minutes spent with Hayden and still trying to run a household. In the process, I lost two sets of keys. Important keys...church keys (Sorry Bishop!) and the key to my cedar chest. I have yet to find either set. I attribute the mistake to my brain's inability to process all that was happening. Now that those two sets of keys are lost, I cannot get into the church, nor do I have access to my cedar chest. Hayden learned the importance of keys this week...except his story involves one set of literal keys and his set of Priesthood keys.

"Hellooooooo guys.

This week has honestly been the craziest week of my life. I don't even know where to begin.

So. We are opening a new sector. That's hard in it's own way.. for the first week of my mission I was sleeping on the ground of some other Elders' apartment, but we finally got to move into our sector and into our house this week.. Good thing, right? Haha nope. We get to our new house in the night and my trainer says.. I am scared. Great. So here I am with a scared trainer, and my first night in our new house. Right when we get there I find this little Jesus key on the door. It was creepy. Throughout the night we heard sounds like people trying to pick our lock.. things were turning on.. people walking around.. but when I would get up to go look, nobody would be there. Whatever. Said a prayer, dedicated the home.. All good right?

Night two. We get back to our house to find all the lights on.. Maybe we left them on? I don't know.. Haha but no. The light bulb in our room is unscrewed and left on my pillow.. and the toilet had just been flushed. We call people to see who was in our house, but can't find an answer. So we proceed to find footprints in the bathroom that don't match our shoes.. Nothing robbed.. Just somebody in our house while we are gone. I had to put my scared trainer to sleep another time? Since when do I not freak out in situations like this? I guess the mission changes you.

The next day.. Make sure everything is off, everything is locked, and set various little things so we can tell if somebody is coming in. Well, we get back to the apartment that night and all the lights are on. We go through the house to make sure nobody is still in there and call the district leader. Haha more creepy stuff had happened in our house, but while he was on the phone I discovered that the key was no longer on the Jesus keychain. SOMEONE HAD A KEY TO OUR HOUSE. Haha so we barricade the doors and are in bed.. The phone rings. My boy Elder Bangerter.. SV Grad.. saved the day! Haha they came and picked us up and we got moved from that house until they can change the lock.

I am back to sleeping on the floor.. but this time in Bangerter's apartment. It's so nice to talk to somebody from the valley!

I have had a pretty difficult start to the mission, but I am going to keep working hard. I doubt crazy things like this are going to keep happening. I hope for my Mom's sake they don't.. Haha I shouldn't tell these stories, but I just can't help it. I promise I am safe and have the Lord to protect me. The mission is tough, but if I can make it through this stuff at the start.. while opening a sector.. the mission is going to be a breeze.

Love you all,
Sleep well in your safe houses that don't have huge fences,
Elder Clegg.

The 3 P's people. Prayers, Packages, and Positive thinking. I just made that up! Haha wow."

First Week Out

Mondays are now our NEW favorite day! That is when Hayden's P-Day falls. He seems to be adjusting to life in Santiago. He has had a week of "firsts"...First new area, first senior companion, first teaching opportunities, first Chilean holiday and first interaction that was less than comforting for a Mother. Here we go...!


"Hello Everyone!

So I just finished my first week in the field. Boy what an experience it has been. I am able to open up a sector with my trainer. It's been very difficult because we start with nobody to teach. We didn't know a single person when we started. It has been hard, but very rewarding. We have to work flipping hard for every lesson we teach.

My area is in Maipú Chile.. If any of you want to look. Haha my sector is Nueva San Martin. It's always comforting when not a wall in your area is clean. ALL the walls have graffiti. Haha as of right now.. We don't even have a house because the sector is new, so we are staying with some other missionaries. I should be moving into our house today.

I survived my first Chilean holiday.. (September 18 is celebrated in Chile as their Independence Day. It is remembered with the fiestas patrias or "national parties." The celebrations kick off in early September and can last for weeks. All over Chile, people celebrate with food, parades, reenactments, dancing and music.) Some people take it to the extreme and do their version of a National Riot Day. I feel accomplished. My sector is kinda like the Compton of South America. Joke.. Kinda.

Well I guess I was mugged my first day in the Mission.. Robbed? Not sure what you want to call it. Haha we were just getting out of a taxi and walking down a street when some dude grabbed my companions hand and started asking for money.. I stood there for a second and then offered him like the equivalent of a quarter.. He took it and proceeded to give each of us a little punch to the estomago.. Haha then he turned around saying shhhhhhh and ran away. I don't know why but I thought it was really funny.. Like getting robbed? Seriously? The first day? Welcome to Maipú.

Anyways, thanks for everything! I love getting your emails and such every week. I wish I had more time to write about all of my experiences. I have so many great ones that just don't make the email cut because of time! Haha If you have something you want to send me, just talk to my mom. I'll probably accept it."

Hasta la proxima semana,
Elder Clegg

Letters

Letters on a page, we've been taught, make up words. Words are combined to make sentences and sentences become paragraphs. This is how Hayden and many of us have been communicating. Technology makes this simple even. I am grateful for that. For many who know me, you know I am still somewhat old fashioned in my approach to writing. I prefer the real deal. Handwriting. Don't get me wrong, as I mentioned before I am so grateful for technology and the communication with our son that it provides. If given the choice, however, I will choose handwriting. It is such a representation of the individual. An intimate part of who they are. That is why, when I opened the attachment from Hayden's Mission President and immediately saw his handwritten letter, I cried. I cried because he took the time to write it. I cried because I felt Hayden for just a moment as I looked at that handwriting. I cried because I miss everything about our son and I felt like his handwriting was a gift. Then I read it and I cried even more because I got to read his hand written testimony.

In the FIELD!

Much has happened in the last couple weeks! Hayden was placed in the field on Monday, September 8th. We thought we may have to wait another week to hear anything, but we were happily wrong. We received an email from his Mission President, President Barreiros, the next day. Here are a few highlights from it.

"Dear Brother and Sister Clegg,

Sister Barreiros and I were pleased to welcome your son, Elder Clegg, to one of the finest missions in the world, the Chile Santiago West Mission. He is well and happy, and we are impressed with his enthusiasm for the work. After greeting him at the MTC and a brief tour of the beautiful city of Santiago, we arrived at our Mission Office. I interviewed your son. My assistants and office missionaries then gave him a brief orientation to the mission. We had a delicious lunch together, he met his new companion, and that afternoon he left the mission home and departed for his first area of labor.

Elder Clegg has been assigned to work with Elder Fisher, who will serve as his training companion. Trainers are chosen for their competence, patience and dedication, and are selected after prayerful consideration. With this letter we are including a photograph taken of your son and his new companion with Sister Barreiros and myself.

Please accept our deep appreciation for raising such a fine son. We feel a genuine fellowship with you in supporting and providing him this opportunity to grow spiritually as he labors to bring souls unto Christ. It is my prayer that the Lord will inspire us all to sustain him in this challenging assignment. Please write him frequently, weekly if possible. Express your love, support, and confidence in him. You will witness miraculous changes in his life as he engages fully in the service of others."

Yes. I cried. I am humbled to think that our son is 6,000 miles away, speaking a foreign language and meeting new people, all in the name of bringing them to know their Savior, Jesus Christ. Included in the email from President Barreiros was an attachment of a hand written letter from Hayden. I will share that in the next post. Grab your tissues...or maybe that is just for me...I should probably buy stock in Kleenex.

Elder Fisher forgot to wear green! I'm positive it was coincidence, but it is still pretty ironic!!

Miracles Happen Every Day

Tuesdays were always just Tuesdays before Hayden went on his mission. It was the day after Monday, the day before Wednesday and just too many days away from the weekend to get excited. Now, we have an absolutely different opinion of Tuesdays. They can't come fast enough! We love them! We talk about the next one coming with joy! That is because we get to hear from our favorite Elder...and he did not disappoint yesterday.

"Hello Everyone!

This is Semana 6. Haha I am really bad at subject lines and such.

I have officially been a missionary for a month now. I feel like I have been gone a week. Nope. I'll be leaving the CCM next week, so I won't be able to write. That's ok though. I am so ready to be out of the CCM and on to the real stuff.

Let me share with you something that I've learned this month:

I now know that Language is a barrier. Once we are able to get through that barrier, we can communicate with people that are so amazing. It has been awesome to make friends from all over the world through Spanish. I can't wait to see what doors will be opened by it. I have also learned that above all, the hand of God is in Missionary work. There are miracles that happen every day! If you can't tell I am in love with Chile.. Haha it was a miracle I got sent here and I am so grateful for it.

Here's the most spiritual experience I have had at the CCM.. This week one of my teachers named Hermano Alvarez started talking to us at lunch about miracles that happen on missions. During his mission he got pinched in between two cars and showed us a picture of the cars.. They were broken.. dented in.. not functioning.. but he walked it off? Yeah, that doesn't just happen. All of us headed to our next class pumped. While reading the BOM in Helamen about the Lord protecting people, the topic of miracles came up again, but this time with Hermano Torres. He reluctantly went on to tell us about his Mission miracle.. Mom. Don't freak out. Haha one night he was sleeping in his apartment and heard somebody come in and start moving things. He got up with a flashlight and walked into 5 men armed and ready to rob. The men stabbed him multiple times, hit him with a machete.. and pretty much tried to kill him. He recalled feeling the pain and thinking he was going to die. His companion came out of the room and they left, when they took off his shirt to see what had happened, he was totally fine. Not a scratch. Either those guys had really dull machetes, or he was protected. He then bore testimony to us that he KNOWS for a fact that God lives and has a plan for his missionaries. The spirit was insanely strong.

On a lighter note, lemme tell ya a story about Elder "Big Rich". He likes Kendrick Lamar and sleeps on the bunk above me. One night at the dinner table, 10 or so of us were sitting there talking about dreams.. The whole time he sat there with a big smile on his face.. like a grin.. same as in the pictures. He then proceeded to say, "I always dream about girls from home." Hahaha I just couldn't handle it.. I died. Like peed. But that's not all.. Later that night, at like 11.. I hear from the top bunk.. "Want to hear about my dreams." I say, "yeah sure Rich" Then he proceeds to say.."Ok I will tell you some.. but some I can't on the mission." I busted out laughing.. the entire story was about him kissing some girl that likes to smoke hookah.. I laughed so hard I threw up a little bit.. Haha I thought it was done, but then I was about to sleep and he says, "If I fall out of bed onto you, you'll know why." Good laws!"

Enough about me! Hope you have a great two weeks,
Love Elder Clegg


I pray Heavenly Father blesses our son with peace and strength as he makes the transition out into the mission field. I pray he gets an awesome trainer/senior companion and that they can do great things to further the work. I pray Hayden's Spanish skills will improve so he can speak comfortably and interact with people. I pray he is obedient and that allows him to have the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost so he can be prompted, prepared and peaceful. That will be the prayer in my heart for several Tuesdays to come.

View of Chile
A visual of Elder "Big Rich"
One of Hayden's Cache Valley friends serving in Chile...Elder Riley Pence

A Week of Firsts

First things first...Hayden has been gone one month! I can hear the giggles from all you returned missionaries and missionary families. But...to us a month is a big deal. I remember having a conversation with Hayden on this very topic before he left. It went something like..."You can do this Hayden! Imagine you have a six-foot-sub sandwich to eat. You aren't going to eat the whole thing in one bite. You are going to take one bite at a time. Think of that on your mission. Little by little you are going to "eat" away at the days. One week will become two and two weeks will turn into a month and so on..." Well, he has eaten a month's worth of his six-foot-mission-sub-sandwich!

He had a lot of great stories to tell this week. Read on...

"Hello familia y amigos!

Como estas? Wow, I am fantastic at Spanish. Haha! I hope that you have all had a great week with school and what not starting up! Yes, I just had to retype week because I spelled it weak. My English has done been begun to hit the road. However, it is pretty amazing to see how quickly we are able to progress in Spanish. I have definitely had a lot of help from the Big Guy upstairs. This brings me to my topic this week. The week of firsts.

I had my first dream in Spanish, and my roommates tell me that I talked the whole time.. So that was a cool experience. Maybe I will be that awkward missionary who can't speak his native language after all..

Another cool first was I got my life threatened for the first time! Haha! Through a mixture of charades and fast Chilean mutters.. This guy told us that we need to hang ourselves, he was going to stab us, and that we love Satan.. Ok it wasn't really that cool. The dude was 75 and walked with a cane. He was also like 5 feet tall.. Nonetheless you could say that I have survived a big time assault. Oh, did I mention he was also behind a fence?

I also had the pleasure of a Chilean first. I survived an earthquake. I was just sittin' there doing something or another then whaddya know? Everything started shaking. My district failed every safety drill we have ever had.. We kinda just sat there and laughed while all the pictures and stuff were rattling.. Apparently the earthquake was in the news back in the states. You all know a survivor.

Every day brings a new first of some sort. One morning this week I was our for a run to one of the tallest buildings in South America.. This dog followed us. Then it got hit by a car. Poor little perro.

Anyways, life is good around 5,000 miles South. I am humbled each and every day to know that I get to do the Lord's work for these amazing people down here. They are amazing and I am able to learn so much from everybody I meet. If you get a chance this week, watch the Mormon Message, Because of Him. It is awesome. It pretty much sums up the reason I am out here doin' what I'm doin'."

Have a good week my friends,
Elder Clegg


Hayden will be out in the field before long. We are looking forward to hearing where he ends up and who gets to be his senior companion/trainer. We are proud of him and his hard work. We miss him like crazy and pray for him constantly. Thanks for all your love and support. Now...I think I'll go make myself a sandwich.

A view of the Andes Mountains. (Remember it is winter down there.)
The Santiago Temple at night. I believe this view is from the MTC. (I could be wrong.)
Hayden being Hayden...

Semana 4

Since Hayden is the first missionary to leave our nest, we weren't quite sure what to expect. But, I can tell you this...there is such a sweet spirit in our home. Perhaps it is because we made a goal to have family prayer and scripture study EVERY day while Hayden is gone. (And this is a big deal because we try hard, but we've never been so consistent.) Or maybe it's because we want to remain as faithful as possible, as we petition Heavenly Father on Hayden's behalf. It could even be the fact that Hayden's service is blessing our family in ways we are not aware. I am guessing it is a combination of all three. That, and prayers from supportive family and friends like you! Thank you!! Here's what our Elder had to say this week...

"Hello friends and family!

My hands are freezing right now and I am typing on a Chilean keyboard, so pardon my English and such! Haha I was just out on the town for my P-Day.. About got hit by a car twice so I am also a little traumatized.

As far as this week goes, not that much new has happened. Just more of the waking up at 6:30 and doing work until 10:30. Hopefully you guys still believe I am spiritual and all.. I don't write about many spiritual experiences, because it is constant. Needless to say that things such as administering blessings with 16 missionaries was pretty cool. Also, going to the temple on P-Days is one of my favorite things! It's amazing to be able to go through with so many missionaries.

Funny experiences are plentiful. One of the Elders in my district is named Elder (name withheld). He is kind of a creepy fellow. Anyways, he has taken up an obsession with giving massages to everyone at any time. You could be standing at the urinal and next thing you know he is behind you trying to work out a knot in your back... Haha if you tell him to stop he gets really sad... So it's a constant battle between trying to be nice and wondering where his hands have been.

On a different note, my most spiritual MTC moment came one night when I was feeling a little down and missing all of you back at home. I got up to go get a drink and walked straight into Elder Bangerter who I looked up to a ton when I was a sophomore. I got to chat with somebody from back home for a while and I know that it was a blessing.

You are all either starting up the school routine, heading off on missions, or leaving to college! Best of luck to everyone. Be sure to update me as to how you are all doing! I think about random people from home at the most random times! Thanks for all the memories guys!"

Much Love,
Elder Clegg

The top picture shows Hayden's favorite teacher in the MTC. Hayden calls him Ruitor. First name? Last name? Not sure. He says that "Ruitor" is the average size of the Chileans he is meeting. Hayden must seem like a giant!

The bottom picture is one we took on the day of his farewell. (Can you tell that I don't know how to do a picture caption yet?)

Semana 3

Elder Clegg will be halfway done at the MTC tomorrow. That means he has been out three weeks! Our family gets pretty excited for Tuesdays now. We know we will get to hear from him. This is what we learned last Tuesday.

"Hello friends and family...

This is your long lost friend, formerly known as Clug, Clegg, or maybe even Hayden. Now I am Elder Clegg and that is a bit different! So it turns out I am not dead. I have always kind of just discounted the two years of my mission out of my life. Now I am just coming to realize that I am actually going to be doing a lot during these two years.

I expected the mission to be pretty painful, but it turns out that it is pretty fun! I love the people of Chile already. When we get to go walk around the streets and speak in what little Spanish I know, they are all so nice! I'm at the MTC in a city that has the feel of LA, but is surrounded by mountains that remind me of Alaska. I look out the window and see the Santiago temple. Then on the other side of my mission is the beach.

The Elders that I am serving with couldn't be better! I have made so many great friends already.. I definitely do miss my friends and family from home though.

We spend 12 hours in the CCM.. Chilean MTC.. Then we head back to a Swiss Embassy which is called Alcantra to sleep. Then repeat. Every day. Except for the 3 hours of P-Day we get. Haha none of this would be bearable without awesome teachers and funny moments.

I imagine that is what most of my emails will be about! For example, my companion has some serious OCD. So I constantly bug him in ways like Jim does to Dwight on The Office. Haha I hide his stuff, put my things in his places, and pretty much just bug him and it makes me so dang happy. Haha oops!

Anyways, I would love to hear about what's going on back at home!
Love and miss you all!

Thanks for helping me get to this point!"

In a different email he sent, we learned he has been sick. He said he has been able to still do the work and put in the effort necessary to make progress. We know the love and prayers expressed on his behalf are helping. We are grateful! Here's to another Tuesday tomorrow!

Semana 2

We were unsure what day to expect his next email. We guessed it would be Monday.
We checked our email accounts 20 times that day. (You think I'm exaggerating...)
Tuesday morning came and there it was! Semana 2...that means week 2. We thought
we were pretty smart to figure that out. So, here are his words. Enjoy!

"So much has happened this week! It started off with our travels. I ended up traveling with 18 elders and 2 sisters who are going to Oeste! (My mission) The flight to Atlanta went very well. I sat next to Elder Farah who is now my best friend at the MTC. He is from Alta and we chatted the whole way there. The layover in Atlanta was interesting. I consumed my last American meal, waited for a couple hours, and took off! The flight down to Chile was probably one of the worst I've been on! I sat next to a guy and this was our conversation. Me - Are you cold? The Thug dude - No Hablo Ingleis. For 9 hours of no sleep, I sat on the plane next to him. Hahaha we got off the plane and made it through customs, but at the bag check place, I managed to get all of the food we put in my suit case through.. (300) fine if I would have been caught.. Didn't know that. All the other Elders had theirs confiscated. SOOO.. now I'm the big man with the food. Besides a stranger trying to get me in his taxi, I made it there safely.

The cool part is that I am not staying at the CCM (MTC). I am staying at a place called Alcantra, which is an old Swiss Embassy. The first building purchased by the church in Chile. It is awesome. It takes us about 15 minutes each way, and that is the best part. I am in the best room in the house! 4 Elders to a shower.. As opposed to 8. However, the two room mates I have are pretty annoying. One of them eats cheetoes louder than any person I´ve ever met. Until about 12:30 in the morning. Every Night. So that gets old. They are also very weird, but Esta Bien. Also, everybody here is sick. I've managed to make it this far, but nobody makes it out of the MTC without getting a cough.

Each day is pretty much the same. We get up at 6:45. Study for 1 hour. Exercise for 45 minutes. Go to the MTC until about 10 at night. I have been working so hard on my Spanish, and it's amazing how far I have progressed. I was able to teach my first lesson completely in Spanish 2 days into the mission. Hopefully I continue to be able to learn the gospel and the language quickly. It's very hard work, and very draining. I'm working my butt off though!

The food. The bread and pears are good... Haha each meal is pretty much the same. Rice, noodles, or potatoes with some sort of chicken. Breakfast is yogurt and granola with a variety of other good stuff. Breakfast is good, but the lunches are already getting hard. Oh well. I'm eating a lot and trying to maintain good health!

The weather. It's pretty cold in the mornings, but the days are BEAUTIFUL. Perfect temperature. That has been the best part. The city is amazing. My classroom window has a perfect view of the Andes Mountains and the Santiago Skyline.. Not to mention the temple and a big Chilean flag. That makes the 9 hours of learning each day not so hard.

The highlight of the week for me was Sunday. (It's the very start of my P-Day, Tuesday mornings will be the time.) On Sunday we watched a video of Elder Bednar doing a MTC Devotional from January 2014. You guys should all watch it if you can. I was straight up crying when he started to bear his testimony of the BOM. It's true you guys! I can't wait to share it with the Chilean people. I just have a lot to learn first."

The top picture is one of Elder Clegg and his district. Hayden's companion is on his right.
The bottom picture shows all the Sisters and Elders staying at the Alcantra.

The beginning

Hayden Michael Clegg was set apart as a missionary on Monday evening, July 28, 2014. He spent the rest of the night saying goodbye to friends and family. (That AND packing.) We got to bed pretty late and woke up to "the day". He said goodbye to his truck and whatever other possessions he deemed worthy of a farewell. We left for the airport shortly after 9:00am. The ride down was...interesting. We talked and laughed. All the while we were nervous, excited and honestly, a bit in shock. Pulling in to park at the airport was tough. We knew our last few minutes with our son/brother were happening. We could tell he was anxious to get going. Mike helped him check his baggage and then...a few pictures, a lot of tears and a visual of him going up that escalator we will never forget. When he got to the top, someone asked him where he was going. The last words we heard him say were, "I'm going to Chile!" He was so ready to serve! He was flying to Atlanta and then on to Chile. It was an all night flight, expected to arrive in Chile around 8:00am the next morning. Much to our relief and joy, we received our first email from him the next morning. He told us he arrived in Chile safely and made it through customs. His first impression of Chile was, "the mountains are massive and the people are short". (I suppose most people seem short to Hayden.) We had to wait another full week before we heard from him again.