What's in a Name?

When I was pregnant with Hayden, Mike's Grandmother would consistently ask what we were going to name him.  We didn't know.  And we didn't know for a while. While traveling to visit her one day, I had a book of baby names in the car.  I said something like, "We are going to tell your Grandma that we are naming our son the first name I open this book and point to".  I opened the book and my finger fell on the name "Rocco".  That had a nice solid sound to it. We tried it again for the middle name.  That one ended up being "Thor".  So we literally told her that we were going to name him Rocco Thor.  She thought that was the BEST name she'd ever heard.  I don't think she got over the fact that he didn't actually end up with Rocco Thor as his name.  Perhaps we should have gone with some of the name choices Hayden shares with us this week.

I'm grateful Hayden is representing our Savior, Jesus Christ.  His name represents love, peace, mercy, justice and eternal life.  As I honor His name and keep the covenants I have made, I can and want to obtain salvation.

Alma 34:15
"15 And thus he shall bring salvation to all those who shall believe on his name; this being the intent of this last sacrifice, to bring about the bowels of mercy, which overpowereth justice, and bringeth about means unto men that they may have faith unto repentance.

"Hey Guys! 

It`s been such a gnarly week! Haha this sector keeps me entertained. Like yesterday in 3 hours, we found a drunk dude and carried him into his bed, some guy shot us with a sling shot, and we saw some dude doing some REALLY weird stuff with a donkey. I just have no idea what to think half the time. 

We baptized Eva! She`s a cool girl!  She worked so hard to stop smoking and be baptized. 

The splits with President were so dang cool. I now know how to testify to people just a lot better! 

Our baptism for this week was named Djoomi!  Haha he got arrested in a drug raid, but he doesn't do drugs.  He just rents the room in back!  Haha but he got out and will get baptized next week. Our other investigators are named.. wait for it...Baby love, Love Children, Fraulic, Nadin, and Ismael. Haha they are all Haitian and will get baptized soon! 

A huge miracle happened.  We were praying really hard for our Haitian branch we`re working on, and all of the sudden we get to church on Sunday and an EX-MISSIONARY from Haiti showed up to live in our sector. He is just calling all these people to repentance.  I`d love to say we`re doing a lot, but Elder Ballard and I just kinda sit there and watch him go! 

We also had a meeting where President just opened up to two hours of deep doctrine with the ZL`s.  He just sat and answered all of our questions about the Plan of Salvation. It was so sweet! I learned so much. 

Pics

We got some Glamour shots of our dog that lives behind our house

Some baps

I kinda forgot what else I put in there.. But oh I found a Graffiti that says "Karen".  It kinda sucked, but HI MOM!"

Bonjour!

Elder Clegg did get changed and it's time for him to learn new things!  He sounds happy, but busy.  I guess he will come home speaking Spanish and a little bit of French.  We sure love and miss that guy!  

P.S.  And when Hayden says Elder Ballard, he means the grandson of THE Elder Ballard...


"Hey guys! 

It`s been a wild week! Haha, I am now comps with Elder Ballard.  I didn't leave the zone, but I changed wards.  I`m gonna be serving as ZL!  We've got an assignment to start a Haitian branch here!   There are SOOO many Haitians in my sector.  It`s like a community of them.  So, it feels like I basically just changed missions.  The language block is real!  Haha I am trying to learn french right now! 

We've got divisions with President tonight...So that like never happens and I`m a little nervous!  It`s gonna be cool to knock doors with him! 

My sector is SUPER ghetto again. I've been in almost all the ghetto sectors in the mission. 

Then we taught Lil' Wayne, Mr. T, Terry Cruz, and all sorts of lookalikes!

Have a good week,

Elder Clegg"

Change Is In The Air

This is the last official week of summer vacation for my kids.  (Can you hear the weeping?)  Next week, school will be in session and that brings changes to our routine.  Hayden is also dealing with change.  He let us know that his new P-Day will be Tuesdays from now on.  Also, today he is awaiting a change and he has no idea what is in store.  I guess that means we get to wait until next Tuesday to hear what he is doing and where he is serving.  Until then, here he is this week.

"Well.. I have changes. I don`t know where I am going! All I know is that it`s weird! I am training a kid right now and President was just like.. All the District leaders from 5 de Abril will be leaving tomorrow. Haha we were all doing SO well!  Pretty surprising!

We had a couple baptisms this week! I love the "dressed in white" pictures, so there will be some more next week! 

We have 6 more baptisms ready for this month. I am so sad to have to leave before they all get bapped. 

It rained a ton...like 4 people died in floods.. so that was nice. The only people in the streets were the Mormon Missionaries. 

My comp, Elder Montero, is a beast and he only has one change in the mission.  He works like he`s gonna be AP next change. It was such a good time training him. 

I`m gonna miss the ward because it`s super strong. It made me realize that the church here really is doing well! 

We`ll see what happens! 

Love ya`ll,

Elder Clegg"

Groupless

Each week we look forward to hearing from our missionary.  As a family we sit down and write individual emails to him on Sunday night.  He usually responds to those and then includes a group email.  The group email is the one I post on this blog.  Well...this week there was no group email!  We aren't sure if it didn't come through or he didn't send one.  So, I apologize.  The email he sent to me, let us know that he is healthy and happy.  And that will get us through another week.

For this week, I found this inspiring missionary quote.  It hit pretty close to home.

"This extensive missionary work is carried forward because those people who serve as missionaries and those who give them their...support have strong testimonies in their hearts that they belong to Christ’s true church, which he restored on earth in 1830. They are positive that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only church in the world which possesses God’s holy priesthood, his true doctrines and ordinances, and the power to bring people into celestial glory to dwell with their Creator. And so they go on missions in order that other people may receive the gospel and share the same joy and blessings that they have."  Milton R. Hunter

HALFWAY!

31,536,000 seconds.  525,949.2 minutes.  365 days.  12 months.  1/10 of a decade.  One year.
That's how long our missionary has been out!  We are thrilled to hear he is happy and loving the work.  Happy Halfway Day to you Elder Clegg!  We love and miss you!  

"Hey ya`ll! 

1 year ago I left my house...Alright there ya have it. 

This was the best week of my mission! Our zone had a white night! We broke the record for most baptisms in a month in the last 10 years.. because before they baptized like 1,000`s.. but that was like 50 years ago. (Slight exaggeration.) 

We went on divisions with Super Greenies.. The type that haven`t even left the MTC. We took them to a "hood" part.. It was a little intense for the drum major of TIMPVIEW. We got him to do a baptisimal invite.. but the dude just started laughing and left the room.. I don`t miss those days of not being able to talk. 

Bryan was one of our baptisms.. we found him 15 days ago. He went from nothing to baptized so fast!  He was SO prepared. Now the rest of his family is getting baptized. 

That`s all! 

Elder Clegg

Pics..

Baptisms

Fat Cat

Our apartment

Fount cleaning

Our sector"

In Need Of Pioneers

In Utah we celebrate pioneers this week!  I admire and respect pioneers so much. Their sacrifices and the hardships they endured are inspiring.  I got to thinking that Hayden is being a pioneer. He is sacrificing and enduring hardships.  He is doing things he has never done before.  Every missionary does.   I love this quote by President Monson.   He says, "A dictionary defines a pioneer as 'one who goes before to prepare or open up the way for others to follow.'  Can we somehow muster the courage and steadfastness of purpose that characterized the pioneers of a former generation? Can you and I, in actual fact, be pioneers?  I know we can be. Oh, how the world needs pioneers today!"  

Here's Elder Clegg for the week...it's short and sweet, but it sounds like he is "preparing the way for others to follow."  

"Whaddup! 

Good week! We had a bunch of investigators come to church. We`ve got two baptisms this next week and a lot more to come! 

My comp is a beast.. and he is still in his training. This dude is an incredible missionary. 

We found SOOOOO many prepared people this week. I`ve never had better people to teach in the mission.. 

We teach so many people from Haiti. They are dope. 

That`s all..

Elder Clegg"

Curl

I absolutely love that Hayden still has his sense of humor.  This week's email made me laugh out loud!  We look forward to hearing his jokes in person...in a little over a YEAR!!!

"Well I had nothing else to put as a subject, so I took the name off of a lost dog flyer. If you guys have seen Curl, probably call his owner Pedro. He`s really worried and has a reward. 

This week was great! We found 3 families to teach... They are even married. That`s a crazy, rare thing. We've been getting so many blessings for our ward. It`s been a little harder to baptize in this sector.. but I feel like they are all gonna come at once! We have the people, now we just have to get them in the water. 

My mom always tells me to tell spiritual experiences, so I will! Haha we contacted ALL day yesterday.. In the rain.. and it was one of those days that makes you want to hop on a plane and fly to Africa or Brazil and find somebody to baptize.. but then we got into an apartment complex.. and started to knock.  It`s ALWAYS THE LAST DOOR. We were about to go home, but decided to try one more door. It just so happened to be a super prepared family. That happened like every day this week. 

Only in Chile do the members fast for rain and then not come to church the next day when it rains. Haha that thought hit me this week and it was like.. WOW. We have to try to remember who gave us everything.. and the moment we get what we want, we can't forget Him. 

That probably made no sense, but it`s all good! 

I grilled some meat on the roof of our tower today. We suck at cooking, but dang the view was nice. 

Let me know if anybody finds Curl or if they find out why he's named Curl in the first place. 

Love,

Elder Clegg"

I couldn't resist...