La Luna Cayo!! (The moon fell)

March 23, 2015

Well, really the only reason for that title is because it was the most exciting thing that happened this week! On our way back from church we were walking and I looked to the right as we were passing the Adventista church and saw quite the sight! A ton of glass everywhere and three men surrounding one man with blood dripping from his arm EVERYWHERE. Definitely took my brain a second not to freak out, and then I asked what I could do to help, helped the guy get in a taxi and help the other guy wrap a bandage on his arm... turns out that block class of first aid at BYU actually did something! But we live right around the corner from there so we grabbed our brooms and stuff and helped clean up all of the glass and blood. Turns out the sign that is in front of the church is a glass half moon that says the name and stuff, and they were moving it or something and it fell... but all I could understand was "La luna cayo!" So that was a fun service project and we got to know the pastor and others and talk about the church a little bit. 

The rest of the week... yeah. So I still don’t really know what we are doing, and we are just searching for more people to teach and help. So most of this week involved knocking doors, contacting and walking and walking in the RAIN. Everyday all day, its been awesome.

Funny things... lady in the street said "sorry I don’t speak English." "Oh that’s okay, I’m actually speaking in Spanish"... perks of having a Latina. 

Girl at the piano with me in sacrament meeting "Don’t worry, I’ll help you. In Spanish hello is hola!" Thank you kind little girl.... 

I’ve definitely been humbled in my Spanish this week! 

However we are teaching a few people that are really awesome and have definitely seen some miracles. One of which, we went to follow up on a contact from the street, walking up to her cuarto and no joke it looks like Charlie’s house from the new Willie Wonka. Very humble. But there lives the cutest family, Rosemary who is 20 and her two siblings who are 12 and 9 and their mom. But when her mom turned around from the stove I just about died! She was "the lady" that me and hna bean had been looking for. Everyday for just about all of Jaen we see this lady and have contacted her and talked to her like 5 times, but can never find where she lives! And there she was. Anyhow, the whole time I was teaching them and every time we go back I can just feel it. Maybe not right now, but they are prepared for the gospel. They have been praying and are doing really well, so hopefully things work out! 

Also the family Malca Ramos we dropped for a while, but recently picked them back up and at our last lesson. The dad READ THE BOM. And this is huge because every time we go there he just asks why we need more than the bible, and has a ton of doubts. But the last time his whole countenance was different. He asked real, sincere questions, was excited to learn and it really was a different experience. I know that is because of the power of the BOM and the truth that people find in it. It changes lives more than anything! 

Also we are teaching a couple Elaudio and Itay who are a menos activo and investigator and its been going really well. More than anything I love seeing the little changes in people as they use the atonement, come back to church, and learn of the truth of the gospel. 

Besides that pretty normal week... lots of "que?" every five seconds as I’m learning to understand my companion.... but we laugh a lot and its been an adventure more than anything. 

One thing I learned this week in my studies is in Matt 8:26 about the disciples being afraid during the storm. And I thought about it, they had the Son of God in their boat! How could they think that they were going to sink? But then I think of my life as a missionary and the work, I have the Lord on my side, yet I’m stressed and scared that things aren’t working out... kind of ridiculous! So I’ve been trying to have more faith that things will work out and it’s the work of the Lord. 

Love it so much, the good, the bad, and the crazy! Thanks for all of your support, I wish I could talk to each of you individually, but know that you are great! 

Also I lost my cord so I cant send pictures... next week! Sorry

Hermana Clegg 

Yard Sale...

Lindy's new companion Hermana Ortiz

March 16, 2015

Well... if any of you are skiers... you’ll know how this week went, haha.... straight up yard sale. When you crash and your skis and everything is all over the mountain, that is about what happened. BUT it was fun and is getting better so no worries. 

On Monday Hermana Bean left and I stayed with some hermanas from another area and we had a great pday, fun noche de hogar and it was awesome. Tuesday I found out I was going to have a LATINA companion named Hermana Ortiz from Mexico.... hahaha... then later that day we were walking and talking to some people and I stepped back onto a dog’s leg and in turn GOT BIT BY A DOG. It hurt and started to bleed so we knew we had to call. We ended up going to this sketchy hospital in my area that me and Hermana Bean always called AFRICA because it looks like Africa. I went in and I don’t know if it’s cause I’m a gringa or missionary, but we had like 4 doctors looking at my tiny bite and dumping iodine on it like crazy. After that they prescribed me for something that I ended up not taking because president said it doesn’t help. We then took some people up to look at the dog and they would come back in a few days to see if it has rabies… I find out tomorrow, but I HIGHLY doubt it does. Quite the adventure though. Picked up Hermana Ortiz that night and entered into the WORLD OF SPANISH. Holy shoes... IT WAS SO HARD. But, its getting better and my Spanish has improved quite a bit in the last week. 

Also this week we SAVED JUANITA and she is officially active in the church again and their family is working on going to the temple this year! Super fun and great to see their progress. 

But, this week I can definitely testify that Heavenly Father loves me and all of his children. One night I was feeling pretty stressed and down with Spanish, the area, and all the things that weren’t really working out, and was just praying for help to make it through, and we were eating dinner and in walked 5 GRINGOS! And one with a byu shirt so I knew they were friends, haha. All I could say was "OH MY GOSH YOU GUYS SPEAK ENGLISH!  and tried not to cry haha... they were the family of an elder who just finished his mission and was visiting old areas. I talked with them for like 15 minutes and they were all super friendly and nice and made me feel so much better just to be able to talk to someone. It’s so true that the way Heavenly Father answers our prayers is through other people, and for that reason I am so thankful for this opportunity to serve the Lord and  help him answer the prayers and needs of his children. In a talked called "our personal ministry" it talks a lot about that, and I’m so thankful for all the people on my mission that have helped me and also those I have been able to help. 

Although this week was a little bit all over, I learned so much and have felt my Heavenly Fathers love more than ever. In one lesson we were teaching to Yovanna and Walter, another couple that we are trying to save, I was teaching about how sometimes using the atonement and having faith is just having faith that things are going to get better. Not necessarily immediately, but somewhere down the road. I can testify that that is so true in our life. We don’t necessarily always get the blessings we need immediately, but if we are OBEDIENT and FAITHFUL they ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS come. Our Heavenly father loves us more than we will ever know. 

Hope you all have a great week! 

Hermana Clegg 

Family Home Evening :)

Dog bite!

First day of School!!

Hermana Juanita (less active) and fam! cutest baby ever haha. 

March 9, 2015

Haha I feel like Nemo getting ready for the first day of school! All the kids went back to school today, so summer is officially over. And, Hna Bean left today so it'll be a new start with a new comp which I'm excited for! Also, we are splitting the area, so it looks like this new cambio will have a lot of new and exciting changes! I don't get my new comp till tuesday night because I'm in Jaen (so far out), but I'm stoked and at least I'm not training haha.... 

This week has been great. Lots of amazing days with miracles as well as hard days.

 A few funny things... we had a couple members in a lesson with us, and one of them took out his smiley face key chain said "this is you" hahahaha... at least I've got one thing down and can smile. 

Also, it is really bad to drink cold things when you are sick according to the people of Peru, and an Elder in our district had a cold and we were eating lunch together, and the pentisita was going off of how he was crazy for drinking cold juice and sleeping with the fan on, and we were all like "serious elder? why would you do that?" when really we all were thinking, duh! it's stinking hot! and I said "some people just don't understand Hermana" and she laughed for like 5 minutes.. so I'll mark that as the first joke I have ever said in spanish. 

Also, I had probably the best lesson I have had yet. I just felt prompted to knock on a door that we knocked on the night before, and out came a 22 year old girl and we asked if we could teach her and she accepted, so we taught her in the moto in front of her house, and the spirit was so strong. She shared with us that she really was looking for something else and had a lot of questions that we could answer. We invited her to be baptized and she accepted, so hopefully we can help her take that step soon! I just felt so blessed to have the opportunity to be an instrument for the Lord and able to work through the Spirit and find her. 

Also, we SAVED HERMANA GLADYS! Our grandma friend haha.... it has been awesome to see the change in her though as she has come back to church, attended activities and started to read the BOM. The gospel changes lives, I can sure testify of that. Even though she is lonely and has hard things in her life, she is happier and has a light like never before. 

Besides that we have just been trying to find more people to teach as well as save (help come back to church) some more families. It has been fun to talk to lots of people and testify every day about the truthfulness of the gospel. That is definitely one of my favorite parts, testifying! Because I can feel the spirit so strong and see in their faces and feel in my heart that it is true. 

Also, one thing I LOVED that I studied this week was about Joseph Smith. In "our search for happiness" it talks about how he was looking for assurance from the Lord, and felt like he was not doing a very good job as someone chosen of the Lord. So he prayed to find out where he stood before the Lord, and in turn Moroni showed up and put him to work. I really loved that, that sometimes we are looking for the Lord to pat us on the back, when really he just needs us to go to work and do more. But in those moments when we search for assurance, we are humble enough to heed His counsel. At times I feel inadequate as a missionary, but know that if I just humble myself and go to work he will bless me. And I can't even describe the joy when we really do what the Lord wants and are able to help his children here on earth. 

Love you all! 

Hermana Clegg

The night club haha.... friday nights in the mission. haha nah we we're just waiting for a member to meet us! 

It was on our bucket list to take a picture by "the blue wall" So here is my picture with the blue wall haha