Tis the season

We are SO EXCITED FOR CHRISTMAS... and still really spoiled haha

December 7, 2015

Well, it is that time of year, the snow is falling, it’s cold outside.... oh wait. Haha we have sweated to death this week, the heat is picking up. But, it’s been awesome. 

This week my flip flops broke.... they almost lasted me the whole way. 

We had 2 DOGS come to church haha..... Nelly has these dogs that follow us everywhere, they came to sacrament with us though which was a little too far. It must have looked pretty funny though, me playing the piano with two dogs barking on my lap. We shooed them out for sacrament.... but they stayed and waited outside for the whole 3 hours.... better than investigators haha.. 

Also, I went on an intercambio to the Beverly Hills of Chiclayo which was fun. We were teaching a lesson though and a MASSIVE bull dog runs out of this room and jumps on me and starts slobbering my arm. I kind of just closed my eyes and froze while her husband pulled it off me. It scared the sister I was with pretty bad though, but had me laughing the whole night haha. 

During this time of Christmas we get to hand out contact cards for the new Christmas movie which is super fun, and if they are rich enough we watch it on their phones with them. I LOVE CHRISTMAS. Also we have our mission Christmas party this week which should be super fun and the next week are singing in the plaza de armas.... it doesn’t get better! 

The coolest thing that happened this week, we had a pretty busy day, got home pretty tired, were ready to plan but I felt like we should go see Karina and Ivan, see how they were doing. So we walk out, climb the hill and ask "is everything okay?" He said no and we went in and Karina was super sick and in a ton of pain in her stomach. We called a member to come give her a blessing and he shows up with a whole bottle of olive oil and could give her a blessing. It was a really cool experience of following the spirit, we got to bed a little late, but it was cool to feel once again how much Heavenly Father loves his children. They didn’t come to church because she was still sick, but they are amazing. I love them SO MUCH. 

Besides that it was a pretty normal week. We got to help the relief society out and help them practice feliz navidad in English. I love this ward so much. It has literally changed from night to day! Miracles happen. 

Also we have been preparing some gift packages, and it is amazing the spirit of Christmas that comes. Just serving. Pretty sure being a missionary is THE BEST WAY to celebrate Christmas, you can give ALL DAY LONG. 

Hope you all are doing well, thanks for all of your support and prayers. Love you lots! 

Hermana Clegg

Growing a tree!! My mom is the coolest haha...

Cereal in the room with christmas mugs with Hermana Guillen! Part of me has really missed Latinas haha 

Don't stop believin....

Correlation meeting haha..

November 30, 2015

Well, it was the best week ever. And the craziest. This is going to be long and a little all over, but here we go. 

So I’ve been sick..... pretty sick and got pretty tired of dealing with it, so Monday we finally went to the doctor. After waiting for 2 hours, we finally talked to him, he wasn’t very nice and just made me more stressed and worried..... So in the taxi home I just cried with Hermana Smith and kind of just wished I could be anywhere else in the world. 

Then Tuesday, because of all the health problems I have been having we have been in and out of the mission home, Hermana Williams came with us to teach that afternoon and it was AMAZING. She has such a strong testimony and helped our investigators so much. Speaking of which, Karina and Ivan. THEY ARE A MIRACLE. I literally can’t believe it. They read the Book of Mormon, they want to get baptized, they have two little girls that are ADORABLE and they have every single part of my heart, I never knew I could love another family so much. Anyhow, we told Hermana Williams and she said maybe her husband would want to come too! So we visited the that night and President comes cruising up this dirt hill in his pathfinder, walks in and says "I heard there was food here!" haha.... to this very humble home. It’s safe to say the lesson was AMAZING and the spirit was incredible. They committed again to be baptized one the 26th of December and you can just see, YOU CAN JUST SEE that they are elect and ready. In one part of the lesson their 9 month old baby was crying so president picks it up and says "grandpas can hold them". It was so sweet to see that kind of love that reminded me of my own family. Anyhow, they have made every second of this mission worth it. Everyday this week we have had members come help us and the ward is doing so much. It seems everything is just going amazing. His promises are sure! 

Then Thanksgiving! We wore our turkey hats from Hermana Smith’s family which was SO FUN. To every meal haha.... That night after a week of tests we went back to the doctor.... looks like I have more parasites haha. But, at least they figured it out. We were there the whole night so didn’t get dinner.... and kind of went to bed hungry on Thanksgiving... once in a lifetime. Hermana Smith is such a champ though. SO GRATEFUL for every part of her.

So it was a crazy one. I’m super excited for the Christmas season to start, being a missionary is for sure the best way to do it. Yesterday we sang for this thing in the stake to help the members work with the missionaries so we got to go to the center again. I think every day this week was out of the ordinary haha. 

But, thank you for your prayers. Thanks for your examples. If I have learned one thing this week, it is that the only thing He asks us to do is believe. This is a gospel of miracles, of comfort and of hope. I know we have a Savior that loves and cares for us every second of every day, supports us where there is nothing else and tells us to look closer when we can’t see the point. Just don’t stop believing. It all comes, always. 

Love you all lots....... here is a kind of poem... I’ll attach it just for fun. 

The high is worth the pain. 

Every day is the best part of the game. 

Spirit unspeakable, love uncontainable, 

stray dogs and brick kitchens have shown me

that the best things in life aren’t things

It’s a ray through a cloud checkered sky, 

a flame in the eyes for the first time

a blue book, a new tongue, a shining horizon

calloused knees and tear stained cheeks

moonlight hearts changed through a question

all leads me to believe, to know

He is the reason we open our mouths

He is the Christ, what it’s all about

How thankful I am to have met him here

in a world that has become my home. 

Now I can truly say "I know". 

Have a great one! 

Hermana Clegg

Thanksgiving

chicken in a biscuit.... heaven

Summer....

Mangos and planning... 

November 23, 2015

I am SO EXCITED! It is just starting to get hot here again! Sunburns everyday, sleeping with the fan on, hair up. I LOVE summer in Peru.

This week was pretty great. First and foremost... I forgot to look at all we did so I don’t really remember. 

But we found this AMAZING family. Their name is Karina and Ivan and they have two little girls and they are the best thing that ever happened to me on my mission. They are so prepared and have a date for December to get married and baptized. I LOVE teaching them and seeing their faces just light up. The gospel just changes lives, is the best thing all these people don’t know they need and I LOVE IT SO MUCH. 

Besides that, it was a pretty normal week. Nelly and her family are still coming to church, we are still knocking doors and the members are helping us out lots! Couldn’t ask for anything better. 

One cool story is we were talking with a lady on the street and asked if she knew someone else we could teach. We then went to the house of her cousin and a black kid from Florida answered the door. He was from the states and had come down to Peru after some pretty sad things had happened to him, the death of his friend and he had been robbed. We talked with him for a little bit... it was so fun. I could just feel the spirit working through us and knew that we needed to talk to him. He was pretty mad at God and everything that he had been through, and I was really struggling to talk in English to him! But I guess the gift of tongues works both ways because the spirit helped me out a lot and my English got better so I could testify to him. 

The Lord just needs us to do our part and be obedient. He knows how to comfort and help us, ya just have to keep your eye out and be grateful! 

Oh yeah.... I guess thanksgiving is this week! Sure thankful for the best life ever, love you all! 

Hermana Clegg

We bought a tree! 

Week #54

November 16, 2015
Well, looks like for the first time in my mission I don't have a change! I'm staying with Hermana Smith in Remigio Silva! Super excited about that. 

This week has been great. Highlights - 

We had a lady in our ward make peruvain dresses for us, very in style here and I love it! Hermana Smith sang in church and I played and it was super fun to wear them. 

We were teaching Hermana Vilma who is old and doesn't get out much. I asked what time she got up that morning and she said " 10 AM, woke up like a millionaire" I laughed for a while about that..... I think she is the farthest thing from a millionaire, but that is why I love Peruvians. 

We made s'mores and looked at the stars in our new llama sweaters. I just LOVE Hermana Smith. 

Crazy things happened this week. 

We had been looking for Nelly's registro for a while because she said she was a member! The church finally found it, turns out they had recorded that she was deceased....so we brought her back to life and back to church! She is coming every Sunday and is SO EXCITED to be a member again.  Strange miracles haha.... but Susanna, Kevin and Christian are all still progressing great! Because of the rules though they can't get baptized for a while. 

Also, we were finally able to start teaching Rebecca's (a recent converts) daughter and she wants to get baptized on the 19th of December! She is fifteen and has been attending forever, its been so fun to see her testimony grow this week. 

Also, we found an awesome family that said they had prayed that week to know what religion to join! They are awesome... just need to be married. 

But all in all, it seems the blessings are finally just pouring down on us. 

The thing I love the most about the mission, is the little trials of our faith everyday. I LOVE Nephi, because he said I will go and do not just once, but every single day. Sometimes it is hard to say that everyday, but I know that the blessings of the Lord are always sure. 

Love you all and hope you have a great week! 

Hermana Clegg

We are living the dream!

The plaza..... this city has my heart.

November 9, 2015

This week was awesome! I don’t really know what happened, but I’ll try my best to sum it up.

Highlights: 

AMERICAN FOOD! We finally found a good restaurant, Oreo shakes, etc.  

The rain! It is starting to shower on and off, so fun and refreshing! 

We helped paint flowers for the primary program this week and it was so fun! Well.... I still am really bad at crafts and didn’t really love it haha, but it was exciting. 

Also we had interviews, which was super fun! I love talking to president and hermana williams, they are the best! We were there for about 3 hours, but it was such a blast! 

Elder Moore brought pop tarts to correlation and I cried! It had just been a while.... haha. More emotional over food than people sometimes. 

This week we found some more investigators and it was really fun. There was a lady named Rosa whose son died a few years ago from cancer. It was so touching, as we were teaching about the Savior and the plan, I asked if she believed and it was so touching to hear her say through tear streamed eyes, "I believe." So precious. 

Nelly and her family are doing well. We had a family night with some members and she just cried as she talked about how her life was changing and how much she wanted all of her family to accept it. The gospel CHANGES LIVES. 

We also are working with a less active family and their dad Hermano Sime. We talked about the importance of the Book of Mormon, it really does keep us doing what we need to. 

More than anything I have felt so blessed to have the gospel in my life this week. And realized more than ever that I am LIVING THE DREAM. The chance to share the good new with all the people of Peru. Love you all lots. I’ve decided the trick is just to keep doing what is right and TRUST that you are doing it. Everything always works out and your realize the HAPPINESS the Lord has placed before you haha... 

Have a great week! 

Hermana Clegg

Backpackers from Sweden and Korea. I love the mission haha. 

One year mark with my pensionista! She made me a cake haha 

The ZONE... Chiclayo central. 

The only problem in our companionship... if only she wasn't AN AGGIE.