This week has been pretty crazy again. We've been getting everything in
order for Eric's baptism; and that's going perfectly. It was kinda funny, we
gave him a heads up that oftentimes, the week before baptism is a super tough
one; the adversary works really hard to prevent it, and he said. "Huh? Oh,
yeah. Don't worry, I'm staying strong. I've been reading my Book of Mormon a
lot more lately." He's awesome!!! We connected really well this week too;
after one of our lessons we got talking about his interests, and it turns out
he's a massive Pokemon and Legend of Zelda fan! So, naturally, he really liked
my conversion story.
I got to go on two exchanges this week; one with Elder Slaugh and one with
Elder Payne. Both of them are really awesome, solid elders, and it was a total
blast. On the exchange with Elder Slaugh, we ran into a guy on the street named
Joe, and as we got talking, he asked if the church had any programs to help
people who are financially struggling. I told him that I didn't really know
what there was, so I gave him the Bishop's number and said that even if the
church didn't have anything to help with, the bishop could at least tell him
where to go. Later, I kinda regretted not giving him the missionaries number as
well, but RIGHT before we finished our day, we ran into him again, and he told
us "I lost the card you gave me!" Miracle! So we were able to give it to him
again, and with our info as well! It was really cool.
The Christmas devotional was Super fun, and way spiritual. There were a
number of awesome musical performances, and our Zone sang "I Heard the Bells on
Christmas Day." The lunch and games afterwards were the best though; every
Elder I've trained was there; Elder Mortimer, Elder Lewis, Elder Law and of
course Elder Bautista! It was great to see them all and see how well they're
all doing. It's really weird being some of the oldest Spanish missionaries
left; in three transfers I think we will be the oldest ones, and there's not
many ahead of us now.
I'm still not quite used to all this YSA work. It's great fun, but it's
weird being around a bunch of young people. It's great though, because they are
ON TOP of their missionary work. There is a bunch of fire and drive; Elder
Jenkins and I haven't spent a single minute tracting since we've arrived.
We're very excited for Christmas coming up, especially since Eric's getting
baptized! I'm very excited to call and talk to everyone, I hope this Christmas
is a good one all around! I'll do my best and work hard, and we'll talk in a
bit! Love ya!
Elder Matthew David Clough
