McKay, formerly Elder Johnson, brought his family for a visit!!!

That was definitely the highlight of this past week.  We were sitting there in Sacrament Meeting in the Spanish branch, and when I turn around, I see Mckay Johnson (Elder Johnson) sitting next to the other pair of Elders!!!  It was so good to see him again and talk about how his life is going!!!  He brought his parents too, which was a little weird.  It's hard to think of my companions families, you know?  I only know them!  He also brought a girlfriend, which was a major shocker.  That was FAST!!!  All in all, I was just happy to see his smiling face and talk a bit about how the mission is going too.  One thing that's nice about the fact that almost everyone's from Utah; It'll be WAY easy to visit with most of my mission friends!  

In other news, my new companion, Elder Archibald, is AWESOME!!!  He's basically the same person as me.  That statement is so true it's scary.  I don't know how many times we've said the EXACT same phrase or even sentence at the exact same time.  He has the greatest sense of humor though; he was actually on the BYU's stand-up comedy show. (I found that out from other missionaries though, he's so humble he'd never bring it up.)  He's also an artist, but whereas my art is a little more action-oriented/epic his is goofy and ludicrously funny.  And when it comes to missionary work, he's a complete boss.  We were able to really crank out the administrative stuff, and had bunches of time to go proselyting.  We finally found some Hispanic areas in our area, so we'll be in there a LOT; I haven't taught in Spanish in FOREVER!!!  We also had a couple amazing lessons with two Chris' and a Carlos. 

One of them is a guy I've mentioned before, Chris in Nipomo; he's the one who cried on the doorstep when Elder Whited and I found him.  We had another fantastic lesson, he hasn't read yet, but hopefully he will soon.  One crazy thing though, is that the member who came with us, Tony, knew Elder Archibald from College!!!  It was REALLY weird, because they didn't see it coming until they saw each other.  Miracle!!!

I had a really intense moment with the other Chris.  He's been really difficult to contact and teach, and when we were talking, it became pretty clear he didn't really want to change yet.  He started making excuses and justifying himself, saying, "I'm still young, I've got time, and I can make mistakes."  I almost started laughing right then and there, and said, "Do I look ancient to you!?  I'm not a 60-year old here to tell you how to live your life!  They send us on missions when we're YOUR age, so we can be an example that you don't have to ruin your life now.  You CAN choose good things, and happiness now."  I felt the spirit really super strong, and though we haven't been able to find him again, hopefully something sticks in his brain.

Another amazing blessing was Eric and Lanessa came to the YSA ward so Lanessa could sing in the program, and Eric passed the sacrament to us!  It was a very spiritual moment and very special to have him stand and represent the Savior for me, after all the times I did that for him.

Things are going well in Santa Maria; we'll be doing a BUNCH of building up the area, looking for new people to teach, and doing our best in the Lord's work.  I love you all, and I'm praying for you often.  Keep working hard, keep helping everyone you can.  Keep being a basketball BOSS Danielle!!! 

Love,

Elder Matthew David Clough