The Clegg Family Blog

2009-01-21T15:19:00.000-08:00

Dear Family,

It's been another exciting week here in Maputo. You guys know that when it comes to heat, I'm not much of a complainer. You'd think growing up in the dry Utah summers, the sunny Brasilia afternoons, the Puerto Rican humidity and even the desert like Teotihuacan scenes in Mexico would have prepared me for this. We walk outside some days and we laugh at how ridiculous the heat is. January and February are the hottest months of the year. It really does slow us down. Our kitchen is actually separated from the house and is more like an outisde Churrascaria, like the one in your last home. When it's your day to cook, good luck out there in that inferno. Sometimes when we are walking, the only thing we can do is put our heads down and focus on each foot stepping in front of the other. There have been times where Elder Ruhle and I look up at each other, delirious and try to recall where we were headed again. We slept on the roof a few nights back to cool off, but woke up to a good sweat at 6:00 am. It is great. We are praying for the energy to keep on working hard and to keep walking despite the heavy mask of heat that humbles us to the ground.
I am discovering that the change that happens to these people is a change only brought about when they center their lives around Christ. Like our investigators, I am focusing on centering my life around Christ and not just myself. I can't do this on my own out here. I need my Savior close. There have been moments when I can feel his pain. I have felt His nails and the weight of His cross. These are the hardest days. My legs tremble, my toes blister, yet I am somehow able to stand. I stand all amazed at his love that enfolds me. On this day I will remain standing for Him. Ether 12:4 Says - Those who believe in God hope for a better world. This hope serves as an anchor to our souls and helps us remain steadfast, do good works and overall, glorify God. I know that the Gospel is the answer for a better world. From Mozambiqe, to Omaha, to Santiago- This is our hope and our anchor.

With distant although never fading love, Elder Clegg

2009-01-14T14:07:00.000-08:00

HAPPY 7th BIRTHDAY ANNA!!!

2009-01-02T14:17:00.000-08:00

HAPPY 12th BIRTHDAY BRAD!!!

2008-12-27T07:15:00.000-08:00

2008-12-22T14:08:00.000-08:00

Thank you Grandma Gayle

for the beautiful Christmas dresses and the boy's ties!
We LOVE them!
Thank you Grandma Sue for the Christmas box, we look forward to it every year, and we love the boy's christmas ties!

2008-12-14T18:46:00.000-08:00

Hard things, if they don't kill you, they make you stronger.

On Thursday, December 4th, Lora went to the doctor to get a nodule on her Thyroid biopsied and learned minutes later that it was cancer. By Monday, Lora was in the operating room having her Thyroid removed. The surgery went extremely well with absolutely no complications. The diagnosis was Papillary Thyroid Cancer.
The C-word strikes fear in your heart like no other disease. Once we overcame the initial shock, we learned that thyroid cancer is one of the most curable if treated appropriately and can have a better than 97% cure rate. Those odds work for us. We are keeping our fingers crossed that this is only a speed bump in our lives.
Our family is overwhelmed by the outpouring of genuine concern and support from everyone.

Thank you!

2008-11-28T11:18:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving...

2008-11-25T19:17:00.000-08:00

Our trip to Disney World!!!

2008-11-17T03:51:00.000-08:00

Dear Mom, Dad, and Family--

This week I had a powerful experience that I will never forget. The tennis opportunities that you gave me while growing up have proved to be valuable, even as a missionary hundreds of miles away in Mozambique.
This past Tuesday, (P-day was changed due to a Holiday) Elder Ruhle and I decided to take it to the tennis courts and smack a ball around for an hour. We each payed 150Mt (6$) each for a racket, balls, and the court time. We had a good time rallying and it felt good to get back into a rhythm. I remembered the summer work days in Omaha, the late night embassy practices, the after school clinics at match point, and the burning drills with our friends Gilson and Gabriel. Near the end of the hour, Elder Ruhle sat down to rest and then left to change back into the proselyting gear. Taking advantage of the moment, I called one of the young men who I noticed had been watching us the whole time. He was a humble kid who was 18 years old, but looked like he was 16. His shoes were worn from what seemed like hours on the court. He told me his name was Hercilio. We started rallying and the kid was solid. He reminded me of the ball boys in Acapulco--you'd never really know how good they are. Hercilio and I hit for 10 minutes and then I called it. I could have played all day. After inviting him to church and telling him about the missionaries, we said bye and continued on with our activities.
Later that evening, back in a humble village in Magoanine, just after Elder Ruhle and I had left Irmao Costa's house and were walking out of the village to go back to the house, I was called out by someone. I turned around and saw a dark face hidden behind the shadows of a wooden gate. "Nao lembras de mim?" he asked. I looked at him confused, thinking he was probably mistaken. He probably thought I was a different missionary. I studied him a little longer, but remained confused. I had been in Magoanine for 5 days, I couldn't have known this kid. I was tired, and wasn't in the mood for games. The boy then said, "Tennis!" Ding. It hit me. It was Hercilio and I happened to be standing in front of his house in the middle of Magoanine late at night. He called his Mother, who called the 4 other siblings, who even called the Grandma to come out and meet us. We introduced ourselves and marked for Thursday.
On Thursday we sat with the whole family. Hercilio walked in from tennis practice just in time for the opening prayer. He lives with his Mother, his G-ma, 2 older sisters, 1 older brother, and 1 younger brother. One of the older sisters named Valda had the fattest little chunk of a baby I had ever seen. Mama called him Buddha the whole time.
We had a nice lesson and I feel great potential for this family. The Mother said she has a church she likes, but she said if the Spirit tells her that this church is good, she promises to visit. We coordinated with a branch missionary to acompanhar Hercilio to church on Sunday. He said he would be happy to visit.
I know that my Heavenly Father is preparing every minute in the day, every fiber woven, every step to be taken, every word to be said, and every person within range to hear the message of the restored gospel. This is the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is fire in my bones. I am grateful for past experiences and privileges like tennis and for the literal instrument that I am in God's hands in finding people. Maybe Hercilio will be baptized next month along with his family, maybe he won't. I don't know, but one thing for sure that I do know is that if I trust in the Lord with all my heart, He WILL make my paths straight and lead His children, All of them, in the way everlasting. Through the Holy Spirit, Hercilio will feel something different. That is where I leave it up to Him.

2008-11-11T17:16:00.000-08:00

REDSKINS SUPER BOWL!!!

David and Brad both got to play in the KWAA Super Bowl. The games were played at the UNO stadium. It was such a memorable event! The night before the games the coaches went around and toilet papered all the players houses, and stuck signs in the lawn. They also painted on our car to get everyone excited for the big games!

All the players got to run through a tunnel with balloons flying up into the air, then they announce all the players on the huge speakers! They would also call their name and number when they made a good play. It was so cool!
Dave's team won, which put their team in third place overall. Brad's team went undefeated all year and are the champions of their division!

2008-11-02T07:32:00.000-08:00

HALLOWEEN FUN...
Dan and I dressed up as Danny and Sandy from Grease this year. I actually bought the "good Sandy" costume but decided last minute that it would be more fun to be the "bad Sandy." Wow, they have great products these days to get your hair BIG! I am still waiting for BIG hair to come back in style, and was completely in my element with this hair doo! David dressed up as the Joker, Brad was a Rastafarian Pumpkin, Anna was Super Girl and Mia was a Cheer Leader. You can't tell from the picture... but our trunk had strobe lights and scary skeletons blinking inside. We actually won a prize for the best trunk thanks to David and his new found haunting skills.

It was a great week for Mia because she was the star of the week in her pre-school class, and I got to bring cupcakes and help out with her Halloween party!

2008-11-01T13:59:00.000-07:00

Happy Brithday Justin...

Happy Birthday Justin!!! Twenty years old! We all missed Justin very much today... so we decided to make some cupcakes and sing to him. Justin is so loved in our family and it is not only on his birthday that we miss him. Just the other day after David had one of his best football games of the year he said, "the only thing that would make this day better is if Justin were here." Everything is always better and more fun when Justin is around. We are sending ALL OUR LOVE and the best wishes for a great birthday to you Justin!

2008-10-22T16:08:00.000-07:00

HALLOWEEN HAUNTED HOUSE...

David and his friends have been busy putting together a haunted house in our garage. We told them they could use one third of the garage, so they put black plastic garbage sacks up to make the walls. It turned out great, and has kept them all busy for a couple of weeks. Here is a video of me going through the haunted house. It was too dark to really get a good idea of what it is like, so I also took pictures so you can see what a great job they have done. Enjoy!!!

2008-10-22T14:20:00.000-07:00

VALAS PUMPKIN PATCH...

We had so much fun at Vala's Pumpkin Patch! Vala's is a huge farm with much more than pumpkins. We spent the day petting animals, going through haunted houses and eating yummy treats. We ended the day roasting marshmallows by the fire.

2008-10-08T18:30:00.000-07:00

Here is my story for the week:

As we continue knocking the doors of the wealthy and often international Maputo residencies, Elder Ribeiro and I have found it incredibly challenging if not impossible to even speak with the actual owners of the home. Before ringing the bell gate, we are immediately confronted by the outer house guard. The guards are trained to say: "Ninguém está" (No one is home) and we are asked to continue on. The guards are very cautious, and will never bother or call the house owner in fear of risking their "status" job. Tired of the rejection, Elder Ribeiro and I started confronting the guards and speaking english to them. Amazingly, they would look at us so confused and started letting us in because they weren't sure what else to do. They would stare at us with a stunned face as I would say in my quickest most American accent, "Hey man, how are you doing, can I talk to the chefe of the house please?" and point at my watch. The guards found us and our "english skills" to be of apparent importance and would immediately rush to call the owners of the home. Even Elder Ribeiro was trying out his English language skills by using the "What's up dude" phrase I had previously taught him on the uneducated guards. I believe our persistance is the number one factor leading to more fired guards in the country than anything else. After being let into the outer gate, the owners would look at us with digust and curse their thoughtless guards for letting us in. The owners voices echoed, "Burro! (fool!) You just let them in! They are just missionaries!" We are making progress. Today the front gates, tomorrow, front doors. These guards are very single minded, and it has been a rough struggle. After using this technique for a few hours, we were able to get into one of the homes. One of our baffled guards called the owner of the home, who was a black south African woman in about her mid 40's. She smiled at us and let us in. Elder Ribeiro looked at me with a lump in his throat when he realized that this woman only spoke english. We went ahead and taught her the first lesson. I struggled. I didn't struggle in doctrine nor in concept, but I struggled in the flow and the way I spoke. I had never taught anybody a first lesson in english (Elder Spaulding in the MTC doesn't count). I ruffaged through a basic vocabulary of the gospel principles I remembered in English. I taught the lesson, Elder Ribeiro sat quiet. When it came to the first vision, I was hardly able to deliver it. I told it in my own words, based on what I remembered in Portuguese. We taught about the "Livro de Mormon" and promised her a copy in english. It turns out she was a Baptist, and told us that she didn't need any other book. I bore my testimony in English of the Book of Mormon. I felt real, and powerful speaking in my native tongue of English. Elder Ribeiro also bore his testimony of our Message, but in Portuguese. She asked me to translate. It was awkward. "Elder Ribeiro said, that he feels, and he knows that this is true. He said that if you read the book, then you will know of its truthfulness just as he felt." We will see what happens with this Sister. It was a new experience thats for sure. I Love you with everything Ive gotElder Clegg

2008-10-06T08:52:00.000-07:00

Poncho Sanchez Latin Jazz Band...

This weekend we were feeling home sick for Puerto Rico. We went to the Poncho Sanchez Latin Jazz concert. It was a great time and Poncho Sanchez had the whole audience up on their feet dancing by the end.

2008-09-28T17:25:00.000-07:00

TOUCH DOWN!!!!!
Dave and Brad have been playing Football this fall. They usually play Soccer, so this is very new for us. Everywhere we've lived, we have tried to take part in the culture as much as we can and here in Omaha, or Cornhuskerland (as Justin calls it) it is all about Football!!We have discovered that David has a real talent for the game, and he scored his first TOUCH DOWN this weekend!!! He also had a sack (which means that he took down the quarterback). It is fun to watch him excelling! This game has so much to do with size and aggression. Those of you that know him well would not be surprised by his size, but the aggression is something new (David would not hurt a fly). Who knew he had it in him?
Brad is doing great for his first year! All of his team mates started playing football at about five years old so there is a little learning curve for Brad. His team is still undefeated this season! Go Redskins!!!

Brad was able to catch some of David's game on video. It is a little noisy but at least you can get an idea of how much fun these games are!

2008-09-28T17:21:00.000-07:00

RIVER CITY ROUNDUP...

We had a great time at the River City Roundup this weekend!! The Rodeo was such a blast. My favorite part was the huge bulls bucking like crazy and kicking dirt right up to our seats!

David loved watching the MUTTON BUSTIN. This is where people put their small children on a sheep and see how long the can stay on! Is that even legal?

The Rodeo was followed by a Jessica Simpson concert at the Quest Center. We pretty much laughed the entire evening. Probably the funniest part was interacting with the pleasant drunk guy in the seat in front of us. Normally drunk rednecks are quite annoying, but this guy was the exception. In between bull rides our friend would stand up and dance and we would cheer him on. The bigger the bull, the more colorful his language became, “did you see the size of that son of a $%#&*!” We were laughing until our eyes teared-up. After every good bull ride our drunk friend would scream “Holy Sh*&!” and give us “fist love.” At this stage in the evening we had completely bonded with our new friend and couldn’t leave him hanging, so we reciprocated “knuckle knocks” of our own.

After the rodeo, our evening went from laughter to doubling over in stitches. The Jessica Simpson’s concert was quite possibly, no, without a doubt, the worst concert we have ever experienced. Her performance was like watching a train speed out-of-control down a mountain. In between songs, it was like a "therapy session,” because she needed to explain in exhausting detail what every single song was about—abusive relationships, cheating boyfriends, jealous girlfriends, etc. She even started telling a joke that she didn’t finish because she had forgotten the ending. When at a loss for words, which seemed like every other sentence, she would blurt out “I love you.” Half through the concert we had reached a state of delirium from the bizarre night and, to ease Jessica’s pain, Sam and Dan were shouting back, “Jessica, I love you too!” We all had a great time and David said he wasn’t too embarrassed by his parent’s behavior.

2008-09-22T10:06:00.000-07:00

Dear Mom and Dad,

Serving a mission is a very refining experience.

It could be described as a kind of "do it yourself" military program with your mission president as the chief in command, the scriptures as your manual, and your companion as your, well, your companion who is going through just as many difficulties and successes as you. One of my biggest focuses this past month has been self discipline. Preach my gospel doesn't say much about self discipline, but it has been the most important thing to me right now. Self discipline leads to obedience. Self discipline is what allows me to find a routine out here. It gets me up at 6:30 every morning, it gets me to start reading instead of chatting on the couch with the other Elders, it gets me down on my knees every night when I say my prayers, and it gives me the energy to get back up into my bed at 10:30 on the dot. I have found that perfection is very hard to achieve, but I want you to know that I am trying. As a missionary, when you take a look at the missionary manual, there will always be at least one rule that is not being followed either individually or as a companionship. That is because the authorities designed the manual for a perfect missionary. The missionaries out here make the joke that even Christ would have a hard time following the manual, because even he didn't shave every day. I think it is easy for us out here to say, "there are too many rules" and just give up and not try. I am not writing this to please you as my parents by saying that I am a good or "a perfect missionary" because trust me, I am not. But I want you to know that I am working towards the personal goal of improving self discipline. As my parents, I know that both of you know that discipline has been one of my biggest weaknesses in my life. It was a lack of self discipline that lost kid's soccer balls, sent me to principal's offices, kicked girls with soccer balls in the face, lost hundreds of coats, karate chopped other girls, and brought "your kid is a class clown" letters home. I look back at those moments and laugh, but I know that I have a lot further to go, and a lot more to learn. I am working on self discipline to obey and to observe with exactness (Alma 57), self discipline when to speak (the 80-20 principle), and self discipline to work hard, every day, til the end of the mission. It is my biggest fear when I hit 15-20 months out here and I have lost hope, I have lost the drive, lost the energy and I end up burning myself out here. I will not run faster than my strength will allow me, but in a sense I am preparing myself and setting up this routine so that when the 15-20 month mark hits, I will be ready and I will still go strong. I will expect plenty of support during those times. Anyways, those are my feelings towards that subject. If you have any stories or ideas on diligence or perseverance please share them.

I love you, Justin

2008-09-11T15:22:00.000-07:00

Know Yourself
Teen Parenting Project...

David has a class at school called Know Yourself. It is one of his favorite classes, or at least one that he talks about the most. They learn about all kinds of different things, this week it was teen pregnancy. David had to make a bottle baby and carry it around school for two days. He had to name the baby (Jason) and care for the baby as if it were real. He had to research how much everything would cost to raise a baby and how a baby would impact his lifestyle. He concluded with a report talking about everything he learned. I think he did a great job even though his baby did get kidnapped while he was playing at his friend Ashton's house. He was having a fun time in the basement and when he came up the stairs the baby was gone! There was a ransom note asking for chocolates in exchange for the baby! I laughed so hard when David told me that Ashton's mom kidnapped his baby. Jason was returned safe and sound.

2008-09-07T17:05:00.000-07:00

Trip To Washington DC...

David and I spent two full days together in Washington DC. We attended my Cousin Jeremy's FBI graduation where I had the honor of presenting him with his credentials. After the graduation ceremony we took a family photograph with Director Mueller and Jeremy’s family. Jeremy’s graduation was an important occasion--one that needed to be shared with his family and David. After the graduation, David and I toured DC and Mount Vernon for the next day and a half. We learned a ton and walked away from the trip with the feeling that there are so many fabulous things to experience in life. Here are a couple of facts from the life of President George Washington that we learned that are worth sharing:
Of the original founding fathers, George Washington was one of the least educated—at least in terms of formal education. Unlike Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and others, all of whom had traveled extensively and were educated in Europe, Washington was educated at home by his father, mother, and his older brother. He had an extensive library of over 900 books, which was very uncommon in those days. While in the White House, he made it a practice to have open houses each week; and at Mount Vernon, he routinely invited guests for the weekend and made it a practice to listen to their comments on important issues while rarely sharing his own opinions. He would typically lead the conversation by asking a series of open ended question and never dominated the talk with his own opinions. Washington’s “silence” during a conversation is said to have been just as impressive as his comments. He was primarily self-educated through life experiences, personal reading, and the conversations he had with the bright men and women he surrounded himself with. As President, he created cabinets in government to generate dialogue, a concept that was rarely used in Europe at that time. Washington said, “associate with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for it is better to be alone than in bad company. “

2008-08-28T10:06:00.000-07:00

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!

19 YEARS TODAY!!!

2008-08-25T11:36:00.000-07:00

Hey Mom and Dad,

I'm glad to hear the football season is going well. It is honestly really strange for me to picture my little brothers playing football out there in the CornHusklands (yes, I just made that word up). I am sure Brad and David together both know more about American Football than I could know in a lifetime. I have never messed with the game. My lanky body just wasn't built for football. Keep them going, and get them buff and reward them steaks for every touchdown. That's incentive. This week was one of our most succesful weeks as we found 25 new investigators (which is an incredible number for us here in the city). We are teaching at a college called Universidade Eduardo Mondlane. It has been a lot of fun, we knock on the doorm room doors and in each room there are 4 students. We have distributed so many copies of the Book of Mormon and we are teaching a lot of students (between the ages of 20 and 25 on avg.). One of these students will be baptized on Saturday, his name is Andrade and he is from Beira. The college is incredible, because it really is the heart of Maputo as it houses students from all over the country. These students are fairly wealthy as well, and are very educated. They have great questions every time for us. Our goal is to make sure each of these doorm rooms has a Book of Mormon, and as they graduate and move on in their lives, they will take this Book and our message to their homelands in Tete, Beira, Cabo Delgado (way up north!) and Marromeu, Manicas, and other places. It will be great. We are also teaching 2 beautiful families right now who have been progressing and changing nicely. Irmao Jose has only one setback, and that is that he likes to work on his house on Sunday instead of take his family to church. We have emphasized the importance of being at Church and how it blesses us for the rest of the week. We are doing great and finding lots of people. I think about you all the most on Sundays. I miss just eating with you and hanging out with everyone in the house, I look forward to spending time with all of you when I get back. I really love you and miss you all. Keep going strong. Every time I step out of the house I know Im representing not only my Savior Jesus Christ, not only the entire church, not only my mission president in Mozambique, but Im also representing my family. Tell David GREAT JOB on his talk. His football story was so good. No one likes butterfingers. Elder Clegg

2008-08-18T07:50:00.000-07:00

MY SCRIPTURE THIS WEEK...

My scripture this week is based on the Atonement of Christ.
1 Nephi 19:9. Jesus was spit upon, and he supported it, scourned, and he supported it, mocked, and he supported it, crucified, and he suffered it for me. I have never met this man, but I know that he died for me and for my failures. I owe him my life, my body, and my soul. Being out here is the least I can do in return. Why shouldn't I be able to support it?

Love you. Justin

2008-08-14T15:37:00.000-07:00

We made it through the first week back to school! Making it through the first day was the hardest part with all the different schools and different starting and stopping times. Wednesday was the first day back and Brad was going to middle school for the first time so there was a little anxiety. Brad had to be there at 7:45-10-:15, Dave also had a half day starting at 11:45-2:15, Anna's school started at 8:45-2:00 and Mia started pre-school 11:45-1:55! WHEW!

Four kids in three different schools is kind of crazy, but we were able to make it all work and the rest of the week was a piece of cake when the times went back to normal. All of the kids are so happy and love their new schools and new teachers! Mia was so funny on the first day. When it was time to go with the teacher and separate from the parents she started to cry and hold on to my leg, then she quickly changed her mind, let go, and ran off with the teacher not even taking a look back!

2008-08-14T08:37:00.000-07:00

Mission Facts...

Hey here are just a few facts and statistics in case you're interested in where the mission is at as a whole:
-Mozambique currently has a 74% retention rate of converts
-Mozambique is #2 in the continent for baptisms per missionary, totaling 9 baptisms per missionary per year.-5% of Africans are 65 years old and higher
-Investigators attending sacrament meeting is the most important factor\statistic that leads an investigator to baptism
-ANGOLA will be opened to missionary service in September for all missionaries with a visa.
-3 new Mocambican missionaries have been called and will be serving here. It is likely that two of those three will be sent to Angola as the first missionaries. Mozambique will now have a total of 5 missionaries serving, which is the highest number of natives serving at one time.

2008-08-10T15:44:00.000-07:00

Floating the NIOBRARA RIVER...

2008-08-01T13:23:00.000-07:00

WE'RE BACK!!!

What a welcome!!!
The kids in the neighborhood welcomed us back by toilet papering our house from top to bottom and front to back! They left welcome home signs and candy bars on the front porch. The best part was that they had it all cleaned up by morning!

2008-07-31T13:15:00.000-07:00

BEAR LAKE...

2008-07-12T13:06:00.000-07:00

Fun with Family...

2008-07-11T12:59:00.000-07:00

LAGOON!!!!!

2008-07-10T13:03:00.000-07:00

Tennis Camp...

2008-07-04T12:46:00.000-07:00

Fourth of July...

2008-07-03T09:55:00.000-07:00

Park City...
We spent some time in Park City with our friends from Brazil. This family was with us through everything while we were adopting Anna and Mia. They helped us in so many ways and we love them so much! The kids played like no time had past at all and I loved every minute with my sweet friend Laura.

2008-07-02T16:18:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,

I worked hard this week. It felt great. I have a new companion named Elder Brock, and he is a good guy from Atlanta, Georgia. We discovered that we actually had a few of the same classes together while at BYU. Elder Brock has been out for a year now and has just turned senior this transfer. He is learning all of the ropes and responsibilities that come with that. Our areas have actually been combined because of the loss of a companionship last transfer. Elder Brock’s companion left and my companion left, so we now have twice the area to work. We both now work in the Sommerschield\Costa do Sol area and the Baixa (downtown) area. It is a lot more area, and we have to travel a whole lot farther. We are working hard to get to know both of the areas and keep a nice balance between the two. We don’t want to drop the progressing investigators and the recent converts in the Baixa, but at the same time we want to discover the potential of Sommerschield and find new people out there. It will be great.
In a recent district meeting, we learned about the 3 parts of missionary work, and finding a perfect balance between each. First there is conversion, the finding, teaching, baptizing and confirming, second retention and third there is activation which include helping the members have a friend, a calling, doing temple and family history work, having home teachers, and being a part of the priesthood or relief society. The missionaries really run the show for the branches here, and our objective is to help each branch get on their own two feet. We want the members to start acting like a net for the people we bring in, and to catch them with embracing arms. Being out here makes you appreciate home wards and how easily they are set up to embrace new families.
I am working on becoming more focused, more spiritual, and more committed every day I’m out here, because I know it’s going to go fast. I’ve stopped worrying about enduring the time, and instead I just go at it one day at a time and lose myself in the lives of our investigators and members. My biggest concerns are the progress of my area and whether the people I teach will show up at church on Sunday. I don’t have to worry about who I’ll be going out with on a Friday night or what new movies are out. There is no difference to me anymore between a Tuesday night and a Friday night, I work just the same. I appreciate the chance I have to be distinctly removed from world vanity and glory. It is nice to not have to worry about school, grades, or girls- I’m just making the best out of this. Ralph Waldo Emerson once said something about 'writing it in your heart everyday that it will be the best day in the year. When the day is over, finish it and move forward to tomorrow knowing you’ve done what you could.' It doesn’t matter who I was in the past or what my accomplishments were or where I studied, I am just a regular white boy with a tie and a plaqueta with some good news for this people. I have been able to distinguish the people who recognize us as representatives of Jesus Christ and I haven’t hesitated one moment to make sure they learn about who we are and get an invitation to church.
I found and read and inspiring talk that Grandma Gayle gave in 2004 that talked about Henry Clegg, who was a finisher. Sick with cholera, Henry had to bury his wife and son and keep moving, knowing he had a thousand more miles to go. After all of this, he wrote in his journal: “Still Moving.” Even though my circumstances are nowhere near as harsh as Henry’s, I was inspired to keep moving out here and encourage the new pioneer members to keep moving as well.
I leave my testimony to you this week in Xangana, good luck pronouncing it:
Naswitiva swaku Yesu Crist himu wuluxi wanga. Naswitiva swaku buku dza Mormon hi ledzininene. Naswitiva swaku Xikuembu kulukumba xa hanya. Naswitiva swaku Thomas S. Monson hi he muprofete auwehi mu nene. Naswitiva swaku Joseph Smith yihena luwehi anga tissa a evangeli lehinene.
(Translation: I know that Jesus Christ is my savior. I know that the Book of Mormon is true. I know that God lives. I know that Thomas S. Monson is the living Prophet. I know that Joseph Smith restored the true gospel.)
I love you all so much.Elder Clegg

2008-06-23T12:57:00.000-07:00

Happy Brithday Grandma Gayle!!!

2008-06-16T07:36:00.000-07:00

The Big Recital...

Since Anna dances everywhere she goes, she has really enjoyed her Jazz and Tap classes every Saturday morning.

This is Anna and her cute friend Brighton, they have been working hard all year long in anticipation of their big dance recital.Congratulations girls on a great preformance!!!

2008-06-15T08:15:00.000-07:00

Happy Fathers Day!

I Love My Dad...

Justin...

"Hey Dad! Happy Father's day - I hope you had a good Sunday and you got loved by the family, because in case you didn't know it, your kind of a good Dad. I remember when you used to take me rock climbing in Puerto Rico on Saturday mornings and literally show me the "ropes" of how to climb upward. In my life, you have been a good example of someone who was always moving upward, whether its with your family, with your career, or I'll even admit, your funny looking tennis game- (Which Im sure has moved upward a lot recently, now that your in some cool "old guy winners league." :) I hope to one day be able to fill your shoes somehow, being married for as long as you have, and just being a nice guy like you. I miss your awkward jokes, and I find that no one is as good as making those awkward jokes as you... "Hey Justin, Justin, do you like the "spu...." or the "moni...." get it? Spumoni?" Hahah! - Waiter: "Sir are you ready to order your ice cream yet?" I remember when you took me out on that trip on a shabby boat to mona island. It was rough. I didn't sleep, you barfed ALL over the boat (and I still remember that smell by the way) but it was a good trip. I remember I had a hard time eating from being sea sick, but you sat down on a bench with me and stuffed rice and lobster down my throat and fed me. I will never forget those times you took especially to just care for me and to raise me. You used to wake me up every morning in Puerto Rico and make me a big strawberry protein shake before school in hopes of making me a little buff kid. Instead I just turned out lanky and taller than you :) You used to leave your office at work in the middle of the day after school just so you could come down and see me hit a ball with Miguel. You payed for all of those lessons, and you would come out and hit a ball on the court with your work clothes and work shoes on. You're crazy sometimes. I remember how mad you used to get when I would woop you at chess, and how you would always ask for "one more game, one more game." When you got your eventual win, you would walk around the house like a champ and tell Mom how bad you beat me. I also miss how bad you would overreact when I started driving the car for the first time, with your heels on the dashboard shouting: "gee, GEE, GEEZ," after only exiting the garage. David got lucky. My point is your a good man Dad. I am grateful for everything you've taught me, and for everything I know that I can become thanks to what I've seen in the things you have done and the life that you have lived. Thanks for helping me get to where I am - I know it wasn't the easiest times refining me and picking me up from Pier 21 at 1:00 in the morning, but hopefully I might be able to make something out of myself because of the way I was raised. Im learning to make something of myself everyday out here on this mission, so that I can come home from the battle field like you one day, exhausted, but victorious."

David...

"My dad is the coolest dad ever! I am so glad that he goes to work so that I can have a roof over my head and food on the table. He is so much fun to be with and he is always joking around. I love you dad, Happy Fathers Day!"

Brad...

"Dear Dad I love you because you work hard to get us money. I love you because you take care of us and you rush us all to the basement when there is a tornado! I love you because you love us!" Love, Bradley

Anna...

"My dad puts me to bed and reads me books, he plays with me, he tickles me and he loves me!"

Mia...

"I love loving him, kissing him, and playing with him, he is my dad"

2008-06-12T13:24:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIA!

Mia is 4 years old today! Thank you to all our friends for making Mia's day so special!

2008-06-11T05:20:00.001-07:00

Mom, Dad, and Família,

I hope your week has been good. I am so happy to know that my
little brothers and sisters are all out of school and are enjoying the start of Summer.
My week has been bumpy, but I have learned a lot, and I want to share what I´ve learned with you.
The work here in the City is very different from the work in Matola. The fact that we are in an area never opened before makes the work 5 times harder, because everything we do, we are starting from scratch. There are no members in our area to look up, and references are hard to come across. Elder Archiza and I are relying on street contacts and good old fashioned door knocking to find people who are interested. In Matola, you know you´ve had a successful day when you come home and crash, having taught 5-7 lessons. Here in the city, a very successful day according to Elder Archiza is when you can get 3 lessons in without having them caír. We have a lot more dead time during the day here because everyone is out working. I guess the feeling of being parado is one of my biggest frustrations right now. On the other hand, it has been good because I have had more time to study the language and the lessons.
As you saw in my last week´s letter, I also mentioned the frustration I was having with my companion, who is now looking at 3 weeks before he hits the airplane. I sat down with him and congratulated him for everything he had done on his mission and for everything he was doing up to this point. I talked with him about our work and I asked him how he felt he was doing. He admitted that he was tired. Tired of it all, tired of the rejections, tired of the contacts, and tired of teaching. I told him that I´m trying my best to understand where he is at and understand how he feels. Obviously I won´t ever fully understand what he´s going through until the day I hit my last transfer. My purpose wasn´t to pilar him or to make him feel bad. I just wanted him to know that I´m here to work and that at the end of each day, I want to be able to say that I did my best at the battlefield. I will work as hard as Elder Archiza will let me, and I think talking to him may have encouraged him. Since then, we have started planning the days, we talk more in the house, and hopefully now our area will improve and grow.
I wasn´t asking Elder Archiza to all of the sudden become my best friend overnight, nor to have an incredible last transfer full of laughter and flowers. I asked him to just give me one last push and to help me do my best while I´m out here. I would rather be remembered as his last companion that just wanted to work, rather than his last companion that he dreaded because he complained all of the time. I´m just trying to stay positive and encourage him to keep going. This will serve as a good reminder for me when I hit the end. Im just going to make the best of this transfer and enjoy it for what it is.
This week I received the letters from the kids in the Lakeview Primary. Their letters were VERY simple and inspiring. I especially loved the ones that asked about lions and rainforests. Make sure to thank Sister Bischoff for me. That really was a neat thing to receive.
For the past two weeks, Elder Kauwe (from HI) and I have been running to the beach every morning at 5:45 and catch the sunrise. I think about how weird it is that you guys are “under” me as it rises and it has already set for you. I hope you enjoy the pictures.

DC 59:23 – This scripture is the Savior´s promise to all of those who do good and live the Gospel throughout this life. They will find peace and eternal life. I know this is true because I am already finding the first.
I really do love each and every one of you
Elder Clegg

2008-06-08T16:40:00.001-07:00

School got out last week and the kids started right in on their fun summer activities. Dave and Brad spent the week at camp Pokamoke, and the girls started a two week session of swimming lessons.

2008-05-28T16:44:00.000-07:00

Soccer Season is Over...

One of the parents on Dave's team sent me these great action shots! Don't you just LOVE those parents that are always ready with the camera! It has been a fun season for both boys, despite the Very cold, wet and rainy spring we experienced! We had to reschedule several times because of weather and most of the time I was sitting under blankets with the little girls freezing to death.

Both Dave and Brad want to play football in the fall so this might be the last of soccer for a while. This makes me sad because I am crazy about soccer! I don't like to watch it on TV or anything like that, I just love watching my boys play. I look forward to each game and I'm ready with my chair in a bag, I sit on the edge of my seat the whole time and cheer them on! It is so much fun, I hate to see it end!

2008-05-28T16:33:00.001-07:00

HEY,

Sommerschield is neat. We have been able to hit our first houses and have been succesful in teaching 2 new families since thursday. Elder Archiza is the man. In just a few hours of work, I contacted 3 english speaking africans, 2 from Nigeria and 1 from Tanzania. Please watch the movie PIONEERS OF AFRICA. It is neat. I also met a woman from Congo who speaks french. I struggled bad, but I think she got the idea of who we are. We are looking forward to a solid week. I LOVE YOU SO MUCH..... SOOOOO MUCH. See you Cleggers -Justin

2008-05-19T07:49:00.000-07:00

To Mom, Dad, and all of my wonderful family,

Just writing to let everybody know that I am alive, and still thinking of you all every day. Matola, Mozambique has been a good first chapter of the mission book, but it's time to turn the page, because I have been transfered. The Matola Branch has been a great experience. I have really been able to connect with many of our members and especially with the people we teach. It will be hard leaving the comfort zone of my little room and going to a new house with a new strange shower and living with different Elders. It is amazing how much you learn and grow after each transfer, let alone each day. I am once again "up for the change." (Story of my life). President Packard has placed me with ELDER ARCHIZA who also is a Brazilian, from Sao Carlos, a city just outside of Sao Paolo. President has assigned us to open a new area within the city called "SUMMERSHIELD." Summershield happens to be one of Maputo's richest areas with incredibly nice houses. President and Sister Packard live in this neighborhood near embassy lane. I was told that the work will be tough, nobody will let us in, and we will hardly be teaching any Mozambicans, but rather the wealthy internationals ranging from Portuguese to Arabs, to South Africans. From what I have learned from teaching the wealthier Mozambicans in Matola, the difficulty is not getting into the home to teach the owners, the catch is getting through the gate guard who is trained to say: "Ninguem esta" (Nobody's home) and asks you to leave. Elder Archiza will be going into his 17th transfer (a.k.a his LAST), which means I will "kill" him and send him home after this transfer. He loves Coldplay, sweet fighting computer games, and has an "interiorrr" (porta verde) accent. His accent to me sounds more Mozambican than Brazilian. He is tired. I am up for this challenge of a change and for this change of challenges. It will be a good experience, and most likely very humbling as a missionary. You better believe that I will be knocking EVERY door of this new filthy rich area and helping people discover that happiness isn't based on the size of a home. I know this because I've seen true happiness through the Gospel of Jesus Christ in a 4x4 room. I want to invite anyone in this new area who will listen, arrogant or humble, muslim or christian, to feel their Heavenly Father's love through this Gospel and through this path. I am sure it will be frustrating at times, and that the word "rejection" may be stamped on my forehead daily. Despite all of that, I still plan on looking at these people straight in the eyes and smiling as happily as I can as I invite them to come unto Christ. I know that God has prepared those who are ready to accept the message, it's just our job to find them. BRING IT ON.

The 1st counselor of the area Presidency came to Matola. His name is Elder Koelliker. Neat guy. Anyways, he shows up to our Branch and the District Leader, Elder Stewart all of the sudden asks me to translate for him up at the pulpit. I freaked out. I sat up on the stands with him, it was scary. I looked at his freshly polished shoes, and then looked at my worn out and sand filled shoes. He was wearing a suit coat, I was not. I had my white long sleeve shirt with the sleeves rolled up because my sleeves had shrunk. President and Sister Packard were there. I stood up next to Koelliker at the podium and translated. I went into the wierdest phase where it was as if I wasn't even listening to what he was saying, but I was able to just translate what he needed to say. I am pretty sure the Spirit was present, because there is no way I would have been able to say the things he said otherwise. I had been praying for help since the minute Stewart had asked me to step it up. He was a powerful speaker. I was SO nervous. I only missed two words: "Seers" and "Briefcase." When he said: "Prophets, seers, and revelators" I said: "Profetas, seers, e reveladores." It was great. Briefcase I just substituted for "Mala" ... same thing. " :) It was a crazy scary experience, but I can say I got to translate for one of the big guns of the mission. I could have looked a lot more sharp, but since it was last minute, what can you do. Fazer o que ne? Anyways thats my story. Oh yeah, this week I built a fire pit- just like you dad. I got two bricks and put a rack over the two of them and grilled a lamb chop. It was "maningue naice" very nice. I love you guys.ELDER CLEGGAO

2008-05-17T11:57:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday David!

David is 14 years old today!

2008-05-11T19:41:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day from David...

I wanted to write something for my mom today since it is mothers day. We took my mom to the park and had a blast! I love my mom, and i hope that she, as well as everyone that was there, had an awsome mothers day. I remember a book that my mom used to read to me. In the book, an old man went into his very old mothers house when she was asleep, held her in his arms, and rocked back and forth saying,"I like you for always, I love you forever, as long as I'm living, my mother you will be." I love that book and my mother even more, beyond what words can explain. Mom, I hope you had an amazing mothers day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love you!!!!!!!!!!!! Love, David

2008-05-07T06:49:00.000-07:00

Congratulations David!

We were invited to a special awards ceremony last night were David was recognized for being on the honor roll and also for being an ambassador for the seventh grade. Congratulations David!

2008-05-05T11:53:00.000-07:00

Thank you for your letter this week and last week. Your letters really are inspiring and a good pump up for the week. Please keep your "sermons" coming, I could use all the advice I can get. I like how you mentioned the "honeymoon" aspect of the mission wearing off. The more time I spend out here, the more real the people and their problems become. When a challenge arises, I just think about how dad probably went through the same thing on his mission and made it out alive. I will always remember the phrase he taught me: " Thick Skin Justin, thick skin."That has been my motto out here. I'm learning that one of the easiest ways to ease the tension and the stress of the mission is to just get down on my knees and pray to my heavenly father for everything I have been given. Not to mention Pushups help too. Everytime I pray, I remember why I am out here: to help others come unto Christ and receive the restored gospel. By helping and teaching others, I realize that I am not out here to solve MY problems or better MY situation as a missionary. I am out here to give others the opportunity to live a better and happier life through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Some of the problems and issues our investigators have to deal with make plucking chickens and cold showers look like walking on clouds. There are nights when its hard to fall asleep, because I am thinking about how I will respond to our investigators problems the next day, I am just trying to stay positive and hope for the best in every family's case, and hope that the Lord will take care of the rest. Sometimes I think about and wonder why I was given the life I have. I wonder why I got to be born in the United States of America and not in Africa and why I am where I am at this point in my life, teaching the people I am teaching. I wonder what it was or what happened before this life that allowed me to be sealed into the home and family that I have and to become a CLEGG. I was given SO much, and I know that just as much is expected of me-- Im using the 720 days my Heavenly Father has given me to help bring about this cause and bring souls unto Christ. I love you. Thanks for helping me become everything I am. Keep the solid letters coming. Elder Clegg - D&C 82:3 For of him unto whom much is given much is required; and he who sins against the greater light shall receive the greater condemnation

2008-05-01T15:10:00.000-07:00

HAPPY MAY DAY!

On the first day of May here in Omaha all the neighbors make little treat baskets, then they leave them on the door step and run away! Do they do this in other places? It is new to me but I love this tradition! They say that if you catch the person that left the treat you get to kiss them!

2008-04-29T12:37:00.000-07:00

IT'S A TIE!!!

This is Brad with his BF Jonathan. When Brad met Jonathan at the beginning of the school year, it seemed like a good match for a friendship. The two boys had so much in common, both love soccer and wrestling. Then it got even better... the first time Jonathan's family came to pick Brad up they arrived in a great big van full of kids of all different colors. It turns out that Jonathan has eight brothers and sisters and they are all ADOPTED except for Jonathan! Talk about having a lot in common!!
Anyway, today was a soccer game that Bradley was both looking forward to and dreading at the same time. His soccer team was playing against Jonathan's team. Brad and Jonathan are both very competitive with each other. They always wrestle to see who is stronger, and talk abut who is the better soccer player, and we were about to find out! It was such an exciting game and confusing trying to cheer for both boys on different teams. I don't think I have ever seen Bradley play so well, and Jonathan was trying just as hard. I knew that who ever went home the "looser" was going to be very disappointed. The game was close, Jonathan's team was up by one point in the second half. In the last minute of the game, Brad made an amazing pass that resulted in a goal, and the game ended in a beautiful, wonderful TIE!!!!

2008-04-23T08:11:00.000-07:00

Hey Family!

Mom! Happy Birthday! I am so happy that it was your birthday! I hope you had a great day and got everything you wanted! I thought about you all day because it happened to be an Elder's birthday out here on Saturday as well. Miss you! This week we had great success. We taught a total of 30 lessons, which is great for us. Usually we get in about 20 a week teaching between 4-6 lessons a day (excluding P-days and Sundays), so we felt good about our work. We have been focusing on having lessons with members and 15 of our lessons were with members. It is very helpful when they participate. We are walking far, and working hard. Talking to everyone, everywhere.

This week I killed my first chicken, plucked it, cleaned it, and ate it! It was Delicious but it was wierd thinking that I was feeding the thing a few hours before. It is a great way to eat because chickens are cheap and have protein. Not to mention its just cool having a bird walking around in the house. Mom my package arrived! Thank you so much! All of the Elders laughed at me and called me a noob when they saw what was inside. It made me feel very loved though, and tell the Hopkins thanks for the sunblock! Thank you for all your advice mom. There has never been a time in my life when you have told me something that doesn't ring true. Its just too bad I have to realize that later down the road when I experience things for myself. We are continuing our service project of building a house for Irma Salmina. This Saturday we dug out the foundation and placed rocks to stabilize the mud. We are going back Wednesday morning to keep working, its going to be great. She is so happy everytime we come. I love you guys so much! I sent a letter off today so I hope it gets out there. Expect it in a week or two?

I'm out of time! BYE ! elder Clegg

2008-04-21T10:13:00.001-07:00

Letter Factory...

(Love my new Smallwonder camcorder!)

Did you see Evan Mo on Becka's blog (check Mo's blog)? Cutest thing ever (and by the way I do think he is a genius!) This is the video she was talking about. I bought it on Friday and by Sunday Mia knew all the sounds of the alphabet! Boy I could have used this when the boys were little!!!!!

I know Rayette has also used these videos with great success! I borrowed the next video from her where they start putting the sounds together. Who knows maybe by next weekend Mia will be reading the newspaper!

2008-04-19T18:47:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LORA!

What a great birthday! We did all my favorite things today... starting with going out to breakfast, which is one of my most favorite things to do. Then the kids spoiled me with all sorts of gifts including this tower of Diet Coke from David (OK maybe I have a problem!) Dan made me wait all day to surprise me with the most beautiful Diamond Ring! I love it so much but I love the letter he wrote to me even more! I will share just a little...

For your birthday I bought you the most rare and precious stone - a diamond.
I thought you might find it interesting that a diamond is the hardest natural material known to man. It can only be scratched by another diamond. The formation of a diamond requires the exposure of carbon-bearing materials to very high pressure and heat over many years. It is said that a diamond is a chunk of coal made good under pressure. Always remember as you glance down at your hand that, like a diamond, our true love is “rare” and that you are the most “precious” person in my life.
Love Forever,
Your Diamond in the Rough
(I still need a little smoothing)

Thank you to all my friends who took me out to lunch, and Mia for watching all the kids and making it possible for us to enjoy ourselves! Thank you for the thoughtful cards and gifts, I am so lucky to have you all in my life and I feel so loved today!

(I tried the black background Heidi but it doesn't look like yours)

2008-04-14T09:20:00.000-07:00

I bought a chicken this week which I will also be eating this week. A little kid named it Lumbumba for me. I am trying not to become close friends with it because soon it will be in my tummy, skinned, fried and all.

2008-04-13T16:20:00.000-07:00

Playing with the new present...

Thank you Grandma Sue for the fun stunt kite! After Dan flew the new kite he got for his birthday, he got online to see what other wind sports we can do here in Omaha. Wind sports in Omaha? We have discovered that the wind pretty much never stops blowing here.
Have you ever heard of kite boarding? Well, if you see Dan or one of the kids flying along an open field on a huge skate board holding on to a big parachute kite, don't be too surprised!

2008-04-08T09:26:00.001-07:00

Hey Mom and Dad!

Happy birthday Dad!

I hope you had a great birthday and that you didn't eat more candles than cake! (Just kidding!) Thank you for the sweet "PISD" tips. They were great tips, but I don't think the acronym went as well as the last time. Nice try, but Thank you!I am glad to hear that the soccer team is doing well. Have David watch the dribbling clips from nikesoccer.com or youtube from kids all around the world. Those cool foot tricks have nothing to do with gameplay, but they always helped me get a rhythm with my feet before playing. David has got to learn to "dance" with those clunker feet of his. Theres my two cents coach. We had a great time watching General conference as a Maputo Zone this weekend. We watched the sessions for 6 straight hours in English on Sunday (both the available live and recorded sessions). I was very happy to listen to all of the speakers and sit in a comfortable chair and watch the BYU Mens and Womens choir sing. I LOVED seeing the scenes of temple square and I remembered all of the pictures I've taken there with family. President Monson is a spiritual Giant and I was honored to sustain him as the Prophet and President of our Church. I was pierced when he said: "I commit my life to this work." Shouldn't we all? My other favorite pump up talk was from Kenneth Johnson when he quoted:" Never be satisfied with anything less than your best efforts." I am taking that to heart while I am out here. I am so grateful to be out here serving my God and his people. Thank you for supporting me! This week I went on a split with Elder Ruhle. I got the chance to lead the lessons we taught for the day. Elder Ruhle and I were asked to give a blessing to a sister of one of the investigators we are teaching. We went into the back room and she was sweating everywhere and had vomited all over the room. She had some kind of stomach problem. We gave her a blessing and it was a very neat experience. She told us thank you, and she actually made it to church on Sunday feeling much better. I know this work is real and that we have the authority to act in God's name. I love you both SO much! Tell Bradley that He is an amazing brother and that I will be home in no time. Tell David that it doesnt matter where you go, just serve with all your heart. Thanks for the package.... Ill tell you when I get it. Love, Elder clegg

2008-04-07T11:36:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Dan!

"Adding another candle doesn't make you older~
It just makes your life brighter!" Thanks Cheryl, Love the card!

Dan got his Tres Leches cake and he loved every bite!

We celebrated with friends on Friday night, the first outside party of the season! As you can see it got a litte cold, but it was so much fun to huddle under the blankets and enjoy our friends and the kids running around outside. Thanks Olsen's for throwing such a fun party for Dan!

2008-04-03T10:37:00.000-07:00

Milk Cake?

The other day I was going down the cake isle at the grocery store looking for a cake mix to make for Dan’s birthday. There were too many choices, so I decided to call Dan and see what kind he wanted. He started naming all the yummy deserts he loved in Brazil and Mexico, the ones I never learned how to make, then decided he had to have TRES LECHES for his birthday. Tres Leches is our very favorite cake, it is a butter cake sometimes flavored with vanilla. What makes it unusual is that it is soaked in a mixture of three different milk products, (one of them being sweetened condensed milk~ (YUMMY) hence the name Tres Leches. The three milks, when combined, create just the right sweetness, density and "mouth feel" for a rich cake, making it moist but not mushy. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water! Well I looked up and to my surprise there was a box of Duncan Hines Tres Leches! Well... it's worth a try.

2008-04-03T10:27:00.000-07:00

Thanks for the ride...

“Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he has been robbed. The fact is that most putts don’t drop, most beef is tough, most children grow up to be just like people, most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration, and most jobs are more often dull than otherwise. Life is just like an old time rail journey … delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride.”

~ Gordon B. Hinckley

2008-03-31T09:35:00.000-07:00

To my awesome family-
Hey there!
I have made it through my first month here in Mozambique. 1 Month is good because I now have something to look back on; it’s some time under my belt. This week we will have transfers and my MTC buds will be here on Sunday. That will be something to look forward to.
This week has been tough- none of our investigators showed up to church. Since church attendance is one of the main ways we measure our investigator’s progress, we really get burned when no one comes. Of our 12 investigators, only 3 showed up. The people have the lamest excuses of why they didn’t show up for church. When it rains, some say it’s too wet and rainy to come. When it’s overcast, others say it is too cold for their babies to be outside. One investigator even said he didn’t show up because he didn’t have any clean clothes. We really have to put our foot down and tell the investigators that they have to show up for church, otherwise we can’t teach them. Everybody wants to be taught, but when it comes down to attending church, it’s always too far, too long, or too impossible to be there. That is our main frustration right now.
This week it was discovered that there is a problem with my Visa situation. I was issued a 30 day tourist visa and it expired yesterday, so knowing this, I had to drive down to the Kingdom of Swaziland with Elder Stuart to see if I could “buy” a work visa at the Mozambican embassy in Mbabane (the capital of Swazi). We paid 500 Rend and gave the visa lady a chocolate candy bar and she went ahead and issued me a work visa. Now I am just waiting to see that Mozambique accepts it. In a worst case scenario, I was told by President Packard that I would have to fly back to Washington D.C. or an east coast mission, and serve there until I got the visa situation worked out. Hopefully that doesn’t happen, because that will really mess up the rhythm of my work here with transfers and such. 4 days flying again just doesn’t sound that cool right now. My first transfer is this week and that will be exciting.
I think that is so great that Dad is coaching soccer. He is definitely a super dad with a super competitive edge. That means the team will dominate. Dad, thank you for the “HELP.” I really took that to heart (Especially the part where I should love my companion like I love my brother). That helped me a lot this week. Dad, the makeup of the mission is like this: we have 12 Brazilian missionaries, 3 Mozambicans, and all of the rest are Americans. (64 total). There are 13 branches in Mozambique.
Mom, sorry I haven’t told you about the food. Since there are 4 of us in the house, each of us have to cook lunch about twice a week. Don’t ask how my first week’s lunch went, but I am improving. We cook rice and beans and cook ground beef and mix it all together. We also cook a lot of noodles with more ground beef. Every P-day, we go out to a yummy cheap restaurant and either order pizza (which is a lot like Rodizio) or ½ a Chicken with fries. The fries here are delicious. For dinner, it’s just a free for all whatever is in the kitchen. I usually pound about 3 peanut butter and honey sandwiches and a big cup of Nesquick strawberry milk. Sometimes I come in so tired after the day that I just fall asleep rather than try to make something. My best friend in the kitchen is the blender and I have been experimenting with Vitaminas. (Blended bananas, oranges, milk and sugar). They are stocked with energy. There is also amazing French bread that I buy and butter up all the time. They make great fillers.
This week I gave my first lesson in English to a woman named Mrs. Subramanian. She is from India and she comes from a very wealthy high class family. She is a religion professor at a college here in Matola and knows her stuff. She was teaching me about her elephant gods and beliefs. I listened carefully, and then gave the first lesson to her in exchange. Elder Andrade sat quiet the whole lesson, but at the end he shared a beautiful testimony in English. I didn’t know he had it in him. I had tears rolling down my face as he shared his thoughts perfectly in English. I had never heard him speak English before. It was amazing. Mrs. Subramanian accepted a Book of Mormon in English and said she would ask permission from her husband to be at Church next Sunday. It was a great experience.
I will never forget how Dad said: “Everything in Africa is backwards.” I had a great witness of that in the supermarket the other day. Elder Andrade paid the lady a 20 dollar bill, and the lady said “We can’t accept this; it has a crease in the middle.” Elder Andrade and I started laughing and then we spoke to the manager who accepted the bill. Sometimes there is just a lack of common sense around here.
Go and sustain that Prophet! Thomas S. Monson!
I love you all. 3 Nephi 18:21

2008-03-29T15:40:00.000-07:00

Spring Soccer...

Dan has been the assistant coach for David's soccer team for the past two seasons, and has watched him develop into a great player!

My trunk!

Dave's team had their first game today, they won by two goals and David got one of them! Good job Dave!
Brad is playing for a new team this Spring and his first game is on Tuesday, he can't wait!

2008-03-23T22:53:00.000-07:00

Easter Sunday...

Today was such a fun day! We had an amazing feast with our friends of ham, homemade rolls, cheesy potatoes, salad and yummy deserts. The kids went on an egg hunt, Brad, Anna and Mia got to find 12 eggs each, David said he was too big to hunt eggs this year, so he helped hide them! We had to bundle up because it is still very cold in Nebraska, as soon as Mia had enough eggs she ran for the house!

Thank you Grandma Gayle and Grandpa Cal for the beautiful Easter dresses, the girls looked so pretty!

Thank you Rayette and Archie for a great Easter brunch and egg hunt, everyone had a blast!

2008-03-23T22:00:00.000-07:00

Mom, Dad, and Familia

Hey guys! Happy easter! I hope you had a great day yesterday and ate LOTS of chocolate! I hope David stepped it up and ate all of the chocolate I would have eaten had I been there. I was thinking about that one easter in PR, when the easter bunny only decided to stop by AFTER church, and left us those matching cabbage patch dolls. I am pretty sure that was the same day I found the CAP-STUN pepper spray and filled the house with that awful smell. Good times. This Sunday was great and actually pretty funny. During the opening prayer, the power went out and it affected the whole rest of the meeting. No one heard the rest of the prayer and so some people just said "Amem" whenever they felt like it was over. I said Amem too, but then I sunk into my chair when I realized the member was still standing there praying. The room was dark, the microphones were out, and the air conditioners shut down. The room started to smell and everyone started to sweat like it was their job. The best part was the singing. See, the church has an electric keyboard, and that was out too. No keyboard means no tune. I am pretty sure the hymn "The Spirit of God" (Tal como um facho) was sung in every pitch, speed, and rhythm other than the right way. Even with a piano, I've noticed the Africans sing the hymns basically however they want to and on some songs, have developed a completely different way of singing them. I just sat the play out and listened to the incredibly new and different songs. No where else in the world.. I love this branch. (We have 120 members by the way Dad). I gave the 45 minute lesson in Sunday School today on prayer. Everyone just stared at me and NO one participated. I would ask a question, wait a few minutes, and after the awkward silence, I would go ahead and answer my own questions. It was retarded. I think it went well though. It has been a big question this week of why our church doesn't "celebrate" easter like the other churches with big reunions and celebrations at their meetinghouses. We have been explaining that we remember Christ EVERY Sunday at Church and not just at one specific time during the year. Here, many of the people will not eat meat the whole weekend, fast, pray, and be reverent until noon. Then after noon strikes, the parties start, the music is blasted, and out comes the booze. I have seen 3 live accidents right in front of me just this weekend alone. Whatever happened to the fluffy easter bunny? This week as Elder Andrade and I were walking to one of our last lessons during the evening, we were stopped by a woman named Mercia who said she had a grandson named Amad and was getting himself into a lot of trouble. She said he could use some help from a couple young "church boys" like us. We met him at his house the next day, and the 17 year old kid started to cry when we told him that through Jesus Christ, he could be clean from all of his sins and change his life. He has a good heart. On Saturday we started a service project for an Irma named Salmina. We began building her a house with bricks from scratch, and the structure will have two rooms. It took us 3 hours to make the cement and form the bricks. Next week we will begin mounting them. The project will take us a few more weekends. It felt good to get dirty and put some sweat into building this woman a new home. At first I thought they were kidding when we had to actually "make" the bricks. You'd think that you could just make a quick home depot run, but nope... we had to build the bricks and start from scratch. Its like a new investigator, you have to start slow and mix the right amount of cement so that the bricks will last for a lifetime. Anyways, we had a great time "taking care of business." We have two baptisms set up for this Saturday for Irmao Bernardo and Irma Joana. They are a nice couple and they have a beautiful family with LOTS of cute little kids everywhere. The work continues and I am getting better at orienting myself in our area here. It is HUGE and we are walking a lot every day. I am still trying to figure out the currency and determine what is expensive and what is not. Meat out here is very expensive so I have to be careful. If I were to ask you to send me anything that wouldn't be a big deal in the case that it didn't arrive, I would ask for some sunscreen (it is VERY EXPENSIVE Here), a box of chap stick, and more of those brown journals you bought me from Target. I LOVE YOU ALL! In the case I don't get to write you next week, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD! April 7th! woohoo! 80's music time. Have a great week! ELDER CLEGG

2008-03-20T18:01:00.001-07:00

Happy First Day of Spring!

This is how our front yard looks starting right now and lasting all the way into fall!

2008-03-18T07:06:00.000-07:00

Mom, Dad, and Family,

Proverbs 25:25 says, As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country. Thank you for the updates with everything, its always great to hear whats going on at home. Even if it is getting toilet papered!Well, this week has absolutely whizzed by. I usually am waiting like a little boy at Christmas for Pday, the chance I get to hear from and write my family. I hope you enjoy the photos I will be sending, I will continue to send them every week so you can see how I live and what life is like here. This last Friday we had Zone Conference (my first) and it was an all day long, but great experience. I was asked to translate in Portuguese to the Brazilian and Mozambican missionaries because the old translator just went home. It went well, but I had a huge head ache afterwards. The president thanked me afterward and said thats the first time he´d seen a new missionary translate at a first zone conference. Good times. The work continues out here as we teach our daily lessons and plan out for the next day. Being a missionary , in a lot of ways, is like being a tennis teacher: you are constantly setting up lessons for new learners, keeping the good “club” members playing, and always rearranging lesson plans and times according to the needs of the people. If you want another analogy, being a missionary can be like playing golf. Even though I go only once a year, I know its hard and that everyone has hard or “unlucky” days. Sometimes though, it just takes that one perfect shot, or that one simple and sweet lesson that makes you want to come back again the next day for more. And no matter how crappy the day was, or how inadequate you felt in carrying out the Lords work, it just takes that one moment of absolute peace while teaching someone in their humble shack sitting on an empty gas container to turn the whole day and the whole purpose of why I am here around. I know this is Gods work, and He needs guys like us to carry it out and “thrash the nations with His spirit.”
President Packard is the real deal. He gives advice and teaches us how to be better missionaries in the nicest and coolest ways. He is 57 and he does 57 pushups every day. Yup. I miss all of you, and I think of the times in the future when we all get to be together again. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like if I lived the rest of my life out here.
I continue to get Caribbean vibes while out here. In the middle of one of our prayers with an investigator, Bob Marley went off in the neighbors backyard and completely threw me off. When the people attempt to speak in English, they produce a “Jamaica” like accent. The chapa (bus) drivers have now begun charging me the price of 2 passengers: One for me, and the other for my legs.
I have discovered that it is socially acceptable to pick your nose in public here. No one cares. I guess the theory is: “everyones got a nose, might as well pick it.” At first I stared, but quite frankly I just don't care anymore.
“The only thing consistent about Mozambique is its inconsistency.”
We saw a live robbery on Friday: A man snatched a womans cell phone and ran off in broad daylight. The man didn't make it far before being decked and dropped by two men. Usually, if the case is pretty serious, the people will actually kill the thief. If the event is more serious like car theft, the people will put a tire around the thiefs body, dump gas over him, and burn him. Elder Andrade saw this just a week before I came.
Anyways, Im safe and I love you all.
D&C 123:13 Therefore, that we should waste and a wear out our lives in bringing to light all the hidden things of darkness, wherein we know them; and they are truly manifest from heaven—
JUSTIN

2008-03-10T10:17:00.000-07:00

Hey Mom, Dad, and Family --

I've been out here a week, and I am still alive :) The work is good and there are still many people we have to teach. I have been compiling a list of observations I have noticed out here in Mozambique and I thought it would be cool to share them with you. Here it goes.

1. Cars DO NOT stop for pedestrians here. If you think you have the right of way on foot, think again. You will get hit. The drivers honk like crazy if someone is in their path, but that doesn't mean they will let their foot of the gas.

2. The majority of the men here are unemployed. That means "sitting time." On every corner, there are groups of men that just sit and watch the world go by. The women seem to do all of the work here.

3. EVERY woman here has a baby and carries it on a "capulana" (sling). The babies are usually always asleep while riding.

4. Phone numbers are 9 and sometimes 10 digits long. How are you supposed to memorize that.

5. There is a special handshake all of the men do here. It starts off normal, and then both grab the base of eachothers thumb, and then go back to the regular.

6. When you say "ola" to older men, the men here give a "hands off" gesture to say hello back.

7. When you ask someone how their day is, they will always respond: "Muito bem, So calor!" (Just Heat!)

8. I have not seen ONE african baby cry yet. When they fall, they get right back up. They are built to be tough.

9. ALL of the Mozambican names are very foreign and very different to me. Ex. Eugenia, Lucresia, Celeste, Selsio, Geculio, Edma, etc.

10. "Mulungo" means white boy, and that is what I get called while walking the streets. When its not Mulungo, its "Pastor." Anyways, I gave my first contact message in english to a woman from India who had seen the missionaries before. She wanted a copy of the book of mormon in English this week. I am working on learning the Xangana language and picking up on a lot of the vocabulary. I paid a kid in our ward to buy me a bible in the Xangana language, so that will be fun. Also, we had a "spring cleaning" check, and I got to clean out the water tank on the roof. Lets just say that it's got nothing on shoveling grandma's driveway... it took 2 hours. 5 people died in our ward this week and that was pretty harsh. 2 of them were little babies. The missionaries really run the show at the church, and I am learning my role there. I love you! Please send me the quote by Spencer W. Kimball that goes something to the effect of this: "If you only knew what I knew, you would run to spread the word, and when you got tired you would walk, and when you couldn't walk anymore, you would crawl, and when your knees bled through, you would scream at the top of your lungs the truthfulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ." Thats inspiring.if you could find that, that would be great. Kanimambo! JUSTIN

2008-03-09T07:46:00.001-07:00

We got TP'd last night!

I can remember toilet papering houses when I was David's age. It was so exciting, scary and fun! Not so exciting or fun being on this end!

2008-03-04T16:30:00.000-08:00

Playing on top of Lake Zorinsky!

The winter in Nebraska is so freezing cold that you really have to stay indoors most of the time. It is a kind of cold that I have never experienced anywhere else. When you walk outside your coat will freeze right on your body.

This weekend we had a bit of a break in the weather, so we decided to go walking around the lake near our house. When we got there, we saw people walking not around the lake, but right on the lake, playing hockey, fishing and just sliding around having fun.

It made me nervous at first, until we checked with the fishermen to see how thick the ice was. They showed us their fishing hole and the ice was a good ten inches thick!

Everyone had a great time getting outside and playing on Lake Zorinsky. I know we still have a few months to go before spring but we all had a little spring fever today!

2008-03-03T11:25:00.000-08:00

To mom, dad, family, and friends,

Hey there! Mozambique is great! It is very VERY humid here and after 3 days, my white shirts are already beginning to turn yellow! The temperature is good though. The weather reminds me of a good day in Acapulco or Puerto Rico. There is nothing more satisfying than sweating it out after a good hard days worth of service. Hardly any of the roads here have asphalt and every body drives on the wrong (I mean the left) side of the road. The cars also have the steering wheel on the right side and so that is very confusing to me. I keep picturing what it would be like to drive a stick shift like that. The people are very friendly here. It is easy to go up to anybody and make simple conversation, and everybody on the streets says 'olá' to us. Whenever we need to go somewhere, we travel on 'Chapas' which are a type of small bus here. They cram about 50 people in these things and you are usually guaranteed to have some fat guy or a bra-less african mama basically sitting on your lap for 10 minutes before getting off. The smells are definitely very interesting, but I've found that when you've got someone's face an inch away from yours, its really easy to share the gospel and simple messages about the church. My companion is an animal out here. His name is Elder Andrade and he is from Brazil. I am so blessed to have a brazilian companion, because not only is he native in the language, but he and I have a lot in common that we can refer back to, having lived in brazil. We sing the good brazilian songs that used to be popular all of the time. He is from Manaus which is pretty close to the Amazon. He is a very charismatic guy and we are trashing the town. President Packard has assigned me to the area called Matola, and it is about a 40 minute drive outside of the city of Maputo. In Matola, ALL of the roads are a sandy red dirt, and it has completley stained my shoes. I am so glad I didn't invest in any big time shoe, because it is just not worth it. You can hardly tell they are black anyways. Our house has two bedrooms with two air conditioners and a small kitchen. It is a VERY nice house compared to what every one else lives in: small 4 wall rooms built with mud, iron sheets, and sometimes brick. In just the few days I have been here, I have seen some amazing and inspiring things. On Saturday, Irma Edma (who is 20) was baptized by Elder Andrade. It was a running joke that I showed up and already someone was baptized :) Elder Andrade had been giving her the lessons for a couple of weeks. Every other Saturday, about 10 people are baptized in our Zone. It was amazing to see these people come out of the water completely clean and renewed. You could tell in their eyes they knew they were doing the right thing. I have fallen in love with doing street contact. I am addicted to it. I love walking up to anybody, whether they are in a rush or jobless and sharing the message with them for a couple of minutes. It is a lot harder to convey my feelings in Portuguese than it is in English, but its a good challenge for me to work on. The people here really do have good hearts. When we walk the streets we stand out SO BAD. It is ridiculous. Every one stares and stares, and some people even shout: Oh Elder! We just smile and talk to as many people as we can. I gave my first full on lesson to a woman named Eugenia. We had to do the lesson outside on her sandy 'lawn' because there wasn't enough space in her house for the three of us. She asked me to say both the opening and closing prayer :) We shared with her about Christ and just kept it very simple. Matthew 11 was our ally. She then promised to come to church with us on Sunday. At church she put on her sunday's best which was a bright orange t-shirt with a mozambican phone logo on it. It was fast and testimony meeting and they asked me to share my testimony in front of the ward (50 people). Irma (sister) Eugenia followed me around thereafter and her face glowed the whole time. She will be back next sunday and we are teaching her this wednesday.The church was very humbling and very beautiful. There are about 40 collapsable seats and every seat was taken. All of the missionaries (there are 8 at church) had to stand the whole meeting. The little kids are SO cute and the moms shush all of their kids by breastfeeding the whole time. The missionaries have to be present in every class to make sure the right things are being taught. Elder Andrade taught this weeks lesson in Sunday school and it was great. These are amazing memories out here, and I am thinking of you all back home. Please be safe.

I love you all. Justin (Elder Clegg)

2008-03-02T16:29:00.000-08:00

WAY TO GO BRADLEY!!!

Brad had his FIRST wrestling tournament today and took FIRST PLACE! What an exciting day! Brad wasn't even sure he wanted to enter the tournament because he just started wrestling a few weeks ago, way to go Brad!

2008-03-01T13:37:00.000-08:00

Justin made it safe and sound,
and his first companion is from Brazil!

Click the letter to make it big.

2008-02-27T16:06:00.000-08:00

Justin flew out today...

He is flying from the Salt Lake airport to Los Angles (2 hours), then on to London (11 hours), From London to Johannesburg (11 hours), and From Johannesburg to Mozambique (1 hour).

2008-02-26T10:37:00.000-08:00

Latest from Justin...

Click letter to make it big.

2008-02-22T15:16:00.000-08:00

Play Group...

As I was pulling up to play group today in my WHITE MINIVAN, this is what I saw. This picture is not including mine, which I am sitting in. Too funny! Thank you Heidi for hosting, everyone had such a great time!

Mia has a bracelet on each ear.

2008-02-22T15:15:00.000-08:00

We got this email today...

It looks like Justin is leaving earlier than we expected!

Mom!

Hey. Thank you for the great package. It was like Christmas all over again. I wrote you a letter which will probably be my last physical letter for a while. It was great hearing from everybody, and the family picture made me really happy.I am writing to tell you that I will be flying out this week (Tuesday or Wednesday) and I am incredibly excited! I hope you love my letter! I will write as soon as a get the chance out there! I love you mom! Justin

2008-02-22T14:33:00.000-08:00

An Adventure in Africa

2007-12-17T16:34:00.000-08:00

Howdy! I just returned from Africa where I had the unique opportunity to teach an Interview and Interrogation Course to the Cape Verde police.

On my way over and back, I had to layover in Dakar, Senegal, and toured the city for two days on each end of the trip. Senegal is 90% Muslim and the entire city of Dakar, approximately 3 million, was preparing for the Muslim holiday - Tabasci. Tabasci honors God's command to Abraham to offer his first born as a sacrifice. So, all good Muslims sacrifice a sheep or goat in remembrance of Abraham. Traffic in Dakar is insane, with no traffic lights, sidewalks, and few paved roads, so you can only imagine what the addition of hundreds of thousands of goats and sheep does. I do, however, give the residents of Dakar "A+" for sheep and goat hygiene. We passed one goat vendor on the way to downtown and he was shampooing his animal. One hour later, I witnessed the same vendor applying cream rinse to the same animal. The thousands of dogs, however, were definitely in severe stages of neglect in comparison to the sheep, but then again, they should consider themselves lucky in that they are not offered up as a burnt sacrifice.

The one hour flight to Cape Verde from Dakar on Air Senegal took eight hours - both coming and going. I will spare you the details and just say that Air Senegal is the closest thing to having "the in-patients run the insane asylum." Lesson learned - Africa is never in a hurry!

Cape Verde was much more familiar to me and reminded me a little of Northeast Brazil. The citizens speak Portuguese and a few forms of Creole. The Republic of Cape Verde is located on an archipelago off the western coast of Africa. The previously uninhabited islands were discovered and colonized by the Portuguese in the 15th century and were used as a slave trade way-station. The country is the westernmost point of continental Africa. More Cape Verdeans live abroad than in Cape Verde, with significant emigrant Cape Verdean communities in the United States (500,000 Cape Verdeans). Many of the Cape Verdeans that emigrated to the United Sates came in the early 1900's as part of the whaling industry and settled in port cities in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Today there is a significant transnational crime problem that involves Cape Vedeans in the U.S. associated with violent gangs that are deported back to Africa where they terrorize the citizens of the islands.

Tchau!

2007-12-17T16:30:00.000-08:00

How could you not put money in that bucket?!

As a service project for school, David was one of the bell ringers at the HyVee supermarket today.

2007-12-11T10:11:00.000-08:00

Have you ever heard of a snow day being called in anticipation of a storm?

Last night on the news they kept talking about this great big storm that was coming, they got all hyped up and canceled school last night, before it ever started snowing! We are all home from school today.
I know that everyone always thinks that things were so much worse when they were a kid, but I remember driving to Highland High during the winters in Salt Lake and my bumper would be pushing snow all the way! I only remember one snow day my whole life!

2007-12-06T16:20:00.000-08:00

LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW!

2007-12-05T13:00:00.000-08:00

Stupid, Pointless, Tragic!
Shooting in Omaha…

Thank you everyone for your sweet calls of concern. We were nowhere near the mall when the shooting happened. I have been to this mall but it isn’t a mall I go to often. Nine people are confirmed dead - including the gunman. Five others were hurt, including two who are still listed in critical condition. You know, I really think we are going to have to re-think how we are handling these random shootings. They have covered it non-stop since it happened and they keep repeating a quote from the shooter's suicide note “I am going to go out in style.” The media is playing right into his wishes. So tragic!

2007-12-01T11:55:00.000-08:00

ICE STORM TODAY...

A winter ice storm is moving across Nebraska. The storm started dropping sleet around three o'clock this morning. Everything was canceled due to the ice, so we have been hunkered down at home all day. I love it when the weather is so bad that we all stay home together! We have the fire going and I have been baking my Amish friendship bread that Abbi’s (Justin’s girlfriend) mom gave me. It is the perfect day for it and everyone is eating it up as fast as I can bake it. The kids have been ice skating on the driveway in their shoes, and Dan is in heaven because Davis cup tennis is on all day.

2007-12-01T11:54:00.001-08:00

A look back at Christmas...

Justin wanted me to post a picture of our Christmas tree. I took a picture of it and I realised that our tree hasn't changed in years! I love the ornaments I have, and the color scheme, and everything about it, so it just looks the same year after year. Anyway, instead of putting a picture of the same old tree on our blog, I thought Justin would like taking a look back at Christmas instead. Love you Justin and we are excited for you to come to Omaha, we can go through all the albums!