An amazing week in Clinton

Hey guys, Thank you so much for the emails that you have sent me. It was a joy reading them! It is so nice to hear about the things happening at home. I'm going to make a big SHOUT OUT to my awesome Dad, who got a job at Saudi Aramco. It was a relief hearing that Aramco will help pay for college! I have been thinking about what to do about it lately. I know I only have been out six months but the rest of my mission will go by fast and I want to be prepared! What a blessing! The Lord truly blesses His servants! :)

So, this week in Clinton has been absolutely amazing. It didn't snow at all and it was raining a little bit. We got sunshine there and there but it was awesome. We didn't have to walk in the bitter cold. I'm grateful for that! :)

Last week, I talked about the surprise party I got and I finally got the picture from one of the missionaries. My hair looked so bad in that picture but I got a haircut that night so it's all good!

My zone has been doing Zone Insanity (Insanity is a two month workout program) and it is going amazing. Elder Kelley (my comp), the Zone Leaders, and the Sisters (there is only a set of sisters in our zone. yes, they came!!) only come. All of the other missionaries are lame because they don't want to wake up at 5:00am to workout... jk, haha. They are good missionaries but still! ;) 

Today, my companion and I got to go through the Brigham City temple and it was an incredible experience. The BC temple is an amazing temple and I love it! After that, we got to go workout with the Zone Leaders. We went to Roy High School to workout in their gym and after that, we did P90x, the yoga one and all that took 3 hours and I'm super sore today. I'm going to be more sore tomorrow! But that's progress! :) It has been a good day so far!

So, James Wales (the 28 years old Filipino man that we were teaching) got baptized by his home teacher last Saturday and confirmed by his brother in law last Sunday. It was awesome! The baptismal service was amazing! A couple of missionaries took a couple of their investigators and because of that, I was super nervous for the missionary presentation but the Spirit took control. I just had to open my mouth. It was a miracle. One of the missionaries that came happened to be my mission grandfather, meaning that he trained Elder Zarse who then trained me. His name is Elder Costello and guess what, he is from Mesa, Arizona!! He went to Mountain View and everything. He is a really cool guy and he is currently a Zone Leader for the Clearfield/Syracuse zone. After the baptism, I asked him for feedback because I always want to improve in my teachings and he said that he was impressed and proud of his "grandson"! It felt so good hearing that from one of the top missionaries in the mission. How do I know that? He has been a zone leader for the past 13 months... :)

A couple nights ago, we had a miracle happen! We were teaching a couple YW age girls, both are nonmembers, along with their divorced mother who is a less active. We already met with them once before and they had NO intention to get baptized. They were just meeting with us because the mother made them do it. The first lesson we had with them is just getting to know them. They talked about all of the Mormon people at their school and how some of them are just cruel to non members. That's not what Jesus Christ would do. He would accept everyone, regardless of their beliefs... "Be thou an example"!! Anyways, we decided to teach the Restoration to Renae and Erika (the two NM girls) and it was super awesome. The Spirit was so strong and after sharing the First Vision, I felt that I had to ask them to be baptized but I was terrified. I mustered up enough confidence and looked them both in the eyes and said, "Will you follow the example of Jesus Christ by being baptized by someone holding the priesthood authority of God?" (PMG style! :) ) One of them said yes right away and the other was skeptic. She asked a question that involved gay and lesbians and how the church doesn't support them. We were able to talk a little bit about the The Proclamation to the World. The most amazing thing about that is that President and Sister Hiers received revelation that they should give a training on that during Zone Conference which was a day before this lesson. Elder Kelley told me that it was his first time hearing that question. What a miracle!! It was truly a huge blessing to have received that training beforehand or otherwise, we wouldn't have been able to answer that question and get her to commit to baptism! They committed to April 26 because they were atheists beforehand and they wanted some time to really make sure. We told them that they will be ready in March but they insisted on the last Saturday in April. But oh well, it was still a miracle! :D

The area is going great but despite our finding efforts, we are quickly running out of people to teach because we are baptizing them all! It's a blessing that we are getting a ton of referrals but we kept losing them! Oops, so resolve this problem, I made a referral binder so every time we get a name and address, we put it in there and on finding time, we compile a list and tract the names and hope it all works out! :)

It has been a wonderful week in the Utah Ogden mission. I love being a missionary and helping people access the Atonement through baptism! Thank you all for reading this and have a great week! Stay strong. Romans 8:31! Go and read it! It will be worth it! :) Love you guys! Love, Elder McGrath

An awesome week in Clinton

Hey guys, since, I have to going in a few, I'll have to make this short. Sorry! This past week has been the best, seriously! Elder Kelley is an awesome companion and I'm so glad that I get to serve with him. Since we are in a walking area, we fool and joke around with each other and it makes everything a lot more fun. The funny thing is that we have to be "professional" when a car is coming our way.

I had a wonderful birthday today. Elder Kelley surprised me by having one of the members in his old area come up and take me to Village Inn. It was all a surprise and after that, Elder Kelley and I came back to our house and guess what?! The entire zone was there and surprised me! I wasn't even expecting it at all. It was awesome. They made some cake but it was chocolate and they knew I didn't like chocolate. They told me to take a bite off of the cake with just my mouth. I was curious to know why they did that but I did it nonetheless. One of the elders smashed my head into the cake and luckily, my implant stayed clean. It was awesome. I loved every single second of it!

So last Saturday, Dannon got baptized by his Grandfather and the crazy thing is that President Hiers (the mission president of the UOM) and his wife came to our baptism and sat in. I was super nervous about the missionary presentation! But since, Elder Kelley and I have been practicing it since every missionary has different teaching styles. The missionary presentation went so awesome and a lot of people came up to us and told us that they felt the Spirit and that our parents should be proud of us for what accomplishments we are making. It was one of the best baptismal services I had so far on my mission!

James Wales who is from Davao City, Philippines who will be getting baptized this Saturday and I'm so happy! The Clinton West stake has been baptizing weekly for the past 9 weeks! I'm loving it. Elder Kelley has been teaching me his "secrets" to how he has been doing it and it's incredible. No wonder why he is the District Leader. But the bad thing is that we have no date for March 1st, the date for that fell through! Elder Kelley and I have been trying to fill that slot in so we can break the mission record for the most consecutive baptisms.

Morgan (the eight years old boy who is getting baptized on March 8th!) is doing awesome. We almost finished teaching all of the lessons and he is so ready to get baptized. He already knows all of the answers to our questions. I'm guessing it was because of his parents. His parents were super active in church when Morgan was growing up. Before Morgan reached the age of 8, his dad broke temple covenants so he got excommunicated and this time, it was his second time being excommunicated!

I have to get going, like now! I love you guys! Have a great week and I love you guys! Stay strong!

Love, Elder McGrath

Kelley, Dannon, Dannon's Grandfather, and me

Birthday card created by the Clinton zone

Clinton is awesome

Hola, mi amigos! Clinton is awesome! I love being in this area! Clinton West is a walking area and to be honest, I love it because I can burn off the 30 pounds that I have gained in my last area! haha.

My companion is Elder Mason Kelley and he is from orange county, California. He is a really cool guy and he is very hard-working. He has a super strong testimony and he knows why he is out here. Because of his willingness to work hard, we have been working super hard and we have seen many blessings come as a result! As Kelley says after each blessing we see, "PRAISE THE LORD!" hahahaha. That's his way of showing appreciation. He is my first (yes, my first! out of my five comps) comp who actually wants to go to the gym. We wake up at 5:45am to go to the gym and we work out for a hour. Twice a week, the zone does Insanity. During our first zone Insanity, I thought it was super easy at first but then it got harder and harder. I thought I was going to throw up at the end. Haha. My companion almost threw up too! haha! It was interesting. 

Day 1 (Tuesday, February 4) - This day was the day before transfers. I was able to say goodbye to a bunch of people that I have met over during my time in Tremonton. It was an awesome day. I spent the rest of the day chilling out and packing. I never knew that I have so much crap. haha

Day 2 (Wednesday, February 5) - That day was transfers. The UOM had a shuttle that went from Ogden to Brigham City to Logan to Brigham City and then back to Ogden. I took the last leg and it was really interesting.

We were able to see Krystal Cook. She is an unbaptized single, pregnant 30 years old lady. She is a really cool lady! We were able to give her a Book of Mormon and talk about how important it is to read it and ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if the book is true. We can be answered through the Holy Ghost (Galatians 5:22).

We also got to meet Dannon Allred who is a 11 years old boy. He is a genius but he has a psycho freak mom who is a huge drug addict and is also a pathological liar. Dannon's aunt lives with the family and takes care of the 5 kids. Dannon had to go through a lot to get where he is right now. He is a great kid! Luckily, he has grandparents who are living in Bountiful and they are trying to get custody of the kids so they can grow up in a safe home. Dannon is going to get baptized this Saturday (the 15th of February!) and we were able to set up his baptismal service last night. It was really cool! He has been going to church every Sunday for the past three months with his grandparents.

Day 3 (Thursday, February 6) - We also got to see Krystal Cook again and we got to teach her the Gospel of Jesus Christ! She took it really well and she committed to baptism on March 15th! Hopefully, that will work out! :)

We also got to teach Morgan. His parents went through a temple divorce because his father broke temple covenants. He got excommunicated for the second time... Morgan is only 9 years old. It's tough for him. We were able to teach him about a couple commandments, the Word of Wisdom and the Law of Tithing. It was awesome! He also committed to baptism on March 8th!

We also got to see Dannon again! :D We taught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ and for his age, he knows his stuff. He is a really smart kid!

Day 4 (Friday, February 7) - That day was my sixth month mark. I still cannot believe how fast time is flying. I love being a missionary so much!

Our two lessons fell through that day so we were able to drop off the Book of Mormon for Kids for Dannon so he could read it at his grandparents' house. We did a lot of finding and we were able to get a bunch of TTI (Teach, Testify, Invite. one of the key indicators in the UOM.) 

Day 5 (Saturday, February 8) - Elder Kelley and I were able to see James Wales who is from the Philippines. (Shout out to the Jubail Branch Filipinos!!). He is a nonmember who married an active member. They have been going to church every single week! His family is so amazing at music. They have a lot of siblings so it's like a family band and they are INCREDIBLE! We were able to teach them the Restoration and he committed to baptism on the 22nd of February. Miracles are HAPPENING! I love being a missionary!

Day 6 (Sunday, February 9) - Elder Kelley and I were able to go to a bunch of ward councils on that day and we went to one sacrament meeting. The talks were on charity and love. It was incredible. The people in the Clinton West stake is awesome! We were able to visit James Wales again because he is on the road during weekdays. We can only visit him on weekends so we visit him twice! :D We were able to teach him the Gospel of Jesus Christ and we were able to solidify the baptismal date. He is totally going to get baptized! :)

After the lesson, James issued us a challenge. We are to try a balot. Despite Elder Kelley and I being very competitive, we gave in to the challenge and to tell you. balots are absolutely disgusting. I ate an eye and Kelley ate feathers. I almost threw up. I'm never eating balots again. haha!

Day 7 (Monday, February 10) - Since Elder Kelley is a first time DL and I have to be a DLB (district leader buddy, I help him plan it out), we got to spend quite a day planning it out. Elder Kelley really wanted to do a good job because this is his first transfer being a DL. He's super cool!

We got to see Bryndee Lutz. She is a 13 years old girl who is awesome. Her family has had some bad experiences with the church so we are trying to work around that. She is interested in baptism. She was scheduled for March 1st but after we finished teaching her the GoJC, her mom came down and berated us for "pushing her" towards baptism. She kept going on how March 1st is too early and we should set a date for April-May. I was so pissed off afterwards. If everything goes according to plan, she will be more than ready to get baptized. I guess she didn't want her kid to get baptized but she will! haha.

We were able to go over to Dannon's house and set up the baptismal service that is going to be on this Saturday. I already talked a little bit about this earlier so scroll up if you want more info.

Thank you guys for the emails. It has been a great week in the Utah Ogden mission. I love being a missionary! Everything is going great. Scripture of the week! John 14: 18, 26-27:

18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you

26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid

I love those scriptures. Have a great week and stay strong! I love you guys! Love, Elder McGrath

Lori Larsen, me and Robert Hall

Kevin Jenkins and me

This UGLY, FAT turkey and me

I love Tremonton

Hey guys, Thank you so much for the emails that you  have sent! It has been a great week in Tremonton. I love serving in the Tremonton West stake. I got big news. Tomorrow is transfer day and I will be transferring to Clinton West! Elder K. Barnes will be staying here in Tremonton. My new companion will be Elder Mason Kelley and he is from California! I am so excited for this new adventure and Elder Kelley sent me a message this morning. I'll copy and paste it so you can see it.

Hey man! I am stoked to have you as a companion. How long have you been out for? You should know that this is the best area in the whole mission, been baptizing weekly for 12 weeks now

I'm so stoked for next transfer! :D

Day 1 (Tuesday, January 28) - It was an awesome pday. Elder Barnes and I got to go to Brigham City with the Spanish elders and we went to the DI and did some shopping! It's awesome! We got to go to this all you can eat Chinese buffet and it was DELICIOUS!

After that, we got to have dinner with Kevin and we had sloppy joes. It was so good! We got to teach him a lesson about Jesus Christ and how He can help us! It was a great lesson!

Day 2 (Wednesday, January 29) - So the day before this day, it was sunny. That morning, it was snowing really hard then later that night, it was raining really hard! This created so much slush and slush SUCKS! haha

We got to visit the Glover family for a short while and gave them treats! We didn't cook the treats. Someone gave it to us and we didn't want to eat them in the first place. haha. We were able to set up a return appointment and it was awesome! I love the Glover 

Day 3 (Thursday, January 30) - Since we had inspections last Saturday, we were able to clean the house up today and it was so clean. I love clean houses! :)

After that, we got to see Kevin again and out of the blue, he gave me this boss jacket that has never been worn! I love it! It was a big blessing because I needed a jacket haha!

We also got to see Robert Hall and we talked a little bit about baptism and made some preparations for his baptism on February 8th! It was a great lesson and the Spirit was SO strong in there! I love Robert and I'm so glad that he is progressing so much! :)

Day 4 (Friday, January 31) - Since last Sunday was going to be PACKED, we decided to spend some time preparing for our presentations. I'm going to talk a little bit more about this part on the Sunday part. :)

So many blessings happened this week and this day, Brother Zundel (WML of T8 ward) gave us a 20$ gift card to Subway out of the blue. I love Brother Zundel! I love the Tremonton West stake and I loved serving here!

Elder Barnes and I were able to visit some of the bishops in the stake and talk about the needs of the ward. It was awesome. I love the bishops here! 

Day 5 (Saturday, February 1) - Elder Barnes got to go down to West Haven to see a baptism of a guy that he taught down there before he came up here to Tremonton!  The rules in the mission for that is that he has to go with a member so I got to go with the South stake elders. They had a baptism on that day so we spent most of the time, filling up the font and doing necessary things. I got to do the Restoration presentation with one of the South stake elders!

After the baptismal service, Elder Barnes and I got to go Robert Hall and Lori Larsen's WEDDING! They are finally married and now, Robert can get baptized! :D It was a great wedding ceremony and reception! I loved going to their wedding! It was a great day!

Day 6 (Sunday, February 2) - It was a crazy day for us! That morning, Elder Barnes and I were able to teach the Elders Quorum in the T3 ward about missionary work. It was a lot of fun. After that, we went to a sacrament meeting and a 80 years old guy passed out because he was fasting when he shouldn't be. Elder Barnes and I were able to administer a priesthood blessing to him and it was quite a sacrament meeting for us. haha

After that, we got to meet with the Thatcher-Penrose 1st ward priests and answer their questions about missionary work. It was a lot of fun and they asked so many questions! :D After that, we got to teach MISSION PREP! I got to teach about how to be a successful missionary. I went up there and just spoke. The Spirit was so strong and everything went smooth. It was an awesome mission prep and my companion was surprised by how well I did it! It felt good! :) After that, we got to teach Ryan Kendrick and we were able to make some preparations for his baptisms this Saturday! It was an awesome lesson and I'm excited that I'm leaving this area stronger than I found it! :)

Day 7 (Monday, February 3) - Elder Barnes was able to go to MLC (mission leadership council or something like that) and President Hiers told him what's happening. After he returned, he told me that I will be leaving. It was so sad. I was able to say good bye to the Glover and Misrasi family. Some of the kids were devastated and the parents want to give me a hug! It felt good because I impacted their life! I love them! 

I love serving in the Tremonton West stake! It was a great six months and I'm so excited for the new adventures that I will have in CLINTON! :D Weekly scripture: "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." - Philippians 4:13. Have a great week and stay strong! I love you guys! Love, Elder McGrath

Lori and Robert getting married

Barnes, Me, WML Brother Skinner and his wife

The district!

Sutton, Pape and I

Wilkey making eggs

Barnes and me

Glover family and me

Misrasi family

The Zone