Another fantastic week

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 want to make another big SHOUT OUT to my most awesome Dad on his birthday! Happy birthday!!!!!!!

This week in the Clinton West stake has been a wonderful week. I honestly love working here with Elder Kelley. We both have been getting better as missionaries because we are constantly teaching each other on how to be a great missionary. It is so exciting because we learn something new every single day.

Morgan J. McEwen (11 years old boy that we have been teaching) got baptized by his uncle last Saturday and it was a superb baptismal service. Elder Kelley and I aced the missionary presentation and we had a lot of people come up to us and tell us that we did an excellent job. It felt good that people were doing that. :D

James Wales got the priesthood last Sunday and it was so awesome. We visited him the night before and he was super excited for the opportunity to receive it! James also told me that he wanted to play basketball with me and we set up an appointment later today to play some basketball. I am so excited!

Bryndee Lutz (a 13 years old girl that we are teaching. She has an anti-mormon mother but she is nice enough to let Bryndee make her own choices!) is doing so awesome. We got to go over there a couple times this past week and just read the Book of Mormon and during the reading session, a fire inside of her ignited and she kept saying how happy she was. When we gave her a short reading assignment, she was disappointed because she wanted to read a lot more. She told her that she can do that! :D It was awesome seeing her change and the whole experience itself actually increased my testimony on the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon! What a miracle! I LOVE being a missionary!

About four days ago, I got to do an exchange with Elder Patiño and I got to go to his area is which is the Hooper stake. He has been out thirteen months and it was a great exchange. He has taught me so many things! I actually have a funny story to share that happened during the dinner appointment:

We went in there and the father was wearing a BYU shirt. I complimented him on the shirt and he asked me which college is my favorite and I said that BYU is my favorite college. Elder Patiño said U of U! The father did not like him after he said that! hahaha. When dinner began, he asked Elder Patiño if he would like to eat a ghost pepper. (A little background before I continue, Elder Patiño is a very competitive person and doesn't like to lose.) Elder Patiño agreed to it, thinking he can do it. The father went and grabbed an entire ghost pepper and gave it to him. Elder Patiño took and threw the WHOLE thing in his mouth and chewed on it and eventually swallowed it. At that point, everyone including me was FREAKING OUT! Luckily, he didn't die... He drank 2 gallons of milk to stop the burning and he was super sick after that. It was a funny story. I even took a picture of him drinking some of the milk. It was hilarious afterwards! Notice how calm he was.. He was trying not freak out the family more. What a great elder he is!

Last night, Elder Kelley wanted to visit some former investigators he taught and one of them is Mazen. He is originally from Jordan and he has two brothers who is working in Yanbu and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia!!! We talked a lot about what was it like over there and he kept asking questions about how we coped over there. It was a neat experience. He is a great guy and I am super glad that I met him! :D Here is a picture of him and I:

His house and his accent reminded me of the Middle East. :D It was a super cool experience to have.

There is this lady who wants to get baptized but she is from Vietnam and didn't speak a lick of English. We were trying to find a Vietnamese translator who would help us teach this woman. One night, during dinner appointment, my companion asked the father where he served on his mission and he replied with Australia, VIETNAMESE SPEAKING! And guess what, he still remembers some of it but I'm sure he will be able to pick it back up in no time!  What a miracle!

I love love being a missionary and the people I meet on my mission. I seriously love being a missionary, especially in the Utah Ogden mission. I wouldn't take back the past seven months for anything else. I am so excited for the next seventeen months and the miracles I will get to witness! It is truly a huge honor to serve the Lord. What a great week in the Utah Ogden mission!

I love you and keep on pushing on! Stay strong and the Lord will bless you. Watch this video! It is one of the most shown videos the missionary share in dinner appointments. The message is so powerful: with the gospel, we can get through trials with a bright attitude! :)

Have a great week!! Love, Elder Sam McGrath