Happy New Year from Geneva!

2009 was great! I am a little sad to
see it come to an end, but I am so
excited for 2010. It will be full of
so many great things. My mission,
coming home, school, work, and family.
Let the good times roll!

This last week was also so wonderful.
I love Christmas. The joy that comes
from just the thought of the birth of
our Lord is already more than anyone can
ask for. Add on top of that presents
(both giving and getting), way good food,
caroling, and everything else, you just
can't go wrong.I spent Christmas eve with
the C family who are awesome. We had
some way good salmon and a lamb roast.
That family is way cool and we had a
blast hanging out together.

Christmas day we came to the institute
where we hung out with the young adults
here who don't really have families
here and with a couple of missionaries.
There were about 30 of us and it was
a blast. That afternoon we spent at the
mission home where there was an open
house, and then that night we were at the
P's home, one of the raddest families
ever. We had fondue bourgeoisie,
where we dipped meats into oil and made
our own personalized mayonnaise sauces.
It was way good.

The rest of the week was spent sharing
the Christmas spirit with others;
members, amis, and random people on
the street.
The work here is advancing and the members
are really starting to back us up.
We are finding a lot of people right now
through members and I am sure that all
of this will soon lead to baptisms!
This upcoming week should be pretty normal.
Finding, Teaching, and Baptizing,
though we don't have a baptism planned yet.
It will be a great week! I am
having fun working hard til the end.

Have a great week and and happy new year!

Elder Clayton H. Welch

#1 New address First of three (these are newer to older email order)

We received a really nice email from
the mission home today
with Elder Bubba's new address.

We thought we'd better post it in
case anyone wanted to drop him a
Christmas card or note.
He will still get any mail sent
to the mission home as well.




Les Missionnaires--Elder Welch
5, rue Hugo Senger
CH-1205 Geneva
Switzerland


"Elder Welch is a marvelous missionary,
and we will miss him in the
mission home/office. We love him.
Merry Christmas to you."

#2 December 7,2009 Dreaming of a white christmas!

Last night I officially found out my last
"assignment" as a missionary. I will
be finishing the next two months of my
mission here in Geneva, working in the
Salève and the Rive-Gauche Wards. Salève
is one of the two I am working in
right now, and is actually the ward where
we have had the two batpisms the last
two weeks, and Rive-Gauche is the Down-town
ward of Geneva which is primarily
Spanish speaking. Our focus is going to be
on the Institute, so we will be
working really hard on finding young adults
to teach. I will be training a
brand new french missionary named Elder G;
I am way excited! We will be
opening this companionship, so we have a
chance to start from nothing and
hopefully over the next two months, have
a lot of great things going on! I know
that this is perfect for me because it will
keep me working hard til the end of
my mission!

(we asked)"any snow yet?"
Not even a snowflake. There is snow in the
mountains though.
I will keep my fingers crossed.

Time always flies by when we are working on
transfers though. That is one thing
I will miss. I love working with the mission
president, especially in seeing
the Lord's hand direct this mission. I also
love how much I learn from working
with these inspired men. We finished with
the transfers last Thursday, but
there were a couple of last minute changes
so I was never sure where I would be
serving. I am very excited for this new
assignment I have though. I love
Geneva! I would love to work here someday.
We also had Stake Conference this last
weekend here in Geneva. Elder Kopsischke
of the seventy, also president of the church
in Europe, came to speak. It was
great seeing him again after working with
him when he toured our mission about 3
months ago. He gave a lot of great talks,
but the thing I think that touched me
the most is when he said that Celestial
Glory and Happiness is not simply living
in the presence of God, because we already
did that in the pre-existance, but
Celestial Glory and Happiness comes from
living AS God lives.
It was an incredible thought.
This upcoming week should be quite eventful,
but also a great experience.
Tomorrow we will pick up the new
missionaries from the airport and go
through the normal acitivities. Wednesday
I am officially out of the office and will be
going with Elder G to this new apartment.
I love it though, it is small,
but very very nice for a missionary apartment;
they just redid it. After that,
I will be working as hard as I can, trying
to explain and help Elder G as much as I can.
It should be a week very different from
the last 7 months I have had here at the
mission home, but I am very excited to see
the Lord direct in everything we do
in talking with people at all times!
Have a great week and remember that I love you!
Love,
Elder Clayton Henderson Welch

#3 12-02-09

December 2, 2009
Thanksgiving and Birthday made this past
week quite eventful and very enjoyable.
It was a great opportunity to think of
all the many blessings I have in my life
and all of the great people in my life.
We had the chance to have an early
Thanksgiving dinner with a couple of
American Families here in Geneva last
weekend, though we didn't have any plans
for the actual day of Thanksgiving.
But, one of the blessings of being here at
the mission home is that the Mission
President and his wife are way too nice and
invited us over for a huge dinner with the
couple missionaries, the stake president and
his wife, and a couple of other people.
It was a great meal and it was great to be
able to celebrate Thanksgiving with those
who resemble family here in the mission.
The baptism of I, our ami, was incredible!
There were so many people who came.
Everyone was so happy and I was on top of
the world. She had tons of friends there
and everyone was so happy for her. I was
way scared of messing of the words with so
many people there, but it went perfectly.
She received the Holy Ghost on Sunday and
is doing so well.
D is also doing very well. She will still
be baptized this Sunday and is
looking stronger and stronger. She has
already read, and understands, the
entire gospel principles book, and this
last Saturday she decided to read the
whole Book of Mormon before her baptism,
which was in 8 days. After 2 days she
was already into Mosiah. She is incredible!
We have been so blessed here with
all of these choice children of God who
are finding and accepting the gospel.
My 21st birthday was wonderful!
I honestly don't feel any older than
I did when I was 18. I think that was the
last time I felt any difference in age,
but boy am I getting old! My companion
actually planned on making me breakfast
in bed because I had mentioned it was a
tradition in out family and so he tried doing
it. The only problem is is that he heard
a noise and thought it was his alarm
and got up and made it, only to realize it
was only midnight! haha, it was nice
of him to show how great of a companion
he is. He forgot to reset his alarm but
made me something anyway when he got up.
I have a great companion. D and
her sister Z, the Mongolians, had actually
fixed a rendez-vous with us. We
had a great teaching and the surprised me
with a way nice cake and a bunch of
little pizzas from a way nice place
for lunch! They then gave me a card with
100 francs in it! Of course I didn't take it,
but the shear fact that they have
so little but were willing to give me so much
really really touched me. I mean,
that's huge. Just being with them and the
two institute couples here in Geneva
was great for lunch. Then, I get home and
Betty, she is the "maid" at the
mission home, had made me lunch and a
birthday cake. Betty is the greatest
woman in the world. She is from the Philippines
and has been a member for the last 40 years,
she 60. She is the most lively woman I have
ever met. That night, I had fixed a rendez-vous
with us and surprised me with a bunch of
chocolate which was great! Myself, Elder S,
and the two office Elders (Elder B and Elder D)
went to chick-chicken for dinner (its kind
of like KFC). We got back to the mission home
and the mission president and his
wife had gone to the American store and bought
me a funfetti cake with frosting
and root beers for us all! I felt so loved.
The people here are so amazing and
I feel so lucky to have so many people here
and also back home who care about me
so much.
This week will be great! We have been
working on transfers and we will finish
that up this week. I am pretty positive
I now know where I am going, but I
don't think I am allowed to say.
But I am way excited! A little hint,
its not really a big change. By next
week I will be in my last area of my mission
with probably my last companion.
I am way excited!

Happy 21st Birthday Elder Bubba!

Leaves and Scones

This past week went very well.
We finished with Zone Conferences in
Lyon which ended up going very well.
I am excited to go to zone conferences
next transfer and be able to just
listen and participate!
We also had an exchange here in Geneva
which went very well. I got to work
with my old companion Elder N, and we
had a great day of talking to people by
the church.
There is an older couple that lives
right next to us, and the older woman
always goes out and rakes her leaves
all the time, but the leaves always
fall faster than she can get them.
So on Saturday, the mission president
asked us to go and rake her leaves and
his wife and himself made us scones!
They were way good and it was good to
get out and serve some of our neighbors.
On Sunday I went to 3 different Sacrament
meetings which was the most I have
ever been to in a day; 2 of them were
the primary programs though which were
soo good. I love learning from little
children.
Yesterday we got a new missionary from
Norway which went very well as well. I
love seeing the new missionaries come
in and seeing how much faith and desire
they have!
This upcoming week, we have an Exchange
here in Geneva, we will be going to
Chambery on Saturday for an exchange,
and we will be having an exchange on
Monday in Lausanne, so it will be a
great week of working with other
missionaries and talking to a lot of
people!

Have a great week.

Catching up with two weeks of emails:)

Elder Bubba and Elder H

NOVEMBER 4, 2009
With the start of the transfer and
the preparation for the zone conferences,
and all the other things that will take
place throughout the transfer ready, this
week has been spent quite a bit here at
the mission home, meeting with the
president, but went well none the less.
The missionaries came in and it was great!
I love seeing the new missionaries!
They have such great faith and such a
great desire to preach the gospel.
Our Brazilian investigator is doing
very well! She is still looking very
strong for the 28th of November, and
she is on her way to reading the whole
Book of Mormon. She also asked me to
baptize her this week, so I am really
looking forward to that.
C is also doing very well and he will
tell us tomorrow if he will be
baptized the 28th of November as well!
We are having a great time here together,
Elder S and myself, and we are
looking forward to all of the great
things that will happen this transfer.
We are going to try really hard this
transfer to have a good time and really
have a blast doing this great work.
This upcoming week should also be exciting.
I think we might visit the reformers wall
today here in Geneva. Tomorrow, we
will be heading up to Metz,
for the Zone Conference on Friday.
We will go down to Nancy for an exchange
on Saturday and will come home that night.
Next Monday we will have a zone
conference in Yverdon, Switzerland, and
then a zone conference here in Geneva
on Tuesday. It should be great!


You would also be happy to know that I
am still eating healthy and I am doing
well physically.
I hope you have a great week.
Is there anything I can do for you?
Love always,
Elder Clayton Henderson Welch

NOVEMBER 11, 2009
Bonjour
It is a beautiful day here in Geneva.
The sun is shining, and it is beautiful
outside with orange leaves all over here
in Geneva; Finally a break to all of
the cold rain! The fact that it was
rainy this week actually wasn't too bad
though, seeing that we had 3 zone
conferences, and a full day of church
in there, keeping us out of the rain,
though, I do feel
bad I didn't get to be out there working
hard and earning myself some "wife
points."
The 3 zone conferences went great though!
We are talking about being more
effective missionaries, and have created
a study packet that we go through to
facilitate conversation on the topic with
all the missionaries. We are seeing
great results and I am excited to start
putting some of these things into
practice myself.
We were in Metz, Frace
(where I started my mission) on Friday,
and we had an exchange with the Zone
Leaders in Nancy that night and on
Saturday which went very well.
I was with Elder H and I had a great
time learning from him.
We tried so hard to do exactly what
we though the Lord wanted and we saw some
great results, most specifically the
feeling of doing what the Lord asks of us.
We also had a "Soirée des Talents"
(Talent Show) here in Geneva on Saturday
where we say a jazzed up version of
"Love At Home" as an Elders Quorum; good
times.
Sunday was a great night!
We are teaching a Mongolian who just
started coming back to church and her
non-member Sister D and we went over
and ate with them and another Mongolian
non-member. The food was so good and the
formerly less-active member said she
wants to be temple worthy within a year!
It was so great to hear that!
We had also just taught D about Alma 32,
how faith is like a seed the last
rendez-vous, and she explained to us
that the seed has been
planted and she feels it growing in her
heart and she said how great she felt!
It was so good!
This week should be great as well.
We will be going to visit the P
Family, one of my favorite families
here tonight, and tomorrow we are off to
Lyon for a Zone Conference there.
We then have an exchange here with the Lyon
zone leaders and another exchange next
Tuesday in Lausanne with the Zone Leaders
there. It should be a great week and I
can only hope that the weather continues
to get better!
Have a great week and please let me
know of anything I can do for you!
Love Always,
Elder Clayton Welch


We received Elder Bubba's travel
itinerary today (crazy huh?)
He gets back to the USA
February 11, 2010!!

5th Transfer

I did go to the most
beautiful city in Switzerland this week,
Montruex, to help some woman with some
stuff for the mission president. It is
was actually home to people like F.
Scott Fitzgerald, Hemingway, and many
others including Freddy Mercury of
Queene. Here is a picture of me right
next to a statue of Freddy Mercury, and
also of the Alps looking over Lake Geneva.






As for your questions/comments this week:

So how did your transfers planning go
this week? It went way well! It just
flys by, but it is very spiritually tiring.
I love seeing the Lord's hand
direct this work.

Are you staying in Geneva for your
5th transfer? Yes, I will be here for one
more. 7 months in Geneva!

Did you talk about your plans with your
mission president and have you decided
when you plan to come home?
February 11, 2010.

Do they celebrate anything like Halloween
in Switzerland? Not really, though,
the English ward is having a party.

So this week we decided to break some of
the "traditions of our fathers" and the
mission president decided to keep me here
for a 5th transfer. It hasn't
happened for a long time, so I hope I do
a good job. Apparently there is
something the Lord still wants me to learn
here that I haven't learned quick
enough. I am pretty sure this will be my
last transfer here though, and then I
will have a transfer and a half to end
my mission in the field.

Working on transfer week was great.
It is always way tiring, but its just so
much fun. It is very spiritually
exhausting though. The week just flew by!
It is also fun meeting with the president
all day, and learning so much from all
that he knows. He is a great example.
I have been growing way close to him and
am grateful to be here at the mission home.
Other than that, we had some great
rendez-vous with our great investigators.
We are still teaching I, the Brazilian,
and she told as at church that she is
positive that she will be baptized the
28th of November! I am way excited for
her. She is seeing opposition, but her
desire and faith will keep her going.
C, the referral from our DMP
(ward mission leader) is also doing great.
He is quitting smoking this week and,
thanks to a quit smoking plan for
investigators, he is now at 5 days
no smoking! We also met with D, our
Mongolian ami, who is always way fun
to teach. She speaks Mongolian and Chinese
and a very little English, and her
member sister, speaks Mongolian and French,
so we teach and French and hope that
she is understanding. Its great to see how
the spirit teaches.
This upcoming week should also be great,
filled with picking up missionaries
from the airport, teaching the new
missionaries, and helping the missionaries
get around. I am excited to be here for
one more and look forward to learn as
much as I can from the mission president!

Have a great week and keep on smiling!
Love always,
Elder Clayton Henderson Welch

Caught up

Je t'aime!
I had a great week here in Geneva.
It was nice to be able to relax
a little.
Being in Geneva this week was great!
It was a great chance to work in our
own area, and to get caught up on
things here at the mission home.
As far as I know, we are all caught up,
something I haven't been able to do in
my 6 months here in Geneva.
This week I went on two exchanges,
both of them taking place here in Geneva.
They went very well, and I always like
being able to get a couple of hours to go
out and talk to people in the road.
Speaking of being outside, the weather has
become quite cold over the last week,
but I love it! I really like being able
to wear a coat and scarf.
I hope it snows here soon.
We had a baptism here on Saturday which
went very well! Her name is Kelly M and
she is 9 years old. She is from a
family that has been inactive over the
last 5+ years. We have been working
really hard with them and
they are doing so well!
They have been coming to church for
the last 4 months, and they haven't
missed a Sunday in 3! Another great
thing is that Kelly has two older brothers,
S who is 18, and E who is 17. S was
ordained a priest last Tuesday,
and E a Teacher, and S was able to
perform the baptism! It was great!
It was such a great opportunity seeing
the family united like that.
Another great thing that happened this
week is with the recently called Ward
Mission Leader in one of our wards.
He is a little timid about his
capabilities, but the thing he did
this week was something I have never
seen any member do on my whole mission.
He invited a friend of his to have a
family home evening 2 weeks ago,
where he came and they talked about families.
He then invited him to church where he,
came and was introduced to us. We
taught him twice this week, he came to
the baptism on Saturday, and again to
church yesterday. He told us that he
thinks he will be the next one baptized!
IT was a great testimony builder to me
that members truly can have the biggest
effort in this work!
This week will be primarily spent
working on the Transfer Board with the
mission president. I don't know what
will happen yet, but I think I might be
staying for a 5th transfer here.
The weeks working on the transfer board are
always the fastest so this week should fly!
Have a great week.
Love always,
Elder Clayton Henderson Welch

Bonjour!

Bonjour!

After quite a few hectic weeks,
this past week was a great chance
to relax and get caught up on a
lot of things going on here.
It is a little chilly here in the
morning, but it is nothing strange
for a usual fall day. The leaves are
all changing colors though which is
great to see.

As for the questions and comments:
"Did you park in a no parking zone or
why did your van get towed?" Apparently,
the parking lot had signs saying that
it was free parking until 5:30 am on
certain days of the week, but, even when
I went back to check, I didn't seem it!
All I saw was parking was payed parking
after 9 am. But, you can't really argue
with the French government.

"Was [the week] a bit more restful for you?"
yes it was! It was great.

"It is also apple season and have found
Honey Crisp and have been eating one of
those every day."
Thats way good that you are eating an apple
a day pops. I am too! They taste way good
though. I always eat pink ladys. Do they
have those there?

This week was great, being the first week
in a while where I spent the majority
of it here in Geneva. We got a lot of
things done here though, which was great,
and it was great to get out and teach
those whom our Heavenly Father has
prepared.
On Thursday night, we did travel to Lyon
again for our exchange there we had
with the Zone Leaders; no, I did not get
towed this time. It was a great
exchange though!
Friday morning during our exchange,
the Zone Leader, Elder H, felt inspired
to change some of our schedule for the
day. It was raining very hard all
morning, and we had planned to pass
some investigators. We weren't really
talking to people on the road, because
of the rain, but as a man was approaching,
I felt like I needed to talk to him.
I contacted the man, and we had a great
contact. I asked if there was some time
that afternoon if we could pass by him.
He said that he was busy, and that he was
about to go to Paris for the next week.
I then asked if we could go to his home
right then and talk. He was like, "baa, ok."
So we went there and talked. Right away,
he said, "I need to tell you something.
This morning I prayed for the first time
in a while and I asked God to give me some
direction in this life. When you stopped
me, I honestly prejudged you, but as you
asked the second time if we could talk, I
realize that I had just rejected the
response God gave me, and that you are the
answer to my prayer." It was crazy!
We had a great rendez-vous and he said he
would like to be baptized. It was an
amazing testimony builder of how the Lord
truly has prepared people here to teach.
Other good news, our investigator, from Brazil,
who has been struggling with the idea of
baptism, came up to us at church yesterday
full of smiles. She said, I was walking
down the road on Friday, and I all of a
sudden received my response, I need to be
baptized November 28th! She said that
there was no doubt in her mind, and it
was as though someone was there telling
her she needed to do it!

This week should be another great
low key week! We have a baptism this
Saturday with our investigator K M.
We also have 2 exchanges, that will
take place here in Geneva.

Have a great week and remember that I love you!
Love,
Elder Clayton Welch

ps. The picture is the man I taught who
was baptized in Lyon.)
He baptized someone on Saturday and
will be going on a mission in April!

I Love General Conference!

Every week I am trying to eat
healthier and healthier. I
haven't bought any carbonated
beverages for weeks now, and I
think I bought more vegetables
and fruits than ever this week.
Its great. I can definetely
feel the difference in my body
from trying to better respect it.
I have been doing a lot of
reflecting on Section 89 of Doctrine
and Covenants and I am grateful
that I am better living to that.

You both had mentioned,
"I think all of the sessions were
great and the theme was definitely
about love and trying to show that
to those we come in contact with
whether it is family, friends or
those we associate with."
I think you are exactly right.
I had those same feelings.
I had actually just been studying
in Romans 7 and 9 the day before,
and it confirmed to me how important
the love from God is in our
lives, and how much we need to
love others. Mom, you also
mention, Pres. Eyring's talk and
when he mentioned his grandmothers
saying..."Families are
Forever, Please No empty chairs ."
I really liked that too.
I thought of you when I heard that.

As for your questions:
Do they drive really fast like
they do in other parts of Europe
like Germany?
in Switzerland nobody goes over the
speed limit, literally. There are
cameras everywhere, and people are
really good about respecting rules here.
Do you get exhausted? not to bad,
I have a great companion and we always
end up talking the whole time or
rock out to a hymn.
Do you get to text at all?
no, thank goodness. I hate phones.
We have 2, an international phone and
a Swiss phone, and I usually hold on
to the Swiss phone because I turn it
off when we are on France. I wish I
didn't have to have a phone when I
get back, but, we all do.
Are you speaking mostly French? yeah.
We teach only in french except for
that one investigator. That's because
there are English speaking missionaries
here in Geneva.
"Remember when you were young you
would tell me you would be willing
to be a missionary for 3 years if you
could do service and not knock on doors?"
Haha, yeah. Either way, being a
missionary is great!
General Conference was definetely the
highlight of my week! Watching it from
Saturday at 6, up until last night
at midnight, listening to the prophets'
words helped me with literally every
question I was having. I went into conference
with 2 major questions, both of which
were answered. Its amazing how that works.
Living here at the mission home we have a
few perks. We were able to watch the
Sunday afternoon session on the TV on
the mission president's side of the
mission home. It is always shown here
from 10 pm til midnight, and since the
mission president didn't want anyone
traveling after midnight, let us watch it
on the other side! It was great being
able to watch a session of conference in
PJs and with a bunch of treats, though,
honestly, nothing beats being at the
church and feeling the spirit. But
it was nice to relax for a second.
I loved the talk given by Jeffrey R.
Holland on the Book of Mormon, and Joseph
Smith as a prophet. I would encourage
everyone to read it after this Thursday
after its online. His testimony was
so genuine and so sincere, I couldn't help
but to have the desire to cry out to the w
orld my own testimony of this restored
gospel.
I also loved the talk by Elder Tad
Callister on the apostasy and the
restoration of the church.
It was definetely for missionaries.
This week, we also had the chance
to go to three zone conferences,
all over the mission. With that being
said, it was a very tiring week
spiritually, along
with a lot of driving.
Long story short, I parked the large
mission van (we were shuttling people
for zone conference because there
was a large subway/bus strike) in
Lyon on Monday night where we were
sleeping for the zone conference
the next day. When we went
out to get it it had to be towed.
We spent all morning getting it and walking
across the city jumping through hula hoops.
All I can say is that I am grateful
that I was able to sit through a
spiritual meeting after being so
flustered all morning!

This week will be more low key.
We will be working a lot here in Geneva,
finally focusing on our investigators.
We will also be going to Lyon on Friday
for an exchange.
Thanks again
for all of your love and support!
I pray that you have a great week!


Love Always,
Elder Clayton Henderson Welch

GANDHI AND ME

This week was actually very low key,
where I spent the whole week here
in Geneva. Tuesday was getting a
lot of things done here at the
mission home.
Wednesday we had a Zone Leader
Council, which is still my
favorite meeting as a missionary.
I just love meeting as the "leaders"
in the mission, discussing the
needs of the mission. I feel that
that is the way we get the most
accomplished.
Thursday we got ready for the zone
conferences, where I made the mission
film and we got some other stuff done.
Friday we had our first Zone Conference
of the transfer which was here in
Geneva; the first Zone Conference is
always the hardest, but now we know the
changes we need to make.
And yesterday we spent the day working
as missionaries do. We had a great
lesson in the morning where
our 9 year old ami,who decided to
be baptized the 17th of October.
We have been working a lot with her
family, and her whole family,
except for the father, have been
coming to church every week for
2 months now! That night we
taught a Mongolian girl whose
sister is a member. She had
asked me if we could teach her
last week. The rendezvous went
very well, though it was a combination
of English, French, and Mongolian.
Saturday afternoon we were helping
a member move some stuff in his home.
We were using a pulley system to
lower tiling, wood, etc. from the
2nd story of this old french home.
It went very well, and while we
were doing it, one of the
neighbor girls told us that her
Mom needed help. We went over, and
this woman had a huge fridge,
about the size of the average American
fridge, and wanted to
if we could move it into her car.
I love french people. They had
lived 2 houses away for 4 years and
had never met. She invited us in
to have some freshly squeezed
grape juice. We then told her
how we were missionaries and she
invited us, and the member family
to come eat dinner with her and
her husband and their 5 kids!
Its crazy how service can really
soften someones heart.
Yesterday during fast and testimony
meeting, this brother, got up and
bore his testimony about how
the missionary spirit has changed
his family thanks to us coming over.
I couldn't believe how strong
the spirit was as I sat there and
listened to how the calling of a
missionary really does change lives.
The spirit was almost tangible.
I felt that I could reach out
and grab it. I think it was the
first time I have cried in a long
time. I love being a missionary!
This week will be crazy!
Tonight we are going to Lyon for
zone conference tomorrow. We
will then drive right afterward
to Metz, France for a zone conference
on Wednesday. We will then drive
directly to Nancy to have an
exchange with the zone leaders
Thursday, only to drive home to
sleep in my bed and drive to Yverdon,
Switzerland on Friday for Zone
Conference there. Then, we have
General Conference this
weekend! I LOVE General Conference.
Honestly, my favorite 2 weekends of
the year. Listen. Take Notes.
The prophets words truly changes lives.
This should be a great week!

Love always,
Elder Bubba

ps. Attached are photos from my visit
to the United Nations last week. I
especially like the one of me reading
the Book of Mormon with Gandhi.

Fun Airport Meeting

So this week was pretty low key,
but it was a great week.
No trips to Paris, but I actually
did have a really cool experience
(not really gospel related).
While taking a missionary who was
going home to the airport on
Thursday morning my companion and
I were standing and waiting for
the sister to finish getting
her bags checked. I noticed a
guy in the "Club Europe" line,
the line for way rich people at
the airport who fly all over,
who dressed a lot like I did before
the mission, especially the way he
was wearing his beany on the back
of his head. There were 3 other
guys about 25-30 years old with
him too with beards and "trendy"
jeans and t shirts. All of a
sudden, of them comes up to us and
is like, "hey guys, so are you
from Utah?" I was like, "Nope,
Minnesota. You?" He said he was
from Nebraska but his family lives
in Utah and that his Pops
actually teaches/taught at BYU.
He told us about how his dad and
bro served missions and his grandpa
was a mission president. We talked
a little bit more,
and then I asked him what he was
up to in Switzerland. He was like,
"Oh, I was here for 2 months with my
band (who is standing right next to us),
and we were working on a CD.
Our band is actually Marron 5,
I play lead guitar." I played
it off all cool and was like, "oh yeah,
that's cool. So how did you like
Switzerland?" But I really couldn't
believe I was chilling in the Geneva,
Switzerland airport with Maroon 5 at
six in the morning. It was pretty rad.
As for the week, we spent a good
portion of it greeting new missionaries
and getting the old missionaries back
home. We spent a lot of time with
the mission president getting everything
ready for the next transfer; Zone
Conferences, Zone Leader Council, etc.
It went well, but I honestly think
sitting in a room talking is way harder
and more exhausting then walking
around and talking to people.
I don't really understand it.
This week we will finish up some
things around here. We have Zone Leader
Council on Wednesday, we will be on
an exchange in Lyon on Thursday
(my favorite city in the mission),
and we will be attending a zone
conference here in Geneva
on Friday. Other than that, we
will be working on finding some
time on finding those the Lord has
prepared here in Geneva!
have a great week!
Love always,
Elder Clayton Henderson Welch

3 Weeks from Gpa's passing until this week

Thank you also for calling the
mission home to let me know
about Grandpa Henderson. It
made it a lot earlier. As the
mission president mentioned to
you, we had to go to Dijon at
the last minute for a baptismal
interview which went very well.
We got in late, around 10, and
right before I got inside he
called me into their side of the
home. His wife and himself sat
me down and told me, making it
a very respectful and done in
a loving way. Thanks for going
through the effort to letting
me know. Its weird; while sitting
in church yesterday morning,
I thought about Grandpa and Grandma
and felt like I really
needed to write them a letter..
I probably still should. When
they told me I had a peaceful
feeling come over me. The
knowledge of the plan of
happiness is amazing. I know I
will see him again, and I know
he did that which was
necessary in this life.
That makes me happy!

I think that I am in the car
over 20 hours a week...
Honestly, everything seems
to be going so fast, it doesn't
seem that long until I look
back at it.
You mentioned something about
you bought be for Christmas before
I left; the blue one. The
battery recharges. The problem
is is that I had it hooked up to
the computer to send pictures and
I forgot to detach it so it
drained the battery. Oh well.
I am recharging it right now.
every week I tell myself I need
to take more pictures..
but I never do! haha
Being around a general authority
all week was a very humbling
experience. Elder Kopischke is
actually the regional president
of Europe for the church, meaning
he oversees everything that
happens here under the direction
of the first presidency and apostles.
He is German and is a great man!
On Tuesday, we finished up the
last minute preparations for his
arrival, and, upon his arrival,
proceeded the mission tour.
Tuesday night we had a meeting
with Elder Kopischke, The mission
president, myself and my companion,
and the Geneva Stake Presidency.
It was all an open forum setting,
as we discussed certain issues.
I actually was asked to speak
first everytime! It was a great
chance to see the real needs of
the church here in the area, and
ways that we can better work
together.
On Wednesday, we had zone
conference in Yverdon, Switzerland
all day, where we went and got
some "Italian" pizzas. Mine
was covered in blue cheese, and,
although I do like stinky cheeses
now, I am not a huge fan of a
stinky cheese pizza; oh well.
Actually, I stopped and got gas
right afterward to get a drink
as well. I went in and paid for
the drinks, and saturated, we
got a letter saying that a couple
of young men stole gas with
a car having the license plate
numbers with this address.
Whoops! I forgot to pay for
the gas! haha, they were nice
about it and they said if we
were really trying to steal, we
wouldn't have gone
in and bought drinks! haha.
Thursday we had a zone
conference here in Geneva,
and we actually had a chance
to teach a couple of lessons
where we fixed a baptismal
date with a 9 year old
girl, whose family has been
recently reactivated.
After our lessons we had 15
minutes before we had to go
to be home on time.
Seeing how we hadn't a chance
to talk to people all week,
we set out to find someone.
The only problem was is there
was NOONE in sight. We decided
to do EXTREME contacting.
A lady came flying by on a
bike and Elder S jumped
in her way and had her stop.
We taught her about the family
and although she was in a hurry,
said she may stop by the church
some day. The next people we
saw we on a balcony 3 stories up.
I started yelling at them how
important their
family was in the eyes of God!
The familly wasn't too receptive
as they started
yelling some not so nice stuff
at us, haha. But then, the
only other person we
could see was a man walking away
from us about 40 yards away.
I literally started running
after him, and, as the door to
his building was shutting, I
slipped in and said, "God is
your loving heavenly Father
and he loves you." We
fixed an appointment with him
and he said he would come to
church! haha, I love talking
to people about this
great message!
Friday, we went to Zone
Conference in Lyons, France,
where we ate at KFC, again,
for dinner! Its the ONLY
place in Europe where you can
get free refills. I love it.
Saturday, we had the mission
council here and then we had
to take care of some
administrative stuff. Sunday,
we found out we needed to go to
Dijon to perform
a baptismal interview. So, we
drove the 3 hours there and back
and had a great interview!
This week, will also include
quite a bit of travel, but a lot
more preaching the gospel!
We will head to Valence, France
tonight for an exchange tomorrow,
we will have an exchange in
Annency, France Wednesday, we
will be here on Thursday,
and then We will head up the
6 hours for an exchagne in Colmar,
France on Friday, and Mulhouse,
France on Saturday.
It should be a crazy yet great week!
I am excited!



Monday Sept. 7, 2009
The funeral seemed nice.
I am so glad so many of you
were able to participate;
both of you giving prayers, and
Stephanie and Jacob playing musical
numbers. That's great. The
pictures looked so good. Thank you.
Regardless, I was definitely there
in spirit. I hope me not being
there didn't make a difference.
The mission president actually told
me I could call you both, but I
felt that that would have been
harder. I hope you understand.
It was easier for me to
just keep working hard, and
letting people how, as I know,
that our families can
and will be together through
the power of God restored to the
earth today.

Often times when there is something
difficult happening, I think it
really is God directing us,
protecting us, and sometimes
preparing us for certain things.
Its like the paroble by James E.
Talmage I shared with you before,
"the parable of the unwise bee,"
though, it really is hard to
acknowledge this in these
difficult times.
My week was spent all over the
mission, going on exchanges from
the city the furthest south in our
mission, Valence, France, up to two
of the most north
cities, Colmar and Mulhouse, France.
We also had an exchange in Annency,
France, a beautiful city in the French
alps, relatively close to Geneva.
Other than that, I didn't have much
of a chance to be here in Geneva except
for Monday Afternoon, Thursday
Afternoon, and Sunday. This week we
will be here all week,
thank goodness! Sometimes its just
nice to be chez vous (at your place).
Usually, as assistants, we don't
get to spend much time working
with younger missionaries, but,
seeing as the mission president is
having us work with these
younger missionaries, we get too.
Its weird, I have spent the last
4 months working only with
missionaries that have been out
for over a year. This week I
served with Elder R, a great
missionary in Valence, Elder W in
Annency, Elder W in Mulhouse, and
Elder C in Colmar, all being
out on there missions for about
6 months. They are great missionaries.
It is so great to see missionaries
with this kind of desire!
The part of my week I would like
to share with you though is about
our ami one of my favorite people
I have met on my mission. She is
Brazilian and has been here for
about 4 years. We have been
teaching here since my first week
here. She has only missed 1 day
of church in over 4 months and
goes to everything!
Everyone loves her! People
literally walk up to her every
Sunday at church and ask her why
she hasn't been baptized yet.
I can honestly say we
have tried everything. We taught
her everything in Preach my Gospel,
and everything we thought possible.
We have fasted and prayed for her,
and although she searches every day
for her answer, she hasn't got it.
I have never seen someone want to
know so bad. As much as we would
like to continue to teach her,
we decided we did everything we could,
and it was all in her hands, and
we told her on Thursday that we were
going to stop teaching her for a while,
one of the hardest things I have
ever done. She said she thought
that was best and said
she was going to keep coming to
church and would keep searching.
Yesterday at church, I sat with her
during sacrament. I asked her to
write down a question on a paper
that she wanted to know, and
promised that she would find
her answer. During the fast and
testimony meeting there were many
testimonies I felt were directed
right at her. After sacrament, she
told me that she had felt
the spirit like she had never felt
before! She said that it was as
if she could see the answers herself.
As Elder S and I sat in the chapel
with her and explained the importance
of baptism and the promised blessings
that come with it, she decided she
wants to and will be baptized in 3
weeks on September 26th!
It was so amazing to see the Lord
touch the heart of his daughter
who searched so diligently.
The Lord truly does answer prayers!
Right afterward we taught a 9 year
old girl, whose family has recently
been reactivated and she will be
baptized within the next month!
It was a great week.
This next week will be spent here
with the mission president as we
work on Transfers. I love seeing
the inspiration and revelation
through this process
and am grateful for the chance to
be a part of it. Other than that
we will be trying to work hard in
our area, finding more of those
choice children, our
Heavenly Father has prepared for us!



Monday Sept. 14, 2009
This week was pretty calm for
the most part, except for the
middle of the week trip to Paris.
Other than that we spent most
of the time working on transfers
with President Murdock, and
getting everything ready for
this new change in the mission.
As aforementioned, Elder Sorensen
and I were asked by the mission
President to go to Paris
(which is not at all in our mission)
to escort two brand new
missionaries to the Swiss Embassy,
so that they would be able to
receive their later than expected
Swiss visas. It was quite the
surprise finding out that we
would be traveling with other
missionaries, but it was an
exciting feeling at the
same time.
The trip was complicated in
finding out that we could travel
that far in our car
from the area presidency, so,
we drove to Lyon, France,
Wednesday night, where
we met the two new missionaries,
for a 6am train to Paris the next
morning. Its interesting; even
though I knew I wasn't breaking
any rules by leaving the
mission, I still have the feeling
that I was doing something wrong.
I think I just worry to much.
So, upon arriving at the Swiss
embassy, we found out that it
would actually take a little more
than 2 hours to get everything
finished, so they asked us to
return around noon. So, we were
in Paris with a couple hours to
"wait" for these visas. I called
the mission President to ask what
he wanted us to do, and
he said, "take a walk. I heard
the Eiffel Tower isn't to far
from there." Off
to the Eiffel Tower we went.
On our way we kept talking about
how funny it would be if we ran
into some missionaries in the
Paris mission and all of a sudden
we hear, "Elders! Elders!"
As we look up we found two
missionaries hanging out their
apartment window. They were
actually the Chinese speaking
elders in Paris, so they don't
know too many of the missionaries,
so they asked who we were and
where we were from. Apparently
Elder Bednar was visiting the
mission that day and the whole
mission was getting together.
Their reaction was just priceless
as we told them we were from
Geneva. We then proceeded to
the Eiffel Tower where we ran
into 4 more missionaries!
2 of which I served with at the MTC!
It was crazy!
After that, myself and one of the
younger missionaries went to the
train station to change our tickets
while Elder S and the other
missionary went to pick
up the visas and Elder S cell
phone ran out of battery.
There we were, in Paris, with one
set of missionaries without a
cell phone. Bad news.
As the story goes from Elder S,
he says a silent prayer at the
embassy at 12:05 that the
missionary I was with might have
the idea to go to the embassy
and they would wait there.
(I don't know why he didn't
pray that I would, but he
told me this with out knowing
the other half of the story).
Well, while at the train station
at 12:05 and me stressing out
because we cant get a hold of them,
the new missionary says, I think
we should go back to the embassy
to find them. So we did.
There they were! A miracle.
Prayer truly does work.
After that, we returned home
without to many other problems.
It was great to be in Paris, but
not exactly the most relaxing
experience. The two things I
learned from this experience are
that whenever we are in trouble,
we can always pray for help, and
the second thing I learned is
that I want to live/study in
Paris! It is a beautiful city
with so much culture.
Apart from our little voyage,
I spent the week here working on
the transfer for missionaries.
I love being apart of seeing the
Lord work through us as we study
the needs of the mission, and as
we pray for help. There was one
little thing that was bothering us
when we had finished on Friday,
and the mission president
came down stairs last night at 1015,
right before bed and asked us to
come to his office where he showed
us a change he "felt inspired" to make.
I was filled with comfort and new
that the mission president truly does
receive revelation for each
of us.
This week will be filled with
picking up new missionaries, and
taking missionaries finishing
their missions to the airport.
It should be great!

Love always,
Elder Clayton H. Welch

2 weeks.Feeling Better, and On the Run

Well the penicillin, along with an
of other drugs, seem to be
working, and I am almost back to 100%!
Though the week was busy, the thought
that the Lord was watching after me,
as well as the mission President's wife
who made me go to the doctor,
made everything go smoothly!
This last Tuesday we had a zone leader
council, which is actually my favorite
meeting in the mission. We have
breakfast and lunch together, and than
its just the 8 zone leaders, the mission
president and his wife, and us
2 assistants, and we get to just talk
about the needs of the mission and have
a very intimate teaching. I love it.
We had three topics and just had a
round table discussion about the topics,
along with teachings and a slide show
we prepared. It went very very well!
Right after the zone leader council,
we took the 5 and a half hour road
trip up to Nancy, France (in the North
of France) for our exchange with the
zone leaders.
The exchange went very well and we
even had the chance to go to KFC.
Yes, the fried chicken place.
There are about 4 in the mission area!
Its great. Elder and I fixed the goal
to find a family to teach, and literally
the last door we knocked on that day,
we found a man, his wife, and their
three daughters who said they would
come to church. Talk about miracles!
On Thursday, we drove back, and then
finished up some administrative things
we needed to get done.
Friday, we had another exchange here
in Geneva. I was with Elder , a
great missionary from Paris.
We saw a lot of great people and
learned a lot from each other.
Saturday, Elder Sorensen and I got
to work in our own are for the first
time together in like 2 weeks.
We had lunch with our Brazilian
investigator Ilana, and her Brazilian
friends! It was amazing. Then we saw
a recent convert and
then he helped us teach.
We then saw a member family and
they actually ended
up giving us an hour long lecture
on how to eat well. I think we are
going to try to improve our eating
habits. No more buying coke,
unless on a road trip.
This week will be craziness.
We will be going on 5 exchanges.
Yup, 5. Tuesday in Fribourg
Switzerland, Wednesday here in
Geneva, Thursday in Sion Switzerland,
Friday in Lausanne Switzerland,
and then on Saturday we will be
taking 3 missionaries to the airport
where they will be headed back home.
Interesting thing is that the mission
president will be gone from Tuesday
to Sunday. So we will kind of be in
charge and taking this missionaries
to the airport by ourselves.
It should be an interesting experience!

I hope you have a great week and keep
trying something new everyday.
I promise
I am doing well and my health is good.
Have a great week!
Love always,
Elder Bubba

August 24, 2009
This week was quite the adventure;
5 exchanges. Although it was a
little difficult being all over the
place, it is a such a great chance
to see the Lord's hand work in so
many marvelous ways, not to mention
see the beautiful Swiss countryside.
This last Tuesday I spent the day in
Fribourg, Switzerland. It is a
beautiful city, with a lot of great
things to do. We taught a great
Portuguese family and it was a
great experience.
On Wednesday, I worked here on an
exchange with The zone leaders
from Lyon. It was a crazy day,
and we were all over the place.
We ended up going to Martigny,
Switzerland that same night.
Martigny is such a beautiful
place and is in the Alps.
The exchange went very well and I
think I talked to people for 6
hours straight. It is one of the
only areas in Switzerland that is
primarily catholic (Everyone in
Switzerland is protestant).
Actually, on our way to our exchange
in Lausanne the next day, the mission
president let us go see the
Matterhorn, the mountain the
Disneyland ride is modeled after. It
was quite the adventure! Believe it
or not, my companion forgot his camera,
and mine was out of battery! But
I saw it and that's all that matters.
Check it out on Google
images if you want to see it!



Quick miracle.
On my exchange in Lausanne, we were
waiting to meet up with a
recent convert on a bench and he
was running a little late. A man
comes and sits down and we start
talking with him. We fix a
rendezvous for that same
after and we went and taught him.
We fixed a followup lesson for the
next day and he fixed a baptismal
date and came to church and should
be baptized in about 3 weeks!
Its so amazing to see how quickly
the Spirit can touch people!
This week will be full of zone
conferences, a mission council,
and meeting with
the stake presidencies with the
mission president and Elder
Kopischke of the 70
as he does a mission tour.
It should be a great week and
I again will be traveling all
over for it. I am way excited
and can't wait to hear the words
of this inspired man, and for
the chance to travel around with
him, eat with him, and just get
to know a servant of the Lord!
Thanks for all of your love and
support and for everything you do
for me. I pray that you have a
great week and that everything
keeps going well! Thank you!
Love,
Elder Clayton H. Welch

ps. The pictures are of my visit
to the John Calvin museum.
John Calvin was one of the two
major reformers with Martin Luther
and he did everything from
here in Geneva. I saw the church
he preached in and everything!
This is me next to one of the
museum sign and the other is me
reading the 10 commandments
at the museum in french!

Busy Busy Sick but Still Busy

You both asked some questions,
so as usual, I will make my attempts
at answering them:
So how did all the transfer activity
go this past week?
Very Well
As smooth as you had hoped and planned?
Yes, except for a little craziness with
trying to get the missionaries going
home to the temple ( I wasn't there,
just the mission president and his wife)
That must bring some reality to
you to see four former
companions returning home.
It was pretty crazy, but a little
anti-climatic.
So what was the reason to go from
7 to 3 zones?
We actually went to 4. I might
have mistyped that last week.
There are 3 major reasons:
There are 4 stakes in the mission
and we wanted one zone for each
stake, so we can work more closely
with the stake presidents. Also,
we have a lot of new missionaries
we needed those zone leaders in
senior companion positions.
Also, based on the leadership
in the mission, or current lack
thereof, we felt that by putting
the strongest leaders would better
stimulate the younger missionaries.
Will that make it easier to do zone
conferences and reduce some of the
administrative stuff or just not
enough leadership with the shrinking
number of missionaries. We will
actually probably travel just as
much, haha.
Based on what we’ve heard it
sounded like your mission was
having great success.
Why did the number of
missionaries go down.
We are having a lot of success,
but they are reducing
missionaries in europe in general
by about 70%. For example,
in there Paris
mission there are 150 missionaries,
but by the end of the year, they
will be at 90; we will be at about 85.
Pops, I think you should turn in the
durango for that tax rebate, and get
a car that gets a lot better gas
mileage. Get a mini cooper or
something, haha. They are all
over here.

So I hope that responds to the
questions you have and lets you
know a little better what is
going on in my life.
With 16 missionaries going home
this week, 4 of which being my
former companions, receiving 8
new missionaries in the mission,
and receiving a new companion,
making me the "senior" assistant
with a mission President who has
been here for a month, made this
week a little busy. Not to
mention having gotten strep (sp?).
Actually, I dont know if that is
what it is, but myself and
my companion have it and will be
going to the doctor; don't worry!

As for my week, it was primarilly
occupied with the picking up the new
missionaries from the airport,
doing their legality, teaching them
about the mission, taking them
contacting, and eating with them.
The new missionaries are great!
I love seeing the great Elders
and Sisters the Lord has prepared
and sent to this mission.
Taking the returning missionaries
to the airport is always weird.
Everytime I feel like I am just
taking a trip. With as much
traveling we do here, it
wouldn't be that big of a change!
Other than that, we have been
primarily focused on getting
the mission ready
for the transfer.
This transfer will be crazy.
We will be having a mission tour
with Elder Kopischke of the 70
for four days, and we will be
traveling with him, having 3
zone conferences. We will also
be going on 11 exchanges this
transfer, trying to stimulate
some of the struggling areas
in the mission, which will be
very tiring.
As for this week, we have a zone
leader council tomorrow, then we
will be driving the 5 and a half
hours to Nancy for an exchange
with the zone leaders there on
Wednesday, then driving back
Thursday to have another exchange
on Friday. It should be a great
week though, and I am looking
forward to see the Lord pour out
blessings this week as I work
hard on trying to better serve the
Lord.

I love the quote you shared mom:
“Sometimes God calms the storm…
sometimes he lets
the storms rage and calms the child.”
I personally need to better learn to
remember that.
Have a great week and always
remember you are loved!
Keep trying new things for me!
Love always,
Elder Clayton Henderson Welch

Happy Fete de Geneve!

My week was great, with a majority of
the time spent working on this upcoming
transfer. To give you a better idea
of what this consists of, I will try
to go through the days.
On Tuesday we started on the general
ideas of what we wanted to do with the
mission, and tried started at the top,
and work down. We started by attempted
to identify my next companion, and then
zone leaders, then trainers, then
district leaders, then senior companions,
and then the rest. Though this system
seems simple, with all the factors that
go into it, it takes time.
We spent about 4 hours working on it on
Tuesday, 4 hours on Thursday, and a
couple of hours on Friday. Its
interesting, the hardest part of it all
was finding my new companion.
We actually went in with a missionary in
mind, and built the transfer around that,
but, to help reassure ourselves, we decide
to fast about it. It is amazing.
The night of our fast, right after my
personal prayer, I turned to my companion
and said, "I have an idea, but I'll tell you
tomorrow." First thing in the morning my
companion wakes up and said, "Elder,
j'ai une idéa, mais, je vais vous dire
pendent nos étude." (the exact same
thing in french) We actually took our
breakfast to go work on it, and as I told
him my "idea," he told me that his was
exactly the same; something we hadn't
even talked about! We went in, told the
mission president, and prayed about
what we had done. We received the
confirming witness that it all came
from God and that this is exactly what
needs to happen in the mission.
It was an amazing experience!
I am so glad to have been apart of it.
Some things that changed are that we
went from 7 zones to only 4 zones. We
actually closed three companionships.
We will be losing 14 missionaries this
transfer and only will receive 9.
With this new transfer, I have received
a new companion. His name is Elder
Sorensen. He is actually from North Ogden,
Utah and went to Weber High, the
same school I would have gone too!
We know tons of the same people; its crazy!
We will serve together actually until
December, unless something changes. I
will stay here as an assistant a little
longer than normal. I am very excited
for this chance I have to serve with Elder
Sorensen!
Other than the transfer, we had a big
BBQ here at the mission home to celebrate
the National Holiday of Switzerland/
Le Fete de Geneve! We talked about the
history of Switzerland and had a lot of
good food together. The four wards from
Geneva came along with 12 investigators.
It was a great time!
This week will be spent with the change
of transfers. Tomorrow we will pick up
the new missionaries from the airport
and spend the whole day with them.
Wednesday we spend more time with them
and train the new missionaries as well as
the trainers and see them off.
Then Thursday we take the missionaries
ending to the airport where I will lose
4 former companions, including my current
companion, Elder Boisserie. I will then
be the senior assistant in the mission.
Thursday and Friday will be spent
getting everything ready for the transfer!

That's funny that you mentioned passing
the sacrament because I actually passed
the sacrament for BOTH sacrament meetings
I attended! Its summer in Europe;
everyone is gone on vacation.
There aren't very many young active
members of the church here in
Europe unfortunately.

It will be a busy week!

Into the Wild

Some of your questions:
you must be traveling separate from
the mission president or are you
driving with him and his wife?
Actually we are. The mission
Presidents wife has a bad back
so they need to stop more frequently
and we also had to bring missionaries
home with us after the conferences to
Geneva because they were going home.
Are they visiting other parts of the
mission while you and your companion
run it or what? A little, when they
do interviews and we do exchanges.
You must be putting on a lot of miles
on the car with all the traveling you
have been doing. What kind of car do
you use? We have a Clio; its silver
and about a year old. I think we are
getting a new one though. The mission
president and us have unlimited
kilometers as well.
Do you have to have one elder stand
behind when you back like they do here
in the states? Ha ha, you know it.
Its great. We avoid backing up situations
as much as possible, even if it means
parking really far away.
I had the chance to finish this week off
today by going to Mt. Blanc! It was
amazing, though, it was the first time
in a while I had feelings of
homesickness. It honestly felt like I
was at a ski resort on the top of the
mountain, ready to snowboard. Even though
it is the end of July, it is still
covered in snow and we had to wear coats.
It is the highest peak/point in all
of Europe. We went with the mission
president and his wife, and the mission
president actually payed for us;
he is way to nice. But we had a great
time and I got tons of great pictures.
This week was full of zone conferences
as well. Being in Metz, France again,
where I started my mission, for the
Nancy Zone conference was amazing.
After a little over 5 hours in the car
we got there and I got to eat my favorite
Kebab in the whole mission; Coco Kebabs.
It was soo good!
The city is so beautiful and is one of
my favorites in France. I also went to
Yverdon for zone conference on Tuesday,
and then we had a zone conference here
on Wednesday. They all went very well,
and we had the chance to teach on
adjusting teaching to meets investigators
needs. I just love being able to see
all the missionaries in the mission.
On Friday I had an exchange with a Zone
Leader from Lausanne, which went very
well, though most of the time was spent
doing service.
Saturday I actually did an exchange with
one of the office elders, so I was an
English speaking missionary for the day,
though, my companion was from Belgium
so we spoke french the whole time.
We went to Lausanne to do some stuff for
the mission, but then had a great time
of teaching that night.
Church, all 6 hours of it, was great!
Although its tiring, its a great way to
feel the spirit.
This week we have only one exchange here
in Geneva with the zone leaders from
Nancy. Apart from that, we will being
working on the transfer with the mission
president. I think I know who my
companion will be, but I can't say because
we haven't finished praying about it.
It is such a great opportunity to work
alongside the mission president during
transfers and see the hand of the Lord
literally direct this work.
I look forward to this week, and all the
revelation we will receive!

Have a great week and
try something knew EVERY day!

Elder Clayton Welch
ps. attached is a pic at Mt. Blanc

Surrounded by Angels

It was another great week here in Geneva.
Although I didn't spend much time here in
Geneva this week, I had a great week on
exchanges, a zone conference, and the
lessons we had.
Tuesday night we drove up to Grenoble,
France for an exchange with the zone
leaders there. We were a little pressed
for time so we grabbed some McDonald's
in the middle of the drive and drove the
rest of the way. I don't know how I
ever did it before my mission, but
sitting there after eating McDonald's
was not the best feeling in the world;
maybe its a sign of getting old!
I had a pretty good exchange up in
Grenoble with Elder Guerrero, and then
drove back Wednesday night.
Thursday, we got everything ready for
all of the zone conferences and
taught our Brazilian investigator
here. It went soo well! She is
getting so close to baptism, and is
someone who will be solid in the
church all of her life!
Friday morning we got up at 5 so
that we could drive to Lyon for a
zone conference there.
The zone conference went very well.
We had the chance to teach and do an
activity about adjusting teachings
to meet peoples needs. We then
stayed after the zone conference
in Lyon on Friday and had an
exchange with the Zone Leaders there.
It was SO great to be in Lyon again;
Lyon is probably my favorite city in
the mission.
I had probably the best experience
of my mission on Friday night. I got
to go contacting in the middle of
downtown Lyon with Landry, the man
I taught in Lyon who was baptized
about 3 months ago. It was the
greatest experience, seeing this
24 year old convert testify of the
restoration of the gospel of Jesus
Christ to complete strangers on the
road! I literally felt as though
angels surrounded us and lifted us
up with each word we said.
I don't think I have ever spoken to
people with such ease and with the
spirit so strong. It was amazing.
To make it better, we ate lunch there
the next day and he told us how he
is preparing to go on a mission as
soon as possible!
He has been recently called to serve
in the Elders Quorum Presidency,
and is doing great!
We came home from Lyon on Saturday
night, and then yesterday we went
to church and ate at a great
members home. It was a great week!

This week will be crazy.
At about 4 o'clock today, my
companion and myself will be driving
up to Metz, France, the city where
I started my mission, to go to the
zone conference that will be held
there. We will get there at about
9 tonight and will attend zone
conference there tomorrow and then
drive back home.
Wednesday morning we will go to the
zone conference in Lausanne, and
then on Thursday we will attend
the zone conference here in Geneva.
Friday I will be on an exchange with
a zone leader from Lausanne here in
Geneva, and then on Saturday
I will be on an exchange with one
of the office elders.
This week I will only be with my
companion in the car and at
church on Sunday. It will be a very
busy week, but it should be great!


Have I been to Luxembourg or Belgium?
I have been to Luxembourg twice, once
for a full day, but I have never been
to Belgium. I do live with a Belge (sp?)
though. He makes good
waffles actually! haha.
Just so you know, I spent 18 euros last
week because we went to an adventure
park last preperation day. It was
climbing in trees with harnesses with
ziplines and all! It was amazing!

Love,
Elder Bubba