Easter Letters

Here is a compilation of info from Elder Bubba's letters to Dad and me.
He seems to be doing well. Sister Bennett told me today that Brandice works at the MTC
and was trying to find out how he was. She found out about his being District Leader etc. but told her mom how impressed his Branch Presidency member was when he called him to be DL.
He said Clayton was so humble and concerned about being able to communicate better with his multi language companion in learning the language. He knew he would have to work hard to be strong for his companion, since his companion speaks English and Spanish with 6 years of studying French. He was promised that through his service as District Leader he would be able to learn the language faster.
Enjoy:

Time is flying by! Some of the elders in our district got their flight plans yesterday and that will be me in 3 weeks!

I love being here with all these great people! The spirit is always so strong and I love always having the spirit with me. French is coming well. I am teaching the first lesson on the restoration this Wednesday in French and that will last about 35 minutes so I am excited but nervous. Yeah, we have the same two teachers all 9 weeks. They are Frere (brother) Luke; he served in Toulouse France and just got home two months ago, and Frere Bayles. He served in Quebec. They are both way good and awesome teachers! Easter was different, but I am glad you got to think of the true purpose at sacrament. And we did have a meeting centered on Christ which was nice. Sorry I don’t write much, I just have no time and I only have 30 minutes on the computer. I am glad everything is going well and I love you very much.

I thought you both would like that article I sent Patty and I am glad you both
 had to chance to read it.  I love that book and I always like it when the
church relates doctrine to such good pieces of literature things for me
are going very well!  Sorry I don't report much to you,
but there honestly isn't much to report.  Every day I basically
do the same things: wake up at 6:30, study the Book of Mormon, Eat Breakfast,
do personal study, companion study, and classroom instruction, gym, and
lunch and dinner thrown in there.  But the days are flying by and
I can't believe it has already been a month! 

My classes are going well. The French is coming slowly but surely.
 I teach the first lesson which is the Restoration of the Gospel in FRENCH
this next Wednesday, and it is supposed to be 35 minutes, so wish me luck.
 So my French is coming along and I know the Lord will bless me to say the
things I need to say.  But yeah, I pick up the mail twice a day for everyone,
 and I just run all the meetings and stuff for my district.  I love it being
able to serve everyone.  I am definitely a leader not a follower.

But the McCain Romney thing cracks me up, I don’t get to talk much politics
but some of us do at laundry which is fun. Don’t worry about sending me
anything food wise!  I get plenty.  But just remember to keep me in your
prayers and remember how much I love you.

Love,

Elder Clayton H. Welch

Update

I emailed Bubba this week and let him know how beautiful I thought the song was he shared with mom, and shared with him another song I came across, while trying to find the original song's translation. (Have I lost you yet?) :) Anyways, he responded that this song is actually the one he wanted to share with all of us. (What I love, is that both songs are equally beautiful!) How lucky are we?
Here is the 2nd song.....

Souviens-toi, mon enfant (Remember, My Child)

Souviens-toi, mon enfant
Souviens-toi, mon enfant: Tes parents divins
te serraient dans leurs bras, ce temps ne’st pas loin.
Aujourd’hui, tu es là, présent merveilleux,
ton regard brille encore du reflet des cieux.
Parle-moi, mon enfant, de ces lieux bénis
car pour toi est léger le voile d’oubli.

Souviens-toi, mon enfant des bois, des cités.
Pouvons-nous ici-bas les imaginer?
Et le ciel jusqu’au soir, est-il rose ou gris ?
Le soleil attend-il la neige ou la pluie?
Conte-moi, mon enfant, la couleur des prés
et le chant des oiseaux d’un monde oublié.

Souviens-toi, mon enfant : A l’aube des temps,
nous étions des amis jouant dans le vent.
Puis un jour, dans la joie nous avons choisi
d’accepter du Seigneur le grand plan de vie.
Ce soir-là, mon enfant, nous avons promis
par l’amour, par la foi, d’être réunis.

English translation:

Remember, My Child
Remember, my child : not long ago,
your divine parents held you in their arms.
Today you are here, marvelously present.
Your gaze still shines with the reflection of heaven.
Talk to me, my child, about that blessed place,
because for you the veil is still thin.

Remember, my child, the forests, the cities.
Can we down here imagine them?
And the night sky, is it rosy or gray?
Is the sun waiting for snow or rain?
Describe to me, my child, the color of the meadows
and the birdsongs of a forgotten world.

Remember, my child: at the dawn of time,
we were friends playing in the wind.
Then one day in joy we chose to accept
the Lord’s grand plan of life.
That night, my child, we promised through love,
and through faith, to be reunited.


It is sung to the melody from Dvorak's "New World Symphony."
I tried to find the music for it, but couldn't. Unfortunately it is one of very few songs on the church's website that doesn't have the MP3 format. If anyone else can find it, please share! Thanks!

A Different View

Clay sent this to Eric and me this week from his weekly copy of The Church News. He asked me to share it, since he only had one copy, so I've scanned it in here. I think the message is wonderful, don't you?

P.S. Helpful tip: If you click on the image it will make it much larger, thereby allowing you to actually read it. :)

A tiny bit of news this week

 It looks like spring here as well.  I
just got back from the temple and I always
love those walks. I usually walk up there
Sunday too with my district just
to hang out up there. But I am doing
really well.  No real big news with me. 
French is still coming about the same,
little by little.
But I know through faith and prayer the Lord
will grant me the gift of tongues and
help  me to speak
the language to those who I will teach.
I hope all is well and keep me
informed and remember how much I love you!

Add on to previous post!

Thanks Mom for sharing that hymn with us! It is beautiful. I listened to it, but not knowing much French, I wanted to know what it translated to. This is what I discovered. It seems to be a fairly rough translation, but the song is absolutely beautiful!


Jean-Jacques Goldman
Together

Remember
This was May, November
Here or there?
Was this one Monday?
I remember only one immense wall
But we were together
Together, we crossed it
Return me
Of your voyages so far
Return me
Very is added to my life
I need our ways which cross
When time gathers us
Together, all is prettier

Souviens-toi

Here is a beautiful song Elder Bubba wrote me about, a French Hymn.
He thought we might enjoy it.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXvd3trf6yw

More info from Elder Bubba

as for me, the MTC is an amazing place.  I have
finally gotten into the routine of things and
so time is flying by. I love learning about the
gospel and sharing that with everyone is an amazing
 thing.I can't express enough to you that I KNOW
with all of my heart that this gospel is true
and I wish I could share that with the whole world,
but I guess those in Geneva, Switzerland will have
to do.  But the people here are great and
I love having the spirit always with me.


the Lord loves you for all that you
do, and your willingness to let me go on a mission.
You will be blessed because of it.  And when
you are blessed, ask for more blessings.
Read Ether chapter 3,and do as the brother of
Jared did and when the Lord showed himself unto
him, he ask for more, and thats what we should
all do. If we just have faith the Lord
will make all things manifest.

He has grown so much even in just a couple of weeks!

Ist email from Elder Bubba

We got an email from Elder Bubba on Friday and wanted to share some of the info
with all of you... he sounds great!

"I just got my email account set
up and as you can probably tell my email adress is
claytonhwelch@MyLDSMail.net.

I will have half an hour every week to e-mail everyweek while
at the MTC so you can expect this every week.  But I just want you to
know that I am happy and this is truly what I want to do, and I know I
should be doing.  I can't tell you how much I have been blessed with the
spirit since I have been here.  It is amazing.

Well, today is P-day and I will tell you what I have done thus far.  I
woke up at 6:30 this morning, which I do everyday.  I know you will find
this surprising, but it hasn't been  hard for me at all!  And you know
what else hasn't been hard for me, not drinking coke/caffeine.  I only
had one headache the first full day and haven't had one since.  But
anyway, I woke up at 6:30 and got ready for the day.  Since it is
preparation day I didn't have to wear a suit during morning activities.
Just jeans and a t-shirt, which is nice.  So I got ready and then
grabbed a sack breakfast.  I got a sack breakfast because you have to
wear a suit to go into the cafeteria and noone does when they have
preparation day.  So I just went in and you can get 4 items for free and
then others are extra.  So I got two dough nuts and a milk and an orange
juice.  Then I went with my zone to do laundry which is chaos! But I
managed to get it done.  Then I came back to my room and just studied a
little French and hung out with the some of the guys in my zone.  Then,
I got dressed in my suit and went to lunch and then we went to the
temple.  We have set time every Friday for our zone where we can go to
the temple so hopefully I can go at least seven more times before I
leave.

We wake up at 6:30, personal study til
7:30, then lunch, then class until noon, lunch, class until 5, then
dinner, then class til 9 then planning.  Within that schedule is alotted
time for large group meetings, the TRC (where we go practice giving the
discusions), service, and Gym.   It is really nice because we have an
hour of gym every day of the week but Sunday and P-Day, so 5 times a
week.  I am actually down about a pound or to so I think I am doing
fine.
The food here is actually pretty good.  Well, they usually taste really
good, but for the most part they upset my stomach a little bit.  But I
hear you get used to it.

One really cool thing that happened this week was our tuesday night
devotional.  Every Tuesday we have a general authority come speek to us,
and this last Tuesday was Jeffrey R. Holland!  It was awesome!  It was
the first apostle to come in like 9 weeks so we were lucky we came when
we did.  He talked a lot about the role of a missionary and the creation
of Preach My Gospel, which is an amazing book by the way and I would
highly recommend you guys read a little bit of it as often as possible!
But, he told us that our 10 and 11 year old little brothers and sisters
think of us like heroes, like with a cape and everything.  Then he said
we kind of are.  Then, he started pretending to fly around at the pulpit
yelling, "look, there's danger!"  It was awesome.  It was such an
awesome experience and I am so glad I was able to hear it.

But most importantly I just want to hear from you so keep the letters
coming and I hope to hear from you soon.  Tell everyone I say hey and I
love and miss them tons and that I am doing great!  I love you guys and
I will talk to you soon!
Love,
Your Son,
Elder Bubba Welch"

First letter

We recieved a letter in the mail from Bubba today and thought we would share some of it with you!

"....the MTC is great! I love it. I feel the spirit ALL the time. It is amazing. Fench is a lot harder to learn then I thought it would be...but I know through hard work the Lord will bless me and I will learn it. I was called to serve as District Leader, so I already have a chance to serve. I am stoked!"

It sounds like he is doing fabulously and we are so proud of him! Any one else who hears from him, please feel free to contribute to this blog!

Elder Welch entering the MTC

"Remember this is a HAPPY Day not a sad one!"

This wonderful reminder came from Elder Welch as he entered the MTC.
It was a beautiful sunny day and his smile was unforgettable.
We know all your hearts and prayers were there with him.
He has definitely been CALLED TO SERVE.


Here is the new complete address for Elder Welch at the MTC

Elder Clayton Henderson Welch

MTC Mailbox #179

SWI-GEN 0430

2005 N. 900 E.

Provo, UT 84604-1793

Dearelder.com

Mom told me about a great website called dearelder.com. Here is the link

http://dearelder.com/index/inc_name/home

It allows you to send letters directly to the MTC where they will print them off and place them in an envelope and deliver them to your missionary each day. (This is free!) Once your missionary leaves the MTC they also offer their services through both pouch and non pouch (Geneva Switzerland's mission is non pouch--I think it costs 90 cents per letter--which still isn't bad!). You can do this as often as you like, all you have to do is register on their site, which takes all of about 2 minutes. I know Clay will appreciate all the mail he can get! Hand written letters every once in a while don't hurt either! :) Thanks Mom for making us aware of this great site!