What a Wonderful World!

Two Brothers UNITE!!

ELDER BUBBA COMES HOME TODAY!!!!!!!!!!

ONE WEEK!

A week full of prison, the temple, Bern,
and great members has made this past
week was one of the best weeks of my
mission! Its crazy how just when you
think that the mission can't get any
better it does.
So as usual, we worked a lot with the
members this week. That has actually been
a big focus for us, because the ward has
actually been going through a difficult
time with the recent change in bishops.
I went to prison for the first time in
my life this week; as a visitor, not a
prisoner of course! We got a referral
from a member I know in Geneva of a friend
in the prison here who wanted to meet
with us. Long story short, we went
through about 5 security checks and I
felt like I was in the movies. It was a
way cool experience though and the guy
was actually way nice!
So, as I mentioned last week, I lost
my passport and I had to go to Bern to get
a new one. While waiting in line at the
embassy, I met a rad girl whose mom is
from Minnesota but she is half Swedish
and grew up there. Turns out she is a
snowboarding instructor here in
Switzerland and offered to take me
snowboarding
out here whenever I come back in winter;
that was rad. THEN, while we are
talking, the mission president's wife
calls me and says, "Elder Welch, since you
are already in Bern, the mission president
and I thought it would be nice if you
had the time to go to the temple."
I couldn't believe it! Another long story
short, one of the best moments of my mission.
I love the temple. Going through
a session in French was also one of the
greatest things ever and being able to
ask the lord to accept my mission and having
the feeling of the Holy Ghost telling me
it was, was something I will never forget.
I will be eternally
grateful for this experience.
Other than that, this week was full of
great missionary work.
This upcoming week, my last week in the
mission field, should be a great one.
We are going to Montreux today,
the most beautiful city in the world.
Tomorrow we have zone conference.
I will be going to Geneva this Tuesday
so I can go to the institute there so
I can so goodbye to people, I will
spend my last preparation day in Geneva
and be getting a kebab with the mission
president and his wife (Their first and
Last as they tell me)! I love the mission.
Have a great week and I look forward
to seeing you next Thursday!
Love,
Elder Clayton Henderson Welch

Less than 2 WEEKS!!!

So I haven't smelled the smell of cow poop
for a long time spending the last 8+
months in Geneva, which is a smell I have
familiarized myself with throughout
the last week being here in Yverdon,
Switzerland, aka. the smallest city in the
mission, nestled in the Swiss alps and
beautiful countryside. Its actually
going very well though. The last week
was great and I have had a good time
getting to know the area and members,
despite the fact that I know I will
already leaving all of this again in 2 weeks.
We visited more members this past week
that I have in any other week throughout
my mission. I think we visited 12 f
amilies in the past week. I did eat
raclette twice as well which was a real
treat. Raclette is the greatest thing
in the world. Melted cheese on top of
potatoes. That is real Switzerland.
We didn't have to many lessons throughout
the week to amis, but this week should
be better. We do have an ami, J, who
is a sweet dude from the Dominican
Republic here with Corn Rows. He is
planning to be baptized the 6th, but that
will probably be pushed back a bit.
One way rad thing about Yverdon though
is that the Elders Quorum President has
a farm outside of Yverdon where
missionaries help him with service every
Saturday morning for 4 hours.
It is sweet. Milking cows in Switzerland,
moving hay, and chopping wood. We will
actually be doing in twice this week!
Other than that, we will just be working
hard on advancing the Lord's work here
in Yverdon, and I will be working on
finishing off strong!

Have a great week

Love Always,
Elder Clayton H. Welch

3 WEEKS!

I received my last transfer call this week!
You are not going to believe it but
I am being transferred to Yverdon,
Switzerland for the last 3 weeks of my
mission and I will be serving with Elder B,
a great missionary who has been
out about 5 months now I think.
I really thought I was going to be
finishing here in Geneva, but there was a
problem with one of the apartments here
and it looks as though the Lord has
something else in mind for me.
I am very excited though to be able
to work in one more city before the
end of my mission.
Yverdon is a small Swiss city and is
very Swiss, but there are actually
quite a few members there and a
nice chapel. I think we have a car
and we have bikes too so maybe I will
get to ride bike a little bit after all.
This past week has been great,
though a little hard saying goodbye
to members and friends I have known over
the last 8 months here in Geneva.
I think that's why missionaries usually
move around often because its hard when
you get really close to people to say
goodbye.
The last week was really a standard
missionary week. We did a little finding
and we did quite a bit of teaching.
We have quite a few amis here whom I very
excited to see progress and to here from
in the future.
I really don't know what this next week
has in store. I will be going to
Yverdon tomorrow, church on Sunday,
and the rest is a mystery! I haven't not
known what I was going to do for a week
for a while so I am very excited to
finish this last part of my mission!
I am really just excited to see you
and everyone else!
Love always,
Elder Clayton H. Welch

4 Weeks!

baptism: an amazing new convert from England at her baptism on monday


eating one of the greatest foods ever made: Kebabs



snowycar: at church I blocked the office elders car with snow



There is snow all over the place here;
its crazy! I love it. I am not going to
lie, snowboarding comes into my mind
every-time I look outside, but its alright,
the holes in each of my shoes causing
my feet to be soaked instantly gets rid
of that desire; ha ha.
But seriously though, everything is
going so well here in Geneva.
The good thing with all of this snow
is that it isn't too cold though.
This last week was great.
I had the chance to go on an exchange
with my old companion Elder B who
is one of my best friends here.
It went very well and it was great
to just talk with him again.
I had become pretty serious while an
assistant, so it was a nice chance to
make it up to him by being more myself.
I also had interviews this week with
the mission president. It was great to
talk with him and learn from him again.
He is a great man.
We had another great experience this
week with a member. Her name is A
and she is the oldest daughter of one
of my favorite families here. She is 31
and is married to a non-member and has
4 kids. She has been kind of active over
the last years, but in the last 4 months
her testimony has just exploded. She
bore her testimony in church last week
for the first time in her life! Well,
when she came home from the church on
new years eve her neighbor who had been
drinking started asking her questions
about our church. She said that there
were missionaries to help explain these
questions. So, she invited us over and
we went and visited the family Friday
night. He didn't really remember much of
the conversation and was very skeptical
of us, but thanks to this member and her
sincere testimony, this husband and wife
opened up and became very interested.
I know that this family wouldn't have
listened to us if it wasn't for this
member and it is another proof for me
that as we talk to our friends about what
we know in this life, not only does our
testimony grow but we help so many
others in the process!
This week should be great.
It should be pretty traditional with a
lot of finding and teaching and hopefully
baptizing soon.
Actually, transfer calls are this next
Monday and believe it or not I could be
transferred for the last 3 weeks of my
mission. There are certain reasons why,
mainly with apartments, but I will let
you know next week where I will be
finishing my mission!
Thanks for all of your love and support.
I hope you have a great week.
Have a great week and I look forward to
seeing you soon!
Love always,
Elder Clayton H. Welch

5 WEEKS from TODAY!

5 WEEKS UNTIL HE RETURNS!!!



2010 is already off to a great start!
I am stoked to see what this year will
bring about. I am set on that fact
that it will be the best year yet.
We spent the week doing good ol'
missionary work here in Geneva and were
able to see quite a bit of success
throughout the week.
We have been really working with members
here and I am sure that that is the
best way to advance this work. The
members here in Geneva are also so
competent which makes it easy.
We found 5 new investigators last week,
3 of which came from members. Probably
the best members missionaries I have
see are the Mongolian members here (D,
the one is the recent convert of a month
and her sister Z). They brought a
different friend with them to every
activity, appointment, and even to church!
Those people are so great! I need to
go to Mongolia to visit, also because
I have always wanted to live in a yurt (a
Mongolian hut!).
New Years Eve was sweet! We had a great
rendezvous with the Mongolians and
then we went to the Family Ps, the sweetest
family ever, and then we were invited to
the mission home. We had a little movie
night with the assistants and the office
elders. We made pizza and watched
"Forever Strong,"
WITH the authorization of the mission
president. It is about a high school
rugby team in Utah. It was way good.
It was way nice though to spend the
holiday with friends. Its crazy how
close you get to people as a missionary.
This week is pretty standard. We will
be doing missionary work and trying our
hardest to keep being instruments in
the Lord's hands. We have an exchange
planned for tomorrow with the zone
leaders here which should be fun,
I will be with one of my old companions
Elder B-rad-y.
Other than that the work is moving
forward in this part of the world!
I can't wait to see you soon!
Have a great week!
Love always,
Elder Clayton Henderson

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.