Week 7: Picture Time!

We got a picture this week!! This needs to go down in the history books people, an act like this from Ryan as been so unheard of these past few weeks. See it's only one picture so you must cherish this moment, not only that, he also sent a caption! That is really unheard of. I'm training this boy to do exactly what I want as far as sending me letters and what I would like them to entail. Haha I am actually missing Elder Clayton a lot this week, he is my go to guy, but I am proud of the service he has so selflessly devoted his life too. I won't waste anymore time this letter was full and exciting!

"Everything is going pretty well, my companion and I were called to be the Zone Leaders on Sunday so that's been pretty fun.  Our job is basically to look over the zone when the Branch presidency isn't here and make sure everyone is being nice.  We also get to teach all the new missionaries that come into our zone all about the MTC and what not to do here.  We didn't get any new missionaries in this week to our zone so well see if we get any next week."

"Yesterday my district got to host for the first time.  It was way fun, I met a lot of awesome families and saw a lot of moms crying.  It's funny how much enthusiasm they have coming in and how fast they lose that.  It's kinda sad but a mission is hard work and you grow so much through it."

"So, Anothony Bivens (who lived in our home teachers house) just came in yesterday.  Got to talk to him for a bit.  It nice to see someone that I know!"

"It's been super cold here, we see snow in the mountains, but no snow has fallen to us yet.  That super awesome how much you love the temple, I love going every Thursday it always brightens up my week!"

"So, cool fact of the week, the church is going to start giving missionary iPads so they can do all their paper work on that and send it to the Prez.  I hope to get one! haha"

"Well, that's just about it for me, not much else going on, I'm really tired of doing role plays 20 times a day.  I just want to go talk to really people!"

"Travel Plans:

November 5,

Flight #2012 LV: Salt Lake City, UT

                     AR: Dallas/Ft Worth, TX

Flight #3211 LV: Dallas/Ft Worth, TX

                     AR: Leon/Guanajuato, Mexico"

Elder Medina and Elder Clayton, hosting yesterday.
That's totally the tie I bought him in London! :)

We were all jumping for joy at the Clayton household when we found out he will go straight to Mexico and he has his travel plans. You best believe my cell phone will be on at all times on the  5th of November, he promised me a roll of quarters, we will talk and it will be much needed! So excited!! :) Not to mention if y'all know Elder Clayton at all you know how much he loved and valued his computers, iPad, and iPhone, which are currently in my closet (he must not realize by the time he gets home all of them will be super outdated), if he gets an iPad on this mission of his he will be very euphoric. Haha Well that's all for this week folks only a week and a half left before he will be in sunny Mexico! Thanks again for the prayers and thoughts. Have a great week! :)


Address and E-Mail:

Elder Ryan James Clayton 

MTC Mailbox # 302

MEX-LEON 1105

2005 N 900 E

Provo, UT 84604-1793

ryan.clayton@myldsmail.net

God Be With You Till We Meet Again... 

Week 6: These Titles Are Not Getting Any Better

This weeks email was short and sweet, but still exciting! I'll just get right to it with his email. Enjoy the profound words from the exploring Elder on a journey he will never regret...

"Not much to say, went to Boise last week and that was super fun.  There were 10 of us.  Didn't get Taco Bell but I did get some Panda which was even better.  Talked to a bunch of people throughout the trip.  Everyone was coming up and talking to us, even Shawn Bradley (from the NBA), asking questions and stuff.  Got my Visa after sitting in a Consulate for 2 hours.  I also saw Uncle David at the Airport, didn't have much time to talk to him."

"Other than that, the MTC is the same.  My Spanish is doing really well.  Only 2 1/2 weeks left!"

"It's good to hear the family is doing well!  Keep me informed I like to know what's going on.  Sorry I can't send pictures, the computers are stupid here.  Anyway, thats all I really got to say, sorry it's so short, there's not much to talk about.."

Until next week, Con Amor

Elder Clayton

At least now we know why Elder Clayton hasn't sent any pictures. I'm so glad he got Panda Express if you know Elder Clayton you know how much he loves the Panda. I can't wait for the two and a half weeks to be over. After the boy gets out of the MTC and down to Mexico these blog posts are going to get very interesting. There will probably be times they aren't so interesting and some possibly filled with a discouraged Elder. Who knows what will happen in the next two years, they say a mission is the hardest thing a person will every experience. And through Elder Clayton we can all live vicariously. It'll be interesting to see how things go for him and what he learns. Thanks for the continued thoughts and prayers they really do make a difference. Until next week have a great night y'all. :)

 Address and E-Mail:

Elder Ryan James Clayton 

MTC Mailbox # 302

MEX-LEON 1105

2005 N 900 E

Provo, UT 84604-1793

ryan.clayton@myldsmail.net

God Be With You Till We Meet Again... 

Week 5: I Need To Come Up With Better Titles

Yay for exciting weeks! This weeks email was so interesting and so much better than his last two. Still no pictures, but Elder Clayton has had quite the week! I'm excited to share his email with you guys because your minds will be blown! Haha not really but I do think y'all will find it very intriguing.

I'll stop talking so you can start reading. Enjoy!

"Last Friday I started to lose hearing in my right ear, it kept happening.  So I went and had the doctor take a look at it and he thinks it is swelling from the sore throat I had.  So my companion and I had to walk down to the BYU medical center to pick up some drugs.  It was so nice to get out of this place for a half hour!  I'm doing better now."

"Then Conference, that announcement was crazy, we all watched it in the gym and when President Monson said 19 for girls, all 2,000 missionaries started to go crazy.  It was the hot topic for the rest of that day, so many sisters are kinda mad, the sisters in our zone wish they made the announcement two years ago.  Anyway, the rest of conference was amazing.  I don't think I have ever had a conference like that in my life!  That night we had a fireside and Chad Lewis from the NFL came and talked to us about his life which was way sweet!"

"So on Tuesday Elder David A. Bednar came and talked to us at our devotional, and told us this is why the decision was made now and not two years ago, he shared with us this line, "The lord can do his work, and he can hasten his work at his time."  For the rest of his talk he talked about how to study conference talks which was super awesome."

"Then on Wednesday we found out a lot more about changes happening, first they expect that missionary count will double within the next two years, so it will go from 53,000 missionary's to over a 100,000 missionary's.  We keep hearing that they are going to be opening the China mission soon.  They expect the sister missionary count to triple.  They don't know how to handle it, the MTC is already packed as it is.  Also MTC stay times have been cut by 1/3, so if you are here for 12 weeks you are now here for 9, if you are here for 9 weeks you are now here for 6, and if you are here for 3 weeks you are now here for 2.  Crazy!"

"Wednesday night was bad, so we were at gym playing frisbee and we had about 5 or so frisbees flying around.  Well, one of my roommates, Elder Barr, got smacked it the mouth with one and lost his two front teeth.  So him and his companion are at the hospital all of today.  No good…"

"Anyway, for my exciting announcement, I am going to Boise Idaho!! YAY haha I have to make a one day flight up there to pick up my visa from the Mexican Consulate.  I leave the MTC at 4:30 tomorrow morning.  The best part is that I'm going to be able to get some real food!! Taco Bell here I come!"

Con amor, Elder Clayton

His e-mail was sent yesterday so as of today I'm wondering the following which I will ask him in my next letter. First thing, did he ever get the Taco Bell he really wanted? I hope his ear is feeling better and if everything is back to normal with his medical issues he's been seeming to have since he entered the MTC over a month ago. Was he actually able to speak to Chad Lewis? That would be really cool and if he did I hope he got a picture so I can put that on his blog that would be cool to see. I need to ask him to send some more pictures. 

As always thank you for the prayers and the thoughts. Please feel free to write Elder Clayton I know he would love to hear from you! Until next week, have a great evening!


 Address and E-Mail:

Elder Ryan James Clayton 

MTC Mailbox # 302

MEX-LEON 1105

2005 N 900 E

Provo, UT 84604-1793

ryan.clayton@myldsmail.net

God Be With You Till We Meet Again... 

Week 4-Month 1

Elder Clayton has now been out for one month! Crazy how time flies when you're having fun. His letter this week was rather short and there were no pictures included. I asked a variety of questions so hopefully his next email will be intriguing and interesting to read. Not that they aren't interesting now they are just starting to lack luster in a small sense, no worries though people he's doing great and at the beginning of November he will be off to somewhere else. Where he will go nobody knows, but we are all hoping it's to Mexico. 

The following message contains contents from his email read at your own discretion. Caution some parts may bring confusion and laughter that you just can't control. Proceed at your own risk. Haha Jk just trying to keep things interesting. Here you have it peeps, words from the mouth of Elder Clayton....


"My MTC experience is now officially half over! YAY haha There's not much to report everything is the same thing day after day.  Had Fast Sunday, and I have to say that it gives me a whole new prospective on fasting!  It was so amazing to really do a faithful fast."

"I was sick last Friday, so i skipped one of my classes and I slept (didn't get any sleep the night before).  Had my district give me a blessing Friday night.  It was my companion's first time ever giving a blessing.  There is something really bad spreading here, every week there are elders sick to the stomachs."

"Not much else to tell, my Spanish is coming along really well, yesterday we starting to only speak Spanish, we are now not allowed to speak English for the next two years. It's really hard but I am always surprised how much I can say in Spanish."

"Thanks for the songs last week, totally made my week.  We have been singing them ever since. haha We haven't yet attempt the Spanish ones yet, but we are going to try them soon.  I could use another song, 'Be Are Guest' from Beauty and the Beast. :)"

"Haha so we have two teachers, our morning teacher (Brother Angel) and our afternoon teacher (Sister Olsen).  Well Brother Angel has been home from his mission for about a year now and he has a special lady friend who he has been dating for about a month.  Well during the past few classes we have been helping him come up with ideas to propose to her, he promised to propose to her before we leave. haha"

Con Amor,
Elder Clayton

There you have it folks the great insight from the mouth of a missionary. They are people just like you and me, why people treat them differently I will never know. Enjoy your week keep Elder Clayton in your prayers.  They don't go unnoticed and they truly help, he appreciates and understands people are thinking of him. Until next time.... God be with you 'til we meet again.

Address and E-Mail:

Elder Ryan James Clayton 

MTC Mailbox # 302

MEX-LEON 1105

2005 N 900 E

Provo, UT 84604-1793

ryan.clayton@myldsmail.net