West Indies Mission: Clarkson: Before and After

Hello friends!

So when I first got here this man named Clarkson came to church on his own. Missionaries had never taught him he just showed up and to be honest I wasn't sure if he was homeless and had mental problems or what. No one was really sure because he would just keep to himself. He wore dirty clothes and smelt like campfire. But after talking to him I could see he was actually intelligent but he did have his past with drugs and alcohol which brought him down where he is today. From what it sounds like at one point in time this man had one foot in his grave and the other on a banana peel! But he has cleaned up those things and is trying to get back on his feet. Everyone waits for the New Year to do this kind of stuff. haha. So we started teaching him twice a week and it's been great! We meet him at the church, bring him sandwiches, and he really enjoys the lessons. We watched the restoration movie and after he just looked super happy then he said. "That's the first movie I have seen in years.." So he understands and accepts everything and he is being baptized this Saturday. He really really wants to get some work so we came up with a big idea. We showed up to a lesson and told him if he wants to find work his appearance is going to play a big role in that. We gave him soap, razors to shave, and some dress pants, shoes, shirt, and a tie. Then we pulled out our clippers and asked him if he would like a trim. He was super excited for that. He hadn't had a haircut for over a year. So we gave him the clippers (which was the small kind for face shaves) and he just went for it! He took his beard off and then just went right through the side of his head. Haha we hadn't planned to cut the hair on his head because we didn't know if the little face shaver could do it but we did it and it worked great! He looks like a whole new man. And when he came to church Sunday no one even recognized him. The Gospel principles teacher asked him when he was baptized cause she thought he was already a member. All the members showered him with love and I don't think he knew what to do with himself. He looked shocked but happy. He just kept telling us that he appreciates everything we are doing for him. I will send some before and after pics when I am at the church later.

What's also cool is we got linked up with this pastor of another church that puts on alcohol awareness puppet shows for kids. So all us missionaries are the puppeteers. We are doing three different shows this week so that will be fun.

Everything else this week was good just finding and teaching people! This morning we had fun playing volleyball at the beach... So life is good!

Love you all!

- Elder Hale