MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

We've been having so many adventures with the snow! 2 blizzards later, and a week of church canceled on Christmas, here I am. Alive. Somehow. With Houston/Arizona drivers at the wheel, I can testify that angels are real and working overtime to keep us alive. (Don't worry Mom, we're being careful!)

We've been having so many adventures with the snow! 2 blizzards later, and a week of church canceled on Christmas, here I am. Alive. Somehow. With Houston/Arizona drivers at the wheel, I can testify that angels are real and working overtime to keep us alive. (Don't worry Mom, we're being careful!)

K____ had been really struggling with the idea of modern day prophets, and we were trying our best to help him and teach with as much of the Spirit as we possibly could and to get him to pray about it, and he wasn't fully against the idea but he was still struggling to wrap his head around it.... Then, we had a miracle. He went on a trip with some other men in the ward to see the Christmas lights in Salt Lake City Temple Square, and they went to the visitor's center about the church there. He said almost all his questions were answered, and he really liked the words he read from our last prophet, President Gordon B. Hinckley. So when we asked about how the trip went, he said "well, I was having a hard time with prophets, but I feel like all my doubts have melted away. I'm not fighting it anymore like I used to. Everything else I know about the church feels right, so why fight this part too?"

He's going to pray this week to have a confirmation directly from God about what he already feels, but this was such a huge miracle!!!!! God truly does answer prayers, and He's aware of every doubt or question or concern we could possibly have.

I've seen many miracles this week of the Spirit of God acting almost like a shield to me, whenever we come across people who for whatever reason are angry, bitter, betrayed by or felt abandoned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We met a lot of them who wanted to debate and argue and cut us down and threw every possible thing against the Church at us to prove we were wrong and confused. Some people have convincing arguments, points, or stories.

But I'm not here to convince anyone of the truth I know. I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is true, and is the restored gospel Jesus Christ Himself set up during His ministry on the earth. I know it. But I don't have to convince anyone- I share what I know to be true, and then it's up to the other person to ask God about it or not.

Before, I might've been hurt or cut down by these angry people, but I could see in every situation that when I had the Spirit, I never felt frustrated, afraid, lost as to what to say, or riled up. I was kept calm, steady, and at peace. I know what I know, and what I have a testimony in about the Gospel, I've asked God about and He has given me that testimony through the Holy Spirit. No person could ever take that away from me, no matter what they try or say. I'm only grateful that Heavenly Father put me through these experiences to try my faith, and like a refiner's fire, burn out the impurities and doubts until I can stand with rock-solid conviction that I am on the Lord's errand preaching the right thing.

And of course, on Christmas Day I was able to Skype with my family!!!! I LOVE THEM SO MUCH!!! I thought I was going to cry, but I stayed strong and only teared up! It was so wonderful.

We're taken care of in Idaho very well- I spent a lot of time with "family" here, all my adopted mamas and papas :) We're spoiled and I love it!! And we had a total of 5 Christmas meals throughout the day.... I thought I was going to die, and I still do feel that way, actually..... I literally prayed for help to eat more, and I made it. God provides, but geez, my answered prayer almost killed me. I'm grateful in these moments that God is wiser than us and doesn't answer every single prayer He gets in the way we ask!

I love you all, but most of all, I love our Savior. I absolutely adore being a missionary for Him. I challenge you all to start thinking about what you'll work on for your New Years Resolutions, and offer it up to your Savior as a year long birthday gift for Him :) I'm starting to think of what I can do!! Someone gave me the idea to write your goal on your scripture book mark, so that way every time you read your scriptures you'll be reminded of what your goal~gift is. And you should be reading your scriptures every day anyway.... ;) It's genius!

P.S. in the pics, one of them is for my brother Chris. He sent me snow cone syrup all the way from Bahama Bucks in Texas, and that's my district enjoying some Original Sno on Christmas Day! Thanks bro! <3

I promise, the next time Christmas rolls around and you look back at the goal you tried your hardest for the year to work on for Him, you'll feel like you have something worth more than gold or myrrh to offer the Baby in the manger. I think He'll agree that it'd be worth more to Him than even the most precious oils.


Have a Happy New Year!!

Love,

Sister Clark

IT'S ALMOST CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!

 

I'm just a LITTLE excited for Christmas :D Can you smell the sarcasm? I can't, because all I smell is nutmeg and hot cocoa and fresh pine and candy-canes and everything wonderful about CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!! What's even better is that we've been challenged to focus on the Reason for the Season- the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

I've never had a better Christmas so far than this one, when I'm putting my heart and soul into serving Him!

This Thursday we had our Mission Conference. It was awesome- I got to see all my old comps and we watched a slide-show of the mission for the year. It was hilarious! Then at the end of the night I performed in the talent show singing the song Sister Bueno and I wrote together, 'The Draft'. I was shaking like a leaf, but I'm actually getting over my stage fright! :)

 

 Sis. Clark and Sis. Hoffman

 

 Sis. Bueno and Sis. Clark

 

 

 Sis. Jarvis and Sis. Clark

 

 Playing guitar at a member's house after dinner

 

 Singing at the mall again

 

 

Nothing else of too much interest happened this week- and I'm also out of time.... so! Stay tuned! Next letter home should be pretty fantastic, if I may say so myself :)

Happy Holidays, everyone!!! Remember the Reason for the Season!!

 

Love,

Sister Clark

Another week down!

Can we just take a moment to appreciate the miracle of snowflakes? God is such an artist. I'm loving the snow! 

 

This week was awesome. We were really, really worried about K____- we were thinking he was going to drop us in our lesson on Monday, because he just wasn't praying to know if what we were talking about was true, so we were wondering if he really wants to keep going at all with learning more.

 

THEN.

A convert named F____, the most epic man in the world all tattooed up and blunt with people and refuses to fit in the cookie cutter Mormon expectations- he came to our lesson with K____ and started crying as he bore his testimony. I've never seen K____ listen so closely or nod so much. He talked about a lot of concerns we'd never been able to get him to tell us about, and F____ said he had all the same concerns back when he was investigating the church. K____ told us that he'd been thinking about quitting on us, but then hearing F____'s testimony changed everything. In the prayer at the end of the lesson, K____ told God that he was glad he was shown that there really is something divine about all this, and that we hadn't given up on him.

 

I just BAWLED. It may have scared K____ a little or made him think I was struggling, but I was so grateful for F____ and for K____'s testimony in the prayer. I was so worried about him, but he'll be ok.

We fasted and prayed as a mission to reach our goals this month, and I felt very seriously that I could reach those goals. But then two of our baptism dates dropped us and D____ is really struggling giving up smoking so he may not make it to baptism this month like he wanted... I was starting to doubt my faith. I fasted for help getting these people to the waters of baptism, but.... everything was going wrong! What was I doing wrong? Was I doing something to lose God's trust?

On Sunday Sister Jarvis was sick, and that gave me a chance to really study and slow down to pray a lot. I recommitted to doing my best and prayed for more faith, and I committed to reading my scriptures instead of playing guitar or something when I had some free time.

 

THEN.

The phone rings and it's one of our bishops, letting us know that a man came to church today and announced he's ready to be baptized. Then we get a text from another bishop telling us that another family came to church and they want us to come over and teach them the discussions.

GOD WILL TAKE CARE OF YOU IF YOU HAVE FAITH IN HIM. EVEN JUST A LITTLE.

That's what I learned this week. Even when you have no idea how this will all work out, and logically it seems like it's impossible to reach your goals, TRUST IN THE LORD. Even if you only have a particle of a desire to have hope. He will take care of you.

 

Helping a member, who is recovering from surgery, put her tree back up after it fell over.

 

 

Love,

 

Sister Clark

 

Prepare for a month of miracles...

I cut my hair short! I think I'll go even shorter next time. And I saw B_______!!!!!! My very first baptism!! Her mom moved into my area :D I haven't seen her in months, so it was an awesome reunion!

 

M_____, was baptized this past Saturday!! She didn't live in our area but we taught her for a bit, and she comes to our ward. The elders technically took over, but she asked us to sing at her baptism and she's already signed up to help us teach! She's been a member for two days- she's so on fire.

 

I got a Christmas package from the fam this week! :D I picked it up during MLC.

 

***Mom, I got both of them. So actually, I have to confess, I did open them... you told me I could! But I mainly want to focus on Christ, not on presents this Christmas. It's the only Christmas of my life that I'll do this probably, so I'm taking advantage of it. Sister Jarvis and I are opening our companion gifts on Christmas day/eve but we're focusing on service :) Seriously, if we didn't, we'd be staring at those presents every day..... THE GIFTS WERE ALL WONDERFUL AND NEEDED AND IT WAS LIKE YOU HAD PURE REVELATION AS YOU GOT ME EVERYTHING!!!!! And now I know what to get for Sis Jarvis :D Just as I was thinking about buying more handwarmers and some new tights, poof there it is and now I won't buy extra!!!! Ah, it's just perfect. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love it!!!!!!!!!!! And Sis. Jarvis loves the dictionary so much!! Hahaha it's really funny! XD  And now I get to focus on giving and giving back for the rest of the month!!! :'D 

Also! I really needed that capo actually, I've had two performances to do, one at a baptism and one coming up for the mission talent show, and my old capo died.

 

We had another amazing MLC meeting- we got on our knees as a mission to receive revelation. I basically cried throughout the rest of the meeting because that moment was so powerful. It really hit me, and reminded me of the power of praying on our knees when we address the most High God.

Another powerful moment- while we were at one of our ward's Christmas parties, at the end it was time for Santa to come out. The bells started jingling and all the kids froze, then Santa came out from the curtains on the stage! Everyone gasped and all the kids were screaming and excited out of their minds. But in all this chaos, Santa knelt down in front of a picture of Jesus Christ they also had on stage. A hush fell through the room, and Sister Jarvis and I looked at each other with tears in our eyes. He stood up and announced that Christmas was really about Christ, and then he proceeded to be Santa again and have the kids come up to tell him what they wanted for Christmas. But I'll never forget the way I felt the moment I saw Santa kneel before our Savior.

Remember the Reason for the Season this year everyone! Keep Christ in Christmas :D

 

 

Sorry for the odd pics, I collect pics of strange yard decorations here.... :)

Love,

Sister Clark

Happy Thanksgiving!!

This morning we woke up to 3 inches of snow!!!! So it begins.

We had 2 different Thanksgiving meals this week... you better believe I ate my heart out. Also, we were able to eat with K____ and K____! That was so fun! And of course my favorite Mansfield's took us in :) Sister Bueno joined in the fun at one point too! 

 

Thanksgiving gave me a much needed chance to set some goals to be more grateful. I take a lot for granted. Sometimes, I think the Lord is hesitant to give us blessings and miracles if we're going to be rude when we get them and never say a simple 'thank you'. He has emotions too, even though He is Perfect and Glorified. If you gave a gift to someone, and you spent a lot of time and thought on it, but they were like "eh, this is nice I guess" and set it down without a second glance to it... wouldn't you feel a little hurt? You just spent all this time on the gift for them!  But imagine you give this same gift to someone who immediately goes "oh my goodness, this is amazing! Thank you so much, you didn't have to! I love it." You feel awesome inside, don't you? 9 times out of 10, I'd bet you'd be much more willing to give another gift to that grateful person than you would to the one who didn't care.

But I learned something more about gratitude this week.

I used to think that it was a little odd that God wanted so much thanks and recognition... it sounds blasphemous, but I thought it was a little prideful. I mean, God is God, so He can do what He wants I guess... But then it hit me this week, the real reason!

 

God's entire purpose is to make us happy. Moses 1:39 says, "For behold, this is my work and my glory- to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." So He gave us the commandment to give thanks in all things not because it's for Him, but it's for OUR sake. Being grateful makes US happy, and able to see more of life's beauties. Alma 37:37 says: "Counsel with the Lord in all they doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day."

It's another key to obtaining the rest of Christ-like attributes, and it's key to happiness! That's why thanksgiving at all times is a commandment.

Also, be sure to look on LDS.org for #LighttheWorld. It's the new Christmas video, but also a challenge to do a Christ-like thing every day for 25 days, so we can do our part in 'lighting the world'. It's an amazing video and a fun challenge- December 1st is a worldwide day of service. Join in!

Have another awesome week, everyone! Stay safe if you're in an area with snow!

 

Love,

 

Sister Clark

I'm staying in C_____! Hallelujah!

It snowed for the first time this winter!! I'm not exactly thrilled, but at the same time it's fun. People keep saying we usually get a lot of snow on Thanksgiving day...!

We've had another fabulous week- doubling our goals, finding random new people out of nowhere that are willing to listen to our message, getting closer to the Lord and to each other.... I love being a missionary. Especially in C_____! Transfers came and went and Sister Jarvis and I are staying together!

You know, I realized that I have a lot of pride to work on. I learned that I need to be a way better companion, and I had to eat a big slice of humble pie... let me tell you, that's one bitter tasting pie. But Ether 12:27 promises that "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them." 

 

It makes me feel a lot more free to know that I can improve and change for the better, but first you have to recognize what needs to be changed! That's the tough part, but I'm looking forward to being better. I need to be a lot more loving and more Christ-like.

One big example of Christ-like love and charity is M_____, a less active member of the church who really wants to come back. Her chair freezes up in the winter so it's harder for her to make it to the services, but we're working to find a solution for her. She's the most incredible, loving, genuine, sweet soul I've ever met. I hope one day I can be half the character she is. I think one of my favorite things about being on a mission is all the wonderful people I get to meet.

 

That includes my district and zone! We always have so much fun. I'll miss these elders when they get transferred :( But we have a big Christmas fireside for the mission to look forward to- I'm so excited for the holidays!

 

 

Love y'all!!

 

Sis. Clark

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas..."

So first of all, if you're wondering why I took a picture of some rice... it's my kind of rice, ok?

Another week packed full of miracles that I don't have too much time to talk about in depth, but it's been crazy- the Lord has been helping us to reach our goals. All of them!! We set a goal of finding two new people to teach by the end of the week, and we didn't find anyone this whole week who was interested. We were really bummed... we put all of our hearts and souls into finding new people.

BUT WAIT.

 

Sunday night one of our investigator's daughters decided she wanted the lessons too, and then later in the day we get a call from one of our bishops telling us that he talked with someone who had taken the lessons before but her dad wouldn't allow her to be baptized, but now she's totally ready to be baptized and set the baptism date for December 3rd with the bishop! WOW!! We're so excited to teach her. 

K____ is doing really well too! We were worried he was falling off the bandwagon when we didn't hear from him for a while, but we found some members that really get along with him and are honest and real with him. He's more comfortable asking questions around them, so we've been able to talk about some of his concerns and resolve some worries he'd been having. I learned a lot about how much we really need to trust the Spirit... all this time he was worried that we worship Joseph Smith like Christ! NO WAY! He was so relieved to hear that we didn't. We have a lot of learning to do about being better teachers- I know I do at least!

Sister Jarvis has corrupted me with Christmas things... I usually don't listen to Christmas music until after Thanksgiving, but she wanted to listen to it so I let her and then, and then.... everything just snowballed and we're already decorating for Christmas. #dollartree

 

It's been a really fun week :) Sister Jarvis and I get along really well but then we also get into weird fights over the dumbest things, and then we're over it and back to joking around the next few minutes. She's quite literally like my sister! I love this chick. She's just a ball of fun and spiritual insight. In the picture with the dog, we caught it just as the dog licked her ear. Haha! And the wonderful Mansfield family gave us S'mores kits to roast marshmallows over the stove. That's all I need in life, honestly. I was happy.

We had some more successful exchanges and I was able to go with the amazing Sister Lopez- she taught me so much about the Gospel and how to be a better teacher, not to mention she taught me some Spanish! I'm looking forward to taking some classes hopefully when I get home- she fanned a flame of love for Spanish in me that I didn't know existed :) I might even get a dictionary out here and try to read the Book of Mormon in Spanish if I have time!

Another wonderful week and packed full of tender mercies. I had quite a few personal lessons in humility, and when I put what I learned into practice, not only was I more humble and able to hear the Lord's whispers, but I was happier in my day and got along with my companion flawlessly and we were able to have some PERFECT lessons with our people!

 

I've never loved so much and so deep before. I love being on a mission- there really isn't any way to put down what I feel into words. The Gospel is true!! The Plan of Happiness is REAL!!!

 

 

Love,

Sister Clark