JK, it's been E COLI this whole time. This. Whole. Time.

Yeah, so when we first went to the doctor after we were dumb and drank the water, they didn't test us for anything. They assumed we had Giardia and gave us some pills and sent us on our way. But two days later, one of the elders in our district, also suffering from loose bowels from hell, had to go to the ER on Friday night. They did tests right then to be sure of what was going on and turns out he really had E coli. We've had E coli untreated for 3 weeks now.

Sister Hancock was not happy with that doctor place for guessing what we had, and putting an elder in the ER on that assumption. We're waiting for our results to get back from the lab today, but we're thinking the whole district has E coli. Sigh. Not only that, but the pills they gave us killed off all the good bacteria in our stomachs and gave that Elder C-diff, which is what dehydrated him so much that he went to the hospital. He's ok now, and they say we'll know right away if we also contracted C-diff, but we're still suffering a bit because of E coli that we've had for a month now. E COLI FOR A MONTH! Sigh. In a weird way though, I'm glad I wasn't making up feeling so bad for so long because I was feeling like a wimp. We could only get out and teach 3 lessons this week... Satan's trying to keep us down, but not for much longer!! :D

I've learned a lot about keeping my focus these past few weeks! If I feel frustrated with my companion I ask myself "where's my focus?" Usually it's on myself and my own view of things, not what she's thinking. If I think "I want to work hard but I'm too tired, but I'll trudge through the day and survive.." Where's my focus? All on how hard it is and on my weaknesses and how I'm tired, blah blah blah, and I'm not actually focused on Christ and other people. With conquering an addiction too, when you constantly think "I can't I can't I can't, I'm doing good but this is so hard, but I can't..." your focus is all on what you can't do, and turns out that you're actually focusing on the problem even more. If you want to be a better person and more Christlike person but constantly focus on your flaws, it's the same problem. Don't think about chocolate ice cream, and BOOM you think about it! 

The focus has to be on others, on Christ, on what you do right in the day and on what you hope to do in the future, and on who you want to be and what you can work on now to get there. It's like the difference in Lehi's Dream (in the Book of Mormon in 1st Nephi) between the two groups- the group who clung to the Iron Rod and those who held fast continually. The ones clinging were looking all around them at the building and mists, focused on what they have to avoid, things that they can't can't can't do, so they have a white knuckle grip on the rod and they eventually become too exhausted to keep up. But those who were going calmly, holding fast and steady, were keeping their eyes on the tree. They were focused on Christ. They were the ones who made it, and stayed. I learned this and I'm applying it to EVERYTHING in my life, and I know it'll help my investigators so much too, even with quitting smoking!! The Atonement is real! I'm full of hope and life and I feel like I'm back up on top of the world, because I'm focusing on Christ again. CHRIST IS LITERALLY THE SOLUTION TO EVERY PROBLEM WE CAN POSSIBLY HAVE!!!

Also, this week we got a text from President inviting us to the Mission Leadership Council meeting. Only Sister Training Leaders (STLs) and Zone Leaders (ZLs) go to that meeting to plan for the whole mission. We were a little confused, but we asked for a ride there and decided we'd go with it. Then President texts back and says, "Don't worry about a ride, I'm getting you a car today. You'll need it since you'll be the new STLs."

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

So that day, we got a CAR!!!!!!!!!! A CAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND I get to stay with Sister Bueno in our area for another transfer!!! It's Christmas over here already.

Also, MLC is now my FAVORITE mission meeting. It was so amazing!!! While we were singing hymn #2 "The Spirit of God" after the meeting, when we came to the chorus and we were singing "We'll sing, and we'll shout, with the armies of heaven..." I looked around at all of us in the room singing with our hearts, and it hit me. THIS is the army of God, and I'm blessed to be a part of it. I'm a warrior of God and we're fighting a very real war. Most of it is waged in the silent chambers of our own hearts, but that doesn't make it any less real, and harsh, and critical, and rewarding. I'm so blessed. 

I have learned more than I could ever put down in an email this past month while being sick, but I should cut this email off now- it's getting huge! Just know that I KNOW Jesus is the Christ. I KNOW the Atonement is real and full of healing, even for your emotional bad days. I KNOW this Gospel is the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, as HE set it up. MIssionary work is literally working to save the world, and I still can't believe sometimes that the Lord is trusting me with this, but being on the front lines gets me access to the "big guns" spiritually- I've never felt closer to God or had the Holy Spirit's help so much in my life. 

THIS IS REAL. Jesus Christ is not only going to come back soon, but HE IS RETURNING NOW.

Buckle up and get ready, everyone. There's no time to waste.

Love,

Sister Clark