Transfers.... (and lots of pics!)

Well, it's official... I'm getting transferred. Tomorrow! Ack! I love I_____ with all of my heat and soul. When we found out I'll be leaving, I cried with so many people I've come to consider family here. I'll visit for certain again, no worries, but it still feels like I'm leaving home for my mission all over again.

But! I will be "whitewashing", which means my companion and I will be opening up a brand new area in the mission. My new companion is named Sister Bueno- I hear she's crazy fun but also a hard worker. It'll be exciting to meet her tomorrow! We'll both be on the same level too- neither of us will know the people in the area, and we'll both be starting from scratch. It should be one amazing experience :D

This week I've been dreading transfers, but once I got over the fact that change is the only constant you can rely on, I've been doing much better. Mmm, well I say "once I got over it...", actually it's a process I'm still working on. Sounds like it'll be a lifelong process :)  

 

But once I stopped thinking about myself so much, and once I remembered what the Lord's work is all about (OTHER people, helping OTHERS to Christ), then I automatically felt my stress levels drop. Reading the Ricciardi Letter really helped, too. (It's a letter someone wrote to a missionary about his mission experience.  In the letter, Elder Ricciardi is the narrator's trainer, and he's a crazy Italian who literally feared no man, and he was so close to the Spirit. It's an amazing story. Read it! :D You'll understand more once you read it. It's so incredible.)  Someone needs me in the C______ area, so I'm going to go and find them. This will be one amazing week, I'm looking forward to it!

And now, on to the best part I was saving for last... Happy Father's Day!!!!! 

 

No one can top my Daddy. I miss him more than I miss anything else, but I know he's waiting for me to get back home to him. I know he'll want me to return with honor, and I plan on doing my very best every single day, every single waking moment, to make him proud :) He's given me all that I have, from every materialistic thing to every memory and value that makes up who I am. I remember late nights staying up with him and my siblings while my mom was at work, and we'd read the scriptures on the hardwood floor and then spend ages discussing them. That was the first time I felt a "thirst" for reading the scriptures. I remember when I made him cry when I'd bring up the fact that I was leaving home for college, and I remember his firm hug goodbye for 18 months when he sent me away to the airport for my mission. When I return, I want him to be teary-eyed with pride, knowing that I did my best to serve the Lord.

 

My relationship with my Dad has helped me understand my relationship with my Heavenly Father. I'm so blessed to have a loving father like mine.  I know not everyone is lucky enough to have that, but there is one Perfect father everyone on earth has- Heavenly Father. For Him, I know He misses me and shed tears when I left His heavenly home to come to earth. I know He hugged me goodbye and wished me the best, and I know He watches over me still and helps me. I know that when I eventually will return home to His presence, I want Him to also shed tears of pride, knowing that I did my best every single day, every single waking moment. That's my goal, and I can't ever be grateful enough for my mission experience that is teaching me more about how to reach that goal :) And there are countless others here that need help reaching that goal too, and I'm honored that the Lord has trusted me to go and see every single person that I've met here. Only tears, and not even very efficiently, are what I can use to try to convey the depth of my gratitude and my love to both of my Fathers, the one here and the One waiting for me still :)

Thank you, to all of the dads out there, and to all of my surrogate dads here!! I love you!

 

Going to miss Sis. Wilson!

 

 Wonderful surrogate parents!

 

 "Please don't go." ;)

These are all the people who came out with me from the MTC! (Except Elder Bradfield in the middle)

We got a tour of one of our ward's mission leader's farm when he heard I was leaving. "The Field is white already to harvest..."

We knocked on a house we're pretty sure is abandoned, but the Spirit said to knock. It's hard to see in the pic, but there are huge nails sticking out of the roof- we were pretty sure we were going to die. So we took a picture, naturally.  

The last pic is of me with this amazing old man's cane... he made it out of a golf club and a fishing pole. He can fish, practice put-put without fetching the ball, he can walk... he should patent it.

Till next week! Have some crazy adventures till then :)

​

Love,​

Sister Clark

I put the Pro in Procrastination.‏

Sooooo I waited until the last minute to send out a mass email.... sorry! But I do have pics to send!

Sister Wilson and I were given some sparkling apple cider from S____ on the night she said she wanted the discussions, so we've been celebrating!

We had a mission meeting and we all got to shake Elder Christoffersen's hand!!! It was so intense to hear the testimony from an Apostle of the Lord. While there, I met someone named Elder Clark! And we've both lived in Utah! We're probably related, we figure. Maybe.

 

Also, I took a pic with all the missionaries from Texas I know. There's more out there, but we had a "Texas-is-awesome" meeting in the gym. It was super fun! 

Next Saturday I find out if I'm staying in the Pocatello mission, or if I'm going to the new Idaho Falls mission. Pray for me! I'm nervous but also super excited. I'm excited for whatever lays ahead, but if I go to the new mission I'll have a mission president greener than me... It'll be awesome.

Love you all!

Sister Clark

A short one

This has been yet another FANTASTIC week! :D So many miracles. 

 

My favorite one this week: a lady we do service for every Tuesday, who's super Catholic and hasn't been interested in the past, asked US for the discussions this week. We felt prompted to go see her out of the blue- we were like 8 miles away- but we went all the way back into town and knocked on her door. She opened it and immediately started crying. She told us that she'd been frustrated with her health and so she was praying to know if "all this crap was true" and that if this was the direction she was supposed to go, then she wanted the Lord to send the "missionary girls" over within an hour. Then we showed up at her doorstep in that allotted time! She told us to pencil her in for Tuesday as soon as we can, and thanked us again and again. Obedience and really listening to the Spirit lets miracles happen, I believe it more and more the more I see it happen. Hearts really do change! I'm so happy to be a missionary. 

I read the talk the "Fourth Missionary" and I re-committed to giving ALL of my might, mind, strength, and especially my heart to the Lord. Also, I asked the Lord to take all of my sins, all of my heart, everything... I don't understand how, but I've been able to handle every temptation thrown my way. Even simple ones like the temptation to sleep in. I've been helped so much, and I've been doing FABULOUS. I'm so happy. And I've been able to feel the Spirit more and more, and see more miracles.

Being on a mission is the BEST!!!!! I love you all!!

Till next week :)

Love,

Sister Clark

Week in LA Town‏

This week we taught a TON of less-active members of the church (**her post title LA town, she said, is for Less Active**). It was crazy how many people we saw! Cars really do make a difference in getting places faster, who knew...

 

J_____ admitted out loud that he believes in God! THIS IS HUGE!!! He was atheist when I first met him! He's basically our favorite. Tonight he's having us over for steak and a long lesson that he requested, and this morning they invited us to a community work-out event in the park. I LOVE them!!

This week we saw so many miracles. We'd really been trying our best this week to be exactly obedient to all the schedules and rules we have. They mean it when they say obedience brings blessings, but exact obedience brings miracles. For example, we had been wanting to see S_____ for ages, the one we met when we were driving by while she was walking on the street and she invited us to dinner, but every time we drove up to her house we kept feeling weird about it, like we got a "now isn't the time" feeling.

Well, yesterday we tried going to her house again and we finally felt like it was ok to go. She answered the door and she started crying and told us about how she'd been so busy at work the whole week, and then that morning she found out that one of her friends passed away in a car accident. She told us she'd been hoping we'd stop by because she could really use a spiritual message... it was a time that we saw the Lord's hand very blatantly. He really is helping us to look after His sheep in the world. We also just so happened to have the perfect scripture that she needed, the one I think I've put in an email before- John 14:27 "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you, not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."  I'm so, so, so, so, so honored that the Lord trusted us enough to work through us to deliver that message to His daughter in need.

Do your best to be obedient to the Lord's commandments, and I promise you that He will be able to work through you to help others so much more! :)

 

Speaking of daughters of God, there's one that's reeeeeeeally hard to get to- she lives up the side of a mountain, and her driveway is 0.7 miles long going up at about a 60 or 70 degree incline. It's super exciting when there's been a mudslide recently and we go around the next switchback not really sure what's going to happen... but the view is incredible. It's kinda worth it. We have no idea how she built her house though... She's the coolest Russian/French lady with the thickest accent I've ever heard. V____ T_____... she's an exciting one!

We made it a companionship goal to take more pictures this week but we failed... so we took a few right before we came into the family history center to email. Enjoy! :D We'll do better next week, maybe...!

Till next week!

Love,

Sister Clark

 

 

 

What's in an email title? By any other name, wouldn't it still be great?‏

Ok, so I don't have a ton of time this week, BUT! I'm going to try to get as much as I can down before we go!

 

So what even happened this week? Oh, we got our car back, but no biggie...

JUST KIDDING! I've never been so happy in my life probably. We love our Subaru so much.

 

Lately I've been studying a lot on what it means to really repent, and to really give up everything for the Lord. I've always thought, "but how do I do that exactly?" I've been afraid to commit to giving up everything because I've always been afraid that if I told the Lord I was willing to do that, then I'd lose everything and go through an experience like Job.... no thank you.... I've already given up 18 months of my life to service, and I gave up all the things I own at home, but have I given up my heart? After really looking at myself, I don't think I have! So I've been trying to completely devote all of my thoughts, my time, and my emotions to the work of salvation. I'm trying to think and care about others more than I care about myself. It's really, really hard! It's something I'm still working on, and probably will keep working on for a looooong time.

 

This past week we had Zone Conference, and Elder Anderson of the Seventy came and spoke. He talked about hope a lot, and how hope and faith go hand in hand, but when we struggle with hope we should not focus on having more hope. He talked about how the world can give hope for a limited time, more like an absence of trouble, but Christ gives us hope in the midst of trouble. He said that when we feel like we struggle with hope, we should focus on getting more faith. Faith in Jesus Christ is what carries us through everything life could possibly throw at us. Faith in Him gives us hope even when the world would tell us it's hopeless. I really see that to be true, more and more!

We started the lessons over with J_____. Somehow, with him and K_____ going through this rough patch, he's more ready and willing to hear the Gospel now and apply it. He's asking tons of deep questions and really searching himself, and asking all the same questions Joseph Smith did before he found the truth. We're really excited for J_____.

I've become really, really attached to people out here. I love all the members I work with, and I love all the people we teach. Sometimes, I'll even get attached to random people we barely met, and sometimes when they reject the Gospel and want nothing to do with it... it really hurts! All I can think about is what they're missing out on in their lives and how much I wish I could help them but the only One who can help is Jesus Christ. If they want nothing to do with Him... it makes me sad. But, it doesn't tear me down, because there's way too many people out there who need the Gospel and are willing to take it into their lives, but they just don't know where to find it right now. That's where Sister Wilson and I come in!

All in all, it's been a stellar week. Having our car back has been one of the best highlights, but being packed every day with appointments and running around and having to turn people down because we don't have enough time in the day to see them... it's been wonderful! Crazy, but wonderful!

I really appreciate all the prayers from home, I can definitely feel their influence out here. Thank you so much for everyone who supports me, and who support their own missionaries or friends on missions :) There's no better cause than bringing some soul to know that Christ is their Redeemer, and that our Heavenly Father loves us more than we can know. There's been nothing better for me to know in my life, and that's for sure.

Till next week!

Love,

Sister Clark

Still walking...

"These flats were made for walking, and that's just what they'll do...."

Nope, we don't have our car back yet, so we're still walking!! :D

This whole week, I've never had so many prayers answered so immediately and so often. As we were walking, one time I said a prayer in my mind that just said, "Hey Heavenly Father, it'd be nice if we could get a ride right now." Poof! The moment my thought ended someone pulled over and offered us a ride.

 

Another time, we were walking to an appointment in town and we asked for a ride from Heavenly Father. We didn't get a ride there, but we somehow made it to our appointment within 10 minutes when usually it takes us 35 minutes to walk. We didn't even run! On the way back from our appointment though, someone pulled over and offered us a ride home. Hahaha we didn't specify where we wanted our ride to, but God definitely arranged a ride for us!

(The two road pics sum up our experience pretty well: nothing for miles, no one for miles, no one picks up their phone... it was actually really fun!)

 

This past Saturday, C_____ got baptized!!! I have a picture of him and us below. It was so spiritual and such a precious moment. Now, he's influencing his whole family and it won't be too long before all of them are brought into the church. Go C______!!! The youth in our wards here are AMAZING. Over 100 people showed up to his baptism and half his extended family made it, and he was just swarmed by all his friends. There's countless people supporting him on every side, and I am so grateful for that. Us and the whole ward are just buzzing with excitement! 

 

Ok, sad news time... K_____ and J_____ are separating. We walked into their house one morning while J_____ was at work and we were visiting with K_____, and then she suddenly burst into tears and told us that she really wanted to live the Law of Chastity and she knew she had to move out, and it was what God had been telling her to do all along. She wants to go to the temple so badly, and she is now taking all the right steps to keep God's commandments so that she can do that. She told us that it was almost weird when we walked in, because she just finished texting the bishop telling him that she wanted help moving out... and then we knock on the door. She told us, "I thought he called you guys or something, it was so weird!"

 

It's bittersweet... it's good because she really has that desire to obey God and live the Law of Chastity so she can get married in the temple for time and all eternity... and it's also sad because their relationship isn't working out the way everyone- them especially- had hoped it would.

When you set a goal, Heavenly Father WILL help you reach it. This whole week I've been amazed that every time we set a goal and worked really hard to reach it, we always would. Even when it seemed impossible. Heavenly Father just made it possible, somehow. Miracles DO still happen- and they happen daily. On a bigger scale, for K_____, she set a goal to go to the temple, and although it's hard, He let her know that if she wants to do that, she needs to make adjustments in her life. But now she's doing them, and she feels like she's on the right path. We're really, really proud of her courage and faith. I know that Heavenly Father is so proud but He also weeps with her, and I know that He will carry her through this trial on the way to reaching happiness that lasts so much longer than just one lifetime. I know this because of John 14:27 "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."

When we're doing all we can to follow Christ, we are always taken care of, and we will always find peace through Him. With Him, everything will always turn out ok :)

 

I'm thoroughly satisfied with this entire week. It's been fun, jam-pack full of miracles and tender mercies, and Sister Wilson and I have been really good at dancing in the rain when it might have been easier to get frustrated. I love this girl!! Ah, I am just so happy. Seriously, the key to being happy is serving other people! 1 John 4:7 spells this out nicely: "Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God."

I've never come closer to Jesus Christ in my whole life than when I've been serving someone else. Whether that's offering a shoulder to cry on, leading someone to the waters of baptism and a lifelong commitment to love others and keep the commandments to be happy... doing this work, the Lord's work, is what makes me happier than anything else I've felt in my life :)

Everyone back home, abroad, stranger or friend or family... I've got a challenge for you! Do one small act of service for someone every day this next week. I can promise you that you will find happiness in the act of helping someone else be happy. Smile at someone, pick up someone else's stuff, say hello to someone sitting by themselves... Matthew 25:40 "And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."

Love,

 

Sister Clark

(And one extra picture that Sis. Hoffman sent Sis. Clark from her new area.  This is a pic of a friend back home who now lives in Idaho.  Fun!)