Sounds like everybody's weeks were pretty great. I had an incredible week! Thanksgiving was pretty crazy. In the morning we did some deep cleaning, at noon we had a dinner with the G's, a fun middle aged country couple. Sister G made some strawberry pretzel jello pie with whipped cream on top, and it was the most amazing stuff I have ever had. I think it's my new favorite dessert. Then we had another dinner at 3:30 with the L family, and she is a really good cook as well, so we were pretty stuffed. Her two kids are a lot like Amy and Beth when they were 7 and 9. Its super fun. We have dinner with them a lot. After dinner we just waddled on in the house and laid down cuz we weren't supposed to proselyte. I was full for the first time since my sophomore year of high school (unless you count Joy Wok chinese buffet when I had 12 full plates of food with the Helds... plus I think my stomach is about 3 sizes too small now)
Elder McHan fell asleep during our companionship prayer two nights ago. I was appalled. But not really. It was pretty funny though.
On Wednesday, I got the Thanksgiving package! I am really excited for that so thank you all very much. I love the cd, I really needed those pens (they are really nice too) and the candy is like manna. I haven't gotten to read the notes yet, since we are not supposed to open letters til Monday, but I will get to them today. I appreciate it! And the Greenwoods are gone?!?! That's so sad :( That's okay though they are closer to me now. I really appreciated the shirt they gave me and the support. I love them.
Also on Wednesday, our phone died at about 5:40, and we didn't get back to the apartment until 9. I was on my toes the entire night, because what if there was a hurricane!?!?! Nobody could warn us. Luckily nobody called though. And now we have a car charger. That day we were on exchange, and I was with Elder Hopkins. He is a lot like my friends in high school with his personality and hobbies, but more spiritual. We have way too much fun together. We accidentally stayed up til midnight laying in bed talking, so it was more like a sleepover than an exchange... Oops...
Then on Friday, I was on exchange with a missionary that has been out 3 months, is from Mexico, and is learning English. That was a great opportunity to improve my Spanish, and my leadership, and my teaching, because that's what I had to do all day! Haha. He made me feel good because he said that I sound like a native speaker when I read aloud in Spanish. That was while we did language study; he studied English while I studied Spanish, and we helped each other. It was a lot of fun. I wish I could do that more.
On Saturday, we had like a 'super-service' day. In the morning we got called to rush out and help somebody move, so we hurriedly changed to service clothes, moved them, then changed back to missionary clothes and taught a lesson, then we changed to painting clothes and painted, then we changed back to missionary clothes for dinner. After dinner, one of our investigators/friends' car broke down, and brought it up at the beginning of the lesson, so the member we were with said "Let's go fix it!" so we did. Let's just say we change clothes really fast.
Well, more and more people think I look like Superman now, and it's only fitting that my last name is Clark like Clark Kent. So that's what a lot of the ward calls me now. "Hey Superman come teach our friend the Gospel" or "Elder Kent can you lift my car please" but most of the time they just sit there and stare and wait for me to rip off my suit and take off my glasses and soar away or something.
Anyways, thanks for all the support and love and prayers. Sorry this week's letter has been really long it was a fun week!
Love you all,
Elder Clark the younger (aka Superman or Elder Kent)
Monday, December 2, 2013
From Last Week - Nov 25th
this week has been busy and fun. elder bagley is now my zone leader... how crazy is that? and now my other original trainer that was here for a week is a zone leader too. in the mission apparently your trainer is your dad so now both of my dads are zone leaders. does that mean i have leadership blood? i hope not thats scary. elder bagley being my zone leader now means we will also go on exchanges together, will see each other about every week, and will have calls a few times a week. its like he isnt even gone!!!! he moved down to hope mills where they have a TWO BEDROOM TWO BATHROOM APARTMENT. thats pretty crazy. i call it the 'panzee palace'
my new companion/district leader is elder McHan from gooding, Idaho. i think all of my companions are going to be from idaho. elder mchan was also elder bagleys mtc companion. small world huh? our district has now moved around a lot as well. We gained a set of sisters in a trio and a set of elders that i am friends with, so our district is HUGE now. It's also a lot of fun.
Nothing too crazy happened this week, but one of our investigators did tell me that I teach like I am talking to a little kid. I wasn't too sure whether that was a good thing or not but she was laughing so I just took it as a good thing haha. We did set a baptismal and marriage date for an amazing family we are teaching! They are supposed to be getting married December 20th or 21st and then baptized the next week! That will be the last week of this transfer, so it will probably be my last week in this area.
I am also re-learning Spanish, and how to play the piano. Sometimes we have extra time before meetings, so I will just sit down and practice some hymns or something. I am not any good but I will get better someday haha. I also did not get the courage up to ask President about the Ukelele yet... Elder Bagley is almost sure it would be a no so he says he wouldn't even ask. I say "why would it hurt to ask?!?!" So I will ask him someday don't worry.
Love you! Thank you so much for all the support and love.
Elder Clark the younger
my new companion/district leader is elder McHan from gooding, Idaho. i think all of my companions are going to be from idaho. elder mchan was also elder bagleys mtc companion. small world huh? our district has now moved around a lot as well. We gained a set of sisters in a trio and a set of elders that i am friends with, so our district is HUGE now. It's also a lot of fun.
Nothing too crazy happened this week, but one of our investigators did tell me that I teach like I am talking to a little kid. I wasn't too sure whether that was a good thing or not but she was laughing so I just took it as a good thing haha. We did set a baptismal and marriage date for an amazing family we are teaching! They are supposed to be getting married December 20th or 21st and then baptized the next week! That will be the last week of this transfer, so it will probably be my last week in this area.
I am also re-learning Spanish, and how to play the piano. Sometimes we have extra time before meetings, so I will just sit down and practice some hymns or something. I am not any good but I will get better someday haha. I also did not get the courage up to ask President about the Ukelele yet... Elder Bagley is almost sure it would be a no so he says he wouldn't even ask. I say "why would it hurt to ask?!?!" So I will ask him someday don't worry.
Love you! Thank you so much for all the support and love.
Elder Clark the younger
Monday, November 18, 2013
dont think it gets more southern than me. no sirree. there are two trademarks of north carolina i am figuring out:
1. gated community trailer parks. i have now seen two. one wasnt nearly as nice as the other but thats okay it still counts. i am convinced there is nowhere else in the world that these exist.
2. having a couch on your front porch (or lawn if you dont have a porch). people sit out there and just stare off into the distance or talk to their neighbors or whatever else they happen to be doing as well. its pretty funny i think but also not a bad idea. if they dont have one there its either in their garage or in their front room staring at the window. we now put our two rocking chairs in the front room so we can join the fun.
a lot of things happened this week! we had a pretty good week actually. not numbers wise but otherwise. we taught a family that we met two weeks ago called the 'J' family. they are really really great. they are the most excited investigators to learn about the church that i have ever seen. the wife went to church until she was about 7 and she hadnt been back since until yesterday. the husband was a catholic all of his life but now is concerned with some of the doctrine, particularly infant baptism. they have made instant friends with us and some of their neighbors who are members that come with us to teach. the husband was going to come to church but got called in for emergency military duty... oh well. how we found them: we just prayed and prayed for a solid family to teach! out of the blue one day we got a referral from mormon.org to send missionaries to her house, which are always really exciting because you have no control over how many of those you get or when they come!! it was pretty exciting to meet her and find out she was so interested. they are definitely an answer to prayers. she read all the way through 2nd nephi in about 4 days. holy cats thats more than i read! and every time we come to teach them they have a different friend over to meet us and be taught!
elder b is leaving tomorrow. his stuff is all packed up already! but the rest of our ward missionaries (one set of elders and one set of sisters) are staying the same even though they have all been here as long as i have been here! its kinda crazy because we were expecting about half of our district to get rearranged. but nope! just elder b. district meetings will be too fun now because we are all such good friends. elder b is leaving us to become a zone leader. being from idaho, he gets a lot from me about potatoes. especially because his entire school district gets two weeks off of school for SPUD HARVEST. i wrote a song about him called 'i love to eat potatoes' to the tune of i love to see the temple. these are the lyrics:
i love to eat potatoes
ill have a farm someday
so i can grow potatoes
and eat them every day
chorus:
for potatoes are a staple crop
in idaho and ireland
ill harvest them while i am young
this is potato farmin
i think my next companion is from idaho as well so i will have to sing it to him as well.
thank you so much for all of the letters you write and your prayers and your love. i love you too.
have a nice day eh?
love,
elder clark the younger
1. gated community trailer parks. i have now seen two. one wasnt nearly as nice as the other but thats okay it still counts. i am convinced there is nowhere else in the world that these exist.
2. having a couch on your front porch (or lawn if you dont have a porch). people sit out there and just stare off into the distance or talk to their neighbors or whatever else they happen to be doing as well. its pretty funny i think but also not a bad idea. if they dont have one there its either in their garage or in their front room staring at the window. we now put our two rocking chairs in the front room so we can join the fun.
a lot of things happened this week! we had a pretty good week actually. not numbers wise but otherwise. we taught a family that we met two weeks ago called the 'J' family. they are really really great. they are the most excited investigators to learn about the church that i have ever seen. the wife went to church until she was about 7 and she hadnt been back since until yesterday. the husband was a catholic all of his life but now is concerned with some of the doctrine, particularly infant baptism. they have made instant friends with us and some of their neighbors who are members that come with us to teach. the husband was going to come to church but got called in for emergency military duty... oh well. how we found them: we just prayed and prayed for a solid family to teach! out of the blue one day we got a referral from mormon.org to send missionaries to her house, which are always really exciting because you have no control over how many of those you get or when they come!! it was pretty exciting to meet her and find out she was so interested. they are definitely an answer to prayers. she read all the way through 2nd nephi in about 4 days. holy cats thats more than i read! and every time we come to teach them they have a different friend over to meet us and be taught!
elder b is leaving tomorrow. his stuff is all packed up already! but the rest of our ward missionaries (one set of elders and one set of sisters) are staying the same even though they have all been here as long as i have been here! its kinda crazy because we were expecting about half of our district to get rearranged. but nope! just elder b. district meetings will be too fun now because we are all such good friends. elder b is leaving us to become a zone leader. being from idaho, he gets a lot from me about potatoes. especially because his entire school district gets two weeks off of school for SPUD HARVEST. i wrote a song about him called 'i love to eat potatoes' to the tune of i love to see the temple. these are the lyrics:
i love to eat potatoes
ill have a farm someday
so i can grow potatoes
and eat them every day
chorus:
for potatoes are a staple crop
in idaho and ireland
ill harvest them while i am young
this is potato farmin
i think my next companion is from idaho as well so i will have to sing it to him as well.
thank you so much for all of the letters you write and your prayers and your love. i love you too.
have a nice day eh?
love,
elder clark the younger
Monday, October 28, 2013
I love all the videos and pictures and stories! it makes my week so much better. especially with how good everyone is getting at sports and being friends. and youre even doing missionary work! that inspires me. i dont feel like i ever made a good enough effort to do missionary work before my mission, which i guess is why i am out here learning to do it! keep on trying! dont waste your opportunities to do something good because i know i had a lot of them in high school that i never took. BUT on thing that was emphasized this week was NEVER LOOK BACK!!! if you do make a mistake or something, dont let it trouble you. just keep on agoin like gramps says, because everyones got hard times but the ones that can come out on top of them are made stronger and given more in the end, and the ones that lose their lives for Christs sake will have eternal life.
lots of things happened this week! i gained a few pounds (up to 201) and then lost it again somehow? (went back to 194) im not sure what is happening at this point haha. i have also only killed one cockroach in about 2 and a half weeks! im a little nervous.. i think they are planning an attack... those scheming little bugs. they are so fast too. and jump at your head so be careful! also bombs were going off constantly for a weekish (even through the middle of the night) while the marines came over to train. some of them were so big they shook our house from 5+ miles away! i was impressed. plus i realized that natives here pronounce fayetteville like it rhymes with louisville (they say fay-uh-vole). its kinda funny i think! i have been working on my southern accent. i also had real home cooked fried chicken last night for the first time on my mission. how crazy is that? i had been here over 100 days (day 100 was on thursday) before i ever had fried chicken. and the family that cooked it was from washington. messed up, i know.
i also went on exchange with my zone leader, elder b, who used to be good friends with tanner beeston and went to lehi high all four years! whoa. we might have been in the same basketball game or dance a time or two. weird huh? we also had a whole mission conference this weekend! it was amazing. it was the first one i have had, and the first one for president bernhisel too in the almost 2 years he has served out here. elders zwick and pino of the first quorom of the seventy were there and spoke very profoundly to us, saying that in their opinion president b is the best mission president in the world, and thats coming from someone who has worked with almost every single mission president! crazy. that is also who said NEVER LOOK BACK.
we also went into a gated community trailer park. in it were some of the most expensive cars and plants and exterior detail that i have ever seen, let alone in a trailer park. i couldnt believe it! it was hilarious. there was a tennis and basketball court in the center of it and everything. hahaha. i am in the south i know it.
i love you so so so so so so so so so so much! keep up the great work as athletes, scholars, gentlebots, and missionaries.
love,
elder jeffy clark
lots of things happened this week! i gained a few pounds (up to 201) and then lost it again somehow? (went back to 194) im not sure what is happening at this point haha. i have also only killed one cockroach in about 2 and a half weeks! im a little nervous.. i think they are planning an attack... those scheming little bugs. they are so fast too. and jump at your head so be careful! also bombs were going off constantly for a weekish (even through the middle of the night) while the marines came over to train. some of them were so big they shook our house from 5+ miles away! i was impressed. plus i realized that natives here pronounce fayetteville like it rhymes with louisville (they say fay-uh-vole). its kinda funny i think! i have been working on my southern accent. i also had real home cooked fried chicken last night for the first time on my mission. how crazy is that? i had been here over 100 days (day 100 was on thursday) before i ever had fried chicken. and the family that cooked it was from washington. messed up, i know.
i also went on exchange with my zone leader, elder b, who used to be good friends with tanner beeston and went to lehi high all four years! whoa. we might have been in the same basketball game or dance a time or two. weird huh? we also had a whole mission conference this weekend! it was amazing. it was the first one i have had, and the first one for president bernhisel too in the almost 2 years he has served out here. elders zwick and pino of the first quorom of the seventy were there and spoke very profoundly to us, saying that in their opinion president b is the best mission president in the world, and thats coming from someone who has worked with almost every single mission president! crazy. that is also who said NEVER LOOK BACK.
we also went into a gated community trailer park. in it were some of the most expensive cars and plants and exterior detail that i have ever seen, let alone in a trailer park. i couldnt believe it! it was hilarious. there was a tennis and basketball court in the center of it and everything. hahaha. i am in the south i know it.
i love you so so so so so so so so so so much! keep up the great work as athletes, scholars, gentlebots, and missionaries.
love,
elder jeffy clark
Monday, October 21, 2013
Angels
the reason i say angels is because we met one this week. at least he said he was. he looked like he could be ben macklemores brother and was singing when he walked by, and we stopped him to talk and he sung out "IM SAVED!!!" and then told us that he was an angel. im pretty sure that angels dont smoke though. oh well.
i feel like we do have a lot of angels in our lives though. like for me, out here, all the people that feed us, give us rides places, teach us how to be good missionaries, all of that stuff, they are my angels. they are the ones that if we didn't have here we would be hopeless! then theres the two angels that raised me and what not. then theres other ones too that have helped me throughout my life and given me experiences that help me grow. especially my brothers. i think they are like seraphim. if you look that up it means fiery beings or angels. rileys definitely one have you seen him run over people yeah hes one for sure cuz he runs like wildfire. be careful not to get burned when he walks by.
well, i have learned a lot this week. a lot about the simple truths that i already know. especially the articles of faith. i think it is a really good idea to study them, because in them is so much more information than we really realize just by reading them. you will notice they lay out our pre earthly existence and our duty here on earth, along with a lot of information about how God works and His nature. also i read a quote this week from Joseph Smith, who said "If men do not comprehend the character of God, they do not comprehend themselves." wow. thats pretty deep. but it is true too! we must comprehend ourselves and our true nature, our spiritual nature that is, to understand God. i mean we are his children arent we?!
i have also thought a lot about prayer. especially because we talked this week with a man that thinks he is not worthy to talk to God Himself, so he felt like he should pray to the prophets and hope it goes up the line somehow. it was an interesting theory, but think about it! think of how incredible it is that our Father allows us to talk directly to Him by praying. thats pretty special.
anyways, sorry for not having much to tell about what happened this week. we have taught a lot, found a little, rescued a bit, converted a little bit, and are working on baptizing! keep up the good work all yall.
love you!
elder clark
i feel like we do have a lot of angels in our lives though. like for me, out here, all the people that feed us, give us rides places, teach us how to be good missionaries, all of that stuff, they are my angels. they are the ones that if we didn't have here we would be hopeless! then theres the two angels that raised me and what not. then theres other ones too that have helped me throughout my life and given me experiences that help me grow. especially my brothers. i think they are like seraphim. if you look that up it means fiery beings or angels. rileys definitely one have you seen him run over people yeah hes one for sure cuz he runs like wildfire. be careful not to get burned when he walks by.
well, i have learned a lot this week. a lot about the simple truths that i already know. especially the articles of faith. i think it is a really good idea to study them, because in them is so much more information than we really realize just by reading them. you will notice they lay out our pre earthly existence and our duty here on earth, along with a lot of information about how God works and His nature. also i read a quote this week from Joseph Smith, who said "If men do not comprehend the character of God, they do not comprehend themselves." wow. thats pretty deep. but it is true too! we must comprehend ourselves and our true nature, our spiritual nature that is, to understand God. i mean we are his children arent we?!
i have also thought a lot about prayer. especially because we talked this week with a man that thinks he is not worthy to talk to God Himself, so he felt like he should pray to the prophets and hope it goes up the line somehow. it was an interesting theory, but think about it! think of how incredible it is that our Father allows us to talk directly to Him by praying. thats pretty special.
anyways, sorry for not having much to tell about what happened this week. we have taught a lot, found a little, rescued a bit, converted a little bit, and are working on baptizing! keep up the good work all yall.
love you!
elder clark
Monday, October 14, 2013
TRANSFER NEWS!!!!!!!!!
I am not losing my companion, but we are gaining a new one! we get to train him together. His name is elder chevy cruise, he is gold and was born in 2014. WHAT?!?!?! Thats right, we are getting a new car tomorrow. all to ourselves. i am going to gain 20 pounds now. ill just hand over the money while i can. the bet is over. JUST KIDDING i need to stay in rugby shape so im still motivated! im going to buy some weights soon so i can get strong in the mornings. just a pair of dumb bells is all like 30 pounds or something. we do have a meal set up with a member every single day this week though! its going to be incredible. but im going to have to work really hard haha. worth it? i think yes. im still hovering at 195ish so i have about 20lbs of leeway before i get too close to 220.
anyways, everything seems to be going just as planned. riley is superman (thats my nickname out here because some people in the ward think i look like clark kent so apparently now im elder kent!) kyle is amazing and tall, and austin is fast. papa bear is happy and foony, and mommy is running the world. i think that the only things that are really out of place are that tyler is organizing everything (what?!?!) and i havent played enough rugby lately. i think my neck is getting smaller too because my ties fit! all of them!
with the facebook thing. i cannot post my address on facebook, and i also cannot look at anything on there that doesnt further support my calling, so that includes talking to family and looking at their pages. if a friend messages me though, with an interest in learning about the gospel, i think i am allowed to message them back and teach them through facebook, and prepare them to meet missionaries where they live.
2 crazy things happened this week:
1. elder b admitted that i make people laugh haha. i wonder if he has ever once laughed at something i have said. its funny though becuase he says he laughs on the inside. i think he was just admitting that because he thought it was his last week with me. little did he know haha!!!!!
2. two cockroaches dive bombed my head on monday. TWO! dont worry though. i killed them. i also went on a rampage and killed like 20 cuz they were in a big group. i am really concerned at how good i am getting at killing bugs and flys. i should have been at conference with the australian elder with the fly buzzing around his face. i would have had it!!!
guess what?!?! i am officially done being trained. the 12 week program is over, and i am now ready to train dee world on how to be a missionary! haha we are actually thinking of starting a class in this ward that teaches from preach my gospel though. things like that missionary prep class and the missionary moment things we do back home are things i really took for granted because they dont do them out here! we are going to push for it to start though. our bishop also got deployed this week, but he hasnt exactly been released. we arent sure whats going to happen. maybe skype during ward council or something haha technology these days...
speaking of which conference!!!!! there were like 10 other people at our stake center to watch conference, even for priesthood. i didnt realize so many people watched it at home i guess! oh well. conference was amazing! it was so powerful. i think my favorite was president uchtdorfs talk on saturday. He said something that really stuck out to me: "doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith." he also made some great points about: if you come looking for perfect people, you will be disappointed. but if you come looking for the pure doctrine of Christ and the Spirit... you will find it here. i loved that most probably because we watched it with an investigator who is struggling to progress, and he was speechless the rest of the day after that talk. it was so powerful. its interesting to think about how even some of the very elect will be deceived. DONT BE DECEIVED!!! even when things get crazy stick to your testimony. there were many other talks that were much much needed, like the talk on women and also elder holland's talk. i love conference. its so evident that these men are close to God, and they make it clear that we can be that close to him too. that we can be witnesses of our Savior in everything we do.
i hope and pray that every one who reads this will take the courage to stand as a witness of the Savior. He is really there, i promise, and he will really help you. i promise. thanks for everything you do!!!!!!
i love you!
love,
elder clark (the taller one)
I am not losing my companion, but we are gaining a new one! we get to train him together. His name is elder chevy cruise, he is gold and was born in 2014. WHAT?!?!?! Thats right, we are getting a new car tomorrow. all to ourselves. i am going to gain 20 pounds now. ill just hand over the money while i can. the bet is over. JUST KIDDING i need to stay in rugby shape so im still motivated! im going to buy some weights soon so i can get strong in the mornings. just a pair of dumb bells is all like 30 pounds or something. we do have a meal set up with a member every single day this week though! its going to be incredible. but im going to have to work really hard haha. worth it? i think yes. im still hovering at 195ish so i have about 20lbs of leeway before i get too close to 220.
anyways, everything seems to be going just as planned. riley is superman (thats my nickname out here because some people in the ward think i look like clark kent so apparently now im elder kent!) kyle is amazing and tall, and austin is fast. papa bear is happy and foony, and mommy is running the world. i think that the only things that are really out of place are that tyler is organizing everything (what?!?!) and i havent played enough rugby lately. i think my neck is getting smaller too because my ties fit! all of them!
with the facebook thing. i cannot post my address on facebook, and i also cannot look at anything on there that doesnt further support my calling, so that includes talking to family and looking at their pages. if a friend messages me though, with an interest in learning about the gospel, i think i am allowed to message them back and teach them through facebook, and prepare them to meet missionaries where they live.
2 crazy things happened this week:
1. elder b admitted that i make people laugh haha. i wonder if he has ever once laughed at something i have said. its funny though becuase he says he laughs on the inside. i think he was just admitting that because he thought it was his last week with me. little did he know haha!!!!!
2. two cockroaches dive bombed my head on monday. TWO! dont worry though. i killed them. i also went on a rampage and killed like 20 cuz they were in a big group. i am really concerned at how good i am getting at killing bugs and flys. i should have been at conference with the australian elder with the fly buzzing around his face. i would have had it!!!
guess what?!?! i am officially done being trained. the 12 week program is over, and i am now ready to train dee world on how to be a missionary! haha we are actually thinking of starting a class in this ward that teaches from preach my gospel though. things like that missionary prep class and the missionary moment things we do back home are things i really took for granted because they dont do them out here! we are going to push for it to start though. our bishop also got deployed this week, but he hasnt exactly been released. we arent sure whats going to happen. maybe skype during ward council or something haha technology these days...
speaking of which conference!!!!! there were like 10 other people at our stake center to watch conference, even for priesthood. i didnt realize so many people watched it at home i guess! oh well. conference was amazing! it was so powerful. i think my favorite was president uchtdorfs talk on saturday. He said something that really stuck out to me: "doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith." he also made some great points about: if you come looking for perfect people, you will be disappointed. but if you come looking for the pure doctrine of Christ and the Spirit... you will find it here. i loved that most probably because we watched it with an investigator who is struggling to progress, and he was speechless the rest of the day after that talk. it was so powerful. its interesting to think about how even some of the very elect will be deceived. DONT BE DECEIVED!!! even when things get crazy stick to your testimony. there were many other talks that were much much needed, like the talk on women and also elder holland's talk. i love conference. its so evident that these men are close to God, and they make it clear that we can be that close to him too. that we can be witnesses of our Savior in everything we do.
i hope and pray that every one who reads this will take the courage to stand as a witness of the Savior. He is really there, i promise, and he will really help you. i promise. thanks for everything you do!!!!!!
i love you!
love,
elder clark (the taller one)
im not sure why todays the day, but it is. maybe because its the day i say everything ive learned this week. ill explain all of these dont worry, but this is what i have learned: one thing is you can always trust a man with a metal detector. another one is conference confounds the wise. another one is that spoons work better for buttering than knives if you use them right. another one is everyone i have met that has been to prison hears voices. i think i understand consecration now. and finally, the restored gospel is what everyone is missing in their lives.
okee first. metal detectors. we met a man out in a field with a metal detector. he was searching for old colonial coins, and has actually found some really neat things. he wears a piece of silver he found around his neck. he was pretty into what we taught him, and hes supposed to call us today or tomorrow. if he does, guaranteed he gets baptized. hes a great man.
conference confounds the wise. one of our investigators went to conference on saturday morning, that was the only one he could make it to. so, by divine interaction of course, he was there to see president uchtdorf's talk. he said that he kept looking around because he swore that president uchtdorf was talking directly to him, and thought that the other people would be looking at him too. haha. he was really inspired, and that was the first time i have ever seen him be silent. dead silent. he was also dead silent in our lessons this week, when usually he talks the 45 minutes away. hes goofy and friendly, but this time he was silent. those who speak at conference are inspired and theres no question about it.
the spoon thing... lets just say all the forks were dirty one morning, and i was feeling lazy. so i ate french toast with a spoon. and it buttered so smoothly i cant even believe it. wow.
the prison thing is pretty self explanatory! we talked to two people in the same day that had been in and out of prison, and both of them hear voices. a lot. like in the middle of us teaching. oh well. we can pray for them.
consecration. we looked at our meal calendar last week and this week, and both saturdays were taken by the same person, someone we visit every once in a while. he lives alone out in the boonies in a mobile home that is paid off, doesnt have a car or phone, doesnt have money for electricity or running water in his house, and hardly any for groceries. but he signed up for two saturdays in a row to feed us. THAT is consecration. it reminded me of the story in matthew about the widow's mites. she didnt have anything, but gave all that she had. that is what this man does. he has nothing, but he still gives and loves. its incredible what you can learn from people.
okay last one. the restored gospel is everything that everyone is missing in life. everyone is searching for something, whether they know it or it is subconscious. something is missing. they are happy, but they dont experience true joy. they have security, but not hope. they are comfortable where they are, but they arent where they belong. and they will never ever know it until they come and see for themselves! that is our great and important duty, to help people to come and experience it for themselves, so that everyone at least has the opportunity to choose whether they will make it home or not. this is real truth, straight from the source, something that i will stand as a witness before God and men to testify. and that is because the gospel of Jesus Christ, in its fulness, and under His direction and God's authority, can fill in the holes in peoples' hearts. its a real thing with real blessings, and its something that everyone will eventually be taught whether we do it in this life or not. thats why its our duty, and our joy! how joyful a thing to help people understand - that this is everything they are searching for!
thats all i learned. just kidding. i learn a lot. every single day. i love how much i learn. and more importantly i love you! haha have a great week!
love,
elder jeffy clark :)
okee first. metal detectors. we met a man out in a field with a metal detector. he was searching for old colonial coins, and has actually found some really neat things. he wears a piece of silver he found around his neck. he was pretty into what we taught him, and hes supposed to call us today or tomorrow. if he does, guaranteed he gets baptized. hes a great man.
conference confounds the wise. one of our investigators went to conference on saturday morning, that was the only one he could make it to. so, by divine interaction of course, he was there to see president uchtdorf's talk. he said that he kept looking around because he swore that president uchtdorf was talking directly to him, and thought that the other people would be looking at him too. haha. he was really inspired, and that was the first time i have ever seen him be silent. dead silent. he was also dead silent in our lessons this week, when usually he talks the 45 minutes away. hes goofy and friendly, but this time he was silent. those who speak at conference are inspired and theres no question about it.
the spoon thing... lets just say all the forks were dirty one morning, and i was feeling lazy. so i ate french toast with a spoon. and it buttered so smoothly i cant even believe it. wow.
the prison thing is pretty self explanatory! we talked to two people in the same day that had been in and out of prison, and both of them hear voices. a lot. like in the middle of us teaching. oh well. we can pray for them.
consecration. we looked at our meal calendar last week and this week, and both saturdays were taken by the same person, someone we visit every once in a while. he lives alone out in the boonies in a mobile home that is paid off, doesnt have a car or phone, doesnt have money for electricity or running water in his house, and hardly any for groceries. but he signed up for two saturdays in a row to feed us. THAT is consecration. it reminded me of the story in matthew about the widow's mites. she didnt have anything, but gave all that she had. that is what this man does. he has nothing, but he still gives and loves. its incredible what you can learn from people.
okay last one. the restored gospel is everything that everyone is missing in life. everyone is searching for something, whether they know it or it is subconscious. something is missing. they are happy, but they dont experience true joy. they have security, but not hope. they are comfortable where they are, but they arent where they belong. and they will never ever know it until they come and see for themselves! that is our great and important duty, to help people to come and experience it for themselves, so that everyone at least has the opportunity to choose whether they will make it home or not. this is real truth, straight from the source, something that i will stand as a witness before God and men to testify. and that is because the gospel of Jesus Christ, in its fulness, and under His direction and God's authority, can fill in the holes in peoples' hearts. its a real thing with real blessings, and its something that everyone will eventually be taught whether we do it in this life or not. thats why its our duty, and our joy! how joyful a thing to help people understand - that this is everything they are searching for!
thats all i learned. just kidding. i learn a lot. every single day. i love how much i learn. and more importantly i love you! haha have a great week!
love,
elder jeffy clark :)
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
I just wanted to write and say you are the BESTEST. anyways. everything seems to be going well and in order back in Rocklin, except of course nobody going hunting?!?! what is that??!?!?!!!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!! Oh i know what it is. everyone just wants the reward of eating really good fresh meat and they dont want the sacrifice of doing it. thats okay though because heaven works the same way. you believe and youre in. NOT!!!!!! GO GET EM!!!!!! (to make an analogy) the work is worth the result. trust us. i havent seen heaven, but scriptures makes it sound amazing. even just feeling God's love/presence is amazing so how much better is heaven then?!
i tell you, there are two places that can feel like heaven on earth. 1st is in the temple, where you are doing more of God's work. kids, go see the temple! riley, go do baptisms! parents, you just went this week but go again every single month! its just a couple hours of your time but its so incredible. i only get to go twice a year, and i know thats not quite enough. along with that, do family history! even what is already on familysearch.org is quite amazing. dad and mom i think you should ask the grandparents for all the information they know and have on their history so none of it is lost with time too! we had a lesson yesterday in church on that. anyways, i digress. 2nd is the home. you can make your home the next best to the temple if you treat it that way! the spirit of members' homes are amazing. just incredible. something our mission is emphasizing is that lessons, as many as probable, should be taught in members' homes. i would encourage you as a family to get to know people that the missionaries are teaching in rocklin (or better yet have them teach one of your friends) and let them come over for a family night! they will love it, guaranteed because yall are the funnest family west of the mississippi (if you go far enough west of the mississippi you end up east of the mississippi... the world is weird in that way). also, some advice that has really helped me: dont be so afraid of offending somebody that you miss the opportunity to help them know what they are missing. we know what they are missing, and we know how they can get it! this is a joyful work, one that replaces sadness with endless happiness! people really do not know what they are missing!
here is what i really wanted to tell everyone: we had a great week! sister g got confirmed yesterday, and it was a really powerful blessing that was given to her. she felt so good and so happy. we are doing everything in our power to help her get fellowshipped and home taught and motivated to keep learning and working towards the temple. we also had kind of a crazy experience this week! we went by a family that is really fun and crazy. it is a dad returning to activity who has a long pony tail and is in a rock band that sings about the holy ghost and what not and then his son is one of our investigators. they are hilarious together. anyways we went to visit them, and found the dad outside with a cage and two vicious cats in it. he said he called the pound and had quite a struggle getting them in the cage. we picked up the cage to move it and they escaped out the bottom. uh oh. they went psycho and sprinted around like sadie does when shes excited. then the animal control lady came by and grabbed them around the neck with these things that looked like trash picker uppers, and they went even more beserk and started clawing at everything and flipping and twisting.... it was crazy but she finally got them into the cages and off to the pound. the rest of that day was so crazy that we left at 11am and didnt get back to the apartment until 830pm, and hadnt had time for dinner before that.... good stories, fun times.
well, next week may be my last with elder bagley. transfers are happening tuesday, and he will probably be heading off to somewhere else since he has been in this area for 7 1/2 months now. thats a long time. but i will probably stick around here and learn the area even better. ill let yall know what is happening next week. as for my address, i forgot to tell you about that. the mission wants us to have mail sent to our apartment addresses now instead of the mission office, because there are way too many missionaries getting mail now. this mission has grown a lot. i think there were 45ish new missionaries last transfer and only 10 or 15 went home. holy cats thats a lot. the mission has over 150 i think. and its only about 1/3 of north carolina. the best third of course.
i love yall and hope you are having a wonderful time with everything! the best advice i can give is to keep being an example and doing the best you can to get closer to God and Jesus Christ.
love,
elder clark
ps jabari parkers uncle is our area 70 (elder parker)! he spoke at a fireside last night and was hilarious and dynamic! it was amazing.
pps a lot of the ward calls me superman now because im elder clark and they think i look like bruce wayne haha
ppps i love you!
i tell you, there are two places that can feel like heaven on earth. 1st is in the temple, where you are doing more of God's work. kids, go see the temple! riley, go do baptisms! parents, you just went this week but go again every single month! its just a couple hours of your time but its so incredible. i only get to go twice a year, and i know thats not quite enough. along with that, do family history! even what is already on familysearch.org is quite amazing. dad and mom i think you should ask the grandparents for all the information they know and have on their history so none of it is lost with time too! we had a lesson yesterday in church on that. anyways, i digress. 2nd is the home. you can make your home the next best to the temple if you treat it that way! the spirit of members' homes are amazing. just incredible. something our mission is emphasizing is that lessons, as many as probable, should be taught in members' homes. i would encourage you as a family to get to know people that the missionaries are teaching in rocklin (or better yet have them teach one of your friends) and let them come over for a family night! they will love it, guaranteed because yall are the funnest family west of the mississippi (if you go far enough west of the mississippi you end up east of the mississippi... the world is weird in that way). also, some advice that has really helped me: dont be so afraid of offending somebody that you miss the opportunity to help them know what they are missing. we know what they are missing, and we know how they can get it! this is a joyful work, one that replaces sadness with endless happiness! people really do not know what they are missing!
here is what i really wanted to tell everyone: we had a great week! sister g got confirmed yesterday, and it was a really powerful blessing that was given to her. she felt so good and so happy. we are doing everything in our power to help her get fellowshipped and home taught and motivated to keep learning and working towards the temple. we also had kind of a crazy experience this week! we went by a family that is really fun and crazy. it is a dad returning to activity who has a long pony tail and is in a rock band that sings about the holy ghost and what not and then his son is one of our investigators. they are hilarious together. anyways we went to visit them, and found the dad outside with a cage and two vicious cats in it. he said he called the pound and had quite a struggle getting them in the cage. we picked up the cage to move it and they escaped out the bottom. uh oh. they went psycho and sprinted around like sadie does when shes excited. then the animal control lady came by and grabbed them around the neck with these things that looked like trash picker uppers, and they went even more beserk and started clawing at everything and flipping and twisting.... it was crazy but she finally got them into the cages and off to the pound. the rest of that day was so crazy that we left at 11am and didnt get back to the apartment until 830pm, and hadnt had time for dinner before that.... good stories, fun times.
well, next week may be my last with elder bagley. transfers are happening tuesday, and he will probably be heading off to somewhere else since he has been in this area for 7 1/2 months now. thats a long time. but i will probably stick around here and learn the area even better. ill let yall know what is happening next week. as for my address, i forgot to tell you about that. the mission wants us to have mail sent to our apartment addresses now instead of the mission office, because there are way too many missionaries getting mail now. this mission has grown a lot. i think there were 45ish new missionaries last transfer and only 10 or 15 went home. holy cats thats a lot. the mission has over 150 i think. and its only about 1/3 of north carolina. the best third of course.
i love yall and hope you are having a wonderful time with everything! the best advice i can give is to keep being an example and doing the best you can to get closer to God and Jesus Christ.
love,
elder clark
ps jabari parkers uncle is our area 70 (elder parker)! he spoke at a fireside last night and was hilarious and dynamic! it was amazing.
pps a lot of the ward calls me superman now because im elder clark and they think i look like bruce wayne haha
ppps i love you!
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
i wish i had more time to write! we spent all our time today doing this:
oh well i guess it was worth it to be able to say i have caught fish all across america! that is a little brim i guess. its supposedly pretty tasty so we will fry it up sometime soon!
so this week, we were supposed to have sister g confirmed, but she couldnt make it to church because her daughter and brother couldnt take care of the grandkids at home, and she couldnt bring them to church with her. too bad, but she will get to be confirmed this week. i am not worried about her. we taught her a few times this week and everything went well, and she shines so brightly its amazing. i cant believe it. we are very proud of her.
we also had some crazy things happen this week! we randomly were able to teach a ton of lessons and had a lot in members homes, which is something my mission is really emphasizing lately because of the spirit that is in members homes and the fellowshipping that couldnt happen anywhere else. we also met someone that said she was one of 5 or so witches in north carolina. she was a very nice person and just normal looking and acting! we are looking forward to teaching her and finding out how that goes, because she is a pagan but believes in Jesus. i also was able to introduce elder b to IHOP this week! he has never had it before.. crazy huh? there is also a family in the ward that i love, and i realized why this week. its because they are from vegas, so they are just great and their daughters are like 10 and 8 and the older one is just like amy beeston, the younger one is just like grace beeston. its hilarious to go over to their house because the little girls are crazy and funny and do all sorts of stuff that remind me of hanging out with the beeston cousins when i was littler.
anyways, i am really glad everyone is doing so well back at home, except you riley! get better you hoser! you have a birthday to be healthy for. I also realized today, exactly 9 years ago, we moved into rocklin ca for the first time. has it really been that long? am i really old enough to be on a mission? im not sure but im here.
i love you all and keep me updated on everything! and yappy smurfday to the one that plays foosball.
love,
elder clark
Monday, September 16, 2013
sounds like it was kind of a tough week! i really hope that everything works out and everyone ends up happy. how is preschool and school and everything going?
this was quite the week for us. we were busy all day tuesday, on wednesday we went on exchanges with the zone leaders (so i got to go down to hope mills with a zone leader, they live in a giant new pansy palace apartment) on thursday we met up with a man that had just walked six hours home and then fixed his neighbors a/c... what a man he is. then on friday i realized that i was 1/10 done with my mission. i am wondering where that went. i dont have any clue how it could go any faster, but i really dont want it to. i have already learned more than in my entire life combined. i dont know if i have said that before but it is true. and it keeps getting even better too.
then saturday!! we had our first baptism on my mission this week! sister g. she is the woman that had her leg amputated because of diabetes, so my companion and i had to carry her in the water, and then i helped her on the way up from under the water after my companion dunked her. it was great fun and we got it right the first time haha. she is an amazing woman and there is a lot i can and have learned from her. its incredible how much she has grown even since i first met her two months ago. at the baptism though, we had quite the confusion. the bishop forgot to be there or send somebody to the baptism, so we were bishopric-less when it began. i went on an emergency exchange with brother s (the 28 year old equivalent of matthew hodgson as in amazingly incredibly smart, kind of sounds like him too) and we called and called and called. we got ahold of the 2nd counselor, who was in hawaii, meaning it was 4am there. he talked to the stake president, who called and authorized the baptism at about 10:45 (it started at 10) meanwhile, everyone else had to delay, so we had both talks and an extra one by elder b and some prelude music while they waited on the word that it was okay to proceed. then finally we got it.
then on sunday, we had stake conference. it was really really great. by the way i look forward to church stake and missionary meetings more than ever in my life now. something important that i picked up: dont get caught up in the presentation or repetition of words or ideas. make sure you really understand the doctrine behind it. take repentance for example. when i think of that word, i think "repent ye children of the devil for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!" that word has always been associated with being scary to me, so thats what i think of. what it really should bring to mind is "come unto christ, and become sons of God, that ye may inherit the kingdom of heaven" because that is what it means. its a change of heart. it is the same thing with ordinances. dont get caught up in the presentation of it, make sure you know the why.
my imagination is getting very vivid, so i am able to really internalize the scriptures now. i can read something and get the story in my mind now, because i have learned so much more about these things. elder holland calls it "scriptural liberty" when he takes it and puts it in his own words, describing the event as it might have happened, and i would really suggest it. its an incredible experience when you can internalize these stories and better understand how it applies to you.
anyways, YOU ARE THE BEST. just a heads up. :) i love you all so so much you dont even know. have a wonderful week!!!
love,
elder jeff clark
this was quite the week for us. we were busy all day tuesday, on wednesday we went on exchanges with the zone leaders (so i got to go down to hope mills with a zone leader, they live in a giant new pansy palace apartment) on thursday we met up with a man that had just walked six hours home and then fixed his neighbors a/c... what a man he is. then on friday i realized that i was 1/10 done with my mission. i am wondering where that went. i dont have any clue how it could go any faster, but i really dont want it to. i have already learned more than in my entire life combined. i dont know if i have said that before but it is true. and it keeps getting even better too.
then saturday!! we had our first baptism on my mission this week! sister g. she is the woman that had her leg amputated because of diabetes, so my companion and i had to carry her in the water, and then i helped her on the way up from under the water after my companion dunked her. it was great fun and we got it right the first time haha. she is an amazing woman and there is a lot i can and have learned from her. its incredible how much she has grown even since i first met her two months ago. at the baptism though, we had quite the confusion. the bishop forgot to be there or send somebody to the baptism, so we were bishopric-less when it began. i went on an emergency exchange with brother s (the 28 year old equivalent of matthew hodgson as in amazingly incredibly smart, kind of sounds like him too) and we called and called and called. we got ahold of the 2nd counselor, who was in hawaii, meaning it was 4am there. he talked to the stake president, who called and authorized the baptism at about 10:45 (it started at 10) meanwhile, everyone else had to delay, so we had both talks and an extra one by elder b and some prelude music while they waited on the word that it was okay to proceed. then finally we got it.
then on sunday, we had stake conference. it was really really great. by the way i look forward to church stake and missionary meetings more than ever in my life now. something important that i picked up: dont get caught up in the presentation or repetition of words or ideas. make sure you really understand the doctrine behind it. take repentance for example. when i think of that word, i think "repent ye children of the devil for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!" that word has always been associated with being scary to me, so thats what i think of. what it really should bring to mind is "come unto christ, and become sons of God, that ye may inherit the kingdom of heaven" because that is what it means. its a change of heart. it is the same thing with ordinances. dont get caught up in the presentation of it, make sure you know the why.
my imagination is getting very vivid, so i am able to really internalize the scriptures now. i can read something and get the story in my mind now, because i have learned so much more about these things. elder holland calls it "scriptural liberty" when he takes it and puts it in his own words, describing the event as it might have happened, and i would really suggest it. its an incredible experience when you can internalize these stories and better understand how it applies to you.
anyways, YOU ARE THE BEST. just a heads up. :) i love you all so so much you dont even know. have a wonderful week!!!
love,
elder jeff clark
Monday, September 9, 2013
wow. heavenly fathers blessings for me have been like a waterfall. on full blast. with extra gravity and tacos. i think that whatever yall are doing right back home has hit me and is now helping me get more blessings. this week we finally have sister g's baptism all set up. she is so ready and really excited, even though she is nervous about being baptized with only one leg. hopefully elder bagley doesnt drop her in the water...
we had quite the weird week though. monday wasnt really a normal preparation day, which is why i emailed tuesday, and we went to the temple friday. i dont know if i said anything last week about it, but we also started to do online proselyting for elder bagley y this week. it is just the district leaders for the next couple weeks, and they get on facebook and are learning effective ways to proselyte on there. its very interesting. i usually just get on mormon.org and help the online work there. i am developing a profile that everyone will be able to look at! and then in two weeks ish i will be getting on my facebook to start cleaning it up and making friends with the local church members and investigators! isnt that crazy?!?! the work really is hastening, so we need to be faster too. but not too fast, "for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength." just keep it under 100 dad.
then the temple! it was amazing. here is elder bagley and i there. its very small, but incredible nonetheless.
and i understand a lot more of it too, especially because there is a couple in our ward that is like really incredibly smart. they both study arabic (hebrew in cursive) and the relationship between early christian theology and mormonism, so i have learned quite a bit. in fact, he has shown me how every religion i can think of branches off from the original church, and has proved historically many many times how the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is very very very very very very very very old. very old. its really interesting. one interesting thing is that in older languages, there are two different words for 'hell'. one is hades (temporary hell) and the other is a weird word that i cant remember (permanent). however, in english there is one word, so many people just assume they are always
talking about the same place. but theyre not! another thing is that the greeks and romans took the concept of human deification and ran with it, which is why they worshiped many many gods. they began to associate great people who had died with objects and praised them as deity. crazy huh? but it all goes back to the truth. one faith, one Savior, one plan for all of us. having already known that spiritually, its interesting to have it confirmed logically as well.
i have learned so much out here. and a lot of it is what i have learned about myself. i think what stuck out to me for this week is that sometimes we are left to figure out a problem or situation for ourselves, but that doesnt mean that God is not watching over us. Even if we do not have the spirit telling us every little thing we should do (which we shouldnt because then we arent choosing for ourselves), we can still trust that as long as we are doing what we know to be right, everything will work out just fine. God will take care of us and step in when we really are in need and have done our part. thats the key though, is doing our part. that doesnt mean we need to be perfect today, but it means we need to make small steps in the right direction every day. i once heard that progression is like a downwards escalator. we constantly need to move forward, or we will be heading back down. and when you get hungry...
sometimes you just need to be a man about it.
well, i know its a long letter, and im sorry because thats so much to read, but i hope its good and uplifting. i love you with all of my heart and pray for you and am doing the best i can to bring a good name to the clarks out here. any questions or suggestions of things to write about let me know!
love,
elder jeffrey clark
we had quite the weird week though. monday wasnt really a normal preparation day, which is why i emailed tuesday, and we went to the temple friday. i dont know if i said anything last week about it, but we also started to do online proselyting for elder bagley y this week. it is just the district leaders for the next couple weeks, and they get on facebook and are learning effective ways to proselyte on there. its very interesting. i usually just get on mormon.org and help the online work there. i am developing a profile that everyone will be able to look at! and then in two weeks ish i will be getting on my facebook to start cleaning it up and making friends with the local church members and investigators! isnt that crazy?!?! the work really is hastening, so we need to be faster too. but not too fast, "for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength." just keep it under 100 dad.
then the temple! it was amazing. here is elder bagley and i there. its very small, but incredible nonetheless.
and i understand a lot more of it too, especially because there is a couple in our ward that is like really incredibly smart. they both study arabic (hebrew in cursive) and the relationship between early christian theology and mormonism, so i have learned quite a bit. in fact, he has shown me how every religion i can think of branches off from the original church, and has proved historically many many times how the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is very very very very very very very very old. very old. its really interesting. one interesting thing is that in older languages, there are two different words for 'hell'. one is hades (temporary hell) and the other is a weird word that i cant remember (permanent). however, in english there is one word, so many people just assume they are always
talking about the same place. but theyre not! another thing is that the greeks and romans took the concept of human deification and ran with it, which is why they worshiped many many gods. they began to associate great people who had died with objects and praised them as deity. crazy huh? but it all goes back to the truth. one faith, one Savior, one plan for all of us. having already known that spiritually, its interesting to have it confirmed logically as well.
i have learned so much out here. and a lot of it is what i have learned about myself. i think what stuck out to me for this week is that sometimes we are left to figure out a problem or situation for ourselves, but that doesnt mean that God is not watching over us. Even if we do not have the spirit telling us every little thing we should do (which we shouldnt because then we arent choosing for ourselves), we can still trust that as long as we are doing what we know to be right, everything will work out just fine. God will take care of us and step in when we really are in need and have done our part. thats the key though, is doing our part. that doesnt mean we need to be perfect today, but it means we need to make small steps in the right direction every day. i once heard that progression is like a downwards escalator. we constantly need to move forward, or we will be heading back down. and when you get hungry...
sometimes you just need to be a man about it.
well, i know its a long letter, and im sorry because thats so much to read, but i hope its good and uplifting. i love you with all of my heart and pray for you and am doing the best i can to bring a good name to the clarks out here. any questions or suggestions of things to write about let me know!
love,
elder jeffrey clark
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
the more I know my comp, the more I think he is like tyler. at least how he is right now, probably not how he was in high school. but we are having a great time together. we are able to inspire each other to work hard, and to be obedient. he says he is intimidated by how fast I have learned how to be on a mission, so I have been trying to decide whether that is a good thing or a bad thing haha. I think it is good because I was even able to train a missionary on Friday who had only been out for a few days, while elder b was learning how to use facebook with all the other leaders. yeah so that's pretty new.. we are beginning to use facebook to proselyte.. so its starting with just the leadership, but in 3 weeks ish I will be getting on facebook as well. they say we can either clean up our old ones or make a new one. considering how much things are probably on my old one that I don't want to deal with, I will probably just make a new one.
I have to get off soon, but I do want to tell you how our friend G is doing. she had her baptismal interview on sunday and she was SO EXCITED. she could not stop smiling on the way home. she is coming along so well. I have learned a lot from her. she has gotten a lot of courage and faith, and I have never once heard her complain about her financial situation or her amputated leg or anything. its just amazing how humble she is. she also reads her book of Mormon more than I do. I think anyways, according to what she says.
I have learned so much and changed a lot too. and I am thankful every day for everything yall have done to prepare me for this and for the rest of my life.
I love you so much and thanks for everything!
I will talk to you next week.
love,
Elder Clark
I have to get off soon, but I do want to tell you how our friend G is doing. she had her baptismal interview on sunday and she was SO EXCITED. she could not stop smiling on the way home. she is coming along so well. I have learned a lot from her. she has gotten a lot of courage and faith, and I have never once heard her complain about her financial situation or her amputated leg or anything. its just amazing how humble she is. she also reads her book of Mormon more than I do. I think anyways, according to what she says.
I have learned so much and changed a lot too. and I am thankful every day for everything yall have done to prepare me for this and for the rest of my life.
I love you so much and thanks for everything!
I will talk to you next week.
love,
Elder Clark
Monday, August 26, 2013
the baptism didnt quite work out this week. poor sister g got cold feet and didnt make the interview. so, it will most likely be happening in two saturdays since that is the soonest we can get the interview and everything set up for her. pray for sister gary! shes a fighter she can make it. So, birthday. my birthday was pretty great. we were able to teach five lessons that day and were really busy all day. it was perfect. no time to be trunky when you have too much to do to even remember why you would be trunky! if you dont know, trunky means missing home, like your bags are still in the trunk. or already if youre about to leave back home.
anyways, i learned a lot about will power this week, especially in teaching others about it. when other missionaries struggle, i find that they are usually struggling with their will power. if you think about it, there is nothing more influential in your own life than your will. you can choose whether or not you want to act on certain promptings or feelings that you get from either side of the spectrum. you can push your body to do more than it thinks it is capable of. you can drown out thoughts of nervousness, sadness, unworthiness, and others just by simply having a strong will. its definitely something that everyone needs to work on developing, especially in the Lord's work. We need to have a will stronger than any temporal influence, and align that with our Heavenly Father's will for us. that is our ultimate goal. think how easy this life would be if everyone realized the strength of their will. It is quite literally more powerful than any outside force. when our body fails, our will can still press forward. isnt it amazing?
along those lines, the only thing that you can really control is your attitude about things. bad things will happen. guaranteed. what does that mean? it means you have an opportunity to grow, to increase your faith and your will power and your knowledge. You can use everything that happens to you as a motivator. bad or good. but, if you look at it negatively, you can also be the most powerful obstacle for yourself. remember that riley, kyle and austin. theres nothing impossible to you if you put your trust in the Lord and in yourself. nothing.
on a less intense note, i love north carolina. its beautiful and lovely and has great people. i am loving missionary work, and there is nothing else i would rather be doing. i just hope it doesnt keep going this fast!!!
i love you all so much.
love,
elder clark
anyways, i learned a lot about will power this week, especially in teaching others about it. when other missionaries struggle, i find that they are usually struggling with their will power. if you think about it, there is nothing more influential in your own life than your will. you can choose whether or not you want to act on certain promptings or feelings that you get from either side of the spectrum. you can push your body to do more than it thinks it is capable of. you can drown out thoughts of nervousness, sadness, unworthiness, and others just by simply having a strong will. its definitely something that everyone needs to work on developing, especially in the Lord's work. We need to have a will stronger than any temporal influence, and align that with our Heavenly Father's will for us. that is our ultimate goal. think how easy this life would be if everyone realized the strength of their will. It is quite literally more powerful than any outside force. when our body fails, our will can still press forward. isnt it amazing?
along those lines, the only thing that you can really control is your attitude about things. bad things will happen. guaranteed. what does that mean? it means you have an opportunity to grow, to increase your faith and your will power and your knowledge. You can use everything that happens to you as a motivator. bad or good. but, if you look at it negatively, you can also be the most powerful obstacle for yourself. remember that riley, kyle and austin. theres nothing impossible to you if you put your trust in the Lord and in yourself. nothing.
on a less intense note, i love north carolina. its beautiful and lovely and has great people. i am loving missionary work, and there is nothing else i would rather be doing. i just hope it doesnt keep going this fast!!!
i love you all so much.
love,
elder clark
Monday, August 19, 2013
HOLY CATS the transfer is in a week. I cant believe how fast that went.. you are the only one that has written me so far. and thank you so much for sending me austins email as well. he is going to be great and grow more than he will ever know at this point. I feel that I have already reached a point in my mission that I am forgetting how things are back at home. should I be nervous about this? im not sure... but I have only been out a month and a half. just imagine how its going to be in a year or so! im nervous for that.
are you a young womens leader now? I am confused. maybe im tired too. who nose. you are reading pretty fast though. I started rereading (and highlighting and tallying my highlights) the book of Mormon my first day out in the field and I am only to 2 nephi 28. slow poke I know. but I would suggest doing what I am with the book of Mormon if you haven't already! you take a new copy (probably a cheap one from lds.org) and write your testimony in the front, then read through highlighting every reference to the godhead in one color, any of their words in another color, their attributes in another color, doctrine and principles of the gospel in another, and missionary attributes/calls to repentance and action in another color. then keep a tally. it is amazing how much you don't realize is there. where I am now I have already tallied 1300 or so references to deity. barely 100 pages in. that's 13ish a page! wow. anyways after you finish this one I would suggest doing that. I am also starting this new thing that I read a chapter about Christ every single day for the rest of my mission. there is a list of most of them in Preach My Gospel under the plan of salvation lesson. its been really powerful and helped increase my understanding of the Atonement and the gospel in general. certain experiences make me realize that all things are centered in the gospel of Jesus Christ. I heard a quote this week from Brigham Young that said anything that is actual truth is our belief as Mormons. I thought about that, and its true! well my shoes are black.. that's true right? yes it is because Jesus Christ organized light and matter in a way that to the human eye, my shoes look black. interesting how that works right? there isn't a thing that cant be attributed back to the gospel, which is why we believe everything that is actually truth.
anyways, Im ranting. I do want to say though, I am becoming very southern. (not really) the other day, I went to eat some hot dogs. I looked at the packaging, and THEY ARE CHICKEN HOT DOGS. Like they really sell chicken hot dogs and I bought them and ate them. then I realized I ate them on bread for a bun and with both barbeque sauce and ranch. on the same dog. what is that? southern if you ask me. also, I am so sorry, but I forgot to bring the camera this week. I even have time to upload pictures too cuz its pouring outside so nobodys at the library. ugh next time...
there was a convert baptism in our ward this weekend! it was really neat. it was for the other elders though, elder H (who knows keegan darby!!!) and elder A (who has red hair). that was an amazing experience, because he was the very first investigator I taught on my mission! he asked us to be witnesses and stand in the circle for his confirmation, so elder B and I were a part of that. and then for this week, we have our first investigator baptism for spring lake since I have been out! it is a loving woman named sister g, who has been taking the lessons for months and months and months. she recently had her leg amputated because of a blood clot from diabetes. she has such an amazing perspective on life. but it might be tough to baptize her. it may take an extra helping hand. but that's okay we will figure it all out well enough! I am very excited for her, because she has had to quit smoking to get this far and is on her 10th day without it. it is so rough since she doesn't have a chance to do much, just sit around the house in her wheelchair, but she is doing it. I will let yall know how everything goes!
I love you so much and keep on sending me things about your lives!
love,
elder clark
are you a young womens leader now? I am confused. maybe im tired too. who nose. you are reading pretty fast though. I started rereading (and highlighting and tallying my highlights) the book of Mormon my first day out in the field and I am only to 2 nephi 28. slow poke I know. but I would suggest doing what I am with the book of Mormon if you haven't already! you take a new copy (probably a cheap one from lds.org) and write your testimony in the front, then read through highlighting every reference to the godhead in one color, any of their words in another color, their attributes in another color, doctrine and principles of the gospel in another, and missionary attributes/calls to repentance and action in another color. then keep a tally. it is amazing how much you don't realize is there. where I am now I have already tallied 1300 or so references to deity. barely 100 pages in. that's 13ish a page! wow. anyways after you finish this one I would suggest doing that. I am also starting this new thing that I read a chapter about Christ every single day for the rest of my mission. there is a list of most of them in Preach My Gospel under the plan of salvation lesson. its been really powerful and helped increase my understanding of the Atonement and the gospel in general. certain experiences make me realize that all things are centered in the gospel of Jesus Christ. I heard a quote this week from Brigham Young that said anything that is actual truth is our belief as Mormons. I thought about that, and its true! well my shoes are black.. that's true right? yes it is because Jesus Christ organized light and matter in a way that to the human eye, my shoes look black. interesting how that works right? there isn't a thing that cant be attributed back to the gospel, which is why we believe everything that is actually truth.
anyways, Im ranting. I do want to say though, I am becoming very southern. (not really) the other day, I went to eat some hot dogs. I looked at the packaging, and THEY ARE CHICKEN HOT DOGS. Like they really sell chicken hot dogs and I bought them and ate them. then I realized I ate them on bread for a bun and with both barbeque sauce and ranch. on the same dog. what is that? southern if you ask me. also, I am so sorry, but I forgot to bring the camera this week. I even have time to upload pictures too cuz its pouring outside so nobodys at the library. ugh next time...
there was a convert baptism in our ward this weekend! it was really neat. it was for the other elders though, elder H (who knows keegan darby!!!) and elder A (who has red hair). that was an amazing experience, because he was the very first investigator I taught on my mission! he asked us to be witnesses and stand in the circle for his confirmation, so elder B and I were a part of that. and then for this week, we have our first investigator baptism for spring lake since I have been out! it is a loving woman named sister g, who has been taking the lessons for months and months and months. she recently had her leg amputated because of a blood clot from diabetes. she has such an amazing perspective on life. but it might be tough to baptize her. it may take an extra helping hand. but that's okay we will figure it all out well enough! I am very excited for her, because she has had to quit smoking to get this far and is on her 10th day without it. it is so rough since she doesn't have a chance to do much, just sit around the house in her wheelchair, but she is doing it. I will let yall know how everything goes!
I love you so much and keep on sending me things about your lives!
love,
elder clark
Monday, August 12, 2013
so this week we saw some miracles. we had 10 lessons with a member present (elder b record for the year he has been out is 8). and in 5 days 4 investigators committed to being baptized. and all because we have worked so hard to be obedient. it truly pays off. in fact, we watched yesterday president monsons talk last year about obedience, and i am learning that it is so important. obedience brings blessings, but exact obedience brings miracles. obedience is really how we show our love for our Father in Heaven and his Son, because there is really not much else we can do to help them except progress their work! really though if you think about it, obedience is the first law in heaven. we had some service opportunities this week, which was very nice, and this was also the best week yet for meals. we only had one day that we werent fed by members!!! it was incredible. i gained like 3 pounds (im still winning by the way, in fact i was 188 the other day...)
we also went on an exchange. it was a lot of fun, and it taught me that i really need to be a better leader. i will work on that. but we also saw a miracle that day. we met a man outside that was really in tune with the spirit. he loves his God and will do anything for him. so as we talked, he had a solid foundation about the Godhead, about what the gospel and the commandments really mean, and about how God's hand works in his life. as soon as we talked about the restoration of the priesthood, he looked directly into my eyes and said, "i know that what you say is true." he ended up being the first of the four that i asked to be baptized, and he said yes. its too bad that he is not in our area (he is in the other elders' area) because i really love him and want to see how he progresses. i hope he sticks with it because i know he knows its true.
i love you all and thank you for everything you do. especially you mom and dad. keep updating me on everything!!!!
love,
elder clark
Monday, August 5, 2013
so some major changes this week! elder l got sick so he got emergency transferred to durham and switched out with a missionary there. so now, my companion elder b is the district leader. he has been nervous because he hasnt known what he is doing too much of the time. its okay though i encourage him and keep him working hard haha. i have learned a lot from him. especially about how to get through struggles and not look back. sometimes it gets real tough, like this week when probably 75% of the time we went for appointments they did not work out. it is tough but i have gained a testimony of having a BACK UP PLAN!!!!!! so thats good. that has also taught me about patience, among other things. there are some things in life that you just cant wait for. like people walking up to you and saying "hey i want to get baptized can you help me?" you know normal things you deal with in your everyday life and on your mission because everythings easy and what not. but hey. if thats how it worked out, how could we ever have patience with our children on earth who will be doing numberless acts of evil and stubbornness and everything? i dont know. but what i do know is that every time we talk to someone who doesnt want to listen, every time we get a door closed in our faces, every time someone doesnt show up for an appointment, or we need to listen to someone who just wants to talk, i get stronger. i learn to love them more and i learn to control myself more. i learn diligence and how to keep composure. i learn how to listen. there are a lot of things i have learned but patience really stood out to me this week.
anyways, the work is progressing well. here and as far as i can tell at home as well. i love you and thank you for everything you do and have done for me.
you are the bomb.com. (i probably cant say that its not dignified)
i love you!!!
elder clark
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
There was a sadness in the air this week as we lost one of our comrades to a visa waiter. just kidding. my district leader did get a companion though so its just me and elder b chuggin along. we have a great time together.
wow. santa cruz, a win, and kyle doing great back home? sounds like a great weekend to me. ill say. no you wont. ok.
as far as stories go, i have found that when you teach the restoration, there is always a distraction. and sometimes that distraction is 3 little kids, a lawnmower, a dog, a cat, two bunnies urinating on the teachees lap, and a tv in the background. wow. so we didnt have a car this last week, and it was crazy at times because it isnt safe to get into Spring Lake on bikes (we live in anderson creek but all our investigators are in spring lake so kinda confusing but yeah). so we needed many rides into town. in fact, we got 15 different rides from ward members this week. you never realize how helpful they are until you are dependent on them to talk to anyone.
it was elder b birthday on tuesday! so he is exactly 13 months older than me. we got fed very well that day by some of his favorite members. we have befriended an older couple that is on a mission out here, and they take us everywhere and take good care of us. they bailed us out the other day when it started pouring, like almost kansas bad. i was pretty impressed and wet.
i also made rice and beans this week! it turned out really well i think, and my companion liked it a lot too. speaking of food, we had a real taste of southern hospitality this week with some of the meals we had. like last night we had southern ribs and baked potatoes (i had ranch on it) and some other stuff, but we left with about twice as much food as we ate. they were real nice.
as far as teaching, we are working with a great family that just needs to quit smoking before they can get baptized. they have a powerful spirit though, and are so strong and kind and lovely. we keep running into this man who is 6'6ish and looks like a pro basketball player. he is my favorite investigator, but he is so hard to get a hold of because he doesnt have a phone or a car and he is always out helping somebody or talking to somebody. just a great man who will become an amazing member if we can ever sit down for a lesson with him. i will update yall about him next week. Saturday was an incredible day. we were in the right place at the right time all day. only 1 of 4 lessons that were planned actually worked out, but between lessons we caught a member that had just moved in and was lost and helped him out, and at the same time a lady walked up and said "hey how do i become mormon?!" and all of this because a drunk man who said he was a cia agent whistled for his dog, otherwise we would have missed it all. stuff like that happened all day and it was so incredible and humbling.
i love missionary work. there is nothing i would rather be doing with my time. i am growing so much and so ready to get out there and teach again! i love you so so much and i hope everythings going great like it seems to be!
love,
elder clark
wow. santa cruz, a win, and kyle doing great back home? sounds like a great weekend to me. ill say. no you wont. ok.
as far as stories go, i have found that when you teach the restoration, there is always a distraction. and sometimes that distraction is 3 little kids, a lawnmower, a dog, a cat, two bunnies urinating on the teachees lap, and a tv in the background. wow. so we didnt have a car this last week, and it was crazy at times because it isnt safe to get into Spring Lake on bikes (we live in anderson creek but all our investigators are in spring lake so kinda confusing but yeah). so we needed many rides into town. in fact, we got 15 different rides from ward members this week. you never realize how helpful they are until you are dependent on them to talk to anyone.
it was elder b birthday on tuesday! so he is exactly 13 months older than me. we got fed very well that day by some of his favorite members. we have befriended an older couple that is on a mission out here, and they take us everywhere and take good care of us. they bailed us out the other day when it started pouring, like almost kansas bad. i was pretty impressed and wet.
i also made rice and beans this week! it turned out really well i think, and my companion liked it a lot too. speaking of food, we had a real taste of southern hospitality this week with some of the meals we had. like last night we had southern ribs and baked potatoes (i had ranch on it) and some other stuff, but we left with about twice as much food as we ate. they were real nice.
as far as teaching, we are working with a great family that just needs to quit smoking before they can get baptized. they have a powerful spirit though, and are so strong and kind and lovely. we keep running into this man who is 6'6ish and looks like a pro basketball player. he is my favorite investigator, but he is so hard to get a hold of because he doesnt have a phone or a car and he is always out helping somebody or talking to somebody. just a great man who will become an amazing member if we can ever sit down for a lesson with him. i will update yall about him next week. Saturday was an incredible day. we were in the right place at the right time all day. only 1 of 4 lessons that were planned actually worked out, but between lessons we caught a member that had just moved in and was lost and helped him out, and at the same time a lady walked up and said "hey how do i become mormon?!" and all of this because a drunk man who said he was a cia agent whistled for his dog, otherwise we would have missed it all. stuff like that happened all day and it was so incredible and humbling.
i love missionary work. there is nothing i would rather be doing with my time. i am growing so much and so ready to get out there and teach again! i love you so so much and i hope everythings going great like it seems to be!
love,
elder clark
Monday, July 22, 2013
I'm so sorry i didn't call! i was going to make one but i forgot to get a calling card, and then i was going to borrow one but all of the phones near the plane got taken before i was even there. plus we got on the lane at 7ish so it would ave been like a 5am call or earlier. i am very glad to hear about everyone's lives though. i am so proud of austin tautu and eirik and please tell them i love them! also i don't have much time to email since we have to drive all the way across town to get computers so if anyone asks it would be much easier to contact me through letters and i would probably write back faster as well.
okey dokey well right now i have two trainers and they are both really neat kids. one of them is just like tyler so its a good time. he is elder L. he is like tyler except that he is the most organized person i have ever met. he loves his templates, and as one for everything i think even one for making other templates. i wonder if he is just like tyler except overcorrected on the organization?!?! i dont know thats my new speculaion. the other one is like a mild version of me. elder b. he is the second of 5 boys like i am and hes musical and athletic and just a nice neat kid. the difference is he is an incredible ballroom dancer. we are going to get along great. my apartment isnt all that bad! although i do sleep on couch pillows for a mattress right now haha. and i kill about 3 bugs/cockroaches a day. i live off of macaroni and ramen so far, and the members dont feed us all that much. its a pretty small ward compared to ours so i dont blame them. probably 100 people at church yesterday. we have been teaching lots of amazing people since being out here, but my favorite were the ones i met my very first day. one is a man who was inactive for 9 years, and we really connected. i spoke so boldly to him and prayed so hard for him that he said my vocal prayer for him may have changed his life. he cried and he NEVER cries. he didn't come to church yesterday but he committed to coming to church. the other one called the elders asking to get baptized. he is such a neat man, and i really have a good friendship with him already. they are both in the other area though. i guess i should explain. we cover two areas, that are in one ward. there are supposed to be two sets of elders and one set of sisters, but there are only three elders and 2 sisters. so us tree cover two areas, spring lake and fayetteville, until tomorrow when elder langford gets a new companion. our area surrounds fort bragg, and there are a lot of military guys out here. i am in the fayetteville 1st ward, spring lake area.
so when the assistants bring elder l's new companion tomorrow, they are bringing me a free bike that an old missionary donated!!!! i get to keep it so i'm pumped. free bikes are always good. we haven't had anything interesting for food yet except today we got hibachi grill and i ate a boiled octopus whole. that was interesting to say the least. i have lost 10 pounds since leaving so i think i'm on track haha. take bets on that yall. it is really interesting to cover two cities. its hard. we drive so much and its a pretty good commute since we have to go all the way around fort bragg. the areas I'm in are both really neat areas, and they are pretty diverse, like i would compare them to south sac. anyways. there are 160ish missionaries in my mission, which covers roughly a third of north carolina now that the boundaries changed again. i am right in the middle of the state but towards the south. Fayetteville stake is my zone. maybe yall can look it up.
spiritually, the first week has been amazing. i have already learned some meaningful lessons in planning, obedience, love, and others. love is the most important. if i can see these children of Heavenly Father as He does, there is no way i can go wrong. that is how i try to view each person i talk to. if i love them, and i love my Father in Heaven, then i am doing everything in my power to benefit them and bring them closer to Christ. it is interesting that almost everyone we talk to is interested in how to come closer to our Savior. they have a strong foundation in Him, because most everyone has always gone to church. we just help them understand that they can come even closer to Him through the restored gospel! i already know i am here because my spirit, the one that controls elder clark, connects to certain people. the man who has been inactive for nine years is one of those people. it makes me wonder if i knew these people in the preexistence and they showed me their call to earth and i showed them mine, and they said "come find me, ill recognize you when i meet you again". thats how it felt with mario anyways. it has been a great experience so far, and i cant wait for the rest of it. i love you all so so so so so much. have a lovely week!!!!!
I think I have mastered the language!!!
love,
elder clark
okey dokey well right now i have two trainers and they are both really neat kids. one of them is just like tyler so its a good time. he is elder L. he is like tyler except that he is the most organized person i have ever met. he loves his templates, and as one for everything i think even one for making other templates. i wonder if he is just like tyler except overcorrected on the organization?!?! i dont know thats my new speculaion. the other one is like a mild version of me. elder b. he is the second of 5 boys like i am and hes musical and athletic and just a nice neat kid. the difference is he is an incredible ballroom dancer. we are going to get along great. my apartment isnt all that bad! although i do sleep on couch pillows for a mattress right now haha. and i kill about 3 bugs/cockroaches a day. i live off of macaroni and ramen so far, and the members dont feed us all that much. its a pretty small ward compared to ours so i dont blame them. probably 100 people at church yesterday. we have been teaching lots of amazing people since being out here, but my favorite were the ones i met my very first day. one is a man who was inactive for 9 years, and we really connected. i spoke so boldly to him and prayed so hard for him that he said my vocal prayer for him may have changed his life. he cried and he NEVER cries. he didn't come to church yesterday but he committed to coming to church. the other one called the elders asking to get baptized. he is such a neat man, and i really have a good friendship with him already. they are both in the other area though. i guess i should explain. we cover two areas, that are in one ward. there are supposed to be two sets of elders and one set of sisters, but there are only three elders and 2 sisters. so us tree cover two areas, spring lake and fayetteville, until tomorrow when elder langford gets a new companion. our area surrounds fort bragg, and there are a lot of military guys out here. i am in the fayetteville 1st ward, spring lake area.
so when the assistants bring elder l's new companion tomorrow, they are bringing me a free bike that an old missionary donated!!!! i get to keep it so i'm pumped. free bikes are always good. we haven't had anything interesting for food yet except today we got hibachi grill and i ate a boiled octopus whole. that was interesting to say the least. i have lost 10 pounds since leaving so i think i'm on track haha. take bets on that yall. it is really interesting to cover two cities. its hard. we drive so much and its a pretty good commute since we have to go all the way around fort bragg. the areas I'm in are both really neat areas, and they are pretty diverse, like i would compare them to south sac. anyways. there are 160ish missionaries in my mission, which covers roughly a third of north carolina now that the boundaries changed again. i am right in the middle of the state but towards the south. Fayetteville stake is my zone. maybe yall can look it up.
spiritually, the first week has been amazing. i have already learned some meaningful lessons in planning, obedience, love, and others. love is the most important. if i can see these children of Heavenly Father as He does, there is no way i can go wrong. that is how i try to view each person i talk to. if i love them, and i love my Father in Heaven, then i am doing everything in my power to benefit them and bring them closer to Christ. it is interesting that almost everyone we talk to is interested in how to come closer to our Savior. they have a strong foundation in Him, because most everyone has always gone to church. we just help them understand that they can come even closer to Him through the restored gospel! i already know i am here because my spirit, the one that controls elder clark, connects to certain people. the man who has been inactive for nine years is one of those people. it makes me wonder if i knew these people in the preexistence and they showed me their call to earth and i showed them mine, and they said "come find me, ill recognize you when i meet you again". thats how it felt with mario anyways. it has been a great experience so far, and i cant wait for the rest of it. i love you all so so so so so much. have a lovely week!!!!!
I think I have mastered the language!!!
love,
elder clark
Friday, July 12, 2013
I just wanted to email everyone and say HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD! i would have wrote that in my letter i sent but i wasnt thinking that far ahead.
i have had such an incredible week i just want to tell the world about it. i have seriously grown so much and become so much different and stronger. i dont think you guys would even recognize me. but thats not important. i am leaving on monday at 330am so the next time i write home i will be out in the field! go raleigh! my companions still nice and awesome and musical and we get along just fine. Him and like 10 other people i know are going to raleigh on our same flight so thats gonna be awesome and goofy and fun if those are the right words. its amazing how powerful the spirit is here. its a whole different experience than i have ever felt before. i have actually had some experiences that are so powerful and amazing i dont think i could even write them. also, you wouldnt believe how much heidi is here helping me. she comes and hangs out with me all the time and keeps my spirits up when it gets hard. in fact she has had such an impact that me and a lot of my roommates have started purple tie thursdays and say they are going to do it their whole missions. i definitely am.
anyways, the work has been hard but great. we have had a lot of practice teaching each other, our teachers, and some people (mostly nonmembers) who act like investigators for us. some of them and i think ours are actually real investigators now!
stories. so we taught a lesson to one guy who had some mormon friends and he wanted to come closer to God. we tried to teach him prayer and the plan of salvation the first time, but that didnt hit him. the second time, we planned on teaching him more in depth on the gospel, when i felt like we should teach the restoration. that day we committed him to baptism! it was so powerful, even knowing this guy was one of the teachers.
then this other guy. he was an atheist that hated organized religion and i dont think he was acting at all. im almost sure he was just a volunteer from the street. but he talked a lot about his beliefs and would get anywhere with us the first lesson. the second one, he told us at the beginning that he thought about what we said and prayed to see if anyone was really out there and he felt something. then he talked about these dreams he used to have where he would get shot up in a whirlwind and thrown across the galaxy until he approached what seemed like the center of all energy and creation in the universe, when a gentle hand pushed him back down to earth. i asked what the power was trying to tell him, and he said that he knew that he was out there and had the truth, but that this man wasnt quite ready for it yet. so he kept on talking about his experiences with this and others, and about his religion background. he said he thought a lot of religions were hypocritical and didnt follow what they taught or didnt help people and were selfish churches and what not. so we asked if he thought Jesus had a church on the earth when he lived, and he came around and agreed that he would have. then i asked him what it would mean to him if that church was completely restored today, and the spirit was so strong that my hands shook as i talked. he said that he would want to learn more! if we had more time i would have talked about the restoration and probably asked him to be baptized but he had to get ready for work so we had to take off. we left him with a book of mormon to read some things and got him to commit to church on sunday! its just too bad we are getting transferred across the country because i would have loved to have taught him more.
its amazing what you can find out about a person if you learn to love them as Father does. it doesnt matter their situation, if they have said or done something to offend you, or anything of the sort, it just matters that you dont judge them and you look at their potential. i am ready to serve in North Carolina and so happy to have this opportunity. i love you all so much!
Love,
Elder Clark
ps i saw teri pyne today and she gave me doughnuts!!! also the mcguires have sent me brownies and cinnamon rolls and i love them so much. so does all of my district and everyone else too haha
pps dad could you tell me some stories about joe please? i would love to know some stuff about him.
ppps i love you
pppps i have seen jake a couple times now and it has been really exciting to see him and jeriann and jamie all over the mtc
ppppps dad. did you teach or baptize anyone with the last name goes? i met a missionary named elder goes from brazil and his dad was a convert around your time in campinas!
pppppps i always pick fake fights with this 6'4" 260 pound hammer/discus/javelin thrower from byu and he is awesome and hilarious and we scare the crud out of people. thats all
i have had such an incredible week i just want to tell the world about it. i have seriously grown so much and become so much different and stronger. i dont think you guys would even recognize me. but thats not important. i am leaving on monday at 330am so the next time i write home i will be out in the field! go raleigh! my companions still nice and awesome and musical and we get along just fine. Him and like 10 other people i know are going to raleigh on our same flight so thats gonna be awesome and goofy and fun if those are the right words. its amazing how powerful the spirit is here. its a whole different experience than i have ever felt before. i have actually had some experiences that are so powerful and amazing i dont think i could even write them. also, you wouldnt believe how much heidi is here helping me. she comes and hangs out with me all the time and keeps my spirits up when it gets hard. in fact she has had such an impact that me and a lot of my roommates have started purple tie thursdays and say they are going to do it their whole missions. i definitely am.
anyways, the work has been hard but great. we have had a lot of practice teaching each other, our teachers, and some people (mostly nonmembers) who act like investigators for us. some of them and i think ours are actually real investigators now!
stories. so we taught a lesson to one guy who had some mormon friends and he wanted to come closer to God. we tried to teach him prayer and the plan of salvation the first time, but that didnt hit him. the second time, we planned on teaching him more in depth on the gospel, when i felt like we should teach the restoration. that day we committed him to baptism! it was so powerful, even knowing this guy was one of the teachers.
then this other guy. he was an atheist that hated organized religion and i dont think he was acting at all. im almost sure he was just a volunteer from the street. but he talked a lot about his beliefs and would get anywhere with us the first lesson. the second one, he told us at the beginning that he thought about what we said and prayed to see if anyone was really out there and he felt something. then he talked about these dreams he used to have where he would get shot up in a whirlwind and thrown across the galaxy until he approached what seemed like the center of all energy and creation in the universe, when a gentle hand pushed him back down to earth. i asked what the power was trying to tell him, and he said that he knew that he was out there and had the truth, but that this man wasnt quite ready for it yet. so he kept on talking about his experiences with this and others, and about his religion background. he said he thought a lot of religions were hypocritical and didnt follow what they taught or didnt help people and were selfish churches and what not. so we asked if he thought Jesus had a church on the earth when he lived, and he came around and agreed that he would have. then i asked him what it would mean to him if that church was completely restored today, and the spirit was so strong that my hands shook as i talked. he said that he would want to learn more! if we had more time i would have talked about the restoration and probably asked him to be baptized but he had to get ready for work so we had to take off. we left him with a book of mormon to read some things and got him to commit to church on sunday! its just too bad we are getting transferred across the country because i would have loved to have taught him more.
its amazing what you can find out about a person if you learn to love them as Father does. it doesnt matter their situation, if they have said or done something to offend you, or anything of the sort, it just matters that you dont judge them and you look at their potential. i am ready to serve in North Carolina and so happy to have this opportunity. i love you all so much!
Love,
Elder Clark
ps i saw teri pyne today and she gave me doughnuts!!! also the mcguires have sent me brownies and cinnamon rolls and i love them so much. so does all of my district and everyone else too haha
pps dad could you tell me some stories about joe please? i would love to know some stuff about him.
ppps i love you
pppps i have seen jake a couple times now and it has been really exciting to see him and jeriann and jamie all over the mtc
ppppps dad. did you teach or baptize anyone with the last name goes? i met a missionary named elder goes from brazil and his dad was a convert around your time in campinas!
pppppps i always pick fake fights with this 6'4" 260 pound hammer/discus/javelin thrower from byu and he is awesome and hilarious and we scare the crud out of people. thats all
Monday, July 8, 2013
Hi everyone!
I don't think I could be like Ty and write 10 pages every week but I'll see what I can do. I am loving it here. At first I didn't really know what to think because so much was thrown at me right away but I am coming along. You would not believe how much I have grown and learned just in the past three days. I think I will do just fine in Japan.
I may be kidding but North Carolina is actually sounding pretty nice right now. I am in a district with about 8 other Elders and Sisters going to the same mission and the other half is going to Mesa Arizona, where it has been over 115 for the last week or so. Yeah glad I'm not going there. Anyways like I said i am learning so much and embarking on an incredible journey that i think will carry into the rest of my life. not only have i been learning about the gospel, but i have learned a lot about me as a person. and yes, i am having lots of fun as well. i took it upon myself to nickname all six elders staying in my room, the likes of which i will not disclose at this time. but i will tell you about my companion. his name is elder larkin and he is a very nice and patient kid. he is from st george (but he doesnt know the Days) and just got out of high school. by the way about 80% of the elders here right now could not be here without the age change, and there were over 900 elders that entered the mtc the same day as me! Kind of makes me feel insignificant that as much as i stand out back home for serving a mission i am at the same level as thousands and thousands of others. i just think that is humbling to know how much the lord's work is progressing and it really puts into perspective the incredible power of the gospel. I feel so blessed to be a missionary right now, to be able to see the work erupt like it is. there are missionaries here going anywhere you could possibly think of and even places that we dont even know exist! The work is literally flooding the earth. I like to imagine it as the baptism by fire of the earth. Since it was baptized by water back in Noah's day, this is the baptism of fire or the spirit that the scriptures talk about. A sister in my district going to my mission found a scripture in alma about everyone being able to receive the gospel in their own nation and tongue. that was really powerful to me, because that is why we still need powerful missionaries in places like North Carolina.
Anyways, Im pretty short on time, but i will try to write home this week! By the way i love the food and i have lost 5 pounds already from working out and such so im on my way haha. the district calls me elder cracker cuz i always steal crackers and what not from the cafeteria to eat during class.
Thats all. I love you guys so much and i want you to know my testimony and faith are powerful and unshaken
Love,
Elder Clark
I don't think I could be like Ty and write 10 pages every week but I'll see what I can do. I am loving it here. At first I didn't really know what to think because so much was thrown at me right away but I am coming along. You would not believe how much I have grown and learned just in the past three days. I think I will do just fine in Japan.
I may be kidding but North Carolina is actually sounding pretty nice right now. I am in a district with about 8 other Elders and Sisters going to the same mission and the other half is going to Mesa Arizona, where it has been over 115 for the last week or so. Yeah glad I'm not going there. Anyways like I said i am learning so much and embarking on an incredible journey that i think will carry into the rest of my life. not only have i been learning about the gospel, but i have learned a lot about me as a person. and yes, i am having lots of fun as well. i took it upon myself to nickname all six elders staying in my room, the likes of which i will not disclose at this time. but i will tell you about my companion. his name is elder larkin and he is a very nice and patient kid. he is from st george (but he doesnt know the Days) and just got out of high school. by the way about 80% of the elders here right now could not be here without the age change, and there were over 900 elders that entered the mtc the same day as me! Kind of makes me feel insignificant that as much as i stand out back home for serving a mission i am at the same level as thousands and thousands of others. i just think that is humbling to know how much the lord's work is progressing and it really puts into perspective the incredible power of the gospel. I feel so blessed to be a missionary right now, to be able to see the work erupt like it is. there are missionaries here going anywhere you could possibly think of and even places that we dont even know exist! The work is literally flooding the earth. I like to imagine it as the baptism by fire of the earth. Since it was baptized by water back in Noah's day, this is the baptism of fire or the spirit that the scriptures talk about. A sister in my district going to my mission found a scripture in alma about everyone being able to receive the gospel in their own nation and tongue. that was really powerful to me, because that is why we still need powerful missionaries in places like North Carolina.
Anyways, Im pretty short on time, but i will try to write home this week! By the way i love the food and i have lost 5 pounds already from working out and such so im on my way haha. the district calls me elder cracker cuz i always steal crackers and what not from the cafeteria to eat during class.
Thats all. I love you guys so much and i want you to know my testimony and faith are powerful and unshaken
Love,
Elder Clark
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