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