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

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

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 see miracles every single day out here. some of them so incredible i couldn't describe, some of them so simple that most would say its luck or chance. but i know its not. there is divine power leading this work and i know that we are nothing without it.

i love you all and thank you for everything you do. especially you mom and dad. keep updating me on everything!!!!

love,
elder clark

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

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

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

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