Mission Week #7

Hello again!

It's been a pretty crazy week..

I'll start of with the story of Jago (said jay-go). Last week in the letter I mentioned a youth in one of the wards that has been going to church for over a year but his mom has never given him permission until last week. On Tuesday night we got a hold of him and planned a baptismal interview with him for Wednesday. Wednesday night we met him at the church and he was by far the happiest I had ever seen him. I had played soccer with him a couple times before and he had always looked kind of annoyed at the world. So we had the interview and he was really excited to be baptized this Saturday. Thursday evening we went over with Brother Huerta the ward mission leader to have the mom sign the baptism record. We met Jago outside and he invited us in. He took the record into his mom's room for her to have her sign it and I could hear them start to talk. After a little they both started to raise their voices and It didn't sound too good. He started begging for her to sign and and I could hear him starting to cry. His mom then came back out from the room and said she was not going to sign it and that she did not agree with the church and did not agree that her son wants to go on a mission for two years and not continue his education. One of the best feelings Ive ever had was baptizing someone and so of course the feeling leaving his house was directly the opposite and one of the worst feelings ever. However, there was still the hope of him talking her into signing the record. And, on Saturday morning he called and said he had got her to sign it! We were pretty pumped as you can imagine. We did want to make sure it was legit though so we told him we needed to talk to his mom about it to make sure. After some discussion with Jago he said the baptism probably wouldn't happen that day... We have concluded that he tried to forge the record because he wanted to get baptized so much. So, he did not get baptized but we'll see what we can do as well as the ward to work with his oh so wonderful mother.

Kassandra, the 19 year old from Mexico, who is living with her grandparents yet again had her baptism date changed. The family is now doing it this weekend in Idaho so we will not be able to see it but I hope it finally gets done. The 9 year old, Uriel, is doing well and he has a date for 18th of December.

Not much else... It has snowed the last couple of days and we're not supposed to bike if there is settled snow on the ground so we have been walking and trying to find as many rides as possible. For Thanksgiving we have one dinner planned as of now with the Huerta family. Brother Huerta is the ward mission leader so we go to his house every Thursday for Correlation and we also usually go there Mondays for Family home evening. They are awesome and definitely the favorite family here. They are originally from Chile but lived in Miami for about 10 years. Sister Huerta always talks about Florida and gives me "Florida's Natural" brand orange juice whenever we eat. Their oldest son is on a mission and doesn't get home until August but sister Huerta is already excited for him to come home.  After 12 on Thanksgiving day we are pretty much free to just visit people or stay at our house so we'll see what happens. Have a great Thanksgiving and take lots of pictures for me!

Love, Elder Clark

Mission Week 6

Hola mi querido Familia!

Week one of transfer two has come to a close. Wednesday morning everyone met for transfers at the chapel across the street from the MTC. A member drove us there and I met the new companion, Elder Barrera. Originally he is from El Salvador but his family actually lives in Layton Utah and he lived there for 3 years before starting his mission. And I thought I was surprised to see Utah on my mission call... He is really cool though. He has been out for 15 months and is a hard worker but a lot different than Elder Santos. He's not much of a fan of biking which is quite the contrast of Santos who would have been thrilled to get up early and bike for exercise. Anyway, after picking up Elder Barrera the member took us to Cafe Rio then we were off.

Kassandra, the 19 year old we have been teaching is doing well. We just about have everything ready for her to be baptized this weekend. The family still is deciding timing and such but things are looking good. We recieved a referral this week of a family who attends an english ward and has been less active but recently they have started to come to church and have a 9 year old son who wants to be baptized. It turns out the dad is the only one who doesnt speak english but they still want the lessons in spanish. Thus, we started teaching Uriel, the 9 year old Friday. It was a little different teaching a kid but was fun. In English work most of the baptisms are kids between 9-12 who are just in less active families and so I got a taste of that. Also, Sunday at church we found out about a young man in the ward who has been going to church for a while but who's parents would never let him get baptized and last week, got permission. So we need to meet him but that was pretty cool news.

Everything else is going great. Last night we had a nice amount of snow which I still look at with Floridian eyes of enjoyment. Hope everything is going well at home,

Love, Elder Clark

Side note: Last transfer the Utah Provo Mission was the highest baptising in the world. Pretty sweet.

Mission Week 5

Hello again!

It has been another great week here in the Utah Provo Mission. Thursday we were supposed to have the Baptismal service of the Romero family. Earlier in the week they had had their interviews, we had gotten all of their clothes ready, and we had called and invited most of the ward. However, the question was still lingering through the week if Alejandra would make it without having her baby. Wednesday evening we received a call from her husband Jaun saying that she was having contractions and that they were going to the hospital! It was exciting that she was having the baby but a little disappointing that the baptism would have to be cancelled. At about 10 later that night we received another call from Juan saying that they were on the way back from the hospital and that she had stopped having contractions and that the baby had not yet arrived. Baptism back on!

 The Baptism was great. The family arrived there plenty early and they was lots of support from the ward members. I baptized Kevin, the 13 year old, and it was definitely a feeling unlike anything else. The whole family was excited and after we had a little fiesta at the church with a bunch of food brought by the members.

Saturday night we had to be inside from 5-9 because Utah was trick-or-treating (although I doubt there were many trick-or-treaters in the cold rain.) We were together as a district and ate pizza, watched Invictus, and played phase ten. Not too bad.

Sunday morning was supposed to be the confirmation of the Romero family however, unlike the baptism, things did not go quite so smoothly. We had been calling them several times that morning to make sure they were going but nobody was answering the phone. Finally at about 8:50 we got a hold of Kevin and he said that he and Mario were at home feeling very sick and that Jaun and Alejandra were at the hospital because the baby had been born Saturday. We convinced them that they felt good enough to go just to Sacrament and so we went with the ward mission leader to pick them up. We arrived just as they were opening the doors after the sacrament and Mario and Kevin were able to be confirmed. It's still up in the air what's happening with Jaun and Alejandra. Hopefully they will be confirmed at church next week.

Last night we went on triple splits and I went out with an MTC teacher named Bryce who we have been working with the last couple of weeks. We taught some good lessons and we have a couple of guys from Guatemala who have gone to church the last couple of weeks and are making some good progress.

The weather has actually been pretty nice this week. No snow and the only time it rained we were inside for the district activity. It's hard to believe transfers are already next week, the time really does go by fast.

Until next week...

Love, Elder Clark

Mission Week 4

Hola!

Another exciting week here not in the Sunshine State.

The Romero family, Alejandra, Juan, Mario, Kevin and Kevin are getting baptized this Thursday! We had some fun experiences this last week preparing them with the final lessons. After we taught them about baptism they accepted immediately and the 13 year old Kevin leaned over to me and said "I thought you'd never ask." It was great! By the middle of last week we had taught them the first 3 lessons so what we had left to teach were all the laws like chastity, tithing, and the word of wisdom. Wednesday we were at the weekly soccer night and Mario was there with us and for an intro to the Law of Chastity we were asking him little questions to try and find out if Juan and Alejandra were married. And of course, he said they were not married so that left us with a small problem. Thursday we went to their house to teach about chastity and it was definitely a little wierd teaching that subject to people who have been living together for 15 years. We finally popped the question to see if they were actually married and they just kind of looked at each other for a little like they didn't really know. We said it was alright if they weren't but just that it was a requirement for baptism. We had a young member couple with us who had brought wedding liscence papers so they could get the process started and Alejandra looked at the papers and realized that they had gotten legally married through the court, but they weren't sure if that was legal or not. Thankfully it is, so no marriages this week....

Saturday we went to teach tithing and the word of wisdom. When we got there we looked through the window and the grandparents were on the couch drinking (perfect for the word of wisdom lesson.) When we walked in they left with the beer and we started just talking about commandments in general. We were about to start talking about tithing when Mario said that he used to smoke and that he feels God doesn't want him to smoke so he wont anymore. Thus, the lesson plan changed a little and we hit the word of wisdom and they were extremely acceptive. They also were extremely acceptive of tithing. Even though they dont have much at all, they said it was all from God and would be willing to give ten percent. I can't see any family being more golden in the next 2 years. From the first time we walked into their house they have listened intently and agreed with everything we have said... It's really been a blessing to get to know them.

Snow has begun to fall on the mountains and I assume that means my first winter is here. On Saturday morning we were riding our bikes across the area to an appointment in the rain and the cold and I had a small realization what is coming. Everyone made sure to honk at us so that was nice.

On this Saturday, the 30th Utah is having Halloween so we have to stay inside from 5-9. I think we are going to watching "Invictus" as a district. This week Elder Hudson has had some everlasting flu-like sickness so later today we are going to the hospital and he's getting blood work done. I think that's about it! Have a swell Halloween with the Harts-

 Love, Elder Clark