Mission Week #62

Hola
December 12, 2011 9:28:36 PM GMT+03:00

Hello again!

Last week was awesome! There is lots of stuff happening and I doubt I will be able to remember to write half of it. As far as the area goes, it is still growing. 2 weeks ago was the best week I had ever had, and last week topped it. We are finding lots of new people. 9 to be exact last week. We found a family just knocking doors...a member family pointed out a hispanic family and we went over and started teaching them...and others. Last night we had a lesson with a lady that is living with one of the families in the ward. She just moved here to get a job and her family will be coming soon.

We were going to go to Julies ward party, but unfortunately we did not have time. Tomorrow we have a meeting with Presidente Pitts and all the Zone Leaders and District Leaders and my comp and I have to give a 45 minute training. They told us on Friday so we had to prepare for it Saturday morning. It is on having District meetings.

Friday we had a district temple trip after which we went to pizza pie cafe. It reminded me of when Dad, Taylor, and I went the spring before I came out on the mission. Time has gone by fast.

Carmen is getting baptized on Saturday. Manuel had to work Sunday so he will probably get baptized next week. He is more than ready. Paula, an argentine lady, accepted baptism last week. The Gonzales are doing well. They just need to take a step of faith. We were knocking doors on Saturday and we met this lady from Mexico named Ajhidis. She talked to missionaries like a year ago but they somehow lost contact. Anyway, she let us come in and we talked for awhile and as we were leaving it was silent for a second then she got kind of emotional. She said that she was having a hard time a year ago when the missionaries stopped by and right now she is having a hard time again, and we happened to stop by. Pretty cool.

Today we are going to play lazer tag again. The nickel arcade is improved these days. Tonight we have 6 lessons set up so we will be going on splits. It should be another good week.

Love, Elder Clark

Mission Week #61

Another Week
December 5, 2011 9:34:46 PM GMT+03:00


Well Hello.

 Last week went by super fast. It was fun to be in the ZLC. We got there at 8 and Sister Pitts had breakfast for us. Then we had like a 5 hour discussion on everything that is going on in the mission. One of the topics that was brought up was weather or not we could skype for Christmas. President eventually said that we could but only for 30 minutes. So we either get a 1 hour phone call or a 30 minute skype. I think Id rather have the hour call then we can skype on mothers day.

Teaching wise, last week was the best week I have ever had. The total amount of lessons was triple what we had my first week in the area. We started teaching a girl named Carman who has lived in Utah for most of her life but her parents wouldnt let her get baptized. She is now 18 so she can make the decision for herself. We found her through her fiance who attends the branch and we saw her twice last week. She committed to being baptized on the 17th. Manuel also is planning on getting baptized then. His main problem was finding a job and he got one this week! He fasted with us yesterday. Mauricio also accepted a date for the 22nd. The Gonzalez family is doing awesome. Hno. and Hna. both had separate experiences this week when random people they met told them they should keep following the path they are taking. They told us they went to tell each other about what happened and they were surprised when they found out that it happened to each of them on the same day.

We found 6 new people last week. One of them last night at like 8. It was a lady who some other missionaries met while she was in another part of Orem. She let us in right away and she is pretty golden and has 2 kids. It is amazing how much we are being blessed.

Wednesday we had exchanges with the APs. One of them is Chilean and he was with is. I learned from him and we had a good time. We will be going on splits with them again tonight and tomorrow and to do some baptismal interviews. One of the people I am interviewing tonight is from Latvia or something and is studying at BYU.

Since we cover the branch and the ward and they start at the same time, yesterday we started dividing up and we went with members for all 3 hours. I stayed in the branch, my comp went to the ward, and we will switch every other week.

It is getting cold. This morning the car said 20 degrees. However, for some reason we havent had any real snow. Yesterday there was a little, but it didnt stick.

Have an awesome week-

Love, Elder Clark

Mission Week #60

Hola
November 28, 2011 8:18:38 PM GMT+03:00

Hello!

Today I am emailing from one of the libraries at BYU. It is kind of strange to be here. Last week was one of the busiest weeks ever but it was good. Tuesday was transfers. It was fun to see everyone and wierd to see friends going home. Elder Cordova, the new companion, is awesome. It is fun to be around someone with energy and experience. Also, we can speak spanish all the time which hasnt happened since Elder Ramires. Thanksgiving was fun. We started the day off with a small soccer game in one of the church gyms. For some reason my knee wont funtion like it used to so I just played goalie. After several meal invitations, we accepted 3. At 1 we ate with an American family. At 4 with a Mexican/Salvadorian family. And to finish off the night we ate with a Chilean family at 7. I paced myself and it wasnt too much of a food overload.

One of the reasons last week was busy was because Elder Cordova's old area was whitewashed and sisters replaced them. However, they had an investigator who's wive didnt want sisters visiting him so we had to finish teaching him and prepare everything for his baptism that happened Saturday. There was lots of problems with what ward he was going to be baptized into and other stuff but it the end we got it done. Also, at the beggining of every month we have a ZLC (zone leader council) with Presidente and we have to make a zone plan of action and present it there. Basically, choose things the zone needs to work on and decide what the zone will focus on for the month to improve. ZLC got moved up to tomorrow so we have been rushed to arrange all that.

Yesterday was super busy as well. We had a correlation meeting at 7:30, then one at 8. Then spoke in the branch at 9 and had to run over to the ward to teach the gospel principles class directly after that.
We had a pretty good turnout for church. Manuel came in addition to some new people. We saw the Gonzalez family Saturday night and they said they were coming but werent there.

We started teaching a young couple on Friday. The wife is reactivating and the husband in really interested. They went to church 2 weeks ago and last week and we are seeing them again tonight. Looks like there is good potential there.

Have an excellent week-

Love, Elder Clark

Mission Week #59

Dia de Gracias
November 21, 2011 9:11:09 PM GMT+03:00

Hola,

Well, Elder Arnett is leaving. I have had a very patterned mission when it comes to transfer calls. I get to an area, my companion leaves, and I am with a new companion for 2 transfers, then I leave. That it how it has been the whole time. My new companion is Elder Cordova from Peru. He was already in my district and I know him so it wont be a big adjustment. He has been out a transfer more than me which will be nice to have someone with experience. 5 out of the last 6 transfers my companions have been in their first or second transfer.

We had a very busy week. Lots of people to see. We had zone conference on Friday. All the missionaries who are leaving always give their final testimonies. At the beginning of the mission it seemed to be people who were out for a long time but now I have served with people who are leaving and it is wierd. Friday was Arline's baptism. It went smoothly. She was super excited. Hopefully her mom will follow her footsteps soon since she has been thinking about getting baptized for years.

Gonzales family is doing great! We had a lesson on faith and Hna. Gonzales said that she needed to show her faith by being baptized.
Did I mention Manuel last week? He is the golden guy we found like a week and a half ago. He is on date now. He said again since the fist time he spoke to us he knew that he needed to become closer to God. He also happens to live right in front of the church.

I think more things happened last week but I cant remember. We have one dinner planned for thanksgiving with the Molina family.

Have a great Thanksgiving! I am thankful for all of you and for the 5 missionary siblings who paved the path. We have been blessed with the Gospel and it needs to be shared.

Love, Elder Clark

Mission Week #58

Semana Excellente
November 14, 2011 10:11:20 PM GMT+03:00

Hola,

Last week was great! Lots of cool stuff happened and I hope I will be able to remember it all. One of the highlights, of course, was Monday dinner with the family. It appears the beaver has found a good place to stay.

The Gonzalez family is doing well. We had a couple lessons this week and talked about the plan of salvation and baptism. They were pretty open to the idea of being baptized but werent too sure about doing it soon. We set a goal for December and they said they would think and pray about it. They didnt come to church yesterday and when we stopped by after to see what was up they just said they were too tired. It should be easier for people when the schedule changes from 9 to 11.

Our lesson with Paula was on Thursday. I was on exchanges so I wasnt there but Elder Arnett said it went great. They watched the Restoration DVD and talked about the Book of Mormon and she was in tears again. I went on exchanges with Elder Allen from Scotland and we had an interesting night. We were tracting and ran into a less active guy. He eventually let it out that his grandpa was Dallin H. Oaks. He used the general excuse of inactives that he felt like his parents forced him into it and when he left the house he went rebellious. He did say he will probably come back some day.  The second interesting thing of the night was our lesson with some born again Christians. It was supposed to be with a lady and her daughter but another guy was there who was a preacher from their church. We start off the lesson talking about the Book of Mormon and about 5 minutes in he sits up in his chair and starts to go off on us. We have a nice little talk on some doctrine from the Bible and as we respond to his objections his level of contention was steadily rising. After a little bit it seamed as if he couldnt hold himself in and he said " You guys are full of lies and are going to Hell." Elder Allen replied by asking him what gave him authority to say that.  He said "The Bible!" I cited him Hebrews 5:4, "And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was Aaron," spoke to him by name, and told him in the name of Jesus Chirst he had no authority and was not called of God as was Aaron. He said, "that was bold.." and slouched back into his chair. Basically the whole lesson we were sharing our testimonies and it was interesting to watch them try and respond with contention and we would give calm and simple testimonies of truth.

We picked up 4 new investigators this week. A young couple that has listened before. An older guy from Puerto Rico who recently moved in with the family of his son who is active. Also, last week at church someone gave us the number of a guy who said he wanted to meet with us. We called and set up and appointment and we were surprised when we got to the address because we had actually met him before. He lives with the family of his son in law who we had talked to before but wasn't interested. He said he had listened to what we had told his son in law and wanted to hear more. He is humbled due to his circumstances and seems pretty golden.

Have I talked about Arlene? She is 8 and her family is part member. And, is getting baptized this Friday. This week is going to go by fast. We have 6 appointments and district meeting on Wednesday.  Zone Conference Friday. Transfer calls on Saturday. I think I will stay here.

Have a great week!

Love, Elder Clark

Visit To Julie's House

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Good Morning!  Pictures of Tanner having dinner at Julie's on Monday night.  His companion is from Alabama.   He plays football and wrestles.  I talked to Dad and Mamo last night and of course they had great things to say about how pleasant and engaging he was.  His companion said he would NEVER GO TO BYU, so he didn't score huge points....but they had Pimalottas and a great time being together.  He arrived at 5:00 and at 5:59 he was at the door.  He has a cold Julie left airborne on the front porch for him to pick up yesterday.  She had shirleys cinnamon rolls for him to take home.  Fun to have a connection!!

Mission Week #57

Hola
November 7, 2011 9:10:40 PM GMT+03:00

Hello,

It is getting cold. Halloween was pretty fun. One of our ward mission leaders is a make up guy for movies. He gave Elder Arnett and I mustaches. They looked pretty legit. Starting on Tuesday I got a pretty bad cold. It has stuck around until today but seems to be going away. It was funny how everywhere we went someone had a different type of remedy for me to try. Two of the most notable ones were lime juice, and a mixture of cayenne pepper, apple cider vinegar, and honey.

Thursday we had the baptism of Jose Herrera. His wife has been active for a long time and he finally was ready to get baptized. He has a friend that was a religion teacher at BYU who has been visiting him and teaching him for like two years; Brother Skinner, who is probably between 75 and 80 years old. Jose chose him to baptize him and I was interested to see how that was going to go since Hno Skinner is not the most agile guy for his age. We filled the water up high so that it would be easier. The first attempt Jose wasnt quite submerged but thankfully the second time the ordinance was completed.

Saturday night we got a call from Humberto, a guy who was probably going to be baptized in a couple weeks, saying he had to leave the following day for Mexico. Dang. That is the second time that has happened.

Yesterday was a good day. Hno Gonzalez and his son came to church. Also, Paula walked in as Gospel principles was starting.

Have a great week,

Love, Elder Clark