Letter #19

Hola Familia!

This week has been just great!  This week one of our goals was to let all of the members, less actives,and investigators know about general conference.  We wrote up a little flyer with the times of the meetings, a scripture about the importance of listening to the prophet, and also a quote from the previous conference.  We have been handing them out all week!  We didn't want anyone to be able to say they didn't know about it two weeks in advance!  I hope that we have a big showing at the church.  We especially want our investigator Esperanza to come to it.  She didn't come to church yesterday, but we are hoping she will come to atleast one session.  We have a lesson with her tonight.  She is at an interesting point because she has a desire to read more of the Book of Mormon, and she has been to the church and felt of the spirit here, now its just at the point of whether she realizes what she needs to do because of those truths.  We will see what happens.  This week we also ate alot with the members.  Usually we only have about two days a week to eat with members, but this week everyday was full!  IT was fun to meet with them and some of them have family members who are on missions.  A couple of them expressed how they love to do things for the missionaries because it makes them feel like they are helping there missionaries.  I just loved that!  So now you know, if you ever feed the missionaries, you can just think of the people who are here feeding me:) 

This past weekend we had the General Releif Society Broadcast!  I hope ALL of you went!! (well all of you releif society members)  IT was so wonderful!  We had two members from the spanish unit come.  That wasn't alot but we were happy with just two.  President Uchdorf's talk was absolutely wonderful.  I especailly loved the fourth point of knowing the why's about the gospel.  I think that is especially aplicable to missionary work.  Sometimes we lose sight of the why of everything.  Why am I doing all of this to see so much rejection, why am I in this crazy state of Calirfonia with people I don't know questioning my testimony everyday, why am I spending a year and a half away from my family?? These are just a few of the why's that might go through your mind, but you realize that the reason is the gospel.  I am here because I have been called, and I take the rejection because I know that some people WILL listen and the will except the gospel and their lives will be changed through the gospel of Jesus Christ.  I am here because this is what I chose to do and every day I see small little miracles that make me realize that the gospel is true and the hand of the Lord is in each moment of my life.  I loved his analogy of the forget me not and I know that if we will remember to not forget the Lord, He will never forget us.  I enjoyed all the talks so much and as we were driving home I said to my companion that if I thought it was good in Spanish, then it must have been really good in English:) So I can't wait to get the Ensign and read them!!

I hope all of you are getting ready to listen to conference!  I am so excited.  We are so blessed to have a prophet who leads and guides our church.  I'm sure you have some fun plans.  I was thinking the other day how last conference we had that fun get together at the cabin with everyone, and that I ate an oyster:) What is everyone's plan for this conference weekend??

I love you all so much! 

Les Amo

Hermana Clark

Letter #18

Hola Familia! Como Estan?

Well this week has been pretty interesting and something very exciting happened!  We had an investigator at CHURCH!! We invited her last Monday and she said she would come but some people are slightly flaky so we didn't know if she would come for sure for sure, so we waited outside of the church for her and then we saw her drive up!  She even brought her little granddaughter.  This Sunday was different than normal.  We had to meet with the English branch because we got a new bishopric.  So the spanish unit had to wear headphones and listen to a translation by the group leader.  I was so nervous that she wasn't going to like that they had to wear headphones and everything.  I just hope she felt the spirit.  She has been studying with the Jehovah's witnesses for a few years but hasn't been baptized yet.  So I am just praying that she felt something unique and special.  she also came to Sunday School and the Spanish members were just so sweet and welcoming to her.  We have a lesson with her tonight and so we will see what she thought about the whole thing.  I think that the Jehovah's witnesses don't take the sacrament everySunday so I think that was probably very different but that it was ok. 

We are getting ready for general Conference!  We have made a paper with a scripture about listening to prophets and also a quote from Presdient Monson with the times of general conference.  We will be going around and giving them to less actives and investigators to invite them to General Conference!!  I am so excited for it.  We have Erika, the lady that was just bapitzed, that has never heard the prophet.  She is so excited and I am so excited to be able to share this experience with her!  I never realized what a foreign and wonderful thing it is to have a living prophet and the fact that we get to listen to him speak to us every six months!  I hope that you are all preparing and getting ready to just soak in everything.  I don't know if you have read the first article in the Ensign this month that tells the story about the man who was sharing the fact that we have general conference and get to listen to a prophet.  The friend asked what was the latest words from their prophet and he couldn't remember.  I know that I have been in this category so often.  We listen to conference and then it passes and we tend to forget.  I want to challenge you all (me included!!) to really listen and then when we get the ensign with the talks to study them.  These are the words of the prophets, they are so important.  I was realizing the significance of it because this is what I do all day, tell people that we have a prophet and he receives revelation from God to lead and guide us.  IT is kind of a big deal:)  Also I am so excited for women's conference this weekend.  I have been looking forward to it all month!  One positive it is being catered by Cafe Rio!  YIPEE:)  I would love to hear everyones thoughts on general conference and what you learned.

Well family, I hope that you are all doing good.  I love you all so much.  Keep me updated on all the clark happenings!

Les Amo!!!

Hermana Clark

Letter #17

Hola Familia!
This past week has flown by and i can't beleive it is the middle of
September.  I had an interesting experience this week.  I went on an
exchange.  This last transfer we got a companionship of traveling
sisters so they travel around to all of the areas and two splits.  I
was excited but very nervous because someone was coming here and I was
going to have to know the area.  Thankfully she had already been to
the area and new mostly where the streets were.  It was interesting to
see her style.  It was much different than my current companions.  It
made me realize how just because people have different styles of
missionary work it doesn't mean one is a better missionary than the
other.  I am starting to find my style and the way I think about
missionary work.  It was a really cool experience.  It also made me
realize that I need to start paying attention more to the area because
I know my companion will be leaving me in a few weeks! :(  It's weire
because here they use street names where as I am just used to using
landmarks when I give directions.  I am learning how to use a map
quite well though!
Another cool thing that happened this week was that we had training
and president's interviews.  President Castro is just wonderful and I
love being able to talk to him about the work.  He is also very
encouraging and it was good to know that we have about the same amount
of experience in the mission field so we are learning together.
This week in the scriptures i have been reading towards the end of
alma all about the wars and the great captian Moroni.  I LOVE chapter
47 when Moroni raises the title of liberty!  It just gets your blood
pumping when he raises it and all of the people start running towards
him and are so ready and willing to enter into a covenant with the
Lord!  I hope you are all reading your scriptures every day.  They are
so powerful and SO true!
Well I love you all and I hope all is well in the family:)
Les Amo!
Hermana Clark

Letter #16

Hello Family!
How is every one doing?? The work is so interesting here!  We spend out time knocking, knocking and knocking.  Its weird that it is September.  It is weird because it doesn't feel like fall.  The leaves are starting to change colors a little but the heat is just started to be bearable.  The past few weeks have been about 100 degrees or more, but it is starting to be around eighty or so.  I feel like it is going to be weird to have a fall without some freak blizzard.  Mom has been asking me for the past few weeks how we get around.  Well we definitely have a car.  We cover a whole stake so our area is pretty big.  We have a limited amount of miles so alot of times we will just park somewhere and walk around.  Spanish people usually congregate in one area so if we find someone we just knock all around to see if there are any other Spanish people.  Since school has started here we haven't had to move anyone this week. So for service we decided to do some sidewalk chalk.  I got a letter from Tia the other day with a picture of how they taught Lehi's dream with chalk in someones driveway so me and my companion decided that it would be a fun activity to write a scripture down or draw the plan of salvation or something so on saturday on the sidewalk next to the church we wrote a question of the soul and then mormon.org both in Spanish and English. I am hoping that someone will see it and visit mormon.org.  Speaking of mormon.org you should ALL go visit it and make a profile.  It is such a good website and it such a cool missionary tool.  There has been a big push for mormon.org in the church.  The family that was just baptized came to church yesterday!  YIPPEEEEE!!!! They haven't come for the past few weeks.  I don't think it is because there faith is lacking or anything, there lives are really crazy because they are trying to find another place to live because there living situation isn't very good.  WE teach them in the church now for our lessons. They are such a wonderful family! I got some pictures from Tania this past week!  Thank you so much Tania!!! It was so fun for me to see everyone together having so much fun. One thing that happened this past week that was really cool was that we had a sisters conference.  All of the sisters in the mission got together.  Kind of like a zone conference, but just sisters.  I was able to see my MTC companion and talk for her for a few minutes.  We had a great time and it was fun to see all the sisters and talke with them.  There is only about 20 in our whole mission and about 10 that speak spanish.  That is crazy considering our mission is pretty big! We had another really cool experience this past week.  One of the families in the unit wanted to take us out to dinner because this is my companions last transfer.  The mom, Ingrid, is the sweetest lady. She is always smiling and ALWAYS laughing.  It always lifts my spirits to talk to her and her family.  The only problem is she is not living the law of chastity and is living with her boyfriend.  He is making small steps of progress and wants to go back to mexica and that is the reason why he won't marry her.  Anyway they have the cutest little girl and I was able to play with her the other day.  I wish I could express how much I love this family and wish that they would just get married!  Ingrid has a daughter that has a few kids and also is not married.  It is so surprising to me the problem we have in the unit with people not living the law of chastity.  They just all need to get married!! Well i hope that everything is going well.  I am grateful for all of the support that I am getting from everyone.  I love you all:)

 Les Amo
 Hermana Clark

there is one more thing that I wanted to tell you.  My companion wil
be coming up to Rexburg in the winter.  I really want her to come see
you and visit you so you can meet her and just love her as much as I
do!  So i'm going to give her something to bring to you so she has a
reason and it won't be awkward.  I will be giving her our number so if
a Katy Burch calls answer and set up a time to meet.  Is there
something you would like me to send??  Well I love you!