Letter #23

Hola Familia!

This week has gone by so fast!  i feel like just yesterday I was writing you all and telling you about my crazy week last week.  I have some awesome news this week.  So we started teaching this family and they seemed pretty interested.  they were there for there second appointment and we read the first chapter in the Book of Mormon and then we invited them to church.  We thought we were going to have to do some convincing but instead the dad was like ya ofcourse we will come.  So on Sunday we are waiting outside of the church and I am thinking there not going to come and then out of the corner of my eye I see the mom.  The whole family came!!!!  They have to kids one is eight and the other is six,  So we had sacrament and then we  asked if they would stay for the other meetings.  At first they said that they wouldn't be able to, but then one of our members came over and told them what would be happening and so they decided to stay.  We took the kids to primary and then the parents were in Sunday School.  It was soooo wonderful!!  I just hope they had a wonderful experience and will have the desire to keep learning and to keep coming to church.  They are just the sweetest little family. This week we have seen a lot of miracles with finding people.  I think it is interesting because people just don't realize what a miracle it is that we have found them.  The other day we were walking in Las casitas and this guy was just standing on the sidewalk waiting (for us of course!)  We started to talk to him and asked him if he had talked to missionaries.  He proceeded to tell us that he has been baptized and that he used to go to church but has since gone less active.  What a miracle!! I random person on the street and he is a member.  He wouldn't tell us his address but we have his phone number.  Then the other day we talked to this lady and she wasn't interested we left the area for lunch and then came back and started to knock and the FIRST door we knocked was the same lady.  Do you think the Lord is trying to tell her something? I think yes.  She still wasn't willing to listen though.  Oh well, people have there agency and she had two very good opportunities that day.  It is just a testimony to me that the Lord really is guiding us.  Sometimes it feels stressful because we need to rely so much on the spirit but really we just try to do what we are supposed, try to be good missionaries, and the Lord guides us!

So now for some funny stories of the week!  I have so many of these with Hermana Tippetts, I think the crazy experiences just follow her wherever she goes.  So last night we were talking to this guy about the Book of Mormon.  My companion was in the middle of bearing her testimony of the Book of Mormon and all of the sudden we here this dog start growling and barking, I freaked out of course and Hermana Tippetts screamed at the top of her lungs,  The dog was actually quite far away from us, but still it was scary.  I had the HARDEST time controlling my laughter during the rest of the contact. We still got a follow up appointment even with that disaster.  I still laugh when I think about it!  Another odd thing that has been happening is that I have seen so many drunk men around.  The last couple days have just been crazy and I am getting better at knowing if people are drunk.  When we know they are we just say that we will come back when they haven't been drinking.  It's interesting because when people see us they feel ashamed, they know that they shouldn't be doing it.  

The thing that I am really learning out here is that Heavenly Father really answers prayers.  The sad thing is that we don't always realize that it is an answer.  We are teaching some people that really are praying for guidance and they tell us about there experiences and we are just blown away at the strong answers they are getting, but still they don't realize it is an answer.  SO this week my invitation to you is to recognize the little answers to our prayers everyday.  Sometimes they are small and almost unnoticeable but the answers are there!  Missionary work is wonderful.  California is AWESOME!!  It has actually been feeling like fall here the last couple of days:)  I hope everyones week is wonderful.  

Les Amo!

Hermana Clark

Letter #22

Hola Familia!

This week has been so crazy!  I feel like with my new companion we just experience the craziest things.  First of all we started teaching this family.  We have only had one lesson with them but I am very hopeful for them.  The greatest thing about it was that we were discussine Book of Mormon and then had to kind of review the restoration to make it a little more clear how we got the Book of Mormon.  So we were talking about prophets and about how God has always called prophets.  then they asked the Golden question, Why don't we have a prophet today then!  I am just sure my face just lit up.  We were like we do have prophets!!!!  It was really cool and we were able to say a kneeling prayer with them before we met them.  Our next lesson is in a couple of days with them, so we will see how that goes.  So the other funny thing that happened was the other night.  We stopped a guy on the street and were talking with him and then we were saying a prayer.  As we were saying a prayer we started hearing this wailing and moaning.  After the prayer we were looked around there was this man roaming through the streets moaning.  IT was quite the interesting experience! 

Now this is the biggest news of the week....we got a new car!!! In the mission they switch out the cars when they get to 50,000 miles.  So our car had reached its limit and so the car coordinator called us and told us we could come get it.  In our excitement we cleaned and were on our way to ventura.  We were almost to ventura when my companion noticed the brake light on and then that the brakes weren't working.  So we got off and called the mission office.  they told us to look at the emergency...so we had driven all the way from Thousand Oaks to Ventura with the emergency brake was partially on!!!! We got out and the wheels were just so smelly.  Thankfully nothing happened and we didn't ruin the car.  We thought for sure that the office was going to say you cannot be trusted with a new car heres and bus pass back to your area, when you get there go buy some bikes!!! That did not happen though and now we have a bran spanken new Toyota Corolla.  It had about 8 miles on it when we got it, and it still has the new car smell:)

This week has been great and I love being a missionary!

Les Amo,

Hermana Clark

Letter #21

hola!!

First of all I can't beleive it actually snowed!  It is like summer here, so in my mind it's like january.  the only thing that helps me know it is the fall is that some people put pumpkins outside their houses.  California is just another world:) 

Well the picture is of me and my new companion.  she is ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL!! She is from Las Vegas and is so hard working and I can just tell we are going to be great friends!  She also is very good at Spanish and helps me alot with pronunciation and also is a great teacher so I have just learned so much this last week!  

So we had some cool things happen to us this week!

First, we met this guy on the street and he was just walking pushing a stroller he seemed like he was on his way and wouldn't stop to talk to us so we asked if we could walk and talk.  so we just walked and gave him the restoration lesson.  We then asked if we could say a prayer to him right there on the busy street.  He was very willing and it was just great that he was willing to do it right on the busy street.  that was kind of a miracle.  We teach when we find and find when we teach:)  

Second. We were knocking in this place called las casitas.  It is just full of spanish people.  We knocked on this door and came to find out that the lady living there was investigating the church in Bakersfield and actually had found the church here and had come on sunday but then she only saw white people which makes sense because we are just in the releif society room.  so we are now teaching her.  she didn't come on sunday but i have high hopes for her.

Third,.  We were once agian knocking in Las casitas.  We knocked on this door and a guy answered.  He was like I always see you knocking but you never knock on my door.  We found out he is actually a less active.  we asked him about the Book of Mormon and if he is still reading it.  He expressed that it is kind of boring and he just couldn't get into it.  We were then like well have you read the part where ammon cuts off mens arms, or when Moroni rips his coat off and is the leader of this giant army and they go fight for there families?  He was like I must not have read that part.  So we have plans to mark some very exciting parts in the book of Mormon and give them to hiim to read.  He was very nice to us and so we are going to go there and try to get him reactivated.  

Those are just of the few interesting experiences we have had this week.  Sunday was slightly dissappointed because we only had one investigator come to church and it wasn't Roger and the recent converts didn't come.  So that was sad but we invited lots of people and they chose not to come.  Next week:) 

I'm sorry that my email's are getting a little bit shorter but our email time got cut short today!Just  know that I love you all so much! The church is so true!

Love 

Hermana Clark 

Letter #20

Hola Familia!

Well This week has just been so interesting.  First of all I have got to tell you the good news that WE HAD AN INVESTIGATOR COME TO GENERAL CONFERENCE!!! It was so surprising.  We were out in the foyer and taking pictures and then I just saw Roger looking slightly lost.  He had said he was going to come but you just never know.  Anyway it was the first session in the morning and I am pretty sure that Every single talk was just for him. A few weeks ago he had some questions about polygamy and he just wouldn't beleive us about the fact that we do not do poygamy anymore.  So then Elder Ballard got up and was just so powerful with his talk about the fact that we are not associated with the churches practiced polygamy.  Also the talk on the Book of Mormon was just awesome.  Really the whole thing was awesome.  I think my favorite talke was President Uchdorf's talk.  It was just so great. So now it is challenge time!  My invitation to you all is when you get the conference ensign to read all of the talks before the next conference in May. The words of the prophet and apostles are so important we need to remember what they have said.  IT isn't enough to just here it once, we need to study there words.

 

We got transfer call this morning.  I will be staying in Newberry Park and my follow trainer will be Sister Tippets.  My trainer was Hermana Tippets follow up trainer so in mission lingo my brother is also my dad:) haha i'm excited.  I have met her a couple of times and she seems pretty great.  It's good that she know the area to because I was slightly stressed out about the whole being the only one knowing the people and the area.  Now it's not such a stresser. 

 

Well that is about all of the exciting news this week :)  I love you all!!

LES AMO!

Hermana Clark