Letter #34

Well Taft never seems to surprise me.  There really are so many intersting people that live here.  One day I think we ran into about 2 or 3 drunk men, all before it was 12 in the afternoon!  It was quite the day.  So, now for some more interesting things that have been happening.  So yesterday for church we had some of our investigators come!! YIPEE!! We started teaching this couple, they are interesting and had some drug problems in the past, but they were willing to come to church so we thought, awesome!  Everyone is invited to church.  We had another one of our investigators come and we actually had a couple of less active spanish people come.  So we had Sacrament and then it ended.  I was talking to our English investigators and then we saw that one of our Spanish investigators had come to church!  We hadn't even called him and reminded him to come or what time it had started.  So that was such a pleasant surprise.  So I was able to go to Spanish Sunday School.  The lesson was SO awesome. He went into this indepth study of the restoration.  It was perfect for what our investigator needed to hear.  He explained so simply why we are the only church with authority.  So church was pretty awesome. Then we ate with our ward mission leader and his family.  Then we went to visit a less active.  It is a Samoan family and I think meeting them kind of made my mission:)  This lady is so awesome, she has a 3 year old, 2 year old, 1 year old twins, and she is pregnant and due any day now!  She grew up here but is married to a Samoan.  Her sister is here helping her out with everything.  It was such a sweet experience because she talked to us about how we had come by to make an appointment and it had made her think about how she was raising her family because it has been really difficult for her to come to church, but knows that she has to make it a bigger priority.  Her family is struggling financially, but still they are so giving and offered to feed us.  I guess I can't really explain how great it was to get to know her.  She said she felt like a failure as a mom because she hadn't really been taking her kids to church.  I was so grateful that I could bare my testimony to her of the atonement of Jesus Christ and that we aren't expected to be perfect and that he will make up the difference.  I have realized lately as I go out to work every day that I am relying on the atonement because I am so imperfect, but Heavenly Father still gives me the opportunity to bear testimony and to invite people to come unto him.  This gospel is true and I know that we have to continually be reading and studying the scriptures, we can never think that we have learned enough, or that we have read the Book of Mormon enough.  I hope you are all doing your daily scripture study.  I never realized how important that is until I came out here and became a missionary.  Even if you had a sound foundation you still have to strengthen and care for it, or in time it will crack and crumble.  I am so grateful for your support and all that you do for me!  I LOVE YOU!!!

Les Quiero,

Hermana Clark

 

Oh so pictures, One is of me and my companiona, Hermana Hatch, she is BEAUTIFUL and wonderful!  Also the picture with the children.  There is a little pocket of Oaxacans here.  some only speak misteca, which is like a dialect that they speak in Mexico.  Anyway, these kids are all brothers and sisters and they came and talked to us so we decided to take a picture with them:)  Hope you enjoy the photos!!!

Letter #33

Hola Familia!

How are you all doing?? Taft is doing just great!  Last week we were able to talk to the Bishop and he went through the ward list and told us some people we should go and visit and all of the less actives in the ward.  Well it didn't take long to realize that about half of the town of Taft is Less Active! Not really but it seems like that when we went through the list and person after person was less active.  So we have been trying to go by and visit them.  It has been so interesting to ask why they had left church in the first place.  Usually they just say that they just kind of fell out of the habit.  It just made me realize how important it is to constantly be reading the scriptures and going to church.  It is easy to become complacent and not fall out of activity.  It really is sad to find them and just think that they really aren't happy!  They might think they are but they don't realize the blessings they are missing out on! 

The work here is so interesting.  I definitely am having a hard time teaching white people.  It is so much harder calling people to repentance in English!!  I am not sure why it is so much more difficult for me but I leave realizing that my stomach was just in knots the whole time.  Its find teaching investigators, but less actives is more difficult.  I am working on it though, maybe I just need to realize that my job as a missionary is to bring people closer to Christ in Spanish or in English.  Zebra work is interesting, we are teaching a couple of white people and a few spanish people. I know it is going to be hard to get people to come to church here because there are about three people that come here that speak Spanish.  I just have to keep telling myself that President put us here for a reason and if the people read that Book of Mormon and pray about it, and come to church, it won't matter if there are alot of people that speak spanish, we can always translate for them.  So cool story for this week!!  so since Bethany went to Peru on her mission I have just been hoping to meet and teach someone from Peru.  Well the other day we went to find this less active.  We knocked on her door and weren't 100% positive that she was spanish.  so we started to talk to her in english.  She spoke a little but it definitley was not her first language.  so we started to speak in Spanish.  It was almost instant the change in her countenance.  She invited us in to her home even though before she had had a "headache".  We sat down and learned that her husband had died  5 months ago and that she was really struggling.  she has two boys that have not been baptized.  Anyway, she is from Peru and I told her that my sister had served in Peru.  It was fun to have a teeny tiny connection with her that way.  She let us share a message with her, and also sing a song.  She was so sweet and I definitely feel like we were guided there at that time to help her.  Hopefully we can help her understand that if she starts to come to church she will have more peace in her life.  She was just the sweetest lady, and now I have fulfilled my desire to teach someone from Peru:) 

The ward is really wonderful and they continue to take good care of us.  They always ask us if we need dinner, we wish that they would be asking if we need more member presents!!  I never realized it was such a big deal for members to come to lessons, but if a member comes to a lesson,. the investigator is that more likely to come to church because they aren't as scared.  That is something that we have to work on here in Taft, is to find members to come to us with lessons. 

Well I hope you know that I love you so much and I think of you each and everyday.  I am SO grateful for the support that I recieve from you all each and everyday.  It makes it so much easier knowing that I have family at home cheering me on!  I love you so much!

Les AMO!

Hermana Clark

Letter #32

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Well family this week has been a WHIRLWIND!! So let me just paint the picture of taft for you...imagine a town out in the middle of nowhere, so flat that you can see for miles and miles.  The only thing that is obstructing your view are those oil things that go up and down, and also some brown haze from all of the pollution.  Once you get into the town only the main intersections have stop signs, most of the houses have been abandoned, and much to my delight there are stray cats and dogs roaming the streets night and day...but with all of this the people are really nice and I actually quite like it here.  It has a small town feel and the members are SO EXCITED to have gotten rid of pile Elders and to have sister missionaries now.  We live in a pretty great apartment.  It is small but it feels like home more and more every day.  So we white washed in, and usually Elders would have kept track of people using the area book but the last update was in about august so we are trying to contact the very few people there are in there.  And also find the elect!  I really feel like there are lots of people who have just been prepared here to accept the gospel.  There are so many spanish people here I love it!! Also another interesting thing here is that we are doing zebra work.  That means we are working with Spanish people AND English people.  Mom asked me how big the unit is here.  The answer is that it doesn't even exist.  There is only one ward here and there is no unit.  I'm guessing President sent us here to try to start one up.  The white people here work on the oil rigs and the spanish people work around picking oranges.  there are so many orange fields around, well once you get out of Taft a few miles there are orange fields:)  So basically we are trying to get our focus here and I think we will focus on finding Spanish people, but teach the English people the elder's were already semi teaching.  There is one lady that has a baptisimal date for this month but we have to work with her to quit smoming.  She is really nice though. Church yesterday was really interesting.  Alot of people were gone since it was new years and my companion and I thought that that was everyone, but we found out that about half of the ward was not there.  So we will be able to see more people next Sunday.  The Ward Mission Leader and his wife are so  nice!  She is from Burley and reminds me of aunt Bonnie, just so willing to help us out and always busy helping people out.  We went there for dinner and they fed us lunch and I learned how to make pupusas!  They are so good and I will definitely have to teach you all how to make them as well!  My companion is really great to!  This is her second to last transfer and she is from Washington.  She is really laid back, but hard working.  I have really grown to love her this past week. 

So my homework for everyone this week is to google earth Taft so that you can really get a glimpse of its wonderfulness.  Tonight we are having dinner with the 1st counselor in the Bishopric and he said he is going to make us "lengua"  which is cow tongue.  Not sure how this is going to turn out, but I will have to let you know this week. 

I love you all, I will be praying for Sam this week.  Please keep me updated on how he is doing. I love you all.  The church is true and the Book of Mormon is powerful, I hope you are reading it!

LES QUIERO!!

Hermana Clark

Letter #31

Well family I have great news!! Christmas was wonderful.  My companion is so cute and caring, she knows how much a love snow and so she had been shredding papers for weeks.  When she woke up she took the box of paper and through it in the air and wished me a happy white Christmas.  Christmas was a day I will never forget!! We had couple of appointments.  One with a lady who is getting baptized next month.  As we ended her husband had little tears in his eyes and told us how we he is grateful for us.  Ofcourse I started to tear up a little. It was just so sweet.  His wife and daughter are getting baptized together.  It was cool though because we talked about she has to keep the word of wisdom for four weeks before baptism and she has a slight coffee problem.  She simply said, well I have to stop them.  She knows that baptism is essential and is making the next step to an eternal family with her baptism.  The cool thing is that she totally understands that.  They wished us a merry Christmas.  I will be sad that I will not be there for her baptism, but understand that I will never forget them or there sweet little family!  Also I don't know if you knew this but Christmas Eve in the Hispanic culture is bigger than Christmas day.  And EVERYONE make tamales!! We were walking around Las Casitas and the streets even smelled like tamales.  Literally everyone had tamales cooking.  We went to visit someone and she gave us tamales with cheese and Chili's. It was the best tamale I have ever tasted.  She also gave us fried homemade tortillas with cinnamon and Sugar.  Delicous?? I think YES!!  She also gave us some dessert tamales with pineapples.  I still haven't tried them but they I am sure they are delicious.  Also another thing is that hispanics have pride for them tamales.  They will always say these are tamales de Mexico or Tamales de Quatemala.  I didn't realize there were so many different types, but there are.  We ate dinner with a less active who I have grown to LOVE!!  We were the first ones to try her tamales which was the first time she had ever made them:)  She also gave us little gifts.  As she handed them to us, she said "Van a gustar lo"  Meaning you are going to like it!! We wondered the whole rest of the night what it was that she was so sure we were going to like.  Well, she gave us each a scarf.  It was so cute!!  

So now for the big news!!!! I will no longer be in Newberry Park.  I am being transferred to TAFT!!! HAHAHA I hear it is the arm pit of California.  It's a small town in the desert. Near Bakersfield.  I am white washing with Hermana Hatch.  She is older than me and is and awesome missionary, well that is what I hear.  If you are wondering what white washing is, it means that the Elders that are there now are poop heads and lost the trust of the members there and didn't do anything, so President has to send some sisters in to clear everything up.  It is going to be an adventure and I am so excited!!! I can't imagine  not having a companion that knows the area, but I guess now we will be an level ground.  My companion Hermana Tippetts, will be training!!  She is kind of nervous, but whoever her new greenie, she is so lucky!!! Well I love you all.  Thank you so much for the gifts that were sent.  I am so grateful for all of the support that I receive from you, I don't think I would be able to do this without you!!

Les AMO MUCHISISISIMO!!!

Hermana Clark

Letter #30

Well it really isn't looking very much like christmas for reals, but it is getting slightly cold.  But I am not complaining:)  This week went by really, really fast and I was able to have a couple of sweet experiences.  I honestly can't believe it is already December.  I was thinking that this time last year I was getting my papers to be sent in and wondering where I would be going.  I don't even know what happened this year. I sure hope I have been doing the things the Lord wants me to do!  So for the stories of the week!!

First, we started teaching this older couple.  I have decided it is one of my dreams to baptize an older couple because they are so set in there ways, so if I could help them change then that would just be awesome.  Anyway, we talked to them about the Book of Mormon and how it can bring us peace in this life.  As we were finishing, the man, started talking and said that we looked peaceful and happy and he wanted to have that in his life.  That really brought joy to me because a lot of times we wonder as we declare to people if they can see that we are representatives of Christ, if they can see something in us that is different.  It was cool to see that one person saw something different in us that day.  We gave them a Book of Mormon and invited them to read it.  I sure hope that do!!  So we had kind of a sad experience this week to.  So we had this investigator.  He is the live in boyfriend of one of the members in  the unit.  We love going over there because they love the missionaries.  Well he just hasn't been progressing at all, not reading, not really praying about Joseph Smith.  So we decided that even though it was going to be hard we were going to have to drop him as an investigator and tell him that we can make an appointment when he comes to church.  Well the lesson turned out to be good.  We talked about agency and how it was his choice to follow the promptings of the Spirit and that we couldn't come over and make appointments any more.  So as a back up story, all the people that told me I wouldn't cry because of Spanish lied to me.  I of course shed a little tear as a bore my testimony to him.  And he started crying to! It was kind of like breaking up with someone.  I couldn't believe he was actually crying, i didn't think he was going to take it that hard.  So that was saturday and on Sunday we talked to Ingrid his girlfriend, she said that when we left he said that we broke his heart.  So we have been wondering if we did the right thing.  I know we did.  we tried to explain that we were hurting more then helping us because we were teaching him the truth and he was having many experiences but was rejecting it.  I know one day he will understand why we had to do that, he will understand when he gets baptized which I know that one day he will.  

Well those are somethings that happened this week.  This week we have a Christmas Devotional and I am playing a piano solo.  I am pretty nervous, but will be praying that I will do ok:)  I hope that everyone has a WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS!! Take a few minutes and remember why we celebrate Christmas and bring a little Christmas cheer to the people around you.  I love you all so much!!

LES QUIERO!!

Hermana Clark

Letter #29

Well first off I am SO EXCITED for you all to be in the stake presidency of the 7th stake.  That was my Stake!! President Mendenhall was my stake presidency and I was in the 35th ward.  I just know you are going to love that so much.  That is so crazy for me to think of you two sitting there and getting to know all of the college kids.  Mom you are going to be a great relief society advisor and I am sure dad you will have such a great time getting to know those college students.  I always loved seeing the Heiners in my ward.  You are going to have to tell me what ward you are in and what apartment complexes you cover.  Maybe now that they changed the stakes and everything it will be different but that is just so exciting!!  I can utterly not believe that Christmas is so close!  It is raining today so that's not the funnest.  Today my companion got a package and it had a Christmas present in for her so now we have a present under our little christmas tree.

So this week was pretty crazy and wonderful!  We had our unit Christmas party.  We ate dinner which was so good.  There was Turkey, rice and beans (of course), salad, the most delicious punch ever, and chocolate flan (a traditional mexican dessert) everything was so good, and then we had a piñata.  They made me and my companion sing a little song before we left.  It was wonderful and so fun to get pictures of everyone.  I kind of have a feeling that my time here is getting short so I am trying to take lots of pictures.  It is so funny, the members all know that once the camera comes out, someone is going to be leaving.  I don't know if you all got the feeling that you would be leaving.  IT makes me sad because the work here is definitely progressing.  One of the couples is planning a wedding in a couple of weeks so she will be able to be baptized with her daughter in January.  It has been so fun to see that family progress.  This next week we are going to be having a little Christmas program and a little gift exchange.  I am excited for that, it should be fun to get together with a few of the zones.  

So a cool thing that happened last week...we had been teaching this girl that lived with one of our members.  She has a really sad story, she was being abused by her boyfriend who was actually in jail for abusing her.  She was pregnant with his baby, but she lost the baby.  We visited her in the hospital, and she was really progressing.  Saying prayers and reading in the Book of Mormon.  One day we went over and she had moved.  IT was really sad.  We tried to call her but her phone was disconnected.  So we would ask about her but no one really knew where she was.  Well the other night we were walking around Las Casitas and we heard this man yelling at us through his car window.  We just kept walking because sometimes creepy spanish men say things to us but we just ignore it.  But he just kept doing it and so we turned around and this girl starts running towards us.  Well it was Ashley!! The girl we had been teaching.  She got accepted to a 6 month program to help her get over the abuse and everything.  She seemed to be doing really well.  The person she was with came over to tell us thank you for helping Ashley through some of those trying times. It was such a sweet experience.  Even though she wasn't baptized it was good to know that we helped her through some hard times which helped her get into this program.  We got her address so now you know I will be writing her!

Well I hope that everyone is doing wonderful!!! Stay warm:)

Les AMO!

Hermana Clark

Letter #28

Well this week has been pretty crazy!  We had some interesting experiences and some sad experiences to.  We had to drop one of our investigators.  It was sad but she just wasn't ready to accept the gospel yet.  This last week we had some fun activities.  Here they put on a play type thing of the birth of Jesus Christ. All the youth participate and they do it out side on the lawn of the church.  It brings some nonmembers into the church and so it makes some good opportunities for the missionaries.  On saturday we had the ward party.  The party was for both the Spanish unit and the English ward.  Two men in the ward did a skit of the 12 days of Christmas using raw chickens.  It was pretty hilarious but the whole time I was thinking to myself that all of the Spanish people here are thinking Americans are so ridiculous.  It was fun though and is always fun to be with the ward.  We are having a party just for the spanish unit this Saturday which I am very excited for.  Hopefully we can get some investigators there.  We had one of our investigators at church yesterday and he seemed to have enjoyed it.      We just worked a lot this week trying to find knew people and trying to help the people we are teaching progress.  Oh and we also had Zone conference this week, which of course was AWESOME!  We got new phones and they installed these little things in our car that are supposed to monitor our speed and how fast we stop and stuff.  It was kind of funny because me and my companion had been talking about how president probably has tracking devices and on his iPad he sees a little dot for all the cars and they beep when we brake the speed limit or if we leave our area or something. Then at Zone Conference he told us about this little box that is connected to some type of satellite and is supposedly going to talk to us when we go to fast and stuff.  My comp and I just looked at each other as he was telling us this.  We must have gotten revelation or something:)  We learned a lot about how our purpose as missionaries is to help people to come to christ, but we can help them higher than we are.  Therefore we have to come unto him our selves. President Castro talked about how our goal is to be like Jesus Christ and we have to have faith, repent, be baptized, receive the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End, and grace is what helps us through all of these steps to refine us and help us become like Christ.  One thing he said that really hit me was that he said as missionaries we are the closest thing to Christ as our the people will see in this life.  That blew me away, and really made me think.  I really am a representative of Jesus Christ, and when the people see me, do they see Christ, can they feel his love.  There is that scripture in Alma 5 that asks us if we have received his image in our countenance.  Really to become like Christ is everyones goal, and as we take the proper steps we become like Christ.  We fall and we have weaknesses but the grace of God is what makes it possible for us to really reach this goal.  I have so many things that I have to change about myself to reach that, but it is comforting that God doesn't expect us to be perfect in an instant, it is a process, day by day, minute by minute.  It is especially applicable at this time of the year when we can think about what we can change about ourselves to help us receive Christ in our countenance for the upcoming year.  

Well I hope you all have a good week and take some time to think about Christ and what he did for us.  

So the place where we do most of our tracking is awesome! There are SO many lights!  Some of them even have music playing outside.  It is so interesting how they don't like have any money but yet they have all of these elaborate house decorations.  The other night my comp and I saw this group of people.  one person was carrying a statue of the Virgen Maria in a glass box, there was like 20 people following her with candles and chanting.  Oh the traditions of the world.  I couldn't even believe my eyes.  People always say that they don't worship the Virgen Maria, I am pretty sure walking around with her with candles and chanting is worshipping!  Hispanic people just love her and actually think she is the mother of all of us.  Oh the lies of Satan!  We are doing our best to spread the gospel and let people know that worshipping her is definitely not ok!

Well I hope all the Christmas parties go well.  I love you all!!

Les quiero MUSHISISIMO!

Hermana Clark

Letter #27

Hola mi querida Familia!

This week has been pretty good.  First of all I just wanted to tell you what the weather is like here so you can be slightly jealous, 65 degrees and climbing.  It is So beautiful!  Perfect weather, so currently I'm not missing the snow and cold to much, but we will see what i say christmas and I wake up to my first christmas without snow!!  It sounds like you all had a wonderful thanksgiving and enjoyed your time.  For Thanksgiving this year we ate with the family that we live with.  It was so delicious and was good because it didn't take tons of time out of our day to eat, and we got to do the traditional go around the table and say what we are grateful for!  Another fun thing that we did was we made those hand turkeys.  You know when you paint your fingers different colors and your palm brown and then make a turkey, well we kind of did that only we used markers because we have no paint.  then we wrote little notes on the turkeys and put tape on them, knocked on the peoples doors and then ran away.  Pretty sure the majority of the people either saw us or new that it was us, it was still fun though because it was something different and fun.  I have so much to be grateful.  I was thinking about how I am grateful for Spanish and that I have the opportunity to learn it. because with learning the language I have learned to love the culture and the people so much.  I was think about how a few months ago I didn't know these people that have grown to be apart of my everyday life.  They are the kindest and sweetest people ever!  Yesterday our unit was combined with the english ward and my companion had to translate!  I was just counting my blessings that I didn't have to translate. I just know I would never be able to do that!  All the members complimented her though so I just know she did a good job.  

This next week I am looking forward to Zone Conference!!  I am so excited.  After the last Zone Conference I just remembered being so rejuvinated and ready to work.  So I am excited for that.  We also found out some good news yesterday.  There is a couple in the unit that isn't married because they were waiting for there divorces to be finalized in Mexico.  So they are living together and only one is a member but the other is basically a member just lacks the whole being baptized thing.  So supposedly this month was supposed to be the month when the divorce was finalized.  They said they wanted there marriage to be a surprise and they were only going to tell the bishop, so yesterday the bishop told us that we needed to start teaching her (trust points for us because we were already starting to teacher her:)  I don't know if that made a lot of sense, simply, I hope they are going to get married this month so that we can baptize her and they both can be worthy!!!  THey are the sweetest family and they have two of the cutest little girls!  This week we also had another cool experience.  We have been teaching this lady Magdalena.  One of our appointment fell through and so we went to visit her and she invited us in.  We taught her the restoration.  As we recounted the first vision tears came to her eyes.  It was so sweet and wonderful!  That was the second time where something had touched her enough that she started crying...which is something that I can totally relate with:)  In case you were wondering how the crying thing is going, it definitely magically didn't leave because I am speaking spanish, but it is definitely easier to control, yet another reason why I am grateful for Spanish!!

Well It has been good to remember some of the miracles that have happened this week.  I hope that you are all doing well and having a wonderful Christmas season.

And I have Some VERY IMPORTANT NEWS!!!! The mission office address has changed so you need to send all of my mail to this address!!

California Ventura Mission

3301 West Gonzales Road

Oxnard, CA 93036

Please address everything to this address so that I can keep getting that mail, which I love so much!!!

Les Quiero!!

Hermana Clark

Letter #26

Hola familia!  

Well this week was a week!  It definitely didn't go by as fast as the others have gone so I guess that is both a good and not so goo thing.  The week has been good.  We knocked a lot this week and yesterday it rained so we were just walking around with our umbrellas and trying to stay dry!  It was good though because we figured people would be more likely to let us in if we look like we are freezing.  I can't really complain though.  We always have good weather.  

So this week we had a really powerful lesson with Jesus.  He is the "spouse" of one of our members.  I think I have talked about him before. Anyone we were talking to him and were talking about the spirit and everything.  So then we invited him to be baptized.  As my companion was inviting him I felt the spirit so strong.  It was like my heart was on fire.  She asked him and for a split second I thought he was going to say yes.  This is a guy who has known and talked with missionaries off and on since 2005. However, he didn't except the invitation.  I know he felt the spirit though, I honestly don't know how he denied the spirit because it was so strong.  The first words that came out of his mouth were WOW, then he went back to his normal, I was already baptized in the catholic church thing.  We are still working with them and trying to get him to the church.  We have a lot of activities coming up for Christmas though so hopefully he will come to one of those.  

We have been working in Las casitas a lot lately just knocking and trying to talk to everyone everyday.  But something we have noticed is these little "chamacos" (spanish for street urchin:) walking around and me and my companion are pretty sure they are dealing drugs.  Our suspicions were confirmed this week as we were walking around and saw this white red head standing on the sidewalk.  He was definitely an outsider and was from Westlake which is a really wealthy area.  So I wonder what a rich white kids was doing in Las Casitas...hmmmm we tried to talk to him but he wasn't very interested, very nice though. 

So This week for thanksgiving we will be eating with the family we live with.  We actually didn't have anyone to eat with until this morning and Sister Davis invited us to join in with them and there family!  

I am excited and realize that I have so much to be grateful for!  Missionary work is taxing but I am so grateful for the experiences I am having.  I am SO grateful for all of the support from everyone at home.  I love you all and hope that you have a good thanksgiving!!

Les Amo!

Hermana Clark

Letter #25

Buenos Dias Familia!

Well this week literally flew by.  We had a good week but we dropped a lot of our investigators.  Usually what happens is that we contact someone, talk about our message and hopefully say a prayer with them and set up another appointment.  Then they are considered a "new investigator".  Doing that has been different because it isn't how my trainer worked but I like it because we have days filled with appointments.  A lot of the time the people aren't home but we can usually meet someone that lives in there house or something.  So once we have gone by the people a few times and they don't show any more interest we "drop" them.  Meaning we put there name in the area book, but don't go by anymore, until we fill like we need to, or other missionaries come to the area.  So this week was a drop week since the last couple of weeks we have just been contacting and meeting tons of people.  So it was kind of sad because we dropped some people that had baptismal dates.  So basically, not the most successful week according to numbers, but we found some people that seem slightly solid.  The family that we have been teaching still seems interested and I always enjoy going over there and teaching them.  It is definitely going to take patience, but they are reading the Book of Mormon and praying as a family, so I have faith that they will have a change of heart.  

Yesterday we had a lesson with one of our investigators.  His name is Jesus and he is dating/living with a member.  They literally are the nicest couple and I love going over there.  My companion loves soccer so the last couple of times that we went over they told us they are going to get us some jerseys.  So last night they brought down these jerseys and said they are going to put our names and numbers on the back.  They are so wonderful and I am excited to have an authentic mexican jersey to bring home.  

This past week we also had something sad happened.  We went over to one of our investigators houses and found out she had moved.  We had kind of expected it because her living situation wasn't the best, but it was still sad because she hasn't called us and her phone isn't working so we don't know where she is to send the missionaries over.  She really needed the gospel.  I think I will always wonder about her and what happened with her.  

Yesterday was fast sunday and it was wonderful!  We had this cute little old man get up and bare his testimony.  He is swedish and has learned spanish from reading preach my gospel and reading the Book of Mormon in Spanish.  So he gets up and relates the gospel to a chicken and how a little chick in the egg will die if someone opens the egg for it.  They have to peck through and do it themselves to gain the strength to live.  It's like that with the gospel, we can't make people get baptized or live the commandments, they have to do it themselves to gain the strength to endure to the end.  I though it was such a good analogy with missionary work.  Sometimes I wish I could just make people understand the importance of it, but we can't, we have to teach them and invite them and they have to do the changes themselves.

Next week is transfers.  I am pretty sure I will be staying her in Newberry Park with Hermana Tippetts, at least that is what I hope.  she has taught me so much about missionary work.  

Well I love it here, it is definitely getting colder though, I have had to wear a jacket the last couple of nights, still I just have to think it could be ALOT colder!  I can't believe it's already November!

Les Amo Muchisisismo!!

Hermana Clark

Letter #26

Hola Familia!!!

Well this week flew by just like the rest of the weeks have done.  We have seen a lot of really cool miracles this week and I am excited to tell you all about some of them.  First off I just have to say how excited i am.  Today was transfers and I am so glad to say I will be staying with Hermana Tippetts!!  We have been getting along so well and really felt like we would be staying together but sometimes President does crazy things!  First of all just so you know how much alike we are, the other day in planning we were talking about a less active that has some issues with keeping all of the commandments.  My companion was like, I have been thinking about her and I have decided she is kind of like one of those underground pimples that you get, you have to like work around it and give it some time until you can pop it!  I was laughing so hard because it was the perfect analogy for this less active.  So we are going to work with her and then get to the commandments that she really needs help with and then just be brave and call her to repentance. It kind of made my week:)

So the other week we tracked into this guy on a random street and he seemed very interested, so we went back for our follow up appointment and he was there.  We taught him about the Book of Mormon.  He was telling us about how he has always wondering if life had more of a purpose than working and eating and sleeping, basically what the purpose of life was.  He said that he needed peace and that he wasn't really happy.  I was so happy that I could be there to share the Book of Mormon with him.  I told him with complete confidence that the Book of Mormon could answer his questions about the purpose of life and that it could bring him REAL happiness and REAL peace!  We were just standing there on the doorstep and as I listened I was just so confident in my answer to him that the Book of Mormon could help him in his life.  I think through the last few months my testimony in the Book of Mormon has grown the most out of anything, so I hope and pray that you are all reading every day! Another experience that happened with the Book of Mormon this week.  My old companion and I found this older lady named Magdalena.  We weren't able to catch her at home after our first appointment and hrma Tippetts and I almost just dropped her but we decided to go by one more time and set up an appointment.  She was there and we once again shared the Book of Mormon with her.  We read in the introduction which is what we read with a lot of people about how we can read when Christ came to the America's and ministered to the people here, how we can learn about the plan of salvation, and receive more peace.  We asked her if anything caught her attention and she just started to cry.  She said she had always wondered why Christ had never come here if he had so much love.  I know the spirit was testifying to her in that moment of how true it really was.  It was a sweet experience and in that moment I realized what a gift I have had in my life to always have the knowledge that God really does love all of his children and he is going to minister to us all.  We really are so blessed to have the Book of Mormon in our lives and the only true church.

Well I hope everyone is doing good getting ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I am getting so excited for it, and you can be expecting a BOMB Christmas card from me and my companion!  I love you!!

Hermana Clark

Letter #24

Hola Familia!!

Como Estan??  Well this week has been pretty good.  The weeks go by So fast!  It feels like just yesterday that I was writing you.  I was thinking this morning about my first week in the mission field.  I am pretty sure it was the LONGEST week of my life.  I think the fact that I couldn't understand anyone, I was in a new place, and it finally hit me that I was a missionary and was going to have to preach the gospel to everyone, really hit me that week.  Every week just goes by faster and faster.  It's kind of like a train how it goes slowly to start and then speeds up faster and faster as it goes on.  That is kind of how I am feeling.  No worries though I still have ALOT of time to learn and grow. 

So this week have I got a story for you all!! This week we decided to go by a former and we knocked on his door, turns out he doesn't live there anymore.  So we talked to the lady that lived there.  She let us make an appointment with her, so we went back.  We talked to her about the Book of Mormon.  She seemed receptive.  So we have ended and were going to say a prayer.  Then one of the men that lives there walked in.  We asked him to sit down and say a prayer with us and if we could sing a song for them.  He accepted the invitation.  So we sang "Asombro me Da"  in English "I Stand All Amazed".  We sang the song and looked up and the guy, Filodalfo, had tears in his eyes.  So we set up a return appointment with him.  That is always scary because you never know if you are actually going to find them again.  So we went for our appointment and he was there!!!  We were talking to him, trying to get to know him.  Then he is like I just have always wondered, what is the purpose of life.  It took me a second to process the significance of what he said, and then I specifically remember thinking, did he really just ask us that question.  i looked over at my companion and her eyes were just so wide and I am pretty sure she was asking herself the same thing.  So we talked to him about the Book of Mormon and told him that he could find the answer to that question in that Book.  The spirit was So strong from the very beginning.  We told him we would mark the chapter where Christ comes to the Americas and give him a Book of Mormon.  He was very excited about it and accepted the invitation to read and pray.  It was funny because we were like, we would like to mark a chapter and give this book to you and he was like Please do that!  We walked away and were just speechless.  There were just no words to explain what had just happened!  One of the signs of someone being elect is if they are asking questions and he had a lot of questions. That was one of the times I wish there was a camera to video our faces when he asked us what the purpose of life was.  So we of course set up another appointment.  It was the coolest thing.

It was interesting to experience this because it came after a letter from Mom asking me if I had had any really spiritual experiences yet.  As I talked to my companion we talked about all of these cool missionary stories that we here from everyone, all of these miracles that happen that missionaries get to see.  As we talked about it though, the thing is that we see the AMAZING miracles everyday.  They might not be to the fact that we see someone and they ask us if they can be baptized, they can be small miracles.  In the case of Filodalfo it was a miracle that we chose that former to go visit, that the person at the door set up an appointment with us, that our lesson lasted long enough so that he could be there for the end and the song.  Just a whole chain of miracles.  So to answer moms question of if I have had any really magnificent experiences I guess you could say all the miracles I get to see are pretty miraculous and wonderful.  Not gonna lie it is seeing those small miracles that helps me through the hard rejections and hours of knocking.  I feel your support and I am so grateful for it!! Have a HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!  My companion and I will probably be knocking doors tonight.  That is going to be fun when people try to give us candy and we try to give them a Book of Mormon:0     

I love you all!!

Hermana Clark

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

 

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!