BOLIVIA IS THE BEST PLACE I HAVE EVER BEEN!

The second we flew in it felt like home! The city of Santa Cruz... I don't even know how to discribe it. It's wonderful though. We went to Pres. and Hermana Willard's house and wrote ourselves letters that we get back after the mission, so that was cool.. They are amazing people. I love them a lot! My companion couldn't get a flight in to Santa Cruz so Hermana Willard was my comp for the day, but everyone met their comps at the church and chatted with them and Hermana Willard told me about mine. We stayed in a hotel the night we flew in and the night after. It was fun because you could see all of Santa Cruz! So now I am in an area right on the border of Argentina! I had to take an hour plane ride, and then a three hour car ride to get here! It's called Bermeja, and it is hotter than hot here. Like holy cow I didn't know I could sweat so much. I'm surprised I don't have mold growing on me because I'm wet all the time! Haha it's awesome... The people here though are seriously the greatest! The ward is wonderful, and my companion is one of the best people I've ever met. She is so good with the people and I just love her. I'm glad she is my trainer! She goes home in February and she keeps saying I'm going to be her comp that will kill her off.. So we'll probably be together for a long time since she goes home in Feb. But that's okay because we get along really well.

You should mapquest where I am so you can see more pictures. I've never been bit by a mosquito before until now so that's been a joy.. oh! also the other night we were outside teaching a lesson and suddenly a bug bit me. I didn't think much of it since it happens a lot. But then my foot started to go numb! And swell up!! And next thing I knew I couldnt walk on it! So we hobbled 30 minutes home, and I propped it up when I went to sleep and in the morning it was totally fine, but then by the night it was swollen and throbbed all over again. It's good again today so hopefully it stays that way. It also has a red ring around the bite.. I'd ask you to google it mom, but I think google will make it sound worse than it is. The internet and computer I was on was really slow, I'm on a different one now, but now I'm out of time. Sorry this isn't very long! But the people here are awesome, and they all just don't have much of anything. I was telling Jamie that even the poorest places in the US, there are worse places here. But the people are happy, and the kids are the cutest! I'm learning spanish a lot faster with my new comp! She is from Peru, her name is Hermana Guerra. She loves these people so much, and they love her, I'm so blessed to be with her. So pdays are Mondays now!

It was the best talking to you at the airport!!!! I love you all so much! I read through all your letters today and I just love you!

I love you!! Have another wonderful week!!!

Love from the heat of Bermeja, Bolivia!
Hermana Clark

President and Sister Willard

Santa Cruz

Meeting my comp

Helping our investigator move rocks

HOLA!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JEREMY, GRANDMA BETTY, AND EVAN!

First, I have to tell you.... there are beagles. Beagles everywhere here! Haha everyone has a beagle, Ali would love it! Things are going really well here! It's been a crazy week! We got our latino companions on Thursday, and that has just been.... a dear joy.... haha She is from Venezuela.. not sure how thats spelled.. and she talks really fast and slurs her words together. It's fun fun fun! The first night we were together, all night long. ALL NIGHT LONG, she climbed up and down the ladder. Haha I have no idea what she was doing but she was opening all the drawers, and I thought oh maybe she is unpacking, but in the morning she was still packed. And she wanted me to come with her to the bathroom, so being kind I did. I think it was too dark for her or something. Anyway she never sleeps. And she likes to touch me a lot, and everyone knows how I love to be touched. Like repeated tapping while I'm looking at her. Haha I'm not sure what else she would like me to do... At first she was really mean to me. Funny story, when we would first try to comunicate whenever she didn't understand me or I didn't understand her she would roll her eyes!!! Haha like what? And then make a big loud sigh. Everyone kept telling me how sorry they were because she was just mean to everyone. Haha I told her ''sorry, I'm learning a new language!'' Then I started praying for her. And praying that I would see her through Heavenly Fathers eyes because He somehow found a way to love her. And then it got better! She doesn't do that anymore. I think she realized that even though I don't speak the language well, I know how to teach because I've been able to be here forever and practice. I think she appreciates me now, but I can tell we're both excited for the transfer... But we taught the coolest lesson last week! We were teaching our investigator, and we had this whole lesson planned but we didn't get to any of it because he was just asking questions about the book of mormon. And we were just testifying and sharing things out of there and the spirit was so strong! I loved it!

We got to go to the temple twice this week! Pretty much the best thing. And they have everything translated into spanish now so yeah new everything!!! It was awesome to the max! When the session started a lot of the North Americans started to cry because they were so happy it was new! I'm not sure if that makes sense... Dad should know since he works at the temple.. I like my new teachers! They are nice, and one reminds me of Jeremy because he is so funny! One day I was just having an awful day because of the language, and my comp, and he just sat down next to me and said, ''Hermana Clark have patience. The language will come. Heavenly Father has faith in you, that is why He sent you here. I can tell how much you are trying to learn this language, and I can tell how bad you feel when you can't say something. I promise you, you'll get it." And he said this all in english, and he doens't really speak english, and he went on for a bit, and it was exactly what I needed to hear. I know it was a blessing from Heavenly Father. It was so cool! The gospel is just so cool! The language is coming fine... I speak alright, but not very well.. My grammar is pretty bad.. haha But that's okay. I know it'll eventually come... the most frustrating thing is not being able to share what I have to say! Like in class, they talk about whatever, and I want to share but I just can't say everything I want to. I think Heavenly Father is teaching me to love to share things and teach in English so when I come home I'll want to do that since I didn't usually at home.

Another thing that made my week awesome was I was honestly just trying to enjoy every little thing I was doing. Like sitting in class, and at mealtime, and during the lessons, and just conciously thinking about enjoying everything. It's made me so happy! I love it! We went tracting the other day and we gave a woman a Book of Mormon and that was really neat! And then this other guy was just yelling at us and my comp was talking back rather intensly, and he was saying something about how there are too many religions and stuff... He was talking really fast I couldn't understand everything, and my comp did not look happy as she responded back and I could just tell that it wasn't good what was happening.. but I was just standing there smiling at him because I didn't know what he was talking about, and then I told him it was nice meeting him, and I pulled my comp away. Haha we were at a park and I didn't want to cause a scene..... Anyway it has been quite the adventure here! I love the CCM, but I am so ready to get out of here! I think that is another reason I was blessed with this comp... so I would be excited to leave! They have given us something different every two weeks. First two weeks, we were in provo, next two in colombia, and then the last two with latino comps! It's made this month go so fast! I was hoping to be fluent by now! Haha

Oh last funny story!!! okay we were teaching our investigator, and he was out of time so he asked if we could come back tomorrow, and my comp said no! haha and I said, why not? and she said, because we have to teach him now! We have to do this right now, we can't come back. And I said.. but he's out of time.. and she said we need to do this now. And I just turned to our investigator and I laughed and said, no we would be happy to come tomorrow! And he said, oh good! and my comp looked so upset and then after our investigator came and found me and he was laughing and saying... what was that all about?? Haha he said, I needed to go and teach my class, but I was afraid she wouldn't let me! Haha I love the teachers here! They are seriously so amazing.

I'm out of time but I love you all so much!!!!!! Thank you for your prayers, love, and support!!!!! Talk to you next week when I'm in Bolivia!!!!!!

Love,
Hermana Clark

Happy P-day

Hola!!
I'm so glad we got to email again so soon as well!! I've been looking forward to it since we stopped emailing on Friday! We actually have done a lot since we last talked! So on Saturday we got to go proselyting, is that how it’s spelled? haha, and it was so awesome! So when we started out we weren't having a lot of success... in fact we weren't having any! No one really had time to talk to us! It was hard. But we prayed that we would be guided to someone who needed to hear our message. Then we started talking with people. Some guys wanted to take pictures with us, and we started telling them about the Book of Mormon instead. Haha they ended up being really nice and they said they wanted a picture with Mormon missionaries to remember Colombia. So we said si but said no touch! haha We were determined to not get hugged or kissed that day. We did a good job at that. Then when we were leaving we saw these two men sitting on a bench and we were running late for meeting up with our group but we were like... we should just talk with them. So we walked up and started chatting and this one man was just amazing! His name is Luis, and he said he was in the military, but he has been searching for a church. He said that he has been to 15 different churches and he said he would go to church on Sunday! How amazing is that? And then we gave him a Book of Mormon and he was looking through it, and just kept saying, wow this is beautiful. And then we showed him a few of our favorite verses, and he said wow what a beautiful book. Ah! And then his friend was sitting next to him, but his friend wasn't really listening to our message, he just kept telling us we were beautiful and asking for our number so we gave him the number to the church. hahaha and then he kept saying so beautiful, so beautiful, and we would say no intiendo. haha we don't understand. It was interesting to see the difference between the two. One who just cared about our message, and one who just cared about us.

Today was such a fun pday as well! We got to go to this mountain today! It was an hour drive, and we got to go into this cathedral and it was all underground. You wouldn't like it mom! But yeah it was crazy. Like it's a monk monastery..however that’s spelled. And huge crosses were carved out of the walls EVERYWHERE. And then there would be this huge cross and then this huge, huge tunnel room thing and in one there were these mounds on the ground and I'm pretty sure they were bodies... And then there was a thing with all these hardhats and it was all the hardhats of the people who had died working down there! And all the workers had hardhats on. It was really cool though! And they had this monk music playing making it a little eerie, but really awesome, too. Like these people had built this ginormous church all underground!!! Like whaat?? I'll send some pics if I have time! And today it rained all day. The rain here just picks up like crazy and then just stops and the sun comes out!

No one got sick this week, so I'm not sure where you heard that.. I'm not sure why the pdays got switched, but next week I think it will be Friday.. maybe Tuesday or Wednesday... but probably Friday. And tonight Americans come! So that's exciting! And more Latinos come tomorrow! Right now we have about 20 missionaries, and tomorrow we will get Latino comps! Yay! Pray she is patient and loves to help me learn Spanish!!!

I love you all so much! Thank you for your support and prayers and emails! I love hearing from you! Have a wonderful week!!!!!

With love from Colombia!
Hermana Clark

View from the plane to Columbia!!!!!! So beautiful!

Hermana Ellison, Hermana Zapata and me!

Me and Columbia!

The dogs are EVERYWHERE!!!

Hola! Happy late Halloween from Colombia!!

And thank you for the Halloween Package! I got it the day I came, so maybe it was just sitting here for me? I'm not sure!

So much has happened since two weeks ago! First... I made it safely to Colombia! Taaadaa! No problems at all! Second, I am typing on a Spanish only keyboard so it is telling me every single word I write is wrong... haha so sorry if anything is really misspelled because I can't tell. Also it is hard to find the right punctuation on this thing! Okay, so when we first got to the CCM, that's what they call the MTC here, there were about 11 other missionaries! They were all North Americans, and some were the people we were originally supposed to come to Colombia with. So that was weird because we went from tons of missionaries in Provo to about 20 here! But then the Latinos came the next day so that was fun! It has been fun talking with them, and practicing my Spanish with them. They are all really sweet. I have two companions now! We are in a trio. I am with Hermana Zapata, and Hermana Ellison. Hermana Ellison was in my district before, and I am rooming with all the girls from my district before. 7 to a room! haha That's been fun! 

On the first Saturday we were here, a couple teachers walked us to a shopping center and we got to proselyte for two hours! That was pretty much THE coolest thing. The people here are so ready for the gospel it is amazing! They really wanted to hear what we had to say about the Book of Mormon! And they were very fascinated with my skin. This old, old man was pointing at my skin and saying something really fast.. I have no idea what he was saying but he was really happy about it. haha And then he tried to kiss my hand and I turned my hand so he kissed his own and we all started laughing really hard and then he said something about my face turning red. haha okay and then, when we walked away, about 20 minutes later we were across the street and he was still standing there reading the Book of Mormon! And when we were talking to him my companions were talking to him and he just stopped looking at them and stared at me so I testified of the Book of Mormon, and its truthfulness. I could feel the spirit so strong and I know he could too! It was the most amazing thing. 

The culture here is so interesting! Lots of hugs and then a kiss on the cheek. One guy while proselyting, I stuck my hand out for a handshake and he just crushed my hand and kissed my cheek. Haha so I'm going to have to work on that one because that was weird. Haha.

And on Wednesday we get new companions! They will be Latino so either she will hate me because I can't speak to her very well, or she'll love teaching me and I'll learn a ton! I'm hoping for the latter... Everything here is so amazing! I love the city of Bogota! We got to go to the temple on Tuesday! The Colombian temple is so pretty! I loved being at the temple because it was all just so familiar. I am so grateful I got to work there before coming on my mission. Such a huge blessing. Driving there and back was so awesome too! There are a million taxis everywhere. Seriously almost every car is a taxi. And if it isn't a taxi it is a motorcycle. I have never seen so many motorcycles in my life! And the driving is insane, and the buses are so packed, I didn't know that many people could fit on a bus.

My teachers are awesome! I love both of them. Hermana Mendivelso is just great, and Hermano Martinez is hilarious. I am learning a lot from both of them! Hmo Martinez travels an hour on the bus to get to the CCM. Such dedication! And they both go to school full time. 

The food here is pretty good! Lots and lots of soup! And we all know how much I love soup..... No I actually don't mind it so much here.. We eat a lot of rice, and meat, and fried banana, and this crazy other fruit that you have to crack open and inside is this green blob that looks like fish eggs, and you suck it out. Haha pretty much THE weirdest texture but it tastes pretty good. They also try to make North American food sometimes which is fun. We had pizza and hamburgers the other day. And they serve hot dogs with EVERYTHING. Haha. I liked hot dogs before... But they serve a waffle and then a hot dog, pretending it is sausage. And eggs and a hot dog, and hot dogs hot dogs hot dogs. Haha

But I am loving it here! And learning a lot! I have another pday on Tuesday, so I'll send pictures then! On Tuesday they are letting us hike a mountain or something! I am excited about that! We are inside pretty much all day and the whole area is fenced off and they are really strict here! Like they take our cameras from us! Haha But it is great.

I love you guys so much!! Have a wonderful week and I'll talk to you soon!!!!!

Love, Hermana Clark