Happy December!

Hi my wonderful family!

I hope it's been a wonderful week! I cannot believe that November is already over. Where has this year gone? I haven't even felt it at all.. That sounds fun you got to be together in Utah, and eat at Chuck-A-Rama..... haha. No cleanup! That's great! So the baptism went really well on Saturday! Just Yorka was baptized. Nelson got cold feet and chose another date. I'm sure he'll do it sometime.. Just needs a little time. But the baptism was perfect. We went to fill up the font and we had to go outside to find the plug and we accidentally opened up a thing in the ground and let me tell ya. I have never seen so many cockroaches in my entire life. It was like cockroach city. Like in Ratatouille (not sure how that's spelled) when all the rats come out of the poor woman's house, yeah that's how I felt but with cockroaches. But we cleaned the church and filled the font, and everything was perfect! Yorka gave a beautiful testimony at the end, and she just cried and cried she was so happy. I am so grateful that I had the chance to be a part of that experience and that I had the chance to teach her. We also had a lot of new investigators this week, and we have transfers this week. I cannot believe how fast this transfer has gone. Okay suddenly I am out of time for the internet! Ah! Sorry this letter isn't very long or very exciting. But I love you all so much. Thanks for your love and support! We'll see where I am next time we talk! :)

Love you to the moon and back!
Hermana Clark

'

Happy Thanksgiving!

Miracles are coming and coming and coming! Well, Yorka had her interview yesterday for her baptism this Saturday! The elder said that she is very prepared for her baptism, and she is so excited! Nelson has been quite the little bugger this week! Haha. He keeps going back and forth. It's a bit frustrating because the only thing is his hair and he doesn't want to wear a white shirt and tie to church. We explained to him that he didn't need to do any of that to get baptized, but he still feels a little apprehensive. Yesterday we talked to him, and he told us he was going to wait. I was bummed, but thought, well he has his free agency and needs to do what he feels like he needs to do. I wanted to cry yesterday though. And then this morning we got a call from one of Nelson's friends, and he told us that Nelson talked to him last night and said that he wants to get baptized this Saturday with Hermana Yorka! We were surprised, but happy with his decision. :)

That's awesome about Jamie winning first in the competition! I am so proud of her! And how fun you're in Utah! Little Beck is so big now. And Nash too!!! I loved seeing the pics! That's cool Jamie ran in the Turkey Trot! I remember feeling SO sick after running that. I thought I was going to die haha and my face was SO red. Haha but that's awesome she did it! And 6th is a great place to get! That's fun you got to work at Jamie's school this week mom! Maybe one of these days you'll see her and you can give her a big wet kiss! Haha Jk Jamie girl... kinda.... :)

We had a conference this week with just the sisters in Tarija, and with President and Hermana Willard! It was THE BEST. We talked about being grateful, and showing our thankfulness. I am so thankful for this time that I have to be here on the mission in Bolivia. I am thankful for what I am learning, and who I am becoming. I am grateful for the atoning sacrifice of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and for the love that I have felt on my mission from Him, and the love I have grown for Him. This is His church, and I am grateful to be a member of this beautiful church. I will forever be grateful for my eternal family, and the wonderful chance I have to live with them forever. We have a loving Heavenly Father who didn't just send us to earth to gain a family and then after death to lose them. He gives us the wonderful sealing power because we cannot be saved without our families. I am grateful for temples,
for the work we do in the temple and for the missionary work we do in our wards. Thank you for your love, example, support, and prayers. I love you all more than you can imagine! Keep being amazing. Keep sharing the gospel. Keep recognizing those miracles! I love you!

Love you more and more every day!
Hermana Clark

Feliz Lunes! And Happy Birthday Beckham!!!!!

I am doing great! And I loved hearing about your week. Busy busy! I love that service project you all did! That's AWESOME! Well, the test of faith... Nelson wasn't baptized this past Saturday. He chose a new date for the 29th of November. He and Hermana Yorka will be baptized together. And I haven't cut my hair yet... It will be happening sometime in the next two weeks. It's kinda funny because I'll be cutting it to where it was when I left for the mish! It's grown so fast, hope it grows fast again! And Jamie's hair is SO LONG! I couldn't believe that when I saw it in the pic. And when you said you were looking for shoes for Jamie I thought, oh just use some of mine! But now her shoe size is bigger than mine!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What!!! Haha what is going on here....

Yorka and Henry are doing good. Poor little Henry got beat up at school the other day. He came home with a little black eye. And when his mom took him back to talk to the boy and his father, the dad was just saying sorry sorry sorry. And Henry said to the boy's dad, "Señor, don't worry about it. I forgive you." And then the next day was the little boys birthday, and Henry told his mom he needed to go to the store to buy him something! And Yorka was like... we're not buying that boy anything! And Henry told her that this little boy needed a gift more than anyone. So they went and bought him a present. Hermana Yorka told us that she learned a very important lesson about the pure love of Christ. And I did too! Henry is awesome.

Also, we were walking in the street the other day, and there was a bird sitting under a box, her poor little wing was broken. Someone had put out some food and water for her. Then later that night we were walking to the house, and we saw a dog going crazy. As we got closer, we saw that he was attacking the bird! Without thinking I ran at the dog and he dropped the bird and ran off. Haha and then we were in quite the predicament. My comp donated her cardigan and we wrapped the bird up and carried her home. Good thing we live with nice people.... Haha Hermana Marcy helped us out and we gave her some food, and named her Shell. They thought it was more fun to call her something in English.. :) But she survived the night, and the next day we gave her to a vet. I'm not a bird person, and carrying the bird almost made me faint, haha but she's doing good now!

And something that I was studying in Jesus the Christ talks about "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. One who really prays that this kingdom come will strive to hasten its coming by living according to the law of God. His effort will be to keep himself in harmony with the order of the kingdom, to subject the flesh to the spirit, selfishness to altruism, and to learn to love the things that God loves." I love that. To learn to love the things that God loves. That's the goal. To have these Godly traits engraved in our hearts, and demonstrated in our actions.

That's fun you saw the pic from our mini concert! I don't have that picture! And that's awesome Johnny came down for a visit. I bet that was fun to see him! I can't believe it's Beckham's birthday this week! Ah he's so big! I would love to see some pics from the celebration! I love you all so much. I have to go now, but thank you for your love and prayers! Keep sharing the gospel, and being awesome!

Love you a million billion homemade caramels,
Hermana Clark:)

hermana yorka!

yes, we ate this fish! it was actually really good... haha

Happy Birthday Jeremy, Grandma Betty, and Evan

Hola mi familia!

What a week! We had Stake Conference this week! Also the Church celebrated 50 years this week in Bolivia! It was on Thursday, and all the missionaries went to the central park here and we sang Abide With Me Tis Even Tide. It was really cool! We also talked with everyone in the park, and we were on TV! Well, the local TV station here in Tarija. :) And then that night they had like an awards ceremony and the Stake President received a plaque and cool things like that. It was really nice! And then Friday we had a conference of just the missionaries with President and Sister Willard. And then Saturday was Stake Conference in the night time, and Sunday in the morning. Lots of meetings, and really spiritually fed! At the conference with the missionaries, Hermana Willard talked about a tree here called the Toberochi tree. And this tree, it's name means refuge, or safety. And we talked about what our refuge is in our lives, and how it is the Savior. We also were looking at the photo of Christ when He was atoning for our sins, and He is leaning up agaist a tree that looks like a Toberochi. The trees for us, take in all the bad and then put out the good so that we can breathe. They give us life. Jesus Christ did the same when He atoned for our sins. He took in all the bad, so that we can experience the good. He gives us life. So in this photo when He is atoning for our sins, and He is leaning upon this tree, it kind of gives it a whole different meaning. Christ is our support, our refuge, our safety.

I was also reading a talk by President Henry B. Eyring called "A Priceless Heritage of Hope." And he talks about how we are making choices not just for ourselves, but choices that will affect generations and generations. We cannot force people to accept our message, but we can teach them and then pray they will choose the right. "Heavenly Father and the Savior are our perfect examples of what we can and must do. They never force righteousness because righteousness must be chosen. They make righteousness discernible to us, and They let us see that its fruits are delicious." He talked about faithful parents who faithfully teach their children the gospel, and for whatever reason they reject it or rebel against it. And how that is all a part of our free agency to choose righteousness. "When they are older, they will remember the hymns they sang with you. Even more than recalling music, they will remember the words of scripture and testimony. The Holy Ghost can bring all things to their remembrance, but the words of scriptures and hymns will last the longest. These memories will exert a pull that may bring them back when they wander for a time, possibly for years, from the pathway home to eternal life." We plant seeds, and then these children of God have the chance to choose. I was also studying about Adam and Eve today and I always have the question why God commanded them not to eat of the tree, but then kind of wanted them to really because He told them to multiply and replenish the earth! Always felt confused by that. But then today I was studying and I read a scripture in 2 Nephi 2:15 where it talks about how there is opposition in all things. God had to put the tree in the Garden because without the tree they didn't have the chance to use their free agency. They would have been stuck. And a lot of times God gives us a chance to choose something good for something better. I was trying to think of examples and I thought about when Nephi was commanded to kill Laban when the commandments clearly say "Thou shalt not kill." But he chose to obey God when He said that he needed to kill Laban. He was choosing something good for something better. He was saving souls. Just like Adam and Eve saved souls when they chose to eat the fruit because now we have our bodies and we now have the chance to use our free agency here on earth. Maybe it was an obvious answer, but it finally made sense in my head today. :)

Our investigators are really good. Nelson's baptism is this Saturday, and the adversary is on the move as always. Nelson is feeling a little apprehensive about his baptism because of his long hair. He knows the church is true, so I just pray that he makes a good choice. There's that free agency again.... We have also been teaching someone named Yorka who is so spiritually prepared to receive the gospel it's ridiculous. She prays about everything we teach her, and she knows that the church is true, that Joseph Smith was a prophet, and that the Word of Wisdom is a commandment from God. She's so awesome. We asked her the other day about how she was with the Word of Wisdom and she was like, "Oh hermanas, I was in the street the other day and someone was trying to sell me coffee and I shared with them all the reasons why they shouldn't be drinking that!" Haha I love her. And her son Henry, who's five, is awesome too. He is the sweetest little guy. Anytime we are at his house he always always always brings us something. Glass of water, or says, "Mom, I need to run to the store to buy the Hermanas something." And he'll run to the store across the street and either buy juice in a bag or suckerrs or gum. Haha he's awesome. And Yorka and Henry came to all the activities that I mentioned we had this week! And Henry when he was watching the choir he thought the lady leading was mute because she was waving her hands around and not singing. Hahaha. And he tells his mom, "I need candy because my blood pressure is low..." Such a cute little guy! Another miracle we had was when we were leaving our appointment with Yorka, we were going to go to a members house to pick up some papers we needed but we felt like we wouldn't have enough time before our Ward Council. So we decided to go to the church, and right as we were walking up a lady walked up and said that she needed to talk to someone. It was perfect because there wouldn't have been anyone else to talk to if we hadn't arrived! So we went in and started talking and she's having a lot of family problems. At the end of the lessons it occurred to me that she probably doesn't live in our area but we would pass along the referral anyway. When we asked, it turns out that she does live in our area! I feel like all week we've just been blessed with miracles like this. All week God has been putting people in our path and it has been amazing. Amazing to be a part of it. Amazing to watch all these miracles right in front of me! I loved this week. It wasn't easy, but it was worth it, and it was beautiful. We are being greatly blessed.

To answer some of your questions... I won't be cutting my hair too short! They are having the drive in the next couple of weeks. It'll just be to where it was when I left for the mission. And hopefully Nelson will donate his hair too. :) We went shopping last week, but I didn't end up buying anything! No good deals, no good deals. But a member here donated a bunch of skirts and dresses to the mission and I had some of the dresses made into skirts, and I got those back today! So that's fun! And I can't believe that Emily is home already! Time is going by so fast. I completed 13 months in the mission yesterday, and I was thinking about my time in the MTC, and I just cannot believe how fast this time is going. I love being a missionary. I love giving these people the opportunity to choose to accept this wonderful, beautiful gospel. Every blessing I have received in my life is because I am a member of this amazing Church. I am so grateful that families can be eternal, and for the work of salvation that we do here on earth, in the mission field and in the temple. Thank you family for being awesome. Keep sharing this wonderful gospel with all that you can! Plant seeds. Love you!

Love you a million billion Reese's Pieces,
Hermana Clark:)

"Make me more worthy of thy love, and more fit for the life above."

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Hope you had a great Halloween! They celebrate something similar here, but they don't really dress up and Trick or Treat. But for the people who have died, they put all their favorite things on a table. They bake and buy a bunch of food, and candles, and their pictures and everything that this person liked and put it on a table. They believe that on this day the spirits of their loved ones come and visit to see if they put out all of their favorite things.. It's an interesting holiday. But they celebrated that yesterday.
So for the past two weeks we haven't had agendas, and can you just imagine how hard that's been! Haha mission problems. No planners to plan my day and I feel lost without it. We just plan on a piece of paper and it just isn't the same. Hopefully our planners come soon. Yesterday I was studying the talk by Tad R. Callister from General Conference, and I just love how he talks about the importance of teaching our children in the home. I feel like my childhood was so blessed because we learned about Christ in the home. Something that he said that I loved is, "Which parent in Book of Mormon times would have let their sons march out to the front of battle without a breast plate and shield  and sword to protect them against the potentially mortal blows of the enemy? But how many of us let our children march out the front door each morning to the most dangerous of all battlefields, to face Satan and his myriad of temptations, without their spiritual breastplate and shield and sword that come from the protective power of prayer? The Lord said,'Pray always, … that you may conquer Satan' (D&C 10:5). As parents, we can help instill within our children the habit and power of morning prayer." We would never send our children to battle without some sort of protection! It is the same in this life. We are in a spiritual battle with the adversary, and we must prepare our children spiritually so that when the winds and rains come, because they will come, they will be spiritually prepared. And so, I am grateful for goodly parents who taught us to value the power of prayer, family and personal scripture study, and church attendance.
Well, our investigators are progressing a lot! One of our investigators, Nelson, is getting baptized on the 15th. He is awesome. We found him while searching for someone else from the area book. He is 25, and has long hair, but the stake is having a "hair drive"? haha I think that's what it would be called. But they are collecting hair to make wigs for children with cancer. So yup, you can bet I'll be cutting my long hair soon! :) Another family that we are teaching is getting baptized on the 29th! Liliana, Melissa, and Valentina. They are awesome, and a referral from a member in the ward. They are progressing a ton, and really loving the gospel! I am so grateful for this work. For the work we do in the mission field, and in the temple. It is a beautiful work, and I am just grateful for this opportunity I have had to share this wonderful gospel. I know that Heavenly Father loves us. He guides us in this work. And He changes us. Love you all so much! Have an awesome, fantastic, super, amazing, wonderfully beautiful week!

Love you a million billion Pinks!
Hermana Clark

Smells like transfers......!

Well, I didn't get transferred! But, my comp did. I was happy not to leave the area though. I love this ward so much. And our bishop is awesome, and his wife is even better. My new comp is named Hermana Carter, and she is from Chile! We had a really good first week together, and we received a lot of miracles. We found so many new people to teach and we had some great lessons this week.

I loved hearing all about your indexing!!! That's awesome how many names you got to index! And congratulations Jamie for taking first in the music part of the Reflections competition!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's AWESOME! And sounds like the Trunk or Treat was a blast! So glad all the games went well! I loved the pics, everything was so cute! And Jamie's costume is really cute! Can't believe you made that! Haha and Jamie is just on fire. The Reflections program, scoring goals... Pucha, Jamie girl! You rock! That's great that Sister Roberts is the new Relief Society President. I know she'll do a great job! She's awesome, love her and her family. Loved hearing the updates about the Los Alamos Ward! We are blessed with a really awesome ward. :)

Today for P-day, we're getting together with the sisters in my zone, and making pizza! That'll be fun! Today I was studying a talk I have by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland that's called, "For Times of Trouble." It's one of my favorite talks, and it just talks about how trouble is a germ of its own. That problems or hard times and trouble don't always come together. He told a story about when Albert Einstein was about 60 years old and his factory started on fire one night, and everything was burned. His son came running, searching for him, thinking that his father would be falling apart and devastated, and Albert spoke first and said, "Find your mother, and tell her to get her friends! They'll never see a fire like this for as long as they live!" Then Albert gathered together his workers and said, "We're rebuilding. We need a crane, and supplies." And almost as an after thought said, "Oh, and does someone know where we can get some money?" It's true, that feeling down for things doesn't come with the problems. We choose the way we will react to situations. We just need to do the best we can, and be sure that we really are doing our very best. "The point is the same with school as with money or marriage or profession or (a mission or) any hope and dream. Prepare. Plan. Work. Sacrifice. Rework. Spend cheerfully on matters of worth. Carry the calm, and wear the assurance of having done the best you could with what you had." Just know you're doing the best you can with what you are given. That's all Heavenly Father expects from us. He knows us, He believes in us. And He is aware of us. He knows what trials we need in order to change to become more like Him. We just need to be sure to take these trials, and use them to help us grow because we can only grow two ways, towards God or towards the adversary. So, who's on the Lord's side, who? ME!:)

I love you all so much. I hope you continue indexing! And have the best week of your life! Thank you for your prayers, love, and support. You are an amazing family, and I love hearing about your experiences, and the way the Lord has blessed your lives during your week. Keep sharing the gospel, and being an example for everyone! Pray that Heavenly Father will put people in your path that you can share the gospel with. Watch how many people He will give you! I love you!

Love you a million billion sour skittles,
Hermana Clark

¡Mi querida familia!

Alright, first off, I loved the song that Jamie wrote for the piano! It's one of the prettiest songs I've ever heard, and she wrote it! I cannot believe it, but I am so proud of her! And good job Jamie for scoring a goal!!!!

But to answer your question, I think we stayed in for election day because no one works, not even the police! So it was just safer I guess to stay inside. We got to leave the house at 6 though and work like normal so that was good! But this week has been an awesome one! Full of miracles! My comp and I were blessed with completing all our goals we had for this week! And all our investigators with baptism dates came to church yesterday! One is a family who lives in our area called Miraflores. It's our area that is a little bit farther away. The members who live out there say that we are the first missionaries that really work in that area. The other ones didn't really visit the area much. But I love love love Miraflores because it reminds me of Bermejo. So we're always out there. Anyway, this family is a referral from the members that live out there. There are only about two active families that live in that area! But this new family is awesome. They are so prepared to hear the gospel, and are progressing so much. The ward is doing good. We are progressing a lot, and we have a goal to have 180 members going to church by the end of the year. we are about 40 people away! I know we can do it! We are working with some less active families, and the members are really starting to help now. It's like the talk from General Conference about the man with palsy! I was reading about that story in Jesus the Christ today, and thinking about our ward here. We are now all working together. Just like in the story, the men had to lower the man together. If someone lowered too fast, the man would fall. And the faith that these men had was just incredible. I love that story and analogy so much.

Our plans for P-day aren't too exciting... I think we'll print some pictures, clean the house. I want to finish updating the Area Book, and write in my journal. My journal is very behind! I'm still writing things from July! Ahhh. haha. And our cook lady is going to make tacos for lunch today, so I'm pretty stoked!! She made pizza a few weeks ago and it was so good! Haha. I hope I don't get transferred! We've been very blessed to have her! And I love this ward, our Bishop, his wife (the woman that cooks for us), and my area!! But I have been studying a lot about accepting the Lord's will, and I am ready for whatever He gives to me this transfer! I hope! :)

You guys are indexing machines! You have already reached in one week what you ended with in two weeks! That's awesome!!!!! Way to go, and keep it up! Stake Conference sounds like it was great! It's true! Now is the time to hasten the work!! Both in our wards, and in the temple. The work is the same!

Well my wonderful family, I love you so much! You are each a huge example to me, and I am so lucky and blessed to call you my family. Keep being amazing, and keep searching for those tender mercies in our lives. We become more grateful, and feel more love for our Heavenly Father and Lord when we do. Have a great week! Love you!

Love you a million billion empanadas!
Hermana Clark