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

¡Muy Buenos Días mi familia!

Another great week here in the service of the Lord! Mom, thanks for the package! They just seem to get better and better!

Yesterday was election day here in Bolivia! All we have heard the past couple of weeks are songs about the people running for president. Haha they're pretty cheesy these songs.. so I'm glad the elections are finally over! And the same guy won again! Third time in a row... Not allowed... but hey anything goes these days. But election day meant that we couldn't leave the house until 6 last night, so we did a lot of studying! About 10 hours of straight studying! And when it finished my comp and I laughed because we wanted more time... But! We went out and worked, and had some really awesome lessons! Heavenly Father has put some really awesome people in our path, and He is greatly blessing us.

Some of the things I learned yesterday from my day of studying is that we choose to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. He has offered it to us, and now we choose to do it. And to be His disciple, we cannot be still! We must continually move forward and progress because if we are still, we move backwards and therefore become more like the adversary. We are responsible for the people that we become. We can either sit passively by and let life make us who it wants to make us, or we can progressively become more like Christ and consciously choose to act like Him. If we just let life make us who it wants to make us, we will come to the end of our lives and realize that we only reached a small part of our full potential. Therefore, we must believe in ourselves! We must have faith in ourselves because God, the greatest of all, the most powerful being who has created worlds without number believes in US! HE has faith in US! What a beautiful thought that is. What a comforting thought that is! Take comfort in it! I do! We don't have to do this alone. In fact, without Him we cannot do this at all. "Just give it up. Surrender your will to Him. Unconditionally. Withhold nothing. Turn it all over to Him; all of your desires, wishes, dreams, and hopes. Be true and faithful in your head and in your heart, not just in your behavior. Trust in Him. Trust Him who knows all things. Trust Him who has all power. Trust Him whose love for you is perfect. Trust Him, who alone suffered, paid, and atoned for your sins, and for your weaknesses as well. Trust Him that He will make of you immeasurably more than what you will ever, ever, in all eternity make yourself. He will create of you a masterpiece. You will create of you only a smudge. You will create an ordinary man, He will create a God." But we must give ourselves over to Him. Our minds and hearts are all we can give to Him really because time, that's His. Talents we have, those are His as well because He gave them to us. Strength, something He allows us to have. But our hearts and minds, that's what we can give to Him. And if we give it all over to Him, He will transform us into who He has always meant for us to be. And what I love is that it isn't impossible! Nothing is impossible for our Heavenly Father. We just need to consciously choose Him. Choose it in your mind, and your heart will follow.

I am so proud of you and the major indexing you guys have done!! You will definitely get first this time!! And the Meet the Mormons movie sounds great! I have heard lots about it, and I hope lots go and see it! Well, transfers are coming up in a week and a half, and I really do not want to leave this ward! But, whatever happens happens, and I will love where ever I am! I love you fam! Keep up the good work!

Con mucho amor,
Hermana Clark

Happy One Year to Me!

Let's hear it for the boy!

Welcome to the world Nash Allen Clark! :) And congratulations Jeremy and Kelsey! Loved seeing some of the pics, he's such a cutie! And can't wait to meet him in person!

This week has been a crazy one, and finished with a bang! General Conference was my favorite part of the week for sure. I just can't even stop thinking about it. We got to watch it in English too, and that was really fun! I loved every single talk. They were all inspired, and exactly what I needed! All of the English speakers were in a different room to watch conference in English. And I can't believe there are over 88,000 missionaries! I also loved that some people spoke in their native language! What an awesome thing that was because this is a universal church! We are in all the world, and we have members all over the world. What a great way to show that by having people speak in their native tongue. When the people spoke in Spanish we turned off the English translator and just watched it like that. Haha I was laughing because everyone was so excited to watch it in Spanish without the translator, and I thought, if you're so excited to watch in Spanish we can just go into the other room! Haha but I was excited too and I think it was the thought that if I was at the conference center at that moment, I would understand him. One of my favorite talks was by Chi Hong (Sam) Wong. I loved how he talked about the man with palsy, and how great the faith was of the men that wanted to lower him down through the roof. I loved that he said that those men had to work together to lower him, and how it is the same in our wards. We must work together. It's like what Elder Uchtdorf said in a talk one time, that there were men standing around a grand piano, and one said, "How are we going to lift this?" And the reply was, "Everyone lift where you are." That is what we must do. We must lift where we are! We need to help the people that are around us. Neighbors, friends, family. Lift the hands and hearts that hang down that are around us. I also loved what Jeffery R. Holland said about how WE ARE ALL BEGGARS. We all beg for forgiveness from our loving Heavenly Father. And that the spoil of the needy is in our houses. We must do what we can, and help where we can, and give a generous fast offering because what we do is only one drop in the ocean. But if we did not do what we do, the ocean would be one drop less. I know I'm not quoting it word for word but I can't look up how it really goes. But I loved those talks! I also thought what Tad R. Callister said about prayer was so beautiful. We need to teach our children about the power of prayer, not the routine of prayer. That's awesome! Prayer is so powerful, and I think members of the church need to understand that more. Prayer is everything. Heavenly Father hears us, He knows us, and He answers us because He loves us.

I also thought it was awesome that many spoke about how we need to better appreciate the Sacrament. Isn't that true! I loved having my testimony strengthened this past weekend. This is God's true church. He leads us through His prophet, Thomas S. Monson, and gives to him the revelation he needs to guide this church. He holds all the priesthood keys that have ever been given on the earth in these last days. Heavenly Father loves us, and we will feel that love if we seek Him.

This week there were some lightning storms, and hail! That was pretty fun. :) We also had the wonderful opportunity to eat cow stomach... NEVER AGAIN PLEASE. It was in a soup, and it was like sponges. Not a fan, not a fan... So now I've eaten cow cheek, stomach, foot, bladder.... what next? whaaat more can they do with the coooow?! Haha. Anyway, I just feel very grateful to be a missionary in this time, and in this place. I love giving all my time to serve our Lord. I love Him. I know that He lives, and He loves us. He knows our name, He is aware of us. The privilege I have had to serve a mission has forever changed me and who I am. I only want to be the person that our Heavenly Father wants me to be. That is my lifetime goal, and I know He will help me achieve it. Thank you my beautiful family for all that you are doing to move this work along. Keep indexing and taking names to the temple. Keep praying, and studying your scriptures. Study them until you feel more faith in Christ. I love you all so much! Have a wonderful week!

Love a million billion candy corn,
Hermana Clark

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WESLEY!!!

¡Felíz Primer Día del resto de sus vidas!

First off, how excited I am for General Conference! I can't even handle it. When it ended in April I started looking forward to October. And I can't believe we're almost in October! THAT IS INSANE. Seeing the Broadcast for the Relief Society was just like a little tease. But I loved it! I loved what President Uchtdorf said about how the commandments aren't just a list of nice ideas, but are the word of God, and our instructions of how to make it back to His presence. Also, I thought that Jer and Kels had their baby, but that's okay, I'll patiently wait one more week... I hope they name him Nacho or Chancho or something cool. Aaanyway, so something funny about the plane ride last week that I forgot to tell you is that when we landed in Yacuiva, and I had to go alone to Tarija, I didn´t have a ticket or anything. So I went to get on the plane and they asked for my ticket, and I explained that I didn´t have one, and the man was just like "....okay, come on in...." Haha.

This week we had a conference with President and Sister Willard, and with their daughter Monica who is leaving on the mission in a week to Ecuador! It was such a great conference, and we talked about Family History, so I was just in love! That is something I really miss doing. I am so proud of you guys for doing your indexing! Sounds like you're doing a ton, and I hope you win the contest!! I know you guys can do it! I wish I was indexing too! I would love to help! And I hope Jamie does well on her tryouts tomorrow!! Love that little girl. She'll be awesome, I know it!

And to answer your question, I am so glad I didn't have to travel to Santa Cruz this week. It was fun and all... but I love my area, and we saw so many miracles this week I'm glad I didn't miss out. We found a lady this past week that lives with her 4 children. She is so great, and accepted to be baptized. She has a lot in faith in Heavenly Father and she's just so sweet. She is so excited to hear more about the gospel and see General Conference this week. We also had an awesome lesson last night. The spirit was so strong, and our investigator was so surprised to learn that we have a living prophet on the earth today. He is also so excited for conference. I can't express how much I love this gospel. It is perfect. This is the church of Jesus Christ. He guides this church through living prophets, and we have the privilege to listen to our prophet and his apostles this weekend! What a beautiful blessing. Our Heavenly Father loves us. We can see that through the guidance He gives us through His faithful servants. I hope you enjoy conference this weekend! Watch with a question in mind, and I know it will be answered. I love you all so much! Keep being the amazing family I know you are!

Con mucho amor,
Hermana Clark

Hola from Bolivia!

Well, it has just been quite the week here! On Wednesday, my zone leaders told me at lunch that I was leaving on a plane to Santa Cruz at 4 in the afternoon! It was time to do my papers for my documents and everything! So I got my stuff together and went to the airport, and flew to Santa Cruz! There were some other missionaries who went to do their papers too. And you know how I love to fly, so that was a special treat! When we got to Santa Cruz the first thing I thought was wow it's hot. Haha a lot hotter than Tarija! Tarija has beautiful weather. It's kind of like California. But Santa Cruz, whew, super humid. So we got there at night time Wednesday, and I stayed with some sisters there, and another sister that was traveling with me. In the morning we had to be at the government office to do our documents at 6:30, and we waited in a line for a while... It was like the DMV... so I liked it:) And then the lawyers came! So the mission has lawyers that help the missionaries  with all their documents. I was glad they were there or I think people would try to pull stuff on us. Okay, and then I was waiting in line with the lawyers, and some other missionaries, and one of the missionaries from my group went up to the counter and all his paperwork was expired, meaning mine was too... haha so we left there really fast, and went to a clinic to draw some blood. And the lady was telling us it would be ready on Monday! And I thought, aaah I'm stuck here all weekend. But the lawyers are awesome and somehow got the paperwork done for the next day! But inbetween all of that we went with the other missionaries to do their paperwork. There were some missionaries from Argentina and from Peru so we had to go to the offices of Peru and Argentina. And it's interesting because the Bolivian police can't do anything in the gates of these offices because it's Argentina territory so pretty much I went to Argentina and Peru this week. That counts right? I think so! Theeeen, we didn't have any more we could do in the offices, so we were split up and went with different missionaries to work in their areas. And I loved working in Santa Cruz! I really enjoyed the area, and the people. It's like LA. Just a big city, and I just love big cities. Then I stayed the night with those sisters, and in the morning we had to be at the offices early again! And we got there and something happened and we had to come back later, but the lawyers didn't want us to leave in case the office called us and told us we could come in. So we went to the mission office to kill some time, but they were closed! So we just studied outside the door for a while. Then we went and got some Burger King. That was fun! A whopper and fries! And it started raining really hard too! So it's like pouring rain, and we have to get back to the offices to finish our documents, and we were a little lost, but in the end we got there, finished the document, and now I am legally here! Yay! So then we went back to the mission office because they were open, and the elders there told me they booked our flights, but that we had missed our flights for the afternoon, so we were leaving Saturday morning. Then they told me that there wasn't room on the plane, so they booked a flight for me to fly with President and Sister Willard and their daughter Monica to a city called Yacuiva! And then I would take a flight to Tarija! The thing about this flight is that it's pretty famous here in the mission... It's known for just being really bumpy and ify.. haha so I was stoked for the adventure! The planes are really small, and it was raining really hard so we couldn't take off. They ended up delaying the flight until later, and I went with President, Sister Willard, and Monica back to their house! And we made breakfast! Haha we cooked some eggs and made breakfast burritos. Haha so that was fun hanging out with the Willards:) Then after brunch we cleaned up, and they said that they had been up until 2 and then got up really early and they were going to go nap, and asked if I wanted to nap! Haha I wasn't tired though so I stayed up and studied instead. I know it's hard to believe I didn't take up their offer to nap..... Their house is really pretty though so I enjoyed studying there. And it just continued to rain and rain and the streets were flooded! You could probably water-ski or something if you really wanted to! I did.

In President's house I was studying about Jacob 5. And I really liked in verse 64 that it says, "then shall ye prepare the way for them, that they may grow." And I was thinking about that.. That the Lord prepares a way for us, and sometimes the way is hard. But it's to make us grow. He makes the way to make us into the persons that He wants us to be. And if He prepared the way, He will provide a way! We just have to trust in Him. Trust in the plan that He has for us because nothing is impossible for the Lord.

In the end, we ended up getting on a plane! And it wasn't raining so it was just pluses all around! And we flew with an Elder that was ending his mission in Mexico. We got off the plane and his family just ran to him and they were all crying and haha if that doesn't make you trunky I don't know what does. Then the mom and sisters were crying and hugging me and they were just all so happy. Haha it was really sweet. Then President walked me over to the boarding gate and I got back on the plane, and flew alone to Tarija. It was really weird being without a companion and I really didn't like it. Good thing it was a short flight. But that was my week! Pretty crazy huh! And then yesterday we had an awesome appointment with a new investigator, and the night before we met with a family who are progressing really well!

All in all it was a great week! Can't wait to hear next week if Jer and Kels had their baby!! Love you all so much. Thank you for your love and support. And thank you for your prayers! Keep praying for those missionary opportunities! They will come! Love you!

Con mucho amor,
Hermana Clark

Fam bam!

Hey, Jenae and Mike! Congrats!!! I can't believe I'm going to come home to two new babies in the family! I thought for sure Kelsey and Jeremy had their baby! This next week! I can't wait!!!

Who's on the Lord's side who? Me! I remembered that phrase this week, and it's true. I'm on His side. I hope all is well with you! And I'm glad to hear you made it home safely from Utah! That's crazy about the flash floods! Well I didn't get transfered! And thank goodness! I didn't want to leave this ward yet. My comp and I are the only ones in the zone that didn't get changed! We still have more work to do together! And we are learning a lot from each other. My bishop is super awesome and wrote President Willard the day before transfers letting him know that he didn't want us changed. He said "están dando lo mejor de ellos, de su carisma, de su amor y de su fe, estamos aprendiendo de ellos y los queremos mucho, y no quisiéramos que nunca se vayan del barrio ya que los vemos como parte de nosotros. Gracias, muchísimas gracias." I was so grateful to find out that our bishop was saying that about our missionaries in the ward. And I'm even more grateful I haven't been transfered yet!

Something cool I've been studying about are the missing books in the Bible. There are SO MANY! The Bible talks about books of wars, and missing epistles, and letters. And so many, and I loved reading about all the missing books because I am so excited to one day read those missing books!

Also, I had my first grey hair the other day.... I pulled it out! Ah! Now two more will grow back.... But I couldn't help it. And we also ate cow bladder the other day! That was actually really nasty. It smelled like cow stuff. It smelled like I was sitting next to a cow while eating. They say it's really good for you though, so that's good! Today we have a FHE with a less active family! And an appointment with a recent convert, and with a new investigator! It'll be an eventful evening! I love working in this work, and I love this time that I have to serve the Lord. He will move His work forward with or without our help. But we have the beautiful opportunity to be a part of this great work. I love you all so much! Keep being awesome and serving our Heavenly Father!

Con mucho amor,
Hermana Clark