End of Transfer #1 - Wahoo!

Hola,

Wow!!! I have already been gone for 12 weeks-that is just so crazy! Time flies when you are having fun, I guess, or more just like super busy. I am staying in my same area with my same comp. Things should be really good this next transfer as we have some great potential in our area. As we strive to work as hard as we can I know we will be blessed.

So a tender mercy we had this week was with a part member family. The husband is less active and his wife is not a member. They have two great little kids. They are a super awesome family. We rode by one day and saw the wife working in the yard and we stopped and starting helping her and her husband trim trees and do some yard clean up. After we helped them, they really opened up to us and it was amazing. The husband even said he would fix up our bikes whenever we needed it. Later in the week, a member (splits) and I had another appointment somewhere that fell through. II could have stayed in the apartment complex to contact people like I would normally do, but I decided to just go see this part member family again. We got there and they were home and we were able to give a lesson. It was a powerful lesson and the spirit was super strong. The husband was even teaching the wife about the church. It was truly a prompting from the Spirit that led us to them. I had been praying that day specifically for a prompting from the Spirit. At the time I didn’t know I received one, but it truly was! And the family came to church on Sunday, so there is a lot of hope!!

My District leader is completing his mission and going home. His name is Elder Puga and he is from Mexicali! He is a great guy and super nice. Very humble and a great missionary! We also have an elder in our ward leaving for his mission this week so at Sacrament Meeting both Elder Puga and the new missionary spoke. It was cool to see both sides of the spectrum! The spirit was very strong. It is crazy that my farewell was only three months ago, and in not a very long time I will be leaving. It makes me want to make every day count, but man that can be hard.

We have another investigator that is just a miracle. He is the one that came to church last week. We stopped by his house and he wasn’t home, but we gave his son a Book of Mormon. His dad texted us later that night to say thank you and that he was going to start reading it! We had a great first lesson with him and committed him to baptism on the 15 of November!! The gospel is perfect for him and we are really excited for him. He also came to a fireside called Porque Creo (Why I believe). Our mission puts on this fireside for our investigators. It is recent converts in different areas that share about the experiences they have had coming into the church. This one was all in Spanish and the Spirit was very strong. I really felt at home. It was the first time in a long time our branch put it on and my love for the people grew so much! They are all just wonderful people. One speaker talked about the family feeling they felt was at church and how they felt welcomed by everyone. Five little primary girls sang a couple songs. It was just all so pretty, especially in Spanish.

One last crazy story - a priest in our ward got jumped the other day! His dad works with ICE (the immigration people) and so they caught the bad guys on camera somehow. It was pretty crazy going over to do service for them and hearing the story. Even in our nice area. So hopefully something crazy will happen to me!! Just messing! Chiste! 

I hope you all have a great week, and take time to ponder on the scriptures. I love my personal time in the morning and my knowledge grows so much! I love the power of the priesthood and that all of us can feel of it in our lives and feel of God’s love. I know that the Lord is on my left and my right and that His angels are bearing me up. I take great comfort in that. 

Elder Clark

-The Spanish is coming - a quote from Logan to his dad: Yo estoy muy agradecio para usted y mi mama y mis hermanas. Yo se que este obra aveces es dificil pero yo se que mi salvador es conmigo siempre y si tengo fe y dilegencia en este obra, tenere mas exitoso y paz en mi vida y su vida.

These are some English elders. Two are getting transferred. One is Elder Siilata and he grew up with Elder Kanahele and the other is Elder Oveson -The RAM!!! He always rams people on accident when we play sports!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Miracles upon Miracles!

Hey Everyone-

I am not sure if we had 17 miracles this week, but we definitely had a few. There are a lot of things going on in our area to try and help find more people for us to teach. We had our first two classes to teach people English. The classes are free and anyone can come. They were actually pretty boring, so I am thinking of some ideas to spice things up!! I remember how boring Spanish class was at school so hopefully ours can be a little more fun! The sisters in our ward are starting a Zumba class and we are talking about having a tri-stake cultural night. We have big plans and a lot of them probably won’t happen until we are gone, but it is exciting to find creative ways to find more people to teach. 

On Thursday, I went on splits with the DL. He is going home in a week so I tried to learn as much as I could from him. We went to see a referral and it was amazing. We went over and the mom of the family answered the door. We talked to them and invited them to church. The crazy part is that they have a son in the MTC right now. He is the only one in their family that is a member, and he is going to South Korea on his mission! He sang in the Elders choir during General Conference. And so my comp and I were just like WHAT!!! It was so crazy. I know the Lord blesses families of those who serve, so hopefully I can be an instrument to bless this elder’s family. 

Friday the Lord put so many people in our path! We talked to 80 people about Jesus Christ or the church!! We just biked around everywhere and talked to everyone we saw on the way to our citas (appointments). Not very many accept us, but we got some good referrals for the English missionaries and a couple potentials. I even helped this one man carry his groceries across the street! It is just amazing what the Lord does when He trusts you. We have been talking to everyone for the past few weeks. Like I mean everyone! If we so much as see someone we try and go talk to them!! We are finding that then the Lord puts people in our path for us to talk to!

Saturday morning we went to the temple with members from our branch. A young man is about to go on his mission and he was receiving his endowment. I’ll send the pics next week!! It was a Spanish session and I did all of it in Spanish. They had subtitles so that helped me a lot, but I had been praying that I would understand and be edified by the spirit. It was so amazing. I learned more than I have in English and just felt the spirit so strong. It’s amazing how deep you understand things when you understand them in two different languages, It just gives it so much meaning! 

And then on Sunday we had even more miracles!!! I had texted a reminder to one of our potentials who was a referral from a member in an English ward to go to church. He never responded back and so we just figured he wasn’t coming. But it turned out he just walked right into church!!!! It was awesome and he said he really enjoyed it! He is golden and ready for the gospel. It just shows how powerful member referrals are. We also had a less active member and his non-member wife come to church! It was the first time we had any investigators at church. We were so happy! 

Sunday night I went on member splits and took our investigator to night church (a Spanish Sacrament meeting for those that work or can’t attend a morning session). He has been doing really well and the only reason he hasn’t been baptized is because he hasn’t come to church. He loved it! After the Sacrament meeting we took him to the temple and took pictures and walked around. The spirit there was amazing. I told him a little about temples and what they mean to us and he said it made everything make sense and that his previous doubts made sense now because of the temple. I honestly don’t know how my explanation answered his questions, but I know the spirit was there!

That is all for this week!! Nos Vemos! Que tenga buen semana!!

Elder Clark

Logan sitting on a member's Charger in front of the beautiful Las Vegas Temple.

Pictures with a member and investigator

Breath taking!

All of the new missionaries attend the Temple on October 10, 2014

 

Meet the Mormons and oh so much more!!

Hey everyone,

Wow this week has just been a crazy one!! Lots of crazy stories to share!

My companion and I enjoyed making some authentic Mexican food this week. We made empanadas one day for lunch and another elder’s bday was on Friday so we threw a little lunch party for him and made Gorditas. He is from Mexicali and so he really enjoyed that. It was fun. It really helped me speak better Spanish also. I received an authentic sombrero from a member that was moving so that was, way cool!

We had a blitz day on Thursday where we went to the sister’s area and went around and tried to find people for them to teach. They are in a very rich area and the only real Spanish speakers were the workers. They were all super nice, but most lived far away. It has been a struggle for the sisters in their area, but hopefully as we help them out and they work hard they will see miracles there.
Friday was the little party and there is an Elder Siilata from Hawaii here. He is a big boy!! He is so awesome and we are getting super close. He may even know Elder Kanahele if we are both talking about the same George Kaka - so that’s pretty awesome!

Then Friday night we went to the movie, Meet the Mormons with one of our investigators. That went really well! The movie was amazing and I highly recommend it to everyone. Our investigator gave us a ride and on the way there, since the theater was sort of by the strip, I was trying to take a cool night picture of the strip. Our investigator said that he could just take us there for better pictures, and we were like, “Oh no! We can't go on the strip!” So he said he would just take us on a highway after the movie so we could get a better pic of it. So we went to the movie and had a great time there. Lots of missionaries and members were there! After the movie he reminds us of the picture and so we head out onto this highway. The whole time my comp and I were thinking that it would be a quick pic from the highway and then back home. Well, there was a little misunderstanding. He took an exit, that to him wasn’t going to take us on the strip, but oh man we started freaking out. We were driving past the stratosphere and explaining to him more that we couldn't be on the strip. I even told him we were like Nuns in the sense we didn’t do anything! Haha He reassures us that we are not on the strip and that all is good. But we continue to keep driving around and I am just so ready to get out of there. He was talking in Spanish and so I was just hoping I could explain nicely to take us home, and that my comp would help out in the language department. After about 20 minutes of driving we started heading home, but at one point he wanted to park and show us something. We avoided the main part of the strip, but I am pretty sure we were on the boundary the entire time - definitely not the place we wanted to be! So, we have repented of our sins and are never going to ask an investigator help us get a better picture, because to them the strip is, well, not what it is to a missionary!

The final story is about another investigator we met this week. He is actually English speaking so that is super nice for me. He was sitting on a step outside his apartment smoking a cigarette and we approached him and asked if we could share a picture of Jesus Christ with him. We talked to him for a while and he invited us into his home. He had met with the sister missionaries in the area that are in the English ward, but he told us he didn’t really like them even though they were amazing people, just too pushy. He said that my comp and I were the two people that were going to make a difference in his life. I bore testimony about the power of the Book of Mormon and talked to him about some questions. He needed things taken slower and I think the sisters overwhelmed him with commitments; but they were just doing what we normally do. At the end of the lesson, we asked him if he would offer the prayer and as he was praying he broke into tears, and he told us that he was so grateful we had come that night, because he said he couldn’t have made it much longer if we hadn’t had come by. After the lesson, we called the sisters and they said that we could teach him and bring a member from their ward so that he had someone to go to church with. So that was one miracle we experienced this week!

Hope all is well and everyone is safe!
Hasta luego! Nos vemos!
Elder Clark

 

Cooking Empanadas

 All ready for the Birthday Party Luncheon

Wow! Lights, flowers and goblets!

Happy Birthday Elder Puga!

 

At the Sanchez Home for dinner on Elder Puga's Bday. 

Me, Elder Puga and the Branch President. 

Meet the Mormons

 The Strip - A little too close for comfort!

Is it already October?

Hola,

Where to start is always the question. So much happens each day, but then the week flies by and you feel you have accomplished nothing. We have had many miracles this week and many hard times. I just keep remembering that if I keep pushing forward in all things, all will turn out to be okay.

Spanish is, by far, the biggest obstacle that I need to overcome and it’s a long, slow, hard process. But I think I am starting to understand people a little more! I am practicing a lot, especially in my sleep! Two times already I have been talking in my sleep in Spanish either street contacting a person, or giving a lesson. I say something like Somos Misioneros de la Iglesia de Jesucristo.....and one night my comp let me go on for like five minutes and then just had to wake me up-haha good times! Next time he is going to record it. I guess missionary work and Spanish are just on my mind!

I am starting to get a lot more comfortable being in my role as a missionary. I have embraced it! It’s not weird now to be dressed up at the store or riding bikes. I actually enjoy the looks and comments we get and I talk to everyone! My Mission President said: "the Gospel is never inconvenient."  I love that and I have been trying to keep that in my mind.

I had my first Zone Training Meeting on Thursday and that was super, super good! We learned a lot of amazing things.  Its crazy the insight that can come from such young people. It is truly uplifting! I felt the spirit super strong for the rest of the day. On Friday, all the new missionaries got to go to the temple! It was an amazing day and I got to see a lot of my old friends from the MTC. When we walked out of the temple doors there was a wedding party with their cameras in hand waiting for the bride and groom to walk out. We all started laughing because we were definitely not who they were expecting to come out!

I was on exchanges that day and later that night an Elder in our Rama (branch) who is about to leave on his mission was biking with my comp and he fell and dislocated his shoulder. Man, do I know how that feels! He is all good now and still wants to serve a mission - so that’s good.

We talk to tons of people and lots of people reject us and say things to us and it’s awesome. People crack me up! This one guy we were talking was a Baptist priest and I asked him if we could give him a picture of Jesus Christ. He said sure and when he took it he was like "how do you know this is Jesus Christ? Have you seen what he looks like?” We told him it was just an artist representation, but I guess he only believes in the Jesus Christ he grew up with. Another guy told us he prays for us that we will recognize the fault in our ways-that was interesting. But the hardest so far are the people who say that they already have Christ in their life and they don’t need anymore. It’s hard, in a very short period of time, to get people to understand we have more for them and they can use what they already have and became even better. I know I will get better at doing that!

We have one really awesome investigator. His name is D and he loves to talk. He has great insights and at times I feel like he is teaching me. That is what the Spirit does; it teaches every one present. He talked about the power of a person’s name and I loved that. It makes it even more meaningful to know that our Heavenly Father knows each of us by name. D works on Sundays and that has been our biggest issue, but I reviewed with him what he needs to do to be baptized and he wants to be so badly! So he is going to try and work a later shift so he can come to church. I pray that it will work out. He bore his testimony with us and it was amazing and he said he always feel such peace after our visits. I am really hopeful for him.

We meet some amazing people! The members of our Rama (branch) are great people. I love this culture I am in. They are just some of the nicest people and God puts them in our path! We find people that are just ready for the gospel and I hope I can do all I can to help them!

Have a great week! I am back to work!!

Elder Clark