This is His Work

March 2, 2015

March Madness is starting!!!! Oh man let me tell you, it’s madness over here! It is raining! But also we had a really good week full of miracles and blessings from the Lord. We were definitely busy this week and we had a lot to do so I was happy with the work that we did get done.

We were on exchanges on Tuesday and we had a big lesson with a young couple we are working with. We had the lucky chance of teaching the law of chastity, but it went really well and we are working with them. The man will be baptized soon after they get married! They are a really fun couple and I think all the elderly folk here are enjoying seeing them at church. It’s been amazing for them, that in their circumstances, the Lord is blessing them. We were talking to them on Friday and they said they couldn’t see a way that it was going to work, but now they have found a more stable place to live and a new job. All types of little blessings are coming into their lives. We shared with them the scripture in 1 Nephi 3:7-

7 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them.

Another great thing that happened this week was one of the investigators from my last area who I had been teaching a lot just got baptized! I really wanted to go up and see him be baptized and he asked me to confirm him, but there was just no way I could get up to Vegas to do that. But I am still happy for him and everyone said all went well and that he is super happy! It is hard at times because we want people to accept the gospel right away, and some people just need some time. And we don’t always see the seeds that we plant in people’s lives - So don’t ever give up on anyone!

We also had a really spiritual lesson with a gal we have been teaching for a while. She finally was able to move into a trailer and so we just stopped by real quick and as we began teaching her she told of an experience that happened to her earlier in the day. There was a man that she had hired to help her move in and he was getting very frustrated and mad and was yelling and cursing and so she asked him to leave. She said it really had a big impact on her and that afterwards she said a prayer that she would be comforted and then we showed up. She was touched by the spirit and had tears in her eyes as she told us about this answer to her prayer. As we continued to talk to her, we were able to promise her that her fears of the water would go away through faith in Christ and we set her with a baptismal date for April 2^nd, her birthday!! We are super excited for her, even though she didn’t come to church yesterday, but I guess we will forgive her.

I will close with a very spiritual experience that I had; one of the most spiritual of my mission. It is about priesthood blessings and it really showed me that the priesthood and being guided by the spirit is so real and that they are not my words I speak during a priesthood blessing, but Christ’s words. We were at a member’s house and he had been having a really hard day and had been fighting with his wife. He said that he just had a lot of anger at the moment and so we talked for a little while and then he asked for a blessing. As I gave him a blessing I really tried to just clear my mind and go off the spirit and not say what I thought he needed but what the Lord needed him to hear. As I did that, I said things that didn’t seem exactly right to me, but after the blessing he sat quiet for a little bit and then he stood up with tears in his eyes and said, "You just quoted part of my Patriarchal Blessing exactly." I was filled with the spirit and I knew that the Lord was the one speaking and that it was what he needed to hear.

I hope you all have a great week! We are doing really well down here and staying dry mostly! I love you all!

Elder Clark

Since I wasn't sure if  I was leaving and the Lawter's were going to be out of town, we took this picture. It reminds me of a hobbit house! I just look a lot bigger then I am because they are short and have a small house.

Our golfing buddies. Some of the happiest people I know of in this world!